SWR - crew shortage - West of England trains terminating at Salisbury (previously Basingstoke)

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) to Stakeholder at 16:00 today (17th December)

We would like to apologise for the fact that we are currently having to make significant temporary alterations to our West of England diesel services between Exeter / Bristol, Salisbury and Waterloo due to a high number of train crew either testing positive for COVID-19 or being required to self-isolate.
 
As a result all West of England line services will start or terminate at Basingstoke until 23rd December at the earliest with customers required to change services to / from Woking, Clapham Junction and Waterloo there instead. Online journey planners are in the process of being updated but do carry a warning about the changes. Capacity on remaining services between Basingstoke and Waterloo will be carefully monitored to maintain social distancing as far as possible. All SWR services between Salisbury and Bristol Temple Meads and Yeovil Junction via Westbury have been cancelled to concentrate train crew on the core Exeter ? Basingstoke route. All services between Salisbury and Exeter will continue to be formed of the maximum 6 coaches to increase capacity as far as possible.
 
We are conscious that demand is expected to be higher around 23rd  and 24th December due to Christmas travel and will be reviewing expected availability of train crew over the next few days to consider options for those dates.
 
Ticket sharing arrangements are in place with GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) so that SWR customers are able to use Exeter to Paddington services and those between Salisbury and Westbury / Bristol Temple Meads as an alternative. You may be aware that GWR also has crew availability issues between Exeter and Paddington resulting in some services being cancelled over the next week or so. GWR customers are also able to use SWR services between Exeter and Basingstoke with the intention being to spread demand amongst available services and provide maximum flexibility across the day.
 
We hope you will appreciate the need to prioritise the safety of our customers and staff during these challenging circumstances and we would be very grateful if you could communicate this message across you own social media and e-mail channels to help keep passengers informed.

[JayMac]

I'm hearing through local gossip that Salisbury's DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) depot is struggling with absent staff due to covid.

There's also rumour that services between Exeter and Basingstoke may have to go two hourly.

Can't substantiate said rumours though.

[grahame]

The view from HampshireLive

A number of South Western Railway services are being cut short in Hampshire following a large number of staff having tested positive for coronavirus.

All trains that usually run from Exeter St David?s to London Waterloo via Hampshire will now be starting and terminating at Basingstoke until Thursday (December 24).

It means that passengers who usually travel from Basingstoke into London will now have to find an alternative service.

Majoring on the London passengers from Basingstoke, though it does admit to issues from further West in the following text!

[grahame]

The Mail ... attention grabbing 'management summary'

* Rail firm only running services between Tier 2 areas of Exeter and Basingstoke
* Passengers will then have to make other travel plans in order to get to the capital
* It comes amid fears of rail network being overwhelmed by Christmas travel

does go on to admit that "other travel plans" might be a change of trains

South Western Railway has plunged festive travel plans into more disarray after cancelling trains into London amid staff shortages caused by Covid.

The rail firm said it would only run services between the Tier 2 areas of Exeter and Basingstoke, but not to the capital, which is under the harshest of restrictions, up to and including December 24.

As a result, passengers will have to take other services between Basingstoke and London, which are likely to be overcrowded, further adding to concerns over the spread of the virus.

Pubished, however, six hours before the press conference which brought in tier 4 and reduced Christmas relaxation to just a day, and has certainly shaken the metrics.

[TaplowGreen]

*UPDATE 22/12* Due to a high number of our crew impacted by COVID-19, trains on our West of England line will run between Basingstoke and Exeter St David's only.

Disruption is expected until the end of the day on 24/12.

[JayMac]

As expected, Salisbury <> Exeter St David's has become a bi-hourly service through most of the day. All trains though are booked for at least 6 carriages, except the odd service starting/terminating at Yeovil Junction.