Great Western Coffee Shop

GRAHAM Ellis, press and publicity officer of the TransWilts Community Rail Partnership, writes:

^Melksham^s new train service opens the gateway to over 2500 destination stations in the UK and many times that number across Europe.

^I took the opportunity on the second day of the new service to take the train from Melksham to Thun in Switzerland.  An on time departure from Melksham on the Monday at 16:31, and an arrival at Thun the next day.  A return trip on the Saturday, an overnight ferry berth into Harwich, and I arrived back in Melksham at 12:02 on the Sunday ^ together with around 20 other people travelling from Swindon to Melksham, Trowbridge, Westbury or beyond.

Duncan Hames, MP for Chippenham, joined commuters aboard the new TransWilts rail service on Monday morning 9th December.

Eight trains are now running in each direction along the line between Westbury and Swindon a day, Monday to Saturday, stopping at Trowbridge, Melksham and Chippenham. Funding for the improvements comes from a ^4.25 million grant from the Department for Transport to Wiltshire Council.

Duncan met commuters as he sold and checked tickets on the first 7.30am train from Trowbridge to Swindon, calling at Melksham and Chippenham.