West Wiltshire Rail User Group - Geographic area of primary interest

[whole diary]

[grahame]

With the move of train operation from train operating companies to HM Government, shareholder interest lessens amd political interest increases.  And that means that inputs via our elected representatives are likely to be all the more important in the future; I'm looking to our MPs^▸ (Member of Parliament, or Mile Post (a method of measuring the railway in miles and chains from a starting point - usually London), depending on context) at present, but also to our Unitary Council which is the "LTA^▸ (Local Transport Authority)" - Local Transport Authority - and potentially to new regional mayors.

The West Wiltshire Rail Users Group covers an area split between two constituncies - Melksham and Devizes represented by Brian Mathew, and South West Wilthshire represented by Andrew Murrison

I am posting this under "new and campaigns" because at the current time, with loads of changes happening and with risks and opportunities abounding, the group is far more than just a train information club.



Melksham and Devizes:



South West Wiltshire:

[Chris from Nailsea]

Thanks for your interesting, and thought-provoking, post here, grahame. 

I note that you have excluded here the constituency of Swindon South in that area.  The sitting Member of Parliament there is Heidi Alexander MP^▸ (Member of Parliament, or Mile Post (a method of measuring the railway in miles and chains from a starting point - usually London), depending on context), who just happens to be the Secretary of State for Transport.

Posting this here as someone from outside the area (most of the time) for two reasons: firstly, to demonstrate that I have read grahame's post, and secondly to allow him to expand this topic as to why "West Wiltshire' stops at Chippenham.

CfN^▸ (Chris from Nailsea, an administrator on this forum). 

[grahame]

Posting this here as someone from outside the area (most of the time) for two reasons: firstly, to demonstrate that I have read grahame's post, and secondly to allow him to expand this topic as to why "West Wiltshire' stops at Chippenham.

It's a "reference" post - designed at the top of the thread to inform without going on and on ... but allowing addition and explanations

Wiltshire used to have four district councils - North Wiltshire, West Wiltshire, Kennet and Salsibury, and you can add Swindon which was formerly a part of Wiltshire and still is for things like postal addresses and police.  The West Wiltshire Rail User Group was formed to align with the West Wiltshire District Council boundaries.

Although the District Council has long gone, the user group remains covering the same geographic area. WWRUG^» (West Wiltshire Rail Users Group - about) have reviewed the area covered, and stuck with it.  It makes sense in that we cover a section of the Cardiff -> Portsmouth main line and service that branch off from it / connect with it.  We are happy to welcome members from Frome, from Freshford, and also from Chippenham and Bath in relation to journeys to and from West Wiltshire.

So there you are - 5 towns, 7 open stations, and all trains from those stations converging on Westbury as a common factor.

Should a new station be built for Devizes Gateway, it would be just in the constituency of Brian Mathew, whereas the old Patney and Chriton station site is in the constituency of Danny Kruger.

[ChrisB]

I suspect user groups will slowly align to the new Transport Authority holders boundaries eventually - as that is where we will need to campaign to - Unitary Mayoral Authorities generally, eventually

[grahame]

I suspect user groups will slowly align to the new Transport Authority holders boundaries eventually - as that is where we will need to campaign to - Unitary Mayoral Authorities generally, eventually

You may be right - but it gets more complex with the different overlapping layout principles. It's an issue we have on the Coffee Shop.  Do we organise our regional boards by
* Line or service
* Station or station group
* Political area
* Travel to work area
* Trains depot or depot group area
* Train operating company or division
and I'm far from convinced that we have it right for all uses.  We have gone for a line or service model - and it works well for issues like shortforms on Cardiff - Portsmouth, but where to post about congestion at Westbury and the need for a fourth platform?   And the slow introduction of the 175s and the effect on services doesn't really go on one line, but it's not universal either for "Across the West" - they won't be up in the Thames Valley, for example.

I have also noticed traction issues with user groups as they get geographically wider - the typical used may be interested in his station / line / service to the exclusion of others. Whilst those of us who are older, better travelled, more thinking and more looking ahead may push for the regional approach, other users who may join and be active for user groups which tend to engage with something for the next year or two on their home line, so the exclusion (and even sometimes against) other lines in their network region.

[Chris from Nailsea]

I suspect user groups will slowly align to the new Transport Authority holders boundaries eventually - as that is where we will need to campaign to - Unitary Mayoral Authorities generally, eventually

Also, where will Community Rail Partnerships align themselves?

Severnside CRP^▸ (Community Rail Partnership),  just for example, will have issues in linking directly to any one specific Transport Authority.

CfN^▸ (Chris from Nailsea, an administrator on this forum).

[grahame]

I suspect user groups will slowly align to the new Transport Authority holders boundaries eventually - as that is where we will need to campaign to - Unitary Mayoral Authorities generally, eventually

Also, where will Community Rail Partnerships align themselves?

Severnside CRP^▸ (Community Rail Partnership),  just for example, will have issues in linking directly to any one specific Transport Authority.

CfN^▸ (Chris from Nailsea, an administrator on this forum).

There is logic in CRPs aligning themselves with transport authorities, yes, but I'm not sure that they are USER groups these days. Rather I might characterise them as dominated other than by rail users local to the line / area covered, and funded by the rail industry / Department for Transport to whom they thus have a loyalty, and with an impressive set of policies required with - I'm sure - good intent, but which pull them away from independent representation of the user and mute their inputs for passengers.   That's not to say they don't do a great deal of good - just something different.

We have two CRPs in West Wiltshire - Severnside (Avoncliff and Bradford-on-Avon outside WECA^» (West of England Mayoral Combined Authority - about)), TransWilts (Swindon outside Wiltshire LTA^▸ (Local Transport Authority)). The South Wessex CRP covers "that part of the Heart of Wessex Line which runs from Frome to Weymouth" so Somerset and and Dorset so excludes Westbury, even though their trains all run to / from there.    All very messy and the sort of problem you get as you try and overlay geological, political, economic and operational area geographies which in any case overlap on each other.

[grahame]

Here's a map based from Wiltshire Rail onto which I have painted the unitary area of Wiltshire (our local transport authority) and then with a deeper yellow the West Wiltshire area.