|
27646
|
Journey by Journey / TransWilts line / Re: Train time changes from 12th to 30th August
|
on: July 10, 2013, 18:38:27
|
|
Even official sources differ - 07:02 or 07:20 from Melksham from 12th to 23rd August, and I've gone back to one source to get it cleared up.
The bank holiday Monday is good news for that day, and I have that in several ways now. We're going to be telling people ho two make good use of that as off peak tickets will be valid and it will be an excellent opportunity for a day out to Southampton, Portsmouth, Weymouth of Cardiff!
|
|
|
|
|
27647
|
Journey by Journey / TransWilts line / Train time changes from 12th to 30th August
|
on: July 10, 2013, 16:18:43
|
|
I understand that on Monday to Friday from 12th to 30th August (while Swindon to Kemble is closed for doubling), the 07:04 Westbury to Swindon will leave Westbury at 06:46 and will call at Trowbridge at 06:52, Melksham at 07:02 and arrive at Chippenham at 07:12 where it will terminate. A connection at 07:25 will reach Swindon at 07:41 and London Paddington at 08:45. As of the point of writing, this data is not fully reflected on the online timetables; when they're updated, I will check out the other trains too.
This is going to make for a very long working day for Swindon commuters!! Arrive there at 07:41 and return at 18:44
|
|
|
|
|
27648
|
Sideshoots - associated subjects / News, Help and Assistance / Re: About Twitter feed @PassengerForum
|
on: July 10, 2013, 15:30:55
|
Please start to follow @PassengerForum and let others know about it too - this feed's come about as a result of user request, and my need to understand the new Twitter API for posting statuses onto a feed. It means that occasional visitors here can have a quick summary come to them - usually within half an hour of a message being posted, and complete with a link to the page on which the new message is posted. See profile of the new feed (and whether you think I've chosen appropriate images!) at https://twitter.com/PassengerForum |
|
|
|
|
27653
|
All across the Great Western territory / Buses and other ways to travel / BSOG - Bus Service Operator's Grant changes
|
on: July 08, 2013, 11:04:27
|
Here, a wider view that the thread started over the weekend about certain companies claiming Bus Service Operator's Grant for Rail Replacement buses, and suggestions that such claims are rather naughty as they're being paid under rail arrangements AND paid under bus arrangements for the same journeys. - http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=12602.0Under existing arrangements, the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG▸ ) for both commercial and non-commercial bus routes is administered centrally by the Department for Transport.
The BSOG is the partial refund on fuel duty received from the government by operators of local bus services in England.
From January 2014, BSOG funding for non-commercial routes ^ those which could not economically operate without support ^ will be devolved to local authorities. from http://www.rsnonline.org.uk/services/government-unveils-bus-subsidy-reformsit goes on to say Government money currently paid to operators for these services will be paid to the local authority.
As this will result in the operator facing higher costs to operate the service, payment for which will have been agreed under the terms of the contract, there will be a need for the authority to compensate the operator through adjusted contract payments.
This funding will be ringfenced until April 2017 so that each local authority will have to spend it on bus services in their area.
The government claims that reforming the BSOG will give more freedom to local councils while making them accountable for the decisions they take.
Devolution of bus subsidy for locally tendered services follows the latest spending round when the Treasury confirmed that current levels of government support for buses would be maintained until at least 2015/16.
Several authorities will also be established as new Better Bus Areas this autumn, receiving increased funding to invest in bus improvement measures. A cynic asks, bringing this to my attention by email ^devolved to local authorities^ ...As far as WC▸ is concerned, this probably will mean withdrawn, wont it??? I don't think it can be withdrawn until 2017 due to the ring fence. However, bad news and cuts are often dulled by being announced well ahead (3 or 4 years ahead) so that when the time comes (a) another government gets that blame and (b) the public can be told "you had an opportunity to object in 2013, but didn't". Thoughts, anyone? Do we have any "Better Bus" areas coming to the South West? What are they? |
|
|
|
|
27654
|
All across the Great Western territory / Buses and other ways to travel / Re: Thamesdown Transport looking for Non-Exec Director
|
on: July 08, 2013, 08:51:58
|
I'm taking the liberty, Bob, of quoting a part of the job spec ... The previous incumbent of the vacant seat on the Board was Chris Irwin, who is Chair of TravelWatch South West. Chris left the Board at the end of 2012.
