:00:09. > :00:12.The train journey from Exeter to London's Waterloo
:00:13. > :00:17.Hong Kong company MTR and First Group have won
:00:18. > :00:21.the franchise for South West trains and take over in August.
:00:22. > :00:24.They're set to invest ?1.2 billion across the network.
:00:25. > :00:31.The Waterloo line is picturesque but slow.
:00:32. > :00:34.The news of this investment, with new and more frequent
:00:35. > :00:37.trains cutting journey times from the south-west to London
:00:38. > :00:41.by up to 15 minutes, has been welcomed by passengers.
:00:42. > :00:45.It would mean that we could get up there quicker to go to the theatre,
:00:46. > :00:48.which is what we like to do, go there with the children at
:00:49. > :00:52.It would be excellent to give more options for people to travel
:00:53. > :00:57.It's a long journey and there's a lot of stops there,
:00:58. > :01:00.which leaves us all out in the sticks a little bit
:01:01. > :01:02.and I believe, obviously, a direct train between Exeter
:01:03. > :01:06.and London that was a lot faster would be useful for people.
:01:07. > :01:10.Importantly, the Waterloo line is less vulnerable to flooding.
:01:11. > :01:13.It doesn't travel through the Cowley Bridge junction,
:01:14. > :01:16.north of Exeter, or the Somerset Levels, both
:01:17. > :01:22.But there is no news of investment at Dawlish where the line has
:01:23. > :01:27.repeatedly been cut by storms or further in to Devon and Cornwall.
:01:28. > :01:31.We need to have a second reliable, resilient rail network
:01:32. > :01:36.here in the south-west and whilst this is definitely a positive move,
:01:37. > :01:39.it is not something we should be taking focus of.
:01:40. > :01:42.We need to continue with the efforts of the south-west campaign,
:01:43. > :01:45.the peninsular task force and keep very much the government's feet
:01:46. > :01:52.The new franchise for the Waterloo line has been won by First Group.
:01:53. > :01:54.They also run trains on the Paddington line,
:01:55. > :01:58.leading some to raise concerns about a lack of competition.
:01:59. > :02:02.The new service will begin operating from here to Waterloo in August.
:02:03. > :02:05.In the next few months, the government are due
:02:06. > :02:07.to announce their proposals regarding what to do
:02:08. > :02:12.Interesting and important times are ahead for
:02:13. > :02:22.While passengers in Devon and the east of the region might
:02:23. > :02:24.welcome today's rail announcement, there's little, if any benefit
:02:25. > :02:27.for those travelling by train from Cornwall.
:02:28. > :02:30.Passengers in the county have been promised faster journey times
:02:31. > :02:34.on the mainline to Paddington, but that's still some time off.
:02:35. > :02:38.John Ayres has been gauging reaction.
:02:39. > :02:40.Rail passengers here, like fare payers right
:02:41. > :02:44.across the country, want to feel like they are being treated equally.
:02:45. > :02:48.Here in Penzance, it can feel like the nation's capital is a very
:02:49. > :02:52.Any rail investment will be welcomed by passengers, but Cornwall
:02:53. > :03:00.Penzance via Exeter via Tiverton Parkway and up
:03:01. > :03:02.to Paddington is definitely the route that needs
:03:03. > :03:09.I suppose if that part becomes very fast, I would probably go to Exeter
:03:10. > :03:15.It is much more economical and better for me to go
:03:16. > :03:20.The problem with rail travel in Cornwall is how long it
:03:21. > :03:25.It is about 180 miles from London Paddington to Exeter.
:03:26. > :03:28.The fastest train does it in just two hours,
:03:29. > :03:32.that's an average speed of 90 mph, but then from Exeter
:03:33. > :03:37.to Penzance it's 120 miles and that takes three hours,
:03:38. > :03:41.so the average speed has more than halved.
:03:42. > :03:44.What we need to do is get a time in the morning
:03:45. > :03:48.where a train goes from Truro, St Austell, Exeter and on to London,
:03:49. > :03:51.that will stop all those stops, so a real commuter line if you like,
:03:52. > :03:54.for business people travelling up to London and one on the way
:03:55. > :03:57.That will open up Cornwall to business in the
:03:58. > :04:03.The investment this time is private money from the franchise operators.
:04:04. > :04:05.The Transport Minister, Paul Maynard, says this announcement
:04:06. > :04:09.is about the South Western trains franchise and rail passengers
:04:10. > :04:12.in Cornwall will see improvements to rolling stock by the end
:04:13. > :04:20.NHS managers in Devon involved in controversial proposed cuts
:04:21. > :04:24.to the health service are being subjected to unacceptable
:04:25. > :04:27.levels of abuse, according to one local health commisioning group.
:04:28. > :04:32.Whilst there's no suggestion of any wrongdoing, the new Devon CCG claims
:04:33. > :04:35.senior staff have been verbally abused at some public
:04:36. > :04:39.meetings and in the street, and says some online comments use
:04:40. > :04:46.language that is physically threatening.
