| Archived Save the Train forum articles - 2005 to 2010. See below
Government Using Fare Rises To Force Passengers Off? - 963/2689 Written by Lee on Tuesday, 2nd January 2007 [quote author=Lee link=topic=297.msg813#msg813 date=1152451789]One of the reasons that the Campaign Against New Beeching Report (CANBER) motto is "THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW" , is because , when a classic closure strategy is spotted , we believe that it needs to be dealt a decisive blow before it can progress. What you witnessing in Bristol is the beginning of the end of the suburban rail service. Firstly , passengers will be forced of the trains by lack of seats. Secondly , as the construction of the Showcase Bus Routes reaches completion at the same time as the Greater Western Franchise profile moves from subsidy to premium , the DfT & FGW are likely to jack up the fares to get rid of the rest. This will lead to terminal usage decline which will in turn "justify" closure proposals. Conspiracy theory? Look around you and tell me that this process hasnt already begun.[/quote] Chris Grayling has accused ministers of pressurising rail firms to push up prices and force people to stop using the trains (links below.) http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/01/government_driving_up_rail_far_1.html#more http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/01/runaway_train_fares_could_driv.html#more Further Grayling quote : "Meanwhile, growing interference from the Department for Transport (DfT) in the details of timetables is leaving the companies with less flexibility over the services they offer." Above-inflation price rises for rail tickets have come under attack from rail groups and opposition politicians. Quote : "There are gathering signs that the state of the railways, a relative political backwater since the introduction of Network Rail, is beginning to become a hot issue once again as pressure groups demand greater investment in the coming 30-year plan for the railways." Quote from the DfT : "(we) want the railways to grow." Re: Government Using Fare Rises To Force Passengers Off? - 963/2701 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Wednesday, 3rd January 2007 Is th ultimate example of forcing people off the trains by methods including price increases to be found at Melksham? A month ago, I could travel to London for the day for under 50 pounds, travelling on the 09:12 train. Now, the rail option for the same journey would cost me over 100 pounds on the 07:17. (I can't usually plan and book well ahead, nor can I easily get to an automatic ticket machine to collect tickets booked up to 6 p.m. the day ahead) Re: Government Using Fare Rises To Force Passengers Off? - 963/2712 Written by Lee on Wednesday, 3rd January 2007 Here are some more links on this. http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/01/rail_fare_increases_draw_prote.html#more http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/01/planes_trains_and_the_road_to.html#more http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/01/brits_pay_three_times_more_tha.html#more Re: Government Using Fare Rises To Force Passengers Off? - 963/2745 Written by Lee on Friday, 5th January 2007 Here is a Christian Wolmar article on this subject (link below.) http://www.christianwolmar.co.uk/articles/standard/jan2,07.shtml 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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