UK: The rail regulator has approved co-operatively owned start-up Go-op’s plans to launch open access passenger train services between Swindon, Taunton and Weston-super-Mare.
The Office of Rail & Road has agreed to Go-op’s application for a track access contract with Network Rail, but has set conditions because its co-operative structure is novel for the UK rail sector.
Go-op is required to provide evidence ‘without delay, and no later than November 2025’ that it has the necessary finance to start operations and fund £1·5m of enhancements to eight level crossings, and that the rolling stock has been secured; Go-op plans to lease second-hand Class 153 single-car diesel multiple-units with modifications for accessibility compliance.
As this will take time, ORR has approved access rights for Go-op to launch in December 2025 at the earliest. It must start operations no later than December 2026.
If the conditions are not met, the access rights will lapse.
Operating plans
The access rights running from December 2025 to December 2030 cover return weekday and weekend services between Taunton and Weston-super-Mare, Taunton and Westbury, Taunton and Swindon, and Frome and Westbury. There are contingent rights between Taunton and Weston-super-Mare, Weston-super-Mare and Parsons Street, Taunton and Westbury, Taunton and Swindon, and Norton Fitzwarren Junction and Taunton.
Go-op will compete with Great Western Railway, which operates under a Department for Transport contract. GWR opposed the application on the grounds of revenue abstraction and increased use of capacity.
The application was supported by Somerset and Wiltshire councils, by train operator CrossCountry and by DfT, which said the application had ministerial support.
ORR said it weighed up the beneficial aspects relating to competition and new journey opportunities, and took into account government support. It decided these considerations should be given greater weight than the very limited impact on government funds and train service performance, with the application passing the Not Primarily Abstractive test.
‘Our decision gives Go-op the opportunity to bring the first co-operatively owned train service and the first regional open access service in the UK’, said Martin Jones, ORR Deputy Director, Access, Licensing & International, on November 15. ’We think this novel proposal can benefit passengers across Somerset and Wiltshire.’
‘Determined to get it right.’
Go-op said it had spent more than 10 years developing its proposal to connect poorly served stations.
‘For the first time, rail passengers have come together to propose their own package of improvements to rail services’, said Go-op Chair Alex Lawrie. ‘It’s fantastic news for Somerset and Wiltshire where for many years trains have just passed straight through — towns like Taunton, Frome, Melksham and Chippenham will really notice the difference. This proves that innovation on the railways isn’t reliant on decisions in remote boardrooms or Whitehall offices, but can come from ordinary people.’
Go-op plans to finance the scheme using a mix of loans and crowdfunded investment, with members able to invest in ‘community shares’ focusing a blend of social and financial reward and broad-based, democratic management.
It hopes to run trains from December 2025, but ‘there is a great deal of work to do to make that happen’.
Director Martin Bond said ’we are going to be training a group of new train drivers, fine-tuning the timetable and establishing a new control centre for the route. We’ll need to plan the refurbishment of suitable rolling stock, including additional action to reduce carbon emissions, and review safety on level crossings that will now have many more trains passing over them.
‘Building a train operating company from the ground up isn’t a simple task, and we are determined to get it right.’
