... and the one part of the route where they could genuinely have provided a service is about to have a meaningful service reinstated.

... But when expalined it was the same reason Graham quoted it gave people a choice.

Not sure it's quite the same with public transport hopefully we've got away from the rival 08:30 buses on the same route, but I do agree that a near hourly service is going to attract more passengers than a two hourly one whoever runs the trains.

PH0004798/3 JOHN VALENTINE PICKFORD T/A FARESAVER, THE COACH YARD, VINCIENTS ROAD, BUMPERS FARM CHIPPENHAM SN14 6QA. Operating between CHIPPENHAM, BUS STATION and FROME, SAINSBURYS given service number X34 effective from 02-Jan-2014. To amend Timetable.

It has also not escaped our notice that, while we strive to bring our product to market, the market itself continues to grow. The travelling public^s demand for rail is unstoppable. Indeed the investment being made by Network Rail to meet that demand ^ including the electrification of much of our intended route ^ can only be good for the rail industry.

Surely now that Melksham has a decent service, this proposal will come to nothing?

I doubt it would make a profit anyway!

The issue about rolling stock is interesting, I thought they were looking at ordering some trains from CSRE which would have given the chinese manufacturer a chance to prove that they could build good reliable trains  ...

A joining of the firms - which have so far competed against each other to sell trains abroad - will help solidify China's campaign to sell its high-speed technology abroad.

By 1848 the line heading
south that Go-op services will use was open to Westbury as part of the Wilts
Somerset & Weymouth railway, which remains open and increasingly busy

Westinghouse's successors Siemens (for signalling) continue on the
same site, with Knorr-Bremse (for brakes) nearby in Chippenham.

It is with great sadness we must report the death of GO-OP founder member Tim Pearce. Tim died peacefully in St Austell after a long and courageous fight against cancer. He is survived by his wife Maggie and daughter Eleanor.

As we began 2015, our task seemed clear: Network Rail were able and willing to put their support behind our proposals, as long as we could demonstrate that the capacity existed on the network. With that support, we could at least prove our standing in one crucial respect.

As our members know, the process did not meet our expectations. A combination of industrial action, policy changes and personnel changes imposed delays and compromised the quality of the feedback we received. Frustratingly, these very delays meant that new timetables were coming through which we had to adapt our thinking to.

Finally, in September, we concluded that we had no realistic way of securing Network Rail support within a reasonable timeframe. While we have continued to consult with them, and take account of their view of capacity, we decided to proceed with an application to the ORR directly based on the evidence we have that our timetable does not cause disruption to any other scheduled services and adds value to the rail network.

In support of that, we launched a competition for a fresh exercise in demand forecasting, and we were most impressed with the submission from the Railway Consultancy. By the end of the year, they had begun work on a complete update of our revenue projections using the most recent ticket sales data and meeting the standards set by the ORR. This has now begun to deliver some very interesting results, and has prompted a radical reworking of the intended route: instead of Westbury – Birmingham Moor Street, we have now changed origin and terminus stations so that it runs Taunton – Nuneaton. This longer route requires four rather than three diagrams, and so rolling stock – already an issue that had seemed irresolvable throughout the early part of the year – now becomes critical.

Fortunately, in December a highly significant announcement was made regarding the Northern franchise. Its award would lead to a major investment in new diesel rolling stock – the first such order for many years. These units would, moreover, be identical in specification to our requirements: 100mph capable, and in 2 or 3 car formations. We could now ride on the coattails of this order, our modest requirements made much more cost effective by the huge scale of the Northern franchise.

This still left an outstanding problem. Delivery of these new units would not take place until 2019. How could we begin a new operation before then? We have developed a plan for a transitional service, operating between Taunton and Swindon only, using the 'D-train' being manufactured (or remanufactured, as they are based on old London Underground trains) by Vivarail. While these are relatively slow vehicles, this section of the route is suitable for their use and they will enable us to build up traffic on the western section (where the need for service enhancement is most pressing) prior to the introduction of a full service from 2019.

As we approached the end of the year, it became clear that these opportunities would come to nothing if we did not put our finances on to a stronger footing. We consulted with our members: should we acknowledge that the project had run its course, and write off the investment we had made? Or should we make every effort to take our proposal to the ORR and at least give it the chance of success? We were humbled by the solidarity and determination displayed by our members, and we gratefully accepted the further investment that would enable us to turn these developments into a comprehensive business case. We will overcome the systemic inertia and the practical challenges to make a serious and detailed case for a major enhancement to the rail network that is financed, owned and controlled by the people who use it.

I've been very sceptical of them for a while now, and the proposed use of D-Stock has completely blown their credibility now in my eyes.  60mph on the main lines, even as far east as Swindon?  Shurely not...

Hmm.

D-stock on the 125mph Taunton-Westbury? And how do they fet to Nuneaton? If via the obvious Leamington-Coventry-Nuneaton corridor, no chance until Kenilworth is open *and* the part-doubling is conplete. Even then, current XC/NR thinking is that XC won't be able to route their second service that way & will still need to go via Bordesley Junction.

