Swindon - Passenger user group initial meeting, 6.11.2013

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From December, train services on the TransWilts line (Swindon to Westbury and beyond) increase from 2 to 8 each way per day.  This is a co-operative improvement provided with the help of Wiltshire Council and many others. The changes will significantly reduce Swindon journey times to and from Melksham, Trowbridge, Westbury, Frome, Warminster, Salisbury and Southampton - a significant benefit both for people visiting those towns, and for incoming shopping / leisure / commuter / business visitors to Swindon businesses.

The TransWilts Community Rail Partnership ( http://atrebatia.info ) is the eyes and ears of the community along the line - helping with feedback, volunteer information gathering, promotion etc. And to do this, now that we have a marketable service, we're setting up "station groups" all along the line.  Where there's already a station user group (e.g. Westbury, Melksham), we're working with them.  Where we don't yet know such a group, we're putting out a general invite to all groups and interested parties.   That's what we're doing in Swindon - we haven't (yet) found a local group that overlaps with what we need to do, though we do have very helpful individuals.  And we're going to meet at the GW^▸ (Great Western) - opposite the station - at 7 p.m. on Wednesday 6th November.

* If you are interested in your train services including (but not necessarily limited to) the TransWilts line, please come along on 6th.   

* If you can't make it, please email me

* PLEASE COPY THIS POST onwards - let others know.

We have timed the meeting to suit returning commuters ... a short presentation, lots of discussion, and we don't know what the final outcome will be.  We may end up with just a single representative person.  We may end up identifying an existing group that can fit the role, and  we may end up setting something up - perhaps even with a wider remit than TransWilts.

[Phil Farmer]

Hi Grahame,
Just to register my interest - unfortunately I off to Tenerife for two weeks on the 5th. November.........
For information - I am 60yrs of age, retired and live in Swindon if I can be of any help.
Phil

[grahame]

Hi Grahame,
Just to register my interest - unfortunately I off to Tenerife for two weeks on the 5th. November.........
For information - I am 60yrs of age, retired and live in Swindon if I can be of any help.
Phil

You may well be of help, Phil.   Interest registered and I'll let you and everyone else know the outcome.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From ThisIsWiltshire:

New rail passenger group being formed in Swindon


Graham Ellis, of TransWilts community rail partnership, outside Swindon Railway Station

A new passenger group is being formed in Swindon to give rail users a voice to communicate with the train companies.

It is being set up as part of the TransWilts Community Rail Partnership, an organisation which works to promote the line from Swindon to Westbury and report feedback to the companies.

Last week it was announced that Wiltshire Council was to provide funding for First Great Western to increase the services between Swindon and Westbury from twice a day to eight times.

Those subsidies will only last until the franchise comes up for tender, and the new group is looking to firstly make people aware of the service but also show that it is financially viable for whichever company takes over the line two years from now.

Graham Ellis, of the TransWilts Community Rail Partnership, says because Swindon is such a large station it would be useful for passengers to have a way of communicating directly with the rail companies.

He said: ^As far as we are aware there are no other such passenger groups in the town. We want a Swindon station group to not only make people aware of the increase in services starting in December but also so we have an avenue to pass feedback to the train companies.

^The focus will be on the Westbury train initially but we have enough good contacts within First Great Western that we can approach them on all lines.^

The timetable for the extra trains is currently being set up and is due to start early in December.

^It will make such a big difference, which is why it is so important to promote it,^ said Graham. ^It could cut down the travel time for people coming from Melksham and Trowbridge significantly. As it stands there are about 20 people a day using Melksham and even if usage goes up to half of the quietest station already in the county, there could be around 700 now using it.

^There is so much for people to do in Swindon which is within walking distance I think the demand will be great.^

One of the main organisers of the Swindon Group is Bob Morrison, 52, who lives in the town centre. He said: ^m self-employed and use the railways quite a lot. Despite being one of the main stations in the county, there is nothing in Swindon for passengers. While we are a pressure group we will be working closely with FGW^▸ (First Great Western).^

A meeting for any group or individual who is looking to be part of the group is taking place tomorrow at 7pm at the GW^▸ (Great Western) Hotel, opposite the train station.

[bobm]

Just to confirm - despite the last line of the article - the meeting is on Wednesday 6th - despite the online article being dated Monday, which would make tomorrow Tuesday! 

[grahame]

Just to confirm - despite the last line of the article - the meeting is on Wednesday 6th - despite the online article being dated Monday, which would make tomorrow Tuesday! 

Seems like a good excuse to pop into the GW^▸ (Great Western) tonight (Tuesday) as well to check the place out

[bobm]

...never let it be said I drive you to drink Grahame! 

[bobm]

Just a reminder the meeting is tonight (Weds 6th Nov) starting at 7pm at the GW^▸ (Great Western) opposite Swindon Station - all welcome.

[grahame]

Was that really only last Wednesday?  A small but select group gathered. 

One of the challenges of reaching the people of Swindon who will use a TransWilts service was and is always going to be how to filter them out from all the other potential travellers. With trains from Swindon twice an hour to South Wales and Bristol, and four times an hour to Reading and London,  it's very much the occasional member of a massive residential population who want to go to Trowbridge, Westbury and beyond.   Mondays to Fridays from the New Year, there are saleable day trip connections to Weymouth, and Sundays from May it works very well indeed.  As soon as we get over the worst of winter over, this leisure market is probably a really good way to reach people in Swindon, perhaps with local media help and with at-station advertising, so that weekday commuters can encourage their Swindon-base family and friends out for the day at the weekend / holiday times.   It's almost a blessing that there's no return connection from Westbury on Saturdays as it helps us meld with the Heart of Wessex - adding passengers onto their line on 6 of the 7 days of the week, and not on the day when they already have most pressure of crowds.

