Wootton Bassett station - campaign for reopening

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Petition response - see http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page18921 for full list of signatories, etc.

"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to reopen Wootton Bassett Train Station."

Details of Petition:

"Wootton Bassett is a town of 11,000. It used to have a train station, providing easy access for travellers to Bristol, Swindon, London and the South Coast. However, the station was closed in 1961 because of the Beeching Cuts in the 1960s. The reopening of one of them, Wootton Bassett, is viable and necessary, and would be of great benefit to both business and commuters and the town as a whole."

The Government's response:

It is for the local authority to determine whether or not re-opening Wootton Bassett station is the best way to meet local transport needs. In doing so it would need to work with Network Rail and the train operator, First Great Western, to demonstrate that reopening is deliverable in engineering and operation terms, offers value for money and can be funded from local or regional funding sources.

Personal Comment

In my view, there is a good case for re-opening a station at Wootton Bassett. Indeed, it is one of the locations we have listed (along with Staverton / Holt, White Horse and Wilton) as being worthy of further investigation as a later phase of making appropriate use of the TransWilts line - the first phase to get back something approaching an appropriate service, which should not be delayed while waiting for stations to be rebuilt.

Wootton Bassett would also have been an appropriate stop, along with Corsham, on the Oxford to Bristol service, and it would be very likely to be a sensible stop on any similar / revived service - thus giving Wootton Bassett a more frequent calling pattern.

Wootton Bassett is in the new unitary Wiltshire, so the government's answers tell the petitioners to have a chat with Wiltshire council.  However, most of the traffic from Wootton Bassett would be to non-council destinations such as Swindon, Bath, Bristol, Reading and London.   And the relatively short distance from Wootton Bassett to Swidnon is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it makes the traffic levels on offer very high.  On the other hand, it presses the case for a higher frequency service - typically, people are prepared to wait only shorter times for shorter journeys.

[Btline]

It would be good to re-open some stations, but not at the cost of the HSSs^▸ (High Speed Services).

HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) must not be slowed any further by extra stops/ getting stuck behind stoppers.

[grahame]

An excellent question asked of me by email - "what about Wootton Bassett", and it was asked in the context of (re)opening a station there, and support for such from the TransWilts Community Rail Partnership.  It's too early for there to be any official line, but I wrote a full answer and felt it worth sharing here - partly to let those of you with more knowledge that I chip in and add your own elements to the jigsaw.

For reader who don't know Wootton Bassett - it's town that's six miles to the west of Swindon, at the point where the London to Bristol via Bath and to South Wales via Badminton and Bristol Parkway split.  The original station there closed 40 to 50 years ago and since then the tracks have been re-aligned and there's no platform or station buildings remaining.   The town itself is busy - in some ways it's become a suburb of Swindon, to which there is a major flow, largely by car but also a significant number of buses that people use.  However, the roads are busy, and the bus takes 20 to 33 minutes.

I wrote:

I'm not an expert on Wootton Bassett / rail situation - though I did put an offer in on a house there when I first moved west some 30 years ago. More recently - perhaps 3 or 4 years ago - we did try to get in touch with the people looking to re-open the station there, but our enquiries fizzled and it looks as if the campaign had folded at that point.  So comments that I'm going to make will be purely personal thoughts based on only a little background; CRP^▸ (Community Rail Partnership) policy, aims, constitution, etc are still to be drawn up, and there are others we have contact with who know the technical side, and the forecasting, far better.

No doubt a station could be (re)built at Wootton Bassett.  There are several options available

a) A station alongside the existing tracks where the previous station used to be - i.e. on the Swindon side of the junction.  This would be expensive (all new stations are expensive!) and only a very limited number of trains could call there, as you've got a lot of expresses going through there, as well as freight, and having anything slow down to pick up, then restart, reduces the available paths significantly

b) A station could be built on loops (or, it has been suggested , one platform on a single loop on one side!).  Much higher costs, or a number of awkward crossing movements with the single side solution which they tried at Swindon then put a platform back on the other side.  It would mean that trains that stopped could be looped for others to overtake them, but that would mean a significant station "hover" during that manoever, whcih would slow their transit times from further west to Swindon - you're looking at a significant timing cost as you see at Westbury and Frome on trains to the West of England.

c) A newly sited station on either of the two routes west of the junction.   Attractive in that no extra loops are needed and that if the a train coming up the TransWilts were to stop there (following a 125 from Chippenham), it could be loading / unloading while the 125 from Bristol Parkway passed.  You're possibly into major works in widening a cuttting, and a Chippenham line station would be somwhat out of town.

