It must have been some 30 years ago that I first used Pewsey Station - to get to the K & A Canal and walk the section from there to Bedwyn.  At the time, I was living in Kent ... and there was one train I could catch to get to Pewsey early in the morning, with the direction of my walk dictated by the need for flexibility on my return.

How things have changed - and changed for the better.  Pewsey now has trains every few hours, and they're busy, too ... at least at the times I use them.  I was over there on Saturday, and I was also impressed by the very smart buses that were around - it looked like a major operational hub, with shops and services to make the population proud, and things in a fine fettle.



Of course, I tend to compare with my home town of Melksham ... and it's very instructive to do so.  I expect Lee will know the answers to each of these:

Poplulation - Melksham v Pewsey
Trains calling daily - Melksham v Pewsey
Passengers per annum - Melksham v Pewsey
Number of MPs living in town - Melksham v Pewsey

See... its amazing what happens when a train service is provided! 

If nearly 170,000 journeys a year can be conjured up from pewsey's 3000 and the local area... imagine what could be done with a 21000 population town! Madness!!

(We're all thinking it! )

So, by your reckoning Graham, Colne would have a journeys per head figure of 3

I read an interesting article earlier today (link below.)
http://www.burnleyexpress.net/burnleynews/Battle-for-better-Burnley-and.5159708.jp

I should start by saying that Colne is the second largest town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle, and lies 6 miles north-east of Burnley and 25 miles east of Preston. It is also worth noting that the rail service from Colne and Burnley to Blackburn, Preston and Blackpool is hourly.

Here are some quotes from the above article:


The battle is on to get better train services along the TransWilts corridor as well. 339 people have so far signed the TransWilts pledge in support of an increase from 2 poorly-timed round trips a day to 6 well-timed ones (link below.)
http://www.transwilts.org.uk/pledge.html

The battle for a useable TransWilts service is only the beginning. We also have a 5-year plan to get us to an hourly service, and a vastly improved Melksham station (link below.)
http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=7984.msg12925#msg12925


We can only dream of an effective Local Strategic Partnership transport group in this part of the world. However, we do have plans to set up a TransWilts Community Rail Partnership to promote a decent service, once we get one.


They want to watch that. The same thing happened to us shortly before our train service was brutally slashed, and adversely skewed the statistics (link below.)
http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/melkshamrailway/138_Lies_damned_lies_and_statistics.html


The scheme may now proceed following the finalising of a Multi Area funding agreement between central government and a consortium of councils in East Lancashire in January 2009.

In our part of the world, restoring the Bradford North Curve could bring a similar revolution in potential journey opportunities. The prospect of a "Multi Area funding agreement" to make it happen seems somewhat remote though...


Quite right too. In our part of the world, we recognise that a proper TransWilts service wouldnt just benefit Melksham, but also all the locations along the Salisbury-Swindon route, plus quite a few beyond as well.


When the county archives were moved in 2007 from Trowbridge to the new Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre in Chippenham, many people in Salisbury were dismayed at the increased journey time this entailed and the difficulties in making this journey by train. We know a lot of passengers would use a proper TransWilts service to go there.


Poor connections were cited as a reason that the pre-December 2006 service didnt do as well as it could have done, although it was a damn sight better than what we have now.

We have long advocated better links between buses and trains on the TransWilts line, and have included relevant proposals in our future plans.


To begin with, we'd just like to see trains 

As an aside, the "sheds on wheels" reffered to are Class 142 Pacers, which have been deployed in Devon in recent times...


We'd llike nothing more than to work with our relevant local authority to take concrete, genuine steps to improve the TransWilts service.


The wider, long-term picture is important in this regard, as our proposals for 2014 and beyond demonstrate (link below.)
http://www.raildocuments.org.uk/gwfuture/dastsconsultation.doc

In terms of forecast growth in population, numbers of households and car ownership, the Pendle-Preston corridor has similar characteristics to the TransWilts corridor. The difference seems to be in the level of support, both in policy terms and financial, for rail from government through all levels from central to local.

Lets end with a Pewsey-style comparison:

Poplulation (2001 census) - Melksham 21000 v Colne 20118

Trains calling daily - Melksham 4 v Colne 37

Passengers per annum (2007-2008) - Melksham 38081  v Colne 61098

I wont do the "Number of MPs living in town." You may wish to note though, that both Melksham and Colne will find themselves in marginal constituencies at the next General Election.

A final quote from the article:


A link to the SELRAP campaign, which I fully support, can be found below.
http://www.selrap.org.uk/