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Topic: Ashchurch for Tewkesbury Train Service Cuts - Petition To The PM (Read 4430 times)
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Lee
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Ashchurch for Tewkesbury station used to have many direct train services to Birmingham , but currently , it is mainly served by a 2 - hourly service from Great Malvern & Bristol. Passengers wishing to travel to Birmingham usually have to travel south to Cheltenham Spa , change onto a northbound train , then return northwards , passing through Ashchurch without stopping. From December 2006 , some direct services to and from Birmingham were reintroduced , but the new Arriva Cross Country Franchise proposes to CUT these on weekdays from 7 to 4 northbound services and from 4 (5 on Fridays) to 2 Southbound services. With a large car park , a wide catchment area and a bus service EVERY 15 MINUTES to Tewkesbury , doesnt cutting the already sparse train service make a mockery of the government's policy of encouraging integrated transport and taking more cars off the road? I call on the Prime Minister to use the DfT's powers to require Arriva to provide MORE , not LESS stops at Ashchurch for Tewkesbury station in the new Cross Country Franchise. With passenger numbers at the station rising already , along with the likely population/development growth , I believe that the demand will justify it. Join me by signing the following petition (link below.) http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/ashchurchtrains/Deadline for signatures is 22 November 2007. Please also e-mail Arriva Cross Country regarding this at : Info@crosscountrytrains.co.uk Or write to them at : External Relations, CrossCountry Mobilisation Team 5th Floor, 43 Temple Row, Birmingham, B2 5LS Their consultation ends on 23 November 2007. |
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Lee
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Here is a press release on this : "Alistair Cameron, Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Tewkesbury urges everyone to sign the 10 Downing Street on line petition calling the Prime Minister to reverse the planned train service cuts from Ashchurch Railway Station direct to Birmingham. The on line petition was set up by Mr Lee Fletcher following proposals by Arriva in their Cross Country Franchise to cut direct services to and from Birmingham on weekdays from 7 to 4 northbound services and from 4 (5 on Fridays) to 2 southbound services. Without these services, passengers will have to travel south to Cheltenham Spa, change onto a northbound train, then return northwards, passing through Ashchurch without stopping. Alistair Cameron said: "Ashchurch has a large car park, a wide catchment area and a bus service every 15 minutes to Tewkesbury. To allow Arriva to cut this already sparse service would make a nonsense of the government's claim that it is encouraging integrated transport and taking more cars off the road. The Prime Minister should use the DfT's powers to require Arriva to provide more, not less, stops at Ashchurch. With passenger numbers rising at the station, along with the growth in population in the area, the demand will justify it." The petition can be found at the following web address http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/ashchurchtrains/ For more information, contact Alistair Cameron on 01242 584081 or 07901 564616." |
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Lee
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« Last Edit: October 30, 2007, 04:41:41 PM by Lee »
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Lee
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More on this below. Letter to the Gloucestershire Echo : Madam, I urge Echo readers to support Lee Fletcher's 10 Downing Street on line petition calling for the Prime Minister to stop Arriva from reducing its direct rail links between Ashchurch and Birmingham (Echo 30 October). If we let Arriva get away with this, railway passengers will be forced to take the train from Ashchurch to Cheltenham Spa and then catch another train from Cheltenham Spa to Birmingham going past Ashchurch. This is ludicrous at a time when we should be promoting rail travel due to its environmental benefits. The petition web site can be found on http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/ashchurchtrains/ Yours faithfully Alistair Cameron Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Tewkesbury I Hate FGW link. http://ihatefirstgreatwestern.blogspot.com/2007/10/save-ashchurch-train-services.html |
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Lee
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Over 200 people have now signed the petition.
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Lee
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« Last Edit: November 23, 2007, 03:24:39 PM by Lee »
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Lee
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From Arriva : Thank you for taking the time to contact us. With regards to your enquiry relating to more regular stops at Ashchurch on the CrossCountry Cardiff-Nottingham service, any further calls at stations along this route would have to be commercially justified and there are strong commercial reasons for limiting service calls between Birmingham and South Wales. Additional calls would also severely compromise the aspiration for faster end to end journey times. Saltash does not currently receive CrossCountry calls and it was not part of the specification for the CrossCountry franchise. Making calls such as this over and above our franchise commitments would need to be commercially justified. In the case of Saltash we would need to take into account the impact on end-to-end journey times, the customer perception of slower trains created by additional calls, performance impacts and ensuring that our services are not crowded by passengers making very short trips. Our view is that local journeys from Saltash to Plymouth are best provided by the service offered by First Great Western. For similar reasons, it is not possible to stop CrossCountry trains at Ivybridge. As part of the timetable consultation process, we will consider carefully all of the comments received, including the issues that you have raised, as we continue to discuss the introduction of the 2009 timetable with Network Rail, the Department for Transport and other industry partners. We will keep you updated on progress through our website www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk. Once again, thank you for your comments. |
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Lee
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A response to the petition has been received (link below.) http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page14083.asp"The Department for Transport consulted widely on the CrossCountry franchise back in the summer of 2006. Responses were received from a wide range of stakeholders and these were used in designing the specification for the CrossCountry franchise that would operate from November 2007. The specification strikes a balance between the stakeholder responses, operational effectiveness, passenger and commercial demand. As a result of a competitive tendering exercise Arriva were awarded the franchise in the summer of 2007. The contract that was agreed with Arriva included a base/ minimum specification for the services that they operate to and from Ashchurch for Tewkesbury. First Great Western also serves the station. Arriva recently carried out a consultation exercise on the timetable that will operate from December 2008 on the route to Birmingham. A broad range of responses to this consultation has been received. A copy of the E petition has been forwarded to Arriva and we have asked that they consider the points that have been raised along with other response to the timetable consultation. Using the feedback received, Arriva will now finalise the timetable in order to make the best use of its resources." |
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« Last Edit: December 20, 2007, 04:32:44 PM by Lee »
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