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April 29, 2008
Road - busy ... railway - no trains, so no users
The A36 is closed for 12 weeks at Limpley Stoke, and the signposted diversion is along the A350 throught the outskirts of Melksham, parallel with the TransWilts Railway line
I had an appointment in Corsham at 9 O'Clock this morning - about 6 miles - but the journey took me half an hour, most of which was spent queuing around Melksham which was solid all the way from the Seminsgton Bypass up to McDonald's
If traffic is diverted on a more permanent basis for any reason, or if traffic grows, this is going to become worse. And with the towns along the way all growing dramatically, surely it will get worse unless there's some form of relief all along. Wait - how about some trains?
Posted by gje at 04:51 PM | Comments (0)
April 18, 2008
Population growth, but congested roads
Major development is taking place near our local station - here's a view from the platform on Monday evening showing Spencer's Gate Development, which wasn't there 2 years ago, and which was advertised as being "close to the station"
There's a coupld of things the sales literature didn't say ... that the land that is reserved for an access road from Spencer's Gate to the station was going to have a dirty great fence acorss it to stop people using it, and that in any case most of the trains were just about to be withdrawn. How do people get around? In their cars:
That's simplifying it rather; teh 234 Frome - Trowbridge - Melksham - Chippenham bus does run through the day (and evening, subsidised by the council), but carries few passengers. I counted 3 on the service at about a quarter to 7 on Monday evening from Chippenham. But there were no less that 18 on the train at (schedule) 19:01 that evening.
So a solution that would - in part - help with those congested roads would be the restoration of trains towards a more apporpriate level. There IS a plan in hand for this, but it's 50/50 for whether it succeeds this year - and it needs your support.
If you think that extra trains from here at 08:24, 09:28, 11:17, 12:28, 14:17, 15:28, 17:08 and 18:21 would be a good idea, please have a look here and sign up if youi're happy with the detail too.
Posted by gje at 04:47 PM | Comments (0)
April 03, 2008
Loss of train - loss of job
"Hi Graham
I used to use this service. Then it was cut so I had to leave my job in Swindon as I couldn't get there by train. I am certainly willing to help on that one it used to be a really busy service - sadly they got basically rid of it."
Launching the pledge page on the "Save the Train" Campaign, I posted a message on the Westbury Town forum. It was late at night ... but within half an hour I had received the message above. "Why are you campaigning for this service" I have been asked. Because we know it has popular support. Because we know it should never have been withdrawn in December 2006. And because it's needed.
Current service leave Swindon at 06:18 and 18:45. Only.
Alternative validated service - 06:18, 09:02, 12:02, 15:02, 17:55 and 18:55
If you support the return of a more appropriate train service on the "TransWilts" line - Swindon to Salisbury via Chippenham, Melksham, Trowbridge, Westbury, Dilton Marsh and Warminster - please visit our page at http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/pledge.html
Thank you.
---------------
Westbury to Swindon by direct train - 45 minutes
Westbury to Swindon by train (change at Bath) - circa 70 minutes
Westbury to Swindon by bus (change at Trowbridge) - circa 110 minutes
Posted by gje at 06:46 AM | Comments (0)