Great Western Coffee Shop

It's not yet Easter, but we are out of the bleak midwinter.   So we should start seeing some more people out and about at the weekends.   Some figures from today:

09:47 at Melksham. 17 passengers on arrival at Melksham, 3 got off and 19.  making 36 passengers using the service for all or part of the journey from Trowbridge to Chippenham

11:02 at Melksham. 13 passenger on arrival at Melksham. 7 got off and 1 got on making 14 passengers using the service for all or part of the journey from Chippenham to Trowbridge

11:47 at Melksham.  35 passengers on arrival at Melksham. 2 got off and 13 got on making 48 passengers using the service for all or part of the journey from Trowbridge to Chippenham

13:02 at Melksham. 16 passenger on arrival at Melksham. 3 got off and 3 got on making 19 passengers using the service for all or part of the journey from Chippenham to Trowbridge

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/2014_04_13_09_47.jpg)

Very encouraging figures, as Saturday traffic was somewhat lacklustre in March based on the (admittedly) few postings on the forum.

Events on today include Swindon Town at home and a model railway exhibition in Melksham, which may have swelled numbers a bit. But that's ok, as that's what the railway is there for, to get people to and from events they want to go to.

Encouraging indeed.

There's going to be something happening / something special just about every weekend - in fact the very occasional weekend may be special because nothing special is happening ;) so we're very much into averaging out and also looking at the type of people we have.

For today, I believe that 6 arrivals were for "TrainWest", and perhaps 10 departures for the Swindon Town match. Others were going shopping in Swindon, to Hither Green (? where's that - no really, I do know!), and I spoke to a chap going to Southampton.  A usually reliable source (train staff  ;) ) tell me that a number were going to Rugby - Gloucester, I think.  So even today it was a real mix.

What's very encouraging is that several of the people I spoke with reported that they had used the train very, very occasionally in the past but were now using it frequently.  Another couple said that hadn't known that Melksham had more than the very occasional train, and yet another starts a job in Swindon soon and will be commuting by train.  He set off with a sheet of times for the bus from the part of Melksham he lives in to the station!

Talking to the "old hands", comment is repeatedly made about how much more relaible the current service is than the old one ever was.  * Very important ... * Thank goodness ... * and THANK YOU FGW for not having the TransWilts service at the top of the "cancel this is short or trains / crew" list.   

One of the issues that keeps coming up is the connections at Westbury for Warminster and Salisbury.  We have put forward a couple of suggestions on these; not made it for May, alas, but perhaps in December?  There is an element of tradeoff between robustness and connections - a service is more "robust" if it doesn't connect, but then it can be taken to the extreme of putting the cart before the horse.   Just to let any readers know ... yes, we have noticed that certain trains leave  Westbury just before a train arrives that could provide them with more eager passengers for Melksham, Chippenham and Swindon ... and we have noticed that some of the TransWilts trains arrive in Westbury just as the throb of the diesel engine of the onward train fades into the distance.

Access to Granville Road in Melksham (lots of our passengers live there!) is an issue too - with the residents feeling that it's a frustratingly long way around.   That's being worked on ... but don't expect any changes until 2015.    And frustration at booking advance tickets from Melksham a day or two before travel, only to find / be told you have to go to Chippenham or Trowbridge or Westbury to pick them up before you travel.   That's being worked on too, and should be solved long before Granville Road.

Today - Sunday 13th April 2014.   Lovely sunny day

10:47 at Melksham - 15 on the train on arriving from Trowbridge, 3 more joined and none left making at total of 18 passengers using the Trowbridge to Chippenham section

12:02 at Melksham - 27 on the train on arriving from Chippenham, 5 left and one joined making a total of 28 passengers using the Chippenham to Trowbridge section

13:46 at Melksham - 8 on the train on arriving from Trowbridge, 9 more joined and 1 left making at total of 17 passengers using the Trowbridge to Chippenham section

11:47 Melksham to Swindon (today, Saturday 10th May)
8 off, 7 on at Melksham ... 23 on train to Chippenham.   
So 31 users on Trowbridge to Chippenham section
6 off and 2 more on at Chippenham

15:22 Swindon to Westbury
14 on train from Chippenham to Melksham.  9 off and 2 on at Melksham
So 16 users of train on Chippenham to Trowbridge section.
5 of the 14 had joined at Chippenham and 2 has left the train there

The 15:22 is an interesting "case" as the previous train is at 14:36 ... these two mid-afternoon trains within an hour of each other may to some extend dilute one another ...

