trains

I have been a Devon transport campaigner since 1975, during which time we have pressed for greater investment in railway lines and trains. In that time we have successfully seen the re-opening of stations at Pinhoe, Digby & Sowton, Ivybridge and the reintroduction of more frequent services on many local lines. This is to be applauded.

However it is now becoming abundantly clear that our railway infrastructure in and around the county is in trouble. We desperately need urgent and deep attention to the whole rail system in the region. No wonder people are feeling abandoned by...

Concerns have been raised that the £31.1m promised by the Government last year to secure the South West’s railways against severe weather was not delivered, despite widespread support from local authorities. The money was promised by the Government for a programme of rail improvements, after winter flooding cut off rail transport to the South West peninsula for several weeks in 2012/13 with an estimated cost to the South West economy of over £140m. Last week, before the most recent storms saw the destruction of 80m railway line near Dawlish, five Local Transport Authorities including Devon...

The Prime Minster, David Cameron has said he is determined to give the public “a proper alternative service and solution” to the destroyed train line in Dawlish.

The train line which was destroyed when Tuesday night’s storm breached the Dawlish Seawall is not expected to be functionally repaired until at least the 18th March despite full scale repair works.

Many of the services between Exeter St Davids and Newton Abbot are running limited replacement bus services until this date. However rail operators have said that the service is dependent on local road conditions....

Some Commuters could see their travel costs rise to over £5,000 a year as the rail fares increase nationwide.

Industry organisation, the Rail Delivery Group, have said that increase is the smallest increase in the last four years but campaigners have said the fares are still rising three times faster than average incomes.

On average UK rail fares are set to rise by 2.8% but some regulated tickets, such as season tickets and off-peak travel tickets have risen by 3.1%.

This could see some commuters spending more than £5,000 a year on travel costs.

South West...

Children in Exeter and Exmouth will have the opportunity to tell Santa what is on their Christmas wish list this year as he visits the area on-board First Great Western (FGW) trains.

Santa and his helpers will use a specially decorated part of the train which will operate on normal train services running between Exeter Central and Exmouth through the scenic Avocet line.

First Great Western General Manager, West, David Crome said: “First Great Western is committed to supporting the communities we serve and when Santa came to us looking to rest his reindeer before the big day...

Cleaners on First Great Western (FGW) trains are embarking on their second 24-hour strike today (Friday 25 October) over pay and contracts.

Members of the RMT union working for sub-contractors MITIE on First Great Western are walking out in a dispute over a 2% pay offer and zero hours contracts.

In a statement, the union described the action as a "fight for a living wage and workplace justice as it emerged that the company chief presiding over the culture of low pay and zero hours contracts has raked in £1.37 million."

The strike began at 6am on Friday and will end...

The government has announced that First Great Western Ltd will continue to operate trains between London Paddington and the south west until September 2015.

First Group's First Great Western (FGW) company has reached agreement with the government to continue running the franchise to operate trains between London Paddington, the Cotswolds, south Wales and the South West.

The government claims rail passengers will benefit from improved services, including greater WiFi coverage, on the Great Western network as a result of the new franchise agreement announced on Thursday (3...