Save The Train

Save The Train is campaigning to regain and retain an appropriate train service linking the five largest population centres of Wiltshire: the Swindon area, Salisbury, Chippenham, Trowbridge and Melksham. Bus links between the towns are slow and the roads poor, but most trains were withdrawn by the train operator in December 2006, leaving just two trains daily setting out from Swindon at 06:18 and 18:45. This is despite the fact that 120,000 journeys are made on this service per year, with a growth rate over ten per cent per year.

Save The Train is an internet-based group - we have an active forum and we provide occasional email updates. We meet a few times a year when it is useful to discuss significant developments. Meetings usually take place in Melksham.

As well as the Save The Train website we provide the First Great Western Coffee Shop as a forum for passengers of other First Great Western lines to discuss common themes and their own local issues, with a view to everyone gaining a greater understanding of the rail travel system in the South West of England.

The situation

Train services were cut by 60% in December 2006. The imminent cut was the trigger for the formation of the group. Serious work by First Great Western, the Department for Transport and Wiltshire County Council in early 2007 produced draft proposals for the return of some services, but most improvements haven't happened, although a southbound Sunday service has been restored.

There are major proposals for substantial improvements later in 2008, and Save The Train will be lobbying hard, and asking others to lobby, so that we can regain and retain an appropriate service.

Latest News :

Pledge your support for a better train service in Wiltshire!

We're fighting for a better train service linking the five largest population centres in Wiltshire, and you can help. We need to show that lots of people want a better service, and lots of people would use it.

Show your support for a better service by signing this pledge

Current service: two poorly timed trains a day
What we could get with your help: six trains a day with decent timing too!

The groups listed in the 'Local campaigning' section have supplied text about themselves. Campaign for Better Transport cannot take responsibility for the accuracy of this text, and does not necessarily share the views expressed.

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