The Thamesdown Board is now looking to recruit a replacement Non-Executive Director to represent user interests.
Person specification
An interest in road passenger transport
Preferably resident in Swindon or the locality
Preferably a user of Thamesdown bus services
Experience in running a business (not necessarily in public transport)
Purpose of role
To contribute to the work of the Board in determining strategy and policy for the business.
To approve the Company^s three Year Business Plan and each year^s Budget.
To monitor the financial and operational performance of the business.
To approve the annual accounts and Directors^ Report.
As part of the Board^s Remuneration Committee, to consider any pay award for the Executive Directors each year and to approve the Managing Director^s performance bonus. Logistics: 4 meetings a year, up to 200 pounds paid per meeting, 4 year appointments. Applications considered early in September for a role starting in December. |
|
|
|
|
27655
|
All across the Great Western territory / Buses and other ways to travel / Re: Bath to Chippenham via Corsham - the bus alternative
|
on: July 08, 2013, 07:13:54
|
A few things to add overnight: a) Here's a snippet of the Faresaver timetable; Faresaver run a service from Bath to Chippenham every 30 minutes during the day Monday to Friday, and most half hours on Saturday.  Full timetable at http://www.faresaver.co.uk/timetables/50f03a171e188.pdf . There are differences in the two routes in places (that's a good thing IMHO▸ as it means that additional places get served) ... taking my "benchmark" of Newlands Road in Corsham to Chippenham Station, Faresaver are typically 2 minutes quicker. They take 44 minutes from Dorchester Street in Bath (near the railway and bus stations) to Corsham - again slightly quicker, this time by three minutes. b) National Express coaches (routes 403 and 404) also run between Bath and Chippenham, though with different stopping points in Corsham and Chippenham - that's to keep the overall route times down. Here's the Bath-bound timetable:  These are through buses London (Victoria) to Bath - typical journey time of the services that run via Chippenham and Corsham are 3 and a quarter hours Corsham to Victoria and vice versa. Full timetable at http://www.nationalexpress.com/assets/uploads/pdf/timetables/403.pdfc) From a correspondent ... "Will copy you into some work Xxxxxx transformed into a good graph some years ago as I think Graham is looking at the journey from Corsham by bus to Chippenham and onwards to London through extremely rose-coloured spectacles! Xxx Xxxxx used to wait for the ?8.15 am to get her to Chippenham for work, and often had to catch a cab because the bus hadn't appeared, caught up in Bath's congested traffic. At peak hours the timetable often bears no resemblance to people's experiences. Xxxxx, who works at The Pound at times, as a student in Bath can make the journey in half and hour, but at times it can take almost double that. The graph referred to is one I already have, and with permission from the originator to reuse - so here it is in full:  Since that diagram was produced, the Chippenham to Swindon bus service has been drastically improved and a comparison is now possible - it takes 70 minutes (as against 15 minutes on the train on service 55 - that's a daytime figure, or 30 to 35 minutes by National Express). |
|
|
|
|
27657
|
All across the Great Western territory / Buses and other ways to travel / Bath to Chippenham via Corsham - the bus alternative
|
on: July 07, 2013, 20:05:08
|
Here are the full timetables for the 231 from 28th July, as registered with the Transport folks    Added here as I have received requests for further details in my email. Thread is open for comment, new members welcome to register (it's free, we just need to be able to get back to you by email in an emergency) and add their thoughts. Original - posted elsewhere on this forum: The average bus journey in the UK▸ is 6 miles, the average train journey is 20 miles. I'm on holiday / not got my source with me, but you get the picture. Buses are indeed great for the local feed, but how local is "local". As an example, I'm looking at Corsham to London - Corsham was one of the places I mentioned for a new wayside station earlier in this thread. Between Batheaston Junction and Royal Wootton Bassett Junction, with two express trains an hour, a more local service could be accommodated without the need for huge expenditure such as 4 tracks. From Royal Wootton Bassett Junction to Didcot, extra stations will need major major track investment with 6 or 7 expresses per hour to accommodate as well!Anyway ... here's the start of the forthcoming (28th July onwards) timetable for the 231 bus route, which becomes the only frequent bus linking Bath via Corsham to Chippenham; 232 services have become 231s. The half hourly (5 and 35 from Bath) of the 08:05 and 08:35 continue all through the day, same intermediate timings.  