Great Western Coffee Shop

Closing that 59min gap would be something to campaign on! Would mean arriving SAL just a few minutes earlier....

Wouldn't that be running up the white flag even before the battle has begun ?? 

You may know of the consultation in progress on a December '22 services recast for the South Western Railway network ...

"SALISBURY TO BRISTOL TEMPLE MEADS
The route between Salisbury and Bristol Temple Meads has historically been served by both SWR» and Great Western Railway, with SWR running  ve of the average 25 daily services in the May 2019 timetable.
Following a separate review with the Department for Transport, SWR will withdraw its current three daily services from December 2021 as duplicating services between the two operators does not provide good value for the taxpayer.
Great Western Railway will continue to meet demand on the line and services will connect into London bound trains at Salisbury, Bath and Westbury."

The contract between the DfT from May 2021 - is it an extension of the franchise that has terminated or does it replace a franchise that would otherwise have run on - and until what date, please?

FirstGroup Signs New National Rail Contracts For South Western Railway And Transpennine Express

20 May 2021

FirstGroup plc (‘FirstGroup’ or ‘The Group’) is pleased to announce the agreement of National Rail Contracts (‘NRCs’) with the Department for Transport (‘DfT’) for its South Western Railway (‘SWR’) and TransPennine Express (‘TPE’) train operating companies. The new NRCs will commence on 30 May 2021, when the current Emergency Recovery Measures Agreements (‘ERMAs’) come to an end.

* New NRCs for SWR and TPE have a two-year term to May 2023 with options to extend by up to two further years to May 2025
* FirstGroup bears no revenue risk and very limited cost risk under an annual budget agreed with DfT; there is also no significant contingent capital risk
* Annual fees on NRCs consist of a fixed management fee plus performance fee based mainly on the delivery of customer-focused performance metrics


National Rail Contracts are a new contract structure ...

The '2022 service consultation that isn't a consultation with the public' aside, has the DfT decision to cease the Bristol - Waterloo services in December '21 had any public announcement anywhere, anyone, please?

Should you put out BOTH messages?  i.e. Retain, but if not, connect - or does that dilute both messages to the extent that they are both ineffective?

I have seen not see public consultation, nor public announcement, nor any other reasoning than it's "duplicating a service".  But such things can be easy to miss on busy news days, so I'm not able to be absolutely sure they haven't happened.

a journey time of 4 hours 10 minutes, so we'll say that that service is suspended, yes? Consequence: a damper on the trend seen elsewhere passenger numbers starting to recover.

I mentioned earlier my daughter's 59 minute wait at Salisbury today. Just been watching Traksy. Her SWR train arrived at Salisbury tunnel 5 minutes ahead of the GWR train.The SWR train was held to let the GWR train through first.

I think my comment in the last post applies again !!

EDIT: She has just said that the GWR train was pulling away from P4 as they arrived at P3.

If I was the DfT I'd be tempted to sidestep the political pain and put this unconsidered decision on hold at least for a year and possibly two.

- it's by design.   

End of the line for Bristol-Waterloo service

There are plans to withdraw South Western Railway’s London to Bristol Waterloo service at the end of the year.

The service currently links Bristol Temple Meads to Waterloo via Keynsham, Oldfield Park, Bath Spa, Bradford on Avon, Trowbridge, Westbury, Warminster and Salisbury.

It is understood that catering services on the route have already been withdrawn.

The route between Salisbury and Bristol Temple Meads has historically been served by both South Western Railway (SWR) and Great Western Railway (GWR), with SWR running five of the average 25 daily services in the May 2019 timetable.

Following a review with the Department for Transport, SWR plans to withdraw its current three daily services from December as duplicating services between the two operators is not deemed to provide good value for the taxpayer. SWR says that GWR will continue to meet demand on the line and services will connect into London-bound trains at Salisbury, Bath and Westbury. This week public transport campaigner David Redgewell said that he was lobbying the region’s Metro Mayor and local councils asking them to lodge objections.

Have just seen this thread. The point about connections is:

a) They depend on services running to schedule.
b) Passengers having confidence in the services running to schedule.

On this particular line (Cardiff to Portsmouth to connect at Salisbury) neither of those factors currently exist, and I cannot see any likelihood of improvement.

(https://i.postimg.cc/y8Ht0zZ8/Screenshot-2021-08-22-134213.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)

Not when the train before it is running after the train you hope to catch, as happened to me this week.

Whenever I've caught one of those (anecdote not data) they doesn't seem to attract nearly as many passengers as did the Bristol to Waterloo trains. Perhaps there are planned changes for these too. Not that the travelling public is in a position to know. At the moment, we're 15 weeks out from an entire rail service being axed and there's essentially been no information provided to the people who use them. I suggested to SWR that they put out a press release...

It's difficult not to think of the SWR services Yeovil - Castle Cary - Westbury - Salisbury - London Waterloo as they share a few qualities with the Bristol to Waterloo through trains - including the suddenly reviled 'One route, two TOCs'. Whenever I've caught one of those (anecdote not data) they doesn't seem to attract nearly as many passengers as did the Bristol to Waterloo trains. Perhaps there are planned changes for these too.

No doubt some services will be retained and the through journeys to/from Waterloo are probably commercially attractive for SWR

I thought the SWT trains weren’t being withdrawn until December? Likely the IEPs will be sorted by then

Depends what you mean by "sorted" really. Until they are reassigned to regional routes where they belong, and replaced by proper "express" trains on "express" routes, then they wont be "sorted" in my book.

I thought the SWT trains weren’t being withdrawn until December? Likely the IEPs will be sorted by then

I thought the SWT trains weren’t being withdrawn until December? Likely the IEPs will be sorted by then

OK, to their credit, South Western Railways responded quickly to my request for information and this can now feed a request for a response or preferably action from Passenger Focus.

I think you are over-egging the loss of customers when forced to change to complete a journey. I think it depends vastly on the convenience of the change. A few minutes (barely at all), while 20+ minutes could achieve what you are suggesting.

This has a bearing on the potential that some for the time being may prefer Waterloo as a London terminal especially if their ultimate destination is served by the large slew of surface railways served from Waterloo / Waterloo east / London Victoria and again may imply that through trains from Bristol might be precisely the sort of services that returning travellers will look to the railways to provide - at the moment they are discontinued.

That really is a minor irritation as many arriving at Paddington would feel the same. Thus no difference whether arriving at either station bearing in mind that 90% of passengers want to go further than the local environs of either station.

He then continues with a consideration of the currently hourly service between Bristol and Salisbury, stating that this is to return to half hourly from December

In answer to my letter to the MP, a response from the Secretary of State for Transport over a page and a half of A4.

He then continues with a consideration of the currently hourly service between Bristol and Salisbury, stating that this is to return to half hourly from December and then states ...

"While SWR regrets that customers from *cites the three stations* will now have to change... "

As a result SWR has looked into areas where train services are duplicated... and identified potential reductions that will deliver improved reliability and will reduce costs.

... and I'm noting that the SWR service are cut back to Bath - or even to Westbury - during engineering at Bristol.

...
Through trains from Bristol via Salisbury have been a leisure sucess over the years. The London service was very popular pre-Covid - affordable, comfortable, and making many more direct journeys possible than would be the case without it. Onward connections at Clapham Junction and Waterloo saved many headed for South London, Kent and East Sussex the trauma (it would be for them) of the underground from Paddington.  With Covid lockdowns, the services not running, and the "essential travel only" mantra, use fell - short term - but it now should be coming back and with the success story reborn.  These are the very sorts of service that can and should grow very strongly in the future. 
...

Through trains from Bristol via Salisbury have been a leisure sucess over the years. The London service was very popular pre-Covid - affordable, comfortable, and making many more direct journeys possible than would be the case without it. Onward connections at Clapham Junction and Waterloo saved many headed for South London, Kent and East Sussex the trauma (it would be for them) of the underground from Paddington.  With Covid lockdowns, the services not running, and the "essential travel only" mantra, use fell - short term - but it now should be coming back and with the success story reborn.  These are the very sorts of service that can and should grow very strongly in the future. 

There’s no consistency in these decisions across TOCs. If SWR to Bristol 3 times a day is an unnecessary duplication, then by any similar logic so is GWR running to Brighton twice a day.  Yet that latter off-piste adventure is still very clearly shown in the latest GWR service requirement, just published by DfT.

So perhaps those asking the questions should ask why the different treatment - unless of course that would be seen as risking the Brightons…

Can you post a link to that just published spec please?

I do expect GWR to Brighton to be cut back back to at least SOU at some stage

It’s here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/great-western-2020-rail-franchise-agreement

If you scroll down to updates, it says the train service requirement was added on 26 Aug 21.

The ERMA is the latest doc/pdf there, is there a TAR within it? I’m on an iphone & looking through a 92 page pdf aint easy!

You are right….theERMA will have some form of TSR, likely to be to continue running the Covid timetable in form at the time it cane into force; with any changes you reconmend to be approved by us (DfT) before implementation

14. OBLIGATIONS OF THE FRANCHISEE UNDER THE FRANCHISE AGREEMENT
14.1  Following execution of this EMA, the Parties shall within thirty (30) Weekdays of the date of this EMA meet and consider, acting reasonably and in good faith, whether the completion of: (i) each obligation of the Franchisee under Schedule 6 of the Franchise Agreement; and (ii) each other obligation of the Franchisee as may be specified by either the Secretary of State or the Franchisee (in each case acting reasonably), will be:
(a) continued "as is";
(b) delayed;
(c) suspended; or
(d) reduced in scope or application.

Quoting from I think Lee from another thread, and putting this here to remind myself and to conjecture as to how this then leads to the short-horizon for the ceasing of the Bristol to Waterloo trains, (an entire service):

"As other members with inside knowledge of the process have said elsewhere, the Treasury/DfT may be the ones asking for the budget cuts, but they have left the method of execution very much down to the rail industry to decide.

And as those of us who have studied Network Rail Business Plans over the years know, that method of execution is very much in line with what they have wanted to do all along."

I am not clear that it is that simple.  If the Treasury say they want x% expenditure cuts over a few years there are options that can be considered, if they want them over the next few weeks the options for railway managers become narrower.  I suspect at the moment DfT will have their finger in the pie somewhere to narrow the options further perhaps by say what cannot be cut!

A question for passengers and stakeholders - would you rather decisions on what to cut and where were left to the ‘railway industry’ or to government in the form of the DfT/Treasury?

Our 2016 Option 24/7 (http://option247.uk/O247proposal.pdf) proposals for bus franchising in Wiltshire included a proposal that bus services would be specified by a committee that brought together passengers, local authorities and bus companies. Unfortunately, Wiltshire Council were not ready at the time to accept what they considered to be a radical plan, and the proposal did not go ahead.

One of the reasons I moved to France in September 2017 was the opportunity to help shape the future of public transport in Brittany, as the specification of the local bus network transferred to the regional level and was placed under a unified structure with the local rail network which had been already specified by the region for several years. This unified structure came into being in September 2018 under the Breizhgo (https://www.breizhgo.bzh/) brand.

