Frome Commuters Condemn New FGW Timetable

[whole diary]

[Lee]

Forthcoming timetable changes to trains running through Frome have been condemned by commuters (link below.)
http://thisissomerset.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=147472&command=displayContent&sourceNode=242195&contentPK=19170359&folderPk=113662&pNodeId=251478

John Leach , chairman of the Frome Public Transport Users' Association , said the new timetable will be a nightmare for commuters , who already have to put up with consistently late trains.

He said: "As chairman of the association, I listen to commuters who come to me with their concerns over this service."

"The new timetable will have a knock-on effect for all commuters in this area, from Frome right through to Weymouth."

The current morning train is 7.05am from Frome and arrives in Weymouth at 8.23am , but the new train time will run 13 minutes earlier , at 6.48am.

Commuters will arrive nearly an hour before most people have to start work , at 8.05am , which Mr Leach believes will have people hanging around in the cold.

They are also unhappy at losing the direct service to Cardiff , and that there will be a later day service to Weymouth , leaving at 10.46am , meaning that half the day will be gone by the time rail users get to seaside town at noon.

Mr Leach said :

"All this has happened so the Westbury to Bath service can run every half an hour. Frome commuters all have to suffer to accommodate this."

"The trouble with First Great Western is it doesn't listen to its customers, it's like banging our heads against a brick wall,"

"All we want is a regular, on-time service that suits the community it is supposed to serve."

Andrew Griffiths said: "We are aware of a number of issues with the new timetable on the Weymouth line, through Frome."

"These issues will be addressed on the next timetable, which will be available in May."

"We are also looking at adding more trains to go through Frome to make the service as effective as possible."

"Though we try, it is impossible to keep everybody happy when a new timetable is implemented and hope we can resolve any issues by the middle of next year."

[devon_metro]

Having stoppers following trains from Westbury - Bath is silly though!

[Graz]

I work between Frome and Warminster and have a choice most times to catch the bus from Frome or Warminster back to Oldfield Park. Frome is as little easier to get to and there's higher chance I can get back to Oldfield pk, but the sheer frequency of trains is almost enough to put me off. It's clear to me that 1 train every 2 hours is grossly inadequate for this large town (even at peak!) and it needs at least a hourly service both ways. I'd suggest either a new Westbury - Yeovil service or just make some semifast London-Exeter services call there.

[grahame]

... It's clear to me that 1 train every 2 hours is grossly inadequate for this large town (even at peak!) and it needs at least a hourly service both ways. I'd suggest either a new Westbury - Yeovil service or just make some semifast London-Exeter services call there.

Included in the proposals put forward in May 2007 (and revealed to use under FOI^▸ (Freedom of Information)), Frome was to get an additional three trains a day.  It didn't happen ... neither did the extra three trains a day from Westbury to Swindon.  Not sure exactly why the proposal that seemed to have First's full support, and was working along lines encouraged (though NOT financially) by the council failed. The unit that would have made a "major improvement for wiltshire" is - as from Monday - running a "spoiler" service a few minutes ahead or or behind SWT^▸ (South West Trains)'s new Salisbury - Southampton - Romsey train.

I'm looking for sense in services like FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s 13:02 arrival in Southampton - what's wrong with the 12:40 arrival or the 13:08 arrival?   This is a genuine question - the only reason I can see is that if FGW run a higher proportion of the trains they're entitled to a higher proportion of the revenues, irrespective of how each train loads.

By the way, Graz .... there are other options.   How about a 2-hourly Weymouth to Swindon via Frome (crossplatform change at Westbury for Bristol) with the alternate hour being Frome to Bristol direct?   I'm looking to provide an improved service for Melksham - population very similar to that of Frome but with an appalling service at the moment.  And Weymouth - Swindon is a natural straight route / old main line with Frome becoming more and more a commuter town for the Bath / Bristol  and Chippenham / Swindon areas.

[Lee]

Included in the proposals put forward in May 2007 (and revealed to use under FOI^▸ (Freedom of Information)), Frome was to get an additional three trains a day.  It didn't happen ... neither did the extra three trains a day from Westbury to Swindon.  Not sure exactly why the proposal that seemed to have First's full support, and was working along lines encouraged (though NOT financially) by the council failed. The unit that would have made a "major improvement for wiltshire" is - as from Monday - running a "spoiler" service a few minutes ahead or or behind SWT^▸ (South West Trains)'s new Salisbury - Southampton - Romsey train.

I'm looking for sense in services like FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s 13:02 arrival in Southampton - what's wrong with the 12:40 arrival or the 13:08 arrival?   This is a genuine question - the only reason I can see is that if FGW run a higher proportion of the trains they're entitled to a higher proportion of the revenues, irrespective of how each train loads.

First's proposal , along with some interesting background info , can be found in the link below.
http://www.wellho.net/wccfoi/wccfgw3.pdf

It should be noted that one of the reasons that FGW will run "spoiler" services to Southampton is because they are specified by the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about). In order to implement the Melksham / Frome proposal , FGW will need to obtain a derogation / change to the specification. One of the reasons that this is unlikely to happen is because the 0809 arrival into Southampton is likely to be very useful to Salisbury / Romsey commuters.

I work between Frome and Warminster and have a choice most times to catch the bus from Frome or Warminster back to Oldfield Park. Frome is as little easier to get to and there's higher chance I can get back to Oldfield pk, but the sheer frequency of trains is almost enough to put me off. It's clear to me that 1 train every 2 hours is grossly inadequate for this large town (even at peak!) and it needs at least a hourly service both ways. I'd suggest either a new Westbury - Yeovil service or just make some semifast London-Exeter services call there.

