The "Save the Train" website is a year old today - and we've had 9,940 different visitors here in that time; at current rates, we may go over the 10,000 figure during our birthday.  Not bad going for a site set up on a "2 quid" domain and shared web space, zero budget, zero organisation.   It's reached so many people because so many people are concerned, interested, mortified at what's planned.

My initial objecttives were to (a) raise the case for the TransWilts service so that it didn't just get lost as a sentence of page 52 of some obscure report - to make sure that the voice was heard, (b) to get the case serious consideration by the decison makers on a level playing field and (c) to get action as appropriate to the outcome of (b).

Objective (a) has, I think, been partially achieved.  I still dispair when I learn that some First customer panel members who represent stations on the line don't even know of the threat (as I found out last week), but I do suspect that the Minister responsible for railways - Derek Twigg - could at least tell you where Melksham is now.

Objective (b) has NOT been achieved.  The extra visiibility and questioning has lead to a defensive position being taken by the DfT - they're stonewalling, basically.  Relying on old evidence, not telling us what the evidence really is, not telliong us how figures are derived or what the assumptions that they have made (and they admit to making assumptions) actually are.

Objective (c) ... well - that one had to follow on from(b), so not achieved either. 


We have ourselves studied the line and its future, so we know the sort of thing that should be provided.  A train every 2 hours, Swindon to (at least) Westbury.   We know it should cost little in subsidy, and that would be only for a year or two before it became self sufficient. We have the great advantage over the DfT in working this out in that we ARE prepared to consider recent usage figure and evidence that's become available since March 2005, which they, it seems, are not.