« April 2006 | Main | June 2006 »
May 31, 2006
Home soon.
I'm coming towards the end of a couple of weeks working in Saudi Arabia. I've put some postings up onto the forum while I've been here, but the internet connection has been - shall we say - sufficienly poor for me to really appreciate it at home. And getting out has been sufficiently impractical for me to come to appreciate the UK, including the public transport there
-- Graham
Posted by gje at 05:33 AM | Comments (0)
May 19, 2006
Carrying fresh air around?
On Heathrow connect this morning, there were only TWO passengers getting of at the terminus - terminals 1,2 and 3 ... from a 4 coach train. Makes the Swindon to Southampton look OVERCROWDED!
I am NOT critisizing other services. But I AM pointing out that the service through Melksham is NOT the least used around. And remember that Melksham ticket sales were 1974th out of 2503 in 2003/04, so it's not even in the 20% of quietest stations. Oh - and that was on 20k ticket sales, not the 27k of the following year, for which I don't have all-station stats.
Posted by gje at 09:14 AM | Comments (0)
May 18, 2006
Bus service costs 25 pounds per passenger to run?
Wiltshire's Wiggley Bus is provided to give public transport access to people who aren't near the regular services. You phone up, and it drops by your way on part of its flexiroute from Devizes to Pewsey, or whatever.
Wiggley Bus in Calne (about 6 miles from Melksham) is a newish operation, and I was talking with a local councillor the other day who had been chatting with the lady from Wilts County Council. I understand that it costs TWENTY FIVE POUNDS for each journey made, and I'm sure the fares taken can't be that high.
[[Edit - added later - I have just been emailed to tell me that the figures I have been given incorrect and the subsidy per journey is only a fraction of that - more like 4 pounds per journey. And that's from a source I trust. So why was Xxxxx told the 25 pound figure? Honest mistake? Perhaps. I know I get tired of being quoted anywhere from 100k to 630k pounds to hire a train appropriate for a line as it all depends on what's counted in and what's counted out ...]]
Wiggley bus is run under a startup grant and after two years faces having to run without that grant. The county are most anxious to find a co-sponsor or pathner to take overe responsibility.
Hearing this leads me to think ... these startup grants ARE still available; what if our county council help acquire a new grant for a new regular, 2 hourly train service from Swindon to Westbury with connections on to Salisbury and Southampton. It couldn't start until mid December since that's when the next timetable change is due, but the new two-hourly service could take over and grow from the service that had prevously used the line.
[[Edit to add - I'm reminded that the wigglybus is subsidised by a bus-specific grant and so the same source would NOT pay for a new train service. Sounds a bit like Animal Farm. "4 legs good, 2 legs bad" becomes "Rubber wheels good, Steel wheels bad"]]
A problem with funding after two years? I think not - there's a huge history of growth on the corridor, and after two years the service should be self sufficient. People would use regular trains, reliable trains. The County Council has the resiting of Melksham station in its plans, and that would boost traffic from there ... new housing right beside the new station would help.
Good value? I applaud Wiltshire County Council's efforts to get good public transport for all. And if the Wiggley bus is good value, then the TransWilts train is superb value.
Posted by gje at 11:44 PM | Comments (0)
May 16, 2006
Every so often, stop and look
Every so often, it's worth stopping for a few minutes and looking at where we started and where we are now - the whole story so far - if you like. I've just done this for a press article and thought you might be interested - it's here to read.
Posted by gje at 07:40 AM | Comments (0)
May 15, 2006
It gets worse
What a depressing story from Andrew Griffith's, First's Regional Manager for the Severn / Solent area, who came to talk to the Melksham Rail Development Group and others who wanted to attend on Friday evening.
Andrew was able to tell us of a number of campaigning successes over the new train and franchise arrangements in the Great Western Area, including recently the buy-back of "Part of the Swindon to Southampton Service" - i.e. the section from Westbury to Southampton, and it sounds like there's better hope for Ivybridge which is threatened with service cuts.
For the Swindon to Westbury section? Congratulations from Andrew on raising the traffic levels by 100% in the last 3 years, but telling us that it's still not enough. Astonishing news to those of us who have travelled of late - at times it's getting hard to find a seating bay free now. We're still two trains a day. And the peak hour trains have been moved even further away from the true time they're needed, CONTRARY to all the requests that have been copied to me (at least) in reply to the consultation process that First ran. A real slap in the face!
If it's getting hard to get a seat now, and "even with another doubling of traffic the line still wouldn't be profitable", Andrew's telling us that ANY operation based on a single 153 train isn't economically justified and even if we fill the train, First will have to take it off.
However, the Government has specified two trains a day one of which is to be in the rush-hour, and the planners and decision makers have come up with this clever scheme to raid the Gloucester to Swindon train for a couple of hours before the morning rush hour and after the evening rush hour to fill in the service. The train isn't well timed, and there's a strong chance it will be carrying fresh air. And I can't see how it can fail to make a bigger loss. Crazy!
