Reopening the Devizes branch line in full

[brad465]

From what I can see on a map, most of the old trackbed is still undeveloped and passes through or near areas with sizeable housing developments either built since closure, and/or on the cards (such as around Melksham). If this line reopened with intermediate stations at Devizes and a Melksham South/Pkwy station (near the A350), the route would serve these areas and potentially provide a freight diversion route off part of the B&H while still feeding into Westbury. In terms of passenger service, the best option I can see is reinstating London-Bedwyn through services and extending them to Westbury along this route, calling at Pewsey, Devizes, Melksham Pkwy and Trowbridge, which gives the new stations a direct service to London (and possibly doubling the Exeter semi-fasts and sending the extra ones this way). If freight could be diverted along here, there maybe more paths for express services further west, and/or act as a diversion route when the existing section is subject to engineering work and/or flooding (if the bit that floods regularly is through Lavington rather than Woodborough), which avoids extra GWML congestion.

Among drawbacks, effectively duplicating an existing route is probably a questionable investment, even if serving new/existing areas better than before, plus the tunnel under part of Devizes may not be in a reasonable condition, where repair costs could easily do to this route what Meldon viaduct is doing to the concept of a full Dartmoor line reopening. It could also complicate any proposals to extend electrification further west, particularly if electrifying the heavy quarry freight is an aspiration.

 

[Gloster]

Do you really need a diversionary route? You have Woodborough loops only a few miles to the east and it is only fifteen miles from there to Heywood Road Junction.

A fair amount of the route seems to be built on and I think that, even without other reasons, this would prove too costly. The tunnel is apparently used by a shooting club.

To my mind a better and cheaper solution would be a Devizes Parkway situated at or near the old Patney & Chirton station, just a short run from the town along the A342. What would probably be held against that is that it would probably extract some traffic from Pewsey and Westbury. You could have a couple of through trains to London a day and the rest being Newbury or Reading-Westbury or Frome locals. But what about capacity?

 

[30907]

Gloster has beaten me to it. My other point was to have been about travel to Bath and Bristol, which would require a change at Trowbridge unless you reinstated the Bradford Jn triangle. Might there be a market for a Newbury-Devizes Parkway-Bristol via Hawkeridge rather than a second Exeter semifast?

 

[Gloster]

Gloster has beaten me to it. My other point was to have been about travel to Bath and Bristol, which would require a change at Trowbridge unless you reinstated the Bradford Jn triangle. Might there be a market for a Newbury-Devizes Parkway-Bristol via Hawkeridge rather than a second Exeter semifast?

I think that you might just as well go into Westbury and reverse. It would take a few minutes, but you would have easier connections to the Salisbury and Weymouth lines, and to trains to Devon and Cornwall. It would also be slightly easier from an operational point of view, as you wouldn’t have trains crawling in and out of the curve across the junctions at Heywood Road and Hawkeridge. It would add a bit to the cost, but perhaps they could reopen the southern platform face in the station.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

The Devizes Parkway scheme still seems to bubbling along - it would be slightly west of the old Patney & Chirton station at Lydeway where the A342 crosses the railway. It is probably the best that Devizes can hope for.

BBC

Plans for a new railway station to connect residents in a "transport wilderness" to the main line are progressing.

Devizes' new station is partly dependent on a Platform 0 at Westbury being built, which would connect Westbury to Paddington and could run via Devizes.

Melksham and Devizes MP Brian Mathew said: "The big date is going to be in March. That's when the study is being published about Platform 0 at Westbury."

The town council has formed a task group of five councillors to advocate for the new station, which they hope could be built by 2032 if funding is secured.

Councillor Richard Oliver, chair of the task group, said the project is being taken "a lot more seriously" now after 14 years of discussions.

The station could be built at Lydeway just outside of Devizes, he added.

Network Rail has already recommended building the station to support population and economic growth.

But another big hurdle, even if Platform 0 is approved, is securing funding for the project.

"Devizes is a bit of a (transport) wilderness, the road connections are not brilliant, public transport connections are fairly poor," Oliver said.

"There's a real need seeing as we're getting more housing. More people need to move around more places.

"(Devizes) is a really good access point for Southampton, Salisbury and Bath – it would be a nicely placed stopping point between these places."

He added that the new station and car park would cost "millions into the double figures," but that the expected benefits it generated would justify the cost.

Cllr. Oliver seems a bit confused about the railway geography however!

Off topic, I've always thought a 'Frome Parkway' on the avoiding line would be a good idea, which could also be served by Paddington-Exeter semi-fast services.

 

[Grimsby town]

The Devizes Parkway scheme still seems to bubbling along - it would be slightly west of the old Patney & Chirton station at Lydeway where the A342 crosses the railway. It is probably the best that Devizes can hope for.

BBC




Cllr. Oliver seems a bit confused about the railway geography however!

Off topic, I've always thought a 'Frome Parkway' on the avoiding line would be a good idea, which could also be served by Paddington-Exeter semi-fast services.

I can't see it happening. I had some small involvement into work looking into the Parkway and it doesn't really achieve much.

If you don't have access to a car it improves journey times quite a bit if you're travelling to London or Plymouth (and stations in between), assuming a shuttle bus from Devizes is provided. That's because it avoids fairly slow bus services to Pewsey or Westbury.

If you're travelling to just about anywhere else in the local area, it's pretty useless and uncompetitive with bus services because it requires taking a bus service to the parkway station and then changing trains at Westbury. It'll likely be quicker to get the bus to Trowbridge and then the train. There's also direct bus services to Swindon and Salisbury which a shuttle bus and two trains isn't going to compete against.

If you've got a car, a Parkway station might save 5 minutes over driving to Westbury or Pewsey but thats not really worth building a station and slowing a service down for. The combination of the station being out of town and the railway geography means it doesn't stack up. A limited stop, intergrated coach service to Westbury or a better intergrated local bus service to Trowbridge are probably better solutions than a rail station or new line.

 

[MarkyT]

I can't see it happening. I had some small involvement into work looking into the Parkway and it doesn't really achieve much.

If you don't have access to a car it improves journey times quite a bit if you're travelling to London or Plymouth (and stations in between), assuming a shuttle bus from Devizes is provided. That's because it avoids fairly slow bus services to Pewsey or Westbury.

If you're travelling to just about anywhere else in the local area, it's pretty useless and uncompetitive with bus services because it requires taking a bus service to the parkway station and then changing trains at Westbury. It'll likely be quicker to get the bus to Trowbridge and then the train. There's also direct bus services to Swindon and Salisbury which a shuttle bus and two trains isn't going to compete against.

If you've got a car, a Parkway station might save 5 minutes over driving to Westbury or Pewsey but thats not really worth building a station and slowing a service down for. The combination of the station being out of town and the railway geography means it doesn't stack up. A limited stop, intergrated coach service to Westbury or a better intergrated local bus service to Trowbridge are probably better solutions than a rail station or new line.

If you don't have a car available to park all day at the station, the parkway is the kind of distance away you might persuade a family member or friend to drive to drop you off, without it being too time-consuming, or it could be an affordable taxi ride or a reasonable cycling distance. I agree it's likely less attractive for local travellers heading west. Current #3A/C bus service out to Stert as part of a big rural loop is pretty poor. Probably best to extend the #1 town bus out to the station. Housing development between the existing town and the new station could help underpin a better bus service in that direction and provide ready business for the railway.