The South West Public Transport Users’ Forum (SWPTUF) was established in 2001 to promote the interests of public transport users in the South West of England government region (comprising the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire and the unitary authorities of Bath and North East Somerset, Bournemouth, Bristol, North Somerset, Plymouth, Poole, South Gloucestershire, Swindon and Torbay) – the Forum became a Community Interest Company, limited by guarantee, in August 2005. SWPTUF, which is a social enterprise company, acts as an advocate for passengers to lobby for the improvement of public transport in the region and works closely with the South West Regional Assembly – with the dissolution of the former Rail Passengers Committee for Western England in July 2005, SWPTUF is now the sole representative body for public transport users throughout the South West England region.
The following rail services currently provided by South West Trains are operated within the geographical area represented by SWPTUF:-
The consultation document correctly notes that ‘overcrowding is particularly severe on the London Waterloo – Salisbury service’ (currently 11.9% of AM peak demand). It is therefore imperative that all eastbound morning peak and westbound evening peak trains are formed of a minimum of eight coaches on the London Waterloo – Salisbury route, from the commencement of the new franchise, in order to alleviate the severe overcrowding currently been experienced by passengers – it is unacceptable to expect customers to have to stand throughout a journey between Salisbury and London Waterloo of a duration of ninety-six minutes.
Punctuality and reliability is a key need of a public transport user - SWPTUF therefore welcomes the recent improvement by the current operator in both punctuality and reliability. Many members of SWPTUF consider that journey times in the major December 2004 timetable rewrite were unnecessarily extended in order to achieve the required improvement in punctuality – many trains on the key long-distance services between London Waterloo and destinations in the South West of England government region are consistently kept waiting at intermediate stations.
The December 2004 timetable needs to be reviewed by the new franchise operator in order to give a better balance between the objectives for improved punctuality and faster journey times. Some examples of considerably lengthened journey times are as follows:-
| Winter 2003/4 timetable | Winter 2005/6 timetable | |
| Exeter Central - London Waterloo | 190 minutes | 215 minutes |
| Yeovil Junction - London Waterloo | 136 minutes | 149 minutes |
(Standard journey times Monday to Friday off-peak services to London Waterloo)
It is interesting to note that, following electrification in 1967, the standard off-peak journey time from Bournemouth to London Waterloo was 100 minutes, compared with 110 minutes currently!
The current franchisee has insufficient diesel rolling stock to provide sufficient capacity on services on non-electrified routes. TransPennine Express will, before the commencement of the new South Western franchise, be replacing the majority of its fleet of three-car and two-car class 158 units with new class 185 trains. SWPTUF considers that a number of the class 158 trains, which are released by TransPennine Express, should be transferred to the South Western franchise, after suitable refurbishment. Two ex-Central Trains class 158 units have already been transferred to South West Trains, refurbished and placed into service.
The Department for Transport must also consider whether Salisbury depot, which is responsible for the maintenance of the entire non-electric train fleet, has sufficient capacity to meet both current and future demand. Salisbury depot was originally built to maintain the fleet of twenty-two class 159 trains – subsequently, the depot has acquired an additional two class 158 units and nine class 170 trains.
There should be no further reduction whatsoever in the number of trains, upon which regulated ‘Saver’ tickets are available. The successful bidder should be required to continue to participate in the ‘Network Card’ facility.
SWPTUF fully supports the proposals to reduce journey times on the existing hourly service between London Waterloo and Weymouth and to extend the hourly semi-fast service between London Waterloo and Poole to and from Weymouth.
It is also proposed to withdraw the existing service between Brockenhurst and Wareham and partially replace it by extending the hourly semi-fast service between London Waterloo and Southampton Central to and from Bournemouth – the impact of this proposal would be to reduce the number of trains serving Poole from three per hour to two per hour in each direction and severely limit the opportunities for journeys by rail within the Bournemouth/Poole primary urban area, forcing more people to travel by car and thereby worsening the already severe traffic congestion in the sub-region. The decision to reduce the number of trains serving Poole appears to take no account of the local plan to locate new homes to house six thousand people within walking distance of the town’s railway station. The hourly semi-fast service between London Waterloo and Southampton Central should therefore be extended to and from Poole, and not Bournemouth, as proposed.
The December 2007 timetable should ensure that there is no reduction in the number of trains per hour serving every station between Christchurch and Weymouth inclusive – there should also be no reduction in the number of through trains between London Waterloo and every station between Christchurch and Weymouth inclusive.
SWPTUF is strongly opposed to the proposal to withdraw all trains between Bristol Temple Meads and Salisbury which are currently operated by South West Trains for the following reasons:-
a) The total loss of any through trains between Bradford-on-Avon, Trowbridge, Warminster and London. Many rail users, particularly elderly and disabled people, are only prepared to travel on through train services – this proposal will therefore reduce the mobility of elderly and disabled people and is totally contrary to the Government’s stated objective to improve accessibility.
b) Loss of through trains from Bristol Temple Meads, Bath Spa, Trowbridge, Westbury and Warminster to Woking, Clapham Junction and London Waterloo – all stations with excellent connectional facilities to many locations in South East England avoiding the necessity for a cross-London transfer by bus, taxi or tube.
c) Significant reduction in train capacity between Bristol Temple Meads and Salisbury – the existing 0640hrs SWT train from Salisbury to Bristol Temple Meads provides much needed additional morning peak capacity north of Westbury, while the 1552hrs SWT train from Bristol Temple Meads to London Waterloo accommodates the many customers (mainly schoolchildren and students) who are unable to board other southbound services at either Bristol Temple Meads or Bath Spa due to insufficient capacity (some other trains on this corridor are operated by single-car class 153 units).
