Go! Cooperative
Encyclopedia
Go! Cooperative Ltd, now trading as GOCO, is an open access
UK Train Operating Company
which is currently proposing to operate a service between Yeovil
and Birmingham, via Oxford
. They are aiming to become the first cooperative
ly owned train operating company in the UK, to improve access to the public transport infrastructure through open access rail services linking main lines to smaller market towns, and co-ordinating services with light rail
and bus links and car pools. Go! intends to begin operating rail services in December 2013.
As a co-operative, Go! is to be owned and run by its employees and customers. Shares are available to the general public, with holdings restricted to between £500 and £20,000 per shareholder. Passengers hold 50 per cent of the vote in general meetings, with employees holding a further 25 per cent, and other investors holding the remainder.
and the Midlands, via Yeovil Pen Mill
, Frome
, Westbury
, Trowbridge
, Melksham
, Chippenham
, Swindon
and Oxford
, with three of those services being extended to Birmingham Moor Street
.
The timetable proposes an early morning service from Yeovil to Birmingham, catering for business travellers, followed by a commuter service from Westbury and Trowbridge to Swindon and Oxford. Later services to Birmingham should cater for the leisure market. There are plans to extend the route further south to Weymouth, however it is acknowledged that for this to happen extra trains would be required.
Go! estimates that around 750,000 people live within 2 km of stations on the proposed route, excluding Birmingham.
and London
, via the West Midlands
. The company has suggested that once up and running it will look at purchasing new diesel trains
.
Light rail lines are likely to use refurbished diesel railcars, or lightweight vehicles similar to the vehicles
used on the Stourbridge Town Branch Line
.
services on existing branch lines. Routes in and around Yeovil, Oxford and Weymouth were considered, but rejected due to the technical difficulty of turning the routes into viable public transport links.
The co-operative plans to operate a 'trial' service at some time during early 2011, from Medstead & Four Marks
to Alton, over part of the Mid-Hants Railway. The shuttle services, branded as GOCO Mid-Hants Link, and utilising rolling stock from Parry People Movers
, will connect with South West Trains
main line services to Farnham, Woking and Alton. Five trains are scheduled in each direction, with morning departures at around 06.22, 06.53, 07.24, 07.55 and 08.27.
Evening departures from Alton back to Medstead & Four Marks will operate at approximately 17.46, 18.35, 19.08, 19.39 and 20.10. The trial is being run in conjunction with Hampshire County Council and East Hants District Council.
|}
A line which is still being considered is the Ludgershall
branch, near Andover
on the border between Wiltshire
and Hampshire
. The line south of the former station in the town remains open for freight traffic, namely the delivery of MOD
equipment to Salisbury Plain
.
Over time, the company hopes to establish shuttle bus services, car clubs and bike hire to improve links with the rail network.
Open Access (Infrastructure)
In the context of infrastructure, open access involves physical infrastructure such as railways and physical telecommunications network plant being made available to clients other than the owners, for a fee....
UK Train Operating Company
Train operating company
The term train operating company is used in the United Kingdom to describe the various businesses operating passenger trains on the railway system of Great Britain under the collective National Rail brand...
which is currently proposing to operate a service between Yeovil
Yeovil
Yeovil is a town and civil parish in south Somerset, England. The parish had a population of 27,949 at the 2001 census, although the wider urban area had a population of 42,140...
and Birmingham, via Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
. They are aiming to become the first cooperative
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
ly owned train operating company in the UK, to improve access to the public transport infrastructure through open access rail services linking main lines to smaller market towns, and co-ordinating services with light rail
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
and bus links and car pools. Go! intends to begin operating rail services in December 2013.
As a co-operative, Go! is to be owned and run by its employees and customers. Shares are available to the general public, with holdings restricted to between £500 and £20,000 per shareholder. Passengers hold 50 per cent of the vote in general meetings, with employees holding a further 25 per cent, and other investors holding the remainder.
Proposed timetable
The company has created a draft timetable, which offers four return trips between Yeovil JunctionYeovil Junction railway station
Yeovil Junction railway station is the busier of two railway stations serving the town of Yeovil in England. The station is outside the town in the village of Stoford; although Yeovil is in Somerset, the station was in Dorset until 1995. It was opened by the London and South Western Railway in...
and the Midlands, via Yeovil Pen Mill
Yeovil Pen Mill railway station
Yeovil Pen Mill railway station is one of two stations serving the town of Yeovil, Somerset. The station is situated just under a mile to the east of the town centre.The station is located south of Bristol Temple Meads, on the Heart of Wessex Line...
, Frome
Frome railway station
Frome railway station serves a largely rural area of the county of Somerset in England, and is situated in the town of Frome.The station is located on a long branch line which loops off the main line railway, which carries services on both the Reading to Taunton line and Bristol to Weymouth route...
, Westbury
Westbury railway station
Westbury railway station serves the town of Westbury, Wiltshire, England. The station is managed by First Great Western.The station is a major junction, serving the Reading to Plymouth Line with services to and from Penzance and London Paddington, the Wessex Main Line with services to and from...
, Trowbridge
Trowbridge railway station
Trowbridge railway station is a railway station on the Wessex Main Line between and . The station is south east of and is managed by First Great Western....
