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grahame
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« on: February 02, 2014, 18:42:01 » |
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18:50 Westbury to Swindon due 19:33 This train will be cancelled.
This is due to a member of train crew being unavailable.
Additional Information:
Replacement road transport will be provided by Beta Taxis at Trowbridge to convey customers from Trowbridge to Melksham and from Melksham to Chippenham. This may not be to published train times. Oh dear 19:53 Swindon to Westbury due 20:36 This train will be cancelled.
This is due to a member of train crew being unavailable.
Additional Information:
Replacement road transport will be provided by V-Cars at Chippenham to convey customers from Chippenham to Melksham and from Melksham to Trowbridge and Westbury. This may not be to published train times. Oh dear And from my journey earlier [I am now at Reading, train awaiting time!] ... 10 on 17:30 arrival into Melksham and 4 more joined; none left. 3 left at Chippenham, rest carried on to Swindon and most (?) connected into Paddington train. 2 arrived at Melksham station on foot, 1 in a taxi (ouch! that was expensive; Lisa not feeling well and far to much luggage to walk from home), and 1 "Kiss and RIde". One of the folks is coming back on the 06:12 in the morning, and wondered to the conductor why he couldn't get a day return as he's going to be in Swindon for much less than a day. The CCTV▸ that was to be installed "in January" isn't there, and the help point is having communications problems yet again. It says they're working to fix it, but attempts to do so permanently seem to be very VERY ineffective! |
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Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
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grahame
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« Reply #1 on: February 02, 2014, 18:46:50 » |
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Thanks, C-f-N and Bobm for posting in the moderator's area ... I hadn't noticed this but rather I think it's a good idea to expose these issues to Rail and Local Government members who are in the CRP▸ area.
I note that the Looe branch in closed due to flooding and that is the ONLY other set of cancellations anywhere in the South West this evening. I do hope that the final transWilts round trip of the day isn't going to be first on the "Kill List" ...
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Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
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John R
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« Reply #2 on: February 02, 2014, 21:17:25 » |
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Presumably the taxis from Chippenham would await the next arrival from Swindon, so I can see why it wouldn't be to published train times. But I would have thought the northbound services would have been.
A difficult one for the operator. If they are staff short at Westbury do they cancel the Swindon service, with maybe 10 -20 people likely to be on board, but no alternative rail service within a sensible time, or a more heavily used route, where more people may be affected, but the time to the next service is more reasonable.
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Lee
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« Reply #3 on: February 03, 2014, 13:52:24 » |
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Melksham station CCTV▸ has electrical and IT installation issues, apparently, so we are now talking Summer 2014 for that and the ticket machine, which is affected by the same issues.
The preparatory work (putting the pole up etc) is due for completion very soon though, so I'm told.
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grahame
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« Reply #4 on: February 03, 2014, 14:33:34 » |
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Melksham station CCTV▸ has electrical and IT installation issues, apparently, so we are now talking Summer 2014 for that and the ticket machine, which is affected by the same issues.
The preparatory work (putting the pole up etc) is due for completion very soon though, so I'm told.
Ah ... do you know if the help point (which often says "we're having communication issues and are working to fix them") will become more reliable at that time too? |
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Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #5 on: February 03, 2014, 18:46:13 » |
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My understanding is that the connecting technology used by help points is quite separate from that used by cctv and ticket vending machines, unfortunately. Any improvement in one does not necessarily mean any change to the others - but hopefully the ongoing work on providing generally improved electrical and internet connectivity at Melksham station (and indeed other stations!) will assist the various engineers and technicians in resolving these issues? (As an aside, while the Scheidt & Bachmann ticket vending machines at Nailsea & Backwell are sometimes kaputt, the customer information screens on the platforms are working perfectly - and vice versa.  ) |
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William Huskisson MP▸ was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830. Many more have died in the same way since then. Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.
"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner." Discuss.
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JayMac
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« Reply #6 on: February 03, 2014, 18:52:31 » |
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I hope it's not too serious a problem with the Melksham Help Point/CIS▸ .
When the one at my local station needed replacing (this was due to vandalism and not faults however) it took 6 months to source it from Switzerland. And at a cost of around ^12,000.
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"Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for the rest of the day. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
- Sir Terry Pratchett.
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Phil
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« Reply #7 on: February 03, 2014, 19:06:39 » |
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Help point was working fine today, fwiw
3 on at MKM» for the 09:15 train, one left at Trowbridge & two (incl. myself) changed and went further south. Quite a few college students already on the train I noticed when it arrived at MKM
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bobm
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« Reply #8 on: February 07, 2014, 20:21:14 » |
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A few problems on the TransWilts this evening.
The 17:39 from Cheltenham (18:44 from Swindon) was delayed by over 50 minutes. Owing to traincrew problems it was coupled to the unit which came in from Westbury on the 18:32 TransWilts service. This then left at 19:43 - leaving no unit behind to form the 20:12 from Swindon to Westbury via Westbury. This was therefore cancelled.
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John R
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« Reply #9 on: February 07, 2014, 22:05:46 » |
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Also this evening, the 1736 ex Swindon left promptly. Errr, so what, you might ask. Well, the 1630 from Paddington arrived around 2 minutes later, hence any passengers for the TransWilts were well shafted. Pax for Trowbridge and Westbury were told to get back on and travel via Bath Spa, but no mention for what those bound for Melksham should do. If they waited for the 1844 then they would have been around 2 hrs late by the time they left Swindon (or indeed Chippenham).
Appreciate there's a lot to challenge FGW▸ at the moment, but maybe another example of where rules took precedence over common sense.
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bobm
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« Reply #10 on: February 07, 2014, 22:15:25 » |
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Also this evening, the 1736 ex Swindon left promptly. Errr, so what, you might ask. Well, the 1630 from Paddington arrived around 2 minutes later.... Which when you think about it makes even less sense as the HST▸ would have been following the TransWilts train on yellows all the way to Thingley...which is why, no doubt, it was 10 late at Swindon and 14 down by Chippenham. |
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John R
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« Reply #11 on: February 07, 2014, 22:21:23 » |
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Agree bobm, although the only thing I think of is that if the TW service had been held to follow the 1730 to Highbridge, it would then have held up the 1741 to Swansea as far as Thingley Junction. So probably a case of "damned if you do and damned if you don't" for those making the decisions.
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bobm
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« Reply #12 on: February 07, 2014, 22:31:49 » |
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True - except the Swansea was already knackered by being sent via Box after the closure of the line via Hullavington. It ended up being 52 minutes late at Bristol Parkway.
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John R
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« Reply #13 on: February 07, 2014, 22:42:25 » |
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Indeed, not helped by the 50mph restriction between Box and Keynsham that's been in place for 2 days now, because of flooding. So maybe the signallers felt to run the Westbury service ahead of it (including a call at Chippenham) was worse than letting the Westbury out on time and inconveniencing anyone connecting at Swindon.
It only goes to show, those making the decisions have a lot of things to consider, not all of which regular passengers can see.
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bobm
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« Reply #14 on: February 09, 2014, 19:00:03 » |
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Given the problems elsewhere it seems almost churlish to report these 18:50 Westbury to Swindon due 19:33
This train will be cancelled.
This is due to a member of train crew being unavailable. 19:53 Swindon to Westbury due 20:36
This train will be cancelled.
This is due to a member of train crew being unavailable. |
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