Here are figures for today ...

First number is passenger on train arriving at Melksham. Then numbers on and off. Then journeys on Chippenham-Trowbridge station / and journeys that started or ended at Melksham.

Saturday 17th May
Northbound (Westbury times)
07:32  4 +2 -0 = 6/2
08:22  20 +1 -1 = 21/2
09:32  12 +22 -1 = 34/23
11:32  14 +8 -2 = 22/10

Southbound (Swindon times)
08:36  24 +22 -2 = 46/24
10:36  16 +28 -2 = 42/30
12:36  11 +4 -2 = 15/6

Estimating that as 420/215 for the whole day; almost all day trip traffic, and the counting was morning / outbound to be reflected into afternoon / evening return traffic.  Would have loved to have logged an 8th train so I could just have double numbers but got involved in a hospital run for a friend (away from station / background not relevant to thread)

Nice day brought out the crowds BUT Swindon Town not playing at home which already adds something like 160/80 on match days - around 17 Saturdays per year, with 40 fans from Trowbridge / Westbury and an extra 40 from Melksham going to the match and back.

Today, 7th June.   Windy, wet Saturday morning with grey skies. Weather forecast has suggested it would be even worse.
09:48 from Melksham +3 -0 -> 19  19/3
11:48 from Melksham -6 +9 -> 17 23/15

By the way - I had a 10:45 appointment in Bath.   Took 09:48 train and a good connection (about 15 seconds!) at Chippenham into a late-running HST. Into Bath at 10:14.  Left again at 11:07 as appointment turned out to be very quick and hear the station, back to Melksham by 11:48.

Only "issue" ... on getting to Bath Spa at 11:00 for my return journey, checked A to Z and found plenty of white space but no section for Melksham  :-\ ... asked staff who advise 11:13 and change at Chippenham - had I not checked my timetable when I got on the platform, I would have taken an hour longer than needed.   
* Best answer would be ... no need to ask staff in the first place
* Second best would be staff giving the right answer
* Third best is staff admitting they don't know
* Least best (i.e. worst) is staff giving the wrong answer

To be fair to the staff involved, I think perhaps there ought to be a 5th option between "Third best" and "Least best":

* Fourth best is staff giving a less than optimal answer

i.e. what they told you wasn't wrong as such, in that it would have actually got you there - it just wasn't the best option for the journey.

To my mind, the "wrong" answer would have sent you off in the opposite direction altogether.

Sorry to be pedantic... I have a good teacher in my boss at work   ;D

I have to agree there, Phil ... their advise would have sent me on a 90 minute journey when a 30 minute journey was possible, and it would have been worse to have said "Change at Didcot" or something like that. 

It's been quite a long day, and I'm trying to recall if I asked "how do I get to Melksham" or "do I change at Chippenham or Trowbridge to get to Melksham at this time of day?" ... if I asked the latter (which is likely as I'm a helpful sort unless really p**sed off) then I'm sticking by my original hypothesis that they couldn't really have been more wrong.

But I'm lucky ... I have the ability to read a timetable, and copies of Central 1 and Central 3 with me at all times when travelling by train so it was easy possible for me to check as I wasn't sure of what they had said.

Sunday, 8th June
08:50 at Melksham.  11 passengers on train when it arrived, 1 joined, 0 left - 12/1
09:52 at Melksham.  31 passengers on train when it arrived, 7 joined, 0 left - 38/7

13:32 ex Westbury.  12 passengers ex Trowbridge, -4 + 6 at Melksham - 18/10
Note that the 13:05 Westbury to Paddington (ex Penzance HST) left Westbury at 13:31 (just a minute ahead of the TransWilts train) and the Train Manager on the 13:32 had shouted for anyone for Swindon to transfer to that as it was leaving ahead of us.   Correct call on his part, but it cost us around 15 passengers.

Interesting day on Heart of Wessex with buses from Yeovil Pen Mill to Weymouth ... but that's a story for another place.

Given those 15 passengers should really have been travelling on the TW service, I'm minded to record them as such, with a note to clarify. After all, I'm sure that's where the revenue will get allocated.

Looking at the timings, it seems the 1332 didn't enter the branch until the HST had passed Thingley Jn. Do I presume it's one long section?

