The choice of the train

The US is the land where the automobile is King ... and where businessmen fly from city to city, State to State from meeting to meeting. So why - when we visited the USA on what was primarily a business trip last week - did Lisa and I choose to get around by train? Because (even in the USA) it seemed to make logistical sense for this trip. And because I wanted to get an international comparison between rail travel in the UK and USA ... and what better trip to use. And because the price seemed economic / sensible.

Friday, 10th August

A Rude awakening

Transatlantic flights seem to run pretty well these days, with fewer major delays than I can remember in the past, so I'll put it down to pure bad luck that we arrived at the ticket / checkin counter at Newark Airport's Amtrak station about three hours late - which equated to about 15 minutes after our train had left. We weren't too bothered - after all, there are one or two trains every hour until late in the evening on this corridor and it wasn't yet 5 O'Clock.

But the desk was unmanned. "Back a 4 O'clock" said the handwritten sign. Hmm. Automated machines demanded a credit card which we were disinclined to give them, as we were picking up pre-bought tickets, but there was a help phone on the wall. Picked it up and spoke to control. "There should be someone there" we were told and, yes, we knew that. "I'll call him". An ongoing confusion (and a mixum concerning Newark Airport v Newark Penn Central) and a few minutes later an agent had been extracted from the back room to assist us.

Our "USA Rail Passes" were duely issued. Sold to me as the American equivalent of the BritRail pass, these tickets were to allow us to ride any train in the North East of the USA for up to 15 days - and at $299 each (150 pounds) that's something of a bargain compared to buy-as-you-ride. The same incredible value is offered to USA visitors to the UK on Britrail - or rather, we were just about to discover that we had been oversold on our tickets ...

"There's no space left for you to reserve on the rest of today's trains from here" says the agent. "This IS a Friday, you have to have a reservation, and there's only so many per train for these tickets". Wonderful - 5 p.m. in Newark, speaking with a "jobsworth" who isn't really interested in offering solutions but rather in stating problems ... and a hotel booked way down in Virginia. But fortunately, I had studied the maps / timetables a bit. "Any Space on the trains from Newark Penn Central to DC" I asked and, begrudgingly, he checked. "Only on the two minutes past seven". "WE'LL TAKE 'EM!"

Now - how can we get up to Penn Central - the next stop up the line, five or ten minutes away with plenty of suburban trains and some long distances services that call at both of them too. "I can't get you on to any of the long distance trains - they're full and you're US Rail pass doesn't cover the suburban trains" ... and so it was that we found oursleves starting our USA Train Adventure an hour late, heading away from where we wanted to go, and having had to pay $7 each extra over and above our "unlimited train travel" tickets.


Newark, Penn Central

I write computer software, I train people who write computer software. And I would LOVE to train the people who wrote the software for Amtrak's ticket agents to use as they sell tickets!

We took the opportunity of 90 minutes at Newark to make reservations for the following Sunday - New Carrolton to New York Penn Central, and then New York Penn Central to Albany for the following Sunday. What a good job we had 90 minutes - I have never seen such an incredibly long process as the one the agent took to issue me with a reservation for the train we wanted from New Carrolton, and then the huge trouble he had trying to locate the ongoing train in his system. It just wasn't showing up. "It must be fully booked" he concluded, leaving me with a three hour layover in New York (great with all that baggage!) and a scheduled arrival in Albany well in the evening on a train that left two hours after I wanted, and then took longer too.

And having booked MY reservation, he had to repeat all his keystokes (though, to be fair, he left out the section of trying for the 3:45) to make Lisa reservations on the same train.

All tickets have to be signed upon issue, ID provided just like an airline flight. But I was able to present him with Lisa's passport, point to her across the waiting hall, and promise that I would have her sign them straight away and ... we had our tickets for Sunday. I'm so relieved he took pity on us and didn't have me drag Lisa up there and loose our one valuable-in-the-rush hour seat. A human face, a guy trying to do his job within a frustrating system!

