JACOBS CONSULTANY
SEWTA RAIL STRATEGY
Sewta (The South East Wales Transport Alliance), is a consortium established on 1 April 2003 by the 10 local authorities in South East Wales to carry out their functions in respect of public transport and some other transport matters. Sewta works in close liaison with partners representing public transport operators and users.
Prioritised Investment Programme,
March 2007
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This
documents is available for download in PDF format.
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GETTING TO THE STATION
Summary of Research Conducted in the
East of England
To download the above GETTING TO THE STATION Report please click "here"
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documents is available for download in PDF format.
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The all passenger journeys from Severn Tunnel Junction during the year 05 - 06 amounting to approx passenger journeys 54,000 in a year
You must also realise 54,000 passenger journeys from STJ + the return passenger journeys back to STJ = more than 100,000 travellers used the station during this period
Press Briefing notes 15 November 2006
Further information
The following primarily concerns the Severn Tunnel Junction to Bristol journey
BackgroundCommuters from Severn Tunnel Junction (South East Wales) to Bristol and Bath are facing a bleak future if the planned cut in the First Great Western service goes ahead on 11 December.
A small team are currently fighting the planned cut in service.The consultative process
A. The initial consultation
On 2nd June 2005, the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) initiated a period of consultation on its proposals for the new Greater Western franchise, following the issue the previous day to the three pre-qualified bidders of the Invitation to Tender (ITT). The period of consultation closed on 2nd August 2005.
As a consequence of the Railways Act 2005 the SRA is being closed down. As part of the closure process, its Franchise Specification was transferred to the Department for Transport (DfT) on 26 June 2005 and it became the DfTs responsibility to deal with the responses to the consultation.
Method of Consultation
On 2nd June 2005 the SRA placed the Greater Western Franchise Stakeholder Consultation document on its website. To ensure public awareness a press release was issued, and letters were sent to an extensive list of contacts including:
· All members of Parliament with one or more stations in their constituencies served by the new franchise (Comment : so it seems reasonable to assume that although the Monmouth and Forest of Dean constituencies are affected by the cuts, their MPs were not informed).
· County and unitary authority councils (Comment: see 'What do the Department for Transport, Monmouthshire County Council and First Great Western say about the consultative process and the new timetable?' below).
· Welsh Assembly Government
· Welsh Development Agency
· Rail Passengers' Committees (Western, Wales, Southern), etcConsultees were requested to submit responses by 2nd August 2005.
As a result 253 responses were received. The key themes that emerged that are specific to our situation are listed below:
· Regarding the new cross-Bristol service pattern. A regular pattern of services Cardiff to Weymouth/Southampton, and Worcester to Taunton, are proposed to replace radial services which began and ended their journey at Bristol. No adverse comments have been received from passengers or those speaking for them.
· Building on changes to be implemented in December 2005, whereby Arriva trains\Wales will cease to provide services between Cardiff., Bristol and Penzance, and taking advantage of the combination of franchises, the quantum of services on the route will be reduced, but with a more regular service pattern. No adverse comments on this principle have been received.
B. The draft First Great Western December 2006 timetable consultation
The consultation began on 13 February 2006.
It is estimated that First Great Western received over 9,000 responses.
The Severn Tunnel Junction case From our local station alone over 180 travellers daily take this route to Bristol: of these at least 150 are commuters.Commuters currently travel to Severn Tunnel Junction from the local towns and villages of Chepstow, Caldicot, Magor, Portskewett and Rogiet. Also from Usk, Monmouth, Raglan, the eastern suburbs of Newport, Lydney, the lower Wye Valley and all the other villages thereabouts.
The cut will also affect west bound commuters to Newport, Cardiff and beyond.
The reduction means that the six trains to Bristol Temple Meads that currently run before 9.00am, will be cut to just TWO! All the cuts are at the hands of First Great Western.
The Virgin train at 7.27am will be the first train out each morning. This is currently the one good and reliable service we have. Sadly, however, we have learnt that Virgin Trains may loose the franchise from June next year: this too is a concern!
Our busiest train, the 7.54am, is being cut leaving approximately 60 regular commuters to re-plan their lives.
