Great Western Coffee Shop

Sat, 1 January 07:44 Westbury to Swindon due 08:26
Sat, 1 January 08:35 Swindon to Westbury due 09:23

01/01/22 08:35 Swindon to Westbury due 09:23 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

10:07 Westbury to Swindon due 10:49 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Just added;

11:05 Swindon to Westbury due 11:48
11:05 Swindon to Westbury due 11:48 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

12:05 Westbury to Swindon due 12:55
12:05 Westbury to Swindon due 12:55 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Friends suggested I meet them for a trip from Severn Beach to Weston-super-mare today.  Quite apart from doubts I have about socialising widely at present (though happy to do online), we seem to be starting the year at a really low point.   This is not a new phenomenum - pre-Covid things tend seemed to go belly-up at the very start of the year, though this year (and last) we have a new and "better" (more accepted by the public) reason to give.

Starting to look like a virtual write-off;

13:05 Swindon to Westbury due 13:48 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

The Saturday fiction timetable is an inefficient one.  As well as the shuttle train going up and down all day, there are two extra runs - one in the morning and one in the afternoon.   The morning one ran and the afternoon one is - at the moment - anyone's guess.

Now - TransWilts is very much about the general traffic for the area, and for these two exceptional "holiday" days of 1st and 2nd January, a pre-planned service comprising just those two round trips, and a further late afternoon / early evening one, would have been understood and "saleable".  A service that's anyone's guess, though, is not marketable and seems designed to discourage!

15:05 Westbury to Swindon due 15:49
15:05 Westbury to Swindon due 15:49 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

16:03 Swindon to Westbury due 16:44
16:03 Swindon to Westbury due 16:44 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

All the best to those trying to use the Cardiff to Portsmouth line changing at Bath as an alternative, service is a right mess with cancellations and short running a plenty.

Indeed - a change along the way on a day like today is a game of double jeopardy.

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/11gone_tro.jpg)

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/11gone_bth.jpg)

I'm guessing that the 12:53 Trowbridge to "Westbury" is really a Portsmouth Harbour train running short?  Nothing shown south of Westbury - to Warminster and Salisbury - at all.   Where are the "duplicates" that SWR used to run when you need them? What has happened to the assurance that other services will be sufficient?

Issue is ... not that there are occasional problems, but that there are routine (daily) problems that anyone with an ounce of knowledge would have suggested as probable even ten days ago.   

How do rail industry finances work on a day like today?  "All income to HMG" I believe, and a fee to GWR for running trains.  Are they paid for trains that don't run?  Penalised for failing to provide such trains?  Who forks out for delay/repay? Are Network Rail access charges paid for trains that are cancelled?

No theyvaren’t, in answer to your very final question. Not sure about the rest

What rules are GWR operating under?

In March GWR's EMA was extended to June 2021, and that was noted at the time. They also got a new two-year direct award, but suspended while the EMA was in force. We also noted that when SWR got a new National Rail Contract in May, nothing was said about the soon-to-expire GWR EMA.

In their notice of results for the half-year to September 2021, First Group summarise their position thus:

I can find no trace on-line of the re-extension of the GWR EMA, but some details of a new direct award surfaced in a tender notice. Presumably that would be a National Rail Contract.

If only it had been preplanned, what "we" ended up with yesterday would have been marketable.

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/11gone_mkm.jpg)

I also give you that we do not have a huge raft of cancellations on JourneyCheck today.  What has changed overnight??

A look back on this forum over the years will show that New Year’s day has often been a poor day for traincrew shortages, covid or no covid.

From my mailbox:


I don't understand either - can anyone here explain?

Base data:

Today (public holiday)
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/mkmtt_20220103.jpg)

Tomorrow  (work day)
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/mkmtt_20220104.jpg)

A correspondent tells me of just a few passengers on the 07:52 this morning - not a great surprise on a bank holiday for what is essentially a "work flow" train.

Thinner timetable, fewer trains, nonpeaks, running. Therefore more crew available

Good try, except today, on the bank holiday
Thinner full, thick timetable today, fewer all trains running, nonpeaks peak services as completely scheduled,

I would agree with that, though I think you got there the wrong way.  Let's ask if it could be "Volunteer overtime shifts required for a Bank Holiday.  Staff have had good time with family / friends and welcome an opportunity to get back to earning money - especially where it's paid at a premium rate and there's little in the way of leisure activities to go to" ... please tell me I'm wrong ...

Well…most GWR drivers don’t get any additional payment for working today - other than the usual additional payment if they working an extra shift.

Staff availability should increase now the holiday period is ending as Jan/Feb is usually a good time for surpluses, so Covid shortages should be better able to be absorbed.

Indeed, and the start of a new annual leave year means leave quotas are unlikely to be ‘maxed out’ for some time, as they will have been up to the end of December (use it or lose it). This will help considerably.

Looks as though “you are wrong”, Hraham

Indood, ChrisT  ;D

The cancelled services for tomorrow are slowly being re-instated. 

The last four cancelled services of the day are now showing as running on Real Time Trains.   I am told the others will follow shortly.

The rest of the week still being worked on.

Thanks, Bob.   The 09:46 round trip from Westbury still not showing up today - I'm left unsure as to what's actually running.  Looks like chaos all over - lots of "additions" on our Journeycheck map - I suspect the managers have come back in and are passing out some management ...

Looking at the various signalling maps it looks like it didn't run.

Which to me looks like GWR have enough traincrew to run a pretty much normal service, including staff sickness, but not during holiday times. This Christmas period has been no different to previous ones with a high number of services cancelled between Christmas and New Year then back to normal.

Certainly seems that way.

GWR Bearing up quite well now compared to other TOCs who really seem to be struggling with COVID absence.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry, Phil ... the timetable itself has descended into chaos with late service removals and re-instatements, even prior to late changes made the day before and then on the day.  We don't even have a datum to know what to measure against at present, and perhaps should open a betting shop to offer odds ...

Great minds think alike - someone at GWR has put in place a lower level of service hurdle that they can be much more sure (though not 100%) of running a service to plan for the next 10 days or so.

Only just got the data in (and it's an operational list not a timetable) so I'm knifing and forking the next hour or two making if Melkshamite trainuser understandable.

How in tarnation does a signalling fault prevent a station stop?  ???

Diverted via Bathampton Junction (and reverse) - pretty sharp work to only lose 12 minutes doing so.

Signalling fault prevents route being set on/off line through Melksham

07:37 Westbury to Swindon due 08:19
07:37 Westbury to Swindon due 08:19 will be cancelled.
This is due to a safety inspection on a train.

08:45 Swindon to Westbury due 09:26
08:45 Swindon to Westbury due 09:26 will be cancelled.
This is due to a safety inspection on a train.

Some train has failed close to Westbury which has resulted in lines being closed & trains diverted/cancelled. Not sure of reason

From National Rail

TransWilts making way for diverted West of England and freight services.

The 07:05 Westbury to Cheltenham didn’t start until 07:32, and is now so late at Melksham as to be picking up passengers waiting for the cancelled 07:37 Westbury to Swindon.

In this case ... a regrettable pair to lose, however far more understandable and accepted than so many situations we have seen.  It's because the main Berks and Hants line through Bedwyn is blocked by a "safety inspection" of a train there, and the "important" long distance expresses are being squeezes - quarts into our pint pot of a single line, to the detriment of our customers.   Not even "our problem, but we are called on to help:


And - at least - summat is being provided instead:


Nothing like the first time this has happened - and I never forget that this diversion ability probably saved the line 50 years ago - still a couple of learning lessons like "why can't the diverted trains make the extra calls" and "will the bus times appear on the customer feeds?"

The delay to the 07:04 from Westbury ... combining 2 trains into one "up" ... makes pragmatic sense.  Buses are so much slower.   Originally a bus was flagged up (Journey check but NOT on the platform displays) but the delay of the Cheltenham train into the Swindon timing works better.   Pity the very first southbound train in now not until 11:31, the 06:36 cancelled in the current term under temporary covid issues as well.

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/tw_20220125.jpg)

By the way, it was absolutely correct to close the Berks and Hants for the safety checks and any aftermath - my comments above relate to the use of the diversion.  What we really need on mornings like this (and on EVERY morning!) is more capacity.

The call often goes out when events such as this mornings occur on the Berks and Hants route as to why can’t diverted trains make the calls that are lost by the cancellation of the TransWilts trains. To some extent, the answers can be determined from this morning;

07:37 Westbury to Swindon cancelled, but the 07:05 Westbury to Cheltenham more or less substituted for this by running late (following a diverted Up Paddington train it’s true),

08:45 Swindon to Westbury cancelled, but replaced by road transport between Chippenham and Westbury - the 08:04 Paddington to Penzance would have been the closest train to matching the time of the cancelled TransWilts, but it was diverted via Bristol, as was the preceding Down West of England service,

09:46 Westbury to Swindon cancelled, but with road transport between Westbury and Chippenham. At the time this train would have been occupying the Melksham single line, a diverted Up stone train to Oxford was waiting at Bradford Junction for a diverted Down stone train to clear the single line. The Oxford stone train has only just left the single line at Thingley Junction as I write this.

It’s easy to overlook the fact that freight trains share the railway too when a passenger train is cancelled, but they have to run as well. At least by using road transport, a service is provided at approximately the originally advertised time. Who knows when, or if, another diverted passenger train will run via Melksham? We might not like it, but what’s being done is probably the best that reasonably can be under the circumstances.

That's the 08:50 from Melksham - which I was planning to be on.  Oh well - replanning.

Only three trains cancelled across the whole GWR area.   Why do I get the impression that all rubbish is assigned to run on the TransWilts, or it's the first line to be withdrawn if there's a train fault anywhere within 50 miles?

Yesterday ... plans mucked up (as you'll have read).  Today, I drove to Westbury to pick up a guest.  At this level of reliability (and I am not reporting the trains pulled from the timetable because of "Covid" crew shortages), GWR are losing all the goodwill that they have spent so long building up.

But then ... the malaise is not just the TransWilts.  Walking through the subway at Westbury (it's 6th February, remember),  the "upcoming" engineering poster expired on 4th February, and there's a big poster board extolling you with a GWR advert to "Get your Christmas back on track" and visit Cardiff.   SWR Rewards are telling you to book direct with them, and making a price promise to refund the difference if you find the same train ticket cheaper elsewhere ... I think they have one service per day at the moment at Westbury, and their booking engine still defaults to more expensive First group services via Taunton unless they have fixed it in the last couple of days.

The four cancellations on Thursday were caused by the set for the TW service at 14:16 breaking down.   It was then planned to split a Cardiff/Portsmouth service at Westbury to provide a unit for the latter pair of services but the driver reported one of the units had an engine out so that put paid to that.

