As part of our planning for 2015 marketing on the TransWilts, we're taking a big interest in the summer time changes due to engineering works associated with the electrifciation of the line through Swindon - Chippenham - Bath Spa. We knew this would be happening when the 3 year TransWilts trial service was mooted, but we preferred to start off with a service in 2013 with perhaps less than total service for a "few weeks" in 2015 rather than waiting for several years to have any improvement on the previous service.
Electrification work is getting closer, and plans appeared to be (according to the .pdf document to be attached / next post when I get it scanned!)
3 weeks closure of Box Tunnel
followed by
3 weeks closure of Box Tunnel AND Bathampton to Bath Spa
The document refers to consultations with Stakeholders including "Passenger Groups however, at the time of writing this, I'm not aware of any approaches by Network Rail to the Melksham Railway Development Group, to the West Wilts Rail User Group, or to the TransWilts Community Rail Partnership. And it seems to me that it won't be a consultation in which inputs are solicitied, but rather an informing in which we are told what's happening. There was an online "consultation/survey" that came our way a few weeks ago, but there was no freeform input box and all it really asked is (a) would we like electirc trains in the future and (b) would be like to be added to an update / mailing list.
So - I was glad to see a public meeting for "Bath Residents" tobe held at the Guildhall last week,
http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/News-Releases/Public-meetings-start-on-Bath-rail-electrification-216e.aspx , and I went along / gate crashed as I'm not a Bath resident! Very interesting ... the first person who approach me wasn't with Network Rail, but with steelwork designers. The second person wasn't with Network Rail but with First ... but they did find someone from Network Rail for me to talk to. I had key questions relating to service diversions, where, when and how community inputs can be made, and who our contact should be at Network Rail now that the community liaison team of Mike Franklin and Jerry Swift (both excellent contacts) have been (a) moved to a new role without replacement and (b) retired, and not replaced.
I would have expected the person with responibility for community liaison to attend community liaison meetings such as the Bath one!Anyway - cutting a long story short, there were a number of Network Rail people there in the end ... many of them (I understand) are with Network Rail for just a few weeks to engage with the public during these events, but I did get a chance to speak to one person who seems permanent, and who I'll be able to use as a stepping stone to reach new contacts after that person's return from annual leave which was following right after the meeting.
With regards to the six weeks of closure, I was assured that the TransWilts line through Melksham will be closed for the whole six weeks for major rebuilding, including the lowering of the trackbed. Me thinks that the person telling me this wasn't familiar with the layout of lines in the area. On pressing, I was told that the timings have changes, and it's now just 2 weeks for just Box, and 4 weeks for east of Bath - that the slides I had been given 2 days earlier were out of date. Speaking since then with various people, I understand that the timings keep changing, but as my wife says "can you trust what you're verbally told by people who have given wrong information a few sentences earlier, versus a presentation". So the answer is "I don't know" if you wak me how long the various blockades are going to be.
Whilst I was making a bit of a nuisance of myself (something I hate doing, but "someone has to ask" sometimes), one of the team took my wife off to show her pictures of the internals of the new trains and how great travel will be in the future. She reports to me that all the pictures of mockups, etc, were of First Class accommodation. Currently First Class travel accounts for a very, very low percentage of journeys, so why are Network Rail selling us (as a general public) on First Class only in this way. Is there about to be a switch in seating / proportions of Standard to First in the opposite direction to the
HST▸ work going on, with fare changes to suit, does Lisa look like she's exclusivley a first class traveller, or were Network Rail and the other folks at the meeting intentionally marketing all the most positive aspects and showing a lack of understanding (at best) that most of us travel, and would like to see, standard class?
There's a further Network Rail next Tuesday 21st October 2014, 12.00 pm - 6.00 pm in the Atrium at County Hall in Trowbridge, which is about 10 minutes walk from Trowbridge Station.
Regular commuters from Swindon, Chippenham, Filton Abbey Wood, Bristol Temple Meads and Bath Spa will need to catch the following trains in order to get at least 30 minutes at the dropin before it closes:
Swindon 15:14
Chippenham 15:39
Melksham 15:53
Filton Abbey Wood 16:09
Bristol Temple Meads 16:22
Bath Spa 16:35
Personally, I feel that Network Rail could have come across as more customer-aware if they had run the session on into the evening, rather than forcing anyone who uses the trains and has a normal 9 to 5 job to leave work early (that's if they can). Perhaps it's a bit of a box ticking exercise?
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