Corsham Station reopening

[whole diary]

[grahame]

I popped in to the Corsham group's "booth" in the centre of Corsham yesterday - they had borrowed a shop that's currently unlet and were inviting shoppers in there to hear more about their campaign for a station ... and much more for a train service that passes through Corsham and is sufficiently un-express for whoever runs it to consider stopping it there.   There's only one train per day that's not a London -> Bristol and beyond (or vice versa) service at the current time.



The group was gathering reply cards / names and addresses with a particular vies to the GWRUS^▸ (Great Western Route Utilisation Strategy) response which is now due in within a fortnight. 

I'll leave their excellent bullet-point texts to speak for themselves initially:













The question was asked in another thread here whether the was going to be much "TransWilts" content at the event.  Well - several of the people there are old friends and very much supporters of the "TransWilts", but the campaign / issues are different but with parallels.

Comment on Corsham:

The GWRUS looked at a Bristol area -> Chippenham service which would have provided a suitable more local train through Corsham, and trains could then call there serving Bath (in one direction) and Chippenham (in the other), both of which are Corsham destinations.  However, the roads into Bath / Chippenham are in both cases less than fast, and the buses in both directions used to (still do?) go round the houses in places making a less than fast service.

From my reading of the RUS^▸ (Route Utilisation Strategy), the case for a Corsham station itself wasn't examined, and the idea of a Bristol -> Chippenham suburban route was rejected because of the cost of a bay platform at Chippenham in favour of an extra hourly Bristol -> Bath.  Without a bay at Bath, I do wonder if they have the capacity to turn trains around there.    Looking more bravely / wider ... why not make the service a Bristol -> Swindon suburban one, evaluate the case for a Wootton Bassett station on the Chippenham line, which would then have a 30 minute service (hourly via Corsham, hourly via Melksham) into Swindon.    Makes sense, bearing in mind Wiltshire Council's expansion plans for "West of Swindon" by 2026, along with Chippenham and Trowbridge.

I was reminded about the Corsham event by Duncan Hames' tweet (Duncan is the prospective Lib-Dem candidate for Chippenham / Melksham  / Corsham / Bradford-on-Avon ... and who should I run into at the meeting but Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, the Conservative candidate.



Support for this one is truely cross-party ... there were strong lib-dem and conservative supporters both manning the shop at the event.

[signalandtelegraph]

... and who should I run into at the meeting but Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, the Conservative candidate.

Perhaps he could campaign for improved services in Devon, where he lives 

[grahame]

I have been asked to comment on how Corsham "fits in with" the TransWilts / Community Rail Partnership.   In summary, it's on "the next line across" so isn't directly linked, except that there's so much we can do together, and the potential of alternate services up to Swindon looking w-a-y- ahead.    See my full answer:

http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=8106.0

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Wiltshire Times:

Corsham rail station still an objective

A Wiltshire councillor is supporting some objectives proposed for Corsham in the Core Strategy.

Cllr Peter Davis has long campaigned for Corsham to have a train station after the previous one closed more than 25 years ago, and he was pleased to see plans to build a new one have been outlined in Wiltshire Council^s 360-page document.

Cllr Davis, who is also a Corsham Town councillor, said: ^ve endeavoured to get Corsham a new train station for 25 years. I think it would be a vital part of a prosperous future for the town. A new station would improve so many peoples^ lives, including those travelling for work, school and recreation.

^It would save so much time as, for example, we previously got so close to having a new Corsham station that timetables were printed saying how long it would take to get from here to Bath. It would have been eight minutes ^ most commuters haven^t even got their cars out of the garage in eight minutes.^

He said improving transport links would help to bring more tourism and enterprise to Corsham, another priority outlined in the Core Strategy, although he did not support the report^s plans for 670 new houses to be built around the town before 2026.

He said: ^There will undoubtedly be more residential properties in Corsham in the future but I think it could do with a rest for a while.^

[eightf48544]

One of the unintended benefits of the BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) policy, pre and post Beeching. of closing intermediate stations on main lines was that it enabled Inter city to develope a fast frequent service between major centre cummulating in the HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train). Now we have the problem of the success of these services and half hourly ICs^▸ (Inter City) to Bristol.

I am not sure if you build at station at Corsham how it would be served I would suggest that adding another stop would disrupt an already tight shecdule. Unless of course it was built as later GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) stations were with platform loops. That would make it extremely coatly as ideally you would want long loops with fairly high speed turnouts to minimise delay for train leaving the mainline. It would also require very smart operating for the IC to pass the stopper whilst it's stopped in the loop. Maybe the wonders of ERTMS^▸ (European Rail Traffic Management System.).

I still wonder whether reopening the Bradford North curve, with a North Trowvbridge Parkway station and running a Bath Swindon stopper wouldn't benefit more people than re opening just one station.

 

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Wiltshire Times:

Bristol mayor's rail plan gets Corsham station back on track

Wiltshire Council has welcomed proposals by the new mayor of Bristol to reopen Corsham railway station.

