The Partnership’s ‘Take your Teddy on the train’ half-term promotion returns this February, in partnership with Great Western Railway and the Friends of the Atlantic Coast Line.
Previously run on the Looe Valley, Tamar Valley and Maritime lines, this year the campaign is targeting the Atlantic Coast Line that links Par and Newquay. Read more
Rail itineraries are a great way to inspire tourists. We’re keen to use them on the upcoming Scenic Rail Britain website. Here’s an example for tourists in London. We’ve aimed to make it detailed enough to be appealing (with handy links), but without specific times/fares which may change:
St Ives Bay Line – example itinerary
FROM LONDON:
Take the high speed Great Western Railway train from London Paddington to Penzance. Read more
The Friends of Crediton Station braved the rainy weather today to plant bulbs and celebrate the station’s new signage to welcome passengers.
The Partnership is currently running a recruitment drive to attract new members to the group – which has already garnered two new volunteers. Read more
The Partnership has completed a four-month Facebook advertising campaign to raise the profile of the branch lines and inspire people to take day trips by train.
Concluding last week, it reached more than 390,000 people and helped to double traffic to our Great Scenic Railways website. Read more
Whether you use the train or not, if you live in North or Mid Devon please help us to shape future railway services on the Barnstaple-Exeter line by completing this short survey.
Take the survey
Who should take the survey?
As well as current rail users, we are particularly keen to hear from those who rarely, if ever, use the trains and people who live in Barnstaple, Crediton or one of the villages served by the line and use Tiverton Parkway or another station in preference to the one most local to them. Read more
Train trips to Barnstaple from Exeter and local stations including Topsham and Crediton are half-price starting this week, thanks to a new offer to encourage more people to explore North Devon on the scenic Tarka Line.
From Saturday 22nd October, day return tickets are just £5 from Exeter stations, instead of the usual £10. Read more
The Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership was recognised in multiple categories at the annual Community Rail Awards held in Southport on 29th September 2016, and helped Great Western Railway to win the prestigious overall award.
Organised by the Association of Community Rail Partnerships (ACoRP), the event saw the Partnership’s ‘Song for the Tamar Valley Line’ project win first place in the Community Art Schemes (Renewable and smaller projects) category. Read more
The Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership has helped children from Drake Primary School to improve their local station with artwork inspired by the Tamar Valley Line.
The pupils were taught how to sketch by professional illustrator Lucy Pulleyblank, and then took a trip on the train to picturesque Calstock and put their new skills to work. Read more
We’ve launched our annual review. It sets out the highlights and successes of the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership’s year so far.
From South West Trains joining the partnership, to news of our latest innovative marketing and community projects, find out more by downloading the 16-page booklet (6MB). Read more
We were pleased to welcome more than 50 delegates from the South West and beyond to Plymouth University for the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership conference 2016.
Held on Wednesday 7th September, the event brought together a wide range of organisations including friends of the station groups, rail and public transport user groups, Community Rail Partnerships, local authorities, train operating companies, Network Rail, the Department for Transport, the Association of Community Rail Partnerships, universities, bus operators, Travelwatch South West, Railfuture, Town and Parish Councils and more. Read more
Richard Burningham, Manager of the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership, has a guest opinion piece in September’s Railnews.
The article sets out the great strides that Devon and Cornwall’s branch lines have made since 1991 when the Partnership began. It also explores how this success has been mirrored by the wider community rail sector nationwide, and the bright future ahead. Read more
CASE STUDY | Local restaurants gain great publicity and the chance to interact with potential customers face-to-face thanks to our annual Munchtime Express campaign. Read more
Devon will be more widely promoted away from the county thanks to a new rail initiative as South West Trains joins the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership.
The Plymouth University based non-profit partnership, one of the Country’s largest Community Rail Partnerships, works to promote and seek improvements to services and facilities on rural railway lines in the two counties. Read more
Representatives from the Friends of Exeter St Thomas, Great Western Railway and the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership welcomed judges from the national Community Rail Awards to the much-improved station today.
The station has been shortlisted in the It’s Your Station category. Read more
The Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership has had six entries shortlisted for 2016’s national Community Rail Awards. The nominations are:
A song for the Tamar Valley Line
(Community Art Schemes – renewable and smaller projects)
Linking two schools at either end of the beautiful Tamar Valley Line, this project aimed to broaden the horizons of the children involved by getting them out of the classroom and on to the train to create a song which captured the essence of the line and inspire the local population to visit too. Read more
This week we are launching a Facebook campaign to take our online marketing of the branch lines to the next level.
We have developed a packed calendar of more than 50 posts to run over the next four months on our Great Scenic Railways Facebook page, including videos, quizzes, top tips, handy articles and great photography. Read more
A new information centre for travellers on the railway will open at Liskeard station on Monday 1st August 2016.
The Looe Valley Line Information Centre will operate from rooms on platform 3 at Liskeard, the Looe Valley Line platform, and will feature a range of information about the local area, exhibition on the history of the line, railway books and souvenirs. Read more
Inspired by a trip on the beautiful Tamar Valley Line, children from Calstock Primary School and College Road Primary School in Keyham have created a song all about what you can see from the train window.
They launched the song at Plymouth station using a booth where passengers could listen to the song – and even get creative themselves by making ‘edible poems’. Read more
We are always seeking new marketing avenues to promote Devon and Cornwall’s branch lines, and our first ever video advert has proved a big success – having been viewed by more than 10,000 Devon and Cornwall residents.
The video – aimed at young families and focused on the sense of adventure that comes with a trip on the train – was extremely cost efficient. Read more
Devon and Cornwall’s scenic branch lines are to feature in a new national website (shown above) promoting the country’s community rail lines and heritage railways to tourists both at home and abroad, thanks to a £75,000 Government grant.
The project – led by the Association of Community Rail Partnerships (ACoRP) and supported by the Plymouth University based Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership – has been awarded funding from the Department for Transport’s Heritage and Community Rail Tourism Innovation Competition. Read more