First Great Western rolling stock plans

It is expected that First Great Western will receive thirty class 150 carriages from London Midland and London Overground in the last seven months of next year to replace thirty two carriages, which are currently on short term leases as follows:-

• Seven two-carriage class 142 units (on sub-lease from Northern)
• Four two-carriage class 150 units (on sub-lease from Arriva Trains Wales)
• One two-carriage class 158 unit (on sub-lease from South West Trains)
• Two four-carriage loco-hauled sets

The class 150 units will have thirty-three more seats than a class 142 unit. There is still no news of the additional eight carriages to accommodate passenger growth in the Greater Bristol area, which were included in the High Level Output Specification (HLOS) issued by the Department for Transport (DfT) in July 2007.

Two bidders left in race to buy Plymouth CityBus

It has been reported that just two bidders remain in contention to purchase Plymouth CityBus from Plymouth City Council, the company which employs five hundred staff and has an annual turnover, including the coaching and vehicle maintenance subsidiaries, of fifteen million pounds – the two remaining bidders have been identified in media reports as Stagecoach Group and a joint venture led by Go-Ahead Group.

Lobby launched for high speed rail to the South West

Organisations in the South West of England, including the South West Regional Development Agency, and in South Wales have formed the ‘Greater Western Partnership’ to promote the building of a new high speed line linking London and Heathrow Airport with South West England and South Wales.

Elmbridge transport scheme

Gloucestershire County Council will shortly submit a major scheme business case to the Department for Transport (DfT) for the Elmbridge transport scheme which includes a new park-and-ride facility with one thousand car parking spaces, five bus priority schemes and restricting an existing road to buses and cyclists and for residential access. The scheme is expected to cost over twenty-two million pounds and to be completed by 2017 – the County Council is stressing that the scheme delivers a benefit cost ratio of 3.3:1.

Larger fines for street works disruption

The Department for Transport (DfT) is considering a ten-fold increase in fines for utility companies who do not complete projects impacting on road traffic within the agreed time period – the proposed change would see the maximum daily charge for overruns increase from two thousand, five hundred pounds per day to twenty-five thousand pounds.

Closed circuit television for school buses in Gloucestershire

Closed circuit television cameras will be fitted to all school buses that are operated under contract to Gloucestershire County Council by the end of 2013 in order to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour – a pilot of the ‘Buscam’ initiative at Sir William Romney’s School in Tetbury recorded an eighty per cent decline in on-bus reported incidents.

And finally,

It can now be cheaper for passengers who have not booked in advance to travel on several First Great Western high speed trains from London Paddington to Cornwall, than on the same train from London Paddington to Exeter St Davids!