I am pleased to say that since then, bus and rail services in Brittany have been specified in a very similar way to that envisaged by us in Option 24/7. There are 7 Comités De Lignes each corresponding to a particular area of Brittany, bringing together passengers, regional and local authorities, SNCF and bus companies to specify their local bus and rail services.

My local Comité De Lignes covers the Saint Brieuc-Lannion, Saint Brieuc-Morlaix, Guingamp-Carhaix and Guingamp-Paimpol local rail services, and all the local bus services in the area shown in the map below:

(https://images.typeform.com/images/zAxiUnM4Rv99/image/default)

Each Comité De Lignes has an annual "listening exercise", where the views and ideas of the public on a wide range of issues are sought, and we are currently in the middle of ours, which runs from 1 February-14 February 2021. Normally we would accompany this with public meetings in various towns and villages, but this year due to coronavirus it is being conducted online and by post.

This doesnt mean though that the public only have a 14-day window each year to send in their ideas and suggestions. Far from it - These are welcomed by the committee all year round, and all are considered for the next upcoming timetable change. These happen 3 times a year in July, September and December, with bus and rail services changing together on those same dates. This aims to balance both the flexibility and the stability of the timetables, whilst allowing for their integration. However, just as we envisaged with Option 24/7, there is a mechanism that allows urgent or particularly no-brainer changes to be made at short notice if required.

Finally, in normal times, several public meetings all year round in towns and villages are organised, along with sessions in rail and bus stations that are very similar to the way "Meet the Manager" works in the UK. There is also a regular newsletter published by each Comité De Lignes, detailing the latest news, project updates, and including passenger numbers and performance figures for each rail and bus route in the area.

What is the situation at a local/regional level in other parts of France?

I recall serious cutbacks being proposed only a couple of years ago.  Are any lines, services, stations still under threat?

SWR train services from December are now in the system and can be seen on RTT.

RTT won’t necessarily paint an accurate picture this far in advance.

... but with SWR not making major changes to their timetable until December 2022...

See title of thread. :-)

If it's really the case that the DfT required both SWR and GWR to cut services and for the Bristol to Salisbury line and they initially did just that but *without reference to each other's actions* then it's ...

Will write more on SAL->WSB this evening - out of the house in 10 minutes

Given that we're now at the end date for the Bristol Temple Meads engineering works: tomorrow, SWR intended to resume the remaining through services from Waterloo - but they've just announced that they're cancelled - along with a raft of impactful changes on the line to Exeter.

Especially as I have travel booked for both routes next week, I'm wondering how the staff shortages will manifest themselves from Monday through to Friday, especially as... GWR are ramping up the number of  trains that they're running between the likes of Bristol and London, yes?

... which is unprofessional. Transport operators of all flavours should deploy a timetable that matches their staff provision. It does no-one any favours to deem certain services secondary to others and to be constantly cancelling them.

That Bristol Bath to London Waterloo is this Christmas Graham  we got a fight Network rail western want Bristol Bath metro  west trains to Westbury to use the paths

{Jaw drops emoji}

Drat, I've just missed being able to include that in my submission to Transport Focus. Metro West really shouldn't involve the cessation of popular through services to clear paths for it.

I have enquires in - réponses promised within 20 working days - to learn a but more about how the decision came about. These things are often akin to closing the stable door after the horse has bolted, but we can still take steps to see if we can catch the horse.

I've slightly lost track of this metaphor. What are you going to say to the horse if you catch it? "Why the long face?"

Sooo... Using the SWR app, an attempt to buy a ticket routed via Salisbury produces an error message and the advice to 'Try again later'. I'll log a bug.

I see that this Saturday, the service is bustituted, and Sunday it is double bustituted.   

(Incidentally, does anyone recall the days of weekend returns when BR was sometimes able to clear an engineering possession by late Sunday afternoon in order to run trains to return people to where they needed to be?)

... But note that Keynsham will drop (I think) to just one train a day ...

Bristol Temple Meads and Bath Spa loose all their through trains to South London (Waterloo) - as well as to Basingstoke, Woking and Clapham Junction.  Westbury has just one train left from South London, leaving Waterloo at 07:50 and returning from Westbury at 14:13.

It's all of 15 mins from Paddington to Waterloo on the Bakerloo line, and Westbury, Bristol TM and Bath are well served with fast services to Paddington.

The direct Bristol service from Waterloo takes almost 3 hours, whereas it's roughly 90 mins via Paddington.

I think a little perspective is helpful here?

I see that this Saturday, the service is bustituted, and Sunday it is double bustituted.   

(Incidentally, does anyone recall the days of weekend returns when BR was sometimes able to clear an engineering possession by late Sunday afternoon in order to run trains to return people to where they needed to be?)

That's the LU platform to platform time, yes?

Remember it well along with the biannual timetables showing when engineering work was taking place.

That's the LU platform to platform time, yes?

Side effect from another piece of research - official mantra is that three stations loose their direct trains to / from London when "the Waterloo" ceases in December.   They are Oldfield Park, Bradford-on-Avon and Trowbridge.   But note that Keynsham will drop (I think) to just one train a day - timed to help in the peak hour loadings from there into and out of Temple Meads (and not at the times that the good people of Keynsham will want to go to London) and look at this for Warminster:

Even today (far short of pre-Covid service from SWR), there are trains to Waterloo at 07:48, 11:44, 14:23, 15:52, and 16:47 with one as far as Basingstoke at 20:24.   From December, just one a day to Waterloo - the 14:23 (which is hardly the most attractive of these time).  There is just one arrival back from Waterloo, leaving London at 07:50.   The 12:20, 16:20 and 19:20 from London (in today's running) all cease.

Has it been flagged up in Warminster that they to are loosing three quarters of their London trains?

Looking at Real Time Trains for December, it appears that the departures from Warminster at 0748, 1148 and 1552 attach to other trains at Salisbury and then continue to Waterloo.

Ah - yes.  Just taking a look / will check back further later / on a panic elsewhere at the moment,  Looks like these 3 trains might run TO Waterloo, but FROM Waterloo the only direct train is 07:50, the others starting from Basingstoke.  Is that possible or logical?

From the GWR journey planner for Today

Bristol Temple Meads to Waterloo via Paddington, 134 or 135 minutes, 1 (or 2 - BPW and PAD) changes
Bristol Temple Meads direct to Waterloo - 179 minutes

Trowbridge to Waterloo via Paddington, 137 to 151 minutes - 2 changes (so three trains to travel on)
Trowbridge to Waterloo direct, 138 minutes

Warminster to Waterloo via Paddington, 128 to 170 minutes - 2 changes (so three trains to travel on)
Warminster to Waterloo direct, 121 minutes.

Where does your 90 minutes BRI to WAT via PAD come from, TaplowGreen?  Never mind perspective, sorry, I have to question your accuracy!

Aren’t services from SAL to Waterloo to continue? I’m not sure what you are suggesting?

I just look at the Saturday one ... Waterloo to Trowbridge.   No slower that the train with a connection at Salisbury. Waterloo to Andover, 10 minutes to connect onto the bus to Salisbury, from where there is a 10 minute connection onto the train to Trowbridge!

The question begging to be answered now amongst others os ‘did your MP recognise the likely concern when first advised by the DfT back in July and if so, what did they actively do about it back then, if anything? And if this wasn’t recognised, do you think you know your constituents well enough?

I agree with your theory above about who was likely to have been referred to as ‘stakeholders’….plus possibly the SRTBs (Sub-Regional Transport Boards). I’m hearing that these are the redefined stakeholders and other interested bodies need to strike up relationships with those recognised bodies.

Of course, these bodies won’t have yet set up channels to work with ‘us’ & it’ll take a while. Railfuture was a consultee on SWT 2022 timetable, so I’m hoping that they continue to be considered a ‘stakeholder’ on a wider basis & RUGs may want to affiliate as a way of providing input.

@Grahame - I understand third-hand that GWR have held their local-to-you latest timetable get-together via zoom. Did you attend? Do you onow anyone that did? If so, did you get a hand-out from GWR? I hear (again, third hand) that they are also proposing some cuts on the same route, but need confirmation. I might be able to ask/get a confirmation when we get the Thames Valley version later this week, but it’s a tad off-topic for Thames Valley & it might get ruled offside….

So nothing being removed from Salisbury / Trowbridge / Bristol?

Railfure’s full response to this consultation is here
https://www.railfuture.org.uk/display2771

Railfure’s full response to this consultation is here
https://www.railfuture.org.uk/display2771

We note firstly that you propose to withdraw this service from December 2021

6.8 P35 Waterloo – Salisbury. We assume this service is based on the xx 50 from Waterloo (currently starting at Basingstoke) and it is not shown how the extended services to Yeovil Junction via Sherborne will work. Again, Clapham Junction and Woking stops should be as now.
6.9 We need to see a detailed analysis of the justification for the removal of the off peak extension of the Waterloo - Salisbury service to Gillingham/Yeovil Junction, as your own document shows that off peak travel may well exceed pre covid levels. We do not accept the performance argument, as this route has historically delivered good performance on the existing infrastructure.
6.10 P36 Salisbury to Yeovil via Westbury. these trains are very lightly loaded, and there must be other operational reasons for keeping them in the Timetable – e.g. driver route knowledge etc. These cannot be described as a “core service”. The service is also unbalanced service (i.e. 6 up trains a day from Yeovil and 3 down trains) which is likely to deter regular users.

SALISBURY TO EXETER RAIL USERS GROUP - (SERUG).

reply regarding SWT TT changes - the full reply under news or via Google drive


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1neNXqT6Y_994g1-GmY9EkLhmZkzNUIYF/view

6.13 SWR Salisbury to Bristol. SERUG are against these being removed. Whilst, there is clearly a faster direct
route from London (Paddington) to Bristol, there is passenger demand for through services from Clapham
Junction, Woking and Basingstoke. This results in Bradford-on-Avon, Trowbridge and Warminster losing a direct
London service. Again, much of this is Leisure orientated – and such travellers may decide to use the car if a
change of train is required at Salisbury.

Of course, if you're only going as far as Woking you should buy a Clapham Junction ticket and get off short ...

I know the Waterloo to Bristol service is being axed, but according to Realtime trains there is still one running. So I'm confused

I know the Waterloo to Bristol service is being axed, but according to Realtime trains there is still one running. So I'm confused

Something I must check - in the past there was disruption east of Salisbury and a train manager stated that via Southampton was a valid route for Bath Spa - Waterloo via Salisbury tickets, but that surely cannot be the case... or can it?

The Bristol to Waterloo 08:50 *is* running on the 18th of September though, which is convenient.

I wouldn't bank on that !  My daughter, who was planning to get the return service to WMN (1220 Ex WAT) has just rung to tell me that the SAL - BRI bit has been cancelled. That gives her yet another 58 min wait at Salisbury !!
Just how on earth do they think they are going to persuade people to use the trains ever again ???

