Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2010-12-04 21:21:57 - Graham Ellis
The TransWilts railway line links Salisbury, Trowbridge, Chippenham and Swindon ... via Warminster, Dilton Marsh, Warminster and Melksham. Trains are sparse on the section from Trowbridge via Melksham to Swindon - just 2 each way a day - and various groups such as Save The Train, the Melksham Railway Development Group, the West Wilts Rail Users Group, supported by many other organizations and people including elected representatives - have pressed for a review of the service level to work out what's appropriate, then to see how we can work toward regaining, and retaining, that higher service level if that were to be the outcome of the review.
And an appropriate service is ... an hourly train in each direction. As long ago as July 2004, the Jacobs consultancy recommended a train every 2 hours through the day, but that was on a conservative growth estimate. That was also before Wiltshire became a unitary county, tying Chippenham much more closely to Trowbridge and Salisbury. It was before the rapid growth planned for (and now underway) in Trowbridge, Chippenham and Melksham (the 2nd, 3rd and 4th largest urban areas in Wiltshire). It was before we were all concerned about the possibility of Global warning. And it was before we were concerned about ever-rising petrol prices, parking charges and road congestion. More recent work - from Wiltshire Council, and from Network Rail (2010 GWRUS) have concluded that an hourly service is appropriate, and have given it a significant benefit to cost ratio - in other words, the cost of providing the service will be more than met (actually it will be met several times over) by benefits brought to the area.
But how do we translate this very positive analysis into a real service? It requires a lot of organizations, with some very different structures and goals, to work together, and to do so under a regulatory framework that throws up some startling anomalies that are counter productive. But there are some very good - really excellent - people in most of the organizations concerned who understand 'the system' and are working closer and closer together to move towards a much better service. It's unlikely that we'll see an immediate jump to an hourly service, but following on from a meeting within the last fortnight, I'm much more optimistic at the prospect of a service increase to six round trips a day. This would include a true peak service, and other service which would match travel flow requirements - in other words, it's a nice looking, practical timetable.
You'll here less of "Save the Train" and more of the "TransWilts Community Rail Partnership" (TWCRP) in coming years. "Save the Train" is a campaigning group which (if needed) will irritate players to take note - email campaigns and the like; that job is largely done, and the Partnership is all about the Rail industry, Government at various levels, Politicians, Financial Experts, and the Community having a forum to set common goals; such partnerships are tried and tested - indeed, we're working very closely with the Heart of Wessex Partnership who have helped their line achieve 173% growth; we thank them for their help and being able to learn from them.
The Community Rail Partnership is about the current service, and the facilities at the stations too. If you came on the Santa trip last year as well as this, you'll have noticed that there's a new electronic information point at Melksham station that (at last) gives us a visual live train departure indicator. There's been an extra stop inserted into a service at Dilton Marsh, and printed timetables produced for that station. The departure of the Saturday morning train from Westbury to Swindon has been delayed by a few minutes so that Salisbury passengers can get a good connection up to Chippenham and Swindon. And indeed, the Sunday evening train from Swindon to Westbury that Santa will travel on is in addition to the government's specification for the service; an empty train became a passenger service after we suggested that it should.
Have you heard the saying "a pet is not just for Christmas"? Well - this railway is not just for the Santa Special. It's for all year. There are trains from Melksham at 06:45 and 07:15 each Monday to Friday morning, and return service arriving at 19:15 and 19:45, and you can visit / do a day's work in places as diverse as London, Swindon, Bristol, Salisbury and Southampton. On Saturday, a morning train at 09:15 will take you or connect you to Swindon, Bristol, Oxford, London or further afield ... you can arrive back mid-afternoon, or mid-evening, and the cost may be surprisingly low - the total train fare for 4 adults and 4 children ("Groupsave 4 / Off Peak Day return") for a trip to Oxford would be £28.40 (2010 prices), and parking at Melksham station is free. The Sunday trains are good for evening journeys from or to the town, letting you get home after a weekend away, or travel away the night before if you're going to be working away.
Things take a long time to change in the rail industry, cost a lot of money, but can bring a lot of benefits. "Add an extra 0 on the end" said a cynic, who in all truth wasn't far out. So you won't have an extra train for this Christmas, even thought the case is clear. But if we all work together, and with your support, perhaps we'll have one for next Christmas.
-- Graham Ellis
Vice Chair, Melksham Railway Development Group (who have organized the Santa trip)
And an appropriate service is ... an hourly train in each direction. As long ago as July 2004, the Jacobs consultancy recommended a train every 2 hours through the day, but that was on a conservative growth estimate. That was also before Wiltshire became a unitary county, tying Chippenham much more closely to Trowbridge and Salisbury. It was before the rapid growth planned for (and now underway) in Trowbridge, Chippenham and Melksham (the 2nd, 3rd and 4th largest urban areas in Wiltshire). It was before we were all concerned about the possibility of Global warning. And it was before we were concerned about ever-rising petrol prices, parking charges and road congestion. More recent work - from Wiltshire Council, and from Network Rail (2010 GWRUS) have concluded that an hourly service is appropriate, and have given it a significant benefit to cost ratio - in other words, the cost of providing the service will be more than met (actually it will be met several times over) by benefits brought to the area.
But how do we translate this very positive analysis into a real service? It requires a lot of organizations, with some very different structures and goals, to work together, and to do so under a regulatory framework that throws up some startling anomalies that are counter productive. But there are some very good - really excellent - people in most of the organizations concerned who understand 'the system' and are working closer and closer together to move towards a much better service. It's unlikely that we'll see an immediate jump to an hourly service, but following on from a meeting within the last fortnight, I'm much more optimistic at the prospect of a service increase to six round trips a day. This would include a true peak service, and other service which would match travel flow requirements - in other words, it's a nice looking, practical timetable.
The Community Rail Partnership is about the current service, and the facilities at the stations too. If you came on the Santa trip last year as well as this, you'll have noticed that there's a new electronic information point at Melksham station that (at last) gives us a visual live train departure indicator. There's been an extra stop inserted into a service at Dilton Marsh, and printed timetables produced for that station. The departure of the Saturday morning train from Westbury to Swindon has been delayed by a few minutes so that Salisbury passengers can get a good connection up to Chippenham and Swindon. And indeed, the Sunday evening train from Swindon to Westbury that Santa will travel on is in addition to the government's specification for the service; an empty train became a passenger service after we suggested that it should.