South Western Railways Waterloo - Bristol services axed

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Given that we're now at the end date for the Bristol Temple Meads engineering works: tomorrow, SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) intended to resume the remaining through services from Waterloo - but they've just announced that they're cancelled - along with a raft of impactful changes on the line to Exeter.

Especially as I have travel booked for both routes next week, I'm wondering how the staff shortages will manifest themselves from Monday through to Friday, especially as... GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are ramping up the number of  trains that they're running between the likes of Bristol and London, yes?

Services which will no longer run in a forthcoming timetable are likely be the first to be cut at times of staff shortage, and indeed staff numbers aren't going to be built up just to be cut down again. Look at GWR's 17:50 Gloucester to Southampton via Melksham ... 19:37 from Westbury, over the past 4 weeks, planned to "terminate at Warminster" from December:

[Mark A]

... which is unprofessional. Transport operators of all flavours should deploy a timetable that matches their staff provision. It does no-one any favours to deem certain services secondary to others and to be constantly cancelling them.

[Timmer]

... which is unprofessional. Transport operators of all flavours should deploy a timetable that matches their staff provision. It does no-one any favours to deem certain services secondary to others and to be constantly cancelling them.

Been saying that for years. I’d also say the same when it comes to having enough rolling stock to provide a service as well.

When I see all this talk about restoring hourly London-Cheltenham, Cardiff and London to Bristol express services, I think how can you when you can’t even provide proper length IC^▸ (Inter City) services with the current timetable

[grahame]

From a very well informed, usually with a seed of truth, but rarely grammatically correct:

That Bristol Bath to London Waterloo is this Christmas Graham  we got a fight Network rail western want Bristol Bath metro  west trains to Westbury to use the paths

With two all-stations trains an hour from Bristol Temple Meads to Westbury, it would make sense to extend one of them to Salisbury and give the 30 minute service Chris Heaton-Harris described (erroneously suggesting it's running already)  in .. oops .. letter to a constituent of one of our local MPs^▸ (Member of Parliament) that's not in the public domain, and for that to carry on from there as the 2nd train in the hour off Salisbury to London Waterloo (so that's all stations from Temple Meads to Basingstoke).   Class 158 or 159.  Alternative extension from Salisbury could be the "Romsey Six" rather than every hour to London, and that would be an efficiently improvement, making better use of the 158 that sits in Platform Six at Salisbury for 45 minutes in the hour. Two of the extensions per day onward to Brighton, which not only provide another loved and buildable service, but also provide rush hour capacity into Brighton from the coastway in the morning and back out in the evening.

Frome / Yeovil / Weymouth services to be via extension of the other all-stations train from Bristol Temple Meads
 

[Mark A]

{Jaw drops emoji}

Drat, I've just missed being able to include that in my submission to Transport Focus. Metro West really shouldn't involve the cessation of popular through services to clear paths for it.

[grahame]

{Jaw drops emoji}

Drat, I've just missed being able to include that in my submission to Transport Focus. Metro West really shouldn't involve the cessation of popular through services to clear paths for it.

I have enquires in - réponses promised within 20 working days - to learn a but more about how the decision came about. These things are often akin to closing the stable door after the horse has bolted, but we can still take steps to see if we can catch the horse.

[Red Squirrel]

{Jaw drops emoji}

Drat, I've just missed being able to include that in my submission to Transport Focus. Metro West really shouldn't involve the cessation of popular through services to clear paths for it.

I have enquires in - réponses promised within 20 working days - to learn a but more about how the decision came about. These things are often akin to closing the stable door after the horse has bolted, but we can still take steps to see if we can catch the horse.

I've slightly lost track of this metaphor. What are you going to say to the horse if you catch it? "Why the long face?"

[grahame]

I've slightly lost track of this metaphor. What are you going to say to the horse if you catch it? "Why the long face?"

I'm suggesting it should be put back in the stable so that we can check it can be let back out if that's found to be appropriate in December 2022, and with something else in the stable to give rides.

[Mark A]

Sooo... Using the SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) app, an attempt to buy a ticket routed via Salisbury produces an error message and the advice to 'Try again later'. I'll log a bug.

[grahame]

Sooo... Using the SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) app, an attempt to buy a ticket routed via Salisbury produces an error message and the advice to 'Try again later'. I'll log a bug.

Oh - that won't help their ticket sales (overall, or in terms of what SWR can report), will it? Or will it help them report in the direction that [insert driver of service loss] wants them to go - "look - it was already not doing well".

[grahame]

Side effect from another piece of research - official mantra is that three stations loose their direct trains to / from London when "the Waterloo" ceases in December.   They are Oldfield Park, Bradford-on-Avon and Trowbridge.   But note that Keynsham will drop (I think) to just one train a day - timed to help in the peak hour loadings from there into and out of Temple Meads (and not at the times that the good people of Keynsham will want to go to London) and look at this for Warminster:



Even today (far short of pre-Covid service from SWR^» (South Western Railway - about)), there are trains to Waterloo at 07:48, 11:44, 14:23, 15:52, and 16:47 with one as far as Basingstoke at 20:24.   From December, just one a day to Waterloo - the 14:23 (which is hardly the most attractive of these time).  There is just one arrival back from Waterloo, leaving London at 07:50.   The 12:20, 16:20 and 19:20 from London (in today's running) all cease.

Has it been flagged up in Warminster that they to are loosing three quarters of their London trains?

[Mark A]

Significant observation on the impact to Warminster's services, Grahame, thanks for this.

[Mark A]

I see that this Saturday, the service is bustituted, and Sunday it is double bustituted.   

(Incidentally, does anyone recall the days of weekend returns when BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) was sometimes able to clear an engineering possession by late Sunday afternoon in order to run trains to return people to where they needed to be?)

[ellendune]

I see that this Saturday, the service is bustituted, and Sunday it is double bustituted.   

(Incidentally, does anyone recall the days of weekend returns when BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) was sometimes able to clear an engineering possession by late Sunday afternoon in order to run trains to return people to where they needed to be?)

Yep

[grahame]

... But note that Keynsham will drop (I think) to just one train a day ...

Just checked that - I was correct:
06:32 from Paddington, arrive Keynsham at 08:05. 
17:35 from Keynsham, arrive Paddington at 19:09.

Anytime return if you live in London and catch that train for a business day in Keynsham - £230.00. Yes, you could save by buying £152.30 an anytime single out and a super off peak single back.  Anytime open return via Salisbury and Warminster costs £91.60.  There is also a £73.90 ticket that will let you travel early in the morning from London via Salisbury and Warminster to Keynsham, and back that same afternoon or evening.