Daytime Traffic on the TransWilts

[whole diary]

[NickF]

Today 0919
18 already on board CPM^» (Chippenham - next trains) to MKM^» (Melksham (Station code) - next trains)
3 off at MKM,  9 on
24 MKM to TRO^» (Trowbridge - next trains)
10 off at TRO, couldnt see how many got on

Today 1512
10 already on board SWI^» (Swindon - next trains) to CPM
2 off at CPM 9 on
17 CPM to MKM
2 off at MKM, 0 on

Please take these figures as estimates, it is slightly difficult to count whilst trying to chaperone 2 train mad toddlers

[grahame]

18:52 from Swindon last night ... 29 passengers on into Melksham.  7 off and one on.   30/8

[grahame]

11:04 from Chippenham ... Into Melksham 24 on board +3 -4 -> 23   So that's 27/7
(i.e. 27 journeys made on the Chippenham -> Trowbridge section of which 7 were to / from Melksham)

[grahame]

12th Feb, 18:52 from Swindon.   28 on into Melksham, 9 off and 2 on; 30/11

Note that the connecting trains from London were running late any anyone on the 17:45 from Paddington (the advertised connection) or the earlier Cheltenham Spa train won't have made that 18:52 ...

[grahame]

This (Friday) morning. 07:49 ex Melksham, where 2 got off and 25(isn) joined, making 68 - 70/27 ... some seats unoccupied, but some people standing. Around 30 off and 20 more into Swindon (all seated). Full car par at Melksham.  "Much busier than 6 months ago" says a regular.

10:47 back from Swindon - 16 on from Chippenham.  10 off and 12 on at Melksham. 28/22.  Around 30 for off that train when it arrived in from Westbury at 10:34. 

[John R]

That's quite significant. The highest noted yet for the 0749 service, it's around 10 up from the time of the October survey, all of which appears to be MKM^» (Melksham (Station code) - next trains) generated. What's more, Fridays are normally quiet, and last Friday appeared even more so, probably because of the half term starting, so I would expect the underlying figures to be even higher. Which might imply around an extra 1 commuter per week being added.

Given that there's a more even spread of traffic across the two morning northbound services, but the evening return is much more heavily weighted to the earlier service, I'd expect the 1736 from Swindon to be regularly standing room only now between Chippenham and Melksham, if the morning 153 is just about full. And if my theory is right and numbers are still rising, how long before we start getting complaints about overcrowding?   

[Chris from Nailsea]

Thanks for those very thought-provoking comments, John R. 

Overcrowding on the TransWilts: whatever next??? 

[grahame]

The 17:36 ex Swindon is indeed being reported back as "full and standing" on a regular basis, and cries of "can we have another carriage" are to be heard.

The immediate answer, I'm afraid has to be "there's nothing spare at the moment" and/or "adding an extra carriage for just  10 / 20 / 25 / 50 minutes per day is hard to justify financially"  but tempered very much with "people ARE aware". It's notable that the complete rail replacement from 18th to 31st July that we anticipated has morphed into "most rail replacement and a peak train service should run" and I'm pretty sure that wouldn't have been the case if we still had just under 50 journeys per day rather than approaching 500.

* There is stock availability (not sure on crew rosters, or ability to reverse at Melksham) for a 16:36 Swindon to Melksham, arriving there at 17:03.   Return service from Melksham at 17:19, arriving Swindon at 17:48.  There are passengers on the 17:36 who would love an earlier train, but I'm not sure how much this would relieve the 17:36 and how much it would encourage extra passengers on the line in general, as people learned of the choice, and actually mke the 17:36 busier.   Note - extension to Trowbridge / Westbury may be possible if the timing issues with a unit that its over at Westbury can be resolved. Note also - no freight (at least today) on the TransWilts at the time the new train would be there, and the times I have given are already tried and tested in other hours of the day into the regular pattern of mainline passenger trains.

* Come cascade / anticipated 16x units in 2 or 3 years, and we'll go up to a 2 car minimum.

[Lee]

As long as someone lets Control know to change the Default "cancel TransWilts peak first" setting, along with the Default "one taxi for Melksham" for the Default "couple of passengers"...

[bobm]

The 07:33 from Westbury was delayed by 13 minutes waiting for the stock to form it which came in on a service from Bristol.

[grahame]

Yesterday evening ... an interesting contrast!

12 in my carriage on 17:15 ex Cambridge (12 cars to King's Cross)
110 in my carriage on 18:45 ex Paddington (8 cars to Swansea)
15 on 20:29 ex Chippenham (1 car to Westbury) (and 5 off at Melksham / none on so 15/5 )

A middle carriage from Cambridge - 12 car was probably excess provision but I can't speak for the return run of the same train from London to Cambridge. 

Carriage "A" on the 18:45 from Paddington - Standing, crammed all up the aisles to Twyford - an extra stop - as the 18:47 to Cheltenham Spa was cancelled, so this figure is exceptionally high.

By half past 8, trains are getting much quieter and the TransWilts loading was quite reasonable for a Wednesday.  Of note - its use by a couple of regulars I expect to see on the 17:36 or 18:52 off Swindon - re-enforcing the need for this later train as a backup for people working late, who may be lost to rail if they didn't have the option for when they need it.

Pity the crowds for the 18:47 from Paddington for the Stroud valley who had a wait of 30 minutes for the 19:35 ex Westbury 2 car unit rather than a through HST^▸ (High Speed Train).  It looked like it was going to be cosy!

[bobm]

Initially the 18:45 was cancelled and the 18:47 booked to run, but then they were swapped.

[grahame]

Initially the 18:45 was cancelled and the 18:47 booked to run, but then they were swapped.

Ssshhh - don't tell that to the people who were waiting on the platform at Swindon for the 150 from Westbury, or queuing up at the unable-to-cope buffet counter for a drink and food!

[grahame]

Oh ... my ... goodness

The joke in the lean years prior to December 2013 was that the 06:12 Swindon to Southampton was excellently timed because 100% of the one or two passengers on board when surveyed said it ran at a good time for them, and the next train (at 18:44) would have been too late for them.

We anticipated that the 06:12 would be one of harder ones to fill even after extra services were added, and I expected the train to fall below the average of "20 per train by the third year".   It was heartwarming to see - on the Tuesday of our October count - that the service was up to 18 passengers making use of it on the Chippenham to Trowbridge stretch.

This morning, 4th March, a Wednesday, I've used this train ... and I'm delighted to report that 7 people got off and 9 on at Melksham.   A count on the way to Trowbridge gave 25 passengers, so the stats are 32/16.   Wow - it looks like even the toughest nut has - in the second year - risen above the overall average we were set as the target for the third year (and we're even a long way ahead of year 5 targets).

The 07:04 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa via Swindon left Westbury with 20 people on board already; on past form, it picks up the same number again (perhaps a few more) at Trowbridge, and an increasing number (someone has suggested we're getting 1 new commuter per week) at Melksham.  The emphasis now is on maintaining these numbers / this growth which to some extent is the purpose of my visit to Westbury!

[grahame]

Following on ... I came back on the 09:48.   Another "it's not going to be busy" train - after the morning peak and in the lull.   And only 7 on from Westbury 

However ... +15 -0 at Trowbridge (checked / count 22 onwards) and +6 -1 at Melksham = 28/7

I really must remember not to be disappointed if a train leaves Westbury with low numbers on board ... there's likely to be many more passengers joining along the way