Lesson - Provide a useable train service, and people will use it!

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Yesterday, I went down to Melksham station to pick up a delegate arriving from Ely off the 15:48 (that's our first train southbound on a Saturday - the second and final one is at 21:34).

A little surprised to see that there were only two spaces unoccupied at the station car park, that the disable space was occupied, and that a taxi was waiting too.  I confess to wondering which of the motoring businesses around was using it as a convenient place to leave cars over the weekend.

Ah - here comes the train.  Good to see this new type (150/1 for the Anoraks) that have appeared over the last six months. But there's still need for more; there should be 10 trains each way per day, not just two.



It's very interesting to see the "Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership" advert on the side of the train.  Cynics may laugh and say that it's way out of its area, but I'm delighted ... for it makes for excellent advertising for lines that are not competing with ours (none do) - but that help to make a complete network of journey options.



Fifteen people off the train - the most that I've seen getting off a Saturday train since the summer of 2006, when we had 4 trains each way on Saturdays and the service gave good day trip opportunities. 



Provide a service that's even half useable, let people know about it, and people will use it!  I have to admit to an error of judgement when I first saw the car park, for all of the cars at the station were there on railway business ;-) !

There are so many really small things that could be done:

* Advertise it better - e.g. have a "TransWilts" unit running around
* Provide "PlusBus" ticketing to and from Melksham
* Add the 05:19 Gloucester to Southampon and the 07:04 Westbury to Swindon services to the list of early services that can be used on Freedom / Rover / Ranger tickets, at least until the timetable's improved
* Fix the information screen.  It's been showing this message for weeks now ...



Except last weekend - when it was telling us that no train was due for 4 hours in the lead up to the arrival of the Santa train.  There's a laminated sign above that says the system's under test, but for how long for goodness sake?

Slightly larger things

* Run trains beyond Westbury, or at least make good connections.  I note that yesterday afternoon's train to Swindon started back at Castle Cary (wasn't Glastonbury weekend, was it?) and that the down train said it was going to Frome.  Ideally, the through trains would be on to / from Dilton Marsh, Warminster and Salisbury

And slightly larger again.

* Run an appropriate service for the flows on the travel corridor that the line serves.  i.e. about hourly in the peaks, and at least once every 2 hours offpeak.

You'll note I say slightly larger.  Really, a proper service shouldn't be a big deal. The shortfall in income compared to expenditure in the first two years is just one hundredth of the amount of money just announced for the strengthened FGW^▸ (First Great Western) services to the end of the franchise on 31st March 2013.  And in the following three years (on pessimistic assumptions) that money will be recouped.

I should point out here that - although my example is Melksham and Melksham's traffic, TransWilts services are also used by many others when they run at appropriate times.   There are major flows between Westbury / Trowbridge and Chippenham / Swindon, and also between Chippenham / Swindon and Warminster / Salisbury.   The train pictured about left Melksham headed for Trownbridge and Westbury with about 30 people still on board ...

The above article is text I'll be reusing elsewhere - I appreciate that it contains information and clarifications that most readers here will already be familiar with!

[anthony215]

I agree, You can see this with thye extra services we have recently had running to/from Fishguard.

These have started to be very well used especially the 15:14 Cardiff - Fishguard Harbour train which can be very full at times.

the 05:25 Hereford - Cardiff - Swansea - Carmarthen - Pembroke Dock/Fishguard service is still  a little lightly used between Whitland & Fishguard however I think passengers will pick up a bit when Fishguard & Goodwick station re-opene in march and the summer season comes around.

Hopefully FGW^▸ (First Great Western) will be able to get more dmu's when the thames valley is wired and some class 165's can come down to Bristol  & the westcountry and possibly free up a couple of class 150/158's which could be used to provide a good Salisbury - Swindon service.

[Andrew1939 from West Oxon]

When I first started using Hanborough station on a daily basis more than 20 years ago, the rail service had recently been increased from 2 up trains to Oxford and 1 down train home to having a mid-day train home and late afternoon train home in addition to the peak hour train home. These additional trains had been introduced as a result of CLPG^» (Cotswold Line Promotion Group - about) campaigning (I was not at that time a CLPG member) I started to use the train because this enabled me to take a half day leave from work or to get home a bit earlier if I was going out in the evening. There were at that time no more than a dozen regular rail users a day but they started to grow and more trains started to call at Hanborough. Each additional train generated more people using Hanborough. Today on a weekday more than 200 people use Hanborough, surely confirmation that the title to this thread is justified! There have however been other factors in Oxfordshire that has increased the use of rail (and buses) around the county and that has been increased congestion on all approach roads to Oxford for about 3 peak commuting hours together with a car parking charging policy of deterring people from driving into Oxford (over 8 hour charges now approaching ^30 a day). Only a week ago I had to take my daughter's car to a garage for its annual service at Kidlington just 5 or 6 miles north of Oxford and to get home by bus I had to go from there into Oxford. I boarded a bus at just on 09.00 and got off in central Oxford at 09.55! Road could just not compete with rail on a time basis. So you TransWilts campaigners keep going and get the local authorities supporting your campaign.

[IndustryInsider]

Ideally, a proper service shouldn't be a big deal. The shortfall in income compared to expenditure in the first two years is just one hundredth of the amount of money just announced for the strengthened FGW^▸ (First Great Western) services to the end of the franchise on 31st March 2013.  And in the following three years (on pessimistic assumptions) that money will be recouped.

That one paragraph sums the situation up brilliantly, Graham.