230 replies to this topic

[phyllus_jones]

As someone living in London but travelling to Stroud, Gloucester and Cheltenham on a fairly regular basis, I find the single track between Swindon and Kemble a real annoyance. I've written to the rail regulator and to Network Rail, but they each point the finger at the other and nothing gets done. It doesn't even feature in the rail regulator's 2006 report on the state of the rail network. And a letter to the Transport Secretary a few years back wasn't even answered.

I'd be interested in any thoughts people have as to ways of drawing attention to this problem and getting some action on it. The first thing that comes to mind is to collect signatures on a petition, and send it to the Transport Secretary. Any thoughts on this?

[Eddie]

I sympathise, and most people living here feel the same as you. The rail network is a real mess. Take a look at the threads here about the new parkway station to get a feel for local reaction.

It does seem that so long as the council can build on cheap, compulsory purchased green belt land, they are very keen.

[alan]

Welcome to Gloucestershire Transport Phyllus! And thank you very much for your contribution. I agree that reinstating the double track between Swindon and Kemble would be a great benefit to the Gloucestershire rail scene in general and as I outline in my article at Waterloo Sunrise:


http://glostransport...uk/waterloo.htm

this would also be one of the simplest and most cost effective improvements that could be achieved. As for the Rail Regulator and Network Rail pointing to each other, I am reminded of an apochryphal tale of former Soviet leader Lenoid Brezhnev. Apparently one Friday evening his Zil limousine had to wait at a level crossing en route to a relaxing weekend at his dacha while a long freight train passed by. "It would be good if there was a bridge here, Comrade" Brezhnev remarked to one of his party apparatchiks. By the time the General Secretary came back to Moscow on Monday morning there was one where the level crossing had been...

[phyllus_jones]

Thanks, Alan

I can't find for the life of me understand why more people don't complain about the Bottleneck. The local MPs should drop in on the Transport Minister!

[Nerva]

phyllus_jones, on Aug 16 2006, 02:26 PM, said:

As someone living in London but travelling to Stroud, Gloucester and Cheltenham on a fairly regular basis, I find the single track between Swindon and Kemble a real annoyance. I've written to the rail regulator and to Network Rail, but they each point the finger at the other and nothing gets done. It doesn't even feature in the rail regulator's 2006 report on the state of the rail network. And a letter to the Transport Secretary a few years back wasn't even answered.

I'd be interested in any thoughts people have as to ways of drawing attention to this problem and getting some action on it. The first thing that comes to mind is to collect signatures on a petition, and send it to the Transport Secretary. Any thoughts on this?

If memory serves correct, the reduction of the line between Swindon and Kemble came in the Thatcher administration - and Mrs. T was so notoriously anti-rail that it was unbelievable.

The big folly of this stretch of single track is highlighted this Bank Holiday weekend when engineering works on the main line west of Swindon means that the line to South Wales and Bristol is closed. So trains between London and South Wales are diverted along the Swindon - Gloucester line and then down the direct Gloucester-Cardiff line to Newport.

Because of the single track between Swindon and Kemble, the half-hourly service between London and Cardiff/Swansea has been reduced to every hour as the short single track line just cannot cope with the extra traffic in addition to the normal Gloucester-Swindon traffic.

I remember local British Rail officials describing the reduction of the line to single track as "folly", pointing out that the only alternative route to South Wales from London was via Gloucester. Common sense only prevailed when the single track work reached Kemble and the planned extension through Stroud to Standish Junction was shelved.

So perhaps and petition or other campaigns should not only be from Gloucestershire, but also include rail travellers between London and South Wales.

[phyllus_jones]

Thanks, Nerva.

I agreed with everything in your post 150%. However, it wasn't Mrs Thatcher who reduced the Swindon/Kemble section to one line. It happened in 1968 with the Beeching cuts. So I guess the Tories were to blame, but pre-Thatcher.

The other weekend (Sunday, 13 August) I travelled from Paddington to Swindon to change at Swindon for Stroud. The Alidante train from Cheltenham was 15 minutes late getting in from Kemble because the two-car shuttle train to Gloucester was travelling down the stretch to Kemble.

How much longer are the people of Stroud, Gloucester, Cheltenham and the surrounding area going to put up with this nonsensical situation. The Stroud Labour MP has spoken a number of times in Parliament about it, but it's going to need the MPs of Stroud, Gloucester, Cheltenham and all the surrounding area to show up on the Transport Secretary's doorstep and start making demands!

[Nerva]

phyllus_jones, on Sep 2 2006, 04:17 PM, said:

... However, it wasn't Mrs Thatcher who reduced the Swindon/Kemble section to one line. It happened in 1968 with the Beeching cuts. So I guess the Tories were to blame, but pre-Thatcher.