I understand the refurbishment programme for the Turbos has been slowed down so fewer units are away at any one time.  Partly due to the continuing delay in getting units from the east and also the loss of the 158 at Salisbury.   Incidentally that unit (158763) has been reported as a write off.

For Westbury ... passengers wanting to catch the 19:29 from Swindon will arrive at 21:02 rather than 20:05.  Phew! - less than an hour's delay - so the top level of delay / replay does not apply.

Good job I went to Weymouth yesterday!

07:05 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 09:03

07:05 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 09:03 will be delayed at Swindon.
This is due to a person hit by a train.

Never believe everything you read  ;D

8 late into Swindon, but the 7 minutes there was cut to less than 3.   A two coach 158 this morning, so it will be well crowded now (between Kemble and Stroud as I write).

6 minutes late from Stonehouse ... but into Gloucester ON TIME - looks like the schedule is better padded than a sumo wrestler!

Storm Eunice

07:37 Westbury to Swindon seems likely to be late starting today - the train to form it is currently 55 minutes late at Bridgwater…
Perhaps an alternative train will be sourced at Bristol Temple Meads?

Not clever - the earlier trains have been cancelled too.  The 05:17 is a "temporary" Covid victim, and


EDIT:  HOWEVER ... the 07:37 showing on time on data feeds, so there may have been a set swap ...

The weather isn't particularly "clever" either.

It appears that the 13:05 ran ECS to Westbury

The final train of the day, the 21:07 Swindon-Westbury was also cancelled.

It's been hard to keep track of these last couple of days:


The data feed failed yesterday afternoon - I was getting a 404 error - "no found" for the data feed server after mid afternoon and feared that it had been replaced and I had to find a new source and recode my scraper over the weekend.  Surprised but delighted and relieved it was back this morning - hindsight suggests a power cut or internet failure due to storm damage, which took the server offline.

A fatality I understand. Not sure whether caused by the railway

Get well soon, Mr Train Manager.

I am not so sure it was cancelled in the end.  A train left the bay at Swindon for Westbury four minutes late running as 2M22 rather than with an empty stock headcode.   It was then shown on Tiger as calling at the usual stations.

That’s what Graham’s quote says, Bob?

And if you wonder where the train crew got held up:

It was initially shown on screens as cancelled.

33 minutes late from Westbury.   Had to wait at Bradford Junction for a freight train sent ahead of it to clear the single line at Thingley, 40 minutes late by Melksham.   Turning back at Chippenham (there now) so it looks like it will then be on time.

Not exactly sure what was going on ... on time at Melksham but 17 minutes late at Chippenham.

I think we've got 'em all today!

The down line and Platform 1 at Chippenham were closed for a while so a Bristol bound service had to run reversible on the up line from Wootton Bassett junction to Thingley and use platform 2 at Chippenham.  This trapped the TW service on the single line.

The service then lost more time on its way to Swindon because of the bridge strike at Christian Malford.

17:50 Gloucester to Westbury due 19:34 will be cancelled.

This is due to a fault on this train.

Noooooo! There goes my train home again.

Not exactly easy to get a bus from Westbury to Melksham of an evening either...

And (the first of) today's cancellations ...


No - wait - the 05:17 from Westbury and 06:11 from Swindon have already been cancelled as well - a regular cancellation at present so that all the other services can run reliably.  What a let down!

Has the crew been nicked to run additional Cheltenham services? If so, that should have notified in advance.

Not been a good day on (and off) the TransWilts…

The Melksham route not blocked, but being used by diverted B&H services. Westbound 1C88 passed through Melksham and (around 17:30) Trowbridge.

Meanwhile, the preceding westbound train, 1C86 has reversed at Woodborough and is now (17:34) running back towards Reading.

I know this is a pointless question that probably has already been posed many times, but..... "In the event of a local service being cancelled to allow the route to be used for diversionary purposes, why can the diverted service not call additionally at Westbury, Melksham, Chippenham and Swindon?"

You read on Journeycheck many a time that "service xx:xx from somewhere to elsewhere will call additionally at..... This is because a train has been cancelled"

Surely GWR cannot claim that the extra stops will add too much time to the already delayed service?  The IETs are equipped with SDO, so that would not be a problem.

We are - VERY - patient when these things happen, but frankly patience wears thin.  When are they going to redouble like the Kemble line (which was singled at the same, but has now been redoubled)?  It's getting silly!

Only the westbound (down) line is closed at Lavington due to flooding.  Up trains are still able to use the route.

Does it come down to crew competency?  As well as the train being capable do the crew have to be too.   If so it might be something that could be included once the backlog of training has been reduced.

It has been asked many times.   Sadly, GWR can and do claim it adds too many extra delays (and their noses look, to me, to grow longer each time they do so).   They also tell us that the times the diverted trains are passing through may not be close to the times of the trains they've cancelled and question whether they would be an appropriate substitute.

Surely, common sense would suggest that you don't cancel a service that would not have any impact on a diverted service ?

I think there is an element of that.  If you were to add four extra stops to a long distance train it will add 5-10 minutes to what might already be a very considerable delay, as well as add a couple of minutes as the diverted train goes through the single line section.  However, I do think that should be looked at in detail by GWR as an option and not just dismissed.


Crew competency shouldn't be an issue, if the crew sign the route, they should also sign the stations on that route.  You might need to add Melksham to the SDO database on IETs (the others are already on it, including Trowbridge), but other than that a briefing notice would probably be a good idea, but nothing more.

A diverted Plymouth service is going to call at Swindon at around 18:30 and then Westbury at 18:58 but not currently Chippenham - which currently has no service because of a separate incident near Bristol.

Indeed - but as it's a single track, and at times it's a northbound service none-stop that steals the path from a southbound train to get people home from Swindon and Chippenham to Melksham and Trowbridge.


One cheer but not three - there are 10 journey opportunities on the line and that meets one of them, and it's one of the lowest flows by volume.

JourneyCheck suggests a Penzance arrival at just after midnight!

Just scraped through under the bar arriving 23.50. A long time to be on an IET if you went all the way to Penzance!

Indeed - 8 hours 46 minutes. Wonder how the catering coped.

King's Cross to Inverness - by comparison - is 8 hours 7 minutes normally, though I note it's 9 hours and 50 minutes scheduled next Sunday, diverted via Hertford North and diverted again through Leeds

 

Incredibly disappointing, GWR!

We are still 6 round trips per week (12%) down on the service we should have because some services were "temporarily" withdrawn in January because of the Omicron spike and to make the remaining services reliable. But this cancellation today is one of a number this week and the service is not reliable.

I am open-mouthed at the alternative.  People are being asked to wait almost an hour and a half after the time their train was scheduled to leave Swindon and (knowing how much slower the bus is) they'll be two hours later by the time they get home.   Not good enough, GWR!

I’m sure that’s human error as the 18:29 from Swindon to Chippenham has been cancelled as well!  The 17:29 with a 17:45 bus connection would be the obvious choice (or the 16:55 if there in time).

Worth a tweet to GWR?

We all failed to spot that today, as well as the cancelled 17:02, there is a TW service at 17:46.

Journeycheck advice has been updated

RTT attributes the cancellation to a late inbound service.

Seems to be a challenge to find a delayed freight train that could be responsible.

Seems the cancellation arose due to a breakdown in communication between a driver and the signaller which left a freight train blocking the set for the TransWilts service in the sidings at Westbury.

Lots of this sort of thing today. It will be interesting to see how the local service stands up.

Looks like they've finally admitted defeat on the TransWilts - I just tried to buy a ticket from MKM to WSB tomorrow and there's apparently none available, presumably because no trains are expected to run....

(https://mcusercontent.com/f15d935e8c1018a865c5ea14d/images/6a46a0c4-e664-ecc1-61d0-ade108c6aeab.png)

Have you unchecked the "Standard Class" box and so looked only for First Class fares?  That would give you that result.

We don't have a first class service at Melksham - which I would define as a nice electric train each way every 30 minutes.   Don't have a standard class one either - diesel train each way every hour.  We have a third class service only, but it was badge engineered away from that a lifetime ago and is no longer so described.

For the record - Next round trip started late and flagged up as delayed both ways - I was busy on other stuff and failed to post it.

For the record, an hour or so later the 15:05 and 16:03 trains were shown as reinstated.

.

At least the train is running ...

May not be the only thing running.  ;D

05:17 Westbury to Swindon due 05:59
07:37 Westbury to Swindon due 08:19
08:45 Swindon to Westbury due 09:26

cancelled due to shortage of rail crew

and also

So that's the first five TransWilts services cancelled this morning.

* BOTH northbound peak commuter trains into Chippenham and Swindon CANCELLED
* BOTH southbound trains used by commuters to Trowbridge and Westbury CANCELLED

* First arrival into Swindon 10:33 - normally the fourth train on a very sparse timetable
* First arrival into Westbury 11:47 - normally the third train on a very sparse timetable

This means that people have woken to a train service useless for commuters.   Alternatives? ...


To be clear, that is a refund you will be able to claim, and not compensation.  If you lose your job, miss an interview or a flight because of GWR's failure to run to timetable and provide an alternative, they will not compensate you for your losses.   They are not even running a replacement bus to make up for their inability to provide trains like they used to, nor making arrangements with the bus company that runs the closes service to the line to carry you or telling you about that option.   Shame on GWR!

Made all the more galling by the very, very few cancellations elsewhere on the GWR system, and that fact that multiple trains that are on the line at the same time are both out, indicating this is not just a case of one member of their staff calling in sick. It looks like it could be a systemic decision to sacrifice the line.

Looking at other services cancelled/running short, it looks like the crew issue could be at Westbury. Not the first time this has happened during school holidays at Westbury and probably not helped by covid.

Bit of everything this morning.

Driver shortages at both Westbury and Gloucester
A serviceable set blocked in the sidings at Westbury by another unit with locked brakes
A third set removed from traffic due to no working toilets and a fitter in the midst of working on them

The question remains about replacement road transport.  If there was any it wasn't advertised.  I know getting road transport arranged in the morning peak can be difficult but with the schools off it might have been easier.

Looking forward, with GWR no longer serving Brighton, Fratton drivers will learn the Melksham route to add another option when looking for crew.

I think I hit something of a raw nerve with my post this morning ... long chat on the phone with the line manager.   On one hand, everything transpired against them this morning ... on the other hand, everything transpires against them all too often.  But as it's so many different things, no easy fix.

I am mindful of other unusually unreliable services we were mindful of this time last year, such as the SWR service from Bristol and Bath to Waterloo, and the GWR services east of Portsmouth to Brighton, and how we learned - rather late in the day and without consultation in the proper sense - that they were ending. I was assured that there are no such plans for the Swindon to Westbury service - assured but to be reassured I personally need to see an end to one set of problems after another ... a morning where six out of perhaps 400 morning services run by GWR were cancelled, and three of those were on the TransWilts, together with two other "part route"s that were scheduled on the line.

