Weymouth Services - 24 July

[whole diary]

[WSW Frome]

Well we all know about the crew shortages, pinging, barbecues etc. However, not a great showing for services to Weymouth yesterday for the first weekend of main school holidays.

A group of us had planned to travel separately from Frome to Weymouth yesterday and meet for a very special early evening dinner to celebrate my wife's birthday. Then to return on the 20.20. All bookings and arrangements made well ahead.

I travelled early and before I set off noted the former "Weymouth Wizard" had already been cancelled. En-route I noted that the 20.20 and two other return trains had subsequently been cancelled. (The 18.28 return was reinstated later). Naturally I had to head off the later travellers and return late afternoon myself. My wife decided to cook her own birthday dinner for five people but we may try the same trip midweek during August!

We all appreciate the issues but is is really necessary to cancel the last train from a popular resort on such a peak day? I understand taxi options have been provided recently but how effective they could be on such a day is debatable and likely to involve much delay. 

[GBM]

It USED to be the case when I was doing bus service work, the last run on any route MUST run, no matter what.
I assume that is still the case, perhaps member LiskeardRich could enlighten me?

[bradshaw]

Today 1610 WEY-WSB^» (Westbury - next trains) running as ecs (5V93) and

2106 BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains)-WEY running ecs as 2156 WSB-WEY (5O96)

last up at 2032 currently booked to run according to RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website)

[WSW Frome]

I also need to add that a day and overnight paid session of Doggie Care was also included in our failed trip to Weymouth. Hardly life changing but it does show how apparently simple service changes can affect so many personal plans.

[phile]

Very sorry to learn of your unfortunate day and that you will will fare better in the future.    However,  if there is no driver available the last train can't run whether it's the last one or not.

[grahame]

We all appreciate the issues but is is really necessary to cancel the last train from a popular resort on such a peak day? I understand taxi options have been provided recently but how effective they could be on such a day is debatable and likely to involve much delay. 

Very sorry to learn of your unfortunate day and that you will will fare better in the future.    However,  if there is no driver available the last train can't run whether it's the last one or not.

Clearly, if there was no driver there it could not run.  It wasn't, though, a last minute cancellation as I recall, and it might have been possible (I don't know) to run it at the expense of something else.   Whether that was a rock and a hard place, I don't know either.

[WSW Frome]

I submitted my online claim for a refund of these several tickets (these were all booked at the same time but for separate travel). The claim was refused because I had not cut the tickets in half when submitted as a scanned image. Now these are expired tickets so the bureaucracy reigns supreme.

I have resubmitted the claim with the appropriate scissor cuts in place. I have added some notes to the scanned image to assist (no comments can be added elsewhere so does anyone read such). However, I am now sceptical that the claim might be refused as out of time or that the refund will only apply to the cancelled 20.20 service when there was no point in any travel for us on that day.

Naturally I will keep my armour ready for the next battle if it comes. Joe public would not be happy with this nonsense.

[Timmer]

Is cutting tickets in half a new thing?

Your claim should still go through. If not, go direct to GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) either via email or DM on Twitter.. The automated process of submitting claims is all well and good when it works but nothing but frustration when it doesn’t.