Tea with the homeless

Still an hour before our train, and no food eaten for a long while. Some interesting looking food places at the station. But wandering around in the great cavern under the tracks, they're all takeaways - no where to sit, and dragging our 49lb cases with us, we're not exactly going to be Mr and Mrs Popular as we stand in line and explore all the options with the foodsellers. Ah - one's a sit in cafe; "Waiter service only" but the waiters are packing up for the day, chairs propped against tables to indicate that they're no longer open for new customers. We find seats in the ticket office, labelled "for ticketed passenger only" and Lisa heads off to one of the stalls.

It starts to dawn on me ... the seat that we're on is one of the few labelled that it's for travellers, and the others are clearly occupied by people who are not there so much for the railway facilities, but because it's somewhere that's warm and dry. Some interesting character studies to be had, for sure ... but also care to be taken that the bags and cases remain in sight and in our control. And I wasn't sad as the clock ticked around and it was time to go up onto the platform.


Denied Boarding, but a nice train in the end

Some things are the same the world over ... the 5:02 was posted, was signed as being on time, but then just as it was due went "30 minutes late". The story of our journey! The 5:14 - also going down to DC rolled in on time. Very nice looking train ... but a quick word with the conductor elicits the response that even though we have an "unlimited" ticket, that's not really the case and we are limited to travelling on less glamorous and slower trains than his.

The 5:02 drags in at - what - around 5:30; busy, but we do get in, find room for our luggage, and find seats - sleeping much of the way on the now-dark Friday evening down through Philadelphia and Baltimore, train getting quieter all the way, and so on to Union Station in Washington DC where the remnants of the passengers alight. The Amtrak carriages all seem pretty well standardised - a similar livery, a similar look and feel, a comfortable ride, airline-style seating but reasobaly spacious; we'll be in other similar trains on subsequent legs of our journey.


Across Washington DC

We're met at DC with a blanket of hot air, even at 10 p.m. at night; past experience has lead us to travel in shirt sleeves and indeed my one pullover remained in the suitcase all week. Off the train, off the platform, and down into the DC metro having negotiated the ticket machine. At $2.75 (that's just under 1.50 in UK money) for a ride all the way out to the end of the line at Springfield Franconia, it's a bargain - a fifth of what it would cost in London - and the Metro is much smoother and more comfortable as the tube, although just as crowded.

Change from the Red line to the Yellow Line, then from the Yellow to the Blue ... and you'll be in Springfield in just half an hour. Except there's a section of the Yellow line that's closed from 10 p.m. this Friday night ... so we have to make a great horseshoe loop on the Blue. Up past Foggy Bottom, across through Roslyn, and back down past Pentagon and Crystal City (what a Misnoma for a concrete cavern of a station!) to Van Doorn and - eventually Springfield. The "Great Way Round" - now where have I heard those GWR letters before? A quick call to the hotel that we've prebooked to have their van pick us up (a common USA practise) brings the news that they don't do pickups after 10:45 and ... of course ... it's now after 10:45. A final 2 miles in a taxi, and a chance to check in and collapse for the night.

Sunday, 12th August

Springfield-Franconia to Troy, up state New York

The DC Metro

A transfer ride from our hotel (we WERE in their time frame today!) and a Metro ride from one extreme of the Metro system to the other brough us to New Carrelton.

Even here in the capital of the most powerful nation on earth, Sunday is engineering works day .... and our train clearly labelled "New Carrelton" all the way along was pulled up short two stations early in an interetsing suburb of what is also one of the most violent cities in the nation and we were all dumped out onto the platform.

But engineering works don't mean "bustitution" here - they mean single track working, and the service had been sensibly thinned out to alternate trains to the outer terminus. A service that ran every 15 minutes under normal circumstances was half-hourly; not causing a conjestion problem, efficient, clearly well practised. And it looked like the works were quite major ones too. And so, on to Carrolton still in good time for the Amtrak.


Amtrak to New York

You don't wait on the platform in the USA - you wait in the waiting room. You've heard me desribe the one at Newark earlier in this article; the one on Sunday Morning was much cleaner, quieter .... and with fewer facilities. To the extent that we were tempted up onto a bare, bare platform for a boring, boring wait - no seats at all - 20 minutes ahead of time. I have been in trains calling here before and wondered about the bareness, and now I know.