:04:47. > :04:53.We are seeing online postings of threatening and abusive behaviour,
:04:54. > :04:59.staff are experiencing abusive and threatening behaviour at public
:05:00. > :05:03.meetings and much more worryingly, staff are being verbally abused when
:05:04. > :05:05.they are going about their business, when they are not on work time and
:05:06. > :05:08.that is wholly inappropriate. Now a brief roundup of other stories
:05:09. > :05:10.making the news tonight. The case of a young mother
:05:11. > :05:13.who was killed by a speeding driver in a head-on crash near Bodmin,
:05:14. > :05:16.was heard at Truro Sabrina Bellman, who was on holiday
:05:17. > :05:20.from Hampshire, was on her way home from a Christmas pantomime
:05:21. > :05:22.with her family when 31-year-old Daniel Smith from St Teath hit them
:05:23. > :05:25.on Boxing Day in 2015. He's admitted causing death
:05:26. > :05:27.by careless driving, The trial began today of a Plymouth
:05:28. > :05:34.soldier accused of stabbing 26-year-old Jay Nava
:05:35. > :05:40.of the Royal Citadel is charged with murdering 26-year-old
:05:41. > :05:42.Natasha Wake in Winchester Crown Court heard Natasha
:05:43. > :05:48.was stabbed after she discovered he was being investigated
:05:49. > :05:51.for a sexual offence. Four small banks in Devon
:05:52. > :05:56.are closing this week because they say they're getting
:05:57. > :05:59.fewer customers through the door Lloyds is shutting its branches
:06:00. > :06:03.in Dartmouth, Salcombe, It's starting a new mobile service
:06:04. > :06:10.in the areas affected. Work starts tonight on a ?250,000
:06:11. > :06:13.scheme to install average speed cameras on the A38 and A380
:06:14. > :06:18.at Splatford Split, near Exeter. Highways England says the cameras
:06:19. > :06:22.along a two and a half mile stretch of the eastbound carriageway
:06:23. > :06:30.will improve safety. They're famous for building dams
:06:31. > :06:32.and now it's claimed beavers could be the answer
:06:33. > :06:35.to our flooding problems. A six-year trial at a secret
:06:36. > :06:38.location in Devon has Our environment correspondent
:06:39. > :06:42.Adrian Campbell has been The return of beavers
:06:43. > :06:48.to the River Otter in East Devon has But in another part of Devon,
:06:49. > :06:54.at a secret location sealed off by electric fencing,
:06:55. > :06:58.another group of beavers The results of their hard work over
:06:59. > :07:03.the past six years can There has been a dramatic change
:07:04. > :07:08.in the landscape where they have been living and working,
:07:09. > :07:12.with the creation of This is one of 13 dams along a 200
:07:13. > :07:20.metre stretch of this watercourse and you can see there is evidence
:07:21. > :07:22.of recent activity When you look closely you can
:07:23. > :07:28.see how big and deep Researchers from the University
:07:29. > :07:37.of Exeter have been monitoring the way the beavers have
:07:38. > :07:39.changed the watercourse. The black lines represent
:07:40. > :07:42.the new dams and the areas of blue are new pools which all slow down
:07:43. > :07:47.the flow of water. You can see the dam that runs
:07:48. > :07:50.along the face there. Mark Elliott says this project has
:07:51. > :07:54.shown how beavers can provide When water surges at the top
:07:55. > :08:02.of a site during a flood, those ponds and the dams hold
:08:03. > :08:06.the water back and it comes out here much slower as the dams
:08:07. > :08:11.are slowing the flow of flood water It can only help to reduce the speed
:08:12. > :08:17.of flood water coming down into the communities that live
:08:18. > :08:20.in the lower parts of the catchment, The University of Exeter's
:08:21. > :08:24.data shows flooding can The chopping down of trees
:08:25. > :08:31.and building of dams seems to work. Conservationists are keen
:08:32. > :08:35.to persuade politicians that areas of flooding might benefit from this
:08:36. > :08:51.type of natural engineering. Time to take a look at the weather.
:08:52. > :09:00.We have had some gorgeous weather, David. We have had temperatures
:09:01. > :09:06.today, 16, 17 degrees. Will that last? Probably, but not necessarily
:09:07. > :09:09.dry with sunshine. A change perhaps to more unsettled weather and we are
:09:10. > :09:15.expecting to see some showers tomorrow. Some sunny spells during
:09:16. > :09:19.the course of the week and right at the end, it turns colder. One
:09:20. > :09:26.weather front coming in by the end of the night. It will produce a
:09:27. > :09:31.fuchsia was. It brushes past us on its way northwards. What follows is
:09:32. > :09:35.more persistent rain which will be around tomorrow evening and
:09:36. > :09:39.Wednesday. Thursday we draw up some warmth from Spain and Portugal so
:09:40. > :09:45.temperatures slightly higher by Thursday. Higher temperatures
:09:46. > :09:53.through western France crossing the Channel towards us and we could be
:09:54. > :09:59.up to 16, 17 degrees. A weather front will move through on Friday
:10:00. > :10:04.introducing colder air. It is not particularly warm tonight.
:10:05. > :10:07.Temperatures not as low as last night but certainly five or 6
:10:08. > :10:17.degrees in a few places. Showers will trick trickle across northern
:10:18. > :10:23.parts of Devon into South Wales and what replaces that is brighter skies
:10:24. > :10:28.for a time. 14, 15 the top temperature. More persistent rain to
:10:29. > :10:33.end the day. The same weather system will be with us on Wednesday, so
:10:34. > :10:38.they could be a rather cloudy day with patchy rain around. Some warmth
:10:39. > :10:42.and brighter weather on Thursday and then that fresher, cold air arriving
:10:43. > :10:50.by the end of the week. Have a good night. The breakfast bulletins
:10:51. > :10:55.stopped just before 6:30am tomorrow morning. Goodbye.
:10:56. > :10:58.showery on Saturday, dry and brighter on Sunday and if we go back
:10:59. > :11:01.to the temperatures in the next couple days, you see those highs on
:11:02. > :11:17.Thursday. He is John Hammond with the national
:11:18. > :11:18.this cyclone Debbie crashes onto the Queensland coast with