Melksham Rail Link - bus service

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Just 3 passengers on the bus that connected with the 07:48 train ... 1 from the Bowerhill end and 2 from St Andrew's Church in the Forest.  35 people on the train into Melksham (15 of them from Westbury, I understand), 4 got off, 5 on, making 40 passengers using the Trowbridge - Chippenham section. Lots off at Chippenham, but many on too - 45 passengers into Swindon.  Further reports of the 17:36 being full and standing last night.

Evening train ... 18:50 from Swindon left Chippenham with 32 on board. 6 off at Melksham and 2 more on - making for 34 using the Chippenham to Trowbridge section.  2 on the bus - 1 to The Forest and one dropped off at Queensway.

[John R]

Looks as though commuter numbers are tailing off a bit as the week goes by and the bank holiday draws nearer. No great surprise there.

[bobm]

Just for the record, here is the minibus yesterday evening.  I believe the driver was checking the group getting off the train didn't want the bus.  I think the parents might have, but the children wanted McDonald's!

[Andrew1939 from West Oxon]

John R is quite correct. Here on the Cotswold Line has seen the usual Easter fall in passenger numbers. I did my usual car park count at Hanborough's new car park and the numbers yesterday had fallen from around 170 a few weeks ago to 103. So, nothing to fear about a reduction in WestWilts numbers this week (and next).

[grahame]

07:20 bus ... 1 on at Duxford (far end of Bowerhill), 1 at The Spa, 1 at Snowberry Lane / Heather Close, 2 at St Andrew's Church, 1 at the Pig and Whistle and 1 at Bud's, making a total of 7 of whom 4 travelled on the train (07:48 schedule / 07:55 actual).

Bus customer feedback - "Fills a real gap - NOTHING from the Forest otherwise at thsi time of the morning" and "Frome Minibus staff are a wonderful team".  I have to agree with the latter comment - a shining example of customer service; they have an excellent reputation in the town / through the rest of their services too.

4 people got off the 07:48 train at Melksham and 11 got on, 42 on board to Chippenham so that makes 46 using the train between Trowbridge and Chippenham. I noted around 16 getting off and 8 on at Chippenham (hard to count) and that left 34 on the train into Swindon.   

Interesting to note that even though it's school holidays / Maundy Thursday, traffic seemed to all be business / commuters, also there's a pattern forming that the TransWilts services seem to have more passengers Melksham to Chippenham than Chippenham to Swindon,and lots of traffic coming up to Chippenham; of those getting off, some wait for connection (Bath, Bristol Temple Meads etc) but most leave the station.  Noting that on arrival in Swindon, some wait for the London connection but most leave the station.

Evening - I was on the earlier train - 17:36 off Swindon which left with just 40 on board. 3 off and 13 on at Chippenham, making 50 on the run to Melksham.  16 off at Melksham and 5 more on making 55 passengers using the Chippenham - Trowbridge section.  Not bad for Maundy Thursday.  4 on the bus - 1 to Forest Road, 2 to St Andrews Church and one to Snowberry Lane.

Rounds off a week of commuting from Home to Oxford.  It has been a real pleasure, and a real learning experience about how we're doing. Sayings of the week in comments to me

... "I don't think many people know about it to be honest" showing me that although numbers are growing well we still have potential and marketing to do to reach people.

... "Thank you for everything you've done", to which I said a curteous "Thank You", and followed up by saying that I'm just one of a big team and I just happen to be the visisble one as I lokk after Press and Publicity.  So I'm asked to pass on thanks to ... (in no particular order) Lee, and Sion, and Chris from Nailsea, and Phil, and Bobm and ... especially to those who's day job relates to public transport, and who've given us there out-of-hours and voluntary time to make this possible too.

[Chris from Nailsea]

... I'm just one of a big team and I ... pass on thanks to ... Chris from Nailsea, ...

Erm ... thanks, grahame.

[John R]

Evening - I was on the earlier train - 17:36 off Swindon which left with just 40 on board. 3 off and 13 on at Chippenham, making 50 on the run to Melksham.  16 off at Melksham and 5 more on making 55 passengers using the Chippenham - Trowbridge section.  Not bad for Maundy Thursday. 

16 off at Melksham. That's the largest number yet recorded for the main evening commuter train. Maybe more of a mix of commuters and returning holiday leisure traffic than usual, but good to see anyway.