The Campaign for SW to NW CrossCountry Trains
Your Messages
23rd March 2010 I would like to support your campaign for a straight train through to the south west (ENGLAND) from Glasgow (SCOTLAND), as I have made this journey nineteen times before 9th December 2008 without any problems. Now it is a JOKE. I have a son of 2 and one on the way. When we last changed at Birmingham New Street it was busy, I had two cases, my son and only 20 minutes to change platforms. I could not find a lift to take me to the platform and had to carry my two cases down the stairs while watching my son walking down as well. Halfway down someone tried to push by us, so where is the safely in making people change platforms? Just as well I have patience, however never again will I change at Birmingham. It is not suitable for a family with childen or the elderly if you ask me. When virgin had Cross Country it cost me from 25 quid and upward, but now Arriva Cross Country charge about £140 for 10 hours and with only a trolley service for food and drink. How can they say they will give us a better service? One year on what do you think?
Alan Hendry
22nd January 2010 Dear Railfuture Devon & Cornwall I very much welcome your campaign to restore SW-NW services and I would like to add my voice and support to it.
Yours
27th October 2008 I fully support you campain for a direct rout from Glasgow to the SW. I regularly travel from Hereford to Glasgow, the change at Crewe is not a thing to look forwards to. Bryan Deem, Hereford.
23rd September 2008 Awareness - and anger - in the North West among rail users has grown over past months as they have realised they have not been able to make their usual journeys to the South West. Many will not contemplate travel if it involves multiple changes - and particularly if this involved interchange at New Street. Hence many elderly people are now cut off from their habitual holiday centres - and more importantly - from family members as the SW has long been a popular region of retirement for NW residents. Surveys commissioned by Passenger Focus when the XC changes were proposed showed the strength of movement across New Street, and casual observation suggested that on most trains outside peak commuter periods more than 50% of passengers travelling across Birmingham. Before Virgin's Operation Princess some 5 or 6 years ago there were only a handful of XC trains north of Leeds with the bulk of Scottish XC traffic going via the West Coast. Extension N of Leeds was a blatant ORCATS raid on GNER services north of York and this obviously made XC via the East Coast look very promising while Virgin lost nothing on the West Coast while their XC services continued there. Any change in the pattern of longer distance movements has been engineered over the last few years by Virgin and the DfT (and previously by the SRA). Most of these points also apply to services from the North West and Scotland to Bournemouth which is now only accessible direct from Manchester.
Peter Robinson
22nd September 2008 Hello, There is most definitely the need for a decent InterCity style service from the South West (including Weston-super-Mare) to towns such as Crewe (connections for other places), Warrington, Wigan, Preston, Lancaster and Carlisle. Many Thanks, Steven Harrison, W-s-M 8th September 2008 I used to live at Malvern. Rather than go to Scotland via Birmingham I would sometimes travel via Hereford. I remember taking a through train fom Hereford to Glasgow - no messing around at Birmingham & maybe Crewe. I now live at Craven Arnms, where I am Secretary of the Rail Users' Association (http://carua.com). Though this is a personal letter, my having already seen Graham Morgan's letter in issue #600 of RAIL(always early-mailed), I am sure those of our members who like to travel up (as in northwards) the WCML or to the S.West will strongly support any call for any restoration of a Severn Tunnel - Scotland service, which for SW travellers can offer a less congested and more pleasant route and one that is more direct if perhaps not offering the same maximum train speeds as the lost XC one. There are official hints of making Warrington a more frequent stop on the WCML than Crewe, and ArrivaTrains Wales are to route more trains from Chester to Warrington than to Crewe, which remains a logical focal node on the national network. Through trains to Scotland along our line may therefore become even more desirable. How any such SW -Scotland service via our line would now fit into the franchise agreements Heaven knows. Arriva Trains Wales is increasingly focused on serving the people of the Principality, especially in providing rapid transportation of Assembly Members (who generously fund Wales' railways) between North Wales and Cardiff. There is already barely a train to Chester now stopping at Craven Arms and the trend is for the portion of the N-S Wales route lying within England to be regarded as some nasty but unavoidable tunnel or water crossing. Beeching and the like did not help by severing the little country's internal links. "Wales and Borders" made more sense. Stealthily we have lost diagrams such as those including Waterloo, Southampton and,yes, wasn't there a Penzance through train from here... The big hurdle, as I see it, is those set-in-stone franchise agreements, fossilising what should instead be a flexible system able to cater for as many reasonable demands as possible, not creating obstacle courses such as this latest one you face. With all Good Wishes. Richard Watkins 9th July 2008 I am writing in support of the campaign to re-instate services from the SW to Glasgow. It is a nonsense that whilst 2 years ago it was possible to travel direct from Bristol to Glasgow at least 5 times a day with a journey time of less than 6 hours, now there is only one direct train a day taking almost 7 hours. I travel regularly to Scotland, and as someone who has a visual impairment, do not cherish the experience of having to change at Birmingham New Street. also, the facilities on Cross Country trains for long distances are appalling with very little in the way of hot food, and less if the proposed removal of the shop goes ahead. this shoddy train service is surely driving more people onto planes or into cars. I have to say I now much prefer travelling by easyjet for both convenience and the level of service. It is only my environmental concerns that prevent me from doing this on a more regular basis. I wish you all the best with this ongoing campaign. Best wishes, Mike Holroyd
1st June 2008 I recently tried to travel from Bath to Lancaster with an elderly relative. This was a difficult and fragmented journey that really used to be much less stressful. Next time I'll take the car (quicker and cheaper). Not really an improvement then. Phil Craxford.
