What was the outcome of SWR» 's December 2022 consultation? Are these back for good, or back for the year, or will be see them being strengthened further from December?
Outcome? That doesn't need to come out until much nearer to December 2022, does it? By then, I expect that how far passenger numbers have come back up again, and the body count in the Treasury, will matter more than the consultation inputs.
NOW is the time for community groups to be working with the train operators, their masters in government, local transport authorities and Transport Focus
to ensure that the best outcomes are achieved for passengers, and for operators, and for financiers and regulators. Minute by minute timetables, and perhaps even whether trains run in certain paths, could perhaps be delayed until the autumn.
It was about this time last year that South Western Railway and the Department for Transport were in email correspondence, without reference to the other groups mentioned (local transport authorities, Transport Focus, community partnerships and passenger groups) ... and the result was detached, poor, and much resented decisions. Or if I translate that, loss of loved services that need not have been lost, and diabolical connections between the leftovers when that could have been so much better. By the time the bodies I mentioned heard about the plans, it was, we were told "too late", and indeed further delays on responding to
FOI▸ requests and in finding suitable dates to meet timed us out. I have no intention of walking blind into the same trap again this year should it be being reset for reuse, nor have the other involved.
This is an SWR thread. The situation with
GWR▸ is much, much better and various meetings and involvements are ongoing. For sure, less than perfect but that's bound to be the case where objectives across parties and indeed communities vary but an order of magnitude better than SWR. I have been scratching my head to work out just why the situation has been so different with the two
TOCs▸ , bearing in mind that both are First group companies, both are contracted to run services via the Department for Transport. On the positive side, that does suggest to me that SWR have room to move to an engagement position similar to that taken by GWR, and indeed they may - just may - be beginning to see that. Fingers crossed, but not relying on that crossing of fingers, nor just sitting back and waiting to see.