| Archived Save the Train forum articles - 2005 to 2010. See below
Wilsthire Council - Budget Consultation last night - 4730/8635 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Thursday, 15th November 2007 Quote from my full report on meeting attended last night Thirdly, Transport. And, no, I was not the first one to raise this! Major concerns at Corsham as to the access to major new employment areas. Major concerns about removal of X4 / X5 bus services, and concerning the virtual elimination of bus services to Mere. And, yes, I did ask about practical services to and from Melksham, and linking Chippenham to Trowbridge and Salisbury for those who don't have cars or who (more and more) prefer the greener alternative but don't have the time to spend on the remaining buses. The (proposed?) budget for public transport for the next year is 17 million pounds. According to Sandra Schofield, the chief financial officer, that amount is a political decision. The lion's share of that budget is for getting school children to and from school; most of the rest is bus projects / support. The rail support budget is zero. "You know that already" says Dr Robinson rather testily; actually, I didn't - I know it was zero this year. Re: Wilsthire Council - Budget Consultation last night - 4730/8657 Written by courgettelawn on Friday, 16th November 2007 Their bus projects are flogging an already dead horse. They themselves have admitted that they pulled the through service from Salisbury to Chippenham making anyone wanting to get up there change at Devises, "not ideal" they keep saying. We can at least vote those members out if we try hard enough. Re: Wilsthire Council - Budget Consultation last night - 4730/8662 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Friday, 16th November 2007 [quote author=courgettelawn link=topic=4730.msg8657#msg8657 date=1195222191] Their bus projects are flogging an already dead horse. They themselves have admitted that they pulled the through service from Salisbury to Chippenham making anyone wanting to get up there change at Devises, "not ideal" they keep saying. We can at least vote those members out if we try hard enough. [/quote] There's certainly unrest even in those parts of the Wiltshire that rely on the buses at the moment - seeing cuts and reductions of useful services. With new regulations that put up the cost of operating buses on routes over 30 miles, and with buses filled at times with passengers who are paying nothing themselves, and for which the bus company is paid only a half of what they would normally sell a seat for, the costs for the companies are going up and they're cutting back. This isn't just a Wiltshire issue - I have heard the same for Exeter and Torbay areas and for Cornwall. One solution would simply be to let the services fold, giving pensioners in many areas a free pass on nothing. That's against the County Council's objectives. A second solution would be for the County Council to support buses more financially - but their chief financial officer already described the [s]bus[/s] public transport budget as being "a very high amount" so I don't think they're inclined to go that way. A third solution would be to encourage the use of buses for the shorter / radial journeys, with Gateway connections in to railheads for longer trips. The railway lines are already there (even if the trains are lacking in one or two places) and you'll end up with a more efficeint system for the economy of the area, and a system that people will actually use. Alas - I don't see the council going for this one as - although they are the transport authority - they don't have final say on rail so it would mean supporting something that wasn't a part of their own kingdom. It was interesting - very intesting - to be reading elsewhere about just how low a proportion of people will cheerfully use a bus rather than a train; I know that I have seen it and estimated that the drop off in traffic is around 80%, but perhaps the figure could be still higher. On that same basis, a properly integrated / spec'd system that took advantage of both would be much more efficient that the current movement towards long distance travel using a series of slow and always-more-infrequent buses with changes at Marshfield, Warminster, Pewsey and the like. Re: Wilsthire Council - Budget Consultation last night - 4730/8665 Written by Lee on Friday, 16th November 2007 [quote author=Graham Ellis link=topic=4730.msg8662#msg8662 date=1195231073]A third solution would be to encourage the use of buses for the shorter / radial journeys, with Gateway connections in to railheads for longer trips. The railway lines are already there (even if the trains are lacking in one or two places) and you'll end up with a more efficeint system for the economy of the area, and a system that people will actually use. Alas - I don't see the council going for this one as - although they are the transport authority - they don't have final say on rail so it would mean supporting something that wasn't a part of their own kingdom. It was interesting - very intesting - to be reading elsewhere about just how low a proportion of people will cheerfully use a bus rather than a train; I know that I have seen it and estimated that the drop off in traffic is around 80%, but perhaps the figure could be still higher. On that same basis, a properly integrated / spec'd system that took advantage of both would be much more efficient that the current movement towards long distance travel using a series of slow and always-more-infrequent buses with changes at Marshfield, Warminster, Pewsey and the like.[/quote] Our proposals for a similiar Gateway system can be found in the link below. http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=2569.msg5679#msg5679 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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