The Bedwyn Trains Passenger Group are urging local rail users to respond quickly to the latest round of consultation on the Bedwyn to Paddington line.
This consultation is on the Department for Transport’s proposals for the next franchise period for the Great Western region contract – the five year period from September 2015.
The headline is that the consultation is based on the fact that there is now said to be no money for electrification of the line west of Newbury – even though the economic case for electrification to Bedwyn was confirmed in an earlier report and despite the Passenger Group’s strenuous campaigning with the support of MPs Richard Benyon and Claire Perry.
So the consultation document is assuming there will only be a diesel service west of Newbury.
Steve Smith of the Passenger Group says that at a recent meeting with the Department, First Great Western, Network Rail and representatives of the two MPs, it was made clear that diesel shuttles from Bedwyn to Newbury were not an acceptable option.
Although no promises were made, it seems the most likely outcome is:
1) An hourly diesel service between Paddington and Westbury (or Exeter) calling at Reading, Newbury, Kintbury, Hungerford, Bedwyn and Pewsey with peak services also calling at Thatcham and Theale.
2) Some extra services between Bedwyn and Newbury to bolster things up to give us the half hourly peak service.
This consultation closes on Thursday (June 26) – gwconsultation@dft.gsi.gov.uk
The main issue that needs some firm responses is point 11 on page 35.
This asks whether the best option post electrification to Newbury (expected in 2016) would be “a diesel service from Bedwyn, Hungerford and Kintbury to Newbury connecting into a fast service to London Paddington, or a diesel stopping service from Bedwyn to Reading connecting to a fast service from Reading to London Paddington, or other options?”
The suggested options would, of course, mean there would no longer be any through services from Bedwyn to Paddington – with all services requiring changes at either Newbury or Reading. This would be a considerable downgrading of rail services in an area not that well served by railways at the present.
The full Department for Transport franchise proposal document can be read here.
And the Bedwyn Trains Passenger Group’s very helpful response is here.
Transition Marlborough have also responded to the consultation document – see below. They urge anyone responding to the Department for Transport consultaiton email address to copy their response to claire.perry.mp@parliament.uk
And please include your postcode so she knows you are a constituent.
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The Department for Transport is seeking our views on the future of the Great Western train service, between Bedwyn and London Paddington, following electrification to Newbury by 2016: Question 11. After the electrification to Newbury, expected in 2016 would passengers’ needs be best served by a diesel service from Bedwyn, Hungerford and Kintbury to Newbury connecting into a fast service to London Paddington, or a diesel stopping service from Bedwyn to Reading connecting to a fast service from Reading to London Paddington, or other options? The former would give faster journey times to London but add a change at Newbury for passengers to Reading. Here is our response, which was sent to the Department for Transport on 19th June: Changing trains at either Newbury (where there are no facilities for the disabled) or Reading, after 2016 will not only be a reduction in service, but will also be completely untenable for rail passengers from Marlborough: Since Marlborough does not have its own railway station, commuters who need to use the railway must travel to stations at Bedwyn (15 miles return) Hungerford (22 miles return) Pewsey (14 miles return) or Swindon (28 miles return) often on a daily basis. These journeys are made almost wholly by car as the bus services are unreliable and the Bedwyn bus does not arrive in time for trains that depart before 0841. Furthermore, where a working family has only one car, the return journey to the station must be made twice a day, leading to a doubling of the mileage. Bedwyn station is the most popular choice for Marlborough’s residents, because it is the closest station, which has a regular train service throughout the day and has free parking. At least 60% of the passenger journeys that are currently made out of Bedwyn station (estimated to be 138, 917 per year) originate outside the village of Great Bedwyn (which has a population of just 1, 347). The journey from Marlborough town centre to Bedwyn station involves turning off the A4 after 4.1 miles, then following un-marked, un-lit, winding country lanes for a further 3.4 miles. This can take about 20 minutes with a further 5 to 10 minutes needed to locate a parking space. More than 50% of the early morning commuters that arrive at Bedwyn station travel to London Paddington. Changing trains at either Newbury or Reading could add another 30 minutes to the journey, thus increasing the total journey time from Marlborough to London Paddington to more than 2 hours. This would lead to increased car journeys to Newbury or Reading stations, the entire journey being made by car, or families being forced to move away from Marlborough in order to be closer to a railway station that serves their work place. In 2012, hundreds of local residents, who are Bedwyn station users wrote to Claire Perry M.P. in support of extending electrification beyond Newbury, in order to preserve the direct services to London Paddington. This included the Mayor of Marlborough Town Council, Edwina Fogg, who wrote: “This council recognizes electrification to Bedwyn as vital in the promotion of our town as a commuter, tourist, business and trading centre and as an important way of reducing road congestion and carbon emissions”. In August 2012, Councillor Richard Gamble, Portfolio Holder for Public Transport in Wiltshire Council wrote: “Maintaining direct services to London is essential for communities in Wiltshire and underpins the growth of local businesses and the economic health of the area”. Therefore, any down-grading of the Bedwyn to London Paddington train service which increases the journey time from Marlborough will have a detrimental impact on the economic viability of our town. |
