Save the Melksham Train
Archived Save the Train forum articles - 2005 to 2010. See below
Cardiff - Westbury Service Cancelled Due To Lack Of Serviceable Trains - 1074/3040
Written by Lee on Monday, 15th January 2007

From the First Great Western website (15 January 2007) :

13:00 Cardiff Central to Westbury due 14:50

This train has been cancelled. This is due to a shortage of serviceable trains.




Re: Cardiff - Westbury Service Cancelled Due To Lack Of Serviceable Trains - 1074/3048
Written by Steve35 on Monday, 15th January 2007

The 13:30 Cardiff to Fareham is calling additionally at Severn Tunnel Junction, Patchway, Keynsham,

Re: Cardiff - Westbury Service Cancelled Due To Lack Of Serviceable Trains - 1074/3049
Written by Lee on Monday, 15th January 2007

Do you think this is a "here we go again" or an isolated incident , given last nights shortage of serviceable stock cancellations?

Re: Cardiff - Westbury Service Cancelled Due To Lack Of Serviceable Trains - 1074/3054
Written by Steve35 on Monday, 15th January 2007

[quote author=Lee link=topic=1074.msg3049#msg3049 date=1168872010]
Do you think this is a "here we go again" or an isolated incident , given last nights shortage of serviceable stock cancellations?
[/quote]
Hard to say. Units fail all the time - that's to be expected. What matters is whether the depots can keep up with the necessary repairs. You can't infer anything from a few cancellations. You'd need to be monitoring unit availability on a regular basis so you could see what the trend was. Even if, on paper, you have spare units available it's no good if they're in the wrong place. e.g. if a unit fails at Cardiff the spare unit that you've got at Exeter isn't going to stop you having a cancellation. The large geographical area of the FGW franchise probably doesn't help for that reason - any spare units are likely to be miles away from where they're needed. On a more 'compact' franchise it would be easier to get a spare unit to where it is needed.

On a positive note 3-car unit 158798 which has been under repair at Reading for several weeks has moved to St Philips Marsh today, as has 153318 which has been out of use at Exeter for a while. So hopefully these two units might be back in traffic soon.

 
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Save the Train was the campaign to bring an approriate train service back to and through Melksham.

Most big contributors are still around writing at the Coffee shop forum where new members are very welcome.

The train has been saved - sort of - we have stepped back up from an unusable service to a poorish one but it's doing very well. We did that through setting up the TransWilts Community Rail Partnership. That fulfilled its early objectives; it has been taken over by local and regional government types who are now doing medium and long term work. The team from this forun can also be found at the Melksham Rail User Group (which was the Melksham Rail Development Group at the time these articles were written and we had no users.

We mustn't loose sight, though, that the train service remains poor and needs our community support in marketing and campaigning to keep it going in a positive direction ... and all the more so when we're expecting to find a different normallity once we get out of the Coronavirus Pandemic and head for zero carbon via the climate crisis. Yes, it's saved ... it's now a key community facility ... the need for enhancement and the strong and near-universal local support remain, and the rail industry and goverment remain slow to move and provide the enhancements even to level us up with other towns. Please support the Melksham Rail User Group - now very much in partnership rather than protest with the rail industry and local government, including GWR, TransWilts and unitary and town councils. And please use the trains and buses, and cycle and walk when you can.

-- Graham Ellis, (webmaster), February 2021


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