brad465
Established Member
Thinking recently about how the spine of Somerset could be better served, the titled service came to mind as a possibility. My idea is the West Somerset railway from Taunton-Bishops Lydeard would be upgraded to NR standard, and the latter station along with a new station at Norton Fitzwarren would be served, with both towns seeing notable housing developments recently. The service would then continue east from Taunton to serve a new Langport-Somerton station (something that is already trying to be pushed for approval), Castle Cary, Bruton and Frome, which would see the second platform reopen to handle extra train frequency. Ideally the service would continue to Westbury for better interchange options, but there may not be the capacity to do this given the increased freight demand and extra Westbury traffic.
The service would be hourly and would link multiple housing developments/expanding towns to the rail network, as well as improving frequency on a route which is poor for intermediate stations. Among hurdles that would have to be overcome, the proposed signalling upgrade between Cogload and Castle Cary would have to happen (currently 2 aspect only), the aforementioned WSR upgrade requirement, upgrading Frome station and GWR would almost certainly have to get increased rolling stock approved, given the current levels can't even cope with current services. There may also be capacity constraints if the all day hourly Weymouth services are approved, such that CLC-Frome/Westbury sees 2tph stopping services, 1-2tph Intercity and whatever freight demand there is on top. What do others think?
The service would be hourly and would link multiple housing developments/expanding towns to the rail network, as well as improving frequency on a route which is poor for intermediate stations. Among hurdles that would have to be overcome, the proposed signalling upgrade between Cogload and Castle Cary would have to happen (currently 2 aspect only), the aforementioned WSR upgrade requirement, upgrading Frome station and GWR would almost certainly have to get increased rolling stock approved, given the current levels can't even cope with current services. There may also be capacity constraints if the all day hourly Weymouth services are approved, such that CLC-Frome/Westbury sees 2tph stopping services, 1-2tph Intercity and whatever freight demand there is on top. What do others think?