Informed sources tell me that a recent survey organised by the West Wilts Rail users' group has found that several TIMES the number of passengers travel "over" Salisbury on the through trains from Bristol to Waterloo than Department for Transport figures suggest.

The Bristol to Waterloo service, which provides the only through trains from Bradford on Avon, Trowbridge and Warminster to London, is operated by Stagecoach under the South West trains franchise, due for renewal at the end of this year.  It also provides Bristol, Bath and Westbury passengers a lower cost alternative route into London, and a convenient London arrival points for travellers to South London and passengers transferring to EuroStar.  The service is NOT in the core franchise bid process and is requested from bidders only as a costed option.

Figures for passengers staying on board at Salisbury are vital to this service, as alternative services exist on the Bristol-to-Salisbury route and on the Salisbury-to-London route.

In September 2005, The Department for Transport claimed that an average of 35 passengers travel over Salisbury on the 2 daily through trains. The West Wilts Rail Users Group reported twice that number in November 2005, and a further rise to an average of 91 through passengers in a survey just completed.  Each survey by WWRUG was overseen by an experienced team, and extended over all services through the week to give an accurate picture for the time of year. By taking several surveys at an interval, these methods help to build up a true picture.

The low figures from the Department for Transport parallel similar low figures they quote for the Swindon to Westbury service, on which they have based the decision to slash that service. In the case of Swindon to Westbury, the DfT have failed to respond to questions regarding additional statistics provided by Wessex Trains, First and the Office of Rail Regulation amongst others and continue to quote their own low figures only in their justification of the reduced service level.

The Bristol, Bath and West Wiltshire to Waterloo service uses the same route from Bradford South Junction to Salisbury Tunnel Junction that is used by the Swindon to Westbury and Southampton service. This section is marked for strong traffic growth in Network Rail documentation, which I understand is for freight train operations from the Southampton and Mendip areas to Swindon, Oxford, the Midlands and beyond.  It would appear that it might be operatioanlly very convenient if the number of passenger trains on the route was reduced to allow for more freight paths without the need for any investment in infrastructure.