An on-time train, seating together, power points at the seats, for the 3 hour ride back up through New Jersey past Newark and under the Hudson river into New York's Penn Central station. A somewhat event-free journey, but a handful of things did strike me.

The ticket checking system. Above each seat is a clip rail, and the ticket inspectors - one for every 2 or 3 carriages - come along on each major leg of the journey, collect issued tickets, and put a smaller card in the clip rail above eash passenger's head. Some are near-plain, others have station names coded into them and in spite of a few minutes idly wondering, I wasn't able to suss out the system. But I do know that shortly before passengers are due to leave, the conductor can tell in an instance who's due to leave and he clears their card.

The buffet car. "Chicken Sandwich" request Lisa. Yeah - right - that's REALLY gonna be possible! But I find the menu panel offering a Ham and Cheese bagette, and a chicken summat bap. Pictures of both, but with a big cross through the chicken. Hmm - "no Chicken today" I ask. "Yes, we have" replies the lady on the counter and I'm thinking "is this the dry British hurmour come to the USA, or does she mean it". Turns out she meant it - she went on to explain that one of her colleagues previously operating the buffet car had run out and crossed though the item with a permanent marker; well - actually she wasn't that polite about it, in fact she expressed quite a low opinion of him!


Station stops. L-o-n-g-e-r than in the UK as passengers are encouraged, airline-like, to remain in there seats until the trtain has come to a complete halt. So plenty of time to admire the platform at BWI - Baltimore Washington International Airport - and at MetroPark, where we were watching a couple, probably waiting for a subsqeuent local train, handling a teddy bear in a way that would be quite inappropriate to handle a child. The initial clutches were very private and intimate indeed ... and then they moved on to swinging the poor beast by its ears.

And so to New York ...
(written 2007-08-22)