Those who currently catch trains at 5.12am (about 15 persons: one who regularly travels on to London, the rest mainly shift workers on limited incomes); 6.24am and 6.54am will also be forced to re-consider whether or not they can continue to work in their present jobs.
With a 50% reduction in the evening return journeys many have additional concerns.
These include whether or not they will still be able to collect infants from nursery before 6.00pmThe 5.20pm from Temple Meads to Cardiff is already overcrowded and scuffles have been witnessed as commuters, desperate to get home, jostle to ensure they can board the train. Occasionally they are unlucky. In future they will have to wait a further hour! This is the worst of the trains, but earlier services can be pretty bad particularly if only one carriage is provided!
There is one suitable bus each morning but it too, we understand, already has people standing from Chepstow. In addition the bus takes over twice the time to get to central Bristol from the nearest bus stop to Severn Tunnel Junction.
(From 11 December there is a danger that Chepstow commuters won't be able to board as rail passengers switch to the bus. This is particularly likely to happen with ladies who work part-time and, from 11 December, will have no suitable return train that will ensure they can be home in time to collect their children from junior school).
Jobs and family life are all being put at risk. Daily we listen to fellow commuters sick with worry!
And why don't commuters want to take cars?
Beside the fact that not everyone has a car or can drive, if you are not familiar with
Bristol we can assure you that it is probably the most road traffic grid locked city in the country. Indeed several commuters have moved from Bristol to S.E. Wales because the journey time on the train is shorter than driving from the outlying suburbs of Bristol, or nearby towns and villages on the English side of the Severn.Of course we who commute from Wales prefer to use the train. From Severn Tunnel Junction there is but a 30 minute journey, and at a cost of £6.40 (standard day return). Compare this with the daily cost of taking a car at perhaps £4.00 in petrol, £4.00 in depreciation and service, £7.00 for car parking charges.... and the toll for the Severn Bridge is about to rise to over £5.00!
As if that wasn't enough. We are threatened by 'Green' taxes, additional road tolls, and in 2008 Bristol City Council intend to introduce congestion charging.
How was the Action Group was formedOn 25 October over 150 commuters crowded into the council chambers of Caldicot Town Council to hear Andrew Griffiths, Regional Manager of First Great Western, give a presentation to the Town Council.
What the commuters weren't prepared for was the fact that the Town Council had invited Andrew to address their regular council meeting, and that the Mayor would only permit ten public questions.
Sadly few Councillors expected such a sizeable public turn-out, and, most were totally oblivious to the plight of their many constituents. As a result most commuters went home both angry and frustrated.
After the meeting one of team, David Flint, asked Andrew Griffiths what we would need to do to get the planned cuts reversed. David was told to set up a political lobby group. That night our work began; by the weekend we had a website up and running (now the most visited campaign site on the Yahoo search engine!), speakers booked for a public meeting, and press and public lobby underway.
What do the Department for Transport, Monmouthshire County Council and First Great Western say about the consultative process and the new timetable?Tom Harris, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for
Transport wrote to Michael German, leader of the Liberal Democrats in the National
Assembly of Wales on 23 October this year saying 'There are numerous competing calls on
Government funding...' 'The Department consulted stakeholders on the proposals for the specification for the new Greater Western franchise during summer 2005. First
Great Western (FGW) carried out a public consultation this February and March and received a very large number of responses. Neither consultation identified the proposed train service provision at Severn Tunnel Junction as a key issue for further consultation.'Discussions with Robert Greenland, Cabinet member with responsibility for
Transport matters on Monmouthshire County Council told our action team that the authority have no record of the DfT consultative process. Furthermore he confirmed that the board of the S. E. Wales Transport Alliance (covering the ten local authorities of South East Wales), of which he is a member, replied to the consultation document from First Great Western saying specifically that they didn't want any cuts in rail service. FGW never replied.Recently (2.11.2006) the Regional Manager for FGW, Andrew Griffiths, wrote to The Clerk to Magor with Undy Community Council admitting mistakes by saying: 'We recognise that the needs of commuters to Bristol were overlooked in this, and so we are working with the Department of Transport and Network Rail to put this right.'
