Concerns over rail delays in the South West due to HS2
The route from London to the Midlands could still cause disruption for Devon and Cornwall commuters
Last updated 18th Dec 2024
Several Devon MPs have urged the government to support the county amid potential disruption to train services to and from London during construction of the high-speed rail link between the capital and north of England.
Works linking the forthcoming HS2 station at Old Oak Common in West London to the Great Western mainline will mean major ongoing disruption in and out of Paddington.
Lord Hendy, the rail minister, has been asked to see if the construction schedule can be tweaked, especially given HS2 services are not expected to start until between 2029 and 2033.
In a parliamentary debate, Rachel Gilmour, the Liberal Democrat MP for Tiverton and Minehead, asked that Devon be supported during what could be 10 years of disruption.
“Can we be reassured that the government might do one or both of the following: decrease rail fares to encourage people to come to Devon, even though it will take an extra 20 minutes, and give proper money to local government to invest in rail and road infrastructure, during that effective closure of the network from Paddington to Cornwall?”
Steve Race, Exeter’s Labour MP, said the project needed “effective management” to ensure disruption is minimised.
“We also need to see investment in our local railway lines to ensure that we see the benefit of public transport, as well as the rest of the country,” he said.
“Speaking of the Exeter to Barnstaple line, potential improvement outcomes of the project include significantly improved punctuality and reliability for both Barnstaple and Okehampton train services, with reduced knock-on delays to other parts of the national network.”
He added improvements to this line could mean faster journey times and double the train frequency from one train per hour to two.
And Mr Race’s Exeter counterpart in the city, the Conservative MP for Exmouth and Exeter East, David Reed, said he wanted to “take the politics out of all this”.
“Old Oak Common will cause significant disruption to our county and the wider region,” he said.
“It is imperative that we work together to offset those issues as quickly as possible.”
Mr Reed added that the county’s train service got regularly cut-off due to storms impacting the Dawlish part of the line, and raised concerns that the Old Oak Common works would compound this issue.
And Torbay MP, Steve Darling, questioned whether the proposed financial mitigation would be enough.
“The fact that the section of HS2 between Old Oak Common and Euston will cost £6.5 billion is astounding,” he said.
“The mitigation of £30 million that I understand may well be on the table for the impact of Old Oak Common on the south west is a drop in the ocean compared with the overall costs of the whole HS2 project.”
Rebecca Smith, the Conservative member for South West Devon, said MPs “must not forget the £165 million that was invested in the south west rail resilience programme” by the previous government.
But she questioned the £30 million mitigation for the Old Oak Common works, asking “what will it be spent on?”
“It would be interesting to hear some detail,” she said.
“I think we can all make pitches for what that should cover: wi-fi has been touched on; and I will mention the Plymouth to Tavistock line, a nice project that would cost a fraction of the £30 million.
“We also have some challenges with platform lengths that prevent certain trains from stopping in my constituency.”
She added that longer platforms in Ivybridge could mean that 29 additional trains could stop there that don’t now because they are too long.