 Z501 - Public Transport - Rail
  [154] Railway train service, Melksham station - (2004-12-17)
  [428] Swindon - Chippenham - Melksham - Trowbridge - Westbury train service - (2005-08-29)
  [434] Through public transport connection, Chippenham to Salisbury, to cease - (2005-09-02)
  [447] Tomorrow's meeting. - (2005-09-19)
  [486] Rail services under threat - Swindon, Melksham ... and Newquay and Bicester too - (2005-11-05)
  [488] Looking for railway groups and users - Swindon, Salisbury, Southampton - (2005-11-06)
  [521] Proof needed? Please just use common sense! - (2005-12-08)
  [524] Santa comes to Melksham - (2005-12-11)
  [527] Greater Western Franchise Awarded - (2005-12-13)
  [632] Moral dilemma - (2006-03-04)
  [634] Real chance to make a difference - (2006-03-05)
  [648] West Wilts Railway Users Group and trains to Lacock - (2006-03-16)
  [688] Are you free on Friday evening? - (2006-04-18)
  [697] For any North and West Wilts and Swindon Readers - (2006-04-23)
  [790] Shadow Transport Minister to visit Melksham - (2006-07-02)
  [803] Not shouting - (2006-07-16)
  [814] Melksham Railway Calendar 2007 - (2006-07-25)
  [877] Yes, but what do we do now?? - (2006-09-24)
  [952] Coming from London to Melksham by train for a course - (2006-11-28)
  [974] The last commuter train through Melksham - (2006-12-09)
  [976] Santa at the station - (2006-12-09)
  [1033] Empty at Easleigh, Missing at Melksham, Overflowing at Oldfield - (2007-01-14)
  [1044] Call for appropriate train services - Swindon, Bristol, Bath, West Wilts, Severn Beach etc - (2007-01-18)
  [1045] Bang! Train campaign hits home - (2007-01-19)
  [1063] Bradford-on-Avon - 150 years of passenger trains - (2007-02-03)
  [1069] Rail trouble forced me to buy hotel - (2007-02-07)
  [1076] Save the Train - an update - (2007-02-12)
  [1093] Wiltshire Train - can YOU come on 5th March? - (2007-02-25)
  [1097] Train and business balls all in the air! - (2007-03-02)
  [1139] Overcrowded trains around Bristol - (2007-04-08)
  [1228] Some progress on the train campaign - (2007-06-10)
  [1273] Melksham or Weymouth? Meal or day out? - (2007-07-23)
  [1274] Radio coverage for railway issues - (2007-07-23)
  [1291] Day trip to Weymouth - (2007-08-05)
  [1303] Heading Upstate New York - (2007-08-14)
  [1358] Look forward with a new broom - Wiltshire Train Service - (2007-09-19)
  [1382] First Great Western - information for customers - (2007-10-07)
  [1424] Closer than you think - the next step - (2007-11-08)
  [1428] Travel Across Wiltshire - the game - (2007-11-11)
  [1452] Santa on the train to Melksham - (2007-12-01)
  [1530] Railway Acronyms and Abbreviations - (2008-02-03)
  [1558] Getting somewhere with the train service - (2008-02-28)
  [1567] Melksham - Swindon. Train v Bus v Car - (2008-03-07)
  [1616] Not daring to be an anorak - (2008-04-19)
  [1708] A Train Service Update for Melksham Party in the Park - (2008-07-13)
  [1729] Back from the future - (2008-07-30)
  [1757] Preserved railways - struggling to the future? - (2008-08-17)
  [1848] 30th November - Santa Trip from Melksham - (2008-10-19)
  [1858] Camera with night vision, youth with no vision - (2008-10-28)
  [1905] A Gold Star for First Great Western Customer Service - (2008-11-24)
  [1964] Why hasnt the fiasco been put right - (2008-12-29)
  [1965] How much does a train service actually cost - (2008-12-29)
  [1966] Background to the TransWilts Train Fiasco - (2008-12-29)
  [1999] How low can you sink? - (2009-01-17)
  [2024] Carry on Training - in spite of the weather - (2009-02-03)
  [2026] Melksham Climate Friendly Group - (2009-02-05)
  [2042] Wiltshire Rail Service Update - (2009-02-15)
  [2057] Train and Coach fares from London (and airports) to Melksham - (2009-02-26)
  [2133] Bigger and better this year! - (2009-04-20)
  [2268] Westbury Bypass Refused - looking forward - (2009-07-04)
  [2318] For Lua Programmers AND for Town Planners - (2009-08-02)
  [2328] Melksham - no trains, no southbound buses through the town - (2009-08-08)