I stand corrected! Could have sworn that the stretch beetween Kemble and Swindon was "downgraded" after the Beeching cuts. But then, being an "oldie" the memory plays nasty tricks!

phyllus_jones, on Sep 2 2006, 04:17 PM, said:

The other weekend (Sunday, 13 August) I travelled from Paddington to Swindon to change at Swindon for Stroud. The Alidante train from Cheltenham was 15 minutes late getting in from Kemble because the two-car shuttle train to Gloucester was travelling down the stretch to Kemble.

Alas, this happens all too frequently. According to the timetable, it takes 15 minutes for a "shuttle" train to get from Kemble to Swindon and a minute less for an Adelante/HST. I'm glad I'm not the person who has to decide which train has the "priority" when one of the trains are late!

phyllus_jones, on Sep 2 2006, 04:17 PM, said:

The Stroud Labour MP has spoken a number of times in Parliament about it, but it's going to need the MPs of Stroud, Gloucester, Cheltenham and all the surrounding area to show up on the Transport Secretary's doorstep and start making demands!

Hopefully, the Gloucester MP would join-in. But then he is now a junior cabinet minister, so he has to "toe the line"!

Despite the bottleneck which sometimes causes enforced delays, I have to say that the First Great Western rail service to London from Cheltenham/Gloucester has impoved of late. For most of the day, there is a through train every two hours in each direction - and that includes weekends. That is something we never had with "God's Wonderful Railway" (GWR) pre-nationalisation!

And how about this "useless" tit-bit ... According to a 1936 timetable, the journey from Gloucester to Paddington by the fastest train took slightly less time that the fastest train today! There is a reason ... 70 years ago, the last stop before Paddington on the fastest train was Kemble. After the war, an additional stop of the fast train was made at Swindon.

[alan]

To be totally acurate, the singling of the Kemble-Swindon line in 1968 would have been under Harold Wilson's Labour Government, although the Beeching Report was published under the Tory leader Sir Alec Douglas Home and the recommendations continued - other casualties being the Somerset & Dorset, Midland & South Western Junction and Didcot, Newbury & Southampton Railways - all of which we could do with now. As for train times, on 8 June 1932, 5006 "Tregenna Castle" took the Cheltenham Spa Express the 77 1/2 miles from Swindon to Paddington in 56 1/2 minutes, 39 miles of the run being made at an average of 90 mph. And that was before all the modifications added in the 1970s to ease the passage of the Inter City 125s!

[Nerva]

Looks like there are only two trains a day that go Swindon-Paddington non-stop - and one in the other direction.

The Bristolian departs Swindon at 08:11 and arrives Paddington at 09:10 (59 minutes), but the Welsh Dragon is timetabled to do the trip faster - 51 minutes (depart Swindon 08:29, arrival Paddington at 09:20).

The "down" Bristolian stops at Didcot Parkway these days, which leaves the Red Dragon as the only non-stop Paddington to Swindon train. The journey is timetabled at 52 minutes (18:15 from Paddington, 19:07 into Swindon).

The above timings are from the public timetable, which is slightly different from the actual operating timetable.

It would be interesting to know the fastest journey time recorded by the Welsh Dragon these days between Paddington and Swindon (in each direction). I would hazard a guess it would be well under 50 minutes, perhaps 45 or 46 minutes.

[Eddie]

Quote

To be totally acurate, the singling of the Kemble-Swindon line in 1968 would have been under Harold Wilson's Labour Government

Some thing that labourires would rather we forgot Alan

[alan]

Perhaps campaigners could use the angle "You took it away - you bring it back!" Something that unfortunately cannot be done for the TSR2!

[phyllus_jones]

This morning's Telegraph carries the story that £1billion is to be spent on upgrading the North London line. This follows on the £400million that is being spent to upgrade the East London line. Ken Livingstone plans to call the upgraded lines "The Overground".

Compared to these amounts, how does the £7million or £8million needed to put back the second line from Swindon to Kemble compare? It shows so clearly the huge inequality between spending within London and spending outside London. Curing The Bottleneck could be done so easily and relatively cheaply compared to the Blair/Livingstone Mega Projects!

I used to live in Stroud. When you live in London, the inequality in spending within and outside London really hits you in the face.

[Eddie]

That's always been the case I'm afraid. In a similar vein the health secretary told Gloucestershire that we didn't need as much money to spend on our health service as the people in her constituency

[alan]

Readers of this strand may like to know that RailFuture Severnside Branch is hosting an open meeting entitled "Developing Gloucestershire's Railways" at 2.00pm on Saturday 21 October 2006 at the Redwell Room, GL1 ( Gloucester Leisure Centre ), Bruton Way, Gloucester.

