Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2010-03-27 08:44:56 - Graham Ellis
Have you ever served up a meal to discover you've left something in the over that should have been an integral part of the meal? I know I have, and I did the equivalent thing at the end of last night's meeting where between 40 and 50 people turned out on a damp Friday night from all over Wiltshire (and beyond) to consider setting up a "TransWilts Community Rail Partnership".
The page that everyone SHOULD have gone home with (and which I have a pile of here!) is on line http://www.transwilts.org.uk/takeme.html, and all the TransWilts stuff to date - my master page for the evening which will be useful to the team following up is [here].
I've left the bread sauce in the over at Christmas before ... and been mortified to discover it, tepid, after the pudding has been used to fill that last hole. But the folks who have eaten the meal just laugh it off - and good on them - the meal was fine, and there was no shortage of other food, and it wasn't missed. And so it is with that errant flyer - it was an excellent evening and we're moving on.
John, Jenny, Lee, Richard - many thanks for taking to the floor and presenting to what was a substantial and actively questioning audience. Dominic, Miriam, Jenny - and the others who helped in the setup of teas and coffees - thank you too. "A meeting without teas and coffees isn't really a meeting" ... not my words, but Ray's (and I agree). And what a fabulous illustrating that we have the do-ers and not just the talkers on board. We'll need that for the substantial work ahead.
You would think that in a time of recession, travel would drop, wouldn't you? Well - it hasn't - at least by rail. Since 2003, traffic figures for train journeys countrywide have grown 40%, on the regional and local lines in the South West by 60% and in the Weymouth to Westbury, Bath and Bristol line by no less that 163%. And in no small measure, that's due to the work of the Heart of Wessex Community Rail Partnership. Truth be told (and it should be!) I was somewhat on the fence about CRPs when I learned about them a couple of years back. But I'm not on the fence now.
I have looked at those little schemes and thought "is it worth it" - and the answer is YES it is. Redrawing a few white lines to make a car park feel safer and you remove the roadblock (railblock?) that's been keeping people in their cars. Or - one of our early requests - add a sign to say "This station is unstaffed. Please buy your ticket from the conductor on the train" which will help a lot of us (myself included) to feel welcome rather than criminalised when we board before we pay through no fault of our own. That sort of thing has helped raise the 40% to 163% on the Heart of Wessex.
I have also looked at award ceremonies and felt at times that they're just self-congratulatory shindigs. But they're not - they're much more than that. Firstly, they provide beacons of good practise for others following, helping the rest of us get some excellent pointers. And secondly, they provide the oxygen of publicity to the product being promoted - the Heart of Wessex, parking at Thornford, etc. Congratulations to the Heart of Wessex for getting so many of these awards - they show in your figures - and I hope we'll have a brotherly competition in years to come to wrest one or two off you.
The meeting concluded with some votes - unanimously to set up the partnership, to be flexible on the boundaries and service improvements to be sought. To work for the promotion of the current service as well as any enhancements, helping to ensure we're ready to take on opportunities as and when they arise. And we're going to work forward fast on this - not only is there no point in letting grass grow under our feet, but also there's things afoot that may lead to some movements in the future; for the record, I am NOT promising an hourly train in the next two years - in the rail business, everything has an extra 0 on the end of the price and the number of years it takes to bring to fruition. I waved a £1.50 return ticket from Westbury to Melksham at the audience - fabulous value, but unsustainable at that price without subsidy, so there remain difficult questions to answer.
So - a substantial group has volunteered to set up a steering committee (working name!) - Sion has the full list, but there's Chris, David, Victoria, Lee, Ray, Ian, Jenny, Nick, Margaret, Julia, Sion and Bob; what a fabulous team, and I'll join too if they'll have me. Actually, they've not much choice on that as I'm hosting the initial meeting - at Well House Manor on Saturday 17th April, starting at 09:30.
The meeting will be relatively long as we've got a substantial amount to do and talk about - future meeting won't necessarily be Saturdays, nor long but the question does arise as to "when is best" for rail line meetings where it's not a gathering of people who all live in the same time.
Additional to the 40 to 50 people who came along last night, we had around 80 wishes of good luck / apologies for absence. A Friday evening wasn't ideal for everyone, people may have learned about the meeting late in the day, and there was a lot else going on elsewhere the same evening. People were on holiday in the Scillies and the Dolomites, had early starts this morning and were child sitting due to family illness. If you're one of those people who couldn't make it (or you didn't even find out about the meeting until too late), we still want you. Get in touch, let us know via the TransWilts email - info@transwilts.org.uk.
There's been a very great deal of background work done already at individual places, and concerning the service as a whole. This is the "Melksham" display board from last night. Although Melksham stands to make much the most significant gains from the partnership, it's just one town of many which will all gain substantially ...
This is the "line" display board - reminding you that Trowbridge to Swindon is under 40 minutes by direct train (but just twice a day) and over 90 by direct bus - and that Chippenham to Salisbury is interesting (to say the least) by anything other than private car.
Every meeting should be watered ;-)
Lisa stayed at home during the meeting - to man any phones, and to take a break after helping with the preps for the meeting (she's a graphic artist who can really make a show look good - thank you). And she asked me if I took any pictures of the full room. As I was in the chair, that would have been an odd thing once we had started, but I did come up with this picture (above or left) to give a flavour. 10 minutes before kickoff, trains still arriving, many people in the coffee room!
And Finally ...
Lest we forget. We're doing this for the passengers, or wannabe passengers. Looking out of the room in Bridge House as it got dark - early evening - I snapped a picture of people waiting for theire trains. No doubt they were headed for Bath or Bristol - no TransWilts was due for an hour for Chippenham and Swindon.
But - appropriate rail IS the future. And "appropriate" is a far better offering across Wiltshire than we have at the present. I look forward to working with everyone who's involved towards that future, and I say thank you for supporting the meeting last night, and the ongoing CRP
Additional to the 40 to 50 people who came along last night, we had around 80 wishes of good luck / apologies for absence. A Friday evening wasn't ideal for everyone, people may have learned about the meeting late in the day, and there was a lot else going on elsewhere the same evening. People were on holiday in the Scillies and the Dolomites, had early starts this morning and were child sitting due to family illness. If you're one of those people who couldn't make it (or you didn't even find out about the meeting until too late), we still want you. Get in touch, let us know via the TransWilts email - info@transwilts.org.uk.
There's been a very great deal of background work done already at individual places, and concerning the service as a whole. This is the "Melksham" display board from last night. Although Melksham stands to make much the most significant gains from the partnership, it's just one town of many which will all gain substantially ...
This is the "line" display board - reminding you that Trowbridge to Swindon is under 40 minutes by direct train (but just twice a day) and over 90 by direct bus - and that Chippenham to Salisbury is interesting (to say the least) by anything other than private car.
Every meeting should be watered ;-) 
Lisa stayed at home during the meeting - to man any phones, and to take a break after helping with the preps for the meeting (she's a graphic artist who can really make a show look good - thank you). And she asked me if I took any pictures of the full room. As I was in the chair, that would have been an odd thing once we had started, but I did come up with this picture (above or left) to give a flavour. 10 minutes before kickoff, trains still arriving, many people in the coffee room!
Lest we forget. We're doing this for the passengers, or wannabe passengers. Looking out of the room in Bridge House as it got dark - early evening - I snapped a picture of people waiting for theire trains. No doubt they were headed for Bath or Bristol - no TransWilts was due for an hour for Chippenham and Swindon.