| Archived Save the Train forum articles - 2005 to 2010. See below
Have First just shrugged their shoulders? - 1688/4409 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Wednesday, 21st March 2007 "We could have just shrugged our shoulders and said that's what the Government bought" said Glenda Lamont, a director of First Great Western, last night at the meeting of West Wilts District Council, who she was addressing on the subject of First Great Western's train services to and from the District. "But ...." she went on, and listed a number of actions taken. [i]Edit - addition - Glenda Lamont has suggested that I quoted her out of content or misquoted her in this article. Re: Have First just shrugged their shoulders? - 1688/4412 Written by Ruthg on Wednesday, 21st March 2007 Can we as a group try an apply pressure to the DfT to apply pressure to FGW? I just get the impression that FGW are just going to repeat the same old spin about the HSTs to anyone who'll listen, to try and deflect the interest away from other issues such as Melksham. Luckily the councillors last night showed quite unanimously that they could see through it. I also feel that Wiltshire County Council need to liaise with other councils in the area about the Transwilts. I've tried writing to my MP David Heath for Frome and Somerset County Councillors for Frome, but none of them have replied and this is the second time I've written to them. I think there's still this idea amongst some people that it's just a Melksham problem, even though we know that people are connecting with that service from further afield. Re: Have First just shrugged their shoulders? - 1688/4415 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Wednesday, 21st March 2007 I have just receive a reply from Fleur de Rhe-Philipe, posted here in a separate thread which deals somewhat with the County Council issue. My personal "base" is Melksham and as the place which is worst hit by the changes - we have lost the majority of our trains and we're a town comparable in size to Frome - it was natural for us to get a lot of the publicity. But for every train journey made to of from Melksham, there were another THREE mad via Melksham - Frome to Swindon, Chippenham to Salisbury, etc. So - of course - I want an appropriate service for Melksham but I'm now strongly shouting "From and to Swindon and Chippenham to West Wilts and beyond" and, no, you don't see the work Melksham in than sentence. Re: Have First just shrugged their shoulders? - 1688/4418 Written by Ruthg on Wednesday, 21st March 2007 I think I will just have to keep sending letters to my MP until he gets so fed up he sends me a reply. Re: Have First just shrugged their shoulders? - 1688/4421 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Wednesday, 21st March 2007 Persistance ... a series of carefully thought through letters showing a good case can work wonders. Perhaps write you your county councillor(s) to - especially those of the same political colour as your MP, copying around. Ruth - you're getting to be something of an expert on travel from Somerset to Swindon; once that's acknowledged, you'll find you'll be listened to more closely. Oh - and try the local paper and radio station too. Re: Have First just shrugged their shoulders? - 1688/4428 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Thursday, 22nd March 2007 Following up on my top article, I have a correction to my quote from Glenda Lamont. Re: Have First just shrugged their shoulders? - 1688/4435 Written by Lee on Thursday, 22nd March 2007 [quote author=Ruthg link=topic=1688.msg4412#msg4412 date=1174482634]Can we as a group try an apply pressure to the DfT to apply pressure to FGW?[/quote] This is being done on a regular basis , an example of which is Graham's recent conversation with the civil servant concerned. Re: Have First just shrugged their shoulders? - 1688/4445 Written by Ruthg on Thursday, 22nd March 2007 [quote author=Ruthg link=topic=1688.msg4412#msg4412 date=1174482634] Can we as a group try an apply pressure to the DfT to apply pressure to FGW? [/quote] I apologise if it sounds like I'm not fully aware of the hard work and campaigning that's happening, I suppose the point I'm trying to make and rather clumsily, is that for some areas like mine, Save the Train doesn't have the same profile as other campaigns such as More Train Less Strain and that with more names and places mentioned in group campaigning the more people like my MP and county councillors might start taking notice. Re: Have First just shrugged their shoulders? - 1688/4447 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Thursday, 22nd March 2007 I would love to have been able to raise the profile of our campaign higher in Swindon, Trowbridge, Frome and so on ... but I'm a realist. Re: Have First just shrugged their shoulders? - 1688/4720 Written by Lee on Tuesday, 10th April 2007 [quote author=Graham Ellis link=topic=1688.msg4409#msg4409 date=1174477323][b]In the SLC document, the government tells you to provide a train that arrives in Swindon before 08:30 and one that leaves after 17:30, plus one extra train each way, each day. Re: Have First just shrugged their shoulders? - 1688/4722 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Tuesday, 10th April 2007 [quote author=Lee link=topic=1688.msg4720#msg4720 date=1176201275] How can Peter West claim that "it (the timetable) fails to meet the spirit that was intended by the DfT (in SLC2)" if the DfT authorised a timing change that operationally benefited First Great Western (to the detriment of us) ??? [/quote] I don't 'get' that either. It implies that either someone is giving out inconsistent information, or someone isn't telling us what's really going on and is telling us 'stories' Re: Have First just shrugged their shoulders? - 1688/5332 Written by courgettelawn on Sunday, 20th May 2007 I am, intentionally, widening my wording to avoid "Melksham" being the key, even though it might be the shorthand that people used. "West Wilts and beyond to Chippenham and Swindon" is the current / appropriate term. Funnily enough, I have not used the word Melksham in my letters of concern and protest and the slant of my position is for an improved TransWilts service that runs from south to north, Salisbury to Swindon, effectively. Yet in the reponses I have had, it is Alison Forster and representatives from Wiltshire CC who have shoved Melksham in the response. I live in Salisbury and want to be able to get to Chippenham on a relatively regular basis. They simply don't understand the impact the decimation of rail services is going to have on the county in the future. We need to keep up the letters and comments to ensure that the rhetoric is soaked up by the politicians too. Don't forget to remind them we are voters as well. Recently at the local elections Salisbury voted out its Tory administration mainly on one issue, the controversial council office extension to Bourne Hill Georgian manor. I would remind Wiltshire CC of the power of voters to vote out councillors who would rather support highways extensions over rail improvements. link to index of articles |
|||
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 | |||
|
|||
Further Information:
Home
Current Summary
Daily update
User forum
Consultation
Service now
Service future
Future Analysis
Recent Statistics
Recent letters
Letter to DfT
Save the train
Presentation
Support us
Other Maps
Station facilities
Station approach
Pictures
Trains diverted
History
About Melksham
Site Map
About this site