Response from Cllr. Fleur de Rhe-Philipe regarding difficulties travelling south to north, see thread below:

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Thank you for your email dated 15 August 2007.

While I appreciate the difficulties you have in travelling by public
transport from Salisbury to Chippenham, I can assure you that the County
Council is playing its full part in seeking to improve accessibility and
essential public transport services in Wiltshire.

In terms of buses, about two-thirds of services in Wiltshire are
provided commercially by the operators particularly in Salisbury and on
the major inter-urban routes during the working day.  Elsewhere, and at
other times of the day or week, a very substantial proportion of
services rely on financial support from the County Council.  This is not
an insignificant commitment by the County Council as tender costs are
continuing to increase at a faster rate than inflation and this puts a
lot of pressure on the Council's budgets.

To cater for intra-Wiltshire bus journeys, the County Council has set-up
its Key Bus Route Network (KBRN) which links the main centres within and
outside the County.  Capable of sustaining, within realistic financial
limits, a service frequency of a least one bus per hour during weekday
daytimes, they seek to make a significant contribution to the aim of
providing public transport that is frequent and attractive enough to be
seen as an alternative to the private car.  In addition, as we realise
that people such as yourself are encountering difficulties making trips
that cross Wiltshire, we are seeking to improve through ticketing
arrangements, interchanges and timetable integration with other KBRN
services and rail services.

With regard to train services in Wiltshire, all of these are provided by
either First Great Western or South West Trains.  Financial support for
rail services is provided by the Government although the County Council
does seek to influence the services that are provided - indeed, we have
recently been liaising with First Great Western and the Department for
Transport to improve the train service on the Melksham line.  While the
general level of train services in Wiltshire remains above
pre-privatisation levels, the improvements made to local and regional
services now seem to be being cut back for central Government policy and
financial reasons.

As you may know, the Secretary of State for Transport has decided to
hold a local public inquiry to consider all the relevant aspects of the
proposed Westbury Bypass.  From the County Council's point of view, the
Westbury Bypass will give motorists greater certainty over journey times
on the regionally significant A350 and improve transport links for local
businesses.  It will also remove heavy through traffic that severs the
town centre and inhibits walking and cycling.  Ultimately, the
construction of the bypass will provide the opportunity to make Westbury
town centre a more accessible (especially to non-car users), healthy and
vibrant centre that is easy to get to, pleasant to visit and the 'hub'
of community life.

Finally, the County Council and Swindon Borough Council undertook a
comprehensive options review of the location of the new Wiltshire and
Swindon History Centre, and have since implemented a number of
transport-related improvements in the local area of Chippenham where it
is located.

I hope you find this helpful and would assure you that we are supporting
public transport to the highest level our very constricted budgets will
allow.

Yours sincerely,

Fleur de Rhe-Philipe
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