Thank you for coming along this evening - to the relocated meeting of the Melksham Railway Development Group at which we're proposing the creation of a TransWilts Community Rail Partnership. This is a public meeting ... and we're asking for inputs, so I can't give you a pre-printed page of outcomes. But I can tell you ...

• The TransWilts line serves the main population centres in Wiltshire
• Service are currently minimal and poorly advertised
• Road travel between the towns is much slower
• Community Rail Partnerships provide a major bridge between the railways and the people they serve, especially away from the "InterCity" lines.

We are proposing a partnership to

• Make the best possible use of the existing service
• Assist with making the current service better known, better integrated, and more welcoming
• Help with gathering information about what would (and would not) be appropriate for an improved service
• Help facilitate the successful introduction, use and retention of such a service.

After this meeting, we expect to be

• forming a steering group to establish the groundrules of our constitution. Whether membership is paid or unpaid, at what level we work (pure volunteer or otherwise), how often we meet and how decisions are taken.
• Liaising further with other CRPs to learn from them
• Forming station groups for early activities you will have heard about during the meeting
• liaising further with train operating companies, ACoRP, The DfT, Wilthshire and other Councils, etc
• Setting up website / newsfeed to keep potential members in touch.

WHATEVER the outcome of the meeting, follow up information will be posted onto http://www.transwilts.org.uk - please make a note to visit the site OVER EASTER by which time we'll have at least some update there.

PLEASE REGISTER on one of the forms provided ... And THANK YOU for coming.