Launch of support pledges for an appropriate Swindon - Salisbury service. 2/4/08

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Through April and May, the Save the Train campaign is asking for as may people as possible to register pledges of support for a more appropriate service on the line. Draft timetables have already been prepared by FGW^▸ (First Great Western) and ratified by Network Rail, and the option is a "low cost" one.  But the issue does need to be kept in the eye of the decision makers - thus our calls for support for this or a similar service

The campaign will run through the months of April and May but we are NOT staring on 1st April - this is no April Fool's scheme but a serious approach to resolving a transport problem an a current service level / timing which is, frankly, indefensible.


Sign up at http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/pledge.html

See who has already signed at http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/sf.html

Read more about it at http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/pabout.html

Basically, this is styled on the PM's petiton web site - but there are differences. 

* Your inputs don't go to the PM (who's a long way removed from such issues) but to the local transport authority (Wilts County Council), the Department for Transport, and First Great Western.

* We keep some limited statistics (which area your from, how often you travel) so that we can show coverage and patterns later, and organisations that have offered support

* We provide an option to make it easy for you to email the key players to tell them of your support.

[Btline]

Yes, but a petition won't hurt. You could even link to the "Save the train" website from the petition.

[grahame]

Yes, but a petition won't hurt. You could even link to the "Save the train" website from the petition.

I'm actually going to disagree - I think that a petition at the same time would dilute the interest, and this would hurt.

We ran a petition over a three week period last year and got over 1700 signatures, looking for an appropriate train service from Westbury to Swindon and rolling in other services - see here for a full report and here]=http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/wessextrains/]here to see it on teh PM's site.   That was an excellent profile raiser for an excellent cause - but we were left with the feeling after receiving the p.m.'s reponse that it was all too easy for him / the civil servants just to churn out a standard answer that missed points - that they felt that the point of such a petition was to allow them to listen to what was being said and not to actually take any actions based on it.  So this current one is a little different ...

* It's focused not on the p.m., but on the true decision makers
* It gives us some statistical feedback (break down of signatories by consituency, for example)
* It gives us the option of limited follow ups and to ask people - should they so wish - to do a little more than just leaave their name.

I'm not ruling out ever using a petition again - far from it - but I think is should be occasional and not running alongside something else and leave us competing with ourselves for attention.

But thanks for raising this - a good question for me to answer.   And for anyone who missed it, our pledge page is at http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/pledge.html and we'll be starting the publicity proper on 2nd April !

[grahame]

And p.m.'s reply - a year ago TO THE day - was

Thank you for your petition concerning the provision of rail services in the South West of England.

Ministers have raised the issue of improving train performance, including cancellations and short formation of trains, directly with First Great Western, which operates the train services in the greater Bristol area. First great Western have given assurances that appropriate measures are being taken, including bringing in additional rolling stock, and have accepted responsibility for underestimating the capacity requirements of the new timetable introduced on 10 December. First Great Western have already taken steps to restore capacity in some areas and expect the position to improve further in the coming weeks.

The Department for Transport will, of course, continue to monitor the performance of the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) franchise to ensure that commitments given to Ministers and the public are met and that a significantly improved service is provided to passengers in future. Performance issues not directly under the control of First great Western itself are the subject of action plans between the company and Network Rail, which are monitored regularly.

The petition calls for the number of services at Melksham and other stations to be brought back to the levels provided before the timetable change on 10 December 2006. In planning the new franchise, the former Strategic Rail Authority found that usage of most trains on this route was very low, and set a minimum specification in order to achieve best value for money. First Great Western is free to operate additional services over the route subject to capacity on the track being available.

That is a year old, remember ...

[Btline]

And p.m.'s reply - a year ago TO THE day - was

Thank you for your petition concerning the provision of rail services in the South West of England.

Ministers have raised the issue of improving train performance, including cancellations and short formation of trains, directly with First Great Western, which operates the train services in the greater Bristol area. First great Western have given assurances that appropriate measures are being taken, including bringing in additional rolling stock, and have accepted responsibility for underestimating the capacity requirements of the new timetable introduced on 10 December. First Great Western have already taken steps to restore capacity in some areas and expect the position to improve further in the coming weeks.

The Department for Transport will, of course, continue to monitor the performance of the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) franchise to ensure that commitments given to Ministers and the public are met and that a significantly improved service is provided to passengers in future. Performance issues not directly under the control of First great Western itself are the subject of action plans between the company and Network Rail, which are monitored regularly.

The petition calls for the number of services at Melksham and other stations to be brought back to the levels provided before the timetable change on 10 December 2006. In planning the new franchise, the former Strategic Rail Authority found that usage of most trains on this route was very low, and set a minimum specification in order to achieve best value for money. First Great Western is free to operate additional services over the route subject to capacity on the track being available.

That is a year old, remember ...

I have to agree when I read the reply! What nonsense!

They better give a full reply to the Cotswolds one!

    

[Lee]

Wiltshire Times article on the pledge campaign and support from the Melksham Chamber of Commerce  (link below.)
http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/display.var.2158287.0.chamber_backs_rail_campaign.php