| Archived Save the Train forum articles - 2005 to 2010. See below
Southminster madness - 126/298 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Monday, 23rd January 2006 I'm in Essex today and tomorrow and I was chatting with one of the people I'm working with who was born and bred near Southminster at the end of a branch line off the Liverpool Street to Southend route. I had always wondered why one of the trains ran "Thursdays excepted" and learnt that it was to allow the flask for the local nuclear power station to use the loine. Anyway - the reason for my post. There was a proposal a couple of years back to take OFF the rushhour train and replace it with a bus, but leave the train on for the rest of the day - in other words, to eliminate the busiest train. Why? Because they were short of stock in the rush hour for other trains and were proposing to use a bus. Daft idea, protest, and it didn't happen. But isn't it very odd indeed that we have something of the reverse case - First must provide a train in the rushhour, but the rest of the time when stock is less limited they probably won't be, It strikes me that the rules go one way then the other to suit the person who's making them. Me wonders if our First rush hour train might, on occasions of stock shortage, turn our to be a First rush hour bus. Re: Southminster madness - 126/305 Written by Nick Field on Wednesday, 25th January 2006 [quote author=Graham Ellis link=topic=126.msg298#msg298 date=1138041394] Re: Southminster madness - 126/1076 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Saturday, 29th July 2006 [quote author=Graham Ellis link=topic=126.msg298#msg298 date=1138041394] Me wonders if our First rush hour train might, on occasions of stock shortage, turn our to be a First rush hour bus. [/quote] Eight rush hour cancellations in July so far ... Eight weekday rush hour trains already marked down for bustitution in August ... looks like I was nearer the truth than I had hoped ... Re: Southminster madness - 126/1084 Written by Nick Field on Saturday, 29th July 2006 My concern is that they are almost trying to kill things off early, even before the dreadful new timetable. 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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