As you can see from the link below , we looked into a similiar option as part of our background work on Gateway To The Future.
http://www.shinewithstyle.co.uk/literature/Suggested%20Weymouth%20-%20Severn%20Beach%20timetable.pdf

[devon_metro]

By the way, Graz .... there are other options.   How about a 2-hourly Weymouth to Swindon via Frome (crossplatform change at Westbury for Bristol) with the alternate hour being Frome to Bristol direct?   I'm looking to provide an improved service for Melksham - population very similar to that of Frome but with an appalling service at the moment.  And Weymouth - Swindon is a natural straight route / old main line with Frome becoming more and more a commuter town for the Bath / Bristol  and Chippenham / Swindon areas.

I'm not an expert but surely more people from Weymouth and Frome want to travel direct to Bristol than Melksham/Swindon? 

[grahame]

I'm not an expert but surely more people from Weymouth and Frome want to travel direct to Bristol than Melksham/Swindon? 

If you qualify that with "at present and by train", yes, I agree. You'll note my suggestion still has a two-hourly Frome to Bristol and an additional hourly service with a crossplatform change at Westbury.   

And the overall travel requirement from Trowbridge / Westbury / Frome is much more evenly split that you would guess between the Bristol/Bath and the Chippenham/Swindon directions.   Listen to the local estate agents (who are far more experts than I) and they'll put Swindon ahead in terms of commuter destinations, but Bristol and Bath ahead in terms of leaisure trip destinations.  And look at Ruth Kelly's sustainable transport report of 30th October and the congestion map and you'll see that it too shows "via Bath" and "via Chippneham" roads both very much of a muchness.

It's also interesting to note that the journey as the crow flies from Frome to Bath is 11 miles, whereas the journey as the 150 meanders is 22 miles.  Still the "Great Way Round" and I wonder if that enourages a skew towards cars and buses far more on the Bath run than on the Swindon run if you should provide a balanced train service.

[Graz]

... It's clear to me that 1 train every 2 hours is grossly inadequate for this large town (even at peak!) and it needs at least a hourly service both ways. I'd suggest either a new Westbury - Yeovil service or just make some semifast London-Exeter services call there.

.. By the way, Graz .... there are other options.   How about a 2-hourly Weymouth to Swindon via Frome (crossplatform change at Westbury for Bristol) with the alternate hour being Frome to Bristol direct?   I'm looking to provide an improved service for Melksham - population very similar to that of Frome but with an appalling service at the moment.  And Weymouth - Swindon is a natural straight route / old main line with Frome becoming more and more a commuter town for the Bath / Bristol  and Chippenham / Swindon areas.

I tell you what-- this would have been ESPECIALLY useful today. My train (18:38) was almost 45 minutes late into Frome with no explanation given. Should there have been an extra train to Westbury this would have especially been useful as I indeed could have changed there. Or, if all trains from Westbury-Bristol were delayed (as what seemed to be the case today) - a change at Chippenham would have been just as good!

I also strongly believe that a Frome/Yeovil to Swindon service would be highly beneficial. A change at Bath is currently too inconvenient to do this, especially with the Weymouth line's poor services. The alternatives aren't much use- a fairly slow bus to Chippenham with a change or travelling along the congested and indirect A36/A361/A4631. Neither are a viable option, but the train would be. Just imagine the economic potential and convenience it would bring to all places along the route and the potential of high usage- which I'm sure would be the case after a while. It's high time places like Frome and Melksham started getting a service that they deserve.

[ruthg]

They've also made the evening connections at Bath Spa even tighter than they used to be. At peak times trying to connect with the Weymouth train from the direction of Swindon/Chippenham, we now have an advertised connection time of just 7 minutes (previously 10 minutes). Therefore, the only sensible thing to do now is catch an earlier train to Bath leaving you with a connection time of 35-40 minutes which is all well and good but not very convenient for those of us trying to work our contracted hours and get home at a sensible time.
People living in Frome do want to work in Chippenham and Swindon but unfortunately the changes to the timetable over the last 2 years have caused at least 2 people I know to drive and at least 1 other person now drives to Trowbridge to get the train from there rather than Frome.

Outward journey: Tuesday 11 December 2007 Station    Arr    Dep    Travel by    Service Provider
 SWINDON                                                                      16:31  Train        FIRST GREAT WESTERN
 BATH SPA                                                             17:00     17:07  Train              FIRST GREAT WESTERN
 FROME                                                              17:47                      


Outward journey: Tuesday 11 December 2007 Station    Arr    Dep    Travel by    Service Provider
 SWINDON                                                                      17:31  Train      FIRST GREAT WESTERN
 BATH SPA                                                              18:00  18:07     Train            FIRST GREAT WESTERN
 FROME                                                               18:45        

[Graz]

Welcome ruthg

The case for a direct Frome - Swindon service seems almost too obvious now, with the poor connections at Bath Spa. It's so clear the benefits it would bring- more travel oppertunities to Chippenham/Swindon, connections at Swindon for London, much-needed services for Melksham, relief on the pressure at Bath Spa and the Cardiff-Portsmouth services because less people will be changing, and extra connections at Westbury for Bath/Bristol. The case for this service should be made a top priority.