Single-track investment

Perhaps your Milngavie correspondent Dougie Harrison ( Open Access, RAIL 858) might like to compare his branch with the Avocet Line from Exeter: about nine miles of single track with one passing loop at Topsham, from which the last five miles are operated as a ‘one train only’ dead end siding to single-platform Exmouth?

The branch carries almost two million passengers a year, with the Exmouth passenger figures comparable to those of Milngavie at about 950,000.

Here, however, there is only sufficient line capacity for two trains per hour in each direction, with some cancellations due to late running. Our trains are not electric, but mainly 30-year-old four-wheel Class 143s, which must be replaced by the end of 2019 by Class 150s of similar age.

I think ours is just as good a case as Milngavie, especially as the line serves the rapidly developing commercial and residential area of Exeter and East Devon.

Dougie’s comments, however, support my view that there are many essential but non-glamorous services reaching capacity, but not receiving the investment they should. In Exeter’s case, they are badly needed to help relieve the ever-increasing road traffic gridlock and air pollution.

The railways have social responsibilities as well as commercial targets. But at present, these are recognised only in the big cities with political clout (London receives annually four times the amount per head for transport purposes as the West).

But even the humble Avocet Line deals with twice as many passengers a year as Exeter International Airport! It is time this balance was redressed.