| Archived Save the Train forum articles - 2005 to 2010. See below
Ashchurch for Tewkesbury Train Service Cuts - Petition To The PM - 4526/8321 Written by Lee on Monday, 22nd October 2007 Ashchurch for Tewkesbury station used to have many direct train services to Birmingham , but currently , it is mainly served by a 2 - hourly service from Great Malvern & Bristol. Passengers wishing to travel to Birmingham usually have to travel south to Cheltenham Spa , change onto a northbound train , then return northwards , passing through Ashchurch without stopping. From December 2006 , some direct services to and from Birmingham were reintroduced , but the new Arriva Cross Country Franchise proposes to CUT these on weekdays from 7 to 4 northbound services and from 4 (5 on Fridays) to 2 Southbound services. With a large car park , a wide catchment area and a bus service EVERY 15 MINUTES to Tewkesbury , doesnt cutting the already sparse train service make a mockery of the government's policy of encouraging integrated transport and taking more cars off the road? I call on the Prime Minister to use the DfT's powers to require Arriva to provide MORE , not LESS stops at Ashchurch for Tewkesbury station in the new Cross Country Franchise. With passenger numbers at the station rising already , along with the likely population/development growth , I believe that the demand will justify it. Join me by signing the following petition (link below.) http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/ashchurchtrains/ Deadline for signatures is 22 November 2007. Please also e-mail Arriva Cross Country regarding this at : Info@crosscountrytrains.co.uk Or write to them at : External Relations, CrossCountry Mobilisation Team 5th Floor, 43 Temple Row, Birmingham, B2 5LS Their consultation ends on 23 November 2007. Re: Ashchurch for Tewkesbury Train Service Cuts - Petition To The PM - 4526/8355 Written by Lee on Saturday, 27th October 2007 Here is a press release on this : "Alistair Cameron, Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Tewkesbury urges everyone to sign the 10 Downing Street on line petition calling the Prime Minister to reverse the planned train service cuts from Ashchurch Railway Station direct to Birmingham. The on line petition was set up by Mr Lee Fletcher following proposals by Arriva in their Cross Country Franchise to cut direct services to and from Birmingham on weekdays from 7 to 4 northbound services and from 4 (5 on Fridays) to 2 southbound services. Without these services, passengers will have to travel south to Cheltenham Spa, change onto a northbound train, then return northwards, passing through Ashchurch without stopping. Alistair Cameron said: "Ashchurch has a large car park, a wide catchment area and a bus service every 15 minutes to Tewkesbury. To allow Arriva to cut this already sparse service would make a nonsense of the government's claim that it is encouraging integrated transport and taking more cars off the road. The Prime Minister should use the DfT's powers to require Arriva to provide more, not less, stops at Ashchurch. With passenger numbers rising at the station, along with the growth in population in the area, the demand will justify it." The petition can be found at the following web address Re: Ashchurch for Tewkesbury Train Service Cuts - Petition To The PM - 4526/8382 Written by Lee on Tuesday, 30th October 2007 Here is a Gloucestershire Echo article on this (link below.) http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=231771&command=displayContent&sourceNode=231774&contentPK=18814207&folderPk=108867&pNodeId=231888 And also one from the Tewkesbury Admag (link below.) http://www.tewkesburyadmag.co.uk/news/tanewslatest/display.var.1793266.0.signatures_needed_to_support_petition.php Re: Ashchurch for Tewkesbury Train Service Cuts - Petition To The PM - 4526/8404 Written by Lee on Wednesday, 31st October 2007 Letter to the Gloucestershire Echo : Madam, I urge Echo readers to support Lee Fletcher's 10 Downing Street on line petition calling for the Prime Minister to stop Arriva from reducing its direct rail links between Ashchurch and Birmingham (Echo 30 October). If we let Arriva get away with this, railway passengers will be forced to take the train from Ashchurch to Cheltenham Spa and then catch another train from Cheltenham Spa to Birmingham going past Ashchurch. This is ludicrous at a time when we should be promoting rail travel due to its environmental benefits. The petition web site can be found on http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/ashchurchtrains/ Yours faithfully Alistair Cameron Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Tewkesbury I Hate FGW link. http://ihatefirstgreatwestern.blogspot.com/2007/10/save-ashchurch-train-services.html Re: Ashchurch for Tewkesbury Train Service Cuts - Petition To The PM - 4526/8611 Written by Lee on Wednesday, 14th November 2007 Over 200 people have now signed the petition. Re: Ashchurch for Tewkesbury Train Service Cuts - Petition To The PM - 4526/8759 Written by Lee on Friday, 23rd November 2007 The petition has closed with 294 signatures. Many thanks to all those who signed (links below.) http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/ashchurchtrains/ http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=231771&command=displayContent&sourceNode=231774&contentPK=19037726&folderPk=108867&pNodeId=231888 Re: Ashchurch for Tewkesbury Train Service Cuts - Petition To The PM - 4526/8854 Written by Lee on Thursday, 29th November 2007 From Arriva : Thank you for taking the time to contact us. With regards to your enquiry relating to more regular stops at Ashchurch on the CrossCountry Cardiff-Nottingham service, any further calls at stations along this route would have to be commercially justified and there are strong commercial reasons for limiting service calls between Birmingham and South Wales. Additional calls would also severely compromise the aspiration for faster end to end journey times. Saltash does not currently receive CrossCountry calls and it was not part of the specification for the CrossCountry franchise. Re: Ashchurch for Tewkesbury Train Service Cuts - Petition To The PM - 4526/9150 Written by Lee on Thursday, 20th December 2007 A response to the petition has been received (link below.) http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page14083.asp "The Department for Transport consulted widely on the CrossCountry franchise back in the summer of 2006. Responses were received from a wide range of stakeholders and these were used in designing the specification for the CrossCountry franchise that would operate from November 2007. The specification strikes a balance between the stakeholder responses, operational effectiveness, passenger and commercial demand. As a result of a competitive tendering exercise Arriva were awarded the franchise in the summer of 2007. The contract that was agreed with Arriva included a base/ minimum specification for the services that they operate to and from Ashchurch for Tewkesbury. First Great Western also serves the station. Arriva recently carried out a consultation exercise on the timetable that will operate from December 2008 on the route to Birmingham. A broad range of responses to this consultation has been received. A copy of the E petition has been forwarded to Arriva and we have asked that they consider the points that have been raised along with other response to the timetable consultation. Using the feedback received, Arriva will now finalise the timetable in order to make the best use of its resources." Re: Ashchurch for Tewkesbury Train Service Cuts - Petition To The PM - 4526/9256 Written by Lee on Wednesday, 2nd January 2008 Tewkesbury Admag article (link below.) http://www.tewkesburyadmag.co.uk/display.var.1936577.0.pm_refuses_to_intervene_in_train_row.php Re: Ashchurch for Tewkesbury Train Service Cuts - Petition To The PM - 4526/9297 Written by Lee on Friday, 4th January 2008 Gloucestershire Echo article (link below.) http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=231771&command=displayContent&sourceNode=231774&contentPK=19443207&folderPk=108867&pNodeId=231888 Re: Ashchurch for Tewkesbury Train Service Cuts - Petition To The PM - 4526/9444 Written by Lee on Tuesday, 15th January 2008 Tewkesbury Admag article (link below.) http://www.tewkesburyadmag.co.uk/news/tanewslatest/display.var.1966735.0.pm_accused_over_train_cut_proposals.php 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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