The days are getting longer, the weather is warmer, and people are starting to move about ... articles appearing in our local paper about opportunities by train; come 18th May, we should have a boozing brochure out there - I've now got the summer timetable, feedback on various things from Wiltshire Council, and should be able to show a draft shortly. That's background.
Here - more or less - is what has appeared in the Melksham News that came out yesterday:
Easter Weeks - 14th to 18th April and 21st to 25th April - days trip from Melksham to Weymouth by train, using the new TransWilts train service. Leave Melksham at 09:15, and arrive back at 19:46. Adult day return fare ^16.50, child ^8.25. If travelling in a group, ask for a "GroupSave" ticket where three or four adults can travel for the price of 2, and children pay just ^1 each.
Change trains at Westbury in both directions (plenty of time to change) - arrive Weymouth at 12:09 and leave again at 17:30.
These trains run on Mondays to Fridays, including Good Friday and Easter Monday. But they are not running on the May Day Bank Holiday Monday (5th May), when the line will be closed for engineering works and a substitute bus service running instead.
Free parking is available for rail users at Melksham Station. If joining the train at Melksham, you can buy your tickets on the train from the train manager.
"The new train service is running very well, with plenty of happy passengers" said Peter Blackburn, chair of the Melksham Railway Development Group, "but there's still plenty of space for more passengers to have a great day out".
I wonder how we'll do?
I'm working in Oxford next week - commuting on the Rail Link Bus and multiple trains - so won't be around to see the 09:15 / count numbers. If anyone's able to do so
it would be appreciated ...
