Swindon to Oxford - new proposal from the "Go!" Coop

[whole diary]

[anthony215]

If this does turn out to be true then i wish them luck, although i wonder where the stock will come from unless they order some DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit)'S

[Btline]

Yeah - what stock? Hopefully 100 mph, so paths aren't gulped down on fast stretches of mainline.

[ReWind]

Personally I think this is a brilliant proposal.

It would link Yeovil Pen Mill with Yeovil Junction, thus providing quicker journey times between Weymouth/Dorchester and the South West ( connections pending of course ).

It would provide Melksham with a train service.  Enough said! 

It would provide Swindon with a direct service to Oxford.

As well a North - South direct Wiltshire service.

Im all for it!!!   

[anthony215]

I think it is a good porposal but i think they  will have to wait a while if they plan on purchasing new rolling stock unless they are hiring in loco hauled trains. Another good idea if this proposal does go ahead is to perhaps extend the service from Oxfod through to Milton Keynes.

Personally i would think  that they would be better off running a service between Oxford & Bristol but that depends on paths being available

[John R]

Personally i would think  that they would be better off running a service between Oxford & Bristol but that depends on paths being available

That would be unlikely to pass the "not predominately abstractive" test of the ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about), and it would be difficult to prove that new markets were being catered for. Whereas the route chosen, as Rick says, caters for new markets and flows, and as an added bonus would meet the demand of a certain town in Wiltshire.

Also, by running non stop Swindon to Oxford, it would not abstract any FGW^▸ (First Great Western) revenue on either Swindon to Didcot or Didcot to Oxford, with the exception of those actually travelling from Swindon and points west to Oxford.   

[anthony215]

Good point and i do hope that this idea does come off  as i wouldnt mind using this service to travel to oxford especially if it means that i dont have to change trains at Didcot Parkway

[smokey]

http://www.go-now.coop/workspace/uploads/files/go!_launch_invitation_final_draft.pdf

Maybe I'm being picky, but I would have thought they could have got the geography right, unless there's a line off to South Wales at Thingley sidings that I've failed to notice. (And the line to Bristol from Westbury should actually diverge after Trowbridge).

Still, good luck to them. It will be interesting to see FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s reaction.

I can't download the above, but maybe UR being picky, anyone can make mistakes.

Was it not FGW that produced information maps with a Redruth to Falmouth line?

[devon_metro]

http://www.go-now.coop/workspace/uploads/files/go!_launch_invitation_final_draft.pdf

Maybe I'm being picky, but I would have thought they could have got the geography right, unless there's a line off to South Wales at Thingley sidings that I've failed to notice. (And the line to Bristol from Westbury should actually diverge after Trowbridge).

Still, good luck to them. It will be interesting to see FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s reaction.

I can't download the above, but maybe UR being picky, anyone can make mistakes.

Was it not FGW that produced information maps with a Redruth to Falmouth line?

If you copy the whole address then you will be able to see it, as it stands only part of it has a link to the document.

[Btline]

Ah, some sense - no stop at Didcot.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Oxford Mail:

Direct Oxford-Swindon rail link planned

Commuters could catch direct trains from Oxford to Swindon for the first time in eight years if the country^s first co-operative Rail firm secures official approval.
The Go! Co-operative wants to start a service which would see Oxford and Banbury linked with Swindon, Chippenham, Westbury and Yeovil, with the possibility of extensions to Weymouth and Birmingham.
An Oxford-Swindon-Bath-Bristol service, run by First Great Western and Thames Trains, was withdrawn in 2003.
The co-op will apply to run the service under the Office for Rail Regulation^s open access scheme, which allows firms to run routes not served by the main rail franchise operators.
Among existing open access operators is Wrexham & Shropshire, which links Banbury with London, Shropshire and Wales.
Go! hopes to have trains running from December next year, with four trains a day each way initially.
The co-operative needs to raise about ^500,000 to launch the service and is looking for small investors willing to put up ^100 for 100 shares. So far ^50,000 has been raised.
Chief executive Keith Vingoe said: ^This will be the first time a co-operative has managed to get into the rail industry. It^s a great opportunity for people who become members to have a say in the running of a train operating company.^

[willc]

Ah, some sense - no stop at Didcot.

Rather more to do with the prospect of using hired-in locos and coaches for these trains than the 'sense' of missing a town with a population of 30,000 plus and growing, served by the second busiest station in Oxfordshire.

As for revenue abstraction, they are proposing four trains a day each way versus FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s two to four per hour between Oxford and Didcot and two to three per hour between Didcot and Swindon, with sub-10-minute connections for people doing Oxford-Swindon. There seems to be a consensus that a mistake was made when giving in to Virgin over W&S^▸ (Wrexham and Shropshire (Open Access Operator)) serving Wolverhampton, so were Go! to want to serve Didcot, I don't imagine there would be a problem in the ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about)'s eyes.

But given the shortage of DMUs^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) generally, short of going out and buying some, they are going to be using hauled stock, so a trip along the curve at Didcot it will have to be unless they want the added expense of using DVTs^‡(resolve), which seems unlikely at a start-up stage.

[mjones]

Rather more to do with the prospect of using hired-in locos and coaches for these trains than the 'sense' of missing a town with a population of 30,000 plus and growing, served by the second busiest station in Oxfordshire.

As for revenue abstraction, they are proposing four trains a day each way versus FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s two to four per hour between Oxford and Didcot and two to three per hour between Didcot and Swindon, with sub-10-minute connections for people doing Oxford-Swindon. ...

Given the number of trains stopping there, there are some surprisingly bad connections between Swindon and Oxford trains at Didcot. Most Oxford trains depart at 25 and 55 minutes past the hour, so just missing the Swindon arrivals at typically 27 to 29 minutes past the hour. There is no Swindon connection at all meeting the 0825 to Oxford, so you can arrive either at 0830 or 0915, a lot of connections during the day are via Reading. 

[inspector_blakey]

... a lot of connections during the day are via Reading. 

Which if you have an off-peak day return, or the cheaper flavour of off-peak return (route "Not Reading" from Swindon and Bristol), is a real pain in the sphincter!

[grahame]

I understand that the launch event went well ... our forming TransWilts Community Rail Partnership had representatives from our core group at Yeovil, Trowbridge and Swindon and I've posted their reports - plus a fourth - for working group and closely associated folks on the members-only section at http://www.twcpr.org.uk

[dorsetbeachcomber]

I understand that the launch event went well ... our forming TransWilts Community Rail Partnership had representatives from our core group at Yeovil, Trowbridge and Swidnon and I've posted their reports - plus a fourth - for working group and closely associated folks on the members-only section at http://www.twcpr.org.uk/   .

Think you made a slight error in the weblink.  It should be http://atrebatia.info