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Topic: The 234 bus - Chippenham, STATION, Melksham, Trowbridge, Frome (Read 24164 times)
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Graham Ellis
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I've just received a new timetable for the 234 route ... undated. I suspect it runs from 25th September, as that's when the timetable on the First Bus site runs out; I'll check my source. Morning services from Trowbridge and Melksham run via Chippenham railway station and late afternoon / evening services from Chippenham run via the station there before travelling on to Melksham and Trowbridge. In the middle of the day, the service does not call at Chippenham station; route details not given, but I presume it's the current route with the nearest stop to the station at the town bridge - just under half a mile from the station.
From Melksham to Chippenham Station at: 07:22, 08:05, 09:24 and 10:24
Getting to Chippenham at 07:34, 08:47, 09:51 and 10:51
From Chippenham station at 16:35, 17:35, 18:24, 19:24, 20:44 and 22:10
Arriving in Melksham at 17:02, 18:02, 18:56, 19:46, 21:06 and 22:32
* On Saturdays ONLY, there's an extra bus at 07:57 from Chippenham station to Melksham
* All buses continue to / from Trowbridge Town Hall, and the last morning / first afternoon are to / from Frome
* The 08:05 bus from Melksham runs at 08:12 during school holidays, and reaches Chippenham Station at 08:39
* The 234 service does not operate on Sunday
* The last bus of the day from Melksham to Chippenham Station will be at 10:24 in the morning.
* The first return bus (Monday to Friday) will be at 16:35
[edit to correct a typo]
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« Last Edit: August 23, 2006, 06:48:38 AM by Graham Ellis »
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Graham Ellis
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For my own purposes, I've worked out what the new bus service offers to weekday travellers to and from Melksham and put together a combined timetable to work from - we're already getting bookings / enquiries for December at work! http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/loncombined.htmlI've never been thrilled with the idea of telling my customers to catch a bus rather than a train; there's something of a psychological block for many of them, but I must admit that it's better to ask them to connect at Chipenham station than asking them to have to slog across a town they probably don't know. With the wait time for connections, and with many journeys being subject to an extra wait while the bus driver has a break at the bus station (note B on the tables), the overall journey time is disappointingly long for morning arrivals and evening departures - so much so that I think that morning arrivals will not be practical. I'm also wondering how business customers will feel about having to check Wiltshire school dates to know when the service is running ... it's all a very, very VERY far cry from a regular train every 2 hours, which I still consider would be the most appropriate service for First to provide. |
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Sion Bretton
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Llooks like there may be more Melksham bus plus tickers being sold.
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Graham Ellis
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Llooks like there may be more Melksham bus plus tickers being sold.
Indeed. Although the bus service seems designed for those who want to go out of Melksham in the morning, and return in the evening, and I'm not sure that the bus drivers can issue bus-and-train tickets, can they? Unless people have planned ahead, I suspect that they'll end up paying for the bus from Melksham to Chippenham and then for the train from Chippenham to xxxx. Except for the very determined who read the official bus timetable carefully and see that they can go via the bus station in Chippenham to reach Melksham by getting on the Northbound 234 and saying on it when it returns Southbound (and do the opposite stuff going the other way), the first train from London for Melksham with a bus connection doesn't leave until 15:00 from Paddington, and the last bus with a connection for London leaves at 10:24 in the morning. Scarcely designed, it would seem, to encourage inbound traffic. |
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Graham Ellis
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Please treat the timings above as provisional. I've just got an amendment notice that shows the LAST bus of the day from Melksham to Chippenham Station at 09:24 not 10:24, and shows an extra return service at 15:15 from Chippenham Station. Further, the Saturday morning bus from Chippenham Station to Melksham appears to have been withdrawn before it even started running - perhaps through lack of custom  I now have a 17th Septmber commencement date for the new service. From Melksham at 07:21, 08:05, and 09:24 (ONLY). From Chippenham Station at 15:15, 16:35, 17:35,18:34, 19:24, 20:44 and 22:10. All services Monday to Saturday, but note that the 08:05 bus leaves at 08:12 on Saturdays and School Holidays.
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Sion Bretton
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Yes the bus go to the railway station, but on the timetables at bus stop at Chippenham railway station does not show any details of the 234 calling at Chippenham railway station.  |
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« Last Edit: October 24, 2006, 09:53:55 PM by Sion Bretton »
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Sion Bretton
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I have checked the Bus time-tables at Station (Chippenham) still do not show times 234 calls at the Station.
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Graham Ellis
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And nearly a year after we started this thread, there are STILL not signs for the Melksham bus up at Chippenham Station. They HAVE updated the signs there - they say "from January 2007" but seem to overlook the Melksham bus. The Melksham bus is , however, taking passengers from Chippenham. Listen to the cabbies grumble! I've put a full bus and train timetable for all major routes into Melksham for this summer ... here at http://www.wellho.net/demo/bustimes.php |
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