Laira Station Campaign Update
Over the weekend I hosted two public meetings, one at St Mary’s Church in Laira and one at Mount Gould Methodist Church, for local residents to learn more about the proposals to reopen Laira Station and a new Plymouth Metro train service. I wanted to listen residents’ views on improving rail connectivity and strengthening transport links across Plymouth.
What’s the Plymouth Metro?
Metro services are hop on/hop off services that you see in big cities like London, Manchester and Liverpool. Using smaller stopping trains you run more frequent services. We are aiming for a train every 30 minutes on the Plymouth Metro and that would go from Ivybridge to Bere Alston stopping at the stations between all day long helping provide a new regular way of getting around the city.
What are the different phases of the Plymouth Metro?
I have proposed a three-phase Plymouth Metro. The first phase would be GWR running hop on/hop off stopping trains between Ivybridge and Bere Alston stopping at all the current stations: So that’s a route from Ivybridge, Plymouth, Devonport, Dockyard, Keyham, St Budeaux, Bere Ferrers and Bere Alston. The second phase would be adding more passengers to the network with a new station at Laira serving the communities of Efford, Lipson, Laira and Mount Gould, and a new station at Plympton too. This would provide real alternatives to getting in a car and open new opportunities for folks in those communities to get to the city centre and to Devonport dockyard. The third phase would see the Plymouth Metro extended to Tavistock. We know this is a long way off, but the first two phases would have established a business model and showed passenger demand, that would help us pitch for the funding for the new line.
The project aims to:
- Make travel across Plymouth faster and more reliable
- Improve accessibility to public transport
- Reduce traffic congestion
- Improve connectivity between communities
- Support local economic growth
Residents at the public meetings raised a wide range of important points, including:
- Parking and the impact on local residents
- Accessibility of the station
- Service frequency
- Opportunities for wider regeneration in the surrounding area
- Areas that would benefit most from a Plymouth Metro
The campaign is at an early stage, but I’m grateful for everyone who came along to the public meetings to share their views. All feedback will play a key role in shaping the proposals as they continue to develop.
If you would like to share your views, or if you would like to be kept updated, please get in touch at: [email protected]