I s'pose they could go that way too? But the Didcot/Oxford line is full until electrification speeds the current services up & releases a couple more

I doubt they'll get started with D-stock, even to Swindon. They'll be waiting for the build off the back of the Northern order I reckon

Well I would rather sit stationary in a loop for 10 mins to let a fast train pass ....

Thursday, 30 June 2016
Going places: co-operative transport solutions



Our events for Co-ops Fortnight will conclude tomorrow with 'Going Place' in Taunton. We will have two presentations - one from Alex Lawrie on GO-OP, the new co-operative rail operator proposing a new route form Taunton to Nuneaton (an ambitious plan, that still requires the consent of the Office of Rail and Road); and one from Mark Hodgson of Co-Cars who will bring their hi-tech car club operation to Taunton soon.

These two projects show how grassroots activism in communities can meet real needs and give rise to fast growing, technologically sophisticated social enterprises. What's more, those enterprises can remain firmly connected to the communities that gave rise to them, using membership participation to continually improve and adapt to the changing world.
Come along to 10 East Reach between 1pm and 3pm to find out more - and please stick around for the Annual General Meeting of SCS CIC at 4.30pm.

Any sugns of the latter making any progress also?

Six and half years since this topic started.

In that time porcine aviation could have been achieved.

Passing loop to be built? Ouch, that's got to be an expensive hurdle.

Passing loop to be built? Ouch, that's got to be an expensive hurdle.

Somewhere between £7.8 and £35 million, according to this - Melksham's platform might possibly be a bit too short for the Penryn solution; maybe the Highley solution would work?

I also wonder where the financial return is going to come, [capacity improvements] would have to shared with other TOCs.

As an aside, should a passing loop go in at Melksham, would there still be space there to provide passive provision for a possible second platform in some distant future?

Community owned rail operator submits proposals for new services to connect market towns to the rail network

Rail travel could get a boost in Somerset and Wiltshire as a new train operator proposes a significant addition to the rail timetables from summer 2020. Unusually, the operator is a co-operative: a not- for-profit business owned by those who travel on its trains and work for it. GO-OP Co-operative Limited is keen to hear from potential new members – which could be both prospective travellers on the new service, and those seeking employment.

[continues]

TRAIN passengers could speed between Swindon and Oxford in under an hour, if a new railway co-operative has its way.

Go-Op, a company founded a decade ago by frustrated rail passengers from Somerset, hopes to run regular services between Somerset and Nuneaton.

The firm hopes to launch the project next summer, with the service up and running by 2031. It needs to raise £3.5m over the next three to six months.

Alex Lawrie, operations director and a founder member of the co-operative, said: “The technical difficulties are hard to overstate. The UK railways are for good reason carefully regulated and we must prove in great detail that our ideas stack up.

[snip]

Go-op will run a consultation event in Taunton, Somerset, tonight. Other events to show off the plans to the public will be held in Frome on April 4 and Westbury on June 6.

GO-OP has been working on its plans for several years, with a group of frustrated rail travellers from the south west first meeting as a co-operative in 2009, ten years ago. Alex Lawrie, the Operations Director and a founder member, said, “The technical difficulties are hard to overstate. The UK railways are – for good reason – carefully regulated and we must prove in great detail that our ideas stack up.”

The proposal is for two trains made up of newly refurbished class 769 units to work a complex series of trips between Oxfordshire and Somerset. Even though there are only two, a carefully designed timetable will complement the existing services (many provided by GWR) and provide useful connections so as to introduce a large number of useful journeys than you might imagine.

“A particular goal was to give some of the market towns of Somerset and Wiltshire a regular, functional service where at present the low frequency makes it hard to give up the car”, said Alex Lawrie. “In addition there are two long distance services a day that go all the way to Nuneaton, where connections to the north of England are available.”

The timetable (which will be put forward in terms of the overall number of services, rather than committing to specific times at this stage) provides:

• four direct trips each way between Swindon and Oxford, including some in peak hours and two extending through to Nuneaton via Leamington and Coventry.

• five trips each way between Castle Cary and Swindon, including some in peak hours and others that extend the day with early and late departures. That will make a total of 25 departures a day from Melksham, close to an hourly service. Frome too would see a big jump in service levels, close to hourly.

• from Castle Cary, four of our trains continue to Taunton, and two go to Yeovil. Combined with the existing Heart of Wessex services this should provide a more or less two hourly service between Westbury and Yeovil; and the Taunton trips combine with GWR's planned service improvements to provide close to hourly departures in the peaks. Again, we are extending the travelling day with early and late trains.

• the trips to Coventry from Oxford should connect at Banbury to good trains for Solihull and Birmingham.

• the Yeovil services, coupled with some carefully timed interchanges at Castle Cary, should create a viable Taunton - Yeovil option with eight trips a day each way (including some direct services). At present, this journey is rarely considered possible by train. From Taunton, there are connections all over the south west.

• Swindon will be connected to Taunton and Yeovil, with up to eight viable journeys a day (three being direct, others requiring one or two changes).

