Plymouth MP slams city's rail link with the capital

[whole diary]

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

The 180's are only taking over Turbo operated services, as far as I'm aware all current HST^▸ (High Speed Train) operated services will remain HST's.

Does that include, for example, 0714 Didcot-Padd stopper?  And won't some of the Padd-Oxford HST services go to 180's?

Edit - sorry, realise I'm straying off topic a bit.

[Lee]

Never mind, Gordon. This should bring it bang back on again...

From This Is Plymouth:

Plymouth is snubbed in talks over the future of rail in the region

Long-suffering rail travellers in Plymouth have been shunned by the Government ahead of a crucial deal on future train services.

The city has been left off the list of locations chosen to stage public meetings as part of the consultation on the terms for the new Great Western rail franchise.

Just three are being held in Exeter, Bristol and Reading.

The snub has been branded ^wholly unacceptable^ by the Labour MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) for Plymouth Moor View, Alison Seabeck, who has written to the Rail Minister Theresa Villiers demanding an explanation and calling for the city^s inclusion.

And Cllr Kevin Wigens, the city^s Cabinet member for transport, said: ^We are very angry about this.

^When we heard about it we immediately sent a letter to the Department for Transport protesting.

^We think it is a disgraceful decision that the second biggest city in the region has been cut out of the consultation.^

Ms Seabeck said Plymouth was the region^s busiest station outside of Bristol with 2.3 million passengers a year.

The implications of changes to rail services were potentially more significant for the city given its position as a crucial economic driver for the peninsula, and having recently lost its airport.

The Government started the process to select a new operator to run services on the Great Western route, after First Group decided to relinquish its franchise three years early.

The company is understood to be one of five that have expressed an interest in bidding for the longer 15-year contract.

The consultation currently under way is into the franchise specification that will be provided to shortlisted bidders.

Plymouth^s wish-list includes more frequent three-hour trains to London, a fast train from London, arriving in Plymouth before 10am, and a return three-hour train to the capital at around 5pm so people can do a full day^s work in the city.

There are also calls to make the carriages more business-friendly so people can work better on board, with access to WiFi and good mobile phone coverage.

Given the importance of rail links, the sidelining of the city in the public consultation has sparked anger.

In her letter to the Minister, Ms Seabeck wrote: ^I was extremely concerned to learn that Plymouth has been excluded from the schedule.

^This is wholly unacceptable when it is the second largest city in the South West region, geographically central to the far South West and has the highest number of passengers annually of any individual station west of Bristol.^

She added: ^I would welcome both an explanation of exactly the reasons why Plymouth has been left out, yet again, from a Government consultation and a reorganisation of the planned events to include Plymouth.^

A Department for Transport spokesman said later: ^In today^s austere times the department has limited resources and cannot hold consultation events at every location along the route.

^Bristol, Reading and Exeter were chosen to maximise engagement from local stakeholders. Any member of the public can take part in the wider Government consultation by writing to their local council, MP or Passenger Focus.^

Just to be clear, any member of the public can also respond directly to the consultation - see http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=10037.msg104284#msg104284

[grahame]

The city has been left off the list of locations chosen to stage public meetings as part of the consultation on the terms for the new Great Western rail franchise.

Just three are being held in Exeter, Bristol and Reading.

Please remind me, Lee .. did we have a thread somewhere telling people about these meetings / who's running them?  Are they DfT^» (Department for Transport - about), Passenger Focus, or someone else?

[Rain]

I think people are missing the point here.  While Plymouth is of histroric significance due to the navy base there, this is now in decline and Exeter is now the key city for the South West peninsula and I would expect be where the majority of people on a train for the Westcountry are heading for.

[grahame]

I think people are missing the point here.  While Plymouth is of histroric significance due to the navy base there, this is now in decline and Exeter is now the key city for the South West peninsula and I would expect be where the majority of people on a train for the Westcountry are heading for.

Plymouth has more passenger journeys at its main station that the main station in Exeter (that's the one served by the London to Plymouth trains) does, so you shouldn't write it off.  You can, of course, find arguments both ways;  Exeter has the luxury of a second main line to London, so perhaps the Paddington trains are more significant to Plymouth.

However, I don't live in Devon / am not well placed to comment - especially in a negative context.  Welcome to the forum, Rain ... are you from that neck of the woods?

[woody]

I think people are missing the point here.  While Plymouth is of histroric significance due to the navy base there, this is now in decline and Exeter is now the key city for the South West peninsula and I would expect be where the majority of people on a train for the Westcountry are heading for.

I regularly travel on FGW^▸ (First Great Western) HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) between Exeter and Plymouth and I can assure you that the majority of passengers are travelling to destinations west of Exeter particularly Plymouth (400,000 people live within a 10 mile radius) where further significant numbers of passengers join for Cornish stations particularly at peak times.It seems that certain people on this forum are in a constate state of denial about rail demand from Plymouth which currently has some 2.3million journeys (more than Exeter St Davids) and rising since the closure of the city airport.As the old saying goes "theres nowt so blind as those who dont want to see" and that it seems includes First Group and their cronies.Roll on a new franchisee.

[The SprinterMeister]

Roll on a new franchisee.

Indeed. let one of the cost cutting bidders get the GW^▸ (Great Western) and watch the services reduce even further or class 153's being booked out instead of class 253's.

As far as Plymouth airport is concerned as I understand it the biggest problem was the limits on the size of aircraft that could use it which tended to push up costs to each passenger, thus suppressing demand and pushing up unit costs even further. That said by the time you checked in etc and made your way from the London airport to the city was there actually any advantage in terms of travelling by air from Plymouth to London?

[grahame]

Roll on a new franchisee.

Indeed. let one of the cost cutting bidders get the GW^▸ (Great Western) and watch the services reduce even further or class 153's being booked out instead of class 253's.

Any company that bids does so (if they want to win) based on the flavour of what's in the specification and the stated objectives on which the franchise will be awarded.  So to a very great extent, the "cut price bidder" syndrome comes down to what's specified, as well as the company bidding.  Indeed, the current franchise was awarded with a cutback on services - both in number and train length - some of which were Draconian. I hope that a longer view with a fifteen year franchise sets the groundwork for a company that will invest for the longer term to be selected, as we've seen happen with Chiltern; I'm not sure that we should pre-judge any potential TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) based on how that have answered previous franchises with different agendas and lengths.   But of course, if the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) were to get this one wrong, many of us will have to live with the consequences for the rest of our lives.  So we should really help the DfT get things right as we answer the consultations that are going on - after all, they have asked for our guidance.