Sadly this counts for less than nothing. Swindon to Salisbury via Trowbridge covers Wiltshire's largest built up area, and the train "service" provided has been progressively cut under FGW▸ .
The service cuts were specified I think by the
SRA» at the time so would likely have gone ahead even if the franchise was not run by FGW. ...
We're a bit "out of area" for Cornwall here but I have to clarify that
a) Cuts specified by SRA on the TransWilts as you say
b)
DfT» asked FGW to submit a non-competitive price to retain a better service (late '05)
c) FGW submitted a high bid
d) DfT rejected it
e) FGW have within the last year quoted a much lower figure
Had FGW submitted a bid in late '05 that was the same as the price they gave in early '08 (and not I have not considered inflation) there is every chance that the TransWilts would be running a service something like the one show at
http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/tp.html (and, by the way, this forum wouldn't have existed!)
You may well ask why FGW went to high in late '05 ... we certainly do!