Difficult one.  The 15's an estimate - could be 2 or 3 out either way.   I don't really know what I would suggest you record, or indeed whether we simply record actual numbers on the basis "these things happen", leave off the recording, or whether we should even be counting the HST / seeing if we can tell who used it for just that stretch.  Your call, John, as the enumeration expert.


Correct  :( ... an intermediate signal could significantly increase capacity but could be a timetabling nightmare to make best use of with few lay-bys close by.   For local-after-freight, local-after-HST, freight-after-local, though ...

Re Yeovil and engineering works - could we have the story please?

See thread on Trans Wilts Community Rail Partnership Board.   A little history there but a question still to be answered

Basically, engineering works were due to finish in time for the first train yesterday (09:12 from Westbury to Weymouth?) but they overran.    There is a degree of eagerness in Swindon / Chippenham / Melksham to use the new TransWilts services and to have days out in nice weather (which it was) and so there was quite a busy load on the first train from Swindon to connect into the 10:17 at Westbury.

Information that the connection train turned into a bus at Yeovil didn't reach everyone before they started their journey (though it was know before we left Westbury), and when we got to Yeovil there weren't any buses waiting.   So there were about a hundred people waiting at the front of the station.  A coach rolls in with about 50 seats, everyone pushed for it and it fills up and heads out.  Second coach "will be here in 17 minutes" and it looks like it's going to be another full load.

When asked about getting back later in the day (for those of us out for the day), we were told trains should start running with the 16:10.  I was a bit dubious about the word "should", was taking my father and dogs for a relaxed day out at the seaside, and felt that a very full coach which looked awkward for the dogs and a element of uncertainly about our return wasn't going to be fun for the party, so we chickened out and returned on the 11:54 Yeovil to Westbury.

I don't know what caused such a long overrun. It differed between "overrun" and "emergency" in what was said, and if I make a guess I would suggest that the people doing the work found something nasty extra to do.     Probably a good job we barrelled out, as the 16:10 and 17:56 didn't run from Weymouth in the end ...

I certainly wouldn't count all of those on the HST as they are unlikely to be making journeys influenced by the new TW service (eg Plymouth to London passengers).

I've decided to record the actual numbers, but with a note to point out that some local travellers were directed to the HST by the guard. That way, if we find that the reading looks low when compared with others there's an explanation for it.

I think that has to be exactly right.  We have the raw data and can judge it (with footnotes) later rather than having it processed prior to adding to the spreadsheet.

There have been other occasions when the passenger numbers have been deflated due to operating incidents - a handful of times when a train was said to be cancelled, but ran in the end.   Passengers sent via Bath (and probably overtaken) by the nearly-empty direct and re-instated train), or put into road transport but then the train turned up.  Again the records are best showing actual numbers rather than should-have-been numbers, though when it comes to a daily total of journeys enabled and made because of the TransWilts service, they SHOULD be counted as they have clearly been enabled and encouraged to make the journey because of the publication of a schedule which includes the service.

There are also occasions where passenger numbers are inflated due to operating incidents.  A notable one (from way back, before the improved service) was when the first London - Bristol train was diverted due to problems in Box tunnel, and  a late-running 06:12 TransWilts service took Chippenham to Bath / Bristol passengers as far as Trowbridge where they changed.   There may have been extra (Swindon - Taunton and Exeter) traffic during the flooding of the line over the Somerset levels too - indeed connections at Westbury heading west make this a rather good regular route, and the flow is rather stronger than one might guess.

Commenting here (a good opportunity) on counting methods for any technical reader ... the enumeration approach I take (and encourage) is to count all human passengers, including under-5s.  Babies yet to be born are not counted, however - "this is my last week before I go off on maternity", regrettably, was just a count of one.  Staff at work are not counted, employees of the railway travelling in the passenger accommodation and not working are counted (sometimes, of course, we can't tell).   Dogs and other pets are not counted.   The person counting is only counted if he / she is travelling for purposes other than the count - i.e. would have been on the train anyway.

Looking at counts getting on / off the train.   The chap who travels with his partner and baby in pushchair from Trowbridge to Chippenham ... gets off the train to help his partner with the pushchair on the step down when she leaves the service at Melksham, then gets back on, does not count as a Melksham exit and entry, and only counts as a single TransWilts journey not two journeys.

Thanks for your very useful comments on the methodology used in passenger counts, grahame.

Those are the guidelines also used in passenger counts on the Severn Beach Line, for example - and that is good, for ensuring a fairly reliable and consistent set of results.