  [2372] Public Transport from (and to) Melksham on Sundays - (2009-08-23)
  [2391] Great Western Route Utilisation Strategy - Draft for Consultation - (2009-09-02)
  [2395] From Lymington by train - last of the slammers - (2009-09-05)
  [2438] Listening to The Minister - (2009-10-05)
  [2457] Railway Arithmetic - (2009-10-16)
  [2473] Exploring Old Railways - (2009-10-24)
  [2477] By train ... - (2009-10-25)
  [2486] Santa Special - Trowbridge and Melksham to Swindon - (2009-10-31)
  [2511] The story of the railway land at Melksham Station - (2009-11-24)
  [2513] Wiltshire Council purchases Melksham Station Land - (2009-11-26)
  [2522] Integrated public Transport - what could be done for Melksham - (2009-12-01)
  [2529] Santa Special, 2009 - (2009-12-06)
  [2533] Five guests, three groups, one car - (2009-12-11)
  [2556] Railway Station Survey - please complete today or tomorrow - (2009-12-30)
  [2557] Rail Campaign - response to core consultation - (2009-12-31)
  [2568] Forums for your Melksham and open source discussions - (2010-01-09)
  [2626] On Malachite Green - (2010-02-06)
  [2627] Saturdays out from Melksham - to Oxford, to Didcot or to Swindon - (2010-02-07)
  [2634] London to and from Melksham by public transport - (2010-02-13)
  [2658] Save the Train - a significant change in approach - (2010-03-03)
  [2662] Is Melksham public transport actually used? - (2010-03-05)
  [2664] Oliver Cromwell at Bristol Temple Meads - (2010-03-06)
  [2678] Reaching out to the community - a good case for support - (2010-03-15)
  [2696] Garlic bread without garlic - (2010-03-27)
  [2808] From home to Nurnberg - journey pictures - (2010-06-13)
  [2855] Train Services - Melksham to Bath and Bristol (and airport) - (2010-07-05)
  [2901] Ambassador or Anorak? - (2010-08-03)
  [2908] How Green is my train? - (2010-08-07)
  [2919] London to Calne, Corsham, Melksham, Bradford-on-Avon, Chippenham by public Transport - (2010-08-13)
  [2930] Walk - Tilehurst to Pangborne - (2010-08-21)
  [2931] Syncronise - software, trains, and buses. Please! - (2010-08-22)
  [2954] Railway meetings, trips and meetups this autumn - (2010-09-12)
  [2955] Melksham Railway Station - new information point - (2010-09-13)
  [2982] Travel, Transport and Tourism - A vision for Melksham, 2026 - (2010-10-03)
  [3006] Santa announcement, 5th December 2010, Melksham - (2010-10-20)
  [3017] Seventh day traveller on the six day railway - (2010-10-27)
  [3031] Get all your ducks in a row ... and they may turn into swans - (2010-11-06)
  [3033] Rail services back to Radstock? - (2010-11-07)
  [3079] TransWilts Rail News ... Melksham (Santa Special) Edition ... 5th December 2010 - (2010-12-04)
  [3080] Santa Special - rather more special than usual - December 2010 - (2010-12-07)
  [3111] TransWilts Link - Days out from Swindon to Weymouth? - (2010-12-28)
  [3113] Trowbridge and Melksham to Chippenham - more roadworks, even slower journey over the winter - (2010-12-30)
  [3114] Transwilts Link - both Wiltshire and beyond - (2010-12-30)
  [3119] TransWilts - some things to see and do - (2011-01-03)
  [3135] A time to be brave? We should ask for what is best for our area. - (2011-01-16)
  [3141] Wiltshire Rail services - a golden opportunity - (2011-01-21)
  [3161] TransWilts rail - what picture represents us - (2011-02-08)
  [3167] Can I take my dog by train? And other questions - (2011-02-12)
  [3171] Train and boat journey - the passenger accommodation - (2011-02-15)
  [3176] Comparing German, Dutch and British Railways - (2011-02-19)
  [3178] The cost of roadworks on the economy of our town - 1800 pounds per hour? - (2011-02-20)
  [3187] Past and Present - Melksham Station - (2011-02-27)
  [3198] TransWilts rail - coming together, wanted and needed - (2011-03-10)
  [3273] Wanted - a look to the future - (2011-05-02)
  [3274] Small scale improvement - big scale gain. And they CAN be done with local knowledge - (2011-05-02)
