tehmina.org

In December 2006, many First Great Western services in the South West were cut. This was, of course, due to franchise agreements that passenger provision would be cut by well over 7000 seats by December 2007. The new May 2007 timetable does not re-instate the decimated services on the TransWilts line that connects north and south Wiltshire via Melksham. Currently, to travel from Salisbury to Chippenham, you can either leave the county and change at Bath and add almost an hour to your journey or take the one-a-day direct service in the evening, without one coming back. Wiltshire County Council in the meantime have submitted a bid to become a Unitary Authority, wanting to run the county and its districts centrally. Here is the letter I wrote to rail bosses, FGW bosses, Wiltshire CC bosses and copied to my MP Robert Key:

14 May 2007

Dear all,

I am writing to query why the new May 2007 timetable retains the 60 %
reduction in services that connected Salisbury, Melksham and Swindon
and intervening stations on the ‘TransWilts’ line. This was a
well-used service and the only viable way of getting from south to
north Wiltshire via public transport. This service, according to the
Rail Regulator saw in increase in its use by an average of 35% per
year prior to the cuts. Why has this deficit not been remedied in
this timetable?

Wiltshire desperately needs a better public transport infrastructure.
Currently, I have to leave the county and re-enter it (via Bath
usually) to visit my sister in Chippenham, almost adding an hour to
the normal journey on a direct service.

With Wiltshire County Council’s Unitary Bid still on the cards, I
cannot see how the county could be serious about functioning as a
coherent whole without this vital link. The roads in, out and within
the county are full of unnecessary traffic because the rail options
are so poor. The TransWilts line needs support now. Why not
introduce a decent service including late evening trains between
Salisbury and Swindon, taking in Dilton Marsh on request?

I trust you will seriously consider re-establishing this service in
the near future.

I have copied this to my MP Robert Key (Salisbury) for his reference.

Yours sincerely,

Tehmina Goskar

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 15th, 2007 at 9:54 am and is filed under soapbox, trains. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.