Train Cancellations
Sat, 18 September 10:52 Salisbury to Bristol Temple Meads due 12:05
Sat, 18 September 12:48 Bristol Temple Meads to Salisbury due 14:07
Sat, 18 September 13:52 Salisbury to Bristol Temple Meads due 15:05
Sat, 18 September 15:50 Bristol Temple Meads to Salisbury due 17:09

So, as things currently stand, the morning BRI-WAT service IS running.

The seeds of confusion.................! The BRI to WAT may be ..............but as to the return service -  Who knows ....

According to parts of RTT it is, according to other parts it isn't. According to SWR and National Rail it isn't. As I said, who on earth wants to travel by train if they don't have a clue as to which train is running and which isn't ?

The 0850 BRI-WAT IS running

From Basingstoke, and now 9 carriages, the train is now appears over 100% full.

September 18 at 10:46 AM  ·

I'm very disappointed that BOA will be losing any kind of direct rail service to London as of Dec 2021. When they tried to do this back in 2006, the Wiltshire Times and BOA councillors campaigned against this and we kept our vital direct link to London.  We seem to be going backwards, as cutting the service could lead to more car journeys as people will not necessarily want to risk the poor GWR service which often means missing the connection at Sailsbury and waiting sometimes as much as an hour.  Here is the rubbish response from the Dept of Transport:

Wow. Thanks for flagging this. What's disappointing is that several responses ...

[.....] or not aware that Westbury also loses the majority of its additional SWR trains that run to and from Yeovil via the Castle of Cary.

As far as the Bristol services are concerned I wonder if passenger figures showed that not many of those travelling on SWR services between Bristol Temple Meads and Trowbridge (inclusive) were continuing beyond Salisbury. I can only guess.

Wow. Thanks for flagging this. What's disappointing is that several responses to the original poster are supportive of the DfT's letter - and also the idea that people are just able to change at Westbury / Salisbury. Perhaps they're taking the letter at face value, they're not users of the railway and unfamiliar how Salisbury 'Connections' work, or not aware that Westbury also loses the majority of its additional SWR trains that run to and from Yeovil via the Castle of Cary.

As far as I’m aware the section of your post I have highlighted in bold is not correct. The existing SWR services between Yeovil and Westbury (and vice versa), will continue past the December 2020 timetable change. The only significant change will be the late evening Castle Cary starter will run in passenger service from Yeovil at a slightly later time, allowing a connection to be made at Westbury for passengers travelling to Warminster and Salisbury off GWR’s Cardiff to Frome train (which runs between Bristol and Westbury in the path of the current 2225 SWR service from Bristol).

As far as I’m aware the section of your post I have highlighted in bold is not correct. <snip>

Is the SWR December '21 timetable available yet (and if not, where will it appear when it does emerge from the darkness?).

Mark

As I'm reading it, there's another factor which hasn't really made it into the spotlight of publicity.   Most of the Bristol to Waterloo services have joined with / become the 2nd train in the hour from Salisbury to Waterloo, calling at the three extra stations before Basingstoke.  However, those trains (off peak) are now to run as a shuttle up to Basingstoke and while that's the plan there's an issue with potentially turning the Bristol to London (Waterloo) service into a Bristol to Basingstoke one.  And from Keynsham, Oldfield Park, Bradford-on-Avon, Trowbridge, etc, London (and Waterloo station there - the busiest in the country) is a far more attractive destination than Boringstoke.

The SWR services via Frome and Yeovil Pen Mill are 'sold' as route learners, but I suspect there's more to it than that - there's an awful lot of them for that.  Is there an undeclared agenda to have all local services south of Frome and Warminster transferred to the operational management contract run using trains based at the Salisbury depot?  Heart of Wessex CRP gone in place of new local setup; locals from Bristol to Westbury to become "Bristol Metro" - I wonder if we're going to find alternate stoppers from Bristol turning at Warminster and at Frome, which are a logical end of the Bristol travel-to-work area. Hourly from Frome,  hourly from Dilton Marsh, hourly stopper plus hourly regional from Warminster would be attractive. Problem that the other odd stuff (the Waterloos and the Brighton an the odd extras to Southampton) need to be tidied up in some "housekeeping" ahead of time.  Just asking ...

What happens to the Bristol-Weymouth's in your scenario, if we have hourly stoppers from Bristol turning at Frome?

The issue's now surfaced on Somerset Live:

https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/local-news/bath-train-station-lose-direct-5946379 (https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/local-news/bath-train-station-lose-direct-5946379)

A train station in Bath is set to lose its direct service to London this December.

Oldfield Park will no longer be served by the South Western Railway (SWR) train to London Waterloo, meaning passengers must change at Bath Spa.

From there, they can catch the Great Western Railway (GWR) link from Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington.

But passengers from Oldfield Park who want to alight at Waterloo will have to change at Salisbury onto the SWR train.

Any others? As he was the MP who engaged with the 2006 campaign for these trains it would be interesting to know of Andrew Murrison's position in 2021.

Mark

I think that's one that grahame is following up, judging by a recent conversation.

This is a copy of the letter I sent to Dr Murrison. I have had an automated reply saying it has been received but I’m not confident a “proper reply” will arrive any time soon!

At 2.56pm on 11 September 2001, an aide in the Department for Transport (DfT) sent an email to the then transport secretary, Stephen Byers, saying: “It’s now a very good day to get out anything we want to bury.” Jo Moore wrote the message within an hour of the second aircraft hitting the World Trade Centre in New York ...

I also have a copy of the letter sent to him by the West Wilts Rail User Group on 18th August; will chase up to see if there has been any substantive reply. 

Chris Loder (West Dorset) (Con):
The bus and train operator FirstGroup continues to slash our transport services in West Dorset despite receiving millions of pounds of public money with no revenue risk at all, and having the worst rail line frequency in the country on the Heart of Wessex line. Will the Deputy Prime Minister directly intervene to save what little service we have on that three-hourly-frequency line or actively work to get a new operator that will?

The Deputy Prime Minister:
I thank my hon. Friend; I know he is a great champion for the people in his constituency. I understand that the Department of Transport has been engaging with the transport operators in his constituency. I also understand that South Western Railway intends to increase service levels to their pre-covid timetable by May 2022, and it has ambitions for an increase in the train service frequency on the Great Western Railway route. DFT will of course continue to work with GWR, and I continue to support him in trying to champion commuters and passengers on all those services.

From: Department for Transport
From the Secretary of State The Rt Hon Grant Shapps
Great Minster House 33 Horseferry Road London SW1P 4DR
Tel: 0300 330 3000 E-Mail: grant.shapps@dft.gov.uk Web site: www.gov.uk/dft Our Ref: MC/367119 Your Ref: AM/JCP/09/270821 (AM23393)

17 September 2021

To: Rt Hon Andrew Murrison MP House of Commons London SW1A OAA

Dear Andrew,

Thank you for your letter of 27 August, enclosing correspondence from your constituent, Richard Cowell, of [address], on behalf of the West Wiltshire Rail Users Group [of which Richard is chair] , about withdrawal of South Western Railway services between Bristol Temple Meads and London Waterloo.

South Western Railway, like all train operators, has been heavily subsidised since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to keep the railway open for key workers. While customers are returning to the railway, current forecasts do not expect them to return to pre-pandemic levels for some time. The overall passenger demand forecast expects a return to 76 per cent of passengers, compared to pre-COVID levels. As a result, South Western Railway and other train operators are looking for opportunities to improve efficiency and the value of the railway to the taxpayer.
While I acknowledge the attractiveness of the through service to Waterloo to passengers, there are increasing capacity issues elsewhere on the West of England line, especially beyond Salisbury, as leisure demand grows. Consequently, the industry is looking to ensure that it can maximise the use of the South Western Railway diesel fleet on the core Exeter route, to ensure that customers can have better journeys. This has led to the decision to withdraw services between London Waterloo and Bristol in December 2021.

Only three stations on the line will lose direct services to London; Bradford-on-Avon, Trowbridge and Oldfield Park, while all others stations will either have direct services to London Waterloo, using South Western Railway services, or to London Paddington with Great Western Railway services.

You may be aware that South Western Railway and Network Rail are also jointly consulting on the specification for the December 2022 timetable which will provide 93 per cent of the pre-Covid service level. This follows years of responding to additional passenger demand by increasing the number of services on the network. This new timetable is seen as an opportunity to match service-levels to expected demand, while improving the reliability of services and maximising value to the taxpayer. The new specification will act as the base timetable from which services can adapt in response to future changes in demand.

Your constituent is correct that Great Western Railway currently runs an hourly service between Bristol and Salisbury every day, which enables stations on the line to connect to South Western Railway's hourly service to London Waterloo from Salisbury. All stations will have services connecting directly into the Great Western Railway services from Bristol and Bath into London Paddington, which run twice per hour throughout the day.

These proposals will allow South Western Railway and Great Western Railway to consider how to provide attractive connections at Salisbury, whilst recognising the constraints of operating a reliable railway through many complex junctions on both routes, and the single line sections west of Salisbury. While it is regrettable that customers from Bradford-on-Avon, Trowbridge and Oldfield Park will now have to change trains at Westbury, Salisbury or Bath Spa to get to London this decision will remove duplication of services and improve overall value to the taxpayer.

MPs and Stakeholders were informed directly about the withdrawal of the Bristol services to London Waterloo in advance of the South Western Railway December 2022 timetable consultation at the end of July. Key stakeholders, including Transport Focus, MPs and other elected representatives, passenger and accessibility groups, and business and transport sectors, will be consulted by South Western Railway as part of the December 2022 timetable consultation.
Yours ever,

Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP
SECRETARY OF STATE FOR TRANSPORT

From the Secratary of State for Transport to the Andrew Murrison, MP covering Trowbridge, Westbury Dilton Marsh and Warminster stations, in answer to a message forwarded by the chair of the West Wilts Rail User Group:

It really is like banging your head against a brick wall, isn't it?

At least if you bang your head against a brick wall, you can FEEL something's happening even if it's just to you!

Heard (rumour or fact?) that a number of units are to be stored to save money. If true, does that mean that the implied increase in the units (for leisure travel) on the core Waterloo-Exeter route will actually occur. Remember that the Honiton/Axminster shuttles are also possible reductions in 2022.

One cant help but recall that images of stored Class 153 units and the like at Eastleigh back in 2006/2007 did not end well for the government of the day...

At the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, Ms Patel will announce an increase in the maximum sentence for disruption of a motorway and a new criminal offence for interfering with critical national infrastructures such as roads, railways and newspaper printing presses.

Police are also expected to be given wider stop and search powers allowing officers to inspect activists for "lock on" equipment used to prevent them from being moved.

From the BBC (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-58796805)


Darn it - that would criminalise getting on a SWR train at Oldfield Park or Trowbridge, chaining ourselves to seats and demanding to be taken to Waterloo, where someone would be waiting for us with a key to unlock us.  (Not a serious suggestion in the first place!)

With regards to the decision to withdraw South Western Railway services on the Bristol to Salisbury route, it should be first noted that this decision was made independently of the December 2022 Consultation and will take effect from the December 2021 timetable.

