Ethos Public Relations Manchester

Co-operative train services on track for change

by Ethos public relations

An innovative community-owned rail service is making tracks to become the UK’s first co-operative Train Operating Company.

Go! Co-operative plans to run services that will see Oxford and Banbury linked with Swindon, Chippenham, Westbury and Yeovil, with some trains running to Birmingham and Weymouth.

“Our mission is to reduce the social and environmental impacts of travel by providing mutually owned, high quality, inclusive public transport services,” says Keith Vingoe, Chief Executive of Go! Co-op.

“And we intend to do this in three ways. We will offer rail services on the national rail network combined with bus and light rail 'feeder' routes and the development of car clubs. Together these will mean really joined up transport.”

Keith added: “We have identified a cross country route that will bring great benefit to local communities from Somerset up to the Midlands. We will be utilising existing track in a new way, to provide a real alternative to car travel.”

The co-operative will apply to run the service under the Office for Rail Regulation’s open access scheme, which allows firms to run routes not served by the main rail franchise operators.

“This will be the first time a co-operative has applied to operate trains on the national network. It’s a great opportunity for people who become members to have a say in the running of a train operating company,” said Keith.

Go! Co-op plans to have trains running from December 2011.

To launch Go! Co-op, public events will take place in the Midlands and South West regions on Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21 April.

For more information about Go! Co-operative visit www.go-now.coop.

Posted at 12^th April 2010

Three new Board Members will get new Train Co-operative Go!ing

by Ethos public relations

Go! Co-operative is gathering momentum in its aim to become the UK?s first co-operatively-owned Train Operating Company (TOC). It has appointed three new board members to take the organisation forward to operational stage.

Chief Executive, Keith Vingoe, Director of Operations, Chris Phillimore and Director of Safety, Chris Thompson ? will work together to help ensure the smooth transition from initial start-up to fully functional social enterprise.

Go! plans to provide a service initially in Southern England, as the first open access train provider running as a multi-stakeholder co-operative - linking main lines to smaller market towns and villages. It is currently seeking funding of upwards of ?250,000.

With Board members who together have over 50 years experience in the rail industry, and expertise in successfully managing similar start-up rail projects - the organisation has the impetus to take it to the next level.

Tim Pearce, Chair of Go! Co-operative, said: ?I am very excited that we are attracting people with real practical experience and strong track records. That, plus the immediate response to our first offer of withdrawable shares, has given us some real momentum.?

New Chief Executive, Keith Vingoe, who is also Managing Director and previously Chair of the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway, is confident there is real validity behind the idea of Go! Co-operative and is embracing the challenge ahead.

He said: ?The present Lynton and Barnstaple Railway was created from nothing so there is no reason why a similar business model using broad based community support cannot be harnessed to run much needed trains on track that is already there."

During his time as a Director of the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway, there was a complete reorganisation of the business model, a complete safety management regime was inaugurated, track was re-laid, and a romantic idea is now a successful, growing enterprise. There is no reason why this cannot be repeated.

"Having worked for many years in the field of business management, I am very confident that a sound idea like that of Go! Co-operative can be turned into a good social enterprise business,? he said.

Chris Phillimore, Director of Operations, with a background in planning, construction and civil engineering as well as design and maintenance of light and narrow gauge railways said: ?It?s really exciting to be working on a project such as this where member accountability will keep the co-operative focused on delivering a high quality service.?

Chris Thompson, Director of Safety, with 30 years experience in civil engineering and safety management, said he was thrilled to be part of the start-up team.

?This is a very exciting project to be involved in and I cannot wait to set the wheels in motion on the next phase and get this new train co-operative going,? he said.

Tim Pearce added: ?We are at an advanced stage of researching routes, and the input from our members has already helped us to see where there are gaps in the provision of public transport.

The next step is to establish where the unmet demand is sufficient to support regular services."

More information about Go! Co-operative, can be found at www.go-now.coop.

Posted at 20^th November 2009

Go! Co-operative on track to create rail travel of the future

by Ethos public relations

One of the newest co-operatives in the country - Go! Co-operative - looks set to shape the future of rail travel as it prepares to become the first co-operatively-owned train operating company (TOC) in the UK.

Go! Co-operative is seeking funding from socially-minded investors to raise upwards of ?250,000 to support initial work as the first open access? train provider running as a multi-stakeholder co-operative.

A co-operatively-owned train company will bring passengers, the local community and employees together in an organisation designed to create a real alternative to private car use. Go! Co-operative?s stated aim is to improve access to public transport by providing open access rail services linking main lines to smaller market towns and villages.

Initially planning to provide a service in Southern England, if successful, Go! would become the fifth TOC to take advantage of the principle of open access to rail lines and will provide much-needed connections for otherwise isolated rural locations.

Go! Co-operative plans to reduce the social and environmental impacts of travel by providing mutually-owned, high quality and inclusive public transport services that encourage people to choose more sustainable options.

Go! Co-operative will be shunning the overcrowded routes to London in favour of developing better links between smaller towns and villages, in order to help improve the economic prospects of more rural locations. And the new co-operative will also look to provide light rail and bus links as well as car clubs to enable even the most remote communities to access these services.

Tim Pearce, Chair of Go! Co-operative said: ?Routes to the Capital are oversubscribed and it is our intention to serve those other communities that don?t have good connections to urban centres. Cross-country connections are important and we are looking to potential routes in the South on existing rail networks.?

Such an investment, will offer both social and financial returns and membership is open to individuals, corporate bodies, voluntary organisations and public sector investors.

To become a member requires a minimum of 500 shares, with each share costing ?1, and applications can be made via the prospectus on the website.

As a co-operative, each shareholding member has one vote, regardless of the size of their shareholding, with the maximum permissible shareholding set at ?20,000.

?And because Go! is an Industrial and Provident Society rather than a company,? Tim added, ?it is allowed to issue its withdrawable share capital to the public.

?Investors that later become users or potential users of the service will have half of the votes at general meetings, while employees will have a quarter. Those whose only stake in the business is financial will be limited to the remaining quarter of the votes; this is a requirement of being a co-operative, and prevents the business from being driven by short term profit."

The Go! Co-operative initiative has been given extra support by a recently published document - Connecting Communities ? from the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC).

?ATOC has established the need to connect more towns to the rail network?, Tim said.

And while ATOC has focused on the new infrastructure that might be required, we are aiming to achieve the same ends by making better use of the lines that are already there, and we hope to develop routes within Southern England and create links where they don?t currently exist.?

Go! Co-operative believes it can raise the necessary investment and, assuming it does, hopes to gain route authorisation next year and begin services in 2011.

More information about Go! Co-operative, can be found on their website.

Posted at 14^th September 2009