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South Western Railway was nationalised a year ago ... and on 20th May, Andrew Ardley of SWR» will be talking to the West Wiltshire Rail User Group in Trowbridge. Easily reachable at the Bethesda Church Hall - 100 yards from Trowbridge Station, and timed for people arriving from and returning to other stations including Melksham and Chippenham. SWR still have a few services to Warminster and Westbury, though they have "rationalised" away their services at Trowbridge and Bradford-on-Avon leaving those stations without any through trains from London. It will be very interesting to hear what Andrew - a good friend over may years - has to tell us, including an update on what they are doing on their core line in the south of the county.
In amongst the "don't know" elements is the passenger voice and I worry if and how that will get due weight into the future. We have good friends at Transport Focus which, however, has lacked authority. Marketing words suggest a positive future for them, but from what I have seen the toothlessness may still remain. We will see; as an advocate of public transport I really hope for a mainstream strong and informed passenger voice / advocate.
No conclusions here - an explanation, a look ahead into a rather foggy crystal ball, and an encouragement to come along on 20th May. Join me on the 18:10 train from Melksham; return on the 21:22 from Trowbridge.
I've added it to the Coffee Shop forum's calendar.
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