“As we are a co-operative, we want to engage with the potential users of the service early – and we’d also like to hear from people who’d like to try out with the team now, with view to maybe becoming employee members with us later”, said Alex Lawrie. “We are holding our first public meeting in Taunton on March 21st, and following up with an event in Frome on April 4th. We’d encourage anyone who’d like to find out more to come to these events, or visit www.go-op.coop for more information. This is just the start – we need to start planning bus services to bring people to the stations, and consider how we can further develop and enhance the service. Anyone in the area we serve can be part of the conversation.”

I hope I’m wrong but it seems the announcement is nothing but the usual vague and probably unworkable plan and totally unrealistic timescale for implementation given the many hoops they’ll have to jump through before a train can turn a wheel.

I hope I’m wrong but it seems the announcement is nothing but the usual vague and probably unworkable plan and totally unrealistic timescale for implementation given the many hoops they’ll have to jump through before a train can turn a wheel.

Spare bedroom fantasist takes in naive and gullible local journos...

Paul

Possibly harsh, but how many massive and random route variations have there been since first proposed?  Nuneaton, Moor St, Taunton, Yeovil, Weymouth? 

Seems like sticking pins in a map...

Paul

TRAIN passengers could speed between Swindon and Oxford in under an hour, if a new railway co-operative has its way.

Go-Op, a company founded a decade ago by frustrated rail passengers from Somerset, hopes to run regular services between Somerset and Nuneaton.

The firm hopes to launch the project next summer, with the service up and running by 2031. It needs to raise £3.5m over the next three to six months.

Alex Lawrie, operations director and a founder member of the co-operative, said: “The technical difficulties are hard to overstate. The UK railways are for good reason carefully regulated and we must prove in great detail that our ideas stack up.

Continues with familiar text (from press release  )

Why do they hate Oxford so much? Next, they will be proposing dialling the 420. No one wants Swindon to be any closer - in travel times, or any other respect. No one wants that.

I wish them all the best and hope the schedules are workable for commuters.
I also hope they'll consider a late train in both directions too.

As ever, so much interesting to see where comments lead people ...

Err ... there's an awful lot of people on the Swindon to Oxford journey already - by car, bus, and train changing at Didcot.  I wonder where the poster's evidence is that none of these would like a faster travel time.

Although I can guess at the reasons why they have omitted a stop at Didcot on their suggested route they can't expect to garner support from the local councils in Oxfordshire as a result, as it won't assist in their objective in getting Didcot-Oxford(-Bicester) up to a 4 per hour frequency.

With such a limited service they wouldn’t do much to help any 4tph service aspirations even if they did stop at Didcot.  Best to avoid it if you ask me as I’m sure it would make a higher hurdle to jump if they tried to argue that it wouldn’t be primarily abstractive.

That’s before the try and shoe-horn in a path at Didcot station!

These meetings, according to their website, all have different main topics. Only tonight's deals with the train service; April 4th appears to be concerning being an entrepreneur (1530-1700) and June 6 appears to be a Stakeholder update and AGM

A NEW community rail co-operative is to stage a public meeting in Frome next Thursday (April 4) for commuters to find out more about its proposed services.

[snip]

Alex Lawrie, Go-Op’s managing director, will brief commuters at the Cheese & Grain in Frome from 5-6.30pm. There will be another meeting at Bridge House, Trowbridge, on June 6, from 11am.

I wonder how many commuters will be (back) in Frome for a 5 p.m. meeting ...

Keep me updated as I cannot get to the meetings due to work commitments

Ditto June 6th...a weekday meeting at 11am?....retirees only?!!

Unfortunately the Wiltshire Times has given the venue for the 6th June meeting as Bridge House, Trowbridge.

It should be Bridge House, Westbury.

Thursday 6th June at Bridge House, Westbury BA13 4HR
1100 Stakeholder briefing (Q&A on our plans for all interested parties)
1400 AGM (for all members - new / prospective members welcome)

Co-operative proposes Wessex open access train service

UK: Ambitious plans to launch a network of open access regional passenger services in western England are being developed by independent not-for-profit co-operative society GO-OP Co-operative Ltd, which hopes to start operations in summer 2020.

GO-OP is proposing to offer at least three direct trains each way per day between Swindon and Oxford, including some in peak hours. Two would continue via Leamington and Coventry to Nuneaton, offering an interchange with services to northern England. There would be five trips each way between Swindon and Castle Cary. From Castle Cary, four trains would run to Taunton and two to Yeovil.

According to GO-OP founder member and Operations Director Alex Lawrie, ‘a particular goal is to give some of the market towns of Somerset and Wiltshire a regular, functional service where at present the low frequency makes it hard to give up the car’,.

[snip]

Yup, it's been an ambitious ambition, but nothing more, for getting on for ten years now.

An hourly service running Monday to Saturday will see extra carriages connecting passengers between Nuneaton and Coventry, and for the first time, onward to Leamington Spa via Kenilworth.

Currently, the service only runs between Coventry and Nuneaton, and has just one carriage.

Though one train an hour will run, the extra carriages will massively improve capacity and passenger comfort.

An hourly service running Monday to Saturday will see extra carriages connecting passengers between Nuneaton and Coventry, and for the first time, onward to Leamington Spa via Kenilworth.