FIGHTING FOR HALF HOURLY TRAINS

The new train timetable from Sunday 13th Dec is a real missed opportunity. 

 You can find details at: https://www.gwr.com/plan-journey/train-times. Annoyingly, they are running slow trains from Glos to Bristol every half hour, but only alternate trains stop at Yate!! 

The Malvern line B3  from Malvern to Bristol stops at Yate.

The Weymouth B10 line from Gloucestershire to Weymouth does not show the train stopping at Yate. It says it will stop at places like Thornford and Upway, but not Yate. But actually it will because it is really the B3, but some of them will go on to Weymouth.

Confused?

We have been campaigning for half hourly trains for a long time, and the local MP SAYS he backs the campaign. And WECA and South Glos say THEY back it, but say it is going to cost a lot of money as they need to make technical changes. WECA are spending a fortune on feasibility studies.

We have immediately got Yate Town Council to approach GWR to suggest they sort this out, and once again pushing for the half hourly service we need. 

Stephen Williams, who has been helping us with this campaign commented " Yate  desperately needs the half hourly service, and instead of years more promises that it is ‘being investigated’ we need action.”

Buses, trains and roads: if you have to get about

We hope you are able to enjoy the warm weather this weekend while staying at home. If you do have to make an essential journey, you may find the following travel updates useful. Bus With the Stay at Home restrictions in place and staff shortages, local bus operators are running reduced services. Don’t rely on timetables at the bus stop, in the apps or the real time displays. Instead check the latest timetables online: First Bus Stage Coach The bus operators are also looking for feedback from key workers on the services: First Bus Stage Coach Don’t forget that if you are a Diamond Travel Card holder, the time restrictions have been lifted so you can get free travel to supermarkets that are running early morning slots for older people. Rail For advice on rail travel across the UK, go to the National Rail enquiries website. Train operators also have their own advice pages including: Cross-Country Trains GWR And for all travel across the West of England check out the Travel West website. Gipsy Patch Lane bridge replacement postponed Work to move the new Gipsy Patch Lane railway bridge into place was due to start today and run until 20th April but it has had to be postponed. The work needs over 150 people to be on site working closely together, so it would have been impossible to follow social distancing guidance. It’s vital to protect the safety of workers and stop the virus spreading. Smaller numbers of workers are still on site doing preparatory highways work. The road remains closed and they continue to run shuttle buses for pedestrians who need to make essential journeys to the other side of the bridge. The new bridge has already been constructed offsite, ready for when the bridge move can be carried out. Despite the postponement of the bridge move, the planned temporary closure of the railway between Bristol Parkway and Newport is still going ahead from Saturday 11 April to Sunday 19 April inclusive. This is so that other planned engineering work on the railway that can be carried out within government guidelines goes ahead. During this period, train services between Bristol and South Wales are changed and buses replace trains between Bristol Parkway and Newport. If a journey is absolutely necessary, we strongly advise you to check before you travel by visiting GWR.com/Check or nationalrail.co.uk. Please note online journey planners may be amended at short notice. Any updates on this project will be posted on social media via www.facebook.com/sgloscpme and the project webpage at www.southglos.gov.uk/cpmetrobus. You can also sign up for a project newsletter on the web page. If you have queries concerning the rail line closure call the Network Rail 24-hour helpline on 03457 11 41 41. Thank you to everyone who is keeping public transport running at this time.

Rail closures 27 October to 18 November

Network Rail will be doubling the tracks between Bristol Temple Meads and Filton Abbey Wood over the next few weeks, which will mean that from Saturday 27 October to Sunday 18 November buses will replace trains between Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway, and some services will be diverted.

Please check with National Rail Enquiries www.nationalrail.co.uk before you travel how your journey will be affected.

 

Christmas and New Year - Train services

The Christmas and New Year bank holiday period (23 December 2017 to 2 January 2018) is traditionally the time when a considerable amount of improvement and engineering work is undertaken on Britain's rail network. 

Many train companies will also be making changes to their timetable to match service levels to the number of customers travelling. Please plan ahead and check if your journey is affected as some services will be added, some will be restricted, and some will not be running during this time period.

For more info click here

Great Western rail franchise consultation

Do you use GWR train services? If so, please respond to the Department of Transport's Great Western rail franchise consultation.

There's a few items regarding MetroWest/Greater Bristol Metro and the potential splitting of the local services around Bristol and intercity services to/from Paddington into two different operators. If you're a regular rail user this could affect you.

The consultation is open until 21 February 2018.

Bristol Parkway Upgrade - station AND M4 MOTORWAY weekend closures in November

Update from Network Rail 10/11/2017: "Due to the progress made with our electrification work on the M4 Blue Bridge last weekend, the motorway will not be closed at Junction 19 this weekend (11/12 November) as previously planned.

