We wish to pass on an apology from Stagecoach West Bus Company for the loss of the Service 81 for two mornings because of the roadworks through Wroughton, which put the village into gridlock and they were unable to bring the bus back for the 09.50 service into Swindon. This means that a number of people had to walk to the main road to catch the X5 and others waited until 10.40 for the next 80 service.
Local government department for the South West has had a survey into the number of passengers using buses from rural areas and over the past five years the number of users has gone down by 10 million. This survey also highlighted that Swindon Town is one of the most congested towns in the South West for volumes of traffic in both rush hours; with Swindon BC improving a number of the roundabouts on the town’s network.
Our borough council are going ahead with new parking restrictions both in housing estates and villages. This will take effect from October 2018, with a fine of £105 for parking across people’s driveways, parking with two wheels on the pavement, too close to a junction and not leaving enough space for an emergency vehicle to get through. The council will have a campaign to encourage people to park on their driveways or convert front gardens into parking areas.
The managing director of GWR has announced that the January 2019 timetable changes will not take place. This is because of the changes that took place in May which caused lots of problems for commuters into London and trains in the north of England. The only thing that people will see is more of the Class 800 intercity electric trains going into service, with more seats and more carriages. The speed up of the network will not happen until late 2019.
Cllr David Hill Transport Representative – Chiseldon Parish Council