14th May 2008 Dear Sir /Madam My family and I fully support this campaign. We were deeply saddened at the loss of services from the SW to Crewe via Hereford and complained bitterly at the time to no avail. And now we can no longer travel to Crewe via Birmingham without time consuming and frustrating changes in Brum. Again we complained bitterly to Gavin Bostock (we bumped into him on the new service one day last winter) of Arriva Cross Country who was putting the timetable together for Dec 2008 but it I'm afraid fell on deaf ears! We have family in Hereford, Abergavenny, Ludlow and Crewe and would fully benefit from a restoration of services on the Welsh Marches line to Scotland and South West, and would regularly use them. At the moment we rarely go to Abergavenny, Hereford and Ludlow by train because of the hassle of changing at Bristol and Newport. Use of the Maindee loop would make this proposition very attractive for through passengers and timings compare very favourably with timings via Birmingham! In the Seventies there were several trains diagrammed via Hereford especially summer Saturdays and my memory was that these were very popular. So come on lets hope this campaign can get a decent service restored for the South West and Welsh Borders and North West which is so badly needed. Please keep me informed of any developments. Best regards Graham & Maxine Morgan East Devon
15th March 2008 I live in Bournemouth and use these trains to go to Scotland and Yorkshire, and as a result of the alterations I now have to change trains almost every journey (it WILL be every journey as from December) whereas before I never needed to change. I wrote to Ruth Kelly, and received a reply from the Department for Transport, saying the aim of it all was to reduce the number of people having to change at Birmingham New Street. I wrote a further letter, enquiring how it could be that cutting out through trains would not have the opposite effect (unless the intention was to discourage people from travelling by train at all), but as yet I have had no reply to this. Ian Graham 9th March 2008 I was planning a trip to Scotland, for a dolphin-watch holiday in May. Having experienced Birmingham New Street, minus luggage, I am unwillling to commit to that journey with luggage in tow. Such a pity. At almost all meetings of rail passengers, Train Operators or Network Rail field the questions. In future let us request the presence (at every meeting) of those responsible for the severing of journeys and removal of rolling stock - the men in grey at the DfT. I totally agree with the suggestion that they should be made to make SW-NW journeys themselves - can the same maxim apply to weekday journeys into Bath and Bristol? Anne Lock, North Wiltshire 1st February 2008 I wish to register my support for the South West to North West Trains Campaign. Nigel Bray Gloucestershire. 5th January 2008 I would like to add my name to those supporting your campaign for the restoration, at least in part, of services from the S W of England to Scotland via the West Coast route. Birmingham New Street with its narrow, dark and often crowded platforms is already an obstacle course to those joining trains there and to be forced to do so as part of a long distance journey is more than enough to ensure that a car be considered I would also very much like to see through services from the West via the Marches Line to Crewe and on to Scotland. Although Crewe is usually much more convenient as a change point unless one has a reserved seat on today's crowded trains it may unfortunately offer the possibility of standing for a major part of an onward journey. The Department of Transport's consultation process would appear to be seriously flawed and those involved should be forced to undertake a series of journeys themselves, with a suitcase, before making such drastic changes. One result will be, I suppose, a reduction in crowding on the trains as potential and existing users seek other ways to travel e.g. air or coach. Is it not time for route planning to be taken away from the DfT and the influence of the Treasury and to be handled only by a national rail organisation with members not appointed from the ranks of the political parties and their friends? Although I do not live in the South West I do have occasion to change trains at New Street and to travel both north and south from there and find changing quite arduous if travelling with luggage such that my next journey to Scotland will be by road as I have time available to make a leisurely journey and do not wish to be involved in multiple changes of train even if I can find an acceptable fare. A D Crowhurst
4th January 2008 I fully support your campaign. The civil servants in London who decide these timetable changes seem to have no idea of the real world and what it is like, for example, to change trains at Birmingham with heavy baggage on a busy Friday if you are elderly. It can be stressful enough if you are fit, young and travelling light! It is, of course, not just the South West that loses its services to the west coast main line; the same applies to the Thames Valley/South Coast as all the Cross Country trains from Bournemouth/Reading are likewise re-routed to either Manchester or Scotland via Doncaster & Newcastle. Birmingham New Street was crowded enough before; now it will be seriously overcrowded as so many more passengers will be forced to change there. Some people will simply not travel if they cannot do so without changing. The only people for whom all this is good news is the airlines that fly between the south of England and Scotland! Regards, Andrew McCallum Reading RG5
20th December 2007 I am very pleased to support your campaigns for an improved rail service generally but specifically with the objective of re-instating the direct Penzance-Glasgow service. The withdrawal of this direct service by Arriva is outrageous and indicates a totally unresponsive attitude to customer requirements. Good luck. Dr Paul Arnison-Newgass Dartmouth TQ6
20th December 2007 Your campaign highlighting the curtailment of all through trains from the SW to NW fails to mention the impact on passengers from S. Wales, who used to connect with trains at Bristol Temple Meads. In terms of travelling time, there is little difference: passengers now change at Crewe, which actually gives a more reliable connection. In terms of fares, there is an enormous impact: in theory, single fares of £18.50 are still available from Port Talbot; in practise none are available over the next 3 months, so the cheapest return fare is approaching £120! What on earth is going on? What are Arriva trains doing? I have e-mailed Arriva in the hope of getting some sense out of them! Alan Cram |