Great Western Coffee Shop

Hi all,

I'm the admin for the Oxford-Bicester Rail Action Group website:
http://www.obrag.org.uk (http://www.obrag.org.uk)

I noticed we were getting a few hits to the site directed from here, so thought I'd join in!

After years of struggling to get anyone to invest in the services under FGW, our cause is going pretty well now that Chiltern Railways look set to adopt and upgrade the line and add a chord to join their existing part of the network. We're still carrying on though, to try to protect the local interests in what will be another busy line into London.

If you are interested in getting updates, you can subscribe by email here:
http://www.obrag.org.uk/subscribe/ (http://www.obrag.org.uk/subscribe/)
or via our RSS feed.

Best wishes,

Jon

Hi, Jon - and welcome to the forum.

We've mentioned OBRAG and its wider aims in several threads on this forum over the years.  It is indeed good news that Chiltern Railways' Evergreen 3 project has got the go-ahead, though I'm sure there will continue to be a cause to fight for within your group over the coming years. 

Keeping up pressure to finally build and operate the East-West Rail Link will add to Chilterns excellent proposals and ensuring that Islip continues to enjoy a frequency of service at least at existing levels are two that spring to my mind.  I'm sure you've spotted that under their draft timetable proposal the service from Islip into Oxford would be far worse than now with only two morning trains at 06:35 and 09:57 and returns at 16:18 and 19:18 - none of which really suit the commuting market!  Pressure needs to be applied from user groups to ensure that at least one extra train (and preferably two) stop each way between those trains.

I think your decision to move away from the Yahoo! Group structure of your site was a good one, as forum members had mentioned it was confusing - and the blog style of the new website suits its content well.  All the best with your campaign, and your thoughts on our opinions would be most useful!

Thanks for the feedback on the website. It took a while to find the time to update it, but now that I have I wish I'd done is sooner :) I've found that Wordpress really is a great blogging tool that can also create a fully fledged website - as you say, ideal for sites such as ours that need to disseminate information to followers/members. If any campaigners here need to set up a similar site, I'd be happy to help out.

Islip is a concern for us. We're applying pressure to get a service that will be at least as good as it is now. Chiltern seem receptive to our concerns.