Save the Melksham Train
Archived Save the Train forum articles - 2005 to 2010. See below
Journey Statistics - 233/589
Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Monday, 15th May 2006

Ticket sales INTO Melksham:
38.5% from Bristol
23% from Swindon
about 5% from Trowbridge
about 5% from Chippenham
No other original station over the (2%) threshhold
(so about 30% from elsewhere - i.e. significant long distance journeys!)

Ticket sales OUT OF Melksham:
42.8% to Bristol
32.1% to Swindon
about 5% to Chippenham
about 5% to Salisbury
No other destination station over the (2%) threshhold
(so about 15% to elsewhere)

Year ended April '05?

Source - Andrew Griffiths, First

Re: Journey Statistics - 233/621
Written by Sion Bretton on Saturday, 20th May 2006

Sales are low to Chippenham is this because people take th 234?

Re: Journey Statistics - 233/626
Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Sunday, 21st May 2006

[quote author=Sion Bretton link=topic=233.msg621#msg621 date=1148138028]
Sales are low to Chippenham is this because people take th 234?
[/quote]

People don't tend to use an INFREQUENT train service for a short journey, preferring to drive or to take the much more frequent bus.  Where the currently-occasional train gains in on longer distance journeys.  Taking twice the time to get to Chippenham by bus is only an extra 10 minutes.  Taking twice as long to get to London - 1.5 v 3 hours - is a massive difference.



Re: Journey Statistics - 233/647
Written by Nick Field on Thursday, 1st June 2006

I was at Chippenham Station at 1750 today collecting some pre paid tickets for a trip to Brighton that I am making in a couple of weeks to visit family. (If your ever off to Brighton the train IS the best way, believe me, I have gone by car a few times in the summer and its a traffic nightmare.)  I thought I would hang around for the 1759 to see how many were on it and getting on and off.  It was a 8 minutes late but looked very busy.  About six passengers got on and about the same got off (probably more got off than normal due to the delay meaning when they arrived at Swindon the local train was still there saving them having to wait for the next HST)
The reason I have posted this is that there were two rail staff on the platform, the normal train despatch guy with his whistle and another with a clip board and pencil who looked like he was doing a passenger count??  Is this how they are done, and if so I wonder why he was doing it?  If it was not a passnger count then what was he doing?

Re: Journey Statistics - 233/651
Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Thursday, 1st June 2006

First have stated already that they're doing a lot of passenger counts on the Cornish and other branches this summer, so that thet can perhaps propose further service amendmens from December 2007 ...

 
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


This site is hosted by Well House Consultants Ltd. (http://www.wellho.net)
Contact Information
 

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