| Archived Save the Train forum articles - 2005 to 2010. See below
New Timetables - 7938/12829 Written by James on Saturday, 15th November 2008 New timetables can be found: http://firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=3396 The most changes have been made on the Hereford-Padd, with a total recast. Re: New Timetables - 7938/12830 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Monday, 17th November 2008 [quote author=James link=topic=7938.msg12829#msg12829 date=1226733443] New timetables can be found: http://firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=3396 The most changes have been made on the Hereford-Padd, with a total recast. [/quote] Thanks, yes ... virtually no change on the TransWilts. Newquay, sees an increase in services from 4 trains each way per day to 7 - which I think is even more significant than the Hereford route. Newquay has been compared on a number of occasions with Melksham: * At this time of year, the populations are similar * Both have been served by a very lean timetable indeed from First Great Western There are, however, differences: * The lean timetable provided to Newquay, even before the changes, was twice that of the TransWilts (4 trains a day not 2) * The commuter flows (road / rail) from Melksham and Newquay probably differ - but I am not an expert on Newquay, so I'll bow to the expertise of others * Newquay is at the end of a line that has few (if any) large population centres on it, whereas the service via Melksham also takes in Swindon, Chippenham, Trowbridge and Westbury even in its current short form * The local Transport authority for Newquay is Cornwall, who support mixed mode public transport, whereas our local Wiltshire Council are very much in the road lobby. With the exclusion of the last point, I would have thought that most of these differences would say "if Newquay can have a service of 7 trains a day, then SURELY the TransWilts including Melksham should have many more that 2". So I congratulate Newquay on the better service, and continue to suggest that the appalling service on the TransWilts is a travesty - even more of an anacronsim that needs to be corrected. December 2009, perhaps? 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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