There are through trains scheduled this summer from Swindon to Weymouth and back on Saturdays.  Better than previous years, where we had the direct train to Weymouth that we had asked for in the morning but then a wait of over an hour at Westbury on the way back.   I have asked GWR to let me know in a couple of weeks if they'll be a marketable product, or something we fear to promote through lack of reliability.

..and now a shortage of signalling staff threatened two more TW services - but both now re-instated.

There is a whole general topic of one thing / reason given after another over years which make the service incredibly unreliable ... and reliability is key to - err - people relying on a service!

Not shown on Journeycheck but Tiger is suggesting the 07:30 replacement bus from Westbury to Swindon has been cancelled.

17:44 Swindon to Westbury due 18:25 will be cancelled.

This is due to a member of on-train staff being taken ill.

I can confirm that ...


GWR have "prioritised" the service that leaves Westbury at around 07:30 and the service back just after 17:30 - recognising them as key services that should have high quality reliability in a sea that's been all too mediocre.  They've not exactly covered themselves with glory in even this very limited aspiration of late.  Last minute sickness is understandable - this morning's issued, as posted in public elsewhere by a regular passenger is not.

While any cancellation is regrettable (and more) the commitment to the “service which leaves Westbury at around 07:30 and the service back just after 17:30” applies to weekday services. 

Yes, I know the very limited extent of the extra commitment. We have commuters on 7 days a week though, and with the next Sunday service "temporarily" suspended for three months now ... next service from Westbury to Swindon at 12:45, so the 07:30 is pretty important!

But really I thought GWR's commitment / contract was to run the full service and not just a handful of "special case" services ...

Today is a weekday, right?    What has gone wrong with the commitment - is it worth the paper it was written on??

If we accept that GWR's explanation is genuine (shortage of train crew), how would you suggest that the commitment to prioritise that particular service is kept today?

Judging by previous posts the commitment was "prioritise" rather than "guarantee"?

1. I understand that there are only a limited number of crew who are familiar with the route via Melksham and I would suggest they train up at least a handful more.  The crew shortage may well be a shortage of staff who know that line today, judging by few other services effected.

2. I would suggest they staff up to crew numbers needed to run their daily services

3. On a short term basis only, I would suggest that a round trip on a line with multiple trains per hour is not run - perhaps the 17:11 Westbury to Warminster (I hate to chose a particular train) with an extra stop made in the train 17:05 from Westbury (I think I have those times right - but limited connectivity).

In January, GWR withdrew some trains as a "temporary" measure on the Swindon to Westbury line and they are still not all restored ... we have accepted this to help make remaining services robust, and, really, on such a poor, thin service anyway that should be enough.  It's a very poor show indeed where GWR not only pull other services because of a staff shortage we are already being penalised for, but those other services are the key promised prioritised one.  It does, of course, look very much easier for GWR staff who are making difficult decisions to pull a round trip or two on a diagram that starts and ends at the same place rather than something more complex - but making an easy decision is not necessarily making the right decision for the customers.

Didn’t someone say that Fratton crews would be route learning the route through Melksham as they will be losing their Brighton work soon?

Yes - that's (part of?) my point 1.  Welcome, but always the promise from GWR feels like "Jam tomorrow" - problems on a far, far more regular basis on the TransWilts line than elsewhere that should have been nipped on the bud and not allowed to grow to four or six hour gaps every week.

edit to add - here's a map showing current GWR cancellation - pretty typical so see the Swindon to Westbury service highlighting!
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/tdc_20220421.jpg)

Good luck to them ... if it actually happen and runs.  Cullompton, population 8,000 and Wellington, population 14,000 - makes sense.  Just as a 30 minute service would make sense for Melksham, population 25,000. Even a robust service every hour, rather than a flakey one every 2 or 3 hours if it runs, would be welcome.

Another one gone....

20:45 Swindon to Westbury due 21:26 will be cancelled.

This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Not a surprise.   It seems that a couple the trains do have replacement buses, and indeed that the buses are able to run all the way in the train's timings (even if leaving out Trowbridge).   Now that is spectacularly good running ...

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

I debated whether to take the train from Melksham to Swindon this afternoon for curry night with bobm. With the plan being to catch the 2045 back.

Without checking train running I decided to drive instead. Glad I did.

A sad reflection of how unreliable the service is that even out most ardent supporters have second thoughts about using it.

Not quite the "TransWilts" section.   South of Salisbury, at least, there's an SWR train 15 minutes later and this week - being school holidays - not the usual termtime capacity issue.

"Never mind - it's a Sunday so we won't prioritise this train"

"Why should we provide any alternative suggestion - we'll give you your money back"

"You could wait for the next train from Westbury at 12:45 .... sure your boss in Swindon will understand"

With the 8.46 to Cardiff canned between Westbury and Bristol, those needing to get to Bath or Bristol for work from Westbury, Trowbridge, Bradford on Avon and other smaller stations in between are a bit stuck also. Once again showing, if you work on a Sunday in this part of the world, you cannot rely on the train to get you there.

For the record the 08:46 has been re-instated in the last half hour but probably won't be spotted by most intending to travel.

Correct, BobM in stating that it wouldn't have been spotted.   Even a long way from home, I'm hearing from dispirited users saying "and even via Bath that train is cancelled too" ...

I have (reluctantly) said to GWR that we have accepted the temporary loss of the 10:45 from Westbury (11:01 from Melksham provided that they run the 08:20 from Westbury (08:36 from Melksham reliably.   Call it a "Gentleman's agreement" if you like - but these past weekends they have proven themselves to be no gentlemen!   Not sure what to do / what we can do ...

From journeycheck today
Alterations to services between Westbury and Bedwyn
Due to a fault with the signalling system between Westbury and Bedwyn fewer trains are able to run on all lines.
Train services running through these stations may be delayed by up to 30 minutes or diverted via Melksham. Disruption is expected until 14:00 27/04.
Customer Advice
Replacement road transport is in operation in both directions between Pewsey and Swindon.

(My bold)

Totally understand that trains get held up by the single track section when the TransWilts line is operating in "Good Samaritan Mode" ... hope the lateness doesn't end up meaning that people miss connections.  But the practise of delay is far, far more acceptable that previous times where it seems to have been a "cancel at the drop of a feather" policy.

It has been pretty busy on the single line this lunchtime.  As well as the scheduled TW services, two diverted West of England services heading down interspersed with two slow moving freight trains coming the other way.  Both IETs had to wait on the main line at Thingley for the freights to clear the line.

For the record the 12:17 ex Westbury arrived in Swindon 17 minutes late and the 13:15 departed four minutes late and was six late by Wootton Bassett junction after following a freight which had been allowed to run a couple of minutes early.

Wasn't there a song about re-doubling - "When will I see two again?" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Will_I_See_You_Again)

The excellent published timetable for the summer starts in just 10 day.   I have asked GWR ( see http://www.passenger.chat/26322 ) for their thoughts on whether we should market the published opportunities.

Due to recovery time built into the schedule and a quicker than timetabled turn round at Gloucester it was 5 minutes late arriving into Cheltenham Spa.

10 minutes late off Swindon ... should be on time from Salisbury unless it gets further delayed.

So much "TransWilts" is about connections - so I had a look at the effect of the late running this morning. I would love to see measurements of how people's journeys are end to end - in sales terms the "benefit" rather than how individual trains do - in sales terms the "features". I was taught to look at customer benefits when working for a company that relied on its customers rather that the features of our products.

At Trowbridge - late and missed the (very) unofficial connection to Bath and Bristol by six minutes - next train meant a 19 minute later departure from Trowbridge than passengers would have liked.

At Westbury - late but made the London connection (which was also a few minutes late - it would have JUST made if the London train had been on time)

By Salisbury almost on time - connection made to the Exeter train (if anyone was doing that).  Connection also made to the Honiton to Basingstoke train which used to be a useful connection to London ... next direct London train was a 49 minute wait at Salisbury for a London arrival at 09:53;

A further customer-oriented report ...

In "Railspeak"
13 late from Melksham, 18 late at Chippenham, 15 late at Swindon

In "Customer Speak" Final destinations
Bristol Temple Meads - 11:06 rather than (if on time) 10:39 - 27 later
Paddington - 11:44 rather than 11:36 - 8 later
Swansea - 13:33 rather that 12:35 -  58 minutes later
Cheltenham Spa - 11:27 - no change - On time

The 08:45 from Swindon was five minutes late leaving to allow a late running service from Bristol to go in front.   It was then further delayed approaching the end of the single line at Bradford Junction and again on the approach to Westbury before arriving nine minutes late.  As a result at least one person (not me) just missed the connection to Weymouth and so had a wait of an hour.

Ironically the delay outside Westbury was waiting for the Weymouth service to clear platform 2.

What a good (?) example of the importance of connections and - yes -
- this sort of thing reeks of a lack of "putting the customer first" though I expect someone will offer an operational reason.

It continues to concern me as to whether the service is robust enough to usefully promote the day trip this summer.

I believe it was a late train from London to Bristol that went in front of the TransWilts service.

That being the case, any passengers off that delayed London train wishing to connect onto the TransWilts train would have been able to successfully make their connection at Chippenham.

Once you have late-running, surely it’s inevitable that some (but not necessarily all) connections will end up being broken?

Totally so - and there's a balance to be made - considerations being
* Incoming connections, especially to infrequent services
* Delays to local passengers holding connections
* Delays to subsequent services where turn around are tight
* Delayed services getting in the way of other services in an unscheduled way
* Ongoing connections, especially to infrequent services

The only real 'issue' the other day would have been for passengers for South Wales beyond Cardiff - and that would have been a very minor flow and "just one of those things".    The much bigger problems are delay of other trains for people coming onto the sporadic TransWilts service, and people connecting at Westbury for Weymouth, and for Taunton and stations beyond.

05:17 Westbury to Swindon due 05:59
05:17 Westbury to Swindon due 05:59 will be diverted between Trowbridge and Chippenham.
It will no longer call at Melksham.
It will be delayed due to the diversion and is expected to be 10 minutes late.
This is due to a points failure.

06:11 Swindon to Southampton Central due 08:09
06:11 Swindon to Southampton Central due 08:09 will be diverted between Chippenham and Trowbridge.
It will no longer call at Melksham.
It will be delayed due to the diversion and is expected to be 7 minutes late.
This is due to a points failure.

07:05 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 09:03
07:05 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 09:03 will be diverted between Trowbridge and Chippenham.
It will no longer call at Melksham.
It will be delayed due to the diversion and is expected to be 10 minutes late.
This is due to a fault with the signalling system.

This one ended up leaving Swindon only a couple of minutes late after a commendably swift turnaround there, and ran via Melksham as scheduled.

