16th and 15th June 2017

GWR^▸ 's Community Group Conference - this year in Barnstaple. An opportunity for community partners across the GWR area to network with one another, and with a wider circle of those involved in the operation and management of the GWR network too. Also an opportunity for GWR to inform a very wide range of community partners.

Although user groups and rail partnerships "compete" with each other at times, that's not really a competition for passenger as you see when two bus companies are competing on routes like Bath to Melksham or Swindon to Royal Wootton Bassett. Rather each is competing in its own pool of people in its area against road, other activities, and apathy for passengers. And that means there is so much to learn from other's experience. TransWilts is stronger, I know, from seeing what others do (both their successes and occasional failures) and as we mature others may start to pick up ideas and lessons from us.

There often remains in these groups, though, a disjoint between the individual members of the groups and the passengers on the train. To some extent that's due to the passengers simply letting the groups get on / not having the time or inclination to be involved in what the groups should "automatically" be doing for them, but the level of disjoint is a concern. I've travelled on trains with a high proportion of young people - youths off to visit friends or education, young mums with pushchairs and toddlers, people who've got their first job and get to it by rail. I travel on trains where there's a mixture of languages being spoken, and clearly a number of different communities all in the melting pot. But these passenger groups are underrepresented - sometimes to the extent of being completely absent - at events where the rail industry, government bodies and "the community" come together with the objective of mutually informing each other, and learning to work better together.

I have an invite to this event ... and expect to bump into some other forum members there too. I'll be very much in listening mode and should be able to report back after; also feel fairly well informed having read here about what people's concerns are. Please feel free to follow up this post with a reminder of your top issues / questions; I can promise to bear those in mind (as I'm sure will other readers who attend) as opportunities to learn and ask arise on 16th (all day) and perhaps as we gather on 15th.