Melksham...

[Mark J]

Endured the appalling service on the Melksham branch yesterday.

Mainline service ran late, which in turn meant I missed connection to Melksham and this resulted in a two hour wait for the next train.

What gets me is that Melksham has a population of over 18,000 people, with new development and even more house building occuring on the eastern side of the town - further growing the size of the area. So a two hourly+ service for this area really does not suffice nowadays.

Avoncliff (a far smaller settlement) on the Trowbridge to Bath section gets a far better service than Melksham.

How can things be improved?

1) Increase the service to 1tph - through to gone 10pm at night. Last train yesterday was 9:30pm.
2) Reinstate the disused platform at Chippenham. This would allow for Melksham branch services to terminate, or wait at the station without blocking the main line to Bath.
3) Long passing loop at Melksham Station.
4) Possibly reinstate to Trowbridge curve to allow a Chippenham to Bath service Via Melksham and Bradford on Avon.
5) With the above have a cheaper fare that states 'Via Melksham/Bradford on Avon only'.
6) Swindon/Chippenham to Salisbury, or possibly Southampton service.

I would also add that if services on the Melksham branch are screwed up, then you really are in trouble, especially in the evening.

The X34 'Faresaver' bus service (Frome to Chippenham service) has a last bus around 6- 6:30pm.

 

[RT4038]

The X34 'Faresaver' bus service (Frome to Chippenham service) has a last bus around 6- 6:30pm.

Wouldn't it be far, far cheaper to provide some subsidy to run some extra trips on the X34 bus?

 

[N1]

There is capacity for more services through Melksham currently, with the required level crossing safety upgrades needed to facility described here Regulator approves new Go-op train service between Swindon, Taunton and Weston-super-Mare

Probably best to refer to the Go-Op thread but I do not believe they raised the required funds and their application approval has lapsed.

 

[stevieinselby]

Where do people from Melksham want to go to?
My guess would be that along with London, the main destinations will be Bath and Bristol ... but trains from Melksham don't go to Bath or Bristol, which limits the appeal of the service. The Faresaver 271/272/273 buses to Bath are quicker than the train is whether changing at Chippenham or Trowbridge, serve the town much better than the railway station which is right out on the edge of town, and run every 30 minutes plus a full evening service. And while the connections could potentially be improved to/from Bath and Bristol, this would worsen the connections to/from London and so would not necessarily be a net gain for passengers.

It would be good to see the Melksham branch increased to hourly, but based on current timings that would need a passing loop and second platform built at Melksham. Knowing how much new platforms and new accessible footbridges cost, it's unlikely that it would be justified. If alternatively the scheduling could be flexed slightly in one or both directions such that the passing loop could be built away from the station, negating the need for a new platform and footbridge, that could make it a more reasonable proposition. (There's enough slack in the running time to accommodate that, but I haven't done a full time-and-motion to check whether it would cause any conflicts with other trains or break connections).

A new curve at Trowbridge to allow a direct Melksham to Bath/Bristol service doesn't look like it would have merit. There's no reason to offer a Chippenham to Bristol via Melksham service, when the existing half-hourly direct service will be significantly more attractive. But a small town of <20k is unlikely on its own to generate enough passengers to justify that service (when the journey is already possible by train, albeit slightly less conveniently), and Bradford-on-Avon already has a decent service to Bath and Bristol with 3tph so I'm not sure how much scope there would be for growing ridership there.

 

[MatthewHutton]

Where do people from Melksham want to go to?
My guess would be that along with London, the main destinations will be Bath and Bristol ... but trains from Melksham don't go to Bath or Bristol, which limits the appeal of the service. The Faresaver 271/272/273 buses to Bath are quicker than the train is whether changing at Chippenham or Trowbridge, serve the town much better than the railway station which is right out on the edge of town, and run every 30 minutes plus a full evening service. And while the connections could potentially be improved to/from Bath and Bristol, this would worsen the connections to/from London and so would not necessarily be a net gain for passengers.

It would be good to see the Melksham branch increased to hourly, but based on current timings that would need a passing loop and second platform built at Melksham. Knowing how much new platforms and new accessible footbridges cost, it's unlikely that it would be justified. If alternatively the scheduling could be flexed slightly in one or both directions such that the passing loop could be built away from the station, negating the need for a new platform and footbridge, that could make it a more reasonable proposition. (There's enough slack in the running time to accommodate that, but I haven't done a full time-and-motion to check whether it would cause any conflicts with other trains or break connections).

A new curve at Trowbridge to allow a direct Melksham to Bath/Bristol service doesn't look like it would have merit. There's no reason to offer a Chippenham to Bristol via Melksham service, when the existing half-hourly direct service will be significantly more attractive. But a small town of <20k is unlikely on its own to generate enough passengers to justify that service (when the journey is already possible by train, albeit slightly less conveniently), and Bradford-on-Avon already has a decent service to Bath and Bristol with 3tph so I'm not sure how much scope there would be for growing ridership there.

I think if you have a two hourly service at the moment and building a passing place in the countryside fixes it then that is probably worth it