Following correspondence with Cllr Fleur de Rhe Philipe, I enquired about the so-called inter-urban Wilts Key Bus Route Network.  Note that the councillor said this was an option for people travelling across the county but the respondent from WCC (see thread above) recognised it was not a very good one citing cost as a prohibitive factor:

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Dear Sir/Madam,

I am enquiring about inter-urban travel in Wiltshire.  I live in Salisbury and need to travel to Chippenham regularly to visit my sister and also, imminently, to use the county archives and local studies library there.

However I am having difficulty deciding on the best mode of transport.

From my own enquiries on the Wilts and Dorset Buses website, I found traveling by bus complicated as one has to change in Devizes and the connections are difficult to fathom.  The rail option seems to me ridiculous owing to having to travel all the way to Bath before re-entering the county to go to Chippenham, a journey of almost two hours, and costly.

I have heard that Wiltshire operate such a thing as the Key Bus Route Network to connect the main urban areas of the county such as Salisbury, Westbury, Chippenham, etc.  Please can you give me more information about this network and when it will be in operation (if it is not already)?

I would be everso grateful for any information you can give me to help me travel to Chippenham in the simplest way possible.

With all my best wishes,
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Sorry but some things you've just got to laugh at!

'travelling by train would be ideal' -  from Swindon or outside the county perhaps! 

How many of us (and others) have highlighted the lack of direct train services from elsewhere in Wiltshire?