Andrew Griffiths, Regional Manager ( Severn Solent ) First Great Western, will talk about the newly Greater Western franchise which runs the majority of passenger trains in the county. Mike Obst, Principal Transport Planner (Rail) of Gloucestershire County Council will describe the Council's aspirations for the rail network in the area. For further details contact Nigel Bray on 01452 501986

[phyllus_jones]

alan

I'm going to make a special trip down from London for this meeting. I think it's important to anybody who cares about the future of the Stroud Valley line and its impact on Stroud, Gloucester, Cheltenham, and the surrounding area. There's absolutely no excuse for the ongoing failure to re-double the Swindon-Kemble track. No excuse whatsoever. Down in the Stroud/Stonehouse area walking yesterday (Sunday), I saw train after train pass along the Stroud Valley line, including one of the dinner trains for train buffs. At least five or six trains every hour. I kept wondering how they were all getting through The Bottleneck!!!

Do you know if anybody from the ORR or Network Rail is going to be at the meeting? FGW has been calling for the second track for a long time, and I would think that Gloucestershire County Council has also. What we need is somebody from the ORR and Network Rail who can listen to the arguments, and put some gears in motion. I wonder if one or more of the local MPs could make it??

Only this morning I heard on BBC the cost so far of the high-speed line to the Chunnel. £6billion. With the Government considering spending £27billion more to connect that line to major cities in the North. one couldn't help but think that fixing The Bottleneck and removing a big inconvenience to West Country travellers would take probably only 0.1% of the £6billion!!

As usual the connection at Swindon yesterday morning was a total disaster. The Swindon-to-Cheltenham train is advertised to leave at 9:50am from Platform 1. Never, in all the times I have taken it, has it left at 9:50am (or even before 10am). Yesterday was no exception. It was total pandemonium in regard all trains going in all directions. At one point they directed London passengers on Platform 1 to go to Platform 3, then within ten seconds told them to go back to Platform 1. Then they announced that they should go to Platform 3 again. Then at the same time they announced that the Cheltenham train was leaving from Platform 3. If it hadn't been so irritating, it would have been laughable. As it was the Cheltenham train left 17 minutes late. One lady was very upset because it meant she wouldn't make a connection at Cheltenham.

The London elites go merrily on, giving out money hand over fist to build up the "European connection" while those of us who just want decent reliable on-time transport outside London get nothing!!!!

[phyllus_jones]

Alan

I earlier today posted a response to your message on the meeting, but it (the response) seems to have been lost (not posted).

I plan to take the train from London to attend. It would be nice if some of the local MPs could attend. Someone from the ORR and Network Rail would also be very very welcomed.

[Joker]

alan, on Sep 12 2006, 09:26 AM, said:

Readers of this strand may like to know that RailFuture Severnside Branch is hosting an open meeting entitled "Developing Gloucestershire's Railways" at 2.00pm on Saturday 21 October 2006 at the Redwell Room, GL1 ( Gloucester Leisure Centre ), Bruton Way, Gloucester.

I'll have to put that in my diary. I'm sure the Parkway scheme will rear it's ugly head at some point, and if it doesn't, I'll raise it by the scruff of the neck...

[alan]

The email address for Laurence Roberton, Conservative MP for Tewkesbury and Shadow Northern Ireland Minister is

LARHofC@aol.com

The email address for Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Conservative MP for the Cotswolds and Shadow Minister for Trade is

gcb@gcbmp.demon.co.uk

Glynn Ford, Labour MEP for Gloucestershire, can be emailed at

southwest@new.labour.org.uk

According to the official New Labour website, Parmjit Dhanda, MP for Gloucester, can be contacted by writing to him at the House of Commons

[phyllus_jones]

Thanks for this info, alan.

I recently sent letters regarding The Bottleneck to Mr Dhanda and also to the Cheltenham MP. The more people that get on the backs of the ORR and Network Rail on the issue, the more chance that something may get done. The Stroud MP, Mr David Drew, has raised the issue a number of times in Parliament. It's an issue that finally seems to be getting a bit of the spotlight. I find it hard to believe that a major area in the west of England (the Stroud valley, Gloucester, Cheltenham and north towards Worcester, and all of the surrounding area) is still served by a single-track rail service. As somebody else mentioned on this site, all of the S Wales rail traffic had to be put through The Bottleneck when the Severn Tunnel was closed recently. The lack of proper backup for rail service to S Wales is a second major reason for the double track, apart from the main effect of development being held up in the Stroud, Gloucester, Cheltenham area.

When out walking east of Stroud a few months back, I bumped into a member of Bisley counci. She said that her group was trying very hard to arrange better bus service between Bisley and Stroud. How much easier if Chalford Station could be re-opened! But there's no chance of that as long as the number of trains down the Stroud Valley is limited by the Swindon/Kemble single line.

[phyllus_jones]

alan

An e-mail to Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Conservative, Cotswolds) bounced when I tried gcb@gcbmp.demon.co.uk The return message was that gcbmp.demon.co.uk wasn't a known site. Although a check on his website gives that address, it obviously isn't any longer in use.