TravelWatch Southwest
Newslog 68 Monday 20 April 2009

Bristol International Airport for sale?

Media reports state that the Australian infrastructure group. Macquarie, has put Bristol International Airport up for sale – more than six million passengers flew to and from the airport in 2008. Macquarie and the Spanish company, Cintra, purchased the airport jointly in 2001 for one hundred and ninety-eight million pounds – Macquarie bought the stake of the Spanish company for one hundred and fifty-eight million euros in 2006. It is not known whether Macquarie still intend to submit a planning application for the one hundred and fifty million pound expansion programme to enable the airport to handle more than ten million passengers a year by 2016 – the planning application was expected to be submitted to North Somerset Council within the next month.

New multi-operator ticket scheme for Bath?

Bath and North East Somerset Council has published a public notice of intent to implement a ticketing scheme under the provisions of sections 135-138 of the Transport Act 2000 from 28 September 2009 – the scheme would apply to all local bus services in the City of Bath and the neighbouring parishes of Bathampton, Batheaston, Bathford and Newton St Loe. The Council’s ‘Bus Strategy’ contains explicit reference to the introduction of a multi-operator travelcard for use on local bus services - the Council states that it considers that it is in the public interest to have a multi-operator network ticket scheme in that it would encourage greater use of day and period tickets, offer customers a wider choice of journey options and facilitate faster boarding times. The Council is now consulting local bus operators, passenger/user groups and the Traffic Commissioner for the Western Traffic Area on the implementation of the proposed scheme.

Stagecoach marketing campaign targets new home owners

Stagecoach has commenced a campaign offering new home owners the opportunity of free travel on the group’s local bus services. The ‘Home Movers’ campaign offers people moving into new homes a special pack containing a voucher for seven days free travel on the group’s local bus network – the pack also contains information on the benefits of bus travel, a map of the local bus network and appropriate timetable leaflets.

South West Trains advertises for new trains

South West Trains has advertised for ‘expressions of interest’ to supply between one hundred and twenty and one hundred and eighty new twenty-metre electric multiple unit carriages, to be formed into five-car sets, for entry into service by the December 2011 timetable change. An option to provide maintenance is included and the acquisition could be through outright purchase, lease, rental or hire purchase.

Salisbury station

South West Trains has submitted a planning application to close the northern entrance to the railway station, which the company claims is used by less than ten per cent of customers.

Call for businesses to implement smart travel plans

The National Business Travel Network (NBTN), which is part of the Government’s ‘ACT on CO2’ campaign, has called on businesses in South West England to implement smart travel plans to cut costs and significantly reduce carbon emissions. It is estimated that currently only six per cent of companies in Great Britain have adopted smart travel plans which facilitate sustainable travel for employees – NBTN claims that by reducing costly and unnecessary travel, companies can cope better with the current economic recession and also reduce carbon emissions.

People

Wayne Spence, a member of the First Great Western service delivery team at Bristol Temple Meads railway station, has received the MBE, awarded in the New Year Honours list, at an investiture at Buckingham Palace.

And finally,

The Department for Transport media release relating to the new Super Express trains, due to enter service on the Great Western Main Line in 2015, states that the planned journey time between Bath Spa and London Paddington is seventy-four minutes – five minutes slower than in 1979!