From: John Allison
Sent: 26 October 2011 11:57
To: ' citizenletters@glosmedia.co.uk '
Subject: The new railway station.
Sent: 26 October 2011 11:57
To: ' citizenletters@glosmedia.co.uk '
Subject: The new railway station.
Ian Mean Esq, 25/10/11
Dear Mr Mean,
Firstly I would like to thank you for your excellent support and campaign to have the docks and the canal properly dredged. To me it is very important on a personal note in that my great grandfather who was a shipwright came to Gloucester docks from Monkwearmouth near Sunderland between 1851-1861 with Messrs Pickersgill and Miller. The reason being the Canal Company at Gloucester were having problems and needed the skills for an efficient ship-repairing service which resulted in Pickersgill and Miller coming here. . It appears some stayed at Gloucester but at least one family returned to Sunderland . My grandfather followed on working at the docks until he retired as a shipwright too... So very many thanks as I have spent very many hours enjoying the docks right down to Sharpness. So thank you very much for a very successful campaign.
Following on from this I have been reading the articles and letters to the editor about the railway triangle .which definitely needs attending too. My thoughts are that as we are in recession any new supermarket will create some jobs but sadly this will decrease business on the existing ones. The resulting reduced turnover on existing supermarkets and other shops will need less staff and hence cause more unemployment. I refer to the new Morrisons, larger Tescos and a new one at Kingsway etc. This will cause smaller takings in existing supermarkets and private shops too. We have too many empty shops at present.
There have been many excellent articles and letters to the editor in the Citizen regarding the railway triangle and a new railway station. I am hopeful that you may consider a campaign similar to the docks and canal regarding the possibility of a new railway station. This would be helpful to residents from Gloucester and its surrounding area wishing to travel north and south without the need to travel to Cheltenham .
The improvement at the existing railway station is to be welcomed but that is not the answer. The north/ south line from Gloucester is very poor to say the least. At the moment to travelling further than Birmingham or Bristol is almost impossible. The answer is to go by road to Cheltenham Spa and Cross Country then will take you direct to very many places in the South West including Plymouth , Torquay Penzance and obviously stops between these. Travelling north they go to Manchester York ,Glasgow, Edinburgh right up to Aberdeen . Here again they stop at many stations on the routes covered. They also add that Cheltenham is an excellent place to change trains especially rather than Birmingham New Street etc which is horrible. The reason being you do not have to struggle with cases since the connecting train is on the same platform…I suggest if you have not seen a Crosscountry time table you do look at it in detail. Our city does NOT get one train during the week days operated by Crosscountry..
My main concern is that we NEED VISITORS to our city with the Cathedral and Docks just to mention 2 gems and shops etc This will help the economy of Gloucester. With fuel prices rising, more people are using rail transport .Cheltenham has an increasing number of passengers while Gloucester actually FELL last year!!!!!. This says a lot since this is one of the exceptions where passenger numbers were down. Figures obtained from rail stations on the internet). We need the new railway station. It is vital for people visiting the city. Gloucester and its surrounding population is growing and I believe well in excess of Cheltenham . I am not knocking Cheltenham .
My wife and I do not use Gloucester railway station at all now owing to trains between Gloucester and the north or the south routes. We go directly to Cheltenham which is extra cost and likewise if we have guests from Scotland they can arrive at Cheltenham where they can be met. This year we had guests from Arbroath (Population about 20,000) which is near Aberdeen which arrived at Cheltenham without a change.
Yours sincerely,
John Allison
Gloucester .
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