So - the first option is cheapest, but you're still investing a lot of money, and it may provide a station that could only be used at "marginal" times, which isn't going to pay for itself.  To my mind the third option looks better, bearing in mind how frequent a service you would need, which brings us to the second point that would need to be answered - "What would stop?"

You would find it hard - VERY hard - to convince the powers that be that another stop should be added into any London - Bristol or London - Cardiff services. It's not only FGW^▸ (First Great Western) that would need convincing that it's a good idea, but also Network Rail, the Department for Transport, and all the passengers on the trains that had the extra stop who would have their journeys extended by 5 to 10 minutes.  I've written a comment on how Corsham fits in where a similar situation exists and they have a great deal of experience of the resistance to extra stops by HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train)

Local trains?   There are five times a day as far as I know that local trains pass - at 07:37, 09:05 and 20:10 toward Swindon and 06:25 and 18:55 towards Chippenham.   Yes, we are working for more and the TransWilts "should" be hourly - by that still has to be worked for and it's quite a different matter saying it's an appropriate service with a good benefit to cost ratio, and actually achieving it.  In my view, it's more likely that we'll get a significant improvement on the TransWilts within a few years, but that will fall short (initially ?) of the hourly service that's appropriate.

What would Wootton Bassett need in order for it to have a well used / appropriate service?   There's a rule of thumb that says that if you increase train frequency, you'll get more and more passengers per train until the trains are roughly as frequent as the journey time taken.   So in other words, a service that's just once an hour from Wootton Bassett into Swindon is significantly poor in terms of attracting custom for such a short journey. The same train is, though, much more in tune with requirements for the run from Warminster or Frome to Swindon.

The conundrum here is that I don't think that Wootton Bassett would actually generate enough traffic to justify a very frequent interurban type service (and if it did, such a service would provide capacity issues such that 4 tracks would be needed into Swindon).

This is probably reading "pretty depressing" as if I'm pouring cold water on every option - but if one can be found that works, who cares about the ones that don't?  Have a look in a minute at my Corsham article - I'll give you a link at the end - and you'll see that I talk about an hourly local service from Bristol to Swindon - not soon, but not unforseeable either.  And with such a service, the possibility of a half hourly local train calling at Wootton Bassett comes along.    We may just be getting somewhere for you - but it won't be soon and (ironically) if it did really well, it would give you two routes which might either have severe overcrowding on the last few miles into Swindon, or be relatively empty for the rest of their routes (because they would be twice the length due to pressures on those last miles) which in turn would destroy the cost / benefit reason for running them.  Trains are in short supply and cost an awful lot to hire!

The question I was asked went on to ask "If Great Bedwyn can have an hourly terminator from London, then surely Wootton Bassett has a good case" - I am paraphrasing here.

You mention Great Bedwyn;  you have a different route characteristic there in that it happens to be the last station on a string out from the major population centre.   You can see the same thing on the 272 and 273 buses from Bath to Easterton;  Easterton doesn't justify them BUT cut them back to Market Lavington and you're the saying that doesn't justify them, so cut the m back to West Lavington, then to Potterne, then to Devizes.  But actually the string of traffic from all these smaller places generates a significant load on those buses all the way to Bath and makes the route very much worthwhile as a whole, absurd though "Easterton" or "Great Bedwyn" appear for an hourly service.

Carrying through to an initial conclusion ...

Wootton Bassett IS on the radar (so are a handful of other station sites that have been mooted in the past).  Nothing would give me greater pleasure in taking the hourly train from Melksham - "nesting" [nearly every seat taken] as far as Wootton Bassett, where other join so it's very much standing room only for those final few miles - but not danegerously overcrowded.  I don't see that soon, but if you do and have the perseverance, drive, vision, answers to the issues I've raised, without a major tradeoff of causing problems elsewhere, then go for it.  If you and others in the town do have those qualities, I would strongly suspect that our CRP (which is only just setting up) will welcome you.  But we're also going to need to be cruel to be kind sometimes, and say "no - we can't push xxx because it would risk so much else".

There - that's a long answer, and I've raised more questions than I've answered.  You say you have lived in the area for 20 years - that's twice as long as I've been in Melksham, so I suspect you can add good local knowledge and thoughts to what I've written above.  No great rush - in fact it would be best to get the CRP ground rules established first and I know from last night's meeting [26 March 2010] that we won't be slamming any doors that could be easily opened in the short term.

