Chippenham - facilities, improvements, parking, events and incidents - merged posts

[whole diary]

[bobm]

As I say - the big benefit is it gives access for those who couldn't make the trip between the front of the station and the platforms independently before but a bit of cover would have been nice - unless the original covered way is remaining?

[NickF]

Perhaps a roof was needed after all 

http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/14709377.New_railway_station_bridge_in___3m_revamp_needs_work_after_just_8_months/

[TaplowGreen]

Perhaps a roof was needed after all 

http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/14709377.New_railway_station_bridge_in___3m_revamp_needs_work_after_just_8_months/

I wonder how  much that will add to the original £3 million?

[ChrisB]

Surely a design fault? Hence needing to get repairs done while the supplier would be responsible?

[TaplowGreen]

Surely a design fault? Hence needing to get repairs done while the supplier would be responsible?

You would hope so - but remember this is public sector procurement, wouldn't be the first time that someone has forgotten to include something as bizarre as the fact that it occasionally rains in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) in the specification.

[bobm]

Something certainly needs doing.  This was the situation at the beginning of this month after some moderate rain the night before.  I dread to think what it was like after the deluge on Saturday.

[Worcester_Passenger]

Meanwhile, here's another roofless footbridge. In Pontypridd, well-known for the lack of rain.

[grahame]

In answer to a press enquiry ..


Dear Jessica,

I believe you’re correct in your assertion that there is no rail user group dedicated to Chippenham Station.  Which is a bit of a surprise as (mile for mile) peak Chippenham to London fares are amongst the most expensive in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom), and engineeringworkwise it’s just about the most prone to weekend changes of any station.   Full credit to the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) staff team at Chippenham who do an excellent job of looking after passenger; user groups tend to be set up where the local community feels disconnected from the railway serving it.

Engineering works at weekends are nothing new.   What’s new for Chippenham is a 9 day closure of the line from Chippenham to Swindon which includes the week of Monday 11th to Friday 14th July.  Over those five days, trains will be running from Chippenham to Bath and Bristol, and from Chippenham to Westbury - the most direct route to London all the way by train will be via Westbury, the most frequent by dogleg via Bath Spa.  And extra buses will be running direct from Chippenham Station to Swindon Station, accepting rail tickets and much faster that Stagecoach service 55.  I’m waiting to here from GWR as to whether these will be low floor buses that can take wheelchairs; there’s no legal requirement on them to do so, as they’re not a public scheduled bus service, and I really hope that any passengers with mobility problems don’t get put on the slower 55!

There is an excellent case for a user group for Chippenham - not in protest in any way, but to help in the provision of feedback to the train operator, and perhaps too to assist with volunteers helping (for example) with making the station even more welcoming; I was there for a meeting the other day, and we were asked “wouldn’t it look good with hanging baskets” on the spare platform.

At TransWilts, we have responsibilities for the occasional (up to 9 trains per day) services that leave Chippenham for Melksham, Trowbridge and Westbury - and that became official a couple of months back when the minister for rail visited us to confirm this as a “designated service”.  The designation doe not include the express trains which call at Chippenham 4 times an hour - however, they are very much on the TranWilts radar as our constitution describes “journeys to, from and within Wiltshire” as our area of operation.   Our designation does include Chippenham Station as a “designated station” so we are probably best placed to looking to set up such a group; we already have very strong ties with the Melksham Rail User Group - indeed I am vice chair as I live in the town - so we have some experience to go on.

I would very much hope to be back in tough with you about helping set up a user group (including sponsoring a meeting) soon after the summer holidays - in the meantime, I would welcome people getting in touch so I can keep them informed.  I have taken an arbitrary date of Thursday, 14th September for people to “pencil in” and will add that as an event date on the TransWilts Facebook page.

I’m away this week at a training session … (travelled by train, of course) …. I will try to call you during the day / during a break to fill you in further / answer any questions

Graham

Graham Ellis - grahamellis@transwilts.org
Community Rail Officer, TransWilts Community Rail Partnership
A division of the TransWilts Community Interest Company (CIC^▸ (Community Interest Company ))
http://www.transwilts.org  - 0845 459 0153 / 01225 708225


Any members who would like to help setting up a Chippenham group, please let me know!