, Melksham
Melksham railway station
Melksham railway station serves the town of Melksham in Wiltshire, England. It is on the branch line from Chippenham to Trowbridge that was originally part of the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway, absorbed in 1850 by the Great Western Railway. The station opened with the original section of the...
, Chippenham
Chippenham railway station
Chippenham railway station serves the market town of Chippenham in Wiltshire, England. The station is on the Great Western Main Line, in between and , and is served by First Great Western main line services between Bristol Temple Meads and London Paddington, and a smaller First Great Western local...
, Swindon
Swindon railway station
Swindon railway station is in the town of Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The station entrance is on Station Road, to the south of the line.It is approximately from the central bus station and the town centre...
and Oxford
Oxford railway station
Oxford railway station is a mainline railway station serving the city of Oxford, England. It is about west of the city centre, northwest of Frideswide Square and the eastern end of Botley Road, and on the line linking with . It is also on the line for trains between and Hereford via...
, with three of those services being extended to Birmingham Moor Street
Birmingham Moor Street railway station
Birmingham Moor Street railway station is one of three main railway stations in the city centre of Birmingham, England. The Grade II listed old station building has been partially renovated to its 1930s condition at a cost of £11 million....
.
The timetable proposes an early morning service from Yeovil to Birmingham, catering for business travellers, followed by a commuter service from Westbury and Trowbridge to Swindon and Oxford. Later services to Birmingham should cater for the leisure market. There are plans to extend the route further south to Weymouth, however it is acknowledged that for this to happen extra trains would be required.
Go! estimates that around 750,000 people live within 2 km of stations on the proposed route, excluding Birmingham.
Rolling stock
Go! has expressed a preference for push-pull locomotives and rolling stock, and expects to use vehicles similar to those used by the defunct open access operator Wrexham & Shropshire, which used to operate services between WrexhamWrexham
Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, via the West Midlands
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
. The company has suggested that once up and running it will look at purchasing new diesel trains
Diesel multiple unit
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines. They may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country.-Design:...
.
Light rail lines are likely to use refurbished diesel railcars, or lightweight vehicles similar to the vehicles
British Rail Class 139
British Rail Class 139 is the TOPS classification for PPM60 model lightweight railcars built by Parry People Movers, for use on the British rail network...
used on the Stourbridge Town Branch Line
Stourbridge Town Branch Line
The Stourbridge Town Branch Line is a railway branch line, in Stourbridge, West Midlands, England. It is claimed to be the shortest branch line in Europe, and many miniature railways are certainly longer....
.
Light rail
One of the company's original aims was to look at developing links into existing mainline rail routes, by developing light railLight rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
services on existing branch lines. Routes in and around Yeovil, Oxford and Weymouth were considered, but rejected due to the technical difficulty of turning the routes into viable public transport links.
The co-operative plans to operate a 'trial' service at some time during early 2011, from Medstead & Four Marks
Medstead and Four Marks railway station
Medstead and Four Marks railway station is a railway station in the English county of Hampshire, serving the villages of Medstead and Four Marks.-History:Opened in August 1868 as Medstead, it changed to its present name on 1 October 1937....
to Alton, over part of the Mid-Hants Railway. The shuttle services, branded as GOCO Mid-Hants Link, and utilising rolling stock from Parry People Movers
Parry People Movers
Parry People Movers Ltd. is a British company manufacturing lightweight trams and railcars that use flywheel energy storage to store energy for traction, allowing electric systems to operate without overhead wires or third rails, and railcars fuelled by small gas, diesel or hydrogen engines,...
, will connect with South West Trains
South West Trains
South West Trains is a British train operating company providing, under franchise, passenger rail services, mostly out of Waterloo station, to the southwest of London in the suburbs and in the counties of Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset, Devon, Somerset, Berkshire, and Wiltshire and on the Isle of Wight...
main line services to Farnham, Woking and Alton. Five trains are scheduled in each direction, with morning departures at around 06.22, 06.53, 07.24, 07.55 and 08.27.
Evening departures from Alton back to Medstead & Four Marks will operate at approximately 17.46, 18.35, 19.08, 19.39 and 20.10. The trial is being run in conjunction with Hampshire County Council and East Hants District Council.
|}
A line which is still being considered is the Ludgershall
Ludgershall, Wiltshire
Ludgershall is a town and civil parish north east of Salisbury, Wiltshire, at grid SU264509. The population was: 535 in 1831; 1,906 in 1951; and 3,775 in 2001. Ludgershall is now officially a town.-Historical features:...
branch, near Andover
Andover, Hampshire
Andover is a town in the English county of Hampshire. The town is on the River Anton some 18.5 miles west of the town of Basingstoke, 18.5 miles north-west of the city of Winchester and 25 miles north of the city of Southampton...
on the border between Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
and Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
. The line south of the former station in the town remains open for freight traffic, namely the delivery of MOD
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
equipment to Salisbury Plain
Salisbury Plain
Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in central southern England covering . It is part of the Southern England Chalk Formation and largely lies within the county of Wiltshire, with a little in Hampshire. The plain is famous for its rich archaeology, including Stonehenge, one of England's best known...
.
Over time, the company hopes to establish shuttle bus services, car clubs and bike hire to improve links with the rail network.