Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 13:35 28 Mar 2024
* Man held over stabbing in front of train passengers
- How do I renew my UK passport and what is the 10-year rule?
- Easter travel warning as millions set to hit roads
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]
 02/06/24 - Summer Timetable starts
17/08/24 - Bus to Imber
27/09/25 - 200 years of passenger trains

On this day
28th Mar (1917)
Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore closed (link)

Train RunningCancelled
11:50 Cardiff Central to London Paddington
12:15 London Paddington to Cardiff Central
12:30 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare
13:00 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington
13:15 Swindon to Westbury
13:26 Weston-Super-Mare to London Paddington
13:28 Weymouth to Gloucester
13:30 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads
14:19 Westbury to Swindon
15:14 Swindon to Westbury
Short Run
08:03 London Paddington to Penzance
10:55 Paignton to London Paddington
11:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
11:29 Weymouth to Gloucester
11:48 London Paddington to Carmarthen
12:03 London Paddington to Penzance
12:42 Bristol Temple Meads to Salisbury
12:46 Avonmouth to Weston-Super-Mare
13:03 London Paddington to Plymouth
13:07 Salisbury to Bristol Temple Meads
13:10 Gloucester to Weymouth
13:26 Okehampton to Exeter Central
14:05 Salisbury to Bristol Temple Meads
16:19 Carmarthen to London Paddington
Delayed
10:04 London Paddington to Penzance
10:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
11:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
12:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
14:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
PollsOpen and recent polls
Closed 2024-03-25 Easter Escape - to where?
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple MeadsBath SpaChippenhamSwindonDidcot ParkwayReadingLondon PaddingtonMelksham
Exeter St DavidsTauntonWestburyTrowbridgeBristol ParkwayCardiff CentralOxfordCheltenham SpaBirmingham New Street
March 28, 2024, 13:54:43 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[142] West Wiltshire Bus Changes April 2024
[80] would you like your own LIVE train station departure board?
[56] Return of the BRUTE?
[46] If not HS2 to Manchester, how will traffic be carried?
[43] Infrastructure problems in Thames Valley causing disruption el...
[34] Reversing Beeching - bring heritage and freight lines into the...
 
News: the Great Western Coffee Shop ... keeping you up to date with travel around the South West
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: 1 2 3 [4]
  Print  
Author Topic: Reopening of Kemble to Cirencester Branch Line (merged topic, ongoing discussion)  (Read 33870 times)
Bmblbzzz
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 4256


View Profile
« Reply #45 on: January 28, 2020, 09:36:40 »

“It will also be a very light railway which will have minimal impact on the environment and encourage people to stop using their cars for commuting, so helping our commitment to combating climate change.”

I suspect "would" rather than "will".
Logged

Waiting at Pilning for the midnight sleeper to Prague.
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40690



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #46 on: January 28, 2020, 10:19:37 »

I also suspect business cases for lines that connect with other lines at each end, rather than branch lines, will be far better....the case for this one must be quite small

Relaying a track rather than adding trains to even a freight line is an extra hurdle.

A line to a terminus rather than an end to end connecting service is an extra hurdle.

Doesn't rule things out ... look at Tweedbank, but sure as heck makes it harder.

Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
Red Squirrel
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 5190


There are some who call me... Tim


View Profile
« Reply #47 on: January 28, 2020, 10:41:33 »

... look at Tweedbank...

I'd say look at Stourbridge - a low-cost, low-energy shuttle service? Stourbridge is a town of 60,000 at the end of a 1km branch; Cirencester is 20,000 people 2km from the junction, so not directly comparable but not that different either!
Logged

Things take longer to happen than you think they will, and then they happen faster than you thought they could.
Chris from Nailsea
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 17865


I am not railway staff


View Profile Email
« Reply #48 on: April 22, 2020, 02:45:35 »

I really do wish them all the best - but I honestly can't see it actually happening.

They are apparently basing their projections (partly) on commuter demand?

How many people actually commute from Cirencester towards London, never mind into London itself?

And, from Tetbury?  Lips sealed

Logged

William Huskisson MP (Member of Parliament) was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830.  Many more have died in the same way since then.  Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.