We will keep you informed of progress with our upgrade works around the Bristol Parkway area which continue this weekend (11/12) and next (18/19) with no trains calling at the station. Please check before you travel at gwr.com/bristol2017 or crosscountrytrains.co.uk"

Network Rail say: "Our work to increase capacity at Bristol Parkway will continue over the first three weekends of November during planned closures of the station"

"The project includes the extension of the three existing platforms and the construction of a fourth to serve GWR’s new fleet of Intercity Express Trains. We’re also improving the track layout to allow more trains to use the station. The new platform is due to come into use in December 2017"

Bristol Parkway Station will be closed as follows:

• Sat 4 - Sun 5 Nov
• Sat 11 - Sun 12 Nov
• Sat 18 - Sun 19 Nov

M4 Motorway closures

Network Rail continue: "To carry out installation of electrification equipment on the blue railway bridge over the M4 motorway we need to shut the road. To limit disruption we are doing this overnight"

The motorway is scheduled to be closed as follows:

• Fri 3 Nov 11 pm - Sat 4 Nov 7 am
• Sat 5 Nov 9 pm - Sun 5 Nov 8 am
• Sun 5 Nov 10 pm - Mon 6 Nov 5 am  
• Fri 10 Nov 11 pm - Sat 11 Nov 7 am
• Sat 11 Nov 9 pm - Sun 12 Nov 8 am
• Sun 12 Nov 10 pm - Mon 13 Nov 5am  

Foundation Piling progress

"We made great progress with the electrification of the railway between Swindon and Patchway during the line closure in August/September. However, we still have a number of foundations to install, along with the electrified overhead line equipment"

"Piling between Patchway and Bristol Parkway stations is taking place every Saturday night until February 2018. Our hours of work will be between 21:00 – 07:00. We will also be making the most of an opportunity to install a number of foundations during the daytime in this area on the 11 and 12 November"

"We also have a number of foundations left to install in the Acton Turville, Chipping Sodbury and Old Sodbury areas"




Filton Abbey Wood Station

"Work is continuing to prepare Filton Abbey Wood for more trains as part of our project to double the number of tracks on the Filton Bank between Bristol Parkway and Bristol Temple Meads.  We will be adding a fourth platform to the station, with ramped access to the existing footbridge"

"To support the embankment, we are currently building a retaining wall between the site of the new platform and the residential area that backs on to the railway. We’ll then return at a later date to extend the three existing platforms and lay the new track"

"Pedestrians approaching the platforms from the car park side are being diverted via Nutfield Grove while the existing footpath is closed until the end of 2017"
 

Early warning of train delays 16 and 17 September

On Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 September Network Rail will be testing the overhead wires in the Reading area, which will have an impact on all Thames Valley and High Speed Services.

What that means for people travelling from our area is that services will operate hourly from Bristol Temple Meads and London Paddington, with amended calling patterns and some extended journey times.

You can find out more here.

Railway modernisation - Great Western main line

GWR have told us that work to widen the platforms at Bath Spa has now been successfully completed and Network Rail have moved on to work on the track around Swindon and Chippenham.  This will affect rail services through Didcot Parkway, Swindon, Chippenham and Bristol Parkway over the late May bank holiday (27-29 May) and the weekend of 10 and 11 June.  Full details of the revised arrangements are on their dedicated web page www.gwr.com/Swindon2017

There will then be further work at Chippenham from Saturday 8 July through to Sunday 16 July.  Services between London and Bristol Temple Meads will be diverted and there will be a reduced service for Swindon and Bath Spa during this period.  More details are on www.gwr.com/Chippenham2017 where they also set out arrangements for weekend replacement services to Westbury and Melksham.

There will be additional staff at stations to help customers and they are using both traditional and social media, as well as information at stations and at ticket sales points, to highlight the changes. 

GWR say: "We want the electrification upgrade to be as painless as possible, of course we recognise that any timetables changes, however temporary, cause some inconvenience, but these works will allow us to put brand new ten car trains on this route in 2017, and the work has to be completed while we continue to run services"

Useful information this Christmas

With the festive season getting underway, here is some information you might find useful over the Christmas and New Year period.

Christmas Last Posting Dates

Tuesday 20 December - 2nd Class and Royal Mail Signed For®
Wednesday 21 December - 1st Class and Royal Mail Signed For®
Thursday 22 December - Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed®
Friday 23 December - Special Delivery Saturday Guaranteed

Waste and Recycling

There are some changes to waste and recycling collection over the Christmas period.

If your collection should be on:	It will instead take place on:
Monday 26 December	Tuesday 27 December
Tuesday 27 December	Wednesday 28 December
Wednesday 28 December	Thursday 29 December
Thursday 29 December	Friday 30 December
Friday 30 December	Saturday 31 December

You can check your precise date and what will be collected on the South Glos website.

Your tree might not even be up yet, but once the festivities are over you can recycle real trees in a number of ways:

• If you have subscribed to the garden waste service, you can put your tree into or next to your green bin.
• You can buy a single use garden waste sack for £2 from your nearest library and attach it to the tree.
• You can take it to one of the Sort It recycling centres and put it in the garden waste (not wood waste) skip.

Whichever you do, don't forget to remove all the decorations, pots and stands first and if it's over 6ft tall you must cut it up into smaller sections if you're having it collected. 

Out of Hours Pharmacies Times

Over the Christmas and New Year period, many pharmacies are closed. You can find out which ones are open here.

Trains
As we posted earlier this month, from Saturday 24th December until Thursday 29th December London Paddington will be closed to all rail services.

This will mean that GWR rail services will start and finish at Ealing Broadway, from where you can take the underground or a bus. However, the station does not have step-free access. So if you are travelling with heavy luggage or find steps difficult for any reason you will need to change at Reading and use services from there to London Waterloo. Unfortunately that will mean a longer journey.

You can find out more on the GWR website.

Bus services
Over Christmas and the New Year some buses will be running to different timetables from normal. You can find out more on the TravelWest site.

Bank Holiday rail disruption

Network Rail is carrying out further work in South Wales and the South West this August Bank Holiday weekend, to install new signalling as part of their Railway Upgrade Plan.

The work will take place from 27th to 29th August and will require a temporary closure of the lines in both directions between Bristol Parkway and Swindon, Newport, Bristol Temple Meads, Gloucester and Severn Beach. Trains will be diverted and in some cases replaced by buses. More information is available here.