And I can't help feeling that to a degree that may be sometimes how it's intentionally planned - maximising fares to the market

Indeed ... but no more of an issue than (as I understand it) getting drivers from Bristol to Hereford at present.

But, folks, my list was tongue in cheek, remember.  There may be the odd one or two it works for ...

Yes - the proposal was described at TravelWatch SouthWest, as was the background behind it.   There are basically 2 trains per day run each way between Salisbury and Yeovil Junction vis Westbury for staff training purposes, and running these in passenger service seemed a sensible thing to do with so much growth planned in the Yeovil area. As a note from me, Frome has some mighty big service gaps at present, and these services might also provide a plug there.

I have thought similar ... and was rather surprised to read the concern on the East Lancs.  I suppose that the requirements placed on the lines to allow National Rail stock could put some of the shakier ones onto their back feet, but I can recall hearing recently of an FGW^▸ (First Great Western) charter running onto a line which I've nit understood to be maintained quite up to main line standards.

I also agree that commuter times are unlikely to be leisure traffic times, and would have though that in some cases it could be a case of 2 + 2 = 6 rather than 2 + 2 = 3, but perhaps ELR know different for some reason?   Out of amusement, I wrote myself a tongue in cheek list of some new commuter services, each achieved by stabling trains at the "far end" in the evening and not with any extra stock for the national network ... to some extent echoing ATOC^» (Association of Train Operating Companies See - here) suggestions from a few years back

Alresford to Waterloo
Bo'ness to Edinburgh Waverley
Chinnor to Paddington
Kingswear to Exeter
Minehead to Bristol Temple Meads
Okehampton to Exmouth
Ongar to West Ruislip
Rawtenstall to Manchester Victoria
Sheffield Park to London Bridge
Swanage to Salisbury via Southampton and Eastleigh

http://www.rossendalefreepress.co.uk/news/fears-been-raised-creatinon-commuter-8819167


Are there other lines / lines in our area which could be similarly threatened (is it really a threat?) -- a Shepton Mallett to Westbury service effecting Mendip Vale to Cranmore, for example?

I haven't checked the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) systems - which class are they?   Are you saying the class C limit is 253 not 254 hosts, or suggesting that FGW are using 10. or 176.??

And now ...

Yes, although live departure board still shows the service running ... and journey check now says "this train will run as scheduled" (changed in the last few minutes)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/11462606/Civil-servants-spend-five-times-more-than-they-should-on-train-tickets.html


and


Although the article headline is TRAIN tickets, the article has gone on to talk about airline tickets too.   And whilst it refers to "travel cost increase" in the last 5 years in real terms, I wonder whether or not the figures include mileage claims / whether driving costs have gone up or down.   Final thought ... if rail fares have gone up by "inflation + x%" for 5 years, is it any wonder that costs of travel have gone up by that amount for civil servants?

Fortunate - or rather ... by my career and way-of-working choice.  There are times that I *could* commute / sardine, but those weeks I tend to stay in a cheap hotel instead ... for my own office base, I have a 10 minute walk from home.  And, yes, I could earn more in London, I'm sure!

In 2005 I drove 30,000 miles a year, and train journeys were rare.  In 2015, I expect to drive just 3,000 miles, and already in 2 months I have made long distance journeys by train to Taunton, Swansea, Cambridge, and London - multiple times - and many local journeys.  I choose to tavel by train because I arrive at my destination fresher, I'm free from the incumberance of a car in city centres and workplace overcrowded car parks, because I'm exercisong as I walk to and from stations, because it's sensibly priced (I have an Old Codger's railcard saving me 34% which assists on this balance, although many off peak and local tickets are not expensive anyway) and because I can work on the train, relax, sleep, even use a mobile phone occasionaly.

I am delighted to hear this morning that First Great Western have completed the fitting of WiFi in all their high speed trains, and it's available free for use too.  Free WiFi is also available at a number of FGW^▸ (First Great Western) stations throguh the Cloud, most notably at Swindon where I often change trains and wait for my connection home to Melksham.

It came home to me on Saturday last just how useful the free WiFi, which has been gradually appearing over the last few months, has become when I travelled on another Train Operator's service 30 minutes ahead of the FGW alternative, and found myself wishing I had waited, but I have learned over the years that a train in the hand in worth two in the bush.

Local trains / no WiFi - that's fine by me.  For a short hop of less than 40 minutes, I can do without.   Regional services - it would be nice, but the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) / sleeper / Adelante fleets were the natural firsts.

The ability to do my job by public transport rather than driving has been lifechanging, and lifechanging for the better.  I congratulate First Great Western on completing this innovation.  And I congratulate First Great Western, Wiltshire Council, the Department for Transport, political support from MPs^▸ (Member of Parliament) and candidates of all parties with major local influence for giving me the opportunity, and to the train crews, platform teams and operatuons managers who make it run, and who are sol welcoming, on a day by day basis.

Press release from First Great Western ...

