Report on the last year - Melksham Railway Developement Group for Melksham Without Parish Council
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2013-03-11 17:50:11 - Graham Ellis
Dear Members of Melksham Without,
The Melksham Railway Development Group has had a busy year - meeting every 2 moths to bring together and co-ordinate the continuance and improvement of rail services calling at Melksham, and to encourage the retention, maintenance and improvement of the station, facilities there, access to the station. The group also works to make people aware of the current resource we have available, and of the far greater future potential.
Some of the major events of the year
1. Early in 2012, the government consulted on the aspirartions of stakeholders for future rail services in the South West, prior to bidding for a 15 year contarct to operate trainsin the South West and South Wales, including the train service to Melksham.
The group supported the well advanced TransWilts proposals for trains every 2 hours each way during the day, with hourly in the peak, and Saturday and Sunday service too, and was pleased that this specification became priced option (1) in the Invitation to Tender. That it was top of the "new service" list was in no small measure due to the support of Wiltshire Council, and of many others including Melksham Businesses and residents who had helped develop the case (including finance) over the previosu year
As part of the TransWilts Community Rail Partnership, MRDG met with and made substantial technical inut to all four bidders in the process, to encourage them to provide the best-tuned service for the line as part of their bids.
In October, due to irregularities on the West Coast franchise bid, the refranchise was suspended and in January it was cancelled completely. First have been asked to run a holding operation until this October, and are now in negotiations with the Department for Transport and others for a further two years while longer term options are sorted out.
We don't know at this stage what will be happening for the two years - we have "seed funding" lined up for the improved service with Wiltshire Council, and there's funding for improving station access and transport "road-side" (see later), but there's a fear that this will become at best a "holding operation" and with traffic on rail growing 8 to 10% compound per annum, it could spell more trouble. The attitude of First seems to be very much "we have enough problems with current service without starting new ones" (rk Hopwood, MD of First to members of MRDG and others on 2nd March, Taunton] which of course ours ins't!) but that could well be a bargaining / negotiating position at the moment.
The group will continue to press First, Wiltshire Council, the Department for Transport and others for an appropriate and viable service along the lines fully researched in 2011 to form part of the 2012 Invitiaion to Tender - it was good work, and nothing should have changed substantially therein.
Improved services will bring substantial economic benefit to businesses and residents of Melksham Without; it's currently a serious problem for Melksham businesses to get business visitors from overseas to their offices when visiting - it's the last few miles that's the problem, and changing trains at Swindon / Chippenham / Westbury to arrive at Melksham would be a major step forward - a complete solution if it's done right.
2. Wiltshire Council has won substantial funding under the Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF) to "Improve Wiltshire's Rail offering", to sit along side fund promised for service seeding. Consultants have been engaged to work out what that means at individual stations and for Melksham it could mean:
a) Opening a link for bus, taxi, cycle and pedestrian to Foundry Close
b) Improved Road markings at the A365 entrance
c) Car Parking for many more cars just across from the station entrance
d) Improved lighting and information
Together with bus link improvements, these updates will turn the station into a transport hub, allowing Bowerhill, East Melksham and other Melksham Without bus services to call regularly at the station as they pass there, and residents to drive there and park to get the train.
Melksham's station usage is currently 0.4 journeys per catchment area resident per year, and that contrasts to figures ranging from 35 to 50 for other comparable nearby towns with stations (Warminster, Bradford-on-Avon, Chippenham, Trowbridge and Westbury). The big difference is due to the lack of trains at Melksham (a gap from 07:20 to 19:11; first train 17:25 on Sundays, and MRDG is pushing hard for the LSTF funding to be spent based on projected use after the completion of planned improvements on both sides, and not in proportion to current usage. This is a tough fight for us to catch up, with other communities looking to have the money spent on improving the journeys that they can make, rather than allowing journeys to be made at all which is what can be achieved for Melksham.
Information systems, including fare information, timetables, and travel plans to include mixed mode journeys such as car to station then train, are also include in LSTF with our members with appropriate knowledge helping to press for an appropriate agenda on a county wide basis.
* Santa. On the first Sunday in December, we were luck enough to have Santa Claus take a train ride from Melksham to Swindon and back (the group organised him ;-) ) with 145 people making the return trip. First Great Western added an extra carriage to the regular train, and with regular travellers on board too it was "nearly every seat taken". Presents were handed out, minced pie and a drink, and everyone had a great time. Many thanks to Santa, the TIC for selling tickets, First Great Western for their help, and to our members for all their hard work. The trip was full (limited by train, platform at Melksham and the time Santa has to get around) and we made a small surplus ... and a lot of children very happy.
* Steam Train. During the late spring, a special excursion steam train called at Melksham as an experiment (and with our support) - once again, a great showcase, a good facility for trips out from Melksham, and something that's being repeated at least once this year.
* Working with other members of the Community Rail Partnership, MRDG member have met at TravelWatch SouthWest (Taunton) and at the new Wiltshire Link meetings in Westbury to learn from others, to learn what's going on in rail, to co-operate in asking for joined-up thinking. At the Feburuary meeting, we concluded by asking the Department for Transport for the next two years to ensure they include the following:
a) The realisation of the improve TransWilts service from the earliest possible date
b) Action to continue to stop people travelling without paying fares
(at one Wiltshire station, more people travel fraudulenty than the whole number of people who travel at Melksham, and this has a serious impact of the whole economy of the operation)
c) Revision of fares to a more sustainable level on the TransWilts BEFORE the new services start
(At present, fares are around 18p per mile peak, versus 70p per mile on other lines. A rise to 25p to 30p per mile will leave us with still-affordable travel, and will make the line viable)
Looking forward, with housing and business growth, canal and Campus, rising fuel costs for private cars, we anticipate the requirement for a decent train service to Melksham to grow further.
Chair - Peter Blackburn
Secretary - Sion Bretton
Treasurer - John Money
Vice Chair - Graham Ellis
Members include reprsentatives of Melksham Town and Melksham Without Councils and the Chamber of Commerce.
The group would like to thank Melksham Without Parish Council for their ongoing support; without such support, we would be a shadow of ourselves and would not have been able to help bring the case forward as we have. Chances are, indeed, that the service may have been reduced as First has elsewhere to just one train each way per week. However, we're very much a co-operative group, and there's a string business case forward that we will continue to advocate with your help.
Next meeting - 22nd March, 19:30, Melksham Town Hall. AGM on 24th May. All Welcome.
Report prepared by Graham Ellis on behalf of MRDG, 11th March 2013.