The Time to Act is Now
On Saturday 26th January 2008, Andrew Gwynne MP joined up with almost 50 local residents from Reddish and Denton and members of the Friends of Reddish South Station to mark twelve months since Network Rail's proposals to close REDDISH SOUTH and DENTON train stations were announced (link below.)
http://www.andrewgwynne.labour.co.uk/b46abd47-6168-4094-21b4-913b02fc50c6
Due to the high profile campaign led by Andrew Gwynne MP, local councillors in Tameside and Stockport, GMPTE, the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, the Friends Group and hundreds of local residents, Network Rail has backed away from their original closure proposal.
However, the campaign focus is now on securing a proper functioning train service into Manchester Victoria.
Network Rail has also said that it will not pursue , for the time being , the closure of ARDWICK station. However, it will reconsider closure if the stations require significant amounts of money spending on them in the future.
The good news so far is a tribute to those who persuaded Network Rail that long term development could improve the business case for keeping these stations open. We will be keeping a watchful eye on how events progress from here.
We believe the above victory proves that if you campaign hard enough for something , then it CAN be acheived.
Here are two quotes from the original Beeching Report.
"In most cases there will eventually be no passenger service of any description over the lines affected. In others, fast and semi-fast services using the same routes will continue to run. In still other cases it is intended to modify the pattern of services, both stopping and fast, in ways which will reduce the train mileage and cut out the more uneconomic portions of services and under-utilised stations."
"These proposals do not include all the stopping passenger services now running. Reshaping and streamlining the pattern of these services must be a continuing process. As this proceeds other services and stations will be added to the withdrawal and modification lists until a point is reached when what remains can be said to be viable."
MELKSHAM - Update from Graham Ellis (Save The Train) :
"Campaign for the return of an appropriate service continues. We nearly got a major improvement for the service from December 2007 - 3 extra trains each way daily, Salisbury to Swindon, but those plans were DROPPED when well formed and again we have an inappropriate service for next year.
Currently we're doing a lot of background work on the case for submission of a well developed, resourced, bid in January 2008. A year ago I gave us a 5% chance. Six months ago, I gave us 45%. Now I give us 35% for the end of 2008. It's slipped back because of so many false hopes raised and then dashed, but we still have a good chance of getting an appropriate service. After all, everyone can now see that it's common sense."
Find out more in the link below, which will also tell you in great detail how First Great Western services are currently running.
http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/running.php
On a more positive note , nearby DILTON MARSH was due to lose 50% of its trains from December 2007 (link below.)
http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/diltonmarsh.html
Thanks to the tireless campaigning of Save The Train , Andrew Murrison MP (Westbury) and others , they will now lose only 2 of their services. While not perfect , this is still a great acheivement by all concerned (link below.)
http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=3963.msg7529#msg7529
Tehmina Goskar , a transport campaigner and CANBER supporter , is closely involved with the battle to protect & expand the above services. Her website can be found in the link below.
BRISTOL - After a long and sustained campaign by FOSBR and others, major improvements on the SEVERN BEACH LINE will be provided from May 2008 (link below.)
http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Documents/Custom/DC%20MAY%202008%20TI...
Service-wise, the advantages include :
1) A step change for the better in the number of Severn Beach Line passenger train services.
2) The restoration of through daytime trains to Severn Beach and St Andrews Road on Mondays-Fridays.
3) An hourly Sunday service through to Avonmouth.
4) A better spread and improved timings for trains in the traditional morning and evening peaks.
5) A later last train from Bristol.
Please tell as many people as possible about the improvements. They are only guaranteed for 2-3 years, and we need as many people as possible to use the extra services so they can be retained and improved further in the future.
CANBER endorse the Friends Of Suburban Bristol Railways "Half Hour Train Campaign" and urge ALL local campaigners and groups to do the same. Many already have (example below.)
http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2006/12/friends_of_suburban_bristol_ra_2.html
We see this as a first step towards the full restoration of services to locations such as Henbury and Portishead.
We believe that the alternative is likely to be the disappearance of the suburban Bristol rail service and its replacement by Showcase Bus Routes (see link below.)
http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=253.msg667#msg667
More Train, Less Strain have also been very active in the Greater Bristol Area, campaigning against higher fares, overcrowding, and other issues facing passengers (link below.)
PILNING has had its train service reduced from 1 train each way per day to just 2 trains per week (links below.)
http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=508.msg1482#msg1482
http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=36.msg1897#msg1897
We call on AT LEAST a viable peak - hour service to be introduced , as have Severn Tunnel Action Group (link below.)
http://www.saveseverntunnel.co.uk/TR133%20Severn%20Tunnel%20Action%20Gro...
Also , FOSBR have devised an innovative Pilning Park & Ride proposal that we feel should be carefully considered. See link below.
http://www.fosbr.org.uk/newsletter/60.doc
A petition to the Prime Minister was recently launched urging him to use his government's powers to reverse planned cuts in the already sparse ASHCHURCH FOR TEWKESBURY train service. It closed with 299 signatures (links below.)
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/ashchurchtrains/
http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=231771&com...
http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=231771&com...
SALTASH had its service cut by 25% in December 2006. However, thanks to the efforts of Saltash Rail Users Group and others, the station now is served by 12 or 13 trains in each direction every weekday, and it is an increasingly popular and well used facility (link below.)