But outbound residents is just one item of travel. Inbound visitors are another. The natural places to reach them would seem to be at the start of their journeys - so that's publicity in Wiltshire.  However, these people also congregate at places of employment, including those big office blocks near the station.  From our meeting, we've established connections with another LSTF^▸ (Local Sustainable Transport Fund) project and sustainable Swidnon transport group, and we should be able to reach information in to the eight largest employers near the station, and their staff too.  There's considerable inbound commuting there, and real pressure on parking places.   And the concentration of potential customers is far, far higher than just selecting people at random in Swindon.   It's also better (or, rather, different to) letting people getting on the train already at Westbury / Trowbridge know about it, as it provides access to the market of car commuters who don't presently pass through any station.

We also learned of other plans at Swindon which will knock on to the TransWilts in a positive way;  more to follow in the New Year on this one.   Many of our TransWilts users will purely be changing trains at Swindon, and won't even leave the station so away-from-rail son't do anything to reach them.  And we didn't identify any other major issues at Swindon relating to the station or other services that brought along folks wanting to ask questions / get involved.   No great surprise there - Swindon has fast and frequent services and whilst there are a few issues we know about from this board, they're not so much as to encourage Jo Public to get heavily involved.

Inbound to Swindon there are also many attractions ... Brunel Centre, Outlet Centre, Steam, National Trust, Oasis, Canal activities, Museum of Computing, Shopping, Victorian Baths, Wyvern Theatre ... all within 15 minutes walk of the station.   Looking a bit further afield, you have places like Coate Water and the Link Centre which are reachable as a day trip.  "There's a lot to do in Swindon" ... a message for the people of West Wiltshire who've not visited very often in the past due to the slow bus service, poor train service, and cost of parking when they get there is they're lucky enough to have a car and driver.

Bobm's going to act as our link in Swindon (thanks Bob - hugely appreciated) and I'm really delighted with that.  Also (to be frank) rather happy that we didn't find latent problems and discontent with other services at Swindon that could have diluted our focus!

[bobm]

Inbound to Swindon there are also many attractions ... Brunel Centre, Outlet Centre, Steam, National Trust, Oasis, Canal activities, Museum of Computing, Shopping, Victorian Baths, Wyvern Theatre ... all within 15 minutes walk of the station.   Looking a bit further afield, you have places like Coate Water and the Link Centre which are reachable as a day trip.  "There's a lot to do in Swindon" ... a message for the people of West Wiltshire who've not visited very often in the past due to the slow bus service, poor train service, and cost of parking when they get there is they're lucky enough to have a car and driver.

By chance I saw the Swindon edition of Monopoly this morning.  Looks like they agree on the major attractions of Swindon with the addition of Stanton Park.  Not necessarily scientific I know...

[Andrew1939 from West Oxon]

Car parking charges at Swindon do not seem to be a big deterent to car use. Only about ^1 an hour for long stay and a little higher for short stay "premium" parking. Come to Oxford where short term parking costs upwards of ^3 an hour, with no long term tarriff other than up to ^24 weekday for 8 hours or ^30 on Saturdays. Now that is a real deterrent to car use and helps to account for the relatively high use of public transport (bus and train) into Oxford. In fact many Oxonm people do not shop in Oxford but drive to Swindon instead because parking is so cheap.

[ellendune]

Two things about car parking at Swindon:

1. There are a significant number of non-rail users who use the station car park so it fills up early in the day. A rail users preference such as those at Oxford of Bristol Parkway would create more space in the Car Park for rail users.

2. The bus timetable centres about people who commute within Swindon so if you commute any distance by train e.g. to London or even Bristol or Reading then by the time you get back to Swindon the buses have reduced to a frequency that leaves an unreasonable wait at a bus station (which is not the sort of place anyone would want to wait of an evening). Even the Park and Ride shuts at 7:00 which is little use for rail commuters. I do occasionally use the bus in the morning to get the train if I go to London, but by the time I am back I will either get a taxi or phone for a lift.

[grahame]

2. The bus timetable centres about people who commute within Swindon so if you commute any distance by train e.g. to London or even Bristol or Reading then by the time you get back to Swindon the buses have reduced to a frequency that leaves an unreasonable wait at a bus station (which is not the sort of place anyone would want to wait of an evening). Even the Park and Ride shuts at 7:00 which is little use for rail commuters. I do occasionally use the bus in the morning to get the train if I go to London, but by the time I am back I will either get a taxi or phone for a lift.

That is a very useful observation.  With what appears to be initially limited parking only at Melksham station when additional trains are running, the question of "how do we get commuters home?" has arisen. As a much smaller town than Swindon (at least at the moment  ) a far higher proportion will be able to walk - and the various observations and surveys have confirmed that we should expect that.  However, bus routes cease to run around 18:00 which is the very time that people get back to the station, so the option is a poor one.   Good news is that the potential issue has been noticed and is being actively persued even before the new train service starts, together with the question "what if the train is a few minutes late ..."

[Andrew1939 from West Oxon]

It sounds as though Melksham could find a dedicated Rail/Bus service very useful, similar to that which is operated from Cotswold Line stations at Charlbury and Kingham. These services have been very expensive to operate requiring significant subsidy from Oxon C.C. as the local transport authority and in the regular contracts review evry 4 years or so that is currently under way, are threatened with closure. Melksham rail users should no doubt be aware that the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) has stated that financial support for these bus services should in the next rail franchise bids be included in the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) bid rather than just a local authority rail support service.

[Trowres]

Melksham rail users should no doubt be aware that the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) has stated that financial support for these bus services should in the next rail franchise bids be included in the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) bid rather than just a local authority rail support service.

Andrew, do you have the source for that, please?