Great Western Coffee Shop

Looks like it's going to be a busy autumn!

Tuesday, 23rd July - from Chippenham Station - TWCRP helping Wilts Council / Atkins passenger survey from 05:40 to 10:30.

Wednesday 14th August - inclusion of "Trains from Melksham" trifold leaflet in Melksham Independent News, courtesy of First Great Western and the Melksham Railway Development Group

Monday 26th August - retimed morning TransWilts train (thank you, First Great Western) gives bank holiday opportunities for a day out in Weymouth, Weston-super-Mare, or London

Saturday 31st August - Special General Meeting of TransWilts Community Rail Partnership to ratify constitution and formalise group.  10:00, Well House Manor, Melksham

Friday 6th September - 19:30, Melksham Town Hall - Meeting of Melksham Railway Development Group

Saturday 5th October - 10:30, Taunton - TravelWatch SouthWest. User groups from across the South West.

Saturday 19th October - 10:30, The Laverton, Westbury. TransWilts Link meeting - public transport user groups from across Wiltshire, co-ordinated and sponsored by the CRP.

Friday 25th October - 19:30, Melksham Town Hall - Meeting of Melksham Railway Development Group

Friday 29th November Monday 18th November, Well House Manor- 19:30, Melksham Town Hall - Meeting of Melksham Railway Development Group

Thursday 5th December, 19:30, Well House Manor - extra meeting of Melksham Railway Development Group

Sunday 8th December - 17:25, Melksham Station - Santa will be on the train to Swindon and back. Note that this is a provisional timing, as it's possible that there will be some changes to the train service from that date.

I caught the 08:38 train from Melksham to Westbury this morning;  there were 49 other people getting on the train with me, and about the same number already on board from Swindon and Chippenham.   About 60 people got off to change trains in Trowbridge, and the remaining 40 of so carried on to Westbury where they changed for places like Southampton and Weymouth.

This isn't a usual Monday on the TransWilts line - on a usual Monday, the train leaves for Trowbridge 2 hours earlier - at 06:38, and passengers for Weymouth have not 30 minutes but 150 minutes to wait at Westbury.  Unsurprisingly, not many people do this - especially as the adult fare is 36 pounds return each, whereas this morning it was just 32 pounds for our whole group of four.

"Provide a train and they will use it" ... and indeed the TransWilts line needs a service at better times, and more frequent;  we're taking advantage of the retiming - done for us (Thank you) by First Great Western ... to revalidate what can be achieved.  In the summer of 2011, the Sunday morning train to Weymouth from Westbury started back at Swindon and carried a minimum of 100, and up to 300 passengers from there, from Chippenham and from Melksham.  Today with just the single opportunity this summer holiday, we only advertised through a leaflet printed by First (more thanks ;-)) distributed around Melksham, primarily telling people about the daily service, about Saturday opportunities to Swindon, and about the line as a whole.  We're on something of a knifeedge in terms of the advertsing - advertise the one opportunity in Swindon, and you'll have the train so full from there that there will be no room for others at Chippenham let alone Melksham.  Seated in the Weymouth train now, approaching Chetnole, it's all seats taken, lobbies crowded, but not stifling and I have to say "spot on".   We COULD have loaded the train a lot more ... and we will bring lots more to Weymouth - and to other places - when there's more services every day between the 06:12 and the 18:44 from Swindon.

OK .. it's the morning after.  Great day had by all; almost all new people to the Weymouth trip from Melksham.   So that's another marketing approach that brings them in.  And they all want to go again.

Big thank you to FGW for moving the 06:38 to 08:38 for the bank holiday.  Big thanks for printing the leaflet which included this as part of a much more comprehensive "Melksham Trains" pitch.  Big thank you to all the staff on the day - both on train and at control, who arranged for the 19:32 to be held at Westbury awaiting a late running 17:30 off Weymouth with around 100 people making the change.

Day enjoyed by all.   Numbers about right / the pinch point was the 17:30 off Weymouth, loaded to around 140% - not as frightening as it sounds as there were lots of young children sharing seats and only one solitary grump who felt it was a poor show.

Full writeup at http://melksh.am/4160 ... other pictures not in that article:

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/mwa13_1.jpg)

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/mwa13_2.jpg)

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/mwa13_3.jpg)

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/mwa13_5.jpg)

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/mwa13_7.jpg)

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/mwa13_8.jpg)

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/mwa13_e.jpg)

Strewth! Was anyone left in Melksham? :-)

Picture 1: Melksham

 :P ;) ;D

(and some declassified 1st Class accomodation for those fleet of foot I presume)

Surprisingly, not.  1.5 busy standard carriages, and 0.5 first unoccupied. I was a little surprised, but when you think about it / if you met the passengers, this was a new market of people who hadn't used a train for years (50 years in one case!), or in some cases were making their first train journey and / or their first adult train journey.

Meeting report (my recollection - I was too busy talking to make notes; proper minutes to follow - http://melksh.am/4194 )