Just as an aside, we also counted the number of wheelchair users - to enable us to show that there is a demand for suitable facilities.

It's good for us to be consistent across "the industry" too.

On the wheelchair "aside", we haven't done that;  there was some thought to looking in more detail at the mix of customers to get some sort of age / gender profile to see who we're attracting, and see what the user profile is for othe r "similar" lines.  But the question comes "what do you compare to?" as every line has "yes, but" elements that will skew things.   Also wonder about counting cycles, dogs, large luggage items ... cycles are getting to the "sorry, full" level already.

Do you count baby / toddler buggies as "wheelchairs" - I would be very tempted to say that they should be included in counts as they're chairs with wheels used for persons who need them because of limited mobility.

I have been asked for pictures of people and trains at Melksham and I always like to be up to date ...  from today

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/20140614_00.jpg)

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/20140614_01.jpg)

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/20140614_02.jpg)

The 17:36 from Swindon arrived about 12 minutes late, with around 25 people on it. 5 got off, 3 got on.  28/8

The 18:48 arrival from Westbury was on time, with around 20 people on board into Melksham.  4 got off and 13 got on. 33/17

Those are the bare numbers.   But listen to what people say ...

"This service is my lifeline to my family. I was moved to Westbury 8 months before the new service, and I didn't see my family in that time; a taxi is just too expensive and I couldn't afford it.  I can see them regularly now. This is wonderful"[/b] ... Mother and baby, for whom I judge that a pair of buses would be pretty impractical.

"Amazing - and train times are just perfect" - Group of six young people travelling to Swindon (regulars!).   

"If it's this busy, shouldn't it run every hour and later?   I had to leave a wedding early to return to London" - a lady (rather than a woman) returning to London.

I had a real feeling of a line that's serving its town and community, weaving its way into the fabric our our lives for our social and economic benefit. Long may it continue to do so.

Logging departures for those who are following journeys
2 to WSB and 1 to TRO on the 18:03
4 to CPM 6 to SWI and 3 to PAD on the 18:48

The picture show the group of six for Swindon and the lady for London, all of whom were very happy to pose for the picture and say "we need this train" ... and for me to send the picture to the DfT as part of our franchise answers to re-enforce the human side of the story.

The car park at the station was - err - empty - apart from several taxis, and a private car, dropping people off. The two cycles are no doubt going to be collected by returning people later in the day.  No buses to or from the station today because it's Saturday - many, many on foot.   Truly, I think we have one of the most sustainable and green setups in Wiltshire!

Oh ... my ... goodness ...

08:50 Melksham to Swindon.   31 on from Westbury / Trowbridge.  1 off and 11 on.  42/12
Not bad for an extra train in its first month of operation ...

And the 09:52 southbound service ... +2 (both to Trowbridge) -1 ... and with about 50 through passenger. So 53/3.  Rather good for a 153 on a Sunday morning.  "Most connecting to the Weymouth train" according to the train manager.

Which all went according to plan looking at Real Time Trains after last weekend's overrunning engineering work farce.

And they should be OK on the way back. 

Alas, not everyone's so fortunate as JourneyCheck is showing four cancellations on the TransWilts this afternoon / evening, and that's after two each on Wednesday and Thursday, and four (later amended to two, but by that time people may have made other plans) on Friday.   That's 13% cancellations over the five days if you're generous and don't count the train that was later re-instated, or 16% cancellations if you count the trains advertised not to run.   I think the target is under 1%

The "community" elements of the CRP are keeping an eye on these issues and indeed discussed them with FGW on Friday. I don't think for a moment that the subsequent problems are in any way their "answer" - they just serve to confirm a need to look at the robustness of a service that particularly effected by each cancellation because of the long wait for the next train, and the newcomer nature of many customers who can so easily be driven away again.

Some numbers which should be recorded in the general traffic logs, but NOT used to show a newly emerging trend ... the two trains that did actually run this evening calling at Melksham called there:
Southbound at 19:07   32 on arrival, -9 +2 = 34/11
Northbound at 19:56   38 on arrival, -1 +4 = 43/5

Im now off to try to find two guests from China who only arrived in the UK for their first time yesterday.   We've had a phone call telling us to expect them on the train at 20:42.   Should be interesting ... I have primed the way as far as I can; should be a taxi or bus from Chippenham, but their English is only a bit better than my Chinese!

Saturday 21st June. Lovely day.

