James Gray looks forward on Corsham

[whole diary]

[ChrisB]

Yep you are right - but note the Cotswold services listed in both descriptions. So Cotswold Line services to WOF and beyond will call at all 3.....

[ellendune]

Hmmm, I'd debate the 'significant', but yes, I'd agree there's an Oxford commuter base in that area. Possibly no more than would fit in a single peak train each way, but wouldn't sustain a station.

What it would do is open up employment opportunities for those reliant on decent public transport & obviously needed once they start building x,000 houses there.

I cannot speak for now, but when I was at primary school there in the 1960's I would say more than 30% of my fellow pupils had a parent working in Oxford and another 30% worked at Harwell.  In addition Oxford was the shopping centre of choice for those items that could not be bought in Wantage. 

[Bmblbzzz]

Yep you are right - but note the Cotswold services listed in both descriptions. So Cotswold Line services to WOF and beyond will call at all 3.....

Which does seem rather unnecessary. I don't know how usage of Shrub Hill vs Foregate St compares but I'd imagine proposals to close either would meet a lot of opposition.

[IndustryInsider]

I'll be interested to see how busy Shrub Hill is after Parkway opens.  It can be a bit of a ghost station at times now, considering its size.

[simonw]

The dynamic between Foregate, Shrub Hill and Parkway will be very interesting.

The Worcester traffic is horrendous, and depending on bus services, and parking, many people will continue to both existiing stations, but some of those from outside of Worcester commuting in will find the new station and parking very useful.

The later addition of CrossCountry services to Parkway will be the game charger.   

[Noggin]

Until the extra housing is built around Wantage/Grove, I would suggest that there is no untapped pax wanting to travel, as they all currently travel via Didcot - see the car park usage there!

So building that station will wait until a) the houses are being built, and b) capacity between Swindon/Didcot is capable of carrying stopping trains. The 387s to Didcot extended through to Swindon would be the obvious carrier towards London, with EWR being the cross-country carrier you are discussing above.

Wantage and Grove had a combined population of 18,000 in 2011 how big do you think a place needs to get to support a station?  Melksham had 14,000 in 2011. Didcot had a population of 25,000 in 2011, but kept a station when it was far smaller than Wantage and Grove are now.

Surely it's not just about the gross population living next to a station though - it's about how many of those people use the train on a regular basis, and the 'hinterland' that drive/cycle/take the bus to the station. Plenty of people in places like Devizes and Marlborough who drive a fair distance to a station on a fairly regular basis. There must be plenty of relatively small towns and villages in the South East of England where a significant proportion of the town uses the train to get to work/school/shop and thus the station is economically viable.

Also, we shouldn't forget that better services will attract new residents and businesses, and also that even if rail users just drive to a town's station to park, in the long-run they will tend to help the local economy as they will be more inclined use local shops/restaurants/cafes/childcare/garages etc.