The 07:05 also ran via Melksham.  Pilotman working has been introduced on the single line because of the signalling problems.

As an aside apparently "Pilotman" is the last gender specific term in the railway rulebook and will be removed later this year and replaced by "Pilot".

Excellent. I'm guessing that it's not actually a "points failure" then?

A curious remaining 'colloquialism' is within the driving depots, who often refer to themselves as 'men' or 'blokes' regardless of what sex the driver is.  For example "A Plymouth man is covering that job tomorrow", or "I see Oxford haven't got enough blokes to cover their work again today".

Delays to services between Westbury and Weymouth via Yeovil Pen Mill
Due to a road vehicle colliding with a bridge between Westbury and Castle Cary the line is closed. Disruption is expected until 10:00 12/05.
Train services between Westbury and Weymouth via Yeovil Pen Mill may be delayed

Strike appears to be a bridge/s to the west of Westbury station.
1C70 Paddington to Paignton 'turned around' at Westbury & now heading towards Bristol.
Several up trains from the west diverting via Bristol.

Apparently the vehicle caught fire after striking the bridge so it might be a lengthy closure.

OpenTrainTimes now cleared the 'brge strk' signs at 08:44.
First westbound stuck freight just passed through the area.
2V71 Weymouth to Abbey Wood leaving Frome 39 minutes late into Westbury

The 11:06 ex-Swindon was held at Swindon for nearly an hour while the points problem just outside Westbury was fixed.

The driver of the vehicle died. Police appealing for information.

https://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/news/2022/05/fatal-collision-in-standerwick-under-investigaton/

First trip to the office for 26 months today, took the 9am from Chippenham to Trowbridge, planned to get the 12:23 back but guess what, cancelled, somethings never change! So, off to Bath Spa and the Paddington service to Chippenham.

Yesterday - at least 3 trains through Melksham cancelled or show as such - we suspect one may have been re-instead. Another 25 minutes late having come up "delayed" on the platform with no indication of how long for, then displaying "no trains are expected at this platform" before going back.

A call on the help button to ask about alternatives to the 13:30 to Westbury told us to wait for the 15:37 and there was no alternate transport being arranged.

But that was the old timetable - senior GWR management have advised me that it IS worth marketing thins like day trips to Weymouth as from the new timetable starting today; issues have been largely resolved and it should now be alright with resources released and retrained, for example.

I look at today's maps for GWR as a whole and note a whole load of cancellations but TransWilts (all be it with the first service as a bus) and the Heart of Wessex AOK.    Do forum members feel that our problems on these line are fixed as from now, in spite of what look like significant issues elsewhere?

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/yuk20220515.jpg)

What's your definition of 'fixed'?

90% reliability of trips to Weymouth was the line we drew in our request for advice as to whether we should market to GWR.  In other words, if people from Melksham want a day out in Weymouth, the trains or bus alternative should run and connect as per the timetable on 9 days out of 10. If a journey is a bit late (no problem with up to perhaps 30 minutes late at destination) that's understood - these things happen and it's not a failure.

It’ll be interesting to see if that reasonable target can be achieved this year.  I wouldn’t like to bet on either way to be honest.

Anyone from Swindon, Chippenham or Melksham headed for a day out in Weymouth - lovely day ...

The 09:14 from Swindon left very late.  It called at Melksham at 10:13 (33 minutes late) and got to Westbury at 10:29 - which was a bit unfortunate because the Weymouth train had left five minutes earlier, and there isn't another one until 12:28 - so instead of arriving in Weymouth before lunch, day trippers won't be there until two in the afternoon.

Before planning the marketing of Saturday and Sunday trips this summer, I asked GWR if they anticipated 90% of day trips to be good ones - all trains running, and passengers arriving in both directions within half an hour of timetable.  Looks like a failure on the very first Sunday train - root cause looks like "overrunning engineering works" at Warminster so that's OK for GWR - they can attribute to Network Rail.

Surely the Weymouth train could have been held to ensure a connection if GWR were serious about "A grand day out"!

20:24 Westbury to Swindon due 21:06

21:25 Swindon to Westbury due 22:05

Cancelled due to a shortage of train crew.

I would have hoped so ... hard to tell from Real Time Trains but the ongoing service to Weymouth appears to have had odd bits of slack here and there in its timing.  Without being there, hard to know if it needed those tiny bits for passenger duty or was waiting time. A service passed at Maiden Newton coming the other way, but really it's another frustrating near miss at Westbury.

Jeeze - I'm picking up tickets at the station and using this to connect all though south ... looking for "Plan B".   Nothing on Journeycheck to tell me what to do.

Phone call to National Rail Enquires ... will be calling me back about alternative arrangements - hopefully before I have to make a decision and leave home.   Complexity of the tickets to pick up at the TVM.  Chap on phone asked me if anyone else was planning to catch that train - well, there normally are but how the ** would I know?

That's poor. It would be informative to have contact from passengers intending to make that connection and who were let down by the train not being held.

Mark

Now looks like it is going to call at Melksham albeit at least 15 minutes late.

Indeed.  Too late - already on the bus ...

Promised call back from National Rail Enquiries never came ... (still hasn't on my mobile) and I had to leave home / catch the bus otherwise I could well have failed to reach Westbury in time for the 10:03 onward via Salisbury.

I wonder what GWR will say if I ask them to refund my bus fare; temped to document the experience and ask on principle.

Tracksy shows routed via Melksham, following the problematic freight

Freight was in difficulty getting back from overnight engineering work to Westbury.  Could only proceed at 20mph.  Between Swindon and Chippenham other trains could overtake it with clever use of the reversible line.  Obviously not possible on the single line.

Don’t see why not.  With the industry as a whole struggling to get road replacement buses, particularly at short notice, the focus is moving to have ticket acceptance in place with local bus operators including Faresaver’s X34. 

Cancellations to services between Westbury and Swindon via Melksham

Due to a person hit by a train between Swindon and Bristol Temple Meads all lines are blocked. Disruption is expected until 06:45 25/05.
Train services between Westbury and Swindon via Melksham may be cancelled, delayed or revised.

06:11 Swindon to Southampton Central due 08:07 will be started from Westbury.
It will no longer call at Swindon, Chippenham, Melksham and Trowbridge.
This is due to a person hit by a train.

My thoughts to all those directly affected by the incident.

I know journeycheck is deliberately vague on locations, but if all lines are blocked twixt Swindon and Bristol TM, why is it that only the Trans Wilts is affected?

JourneyCheck now mentioning services between Swindon and Bristol are also affected along with listing trains between London and Bristol now being diverted between Swindon and Bristol not calling at Chippenham and Bath:

My reading is that the incident is between Thingley Junction and Royal Wootton Bassett.

Incident was between Chippenham and Wootton Bassett Junction involving the 05:17 Westbury to Swindon. 

Line has just re-opened. 

I met a well informed (expert) friend who was travelling on the Weymouth train that left Westbury on time just before the official connection from Swindon arrived.  I understand that the train was on time, far from overcrowded, and that the stations stops were leisurely.  Crossed another train at Maiden Newton by which time it would have made up time.   Hindsight suggests, one again, that the connection should have been held at Westbury.

Semi-Transwilts ... this is the through train that runs from Salisbury via Melksham and Swindon.

No alternative travel plans offered.  Next Swindon to Westbury train not scheduled to call at Melksham until 15:39

Loo break at Westbury?  All rush for the station toilet?

Well despite leaving Westbury ten minutes late, arrival in Weymouth was on-time.

And no-one else will be inconvenienced by this faulty loo today, because that train spends all afternoon in the Jersey Sidings at Weymouth, prior to hitching a ride back to Bristol on the rear of the last GWR departure of the day from Weymouth.

18:24 Frome to Swindon due 19:17
19:29 Swindon to Westbury due 20:11
20:24 Westbury to Swindon due 21:06
21:25 Swindon to Westbury due 22:05

All cancelled due to crew shortage

.....and

15:44 Swindon to Frome due 16:38

15:44 Swindon to Frome due 16:38 will be starting late from Swindon.
This is due to a problem currently under investigation.

Looks like another false alarm and they all ran as booked.

Indeed - they had all disappeared again off Journeycheck.   Journey check seems so binary - I wonder what the effect would be if there was a "train in doubt - check back later" category.

Yes, there should definitely be a ‘this train may be cancelled…but we are doing everything we can to ensure it runs’ category.

............that would just leave customers swinging in the breeze.

If the chances are a train won't run, better to tell them so as soon as possible, in order that they can make other arrangements.

If it eventually does run, it's frustrating, but at least they've been able to get to where they need to be, rather than hoping for the best and then being stranded.

I can see where you are coming from, but don't agree.   Personal experience suggests that a flagging up earlier in the day of "have plan B to hand" would be highly useful. Some may prefer to switch to plan B straight away, other to have it to hand  and to know to check back later as they approach decision time.  But I do appreciate that it may be too much information for some - especially irregular travellers, and provide a great temptation to the TOC to overuse it.

It does happen on occasions that Journeycheck says “This service has been reinstated”.  I think that should be the norm. I agree that will be too late for some but would at least add positive confirmation which would be of use to others. 

I’d be interested to know the percentage of trains that end up running that are flagged up as cancelled first thing in the morning.  Especially those ones that are much later in the day.

Along with short forms, I suspect the picture changes often enough that a ‘this train will be cancelled’ message is misleading.

Diverted via / reversal at Bristol Parkway?

Expected 44 late from Gloucester and just 20 late from Swindon to Salisbury according to Journey check

Nope ...

Real Time Trains suggest it followed normal route, called at Stonehouse, skipped Stroud and Kemble.  44 late off Gloucester, 36 late into Swindon but managed a 2 minute reverse there against a scheduled 18, so left 20 later. Recovered 5 minutes by Salisbury - got there at 20:20 versus 20:05 scheduled.

08:34 Westbury to Swindon due 09:23

08:34 Westbury to Swindon due 09:23 will be starting late from Westbury.
This is due to train crew being delayed by service disruption.

It left on time and arrived in Swindon two minutes early.

In the topsy turvey world of train operation, this one is a gem!

As far as I can see, that key early service has been re-instated but the middle-of-day round trip remains cancelled.  Hate to loose any service but in ranking terms, if it was a choice, best call made.

It’s a strange one.  The return working of the first service was never shown as cancelled.  So whether the original plan was to run the 08:11 empty to Swindon and then pick up a conductor for the return trip I don’t know.  Anyway good news it’s running as planned.

Once again, a disproportionate number of cancellations between Swindon and Westbury today - 4 trains out of 14 - that's 71.4% of trains running versus a target of 98% minimum.   And that's after a fifth train was advertised as cancelled but then re-instated.

