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Are you free on Friday evening?

Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2006-04-18 06:58:03 - Graham Ellis

I try not to "mix my interests" too much, (full story on other web site) but many of you will be aware of the fight that's going on in Melksham to help save our train service from reduction from an already 5 trains each way per day to just 2. Not only would such a reduction effect a over a third of Well House Consultants trainees but the knock on effect on commuter traffic to Swindon, and journeys across the county such as Chippenham to Salisbury would be severe; the A350 road that's parallel with "our" part of the line is already overcrowded, and ticket sales have risen 35% per year in each of the last five years.

Well - we have an 11th hour meeting this Friday evening - 21st April, arrive from 18:00 at Bridge House, Stallard Street, Trowbridge . The local MP for Trowbridge and Westbury will be there - and also many councillors, representitives of the First group who are making the cuts at the behest of the Department for Transport.

Open meeting - anyone welcome (and I would personally double-welcome your support); subject being cuts on both Southampton -Swindon (our service) and Portsmouth - Bristol and South Wales where there's a cutting back to an hourly service and reduction of train lengths planned - in spite of current overcrowding.

It would take something of a miracle to get the cuts reversed at this stage, but it's worth the try; if we don't, scenes like the illustration - the 17:02 from Melksham heading up to Chippenham and Swindon - will be of historic interest only after this December.