Imber bus

[whole diary]

[rogerw]

Now announced as 19th August 2023. format as last year with Imber being car free

[grahame]

Now announced as 19th August 2023. format as last year with Imber being car free

Pictures to follow.  Utter overcrowded at Warminster. Lovely buses though Not even trying to get to Imber because I've got to be home for family and by the time I get there it would have been time to come back!

Now if we could run the Imber bus to MELKSHAM Station at the other end of its route ...

[grahame]

More to follow.   More buses to follow too because they'll never all fit on there.

[Marlburian]

"HOLIDAYMAKERS are set to return to an abandoned village in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom), and they'll be making their way there on red double-decker buses." Article in The Sun which also refers to "tourists"and a town hall!

[Clan Line]

My daughter WAS going to Imber - until she saw the queue  !!!!!

The queue appears to snake round the Argos car park then along the road outside (Fairfield Rd) then joins Station Rd (extreme left of photo) and (turns rt) up to the station bus stop !!

[ChrisB]

Imberbus were recommending a lunchtime start. This'll be why

[Mark A]

Realtime Trains showing a *lot* of cancellations at Warminster.

Nothing in the Salisbury direction for the two hours between 16:14 and 18:10 - and the 18:10's two carriages.

Also, nothing west from Warminster between 17:01 and 19:05 (which at least is listed as 4 carriages...)

Mark

[Mark A]

Ianvisits photo from Twitter showing the up platform at Warminster a little before the first train in two hours, itself slightly delayed, called.

Mark

https://twitter.com/ianvisits/status/1692949536463839382

[Trowres]

Around 11:00 in the morning the queue was 315 metres and still growing in length (about 350m by the time it disappeared out of sight behind Argos. From the 315m mark, it was about 45 minutes to boarding a bus.

I was lucky. Arrived back at Warminster in time for the 1703 departure (the Portsmouth to Cardiff) which was on time and 5 coaches. While all around were cancellations...

[Mark A]

Ianvisits photo from Twitter showing the up platform at Warminster a little before the first train in two hours, itself slightly delayed, called.

Mark

https://twitter.com/ianvisits/status/1692949536463839382

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) twitter advised 3 carriages on the Cardiff to Portsmouth, Realtime trains listed it as two. Running 20 minutes late it arrived into Salisbury but broke the intended connection into the 6 carriage Exeter-Waterloo train, but passengers heading for London have had only a 20 or so minute wait for the next, starting from Salisbury (though it's another three carriage set).

At Warminster, looking ahead, two sequential Cardiff trains cancelled, so, no through trains to Cardiff between 19:02 and 22:03. There are a couple of others as far as Worcester and Bristol, mind.

Mark

[Worcester_Passenger]

I got to the end of the queue at 11:50, and got onto the first bus at 13:15. But an incredibly good-natured queue.  And a great day out.

[Timmer]

Ianvisits photo from Twitter showing the up platform at Warminster a little before the first train in two hours, itself slightly delayed, called.

Mark

https://twitter.com/ianvisits/status/1692949536463839382

3 trains in a row got canned south of Westbury, two to Salisbury and one Portsmouth leaving a gap of two hours. Small wonder the platform was absolutely packed.

[Timmer]

I was lucky. Arrived back at Warminster in time for the 1703 departure (the Portsmouth to Cardiff) which was on time and 5 coaches. While all around were cancellations...

You certainly were, the next train was the 1903 with three in between services cancelled, two from Salisbury and one from Portsmouth.

Other Cardiff to Portsmouth trains also cancelled or running short in both directions this evening. As Taplow Green remarked earlier on another thread, it’s hard to tell the difference between an overtime ban day and a ‘normal running’ day at the moment 

[grahame]

Wonderful trip to Warminster yesterday seeing the old buses headed up to Imber.  My plan was to have brief trip onto the plain, get a cup of tea in the church and briefly say "hello" to friends there. But alas "brief" was not possible and the queue snaked down station approach and around the corner into the retails park, with reports over an hour to wait to catch a bus.  Also great reports of good humour in the bus queue and all around, and I still got a chance to meet friends also watching the queue - some joining it, some giving the plain a miss, and one driving.  Good to catch up with you all.

[JayMac]

I understand one New Routemaster managed to ground itself taking a tight turn on the plain.

I had made tentative plans to head to Warminster for Imber yesterday but my experience with GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) & SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) trains on the previous two Saturdays rather put me off.