| Archived Save the Train forum articles - 2005 to 2010. See below
New Station in The Midlands - 7956/12867 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Wednesday, 4th February 2009 From http://www.therailwaycentre.com/ ... but as it's on their front page it will change quite quickly, so I am pasting here: [quote] East Midlands Parkway opens for business Network Rail and East Midlands Trains opened East Midlands Parkway station on 29 January 2009. The multi million pound station, owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Trains, will give hundreds of thousands of people across the East Midlands easier and better access to train services. The station aims to get people off the M1, out of their cars, and on to trains. Network Rail's new station is one of the greenest ever built, and will be served by over 100 East Midlands Trains services per day, with trains to nd from London every 15-20 minutes at peak times. The journey time to London will be around 1 hour and 30 minutes. It will serve as a park and ride station for Leicester, Derby and Nottingham, reducing car use into the major cities and taking traffic off the M1. Dyan Crowther, Network Rail route director said: "East Midlands Parkway signifies our commitment to improving the rail network and providing high quality accessible stations. "It is a great facility which provides new choices for passengers and will tempt motorists from the nearby M1 to use a r form of travel and aims to reduce congestion in nearby city centres." East Midlands Parkway is one of the greenest stations ever, using new technology to minimise its impact on the local environment. It uses a ground-heat heating system as well as locally sourced and recycled materials. East Midlands Parkway is situated just off the A453 at Ratcliffe-on-Soar, 1 mile from the M1. It comprises of four platforms, step free access, a station building with ticket office and other facilities, and will be staffed and managed by East Midlands Trains as well as having 850 car parking spaces. [/quote] How about "West Wiltshire Parkway" ... just 100 yards off the trunk A350 and A365 roads, an out of town station with services into the heart of Chippenham, Swindon, Bath, Bristol, Trowbridge, Warminster and Salisbury, with good connections further afield. The location and line are there ... just give us the trains (a regular service to fill the 07:17 to 19:47 gap please). We don't need anything like the train every 20 minutes service for starters, nor do we need any heating system ... let alone a "ground heating system" ... 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 | |||
|
|||
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