South West funding
EXETER’S transport leader has hit out at the lack of funding that the city - and the South West in general - receives for rail upgrades.
Referencing several cases in which Devon and Cornwall’s rail network have been cut off following bad weather at Dawlish, Rosie Denham, Portfolio Holder for City Transformation, Energy and Transport at Exeter City Council, told RAIL that a “relatively small amount of money” is needed to keep the line in use when the weather deteriorates.
“We’re always concerned about the lack of funding and where funding goes relative to the rest of the country. When you look at what has been spent in London and for HS2 up to Manchester, we are concerned the South West is forgotten about,” she said.
“I think the Dawlish situation is a good example of that. There are relatively small amounts of money needed, compared with what is being invested elsewhere, to provide the absolute basic connectivity.”
Denham claimed Exeter has the second-largest travel-to-work area outside of London, and that rail “is a big part” of keeping cars out of the city.
“We’re well-served in the city with railways, so keeping people coming through the city by rail is really important,” she added.
“Our travel-to-work area extends quite a long way out to Teignbridge. We have responded to the GWR franchise consultation and we are trying to get rail improvements that way.”
Exeter City Council launched a consultation in January on a range of measures to cut down on pollution in the city, including a workplace parking levy and congestion charge, with the aim of moving more people out of cars and onto public transport.
A workplace parking levy has been in operation in Nottingham since 2012, charging employers with more than 11 parking spaces an annual fee. Revenue goes towards public transport improvements, including extension of the city’s tram network.
Denham confirmed to RAIL that revenue gained from such a scheme in Exeter would be ringfenced to support public transport upgrades, although she added that there are no plans to build a tram network in the city.
While there aren’t any ‘big ticket’ plans for the rail network in and around Exeter in the report, Denham said her priority is to make sure Exeter isn’t overlooked when it comes to applying for money to upgrade the railways.
“We want to make sure Exeter and the greater Exeter area gets its fair share of funding,” she said, although she warned that Exeter would face stiff competition from within the South West to acquire funding.
“The way funding seems to be allocated from the Government means we’re in competition with Bristol and elsewhere. There seems to be a set amount for the South West,” she said.
“I don’t want to begrudge Bristol and the much-needed investment in its transport system, as they certainly have issues, but I think we need to make our case for funding once we’ve decided what exactly it is we want.”