| Archived Save the Train forum articles - 2005 to 2010. See below
Stroud Valley Redoubling "Being Considered" - 600/1796 Written by Lee on Wednesday, 1st November 2006 Network Rail says the scheme is currently in the first stage of the GRIP (the eight-stage Guide to Railway Investment Projects) and a feasibility study is being carried out. If the results are positive , work could start as early as 2008/09. (link below.) http://www.christianwolmar.co.uk/articles/rail/551.shtml Before we get too excited , Wolmar also raises some other points including : "There are, of course, a whole host of difficulties ahead. No costing is available so far and the work may prove to be more difficult than expected. When the track was singled, it was moved to the middle because of concerns about weak embankments, and both moving the track and shoring up the embankments will add to the costs. When Chiltern and Railtrack redoubled just nine miles of plain line track between Bicester and Aynho junctions three years ago, the bill was a staggering Re: Stroud Valley Redoubling "Being Considered" - 600/1802 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Wednesday, 1st November 2006 I was also hearing comment just the other day from someone who had been speaking with GOSW, and alledged that they are actively discouraging such track programs, on the grounds that extra track would mean that people would campaign harder for extra trains which they would have to fund. The particular comment related to loops on Salisbury - Exetr. Please tell me that I deramed the conversation, someone .... Re: Stroud Valley Redoubling "Being Considered" - 600/1965 Written by Lee on Friday, 17th November 2006 Upcoming PWQ's Mr David Drew (Stroud): To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with First Great Western on the time tabling of services on the Cheltenham-Swindon-Paddington line. Mr David Drew (Stroud): To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to discuss the re-doubling of the line between Kemble and Swindon with (a) Network Rail, (b) First Great Western and (c) Gloucestershire County Council. Re: Stroud Valley Redoubling "Being Considered" - 600/2021 Written by Lee on Wednesday, 22nd November 2006 Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with First Great Western on the time tabling of services on the Cheltenham-Swindon-Paddington line. Mr. Tom Harris: I have had no discussions with First Great Western on the timetabling of services on the Cheltenham-Swindon-Paddington line. Detailed timetabling of services is a matter is for the First Great Western. Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to discuss the re-doubling of the line between Kemble and Swindon with (a) Network Rail, (b) First Great Western and (c) Gloucestershire county council. Mr. Tom Harris: I have no immediate plans to meet Network Rail, or other stakeholders, over plans to re-double the railway line between Swindon and Kemble. This is a matter for Network Rail to pursue. The company has recently confirmed a proposal to improve this line and is currently consulting with the railway industry on the matter. Re: Stroud Valley Redoubling "Being Considered" - 600/7932 Written by Lee on Monday, 1st October 2007 Here is the latest on this (link below.) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/7021498.stm Quote from Andrew Griffiths : "At the moment, it's rather like traffic lights, you have to wait for one lot to go before the lights change to let the other lot go," Re: Stroud Valley Redoubling "Being Considered" - 600/9526 Written by Lee on Friday, 18th January 2008 Following a meeting of its investment board, Network Rail has decided not to invest in the plans until more research is done (link below.) http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=231771&command=displayContent&sourceNode=231774&contentPK=19589068&folderPk=108867&pNodeId=231888 The announcement has sparked fears that the project will be scrapped altogether. Cotswolds MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said the decision was a "betrayal". "Network Rail has been stringing commuters along for months believing they might see an improvement to their service through the dualling of the track," he said. "Their hopes have now been dashed." First Great Western spokesman Chris Mitchell said: "We're still investigating how to bring the project into fruition. It hasn't been shelved, we just haven't ironed out some of the stumbling blocks." Prospective Conservative parliamentary candidate for Cheltenham Mark Coote said he was disappointed. "We're crying out for rail infrastructure in this part of the country. It's dire," he said. "We could now be looking at a decade of complete inaction for a piece