Take the train to training
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2004-09-06 08:09:30 - Graham EllisWhen we moved to Melksham, we noted the railway station as a "nice to have" but limited facility. It had been closed from 19th April 1966 to 13th May 1985, at which date a single train each Monday to Friday had been restored, passing through towards Swindon in the morning and returning in the evening.
Then, on 21st May 2001, the service was increased to 5 trains each way each weekday, with slightly fewer trains at the weekend. Good connections at Westbury and Swindon combine to give us 7 or 8 daily services to London (with one change), and in the three years since the local train has become very much a part of our infrastructure.
Customers can leave Paddington on the 07:45 London to Penzance train, and change at Swindon arriving at Melksham at 09:12. We're expecting such an arrival for today's Perl course, and another customer arrived by train last night; it's not untypical for a half of our visitors to arrive at the station. By prior arrangement, we'll pick them up and bring them to the training centre, and at the end of the course, drop them back off for the 17:07 or 18:18 departures.
As you can imagine, I can be found down at the station on Sunday evenings, Monday Mornings, Friday afternoons and other times, and it's great to see how in the last three years the traffic has increased. The single coach train can still cope well, but gone are the days just after the service was increased when I would be meeting the only passenger. Mind - I don't quite need our "Well House Consultants" meet and greet board on most occasions but I take it along to re-assure our customers that, yes, you *have* got off at the right place.