"We could have just shrugged our shoulders and said that's what the Government bought" said Glenda Lamont, a director of First Great Western, last night at the meeting of West Wilts District Council, who she was addressing on the subject of First Great Western's train services to and from the District. "But ...." she went on, and listed a number of actions taken.

Edit - addition - Glenda Lamont has suggested that I quoted her out of content or misquoted her in this article.  My apology - I've added a further post at the (current) end of the thread with her words of correction.

Now hang on a moment, Glenda.

The big issue as far we're concerned here is the train provision from West Wiltshire up to Swindon.    The DfT specification got it wrong - you've stated that - and you are running a service that meets their requirement and you haven't been able to tell me ONE SINGLE action you've taken to improve the situation even within their minimum specification.  Actions such as extra coaches on services to Weston-super-mare do nothing for us here.   Spending 360k on the station at Westbury is a waste of money as far as we're concerned if there are no appropriate trains for us to get to that station.

Yes, FGW *have* listened.  But they have taken no effective action to improve things at all along the lines we have asked for ... and you could argue that to consulty but provide nothing positive AT ALL to us as a result of the consultation is an insult.

Will this improve?

Glenda went on to present timetable changes planned for May and December this year.  The May changes effect extra station stops in services; the December ones include some possibly major changes to improve the service regularity between Westbury and Bristol, and a raft of other changes.  But NO MENTION at all of changes from West Wilts to Swindon.

So there's no improvement that we're being told about to come, even though we're being told about improvements for everyone else.  It feel like someone really dislikes the "via Melksham" service.

"We're just an operator - we have to do what the Govt. tells us" says Glenda.

I agree, Glenda.

In the SLC document, the government tells you to provide a train that arrives in Swindon before 08:30 and one that leaves after 17:30, plus one extra train each way, each day.  There in NO CONTRACTUAL REASON why you can't provide a train that arrives in Swindon at 08:20 and leaves again at 08:45, with the second train arriving in Swindon at 17:30 and leaving at 17:45.  I content that the current, inappropriate timing, is operationally convenient to First but does little for the potential customers.  And although it meets the letter of the SLC agreement, it fails to meet the spirit that was intended by the DfT.  I know this, because I shave spoken directly with the civil servant concerned.

I have just receive a reply from Fleur de Rhe-Philipe, posted here in a separate thread which deals somewhat with the County Council issue.

My personal "base" is Melksham and as the place which is worst hit by the changes - we have lost the majority of our trains and we're a town comparable in size to Frome - it was natural for us to get a lot of the publicity.  But for every train journey made to of from Melksham, there were another THREE mad via Melksham - Frome to Swindon, Chippenham to Salisbury, etc.  So - of course - I want an appropriate service for Melksham but I'm now strongly shouting "From and to Swindon and Chippenham to West Wilts and beyond" and, no, you don't see the work Melksham in than sentence.

Persistance ... a series of carefully thought through letters showing a good case can work wonders.   Perhaps write you your county councillor(s) to - especially those of the same political colour as your MP, copying around.    Ruth - you're getting to be something of an expert on travel from Somerset to Swindon; once that's acknowledged, you'll find you'll be listened to more closely.   Oh - and try the local paper and radio station too.

This is being done on a regular basis , an example of which is Graham's recent conversation with the civil servant concerned.

I would love to have been able to raise the profile of our campaign higher in Swindon, Trowbridge, Frome and so on ... but I'm a realist.   Our campaign is a small one and so will get, relatively, small attention.    I think there are over a dozen trains on the Portsmouth - Cardiff service, comprising (now) some 20 to 25 carriages.  That rises to over 30 carriages when you add in the services that join this route from Weymouth at Westbury - and there you have "MTLS" territory.

Contrast the thirty coach loads of people who have different, but legitimate, complaints to the one coachload that has been badly shafted on the TransWilts and you'll see why our profile is pretty minimal by comparison.  And yet .... plug, plug, plug ... and the case *does* start to get noticed.  In public is only one avenue. Some of the behind the scenes stuff that Lee mentions, and which may not be documented in the public domain, may be staring to bare fruit.  And surprising bits of publicity / metions keep coming up.   I was reading a national newsletter concerning Rail Futures this morning and there is "Swindon via Melksham" as one of the five issues they bulleted at their conclusion.

I am, intentionally, widening my wording to avoid "Melksham" being the key, even though it might be the shorthand that people used. "West Wilts and beyond to Chippenham and Swindon" is the current / appropriate term.

I don't 'get' that either.  It implies that either someone is giving out inconsistent information, or someone isn't telling us what's really going on and is telling us 'stories'