The future of rail travel in Melksham is looking brighter after Wiltshire Council revealed it had bought up land next to the existing station so it can expand if more trains are timetabled to run through the town.

A former goods yard, between the station and the A350, has been bought for £500,000 from owners, British Rail Residuary Board Ltd, the company that was set up by the Government to dispose of former railway assets.

Wiltshire Council insists this will ensure the station’s long-term availability for improvements to its access and facilities, if more trains were to use it in the long term.

At the moment only two train services each way run through Melksham on the Salisbury to Swindon line, but in the Department of Transport’s plan for the west, the number of services running through the town could increase dramatically, with a proposal for an hourly service.

Cllr Richard Gamble, portfolio holder for transport, said: “The deal is self financing and a long term protection measure designed to ensure that should there be an increase in the number of trains running through the station, we are much better placed to make improvements.

“Our aim is to create conditions in which a good train service can be an economic success and we are talking to train operators to try and persuade them to increase the level of service through the station.

“There may be some scope for a modest community-led scheme at the station and I am keen to hear any ideas.”

Graham Ellis, vice chairman of the Melksham Railway Development Group, which campaigns for a more frequent service linking Swindon with Chippenham, Melksham and Trowbridge, said: “This is fabulous news. That land has been owned by the Rail Residuary Board for a number of years and the transfer of land is a very positive step for the community.”

Mr Ellis said that if the land had been bought by a developer and used for housing, it would have left little more than a small public footpath leading to the station.

The site the council has bought includes the main Station Approach and land occupied by Novacast foundry and Melksham Truck and Bus, but It does not include the land occupied by the car repair garage, car tyre business and scrap yard.