[ChrisB]

Just had a meeting with GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) re accessible transport for the Oxford blockade, so asked the Q for you by email for Chippenham. Unsure as to response time as my contact starts a leave period tomorrow, but am hopeful

[grahame]

Chippenham station is one of two (the other is Melksham) that's included with the TransWilts service designation.  And on 21st September, we're holding an open meeting to see if there's interest in forming a Chippenham Rail Users Group, Station Adoption group, or equivalent.    This is a placeholder for your diaries at the moment - I'll be moving this thread to public view midweek, once I have literature and after a letting the station team know more details too (excellent staff at Chippenham!).

Please feel free to add to this thread with issues you consider especially relevant to Chippenham - help me "seed" the meeting.   Yes, we do have some ideas of the issues that might be of interest
• Only two trains per day to Salisbury and Southampton
• Proposals for development around the station
• Installation of ticket gates
• No late evening services from Bristol, Bath or Westbury
• Peak fares to London
• Connections for journeys to Midlands and the North
• Electrification and new trains
• Pick up and bus access only available via Station Hill
• Planned 40% increase in car parking
• Low cost fares and best routes
• Leisure fares and destinations

P.S. If you wondered what happened to "our" other three stations at TransWilts, Westbury and Trowbridge stations are designated to Heart of Wessex, and Swindon's considered to big a dog for our tail to wag it.   Expect a through service to and from Salisbury and beyond to be the pre-cursor of designation for stations at Dilton Marsh, Warminster and Wilton, with 2020 vision.

[ChrisB]

Late evening? How late? I use the 2230 off BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains) regularly after nights out there to get back north of OXF^» (Oxford - next trains)....if its late enough for me....

Similarly, BRI is what? 20mins away by HST^▸ (High Speed Train)? Connnections there into notthbound XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) services. How would you improve that?

[grahame]

Late evening? How late? I use the 2230 off BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains) regularly after nights out there to get back north of OXF^» (Oxford - next trains)....if its late enough for me....

Similarly, BRI is what? 20mins away by HST^▸ (High Speed Train)? Connnections there into notthbound XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) services. How would you improve that?

In my summer 1990 timetable, there's a 22:35 WSM to SWI^» (Swindon - next trains) that leaves BRI at 23:25, BTH^» (Bath Spa - next trains) at 23:47 and CPM^» (Chippenham - next trains) at 00:04, terminates 00:26 at SWI.   Friday only.   That's a similar time to the last Bristol to Bradford-on-Avon, Trowbridge, Westbury and Frome runs now - and that train is HEAVING, unlike the one an hour earlier.  So I suspect the case needs to be reconsidered.    There's an impressive online petition looking for this.

25 minutes Chippenham to Bristol, then 20 minutes connection time at Temple Meads ... so about an hour after leaving Chippenham you're still in Bristol (Parkway) and only just starting to head up north ... probably further from Birmingham as the crow flies than Chippenham is when you work it out!

Edit to add - http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=18512.0 - discussion on later train from Bristol

[ChrisB]

Now do the same exercise via SWI^» (Swindon - next trains), DID^» (Didcot Parkway - next trains) & OXF^» (Oxford - next trains) to pick up XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) and what time to get to say BHM? Bet its slower than via BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains).

[grahame]

Now do the same exercise via SWI^» (Swindon - next trains), DID^» (Didcot Parkway - next trains) & OXF^» (Oxford - next trains) to pick up XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) and what time to get to say BHM? Bet its slower than via BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains).

As far as the passenger is concerned, it doesn't matter if he does via Bristol, Didcot or Tipperary.  Chippenham to Birmingham (for The North) is about 70 miles, and he wants a decent speed for that journey - say at least 40 m.p.h. average from his train pulling out of Chippenham to his train pulling in to Birmingham - that's 1 hour 45 minutes.   Let's take a look at that 70 miles:



Here are some train times from places near the edge of that green circle to Birmingham (New Street) - taken for a date without engineering works.  The times are "fastest clockface" - not fastest all day, but rather fastest you'll get in a typical off peak hour.

1:03   Sheffield
1:26   Bristol
1:26   Manchester
1:27   Chepstow
1:33   Reading
1:43   Chester
1:46   Peterborough
2:15   Lincoln
2:23   Chippenham

[ChrisB]

So, how do youbpropose to speed it up, getting good value, from the current rail network? Bearing in mind current service usage and using vacant paths?