PASSENGERS are concerned they will be abandoned on platforms on the Gunnislake to Plymouth railway line following a decision by train operators to reduce the number of carriages. First Great Western has, for the foreseeable future, reduced the carriages from two to one on the Tamar Valley line, which runs daily all year, linking Plymouth with Bere Ferrers, Bere Alston, Calstock and Gunnislake. If the changes go ahead it will severely reduce the number of places for passengers on the vital rail link, especially at peak times. Each carriage takes around 70 sitting and standing passengers. But demand for peak service trains such as the 7.34am from Gunnislake to Plymouth and the return 4.28pm from Plymouth is as high as between 120 and 140 people on the Monday to Friday service. It is used by many city commuters, schoolchildren and students who live in the Tamar Valley and depend on the vital rail link. Steve Kirby from Bere Alston, a Devonport Dockyard worker, uses the line every weekday to go to work. He said: 'With 70 people in one carriage you cannot physically get on the train. 'If the train is full by the time it arrives at Bere Alston station, myself and all the other passengers at Bere Ferrers will not be able to get on. 'People who want to get on the train at peak times will be forced to find a way to Plymouth by road. This will take considerably longer than the 19 minutes it usually takes me and could mean people arriving late for work.' Mr Kirby said he and other passengers, concerned that their service would lose a carriage, contacted First Great Western and he was told the single carriage would run until at least December 2007 when it will next be reviewed. A spokesman for First Great Western said any changes would have been agreed with the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership, which promotes the branch lines of Devon and Cornwall, including the Tamar Valley line, and that had already taken place when they discussed the new franchise for the service. Julian Crow, the company's regional manager for the West of England, understood people's concerns but said the situation has arisen because of the need to find the best way to re-allocate rolling stock for other busy lines. He told the Times that the plan for the Gunnislake line is to have two coaches at the busy times but he could not guarantee they would be always available. 'As part of the new franchise we need a large number of coaches and rolling stock has been reallocated as a result.' 'The last thing we want is overcrowding on that line because we know how much the Bere peninsula and the area depends on the service.' Mr Crow said his company was trying to find a way to provide two coaches for the Gunnislake-Plymouth service at the peak demand times although at all other times the service had only one.
