Severn Tunnel Action Group Call For Better Connections From Bath

[whole diary]

[Lee]

STAG^▸ (Severn Tunnel Action Group) are calling for better Bath - Severn Tunnel Junction connections , and want to hear from from people who will be affected by the December 2007 timetable changes (link below.)
http://www.saveseverntunnel.co.uk/issues.htm

[Jim]

STAG^▸ (Severn Tunnel Action Group) are calling for better Bath - Severn Tunnel Junction connections , and want to hear from from people who will be affected by the December 2007 timetable changes (link below.)
http://www.saveseverntunnel.co.uk/issues.htm

They moan if they don't have 1, so they get that 1 they want, then moan because of the other!

[devon_metro]

Never happy are they 

It only takes a simple change at Bristol/Filton

[Shazz]

Never happy are they 

It only takes a simple change at Bristol/Filton

and they're never going to be happy.

[Lee]

Never happy are they 

It only takes a simple change at Bristol/Filton

Actually , its probably me who should have been a bit clearer. STAG^▸ (Severn Tunnel Action Group) are calling for better Bath - Severn Tunnel Junction evening connections. Quote from STAG :

From December 9th, the train timetable is changing.

^ From this date the last direct train from Bath to Severn Tunnel Junction is at 17.35 on a weekday*.

^ After that, to get home you may have to go via Newport or wait an hour at Bristol!

Help persuade First Great Western to provide a better connection!

If you regularly catch a train from Bath to Severn Tunnel, we need to hear from you. Simply let us know which train you usually catch to and from Bath Spa.

please email:- info@saveseverntunnel.co.uk BEFORE Friday 16th NOVEMBER.

We need to gauge passenger levels so we can lobby FGW^▸ (First Great Western) on your behalf.

* After 17.35 the only way Bath passengers will be able to catch the connection at Temple Meads will be to sprint across the station in the four minute gap between services - if the trains are on time, of course!

[Jim]

^ From this date the last direct train from Bath to Severn Tunnel Junction is at 17.35 on a weekday*.

Rubbish, the late night PMH-CDF^» (Cardiff - next trains) stop there!

[Lee]

Never happy are they 

It only takes a simple change at Bristol/Filton

Actually , its probably me who should have been a bit clearer. STAG^▸ (Severn Tunnel Action Group) are calling for better Bath - Severn Tunnel Junction evening connections. Quote from STAG :

From December 9th, the train timetable is changing.

^ From this date the last direct train from Bath to Severn Tunnel Junction is at 17.35 on a weekday*.

^ After that, to get home you may have to go via Newport or wait an hour at Bristol!

Help persuade First Great Western to provide a better connection!

If you regularly catch a train from Bath to Severn Tunnel, we need to hear from you. Simply let us know which train you usually catch to and from Bath Spa.

please email:- info@saveseverntunnel.co.uk BEFORE Friday 16th NOVEMBER.

We need to gauge passenger levels so we can lobby FGW^▸ (First Great Western) on your behalf.

* After 17.35 the only way Bath passengers will be able to catch the connection at Temple Meads will be to sprint across the station in the four minute gap between services - if the trains are on time, of course!

Rubbish, the late night PMH-CDF^» (Cardiff - next trains) stop there!

Jim is correct. Perhaps STAG would be better off pointing out that there is no direct Bath - Severn Tunnel Junction service between 1735 - 2135 , a gap of 4 hours.

[devon_metro]

^ From this date the last direct train from Bath to Severn Tunnel Junction is at 17.35 on a weekday*.

Rubbish, the late night PMH-CDF^» (Cardiff - next trains) stop there!

 

[Jim]

^ From this date the last direct train from Bath to Severn Tunnel Junction is at 17.35 on a weekday*.

Rubbish, the late night PMH-CDF^» (Cardiff - next trains) stop there!

 

And also, every journey option in OJP^▸ (Online Journey Planner) gave me a total time of under an hour! So, perhaps it's easier to find the truthfull parts of the article!

[Lee]

^ From this date the last direct train from Bath to Severn Tunnel Junction is at 17.35 on a weekday*.

Rubbish, the late night PMH-CDF^» (Cardiff - next trains) stop there!

 

And also, every journey option in OJP^▸ (Online Journey Planner) gave me a total time of under an hour! So, perhaps it's easier to find the truthfull parts of the article!

  honestly.....

Yes , it would appear that the STAG^▸ (Severn Tunnel Action Group) article was somewhat incorrect , but have you or Liam never made a mistake before (dont answer that  )

On the other hand , very few FGW^▸ (First Great Western) campaign groups can claim to have acheived their original objectives in as short a space of time as Severn Tunnel Action Group have.

[martyjon]

I have been a critic of the forum member who started this thread in the past. Resident in the Portsmouth area he seems to proclaim himself as a peoples champion and is getting involved in issues away from his home ground. Pilning, Severn Beach Line, Ashchurch just to name a few.

As I have stated before as a former member of a LA we would look at petitions presented to us and the first question would be who instigated this petition.  ....