09:02 at Melksham. 4 got off, 32 got and I counted 98 on the run to Trowbridge 102/36
18:48 at Melksham.  27 on board from Trowbridge to Melksham.  17 got off, 1 got on 28/18

Dad, Billy, Gypsy and I completed our Weymouth trip - thus the above counts. We skipped the proper connection southbound at Westbury at it was an already-full 3 car 158, not ideal for the dogs and waited for the HST.  Which - my goodness - felt like the slowest train of the day!   Return was 2 x 150 which was ideal for the dogs.

First record of over 100 journeys on a train where we haven't had Santa's help!

That's because it is. Has very generous timings this train. Imagine how those HST Power cars felt used to hauling their stock at more than 100mph for most of the day instead of trundling down the Heart of Wessex line. Still, a good decision by FGW to operate an HST to and from Weymouth on Summer Saturdays. Can't help but feel it would be useful on Sundays as well. People still go to the beach on a Sunday.

How busy was it Graham?

It feels much the same when you get an HST to Newquay or Pembroke Dock! 

I find this a new concept. I try to think of people's feelings in what I say .. didn't realise power cars had feelings.  :D

Could be "oh goody, we're going on holiday" ... or "why a I being tied down".   I have no evidence to know which.


Rear 3 coaches "159 seats available" ... full / standing in front coaches after Yeovil according to train manager who was suggesting people light like to move back to coaches not platformed at many placed.

Out of interest, was that the standard issue 153?

Yes ...

16:47 at Melksham today ... 15 off, 4 on ... 20 (+- a couple) onward to Chippenham - 35/19

At Melksham today (Sunday, 31st August)
08:50 to Swindon. 16 on arrival. +2 -0 = 18/2
09:52 to Westbury. 60 on arrival -4 + 1 = 61/5
10:47 to Swindon. 11 on arrival -1 +4 = 15/5  [Then -6 + 15 at Chippenham]
12:06 to Westbury. 23 on arrival -16 + 5 = 28/21 [Previously -2 + 14 at Chippenham]

122 passengers over 4 trains = 30.5 passenger per train; on a continuing basis (if "all trains were like that") works out at 164,700 journeys per annum.

16 off the 1206 seems surprisingly high. Any event on that might have been a contributory factor?

The 0952 appears nicely full, though on a sunny Sunday maybe could have expected more? With only 1 joining at Melksham, maybe the decision not to over-market the Weymouth opportunity could be reconsidered for next year?

Melksham Comicon is on this weekend ... next weekend is the river festival, then there was the food fayre and the carnival (that one brought higher numbers!) so, yes, an event but by no means the only weekend with such an event.


I've been thinking that through.  In previous marketing times, the Weymouth trip (or the Santa) has really been the only product that's been joined up and right to market.   This year it's been just one of a whole host of things and I see people headed all over the place - not so much "hey, here's a chance of a one-off day out" but "this changes our lives on a repeated even if not frequent basis" and they're keeping the Weymouth trip back for a rainy day (perhaps a sunny day) when they have nothing else to do. So today and other leisure for Melksham folks it's so much about meeting family in Westbury, visiting son / daughter in Swindon and not having to be driven back, going to London to do a day's work.

I did note from a quick glance at the people in the train that there was probably a half to two-thirds of them doing a "bucket and spade" type trip, but that's all.  So the very limited marketing in Swindon, and wider marketing in Chippenham, has brought that about.

One of the questions that Claire Perry asked on Friday was in relation to how much of the traffic was regular [and by assumption how much may have been "just trying it"].   We have been concentration on the potentially regular, and indeed that's showing clearly in the metrics of the passengers.  Of course, a successful trial may be just for novelty value (and I think those numbers are low) or it may turn into a regular.   But there is far more scope for the classic "day out" marketing next year, even though it drinks essentially seasonal traffic.   Nice to have on top of the grounding in steady year-round traffic already being won!

Now .. today was the 16th or just 17 potential Sunday trips to Weymouth this summer.  And I jotted a few notes down.    The TransWilts train was cancelled on at least two occasions.   Two other Sundays were bustituted, even though we were promised in the spring that there would be no bus replacements this summer (fewer trains some days, mind) ... and indeed I've just learned from a sign at the station that trains become buses on 14th September; I do wish our partners would tell us if they had bad news like this.  On two Sundays, engineering works over-ran on the Heart of Wessex;  I tried out one of those Sundays with my Dad, and we turned back at Yeovil when we were waiting without seats for an inadequate supply of buses with no assurance there would be a train back.  And a couple of Sundays back the train was nearly 2.5 hours late into Weymouth, with everyone getting a good chance to get to know Yeovil Pen Mill, I understand.   So - seven out of the 15 trips so far completed have had significant problems, and perhaps I should be glad we haven't done a lot of marketing to sensitive customers (i.e. ones who won't come again if it goes belly up) this year.