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/disporp20220612.jpg)

There ARE other cancellations around, but yet again the proportion on our line seems to be far higher than on any other line, and on a service which is think to start with has serious effect - you can't tell people just to wait for the next train like you could from London to Reading, St Erth to St Ives, or Salisbury to Southampton!

The two lunchtime cancellations between Swindon and Westbury have now been reinstated. 

So you need to leave Swindon earlier than you would have expected (though only by a few minutes) and you'll arrive into Trowbridge and Westbury nearly an hour and a quarter later than planned.  Hmm ...

In the other direction, best be in Westbury in good time too ...

I would suspect the train will be held at Swindon and leave in the path of the cancelled 21:25.

Hold it! ....


On the grand scale of things, not the biggest of problems ... loos should be open at all five stations (at Melksham in the cafe) early in the day, and at Westbury, Chippenham and Swindon right through the time the "dry" train is shuttling.

15:14 Swindon to Westbury due 15:58
15:14 Swindon to Westbury due 15:58 will be terminated at Chippenham.
It will no longer call at Melksham, Trowbridge and Westbury.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

16:25 Westbury to Swindon due 17:08
16:25 Westbury to Swindon due 17:08 will be started from Chippenham.

It will no longer call at Westbury, Trowbridge and Melksham.





20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 22:05

20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 22:05 will be cancelled.

This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

Huh?  TransWilts.  Yep - the 08:44 Swindon to Westbury (at 09:17).  Skips Chippenham, Melksham, and even the county town of Trowbridge!

17:44 Swindon to Salisbury due 18:55
17:44 Swindon to Salisbury due 18:55 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

18:24 Frome to Swindon due 19:17
18:24 Frome to Swindon due 19:17 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

There has been, understandably, a lot of criticism of the trade unions for calling strike action that will cause disruption just at a time when the railways should be rebuilding.  It has also been pointed out that the train operators have already done far more to damage their rebuilding and reliability by making inadequate provision to run the trains in their timetables, even after services such as Bradford-on-Avon to Waterloo and Bradford-on-Avon to Brighton have been culled, and planned services such as the four per hour Bristol to Paddington have not materialised - just two per hour running.

The train off Swindon to Westbury at around 17:45 each day is a "key" one - should only be cancelled as a last resort.   Except that today is Sunday, and Sundays don't count "up there" to those who work out these things.


Hadn't even noticed that latter one ...

19:29 Swindon to Westbury due 20:11
19:29 Swindon to Westbury due 20:11 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

20:35 Westbury to Swindon due 21:17
20:35 Westbury to Swindon due 21:17 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

21:25 Swindon to Westbury due 22:05
21:25 Swindon to Westbury due 22:05 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Staff shortage due to not enough volunteering to work on Father's Day, perhaps?  Or am I being unduly cynical?   

Noting that Cardiff / Portsmouth issues are predominantly shorter trains that they should be today, but TransWilts get-you-home services look to be eliminated - first train calling at Melksham at 11:06, just 3 trains each way with final one at 16:06 as far as I can tell.

I do note we are not alone ... systemic issue ...


Totally agree, Sulis John, and both of these lines have cancellations today too.  Remind me how many years First have had to get this right?

I can certainly agree about the Falmouth Line yesterday.  The numbers travelling were swelled by the Sea Shanty festival.  The situation wasn't helped by late running and cancellations on the mainline.  The service I travelled on was carrying people from the advertised main line connection but also the one before which missed the earlier branch line service.

As to Graham's point re today's cancellations, I have no evidence but perhaps GWR are withdrawing the opportunity for overtime ahead of next week's strikes?

If that were the case, it would show a gross disrespect for their customers.   I somehow doubt that would be willingly done by the GWR managers and directors I know, but if they were instructed to not make opportunities available from "higher", they would be put between a rock and a hard place.  Situations of them being put between a rock and a hard place in the recent past are not hard to find.

No change in overtime or rest day working agreements ahead of the strike.

........just a regular Sunday on GWR.......still, good practice for the coming week!   ::)

Cancellation Log ... (times at Melksham) ... the following trains have been removed from the timetable

Tuesday 21st June
All services

Wednesday 22nd June
05:33 to Swindon
06:36 to Southampton
07:20 to Cheltenham Spa

Thursday 23rd June
All services

Friday 24th July
05:33 to Swindon
06:36 to Southampton
07:20 to Cheltenham Spa

Saturday 25th June
All services

No rail replacement transport being provided

No ticket acceptance on buses

GWR will refund your ticket if you decide not to travel, or the difference in fares if you start your journey by road to Chippenham or Trowbridge.

13:41 Swindon to Weymouth due 15:51

26/06/22 13:41 Swindon to Weymouth due 15:51 will be terminated at Westbury.

It will no longer call at Frome, Bruton, Castle Cary, Yeovil Pen Mill, Thornford, Yetminster, Chetnole, Maiden Newton, Dorchester West, Upwey and Weymouth.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

07:37 Westbury to Swindon due 08:19
07:37 Westbury to Swindon due 08:19 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train.

08:45 Swindon to Westbury due 09:26
08:45 Swindon to Westbury due 09:26 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train.

The broken down train seems to be the Whatley Quarry to Tarmac service, near Bedwyn. So main line services being diverted via Melksham

It’s a train of fuel tankers bound for Theale which has failed at Crofton.  The loco from a Merehead Quarry freight is being used to clear the line and shift the train into Hungerford loop.

Pushing from the rear by the look on OpenTrainTimes!
606D 2220 Robeston Sdgs to Theale Puma
149 minutes down at Bedwyn

OK - so to be clear, it's not the train that was supposed to run this key train on the TransWilts that's broken down, but a train on another line.   Presumably, then, passenger trains that were supposed to be using that other line have been diverted via Westbury and Swindon and without stopping at the intermediate stations to provide service.

It's been pointed out before, but dual standards are at play here.   

* When GWR cancel a semi-fast from Paddington via Taunton, they stop the West Country express at Pewsey, Westbury and Castle Cary.

* When GWR cancel a Westbury - Swindon train, they FAIL to stop the Taunton or West Country train that's taking its place at Trowbridge, Melksham and Chippenham.

Populations ...

Pewsey - 3,600
Westbury - 15,000
Castle Cary - 2,000
Total - 20,600

Trowbridge - 46,000
Melksham - 25,000
Chippenham - 45,000
Total  - 116,000

I am not sure populations has much to do with it.  More a lack of infrastructure and technology.   Trowbridge and Chippenham are served by alternative services.  Melksham doesn't have an IET stop board and the trains are not programmed for a stop there.  Both are clearly achievable but with the railway as safety conscious as it is (thank goodness) it is not as straightforward as it perhaps could be.

What is going on at the moment is the drawing up of a cancellation/delay mitigation strategy.   This involves GWR, Network Rail and TransWilts.   It will involve bespoke alerts so TW social media can be updated, better signposting at stations, re-briefing of control staff where there has been quite a bit of turnover and other measures too.

Don't have a precise timetable - things always seem to take longer in the summer with people on staggered holidays.  However it is in process.

Westbury and Castle Cary are also served by alternative services, of course, but still the expresses call there when the London trains are cancelled - perhaps that's the answer - that alternative trains are provided if a service to London, where the civil servants who run the railway, are based?


That is good to read  - I hope it is effective, rather than just window dressing. It leads to other questions such as
* Is what is being done going to reduce the number of cancellations and delays to industry standard levels in the first place?
* Where there are GWR or CRP staff are on other duties at stations, will they be alerted and offering proactive help too?
* Will people be directed to the local buses (and they accept the tickets) when things go wrong?
* Will stop boards be installed and IETs be able to stop after their next software update?
and if answers to those questions are positive, it might lead to a long overdue levelling up for the line.

and less positively
* Why has it taken so many years of problems to have a mitigation strategy?

A number of those requests are in the hands of Network Rail to program. So don't hold your breath.

Never a truer word for all those who follow and support the railways.

And others

14:05 Westbury to Swindon due 14:54
14:05 Westbury to Swindon due 14:54 will be cancelled.
This is due to the train guard being taken ill.

15:10 Swindon to Westbury due 15:56
15:10 Swindon to Westbury due 15:56 will be cancelled.
This is due to the train guard being taken ill.

Decent time last Saturday train for the summer - sure it will cope at 2 cars on a wet pre-holiday day.

18:34 Westbury to Swindon due 19:21 will be cancelled.

This is due to a fault on this train.

20:45 Swindon to Westbury due 21:26 will be cancelled.

This is due to a fault on this train.

Interestingly, these were logged on journeycheck at 17:04.
At 18:15, a five car train called at Westbury on its way to Portsmouth
The 18:34 to Swindon (round trip) was cancelled

I expect there's a good reason the 2 set Portsmouth train could not have dropped a set.
At 18:15 off Westbury, 20:17 into PMH tonight.
Return working calls at Westbury at 22:12 so could pick uo that 2 car that had had a trip to Swindon.

Fly I ointment - it appears that the 5 car split at PMH with 2 cars going on depot. But this does (in SHRUG notation), read as "18:34 Westbury to Swindon cancelled for OPERATIONAL CONVENIENCE. 20:45 Swindon to Westbury cancelled for OPERATIONAL CONVENIENCE

Not sure how much good the D1 is.    What about the x34?

18:34 Westbury to Swindon due 19:21 will no longer call at Melksham.

This is due to a points failure.

Points failure to last until close tonight

Just two cancellations shown up on GWR Journeycheck across the whole areas as I write.  Guess where

19:40 Weymouth to Swindon due 21:59 was terminated at Westbury.

It will no longer call at Trowbridge, Melksham, Chippenham and Swindon.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 3.




22:08 Swindon to Westbury due 22:50 will be cancelled.

This is due to a shortage of train crew.

10:44 Westbury to Swindon due 11:28
10:44 Westbury to Swindon due 11:28 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

11:41 Swindon to Weymouth due 14:00
11:41 Swindon to Weymouth due 14:00 will be started from Westbury.
It will no longer call at Swindon, Chippenham, Melksham and Trowbridge.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Both now reinstated.

Yeah - just noticed.  One or two cheers but not three - I wonder how many people are put off by this sort of thing.

20:45 Swindon to Westbury due 21:26 will be cancelled.

This is due to a fault on this train.

And the reason today ...

No problem, as long as the infrequent connections to Exeter and Yeovil, and the hourly one to Portsmouth, are maintained

Logging for completeness - not really a serious issue

Knock on from

As issues go, not a huge one ... others may differ if caught short

Good call ...

Ah

and now correct calling pattern again but delayed

05:17 Westbury to Swindon due 05:59
05:17 Westbury to Swindon due 05:59 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train.

06:11 Swindon to Southampton Central due 08:07
06:11 Swindon to Southampton Central due 08:07 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train.

Odd one ...

Freight train has tripped a hot axle box detector near Kintbury on the Berks & Hants.

