It didn't run last weekend, but here it is today - the 08:46 calling at Melksham and picking up 9 passengers. I spoke with 6 of them ... all headed for London, so that really helps make commercial sense for the service.
Clearly, weekend engineering works will effect this train much more than is ideal, but where there's a scheduled train that can't run, road replacement will be provided.
We've had this service in past summers - the real motivator then being to get a train up the line to run an earlier train into Westbury to allow ongoing connections to Weymouth. In fact we had to push a few buttons in the summer of 2011 to ensure the trail service didn't run up empty and none-stop.
Come 17th September this year, our first departure will slip back to 09:20, to Westbury where there will be a London connection. Not as good as the 08:46; the reason given is that Network Rail will not yet allow a path through from Thingley to Chippenham on a Sunday morning while they're doing electrification work - so at least that's a temporary rather than a permanent "no".
With little (if any) promotion other than it appearing in the timetable (as yet), it's a good start. Two minor grouses:
a) The Engineering Works poster tells us us about changes for the three weeks up to and including 19th May, and I suspect that customers would find a poster telling them what's happening today - and perhaps next weekend - more useful
b) On the front screen, the
TVM▸ continues to offer off peak returns to London (Paddington) at £66.50 - those tickets are perfectly valid on the 08:46 - however the next return trains from London that you would need to buy that fare for are on Monday afternoon - come back today, or middle of the day Monday, and a super off-peak ticket at £52.40 is a better deal. The machine WILL sell you the super off peak if you know to go through to other screens, but there's nothing to alert "Jo Public" to lower fares on the front screen.
We've been round the TVM price loop before - nothing illegal in how it's configured, but morally questionable. I feel it should offer a super off-peak return rather than an off-peak return on the front - at least at times that people can be expected to return super off peak - i.e. from Friday evening to Sunday lunchtime. "Software issues" become a lame excuse as months of asking turn into years - even if there cannot be another front screen for the weekend, how about adding "see other screens for super off peak fare" or words to that effect on the London entry?