What do Passenger Focus (the Passenger watchdog) say about the cuts?
In their briefing document reporting on the draft Greater Western December 2006 timetable and circulated on 13 February, they said:
· The draft Greater Western franchise timetable fails to provide adequate peak-hour capacity in both Bristol/Bath and Exeter travel-to-work areas.
· Passenger Focus is concerned that passenger need appears to have been subsumed to meet operational constraints, partly dictated by the new franchise specification. Although it may be legitimate for DfT or FGW to seek third party funding for new services in the future, it is not acceptable that a change in franchise specification should result in an inability to meet existing demand.
· The reduction in capacity now planned for this route ....is likely to exacerbate the overcrowding issues associated with peak travel in the greater Bristol travel-to-work area....
In it's response the Severnside Community Rail Partnership identified several issues including:
· The overcrowding in greater Bristol is now far worse that anything found on FGW Link services into London. The partnership sought assurances that there would be NO reduction in the passenger seat capacity allocated to the Bristol area local services, and that all Cardiff - Portsmouth trains will continue to be formed of three coach sets.
So what are the www.saveseverntunnel.co.uk action team doing?In less than three weeks we have undertaken the following activity:
1. Set up a public meeting
The aim will be to answer the commuting public's questions so they know where they stand, as well as to seek solutions.
This meeting will take place at 7.30pm on Wednesday 22nd November, at the Caldicot Male Voice Choir Hall, Mill Lane, Caldicot (between Caldicot School and Sudbrook Cricket Club, and next to the Leisure Centre).
The meeting will be chaired by Mike German, leader of the Liberal Democrats in the
Welsh Assembly. Representatives of the other three main political parties in the
Assembly will be present, as will representatives of the three local MPs..Main speakers at the meeting are expected to include:
· Robin Shaw, Director of Transport Wales in the Welsh Assembly (representing
Andrew Davies (AM) the Minister for Enterprise, Innovation & Networks);
· Andrew Griffiths, Regional Manager of First Great Western (he hopes to have John Pocket the Welsh Region General Manager and someone from his timetable team accompanying him);
· Simon Pickering the Passenger Link Manager from Passenger Focus; and
· Bob Greenland, Cabinet Member with responsibility for transport on Monmouthshire County Council, and
· A representative from Rail Service Delivery in the Department of Transport in London. To be confirmed.Others who have confirmed their attendance include:
· Representatives of the three local MPs (Newport East, Monmouth and Forest of Dean)
· Representatives of the four main political parties in the Welsh Assembly
· Representatives from Arriva Trains, Virgin Trains and the First Bus GroupIn addition we've invited a delegate from Transport 2000 as well as other leading figures in the rail passenger industry.
2. Canvassing opinions and obtaining support.
We have over 100 persons who have signed up to our website. Leaflets have been handed out to commuters on more that one occasion, and posters / informational bulletins put up in the railway booking area.
3. Ensuring we raise our profile in the media.
Thus far we have met with good results featuring on the BBC News (Wales) website; having two double page spread articles in the Western Daily Press (a Bristol based paper), and articles in both the South Wales Argus (covering Newport and Monmouthshire) and the smaller Free Press of Chepstow. But as it is still early days!
What next?We are keen that the media get involved with this fight for our rail services. The meeting aims to help commuters decide their own transport needs, and how we can overcome the current threat to our rail services.
We will continue to lobby politicians, the Department for Transport, First Great Western and all other bodies and persons who can advance our demand for a sensible timetable that meets the needs of the commuting public. We're not asking for more trains: only for current trains to stop and pick us up, or to return us home as they do now.
David Flint Tel: 01291 423551: 15 November 2006
Letters received from the Department for Transport and First Great Western concerning train service matters in the fanchise agreements of FGW.
Copies of documents are available for download in PDF format. Some documents can be rather large so please allow time for download.
Use the links below to find the appropriate documents:
Problems with the rolling stock and cancellation of services (DfT)
page one
Problems with the rolling stock and cancellation of services (DfT)
page two
Problems with the rolling stock and cancellation of services (FGW)
page one
Problems with the rolling stock and cancellation of services (FGW)
page two
Tudor Thomas 12-10-06
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