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I noted from your recent survey about opening a Wilton station. I wondered if any thought had been given to doing the same at Holt? There is a decent population to warrant it and the train runs past Holt, it would be great to have a request stop.

I wondered  if any consideration had been given to reopening it?

I would be keen to know and moreover see if anyone else in Holt thought this might be a good idea?!

Many thanks for getting in touch and your kind words.

Funnily enough, I was at Melksham Station last night and met a couple arriving by train who were looking for the best way on to the Old Ham Tree in Holt / not easy by public transport on a Sunday evening, and no taxis waiting at the station either.

In October 2014, the question of re-opening a station at Holt was raised with us by members of the Holt Neighbourhood Plan team, and indeed you should find they have the various papers / correspondence from the time.  If I can recall what was said at the time, it’s still broadly correct although Wilton makes an interesting additional comparator for us which wasn’t about in those days.

Background - It’s frightening how expensive it is to build a new station - even a simple platform - these days, and it’s no good building one if the line doesn’t carry trains which can stop there are provide a good service to meet people’s active requirements.   And you also need substantial numbers of passengers not only to want the train, but also to actually use it on a regular basis.

Examples of where this can work / where new stations are viable …

Cranbrook.  New town, Green Field Site, Devon.  Population 2,200 in March 2015. Rising to around 15,000 over the next 10 years. Designed as a public transport friendly town.   Station development funded largely by CIL and section 106 developer contributions.

Wilton.  Exiting Park and Ride by bus, nearest rail point to Stonehenge.  Trains passing through on various services which can stop.  Redevelopment to residential going on just across the road on the old UK and Forces site, large wedge of land up behind the car park on which development agreed in principle.  Again, station development can be funded (at least matched) by developer contributions. 

Examples which are less easy

Corsham.  Only long distance expresses pass through at present - can’t stop as would delay intercity traffic.

Royal Wootton Bassett.  Line capacity issues if a station were to be added to the east; local feeling (so funding) against station on the Chippenham line near the A3102 bridge.  Central (old station) site would require major changes to operational lines built where the platform used to be.

Now … Holt ;-)

Current population around 2k.  The only build funding for a community of that size if it were to remain that size and have no other passenger flows would be a local benefactor with £2 million to spare - and even then, the ongoing cost of stopping trains with resultant slowing that could require an extra train set on a service would make it a hard sell.

You could look to “do” a Cranbrook.  My past suggestion was that if you fill the fields from the centre to the old station site with housing, with a bias towards public transport aware residents, a station at Holt could be justified. And it could be funded for the most part by CIL / 106.    The TransWilts service - currently every 2 hours or so each way, could happily stop - at present you have no service problem; our 2011 report on capacity indicated that an additional station on the single line with a passenger service every 2 hours would work.

Looking ahead, TransWilts is carrying many more passengers than many anticipated, and the service really needs to be hourly. Big discussions in 2013 as to whether hourly or 2 hourly was appropriate and we took what we were offered.  But it really needs to be stepped up.   And that gives an issue with time taken for an extra stop;  we already have work being done on adding line capacity to allow a robust hourly service in addition to all the freight that’s going through, and if there’s a serious aspiration in Holt to become a town or around 20,000 in its own right, then you ought to engage soon.  However, indications I got from my contact on your neighbourhood planning team was that Holt does not want to become the centre of a new town, and on that basis resident population is unlikely to justify a station.

Other considerations for a station - incoming visitors / tourists, relieving pressure elsewhere (but NOT abstracting / stealing someone else’s passengers!).  I’m noting The Courts, plans for a water park across the river, and very poor air quality in Bradford-on-Avon. You aren’t directly off a main road that I’m aware of / I don’t see that a park and ride or parkway station is an option in Holt …

Request stop?   Build costs and timings don’t change and these days your passenger numbers for a new station need to be so high that every train would be stopped anyway. 

Those are just some thoughts, Andrew - at this stage personal comment to help fill you in.   I’m copying our Paul Johnson (Chair, who looks after longer term strategy) and Bob (our Friends secretary).   I would encourage you to engage with bus consultations so that you protect your 68 and 69 services, and use them to demonstrate that Holt is pubic transport aware.  Many Wiltshire bus services are being re-tendered at present, and it would be no bad think to suggest they call at Melksham Station on the way through, and they’re timed to connect with trains.    I would also suggest that you and your fellow residents all become TransWilts members - that way you’ll be kept fully informed and will get votes at the AGM too.

Graham