"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner."  Discuss.
infoman
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 1286


View Profile
« Reply #49 on: April 22, 2020, 05:36:15 »

Maybe some one should do a survey on how many passengers join the direct trains to London at Kemble in the rush
As well as the local trains from Kemble to Swindon,when everything settles down.
Okay,I volunteer so If everything has settled down maybe september would be a good time
Logged
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40690



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #50 on: April 22, 2020, 07:33:15 »

Maybe some one should do a survey on how many passengers join the direct trains to London at Kemble in the rush
As well as the local trains from Kemble to Swindon,when everything settles down.
Okay,I volunteer so If everything has settled down maybe september would be a good time

Kemble to London ticket numbers (up to March 2020) will be known already ... and there is a noticeable flow, I understand - witness the car parking.   Looking back at circumstantial evidence over 20 years old,  I recall comments about abandoned cars in station car parks at Kemble and Reading in the days after the Ladbroke Grove collision. But ... a noticeable number of passengers joining the hourly London peak train (and with current and full evidence) is far from a business case; it could be one small indicator of potential.

A pity from the current shutdown is that the (Railfuture meeting) presentation at Kemble early this month didn't happen - but perhaps every cloud has a silver lining, as I couldn't make that day.  I would love to see the case and the evidence presented.  I have severe concerns, but might be surprised - and (even) should the total case be found wanting or incomplete, good elements may point a different way forward.
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
patch38
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 653


View Profile
« Reply #51 on: April 22, 2020, 10:42:15 »

Maybe some one should do a survey on how many passengers join the direct trains to London at Kemble in the rush
As well as the local trains from Kemble to Swindon,when everything settles down.
Okay,I volunteer so If everything has settled down maybe september would be a good time

I think the real question is, of those who commute from Kemble to Swindon/London in the rush hour, how many of them come from Cirencester itself? My suspicion is that the majority (myself included) come from a wide geographical spread of villages rather than from central Ciren. Therefore, most will still drive the few extra miles and park at Kemble (especially now the overflow car park exists and is never full) rather than drive to an industrial estate on the edge of the town, park, and take a shuttle.
Logged
Bmblbzzz
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 4256


View Profile
« Reply #52 on: April 22, 2020, 12:32:34 »

A Ciren to Swindon shuttle might make more sense than one terminating at Kemble.
Logged

Waiting at Pilning for the midnight sleeper to Prague.
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40690



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #53 on: April 22, 2020, 15:32:37 »

I think the real question is, of those who commute from Kemble to Swindon/London in the rush hour, how many of them come from Cirencester itself? My suspicion is ....

A Ciren to Swindon shuttle might make more sense than one terminating at Kemble.

Questions at both ends.   

The Newquay branch has been reported as not generating bread and butter commuter traffic very well because it runs out at Par when people want to to to St Austell or Plymouth, and I question people from Cirencester wanting to change at Kemble.  However, what I have read suggests a light rail solution, and I'm not sure about light rail vehicles mixing with heavy rail on the Kemble to Swindon run.   

Another example of trains that join the main line but (over the years) have been extended through ... trains no longer turn around at Dovey Junction ...

Agree with the question of whether people would be in walking / cycling scope of Cirencester; I cannot see them driving and parking there to catch the train to Kemble when they could drive to Kemble - even if they drive past Cirencester Station. 

Now - there were two intermediate halts on the line. Wonder if the plan includes either of them?
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
patch38
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 653


View Profile
« Reply #54 on: April 22, 2020, 17:42:04 »

Now - there were two intermediate halts on the line. Wonder if the plan includes either of them?

The halts were Park Leaze Farm (near Ewen) and Chesterton Lane. Well, Chesterton isn't on the new route (which skirts the proposed housing development there and then passes the Royal Ag, ending up almost where the original Cirencester Town station was) and a halt to serve a single farm seems unlikely. It looks like the Royal Ag would get its own halt though. It'll need plenty of parking for Range Rovers  Wink 
Logged
johnneyw
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 2257


From station to station, back to Bristol city....


View Profile
« Reply #55 on: July 02, 2022, 16:12:28 »

Saw this article about local response to the news that Cirencester has missed out on further progress with the Restoring the Railways initiative.  They seem undeterred to make their Very Light Rail link a reality but acknowledge that this willl slow down the process.
https://www.wiltsglosstandard.co.uk/news/20247038.plans-new-cirencester-railway-line-suffer-setback/

Logged
patch38
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 653


View Profile
« Reply #56 on: January 19, 2023, 14:27:54 »

Still smouldering away...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-64318647

And what on earth is the 'Local Democracy Reporting Service'?

Edit: Ah, it explains itself further down the page.
Logged
Bmblbzzz
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 4256


View Profile
« Reply #57 on: January 20, 2023, 18:24:59 »

First time I've heard a railway referred to as "single file".  Cheesy
Logged

Waiting at Pilning for the midnight sleeper to Prague.
Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: 1 2 3 [4]
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules (email link to report). Forum hosted by Well House Consultants

Jump to top of pageJump to Forum Home Page