| Archived Save the Train forum articles - 2005 to 2010. See below
Melksham SLC2 WAS Changed - 846/2429 Written by Lee on Friday, 15th December 2006 I am now in possession of an up to date copy : F5 WESTBURY Re: Melksham SLC2 WAS Changed - 846/2430 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Friday, 15th December 2006 That's very curious, Lee ... I was given a copy under Freedom of Information in September that showed that the morning train had to arrive in Swindon between 08:00 and 08:30, even though the draft timetable was showing an earlier (07:50) arrival. Your version (dated October) appears to have been amended to suit the draft timetable. Isn't this a case of moving the goalposts to allow the operator to gain - well - something What is the gain in having the train arrive at 07:50? There was a near-unanymous view on commuter train last week that the arrival time of 08:15 (as it was in those days) was OK - although perhaps 08:30 would have been better. And that 07:50 was too early for most people. Possible gains include: 1. Giving the operator the ability to have one less train in their fleet (and if that's the case, did they increase their premium to the government?) 2. Allowing the operator to run the service at a more marginal time in order to help them supress the service. This is a 'conspiracy theory' approach - it seems far fetched but some strange things have been happening. Re: Melksham SLC2 WAS Changed - 846/2432 Written by Lee on Friday, 15th December 2006 [quote author=Graham Ellis link=topic=846.msg2430#msg2430 date=1166180321]Your version (dated October) appears to have been amended to suit the draft timetable.[/quote] The DfT have "confirmed" that this copy of SLC2 is valid at todays date (15/12/2006) Re: Melksham SLC2 WAS Changed - 846/2575 Written by Lee on Friday, 22nd December 2006 I have received "clarification" from the DfT on this in which they claim that the Melksham SLC2 was NOT changed : "Section F5 of SLC2 has not been changed. Re: Melksham SLC2 WAS Changed - 846/2582 Written by Lee on Friday, 22nd December 2006 Further (& extremely significant) clarification obtained from the DfT : "I am afraid that the version of the SLC2 received in August was an earlier iteration of the document, which was never validated. Re: Melksham SLC2 WAS Changed - 846/12690 Written by Lee on Wednesday, 13th August 2008 FGW December 2007 Service Level Commitment 2b contains further changes (published on the DfT website on 05/08/2008, link below.) http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/passenger/publicregister/current/fgw/fgwcommitment2b.pdf Re: Melksham SLC2 WAS Changed - 846/12699 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Friday, 15th August 2008 [quote author=Lee link=topic=846.msg12690#msg12690 date=1218664098] FGW December 2007 Service Level Commitment 2b contains further changes (published on the DfT website on 05/08/2008, link below.) http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/passenger/publicregister/current/fgw/fgwcommitment2b.pdf [/quote] They appear to have enshrined the "marginal time" workings from Swndon between 6 and 7 a.m. and back into Swindon between 8 and 8:30 at night into the specification. And eased the running time right back - for a run that should / could be a 40 minute schedule, they're now allowed to take oer an hour on Sundays, for example. 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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