South Western Railway is withdrawing Bristol to Salisbury services to reduce duplication with Great Western Railway services as part of that requirement to look at efficiencies. South Western Railway acknowledge that this will make some through journeys less attractive at certain times of the day. The Department will work with the Great Western Railway to improve connections at Salisbury wherever possible.

Service melting away in advance of the December '21 timetable change. The 08:50 train from Bristol to Waterloo on Saturday being the sole survivor of the 6 days a week morning service pre-covid.

Changes to SWR West of England Line Services – Saturdays 9th October to 11th December inclusive

Dear stakeholder,

I am writing to advise you that we have unfortunately had to implement changes to SWR services on the West of England line between the above dates due to the ongoing shortage of drivers on the route.

On Saturdays from this weekend, SWR will no longer be running services between Bristol and Salisbury, and the stopping service from Salisbury to London Waterloo will terminate at Basingstoke.

This is not something we wanted to do but felt it is the only way to give our customers certainty and stability over the next few weeks following an extended period of ad-hoc and short-notice service reductions on recent weekends.
The underlying cause of these issues is a shortage of available drivers, due to the extensive disruption Covid restrictions have caused to our new driver training programme over the past year. The delay to newly trained drivers passing out of our Salisbury depot has been further compounded by problems securing replacement buses and taxis.
 
We are very sorry about this and are looking at how to improve the availability of these for both unplanned disruption and engineering works. There are no simple solutions to this industry wide problem which will take time to resolve, and we felt it was important to have a robust plan in place over the next few weeks that customers could rely on.

The changes are planned until the December timetable change, when all SWR services between Bristol and Salisbury will be withdrawn. However, we do expect to have trained sufficient new drivers to offer the full planned service between Salisbury and London Waterloo.

Once again, we are very sorry for the disruption this will cause to our customers and would be grateful if you could help publicise the news to ensure customers are as aware as possible, noting there are also engineering works planned for some Sundays during this period. We will be using social media, our website and information channels at stations to publicise the changes from today.

I have attached a Q&A document that provides further background and detail but please do not hesitate to contact me if you need further information.

Regards


Steve Tyler – Director of Performance and Planning

West of England Saturday Reductions October to December 2021
Q&A

What is changing and when?

There will be some changes to West of England line services between Bristol, Salisbury and London Waterloo on Saturdays only between Saturday 9th October and Saturday 11th December 2021 inclusive. This is due to an ongoing shortage of train drivers due to the covid-19 pandemic. Note that engineering works will further affect journeys on some weekends – please see separate information about these dates on our website at [insert link].
We are very sorry that we have to do this due to a shortage of drivers.

The main changes can be summarised as follows subject to variations due to engineering works:
* Salisbury to London Waterloo stopping services will terminate at Basingstoke – customers will need to change at Basingstoke for onward services to Woking, Clapham Junction and Waterloo
* London Waterloo to Salisbury services will start at Basingstoke. Customers travelling from Waterloo, Clapham Junction and Woking will need to catch an earlier service and change at Basingstoke
* SWR services between Salisbury and Bristol will not run. Customers will need to use connecting GWR services via a change at Salisbury. Customers to / from Warminster and Westbury may be able to use the Salisbury – Yeovil via Westbury services which will continue to run.
* SWR services to Yeovil Pen Mill / Yeovil Junction via Westbury will run as normal.
* SWR services between Exeter St Davids and London Waterloo will run as normal

Why are you doing this – aren’t most Covid issues now over?

Whilst short term covid absences have indeed reduced we still have an ongoing shortage of train drivers on the West of England route due to the backlog in training new drivers. Like other train operators we lose a number of drivers each year, primarily due to retirement. Unfortunately, due to Covid, we have been unable to train sufficient new drivers in the short term to match those leaving. This in turn means that we have to ask existing drivers to volunteer to work on their rest days to cover the current timetable. This is more difficult to achieve at weekends.

We are continuing to train new drivers as quickly as possible whilst maintaining staff safety. We expect to be able to return to a full complement of drivers for the route from the timetable change date in December (Sunday 12th December).

You have managed to cover most weekends up until now – why are you now doing this every weekend until December?

Regular customers will know that we have unfortunately not been able to run the planned service on a number of weekends over the summer and autumn of this year. We recognise that this has caused considerable difficulties for many. In the past we have tried to cover short notice shortages with buses and taxis but it has proved very difficult to do so due to driver shortages and increasing demand in these industries. We are working closely with or suppliers to try and improve the availability of replacement bus and taxi services for both planned (i.e. engineering works) and unplanned disruption as quickly as possible.

Rather than continue to make short-notice cancellations, we reluctantly believe it is better to provide our customers with the certainty of a more stable but reduced service. We know this will disappoint many of our customers and are sorry for the impact it will have on their journeys.

Taking this planned approach means that we will have much more certainty about driver availability and should more easily be able to cover any normal short notice absences such as sickness which are more likely as winter approaches.

There have been a number of weekends with engineering works on the West of England line. The resulting reduction in train services has correspondingly reduced the requirement for drivers. We recognise there have still however been issues with the reliability and availability of the replacement bus and taxi services as noted above.

Why just Saturdays?

We run a more intensive service on this route on Saturdays compared to Sundays and therefore need more drivers.
 
Won’t there be overcrowding on the remaining services?

We recognise that there will be increased demand on the through Waterloo to Exeter services. We will therefore do our utmost to strengthen these services to eight or nine carriage trains although this won’t be possible in every case.

Isn’t this just another way of saving money?

No – we will aim to utilise all the available rolling stock on the remaining services to maximise capacity. We will also have more drivers available to cover short term absences subject to rest day working.

This effectively means you are bringing forward the December 2021 withdrawal of SWR Bristol services to now without the need to consult?

The changes will apply to Saturdays only – Sunday services will be unaffected unless there are planned engineering works.

We recognise that the impact on the Bristol route is far from ideal and this was not our planned intention. We know that these services have been attractive to many but it would have been very difficult to reliably run these services these services on Saturdays over the next few months. We believe it is better to have certainty and clarity rather than short notice changes each Saturday.

This decision has had to be made at short notice and we are now contacting other rail operators including GWR to alert them to the changes and ask them to consider potential strengthening of their services where possible.
To maintain the last connection between Bristol Temple Meads and Salisbury, a replacement bus will operate from Westbury to Salisbury on Saturdays, calling at Warminster. This connects out of GWR service - 2209 Bristol Temple Meads to Westbury (arrives 22:56)

The trains that would have been used on these and the Salisbury – Waterloo services will be used to strengthen the Exeter – Waterloo services to minimise overcrowding, particularly between Salisbury and Waterloo.

Service melting away in advance of the December '21 timetable change. The 08:50 train from Bristol to Waterloo on Saturday being the sole survivor of the 6 days a week morning service pre-covid.

https://twitter.com/SW_Help/status/1445751751819227137

We're sorry but due to Covid disrupting our driver training programme, from Saturday we will no longer be running Saturday services between Bristol & Salisbury, and the stopping service from Salisbury to London Waterloo will terminate at Basingstoke.

It appears that the sole announcement that direct trains between Bristol and Waterloo have ceased as of this weekend is that single tweet from South Western Railway.

There will be a few would be travellers on Saturday who will be taken aback, though perhaps fewer than there would otherwise have been - as for the next three weekends the through service would have been bustituted at various locations east of Salisbury. How the bustitutions fit with the usual full scale horror of the usual 50-59 minute connections at Salisbury I've not yet worked out.

Mark

Article in the Wiltshire Times here: https://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/19630280.meeting-called-trowbridge-cuts-south-western-railway-services/

I have always travelled on the 9.28 train from Trowbridge to Waterloo. Because I can book up early I could usually secure a first-class seat for LESS than a standard class seat, and travel in relative comfort all the way. It was a very enjoyable experience. Now it's a scrunched-up trip to Salisbury in a deplorable GW 165 unit, change there and go as far as Basingstoke ... then change again! The difference is breathtaking and unacceptable. The train companies are poisoning the well to deter customers (and have succeeded with me) in a way the old British Rail could only dream of. It's patently obvious that they simply don't want our business.

Probably the best media coverage of the issue to date: https://theweekin.co.uk/news/latest-breaking-news/campaign-to-fight-end-of-bristol-to-waterloo-through-trains/

One has to wonder what will happen with the fares structure to London.

My name is Claire Mann and I am the Managing Director of South Western Railway. I am responding as the matters you raise largely concern our proposed December 2022 timetable.
 
We recognise that services currently from Bradford-upon-Avon to London Waterloo via Salisbury do not match the timetable from before the COVID 19 pandemic, and It is correct that  we are withdrawing direct Bradford on Avon to London Waterloo services from December 2021.
 
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, SWR – like all train operators – have been supported by the Government and taxpayers to keep services running for key workers. As a result, we  recognise that we need to run a service that efficiently meets customer demand, which remains well below pre-pandemic levels.
 
In line with this, we have sought to identify areas of duplication across the network where the removal of services would reduce the burden on the taxpayer, while not having a significant  effect on services for commuters or school flows. Given the volume of services operated between Salisbury and Bristol by GWR and the large proportion of leisure travel on the SWR services, we are confident the withdrawal of our services between will not materially  impact key flows of commuter or school traffic and agreed with the Department for Transport to realise the cost savings as soon as possible.
 
In the longer term, many connections from the Bristol direction will improve from December 2022, when we propose to reinstate the two through trains per hour between Salisbury and  London Waterloo. We will also work with Great Western Railway to improve the connections at Salisbury further wherever possible as part of development of the December 22 timetable.
 
I hope this clarifies the matters raised in your email to Matthew Gregory. Please do let us know if you have any further questions or comments on the proposed December 2022 timetable.

Typical meaningless corporate verbiage ....................what did Greta say ? "Blah, blah, blah ......."

For balance, and in the interest of fairness and objectivity, it would be informative to see the original correspondence from the mysterious "correspondent in Bradford-on-Avon"?

From last month ... (dated 21st September) to a correspondent in Bradford-on-Avon and now shared

In line with this, we have sought to identify areas of duplication across the network where the removal of services would reduce the burden on the taxpayer, while not having a significant  effect on services for commuters or school flows. Given the volume of services operated between Salisbury and Bristol by GWR and the large proportion of leisure travel on the SWR services, we are confident the withdrawal of our services between will not materially  impact key flows of commuter or school traffic and agreed with the Department for Transport to realise the cost savings as soon as possible.

Andrew Haines shows his mettle in this article. (https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/network-rail-chief-tips-restoration-of-abandoned-lines-as-key-to-industrys-future-30-04-2021/)

With his backing for rail reopenings, a “welcoming” and “reliable” railway that minimises disruption and encourages travel, developing leisure traffic, and facilitating an "end to end service", he acheives that most rare of things, a conference speech by a Network Rail executive that I find difficult to disagree with.

Has Haines finally found his "Burning Platform for Change" ?