George Ferguson, the independent elected mayor of Bristol, has approved funding for major improvements to the Bristol area railway network, which includes provision for a new station in Corsham. His proposals still need to be approved by Bristol Council before the bid goes before the Department for Transport, but, if successful, could mean the reopening of the station, which closed in 1963.

Wiltshire Council has strongly supported the proposal. Dick Tonge, the cabinet member for transport, said: ^We welcome this promising news about what has been one of Wiltshire Council^s priorities for many years. We are looking forward to working with the greater Bristol area consortium to help make this a reality and bring rail travel back to Corsham. After many years of disappointments, we really hope that the opening of Corsham station can happen this time. We very much support this exciting project.^

Corsham residents and town councillors have campaigned to reopen the station for many years.

Wiltshire councillor for Corsham Peter Davies, who also sits on Corsham Town Council, welcomed the news. He said: ^That would be wonderful. It^s something that I have been working towards for the last 25 years and it^s something that the people of Corsham desperately need and desperately want, in order to get in and out of the city without having to deal with all the congestion. We had the station designed, we had the plans passed and everything ready to construct the station, then the Government pulled the plug on the Bristol to Oxford service, so we had to stop. We are all ready to go. All we want is a train to service to stop at Corsham and we will be willing and able to get it built.^

Mr Ferguson has pledged ^1.8 million of Bristol Council funds to develop the business case for the scheme, which would require ^94 million of Government funding. He said: ^This is something around which the transport lobby seems to be agreed. It^s making use of current infrastructure and adding to it in places. Over the next 10 or 15 years, it enables us to make a more integrated approach to our transport and will, hopefully, lead to an integrated transport authority in the long term.^

The news comes as Transport Minister Norman Baker outlined plans to devolve decision-making on major local transport schemes to local transport bodies from 2015.

[JayMac]

Hmm....

Bristol City council taxpayers funding a business case for a station that isn't in the area covered by Mayor Ferguson?

Corsham isn't even in a neighbouring authority area.

I'm all for studies into proposed reopenings but I'm at a bit of loss to understand why ^1.8 million of Bristol taxpayers money is being spent in Wiltshire. Mayor Ferguson appears to be beyond his remit here.

What benefits will a station at Corsham bring to Bristol? Some commuters may switch from road to rail if the station opens but that could be true of may places in the areas near, or not so near, Bristol.

[swrural]

The money AIUI^▸ (as I understand it) is for the whole Bristol area project.  Typical BEP misreporting.

[JayMac]

The money AIUI^▸ (as I understand it) is for the whole Bristol area project.  Typical BEP misreporting.

And that includes Corsham in Wiltshire?

Oh, and the article posted was from The Wiltshire Times not the paper formerly known as Bristol Evening Post. 

[Phil]

a.k.a. the Wiltshire Times - the paper formerly known as the Swindon Advertiser (as you'll see if you read the small print signing up to their website)

[Phil]

Hmm....

Bristol City council taxpayers funding a business case for a station that isn't in the area covered by Mayor Ferguson?

Corsham isn't even in a neighbouring authority area.

I'm all for studies into proposed reopenings but I'm at a bit of loss to understand why ^1.8 million of Bristol taxpayers money is being spent in Wiltshire. Mayor Ferguson appears to be beyond his remit here.

What benefits will a station at Corsham bring to Bristol? Some commuters may switch from road to rail if the station opens but that could be true of may places in the areas near, or not so near, Bristol.

The one significant thing linking Corsham and Bristol is the Ministry of Defence, which has "headquarters" at both (Abbey Wood and Spring Lane). Where once however the MoD had the appetite and the money to invest in public transport infrastructure in an attempt to draw staff out of the London region and to relocate to Bristol, as they did when Filton Abbey Wood station was reopened or refurbished (I'm not sure if it ever did close, but it's certainly unrecognisable now from what it was 20 years ago), they have neither the money or the inclination or indeed the staff in need of relocation to re-develop Corsham Station in a similar manner.

[swrural]

I do not think ^1.8 million is being spent on the Corsham project (or even ^1.8, perhaps ^1800) business case.  If it were, I would imagine a Queens Square riot would again break out. 

Apologies for my own misreporting (I see that standard format presentation and flip).    

[Trowres]

It's safe to assume that the ^1.8m is for development of the case for the whole Metro (possibly only stage 1?) and not for Corsham.

If Corsham improves the business case for the Metro phase 2 then its inclusion in the evaluation work would be money well spent.

[paul7575]

It's little different to the process that has seen Crossrail developed mainly by Tfl, even though it extends beyond the GLA boundary, such as to Maidenhead.

Paul

[Red Squirrel]

Corsham Station plan on track

Corsham could have a working railway station again within five years, according to railway minister Stephen Hammond.

Mr Hammond MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) visited the town on Thursday to discuss reopening the town^s abandoned station with campaigners and gave his backing to the scheme.

He said: ^The community^s case I have heard today is one of the most powerful cases I have heard.

See Wiltshire Gazette and Herald for full story