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| Who will provide trains to Melksham in the future? Up until April 2006 be provided by Wessex Trains who are a part of the National Express Group. As from that date, the franchise to operate the service will be in the hands of the winning bidder for the new Great Western "superfranchise" which is being contested between National Express, the First Group and Stagecoach. The Strategic Rail Authority, which has ceased to exist, asked the bidders to draw up proposals for a REDUCED service to Melksham as from December 2006.
The SRA web site tells you that if you want to complain about their actions to the Omburdsman, you cannot approach them directly but should do so through your MP. If you live in Melksham, write to your MP who is Rt Hon Michael Ancram, QC, MP. (about Mr Ancram). It might be a good idea to tell him too just how much the train service means to his constituents, and how regrettable a service reduction would be. I'm also going to encourage you to write to each of the bidders. It's probably a good idea to be positive and suggest that they might like to offer Melksham a continued good service - after all, it's not their fault that the SRA has asked for the cuts. Personally, I would be much more likely to support a bid that maintains the service than one that reduces it, even from a company that's not especially impressed me in the past ;-). The First Group's bid team can be reached by post at Greater Western Bid Team, MH42, Milford House, 1 Milford Street, Swindon SN1 1HL. or via a web form. Write to National Express via their form, or you can also contact their Managing Director Designate - Peter Cotton, 2nd Floor, Trinity Court, Southernhay West, Exeter EX1 1PD, or Email him, The Stagecoach group offers a single form for all the current franchises they're bidding for and they can be reached by post at Stagecoach Rail, Friars Bridge Court, 41-45 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8NZ. They give an email address of info@stagecoachgroup.com which looks a bit generic to me. |
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