| Train service reliability (or lack thereof) at Melksham - letter to MP Posted by grahame at 12:06, 7th October 2025 |     |
| Re: Train service reliability (or lack thereof) at Melksham - letter to MP Posted by matth1j at 13:03, 7th October 2025 | |
Fingers crossed. I've emailed a short follow up.
| Re: Train service reliability (or lack thereof) at Melksham - letter to MP Posted by grahame at 17:44, 7th October 2025 | |
I have spent significant time today writing cover notes for each of the groups copied ... here is a follow up to a fellow community rep who was at Friday's meeting (slightly edited to be usefully read out of context)
I’m so glad I came across as slightly p’d off - I was supposed to. It was somewhat calculated to raise the issue above the “Graham won’t go any further - so we can keep on going with platitudes” line.
It’s the third promise of a meeting so I am not optimistic that they will deliver - in any case, we need action. What the newer members of the GWR team will have learned is that there is a place called “Melksham” in their patch, with a lot of natives who want to use their services and have good but limited patience. Are they (GWR) taking the "Separate meeting = Divide and conquer" approach??
First hours of sending. No reply from anyone at GWR yet - but then they’ll want to read in and that may even be a good sign. Don't know yet.
It’s the third promise of a meeting so I am not optimistic that they will deliver - in any case, we need action. What the newer members of the GWR team will have learned is that there is a place called “Melksham” in their patch, with a lot of natives who want to use their services and have good but limited patience. Are they (GWR) taking the "Separate meeting = Divide and conquer" approach??
First hours of sending. No reply from anyone at GWR yet - but then they’ll want to read in and that may even be a good sign. Don't know yet.
| Re: Train service reliability (or lack thereof) at Melksham - letter to MP Posted by matth1j at 10:57, 14th October 2025 | |
Fingers crossed. I've emailed a short follow up.
Brian has replied:Yes, my team and I have been in touch with Graham Ellis and I sent a letter to Mark Hopwood, GWR CEO, yesterday about the totally unacceptable rates of train cancellations at Melksham.
GWR has shown positive engagement over campaigns for Devizes Gateway and the Bath & Wiltshire Metro proposal, so I hope they will look seriously at taking steps to address the current poor reliability.
I look forward to working with Melksham Transport User Group to campaign for better services at Melksham.
We can always hope GWR has shown positive engagement over campaigns for Devizes Gateway and the Bath & Wiltshire Metro proposal, so I hope they will look seriously at taking steps to address the current poor reliability.
I look forward to working with Melksham Transport User Group to campaign for better services at Melksham.
| Re: Train service reliability (or lack thereof) at Melksham - letter to MP Posted by grahame at 11:49, 14th October 2025 | |
We can always hope 
Yes, we can hope. But "we" can (and are) looking to do rather more than just hoping - suggesting, informing, and looking to help oil the wheels to get the Transport Secretary's intention of providing a reliable service [across the rail network] to be reflected and implemented on individual services such as ours.
| Re: Train service reliability (or lack thereof) at Melksham - letter to MP Posted by matth1j at 13:12, 14th October 2025 | |
Sorry Graham, I didn't mean to imply that your considerable and much appreciated efforts won't produce results.
| Re: Train service reliability (or lack thereof) at Melksham - letter to MP Posted by grahame at 13:44, 14th October 2025 | |
Sorry Graham, I didn't mean to imply that your considerable and much appreciated efforts won't produce results.
I hadn't read it like that ... and there is absolutely no guarantee of results! Just making it clear to all readers (including perhaps those who have received a copy of the letter in the process of their work) that this isn't a matter they can defuse with just words, or just by letting time pass and the complaint about the horrendous service they are providing at the moment fading away.
Interesting that as I write this, the 12:17 round trip from Westbury has been cancelled. The previous train at 09:46 ran, and we'll see about the next train at 14:16.
