2023 - Train update and amendment log - Swindon <-> Westbury

[whole diary]

[grahame]

18:51 Westbury to Swindon due 19:33

18:51 Westbury to Swindon due 19:33 will no longer call at Melksham.
This is due to congestion.

[grahame]

08:11 Warminster to Swindon due 09:03 will be starting late from Warminster.
This is due to a fault on this train.

[bobm]

08:11 Warminster to Swindon due 09:03 will be starting late from Warminster.
This is due to a fault on this train.

Eventually started from Westbury 7 minutes late. 16 late by Chippenham.

[grahame]

08:11 Warminster to Swindon due 09:03 will be starting late from Warminster.
This is due to a fault on this train.

Eventually started from Westbury 7 minutes late. 16 late by Chippenham.

09:14 Swindon to Westbury due 09:56 will be starting late from Swindon and is expected to be 9 minutes late.
This is due to a fault on this train.

[bobm]

A problem with the doors.  Train now running empty back to Westbury.

[TaplowGreen]

11:10 Westbury to Swindon due 11:52
11:10 Westbury to Swindon due 11:52 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train.

12:01 Swindon to Westbury due 12:41
12:01 Swindon to Westbury due 12:41 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train.

[grahame]

A problem with the doors.  Train now running empty back to Westbury.

Is it my imagination, or are GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) always running the old crocks on this service?

11:10 Westbury to Swindon due 11:52
11:10 Westbury to Swindon due 11:52 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train.

Yeah ... and at 11:01 a 5 car train left Westbury for Warminster.  I suppose there's a good reason for not taking 2 cars from that to form the Swindon service?

[grahame]

Just 2 cancellations in GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) land ... guess where a working train could not be found


All of which would appear to be very convenient in providing capacity for things like this - a train from Warminster to Eastleigh running via Westbury, Swindon, Didcot, Reading curve and Basingstoke that's an hour and a half late.


and helps provide slots for other important trains running out of path too ...

07:46 London Paddington to Penzance due 13:32
07:46 London Paddington to Penzance due 13:32 is being delayed between Reading and Swindon and is now expected to be 34 minutes late.
This is due to engineering works not being finished on time.

[TaplowGreen]

05:50 Swindon to Southampton Central due 08:07

05:50 Swindon to Southampton Central due 08:07 will be terminated at Salisbury.
It will no longer call at Romsey and Southampton Central.

This is due to a fault with the signalling system.

[PhilWakely]

05:50 Swindon to Southampton Central due 08:07

05:50 Swindon to Southampton Central due 08:07 will be terminated at Salisbury.
It will no longer call at Romsey and Southampton Central.

This is due to a fault with the signalling system.

Quite a significant fault it was too! Eastleigh to Brockenhurst completely blanked out for a period!

[grahame]

07:53 Westbury to Swindon due 08:36

07:53 Westbury to Swindon due 08:36 has been delayed at Westbury and is now 12 minutes late.
This is due to congestion.

[grahame]

07:53 Westbury to Swindon due 08:36

07:53 Westbury to Swindon due 08:36 has been delayed at Westbury and is now 12 minutes late.
This is due to congestion.

07:53 Westbury to Swindon due 08:36
07:53 Westbury to Swindon due 08:36 has been previously delayed, has been further delayed at Melksham and is now 23 minutes late.
This is due to congestion.

And finally dragged into Swindon 30 minutes late

[GBM]

'Due to congestion' seems to be a popular phrase.
Is this (rail) line congestion, as in something has failed/is very late, so that line is congested?
Or passenger congestion - too many passengers vying for reduced coaches?
Or a combination of both, in which case not a very informative statement.

[grahame]

'Due to congestion' seems to be a popular phrase.
Is this (rail) line congestion, as in something has failed/is very late, so that line is congested?
Or passenger congestion - too many passengers vying for reduced coaches?
Or a combination of both, in which case not a very informative statement.

"Overcrowding" is the term used usually for "too many passengers for the trains"
"Congestion" is the term usually used for "too many trains for the lines or platforms"

This morning, it was a stone train (or, rather, empty stone wagons) from Bow to Merehead that was running 30 minutes late - it should have been off the single line and at Trowbridge before the passenger train used the same line the other way Trowbridge to Chippenham.  However, the freight was given the line and the passengers held up.

[GBM]

Thank you.
Still think it could be clarified for the benefit of those of us whose brain cell loses charge by mid morning.

With these current engineering works and last weeks (?) problems, there  has to be a case for improving the Melksham line, together with the Yeovil to Exeter line.

Go on DfT^» (Department for Transport - about), you know it makes sense!