60 people in a 153 (78 seats) would be fine ... and I'm not too ashamed of that marketing.   Perhaps a communication breakdown, but it's been turning up as a 2 car train for the past few weeks.  Bit late to press the "market harder" button, and I'm still not sure if that was by design or luck; rumour also has it that the 2 car unit has gone on to Weymouth attached to the train from Bristol.   Fabulous if so - let's find out if that's the weekly plan for next summer, let's find out when we have buses well ahead and, yes, we'll fill a 150 each time it runs, on fine days at least.   Oh - that's the other thing ... many of the 8 trips that have worked properly have been in awful weather - I just thank goodness we appreciate but don't rely on seaside traffic. 

For all of this text and explanation, remember that our loadings were way over the average needed this morning!  The next stage - already asked - is how to we maintain the traffic levels and indeed keep growing them, and where's the limit?   Actually, first limits have been hit ...

P.S. The Melksham traffic this morning ... a cycle, a skateboard, and everyone else on foot.   Except - sorry - me. I was popping up and down by car; the hotel is a 20 minute walk from the station, and home is 30 minutes.

According to the FGW website there are also buses the following Sunday (21st) until 15:30.

Meanwhile the weekday service is retimed between Monday and Thursday 6th to 9th October because West of England services are being diverted away from the stretch between Castle Cary and Cogload Junction near Taunton.

Graham - I was conscious when posing the question that it may have been a blessing in disguise given some of the issues this year, although your response sets out the stark reality of how many weekends have enjoyed a combination of good weather and an undisrupted service. Disappointing really, but thankfully it doesn't detract from the terrific success that the service already is.

I am delighted to have the opportunity to document it as it is and so we learn from there.   There are bound to be some service elements that do better than others ... it's when I'm talking to visitors to the town who wouldn't have a clue that I'm involved with the trains and when I ask how this year's event [Comicon] was / is, they single out the ease of getting here this year!

19:53 from Swindon tonight ... report about 9 into Melksham ... 6 off, 5 on ... 14/11
Report from customers coming to stay with us ... may be a couple out.

Report for Saturday 13th September

1138 WSB-SWI 23  -3 +14 = 37 / 17

1746 SWI-WSB 35 -12 + 1 =36 / 13

Figures for on train before MKM, alighting MKM, boarding, = total on core route, total using MKM.

Sunday, 28th September ... 20:30 arrival at Melksham from Swindon.

Six passengers got off, four got on, a quick walk alongside the train showed me 28 on board as it left - 34/10 ... which I'm thinking is rather a good number for the last Sunday train, especially after several weeks of bustitutions. I had a report of no fewer than 20 on a bus from Trowbridge to Melksham at around 18:15 last Sunday; truly more than I would have guessed for a bus, knowing just how the traffic has evaporated in the past when steel wheels get replaced by rubber ones.

Well - end of week as well as weekend!

07:20 on Thursday -5 +10 -> 49 54/15
19:18 on Friday -8 +4 -> 37  45/12
07:48 on Saturday -3 +10 -> 28 31/13
19:02 on Saturday -8 +3 -> 7 15/11

19:00 ex WSB at CPM on Friday arrived with 15 passengers / 6 off + 2 on
08:48 ex WSB at CPM on Saturday arrived with about 30 passengers (hard to count - 3 car!)

On the 07:48 this morning ... interesting range of destinations including Bromsgrove (and that was using the Birmingham derogation), Walsall and Taunton (me).   Whenever I end up chatting with people I find an incredible range of places!

Whenever I end up chatting with grahame I find an incredible list of action points.  ::)

Absolutely no problem, grahame: I really find it incredible that you are so active for apparently some 20 hours out of the 24!  :o ::) ;D

A couple of highlights there, most notably the 1918 southbound. Back in Dec there were between 10 and 20, that had risen to around 30 in April and now we see 41 north of Melksham. It shows the value of the shoulder peak service.

The Sat 0748 northbound is another "best seen", by a long way. I wonder if saturday commuters, maybe working in retail in Swindon is part of the driver for the increase.

