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November 11, 2005
Busy train at Melksham
Station pickup of a customer yesterday morning ... off the 09:12 arrival from Swindon. And the train was packed - not QUITE standing but nearly so; I estimate that there were 50 passenger or so. Another statistic to add to the pot!
But, seriously, why so busy? I understand that a train had broken down on the main line, and passengers from Chippenham to Bath and Bristol were travelling via the Swindon to Southampton service as far as Trowbridge and changing there onto the Portsmouth to Bristol and Cardiff line.
Is it fair to include this use in our statistics then? Yes, absolutely it is. It's not the first time that the line has been used for diversions such as this, and I'm sure it won't be the last. And is we started excluding exceptional days (either because they're especially quiet or busy) from our logs, then we're not painting a true overall picture. Yesterday, those travellers on the line who are NOT regulars were using and valuing it every bit as much as the regulars.
Posted by gje at November 11, 2005 05:06 AM