Summer Saturday through trains to Newquay from London, Birmingham and a number of other cities, including Plymouth, Exeter and Bristol, will start on Saturday 21 May. One of the London trains is the famous Atlantic Coast Express which originally ran from Waterloo to Bude and Padstow, making its first run ninety years ago, in 1926. Read more
Great Western Railway (GWR) will run extra trains on Sundays between Exeter Central and Exmouth from 15 May 2016. The Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership have launched a Seize The Sunday campaign to promote the more frequent service.
Trains will run every half hour through most of the day on Sundays throughout the year, instead of the previous hourly service; with a number extending to Exeter St Davids. Read more
We’re proud to be a partner in what is shaping up to be a fantastic event on the Looe Valley Line this Saturday (23 April 2016).
As part of the Loop the Loop project, platform 3 at Liskeard station will be transformed with a pop-up library and bookshop, heritage films, mural drawing (with a cartoonist from The Beano no less) and more. Read more
We have created a new webpage to showcase the many scenic walks from Devon and Cornwall’s branch line stations.
Over the years, the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership and partner organisations have amassed a wealth of leaflets and online walking guides to help people get out and about on the branch lines and enjoy the best of the two counties’ scenery on foot. Read more
Pupils from Marpool Primary School in Exmouth recently took a free train trip on the Avocet Line which links Exmouth and Exeter, to visit Exeter Cathedral as part of their Religious Education studies. The trip was organised by the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership under their “Train trips for schoolchildren” initiative. Read more
Starcross Primary School held a special launch for the publication of “The Seaside Train”, a book celebrating the unique and very scenic Riviera Line which links Exeter, Starcross, Newton Abbot and Paignton.
This book was inspired by the Citizens’ Rail train, a Class 153 single coach train which was given a special livery last year by Great Western Railway to celebrate the Citizens’ Rail project. Read more
We’re promoting the earlier start of Sunday services from Liskeard to Looe and our Easter Bunny visited Looe station to launch the improved service.
We sent the picture to the press and it made page 3 of the main local paper, the Cornish Times. Read more
Trains will run earlier on Sundays on the St Ives Bay Line starting on Easter Sunday, 27th March 2016.
Every Sunday from then until 23 October, seventeen trains will run each way on the scenic branch line which links St Erth, Lelant Saltings, Carbis Bay and St Ives. Read more
We’re pleased to join our fellow Community Rail Partnerships along with regional and national partners at the annual GWR Community Rail Conference this week.
Hosted in Yeovil by Great Western Railway and the Heart of Wessex Community Rail Partnership, the one-day conference provides the chance to learn from and network with organisations ranging from Rail User Groups to the Department for Transport and Network Rail. Read more
Our ‘Take your teddy on the train’ promotion returns this half-term, giving accompanied children free travel on the Tamar Valley, Looe Valley and Maritime lines if they bring a teddy with them.
The concept was trialled in 2015 to great success, with busy trains packed with families. Read more
The Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership – on behalf of Cornwall Council – is carrying out a survey to ask Gunnislake and Calstock rail users their views on the preferred option for their future train service when Tavistock rejoins the rail network. Read more
Gastropubs along the Avocet Line from Exeter to Exmouth are offering discounts to diners who travel there by train. We have arranged this promotion to encourage diners to leave the car at home and take the train for a trip out to a well-rated gastropub. Read more
Our programme of taster rail trips to introduce young people to travelling by train has got off to a great start in 2016.
This week, Paignton’s Oldway School enjoyed a trip on the Riviera Line with Celia Minoughan of the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership. Read more
Mark Hopwood, MD of Great Western Railway (GWR), will be giving a lecture at Plymouth University next month.
In the wake of weather-related service disruptions and questions over its long-term resilience, now is a critical time for the railway in the far South West. Read more
CASE STUDY | We were lead partner in the EU Citizens’ Rail project, which ran from 2012 to 2015. The project worked in five regions in North West Europe to put into practice the ‘community rail’ approach developed in the UK over the past 20 years.
The Tarka Rail Association has gained some excellent coverage in the North Devon Journal, celebrating the continuing growth of passenger numbers on the Tarka Line (Exeter-Barnstaple).
Read the full article on the North Devon Journal website, or read more about the Partnership’s work with the Tarka Rail Association to develop the line over many years. Read more
Celia Minoughan, Project Officer at the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership, is working on a promotion project for the Avocet Line (Exeter-Exmouth) in partnership with the Avocet Line Rail Users Group (ALRUG). Since mid-November Celia has promoted leisure travel on the Avocet Line during off-peak hours, for Christmas shopping and events, walking from the railway and dining by train. Read more
The Looe Valley Line, the scenic branch line which links Looe and Liskeard, will see Sunday trains from Easter Sunday next year, 27 March, almost two months earlier than before.
With the earlier extension of the Sunday service to the end of October, this means that in 2016, the Looe Valley Line will have more trains on more Sundays than at any time for decades. Read more
CASE STUDY | As part of our EU Citizens’ Rail project, we worked with the Friends of Exeter St Thomas Station and a range of partner organisations to develop an Eco Garden to enhance the station.
Our award-winning Munchtime Express project goes from strength to strength, with this year’s events fully booked a week before the programme has even begun. The project sees local restaurants serving up taster lunches on the Looe Valley Line to drum up new business and encourage more people to take the train at a quiet time of year. Read more