Melksham railway station serves the town of
Melksham
Melksham () is a town on the River Avon in Wiltshire, England, about northeast of Trowbridge and south of Chippenham. At the 2011 census, the Melksham built-up area had a population of 19,357, making it Wiltshire's fifth-largest settlement af ...
in
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
, England. It is measured from , on the
TransWilts Line between and that was originally part of the
Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway
The Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway (WS&WR) was an early railway company in south-western England. It obtained Parliamentary powers in 1845 to build a railway from near Chippenham in Wiltshire, southward to Salisbury and Weymouth in Dors ...
, absorbed in 1850 by the
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
.
History
The station opened with the original section of the line between Thingley Junction and
Westbury, on 5 September 1848.
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
ways closed the station from 18 April 1966 and soon afterwards the line through the station was singled, the station buildings demolished, and the up platform removed. The station reopened to passengers from 13 May 1985, although the short platform meant that trains longer than one carriage could not open all doors. In July 2018, the platform was improved and lengthened to cater for trains of up to three carriages.
The station had a siding which gave access to the former
Wiltshire United Dairies/
United Dairies
United Dairies is a former United Kingdom-based creamery, milk bottling and distribution company. The company was formed in 1915 and merged to form Unigate in 1959.
During World War I, there were dire shortages of men, horses and vehicles com ...
creamery
A creamery is a place where milk and cream are processed and where butter and cheese is produced. Cream is separated from whole milk; pasteurization is done to the skimmed milk and cream separately. Whole milk for sale has had some cream re ...
, last owned by
Co-operative Wholesale Society
A co-operative wholesale society, or CWS, is a form of co-operative federation (that is, a co-operative in which all the members are co-operatives), in this case, the members are usually consumer cooperatives. According to co-operative economi ...
Dairies, allowing access for
milk trains. After its closure the dairy was converted into an
industrial estate
An industrial park (also known as industrial estate, trading estate) is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more "heavyweight" version of a business park or office park, ...
. From the 1960s to the mid-1980s there was a rail-served Shell oil depot at Melksham, run first by Jack Dean (oils) and later by Hartwells Oils. This received heating oil from a refinery at Llandarcy in west Wales but closed around 1983. During the 1970s,
Foster Yeoman
Foster Yeoman Limited, based near Frome, Somerset, England, was one of Europe's largest independent quarrying and asphalt companies. It was sold to Aggregate Industries in 2006.
History
The company was founded by Foster Yeoman, from Hartlepool ...
operated a roadstone terminal in the former goods yard which was rail-served from
Merehead quarry
Torr Works quarry, is a limestone quarry at East Cranmore, near Shepton Mallet on the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England. The quarry was formerly known as Merehead, a name which has been retained for its rail depot on the opposite side of the A ...
. Wiltshire Farmers Ltd also had a private siding south of the station which was used until c.1989 for occasional deliveries of bagged fertiliser, but was removed in 1990.
Stationmasters
*Charles Henry Tuckett 1856 (2 months) (afterwards station master at Brimscombe)
*Alfred Matthews 1874 – 1895 (formerly station master at Chipping Norton)
*H. Gerard 1896 – 1897
*F.W. Cooper 1897 – 1899 (afterwards station master at Montpellier)
*Edwin C. Beard 1899 – 1920 (afterwards station master at Chippenham)
*A.M Taylor 1920 - 1925 (afterwards station master at Stroud)
*A.E.C.P. Drew 1925 – 1934 (formerly station master at Challow, afterwards station master at Trowbridge)
*W.H. Upton 1934 – 1942 (formerly station master at Savernake)
*H.E. Sealy 1942 – 1956
*D.R. Widdows from 1956 (formerly station master at Corsham)
Services
![Train at Melksham](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Train_at_Melksham.jpg)
Between December 2006 and December 2013, Melksham station was served by two trains each way per day (one train on Sundays) between Swindon and Westbury, operated by
First Great Western
Great Western Railway (GWR) is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the Greater Western passenger railway franchise. It manages 197 stations and its trains call at over 270. GWR operates long-distance inter-city ...
(now Great Western Railway), a reduction from five each way per day before the December 2006 timetable change.
Since December 2013, Melksham has a significantly improved service. Trains run approximately every two hours each way Mon-Sat (with peak period extras – nine departures in total) and seven trains each way on Sundays. Two weekday southbound services run through to and two northbound services continue to
Cheltenham
Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...
.
The Melksham single line serves as a diversionary route when either the Paddington-Westbury-Taunton or Taunton-Bristol Temple Meads-Bath routes are closed for engineering work or otherwise disrupted; occasional use is also made of the line by
Freightliner trains running between Southampton and the Midlands when their normal route via Basingstoke and Reading is unavailable. GWR's hourly Portsmouth Harbour-Cardiff Central services are sometimes diverted via Melksham to terminate and start at Swindon rather than Cardiff when engineering work is taking place between Bath, Bristol and the Severn Tunnel in connection with the electrification of the Great Western main line. The effect of these diversions is that the local Westbury-Swindon 'Trans Wilts' service often has to be covered by a Rail Replacement bus service as there are insufficient paths available over the eight-mile single line section, due to a lack of intermediate signal sections.
A number of
Mendip Rail
Mendip Rail Ltd is an independent freight operating railway company in Great Britain. It is a joint venture composed of the rail-operation divisions of Aggregate Industries (formerly Foster Yeoman) and Hanson Aggregates (previously ARC).
The ...
aggregate trains from the quarries at
Merehead and
Whatley also use the line, serving destinations such as Appleford, Oxford Banbury Road, Wootton Bassett and Acton (London). A train of empty ballast hoppers operated by GB Railfreight runs most weekdays from Westbury via Melksham to Cliffe Hill Stud Farm in Leicestershire.
Facilities
From summer 2015 a ticket vending machine has been in use on the platform, enabling passengers to either purchase their tickets or collect pre-paid tickets for their journey. An additional 20 free car parking spaces were provided at the same time, together with covered cycle accommodation, CCTV and a new passenger shelter.
As of 2020, there is a "next train" digital display on the station platform as well as a more detailed arrivals and departures screen in the adjoining car park. In that year the local Rail User Group turned a disused building close to the station into a café.
User groups
Melksham Railway Development Group formed in 1995, to promote Melksham Station and train journeys to and from Melksham. The group supported "Save the Train" and the TransWilts CRP over the years but has remained independent, running at least one special event every year. In 2015, the group was renamed the Melksham Rail User Group as with the success of their and other campaigns, passengers are now using the trains in greater numbers.
The "Save The Train" group was launched in 2005, to raise public awareness that services along the TransWilts Line were being reduced. Prior to the introduction of extra services in late 2013, "Save the Train" members transferred to the community element of the TransWilts Community Rail Partnership.
Community Rail
With Melksham being served by trains on the Swindon to Westbury route it comes under the remit of the TransWilts Community Interest Company (CIC) which is accredited by the Department for Transport. As part of its Melksham Masterplan it is turning a disused building outside the station into a Hub including a café with toilets, cycle hire and EV charging points.
The group has also taken out a lease on land adjacent to the station and laid it out for car parking. Income from charges levied will be ploughed back into further improvements at the station.
It is also campaigning to extend the service to an hourly one continuing through via Salisbury to Southampton.
References
External links
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{{Wiltshire railway stations
Railway stations in Wiltshire
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1848
Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1966
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1985
Former Great Western Railway stations
Railway stations served by Great Western Railway
Beeching closures in England
Reopened railway stations in Great Britain
Melksham
1848 establishments in England
DfT Category F2 stations