In October, the Western Gateway STB team headed to Gloucestershire to explore a breath of transport locations across the county. We seamlessly moved by train, demand responsive transport, bike, bus, electric hire car and on foot.
Day one:
The Robin DRT, Cam & Dursley
We met up with Gloucestershire Community Rail Partnership and Gloucestershire Couty Council and took the Robin to Cam, where we heard an update on the Western Gateway STB funded Enhancing Access to Rural Spaces pilot project.
Cheltenham
Adi, James and Rob visited Cheltenham Spa Railway Station to discuss the feasibility of a south facing platform and see newly installed real-time information panel. They then went to assess accessibility between Royal Wells Bus Station and the Promenade.
Cycle Cam to Stroud via Stonehouse
Tim and Hannah took to their bikes to survey a cycling route outlined in the Western Gateway STB Cycle Strategy.
Arle Court Transport Hub
The team came back together to visit the new, very impressive, Arle Court Transport Hub where we were given a tour by Matthew Wells from GCC. The team were excited to see e-scooter hire bays and secure cycle storage and loved seeing the visual-impairment accessible map of the hub.
Day two
Forest of Dean
The team caught the train to Lydney, being very impressed by the amount of bike storage on the Transport for Wales train. In Lydney, Rob assessed bus and coach stopping options and the rest of the team were collected by Simon Richards from Forest of Dean District Council. Simon drove gave us a tour of the area in the new electric HiyaCar, which is soon to be publicly available through the Forest Mobility Club – a scheme partly our 2024–25 Rural Mobility Pilot grants.
Gloucestershire Cycle Spine
Led by Sarah from Gloucestershire County Council, Hannah and Tim explored the high-quality Gloucester-Cheltenham section of the Gloucestershire Cycle Spine project – which will link up multiple new housing developments with the two settlements – very impressive!
Gloucester Rail and Bus Stations
The rest of the team looked around Gloucester Railway Station, Gloucster Transport Hub (bus station) and new developments in proximity to the station – building up a picture of connectivity between public transport in the city.
The site visit gave the Western Gateway team the opportunity to experience transport across Gloucestershire first-hand. In just a short time, we saw a wide mix of projects and places – from towns with strong public transport links to innovative projects tackling rural mobility challenges. These experiences demonstrated not only the importance of connectivity between modes but also the vital role of coordinated regional transport strategy and planning in delivering sustainable, inclusive, and well-integrated mobility across the region.
