So Grahame, earlier in the week you were teasing us as to a possible announcement as part of the visit. I've been hunting high and low for news of electrification of the branch, or maybe the reopening of Royal Wootton Bassett and Corsham stations, or even at a more mundane level a ticket machine for Melksham. But I've not spotted anything yet.
Alas, John ... the media only has limited space and current rail interest seems to be centred on an 80m gap in the tracks somewhere south of Exeter ...
Yes, there
will be a ticket machine for Melksham
and a series of other improvements there and at other stations along the TransWilts. And there's also the announcement of the Melksham Rail Link bus service - connecting the residential areas to the south and the east of the town with the station, timed to arrive at the station a few minutes before the peak hour trains to Swindon in the morning, and to leave the station in the evening a few minutes after the return trains arrive.
This can make a huge difference in home to work commutes - here's what the ConnectingWiltshire site currently recommends from the East Melksham development (Thyme Road) to an office block 5 minutes from Swindon Station:
You'll note options at 82 and 92 minutes, and if you look into the options in more detail you'll find significant sections of walking, and indeed 2 of the three journeys involve taking the bus to Chippenham then the train. Fares will be around 13 to 14 pounds for peak day return.
From Monday, the bus will leave Thyme Road at 06:56 and at 07:26, connect to the train at Melksham Station, and you'll arrive in that same office block at 07:53 or 08:23 - that's a saving of 25 minutes on the quickest of journeys, a guaranteed connection if the evening train is late, and a saving of about 5 pounds on the daily return fare.
There's a preliminary document on the new service at
http://atrebatia.info/melkshamraillink.pdf - there should be a full map and integration under Connecting Wiltshire in due course, but for the moment we're using this "stop gap"