And what has this to do with the TransWilts  ;D ;D

The following were diverted via Melksham

14:15 Penzance to London Paddington
17:36 London Paddington to Plymouth

Several others were planned to be diverted but at the last moment (and after a brief delay at Reading for the 18:04) ran via Newbury as booked.

20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 22:05 will be cancelled.

This is due to a fault on this train.

For the completion of records - all trains cancelled yesterday due to ASLEF strike action.  Typically this thread reports only on changes made on the day, but we must remember that passengers are equally unable to use trains removed from the timetable a week ahead as they are trains removed from the timetable an hour ahead!

This morning, the direct train to Weymouth no longer goes to Weymouth:

Looks like it is running through to Weymouth but delayed at Westbury for 22 minutes to maintain connections.

And the next one ...


It does make common sense to maintain connections - especially onto infrequent services

.

Oh dear - isn't the 07:37 (07:53 off Melksham) one of the "priority trains" only cancelled as a last resort?  Never mind - next train at 10:02 and I'm sure employers won't mind their staff being late ...

Not entirely what happened ... the 14:16 from Westbury terminated at Chippenham, and it appears sat there a while because the London Express had to wait 20 minutes for the platform.   I suspect it ran up empty to Swindon and formed the 15:14, at 15:31 to Westbury - only real harm in that direction was missing the Portsmouth connection which is very popular off that train as it didn't reach Westbury until 6 minutes after the Portsmouth train had left.

All trains CANCELLED Today.  No alternatives provided  (just 'find another way yourself') and nothing suggested except "travel another day"

Were your expectations any different Graham?

No.

An update to Real Time Trains shows it did indeed depart empty to Swindon at 15:10 and arrived there at 15:26 before leaving again for Westbury, in service, five minutes later.

14:26 Frome to Swindon due 15:34

14:26 Frome to Swindon due 15:34 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

15:44 Swindon to Frome due 16:38

15:44 Swindon to Frome due 16:38 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

and almost inevitably

Both now reinstated.

Looks like common sense ... perhaps we should use this sort of thing to inform our friends in Salisbury that it can be done

Never noticed before that there are two departures at the same time from Swindon.

10 late and 9 late off Swindon, about 5 minutes after the arrival of a connection from London.

I actually looked at taking the 1426 today. I didn't, not because it was cancelled, but because it sits around at Westbury pointlessly, only to miss the Swansea and Cheltenham connections at Swindon by minutes – whoever does the timetable should change this to have it do a sensible two-minute stop at Westbury instead and get to Swindon at a useful time. The train two hours later is just as bad. Hence ending up on the 1233, despite my prejudice against lunchtime trains with no catering (I went to Marks and Spencer's in Frome, only to then be unimpressed with a rubbish suburban unit with no tables, not even the fold-down ones on seat backs – if there aren't enough 158s, can't GWR at least get some 156s? Or a Class 37 and Mark II stock?).

Hmmm ... it  arrives at 14:41 and leaves at 14:52, providing a connection off the 14:46 arrival from Exeter.    Well - in theory at least as the train from Exeter didn't arrive until 45 seconds after the Swindon train had left from the adjacent platform.

With nice juicy junctions at both ends,  it's a compromise and the choice is made to wait until the train from Exeter is in sight; from Swindon, the main onward connection is to London.  The South Wales connections especially are a bit random, and routings from the TransWilts tend to be via Bath Spa - "via Swidon" isn't even a valid route from Melksham to Bristol Parkway, even though it's very much faster than going via Bath Spa.


A perpetual nightmare for timetabling and one we have had great fun "playing" with over the years.   Basically, Swindon and Westbury aren't synchronised so it's going to be random at one end or the other.


8 late into Westbury, no connections there failed (it was schedule in just a few minutes after the Portsmouth train had left anyway) - so all made sense.

Unlikely to be a problem with 2 rather than 3 carriages ... but the mind boggles (or at least mine does) as to how train crew shortage might cause the issue ... for sure, such a problem could occur if they're short of service / maintenance staff to have a three car train available ...

Goodness knows, Graham.  There’s no additional internal information that I can help you with.  Another random overnight journeycheck entry.  And also one that’ll not be an issue at all at that time of evening I expect?

 ;D ;D

This is actually another instance of the previous train being much, much better: it comes from Weymouth, and therefore already serves Castle Cary and Bruton. This allows the Taunton/Exeter connection to happen at Castle Cary, which is a bit easier to stop fast trains at than Westbury. It's a shame that this train is an oddball in being a Trans-Wilts with a Castle Cary call, as it's useful to have that extra option.


This is fundamentally an issue of the Routeing Guide being a mess. Bristol Group is a bit of a nonsense as a routeing point and should be replaced by having Temple Meads and Parkway as separate routeing points. Fixing the Routeing Guide like this ought to be easier than explaining to passengers that Bristol Parkway is pronounced "Severn Tunnel Junction".

And even though the main connection in volume is London Paddington, those trains are so frequent that that connection scarcely needs planning – there are relatively few long gaps in eastbound onward service at Swindon. The ones heading west and north-west are much more sensitive to small timing adjustments.

Routeings via Bath Spa are unattractive for a couple of reasons. As well as being very slow, it's also very crowded, and the trains that continue to Cardiff don't have First Class. The combination of a train calling at Bristol Temple Meads and being Standard Class only is not one I'm personally comfortable with travelling on if I can possibly avoid it. At least if my destination is Temple Meads itself, I can wait for Cross Country at Bristol Parkway.


Definitely something I'll have a play with to at least understand the issues better. I certainly noticed with the timetable on my outward journey that there were intervals with very poor connections at both Swindon and Westbury – in particular, the 1514 from Swindon on a weekday gets to Westbury when there's a gap of over an hour and a half in onward services – it would be much more use from a Westbury-focussed perspective for that train to run half an hour earlier. The previous train at 1315 isn't good when it gets to Westbury either, but there's not a lot that could be done to improve that one. It looks like the rot begins to set in with the 1147 arrival at Westbury waiting for not one, but two connections from Salisbury and Warminster before heading back to Swindon, making the rest of the day run 20 minutes later at a stroke. But then again it predictably looks like the freight paths around that time are at particularly unhelpful times.

Dubious as to whether to log this under "TransWilts" - it's a delay on one of the more distant extensions.   The train is one of the busier ones into Swindon, where most people leave it and (during school terms) it fills up with school / college traffic to Stroud; the third filling is people from Kemble, Stroud and Stonehouse into Gloucester.

Even more dubious as it's turned out to have extended the running time from Standish Junction (where it was 2 minutes early) into Gloucester (where it was 1 minute late [shock, horror  ;D]) ... good ole JourneyCheck!

Very interesting information / thoughts / comments.  I'm just quoting a tiny part, but very much with you on much of the rest.  Needs much more than just a thread to sort it out and there are people there with the knowledge - just that they are constrained in all sorts of ways - financial, practical, administrative and political as well as there probably not being enough of them.

The head can end up hurting around some of the connectional issues on and off the TransWilts, and so much of the time it comes down to compromises and, yes, pathing of freight ... and of mainline trains on the tracks, and of crossover movements too where trains from Westbury onto and off the single line have to make that movement in a gap between main line trains coming the other way.

Starting with the 15:14 off Swindon. That train (or its near-equivalent) in the early days of the improved TransWilts services from 2014 was a "lemon" - a poor performer - and has been tweaked to make it, now, a good performer.  In particular, it calls at Chippenham at a time that it can pick up educational traffic from there and it now arrives at Westbury making a perfect (when running to timetable) connection into the Portsmouth service.  I am aware that it misses the timetabled service to Paignton by an irritatingly few minutes at Westbury - but running it 10 minutes earlier to make that connection would ...
* Miss the Chippenham education traffic
* Irritate the people heading on to Warminster and beyond due to extended connection
* Give a very tight turn around at Swindon off the incoming train
* Send the Swindon departure out very close (too close?) ahead of a Cardiff train
* Platforming changes at WSB needed as it arrives at the platform just vacated by PGN
* Tighten a connection from Cheltenham at Swindon and make it less reliable
* Cause an issue with 2 freight paths over the single line (not avail until 15:30)
... and I think it's probably a "do not touch" service, in spite of missing the train westwards at Westbury by an irritatingly short margin.

I have "majored" on the 15:14 simply because it's a case I know well. I could look at each other service. And we could do the same sort of thing on the Westbury to Weymouth service too.  Noting that passengers from Chippenham and Melksham flow mainly towards Salisbury (at Westbury) and towards Bristol (from Melksham, at Trowbridge), the randomness of connections to Weymouth is to be regretted, but not prioritised in general (though they might be for day trip services) connections to the Heart of Wessex.  Similarly passengers from Weymouth, Yeovil and Frome typically carry on to Bath and Bristol rather than to Chippenham and Swindon.

Now - those irritating service gaps of over 2 hours. The single train tootling up and down arrives in Swindon at 08:15 and on a 2 hour cycle would set off back at 08:30 ... later return trains at times like 14:30, 16:30 and 18:30 - so you would loose the 15:14 and the traffic that generates and the 17:36 for "9 to 5" folks returning home. I appreciate that post-pandemic "9 to 5" is especially reduced, but I don't like the idea of going 2 hour clockface on Monday to Friday.  Add a second train into the cycle, a loop on the single line section, and we'll go clockface please - from Westbury at :16 into Swindon at :01, and from Swindon at :13 into Westbury at :58 ... that's a dynamic loop from just north of Melksham Station to Lacock or just short of Thingley Junction.

Added information


so that's 16:08 v 15:49 arrival from passengers from Westbury and Trowbridge into Swindon, with a change on the way.

I'm noting that the 15:05 from Westbury is no longer offered on the GWR booking site (good), but the fare being offered on the alternative 15:12 is £17.00 rather than the £8.50 via Melksham fare. Very naughty of GWR to charge a higher fare when they cancel the train - especially when they have promised us that people can travel via Bath at via Melksham fares in these circumstances.


so that's 17:32 v 16:44 arrival from passengers from Swindon and Chippenham into Westbury, with a change on the way.

Misses the 16:03 connection to Salisbury and beyond  at Westbury, so arrival there will be an hour late.

No alternative offered.  This is one of the line's "key trains" (I don't always point that out as it would get boring).  No suggestion to use the bus; still waiting for arrangements which we have promised are being discussed are actually implemented. (I don't always point that out as it would get boring)

Now reinstated from Westbury northwards.

But two more cancelled

A "silly" thought from me - why not drop 2 carriages off the Cardiff- Portsmouth train or the Portsmouth - Cardiff train - both call at Westbury a few minutes before the Swindon train leaves - trains on this service are supposed to be 5 cars.    But it turns out that WAS a silly idea as the Wessex main line trains are both short already - just 3 cars - today.   Seems to be a shortage of working bits!

