Investing in road and bus services won't really fix anything. People will always prefer to use cars etc. If the railway network and infrastructure was as it was before Dr Beeching we would not be suffering as much with traffic congestion.

Even with small stations like Melksham and other various Halts which used to exist it would all contribute to reducing traffic, if the railway was more comprehensive i.e, you get almost anywhere and quickly more people would use the trains instead of cars, and the most important thing of all is that ticket prices would be cheaper.

For example, take Bristol and its suburban railway, it used to have a busy network and still has the potential for it to be again. Bristol has a problem with traffic, and cycle paths and buses are not the answer. They reduce traffic slightly but what the who country needs in general is a better infrastructure, the rail network is a joke. Privitisation is one reason for this and the fact that a railway company can only have a franchise for a few years. Its all about money, and thats why things will get worse before they get better.

Drew,

Yes, it seems that proposals for showcase bus schemes and road improvments are exactly what the DfT wants to hear about.

However, people who agree that buses are not the answer and that they should be investing in railways and more services but then people in agreement will be criticsed for being rail enthusiasts.

In which case I'm thinking a different type of credability is needed in terms of who supports the case presented on your website. Yes, you have the support of existing passengers of the service from Melksham and Yes you have the support of rail enthusiasts but what about the rest of Melksham? This is why I want to know if there have been any serveys to find out if people know what sort of service there is and if they would use it.

Then any argument aimed at those in support of more services can be undermined and cannot fob people off with the 'oh their rail enthusiasts' as there will be proof (i.e signatures) that the population in general are also in support?

Drew, there's lots of further answers I've posted onto other threads ... I won't duplicate them here.   You do ask (and I've not answered elsewhere on 'savethetrain') how effective the campaign / web site have been.  You're right to question that - why others may appear to have won their local campaigns and we appear not to have done so.

I've mused on this today on my personal blog - feel free to read it here.

Drew, I was also extremely careful to comment that I do NOT know your background ... whether or not you've been around the area for a while.   We ALL need to look seriously at what we've done and say "is it enough". Yes, as my personal blog article comments, I do feel I've worked by balls off to help on this and when I read something that could be construed as "you've not been very effective, have you", then I will ... just for a minute or two take it personally.  But, note, my careful publication of that on my own blog and not on the train site.

Are you able to come along to the Melksham Rail Development Group meeting on Friday evening?  I go along every 2 months, and I'm sure they would appreciate your support too as we appreciate your support here.

I respect your decision in terms of how far you want to go with this; everyone has to make that call and there's only 24 hours in the day.  But don't underestimate the contribute that you ... or anyone else ... can make. Each individual listening to a case ... each person just turning up to a meeting indciates a case and an interest. It encourages the movers and shakers at those meetings in their actions and shapes those actions.  And if the individuals then choose to lobby, in the light of what they have learnt, they can put a well informed case and get that case noted and listened to.

Please continue to post views and questions (including awkward ones!) here.  And please contribute too in other ways as and how you feel you want to, and have time for.  You'll make more difference than you thought was possible.

The Melksham Rail Development Group meets on the second Friday of each month at 19:30 at the Town Hall in the centre of Melksham.

Details of MRDG

The MRDG funded the leaflet that went our to promote the service and raise community awareness about 9 months ago, there's information from them and their members posted on this site. We're very grateful fo that support. However, we (the operators of this web site) have not sought site sponsorship from MRDG - see why.