Well done GWR▸ - it called at Swindon, Chippenham, Trowbridge and Westbury. Just didn't go the whole hog and call at Melksham ...
Without wishing to deny GWR praise, it was always booked to call at Chippenham. Only the Trowbridge call was added to partly cover for the cancelled TW service.
It's grand (and somewhat unfair) of me to criticise the operational stuff that happened on the day, but there are learning lessons here looking back as the data. The problem started at
which reports as "This service was cancelled between Melksham and Swindon due to unknown cause (ZW)."
That was supposed to form the 17:45 back from Swindon
However, the Paddington to Penzance train stopped at Chippenham (unadvertised, please note!) and waited there, I suspect, while the broken down local train was cleared, before carrying on:
Much of its lateness was recovered during its onward journey - just 6 late by Penzance; not sure what other connections was lost on the way and whether it got in the way of anything, delaying other trains.
For comparison purposes, I grabbed the earlier diverted express in the other direction:
Now - I appreciate that delaying the 17:36 (Penzance) at platform 4 at Swindon while people come over from platform 2 from the late-cancelled Westbury all stations train might have held it up bit, but then it sat at Chippenham for quarter of an hour (hindsight marvellous) and I appreciate that other services were around at the time too.
Is the real solution - firstly, to see if the root cause (train breaking down) can be reduced, not that it's the most major trigger point and, secondly, not to overschedule but rather to put reliability in
advanced timetable planning ahead of seeing how many trains can be squeezed though a bottleneck.
If the 15:27 from Westbury to Paddington had been planned
ahead to make the calls of the 16:35 all-stations train, with a timetabled 10-15 minute later arrival into Paddington perhaps, and those plans made well ahead of time, we would have a far more robust setup. There was also a 17:30 Westbury to Paddington that could also have stopped, etc. Yes - I do remember the days of
HSTs▸ calling at remote short platforms and the time taken. I also know that how well done places like Avoncliff and Dilton Marsh are done on single door provided people now ahead of time, and that could be done at Melksham and perhaps Trowbridge (which is short), could it not? In terms of passenger numbers involved being higher at Melksham - typically YES, though the arrival at Dilton Marsh at about 15:40 typically offloads dozens ...
It would make huge sense at times of disruption to have the regional trains call at all stations. It would reduce congestion on the line and waits for the single line. It would make the service more reliable - which is users's top request. It would make recovery from any disruption quicker. It would reduce interference with other lines while trains wait for the bottleneck.
And it would save GWR and the DfT» money by not having to (or trying to) run so many trains and rail replacement buses and taxis, and not have to pay out so much in delay-repay. In fact, as a taxpayer, perhaps I should be demanding of my
MP▸ that they act in the suggested cheaper way.