Now - journey from Corsham to London. Timing ... * Get the 08:52 bus, that's 09:16 at Chippenham station. Train leaves at 09:25, into London at 10:40. End to end journey - 108 minutes. * If that train called at Corsham (that would be around 09:15), journey time would be reduced to 85 minutes. If a local train called at Corsham and a Wootton Basset stations before transferring passenger at Swindon to the London Express, I would estimate a 95 minute journey. Loading ... Corsham is a town of some 12000 people - about half the size of Melksham, vwey roughtly the same size as Westbury. You're looking at between 200,000 and 250,000 passenger journeys per year based on other Wiltshire stations such as Warminster and Trowbridge (excluding the likes of Chippenham which is a railhead sponge, and Melksham which has insufficient service at present to make a valid comparison) Many train journeys will be to Bath, Bristol and Swindon and the local or express service will do equally well. Studies show a 40% drop in traffic if a service is not direct, and that would apply only to the London traffic / localish train - let's estimate a drop of around 20,000 journeys a year The bus service, 41 minutes to Bath as opposed to 10 by train is unattractive for that local journey. And for all the other major destinations, you have a slow bus journey, connection time, and then a train - and we've found that over 75% of potential traffic gets lost in such transfers, and that's actually a very conservative figure indeed bearing in mind it comes from rail replacement bus service loadings where you have the benefits of through ticketing, and fastER bus journeys (not all round the houses) and guaranteed connections to the trains. Observing bus journeys between towns in Wiltshire, around two thirds get on close to one town centre, then off close to another town centre. And must be very frustrated by the sightseeing tours (231) of Rudloe and Cepen Park All this evidence points to the sense of (re)opening selected stations on existing lines where the capacity is there and will be there for the next 15 to 20 years. For the truely local / in town / nearby villages, totally agreed that the bus is best. But even for some of them, the opening of selected intermediate stations makes a big difference. Rudloe to Swindon would be 15 minutes faster via Corsham station than via Chippenham - 45 minutes versus an hour. P.S. If you attract all these extra people onto the Corsham to Bath train, you'll also help Bath with its traffic problem on the A4 approach. Some of the extras will be new travellers, others will be transferring from their cars, typically one person per 4 seat vehicle queueing all the way in!  |
|
|
|
|
27658
|
Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Re: Very wishful thinking maybe?
|
on: July 07, 2013, 17:58:49
|
|
Yes, the 17:28. I've just been speaking with the leader of our Indian guest group, who told me that she had been looking forward to a really nice train journey in the UK▸ . "The morning was OK, but the return train was older, slower, hotter and more crowded than our trains in India. Not a good journey. We weren't told that the air conditioning was working in the other carriages until a few minutes before we got off, and by that time there was no point in moving"
|
|
|
|
|
27659
|
Sideshoots - associated subjects / Campaigns for new and improved services / Localism act ... extended council powers
|
on: July 07, 2013, 08:06:56
|
Someone drew this to my attention the other day (I can't for the life of me remember who it was, but it was a real life conversation rather than one here ...) and I looked it up on line when I got back home: The Localism Act of 2011 opens with Part 1, Chapter 1(1), under the heading "Local authority^s general power of competence", "A local authority has power to do anything that individuals generally may do" ^ I think that means that the council doesn't any longer have to look for statutory authority to (for example) ask commercial public transport providers if they would consider xxx change, since any individual can ask such questions. There are some excellent and knowledgable council staff and elected representatives around, and used wisely by them, this power of competence offers their expertise and information in helping to advise - impartially to each commercial company, of course, considered suggestions. No longer "it's a commercial service - we can't influence it / make inputs in any way" which has been a line I've heard in the past! |
|
|
|
|
27660
|
Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Re: Very wishful thinking maybe?
|
on: July 07, 2013, 06:45:37
|
Oh gosh - there's a party of 20 on an exchange visit to Melksham on that train, some of whom are staying with us.
Sorry to learn that your guests will apparently be thus delayed, grahame. Out of interest, where are they travelling from - somewhere where the trains are rather more reliable, possibly?  My regards to your visitors, anyway: welcome to England, please tell them!  As I'm just back from holiday, I've thus far only met them briefly. And that was very late last night when I was called out of bed to let them back into their room, for which their keys had been left ... inside the room. They're from India, but whether that's a frequent service area (Harpenden equivalent) or occasional / no train land (Melksham or Portishead equivalent), I don't (yet?) know. |
|
|
|
|
Show Posts
