Great Western Coffee Shop

Headline - "Rail Firm Plans for New Services", Wiltshire Times, first edition in March 2019 (7th?). Posted here to flag up public meetings.

(http://www.passenger.chat/wt_goop_20190308.png)

Respect to them that they don’t give up. I think they’ve been around as long as this forum has.

Perhaps with changes coming to the way the rail network is run with the franchise system falling out of favour; this could be their moment.

We can hope, but open access has been such a success in the bus industry, please forgive me if I am a little sceptical. 

Passing loop to be built? Ouch, that's got to be an expensive hurdle.

Capacity is beginning to be a bit of a problem.  "Passing loop" is a bit of a shorthand; "capacity improvements - for example a passing loop" is what's needed and indeed Paul said "such as a passing loop".  Just under 2 years ago we had a thread that looked at the options ... I started with a dozen and found that other suggestions were added - http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=18449 .   A further thread at http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=20765 and yet more at http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=17602.msg203553#msg203553

As you suggest, none cheap.  Keeps coming up.  Capacity enhancement has moved from being a silly joke to a serious  question and is heading towards being an absolute necessity!

I applaud Co-op for promoting these additional trains on the TransWilts sector and indeed providing change free access to stations both North/East if Swindon  and South of Westbury.
However there are the issues of the single line capacity between Thingley and Bradford-on-Avon, and I imagine that there are also capacity problems on the rest of the route together with such issues as the Westbury 4th platform. I also wonder where the financial return is going to come, it would have to shared with other TOCs.
I does seem that this time Co-op are making a real push to get something going, but there have been  previous attempts over several years when the signs were right, yet nothing happened.

Somewhere between £7.8 and £35 million, according to this (https://www.abfly.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Abfly-Feasibility-Study-Construction-Costs.pdf) - Melksham's platform might possibly be a bit too short for the Penryn solution; maybe the Highley (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highley_railway_station) solution would work? ;)

Ah yes, takes me back to my visit to the Severn Valley in 2017. Just an observation but this would be a provision that would be of benefit to every TOC using the line, not just Go-Op, so presumably this raises some issues of who should be contributing what to the cost.
As an aside, should a passing loop go in at Melksham, would there still be space there to provide passive provision for a possible second platform in some distant future?

Indeed - from input from the Melksham Rail User Group (http://www.mrug.org.uk) to last year's Swindon and Wiltshire Rail study,  a mapped diagram of the flows along the Trowbridge (24)to Chippenham (22) line:

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/twflows2018.jpg)


Should there be a second track actually at Melksham Station, I believe there would be space for a platform alongside it too.  I'm not so sure, sadly, if there would be space at the rear of the platform for bridge and/or shelter, though it would get a bit easier with a staggered platform.   There is also space south of the road bridge for a platform on what would be the northbound side, and level (though a bit longer than is ideal access around - using the main road bridge to cross between the platforms, with a light controlled road crossing, could save the cost of an access for all footbridge, and have the traffic calming benefit (program the lights on the brow?) to provide a protected bus stop called "Melksham Station" and providing integrated transport opportunities.   Somewhat academic, as I would expect the line through Melksham itself to remain single track with most of the viable loop options, only being doubled if the whole line was.

---

Key for diagram

To the South West
Green 1 - passenger flows Frome, Taunton and beyond
Green 2 - passenger flows Yeovil, Dorchester and Weymouth
Green 3 - passenger flows Stonehenge, Salisbury, Southampton Central, Southampron Airporrt
Green 4 - South West to London (diversion route) flows
Blue 1 and Blue 2 - Mendip Quarries (stone)
Blue 3 - Quidhampton (spoil / landfill)
Blue 4 - Southampton Docks (containers; various goods)
Blue 5 - Westbury (Track panels)

To the North East
Green 11 - Oxford, Milands, North
Green 12 - Oxford, Milton Keynes, Bedford, beyond
Green 13 - Reading and London
Green 14 - South West to London (diversion route) flows
Blue 11 - via East / West rail to northern home counties
Blue 12 - via Banbury to Midlands and north of England

On line
Red 21 - Swindon (current stations)
Red 22 - Chippenham
Red 23 - Melksham
Red 24 - Trowbridge
Red 25 - Westbury
Grey 31 - Royal Wootton Bassett (suggested)

Press release from Go-op, updating their plans and with more specific meeting info {{here}} (http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/goop_201903_press.pdf)

From This is Wiltshire (https://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/17515221.new-railway-co-operative-wants-to-run-direct-services-between-swindon-and-oxford/) - a Swindon centric version.   With - I note - a new event date of 6th June for Westbury.


