Michael Parker-Bray
We are pleased to have secured funding for an exciting project to explore and bring to life the rich and varied heritage of the Looe Valley Line.
Over the next six months we will be working with the community to tell the story of the Looe Valley Line and its effect on local people and the landscape. Read more
At the start of September we launched our campaign to promote buying tickets in the GWR app.
Our animated video reached more than 60,000 people on Facebook, and was complemented by press ads in nine local newspapers across the two counties, plus digital ads on the papers’ websites. Read more
To highlight the fact that both the start (Cranbrook) and finish (Barnstaple) of the Tour of Britain’s second stage were easily accessible by train, we ran a marketing campaign developed in consultation with our partners at South Western Railway and Great Western Railway. Read more
New research published by the Rail Delivery Group has found that three of the South West’s iconic branch lines are leading a £2 billion national boost to the economy through rail tourism.
The research uses data from Visit England and the GB Tourism Survey to look at the country’s top tourist destinations. Read more
The Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership has been shortlisted in four categories of the national Community Rail Awards, with the winners to be announced in Glasgow this October. Read more
If you can’t get to your final destination on foot, by bike, bus or train, there is a new solution.
Co-cars provide hire-by-the-hour cars at the following railway stations:
Exeter St David’s
Exeter Central
Topsham
Newton Abbot
Plymouth
Truro
Falmouth Town
Cars can be booked weeks in advance or on the spur of the moment. Read more
A group of students from Petroc College have spent two weeks of action at Barnstaple station as part of the National Citizen Service.
The students spent a week fundraising for activities, which included a cake sale at the station, then a week making over the planters on the disused platform. Read more
GWR has funded a pair of DCRP live departure apps to allow passengers to check their train on their phone before they arrive at the station.
The apps (one for Devon stations, one for Cornwall stations) are closely based on a similar app from TransWilts Community Rail Partnership. Read more
The Plymouth – Gunnislake Tamar Valley Line is worth more than £13 million a year to the economy according to a new study, “Valuing the Tamar Valley Line”, estimating that each of the line’s annual 190,000 journeys is worth £69.
The £13 million total comes from considering a wide range of ways the railway contributes to the economy and society, including how much rail travellers spend on leisure and retail (£5.5 million), the GDP value of the employment of the line’s regular commuters (£2.6 million) and time and cost savings to passengers over other travel modes in taking the train (£1.5 million).
Promotional hoardings highlighting Cornwall’s branch line destinations have gone up around Saltash station building as the latest step towards the building’s eagerly awaited revamp.
The 33-metre boards promote beauty spots including Calstock, Looe and St Ives as well as the redevelopment of the station building. Read more
CASE STUDY | We have launched Foodie Guides for four branch lines to highlight food businesses along each route that champion local produce and sustainability, and to inspire rail travel to the area.
Last summer, Cranbrook station was transformed by the addition of colourful posters, designed by pupils and students from St Martin’s C of E Primary School and the Cranbrook Education Campus.
To ring the changes, a second set of winning posters has just been installed. Read more
Children will soon be able to travel for free on Tamar Valley Line trains as part of celebrations to mark 50 years of regular direct rail services between Gunnislake and Plymouth.
On Sunday 3rd June 2018, there will be an Open Day at the Tamar Belle at Bere Ferrers station. Read more
Name the train to win rail tickets
A new train has arrived at Barnstaple station and we want your ideas for what it should be called. Suggest a name below – the best suggestion will win a pair of standard class tickets anywhere on the Great Western network. Read more
The Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership is working with the South West region of CAMRA and its local branches to promote rail travel and support real ale pubs.
The Partnership has produced bar runners (shown above at the Bay Horse Inn, Totnes), posters and beer mats that are being distributed by CAMRA members in local pubs. Read more
Residents in the Gunnislake, Calstock and Bere Peninsula areas are being asked to take part in a transport survey to help with a new study looking at the value of the Tamar Valley Line to the community.
Take the survey
All aspects of the line’s value are being investigated including the access it provides local people to employment, education and shopping in Plymouth, connectivity with the rest of the country and its role in helping tourists visit the Tamar Valley AONB. Read more
The Partnership’s achievements in 2017 have been highlighted in a new report by Great Western Railway.
GWR’s Community Rail 2017 report (available to download as a 1MB PDF) sets out highlights from the last 12 months from each of the Community Rail Partnerships on the Great Western network. Read more
In response to the growing importance of video marketing, the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership has produced a series of short films to showcase the South West’s scenic branch lines.
The videos – all under 90 seconds long – have been promoted through targeted Facebook advertising, reaching hundreds of thousands of people and garnering an extremely positive response. Read more
The Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership was awarded two first places at the national Community Rail Awards held in Derby on Thursday 5th October 2017.
The Carbon Reduction Challenge was recognised in the Involving Children and Young People category and the Seize The Sunday campaign on the Avocet Line won the Marketing award. Read more
2024 – For the 2024 Maritime Line Survey, please visit https://dcrp.org.uk/have-your-say-about-the-maritime-line-truro-penryn-falmouth/
Whether you use the train or not, if you live near the Truro-Falmouth line please help us to shape future railway services by completing this short survey.
(link now removed)
Who should take the survey? Read more