Media centre

Friday 3 Oct 2008

IMPROVING THE RAILWAY IN DEVON AND CORNWALL

Region & Route:

| Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Southern: Wessex

| Wales & Western

| Southern

Smoother and more reliable train journeys in Devon and Cornwall is the goal of vital annual planned rail improvement work to be carried out by Network Rail. Starting next week, essential track maintenance and renewals will begin on West Country branch lines.

Work begins on Monday 5 October on the Gunnislake branch line (Tamar Valley Line) for a week (excluding weekends), involving the replacing of life-expired rails, timbers and sleepers. The line will be closed from Monday 5 October until Friday 10 October, with replacement bus services running.

Chris Rayner, Network Rail’s territory maintenance director for the area, said: "This crucial investment is part of Network Rail’s commitment to provide an efficient and reliable railway for passengers in the region. We have worked closely with First Great Western to plan this work 18 months in advance and to ensure that disruption is kept to a minimum for rail travellers during this essential annual maintenance work."

Improvement work will also be carried out at:

Falmouth Branch (Maritime Line): 13 – 17 October and 20 – 24 October

Torquay Branch: 27 – 31 October

Looe Branch (Looe Valley Line): 3 – 7 November

Barnstaple Branch (Tarka Line): 10 – 14 November and 17– 21 November

St. Ives Branch (St Ives Bay Line): 24 - 28 November

Newquay Branch (Atlantic Coast Line): 8 - 12 December

Julian Crow, First Great Western's Regional Manager, said: "We hate to disrupt the journeys of our customers, but the engineering work is essential so that passengers in Devon and Cornwall can benefit from a more reliable and efficient service. We have worked closely with Network Rail to minimise the impact on our customers' journeys and have provided alternative services to bring passengers to their destinations."

Alternative services will be provided and details of these services will be available at stations. Customers are advised to always check journey details with the National Rail Enquiries on 08457 484950 before travelling.