TransWilts AGM - 13th February 2016 [was 20th provisionally]

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Provisional date and venue - 20th February 2016, 10 a.m., within easy walking distance of SWINDON railway and bus stations.

Edit Date confirmed as 13th February (has been for a while - I am late updating this ancient post!)

[grahame]

TransWilts CIC^▸ (Community Interest Company ) AGM^▸ (Annual General Meeting) 2016.   10:00 (Coffee) for 10:30 start, Saturday 13th February 2016 at Jurys Inn, Fleming Way, Swindon, Wiltshire SN1 2NG.

10:00 arrival and coffee
10:30 formal AGM

11:00 break
11:15 review of activities from last year (Graham Ellis)
11:45 looking forward - vision 2020 (Paul Johnson)
12:15 questions
12:30 close

All welcome.  We would appreciate it if you let us know you're coming so we have a rough idea of numbers.

[grahame]

Bright bump.  Love to see you in Swindon. Or somewhere to the east of Peterhead 

[Chris from Nailsea]

Many thanks for that invitation, grahame, but unfortunately I will be on holiday in ... err, somewhere in our area: I don't want to reveal where, as it could obviate any possible future picture quiz opportunities. 

[ChrisB]

I don't land from the USA until 1030.....so "I'm out"

[grahame]

AGM^▸ (Annual General Meeting) held today at Jury's Hotel, Swindon ... including launch of annual report and accounts which may be downloads from http://atrebatia.info/twcicannualreport2015.pdf .  Printed copies distributed at the meeting, and will be available at upcoming meetings too and circulated to "stakeholders".   We're also going to make sure over the next week or two that any passengers who would like a copy have it available to them.

This was the first annual general meeting of the TransWilts CIC^▸ (Community Interest Company ) - the umbrella entity set up a year ago to assist what had been the 'partnership' running somewhat less formally; the need for an ongoing structure that supported a line / service that had grown significantly above target had been identified in 2014 - hence the move.  Being held just a couple of weeks after the close of our first financial year, it's been a bit of a rush to get the figures together - but that was all done and is printed up in the report.   Date of next AGM, then, will be pushed back a bit next year so that we have a chance to correlate what will probably have been a much more active year (CIC wise) and we don't end up rushing to the printers on Friday afternoon to pick up the printed reports for Saturday morning!

[Phil]

In the annual report, there's a photograph of a cheque for ^25,000 being presented to the CIC^▸ (Community Interest Company ) by GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) and the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, and immediately above it there's no mention of the ^25,000 in the accounts for the year.

I think I know what it's about, but I mention it in case you haven't referenced it elsewhere in the report (which I confess I haven't read from cover to cover) - because you can rest assured someone, somewhere will pick up on it if I don't!

[grahame]

Ah - yes, I can understand the question there, Phil.   The cheque's a ceremonial one - I understand it's how these things are done these days - with payment not necessarily being made in one go - in this case, half the payment's shown in the accounts (the closed financial year) and the rest will be seen in the next (current financial year) set of accounts.

[grahame]

After the AGM^▸ (Annual General Meeting), there was a longer report / discussion covering the year gone, the year coming, and beyond - concentrating on rail, but some on buses too. I took the 'lead' on some of that - my slides are at http://atrebatia.info/twcicagm2016.pdf ... e & o e as it's more a discussion lead set than a formal presentation.

[ellendune]

On one of the slide "Chippenham - look to bay reinstatement"

The only bay that was faced East - not very useful unless you reinstate the Calne branch.  Surely we are talking about a new centre platform (by reinstating Platform 1 as the main westbound through platform.  This need not be a terminal platform need it? If it was not it would allow TW trains to or from Swindon to be passed by main line expresses.   

[grahame]

On one of the slide "Chippenham - look to bay reinstatement"

The only bay that was faced East - not very useful unless you reinstate the Calne branch.  Surely we are talking about a new centre platform (by reinstating Platform 1 as the main westbound through platform.  This need not be a terminal platform need it? If it was not it would allow TW trains to or from Swindon to be passed by main line expresses.   

Hmmm ... "shorthand on a slide" can we say?  A third platform, re-instating a track alongside the platform on the south side, which even has those dimpled stones and a yellow "stand behind" line already.    Discussions / thoughts started with a west-facing terminal platform ('bay' reference).  If you're looking at a TransWilts with a Chippenham turn around, or the Bristol Metro terminus, there's some logic in that.  However, extended as a loop makes much more sense.    Between Bath / Swindon and Westbury / Swindon,  there's no lay-by / passing point and especially with the single line south of Thingley a huge difference could be made in some current circumstance, and give future options too - overtaking in both directions, parking out-the-way, reversal either way. 

Looking back to a previous age, the middle platform had two buffers in the middle, turning it in effect into a pair of bays in the centre.  But the platform has been widened and the alignment makes is best to retain as 'through' - with the south platform I erroneously shorthanded to "bay" having a platform face for perhaps just 4 carriages.  Depending on alignment, a train in the 'lay-by' probably couldn't leave westbound (or arrive from the west) while a full length train was in the main westbound, but that wouldn't often be something that would be wanted.

You will note this would have been hard to write as a single bullet