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This is web site run by Great Western Railway (Formerly First Great Western) customers and for Great Western and other Railway and bus company Customers.

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Jump to January February March April May June July August September October November December All Year 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 from All Boards Introductions and chat Who's who on Western railways Smoke and Mirrors Fare's Fair Your rights and redress Looking forward - 2020 to 2045 Buses and other ways to travel Other ways to travel: cycles, and how the railways deal with them Across the West Diary - what's happening when? -------------------------------------- London to Reading London to Kennet Valley London to Didcot, Oxford and Banbury London to Swindon and Bristol London to South Wales London to the West Thames Valley Branches London to the Cotswolds North Downs Line TransWilts line Heart of Wessex Swindon to Gloucester / Cheltenham Portsmouth to Cardiff Bristol (WECA) Commuters To Oxford, Didcot and Reading from West Wales local journeys Shorter journeys in Devon Plymouth and Cornwall South Western services Cross Country services Chiltern Railways services Transport for London -------------------------------------- Campaigns for new and improved services News, Help and Assistance The Lighter Side The West - but NOT trains in the West The Wider Picture - related rail and other transport issues Preserved railway lines, Railtours, other rail based attractions Meet the Manager Broadcast media about railways, and other means of transport The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom The Wider Picture Overseas Rail and Related history

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YOU, Dear Reader, are very welcome indeed to register with the forum, ask questions, and provide comment and answers on and relating to transport at travel. It's free to register and contribute - we only ask for a few details to ensure the forum's kept roughly on topic, and so that our admin team can reach you in an emergency. Please register here.

This site was originally set up in January 2007, at something of a low point for rail travel in the South West. In the Bristol area, 3 car trains had been reduced to 2 cars, services slashed by up to 60%, and even on those changes reliability of what remained had plummeted as trains no longer required had been withdrawn from the area. The attitude seemed to be that local and regional trains were an evil necessity that got in the way of long distance expresses, and if you put off some passengers it didn't really matter as the trains were full anyway, and there war plenty more fist in the sea.



It is indeed sensible to review provision at times, but the December 2006 changes were predicated on a growth rate of under 1% per annum from 2003 / 2004 figures, when the actual growth turned out to be 8% per annum compound. So when cuts were made, the exact opposite should have been happening. And over the seven years from December 2006, slowly, most individual lines and case has been considered and adjusted to better meet the needs as they have turned out. Highlights include services such as Severn Beach, Falmouth, and Barnstaple ... restrengthening of Cardiff - Portsmouth, and of all 125 expresses too, and most recently the provision of extra trains on the Transwilts line from Swindon to Westbury.

To a degree, this forum has turned from being a protest site into a co-operative site. It's very much run by Great Western customers - however, it's now very much a team effort with train users, staff, newcomers to rail all contributing and wanting to pull along in the same direction. We can (and do) encourage lively debate, and the sharing of knowledge - views can and will differ. Those of us who know little about trains will continue to make "silly suggestions" - simply because we don't know they're silly. But that leaves us all better informed, and with a real resource, so that we can help - in our own very small way - to help bring understanding, better suggestions, and a very positive common approach as we move forward.


Writing in December 2013 (update overdue - August 2018!), we look forward to the completion of works at Reading, Crossrail, Electrification and with it new trains, a new management operation / franchise in 2 years from now and a further one beyond that, to East - West Rail, to redoubling of lines and extra capacity of passing loops and platforms, and indeed to lines reopening to places like Tavistock. Exciting times ahead.

If you are a newcomer here, please take a look at our forum - it's here. Almost all of the content is public readable, and we encourage YOU to sign up for a free account (we have to get signups to look after copyright and spam issues!)

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