2022 - TransWilts cancellations and amendments log

[whole diary]

[grahame]

12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 12:59
13:15 Swindon to Westbury due 13:56
16:25 Westbury to Swindon due 17:08
17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:20
18:34 Westbury to Swindon due 19:21
20:45 Swindon to Westbury due 21:26

20:45 Swindon to Westbury due 21:26 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[TaplowGreen]

18:24 Frome to Swindon due 19:17
18:24 Frome to Swindon due 19:17 will be started from Westbury.
It will no longer call at Frome.
This is due to a fault on this train.

[grahame]

06:35 Salisbury to Cheltenham Spa due 09:03

06:35 Salisbury to Cheltenham Spa due 09:03 will be starting late from Salisbury.
This is due to a fault with the signalling system.

06:11 Swindon to Southampton Central due 08:07

06:11 Swindon to Southampton Central due 08:07 will be delayed between Warminster and Salisbury.
This is due to a fault with the signalling system.

[grahame]

From Journey Check:

Sat, 5 November 07:37 Westbury to Swindon due 08:19
Sat, 5 November 08:45 Swindon to Westbury due 09:26
Sat, 5 November 09:46 Westbury to Swindon due 10:34
Sat, 5 November 11:05 Swindon to Westbury due 11:47
Sat, 5 November 12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 12:59
Sat, 5 November 13:15 Swindon to Westbury due 13:56
Sat, 5 November 14:16 Westbury to Swindon due 15:01
Sat, 5 November 15:14 Swindon to Westbury due 15:58
Sat, 5 November 16:25 Westbury to Swindon due 17:08
Sat, 5 November 17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:20

05/11/22 17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:20 will be cancelled.
This is due to industrial action.

[grahame]

Five round trips out of eight ran yesterday (7.11.2022) - 07:53 to 16:40 northbound (MKM^» (Melksham (Station code) - next trains) times), 09:09 to 18:03 southbound

Today, first train (Melksham) showing at the 07:53 to Swindon, so the 05:33, 06:36 and 07:21 remain "cancelled" as far as the passenger is concerned, although they probably won't show up in the failure stats making those stats look better than they really are.   First southbound train 09:10.    Final two trips each way in the early evening are back.

[grahame]

06:35 Salisbury to Cheltenham Spa due 09:03

06:35 Salisbury to Cheltenham Spa due 09:03 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.

[bobm]

Cancelled at 04:04.  Reinstated at 04:20.

[grahame]

17:53 Weymouth to Swindon due 20:26

17:53 Weymouth to Swindon due 20:26 will be cancelled.
This is due to a short-notice change to the timetable.

14:09 Weymouth to Swindon due 16:35
17:44 Swindon to Weymouth due 20:03
20:10 Weymouth to Swindon due 22:37
21:25 Swindon to Weymouth due 23:45

21:25 Swindon to Weymouth due 23:45 will be started from Trowbridge.
It will no longer call at Swindon, Chippenham and Melksham.
This is due to a short-notice change to the timetable.

I'm not sure where that leaves afternoon and evening services, seeing that these are not regular workings anyway

[grahame]

There is considerable anger in Melksham (as seen on Facebook groups) at today's little escpade - no understanding of ...
* why engineering works have to result in short term timetable changes (5 a.m. on the morning they happen)
* why it's always the trains via Melksham that get clobbered
* why there is no alternative rail replacment service
* why even the vital "get home" train at 17:44 from Swindon is canned
I'm on a train (one that IS running - in France!) as I write this - will take a further look when I get to tonight's base.

[grahame]

Here we go - AGAIN - three cancellations showing across the whole GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) area and of course one is Westbury to Swindon, with a gap of 2 hours before the next train!

05:17 Westbury to Swindon due 05:59

05:17 Westbury to Swindon due 05:59 will be cancelled.
This is due to train crew being delayed by service disruption.

I'm baffled as to what the "service disruption" is in the middle of the night ... and not seeing any rail replacement road transport mentioned.

[Mark A]

* why engineering works have to result in short term timetable changes (5 a.m. on the morning they happen)
* why it's always the trains via Melksham that get clobbered
* why there is no alternative rail replacment service

It's as if someone in the wider industry needs to press the reset button on attitudes to cancellations to infrequent services. Not 'Reset' as in 'OK, we've not the resources to support it, we'll withdraw from this market' either.

At a time when their market is in flux, away from its major traffic flows, GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) could do with the headroom to push a 'Regional Railways post ~1988' approach and develop interregional networks.

Cancelling once-every-two-hour trains is the polar opposite, and also, a pre-6am journey, for people heading for that train, is likely to matter to them.

Mark

[bobm]

Here we go - AGAIN - three cancellations showing across the whole GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) area and of course one is Westbury to Swindon, with a gap of 2 hours before the next train!

05:17 Westbury to Swindon due 05:59

05:17 Westbury to Swindon due 05:59 will be cancelled.
This is due to train crew being delayed by service disruption.

I'm baffled as to what the "service disruption" is in the middle of the night ... and not seeing any rail replacement road transport mentioned.

I suspect there may have been a hangover from Sunday.  There was supposed to be an empty stock move from Swindon to Westbury at 04:30.  That didn’t run which led to the cancellation but did mean there was stock at Swindon to run the return at 06:11.

[grahame]

06:11 Swindon to Southampton Central due 08:07
06:11 Swindon to Southampton Central due 08:07 has been delayed at Chippenham and is now 31 minutes late.

This is due to this train being late from the depot.

[grahame]

11:05 Swindon to Westbury due 11:47

11:05 Swindon to Westbury due 11:47 has been delayed at Swindon and is now 14 minutes late.
This is due to a late running freight train.

OK - and key question on such things is "what about connections"? - an exercise:

At WESTBURY the train should've been there at 11:47 but is predicted at 11:59, onward connection to Portsmouth Harbour at 12:03 and that's fine provided that's what happens

At TROWBRIDGE the train should arrive at 11:40 but is expected at 11:53 - onward connection failure as the train via Bath and Bristol leaves at 11:48

At MELKSHAM, there are no onward trains nor even buses ... and on a service that only runs every couple of hours, 10 to 15 minutes isn't a problem.

[grahame]

The 05:33 ... AGAIN!!

Monday - cancelled

Tuesday - 26 minutes late at Melksham

Wednesday --- 14 minutes late at Melksham --- I was on it and it failed to make the London connection at Chippenham; three passengers joined the train at Melksham, one left - 9/3 but significantly both of the other passengers from Melksham on the first leg of longer journeys (two the three international) and so the use of the local station helps generate a darned sight more income that just the local hop.