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Transport

News on Transport developments and issues.  Transport Group (See More Details) focuses on transport issues in Guildford.  We also post items of interest on transport from other organisations, including the government.

Transport has a major impact on Guildford, bringing issues such as pollution, congestion and accidents. The Society believes a range of measures are needed to address such problems and manage transport demand.

The area is crossed by major strategic road and rail links. Its vibrant local economy, and location close to London and major airports, means it attracts significant through-traffic, including cars and numerous HGVs. This often means overloaded roads in the town centre and on main through routes, particularly the A3.

Guildford is a ‘gap town’, which has resulted in a complex set of access roads and railways. The roads and railways leading directly into the town centre are used to access different parts of the borough, as well as connecting to towns and villages outside Guildford.

While the town centre is the destination for several thousand people every day, people also travel across the borough to access the University/Research Park/Hospital zone, to work in the suburban office parks and nearby towns, or to attend schools throughout the borough and beyond.

Many roads in the Guildford area pass through Green-Belt, agricultural land and villages.  Development in the late 19th century through the mid-20th century has meant that this network is now substantially fixed. Several of these roads are cross-country ‘A’ roads with a single lane in each direction, with only occasional dual carriageways. These factors limit the scope for expanding capacity and varying use.

Public transport should be encouraged. This should be supported by investment such as extra Park and Ride facilities, bus lanes and service improvements and new stations on local rail lines, such as the proposed station at Park Barn.

Better provision for cyclists and pedestrians to support Active Travel must be a priority. Attractive routes, separated from road traffic, are needed, as well as joined-up cycle lanes within the town centre, and more safe crossing points for those cycling and on foot.

Local public transport between Guildford and surrounding villages should be improved.

The Transport Group has a clearly defined remit and has produced a series of position papers on aspects of transport.  The chairman of the Transport Group can be contacted on Transport@guildfordsociety.org.uk
The Future is Mobility Hubs? View article Arup and Go-Ahead have published a report on how mobility hubs should be designed.  Although many of the concepts have been documented before the report brings current thinking together in a concise form. The report authors propose that by us... View article SCC Consult on Local Transport Plan View article Public Consultation is underway on the Surrey County Council Local Transport Plan 2022-2032.  Consultation closes on October 24th 2021 The forward to the plan highlights ‘Meeting the ambitious county and national carbon reduction target... View article Transport Changes in London View article For those who visit London; the first major addition to the London Underground this century has come into service with the Northern line being extended to serve new stations at Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station. The new stations will... View article Motoring Getting Cheaper View article The government is seeking to move the country to using green transport through various measures including: Supporting Active Travel (Walking and Cycling) Revision to Bus Management Support alternative fuelled vehicles notably electric cars ... View article Transport - A Tale of Two Cities. View article Birmingham is in the final stages of a consultation exercise to reduce motoring by making motor vehicle journeys longer and inconvenient.  Journeys by Bus, Bicycle and on foot will be made easier, pleasanter, quicker, and safer. The city Cent... View article Dangerous Levels of Pollution in Guildford View article Highways England conduct a series of pollution surveys on the strategic road network.   The latest survey shows pollution on the A3/A25 to A3/A31 seems to be the highest in the country by some margin and twice the median level of the 3... View article Guildford Rail Services to Reduce in December 2022? View article South Western Railways have launched a consultation on timetable amendments to take place in December 2022.  The public can respond to the proposals by the 19-September 2021  South Western Railway highlight that “ In partnership wi... View article Network Rail still planning for increased demand on SWML View article Despite Covid, Network Rail are still looking at options to improve the main line to Waterloo to meet future demand.  A recent report lays out options for the line between Woking and Waterloo with a further reports due on the Main line to Southa... View article Decarbonising Transport View article The government has announced a plan setting out the government’s commitments and the actions needed to decarbonise the entire transport system in the UK. Key items addressed in the plan include, the pathway to net zero transport in the UK, t... View article New Bus Station in Exeter View article It is likely the Bus Station in central Guildford will be kept in an upgraded form as part of the North Street Development.  Exeter are opening a new Bus Station on Sunday, 25 July, which provides ideas for Guildford. Exeter Bus Station ... View article Electrifying Lorries View article The Centre for Sustainable Road Freight is a collaboration between Cambridge and Heriot-Watt Universities and organizations in the freight and logistics sectors, with a major 5-year grant from The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Counc... View article Major changes to the Railways View article The recent White Paper (See Below) on the future of the UK Railways proposes a series of changes to promote better integration and simplification of the rail system.  To an extent this is reverting to the old British Rail Structure although... View article Travel Management on the A3 & Delay on Junction 10 View article Improvements to the A3, in the borough, appear, with a few exceptions, to be either being delivered late or have been moved off the planning horizon.  Highways England have been quiet on the options, but do appear to be considering ideas for ... View article Transport Options for Guildford View article Guildford Town being in a gap in a river valley, surrounded by hills, and areas of significant landscape value particularly to the south has major issues in expanding its transport infrastructure.  There has been discussion on supplementing the ... View article Change to Trains to supplement Guildford Services View article South Western Railways have been trying to upgrade Portsmouth to London Services by using old Class 442 Units first built for Bournemouth Services.  The introduction of the trains has been beset with technical issues during refurbishment an... View article ‘Next steps’ for Heathrow Southern Rail to be outlined this summer View article News might come in the summer on plans to link Guildford by Rail to Heathrow.  Angela Richardson MP for Guildford has via a written question in Paliament obtained some indication that after years of delay the Department of Transport (DfT) m... View article National Bus Strategy for England View article The Department for Transport (DfT) has produced a new strategy document (Bus Back Better – in line with everything from HMG communications having a three word slogan!!) for the provision of bus services.  See link at foot of post The De... View article Flexible Season tickets for Flexible Working View article The Daily Telegaph is reporting that commuters are to be offered flexible season tickets by June as part of the Government's plan to support workers returning to offices.  The tickets can be used for two or three days a week and wi... View article Decision delayed on M25 junction 10 upgrade View article The Department of Transport has announced that the deadline for the decision on the go ahead for the M25/A3 Junction 10 upgrade has been extended to 12 May 2021 (an extension of 4 months) to enable the Secretary of State to consult further. The de... View article Guildford Buses - Strategic Thinking Required View article With the growing population in the Guildford area and environmental pressures it is highly likely the need to promote modal shift will be renewed once we have learned to live with the Corona virus.  The current bus network is centred on Guild... View article Electric Buses - Experience from Zurich View article Other Towns and Cities can help inform how Guildford develops.  Zurich has an extensive Bus and Tram network which serves a population of 400,000 in the city and 1.3M across the wider Zurich Area.  They are moving to make the entire b... View article Low and Zero Emission Buses £49million funding View article To accelerate the introduction of ultra-low and zero emission buses in Surrey; Surrey County Council are backing a scheme to introduce up to 80 ultra-low or zero-emission buses and 50 community transport minibuses by 2025 with the aim that all buses ... View article
Archived Articles
Alternative Fuel Buses - Impact on the Town Centre View article The move to alternatively fuelled buses appears to be gathering pace with both Electric and Hydrogen Fuelled vehicles appearing on the roads.  The range for these vehicles is increasing, an Edinburgh to Dundee electric coach service is just laun... View article Heathrow 3rd Runway - How it might impact Guildford View article

You may ask how this affects Guildford, but it does.  The recently announced consultation on plans for the third runway, whatever your views on having a third runway, has aspects that are of concern.

View article Electric Buses become more viable with solid state batteries View article Lithium-ion battery technology, as used in most electric vehicles, has made impressive gains over the years. Today's cells are cheaper than they have ever been, but lithium-ion still leaves a lot to be desired in terms of energy density compared ... View article North Downs Line might it get electrified? View article Next year the existing trains on the North Downs route will be replaced by Class 769 units which are refurbished old Thameslink Units – that is why they may look familiar.  These trains as part of their refurbishment are gaining Air Condit... View article Working from home won’t slash emissions View article The Conversation Website has published an interesting article on how working from home won’t slash emissions unless a car-free lifestyle is enabled.  An analysis of the National Travel Survey showed that people working from home made just ... View article A Bus but not as we know it View article Brighton is investing in Hybrid Buses (manufactured by Alexander Dennis) which can run solely on electric power for a limited distances.  The buses also implement Geo-Fencing which uses the GPS system to ensure the bus switches to electric power... View article Guildford to Horsham Transport Corridor. View article The route south of Guildford to Horsham has been an important transport corridor for centuries.  In the Victorian era it attracted substantial investment in the form of the Wey and Arun Junction Canal and the Horsham to Guildford Railway, both n... View article Cycling Infrastructure View article The government is becoming increasingly supportive of cycling as a method of transport.  This is because if properly planned for it is an efficient, cheap and healthy way to travel.  The advent of e-Bikes is also opening up options to make ... View article On your Bike! View article e-Bike Subsidy? The Department of Transport has published Gear change a bold vision for cycling and walking (See document below), with a foreword by that keen cyclist the prime minister. The UK government is planning, according to press re... View article A New Guildford Quarter View article A Opportunity Missed? It is instructive to visit Walnut Tree Close as many of the new buildings are completed or almost complete.  It is an opportunity missed to plan an effective set of buildings that related to each other, create a sense... View article Progress Easier for Heathrow Southern Railway? View article Heathrow Southern Railway (HSR) the organisation backing a new Rail Link into Heathrow from Basingstoke and Guildford via Woking has issued an update on its activities. HSR has been very quiet on its plans of late.  The news item makes a surp... View article Intensive Investment Offered for Green Towns and Cities View article Government Investment to become like Holland Tucked away in the recent ‘Gear Change A bold vision for cycling and walking’ (See Below - Page 19) is a statement about the government wishing to ‘stimulate a large number of pro... View article North Street - Consultation on a new Scheme Starts View article The North Street site in Guildford Site is to the east of the Friary and currently in most part is vacant land beside the bus station.  It has been vacant for many years. The North Street page on this website contains additional background an... View article Restart at the Solum Guildford Station Site View article After a delay of about a year it appears work is starting in earnest at Guildford Station to develop the Solum Scheme Work starts in early 2021 that will provide a new temporary two-storey car park with 121 parking bays and an access road tha... View article Swindon Revising its Bus System - ideas for Guildford View article A Scheme with Relevance to Guildford Swindon Borough Council has been awarded £25m funding, towards creating a Bus Boulevard Scheme, through the Government’s Future High Streets Fund, which supports local areas’ plans to make the... View article Local Plan - Serious Investment Required View article

A very important stage in the development has been reached with the latest Local Plan Consultation completed in July 2017. 

 

View article A Transport Interchange ? Our view on Solum's Railway Station Site Development View article The Guildford Society held an Open Meeting on 21 Jan. 2015 about Guildford's largest ever building application to redevelop the Station site.  Our complete GS reports and presentation may be found in our Hot Topics section.  The present... View article Avoid Future Gridlock View article Avoid Future Gridlock - These are proposals first published 2013 , Many are still worthy of consideration as suggestions by The Guildford Society Transport Group for measures to relieve some of Guildford's Transport problems.  ... View article

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