Future
First Great Western declined an option to continue the Greater Western passenger franchise (of which local and London services at Weston-super-Mare are a part) beyond 2013, citing a desire for a longer-term contract due to the impending upgrade to the Great Western Main Line. The franchise was put out to tender, and it was announced in March 2012 that Deutsche Bahn, First Group, National Express and Stagecoach had pre-qualified. The winner was expected to be announced in December 2012, with the new franchisee taking over in April 2013, however, it was announced in July 2012 that the franchise would be extended due to the late issue of the Invitation to Tender (ITT). The ITT was eventually released at the end of July, but the process was halted and later scrapped due to the fallout from the collapse of the InterCity West Coast franchise competition. Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin MP stated that he would aim to negotiate an agreement to extend the current First Great Western for at least two years. The new franchise will see the introduction of new Intercity Express Trains, capacity enhancements and smart ticketing.
With the coming upgrade to the Great Western Main Line, the main line from London to Bristol is due to be electrified. However, the electrification will not extend beyond Bristol, so Weston-super-Mare will continue to be served by diesel trains. This could entail the removal of direct London services, as electric trains would not be able to operate beyond Bristol. Services could however continue using bi-mode trains, which have electric engines that can be powered by either electrified tracks, or by on-board diesel generators. The group Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways supports the electrification continuing to Weston, as does MP for Weston-super-Mare John Penrose. It was suggested that the loss of direct London services would see a 40% decrease in passenger numbers.
The Weston-super-Mare/Yate corridor is one of the main axes of the Greater Bristol Metro, a rail transport plan which aims to enhance transport capacity in the Bristol area.
Read more about this topic: Weston-super-Mare Railway Station
Famous quotes containing the word future:
“We live in an age when to be young and to be indifferent can be no longer synonymous. We must prepare for the coming hour. The claims of the Future are represented by suffering millions; and the Youth of a Nation are the trustees of Posterity.”
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881)
“The difference between Pound and Whitman is not between the democrat who in deep distress could look hopefully toward the future and the fascist madly in love with the past. It is that between the woodsman and the woodcarver. It is that between the mystic harking back to his vision and the artist whose first allegiance is to his craft, and so to the reality it presents.”
—Babette Deutsch (1895–1982)
“... the loss of belief in future states is politically, though certainly not spiritually, the most significant distinction between our present period and the centuries before. And this loss is definite. For no matter how religious our world may turn again, or how much authentic faith still exists in it, or how deeply our moral values may be rooted in our religious systems, the fear of hell is no longer among the motives which would prevent or stimulate the actions of a majority.”
—Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)