Save the Melksham Train
Archived Save the Train forum articles - 2005 to 2010. See below
Conservative Party Rail Review - 322/906
Written by Lee on Monday, 17th July 2006

The Conservatives have launched a Rail Review (link below.)
http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=news.story.page&obj_id=130959

Here are links to some articles on this.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5186196.stm
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2273455,00.html

Re: Conservative Party Rail Review - 322/913
Written by Lee on Monday, 17th July 2006

Here is a link to an alternative viewpoint on this.
http://www.rmtbristolrail.org.uk/archives/00002068.shtml

My personal view is that (thank god) we are finally having a proper debate on these issues. What is becoming increasingly clear is that we cant carry on with the ineffective and discredited system that we have now.

Re: Conservative Party Rail Review - 322/920
Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Tuesday, 18th July 2006

I find myself looking at major aspects of the current system and saying "this cannot be right" and "that distorts the operation of things to the detriment of the primary purpose".

Re: Conservative Party Rail Review - 322/923
Written by Lee on Tuesday, 18th July 2006

Here are some more links to articles on this.
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/transport/article1183387.ece
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,1822821,00.html

Quote from the Guardian article :

"But the rail minister, Derek Twigg , accused the Tories of an "incoherent" policy."

People will have to make up their own minds on the Conservative rail plans , but I am not sure that someone who wrote the letter contained in the link below should be giving lessons on the coherence of rail policy.
http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/melkshamrailway/145_Letter_from_Derek_Twigg.html

Re: Conservative Party Rail Review - 322/977
Written by Lee on Monday, 24th July 2006

Here is an article in which Chris Grayling expands upon his party's rail review (link below.)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2006/07/23/ccrail23.xml&menuId=242&sSheet=/money/2006/07/23/ixcity.html

Here is an interesting quote. The route that Chris Grayling is referring to is from Southampton through to Basingstoke & Reading.

"He says he was recently asked about a

 
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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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