At the RIA Innovation Conference, Haines emphasised that tapping into the leisure travel market could also have a role to play in sustaining the railway long-term. However he said passengers need an "end to end service".

“So often when I look at where I want to go at the weekend it’s great if I’m happy to walk three miles from the railway station to the place of historic interest or walk but that’s not viable for a lot of people," he said.

Network Rail will also consider when it undertakes maintenance work to perhaps facilitate more leisure travel, with a large amount of renewals currently taking place over weekends and bank holidays.

Is it this: she's saying that she's fighting the previous battle, not the current one?

Mark

The way I read it from Claire Mann's comments, particularly the one Lee highlights,  is that this is being driven by Government policy to prioritise commuter/school routes (which generate more income) than a primarily leisure route such as the one in question, especially where there is the potential for duplication,  and save money since the railways have been sucking up even more vast amounts of subsidy than usual in order to keep services running during the COVID period?

Were this to be a battle that SWR were inclined to fight, if they've been given this direction by Government, is there much hope of them winning it, and perhaps campaigning should be targeted at the DfT, rather than SWR - Organ grinder v Monkey?

Apologies if I'm reading it wrong.

Were this to be a battle that SWR were inclined to fight, if they've been given this direction by Government, is there much hope of them winning it, and perhaps campaigning should be targeted at the DfT, rather than SWR - Organ grinder v Monkey?

Apologies if I'm reading it wrong.

The Department for Transport has specified that the direct trains from Bristol, Keynsham, Bath, Bradford-on-Avon and Trowbridge to London (Waterloo) via Salisbury cease in December (2021). We ask that they continue to run pending consultation and effective ongoing provision.

Sunday night. Petition now north of 1000. Good work, Graham.

These are my own personal opinions.

I do think swr planning on using the class158/159's saved from scrapping the Bristol service to boost capacity elsewhere

Hopefully tfws class 158s should be available sometime in the  next 2 years i suspect they will be getting snapped up

Use it or lose it?

Your spelling is loose, I think you mean lose.  :)

I could of taken you're advise, but I had no time too loose - so ignored it.  ;)

1470 signatures. When Graham said he intended to start a parliamentary petition, I laughed. I'm not laughing now.

An open letter to Trowbridge elected representatives (MP, Unitary Councillors, Town Councillors)

Dear Sir / Madam

After 10th December 2021, there will no longer be any through trains at all from London to Trowbridge, unless there is a late change of plans. The Saturday service (which was often full and standing) ceased last Saturday, with Sunday and Monday to Friday services run by South Western Railway ceasing in the lead up to Christmas

What an astonishing way to treat our growing county town, at a time when we are being encouraged to use public transport more for climate, clean air, congestion and other reasons.

May I draw your attention to the petition I have created at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/598397 asking the Department for Transport to leave the service in place through 2022, pending consultation and the provision of acceptable alternatives. This approach is recommended by Transport Focus, the Department for Transport's own passenger watchdog.

Please sign the petition. Please pass it on to friends and colleagues. Please raise the matter with the councils on which you sit. Wiltshire Council is the "Local Transport Authority" with legal responsibilities, and the Town Council has a great deal of influence too in matters such as this which relate to the economy, well being of the town, and local environmental issues too.

There is a great deal more written at http://www.passenger.chat/25503 and user stories at https://www.twotunnels.org.uk/waterloo/quotes.html

There is a public meeting in Trowbridge on 20th October 2021 - near the station, of course, and connecting with the train in question for those from other towns involved. Also on Zoom - code will be at http://www.passenger.chat/25522 and there's a meeting poster at http://www.wwrug.org.uk/flyer.html and at http://www.passenger.chat/bri-wat_20211020.pdf .

You may ask "why did you, Graham, create this petition - you don't even live in Trowbridge". This is not just a Bradford-on-Avon issue, and someone, somewhere needed to alert people in Keynsham, Oldfield Park, Bradford-on-Avon, Trowbridge and Warminster all of whom loose all (or all but one early morning) though trains from London. To alert people in Bristol and Bath who loose their through trains from south London, and Westbury who are down to just one train from South London, leaving Waterloo before 8 a.m. *Someone* had to put their individual name to it. It's a service I use (connecting in at Trowbridge from the x34c bus) and I know a lot of the people involved too - so I start from more insight to the case better than many.

The meeting on 20th October is promoted by the West Wilts Rail User Group, Railfuture (Severnside), the Two Tunnels project, Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways, The Coffee Shop Passenger Forum, and TravelWatch SouthWest (TWSW) - groups along the line and in the region coming together.

The objective of the petition and meeting has to be to get a MORE APPROPRIATE DECISION IMPLEMENTED and not just to "raise a stink" after which we roll over quietly. The Department for Transport and SWR's MD have already given (various different (!)) explanations that, frankly, don't hold much water and are based on poor, outdated, and even wrong data, and there's an easy solution, with the first step already recommended by their own watchdog. So the petition and meeting are a step in a process - the outcome sought is the service running 5 trains each way per day (as it was at the start of last year) for 2022, and for 2023 probably a train every hour or two, with the new houlry trains planned for that year on MetroWest extending beyond West Wilts to Salisbury where it becomes the London, Brighton or Romsey train. Forward looking, green, sustainable economically, good for Trowbridge and very much in line with the Great British Railway agenda.

Please do feel free to get in touch with any questions, to forward this email, to come to the meeting (limited physical space, but a very big zoom meeting I expect), to write to your MP (sorry, Andrew!). Thank you for your help, and I look forward to seeing you on the train next year!

Graham

Graham Ellis - graham@wellho.net
01225 708225 or 0797 4 925 928
48, Spa Road, Melksham, SN12 7NY
* Well House Consultants Ltd
* Webmaster at Coffee Shop forum
* Melksham Town Councillor for South Ward
* Vice Chair Melksham Transport User Group

1470 signatures. When Graham said he intended to start a parliamentary petition, I laughed. I'm not laughing now.

(http://grahamellis.uk/images/watpox.jpg)

Transport changes - e-Scooters are legally available for hire in Bath. Next month, the railway line to Okehampton re-opens for regular passenger trains for the first time since 1972. And in December, Trowbridge and Bradford-on-Avon look set to LOSE their through train service from London.

Time passes, positive and planned changes are welcome, but withdrawing the though London trains to our county town, at a time when people are returning from Covid onto the trains, and at a time we want to encourage more use, without providing an adequate alternative and without public consultation is just - well - it just defies belief! These trains have always been popular and have become full and standing at times, again, on Covid return. Logic is to leave them in place for a further year, at which point extra "MetroWest" trains are running and the can be end-to-end joined to continue a regular, clock-face, strategic, attractive service.

The question comes "why are they being withdrawn". Different people give different stories. A Freedom of Information request has been stalled by the Department for transport while they do a "complex public interest" test, and that has me wondering what they want to hide. My personal view is that the Department for Transport wants to save money and thought removal of this service would be a soft target - not realising how busy it is, how popular it is. They also appear to be setting a precedent of not consulting - even their own watchdog says they should.

Over the last week, I have been helping co-ordinate the West Wilts Rail User Group, Two Tunnels, Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways, Railfuture (Severnside Branch) TravelWatch Southwest, and the Coffee Shop forum to raise the profile of these services. Melksham retains all its train services in December - we are lucky - but we should support others as they have supported us in the past. And in any case, the trains being withdrawn are ones we connect into.

We’ve carefully considered the passenger impact of this proposal. GWR services between Salisbury and Bristol have been lengthened in recent years following the introduction of 5 car trains and turbo rolling stock. Further developments on this corridor are planned through Metro West and other schemes and given projected customer numbers there is little commercial need for SWR services which do not provide part of the regular clockface service on that route.

Anyone on LinkedIn?   New article which should be public :
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/more-through-trains-london-graham-ellis
Please feel free to share, promote, etc, that.

Anyone on LinkedIn?   New article which should be public :
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/more-through-trains-london-graham-ellis
Please feel free to share, promote, etc, that.

I've just noticed this in the Bristol Post: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/local-news/calls-grow-save-valued-london-6048373
"The fact is that Paddington and Waterloo are two very different destinations."
Mentions a Mark Annand and one Graham Ellis.

I was browsing through the West Dorset WATAG minutes of their meeting 23rd September. The report on rail services suggests that the units saved by the withdrawal of the Bristol services and Yeovil shorts will be mothballed and not, as claimed, used to strengthen services to Exeter.
https://transportactiongroup.files.wordpress.com/2021/10/115-sept21.pdf (https://transportactiongroup.files.wordpress.com/2021/10/115-sept21.pdf)

(I have asked for a downloadable copy to share here)

Early version of the Hansard record of the debate is here (https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2021-10-22/debates/F5B848D4-2659-4293-B29B-9E21FECF538F/RailServiceReductions).

That's a really useful summary: can you sling a PDF version - with the text in it as text, please?

The reason they're axing it is not a lot of people use it, if they axe it that frees up stock to be used on busier services and there are alternatives !

That is utter rubbish! Nearly every one of them is at full seated capacity!

When I've used it, it's been crushed standing room only. I'll sign.

The petition has just reached 4000 signatures  :)

Don't know if anyone has seen this ?

The petition has just reached 4000 signatures  :)

So glad you have signed. We use these trains a lot. They go via Salisbury and Basingstoke to London Waterloo - right by the Embankment and the Royal Festival Hall (for concerts).... and cheaper than going to Paddington. It would be a crying shame to lose it.

Have just seen on the lunchtime BBC Points West that a new bus service is to be introduced between Bristol and Bath. Is this to replace the SWR rail service ???

#Budget2021 allows us to continue revolutionising UK transport ...

Cleaner, greener, faster, more connected

and a graphic showing £5.7bn for rail

Does that public tansport funding include funding to retain the popular and very busy through London services via our county town of Trowbridge which are being culled in December - see https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/598397 or are you going ahead with taking that service costing £ off while you promise £££££ elsewhere?

The Chancellor has announced £2.6 billion for local road upgrades across the South West which will see the A350 in Chippenham upgraded.

This will mean a new slip road by the roundabout at Pets at Home, Chippenham which will dramatically help reduce the traffic congestion from Bumpers Farm. I have listened to the dire problems people who work on Bumpers Farm are facing getting in and out and asked the Chancellor and Transport Ministers to invest to sort the problem. Today we have delivered!!

It will also mean the dualing a section of the road to improve capacity and safety at two roundabouts (one above plus one near Sainsbury’s). The project will deliver in 2023.

I was elected to push our needs in Westminster and I will continue to push every door to deliver for our constituency.

Thank you for promoting this, and congratulations on the Restoring Your Railways funding for Corsham Station studies too. Has funding been found to continue through the very popular through train service from London to Bradford-on-Avon which was to be culled in December? https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/598397

Campaigners fight to save key Wiltshire train route to London Waterloo

An online petition has already gathered over 4,000 signatures since it was launched

SWR new National Rail contract is online today:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/first-mtr-south-western-trains-limited-2021-rail-contract

I haven’t looked into the documents but it includes a new business plan and TSR that might be of interest.