And this applies again:

But both trains on the Wessex Main line at around 4 p.m. were 2 units, so not sure why one couldn't have been dropped off one train or the other this time; yes, it would probably have left a crowded train on the main line.  But that's not new, right?

AGAIN?   Are they putting all the crap on our line?

And the news is there is no news?

Two coaches on a return service on a summer Saturday off Weymouth is a bit thin ... no great problem on the 22:08 off Swindon.

Rather fortunate that we're now in Autumn then!  :)

It's VERY wet in Cornwall this morning, the beaches will only have a few very hardy souls.
Town centres however............

Are GWR now using 'more detailed information' in the style SWR have been for public feeds?

I’m not sure that intending passengers are going to be enlightened by stating that axle counters “…use magnetic fields to help signallers determine a train's location”.  The key message should be what they do, not how they do it, so mentioning magnetic fields is not helpful (also some types of axle counter do not use magnetic fields). 

So just say “axle counters help signallers determine a train’s location”

However, I applaud the intention to provide more information on the causes of disruption.

GWR are doing a lot better these days with their information ...



... just a pity there has to be all that extra work just because a train is bust!

Not a major issue, I suspect - middle of the day service.    I do not a couple of 5 cars down to 2 later in the late afternoon and early evening on Cardiff / Portsmouth and that probably will be an issue.

"This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time." - is that technically correct as it seems pretty usual for there to be a shortage of trains due to repairs.  Should it read "This is due to more trains than we had hoped needing repairs at the same time." ?

Alterations to services between Swindon and Westbury

Due to a shortage of train crew between Swindon and Westbury the line is closed.
Train services running through these stations will be suspended between Swindon and Westbury. Melksham will not be served. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Customer Advice
We are currently requesting buses to replace cancelled trains on Melksham route. More information about this will be shared once we have it.

Over three hours later and still:

Cancelled due to a broken down train

12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 12:59
13:15 Swindon to Westbury due 13:56
14:16 Westbury to Swindon due 15:01

14:16 was reinstated.  Good old journeycheck.

At least we're told early so that people can re-plan their whole work day.

And it looks like it's been re-instated

How many times do GWR have to keep changing the information.
The first cancellation would cause me to replan.
It's unlikely I would keep returning in the hope it's been reinstated (only for it to be invariable cancelled again later)

Indeed ... from an experienced train user viewpoint, more information early on would be useful such as "there's a chance this 17:36 may not run today due to a faulty train - please check back later", but I suspect that would be too much trouble to do, and might confuse less experienced passengers.


Agreed, once it is "hard cancelled".   But I might check back on a train marked "at risk".  On the other hand if there was an "at risk" category, it might encourage the people planning and running the services to make lots of trains like that, and to not put quite to much effort into actually running a service once a yellow flag had been raised.

How does that work if you're booked on the first train of the day/a very early train?

Would you be expected to wake up throughout the night to check if the advice is to "check back later" ?

Incident is at Hamstead Marshall crossing near Newbury on the Berks & Hants.

The 12:17 from Westbury appears to have run, more or less on time , under its 2M17 headcode. I have no knowledge of what information was available locally at stations, but the Tiger feed showed the service as cancelled at Trowbridge, Melksham, Chippenham and Swindon, even as the train was in progress.

It certainly ran the journey back to Westbury - I gave Lee a lift to Trowbridge to catch the 13:54 to Portsmouth and it called on time (13:49) dropping 8 passengers off.  But we hadn't wanted to risk it with from Melksham bearing in mind an onward international connections and the up train flagged as cancelled.   Interesting, the Portsmouth train also dropped off 8 passengers ... TransWilts and "Main Line" trains just as busy as each other.

05:17 Westbury to Swindon due 05:59

05:17 Westbury to Swindon due 05:59 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

There are a number of passengers who use this train from Trowbridge. ... normally 06:46 off there, arriving Salisbury at 07:28 and Southampton at 08:07.  Today, they'll get to Salisbury at 08:12 (with a change at Westbury) and Southampton at 09:02 in the next Cardiff - Portsmouth service.    There are also passengers catching this train from Trowbridge to connect there to the 07:01 to Paddington.  Today, they'l not leave Westbury until 08:02.

London bound IET in difficulties at Chippenham.   Now on the move.

I was about to say "what a sensible thing to do today".  The 15:07 arrival at Swindon ofa train to Cardiff was delayed until 15:20, and it would make huge sense for the connection to leave at around 15:23 - usually a sensitive train because it has a tight connection onwards from Westbury, but not today because of the TSSA Action.

Well - I was about to say, but I didn't.  Because JourneyCheck lieth.  The 15:14 to Westbury departed on time ...

Conflicting movements excepted, I would be amazed if most of that is not made up along the way!

And from Real Time Trains for the 05:17 Westbury to Swindon, due 05:59

None of which, I suspect will be a concern.   Traffic has grown massively over the years - I'm still amazed to see just how well services load away from the traditional peak.   I arrived back in Melksham at 20:21 on Thursday evening and there were perhaps 25 to 30 people on the train as we came in from Trowbridge. Over a dozen got off, and four or five joined.  The numbers don't seem massive, but compare that to the same train a decade ago where it would have been two or three passengers on the train, I would have been the only one getting off and I would have been amazed to see anyone joining the train.   And yet it could do so much better - the 55 minute wait for the connection at Westbury discourages traffic growth, as does the lack of a later service; it remains absurd that the service ceasss mid-evening and there's not just one more round trip later in the evening to get-you-home, which would be busier than that 20:21 arrival, and would also add outward journeys during the day to help grow traffic on other trains that already exist.

Appears a sensible call (running 7 minutes late) ... and 2 carriages should be enough (always 2 SWI to WSB - extras not being added there today) as I don't see much seaside traffic today!

EDIT to add ... just one minute down from Westbury and actually a minute early by Frome!  A mixture of various allowances in the schedule and sawing time on the station stop in Westbury without that pesky coupling time.

17:04 London Paddington to Penzance has been damaged after hitting what’s believed to be an animal near Heywood Road junction. 

And meanwhile in Ireland ... I get very envious of things like this: if Irish Rail can do reiability, why can't GWR??

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/irpire3_00.jpg)

And no sooner had written that than

18:24 Frome to Swindon due 19:17
18:24 Frome to Swindon due 19:17 will be started from Westbury.
It will no longer call at Frome.
This is due to a fault on this train.

From Journey Check:

Five round trips out of eight ran yesterday (7.11.2022) - 07:53 to 16:40 northbound (MKM times), 09:09 to 18:03 southbound

Today, first train (Melksham) showing at the 07:53 to Swindon, so the 05:33, 06:36 and 07:21 remain "cancelled" as far as the passenger is concerned, although they probably won't show up in the failure stats making those stats look better than they really are.   First southbound train 09:10.    Final two trips each way in the early evening are back.

Cancelled at 04:04.  Reinstated at 04:20.

I'm not sure where that leaves afternoon and evening services, seeing that these are not regular workings anyway

There is considerable anger in Melksham (as seen on Facebook groups) at today's little escpade - no understanding of ...
* why engineering works have to result in short term timetable changes (5 a.m. on the morning they happen)
* why it's always the trains via Melksham that get clobbered
* why there is no alternative rail replacment service
* why even the vital "get home" train at 17:44 from Swindon is canned
I'm on a train (one that IS running - in France!) as I write this - will take a further look when I get to tonight's base.

Here we go - AGAIN - three cancellations showing across the whole GWR area and of course one is Westbury to Swindon, with a gap of 2 hours before the next train!


I'm baffled as to what the "service disruption" is in the middle of the night ... and not seeing any rail replacement road transport mentioned.

It's as if someone in the wider industry needs to press the reset button on attitudes to cancellations to infrequent services. Not 'Reset' as in 'OK, we've not the resources to support it, we'll withdraw from this market' either.

At a time when their market is in flux, away from its major traffic flows, GWR could do with the headroom to push a 'Regional Railways post ~1988' approach and develop interregional networks.

Cancelling once-every-two-hour trains is the polar opposite, and also, a pre-6am journey, for people heading for that train, is likely to matter to them.

Mark

I suspect there may have been a hangover from Sunday.  There was supposed to be an empty stock move from Swindon to Westbury at 04:30.  That didn’t run which led to the cancellation but did mean there was stock at Swindon to run the return at 06:11.

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/vlate20221115.jpg)

OK - and key question on such things is "what about connections"? - an exercise:

At WESTBURY the train should've been there at 11:47 but is predicted at 11:59, onward connection to Portsmouth Harbour at 12:03 and that's fine provided that's what happens

At TROWBRIDGE the train should arrive at 11:40 but is expected at 11:53 - onward connection failure as the train via Bath and Bristol leaves at 11:48

At MELKSHAM, there are no onward trains nor even buses ... and on a service that only runs every couple of hours, 10 to 15 minutes isn't a problem.

The 05:33 ... AGAIN!!

Monday - cancelled

Tuesday - 26 minutes late at Melksham

Wednesday --- 14 minutes late at Melksham --- I was on it and it failed to make the London connection at Chippenham; three passengers joined the train at Melksham, one left - 9/3 but significantly both of the other passengers from Melksham on the first leg of longer journeys (two the three international) and so the use of the local station helps generate a darned sight more income that just the local hop.

Just two cancellations across GWR land at the moment ... guess where!!

For the record, the rest of GWR-land is not as rosy as suggested, due to the industrial action by RMT staff at TVSC. As usual, the communication of this could be better. Journeycheck contains the following paragraphs:

The paragraph I have italicised is misleading (putting it politely). For example, there are no services stopping at stations between Reading and Westbury, the service between Bristol and Westbury is halved, reduction in frequency on Severn Beach line...

Thank you for putting that in perspective - agreed that the train plan yesterday across the wider Thames Valley area was not what the TOC, Network Rail, and the people who work for both organisations have signed up to deliver to customers and their dispute within the industry rolled over to widely affect passengers yet again.  Further, the wording on JourneyCheck looks rather like Orwellian double-speak intended to precend all is in order, rather a surprise judging by the emails from GWR asking fora such as ours to help get the word out there; as this was/is not a national dispute, the lack of the "normal" services for customers was not highlighted as well as it has been for other strike in the national media machine.

Over and above the Didcot changes, my original point does remain that the only late cancellation, once again, is the Westbury to Swindon line which can ill-afford to loose any trains. There will NOT normally be another one along half an hour later on this line ...

Not a problem - if indeed it ever WAS going to be 4 carriages north of Westbury!

IMHO a rather well written and informative message, with practical alternatives.   Congrats to the author.

Here we go again.

The 07:37 Westbury to Swindon left Westbury 15 minutes late, got to Chippenham 30 minutes late and their terminates - cancellation code M8 (what does that mean?) which knocks on to ...


