Melksham's Claim to Fame

[whole diary]

[Conner]

From the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) live update page:
20:35 London Paddington to Plymouth due 01:01
This train has been revised.It will additionally call at: Swindon.It will no longer call at: Newbury and Pewsey.This is due to an earlier broken down train.

This service will be diverted via Melksham.

But it isn't stopping. 

[Jim]

And why should it stop?

[Chris from Nailsea]

I've no suggestions as to why it shouldn't stop (it's not daylight, after all?), but I'd just like to invite Jim to make his 1000th post!  Thanks, Jim, and all the best for the next thousand!

 

[Ollie]

It's due to the possession at Newbury, because of the delay leaving Paddington it wouldn't have got there in time, so had to be diverted.

Edit: Only just noticed my mistake

[Jim]

It's due to the possession at Newbury, because of the delay leaving Paddington it would have got there in time, so had to be diverted.

Also, 180109 on the VERY late 19.52 Exeter - Padd went that way, past Trowbridge 21.47.

[grahame]

The Westbury - Swindon line only survived the dark days of the 1970s because of its use as a diversionary route - and that use continues to this day - if anything more so rather than less.  I could find you dozens of pictures of engineering, freight and other passenger trains on the line, and it's a sensible use of part of the resource. 

It would, of course, be rather daft to stop last minute diversions at Melksham in order to provide an unpublicised service at a wierd time of day that noone would use - and it was an excellent plan to stop a diverted train that had lead to the cancellation of the regular service at Melksham the other week.  What a pity it backfired when the diverted service itself failed to run through and the powers that be snubbed their noses at the TransWilts customers and failed to re-instate the only scheduled southbound train in 12 hours ... and the busiest of the day. 

Seriously, there is capacity for a service of six round trips a day. And there is capacity for other regular traffic, and some specials, at the same time.   And if there's major diversions, then I think everyone would be happy with the nearest timed diverted train to a local train serving for both.