Tables C1 and C2 indicate one up and three down services between Temple Meads and Waterloo, Monday to Friday, three each way on Saturdays and 2 up, 3 down on Sunday.

Climb down? Error? Have I misread it?

4. RAIL SERVICES
4.1 The Operator shall at all times during the Contract Term:
(a) provide and operate the Rail Services specified in the National Rail Contract;
(b) carry out the Station Services and the Light Maintenance Services; and
(c) be permitted to carry out the Ancillary Services.

Chapter 4.1
Service Development
1. Train Service Requirement
1.1 The Train Service Requirement is the specification of the Passenger Services to be provided by the Operator during the Contract Term.
1.2 The Train Service Requirement shall remain in force unless and until amended or replaced pursuant to this Chapter 4.1.

8. Development of Proposals for Passenger Service Enhancements
8.1 In delivering improvements to Passenger Services (which may include service decrements), the Operator shall co-operate with Network Rail, the Secretary of State and where appropriate, other operators to identify options (the “Passenger Services Enhancement Options”).
8.2 The Passenger Services Enhancement Options shall:
(a) respond to changes in travel patterns and increases and decreases in demand;
(b) improve network performance;
(c) propose/take advantage of changes to the existing infrastructure;
(d) propose/take advantage of changes in rolling stock capability or reliability as a result of changes in the Train Fleet;
(e) improve overall industry cost efficiency and/or reduce in costs in relation to any or all parts of the railway network;
(f) promote decarbonisation and other environmental improvements (in addition to the Secretary of State’s goals and ambitions on decarbonisation for rolling stock as set out in the rolling stock part of the Business Plan);
(g) propose the reopening of disused, freight-only or new railway routes to passenger services; or
(h) support any government policy objective,
including for this purpose any such options which arise after the expiry of the Contract Term.
8.3 Processes contained in this paragraph 8 shall take place in accordance with procedural arrangements and timescales stipulated by the Secretary of State pursuant to paragraph 9.2 of this Chapter 4.1.

3. Consultation on Alterations to the Timetable
3.1 If the Secretary of State is of the opinion that the proposed alterations to the Timetable represent a material alteration, the Secretary of State will require the Operator to undertake a consultation exercise, the scope of which must be agreed in advance with the Secretary of State.

SWR new National Rail contract is online today:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/first-mtr-south-western-trains-limited-2021-rail-contract

I haven’t looked into the documents but it includes a new business plan and TSR that might be of interest.

This direct award rail contract replaces the previous South Western Railways 2017 rail franchise agreement contract.

No it isn't. It's the ERMA ending in May 2023

If anyone finds one of those, let me know.  To hell with climate change…I’ll buy a ticket!  ;)

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

Four train services put forward for culling by the Department for Transport.

One is ours from Bristol to London (Waterloo) via Salisbury by South Western Railway. The other three were redacted by the Department for Transport in my Freedom of Information request - see image.

Could one of the other three services to be culled be YOURS?

Please sign the petition at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/598397 to help avoid a precedent being set. Please share this post. Read more via http://www.passenger.chat

Inset is the threatened service, picture taken within the last week, giving lie to "low passenger number" guesses.

Written by the Department for Transport's technical team: "SWR last FTM asked SoS to agree to use Dec-22 in Dec-21, which is undefined, without a Timetable to show or consult, no consultation, and limited (well actually by the aforementioned apparently none at all) service modelling"

So they are looking for "quick wins" to make a political point ... " That would be great – esp if we can demonstrate progress to CHH by end of month?"

No it isn't. It's the ERMA ending in May 2023

From around 19:00  on Facebook last night:
https://www.facebook.com/MichelleDonelanChippenham/posts/2557993741001878

Michelle Donelan MP
Today at COP26, over 100 global leaders representing 85% of the world's forests will take decisive action to end deforestation by 2030. 
This pledge includes almost £14 billion of public and private funds. Countries signing the pledge include: Canada, Brazil, Russia, China, Indonesia, the US and the UK and many more.
This is the biggest step forward in protecting the world's forests in a generation.
Forests are truly the lungs of our planet and absorb around one third of the global CO2 released from burning fossil fuels each year. Currently, an area of forest the size of 27 football pitches is lost every minute.
May be an image of tree and text that says 'PREVENT THE LOSS OF THE WORLD'S LUNGS BY PLANTING TRE TREES'

Graham Ellis
Hi, Michelle - more locally, plans to cull through trains from London to Bradford-on-Avon in your consitituency will be driving people back into private cars for long journeys. Over 1200 of your voters have signed a petition asking you to get the Department for Transport to reverse the axe, and backup material explains why this would be a sensible thing to do. Help your local popularity if you can do this for us too, and reduce carbon in the first place. See https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/598397 (other readers - please sign!)

Michelle Donelan MP
Graham Ellis I have met with the Rail Minister, written to South West Rail and to the Secretary of State for Transport. Will keep you posted as keep trying.

Graham Ellis
Michelle Donelan MP Thank you - please do keep trying. So many people are still taken by surprise when they hear the trains are going - it used to be "Use it or lose it" but this time its "use it AND lose it" - the trains to be culled still full and standing even in the last two weeks. DfT need to take another look and not just defend the indefensible ... go on, Michelle, you're a minister - have them take another look. We as a community would be very happy to help market like we did at Melksham where we got 25 x growth and it's GREEN growth. Win, win ...

...it used to be "Use it or lose it"...

UK: After speaking to a range of senior industry figures, almost all on condition of anonymity, @RailBusinessUK
 can confirm widespread concern that significant investment is coming to an end after three decades of rail growth, with major implications

Meanwhile, on Twitter: 'Thread' - as they say.

https://twitter.com/RailBusinessUK/status/1455866344424022016

UK: After speaking to a range of senior industry figures, almost all on condition of anonymity, @RailBusinessUK
 can confirm widespread concern that significant investment is coming to an end after three decades of rail growth, with major implications 1/9

Article here: (free) registration required:
https://www.railwaygazette.com/uk/rails-growth-agenda-evaporates-as-treasury-takes-control/60218.article?clearcache=1

To Bristol, one must assume  ;D

Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)
In Bath, we are still waiting for the full electrification of our lines, so perhaps the Minister will take that on board too. The direct line from Oldfield Park station in Bath to London Waterloo will be cancelled in December. Will the Minister reconsider these service cuts, which will make travel into south London nearly three times more expensive for my constituents and force them to use the underground while covid cases are rising?

Chris Heaton-Harris
On the hon. Lady’s last point, using the underground—and other trains—is one of the safest methods of transport in the covid pandemic. I believe that the air on the underground is exchanged every three minutes, and on trains every six minutes. They are perfectly safe. She referred to the consultation that has just finished on South Western Railway services, and she is quite correct: passenger numbers on that service are remarkably low. I will happily meet her to go through that, and we can talk about how we can improve those services.

From today's Parliamentary Transport Questions

Mods: May I suggest that this deserves a topic of its own under "Wider Picture"?

What question was that an answer to?

What question was that an answer to?

Q: What is the most irrelevant and uninformative answer the Minister can invent while still mentioning trains?

Coverage in 'MyLondon'...

https://www.mylondon.news/news/uk-world-news/beautiful-countryside-towns-set-lose-22077363

Mark

As one dog appears to carry more weight than 5,314  humans do (so far) with SWR, can we find any canine season ticket holders on the Temple Meads to Waterloo service ?  Even Grant Shapps has sided with the dog !!

We daily see various companies and organisations within Britain's fragmented railway industry, which ought to be burnishing its credentials as by far the greenest way of making all but short local journeys, and doing everything in their power to get folk back into trains following the disastrous effects of Covid, shooting themselves in the foot with all sorts of crass and ill-thought-out actions. This, however, takes the biscuit (no pun intended). For goodness' sake, South Western Railway, and parent company First Group, what planet are you on?

This is politics out of touch with the needs of human beings - shame on SW trains!

Utterly ridiculous decision and totally out of tune with the general public.

What's the final date by which a decision on these services has to be made?

06:34 Salisbury to Cheltenham Spa due 09:03

Facilities on the 06:34 Salisbury to Cheltenham Spa due 09:03.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 3.

07:19 Salisbury to Cardiff Central due 09:48

Facilities on the 07:19 Salisbury to Cardiff Central due 09:48.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Will be formed of 4 coaches instead of 5.

17:42 Salisbury to Cardiff Central due 19:49

Facilities on the 17:42 Salisbury to Cardiff Central due 19:49.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Will be formed of 4 coaches instead of 5.

21:42 Salisbury to Cardiff Central due 23:49

Facilities on the 21:42 Salisbury to Cardiff Central due 23:49.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 3.

Sorry to have to say it, but I have little confidence in GWR providing specified capacity - stock shortage to what's specified has become routine.  It's been going on for a long time and should have been fixed according to promises and commitments long ago.

Wera Hobhouse the MP for Bath and North East Somerset to meet the minister for transport, as reported in the Bath Echo.

https://www.bathecho.co.uk/news/politics/mp-meet-transport-minister-train-service-cancellation-96441/

Sorry to have to say it, but I have little confidence in GWR providing specified capacity - stock shortage to what's specified has become routine.  It's been going on for a long time and should have been fixed according to promises and commitments long ago.

It would seem that new specifications talking of route capacity are based on the false premise that the GWR services routinely run, and run to the number of carriages timetabled / contracted and to timetable too.  So I dread to think what we will see next year if we're 7 services down northwards from Salisbury.  Please don't promise me that "it will be fixed" and "GWR will provide [almost] all services, on time and at specified length" - heard it before, and it hasn't happened, so why should it this time;  promises more in hope than expectation, DfT decisions based on theory not on what's going on in practise.

There will be little improvement until the 769s allow for lots more Turbos to head west.

Sadly, I think you're right ... but that leads to a couple of questions:
1. When will the 769s be releasing turbos?
2. Why can't the units that would have run services elsewhere in GB that aren't back yet be used short term to cover the gap?

And for how many years have we been told "JAM TOMORROW" WRT to rolling stock provision and capacity improvements ?

The 769s were first mentioned here as - I recall - a relatively quick and cheap way of getting more trains compared to new build - in the spring of 2018. Not sure when the plan was to have them running, but it does seem to have taken a lot longer than most of us would probably have wished - approaching 4 years now.

This isn't a 5 coach train - this is a GWR 5 coach train !!!              (1012 from Warminster this morning - see my earlier post)

(https://i.postimg.cc/QdMY2Mdt/JWN02228-ARW-Dx-O-Deep-PRIME.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/w7SkJgJ8)

RTT has now been amended - that leaves the mid afternoon "shuffle" as the only 5 coach movements here today.

So, now, we're in a time when Crosscountry has walked away from Bristol to Manchester, and Transport for Wales are strengthening services up the Welsh borders and to Manchester - and Bristol can benefit as long as the connections at Newport aren't too dreadful but an obstacle is going to be - to return to Lee's word, a lack of coherence, applied in services and policy.

