Late bus changes

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Since February, train tickets valid from Chippenham to Melksham and Trowbridge have been accepted on the last bus on service 234 from Chippenham Station (To Melksham or Trowbridge).   It's been a useful facility; I've made use of it and a number of other have too, and it's helpful to know that the fallback has been available if the final train is missed.   It also does PR^▸ (Public Relations) wonders 

As of 31st August, the late bus changed from 22:26 to 22:21 from Chippenham.   In theory, that simply cuts the change time at Chippenham.   In practise, it's likely to mean that the connection off the 21:50 from Bristol Temple Meads missed much more often, as this train only arrives in Chippenham on time / within 5 minutes on about 60% of days. [Snapshot figure, Recenttimetrains over a 28 day period].

To build on this facility, we asked if it could be extended to allow train tickets to be accepted on the last bus (or better, late buses) from Trowbridge too - the ones which receive a Wiltshire Council subsidy.

Good news ... as from 1st October, train tickets are accepted on the 23:40 bus from Trowbridge to Melksham.  Alas, this extra facility has not been extended to allow train tickets to be accepted on the 21:30 bus (21:10 connection from Westbury), which would have filled a really useful gap.  We did ask ...

Bad news ... (1) the previous arrangement was Monday to Saturday, but the modified arrangement has been negotiated as Monday to Friday I understand, so that the bus can't be used from Chippenham on Saturday evening any longer on a train ticket and (2) the previous arrangement from Chippenham was to Melksham and Trowbridge, but that's been reduced to Chippenham to Melksham only by the looks of things.   On both these items, I await clarification.

Posted to Facebook:

Now!   Get back to Melksham later in the evening!  From 1st October, Monday to Friday, return trains to Melksham:

From SWINDON at 06:12, 08:49, 10:47, 12:47, 15:14, 17:32, 18:52, 20:12 and 21:45
From WESTBURY at 07:04, 07:32, 09:48, 11:47, 14:14, 16:15, 18:32, 19:32 and 22:32

Notes
- the 21:45 from Swindon is by bus from Chippenham - your train ticket to Melksham is valid on the 234 bus that leaves Chippenham Station at 22:21.
- the 22:32 from Trowbridge is by bus from Trowbridge - starting in 1st October, your train ticket to Melksham is valid on the 234 bus that leaves Trowbridge Town Hall (about 10 minutse walk from the station) at 23:40

All trains call at CHIPPENHAM around 18 minutes after Swindon, and at TROWBRIDGE around 7 minutes after they leave from Westbury.  Journey time around 28 minutes from Swindon to Melksham, and around 17 minutes from Westbury to Melksham.  The 22:21 bus from Chippenham arrives at Melksham (Market Place) at 22:42, and the 23:40 bus from Trowbridge arrives there at 23:59.

This interoperability of train tickets on the bus replaces the previous arrangement, which varied slightly from the above from Chippenham and did not apply from Trowbridge.

[John R]

Out of interest, is it the bus company that has declined, or the Council (on the grounds that more subsidy will be needed)? If the bus company, could the council lean on them?

[grahame]

Out of interest, is it the bus company that has declined, or the Council (on the grounds that more subsidy will be needed)? If the bus company, could the council lean on them?

Not quite either, I suspect. The request was made to extend the existing arrangement to include the last bus or buses from Trowbridge, and that was picked up quite willingly - it's a good publicity, low/no price thing to do.  Most likely, someone along the way re-wrote the description to make it easier to understand ... using "Monday to FRIDAY", "LAST" and "to MELKSHAM" in his wording, not realising that this knocked out Saturday, journeys to Trowbridge from Chippenham and Melksham, and the 21:30 bus.

The question "how come not Saturday / no longer Trowbridge on the 22:21" has been asked and you may seen an update in due course - hope so.   The later buses (including the intermediate, subsidised, ones) on Saturday would be superbly useful as the last train home from Westbury is 18:32 - a hour earlier than on Monday to Friday or Sunday.

[grahame]

We haven't been able to establish the reasons behind the removal of the facility from Chippenham on Saturday evenings, nor behind the limiting of it to Chippenham to Melksham rather than Chippenham to Melksham and Trowbridge.   By the same token, the extension to the arrangement to operate on the last bus from Trowbridge also appears to have some confusion, and I'm going to suggest that anyone who's planning to use it from Trowbridge this week should be prepared to buy a bus ticket even if they already hold a train ticket 

Also please note that the late 234 services from Trowbridge leave from stop "C" in the Market Place and call at stops "A" on the Conigre on the way to Melksham.  They do NOT serve the stops "I" or "K" near the station, which are part of the daytime extension of the 234 bus route to Frome.   Although the 234 passes stop "M" which is a bit closer to the station than "A" or "C", it does not officially stop there, and indeed the late night bus has driven straight past me before now on the one occasion I erroneously waited there.

[Trowres]

Some way to go with this then...

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/door-to-door-strategy

[Lee]

As a result of negotiations that included input from the TransWilts Community Rail Partnership, First Bus West of England have agreed to a Wiltshire Council proposal that Rail tickets be accepted on all bus journeys on route 234 from 2200 onwards, Mondays to Saturdays.

The journeys that operate on route 234 from 2200 onwards are as follows:

2217 Chippenham Bus Station-Trowbridge Town Hall via Melksham (departs 2221 from Chippenham Railway Station)

2340 Trowbridge Town Hall-Melksham Leekes

I am awaiting clarification on a technical issue (a matter of wording to be perfectly honest) but that's the agreement in a nutshell.

[grahame]

The late buses are really useful for incoming / returning passengers ... but what about people wanting to attend events in Melksham?

A question from another Melksham business - "we have an event in the evening in Melksham with people arriving from other towns.   They can get here by train ... but how can they get home?"

From Swindon, people can come into the town on trains at 17:36 and 18:52 ... arriving at 18:03 or 19:19.   And return at 21:49, by 234 bus to Chippenham connecting into the 23:00 train there Swindon at 23:14.  As most of their time on the bus is after 22:00, is the return train ticket valid?  [Connection also available at Chippenham to Bath and Bristol ... and all the way to Exeter on Monday to Friday]

From Trowbridge, trains at 18:38 and 19:38 getting to Melksham 10 minutes later.   Return on the bus at 22:42, getting to Trowbridge at 23:01.   Return train tickets valid on this bus, right? [Connection only available into the last train to Westbury and Frome, not further afield]

[Lee]

Journey 1 no, journey 2 yes.

[grahame]

Journey 1 no, journey 2 yes.

Pity. Journey 1 takes people usefully to Swindon, Reading, Chippenham, Bath, Bristol and beyond. Journey 2 only to Trowbridge, Westbury and Frome ... having missed the last connection to Warminster and Salisbury :-( ...

[Lee]

I am aware of that, and you will also be aware, having being copied into negotiations, that we asked for valid rail tickets to also be accepted on the 2130 service 234 bus from Trowbridge to Chippenham via Melksham, which would have both covered this aspiration, and made possible other useful connections at the Trowbridge end.

However, as you are also aware, negotiations were anything but straightforward this time round, and I honestly believe that I helped get the best deal that was realistically available to us.

I wish I could have got the 2130 - I really do.

I can only promise to redouble my efforts when I have another go for May 2015.