2024 - Service update and amendment log, Swindon <-> Westbury

[whole diary]

[grahame]

17:53 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06 will be terminated at Swindon.

It will no longer call at Chippenham, Melksham, Trowbridge, Westbury, Dilton Marsh, Warminster and Salisbury.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

This train is a professional truant!

[grahame]

11:05 Swindon to Westbury due 11:47

11:05 Swindon to Westbury due 11:47 is being delayed at Chippenham.
This is due to a fault on this train.

[grahame]

06:35 Salisbury to Worcester Foregate Street due 09:47

Facilities on the 06:35 Salisbury to Worcester Foregate Street due 09:47.
Will be formed of 3 coaches instead of 2.

I thought that service was supposed to be 3 carriages anyway - it certainly used to be. During covid but when schools were somewhat open, this was the most overcrowded train on GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), with a heaviest load from Kemble to Stroud.  It remains a very busy train - here it is calling at Swindon a couple of weeks ago

[TaplowGreen]

17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06
17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06 was terminated at Swindon.
It will no longer call at Chippenham, Melksham, Trowbridge, Westbury, Dilton Marsh, Warminster and Salisbury.
This is due to the emergency services dealing with an incident

18:37 Westbury to Swindon due 19:21
18:37 Westbury to Swindon due 19:21 has been cancelled.
This is due to the emergency services dealing with an incident.

20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 22:05
20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 22:05 will be started from Swindon.
It will no longer call at Westbury, Trowbridge, Melksham and Chippenham.
This is due to the emergency services dealing with an incident.

20:13 Swindon to Westbury due 20:58
20:13 Swindon to Westbury due 20:58 will be cancelled.
This is due to the emergency services dealing with an incident.

[JayMac]

The incident concerned was a person hit by train at Trowbridge station. Sadly fatal.

The train involved was Network Rail's HST^▸ (High Speed Train) New Measurement Train.

[grahame]

Also 17:36 Swindon to Westbury terminated at Melksham.   Train manager didn't know plans as the incident had only happened minutes earlier.  There was also a manager from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) on the train ... I was headed for the WWRUG^» (West Wiltshire Rail Users Group - about) AGM^▸ (Annual General Meeting) and as there were 2 experts there I quietly asked home and grabbed the car as I'm the meeting co-ordinator; good crew at WWRUG and the hall was open and indeed the speaker (thank you Roger) had arrived ...

[TaplowGreen]

16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:05
16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:05 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

17:35 Swindon to Westbury due 18:18
17:35 Swindon to Westbury due 18:18 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

18:35 Westbury to Swindon due 19:17
18:35 Westbury to Swindon due 19:17 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew

19:44 Swindon to Westbury due 20:26
19:44 Swindon to Westbury due 20:26 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[grahame]

Guess which line has been singled out for cancellations because there aren'e enough staff to run the trains.

16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:05
17:35 Swindon to Westbury due 18:18
18:35 Westbury to Swindon due 19:17
19:44 Swindon to Westbury due 20:26

19:44 Swindon to Westbury due 20:26 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

So that's no northbound train service AT ALL at Melksham from 14:35 to 20:35 and no southbound service from 15:39 to 21:35.  For any readers who don't know it, Melksham is a town with a population of around 28,000 - so that's larger that Westbury, or Warminster, or Bradford-on-Avon ... imagine the fuss if there were a six hour gap in trains at any one of those because there were no staff available!

No alternative arrangements suggested, but "delay repay" mentioned.  That really doesn't get you there and is no excuse.  It's also a long winded system to use.  On Wednesday at 17:53, I bought a return ticket from Melksham to Westbury, from the ticket machine, in a transaction that took a minute or two.  My intent was to travel on the 18:03 train, expected at 18:11.   The train turned up at about that time, but was then cancelled (reasons understandable) and in view of the lack of an immediate alternative being advised (again understandable) I walked/ran the 20 minutes home and made the journey by car, as I had responsibilities in Trowbridge and there were at least three GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) staff present at Melksham to resolve issues for perhaps 30 or 40 passengers who were Trowbridge bound (passenger count note - a further 20 to 30 escaped the problem because Melksham was there intended destination). On Thursday, I started the process of getting a refund. Eight online screens, including a requirement to enter a new credit card details because of Mastercard problems or get a cheque in the post, and a requirement to cut, photograph on a white background and upload the ticket. I have yet to complete the process as I didn't have scissors or blank paper to hand or the time - and even then I think I saw the words that GWR will "consider" the request ... all seems very unbalanced; very quick to take my money,  but a very complex procedure that I am required to go through to get it back when they failed to deliver the service I had purchased.

[grahame]

16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:05
16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:05 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[etc]

Many thanks for posting that series ... the help in logging is appreciated, and helps magnify the very real issues which effect people who rely on the service.

