| Archived Save the Train forum articles - 2005 to 2010. See below
The County's reaction. - 1961/4782 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Friday, 13th April 2007 """Cllr Jeff Osborn, chairman of the overview and scrutiny committee, said: "It is important that continued pressure is applied on First Great Western and the Government over poor performance as a result of the new franchise timetable. "As such, the scrutiny role of the county council is vital in allowing elected members to gain a greater understanding of the issues and represent the concerns of the public." A council spokesman added: "Unfortunately the county council has no direct power over the rail industry. However, it will continue to push for a solution that mitigates the impacts where possible, including working with others to make the case for Wiltshire."""" [b]Don't let's forget that Wiltshire Country Council is the Transport Authority and has a responsibility for all transport in Wiltshire even if it has no direct control over the railways. Re: The County's reaction. - 1961/4788 Written by Lee on Friday, 13th April 2007 Also from the Bath Chronicle article : "The council also discussed how the greatly reduced level of train service at Melksham in the new timetable was likely to cut the number of rail passengers, which could in turn put in peril proposed improvements at the station. The county council has previously proposed to link the station with the A350, improve parking and integrate the station with bus services. However, it has now indicated that such changes "would cease to be viable" should the number of rail users in the town decrease." Patronage HAS now decreased to less than than a handful of passengers. I believe that what is happening now , which in my view could well lead to closure , is COMPLETE MADNESS on the part of all responsible. Re: The County's reaction. - 1961/4792 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Friday, 13th April 2007 Pretty depressing, frankly .... while saying that pressure should be kept up, the county is in effect taking actons and making statements that reduces the pressure. Re: The County's reaction. - 1961/4830 Written by Lee on Monday, 16th April 2007 Here are some further links. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wiltshire/6553665.stm http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/04/task_group_looks_at_wiltshire.html#more 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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