The following is an update just written ... in answer to a request to attend a meeting next week; regrettably I won't be there - thus the writing which I wanted to shareI'm taking the liberty of doing a "reply all" on this email to update anyone who's not aware of what's going on with train services to / from Melksham - cut and retimed to near-useless last December, as you may recall.
There's now common acknowledgment for the three key players - First Great Western, the Department for Transport, and the County Council that the cut was "one cut too far" and that there is a strong case for a much improved service. A huge amount of work was done during last summer, with studies done by the key players resulting in draft timetables that would have put the service back up to 10 trains a day (all be they not ideally timed). Alas - that part of the proposal fell at the last stage; we do have one extra train a week (southbound on Sunday) which happens to suit my own business well.
However - there's now an even stronger case being put for December 2008. I met with two First Great Western directors in August and they were giving me very positive indications, and again last week I met with the new route director who visited Melksham to talk through issues for the whole of the "TransWilts" service. The County has prepared a report than shows that an hourly service is appropriate for the line (based on population size, traffic flows, road alternatives, future growth, character of trips) but in practise a service offered by one train doing "round" trips from Swindon to Salisbury (or Westbury or Warminster) would be an excellent step forward and is what all parties - and "Save the Train" too - are aiming at.
But I get the message loud and strong that The County Council (via your elected representatives) and the Department for Transport need to receive substantial inputs from a number of locally based people and bodies to confirm the continuing need for a service of this type. So can I ask ....
a) Can Melksham xxxxxxx xxxxxxxx committee please make the strong case again
b) Can each of you reading this please make the case to your councillor, or
MP▸ , or prospective MPs, or the Depratment for Transport (copies would be appreciated)
In the New Year, Save the Train is planning to encourage further local input ... what I put as a 5% chance a year ago is somewhere around a 50% chance for December 2008, and it's something that YOU can make a difference in. So "THANK YOU" in advance for following up on this!
http://www.savethetrain.org.ukhttp://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshopGraham.
P.S. If any groups would like a speaker on the subject or on wider train / bus integration topics .... I would be happy to oblige.
As this is addressed to a Melksham group, it was written with a Melksham perspective.
But don't forget that for every passenger who left / joined the service here when it ran at a more appropriate level, a further 4 stayed on the train. Chippenham to Salisbury. Swindon to Trowbrige. As well as Melksham to Warminster!
