More Yate Station improvements

 

Great news for commuters as the ticket machine at Yate Station is about to be covered, meaning the machine is less likely to break and will be easier to read on sunny days. Queuing at the ticket window will also be covered, with more shelter on the platform once you’ve got your ticket. Thanks to the Lib Dem Focus Team for putting in funding bids and finally persuading the authorities to pay up!

If you are interested in campaigning for more station improvements, the next Friends of Yate Station meeting is at 7.30pm on 1st November.

Yate rail shelter repair just in time as temperatures tumble

Yate rail campaigner Chris Willmore with fellow
Town Councillors Wully Perks and Mike Drew

New glazing for station shelters was put to the test this weekend. As we reported recently, First Great Western have finally followed local rail users' suggestions and replaced the broken shelter glass with the metal mesh with small holes that has been used successfully on bus stops for years.

And just in time too! Even during this weekend's plummeting temperatures, the renovated shelters were still warm enough for passengers to sit down instead of wandering around stanping their feet to avoid frostbite.

And they're secure too - just look at the photo above. It's even possible to see right through TWO layers of the mesh, so people waiting needn't feel unsafe.

Rail shelter fixed at last as First Great Western see sense

We have won! The Yate Station shelter has been repaired! OK, it has taken from September until this week - but First Great Western have listened, thanks to Lib Dem Cllr and train user Chris Willmore.

Instead of replacing it, yet again, with glass or plastic that gets broken, we told them to spend to save, and put in the metal mesh with small holes that Lib Dem Yate Town Council has been using successfully on bus stops for years.

They have listened. This is far harder to vandalise (and no, that is NOT a challenge) and people can still see in and out so it feels secure - so with luck our train users should get shelter for a long time. And perhaps First Great Western might even learn the lesson and use this mesh in other places.

Campaigners hopeful of winning battle on rail shelters

Local rail campaigners are winning their battle to keep Yate commuters dry this winter. Last month, rail user Chris Willmore slammed First Great Western’s decision to leave Yate commuters with no shelter from the rain after Perspex panels in the shelters were destroyed by vandals. At Monday’s Friends of Yate Station meeting, she and other campaigners met representatives of the rail company face to face to push for action.

After the meeting, Chris Willmore said, “First Great Western are now investigating using the sort of metal mesh with holes that Yate Town Council has used successfully on its bus shelters, such as the one on Church Road. We are delighted, as this will give a longer term, vandal-resistant solution. Anyone who has waited for a train in the recent wet and windy weather will be keen for the shelters to be fixed as soon as possible.”

The photo shows local rail campaigners and Lib Dem Focus councillors Chris Willmore, Wully Perks and Martin Monk doing a  spot of amateur weather forecasting - currently an essential skill for Yate rail passengers. 

By the way, this is the 700th item posted on our blog since it started in January 2007. It's nice that it's some positive news. Best wishes to all our regular readers!

Yate station - First Great Western dig their heels in, refuse to repair shelter panes

Yate Town Councillor Chris Willmore
shows the extent of the damage

First Great Western are still refusing to replace the broken shelter glazing at Yate Station despite protests by passengers, even though winter is on its way.

They say it's too expensive to keep replacing panes broken by vandals. But on the same logic they wouldn't replace broken office windows or train windows.

We wouldn't tolerate bus shelters or phone boxes being left smashed up. But just because the station is tucked out of the way, First think they can get away with penny-pinching at the expense of their customers who pay very high fares.

Get your act together, First!

The Yate Station Users Group will be meeting shortly to decide the next steps to be taken.

First Great Western Refuse to repair Yate Station Shelter

Rail user, Chris Willmore, has slammed First Great Western's decision to leave Yate commuters with no shelter from the rain whilst they wait for their train.

At the best of times it is a scramble for the hundreds of commuters waiting for morning trains from Yate to Filton and Bristol to find space in the tiny shelter. But now, even the shelter will not protect them from the rain. All but one panel of the shelter is broken, and rail users were horrified when First refused point blank to repair them.

Chris Willmore, who was the person who reported the problem and asked for action said "This is mad. It leaves users with no shelter. There had been some vandalism, but the police have caught the culprit. Now we need the shelter back. Otherwise we are saying the countless decent rail users, who pay huge sums to use the train must wait in the wind and rain, unprotected. I can see why they didn't repair it whilst the culprit was at large, now he has been caught they should restore it"

"We will be taking it up with First face to face at the next Yate Station Users Group - but frankly First seem more interested in trying to persuade passengers to plant flower beds than actually providing a service to train users."

Some relief for overcrowded Yate rail passengers

First Great Western is putting an extra carriage on an overcrowded morning service from Yate via Filton Abbey Wood and Bristol Parkway to Bristol Temple Meads. From December there will be three carriages on a re-timed train at 8.16 am, instead of just two carriages at 8.09 am.

This follows a campaign by the Friends of Yate Station and Steve Webb MP, who took a senior First GW manager on the train to show how overcrowded it was.

This still leaves an overcrowding problem in the evening service back from Temple Meads.

Steve Webb described the changes as just a small step forward and commented "It's good news but we need three carriages on all peak services. We also need to be confident that trains will always turn up. They should also be running with greater frequency"

So how about it, First Great Western? You'll be able to take some people into Bristol but you won't be able to bring them back. That's not exactly integrated thinking.

For more details see the Evening Post report here.