Why is the station so small now in comparison?

Tony Wardell Because nowadays it’s less important.

Tony Wardell - All stations and rail facilities are much smaller these days - Swindon, Chpipenham, Trowbridge and Westbury on the same line are all much smaller too. Melksham is an extreme case, having been closed in 1966 and demolished within a few years. The station has regrown from a tiny reopening in 1985 and now has 18 trains calling each weekday. The station itself if plenty to handle that - trains have become so much more efficient - the lines IS creaking at the seams and work needs to be done to allow up to, perhaps, 40 passenger trains to call every day. More important changes needed are a bus service to the station that connects with trains, to allow people to travel to and from the greater Melksham area which is now far bigger.