One-track mind How 20 years of determination helped create England's first co-op rail service

The idea for the country's first co-operative rail service came to Alex Lawrie in 2004 after another frustrating trip across Somerset.

- Jack Simpson

The idea for the country's first co-operative rail service came to Alex Lawrie in 2004 after another frustrating trip across Somerset. Having moved to Yeovil four years earlier, his job as a co-operative development manager involved daily trips across the south-west trying to set up member-owned businesses. A reluctant motorist, he quickly became frustrated with the rail service that he was depending on to get around.

"It baffled me," says Lawrie, 56. "Trains came at seemingly random intervals, there were only a few trains serving a big town like Yeovil, hours would pass without a train coming. I couldn't understand it, I was like: There are the rails, they all link up, more or less, how hard can it be to get a better service?"

While most passengers would grumble and leave it at that, Lawrie took the matter into his own hands. Despite having no experience in the sector, he bought a rail atlas, and so began the process of trying to improve services through the creation of a new operator.

Fast forward 20 years and a plan that began as notes jotted on a sheet of A4 paper is close to becoming a reality. The plan for the co-operative railway - Go-op - has received approval from the Office of Road and Rail (ORR), to run a new service between Swindon, Taunton and Weston-super-Mare. If it meets ORR requirements, including by demonstrating it has the finances to begin operations and has secured the necessary rolling stock, Go-op services could start in 2026.

Its co-operative model means the business will be owned by staff, investors and the community to meet shared needs, and profits will be reinvested to improve services.