Going between two large cities such as Bristol to Manchester via Newport featuring one of TfW's often crowded Marches Route trains (I await any potential strengthening with interest!) really shouldn't be an option taking at least an hour longer than the old direct service...even with a good connection.

Asking TfW via Twitter a moment ago, the Cardiff to Manchester services using Mark IV carriages starts in 2023. That's only... is it 4 sets, so not all services of course, and I should have asked them at the same time when the other services on the line receives new stock with more space. Their web site states 2023 for Cardiff to Liverpool, this via Wrexham so not Crewe. They've a page on revised dates for new services and yes, it appears that some of the runs along the borders line will still be two or three carriage trains - if for the Marches line they can clarify the dates, the increase in seating and frequency of services that'll be helpful and I'll suggest it to them.

https://news.tfw.wales/news/transport-for-wales-outline-dates-for-additional-train-services

Dr Andrew Murrison
(South West Wiltshire) (Con)
My right hon. Friend is right to say that not every city, town and village will benefit from this plan, but one thing is for sure, which is that they will all be paying for it and there are opportunity costs. Does he understand the disquiet of my constituents about HS2 and now this plan, given that he has limited bandwidth and what he is spending on one project is not being spent on upgrading services elsewhere? Will he throw my constituents a small crumb by delaying the planned closure of services from Bristol Temple Meads to Waterloo via Trowbridge and Salisbury, pending a proper consultation that will show very clearly that the Great Western Railway service he thinks duplicates services run by South Western Railway is over capacity now and certainly will be once he closes the GWR service?

Grant Shapps
My right hon. Friend is right that every decision has a trade-off, which is why it is important that we think about the country as a whole. He will be pleased to hear that I was down in the south-west yesterday using South Western Railway, and I appreciate the importance of that service. I will ensure that he meets the Rail Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Daventry (Chris Heaton-Harris), to discuss his specific concerns.

The petition has just reached 6000 signatures  :)

Update / status report at http://waterloo.savethetrain.org.uk/stat_20211122.pdf - labelled "version 0.9" - please let me know of any significant errors that need correcting!

Update / status report at http://waterloo.savethetrain.org.uk/stat_20211122.pdf - labelled "version 0.9" - please let me know of any significant errors that need correcting!

In practise - if you change at Salisbury your short wait is only to / from the local train to
Basingstoke where you have another change and wait (for the train that's come from Salisbury
anyway) for Woking, Clapham Junction or Waterloo.
In practise - from Keynsham or Oldfield Park you'll need to change at Westbury as well as
Salisbury
In practise - whilst there ARE lifts, changing at Bath can be problematic ... and then you end
up in Paddington and if you're headed for south London there are more lifts and stairs to
navigate onto and off the underground.

Now 2 years since we were promised that all trains would be 5 carriages but last
week (for example) just 14 carriages were operation on the hourly semi-fast service - that's
just 56%.

Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP
@grantshapps

12h
In another boost for regional connectivity, I have also committed another two years funding for the London-Dundee route Airplane departure

And in another example of levelling down regional connectivity, you are AXING the London to Trowbridge and beyond railway route,  @grantshapps - see https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/598397

Taxpayer to continue to underwrite the Heathrow to Newquay (Cornwall) route. Wonder if the aircraft as it passes West Wiltshire, is in range of a camera.

https://twitter.com/grantshapps/status/1462799121413246983

(Delighted to announce we have reached an agreement to keep funding direct flights from London to @Newquay_Airport – part of maintaining crucial regional transport links which help to level up the UK )

I dont mind government subsidy for the Night Riveria, or indeed trains in general. The sleeper is almost certainly greener* than flying or driving.

I think also that it shouldn't be forgotten that when the government of the day tried to axe the Night Riviera in 2005/2006, there was a huge groundswell of opposition, to an extent rarely seen in rail consultations (remember those?), and it does appear to be one of those rail services that the public not only want to retain, but they have a genuine affection for as well.

I'm sure the case can be made for the Night Riviera subsidy and similarly I can't imagine that the good people of Cornwall (or their MPs) would exactly be turning cartwheels of joy if they were to lose their air links to London either, particularly post Brexit.

Sorry to be the harbinger of doom. Here’s the SWR Waterloo to Exeter December timetable with a part missing  :(
https://www.southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey/~/media/e10a740ad24d42a0bb38e693050fcd03.ashx

It also shows train services between:
l Bristol Temple Meads, Bath Spa, Yeovil Pen Mill and
London Waterloo - see timetable 20A

Except that 20A shows white space against Bristol-Trowbridge.

Too ashamed to show connections?

The SWR Stakeholder Conference was today. In the slides (http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/mirror/SWR_Nov_21_Conference.pdf) not one mention of Bristol or Exeter.  Salisbury is there four times ...

The rest of the day was inward looking and lacked transparency on the Salisbury-Bristol-Waterloo issue.  Emphasis was placed on the 20 passengers they recorded using the route and estimated 12 who make the change there.

Ongoing analysis of the timetable consultation responses and working with the DfT to agree next steps meant SWR were unwilling to say much.  I felt they made a bit of a mess of explaining the withdrawal of the Waterloo Bristol services even with two goes at it.  They did, however,  say they are working with GWR on connections which prompted [redacted] to ask why they aren’t working with local authorities and STBs as well.

1F14 leaves for CDF at 11:42
1L25 arrives from WAT at 11:43
1F16 leaves for CDF at 12:42
1L29 arrives from WAT at 12:43

On 49 - 60 minute connections... "They have tried and failed to find these" ??

This made me chuckle. A tight Usenet thread from *18* years ago - on the Bristol to Waterloo services - a time when SWT had just taken them on.

A strong groundhog vibe to some of this, and while, yes, apparently I attended a West Wilts User Group meeting in Bradford on Avon that had had an SWT representative as a speaker, I've scant recollection of having done so let alone making notes and slinging them to Usenet. But... the internet never forgets...

So, let's set the dials back to 2003, and I kick off a thread with

"Anyone here used the new (BRI to WAT) SWT service yet?"

https://uk.railway.narkive.com/I5OeoQgV/bristol-to-waterloo

The trains turned into a real embarrassment when in rearranging Waterloo, the SRA wanted to kill them, and then found that, awkwardly for everyone, demand was buoyant, especially east of Bristol.

When when news of their demise escaped, letters started to land on everyone's desks, 3000 signature petitions started flying about even from West Wiltshire: so the SRA bowed to political pressure and requested that SWT look at the service and make some proposals.

With regards to Salisbury, one of his assistants quite candidly stated that many Salisbury connections had been deliberately broken some years ago, as passengers from the Bristol direction were delaying London bound trains on tight cross platform connections

ORR passenger usage of stations 2020-2021

https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/usage/estimates-of-station-usage

My eye was caught by the figure of ~40,000 interchanges at Salisbury as that sound like SWR's favourite quote of '20 per train' for the through Bristol Waterloo services. But then, this is 'Coronavirus year' with all manner of things being thrown at the system. I've not yet waded into the data for previous years...

Mark

It is not just the Bristol services, a points failure at Yeovil Pen Mill has led to the cancellation of all SWT services using the station since Wednesday, 24th.

GWR services were cancelled until mid-afternoon the same day and have been running ever since.
Now SWT Help are saying that this state of affairs will continue to end of service on Sunday.

Presumably the problem is at the Weymouth end of the station, even though some GWR services seem to be running from Platform 3 to 1 via Signal 64 which is beyond the starter signals.

GWR services are all using platform 1, as there are no SWR services for them to cross at Yeovil because of the points problem.

Signal 64 is at the Castle Cary end of Yeovil Pen Mill, so the planned shunting of GWR trains from platform 3 to 1 would not have used the points at the Weymouth end of the station in any event.

I see that GWR have amended what would have been an ECS back to Westbury this evening to provide a passenger service running at the time of the cancelled 1926 SWR service from Yeovil Pen Mill to Westbury.

I note that - despite SWR cancelling all scheduled services through Pen Mill because of the points failure - all SWR Exeter-bound services are being diverted through Westbury and Pen Mill because of a damaged train (having hit a tree) near Templecombe.

Possibly the case that the faulty points can be used in the trailing direction, but are not ok for facing moves by passenger trains?

Both sleepers ran via Pen Mill last night, which makes the continued SWT cancellations seem rather strange.

Yet this service arrived on p3 from Gloucester, then ecs to p1 via sig64, while most of the other arr/dep p1

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:V31557/2021-11-26/detailed

Middlesbrough MP: One train a day ‘not a proper service’ for town

Andy McDonald, the Middlesbrough MP and former Shadow Transport Secretary, welcomes the start of a daily train service from the Boro to the capital but says it is not enough to get the region’s economy on track.

ON Monday, December 13, before the sun has risen, the inaugural direct Azuma train to London will glide out of Middlesbrough station.

While it may be a stretch to say it represents a new dawn, it is undoubtedly a hugely important milestone in our railway journey and represents the successful culmination of years of campaigning.

From SWR earlier today on the Twitter feed meet the manager!.
https://www.southwesternrailway.com/contact-and-help/meet-the-manager.

Our next Meet the Manager session will be taking place on Thursday 13 January between 15:00 & 19:00 (3pm & 7pm) through Microsoft Teams.

You can book a one-to-one session lasting up to 15 minutes by emailing meet.swr@transportfocus.org.uk and providing your contact details, preferred time and the topic you would like to discuss.

Spaces are limited, so request your appointment by no later than 5 January.

Have any of his constituents asked him for an update since he put that on his web site - as late as the 18th November? That is a remarkably late date for an MP to be having a discussion about an established and, barring industrial action and the depths of a pandemic, well used  service with the DfT - when it's going to cease to run within three weeks.

I think the MPs were blindsided on this one - not given any realistic chance of an input until far too late in the day.  I have been assured that they were offered a briefing at a date prior to 28th July on the "2022 consultation" so had an opportunity to be involved then, but I don't think they had any way of knowing that such a briefing would have revealed to them the loss of this loved service - they must get 00s of such offers of information, and it looks to me that it was done in a way almost designed to NOT have them take it up, but in such a way that the DfT could say "you had an opportunity"

The incumbent political party will have a particular issue with the recent Old Bexley and Sidcup byelection in that their majority has been cut from nearly 19000 to under 5000. To all of us, it's the turnout of a little over 30% that should be more concerning though.

https://members.parliament.uk/constituency/3669/election-history

That aside, it's not unreasonable to expect the Bristol - Waterloo train service or lack of it to play at least a small part when election time comes round again.

Small, that is, in comparison with the incumbent government's handling of rail development in the north. Rail Magazine's editor Nigel Harris has written a scathing response to that and swept up the impractical nature of the various mitigations on offer: it's well worth looking out the copy.

Mark

Interesting to note that the following 2 GWR services to Southampton (nowt to PMH today !) were cancelled "due to a planning error" !! Anyone from BoA/Trowbridge heading for Salisbury and a Waterloo "connection" would have had a looooong wait !!! The first service to go to Salisbury from those two towns today departed at nearly 1300 !!!! 