Also, nearby ST GERMANS will have three extra weekday down-trains stopping in the summer timetable - 10.52 , 14.16 and 20.44 (this last one coming from Paddington) - as well as one extra up-train at 13.22. This will give them a weekday service of 13 trains down and 12 up - roughly equivalent to the service they had with Wessex Trains 2 years ago.
Well done to them.
IVYBRIDGE passengers have been told that nearly half of their services will be on a "use it or you will lose it" basis (link below.)
http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=217.msg2048#msg2048
Also , the revised and partially cut services have caused inconvenience to regular commuters because of the change of times , worsening punctuality , higher fares , more overcrowding and the loss of the earlier morning service.
SEVERN TUNNEL JUNCTION campaigners have had well-deserved success in getting their morning and evening services restored plus gaining other service enhancements. However, passengers still face unacceptable levels of overcrowding (link below.)
http://www.saveseverntunnel.co.uk/
For more Greater Western Franchise information , click on the link below.
http://www.dft.gov.uk/?view=Filter&t=Greater+Western+Franchise&pg=1
CANBER recently took an in-depth look at the First Great Western area. You can view photos by clicking on the link below.
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=1943.msg143...
Update from Stop The Train :
"Tell the SYPTE that we want to ride on the trains, but in order to do that they need to STOP the trains so we can get on, and there need to be seats or even just room on the trains!!
The trains are increasingly crowded and for the last few weeks (since school and university terms started) passengers at Chapeltown are regularly left standing on the platform because they can't get on the train into Sheffield. Even passengers who alight at Barnsley (into Sheffield) cannot get a seat, so the situation only worsens as the train moves through stations between Barnsley and Sheffield. Even with the disembarkation of a few passengers at Meadowhall there is still standing room only.
This is a problem at all stations between Leeds & Sheffield or Huddersfield and Sheffield depending on the direction of travel and time of day.
In the evening when the train leaves Sheffield back to Leeds, it is often full on leaving Sheffield, and passengers trying to join the service at meadowhall can not get on. I have seen a woman in a wheel chair at Meadowhall refused access to the train because it was so packed there was no room to get the chair onto the train!
As well as the obvious inconvenience for passengers this situation means that the rail company cannot collect the fares. It doesn't take a genius to work out that the rail company is losing thousands of pounds per week.
These peak time trains need to have at least 3 carriages on them as two is clearly inadequate."
Up to 23 stations in SCOTLAND are threatened with closure (link below.)
http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=434.msg1286#msg1286
Passengers are fighting for proper trains to be provided on the PORTSMOUTH - LONDON WATERLOO line (link below.)
http://www.portsmouthsociety.org.uk/nl2007/SWT%20report%20sep07.pdf
From 10th December 2007 ALL through trains from the South-West of England to Glasgow via Crewe, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith and Carlisle have been withdrawn. We support the Railfuture Campaign for SW to NW CrossCountry Trains (link below.)
http://www.railfuture-sw.co.uk/sw-nw.htm
We also endorse the Save The WOODHEAD TUNNEL campaign, which aims to stop government-approved plans allowing National Grid to plant electricity cables in the tunnel, thus potentially jeopardising any future re-opening (link below.)
http://www.savethewoodheadtunnel.blogspot.com/
National Grid have now started work at Woodhead (link below.)
http://savethewoodheadtunnel.blogspot.com/2008/01/work-has-started-but-c...
So what can YOU do to help?
1) E-mail Transport Minister , Tom Harris at Tom.Harris@dft.gsi.gov.uk
and ask him to specify a decent service , along with the rolling stock required , for all of the above & elsewhere.
2) Urge him to approve restored passenger rail services at locations such as Cambridge - St Ives, Deeping St James, Portishead, Stockport - Stalybridge, new trans-pennine routes via Skipton-Colne and the Woodhead Tunnel, plus re-openings elsewhere.
3) Join one of the groups listed in the "Links" section of this website if you are local to them , or send a message of support if you are not.
Message from Graham Ellis (Save The Train) :
"Petition closed with 1683 signatures - many more than I had hoped. See link below.
http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=1364.0
A huge THANK YOU to everyone who signed, and a second thank you to everyone who asked someone else to sign as well. I can't guarantee any changes as a result of the petition, but I can guarantee that we've made out point and been looked at / noticed - at least to some extent."
Petitions have been launched calling for Government - funded free off - peak rail travel in England for people aged 65 and over , and also calling for the double tracking of the Cotswolds line (link below.)
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/freeseniorsrail
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Cotswold/
We are also keeping a close eye on questions being raised in Parliament (link below.)
http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=4456.msg8231#msg8231
If you want to discuss the Melksham/TransWilts issue, then we recommend the Save The Train forum (link below.)
http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/forum/index.php
If you are a First Great Western passenger, member of staff or anyone interested in the issues, and wish to discuss your experiences/views with each other, then we recommend the First Great Western Coffee Shop forum (link below.)
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/
If you wish to discuss issues related to the Portsmouth-London Waterloo line, then we recommend the no450 forum (link below.)
http://www.no450forum.org.uk/phpBB2/
If you wish to discuss campaigning ideas with those in the First Great Western area, then we recommend the MTLS forum (link below.)
http://mtls.org.uk/smfforum
Please also click on the other front page links , plus , check out our most recent proposals , which can be found in the link below.
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=1407.msg818...
