14th July 2021 - Melksham Transport User Group

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Melksham Transport User Group meeting - 19:30 on Wednesday 14th July

We will have Zoom presence and possible in real life too - checks with venue made; final plans over next couple of days.


Topic: Melksham Transport User Group
Time: Jul 14, 2021 07:30 PM London

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Meeting ID: 846 0275 1213
Passcode: 013059
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Meeting ID: 846 0275 1213
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[grahame]

Melksham Transport User Group meeting - 19:30 on Wednesday 14th July

We will have Zoom presence and possible in real life too - checks with venue made; final plans over next couple of days.

"Lead" is to be the Zoom meeting ... for MTUG^» (Melksham Transport User Group - site) members who don't have Internet / Zoom access, we'll have a small local access point.   The venue's "drift" was/is that we could hold the meeting there "if necessary" and, frankly, not really necessary when compared with running a Zoom  meeting with a couple of extra computers somewhere to join in.

[grahame]

Topic: Melksham Transport User Group
Time: Jul 14, 2021 07:30 PM London

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84602751213?pwd=c3hTbWpET0thZU5KdTNxMDE5NDdxdz09

Main elements / Agenda

* Welcome

* Apologies for Absence

* Notes from previous meeting
   http://www.mtug.org.uk/lib/MTUG_20210527.pdf

* TransWilts report

* Trains
   Line and service update
   Summer Timetables
   Station Friends Activities
   Marketing
   Future events

* Buses
   Current running
   Bus Stop Adoption
   The next year
   BBB, BSIP and looking forward

* General
   Treasurer's report
   Web site and social media

* Area and regional changes and development
   Walking and Cycling
   Bristol, Westbury, Weymouth, Main lines
   Neighbourhood plans
   Melksham Bypass
   TWSW^» (TravelWatch SouthWest - website), WWRUG^» (West Wiltshire Rail Users Group - about), Coffee Shop, CRN^» (Community Rail Network - about)

* Any other business
   That hasn't already arisen
   
* Date (and method) of next meeting

[grahame]

Notes of meeting at http://mtug.org.uk/lib/MTUG_20210714.pdf (thanks, Roger and Lee)

Covering email to our "Mailing list":

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Please find attached notes from the recent (14th July) Melksham Transport User Group meeting.
Pages 4 and 5 are Lee's excellent option 24/7 - Bus Back Better report.

* Survey - please answer on your bus use

Wiltshire Council have now launched their consultation on this. Please help us - answer the survey and ask your friends to as well.    It's at http://option247.uk/council_survey and that takes you to Wiltshire Council's much longer and obscure web address!

* Next meeting

Please note that the next meeting is on 15th September 2021 at 19:30.  We hope that will be in the Union Church Hall with Zoom video link too, but we must remain open to detailed arrangements changing by then.  Please put this date in your diary - Kevin and/or I will send out an agenda and reminder close to the event.

* Lack of promotion this summer

Yesterday was the launch of the Community Rail Network's "Days out by Rail".  As a member of the Community Rail Network, we had planned to have a leaflet (and a mailing in the MIN) to use this to promote train travel this summer from Melksham.  Sadly, current train reliability is poor and neither Peter nor I felt comfortable promoting trips out to newcomers at present; just too much risk of their first experience being a bad one. GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) tell me that "we are in for a difficult few weeks yet".  Come September, I hope we can start to rebuild.

* And finally

We may be lacking promotion to "newbies" for a few weeks - but for the more robust of us, the trains are still running - please use them.  Just be prepared for last minute cancellations, bustitutions, taxi rides, etc.  And if you find yourself stuck, please use the help point or ask the staff, and if there's not another train due for an hour or more, don't take "no" for an answer!  Every cloud has a silver lining - if you are delayed by more than 15 minutes, you can get a partial refund.  Mind, not always worth bothering with some of our really good local value.  I had a trip to Avoncliff on Saturday ... £3.80 return with my senior card.  Late back, but not worth claiming 95p

Have a good summer ... get in touch with any of the team with any questions or ideas!

Graham

Really, really sad to not be taking part in "Days out by Rail", but risk assessment indicates a high risk (3) of people looking to travel on train that aren't running, and medium (2) consequences from that failure.  Multiply those together and the assessment value of 6 can only have lead to the decision we had to make.   Once it moves out of "high risk" (say 96% of trains running and never advertised as "cancelled"), we can reconsider - long way to go.  Today, of 17 services, 4 advertised as cancelled, one of which remains not running as I write - that's 76% not 96% ....)