The forum will, I hope, note your reluctance to challenge the validity of my assertions, grahame.

I found the Congo Jungle Railway episode particularly enjoyable, and it was great to see Chris (Tarrant) being taken on an impromptu tour of disused former main line sections as well.

I'm sure I am not the only one who thinks that Tarrant is perfectly cast as the typical grumpy Englishman abroad, too 

As Chris (Nailsea) rightly says, well worth watching.

EDIT to clarify which Chris was which 

What grahame fails to mention is that this was the day that he dragged various local dignitaries and the local media out of bed for one of his infamous Save The Train publicity stunts.

On any normal day you would have struggled to spot more than a handful of passengers on that particular train, if that.

While there is probably no unbiased case for improved Melksham train services that either national or local taxpayers would inevitably have to shoulder the burden of, there certainly is not a case for putting a Melksham train on at that time of the morning.

Thank you for that further welcome, grahame.

As far as my background goes, I hail from the north of England, and I cut my transport teeth with a number of roles with various PTEs^▸ (Passenger Transport Executive).

When the 2000s came along, I realised that the real money was to be made from consultancy, and that to get a real piece of the pie, I would have to move to London. This I did, and have been here ever since. Don^t make the mistake of thinking that I am some out-of-touch capital dweller though. I have travelled extensively on the GW^▸ (Great Western) rail network, and feel that I know my brief inside out as a result.

I am aware that your associates have written at length about people like me and how we operated during that period. It may surprise you to learn that I was once very much an idealist in the Lee Fletcher mould, but I^m afraid that my life experiences have tempered that idealism somewhat since then.

That said, although we very clearly don^t agree on the TransWilts issue, I do think that you, Lee, Chris Hankin and the rest of your team come out with some very knowledgeable stuff at times, and I have a fair deal of respect for your views on a range of matters. The rank-and-file members of the forum know what they are talking about too, which is why I look in here on a regular basis.

Agendas and paymasters? Other than to confirm that my current work is related to the renewal of the GW franchise, I^m afraid that I am unable to be any more specific than that, due to being bound by confidentiality clauses.

What I can absolutely guarantee though is that any posts I make on here will entirely reflect my own personal views. I have no desire to be a mouthpiece for anyone I may or may not work for, and those who may read what I say on here should be under no illusions regarding that.

Thanks Chris. I'm sure I will be able to hold my own 

My view differs.

I have always been of the opinion that the TransWilts ranks some way down the list of potential passenger rail service improvements, because alternatives exist for virtually every flow that it could cater for. This in turn means that it would bring a relatively small number of genuinely new passenger journeys to the rail network, in comparison to other more worthy schemes elsewhere.

I do agree that there is a problem to address though, but it is not one of a lack of train services. Rather, it is the fact that the alternatives are often needlessly badly planned, organised and timed.

A prime example is the First Bus 234 Frome-Trowbridge-Melksham-Chippenham service, which serves Chippenham railway station during the morning peak and evening. This service is characterised by ^connections^ which see bus miss train by a matter of minutes on a number of occasions each day.

Therefore it seems clear to me that the answer lies in sorting out these alternatives so they interface properly, rather than create a new train service which is likely to be lightly-used for much of the time.

What I would like to see is First include the 234 bus service in their franchise bid, and revamp it so that it connects every hour with the Cardiff-Portsmouth rail service at Trowbridge railway station (for onward journeys to the likes of Warminster, Salisbury and Southampton), and connects with a London-bound service at Chippenham railway station every hour (for onward journeys to the likes of Swindon, Reading and London).

My suggested hourly Monday-Saturday 234 bus service pattern is as follows:

(Starts from Wells Bus Station as Service 161, departing at xx30)
FROME (Sainsbury^s) ^ xx31
FROME (Market Place) ^ arrive xx37
FROME (Market Place) ^ depart xx49
Oldfield ^ xx54
Beckington ^ xx58
Rode ^ xx04
Southwick ^ xx10
Upper Studley ^ xx12
Train from Portsmouth ^ arrive xx16
TROWBRIDGE (Railway Station) ^ xx21
TROWBRIDGE (Town Hall) ^ arrive xx24
TROWBRIDGE (Town Hall) ^ depart xx26
Hilperton Marsh ^ xx32
Hilperton ^ xx36
Semington ^ xx43
MELKSHAM (Market Place) ^ xx50
Beanacre ^ xx55
Lacock ^ xx00
CHIPPENHAM (Railway Station) ^ xx16
Train to London ^ depart xx25
CHIPPENHAM (Bus Station) ^ xx21

CHIPPENHAM (Bus Station) ^ xx44
Train from London ^ arrive xx44
CHIPPENHAM (Railway Station) ^ xx49
Lacock ^ xx04
Beanacre ^ xx08
MELKSHAM (Market Place) ^ xx16
Semington ^ xx22
Hilperton ^ xx27
Hilperton Marsh ^ xx29
TROWBRIDGE (Town Hall) - arrive xx35
TROWBRIDGE (Town Hall) ^ depart xx37
TROWBRIDGE (Railway Station) ^ xx40
Train to Portsmouth ^ depart xx53
Upper Studley ^ xx49
Southwick ^ xx52
Rode ^ xx57
Beckington ^ xx03
Oldfield ^ xx07
FROME (Market Place) ^ arrive xx13
FROME (Market Place) ^ depart xx20
FROME (Sainsbury^s) ^ xx25
(Continues to Wells Bus Station as Service 161, arriving at xx25)

NOTE ^ I have proposed that the 234 bus service interworks at Frome with the First Bus 161 service to Wells each hour. This ensures that an extra bus will not be required to run the 234 via Chippenham railway station each hour.

The bid should ensure that valid Melksham rail tickets are accepted not only on the 234 bus service, but also on the hourly First Bus 272 service from Melksham to Bath bus station, which is a mere stones throw away from not only Bath city centre but Bath Spa railway station as well, and its frequent rail service connections to the Bristol area.

This should be sufficient provision for the TransWilts on Monday-Saturday, which means that passenger rail services on the Melksham line need only be specified on Sundays (when the 234 bus service doesn^t run), where the current rail service pattern should be enough to satisfy demand. This could be augmented on Summer Sundays by additional rail services linked to the Weymouth line, as this is one of the few TransWilts flows that have proven potential to attract significant numbers of genuinely new passenger journeys to the rail network.

So there you have it ^ A cost-effective solution that saves money by removing the ridiculous specification requirement to provide a near-useless ^marginal time^ Monday-Saturday Melksham line passenger rail service, while still covering all the relevant TransWilts service provision angles. Furthermore it^s a solution that requires no additional bus or train resources, as opposed to wasting both taxpayers money and precious rolling stock on sending a unit trundling up and down the Melksham line near-empty for most of the day.

Problem solved.

Hi all.

I'm a transport consultant, currently doing a lot of work related to the renewal of the GW^▸ (Great Western) rail franchise.

Since finding this forum, I've been very impressed with the knowledge and level of detail that go into member posts, and I hope you don't mind if I run some of my ideas by you all on here.

I'm also looking forward to commenting on other matters, as and when appropriate.