To accompany the business plan

"Where we have been and where we are going" - supportive documentation for ACoRP^▸ , an update for members of the CRP^▸ at the AGM^▸ , and for wider publication too once and glaring typos / omissions are notified to me by friends here Grin

Background and history

A year ago, there were just two trains running each way daily on the TransWilts line from Swindon via Westbury - at 06:12 and 18:44 ("Too early" and "Too late"). We had got all of our ducks into line for the upcoming franchise, spoken to all four bidders, worked out the finances and operation of eight trains each way per day - but one of the ducks had been killed with the franchising system / debacle of Autumn 2012 and we were looking bleakly ahead to two more years of "Status Quo" - services to be run under management contract for the Department for Transport at a steady state - i.e. unchanging - level and specification. Actually it was worse than that, as one of the remaining ducks / elements had a three year limited life, and would be lost if it wasn't used in the short term - seed funding won, just to be lost because it timed out. A pretty depressing picture indeed.

How things have changed!

In the spring, work behind the scenes brought the fully funded TransWilts franchise option into the realms that would allow it to be started more or less within the timescales originally planned. And everyone really pulled together to make this happen - in London, in county hall in Trowbridge, and at First Great Western, Network Rail, the Office of the Rail Regulator and seemingly loads of other places.

First clues to the community that the 8 train service was a possibility from December were in late Spring, and things move rapidly thereafter. But there was a long way to move orgnisationally. The TransWilts CRP formally adopted its constitution at a Special General Meeting in August, With Sion Bretton elected to the role of Chair, Peter Blackburn his vice, Phil McMullen as Secretary and Chris Hankin as Treasurer. Plans were made by First Great Western to have a train available to run the service (no easy thing as there's a shortage of trains), to ensure that enough staff were available and knew the route. Detailed final negotiations took place to ensure that the service could run without hiatus through future funding changes, and objections from a co-operative who wish to run a Westbury to Birmingham open access service at a future date had to be answered at a regulation level.

And so - Sunday, 8th December 2013, and a new service left Westbury for Swindon at 10:32 - press and officials on board, and the train was waved off from Melksham with great joy. There are now 8 trains each way (Monday to Saturday) and 6 northbound / 5 southbound on Saturdays. And whilst there are still gaps in meeting some of the potential passenger flows, for some three quarters of the people who want to travel the service runs at about the time they need it. That's no mean achievement for a single 1-carriage train. On Monday 9th December, Duncan Hames MP^▸ travelled on the first new commuter train from Trowbridge via Melksham and Chippenham to Swindon, with a good number of passengers on board.

How is the service doing?

We anticipated that it will take time to build up patronage. If a station / line with a gap from 07:17 to 19:11 suddenly gets ten more trains between those hours, it's going to take time to build up traffic. People need to learn about the service, to try it out, and perhaps to switch to it as it works for them. As people move homes, change jobs, they'll rely on the train service; it's now practical to live in Melksham and work in Swindon, for example, if you don't have a car, but it takes time for the social makeup to change. Use for leisure - days out, shopping trips, city breaks, is at its quietest in the winter, and with Christmas and especially poor weather the service started at perhaps the most difficult time.

The objective is to have an average of 20 passengers make use of each train between Chippenham and Trowbridge - that's passengers "to from or through" Melksham if you like to phrase it that way, with "through" expected to be very much the larger numbers at first. That's around 108,000 journeys per annum.

On the second Sunday of the new service - after the "bands had left" and the service was running normal days, I was delighted to count no fewer that 28 people getting off the first Sunday morning train into Swindon, and there were between 15 and 20 of us on the journey back. The following Saturday, the 11:47 from Melksham to Swindon had around 55 passengers - and I had chosen that train to travel on believing it would be one of the quieter ones. Reports of the 17:36 from Swindon to Westbury are that it's pretty busy too - averaging 50 to 60 passengers most days. And last Thursday I caught the 15:14 Swindon to Westbury - another train that we expect to be a quieter one. 15 passengers on board from Chippenham, 4 more joined at Melksham - so that's just one under the average we need and we're looking at a service that wasn't likely to be one of the busy ones. Today - a Saturday, truly awful weather, the 13:16 arrived in Melksham with 10 people on board, some got off, 2 joinedi (so 12 journeys). The train crew looked at the flooded track and decided they could continue as the railhead was above water level.

Car parking at Melksham is full at the station - even on a Saturday like today with awful weather - indeed, there are several cars parked beyond the official spaces. The overflow just up the road wasn't much in use - probably because leisure travellers don't know about it. We are impressed by the high proportion of walkers and cyclists (we are soon going to have more cycles wanting to travel than are officially allowed). Pick up / drop off by private car or taxi is also quite common. No-one is yet brave enough to leave their byke at Melksham for the day, though there have been enquiries about the lockers.

