Severn Beach timetable

[whole diary]

[froome]

I was in Clifton today and went to catch the train from Clifton Down to Temple Meads. I looked at the timetable that it is on the side of the building on the access to the station by the entrance to Clifton Down shopping centre. It said the train to Temple Meads was at 17.31, and so I sheltered from the torrential rain that was hammering down at the time under the shopping centre canopy, then went to catch the train, only to find the actual departure time is 17.29. I wasn't happy!

I also note that from next week this train will be leaving at 17.25.

Whose responsibility is it to update these timetables, and how old is the one up there at the moment?

[stuving]

Whose responsibility is it to update these timetables, and how old is the one up there at the moment?

The first part is simple - GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s, and it's a franchise obligation:

SCHEDULE 1.4

Passenger Facing Obligations

1. Publishing the Timetable

The First Timetable

1.1 The Franchisee shall publish on the Start Date:
(a) the Timetable:
(i) at each staffed Station, by making the relevant information available upon request and free of charge in one or more booklets or in other similar form;
(ii) at each Station, by displaying the relevant information on information displays;
(iii) at each Franchisee Access Station, by providing to the operator of each such station the departure and arrival times of the Passenger Services that call at each such station and the principal Connections to any other transport services relevant to each such station in the same forms as are specified in paragraphs 1.1(a)(i) and 1.1(a)(ii); and
(iv) on the Franchisee's website; and
(b) the timetables of other Train Operators at Stations, in accordance with paragraph 1.4.

Timetable Revisions and Alterations

1.2 The Franchisee shall publish updates or replacements to the Timetable at the locations specified in paragraph 1.1 to the extent necessary to reflect any changes which come into effect on a Passenger Change Date:
(a) in the case of booklets, at least two weeks before the changes come into effect;
(b) in the case of information displays, no later than the day before the changes come into effect;
(c) in the case of information provided to the operators of Franchisee Access Stations, in sufficient time for such information to be published by such operators within the time limits provided for in this paragraph 1.2; and
(d) in the case of the Franchisee's website, at least four weeks before the changes come into effect.

1.3 In addition, the Franchisee shall:
(a) subject to paragraph 1.4, display posters at each Station advising passengers of all significant alterations between any two Passenger Change Dates to railway passenger services calling at that Station, no later than four weeks in advance of the date on which the alterations come into effect; and
(b) provide posters to the operators of Franchisee Access Stations, advising passengers of all significant alterations between any two Passenger Change Dates to the Passenger Services which call at such Franchisee Access Stations, in sufficient time for such information to be published by such operators within the time limit provided for in paragraph 1.3(a).

[Red Squirrel]

Well now there's a thing - the only thing I knew for sure about the December Timetable changes was that nothing was changing on the Severn Beach Line... just goes to show how wrong you can be if you take your eye off the ball...

[TonyK]

I was in Clifton today and went to catch the train from Clifton Down to Temple Meads. I looked at the timetable that it is on the side of the building on the access to the station by the entrance to Clifton Down shopping centre. It said the train to Temple Meads was at 17.31, and so I sheltered from the torrential rain that was hammering down at the time under the shopping centre canopy, then went to catch the train, only to find the actual departure time is 17.29. I wasn't happy!

I also note that from next week this train will be leaving at 17.25.

Whose responsibility is it to update these timetables, and how old is the one up there at the moment?

According to RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website), the planned departure time was 1729, which tallies with the downloadable timetable, but the actual departure time was 1731½. The train actually arrived early, at 1725¾. If the timetable says 1731, it is wrong, and will remain so next week. 

You are right about next week's departure time being scheduled for 1725, although this doesn't get a mention in the "What's changing?" portion of the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) website. We'll see how that one goes, as it relies on the outbound train, which both arrives and departs at 1725, being on time.

[grahame]

Well now there's a thing - the only thing I knew for sure about the December Timetable changes was that nothing was changing on the Severn Beach Line... just goes to show how wrong you can be if you take your eye off the ball...

Whilst "no change" might be the headline / plan on the white lines across the central zone, there are inevitable "small" changes as the existing train pattern is kept, but the details are updated to work around other trains appearing at different times and in some cases in different quantity.



This is a "Beach" thread ... trains into Temple Meads going to be influenced by IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) time changes and extras.  Backroom discussions did (as I recall, listening to others in whole-area meetings) save Sea Mills calls and bring up issues of skips at Lawrence Hill and Stapleton Road.  Interesting to see GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) and Network Rail showing "Avonmouth" rather than "Severn Beach" on this map they have published.

Other white lines ... I note comment elsewhere about changes that cause a half hour delay from Worcester into Bristol in the morning peak.   

From Heart of Wessex, a peak train stopping short of Bristol Parkway, and another setting off a few minutes earlier to stand a few minutes longer at Westbury.

Code:

Northbound 06:40, 06:56, 08:07 from Frome this week
Northbound 06:42, 06:50, 08:04 from Frome next week

The 06:56 arrived Bath 07:45 and Temple Meads 08:06 this week - to Parkway
The 06:50 arrives Bath 07:49 and Temple Meads 08:08 next week - to Abbey Wood

10 minutes longer journey to Bath, 8 minutes longer to Bristol.
My guess is that Frome commuter are not going to be singing with joy

TransWits - white line, yet trains moved as much as 40 minutes.  Pointing out issues early on - like The Beach late adjustments mentioned above - has made the majority of these changes (but not all of them) on weekdays positive.

[froome]

Many apologies. I was up in Clifton again today, this time in daylight, and had another look at the board, and saw that it said 17.31 for Saturday and 17.29 for the weekdays. I'm sure I had noted that it was Saturday as well at the time, but must have had a senior moment (not uncommon these days sadly) and missed the weekday time.

Anyway, this thread has at least highlighted that the train time is changing next week, so has achieved something. 

[Red Squirrel]

...Anyway, this thread has at least highlighted that the train time is changing next week, so has achieved something. 

Absolutely! For which I am very grateful!

[XPT]

When I used to use the Severn Beach line for a couple of years up till November 2018 to commute to work from Redland, the northbound service due to depart Redland at 0813 was practically ALLWAYS a few minutes or more late every (week)day, which consequently made the southbound service due at 0819 a few minutes or more late!  I noted with interest the change to the Severn Beach timetable from the 15th December.  With the departures from Redland at that time of the morning, brought forward by 6/7 minutes.  But I note from walking past Redland station around that time every morning. that that northbound service is STILL running late pretty much every (week)day! 

Look at these examples from the past week...

Monday 23rd December - https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/simple/RDA/2019-12-23/0800
Tuesday 24th December - https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/simple/RDA/2019-12-24/0800
Friday 27th December - https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/simple/RDA/2019-12-27/0800
Monday 30th December - https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/simple/RDA/2019-12-30/0800

They might as well have just kept the Severn Beach timetable as it was!  Because at that time of the morning anyway, the services are actually running at very similar times to what they were pre the December timetable change!

I know that services on the Severn Beach line were frequently late before due to the double track bottle-neck between Temple Meads and Narroways Junction.  But I thought since that section was quadrupled back in November 2018, that this would improve punctuality on this line.  But it seems not!

Doesn't really effect me personally.  But just saying.