It's so much faster skipping stations.

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From Journey check:

06:00 Exeter St Davids to Bristol Parkway due 08:03
06:00 Exeter St Davids to Bristol Parkway due 08:03 will no longer call at Tiverton Parkway, Bridgwater, Highbridge & Burnham, Weston-super-Mare, Weston Milton, Worle, Yatton, Nailsea & Backwell, Parson Street and Bedminster.
It has been delayed at Exeter St Davids and is now 35 minutes late.
This is due to train crew being delayed.

06:00   Exeter St Davids   06:35
06:17   Tiverton Parkway   Not Stopping
06:34   Taunton   07:09
06:46   Bridgwater   Not Stopping
06:54   Highbridge & Burnham   Not Stopping
07:08   Weston-Super-Mare   Not Stopping
07:11   Weston Milton   Not Stopping
07:15   Worle   Not Stopping
07:21   Yatton   Not Stopping
07:27   Nailsea & Backwell   Not Stopping
07:35   Parson Street   Not Stopping
07:37   Bedminster   Not Stopping
07:46   Bristol Temple Meads   08:21
07:49   Lawrence Hill   08:24
07:51   Stapleton Road   08:26
07:58   Filton Abbey Wood   08:33
08:03   Bristol Parkway   08:38

Summary from Real Time Trains - what actually happened:

35 late off Exeter St Davids
4 minutes early through Nailsea and Backwell
9 minutes early on the approach to Bristol Temple Meads
Sat at Temple Meads for 13 minutes - should have been just 5 - carried on, on time.

I can appreciate skipping stops when a train is so late that there's one just behind it

I can appreciate skipping stops prior to Weston if it wasn't going round the loop - too much chance of over carrying passengers.

But why not pick up stops once nearly back on schedule?   Presumably this train is in the timetable (from Worle onwards) as a part of what the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) and GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) have agreed is the appropriate service.  Presumably a few people usually get on. And perhaps (I speculate  ) they would not be happy to see their train go whizzing through this morning!

[Adrian]

Not the first time I've seen that happen - cancel all stops from Taunton to Bristol Temple Meads to make up time, then arrive significantly early.  Today this train was a sliding door HST^▸ (High Speed Train) so could have probably called at all stations from Worle onwards and still get to Parkway on time.

[Adrian]

A similar situation today: the 1608 Taunton to Cardiff started late.  But this time it made stops at Bridgwater, Highbridge & Burnham, and Worle then Bristol.  That makes sense, because any passengers for Weston, Yatton, Nailsea, etc could change at Worle.