A report on the latest meeting of the Committee is
available HERE.
Promotional literature, produced by
a number of organisations (including the CLPG) is widely distributed.
The Group services a number of information
boards and publicity racks in station booking halls, town and village centres and
in Post Offices etc. in the catchment area.
The Group has organised a series of meetings
in various locations along the line to enable members or other train users to put forward
their views to the various train operators and Railtrack.
The Group organises or participates in various local events throughout the year and occasionally charters a train to a destination not normally served by through
services. The Group aims to
cater for those who recall those glorious days in the 1960s and 1970s when British Rail
ran its "Merrymaker Excursions" at very modest fares. They are an
excellent way of introducing the delights of rail travel to those who seldom, or never,
use normal services. Another excursion with First Great Western is planned for 18th September 2010 and, hopefully, further trips can be arranged
in future years if the amount we have to pay for them is kept to a reasonable level.
For a summary of previous charter trains
organised by the CLPG, click here.
In June 1994, the CLPG organised a ramble ending
at Finstock
station, which was, at that time, under threat of closure.
Regular meetings are held with rail
management at which such matters as timetables, fares and special fare promotions, station
facilities, etc. are discussed.
The Group has published two books of station-to-station
walks entitled "From the Wye to the Thames" and "From the Thames to
the Wye". For details, click HERE.
The launch of "From the Thames
to the Wye" at Moreton-in-Marsh Show
on Saturday 5th September 2009.
Left to right: Ray Jones (Editor), Glynis Dray (Illustrator) and Tony
Hirtenstein (Layout and Design).
Photo: Brian Clayton.
In February 1998, the Group published an "Appraisal and Development Plan" for the Cotswold and Malvern
Line, as it considered that merely maintaining the status quo was no
longer an acceptable option if the line is to properly serve the needs of the local
community.
In January 1999, the Group was instrumental in the formation of
the "Cotswolds and Malverns Transport Partnership"
between train operators, Railtrack and local authorities. The first action of the
Partnership was to commission a £26,000 report on the demand for extra services on the
line and the improvements required to the infrastructure in order overcome current
capacity problems and cope with any such extra services. The
report has been released to the Partnership a decision has now been made regarding action
to be collectively be taken to resolve the problems of the line and to provide it with
adequate intrastructure and train services for the next 10 years or so.
A copy of the Executive
Summary of the Cotswold and Malvern Line Rail Study report is included in this site. To go direct to it, click HERE.
In 2003, the Group led the celebrations to
commemorate the 150th anniversary of the
opening of the line between Oxford and Worcester in 1853. Please also visit the "Cotswold Line
150" section. This has been followed by celebrations for the 25th
anniversary of the reopening of Honeybourne station in 1981, the 75th anniversary of
Finstock station in 2009 and Worcester-Malvern150
in 2010. Combe station celebrated its 75th
anniversary on 8th July 2010.
