There are currently just TWO southbound trains each way a day on the middle section of the line - leaving Swindon at a quarter past six in the morning and a quarter to 7 at night. Northbound, there are no through trains at all - you have to change at Westbury if you're travelling from Salisbury to Melksham, Chippenham or Swindon, with Salisbury departure times of 12 minutes after 6 in the morning, and twenty to 7 in the evening.

If you consider these timings to be rather curious, we understand that they are run this early so that the train operating company (First Great Western) can meet its contractual obligations to the Department for Transport in what is known as "marginal time", releasing the trains used for peak hour services on the lines between Swindon and Gloucester, and Salisbury and Southampton.

Prior to the current timetable, Wessex Trains operated a service of 5 trains per day each way - 2 around the morning peak, one in the middle of the day, and an afternoon peak and an evening service. According to the Office of the Rail Regulator, ticket sales at Melksham which is served ONLY by the TransWilts line grew from around 3000 in 2001/2 to 27500 5 years later - just before the plug was pulled on the useful services in December 2006. That is a 35% compound growth, as compared to a 0.8% growth figure assumed on 2002/3 figures by the Department for Transport as their basis for the new service level.

The current TransWilts train services run at a time of day when only a limited number of people want to travel, and they are so widely spaced that they make for an impractically long day for any commuter who wishes to use them. As a result, the five trains which had reasonable loadings prior to the service reduction in 2006 have been replace by 2 trains which are nearly empty - the line has lost 90%+ of its traffic.

The gap in service at Melksham from 07:17 to 19:11 makes the service virtually useless for round trips, and the trains have a fearsomely poor reliability record.