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

Potential sites on the TransWilts for which I'm aware of aspirations for new / re-opened stations are (North to South): South Marston, Blagrove, Wootton Bassett, Lacock, Staveton / Holt, White Horse Trowbridge, Wylye, Wilton and Petersfinger. That's not expressing any view on any individual cases here - just saying I'm aware of them.

[moonrakerz]

Potential sites on the TransWilts for which I'm aware of aspirations for new / re-opened stations are (North to South): South Marston, Blagrove, Wootton Bassett, Lacock, Staveton / Holt, White Horse Trowbridge, Wylye, Wilton and Petersfinger. That's not expressing any view on any individual cases here - just saying I'm aware of them.

I do feel that some of the very genuine and realistic cases put forward for re-opening of stations are greatly undermined by some that are really best described as "no hopers" !

Melksham certainly has a very, very good case, BUT -  Lacock, Wylye, Wilton,  Petersfinger, etc ,etc ? (Have you seen the old photos of Lacock Halt ??)
Even in the days of steam, when private car ownership was pretty much for the well-heeled, these stations were very little used. If you look at many of these stations most of them are actually more that a short walk from the local "centre of population". I can remember (just) when Codford and Heytesbury were still open - they were a three day camel ride from the village ! Who is going to get a bus from, say, Wilton to the station, when that same bus can take you straight into Salisbury? Who is going to operate that bus for a handful of passengers each day ?

I am all for greater use of the railways but promoting lost causes really does more harm than good for the credibility of the argument.

[JayMac]

It is worth remembering, however, that we have a far more mobile population now than was the case in the pre-Beeching era. Just reopening stations is often not the answer as monnrakerz points out, but to dismiss them out of hand as "no-hopers" maybe a tad disingenious.

More 'Parkway' type stations, which can serve a wide area, with integrated public transport and decent car-parking facilities, perhaps?

[grahame]

I do feel that some of the very genuine and realistic cases put forward for re-opening of stations are greatly undermined by some that are really best described as "no hopers" !

Melksham certainly has a very, very good case, BUT -  Lacock, Wylye, Wilton,  Petersfinger, etc ,etc ? (Have you seen the old photos of Lacock Halt ??)

Please please note that I was very careful to say "for which I'm aware of aspirations for new / re-opened stations".  Being aware does NOT make a case or imply that I would support it for what that's worth.  But at the same time, I keep an open mind and don't just dismiss an idea because the trains in pre-Beeching days were quiet - we must look at new flows too.

Right.  No opinion expressed on viability but ...  You drive up from the West Country for your week's work in London, pull off the A303 to a park and ride station in the countryside where you can leave it all week if you like.  There are direct trains to London at 06:20, 07:20 and 08:20, getting back at 18:08, 19:08 and 20:08 and 21:08.  There are a handful of other direct trains though the day.  And there's an hourly service from that A303 trunk to Salisbury, Southampton, Portsmouth too during the day - not nice journeys from the West country, with a change at Salisbury for London.

Absolutely NOT part of a core "TransWilts" strategy ... but worth spending a few minutes asking "might there be something for the future here" rather that dismissing it out of hand as mad-cap without even a look, a talk with people, and an understanding of where the case is coming from.  And that understanding needs to look at modern requirements, flows, and potential flows - not the village traffic from the 1950s

And my original post also says ... but we're also going to need to be cruel to be kind sometimes, and say "no - we can't push xxx because it would risk so much else".

P.S. Some, for sure are likely to be revealed as very unlikely candidates - but that's after a look at the skeleton of the suggestion and not just based on a place.  I think we'll do a good service to all by taking an open view, but realising that a service that uses existing tracks and existing stations is probably the first step, an order of magnitude more affordable than schemes that call for new tracks or stations.

[Mookiemoo]

Potential sites on the TransWilts for which I'm aware of aspirations for new / re-opened stations are (North to South): South Marston, Blagrove, Wootton Bassett, Lacock, Staveton / Holt, White Horse Trowbridge, Wylye, Wilton and Petersfinger. That's not expressing any view on any individual cases here - just saying I'm aware of them.

. If you look at many of these stations most of them are actually more that a short walk from the local "centre of population". I can remember (just) when Codford and Heytesbury were still open - they were a three day camel ride from the village ! Who is going to get a bus from, say, Wilton to the station, when that same bus can take you straight into Salisbury?

So explain Long Buckby?

A good friend of mine lives in Daventry - nearest station is miles from Daventry with little or no bus link.

Its almost easier to get the train to Rugby/Northampton and get the bus from there than it is to go to Long Buckby.  I used it because I take me bike but if I didnt, I'd either drive (about 90 minutes each way minimum) or go rugby/northampton route.

