LSTF at Melksham - what has been achieved, and where we have to go

I was asked (on Friday!) for comments for a report that Wilts Council are doing "at the end of LSTF^▸ (Local Sustainable Transport Fund) funding" for Wiltshire Council, with particular reference to things at Melksham Station / with a quotation that can be used. Requests for clarification resulted in an email on Sunday evening giving me a number of updates and as the report is to be "finalised early this week" I have rushed out the following. Carefully labelled "IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion)" and sent to the chairs of MRDG^» (Melksham Railway Development Group - about) and the TransWilts CIC^▸ (Community Interest Company ) for their comments too.

"LSTF funding has made an order of magnitude change to train use from Melksham, and with such to the lives of many people in their daily commute and in leisure journeys too. People have moved homes, changed jobs, and sold cars based on the new service, and it's brought business to the town. The ancilliary services are exceptionally helpful, feeding the train, and station improvements allow it to cope with the new traffic levels.

There are concerns that some of the linked services will be withdrawn next month after successfully running (and still growing) for just 15 months of what we understood to be a three year trial, and that certain projects are incomplete - a ticket machine tat's not switched on is of zero value, as is a path blocked by a fence or a bus that won't stop at the station, and we look forward to the completion of these projects very soon indeed.

Looking further ahead, there are maintenance issues with items such as signage and bus maps as routes evolve (or are cut) and in keeping the community involved and informed. With the community funding element for the CRP^▸ resolved, we're confident that Wiltshire Council and the Comunity can work together on these ongoing issues to ensure that the LSTF investment is proven in time to be the seed of a sustainble transport system rather than just a flash in the pan. It's up to Wiltshire Council and the Community to make sure this works, and we would like to thank them for all their positive work, without which we wouldn't have been able to achieve what has been achieved

Melksham (Station) related improvements in / around LSTF

** Services

* Train Service Improvement
   - Extra trial service for 3 years
   - Doing very well indeed after 1.5 years (well over all expectations)
     [Link journeys up 10-fold year before new servive to first full year, and still rising]
   - Overcrowding and gap in service issues
   - Runs to December 2016. Some questions over "what then". Positive vibes.

* Melksham Rail Link Bus
   - Trial / interim service until cut through and service bus linkage provided
   - Now loading well - double figures on some runs / significant traffic to rail
   - report on usage and future as requested to WC^▸ on 8th June
   - Decison to withdraw (last run 17th July) by WC advised to us on 12th June
   - Alternative facilities not in place. Withdrawal of service so quickly without replacement is astonishing

* Bus to take train tickets
   - Service bus 234 takes train tickets in the evening after last train
   - Useful facility to allow people to get home; saves need for late train
   - Route 234 being withdrawn after 1st August
   - Unclear as to what if any alternatives being provided

Summary
   - Trains run to December 2016
   - Rail Link Bus runs to 17th July 2015 and as then withdrawn.
   - Evening bus runs to 1st August 2015 then unknown.

** Railside at Station

* Platforms at Melksham
   - Sufficient for 1 car train / 2 car with cehtre doors.
   - 2 car with end doors has to use "Single Door Opening"
   - Not a problem until passenger numbers per train double again
   - Not part of LSTF

* Cycle Racks at Melksham Station
   - Old racks replaced by new
   - New racks in good daily use

* Signboards at Melksham Station
   - Increased from 3 to 8 at station. Still 2 on apparoach road.
   - Excellent and providing useful information
   - 8 updated by FGW^▸ , 1 by community, 1 is Wilts Council / public transport and cycling map

* Shelter at Melksham Station
   - Old shelter replaced by new, bigger, lit one
   - Excellent. Being made us of; improves safety feeling

* Ticket Vending Machine at Melksham Station
   - Installed by 24th March 2015
   - Not commissioned and has never sold a ticket
   - Customers with Advance tickets from Melsham must order a week ahead or collect from Chippenham
   - Rail revenue being lost because conductor can't sell all tickets needed and nearby stations are unbarriered