Revisiting this thread ... a cold, dark November at Melksham. I was picking up a passenger off the 16:30 arrival from Swindon, and got to a near-deserted station at around 16:20 ... just one chap waiting.  But I've learned not to read too much into that;  another couple of people walked up, a "Kiss and Ride" person appeared from a car, and by the time the train arrived there were 4 to get on.  7 got off and - counting through the windows - there were around 30 passengers on the train as it left.  So that 37/11 ... or 85% over the third year (train average) target in the first year.

I'm now keeping my fingers crossed that I've left enough room for "real" passengers on 14th December when we have Santa around as an attraction ...

P.S. Also have a report from yesterday (Saturday) of the 13:48 at Melksham.  19 on when it arrived, and an extra 13 joined.  No note, alas, of numbers getting off so the best I can offer is 32+n/13+n where "n" is the number getting off at Melksham.  Pretty acceptable, even in the unlikely event of "n" being zero.

17:33 Melksham to Swindon.  -3 + 5 -> 32 ... 35/8.   That's the Folk Train next weekend.  Nice 150/2.   Noted no ticket check nor sign of the conductor / train manager, barriers open at Swindon.

So nobody who boarded at Melksham had any opportunity to buy a ticket if they were finishing their journey at Swindon. That'll be good for the line's revenue. >:(

There were people going to Chippenham and to Swindon asking me "where to I buy my ticket" ... it's not a lack of wanting to pay.  But no-one else (just me) went up to the ticket desk in Swindon; a slightly surprised clerk when I asked for a Melksham to Swansea!

We're posting on a public area here - note for "Jo Public" reading this ... usually you do have to pay  :D - it just goes wrong occasionally.

First day back to full, scheduled service (We had 4 trains a day less during last week, and no less that 10 trains less yesterday - i did pop down to the station yesterday, and an HST went through ...

Today - 16:50, Melksham -> Swindon
22 on train arriving into Melksham, 1 off, 2 on -> 24/3
Not bad - more than the average we need in year 3, and there's another train just 40 mins behind (but then this is the first for three hours - Sunday afternoon timings are acknowledged to need a bit of a sort out!)
On my way to work, teaching Ruby with some Cucumber tomorrow!

The turn around at Swindon's quite brief on this service ... and I noted 19 people already on board at 17:23 for a 17:28 departure when I wandered over to catch the London Express

Help point at Melksham having communication problems yesterday (Saturday 3rd) and today (Sunday 4th) when I was at the station.

West of England services were routed between Westbury and Swindon yesterday because of a closure between Reading and Reading West

Even on a Sunday ... the 16:50 to Swindon.   27 on into Melksham 7 off and 3 on - makes 30/10. And, as the conductor reminds me, "quiet time of year".  Yeah, right - but this is the TransWilts!

7 or 8 off at Chippenham, 3 or 4 more on for the run to Swindon.  Just as I was noting in South Wales a couple of Sundays ago, it's not all traffic to the main end point - there's a lot of local traffic too.

A Sunday 3 weeks later .... and there's a lighter side subject entitle "and the rain keeps pouring" so you can see how truly awful the weather has been today.  I was out walking the dogs and where we would normally meet up with two or three others, it was just us.   The 16:50 - 12 on into Melksham, 1 off, 1 on making it 13/3 and had we been simply "on target" not way over, those would have been good numbers.

Weather makes a huge difference at weekends - I think I saw 10:1 quoted as an extreme case ...

... mind, I think I learned where everyone was when I saw crowds pouring onto the 17:28 at Swindon to go back to Westbury.   From my count it left with 47 + crew on board ... out for the day's shopping??

It also didn't start raining in Swindon until just before 1pm - so a few probably set out thinking it might stay dry.

Same here in Nailsea: it looked like being a fine day, until about midday - then it started p!ssing down.  ::)

07:48 at Melksham this morning ... +5, -1 -> 13 - 14/6
6 or 7 got off at Chippenham, even more on.  And some comments at MRDG last night about the service being sardined from Chippenham to Swindon when an HST had been held up.  Also a comment from someone else this morning that there had been a lot of Westbury -> Trowbridge local journeys.  Perhaps we should be counting some measure of this extra traffic on the ends?

Easy connection to Bristol train .. onwards to Taunton on the 08:45 (earlier than expected) and so a change to grab breakfast in the Coal Cellar, as our us usual Biddy's is closed for annual holidays.

