A DECADE of a community rail service that links Swindon to Westbury via Melksham, was celebrated recently, with a party at Westbury Railway Station marking 10 years since it began.
The service is provided by TransWilts Community Rail and is a partnership between Wiltshire Council, Great Western Railway, the Department for Transport and local users.
The 10-year celebration involved a special cake being cut at Westbury Railway Station, attended by representatives from Melksham Town Council, Wiltshire Council, TransWilts Community Rail Partnership, Melksham User Group and GWR.
“Over the 10-years, Trans Wilts services between Swindon and Westbury have clocked up more than one million passenger-carrying miles – the equivalent of travelling to the moon and back, twice!” says a spokesperson for GWR.
Acting chair of the Melksham Transport User Group, Graham Ellis said, “The Melksham service is now up from two calls each way per day to eight calls each way. Passenger numbers arriving in Melksham rose from four to 104 per day in the first five years, though that growth levelled out because of overcrowding (train was full!) and then Covid.
“But we now have longer trains (and an extra late evening service too) and with Covid behind us we’re back on a growth curve for the service and the town too. It’s a project still building – passenger numbers should rise to 250 each way per day in the next decade with a further service increase, bus links to and from the station and a greater focus on making the railway station and network welcoming to the newcomer.
“The winter and spring timetable for Melksham train service started on 10th December and runs until May 2024 and for the first time for many years includes evening trains both ways on every day of the week. It takes 10 minutes to get to Chippenham and to Trowbridge; 17 minutes to Westbury and 25 minutes to Swindon. You can also change at those stations for thousands of other trains across Great Britain.”
Wiltshire Council cabinet member for transport, cllr Caroline Thomas, said, “This 10-year anniversary marks an incredible milestone for Wiltshire, as it celebrates a decade since we jointly invested in additional services from Westbury through to Swindon by rail.
“The Department for Transport said they would take over and operate the services if there was sufficient demand after three years. The services did so well that they didn’t even need to wait the three years!
“This milestone is testament to the hard work of TransWilts Community Rail and our partnership working, and we look forward to the line serving the county for many more years to come.”