I was following up with a more detailed comment as you posted ... and rather exceptionally completed the post even when the system indicated that there was another post.  I am rather unhappy with GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) still being short staffed, and when they are choosing to basically close a part of their network for six hours.

[TaplowGreen]

16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:05
16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:05 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[etc]

Many thanks for posting that series ... the help in logging is appreciated, and helps magnify the very real issues which effect people who rely on the service.

I was following up with a more detailed comment as you posted ... and rather exceptionally completed the post even when the system indicated that there was another post.  I am rather unhappy with GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) still being short staffed, and when they are choosing to basically close a part of their network for six hours.

It's the start of the school Easter holiday season (most schools finish on Thursday) so I would imagine that the number of GWR staff who have been allowed to take annual leave means that the usual service can't be sustained (not for the first time).

[GBM]

10:46 Westbury to Swindon due 11:34
10:46 Westbury to Swindon due 11:34 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

11:42 Swindon to Westbury due 12:23
11:42 Swindon to Westbury due 12:23 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[GBM]

Between Warminster/Westbury/Trowbridge and Chippenham/Swindon via Melksham
Planned engineering work will take place between Warminster/Westbury/Trowbridge and Chippenham/Swindon via Melksham from 07:15, Sunday 24 March 2024 to 14:45, Sunday 24 March 2024.
Some lines will be blocked.
Additional Information
* The 0810 Warminster to Swindon will not run. A replacement bus will run EARLIER as follows:
Warminster 0728 - Dilton Marsh 0743 - Westbury 0753 - Trowbridge 0811 - Melksham 0826 - Chippenham 0846. A connecting rail service will depart Chippenham at 0926 to Swindon 0938
* The 0912 Swindon to Westbury will not run. A replacement bus will run as follows:
Chippenham 0928 - Melksham 0948 - Trowbridge 1003 - Westbury 1018. A connecting rail service will depart Swindon at 0902 to Chippenham 0913
* The 1058 (departing 1132) Weymouth to Swindon will terminate Chippenham at 1340. A connecting rail service will depart Chippenham at 1426 to Swindon 1438
* The 1342 Swindon to Westbury will start from Chippenham at 1357. A connecting rail service will depart Swindon at 1329 to Chippenham 1339
Last Updated:05/02/2024 13:17

[grahame]

What a morning

* The 0810 Warminster to Swindon will not run. A replacement bus will run EARLIER as follows:
Warminster 0728 - Dilton Marsh 0743 - Westbury 0753 - Trowbridge 0811 - Melksham 0826 - Chippenham 0846. A connecting rail service will depart Chippenham at 0926 to Swindon 0938

* The 1058 (departing 1132) Weymouth to Swindon will terminate Chippenham at 1340. A connecting rail service will depart Chippenham at 1426 to Swindon 1438

10:46 Westbury to Swindon due 11:34
10:46 Westbury to Swindon due 11:34 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

I understand buses are "needed" to replace trains at times but this looks like poor passenger planning (with 40 to 46 minute waits at Chippenham) and the remaining train cancelled on the day.

There has been an ongoing issue with rail replacement buses arriving at Chippenham from Westbury with a L-O-N-G wait for the train onward to Swindon.   Grumbles to appropriate authorities have resulted in improvements for a few months, but we then seem to slip back into long waits.

On a regular Sunday - 08:36 from Melksham, 09:02 into Swindon - 26 minutes.   Today - 08:26 from Melksham, 09:38 into Swindon - 70 minutes.  That's an extra 44 minutes and yet the extra time in transit is just 10 minutes.

Edit to correct Melksham departure time

[grahame]

05:11 Gloucester to Southampton Central due 08:07

05:11 Gloucester to Southampton Central due 08:07 will be terminated at Westbury.
It will no longer call at Dilton Marsh, Warminster, Salisbury, Romsey and Southampton Central.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[grahame]

09:46 Westbury to Swindon due 10:34
11:05 Swindon to Westbury due 11:47
12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 12:59
13:15 Swindon to Westbury due 13:57
14:19 Westbury to Swindon due 15:01
15:14 Swindon to Westbury due 15:59

15:14 Swindon to Westbury due 15:59 will be cancelled.
This is due to heavy rain flooding the railway.

Cancellations to services between Westbury and Swindon
Due to flooding between Westbury and Swindon all lines are closed.
Train services running through these stations will be cancelled. Disruption is expected until 14:00 28/03.
Customer Advice
Due to flooding accros the railway network this morning, we need to reutilise the Melksham line for other purposes. As a result trains between Westbury and Swindon via Melksham are suspended until further notice.

Customers travelling between Westbury, Trowbridge, Chippenham and Swindon can use our trains towards Cardiff Central and Gloucester, changing at Bath Spa for onward connections.

Road transport is in place for customers travelling to and from Melksham.