The immediate priority must be to provide an hourly service between Salisbury and Exeter St Davids in each direction, with additional trains between Salisbury and Yeovil Junction and between Axminster and Exeter St Davids during Monday to Friday peak periods. It will be necessary, during the period of the franchise, to increase the frequency of the service between Salisbury and Yeovil Junction to two trains per hour, in order to provide additional capacity for the demand created by the substantial house building programme in the Yeovil area.
Two additional passing loops should be provided at the earliest possible date between Chard Junction and Pinhoe to facilitate a faster hourly service between London Waterloo and Exeter St Davids than can be provided with the existing infrastructure and the introduction of an additional hourly service between Axminster and Exeter St Davids.
SWPTUF opposes the withdrawal of all services provided west of Exeter St Davids as part of the South Western franchise for the following reasons:-
x) Impact on customers who currently wish to travel between Plymouth/Torbay and the South Coast, including large numbers of service personnel and students. From December 2006 it will become very difficult to undertake journeys between the South West and South Coast via Westbury – the existing daily train between Penzance and Portsmouth Harbour will have been withdrawn and the number of services between London Paddington and the West of England which call at Westbury (for connections with the Westbury – Southampton/Portsmouth/Brighton services) will have been severely reduced. If through trains between Salisbury and stations west of Exeter St Davids are withdrawn, then customers wishing to travel between Plymouth/Torbay and the South Coast will have to change at both Exeter St Davids and Salisbury with greatly extended journey times.
y) Devastating impact on Ivybridge station, in conjunction with the proposed reductions in the new Greater Western franchise timetable from December 2006. Ivybridge is currently served by eleven trains in each direction per day – with the planned reductions in the Greater Western service and the total withdrawal of the South Western facilities, Ivybridge would only have three southbound trains (departing at 0822hrs, 1007hrs and 1551hrs) and four northbound trains (departing at 0813hrs, 1356hrs, 1841hrs and 2101hrs) only. It would be impossible for Ivybridge residents to commute by train to and from Exeter/Newton Abbot (it has no other direct public transport links with these locations) and rail travel to and from Plymouth (a very congested primary urban area) would become highly unattractive.
z) Reduction in the number of through trains between Torbay and London.
SWPTUF wishes to see major upgrades to passenger facilities with a particular emphasis on lighting, waiting rooms and toilet facilities and providing better access for the mobility impaired.
Major investment is required to provide additional car park capacity at many stations in the South Western franchise area, in order to achieve modal shift. The successful bidder should also be required to install cycle parking facilities at every managed station in the South Western franchise area.
A large number of additional ticket vending machines should be installed at managed stations throughout the South Western franchise area, which can also dispense tickets ordered by telephone or through the internet.
SWPTUF is highly supportive of the Airtrack initiative and particularly the proposals to provide trains every thirty minutes between Reading and Heathrow Terminal Five and between Woking and Heathrow Terminal Five – the introduction of these rail services would greatly improve public transport access to Britain’s major airport from South West England.
SWPTUF strongly supports the early reinstatement of through passenger rail services between Swanage and Wareham.
Two additional passing loops should be provided at the earliest possible date between Chard Junction and Pinhoe to facilitate the operation of hourly clockface services between London Waterloo and Exeter St Davids and between Axminster and Exeter St Davids, thereby providing a train every thirty minutes in each direction between Axminster and Exeter St Davids.
The Crossrail project will have a major impact on rail services between South West England and London Paddington. The two additional loops between Chard Junction and Pinhoe must be provided before the construction of Crossrail commences, in order to provide additional capacity on the route between Exeter St Davids and London Waterloo. In addition, the service between London Waterloo and Reading will require substantial enhancement, during periods when train capacity between London Paddington and Reading is limited, due to Crossrail construction works – SWPTUF has been advised that for some phases of the Crossrail construction, London Paddington station will be completely closed.
Weymouth and Portland will be hosting the sailing events for the Olympic Games of 2012 – it is imperative that the successful bidder is able to provide a greatly enhanced train service to and from Weymouth during the Olympic Games, and also during the international sailing regattas that will be held during the next five years.
SWPTUF supports the early provision of a new station between Pinhoe and Whimple to serve the planned new community at Cranbrook – the new station should also have a connecting bus service with the nearby fast-growing Exeter Airport. Cranbrook should be served by both the London Waterloo to Exeter St Davids and by the Axminster to Exeter St Davids services.
SWPTUF supports the proposals to reopen the former stations at Boscombe and Wilton – the Forum also wishes priority to be given to reopening the former stations at Chard Junction and Porton.
The successful bidder for the new South Western franchise should also be required to fit closed-circuit television cameras throughout the complete rolling stock fleet to provide greatly improved customer and staff security.
There should also be a requirement to provide a specified number of community support officers throughout the franchise area.
The operator of the new South Western franchise should give a much greater priority to integrated transport and work closely with local authorities and other transport operators.
The successful bidder should be required to participate in multi-modal, multi-operator ticketing schemes, which are sponsored by local authorities.
SWPTUF also wishes to see more capacity to be provided on trains for the carriage of cycles. There are should also be no time restrictions whatsoever on the carriage of cycles between any two South Western franchise stations in South West England.
12 January 2006