| Archived Save the Train forum articles - 2005 to 2010. See below
A road-to-rail freight interchange at Westbury? - 4791/8745 Written by Pete on Wednesday, 21st November 2007 [color=blue]Just how feasible is this facility... West Wiltshire District Council have safeguarded some land for this development: some 7.8 hectares. Looking at the guidelines from the SRA (Strategic Rail Authority) the likely indicitave size for this type of facility is between 10 and 30 hecatres and should also be able to expand if necessary. The guide also suggests that the facility should be located at key points in urban areas. Westbury can hardly be described as urban, more likely suburban. The guide goes on to state that the facility should be located close to a trunk road network; the closest possibility is the A36. However, this is in the process of being de-trunked. So this site fails on all three main criteria. The SWARMMS (London to South Wales and South West Multi Modal Study) published a report in 2002 which looked at Multi Modal freight issues. Within that report the Westbury site was examined and the following conclusions we arrived at:-[/color] [i][color=purple]Site - Brownfield Re: A road-to-rail freight interchange at Westbury? - 4791/8748 Written by Lee on Thursday, 22nd November 2007 The following should also be noted : 1) The reports that Pete refers to (and yes , I have read them) are now 3 - 5 years old. 2) Since then , the DfT have reinstated the rail freight grant funding regime , and the diversion of intermodal freight via Westbury and Melksham is now being (and has been for a while) actively considered. See link below. http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=2478.from1195664965;topicseen#msg8734 3) The diversion of lorries away from Bath and instead being routed via the A350 is also being actively considered. This doesnt mean that I automatically think that a Westbury freight depot is now a runner (far more likely is an increase in intermodal freight via Westbury and Melksham from Southampton Docks) , but I do think that some of the circumstances upon which Pete bases his argument have now changed. Re: A road-to-rail freight interchange at Westbury? - 4791/8751 Written by Pete on Thursday, 22nd November 2007 [color=Blue]Fair comments Lee. However, I believe the citical issue is the fact that there are no large scale industries close enough to Westbury to make this facility feasible. As the reports state, there are already interchanges in Avonmouth and Swindon, that only leaves industries to the south of Westbury, towards Salisbury, and I think they would be more inclined to use Southampton. It doesn't matter how much of a grant is awarded, if you can't attract the customers, no developer in their right mind would consider building the facility. Pete[/color] Re: A road-to-rail freight interchange at Westbury? - 4791/8770 Written by Lee on Friday, 23rd November 2007 I can foresee at least one scenario where a Westbury Freight Depot could become viable. Quote from Page 10 of Route 12 of the Network Rail Business Plan 2007 (link below.) http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/BusinessPlan2007/PDF/Route%2012%20Reading%20to%20Penzance.pdf "The Regional Spatial Strategy also recommends that commercial developments which generate high volumes of freight movements should be located close to appropriate rail freight facilities to support more sustainable distribution." Should the Government decide to move this kind of policy forward in this area , then an example of such a commercial development , reasonably close to Westbury , can be found in the link below. http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=311.msg859#msg859 Whether they would actually decide to move this kind of policy forward in this area is , I would agree , a matter for some considerable debate. Re: A road-to-rail freight interchange at Westbury? - 4791/8777 Written by Pete on Saturday, 24th November 2007 [quote][size=10pt]"The Regional Spatial Strategy also recommends that commercial developments which generate high volumes of freight movements should be located close to appropriate rail freight facilities to support more sustainable distribution."[/size][/quote] [color=Blue]I would imagine a development that would generate such high volumes of freight would require a large amout of space, i.e. larger than the current West Wilts trading estate, along with an awful lot of money and a long time to get the interest generated. Pete[/color] Re: A road-to-rail freight interchange at Westbury? - 4791/8779 Written by Lee on Saturday, 24th November 2007 Slight misunderstanding , Pete. I was thinking more of developments close to the proposed Westbury freight terminal , not physically right next door. The link in the previous post relates to a Warminster development. The proposed Westbury site could also be developed as part of a network of mini - railfreight terminals , as groups such as Campaign for Better Transport (formerly Transport 2000) have proposed for this corridor. I would agree though that the funding , and the time required for planning (if of course the plans for such a network dont exist already , as some have alleged) would be a significant factor. Re: A road-to-rail freight interchange at Westbury? - 4791/8790 Written by Lee on Sunday, 25th November 2007 Such mini - railfreight depots as described above are slowly coming into favour. Here is a recent example from my home patch of Portsmouth. As you can see , it is a relatively basic affair (link below.) http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/08/new_railfreight_link_for_ports.html It still needed to be funded though , and , as would be the case with Westbury , road access was most certainly an issue (come down here and try it for yourself.) However , it still went ahead. Also , the Conservatives are looking at building similiar mini - railfreight depots as part of their transport policy. Here's an interesting one for you : Lets have a look at it from the perspective of a London - based DfT civil servant with , perhaps , not the greatest knowledge of an area which isnt exactly central to his master's electoral prospects. Here is a map from the DfT's "Towards a Sustainable Transport System: Supporting Economic Growth in a Low Carbon World" (30/10/2007 , link below) : http://www.dft.gov.uk/about/strategy/transportstrategy/pdfsustaintranssystem.pdf  The least congested roads are shown in blue , rising through orange with the most congested roads shown in red. The civil servant may decide that "best value" would lie in funding a railfreight depot at one of the least congested points on the road network , thus taking lorries off the road before they hit one of the most congested parts of the road network. He may also be looking for a location that lies at a key point on the rail network , with excellent links to many other areas further afield. Which of the locations on the map above would appear to the civil servant to best fit the above criteria? Bear in mind also that the civil servant may consider that funding the scheme above would be "better value" than funding an expensive road that appears to him to bypass one of the least congested points on the road network. However Pete , as I said in my opening post , I share your scepticism as to whether a Westbury Freight Depot will become reality in the near future. The only difference in our views is that I wouldnt completely rule out the prospect of it being built at some point. Re: A road-to-rail freight interchange at Westbury? - 4791/8843 Written by Pete on Wednesday, 28th November 2007 [color=Blue]Firstly I don't agree with the map. How can the congestion disappear on one side of Westbury then magically reappear on the other? It's one road! Secondly, if I were the civil servant looking at the map, Westbury would not be the first place I would think of to put the interchange. All the roads around the site are already congested and putting the facility there would only make matters worse. My gut instict would probably be to put it to the south of Warminster where the railway line crosses the A36 at the bottom end of the bypass. It would have both the A36 and the railway line immediately adjacent, and with a minor additional railway line at Westbury all 4 directions of travel would be avaliable. Thirdly, I never said never. I just don't think it's likely that this facility will see the light of day within the next 2 or 3 decades. I hope I'm wrong though. Pete[/color] Re: A road-to-rail freight interchange at Westbury? - 4791/8862 Written by Lee on Friday, 30th November 2007 [quote author=Pete link=topic=4791.msg8843#msg8843 date=1196267428]Firstly I don't agree with the map. How can the congestion disappear on one side of Westbury then magically reappear on the other? It's one road![/quote] Interesting that you dont agree with the map. Why not write to the DfT and tell them? I would love to read the reply ;D [quote author=Pete link=topic=4791.msg8843#msg8843 date=1196267428] Secondly, if I were the civil servant looking at the map, Westbury would not be the first place I would think of to put the interchange. All the roads around the site are already congested and putting the facility there would only make matters worse. My gut instict would probably be to put it to the south of Warminster where the railway line crosses the A36 at the bottom end of the bypass. It would have both the A36 and the railway line immediately adjacent, and with a minor additional railway line at Westbury all 4 directions of travel would be avaliable.[/quote] Point noted , but I am still doubtful that the civil servant would choose Warminster over Westbury. We will have to agree to disagree on that one. [quote author=Pete link=topic=4791.msg8843#msg8843 date=1196267428] Thirdly, I never said never. I just don't think it's likely that this facility will see the light of day within the next 2 or 3 decades. I hope I'm wrong though.[/quote] Fair comment. It will be interesting to see how things pan out. link to index of articles |
|||
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 | |||
|
|||
Further Information:
Home
Current Summary
Daily update
User forum
Consultation
Service now
Service future
Future Analysis
Recent Statistics
Recent letters
Letter to DfT
Save the train
Presentation
Support us
Other Maps
Station facilities
Station approach
Pictures
Trains diverted
History
About Melksham
Site Map
About this site