[onthecushions]

The reality about re-openings on InterCity lines is that the faster and more frequent the main service is, the more difficult it is to fit in stopping trains, evidenced by the loss of local services along the main lines. Thus minor, slower routes, including slow/relief lines are often the best for re-openings. If Didcot-Swindon were ever quadrupled for freight, as may be reasonable, then platforms near population centres and cascaded emu's could follow. If Chippenham's extra platform materialises and extra stock  found then there would be hope for Melksham...

Electrification would also help as the better legs of an emu reduces performance difference between stopping and fast services, as the RUS^▸ (Route Utilisation Strategy) points out.

Good luck to Wootton Bassett (and Melksham)

OTC

[moonrakerz]

So explain Long Buckby?

A good friend of mine lives in Daventry - nearest station is miles from Daventry with little or no bus link.

Its almost easier to get the train to Rugby/Northampton and get the bus from there than it is to go to Long Buckby.  I used it because I take me bike but if I didnt, I'd either drive (about 90 minutes each way minimum) or go rugby/northampton route.

There are, of course, individual cases which disprove my general comments. I can't comment on Long Buckby as I don't know anything about it - BUT I do know well most of the places Grahame ( I did note his comment regarding support !) mentioned and feel that my comments are fairly well founded.
Grahame says "a service that uses existing tracks and existing stations is probably the first step" - totally agree ! this is just what he personally is doing for Melksham - but all the other stations mentioned have long gone, the cost of rebuilding just one would be enormous !
Mac has a valid point about the usefulness of "parkways" - but "Lacock Parkway" ??  Sorry, but when you put "Wylye Parkway" in the same case as expanding services through Melksham it really does make the whole argument a little silly and very easy for those who wish to opposite expanding Melksham services to show how poor the arguments are.
If you are going to put forward a really sound case I am afraid that putting in "pie in the sky" proposals (even as trading points) just weakens the whole case.

[Chris from Nailsea]

For those interested in Long Buckby, there is more information in Wikipedia.

[Mookiemoo]

Just looked up the station usage figures - they aren't great for Long Buckby

[grahame]

Championing "pie in the sky" cases as an integral part of the TransWilts suggestions would be enormously damaging.  But failing to even acknowledge that a lot of other aspirations exist at a time that we're setting up a new body for the route would be sticking our head in the sand.  This is a good time to list / document anything of potential interest, but I personally doubt whether any should / could / would be included in the early stages of an improved service.  Most - and perhaps all - wouldn't be likely candidates even in the foreseeable future.

We're looking at current and projected travel requirements and stations - everything from the tiny aspects of repainting white lines in station car parks to make them more user friendly and asking for a service to be retimed 5 minutes to make an extra connection, though to much bigger cases.   We set up a steering group last Friday evening, and that meets - for a longer and more substantive session - on Saturday, 17th April.   There are lots of doors and until then, we are not turning the key and saying "locked - we're not going through there" but rather acknowldeging that the door exists.  It's called "policy review", it's a community partnership and driven by real people in the community who have asked "what about xxxx" and community inputs are welcome.

[grahame]

P.S.  A couple of backup comments

Who suggested "Lacock Parkway"? That's a new one on me. I haven't yet explained the reason behind that particular suggestion that was made and it was not as a "park and ride" for some local town or other ... please don't put words into our mouths 

I note the Long Buckby comments - thanks for those extra inputs

One of the things that does come from this review is information from "left field" sometimes.  And some of that information might be significantly, positively useful. There are some interesting rumours around at the moment. Remember that we're looking at a corridor which has substantial traffic flows, and which is growing and changing rapidly. For instance, let's consider an employer with staff in Trowbridge or south thereof may relocate a whole bunch of them northward towards Swindon, or one with a whole bunch in Chippenham or east thereof may move a bit south. Before my time - 25 years back - that was the catalyst behind the raising of the TransWilts service from a summer saturday only service that it had "enjoyed" for the previous 20 years, with a single Wolverhampton to Weymouth via Oxford  return trip hauled by a Hymek.   Different times, but we can learn from history.

I must dash - 06:30 meeting 

[moonrakerz]

Who suggested "Lacock Parkway"? That's a new one on me. I haven't yet explained the reason behind that particular suggestion that was made and it was not as a "park and ride" for some local town or other ... please don't put words into our mouths 

No one did - nor "Wylye Parkway";  joke - to make a point   

[caliwag]

Golly gosh...

http://railwayeye.blogspot.com/2010/03/open-access-without-orr-approval-way-to.html