Great Western Route Utilisation Strategy

A call from Brunel Radio in Swindon yesterday asked for my to give brief comment on the "Draft Great Western RUS" that had been published 4 hours earlier. But what is a RUS, why is it of interest to local radio listeners {{ and how do people expect me to make meaningful comment on 192 pages within hours of them being published? }}

Let's try for some answers.

What is the RUS? "Route Utilisation Strategy", to give it its full title. It's the long term goals of Network Rail, the public owned organisation who look after the railway's infrastructure, who are looking ahead ten years and further and planning what sort of traffic they expect the railways to be carrying, and so they are looking to plan to have enough track capacity, signalling, etc to be able to handle it.

Why is of interest to local radio listeners? Probably because it's of great interest to anyone who's likely to be travelling in five to twenty five years time. Looking (as thoroughly as time has allowed so far) I have seen alternative diagrams for the line from Swindon via Melksham to Westbury and Salisbury - showing options on one train per DAY and one train per HOUR. That would make such an enormous difference - the difference between a service that is frankly moribund because the outward and return trains are highly unlikely to suit more than a handful of people, and a busy turn up and go type service, soaking up several coachfulls of people every hour.

Bristol Temple Meads

And it should be of interest to anyone locally because it's now in a consultation period where inputs are being solicited up until mid November. I know I have been cynical in the past about consultations being simply a way that politicians get boxes ticked to say they are doing what the public wants, but I have a feeling here that strong inputs just might help to set the tone. In any case - like your vote - don't waste it!

Melksham Station - overview

I can't answer how people expect me to read 192 pages in 3 hours - especially when I have a day job - but I do know that over the next 2 months I'll be delving further into the RUS. I've already opened a a thread on the First Great Western Coffee Shop asking people what the site could / should do to help point forward.

On the platform at Melksham

Personally? I'm working forward towards something much more modest, but much shorter term for the "TransWilts" line, about which I'll be saying more in a few days. And I've got meetings on 19th September and 3rd October in relation to the RUS ... good time to work with the other "Coffee Shop" members to formulate a response from the passenger's viewpoint. You may well ask "who are you to formulate such a response" - well, The Coffee Shop has 600 members, the TransWilts campaign has 700 supporters. There's some overlap, but that's well over 1000 people. Small beer, but the overall group has a good age / gender / place / background spread, and I would be looking forlornly around to find any other independent group to speak for so many members of the travelling public.

Pictures - Chippenham Station, showing a platform face with no track; it works while the trains are all on time, but woe betide any train that has to wait here for the single track to Trowbridge. Bristol Temple Meads, where there are gaps of many hours between services at some of the platforms ... and yet major congestion as the 15 platforms funnel down to just 2 lines to Weston, 2 lines to Bath and 2 lines to Filton. And two pictures of Melksham, Formerly a double track line that took in the six largest towns in Wiltshire, there is now but a single track, with but a single morning train each way and a single evening train each way. Rail use growth continues ... services need to be put back in to use capacity and meet requirements, and capacity need to be enhanced in some places to avoid future bottlenecks - and that's what the Rus is all about.
(written 2009-09-02, updated 2009-09-03) 73f5

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