[snip]

I am sure that Grahame and the Melksham Station Development Group would love to have a regular two hourly connecting service from Swindon / Westbury let alone a service provision right up to nearly 2300 hours as STJ^▸ (Severn Tunnel Junction railway station) will enjoy from BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains) as stated in the December TT changes.

[snip]

You may find errors in the undermentioned as I have prepared this quite quickly as I now pour the last glass of red wine, to fini the bottle, into my glass and shut up, on this forum anyway, and start packing for my forthcoming weekend in Ostend on our groups annual Booze and Baccy run. Giong by coach by the way, rail fares only over twice what we are paying inclusive of three nights in hotel.

[snip]

This thread has been amended to remove what I consider to be a personal attack on one of our members by another.  Disagreement and discussion is fine, but personal attack is NOT.   As the poster has chosen to post and then leave for a few days, I have snipped his writings (I have kept a copy) and will take the matter up on his return.

[grahame]

I'm going to let the person you are asking / challenging answer your main points.  However, I'm going to pick up on a point that get missed sometimes ...

People travel to get from one point to another, often via many other points on the way.   That is different to almost any other issue, which will tend to be geostationary and therefore work better, naturally, with systems such as parish councils, counties, etc each of which has a physical area.

I live in Melksham. I put the case here for an improved service.  But NOT ONE of the journeys that would be made on that improved service is within Melksham and I am bound to be crossing over borders / making suggestions that effect Chippenham and Trowbridge and Swindon and Salisbury.  Indeed - recent history shows that only a fifth of the journeys made on the TransWilts line involve journeys that were ticketed to start or end at Melksham, and of those we can guess that a half were for people coming in to the town, and just a half for residents.

Now ... I was talking with the Mayor of Melksham and two former mayors on Sunday - representing all three political parties ... and they are very much giving the local support.  And I have also made sure to keep other from wider on board too - you'll find a picture of me with similar dignatories from Swindon and Salisbury and Chippenham, for example, set up for the campaign. But at times I feel that I am representing different but parallel interests to my own and whilst it's not necessarily comfortable, it's one of those things that can't be avoided with the cross-area transport issues.   How far afield do I go?  I have a supporter of the campaign in Bolton and one in Edinburgh and one in Neath and should they be "discounted"?  No - they should not; they have travelled to / from the TransWilts by train and would / will again if we can persuade FGW^▸ (First Great Western) or SWT^▸ (South West Trains) to actually run a serive that's appropriate for people's needs, including theirs.

I keep a watching eye and a listening ear open to what is said on the TransWilts issues and try to reflect the view or everyone who travels the line or who wants to - whether they live on the South Coast, in Oxford, Cambridge, Axminster, Greenwich (just this week and next week's visitors that I can think of straight away!).   If the local councillors around here were to say "we don't welcome her support because she comes from a different district" to one of our supporters and users / wannabe users, then I would be very sad at the narrowmindedness of the local support.

I have noted that there is local support for the issues that come up on these forums; sometimes that support is manifestly here and online - at other times it is manifested through more traditional media.   I have also noted a tendency to competitiveness - looking for service xxxx rather than yyyy.  With limited resources, there are difficult tradeoffs at times but I see no reason that all aspirartions shouldn't be put forward, aired, tested.    For sure, when I see a service incread from 12 to 15 trains a day, I think "if only we had the extra three" ....

[grahame]

..... I have prepared this quite quickly as I now pour the last glass of red wine, to fini the bottle, into my glass and shut up, on this forum anyway, and start packing for my forthcoming weekend in Ostend on our groups annual Booze and Baccy run. Giong by coach by the way, rail fares only over twice what we are paying inclusive of three nights in hotel.

Have a great weekend - see you here next week!

[Lee]

martyjon misses the point , so I will clarify :

My post was not me campaigning , it was me fulfilling my role as a Global Moderator in reporting the STAG^▸ (Severn Tunnel Action Group) article.

I fully accept that the STAG article was wrong , and pointed this out. The STAG folks are friends of mine , so there was also an element of me defending them in my posts. They also welcome my involvement with their campaign , as does every other campaign group that I am involved with. Therefore I dont see how I can be classed as an opportunist.

Given that I didnt write the STAG article , I fail to see how I deserved the latest batch of vitriol thrown at me by this particular member. I am somewhat upset by this intervention , as I have recently done my best to build bridges with martyjon , as you will see from my posts in previous topics.

[grahame]

Thanks for that input, Lee.   

It's very clear to me (at least) looking back at the thread that you're reporting rather than expressing your own view, so I feel that Martyjon was being less that realistic in  attacking the messenger rather than originator.   It would be exactly the same as one of us rounding on our local train crew because they don't run enough trains.

I note that Martyjon was just finishing a bottle of wine as he posted, and will be now have left on a booze run to Oostende - a great pity, as I would like to take up the nature of his post, which verges on a personal attack (outside our acceptable user policy) , and invite him to amend it.

As it is, I WILL be taking this up further (but not in public at this point) but do want to record my continuing faith is Lee and all the research and other work he does - a very valuable member of the team.