16:49 at Melksham this evening 14 on, -9 + 9 -> 23/18

18:12 at Melksham this evening, 35 off, none on, about 40 remained on - 75/35

21:37 last night ... 9 on board through Melksham ... no-one left of joined the train.  9/0.

We had just been out for dinner near Melksham, and stopped at the station on the way back past - and I had commented a few minutes earlier how eariley quiet the roads were.  Yet the pub where we had eaten was busy and our hotel's full this weekend.

Some numbers for the 1746 Swindon-Westbury today (Good Friday)  35/10
Swindon. 30 on.
Chippenham. 6 off, 10 on. 34 travelling.
Melksham. 9 off, 1 on. 26 travelling.
Trowbridge. 11 off, 1 on. 16 for Westbury.

And the 11:13 to Westbury at Melksham .. +6 -0(?) = 31  31/6

Several questions on Facebook "is the 234 bus running today" answered with "no, but the train is" - and that's a stark reminder that public transport taking a day off is a marketing gift to its competitors!

0915 today from Melksham (Good Friday), 2 on, 0 off, approx 20 already on board: 22/2?

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/easter2015.jpg)

Frankly, it's getting hard to do an accurate count.   This is the 09:48 at Melksham to Swindon.  4 got off, between 35 and 40 got on and the train left with every seat taken and (I counted) 25 standing that I could see. Realistic estimate for stats - 109/42

"You need a bigger train."

 ;) :D ;D

We do indeed ... 18:02 to Westbury arrived with rather a lot of people on board this evening, 38 got off, 4 got on and gawd knows how many remained on ...  ;D

Although I am delighted to see it, the 0948 may have been a little busier than normal as Swindon Town had a key game today with a 1215pm kick off rather than the usual 3pm.  I am not sure what the STFC fan base numbers in Melksham would be.

What's  "Normal"?   Yes, lots of Swindon Town fans, but not really (m)any more than for a normal Saturday home game.  They're mostly a regular crowd who go to the matches by train.

I've managed to encourage a friend who lives in Melksham who normally drives to the Swindon Town matches to use the service recently as he has had a spot or two of 'car trouble', so thats +1.  He normally gets the 1148 or 1329

I was down at Melksham Station this morning - seeing a fair old number of passengers headed for Swindon.

This will really please them!


At least Swindon Town were playing away - had it been a home game, there would have been over 100 people on that 153, with around a third of them form Melksham!

Slightly curious that two freights from Swindon to Hinksey and Goring have run along the branch at roughly the same time as the 1810 ex Swindon should have done. I presume at least one of them is engineering related. I guess reversing that at Bathampton Jn isn't possible because of the need to run around.

It appears the branch is under a lot of pressure today with diverted services including South Wales to London services, with not enough margin so once delays begin they continue. Now if only there was a passing loop or at least the ability to hold something clear of the main line.  A service from Swindon to Bristol has been in a queue at Chippenham for 25 mins waiting for the line to clear ahead.

I passed up and down the branch twice today on diverted HSTs.

The trip to London (which used the branch in the down direction) passed without incident.

Coming back we crawled from just after Newbury to Bedwyn following a stopping train - but it seems that was built into the timetable.  However we were held at Bradford Junction for a few minutes waiting for another HST to come off the single line.  There was also another HST held on the approach to Westbury to allow us to cross and take the branch.

However it seems there are some very tight timings and it doesn't take much for delays to build up.

(Oh and the information screen was out of order at Melksham both times when I went through)

Oh good - did you get a passenger count  ;D ;D


It has a very poor record indeed at present.  "Pease wait while the system restarts" it says .. for days on end. Fortunately, no-one does wait  :-\

I did notice several cars in the car park with people sitting in them when I passed at around 11:20.  I was slightly more concerned with two Americans I met on the train who were going from London to Cardiff and a "friend" had bought them both First Anytime singles - when an off peak standard with a weekend first upgrade would have saved them ^125 each.  The train manager did take time to explain to them what to do if there was a "next time".

I run a customer serving business, and if any of our team prioritise ourselves and our needs over our customers, it's a pretty poor show.  With Network Rail controlling the signals and probably responsible for the wrong trains in the wrong place at the same time, that feels like a similar poor show - especially as they had already pushed the 17:36 back to 18:10.  However, I guess there's a differences that make my analogy a poor one.


{like} ... we really could do with something more robust than we had in the early 1980s when there were just six passenger trains each way per year.