Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 12:15 29 Mar 2024
* Delays at Dover as millions begin Easter getaway
- Attempted murder charge after man stabbed on train
- KFC Nigeria sorry after disabled diner refused service
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
29th Mar (1913)
Foundation of National Union or Railwaymen (*)

Train RunningCancelled
09:30 Weymouth to Gloucester
11:57 Bedwyn to Newbury
12:17 Westbury to Swindon
12:22 Newbury to Bedwyn
12:30 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare
12:52 Bedwyn to Newbury
13:15 Swindon to Westbury
13:21 Newbury to Bedwyn
13:48 Bedwyn to Newbury
14:12 Newbury to Bedwyn
14:15 London Paddington to Cardiff Central
14:19 Westbury to Swindon
14:57 Bedwyn to Newbury
15:14 Swindon to Westbury
15:22 Newbury to Bedwyn
15:28 Weston-Super-Mare to London Paddington
15:50 Bedwyn to Newbury
16:15 Newbury to Bedwyn
16:23 Westbury to Swindon
16:54 Cardiff Central to London Paddington
16:55 Bedwyn to Newbury
17:36 Swindon to Westbury
18:37 Westbury to Swindon
20:13 Swindon to Westbury
21:16 Westbury to Swindon
22:30 Swindon to Westbury
Short Run
09:37 London Paddington to Paignton
10:35 London Paddington to Exeter St Davids
10:55 Paignton to London Paddington
12:35 London Paddington to Exeter St Davids
13:10 Gloucester to Weymouth
13:42 Exeter St Davids to London Paddington
13:55 Paignton to London Paddington
14:36 London Paddington to Paignton
15:42 Exeter St Davids to London Paddington
16:35 London Paddington to Plymouth
16:50 Plymouth to London Paddington
17:03 London Paddington to Penzance
17:36 London Paddington to Plymouth
18:03 London Paddington to Penzance
18:36 London Paddington to Plymouth
19:04 Paignton to London Paddington
20:03 London Paddington to Plymouth
21:04 London Paddington to Plymouth
Delayed
07:10 Penzance to London Paddington
08:03 London Paddington to Penzance
08:15 Penzance to London Paddington
09:04 London Paddington to Plymouth
09:10 Penzance to London Paddington
10:04 London Paddington to Penzance
10:20 Penzance to London Paddington
11:03 London Paddington to Plymouth
12:03 London Paddington to Penzance
12:15 Penzance to London Paddington
13:03 London Paddington to Plymouth
13:15 Plymouth to London Paddington
etc
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 29, 2024, 12:26:02 *
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
[124] Infrastructure problems in Thames Valley causing disruption el...
[53] would you like your own LIVE train station departure board?
[49] West Wiltshire Bus Changes April 2024
[48] Reversing Beeching - bring heritage and freight lines into the...
[43] Return of the BRUTE?
[30] 2024 - Service update and amendment log, Swindon <-> Westbury...
 
News: A forum for passengers ... with input from rail professionals welcomed too
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: [1]
  Print  
Author Topic: Frustration among user groups, and how to be an effective group - reprise  (Read 1045 times)
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40692



View Profile WWW Email
« on: February 22, 2021, 10:51:07 »

One thing cropped up several times at Friday's TravelWatch SouthWest online session, notes at http://www.passenger.chat/24545 . You will also find it in many threads here, in comments in the local press, social media, and so on.  And that thing was ... Frustration amongst user groups - a feeling that things are kicked into the long grass all too often, things going through too complex a process and take too long even if they get done.

And at TravelWatch SouthWest, it lead to the question from the chair, of several local government and rail industry professionals: "What makes a good, effective community group that the rail industry and local government will best interface to?:

Two responses
Quote
A group that listens as well as campaigns. Taking a look at the longer term and working together
Quote
Agree with [above speaker] and looks at the facts / issues. Look very much at joined up solutions.


Over the weekend, I have been categorising old documents into our mirror (http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/mirror) and I came across my slides from a session I co-presented with fellow TravelWatch director Richard Gamble - available at http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/mirror/taunton_20170304.pdf and entitled Achieving Productive Alliances.  It's worth a scan / read through - still relevant - perhaps more so - in these current times.  My lick of paint from Friday at http://www.passenger.chat/24686

So much comes down to trust, then co-operation, understanding, partnership, pragmatism and seeing the whole picture. And trust is key - hard  to establish, easy to break, and then impossible to restore quickly.

But trust is a two way thing and there is enormous cynicism, much of it sadly well founded in history, on the part of the community / user and campaign groups. I am not in this "top of thread" post going to come up with examples - but I could so easily do so as they spin around my head.
« Last Edit: February 22, 2021, 11:03:44 by grahame » Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
Red Squirrel
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 5191


There are some who call me... Tim


View Profile
« Reply #1 on: February 22, 2021, 14:09:23 »

At the rosy-fingered dawn of history, a thousand shiploads of Achaeans turned up somewhere north of Izmir all united in a desire to teach the locals a lesson they'd never forget. According to legend, they then proceeded to spend the next ten years camped out on the Plain of Troy arguing among themselves and achieving next to nothing, while the Trojans looked on and shrugged. The whole enterprise might have been an epic failure but for a twist of fate whereby the Greeks started listening to their experts at just the point when the Trojans stopped listening to theirs.

To put it another way: united we stand, divided we fall. The most annoying people in the world are those that you nearly completely agree with; it's much easier to argue with them than to face the real enemies of apathy, cynicism and business-as-usual.
Logged

Things take longer to happen than you think they will, and then they happen faster than you thought they could.
Lee
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 7519


GBR - The Emperor's New Rail Network


View Profile WWW
« Reply #2 on: February 22, 2021, 14:39:54 »

Actually, the most annoying people in the world are those who you want and know you should unite with, but whose unwise words and actions rule this out.
Logged

Vous devez ĂȘtre impitoyable, parce que ces gens sont des salauds - https://looka.com/s/78722877
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]
  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