{"id":1114,"date":"2011-09-13T14:50:29","date_gmt":"2011-09-13T14:50:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/horsington.blog2.idnet.com\/?p=1114"},"modified":"2011-09-15T17:29:51","modified_gmt":"2011-09-15T17:29:51","slug":"your-chance-to-hold-sw-trains-to-account-on-september-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/horsington.blog2.idnet.com\/?p=1114","title":{"rendered":"Your chance to hold SW Trains to account on September 15"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Templecombe
Templecombe station\u2019s statue to the memory of personal contact on the railway (Picture: John Baxter, Wincanton Window)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Key contacts to help you fight proposed Templecombe station ticket office closure<\/strong><\/p>\n

Around a quarter of the country\u2019s railway station ticket offices are listed for closure, and inevitably Templecombe is one of them.<\/p>\n

This is a pity, because the Templecombe office is one of the friendliest, most helpful, knowledgeable and pleasant places on the entire rail network. Some excellent people will lose their livelihoods, while the rest of us will struggle with the car park machine and the ticket machine on the platform. Our travelling experienced will be diminished further, as the rail companies try to remove any remaining pleasure from rail travel, charging premium prices for a third world service. There are safety, security and disabled access implications as well.<\/p>\n

What can be done?<\/strong> No firm decision has been made. There is nothing on the SW trains or South Somerset District Council Websites about this, so it may not be too late. If enough people write to SW Trains, their MPs, local councilors and the local council itself, it may be possible to apply some pressure and head these proposed changes off. None of our elected representatives seem to be running with this, so give them a jab.<\/p>\n

Our MP <\/strong>\u2013 David Heath MP -17 Bath Street , Frome,\u00a0 Somerset , BA11 1DN or via website. www.davidheath.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

Councillors<\/strong>: Tim Inglefield tim.inglefield@southsomerset.gov.uk<\/a>
\nWilliam Wallace: william.wallace@southsomerset.gov.uk<\/a>
\n(They could start by asking why Templecombe station does not even appear on the rail map on the SSDC website)<\/p>\n

William Wallace is also a county councilor, but it would be unkind to write to him twice.<\/p>\n

SW Trains <\/strong>operates the line.\u00a0 There is a\u201d live web chat\u201d this Thursday 15 September <\/strong>between 2 and 4 pm where you can raise questions and put points to SW Trains management. Just go to the SW trains website www.southwesttrains.co.uk<\/a> and follow the links.<\/p>\n

SW Trains managing director is Andy Pitt. Write to him at SW Trains, Friars Bridge Court, 41-45 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8NZ.<\/p>\n

Some points to make<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0How much do ticket machines cost? We hear \u00a330,000 or more. So where is the cost saving?
\n\u2022\u00a0How does the proposed closure fit with the company\u2019s committed aim of\u00a0 \u201cimproving the delivery of our service to our customers, being an even better partner to work with, and making an increasingly positive impact on society and the environment\u201d? And all the other corporate social responsibility guff on their website?
\n\u2022\u00a0Automatic machines do not always sell the cheapest ticket
\n\u2022\u00a0There are frequent problems with automatic machines
\n\u2022\u00a0Train companies frequently change the rules regarding peak times and ticket availability
\n\u2022\u00a0Many people will find themselves paying unjustly levied penalty fares
\n\u2022\u00a0The lack of a personal touch will seriously diminish the travelling experience
\n\u2022\u00a0Current fares are very expensive and are set to rise further \u2013the public would rather pay for staff on the ground than management bonuses.
\n\u2022\u00a0Wheelchair users and others with handicaps or difficulties will not be able to cross the line
\n\u2022\u00a0Car park users will be seriously inconvenienced if the ticket office closes
\n\u2022\u00a0A manned station is a safe station<\/p>\n

You can guarantee that the ticket office will close if nobody makes a fuss!
\n<\/strong>
\nPS<\/strong>: Templecombe\u00a0 Station volunteers are also looking for recruits to help restore Templecombe station\u2019s famous garden to its former glory, including the now-weathered statue. Contact Alison.clements@tiscali.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

“Trains are a rich man’s toy”, says Transport Minister<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Key contacts to help you fight proposed Templecombe station ticket office closure Around a quarter of the country\u2019s railway station ticket offices are listed for closure, and inevitably Templecombe is one of them. This is a pity, because the Templecombe office is one of the friendliest, most helpful, knowledgeable and pleasant places on the entire … Continue reading “Your chance to hold SW Trains to account on September 15”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2757],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6glYD-hY","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/horsington.blog2.idnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/horsington.blog2.idnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/horsington.blog2.idnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/horsington.blog2.idnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/horsington.blog2.idnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1114"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/horsington.blog2.idnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1121,"href":"http:\/\/horsington.blog2.idnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114\/revisions\/1121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/horsington.blog2.idnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/horsington.blog2.idnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/horsington.blog2.idnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}