of the line which would make a huge difference to reliability and quality of travel." A Network Rail spokesman said the costs of the scheme were under review. Re: Stroud Valley Redoubling "Being Considered" - 600/9527 Written by Industry Insider on Friday, 18th January 2008 Will we hear a similar story to the similar situation on the Cotswold Line between Worcester and Oxford? An announcement on full/partial re-doubling on the line is expected in February... ??? Re: Stroud Valley Redoubling "Being Considered" - 600/9533 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Saturday, 19th January 2008 [quote author=Lee link=topic=600.msg9526#msg9526 date=1200678756] Following a meeting of its investment board, Network Rail has decided not to invest in the plans until more research is done .... [/quote] The road to improvements is paved with false hopes ... which doesn't mean that it won't get done eventually. The number of setbacks that we've had in the TransWilts campaign has to be seen to be believed, and at least one of them are said to be at the hands of Network Rail - but still we plug on and remain hopeful. Re: Stroud Valley Redoubling "Being Considered" - 600/9534 Written by Lee on Saturday, 19th January 2008 I hope Graham wont mind if I strike a slightly less optimistic note. From what we know of the reasons behind Network Rail's decision to put the scheme on hold, they seem to tally with Christian Wolmar's prediction of October 2006 : [quote author=Lee link=topic=600.msg1796#msg1796 date=1162376756] Network Rail says the scheme is currently in the first stage of the GRIP (the eight-stage Guide to Railway Investment Projects) and a feasibility study is being carried out. If the results are positive , work could start as early as 2008/09. (link below.) http://www.christianwolmar.co.uk/articles/rail/551.shtml Before we get too excited , Wolmar also raises some other points including : "There are, of course, a whole host of difficulties ahead. No costing is available so far and the work may prove to be more difficult than expected. When the track was singled, it was moved to the middle because of concerns about weak embankments, and both moving the track and shoring up the embankments will add to the costs. When Chiltern and Railtrack redoubled just nine miles of plain line track between Bicester and Aynho junctions three years ago, the bill was a staggering Re: Stroud Valley Redoubling "Being Considered" - 600/12028 Written by Lee on Wednesday, 30th April 2008 Stroud's MP David Drew is calling on the Government to make the upgrading of the line from Kemble to Swindon a priority. He says the nine-mile stretch needs to become a double-track line to boost the frequency of trains between Gloucestershire and London (link below.) http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=231771&command=displayContent&sourceNode=231774&contentPK=20504234&folderPk=108867&pNodeId=231888 Now he is poised to ask a Parliamentary Question asking the Government to make the upgrade a priority. "I have been lobbying this for 10 years," he said. He is concerned that upgrading the North Cotswold Line to double track could be made a priority before the Kemble-Swindon stretch. He is calling on the ORR to back his campaign and has submitted a parliamentary question asking why the North Cotswold line could be due for an earlier upgrade. [quote="David Drew"]"The North Cotswolds line is longer line to be redoubled and is less well used than the Kemble-Swindon stretch,"[/quote] A spokesman for Network Rail said it was keen to upgrade the line, and would seek additional funding. Re: Stroud Valley Redoubling "Being Considered" - 600/12511 Written by Lee on Friday, 6th June 2008 The Stroud Valley scheme is among those ruled out by the ORR (link below.) http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2008/06/network_rail_told_to_make_cuts.html#more Re: Stroud Valley Redoubling "Being Considered" - 600/12624 Written by Lee on Tuesday, 1st July 2008 Transport minister Tom Harris is backing the Stroud Valley re-doubling plans (link below.) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/7482746.stm [quote="Tom Harris"]"I will commit my own officials to working with the industry to make the case very strongly to the ORR that the re-doubling of this lane (article probably meant to say "line") should in fact go ahead."[/quote] Re: Stroud Valley Redoubling "Being Considered" - 600/12694 Written by Lee on Thursday, 14th August 2008 The latest from the First Great Western Coffee Shop Forum (link below.) http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=3266.msg25248#msg25248 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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