  [3318] Summer Sunday Trains - outings from Swindon, Chippenham, Melksham, Trowbridge and Westbury - (2011-06-05)
  [3328] Summer Sundays - days out by train from Swindon on the TransWilts - (2011-06-18)
  [3331] Comparing Alloa and Melksham - stations and services - (2011-06-23)
  [3336] Efficient travel - from Melsksham to Edinburgh by Sleeper Train - (2011-06-26)
  [3362] Swindon, Chippenham and Melksham to Weymouth - Sunday Train Service Starts - (2011-07-19)
  [3364] Dogs Legs on the Dogleg - (2011-07-20)
  [3370] Standing Challenge - (2011-07-26)
  [3371] From Wiltshire to Weymouth on Sundays - (2011-07-27)
  [3378] New product - ensuring that supply matches demand - (2011-08-03)
  [3392] What costs 8.20 from Melksham, or 22.30 via Chippenham? - (2011-08-14)
  [3403] Last chance this summer - Swindon and North Wiltshire to Weymouth by through train - (2011-08-22)
  [3408] Journey home by public transport for a Bank Holiday - (2011-08-27)
  [3410] A review of the Summer Sunday extra trains on the TransWilts line - (2011-08-29)
  [3434] Sundays - and over eating - (2011-09-11)
  [3452] Which or ATOC - who reads train fares right? - (2011-09-22)
  [3486] How important is public transport to people in the Melksham area? - (2011-10-19)
  [3487] Public transport - road and rail - (2011-10-19)
  [3493] West Wilts Rail User Group - Walk yesterday from Bradford-on-Avon to Trowbridge - (2011-10-23)
  [3501] Santa Claus - on the train from Melksham on 4th December 2011 - (2011-10-30)
  [3538] Santa Train - another successful trip - 4th December 2011 - (2011-12-04)
  [3550] Provide a useable train service, and people will use it! - (2011-12-11)
  [3564] I wish I was not a special case - (2011-12-29)
  [3565] What would an appropriate train service on the TransWilts line mean - (2011-12-31)
  [3579] Transport in Cambridgeshire - seen by an outside observer. What can Wiltshire learn? - (2012-01-15)
  [3601] Rail Travel - has it become more unreliable? - (2012-02-02)
  [3626] There is so much to see travelling by train - (2012-02-26)
  [3631] Getting around Dublin by public transport - some observations - (2012-03-01)
  [3642] Wiltshire Travel Times - Chippenham, Trowbridge, Salisbury and other places too - (2012-03-07)
  [3668] Kings Cross - new concourse - between Python in Cambridge and Objective C in London - (2012-03-22)
  [3671] Future train services in Wiltshire - please write in to support a better service - (2012-03-24)
  [3699] Bristol 50? Bristol 25? - (2012-04-17)
  [3728] The future needs for rail services to Melksham - change needed; current service an insult - (2012-05-11)
  [3736] Abstraction - (2012-05-19)
  [3761] Melksham - placed 2254 out of 2255. What can be done about it? - (2012-06-11)
  [3765] Christmas in June? Melksham hotel bookings and Santa train - (2012-06-15)
  [3784] Steam train calls at Melksham - Pictures - (2012-06-26)
  [3786] Improving Wiltshire Rail Offer - it WILL be happening - (2012-06-28)
  [3793] Excellent Rail News - what it really means - (2012-07-01)
  [3795] Like a bathroom company with no plumbers - (2012-07-04)
  [3802] What a difference a year makes - (2012-07-10)
  [3804] Scenes from commuting by train - (2012-07-14)
  [3815] The Melksham News - July 2012 - Part 2, TransWilts Rail, Wilts and Berks Canal - (2012-07-23)
  [3826] TransWilts trains - what the next franchise period will bring - (2012-08-04)
  [3860] Melksham to Steam in Swindon, by train - great day out - (2012-09-16)
  [3872] Trains across Wiltshire - an update on the TransWilts - (2012-09-28)
  [3873] Henbury loop, Bristol - a freight railway line with passenger potential? - (2012-09-29)
  [3879] Mixed mode travel - Information systems - (2012-10-03)
  [3881] Wiltshire Public Transport User Group co-ordination - (2012-10-05)
  [3882] Community Transport - Pewsey, Taunton, and the whole picture too - (2012-10-06)
  [3890] Here comes Santa - on the train from Melksham to Swindon on 2nd December 2012 - (2012-10-13)
  [3893] Public Transport across Wiltshire - a new map - (2012-10-13)
