Turbos are bedding in far better than they did on the Severn Beach line but noting:
a) Only 3 fitted
SDO▸ so far (a couple more on line within a few days now) so that there are special arrangements for stops and Melksham (and Stonehouse) and great care being taken to avoid unmodified sets being used on trains scheduled to call at Avoncliff, Dilton Marsh, Thornford and Chetnole. Where a "wrong" set turns up, these stops have to be skipped.
b) There is a learning curve for both operations and maintenance staff, so that when something goes wrong as yet it's harder to fix and takes longer
c) The fuel range on a full tank is 400 miles less with a turbo than with a 15x. Yesterday's cancellation was not a "fault on the train" - the problem was that there wasn't enough fuel and the cancellation of the 15:18 off Swindon was to leave enough fuel on board to run the 17:36. Personally, I think it would have been better to cancel the 12:47 and save fuel earlier in the day, but I'm sure there was good reason that could not be done!
15:18 Swindon to Westbury due 16:01
15:18 Swindon to Westbury due 16:01 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.
The up train from Frome also cancelled from Westbury to Swindon.
Real time trains says "This service was cancelled between Westbury and Swindon due to a problem with the train" which is not quite the same as saying "a fault on this train", and is more accurate.
