Train service - petititon reply
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2007-03-31 08:15:04 - Graham EllisYesterday evening, I received a reply to my petition for the provision of an appropriate train service on local and regional routes in our part of the country.
You recently signed a petition asking the Prime Minister to: "provide a reliable train service with adequate capacity at times that travellers wish to make journeys from Swindon to Westbury, Bristol to Severn Beach, Portsmouth and Weymouth to Cardiff, Taunton to Cheltenham, Swindon to Cheltenham. This includes all intermediate stations and journeys in both directions." The Prime Minister's Office has responded to that petition and you can view it here: http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page11394.asp Prime Minister's Office Petition info: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/wessextrains/ |
Sadly, but not surprisingly, the Government has stuck by its old (outdated, based on what turned out to be incorrect data) specification for service such as ours through Melksham. The have placed blame for reliability and capacity issues on the service operator (there is an element of truth in that) and they have ignored the points that related to providing services at appropriate times for travellers.
So the trains from Swindon to Melksham still leave at 06:19 and 18:42 when it would be much better for everyone if they left at 08:30 and 17:45. And they return there at 07:44 and 20:15 when it would be so much better for everyone if they got there at 08:15 and 17:30.