  [3899] Father Christmas to be on train in Melksham - (2012-10-19)
  [3904] Want to help us improve transport in Wiltshire? Here is how! - (2012-10-26)
  [3923] 35 minutes is only a slight delay on our railway service - (2012-11-15)
  [3937] Agenda for Wiltshire Link Travel groups meeting, Saturday 1st December 2012 - (2012-11-27)
  [3938] A long overdue meeting - a steeping stone towards coordinate transport user inputs - (2012-12-02)
  [3942] Santa Trip - Melksham Railway Development Group, 2012 - (2012-12-03)
  [3986] Rail services in Wiltshire - up in the air? We need to say what is best required. - (2013-01-20)
  [3993] Two trains a day ... how many fares to London? Guess! - (2013-02-04)
  [3994] On board Eurostar - a running commentary - (2013-02-04)
  [3995] Onward from Brussels - (2013-02-04)
  [4022] A request for all of Melksham transport groups to work integrated - (2013-03-01)
  [4040] Report on the last year - Melksham Railway Developement Group for Melksham Without Parish Council - (2013-03-11)
  [4080] Fancy a day at the seaside? Weymouth from Melksham - (2013-05-06)
  [4104] Weymouth vis the TransWilts - the day out today - (2013-05-27)
  [4105] Our day trip by train from Swindon, Chippenham and Melksham to Weymouth - (2013-05-28)
  [4110] TransWilts meeting ... - (2013-06-07)
  [4113] Wiltshire and Melksham Transport - what is going on? - (2013-06-09)
  [4131] West Coast (of Wales) - railway and stations in pictures - (2013-07-04)
  [4142] Passenger survey at Chippenham - report and pictures - (2013-07-24)
  [4146] A few more trains means a LOT more passengers. Why? - (2013-07-30)
  [4148] Special General Meeting, Adoption of Constitution for TransWilts Community Rail Partnership - (2013-08-01)
  [4150] Melksham Regular Public Transport Map - as at August 2013 - (2013-08-09)
  [4154] August Bank Holiday - day out from Melksham to London or Weymouth - (2013-08-20)
  [4159] People WILL walk to the station in Melksham, but they need a path and trains - (2013-08-25)
  [4160] Bank Holiday Monday - pictures of a great train trip to Weymouth - (2013-08-27)
  [4163] TransWilts Community Rail Partnership - formally constituted - (2013-09-01)
  [4173] Train and Rail Travel - who runs it and where do I ask questions? - (2013-09-13)
  [4176] International and off island travel from Melksham - (2013-09-16)
  [4185] TransWilts Trains - running a successful campaign talk - (2013-10-05)
  [4190] A radical proposal - a cheap and effective way to provide home to city commuter transport - (2013-10-11)
  [4191] Getting people to and from Melksham Station - not 20 but 700 times a day - (2013-10-12)
  [4194] TransWilts Link - meeting notes from 19th October - (2013-10-20)
  [4195] Booking for Santa, Melksham Railway Development Group, 8th December 2013 - (2013-10-21)
  [4196] Official - Trowbridge and Melksham to London train improvements - (2013-10-22)
  [4199] Draft Westbury - Melksham - Swindon train times, from December 2014 - (2013-10-24)
  [4202] Excellent Railfuture conference, but some setup lessons - (2013-11-03)
  [4216] Los Angeles - post modern transport system - (2013-11-27)
  [4217] New train service - launch plans and timetable links - (2013-12-03)
  [4218] A THANK YOU to those who have brought the new train service to fruition - (2013-12-06)
  [4219] TransWilts train services - up from 2 to 8 per day - (2013-12-09)
  [4224] TransWilts - first day pictures - (2013-12-18)
  [4226] Saturday train to Swindon - two weeks in - (2013-12-21)
  [4238] A Question series posed to Melksham Tourist information - (2014-01-19)
  [4250] Lacock Halt - former TransWilts Station - (2014-03-23)
  [4251] Broughton Gifford Halt, TransWilts Railway Line - (2014-03-24)
  [4252] Staveton Halt, former station between Trowbridge and Melksham - (2014-03-25)
  [4253] Easter Weeks - Melksham to Weymouth - (2014-04-02)
  [4256] Train fare look expensive? There may be a cheaper option - (2014-04-02)