So we seem to be doing quite well. But we shouldn't fool ourselves into thinging "job done". The 20:12 off Swindon, a vital train as a fallback for people who are coming home late, had just 8 people on board on 17th January, and I would suspect that the 06:12 from Swindon remains very quiet indeed - there simply aren't a lot of people wanting to leave Swindon that early. Mind you, it picks up at Melksham for Bristol (change at Trowbridge) and gathers more people as it heads south to Southampton.

How has this come about?

First Great Western, Wiltshire Council, and the Community Rail Partnership all want to make this work. I can (and will) list a whole series of activities and I'm sure I will overlook some ...

New signboards at Melksham Station.
New car parking / road markings at Melksham Station.
Train timetable posters much more approriate for the line.
Inclusion of TransWilts services in the London to Bristol and South Wales timetable.
Community posters at stations.
Posters at Melksham Market Place Bus Stop.
Tidying up of Planters at Melksham Station.
Connecting Wiltshire Personal Travel Planner recommendations.
Connecting Wiltshire Website.
Facebook and Twitter presence and marketing.
Community Rail Parnership flyers / distribution.
Coffee Shop Forum.
Arrangement of Santa to travel on train.
Alerting rail, BTP^▸ and other agencies to dangerous practises.
TransWilts Link co-ordination of travel and transport groups across Wiltshire.
Adverts in White Horse News and Melksham Independent News.
Provision of new, lower cost "via Melksham" fares to Chippenham and Swindon
Comment / items on BBC^» Radio Wiltshire.
Delivery of thousands of letters and timetables in Melksham and Chippenham.
Convening of Station Group meetings; work with MRDG^» and Westbury TrainWatch.
Editorial in Melksham Independent News (almost every fortnight).
Editorial in Wiltshire Times.
Strong links / feedback between community, First and Wiltshire to answer questions / comments / concerns quickly.
Coffee Shop forum to disceminate information and with volunteer's private board to co-ordinate.
Assisting with passenger counts.
Arrangement for last bus from Chippenham Station to accept rail tickets.
Increased reliability of train services.
Ensuring TIC^▸ in Melksham is fully informed and has brochures.
Ensure town hall and Library has information and timetables.
Better information at Swindon station.
Line timetables at Westbury and Trowbridge stations.
Inform area boards (Melksham and Westbury) and Community Area Partnerships.

How do we keep it growing?

Much more of the above, PLUS most of ...

Baroness Kramer (DfT^» Minister) official visit / launch / publicity on 7th February.
Once that launch is completed, we can market the line more widely.
Join ACoRP (if application approved this time) to benefit from experience of others and joint marketing.
CCTV^▸ , improved waiting shelter and cycle racks at Melksham.
Arrangement for last bus from Trowbridge to accept rail tickets.
Supporting Rail industry in explaining engineering blockages we know are coming.
Making best use of additional services routed via the TransWilts during engineering times.
History trail at Westbury.
Marketing with Sustrans help through employers near Swindon station.
Roadside "Have you tried the train?" banner.
Niche timetables.
Electric car charging points at Chippenham, Trowbridge and Westbury.
Ticket Vending Machine at Melksham.
Link path (or bus lane) from Melksham Station to Foundry Close.
Support of special events such as TrainWest, Party in Park and Comicon all in Melksham.
Linked bus for commuters.
Asking for other bus services to be tuned to connect better with trains.
Station care.
Warminster / Frome / B-o-A to Chippenham / Swindon promotion.
Line brochure for leisure.
Ensuring TICs in other towns are fully informed and have brochures.
Guided Walks program
Promote in Swindon / Chippenham as and when there are leisure opportunities such as Weymouth trips.
Poster photograph competition.
Additional car parking at Melksham.
Improvements to subway.
Tell school assemblies and have teacher packs include train information.
Talk as required to local groups.
Survey / monitor the effectiveness of the measures above.
Inputs to consultations which relate to the future aspirations of the CRP.
Learn from all contacts what they feel are stengths and weaknesses and look to improve.
Solicit constructive comment
Arrange for supporter club / better mailing list admin.
Quarterly newsletter for service users and prospects.

What beyond the next year?

Ensure appropriate services into the next franchise / operation stage and beyond.
Look for opportunities to improve and tune provision with electrification, IEP^▸ , cascades, LSTF^▸ , SEP, etc.
And continue much more of the above and other activities which may be added over time.

Summary

That looks like an incredibly long list ... and I'm sure I will have forgotten something. In the last 2 months, the TransWilts has moved from having an inappropriate and unmarketed service into something that's really useful - not perfect, not totally known about - but very useful and becoming used. This would not have happened without the enormous help from Local and Central government, and from the rail industry; that help has been willingly forthcoming once it was established beyond reasonable doubt that a service would bring significant benefit to the towns served, would reach realistic usage targets, and would be welcomed by the community.