Open letter from Graham Ellis (Save The Train) to the major players at First , with copies sent to
MPs▸ (both current & prospective) , councillors and those with influence at the
DfT» , among others :
Dear Alison and Gentlemen,
I have been heartened to receive recent letters from Alison (Forster) and Moir (Lockhead) in the last few days which have confirmed that the train service to be offered from next December from Swindon to Westbury and Salisbury, linking the five largest urban centres in Wiltshire (Swindon, Salisbury, Chippenham, Trowbridge and Melksham) is not yet finalised. That's good news, as the current timetable is not appropriate for the area of for your business of carrying more passengers.
* Background
For those of you new to the area , the passenger levels on this route grew between 10% and 35% compound per annum from 2001 when there was a major change in the service until December 2006. Trains that had been carrying fresh air five years previously were getting uncomfortably busy at times by last autumn, and all things being equal would have continued to flourish - we're set for 50% growth in houses in the West Wilts area the line serves in the next few years, and survey after survey, statistic after statistic shows that the market penetration by this train service was still tiny compared with other lines in the area. The roads are not good either - the "express" bus from Trowbridge, the county town, to Swindon takes 95 minutes - versus 35 minutes by the direct train. The railway line is in excellent condition - it's a regular diversionary route for your "125" expresses on Sundays, but is typically quieter during the week.
Alas, you withdrew 60% of the trains last December, cutting to just 2 trains a day as per specified by the Department for Transport. It's difficult for us in the area to understand the reason behind this, as the Jacobs report (2004) recommended a service every 2 hours throughout the day, and that was based on a projected growth rate of less that 1% per annum - far less than was acheived in any of the later statistics that came out. "Clever" timetabling of the remaining trains has saved First the need to allocate any train at all to the line, running instead in what is described as "marginal" time well before the morning peak, and again in the early evening long after most people have got home. I can understand that this meets the letter of the specification, but it does NOT meet the need of the travellers, and a service that had blossomed to around 125000 journeys per annum appears to have shrunk by ober 90% this year - I would be surprised if you get 10000 passengers.
* An Appropriate service
As a regular user of the service before it was cut back, and as a businessman who relied upon it to bring customers to my home town, I have spent some time over the last 18 months learning a little about the service, about who is pulling the strings (that's hard to establish) and whether there really is a need for it. Trying to establish what an appropriate service level and timing really is. I have spoken with many other people locally, and professionals too, to ensure that in my own mind what is being asked for is practical, appropriate, and financially sensible. I have shared some of this information with some of you in the past, and would be happy to do so again or in more depth.
1. The first major step back up would be to provide a realistic service for commuters in to Swindon. An arrival at 07:50 and a departure at 18:42 is far to long a day for most - an ideal (and allowed by the
SLC▸ ) would be an arrival at 08:20 and a departure at 17:40 - that makes the passenger's days 90 minutes shorter. I understand that you do not have unallocated rolling stock in the area at those times, so this would be an extra unit - for example one of the class 142 / 143 units which I understand the First group might be in the process of purchasing.
2. Once this train is in the area, it can run extra round trips every 2 hours - from Westbury at 05:45 and every 2 hours to 11:45, then 14:45 and every 2 hours to 20:45, returning from Swindon 2 hours later. With good connections at Westbury to and from Warminster, Salisbury, Frome and Yeovil, this would cover the majority of passenger flows which have been identified. The trains would NOT be carrying fresh air!
3. The timing of the service could be slowed down to improve reliability and to limit the time that platforms are occupied at Swindon and Westbury (or if you used a faster unit such as a 158, a Frome extension would generate much more traffic)
4. Fares on the Westbury to Swindon section could be increase at around 25% above inflation to make a significant dent in the perceived loss that the service might make in years 1 and 2 while it re-established itself.
I understand that many of your own staff travel between Westbury and Swindon quite frequently in "Company time", and they swear and curse at the extra 30 to 60 minutes taken via Bath - and you are paying them for this time while they're on duty. Multiply that by the vast majority of travellers, and you'll see just what an economic benefit the service would be - that's why the re-provision of an appropriate service is so heavily supported in the area.
* Support
Moir Lockhead in his recent letter to me commented that the Melksham Railway Development Group is at present campaigning for an improvement - and indeed they are. Melksham is a town of around 24,000 people, many of whom live in the town but work elsewhere, with 4 trains a day - 06:44, 07:17, 19:08 and 19:50. But the group is far from alone in this campaign!!!
Other groups such as the West Wilts Rail User Group, Save the Train, Rail Future, Travel Watch South West, Transport 2000, CanBer and others are pushing for an improvement too. You won't always hear "Melksham" mentioned, as it only accounts for about one fifth of the traffic on the line. Passengers from Yeovil to Swindon, from Salisbury to Chippenham, and from Trowbridge to Oxford are equally concerned.
The local county council has recently won a bid to become a unitary authority, and I have spoken with both their chief executive and elected cabinet member for transport on the issue, and they have both professed their full support, and indeed many of the county's officers have been working hard behind the scenes as I'm sure you're aware. The service is of strategic importance in their local transport plan, and you have probably seen the letters of intent that they'll invest in improving facilities at certain stations with an improvement to services. The displaced district council, although very unhappy about their own fate, has been equally or even more supportive.
Further support has come from the towns along the way at town council level. I have a picture of the mayors of Chippenham, Melksham and Salisbury who were more than happy to pose for me in support earlier this year, and the support goes much deeper. Is it any wonder? By "other means" or public transport it takes over 2 hours from Swindon to Salisbury; by train via the "TransWilts" it's about 70 minutes.
All four MPs along the way - that's both Conservative and Labour - have specifically spoken in support at Westminster during debates, and they continue to help us in the cause. I was speaking in person with Andrew Murrison just the weekend before last and he is very concerned at the rumours that you don't intend to make any major improvements in December. Both of the major contendors for the new Chippenham seat in parliament have been very supportinve too.
A wide variety of other organisations from the Chamber of Commerce to the Federation of Small Businesses, and from the Tourist information centre to "Melksham First", have been in full support. This would be a very long email if Iisted everyone!
1700 people signed a petitiion I raised on the PM's web site - and it only ran for 3 weeks - and that included 8 MPs, 5
MEPs▸ and more than a score of councillors that I know of - there were probably a lot more I did not recognise by name.
* Where now
I am beginning to understand just how complex it is to get all the ducks into a line to run a train service, but I'm also aware that all the background work has been done. PLEASE update your draft timetables for this coming December, and provide an appropriate service along the line suggested above. I've even read today that you have been looking seriously at an hourly service; believe you me, that would be used and it would be a shining example that the train service provision in this part of the country had turned a corner thanks to First ... is there any chance you can swing it for us?
Many thanks
Graham
Please consider helping Graham & Save The Train in their quest. Details of how you can do this are contained in the link below.
http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/help.html
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