Task Force delays publication of demands for South West

Publication of the Peninsula Rail Task Force’s 20-year plan on the needs for the South West has been postponed until after the summer.

PRTF planned to submit a report to the Government detailing its requirements for improved journey times to and from the South West, along with detailed plans for resilience for the rail infrastructure. This was due to be published in July (RAIL 802), but PRTF considered it did not have all the submissions delivered in time for the report to be strong enough.

Councillor Andrew Leadbetter, chairman of the PRTF, said: “I can confirm we have opted to reschedule the publication of the 20 Year Plan report until after the summer. We need to make the strongest possible case to Government for rail improvements. To do this, we require information that is not yet in the public domain.

“The publication of the latest economic date, journey time study findings and the Dawlish resilience study are all scheduled in the coming weeks. Rescheduling the publication of the report will allow the work on these topics to be finalised.”

• For more on this, read RAIL 804, published on July 6.
• For the PRTF's views on Dawlish Sea Wall capacity, read RAIL 803, published yesterday (June 22).