Posted by gje at 07:43 AM | Comments (0)
May 11, 2006
Friday meeting - invite and details
THIS Friday evening - 12th May - 18:30 at Melksham Town Hall.
Andrew Griffiths, who's the newly appointed General Manager
(Central) for First Great Western will be addressing talking
to the Melksham Rail Development Group, and taking questions.
All welcome, but best let me know if you'll be coming so that
I can advise the MRDG secretary of rough numbers. (No need to
email me apologies if you can't make it)
Andrew is one of four General Managers and looks after all the
services in our area, but on Friday he'll be particularly
addressing matters of interest to us here in Melksham - i.e.
the Swindon to Southampton service. As well as the reduction
of services that I would still like to see reversed, he'll be
answering points I have raised about connections, better timing
of remaining services, the possible extension of the 234 bus
to Chippenham Station and why that seems to have been aborted,
and on fares which for anyone wanting to do a day trip to
London will double when the offpeak train at 09:12 is withdrawn.
Andrew has to leave us just after 19:30, and the meeting will
continue with the MRDG AGM. Again, all welcome. And no doubt
discussions will range wider as regards and further possible
follow ups and activities.
---
You might like to know that Michael Ancram our MP, and also
the MPs for Swindon, Chippenham, Trowbridge and Westbury all
spoke in a debate in Parliament on 25th April that concerned
the Great Western Franchinse. All four of the MPs for the
line specifically mentioned the Swindon to Westbury Service
and Melksham, and objected to the planned service reduction.
Regrettably, Derek Twigg answering for the goverment simply
ignored the questions on this service and only addressed other
issues.
---
I attended a national meeting at Swindon last Saturday, and
met and listed to an address by the customer relations director
of First. Much of the talk was a fairly standard presentation
some intersting points did come up. One was that three issues
in the franchise remain unresolved - two are out of our area
(Ivybridge and early morning trains to Gatwick), but the third
relates to the strengthing of Cardiff to Portsmouth trains which
she thought will be achieved by "moving stock around within First".
Good - and perhaps they can find the stock to serve Melksham off
this (but not excellent as Melksham is NOT a subject she mentioned
as still being open).
---
Realistically, it still seems very much more likely than not that
Melksham will loose most of its trains in December, and I question
the viability of the few that remain - one of the two remaining
weekday trains in each direction will run at a time which seems
more suited to the operational convenience of the company running
the service than to their customer's need, and the draft weekend
service is peculiar and inappropriate to put it mildy. Your
continued support WOULD be much appreciated - each letter written,
each meeting attended and point made pushes the pendulum very
slightly and, who knows, we might just be able to push it far
enough to make a difference.
Graham (Ellis)
Posted by gje at 06:46 AM | Comments (0)
May 09, 2006
First way to get rid of customers?
A course, three delegates ... but not one brought their own car. I used to say to people that around 40% of our customers came by train, but this week it's 66% and that's not been unusual of late.
Anyone using the train to Melksham finds it isn't easy - you just try to find out about it in Swindon, where it starts. Go up to the timetable sheets that list departures and you'll find no mention of Melksham on there ... nor Trowbridge, nor Westbury. And you'll be lucky if the timetable racks contain the approprpriate timetable. "Sorry - they're out of print" the young lady who was filling the rack on Saturday told me. "You could go up to the ticket counter and they'll print something out for you" she said, pointing me in the direction of a queue. "There's only three trains a day, otherwise you change at Bath".
It isn't as if these trains are unused, either. Here's a picture that I look last Saturday afternoon of a service that's to be withdrawn from December. Do you know what I think it is? Until last month, the train service to Melksham was run by Wessex Trains - part of National Express - and was a limb of their services that ran into First Group territory; it always felt like an unwelcome guest and information was hard to come by. The First Group told us that there would be no magic solution to all the problems and issues, but the did pull their finger our by removing the Wesses trains name from our station in the days BEFORE they took over, and getting new noices there within a couple of days and new uniforms for all their staff too, so surely they have now had plenty of time to put up fresh timetables to cover the new service they've just taken into their fold?
Here's the Saturday train again, on its way back to Melksham. Pretty busy, eh? Where's the "Fresh Air" that the previous secretary of state thinks our train is carrying around?
I don't actually object to the staff who fill the brochure rack at Swindon not knowing about train services, but I do object to them getting it wrong. There are NOT "only three trains a day", there are five. And you do NOT change at Bath at other times - or at least, if you change at Bath, it's a dogleg journey and a change into a BUS at the nearby bus station.
Was my experience unfortunate and unique? I wish it was!
On Monday morning, I went to meet a customer off the 09:12 and no-one arrived. Indeed the train looked very quiet indeed ... never seen it quite so bad for many months. The mystery was solved when we got a phone call from our customer telling us that he was stuck in Swindon; the London connection had been 20 minutes late, and so had missed. I'm told that the staff at Swindon suggested he wait for the next train at about 14:30 ... indeed, they advised him that these were the ONLY TWO trains each day to Melksham ...