* CCTV^▸ at Melksham Station
   - Installed early 2015
   - Unknown Operational Status

* Train departure screen at Melksham Station
   - Screen with departures installed just prior to LSTF
   - Prone to failure (guess out of order around 40% of the time)
   - Emergency and information buttons useful

** Outside the station ("Roadside")

* White lines marking route to station
   - Painted in November 2013
   - Provide useful waymarking

* Car Parking
   - Up from 6 spaces to 12 in December 2013 to around 25 in April 2015
   - And not before time - useage already over 12 and growing
   - Superb job done on new spaces and fencing of area (but why when no gate?)
   - Suggestions made to charge for use, but unclear about this at present

* Raised Platform at top of Station Approach
   - A Sleeping Policeman to control traffic at the top of station approach was planned
   - Nothing has appeared on site. Plans unknown.
   - No great problem (in my opinion) - traffic slow anyway as it's at a road junction and bend

* Bus Stops at top of Station Approach
   - Buses on routes 271, 272, x72, x34, 68, 69 and 14 (also 234 but being withdrawn) pass top of station approach
   - No bus stop on any of these routes at the station approach or for a considerable distance
   - A "Melksham Station" stop would encourage changes - routes make this logial as feeder service.
   - Melksham Rail Link (see above) is an interim until these stops provided and services co-ordinated
   - No sign of bus stops; Melksham Rail Link ceases next month. Big problem.

* Subway repaint
   - Subway under A350 was considered eyesore and offputting
   - Repainted (walls but not ceiling) around March 2015
   - Artwork planned for subway / direct arrangement between Melksham Oak School and Wiltshire Council
   - New white walls are once again attracting graffiti
   - Ongoing status unknown

* Cycleway improvents on A365
   - Plans were to widen a section of the footpath near the top of station approach
   - This work appears to have been completes, with fresh tarmac and edging

* Northern Station Entrance
   - Council own land at Station to fence to Foundry Close, and there's a roundabout spur up to the fence
   - Housing at Foundry Close is high density limited parking. North Melksham and bridge to Melksham Forest that way too.
   - Original plan was for bus (and taxi??) and cycle and footway through.
   - Due to sharp corner, plans pulled back to cycleway and footpath
   - Entrance saves a walk of about 1 km and 2 crossings of trunk road (A350)
   - Entrance provides station with facilities (McDonald's and shop / 7-11) almost on site
   - Fence panels still in place (can walk up to both sides, but some improvement needed to path)
   - No projected date as to when fence panel will be removed and access allowed

* Electric car charging points
   - Installed at other stations; in Melksham 2 points in the town centre car park at opposite end to station
   - Excellent idea for Melksham - of no use for people to charge their cars when travelling by train

** Marketing and attracting people

* Connecting Wiltshire / Travel Planners
   - A team that went round making sure people were aware of the new service
   - Melksham was planned in the second tranche, when the new trains were running
   - Second tranche diverted; no personal travel planner work done in Melkskam ("works better in bigger towns")
   - Work done in Trowbridge, Chippenham, Bradford-on-Avon
   - Our untested view is it would have been really helpful especially in Melksham where new travel modes available

* Literature printing and supply
   - Wiltshire Council have been excellent in their support of printing community brochures
   - A really useful map of Melksham showing bus routes has been produced and distributed
   - Question - will an updated version be produced bearing in mind route changes mentioned above?

* Poster Map
   - Poster map provided showing cycle ways and bus routes at top of Station approach for arriving passengers
   - Ideally would be situated at the station - where it is, we really need directions to the directions poster.
   - Question - will an updated version be produced bearing in mind route changes mentioned above?

** Admin

* Admin funding for Community Rail.
   - LSTF documentation promised assisitance and funding for admin of community support
   - ACoRP^▸ states that community investment of ^1 will bring ^4.20 in benefit
   - With 10 x the passenger numbers (still growing) the CRP needs local authority support / rail match funding?
   - Virtually every other CRP is helped in this way, but WC has provided no funding and says it has no money.
   - Wiltshire Council have been exceptionally helpful "in kind"