How we are telling people in MELKSHAM about changes to their trains

Quick campaign update ... what the Melksham Rail User Group has been doing to alert people to train changes next weekend and to help promote the new services.

Building up from those who need / want to be informed well in advance, and yet avoiding too much general information out there too early so that day to day travellers still turn up for trains running this week and not for services that don't run at published times until next week!

1. Web site Link to new timetable added alongside current timetable at the start of November.
80 downloads in November, 52 so far in December (1st to 8th)
(to reach early enquirers making it very clear this was a future timetable)

2. “Behind the Counter” new timetables teken to TIC^▸ and Town Hall - early November
To answer questions / hand out as appropriate making it clear this is the future timetable

3. Melksham Maker’s Market on 23rd November - first information within Melksham Town
Being seen, making people aware, first general leaflet distribution.
Thanks to the four MRUG^» members who did this

4. Melksham Rail User Group, 27th November. Passing out leaflets to members for onward distribution
Supply of TransWilts Line of Route to us also for further distributions
(Thank goodness we have moved to a bigger venue - biggest regular MRUG meeting I can recall!)

5. Timetables handed out at station on 29th and 30th November and 1st December, mornings
137 passenger (Friday) + 127 (Saturday) + 45 (Sunday) seen / informed (my email of 1.12)
Many leaflets taken - perhaps to 50% of those people. But virtually all now aware of changes
Thanks to five team members at the station for shifts during thie period

6. Leaflet distributed (circa 12,000 copies) in Melksham News. 5th December.
Also short letter to the editor highlighting some changes and thanking people for using the train

7. 8th December - Town Centre bus stops and station board updated with graphics from the themed leaflet
Station board includes a prominent display of the times as they will be from next week and graphic is new and eyecatching.

8. Tweets and Facebook posts - two of us over the past couple of weeks.

9. 9th December - I’ve been in town and stocked the TIC, Library and Town Hall.
Thanks to others for covering other in-town venues last week

Santa next Sunday - will have leaflets there too, but Santa is a separate "thread"!

Probably around a dozen people have been involved in one way or another - THANK YOU everyone!

A cold November morning outside Melksham station - but our hearts warmed by the wonderful people who use our trains and almost always stop for a friendly if brief word.

New poster - matching the publicity theme and helping to draw people over because it's so different to what was there before, even if it happens to come from the same graphic artist!

I am asking if TransWilts are planning any line-wide activities to welcome the new trains next weekend (I overlooked the question of their reps at the MRUG meeting). It’s an excellent chance to get some publicity on the first run of the new later train from Swindon to Melksham (and Westbury) on Sunday, and the new early train from Westbury (and Melksham) to Swindon that starts the following morning.

For readers here, download of the new "Melksham Train Times" leaflet is at http://www.mrug.org.uk/Winter2019Spring2020.pdf and the TransWilts line of route is at https://transwilts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TransWilts-Timetable-FINAL.pdf . The Melksham Rail User Group website is at http://www.mrug.org.uk .