Susan, Under Freedom of Information from the
DfT» , we received a draft copy of proposals for our area - the regional train service lines operated from St Phillip's Marsh, Bristol. I'm unsure whether these are just an idea or a probable or nearly cast in stone .... but it's probably worth your while to ask. Email me (via
graham@wellho.net) if you would like to know who we asked what (and that message applies to all areas!)
I suspect that First did the full consultation last year because they knew what a disaster the DfT suggestions would be in some quarters and they wanted to be see distancing themselves from the original propoals that I heard some experts desribe as "unworkable" and "not fit for purpose". Also because the changes were so fundamental. This year, I have evidence that they HAVE been listening and have based much of the December 2007 plans on prior feedback; the changes shouldn't be anything like as dramatic, so perhaps the consultation doesn't need to be so dramatic either? And - at least in the area that I use / know about, the suggestions are positive (we had a huge negative hit last December and have lost over 60% of services and about 90% of passengers).