I can't help feeling that a typo has crept into the article with the proposed service start date;  talk last week was of summer 2020 - perhaps the date in the article should be 2021?

This is a "diary" thread about meetings ... update on the "Go-op update" thread:

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=11010.msg260888#msg260888

Noting that 2031 is the end date of the plan (2020 to 2031) rather than the start date - solves the mystery of where that year cam from in the press report.

These meetings, according to their website, all have different main topics. Only tonight's deals with the train service; April 4th appears to be concerning being an entrepreneur (1530-1700) and June 6 appears to be a Stakeholder update and AGM

April 4th .... a second following meeting?  From The Wiltshire Times (https://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/17539391.community-rail-plans-outlined/)


I wonder how many commuters will be (back) in Frome for a 5 p.m. meeting ...

And an incoming message to prove my point!

Ditto June 6th...a weekday meeting at 11am?....retirees only?!!

Massive nightmare setting up meeting times.  So - I am setting up a meeting and I want to attract ...

* Community members who commute to their 9 to 5 jobs, and find weekends precious
* Community members who are retired and don't like to be out after dark
* Young community members who will, after all, be using the services we set up long after us
* Independent and often knowledgable campaigners
* TV and other media, including local press

* Local and central government officials who are attending as part of their 9 to 5 job
* The local MPs (and AMs, MSPs and MEPs?)
* Local and regional councillors
* Mayors, Lord Mayors and - oh lord, how many mayors are there?

* Trains and bus operators directors and senior and specialist managers
* Local area managers and interested operational staff
* Government or transport industry (which are they?) types such as Network Rail, Highways England and Transport Focus

Some of the keener 'types' are very good - a number of excellent people who should come as a part of their regular 9 to 5 job will make time on the occasional weekend ... and community members employed from 9 to 5 doing something totally different may take a day off occasionally.

Add to this the "transport" element ... if a meeting (as this example) is in Frome but is about services that call there on their way from Taunton or Yeovil to Oxford, how do you co-ordinate with their travel?

Unfortunately the Wiltshire Times has given the venue for the 6th June meeting as Bridge House, Trowbridge.

It should be Bridge House, Westbury.

Bridge House, Westbury is just to the north of the station. The Go-op website, plans and events page (http://www.go-op.coop/plans/) reports

CHANGE OF VENUE.    CHANGE OF TIME.

Formerly:


Now, from http://www.go-op.coop/info/ :

All a bit confusing.   

This page has the old details - http://www.go-op.coop/plans/ (http://www.go-op.coop/plans/)

Old details also at http://www.go-op.coop/contact/ !!

I have phoned the number on there web site to clarify, but this late in the evening it's an answerphone.  I left a message - if I get a call back I'll post here.

As an educated guess, The Laverton at 13:30 for 14:00 - simply because it has a recent date on it and quite a full agenda.

The afternoon meeting refers to the AGM.

As far as I know, there is still a separate stakeholder briefing, at The Laverton, starting at 11:00 (this being information from an email on 30th May).

Oh goodie - that's a third varient. Starting at the original time, but at the new venue!  If I get an authoritative answer, I'll post.  Reports from the meeting welcome ...

From Minehead Rail Link Group ...


There would be some logic in an open access operator who terminates at Taunton from the east continuing on to use specialist services somewhere on the West Somerset, and to provide connections onwards into their trains or even run the whole way through to Minehead.  I'm really very unsure about where open access is headed in general at the moment, or where Go-op in particular are headed.

Confirmation that WSR and Go-op looking together at facilities at Bishops Lydeard - holding something of a local consultation as it would mean more equipment in the station area.   Better than springing an unannounced planning application in, with all the questions that would raise in the area, but I do wonder what time scales are being proposed, and whether or not they could or would be achieved.