Dear all,

What a fantastic start to the Save Our Railway campaign - waking up to see almost 200 signatures less than 24 hours since the petition went live is a great start to the weekend! These early signatures have a really important impact as they establish the momentum of the campaign, and to put it in context, if memory serves correctly, it took around a fortnight to reach the same figure with Save Our Sleeper.

It goes to show how much things have changed since I joint chaired Save Our Sleeper all those years ago that I had no idea supporters could boost the campaign on change.org, and I’m stunned that so many people have. I’d like to thank you personally so please drop me a line at saveourrailwaydawlish@gmail.com so I can do so!

While it’s fabulous seeing many people who supported Save Our Sleeper dust off their campaign hats again, I’m conscious that was a very long time ago, and I may not be the household name some campaigns have. By way of background, I’ve been a rail industry journalist for almost 25 years and I’m currently Deputy Editor of industry bible Modern Railways. I’ve been in Cornwall for 20 years and have reported in depth on the issues around our coastal main line since it collapsed in 2014 - which is why I’m so concerned about this pause.

Before I set up the petition, I set out what I think should be the terms of reference for the campaign. In summary, they are that it must be solely focused on reversing this pause, absolutely and rigidly non-party political, positive FOR the work to be done rather than against the pause, and including as many voices as possible.

What’s next? Well, we’re rather ahead of where I thought we’d be so next week is probably a good time to announce the campaign to regional and trade media, with a formal launch potentially to follow. We’ve already contacted the region’s MPs, and if you’re in the South West, it would be immensely helpful if you could send your MP an email explaining why you’re supporting the campaign. A couple of MPs have indicated their support and I think more will follow as they can see the momentum we’re building. Then it’s a case of building the evidence, continuing to get more signatures on the petition, highlighting stories of individuals and organisations who depend on the railway and making it clear to Government that the decision to pause the Phase 5 works must be reconsidered.

I’ve started a basic Blogger site at saveourrailway.blogspot.com which I’ll be populating with more posts, articles and links as we go on, but it is early days on that.

So, a fabulous start to Save Our Railway, and a heartfelt thanks to everyone who’s signed up so far. Together we can get this decision reversed and secure the region’s umbilical cord, which until those works are done passes under the sandstone sword of Damocles of those cliffs.

if you’ve any thoughts or ideas, please drop me a line - and hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

All the very best,

Andy Bowes-Roden

Hayle, Cornwall