Isn't it ironic that with the huge increase in traffic on this line over the past few years, and with the roads getting more and more clogged, it IS to be killed back to 2 trains a day in the Autumn. Looks like the First staff at Swindon just can't wait for it to happen!
Posted by gje at 10:48 AM | Comments (0)
May 07, 2006
RailFuture meeting - some gems
Glenda Lamont, Customer Services Director of First Great Western, told us that the following matters are still under discussion / looking for resolution between First and the Department for Transport:
1. The early morning service to Gatwick
2. Ivybridge
3. Stengthening the Cardiff to Porsmouth trains
She believes that they are "close to resolving" issue 3 by moving some stock around. Significantly, no mention of the Swindon to Southampton service.
A rumour I had heard before - but repeated as part of a keynote speech by a presenter who's views and information I respect:
The Deparement for Transport hadn't budgeted for anything like the 1.3 billion that First Group bid for the franchise - it's some 300 million more that they thought they would get. The Treasury is allowing the Department to keep the money which will be used to pay for overspends on road building programs.
In other words, a decent train service between Swindon and Westbury, which would cost 10 million pounds to run for 10 years, and 30 other such services, have been sacrifised by First in their keenness to win the bid, and the extra money that First will have to charge customers to make its payments to the government will in part go to the funding of overbudget / mismanaged road building programs.
I was saddened to hear that one of our elected bodies here in Melksham responded to the South West trains franchise suggesting that a saving in rolling stock could be made by cutting out the Bristol, Plymouth and Torbay services - cutting back the service from Waterloo to Salisbury and Exeter.
I am very much in favour of everyone expressing their views, but this council view does not represent my view nor, as far as I can gauge, the view of other local electors around here. Frankly, most Melksham electors have little interest in (or knowledge of) public transport in Devon.
The letter in question is, I understand, being taken as an example of how official bodies in the area support the pruning of services, and has made the Minister's "red box" so that he's espcially aware of such views. And the people at RailFuture who campaign tirelessly for an appropriate level of service are not best pleased, as you might imagine.
There's a further irony. The southern end of the Southampton to Swindon service has been given a one year reprive under First, and will then form a part of the South West trains franchise. By suggesting that the South West Franchise is trimmed back to Salisbury / Exeter, the council that wrote is advocating the withdrawal of the extra trains that could also have been used to extend the Southampton to Westbury service of the next year on through to Melksham, Chippenham and Swindon.
I'm going to post each of these three notes in a separate thread in the forum so that you can answer / discuss / respond if you wish. I have NOT named the local council involved in the third item, as I want to find out a bit more before shooting my mouth off. But the fury of other campaigners is real enough, and the words that silly *%$@* from Melksham were ringing in my ears yesterday!
Posted by gje at 08:43 AM | Comments (1)
May 06, 2006
RailFuture meeting today
Off today to the RailFuture meeting in Swindon to listen (amongst others) to Glenda Lamont, Commercial Director of First Great Western, give a talk. There's no title on her talk, and so I'll make no assumptions, nor do I know if there will be a question and answer session ... but I'll report back
P.S. - Yes, I am going up on the 8 O'Clock.
Posted by gje at 05:05 AM | Comments (0)
May 04, 2006
Waverley
I've been a little quiet these last few days - I took the May Day holiday off after an exhausting first four months of the year when I seem to have been training day in and day out, and went up to Scotland to travel on the PS (Paddle Steamer) Waverley from Oban to Iona and back.
Waverley entered service with the London and North Eastern Railway in 1947, and was withdrawn about 25 years later from the Clyde Excursion trade because she was deemed to be unprofitable. Taken over by a preservation group, she's now being running longer in their hands than she ran before preservation. The crew were talking about having 600 on board on Sunday and it can't have been far short of that on Monday ... and that's "big bucks" at fares that rise to over 30 pounds a head.
Economics dictate against preserved boat operation too. The engine has to be in far better condition than that on a train; if a train should break down (as we've seen happen locally) it's just a nuisance but if Waverley breaks down, she's liable to drift onto the rocks. And then she's only got a seven month seasoson whereas the trains run day in, day out (if we should choose to ignore bustitution).
Waverley moored overnight at North Pier, Oban
Crowds disembark in Oban
Caledonian MacBraynes through away a wonderful service when they pulled Waverley and their other boat, known as the Queen Mary II, of the Clyde runs in 1972 and 1974 (ish). Although it might not have been paying in that current form, it was viable with a bit of adjustment and it's not just down to their finances - it also down to the finances of destinations like Dunoon, Rothesay, Brodick and Tighnabruiach which they serves. I think that First / Department for transport are making the same mistake again with the Swindon to Southampton train service. Slashed back, it will cost them less for sure but they'll also loose a lot of income. And they'll inconvenience a lot of users - they've even pulled back from a bid promise to extend the 234 bus to Chippenham Station. What's needed is a degree of insite and co-operation - from us, from our local representitives, and from both First and the DfT to make it work for our mutual profitable benefit.
Posted by gje at 09:02 AM | Comments (0)