Let's hope it's not true

[whole diary]

[tramway]

I was hoping to post this on the Bath Chronicle thread but it seems to have timed out, so I'll post it here.

Along with many other passengers who were generally pleased with the efforts that Wessex made in the last few years of the franchise, I am now thoroughly depressed with the complete shambles that passes for a timetable imposed by the Department for Transport. What irritates in particular is the peak journey time to/from Bristol from West Wilts, as it takes 15 min longer to do a journey in the mornings than it does to return home, and this on a 40 min journey.
One of the common findings in two recent reports, one for the RPC in 2004 and the other for the Government Office for the South West, was that in any future franchise, the timetable should consider timings to meet the requirements of it's principle passenger flows, and concluded that a fast service from West Wilts into Bath/Bristol was essential. If councils want a modal shift from car to rail to reduce overcrowding on the appalling A46/M4 corridor then a modal shift in their efforts on this strategic route is required. The conclusions of these reports were fully endorsed by many groups following their publication, all of whom have seemingly forgotten what they were hoping for from the GWF only 3 years ago.
With West Wilts set to become an even greater dormitory area for Bath/Bristol/Swindon in the coming decade, and unless the A46 isn't going to become gridlocked in 5 years time, then some effort should be made to encourage more train use.
All morning peak services call at Freshford, which at the moment can only mean if additional stops are proposed will be the evening peak, is therefore no way to promote more rail patronage. If my journey time home then increases to the best part of an hour, I for one will seriously consider cashing in my season ticket and put the car back on the road and start carting my own fresh air around.
I just hope that local residents can ask the appropriate questions in the forthcoming elections regarding the total failure of their local transport policies.