I fully support Lee Fletcher in his efforts to improve train services and there is no reason to doubt his motives or berate his efforts. I speak from personal experience in that CANBER and Lee were of tremendous help and gave full support to the campaign to stop the cuts planned at Ivybridge station during the period where FGW proposed to slash the services at Ivybridge from 24 per day to 6.
I am pleased to say that due to Lee's eforts and the Ivybridge Rail User's Group we now have 16 services per day (weekdays).

 
Many congratulations to you both.

 
Thankyou all for your good wishes. I will be sure to pass them on to Nicki.

 
Congrats Lee, you say Grahame will be your best man, perhaps he should drive to the venue so he will get there by the time the Reception is over

 
I find myself disappointed and pleased to have to write this but here it is.

There is absolutely no reason, no reason at all to berate Lee Fletcher for his efforts to restore to the UK a more appropriate rail service fit for the 21st century and beyond.  Without Lee's vision many of us would have floundered, thinking our issues 'close to home' were mere trifles that others don't care about or were somehow irrelevant.  However through this forum and the Save the Train forum so much camaraderie has been created that it encourages all of us to keep up the fight, so to speak. 

All our local campaigns are connected.  We all want a better country and a better world to live, work and travel in.  If some of us don't take the global perspective, showing where our struggles coincide, then what hope do we have?  People like Lee enable so many of us to feel assured that we are doing the right thing, the concept of improving our railways is no mere marginal issue, albeit that we still have to win the struggle to prove it is so much more than just an irritation for those companies involved in running and making profit from it or to the politicians who continue to bury their heads in the sand about it.

So much of what Lee has achieved has been done completely off his own back, at his own expense and without thought for personal gain.  Anyone who seeks to criticise this in a negative fashion really ought to examine their own convictions and question the lack of courage with which they examine them.

I for one (and I know there are many) salute Lee and others like him for restoring my own faith in my small but not insignificant efforts to keep rail and public transport on the lips of my local representatives.

Let me also add my hearty congratulations to Lee and his fiancee and wish them the best for May 2008 and beyond! 

 

Time for an update to my "introductions and chat" post , I think.

I co - organise Campaign Against New Beeching Report (CANBER) which is a confederation of campaigning groups and individuals , united in the aim of preventing the closure of lines and stations , and securing / developing their future role as part of the rail network of the United Kingdom.

From humble beginnings in February 2006 , the confederation membership now consists of 13 campaign groups and 32 campaigning individuals. Several other such groups and individuals fully support us but , for varying reasons , wish to remain anonymous.

Not bad going , I would suggest , for a campaign whose co - organiser was recently accused of poking "your beak into matters which should be of no concern of yours."

Have we had any successes? On our own , no , but we have helped those on the ground acheive the following :

- Averting the closure of Ardwick , Denton and Reddish South stations.

- Reducing planned services cuts at Dilton Marsh , Ivybridge , Saltash and Severn Tunnel Junction stations.

- Persuading Bristol City Council to treat a 40 minute frequency service on the Severn Beach Line as an urgent priority.

Dont just take my "opportunist" word for it. Ask the campaigning groups and individuals involved.

They are all members of the CANBER confederation.

Of course , there are several outstanding issues that we would like to see resolved. To find out more about these , visit our website (link below.)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/actionnetwork/G1517

Despite what martyjon may think , I am proud of what I do , and you wont find me apologising for any of it.

On a more personal note , I am due to marry a wonderful woman by the name of Nicki in May 2008 , and grahame has kindly consented to be my best man. Global Moderator Nick Field will also be in attendance , and it will be great to have two of the several people who have supported my efforts from the outset at my wedding.

Finally , martyjon seems concerned that I dont spend more time on issues closer to where I live. I am happy to inform him that this is not the case , and I fully support the no450 Campaign , which aims to get more appropriate trains on Portsmouth - London Waterloo services (link below.)
http://www.no450.co.uk/

I hope that the above helps to clear up any confusion.

 
I'm delighted to appoint Lee as a Global Moderator on this forum.

Very occasionally, there's a need for someone to "jump in" ... for example to remove posts which are off topic (e.g. advertising erotic material) or to help calm down an argument or remove the sounce code of a virus.  Actually, none of these has appeared on firstgreatwestern.info yet, so Lee's life might by quiet for a while ... but if you spot anything that you feel needs attention, let him, or me, or Nick know.

Lee - great to have you on board.

 
Good on you, join the club!

 
Hi, Lee -  thanks for the intro and all your posts to help us start up.    There's such a lot to do ... the new December timetable was 10 steps backwards and we've taken since then - just - one step forward (I'm counting from the passenger's viewpoint here - this IS a passenger site) so we've still got nine to go ... and perhaps more beyond that as we encourage a sensible service for the future, nit just the current

 
Hi , Lee Fletcher co - organiser of Campaign Against New Beeching Report (http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/actionnetwork/G1517) and moderator of the Save The Train Forum (http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/forum/index.php) here.

I live in Portsmouth , am "dad" to 2 retired greyhounds called Thunder & Molly , and am a lifelong rail enthusiast (and proud of it.)

And thats your lot (for now.)

Best of luck with the website & forum. I am sure that I will be on here from time to time....