Great Western Coffee Shop

Today was the day that TransWilts had planned to take a party of young carers from Chippenham to Weymouth and back - a day out - but the trip has been postponed due to various risks (don't you love risk assessments).  Hope that the trip can go ahead next year, but by that time I'll be purely a volunteer with TransWilts - won't be involved in the organising and may (or may not) travel if the trip happens.

However - as a swansong, I'm taking the trip today, and taking a look at how much things have come forward over the years.  The weather is damp, the forecast is not good, and as I write (passing Bruton) the train is quiet and on time. 

Last year, the first train from Warminster to Westbury and beyond on a Sunday was at 10:49.  This year, a service 2 hours earlier is running; a sensible idea that TransWilts and the West Wilts Rail User Group, amongst others, have supported.   I started this morning at Westbury - with 13 passengers on that train, and a further 5 joining at Dilton Marsh. 11 sole travellers, 2 groups of 2 and a group of 3. No children - very much the sort of traffic I would expect to see all year. And - for seeing how new and how bustituted and issues on the day this has been already, I would say "quietly pleassin".

Back to TransWilts ... I joined the 09:51 to Westbury with just 2 other people, but with 22 through passengers from Swindon or Chippenham, a good loading for a damp day. Again just one or two children; certainly not "day at the seaside" weather.  Into Westbury at 10:11, laft at 10:14 with 59 people on the Weymouth ... quite a few off at Frome for their "Comicon" event and train is now quieter as we head south.

Follow up report later ... I'm going to sit back and enjoy the countryside.

Oh no I'm not ... at Yeovil Pen Mill; train ahead has hit a tree and we will be here for "a while" ...

They must have some very good risk assessors - they obviously knew beforehand about that pesky tree !

grahame, I think it's a good idea that you continue to post here about your attempts to get to Weymouth at the weekend.

As you appear to be something of a jinx, it's a good pointer to others to make alternative arrangements.  ;D :P :)

As it turned out ... only 30 late off Yeovil Pen Mill, and no wait for the train coming the other way at Maiden Newton, so we were only just over quarter of an hour late into Weymouth, with just 38 passengers on board.   So for the purpose of our down tip, it would have worked.   Mind you, had kittens at Yeovil as it was 'delayed - don't know how long - train in front has hit a tree" and that can be very serious indeed.   I was probably being unduly pessimistic; last time I got into a similar hold up at Pen Mill, the train turned into buses, with a 'survival of the fittest' mentality on show, and dad and I abandoned the day out.

Risk assessment - comment in jest but yet the rail industry (GWR and Network Rail) have a big problem.  For the last 7 Sundays that now makes 2 AOK, 3 late (15, 60, 120 minutes) and 2 complete fails. The big problem is that there are different causes (overrunning engineering,  staff unavailable, 2 x tree hits, 1 x lineside fire) in the 5 failures - so I would not like the job of fixing it.  No one thing to fix if you go back to the root problems.   Having said which, neither "complete fail" needed to be ... they could both have worked, with an arrival no more than 10 minutes late into Weymouth.

Perhaps looking at the root problems would have stopped the tree strikes. 

Sorry I’ll get my anorak and turn off the lights. 

Weymouth ... on a wet Sunday wasn't holding me ... changed my plans and came back on the 14:14 - 2 car 165 - 3+2 and a bit cozy and uncomfortable by the time we reached Westbury.   Dropped back to 16:20 Swindon service - 35 into Melksham, +7 -3 => 42/10 which is quite reasonable for a mid-afternoon on a wet summer Sunday.

I am noting that the 15:50 London train at Westbury - up from the West Country - was about 18 minutes late and both the 16:03 and 16:04 Portsmouth and Cardiff trains were held by 5 or 6 minutes allowing a veritable flood across.    Sensible working as it should be (there are times these things go wrong) and a classic illustration of the importance of the Westbury interchange hub.

..........especially on a branch line.............. :D