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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 March 2, 2008 10:00 AM