This will be advance work, for which a separate advance authority will have been granted. Indeed it may well be part of the development funding, to ascertain exactly how much it will cost to run a full service. Yo7 don’t want to ask for £x, then find several bridges need rebuilding and it’s now £2x. So, yes, ‘they’ would go to this much trouble without a final investment decision.
That makes sense, but two trainloads of CWR deposited on the Okehampton line beyond the NR boundary last week, with more to follow soon, dosen't make sense as "advanced" works.
With Dartmoor railway going into administration the line would have reverted to Aggregate Industries the freeholder. I have seen nothing to indicate NR purchasing it off them, which makes it even odder for NR to be forking out a large sum for track renewals on it.
There has been a garbled rumour that the quarry is to be reopened to supply ballast for HS2. This is clearly false as HS2 will be slab track.
What is known is that Aggregate Industries are making the track slabs for HS2. For this a concrete works will be built near Merehead Quarry and use stone from said quarry.
From here I speculate. Mereheads output being used for HS2 gives AI a problem of how to supply their usual Merehead customers for several years.
It may therefore be that AI will reopen their mothballed quarry at Meldon for a few years and it may be that AI are getting *their* railway line from Crediton to the Quarry relayed for stone trains as a result.
Photographs have been supplied showing a bridge cleared of ivy to allow it to be inspected. This bridge is west of Okehampton and this work would not be needed for a restored passenger service to Okehampton.
Relaying for stone trains solves the goveenments capital problem of the relaying that was going to be needed for passenger trains.
If stone trains run at night then the existing train staff signalling need not be upgraded.
SWR and GWR working together provides the train service.
The government as a result get a high profile reopening and new "Intercity" service from Waterloo to Okehampton with negligable cost (effectively HS2 will have indirectly paid the capital cost of rebuilding the line to an adequate standard for daily passenger services, and I suspect a hefty consequent line speed increase with it).
Aggregate Industries get track access fees which help pay for the track upgrade for the stone trains.
Result everyone happy.
I would expect GSM-R to need to be extended on to the line, unless some way round that can be found (would a "temporary" Speller Amendment trial reopening be able to defer it's provision?).
If the above is true, with a political hat on it will also make it very difficult to credibly claim that HS2 dosen't benefit the south west.
Frankly it dosen't get better than this if your name is Michael Green..........