It used to be the case in Wessex Trains days that trains said to be held together with sticky tape were being sent out from Westbury on the Swindon services in the hope that they would hold together long enough to make it there and back.  Could we once again have a situation where units are being selected on the basis of "this one should make it that far" ... there seems to be a very high failure per mile on this route.

And for the record, no further advice to passengers intending to catch the train as to what the alternatives are.   


Whoever writes the customer advice for the Swindon to Westbury line could do well to look at the example for the Salisbury to Southampton service which was also cut short earlier this morning.

"Customers from Swindon and Chippenham to Trowbridge or Westbury should take the next available train to Bath Spa and change there.  Customers to Melksham should travel to Chippenham and ask the station staff there to arrange a taxi.  Customers at Melksham should ask for assistance in the Community Rail Partnership cafe just across from the station entrance"

M8 applies to faults on passenger trains attributed to the operator, and is an "NES" one -

"Other" means not covered by:

The items listed for M8 are: "Air conditioning, Cab heaters, Internal lighting, VCB, Toilets, Window faults (excl. those broken by external causes), Failed passenger facilities e.g. broken seating".

But then there are several codes for categories of causes not covered above, though some look as if they should be.

An update - not the news we wanted, but well written again

Further darned informative update - THANK YOU, whoever you are!

I’m surprised anyone has got time for such detail given the network wide issues today.  Great to see!

Very much so - and a higher quality report on the main London - Reading line

You could say magnificent and ethereal.

19:35 Swindon to Westbury due 20:16
19:35 Swindon to Westbury due 20:16 will be cancelled.

This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Yeah ... we have folks at the Melksham Christmas Lights concerned about how they will get home.

20:24 Westbury to Swindon due 21:06
20:24 Westbury to Swindon due 21:06 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

21:27 Swindon to Westbury due 22:08
21:27 Swindon to Westbury due 22:08 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

40 minutes late toward Swindon, 6 minutes late on the way back. 158747; nice.

We have various report of cancellations and short runs on 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th "upthread" - looks like yesterday (7th) was clear.  Here we go again today; this one is a short working at one of the extremes, and out of Wiltshire, but it's still early in the day ...


Four of us local long-standing supporters met yesterday to talk campaigning for our (Melksham) train service, and all four of us admitted to commonly making use of other transport because of the utter unreliability and poverty of the service on an ongoing basis.

And as I write (07:35) the 07:20 at Melksham I showing "delayed" which is ... less than a helpful report for passengers waiting for it.

And here's a surprise ... updated at 08:07

09:14 Swindon to Westbury due 09:56
09:14 Swindon to Westbury due 09:56 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.

I wasn't there, but you can add a fifth long-standing supporter who is not only commonly but regularly making use of other transport on an ongoing basis. It's truly heartbreaking what they're doing to what used to be a reliable, if somewhat ill-timed, service.

And saga carries on - two cancellations so far this morning (already reported) and now this - much less major, but never the less killing the use through unreliability. 


There have be more posts in this thread than days so far this year - and I / we do NOT log good days.  What a terrible record for a service that's already so thin it's only just useable.

The 09:46 from Westbury to Swindon was cancelled today, along with its return working, the 11:05 from Swindon.

The reason given on RTT was late arrival of crew from an inbound service.

( Journeycheck, oddly, gave the reason as a shortage of station staff  ??? )

Cancelled today 13.12.2022 - (in the passenger's view) the following services:
05:17, 07:06(1), 07:36, 09:46, 12:17, 14:18, 16:25, 18:34 and 20:06(1) from Westbury to Swindon
06:11(1), 08:45, 11:05, 13:15, 15:14, 17:36, 18:52(1) and 20:45 Swindon to Westbury
(1) - service schedule to run beyond Westbury / Swindon, cancelled throughout

No rail replacement buses or taxis provided.

I appreciate this is a very small part of issues right across GWR territory and indeed beyond, but it's worth the occasional flagging - it's a failure to providea a service which people want / wish / need to rely on in their daily lives, but to which they are having to find alternatives. Once they find alternatives, and if those alternatives work well for them (or better than the unreliable trains service) they may become permanent changes even on days the trains do run!

Alternatives

The following journey options are available - reduced but not totally cancelled services:

Trains from Westbury at 07:55, 09:03 and hourly to 17:02, and 17:42 are currently scheduled to Trowbridge and via Bath Spa. Change at Bath Spa for hourly trains to Chippenham and Swindon (07:43, 08:51, 09:45 and hourly to 16:44, then 17:32).
* First connection Westbury to Swindon - 07:55 from Westbury, arrive Swindon 09:17.
* Last connection Westbury to Swindon - 16:02 from Westbury, arrive Swindon at 17:12
(The 17:02 from Westbury is timetabled to arrive at Bath Spa just one minute before the last Swindon service leaves and you are not advised to try it)

Trains from Swindon at 07:38, 08:31, 09:17, 10:30, 11:53, 12:30, 13:29, 14:29, 15:29, 16:30 and 17:53 to Chippenham and continue on via Bath Spa, from where connections are available to Westbury via Trowbridge at 07:51, 08:37 and hourly to 17:39.
* First connection Swindon to Westbury - 07:38 from Swindon, arrive Westbury 09:10.
* Last connection Swindon to Westbury - 16:30 from Swindon, arrive Westbury 18:09.

No train service south of Westbury to / from / via Warminster or Frome
No passenger train services at Melksham

In the evening, limited bus services from from Trowbridge to Bath, from Bath to Chippenham and from Chippenham to Swindon. They are, however, very slow compared to the train. During the day, buses also run Westbury to Trowbridge.  Also from Frome via Trowbridge and Melksham to Chippenham.

The GWR website is quoting fares for today, Westbury to Swindon
22.00 anytime return
17.40 off peak return
17.00 anytime single

When services are running via Melksham, fares on that route are
12.00 anytime return
8.60 off peak return
9.90 anytime single
8.50 off peak single

GWR will (and it's officially confirmed) accept "via Melksham" tickets on the alterative service vis Bath Spa when the direct (and faster!) train is cancelled - so you should be able to travel today at the lower rates. However, I note that although GWR have updated their journey planner to remove the cancelled trains, they have not updated it to reflect the availability of "via Melksham" fares to passengers who have to travel the long way round today!

Same again today, 14th December 2022.  17 trains in the new "timetable" that started on Sunday, 0 running.

Cancelled today 15.12.2022 - (in the passenger's view) the following services:
05:17 from Westbury to Swindon
06:11 from Swindon to Westbury (and beyond)
07:06 from Westbury to Swindon (part of Salisbury to Cheltenham Spa though service

First passenger train at Melksham
07:53 northbound (towards Swindon)
09:09 southbound (towards Westbury)

however - it looks like that one RAN and more or less on time (between 2 and 3 minutes late along the way).  Only northbound train so far today, mind you ... first two in the normal timetable had disappeared from today's "amended service" a day or two back, and the following one is shown up as cancelled.  Second train of the day - if we're lucky - at lunchtime!

At the risk of teaching our grandmother to suck eggs, should someone not tell GWR to use a different train that's actually working instead?     Fair enough loosing one round trip due to a broken down train - but six in sequence over a period of 12 hours ...

There have been numerous unit failures today, including at least three at Westbury at start of services this morning; not least due to the very low overnight temperatures following a (strike) day when the temp. hardly got above 0’ C and the units were stood in the freezing cold all day, with likely no one to keep them warm. Remember the days when the old (conventional first generation) DMUs had their engines kept running all night for fear they wouldn’t start up on a frosty morning ?!
Even on past strike days they and the Hydraulic diesels would be regularly started up.

It’s surprising the Govt/DfT didn’t issue an instruction to TOCS to tell their staff (the strikers) to stay at home today without pay, seeing they stayed away from work the previous two days and  will for the next two days.

Yep, I appreciate that and the 07:37 round trip was reported delayed, but only by a couple of minutes - got back to Westbury on time at 09:26.   However, rather that carry on with the normal day's diagram the unit was "stolen" to run at 09:40 via Bristol and then Gloucester, etc ... leaving the TransWilts trainless (according to Jounrneycheck) until the 18:48 from Swindon.

I can appreciate that if there was only one working train at Westbury at 09:30 and two services to be run, someone had to make a decision.   Disappointed that the decision was to effectively close the Swindon service down for the day.

Now from bad to worse
GWR Journey Check 15.51

Looking at Journeycheck, replacement buses have been arranged to operate between Westbury and Chippenham this evening. One northbound, two southbound.

The line got a shoutout on national radio (Talksport) "no services between Chippenham and Trowbridge due to no rolling stock"  :)

Here’s the list of replacement bus services along with another part cancellation:


Services calling at Melksham and Trowbridge en route.

Cancelled today 16.12.2022 - (in the passenger's view) the following services:
05:17, 07:06(1), 07:36, 09:46, 12:17, 14:18, 16:25, 18:34 and 20:06(1) from Westbury to Swindon
06:11(1), 08:45, 11:05, 13:15, 15:14, 17:36, 18:52(1) and 20:45 Swindon to Westbury
(1) - service schedule to run beyond Westbury / Swindon, cancelled throughout

No rail replacement buses or taxis provided via Melksham.   Middle of the day travel from Westbury / Trowbridge to / from Chippenham / Swindon possible via Bath Spa, changing there and with much extended journey times. 

Sarcastic "Thank You" to the rail industry (companies and staff representatives) and government for yet another day of shatting on your customers. Sympathy for you all is limited, and damage deep; you are driving away a great deal of optional traffic, and that which is not optional - or wasn't - is finding alternatives. 

Your final sentence is absolutely the most on point - in far more cases than ever before, both business and leisure, those alternatives now exist and are being utilised.

Cancelled today 17.12.2022 - (in the passenger's view) the following services:
07:44, 08:34, 10:07, 12:05, 14:05, 15:06, 16:36 and 18:35 from Westbury to Swindon
08:35, 09:35, 11:05, 13:05, 15:10, 16:05, 17:35, 19:35 and 21:07 Swindon to Westbury

No rail replacement buses or taxis provided via Melksham.   Middle of the day travel from Westbury / Trowbridge to / from Chippenham / Swindon possible via Bath Spa, changing there and with much extended journey times. 

For the record, yesterday and today are strike days when many other areas have no services. Is Melksham any worse of than, say, Yeovil

On strike days, there are indeed many other zero service stations.   Taking the whole of this first week of the new timetable though ...

Train Record - Swindon to Westury service - first full week of new timetable (11th to 17th December 2022)
with an assumption that nothing runs for the rest of today

116 trains timetabled
68 failed to run on industrial action days
23 failed to run for other reasons
just 25 ran (that's 22% of what GWR are contracted to provide

I don't think you'll find any other GWR line / significant station with a record like that.   
You mention Yeovil  - I wonder what the figures are there for the week?