Ashchurch for Tewkesbury Station - campaign for renaming and other improvements

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

Welcome to the Coffee Shop forum, Pedros!

The re-naming campaign story has now reached the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Campaign to rename Ashchurch for Tewkesbury station

More than 300 people have signed a petition to change the name of a Gloucestershire railway station.

Ashchurch for Tewkesbury is located in the village of Ashchurch, but is the nearest stop for Tewkesbury.

But the Ashchurch Tewkesbury and District Rail Promotion Group wants it to be renamed Tewkesbury Parkway.

Campaigners said the aim was to encourage more visitors to Tewkesbury who may not otherwise have realised there was a station serving the town.

Treasurer John Stretton said he had had a number of meetings with train operator First Great Western which would be responsible for the name change. "They are fully supportive, provided that they are happy that we have local support which we are gathering at the moment," he said.  "And we are to present a package to First Great Western by the end of November in the hope of achieving the change of name from the May timetable change next year. That's the earliest it can possibly be done."

Mr Stretton said including the word "parkway" would indicate the station was not in the centre of the town and that parking was available. He added that several neighbouring town and parish councils had also supported the bid.

Julian Crow, First Great Western's regional manager for the west of England, said: "We're aware that there is an interest in renaming the station and if this is what the local community wants, we are more than happy to work with them to make it happen."

By the way: I've just taken the opportunity to merge a couple of topics here, and rename the topic itself - purely in the interests of continuity and clarity.

CfN. 

[IndustryInsider]

Doubts are surfacing...

http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/tewkesbury/Station-change-doubt/article-2702937-detail/article.html

[inspector_blakey]

Never thought I'd say this, but I find myself agreeing wholeheartedly with the Parish Council!

[willc]

But the station is actually in the Northway parish (the railway is the boundary) - and the parish councillors there are firmly in the Tewkesbury Parkway camp. What next inspector, will you be advocating it becomes Northway for Ashchurch and Tewkesbury?

They can bang on about history all they like but while the name may have made some sense when there were green fields between Ashchurch and Tewkesbury, plus a station in Tewkesbury itself, today the fields have vanished under industrial estates, the Northway housing estate, a high school and the M5 junction, with just a small sliver of green left, which floods whenever the Avon and Severn burst their banks, otherwise it would have been built on as well.

[JayMac]

Ok then....

'Northway Central Parkway for Ashchurch, Tewkesbury, Walton Cardiff, Homedowns, Claydon and Fiddington'

Nice commission for the signwriters. 

[anthony215]

I dont know why FGW^▸ (First Great Western)  extend some of the  Weymouth - Bristol - Gloucester-Great Malvern services which terminate at Gloucester through to Worcester/Great Malvern.

I used the London midland service just before it was withdrawn. Problem i think was that ther service was exactly hourly and was  a bit erratic although i will give London Midland credit for having a go  but i think the problems was that the train didnt go through to Bristol which would have helped it if it did, Besides i think passengers might prefer the class 170 compared to the usual class 150/158's.

Another good  idea maybe Arriva should extend their current Maesteg -  Cardiff - Cheltenham service through to Birmingham if they every get anough rolling stock to do it and have that serve Ashchurch for Tewkesbury station ( Although this will depends on if any paths are available.)

[paul7575]

I dont know why FGW^▸ (First Great Western)  extend some of the  Weymouth - Bristol - Gloucester-Great Malvern services which terminate at Gloucester through to Worcester/Great Malvern.

Yes you do. It's the opposite reason as you already worked out for why ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company))) don't extend their Cheltenham service...

Paul

[wehrwulf]

There is now a website for the Ashchurch rail user group at http://aschurchandtewkesburyrailpromotion.webs.com/

[JayMac]

Thank you for that link, wehrwulf, and a warm welcome to the forum! 

[willc]

I used the London midland service just before it was withdrawn. Problem i think was that ther service was exactly hourly and was  a bit erratic

.

The fundamental problem was that - just like the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) service pre- and post-LM^▸ (London Midland - recent franchise)'s operation - it didn't provide a decent morning peak service, making it useless for most people who might like to use the train for a daily commute from Tewkesbury into Worcester or Cheltenham/Gloucester, or between Worcester and Cheltenham or Gloucester

Another good  idea maybe Arriva should extend their current Maesteg -  Cardiff - Cheltenham service through to Birmingham

Wouldn't be allowed, as XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) is the franchised operator for Cardiff-Brum, albeit that its service bears no resemblance to what BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) Regional Railways ran in the early 1990s, with Ashchurch calls and running via Worcester Shrub Hill as well. That's 'progress' for you.

'Northway Central Parkway for Ashchurch, Tewkesbury, Walton Cardiff, Homedowns, Claydon and Fiddington'

That should be Northway East... 

Interesting to note from the user group website that the supposed ^4.50 daily parking charge is actually ^0! Neither National Rail nor FGW seemed to have a clue.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Thursday 2nd December 7.30pm Tewkesbury Library, High Street. Speakers David Northey and Tim Maddocks from Network Rail.

For details of the Ashchurch and Tewkesbury Rail Promotion group, see their website.

[wehrwulf]

Hi all

The website for the Ashchurch and Tewkesbury district rail promotion group has moved to http://ashchurchandtewkesburyrail.webs.com/index.htm

Cross Country trains are sending a representative to our next meeting on March 11th at Tewkesbury library.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Thanks for that update, wehrwulf - I've taken the liberty of adding those details to our Calendar.

CfN 

[Btline]

At LAST!

http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/story-14018566-detail/story.html?

[mjones]

I believe I read somewhere recently, might have been the local paper, that there is a proposal to drop the "parkway" from Didcot, because the station is in the middle of the town it serves. So if Aschurch becomes Tewkesbury Parkway, then to drop (AXE?) Didcot's Parkway at the same time would help provide greater consistency in the use of that title.