HSBC Rail sold (?)six class 483 2 car units to South West Trains in 2007, but then I suspect that we could find an exception to every rule.  Even in that rather odd case, I wondered "why"; said to be because of the embarrassment of the profit they were making, but I find that hard to believe.  More likely to get rid of some oddballs from their books, and the heavy maintenance issues too.

Sharing here as this is a quick update, useful for many of our community partners who are interested in the transport issues as a small element of everything else that's going on.

TransWilts for Melksham Without Annual Parish Meeting - written 9th March 2015 for 16th March 2015 meeting

Trial extra services started on the line through Melksham (the TransWilts line), and passenger journies have risen from around 20,000 per annum to around 160,000 as a result.   Around 3,000 journeys have been made on the Melksham Rail Link Bus which runs from Bowerhill on Monday to Friday mornings, via east Melksham, to the station to connect with commuter trains to Swindon (and there's an evening service back too).  Funding from the the Local Sustainable Transport Fund has allowed these trials, and also significant improvements in station facilities, and in the wider sustainable transport arena such as electric car charging points, plus maps, and the Connecting Wilthshire travel planner amongst others.

The services are making a significant difference to many families in the area - especially those who are unable to drive, and there are numerous examples of people changing their jobs / able to take up opportunities that wouldn't have been previously available, as well as the trains bringing people into the Melksham area.  It's truly life changing for many people, and some of the trains that didn't even run just over a year ago are reported as nearly full.  Some Saturday trains have been strengthened recently to cope with crowds.

A huge thank you to the  Department for Transport and Wiltshire Council for making this possible. Thank you to to Melksham Without Parish Council for your ongoing support for the Melksham Railway Development Group, without whom there wouldn't have been a service to improve, nor the local knowledge and enthusiasm to do so. Thank you too to First Great Western for taking on and supporting the service with great enthusiasm, and to all the community volunteers who have helped in so many ways - we counted around 70 different names last year!  And a huge thank you to people who are using the service.

But the service is just a trial.   Funding for the Melksham Rail Link Bus runs out this summer, and for the trial train service next year.  The bus service runs free of charge to users (so that it can wait at the station if the train is late, without getting into trouble with the traffic commissioners for being a late-running fare-collecting service) and we are hoping - but not with great expectations - that First Bus and Faresaver will add stops near Melksham Station to their routes, and co-ordinate but and train times better.  There's some sign of elements of this happening, with the late night buses from Chippenham and Trowbridge accepting train tickets.

The train service funding finishes in the latter part of next year.  By that time, the current First Great Western franchise will have been replaced, and we'll have a new government, potentially with different priorities an policies.   Our current MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) has been instrumental in bringing the services to where they are today and continues to offer his support; other candidates for the seat that includes Melksham talk of improvements at Chippenham Station and re-opening Corsham, without reference to keeping the trial service running at Melksham beyond next year, even in circulars printed for (and delivered to) Melksham.  So the future is far from a foregone conclusion, even though passenger targets for the first year were met in just 17 weeks.

In order to look to the future, the TransWilts Community Rail Partnership has become a division of the newly formed TransWilts Community Interest Company, and there's a launch of "Vision 2020" at 10:30 at Chippenham on Saturday 21st March.   All are welcome (10:01 train from Melksham) - see http://twcrp.info/vision2020 for details.  We're looking not only at TransWits line trains, but other trains and bus services right across Wiltshire looking to get rail and bus users and groups together and looking to the future with a co-ordinated and positive approach.   The current times of great change in pubic transport in our area lead to grave risks, but also a great opportunity for us to make sure that we end up with an integrated system on rails and road that's heavily used and so only lightly subsidised, and provides the travel faciities that people want and need.

Travel details ...

from AMESBURY and south Wiltshire - travel via Salisbury
from AVONCLIFF - 09:09 train, change at Trowbridge
from BEDWYN and PEWSEY - sorry - poor connections / best via Swindon
from BRADFORD-ON-AVON - 09:21 train change at Trowbridge
from CALNE - 09:26 bus
from CHIPPENHAM - we're launching in your town!
from CORSHAM - 09:34 bus
from DEVIZES - 09:40 bus
from DILTON MARSH - 09:27 train, change at Westbury
from FROME - 08:02 train change at Westbury
from LYNEHAM - 09:28 bus
from MALMESBURY - 09:00 bus
from MARLBOROUGH - 08:19 Bus (X5, change to train at Swindon)
from MELKSHAM - 10:01 train
from ROYAL WOOTTON BASSETT - 09:15 bus
from SALISBURY - 09:01 train change at Westbury
from SWINDON - 10:02 train
from TROWBRIDGE - 09:51 train
from WARMINSTER - 09:23 train change at Westbury
from WESTBURY - 09:45 train

Where is the Town Hall in Chippenham??   10 minutes from the train station, 5 minutes from the bus station:

Just a note that I have adjusted some of the scope of backups, and moved some evening work into the early hours. Call it fine tuning; I anticipate little effect will be seen - like a 3 minute improvement in journey time from Bath Spa to London would be useful in the long run, but not noticed by the passengers using the service