| Archived Save the Train forum articles - 2005 to 2010. See below
More Community Rail Designations - 4240/7896 Written by Lee on Saturday, 29th September 2007 Medway Valley LIne (link below.) http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=318237&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False Norwich - Sheringham (link below.) http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=318243&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False Re: More Community Rail Designations - 4240/8587 Written by Lee on Tuesday, 13th November 2007 [quote author=Lee link=topic=4240.msg7896#msg7896 date=1191080361]Medway Valley LIne (link below.) http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=318237&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False[/quote] One of challenges facing the Medway Valley Community Rail Partnership is how to keep Beltring station open. It is due to close in 2009 (link below.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beltring_railway_station Well , I'm pleased to say that they havent given up , and want YOUR help : The Medway Valley Line Community Rail Partnership was set up to help raise awareness of and the profile of the line which in recent years had perhaps received less promotion and attention than it should have done. The Partnership membership comprises local authorities, town and parish councils, the rail companies, bus operators and other interested parties. It is hosted by Action with Communities in Rural Kent, a Registered Charity, based at 15 Manor Road, Folkestone, CT20 2AH. By working together, we aim to find new ways to market the line, enhance personal security, improve integration with other forms of transport and improve station environments. The net goal of course is to encourage greater use of the line by local people and visitors to the area. Beltring station is by far the quietest station on the line and is remotely placed - and having no nearby post office or library I have arranged for our literature to be available at the local Blue Bell pub. If you have any suggestions for the improvement of Beltring station, please do let me know, as we are currently updating our action plan for the coming year. You will probably be aware that the station has recently received a complete repaint by Southeastern - into their new corporate colours. Re: More Community Rail Designations - 4240/8589 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Tuesday, 13th November 2007 [quote author=Lee link=topic=4240.msg8587#msg8587 date=1194951295] Beltring station is by far the quietest station on the line and is remotely placed - and having no nearby post office or library I have arranged for our literature to be available at the local Blue Bell pub. [/quote] I note the above. Although Melksham station is far from remote (it's in the middle of an industrial area!) it suffers badly from having no post office or library nearby .... and there isn't a pub either. Shows just how badly provided for Melksham is - ticket sales are (or were, until last year!) an order or magnitude higher then Beltring Re: More Community Rail Designations - 4240/8596 Written by Lee on Tuesday, 13th November 2007 By the way , the closure of Beltring station was confirmed by just one line on Page 35 of the link below. http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/passenger/franchises/ikf/integratedkentfranchisestake3338 Re: More Community Rail Designations - 4240/8663 Written by Lee on Friday, 16th November 2007 Reply from David Hibbs of the DfT : "There are no current plans for works at this station - though there are things happening on the wider line. The Designation will not necessarily trigger actions at any individual station - the aim is to give more flexibility to the operator and the local community rail partnership to carry out works. In a number of parts of the country the CRPs have been able to tap into local and wider regional resources to bring about improvements." Re: More Community Rail Designations - 4240/8697 Written by Lee on Monday, 19th November 2007 More from David Hibbs : "There are no plans to take forward the closures of Swale or Beltring and the Government is committed to maintaining the existing network of lines - so it is now for the industry and communities to make sure that we get best value from the network." "SouthEastern will shortly be presenting us with their revised SLC2 proposal. We are not expecting any significant changes to the current Maidstone West - Paddock Wood (ie basically Re: More Community Rail Designations - 4240/8699 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Monday, 19th November 2007 [quote author=Lee link=topic=4240.msg8596#msg8596 date=1194971344] By the way , the closure of Beltring station was confirmed by just one line on Page 35 of the link below. http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/passenger/franchises/ikf/integratedkentfranchisestake3338 [/quote] That looks like a "sneak it in to a remote part of the document" ... sounds very familiar, seeing as the complete withdrawl of the Swindon to Southampton service was also a one liner. Are there and FOI documents yet to show whether the DfT tried to pull the SRA trick and minimise consultation within the statutory limits, and hold the consultation in parallel with the tendering for the contract that the consultation was supposed to be about? Re: More Community Rail Designations - 4240/8716 Written by Lee on Tuesday, 20th November 2007 [quote author=Graham Ellis link=topic=4240.msg8699#msg8699 date=1195503560] [quote author=Lee link=topic=4240.msg8596#msg8596 date=1194971344] By the way , the closure of Beltring station was confirmed by just one line on Page 35 of the link below. http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/passenger/franchises/ikf/integratedkentfranchisestake3338 [/quote] That looks like a "sneak it in to a remote part of the document" ... sounds very familiar, seeing as the complete withdrawl of the Swindon to Southampton service was also a one liner. Are there and FOI documents yet to show whether the DfT tried to pull the SRA trick and minimise consultation within the statutory limits, and hold the consultation in parallel with the tendering for the contract that the consultation was supposed to be about? [/quote] I put in FOI requests to both the DfT and ORR (who would have to approve any closures under the new guidance) and both said that they had no documents to release. On sneaking the Beltring (and Swale) closures into the document , the original plan was to provide "parliamentary" (once a week) services to both stations , but according to the SRA "after consultation" they decided to close both stations completely. link to index of articles |
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Save the Train was the campaign to bring an approriate train service back to and through Melksham. Most big contributors are still around writing at the Coffee shop forum where new members are very welcome. The train has been saved - sort of - we have stepped back up from an unusable service to a poorish one but it's doing very well. We did that through setting up the TransWilts Community Rail Partnership. That fulfilled its early objectives; it has been taken over by local and regional government types who are now doing medium and long term work. The team from this forun can also be found at the Melksham Rail User Group (which was the Melksham Rail Development Group at the time these articles were written and we had no users. We mustn't loose sight, though, that the train service remains poor and needs our community support in marketing and campaigning to keep it going in a positive direction ... and all the more so when we're expecting to find a different normallity once we get out of the Coronavirus Pandemic and head for zero carbon via the climate crisis. Yes, it's saved ... it's now a key community facility ... the need for enhancement and the strong and near-universal local support remain, and the rail industry and goverment remain slow to move and provide the enhancements even to level us up with other towns. Please support the Melksham Rail User Group - now very much in partnership rather than protest with the rail industry and local government, including GWR, TransWilts and unitary and town councils. And please use the trains and buses, and cycle and walk when you can. -- Graham Ellis, (webmaster), February 2021 | |||
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