Support us on our journey
Our Plan
Many towns in Somerset and Wiltshire have train stations already, but they often have limited services and don’t connect well to each other. Many of the trains passing through are the fast services to London, with only a couple of local stops.
Since 1992, it has been possible to introduce ‘Open Access’ services that are additional to the main rail franchises, and that is what we want to do.
The Office of Rail and Road have now approved our track access application. That means provided we comply with their expectations, we can expect to be able to operate trains and earn revenue on our route.
That means we need more investment to get from where we are – largely volunteer run – to being a fully competent train operator. To cover all the costs of launch, we need £2.6M as a minimum – and we’ve got to raise that by summer 2025 to have enough time meet the ORR’s deadline of full operation by the end of 2026.
Community Shares
The investment Go-op is currently offering are Community Shares.
Community shares are a special kind of shares that Co-operatives and Community Benefit Societies can issue. They are withdrawable but not transferable, and cannot be traded. Unlike shares in other companies, shares in a co-operative entitle you to a vote in general meetings on the basis of one member, one vote.
Any investment made is a full risk and must be done based on the information in our Share Offer Document and Business Plan. You can invest in one of two ways (or a combination).
You can join now – this helps Go-op build momentum because we get the benefit straight away. However, you need to be aware that so long as we have not reached our full funding target there is a risk that we will be underfinanced. Interest on early investment is 10%. Click on ‘Get Involved’ above for this option.
Alternatively, you can pledge your funds on Crowdfunder – your application will only have effect if our funding target is met by the closing date of May 23rd, and they will be returned otherwise. The interest rate starts at 8%.
We don’t want people to invest more than they can afford, so we are open to small investments as well as large, and have an option for making smaller monthly investments rather than doing it all in one go.
Coming soon: look out for news of our ‘100 Club’ with special terms for 100 key investors able to put in £20,000 each.
If you have any other questions about investing with us, please get in touch via the contact information below.