"Cracking service, Gromit"................

The tiny Hertfordshire villages set to get direct trains from London for the first time in over 30 years

From myLondon (https://www.mylondon.news/lifestyle/travel/tiny-hertfordshire-villages-set-direct-22350329)

Although linking two important commuter hubs, the line has a very rural feel, thanks to its tiny stations, 45 minute interval timetable and community rail partnership (helped by user group ABFLY). Locals call it simply "the Abbey Flyer".

The SWR web site finally gains an announcement that they're withdrawing from Bristol - has it really appeared on the last day of that service?

 https://www.southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey/timetables?s=09

This timetable shows train services between Exeter, Yeovil, Salisbury and London Waterloo.
It also shows train services between:
l Bristol Temple Meads, Bath Spa, Yeovil Pen Mill and London Waterloo - see timetable 20A
l Yeovil Pen Mill and Weymouth - see timetable 20B.

A sad day indeed. Well done and thank you Graham and BNM for traveling on the last service from Bristol to Waterloo to mark the end of this well used service. It won’t be until next week that many who use it will find it has disappeared and will have to use lesser alternative services instead  :'(

SWR twitter this evening have responded to a query as to why so many trains at Salisbury are cancelled today with 'Hi Billy, this was due to a shortage of train crew, along with the withdrawal of our services between Bristol and  Salisbury.'

From Real Time Trains: the Bristol to Paddington via Trowbridge didn't run this morning.

Rather puts the dampeners on the GWR chap with an 'Oh, there's our train to Paddington at the ever so useful time of 05:40.' snarkily correcting someone's assertion that Trowbridge was losing all London services.

Middlesbrough has an hourly service to York and a half hourly service to Darlington, both of which have services to London at least every 30 minutes. The proposed London service duplicates the existing service to York. Double standards?

There are of course other train journeys available from Teesside to London including the hourly TransPennine Express (TPE) Middlesbrough to York service (part of its Redcar to Manchester Airport timetable) which provides connections in York for London or the Northern hourly service to Darlington and change there. But changing trains is never as convenient as a through service so the new LNER journey scores highly on that front.

However, if journey time is important a quirk of train pathing means you can leave Middlesbrough at 07:20, twelve minutes after the morning LNER train has gone, and arrive into Kings Cross eight minutes sooner at 10:14 instead of the LNER’S 10:22, even including a six minute change of trains at Northallerton (from TPE to Grand Central). How odd is that?

So you could leave Middlesbrough on Northern or TransPennine Express and change to either LNER or Great Central, and in addition you can now travel direct with LNER too.

Other than the fact this service started at the same time the SWR trains were withdrawn, I'm not sure it makes for a good comparison.  Just the one direct train a day from Middlesbrough, also calling at Thornaby, which have a combined population of more than four times Bradford-On-Avon and Trowbridge.

"... any attempt to use this crisis to cynically bulldoze through permanent cuts to services ... would meet the stiffest resistance from this trade union."

Grant Shapps insists the destruction of public property remains 'unacceptable' after the Colston Four trial

AIUI this is not a perverse Jury as some politicians and Journalists have suggested. 

Here is the defence lawyers explanation of the case https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0bfsnhj (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0bfsnhj)

I have read somewhere that two of the criteria quoted on this recording, are actually listed as a defence in the statute, and the third is an established common law defence.

I have read that the Judge gave clear guidance to the Jury by way of questions to help them decide whether or not the criteria were met for the Jury to acquit. 

What does, however, represent a genuine threat to the rule of law is when elected politicians, having not heard the evidence nor bothered to understand the relevant legal principles, attempt to undermine the verdicts of independent juries when the outcome of a criminal case does not meet with their approval. That is a very dark road indeed.

From the Daily Mail (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10374477/Grant-Shapps-slams-Bristol-jury-clearing-Colston-Four-as.html)
I do hope his comment was a general one, and not related to this particular case - for that was tried by a jury, who's verdict we should respect.  To my knowledge, Mr Shapps was neither present when the incident took place, nor in court during the trial, and he so he should understand the decision made by six men and women selected to look in detail at the case and come to a conclusion.

I have served on a jury several times, and was not in general impressed by fellow jurors. In one case the other members of the jury followed my lead without any understanding. Whilst I am satisfied that the correct verdict was reached, it was in effect trial by ME rather than by all 12 jurors.

I did ask about priority seating for the executions but was told that we do not do this anymore.
Spent nearly two weeks on jury service and did not even get to watch a hanging.

Has Salisbury got a surplus of units now with the Bristol, Penzance, Plymouth and Paignton services all gone?

Withdrawal of these services would allow the removal of route knowledge between Westbury and Bristol from both Drivers and Guards at both Salisbury and Yeovil Traincrew Depots. Given the limited number of trips this route knowledge is difficult and expensive to maintain, sometimes relying on rest day work. At least one Drivers and Guards turn would be saved each week day. Furthermore, there would be a reduction in fleet and fuel miles with an approximate value of [redacted]  p.a. as well as the avoidance of rail replacement services when engineering work applies. I am also aware that Northern Rail have enquired about the availability of Diesel trains and we also could consider released units for the start up of the Waterside Line.

The likely total saving is projected to be in the region of [redacted] p.a. (some of which is in future costs avoided rather than savings from our current costs).

Through journey opportunities from stations east of Salisbury to those north of Westbury will be removed; however, good connections and alternative services are available for passengers.

GWR services between Salisbury and Bristol have been lengthened in recent years following the introduction of 5 car trains and turbo rolling stock.

Further developments on this corridor are planned through Metro West and other schemes and given projected customer numbers there is little commercial need for SWR services which do not provide part of the regular clockface service on that route.

Has Salisbury got a surplus of units now with the Bristol, Penzance, Plymouth and Paignton services all gone?

South Western Railway having announced a date at which their services will return to 'Pre-omicron' levels 21st February - aside from the fact that this feels as though it lags levels of returning passengers rather than anticipating them, I must set to one side that the first omicron cases turned up around the 24th November so on that basis they should really include other casualty of Covid, the Bristol to Waterloos. (OK, that's not First Group that's the government, and I'm really hoping that in due course, along with a couple of other things :-) it turns into an election issue.)

With regard to the pre-Omicron timetable I can confirm this is the one that applied from the timetable change in December 21, i.e. excluding Bristol.

South Western Railway having announced a date at which their services will return to 'Pre-omicron' levels 21st February ....

Cancellations to services on all routes
Due to severe weather some lines are blocked.
What's Going On:
Train services running across the whole South Western Railway network may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.
What We're Doing About It:
Storm Franklin will cause severe disruption to our network today and we are urging you not to travel.
Storm Franklin expected to lead to high level of incidents across the network
50mph speed limit will cause delays and cancellations
Customer safety and welfare the top priority
Tickets booked for travel on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday will be accepted on Tuesday.
Since Fridays winds of over 90mph, Network Rail have cleared more than 50 fallen trees from our network. We still face challenging weather conditions as the Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for Storm Franklin until the end of today. With the wind direction expected to change it is very likely that more trees will come down during Storm Franklin, having been weakened over the last two days.
With strong winds forecast, there will be a 50mph speed restriction across the SWR network on Monday to protect the safety of our customers and colleagues, causing delays and cancellations to services. We also anticipate further line blockages due to fallen trees and we urge you not to travel as we regrettably are unable to guarantee replacement travel services will be provided during this challenging time.
We're sorry for the disruption that this is causing and thank you for your patience as we deal with the ongoing severe weather.
Tickets for travel on Friday 18th, Saturday 19th, Sunday 20th or Monday 21st February will be accepted for travel on Tuesday 22nd February. If you are travelling on an advanced ticket on Tuesday 22nd February, please try to travel at a similar time to your original booking.
If you wish to rebook your journey at another time you can do so with no administration fee. If you have tickets dated for travel on Friday 18th, Saturday 19th, Sunday 20th or Monday 21st February and decide not to travel, you will be able to obtain a refund with no administration fee. This may be able to be completed at your local Ticket Office but it depends on the type of ticket you purchased and where you originally purchased your ticket. You must apply for a refund within 28 days of the ticket's expiry date. More information on ticket refunds can be found here: www.southwesternrailway.com/contact-and-help/train-ticket-refunds
For the latest information visit https://www.journeycheck.com/swr/
For more information about how we work with Network Rail to combat delays caused by poor weather conditions, you can visit Network Rails Delays Explained here: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/looking-after-the-railway/delays-explained/

Just to note for the record, the petition closed with 6,572 signatures.

In view of the often poor connections offered at Salisbury, I've asked South Western Railway to change the routeing guide to permit  travel from Waterloo to Bristol via Southampton. (Not sure when it ceased to be a valid route, does anyone know?)

Mark

Is Waterloo to Bristol via Southampton quicker than the normal route?  Is the 2 tph Waterloo to Salisbury ever returning?

Thanks for this. Via Southampton is sometimes no slower. In the evening, there's a three hour slot from 18:20 to 21:20 when the connections at Salisbury are sufficiently dire that the National Rail journey planner advises travel via Southampton - but then if return fares are selected, states 'No fares available'. It's happy to sell an advance fare via Southampton - how an advance fare is available for connecting trains on a route that's supposidly not valid is another matter.

Also, did SWR previously have a blanket ban on the use of off peak return halves of tickets in the evening peak? The National Rail site seems to think this no longer applies & SWR's web site in the way it describes peak travel ticket restrictions... it could be better.

Mark

In view of the often poor connections offered at Salisbury, I've asked South Western Railway to change the routeing guide to permit  travel from Waterloo to Bristol via Southampton. (Not sure when it ceased to be a valid route, does anyone know?)

Mark

Article on South Western Railway sponsored research in the Bristol Post.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/bristol-named-fifth-best-place-7045951

Given that Bristol and Bath are No. 2 and 3 on their list for the South West, I'm looking forward to hearing that South Western Railway will reintroduce services to the two destinations which are still on their network map even if they do not at present serve either of them.

Mark

It seems perverse than a business that's looking to regrow on travel / tourism / leisure should cease to server the number 2 and 3 travel / tourism / leisure destinations.  Or are they pinning their hopes on promoting travel to such lovely sounding places as Redbridge and Rowlands Castle, Hilsea, Hedge End, Millbrook and Maldon Manor, Raynes Park, Syon Lane, Sunnymeads and Martins Heron.

Alas, it wasn't around long enough for the internet archive to save a copy.

Mark

Mark ,I know Twitter can be an infuriating experience but I've never known Peter to bight anyone's head off ,in all my years of being there .

Which has also reminded me that route knowledge was such that in the event of Wimbledon to Clapham Junction being unavailable, South West Trains would run services via the rather engineering-heavy surviving down spur at Putney, and now I'm wondering whether the spur is bi-directional, and whether the spur is still used in this way. But this is wandering far from GWR territory...

Mark

The East Putney route is used every day by SWR, pre-Covid there were over 20 movements daily, a bit less today, and mainly ECS but with just a few passenger services.