Twice an hour, a train leaves Trowbridge, the county town of Wiltshire, for Bradford-on-Avon and on to Bath and Bristol.  Twice an hour, trains leave Trownbridge for Westbury, and on to Salisbury and Southampton, or Weymouth. And just twice a day, a train leaves Trowbridge for Melksham, and to Chippenham and Swindon, and Stroud and Gloucester and Cheltenham.  It's Trowbridge's forgotten railway, also know as the "TransWilts" line, and it's the only railway that links Wiltshire's main five population centres - Swindon and Salisbury, Trowbridge, Melksham and Chippenham.

Why is the service TransWilts service so poor?   That's a story for another day ... but suffice to say there are major travel requirements from West Wiltshire to Chippenham and Swindon - it's already one of the South West's top 50 commutes, and Swindon, Chippenham, Melksham and Trowbridge are all scheduled to grow dramatically in the next 15 years.  By road, the journey from Trowbridge to Swindon takes an hour (90 minutes if you use the bus) ... by train it can be done in 35 minutes - but only at 07:06 and 19:37.  And the rail line is in excellent condition (maintained as a useful diversionary route for passengers from London to the South West, and freight from Southampton to the Midlands and North) with sufficient capacity (declared by Network Rail) for an hourly passenger train each way.

The Melksham Railway Development Group is running a "Santa Special" from Trowbridge, via the TransWilts line, to Swindon on Sunday, December 6th.  The train leaves Trowbridge Station at 17:10 (ten past five) and Father Christmas will be on board, handing out presents to alll of the children. Adults will get a minced pie, and everyone will be given an appropriate beverage. Tickets for the trip are on sale at Trowbridge Tourist Information Centre (you can't buy them at the station!) and are limited in numbers. Cost - 9 pounds per adult, and 3 pounds per child (aged up to and including 15).

The train also calls at Melksham station to pick up people who want to meet Father Christmas and enjoy a trip to Swindon at 17:20; it gets back there at 19:00, and back to Trowbridge at 19:10. Melksham tickets are 7 pounds (adult) and 3 pounds (child) and on sale at Melksham Tourist Information Centre.

This is a great opportunity to meet Father Christmas, and to enjoy a train ride from Trowbridge across North Wiltshire to Swindon. Contact details: via email to info@mrdg.org.uk, by phone to Sion Bretton on 01225 700740 or Graham Ellis on 01225 708225.  To learn more about the TransWilts line, and the campaign for an appropriate service, see http://www.transwilts.org.uk, and for the associated general forum on rail travel in the area, see http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop