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March 28, 2008
Terminal 5 - a portent for the Olympics?
I'm hearing on the news that Heathrow's newly opened Terminal 5 was in a state of some chaos on its first day today, with "Hand baggage only" being order of the daym, and what started as a smooth operation in the morning turning into a chaos of queues snaking right out of the checkin area by tea time ...
And, co-incidentally, I attended a meeting last night where we heard from various transport planners associated with getting the transport right for the Olympic games. And I have to say I found the picture they painted inconsistent and worrying. On one hand, the talk of it being "all public transport" with parking only for the most seriously disabled, and on the other hand they talk of buying three thousand cars (that's the London end). On one hand, they talk about building something that will last and on the other hand they end up proudly justifying a bridge because the middle span will be retained to give access to an area of land that will be a prime development site. And on one hand we hear of there being a great train stock shortage - so much so that nothing will be scrapped int he next few years as there's a need to increase capacity, yet on the other hand we hear of the organisers looking to pay the TOCs to retain stock in mothballs for a few years then put it back in to service, together with semi-retired drivers retained as part timres for a while, for the 60 days of the Olympics.
In a way it's early and it would be unfair of me to expect full answers, but I had a question about the travel issues that they couldn't answer. To me, a journey has a start and an end and it seems like the Olymic folks have onky considered one end of the journey - they're looking at getting people in and out or venue, of running public transport to and from there until the middle of the night. But where to? It would be too early to suggest that the tactics of each route should have been planned, but it seemed they didn't know about the strategy. Weymouth man seemed to be looking narrowly at the area below the white Jurassic Cliffs - as if the A35 and rail links will magically feed traffic to his relief road whch "is nothing to do with the Olymoics" but should be ready for them, and London man came up with a rather muted "claerly that won't do" when I suggested that a fleet of trains from London dumping everyone at Bristol Temple Meads (say) wasn't going to get paople back to their individual B&Bs and other sleeping places and for the only time all evening an otherwise eloquent gentleman seemed lost for words.
I worry that it's not been thought through, and that the plan is going off at half cock. I worry when I hear Weymouth man refer me to a sentence on page 52 of a report that he waves at me and I've never seen before - I've painful memories of a time that was done at it turned out to be the death knell of an appropariate train service in Melksham. And I worry that - even at this early stage - we're headed for a Teminal 5 type startup for the Olympic transport. Problem is ... the games run for two weeks.
I do hope we don't bleed the outer ends of people's journeys dry of investment over the next five years to put together a magnificent set of schemes at the centre, only to find that teething troubles for their first two weeks of full use mean they're just about right by the time they're to be finished with, leaving us with some very expensive bridges to nowhere. I hope, but on last night's evidence I fear that it's a vain hope.
Posted by gje at 06:09 AM | Comments (0)
March 27, 2008
Senseless service - could become sensible
"It didn't make any sense." So said a delegate on this week's course that I'm running in Melksham. Looking to travel down from Oxford, where he lives, by train ... that's about 60 miles.
What did the train website tell him? To arrive for the 9 a.m. course start he was to leave Oxford at 00:05, change at Didcot, and again at Swindon (with a long wait) and get to Melksham at 06:43. Too early an arrival? The next train leaves Oxford at 17:51, and again with two changes gets him to Melksham at 19:10
He's right - it doesn't make any sense. But it's not the web site that's wrong - it's correctly describing the current senseless service. Can you believe that's the whole day's service linking the five largest towns in the county!
We do have a prospect - IF we push for it - of an increase to a much more appropriate 6 trains per day. Your support would be much appreciated - please visit our support page to sign up! THANKS
Posted by gje at 08:13 AM | Comments (0)
March 21, 2008
Not a Swiss clock railway this morning
A Typical Morning in my Hotelier's diary here in Melksham, Wiltshire. The end-of-the-week business guests are leaving and making for their next destinations - the intenational set today (for the UK based folks left yesterday, today being Good Friday)
"When's the train ... I'm going to London for the day before flying our tomorrow". And then I face the embarrasment of telling my customers that although we have a station in the town, we have no trains today. "Someone suggested Chippenham to me" says my customer, but I offer to go look it up, and discover that journey times from Chippenham are two and a half hours today, with a bus ride to Reading of a train dogleg via Bath! I end up sending my customer to Westbury - from where a 90 minutes ride (at least that is the schedule!) ride will get her to Paddington before half past nine.
My guest if from Switzerland ... and can't understand why we have a railway line but no trains today, and why there's so much contrary advise and changes.
Posted by gje at 07:41 AM | Comments (0)
March 08, 2008
The heart says "public transport", the head forces car
Isn't it ridiculous? I'm going to an event called "Social Enterprise and the railways" today - and I'm Driving there - to Swindon. How silly can you get - well - I could have left of the direct train at 19:50 last night. I could catch the hourly but to Chippenham then the hourly train on - but that would leave me with a 56 minute wait as the timetables have been designed to fail the through traveller.
Amongst the speakers is Anne Snelgrove - local MP and PPS to the Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly. It will be very interesting to hear what she has to say about the provision of public transport that is capable of meeting the disparate range of travel requirements we have in this area.
Here are some recent links:
Campaign handout - what we have now and what we should have and separate what we have and what we should have sheets.
Travel Watch South West handout fo Save the Train
First Great Western Coffeeshop flyer
Posted by gje at 05:38 AM | Comments (0)
March 02, 2008
Meeting Season
This is the meeting season! On Thursday, I was at the West Wilts Rail User Group public meeting in Bradford-on-Avon, on Friday at the Major's reception in Melksham, and yesterday at TravelWatch SouthWest - the organisation runs, twice a year, a series of talks for local campaining bodies and we were addressed by the CEO of First Great Western, the MD of Thamesdown Transport, the Head of regional Transport at Government Office South West, and others. And a good chance to network too, and to talk to these people and other people at the meeting over lunch - it might not be directly relevant to the TransWilts campaign for me to share a joke with the head of the Stagecoach Devon bus company, but it sure helps to know some of the movers and shakers and to be able to approach them if ever I need a question answered! Before you ask - yes, I did have a chance to talk to the new FGW team, and was impressed (thank goodness!)
Behind the scenes, and in front too, some things are changing. It was heartening to hear the CEO of FGW mentioning the Salisbury to Swindon corridor (i.e. the TransWilts) specifically in his speech as one of the things that needs to be resolved. It was heartening to here him talking about carrying on with improvements over and above doing the work necessary to bring the company into compliance with its franchise commitments. And it was heartening to hear him talking about customers and briging disenfranchised passengers back on board.
Andrew - you have indeed made a mark in the South West in your first 100 days, and I applaud that. And I applaud your words. But as yet we have seen nothing but paperwork and meetings, and if anything the TransWilts service has been worse rather than better - a complete lack of even a token service over much of Christmas and some "bustitution" almost every weekend from the start of December. And that carries on up to Easter at least. We look forward to seeing a real improvement in due course on the ground - a regular (if infrequent) service through the day from Salisbury to Swindon, with trains at proper Swindon Commuter times - as per the "option b" we've been touting for several years. There is work still to be done, I know - let's work together and do it for the mutuala benefit of the residents of Wiltshire, travellers to and through the area, and First Great Western.
Posted by gje at 10:00 AM | Comments (0)