Great Western Coffee Shop

Consultation Question 16

What more do you feel that the franchisee could be doing to help the Community Rail sector increase its contribution to society and the railway, for example in harnessing local community relations and outreach into the community?

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Explanatory text

There are a number of Community Rail lines on the Great Western franchise, with some routes showing significant increases in passenger numbers following improvements to services promoted by the relevant Community Rail Partnership (CRP).

The current franchisee has provided active support for these Community Rail lines, e.g. by providing direct funding and additional funds for specific projects through the Customer & Communities Improvement Fund. The current franchisee also employs a full-time member of staff to work with the CRPs in the franchise area.

The Department strongly supports Community Rail, and has sought to promote an increase in community rail activity through recent franchise specifications. We see this as essential in further building and cementing public trust in the railway, and will build on the excellent community work that the current franchisee already does.

We propose to maintain, and, subject to affordability, increase the funding made available by the franchise to support community rail activities and the number of staff dedicated to engagement with the community rail sector. We also recognise the need to ensure that the process of accessing funding is as simple as possible, while ensuring good value from the money spent.

See http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=19037 for the background to this topic