  [4263] Chippenham - Melksham - Trowbridge, public transport over Easter (2014) - (2014-04-12)
  [4267] How effective is our publicity? - (2014-04-26)
  [4268] Metrics - historic and current TransWilts train use - (2014-04-27)
  [4269] Survey - Journeys - (2014-04-28)
  [4276] Swindon to Weymouth - by train, the traditional way - 2014 - (2014-05-12)
  [4289] It may be cheaper to buy in bulk - (2014-07-15)
  [4306] Four time target - good news. Four time prediction - poor forecasting. - (2014-09-26)
  [4312] Officially overcrowded in the first year - (2014-11-15)
  [4342] My first official measure - Passenger Entrys and Exits - revisited 9 years later - (2014-12-05)
  [4352] A long day on the trains, but a rewarding one - (2014-12-14)
  [4353] Celebration pictures, year 1 - (2014-12-15)
  [4365] The changing face of Christmas - (2014-12-26)
  [4367] A year of rail memories! - (2014-12-27)
  [4378] What FGW passengers want to talk about / and PHP programming to find out - (2015-01-01)
  [4397] TransWilts / Press and Publicity report for AGM / 30th January 2015 - (2015-01-17)
  [4425] A Welsh valley - what the transport looks like in 2015 - (2015-02-14)
  [4464] Catching up on a week all in a single post (?) - (2015-03-21)
  [4467] Neighbourhood Plan - travel and transport thoughts - (2015-03-29)
  [4471] Leopardstown to Rosslare by train - (2015-04-23)
  [4473] Fishguard to Melksham - third part of Dublin journey - (2015-04-25)
  [4475] New car park at Melksham Station - ideal for commuters from Seend, Hilperton, Yarnbrook and Holt - (2015-04-26)
  [4478] Home in Melksham to Gatwick Airport - easy by public transport - (2015-04-29)
  [4486] Newark to New York - the PATH suburban railway - (2015-05-05)
  [4495] Swindon to Westbury train services - Saturdays from 23rd May 2015 - (2015-05-17)
  [4496] Sunday train times - 17th May to 6th September 2015 - (2015-05-17)
  [4511] The Royal Albert Bridge as you do not normally see it - (2015-07-12)
  [4512] The Weymouth Wizard - Saturdays in August from Wiltshire - (2015-07-31)
  [4515] Why has the hourly Chippenham to Trowbridge train been withdrawn? - (2015-09-24)
  [4539] TransWilts public transport corridor - (2015-10-15)
  [4578] Rail electrification - far, far too optimistic so over budget and late - (2015-11-20)
  [4596] Call for help counting passengers - TransWilts, 12th to 14th December - (2015-12-10)
  [4598] 21 places to get your train and bus timetables for TransWilts - (2015-12-19)
  [4612] TransWilts - robust these days - no longer the first service to be cancelled - (2016-01-03)
  [4623] Rambling from Westbury - (2016-01-16)
  [4636] Rail user groups worried about what is happening on the buses - (2016-01-31)
  [4640] Who was Doctor Beeching and what was his axe? - (2016-02-06)
  [4665] Chippenham to Salisbury by public transport - what we have and what we could have - (2016-03-26)
  [4677] Swindon, Chippenham and Melksham - day trips by train to Weymouth start for 2016 - (2016-05-18)
  [4684] Melksham Station - as at May 2016 - Part 1 - (2016-05-28)
  [4685] Melksham Station - as at May 2016 - Part 2 - (2016-05-29)
  [4686] Melksham Station - as at May 2016 - Part 3 - (2016-05-29)
  [4687] Melksham Station - as at May 2016 - Part 4 - (2016-05-30)
  [4688] Melksham Station - as at May 2016 - Part 5 (services and prices) - (2016-05-30)
  [4695] Melksham Rail Development Group becoming Melksham Rail Users Group - (2016-06-21)
  [4699] Melksham Rail Development Group - a celebration of 20 years - (2016-06-25)
  [4706] Melksham trial train service is to be made permanent - (2016-10-02)
  [4726] TransWilts Partner Update for Melksham Area Board - (2016-11-07)
  [4727] Learning from travelling further afield - (2016-11-09)
  [4760] Rotary Talk, 25/7/2017 - (2017-07-25)
  [4764] Some thoughts on the closure proposal for Breich station - (2017-10-11)
  [4765] Breich Station - current pictures, and future options - (2017-10-11)
  [4770] GW franchise - my response - (2018-02-20)

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