| Archived Save the Train forum articles - 2005 to 2010. See below
What now for the Melksham line? - 121/281 Written by David Preston on Wednesday, 18th January 2006 Now that the decision has been made to effectively cull the service, where does it leave us? It seems no one will listen. Reading todays Rail magazine Christian Wolmer makes reference to Firsts franchise in that the sums do not add up, and will fall flat on its face in 2010. In fact on the busy Thames Valley routes operated by FGW link, there is no case for any additional services to meet the ever increasing demand. FGW will just increase its fares as much as it wants to extract as much as it can before the finances hit trouble which they no doubt will. I note the folks in Corsham are fighting to reopen their station, but they have the same chance as everyone in Melksham winning the national lottery. Basically the government falsely assumes that private money is helping the railway when in fact its taxpayers money. It have never invested any great amount in railways, and intends to continue this lack of support. As a side issue, I have emailed the editors of "The Railway Magazine" and "Modern Railways" in support of this site and await their responses in articles in their magazines. Who knows where the current status of Melksham will end. At least the DFT have not shut the station for good. I personally think we the commuters should have a national strike which will really hit their finances to improve things for the better. RIP The Current Melksham train service. Remembered with great fondness, efficiency and frequency. Supported by many. Re: What now for the Melksham line? - 121/283 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Wednesday, 18th January 2006 [quote author=David Preston link=topic=121.msg281#msg281 date=1137590211] RIP The Current Melksham train service. Remembered with great fondness, efficiency and frequency. Supported by many. [/quote] HEY - cut that out. Seriously, we're into something of an end game but there ARE chinks of light. Re: What now for the Melksham line? - 121/285 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Thursday, 19th January 2006 David, everyone else ... At the Stakeholder meeting on Monday - of which I got details last night - there was a question / specific mention of the service through Melksham. First and the Deparment for Transport are currently listening to aspirations and with a good business case could provide a better service ... or without such a case could simply provide the two trains, the "sop" being that our inputs will help them decide at what time of day the second trains runs. Re: What now for the Melksham line? - 121/286 Written by Nick Field on Thursday, 19th January 2006 [quote author=David Preston link=topic=121.msg281#msg281 date=1137590211] As a side issue, I have emailed the editors of "The Railway Magazine" and "Modern Railways" in support of this site and await their responses in articles in their magazines. RIP The Current Melksham train service. Remembered with great fondness, efficiency and frequency. Supported by many. [/quote] Come on Dave, do you always give in that easliy? Where is you fighting spirit? There is plenty that can be done yet. Good news about the email to the rail mags, the more people that are aware the better I think. Re: What now for the Melksham line? - 121/288 Written by Nick Field on Thursday, 19th January 2006 Graham My letters have been written and sent today - one to Lesley Coleman and one to Peter West. I urge all others to do the same. Nick. Re: What now for the Melksham line? - 121/290 Written by David Preston on Thursday, 19th January 2006 Graham, I didn't mean to cause offence, am I sincerely hope we retain the current service to cater for the existing and potential customer base. I would also like to see Corsham, Wootten Bassett and Lavington (for Devizes) stations re-opened. First's business case for the franchise is based on the economic trend continuing as is, but does not take into account for any down turn in numbers, fuel costs or any other economic factors. As Christain Wolmer mentions in the latest Rail magazine, history is repeating itself with First, as in the case of Virgin, offered massive premium to the government to run the service. It was hoped that in the case of Cross Country, Virgin would be paying Re: What now for the Melksham line? - 121/291 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Thursday, 19th January 2006 David ... offense NOT taken - it was a welcome chance to remind people that there IS still a chink of light / a possibility. Although the door is almost closed, there's quite a bright light shining through the gap. We need to get excellent cases to Lesley Coleman and Peter West (thanks, Nick, for your confirmation that you have). link to index of articles |
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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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