Today, June 17th. at a quarter past four, Fishguard Trains recorded the 2,000th “human visit” to our website. A real milestone, especially on the closing day of the Welsh Government consultation on the new train service (you HAVE responded haven’t you?).
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Some more statistics: since we launched this public service website on April 4th, hard on the heels of Ieuan Wyn Jones’ surprise announcement, we have recorded 4,854 total hits – that includes web search engines like Google going about their web-crawling business. Of course visitors make repeat visits, so it is also worth knowing that so far in June alone we have had visits from 323 unique addresses. The population of Fishguard & Goodwick is 5,043.
Totals are not the whole story. There’s the way visitors use the site – is it one click, then off somewhere else more interesting, or stay, read, and browse deep into the site? Our average number of pages viewed per visit is 3.14. That means on average, every visitor looks at three pages of Fishguard Trains on every visit.
And then there’s the statistic we can all see – the number of visitors who contribute their time, thoughts and ideas to the site in the form of Comments. We have enjoyed contributions from travellers who just want to get from A to B at the right time; and from railway industry experts whose technical knowledge is daunting and impressive. Thanks to all of you! With your involvement, Fishguard Trains has become what we hoped: a public place for information, discussion, debate, and a bit of entertainment too.
As Swansea Jack commented yesterday, this is a process, not an event. We’re here for the long haul. With the consultation closed, we’ll now monitor progress towards the service launch on September 12th, and bring the latest news and stories behind the news. We’ll be campaigning for the development that 5,043 of us know is required – the reopening of Goodwick Station. Not sometime next year, but immediately.
As soon as the rail timetable is confirmed we’ll be exploring the bus link question, to make the rail service accessible to all of North Pembrokeshire. We’ll be pressing for real-time rail information in Fishguard town centre. In September we’ll be on hand for the launch of the service, and open for all your ideas on marketing the service in Fishguard and to the world. In 2012 we’ll be marking the centenary of the Swansea District Line with a campaign to use the express route as the basis for a high speed service between Cardiff and all of west Wales.
So stay in touch, check in often, and share your thoughts. Let’s make this the most successful rail reopening in Wales.
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