Well it did indeed run, as I saw it stop at Nailsea on the return trip. Bet the passengers were impressed, especially any that were savvy enough to sit in the first class section.

I can't imagine this would have happened under Queen Alison's reign. Maybe it's a sign that the new management recognise the need to think about passengers now and again.

Wonder whether they'll charge the hire costs to the crews who coincidentally are unavailable on such a big sporting day.

http://www.transportbriefing.co.uk/story.php?id=4433

Does anyone know anything about this report? I had a look elsewhere but couldn't immediately find anything relating to it.

There are ticket machines, but they are grossly inadequate in the morning peak, particularly as it takes much longer to do a simple cash transaction than the staffed office did. The train managers seem to accept this, but what happens when FGW^▸ (First Great Western) suddenly change their mind?

I'm not sure I agree with the last comments.

For example, on the morning services from Nailsea into Bristol (the High Speed services), the train managers almost always come down the train asking "Does anyone need to buy a ticket?" (And lots do of course, as the ticket buying facilities are totally inadequate, now the station is unstaffed.) Now this is on a service covered by penalty fares. So FGW^▸ (First Great Western) staff are effectively accepting that it's OK to buy a ticket on the train. And if you don't you can always buy one at TM^‡(resolve), no questions asked.

So, what happens the first day FGW finally decide to impose the regime? In the words of the Kaiser Chiefs, I predict a riot.

Although the Looe line runs in isolation, if it's held a few minutes to connect with a late running service on the main line then it will indeed arrive at Looe late, and thus start it's return journey late. Having travelled on the branch the summer before last (when the train was packed), nobody used any of the intervening stations, and looking at an O/S map it's hardly surprising. So I guess the timetabling is designed to ensure that the 99% of passengers using it (ie to/from Looe) get the best service and connections by introducing an element of robustness.

Mind you, it was better when it was an hourly service, though the timings were incredibly tight, particularly when the trains were packed out, given the loading and unloading times.

The idea of restricting passengers to Reading and Swindon is actually a very sensible one given the situation. It ensures passengers for further west, who will otherwise have up to an hour to wait for their next service, can board. Passengers for Swindon and Reading will only half a quarter hour to wait. If this wasn't done, the train could be filled with short distance commuters, and the train runs with plenty of space after Swindon whilst passengers for Wales still sit at Paddington.

So faced with a unit running one coach short, I think FGW^▸ (First Great Western) adopted a sensible and pragmatic approach to ensure that all it's passengers faced the minimum inconvenience. Why the policy wasn't actually adopted in the end is another matter - maybe the loadings didn't warrant it.     

http://www.cheltenhamchamber.org.uk/OutlineDoc.pdf

The attached report produced by the Cheltenham Chamber of Commerce as an alternative to the Gloucester Parkway scheme provides an interesting take on how more trains could be accommodated at Cheltenham Spa Station by building two bay platforms on the trackbed of the Honeybourne line. Of course, the obvious step then would be to extend the line half a mile along the line to provide a service that reaches close to the heart of the town and shopping centre.   

Hi Grahame

You could ask for confirmation that the doubling of Worle Jn to Weston Milton is going ahead in the next year, and if so it would be nice to know dates as soon as possible, as I presume it will entail quite a lengthy shutdown. In general, an update on progress of major items on the infrastrucutre items mentioned in the last NR^» (Network Rail - home page) Plan would be good.   

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) have announced peak fare cuts in the Bristol area from Sunday. Both standard day returns and season tickets appear to be involved. In the case of Nailsea to Bristol the SDR comes down 20p to ^3.60, and the season from ^707 (I believe) to ^668.

Now, call me a cynic, but there must be something driving this. Maybe the fare increases last Jan (7% - 8%) were in excess of what was allowed under the RPI^▸ (Revenue Protection Inspector (or Retail Price Index, depending on the context)) related formula? I did wonder at the time.

Anyway, here's to a bit of good news for once.   

 

There are other examples. Significant infrastructure improvements on the valley lines, with platform alterations, dynamic passing loops (ie a 2 mile section for trains to pass on the move), and 8 Cl150s are arriving shortly to provide a doubling of service on the Merthyr line, and peak capacity enhancements on other lines. Oh yes, I almost forgot, the 18 mile Ebbw Vale line should open in December at last. The locals are complaining that it's been a long time coming, but I'm sure the residents of Portishead wouldn't be if their 3 mile branch was opening before the end of the year.

As someone brought up in Cardiff who was strongly against the idea of a Welsh assembly, I have to say that it has brought a huge improvement in rail travel in the Principality. So, if West Wilts wants free train travel for over 65s, and Portishead wants it's railway back, all they have to do is appply to become a regional outpost of Wales. 

Mind you, I'm in two minds about the free travel thing. Cheap travel , yes, but free travel tends to distort demand, and can result in the type of capacity problems seen on the HOW line.

Now then. Cwm Rhondda and a pint of Brains anyone?

No, I'm not an employee or a fan of FGW^▸ (First Great Western). (I can't imagine why anyone not an employee of FGW would count themselves a fan!) Indeed the only financial interest I have in the railways is the ^607 I pay for my annual season ticket from Nailsea to Bristol. And as a result I have my fair share of grotty journeys, although I would accept that our service is not half as bad as on some other lines, such as the Westbury line.

The point I was trying to make is that I'm not sure how helpful it is to post every day the latest delays transcribed from the FGW home page. Or to criticise them for getting the tense wrong. Or pointing out that a train booked to terminate at Parkway this week instead of Cardiff is mentioned as an alteration when in fact it's not. And so on. I just don't see that it is helpful, or adds anything to the debate. And if Aunties Glenda and Alison do bother to read this forum now and again (as they should), they will miss the important and reasoned debate and campaigning that we get, for the nitpicking.

You're right. Operationally FGW are lousy, and I suspect their mistakes are amplified by the cost cutting that means there is little slack in staffing or stock when something goes wrong. But let's all concentrate on the important strategic issues, rather than the day to day blips that we get too much of. 
 

 

Very diplomatically put! I have also thought that the service put out by FGW^▸ (First Great Western) in highlighting operational problems on its website, together with other available sources, can be used for the wrong purpose (which is to inform passengers). Across a fairly wide franchise there are bound to be glitches somewhere every day, and whilst I think we all know there are far too many, I'm not sure what purpose it serves in highlighting each and every one of them. I would much rather we used higher level stats (such as the Passenger Charter Performance Figures available on the FGW website) together with specific issues of concern, such as overcrowding, rather than detail every day's operational problems.         

But she didn't have a valid ticket. The ticket is only valid if the railcard is carried as well.

I can't see the problem with this. If I forget my season ticket I don't expect the ticket inspector to let me travel without a ticket. And I wouldn't get much sympathy either. But use words like "student" and " 20 year old" and suddenly everything's different. Why? 20 year old's are quite mature enough to look after themselves, and to travel with adequate means of payment on such a journey.

As a commuter I despise a lot of what FGW^▸ (First Great Western) (and the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)) have done to our franchise, but in this case they were just following the rules that exist to ensure appropriate revenue protection.