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

[whole diary]

[grahame]

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.

Nice bit of honesty there ... don't mind occasional borrowing of resources, but it's not occasional!

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

And if they book online, they'll be charged £18.90 (single, Westbury to Swindon) for the next few hours rather than £9.40 ... I have just taken a look and the agreed easement is not in place.

[TaplowGreen]

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.

Nice bit of honesty there ... don't mind occasional borrowing of resources, but it's not occasional!

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

And if they book online, they'll be charged £18.90 (single, Westbury to Swindon) for the next few hours rather than £9.40 ... I have just taken a look and the agreed easement is not in place.

Could be some more TransWilts cancellations on the way...............

Route(s) affected
between Newbury and Westbury

Description
Heavy rain flooding the railway between Newbury and Westbury is causing disruption to journeys between these stations.

Services may be cancelled, delayed by up to 30 minutes or revised.

We anticipate disruption will continue until the end of the day.

Customer Advice

Flood water has been reported on the line between Newbury and Westbury.

The line towards London Paddington has a 5mph speed restriction whilst currently the line towards the West Country is shut.

Where possible trains will divert around the problem via Melksham and Swindon. This will add additional time onto journeys.

[TaplowGreen]

17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:20
17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:20 will be diverted between Chippenham and Trowbridge.
It will no longer call at Melksham.
It will be delayed due to the diversion and is expected to be 11 minutes late.
This is due to heavy rain flooding the railway.

18:37 Westbury to Swindon due 19:21
18:37 Westbury to Swindon due 19:21 will be cancelled.
This is due to heavy rain flooding the railway.

20:13 Swindon to Westbury due 20:58
20:13 Swindon to Westbury due 20:58 will be cancelled.
This is due to heavy rain flooding the railway.

[Bob_Blakey]

According to NR^» (Network Rail - home page) - and Traksy! - the B&H^▸ (Berks and Hants - railway line from Reading to Taunton via Westbury) line is now closed in both directions between Westbury & Bedwyn. Paddington-bound 1A88 & 1A89 have been diverted via Melksham. The 1C86 PNZ service is now heading back east after being held in the Woodborough area for quite some time.

[Mark A]

According to NR^» (Network Rail - home page) - and Traksy! - the B&H^▸ (Berks and Hants - railway line from Reading to Taunton via Westbury) line is now closed in both directions between Westbury & Bedwyn. Paddington-bound 1A88 & 1A89 have been diverted via Melksham. The 1C86 PNZ service is now heading back east after being held in the Woodborough area for quite some time.

Can't recall the last time that section closed owing to flooding. This year's Devizes to Westminster canoe race (setting off tomorrow) sounds as though it will be hairy for some.

Mark

[bobm]

…and that’s before someone mentions E.coli in the water. 

[Trowres]

17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:20 will be diverted between Chippenham and Trowbridge.
It will no longer call at Melksham.
It will be delayed due to the diversion and is expected to be 11 minutes late.
This is due to heavy rain flooding the railway.

The Paddington-Plymouth, 1C89, cleared the Melksham single line by 18:14, at which time the Swindon-Westbury train hadn't passed Thingley Junction. The single line remained clear for quite some time after this, so the train could have used its proper route and deposited passengers requiring Melksham at the proper location. Instead it (2M30) delayed the following 1C24 Padd-Bristol at Bathampton, albeit only for four minutes.

A hard call for Control when there was not much time to sort out many simultaneous problems. Sorting out the capacity problems can be done at a much more leisurely pace, can't it. 

[GBM]

Cancellations to services between Newbury and Westbury
Due to heavy rain flooding the railway between Newbury and Westbury all lines are closed.
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

All lines between Newbury and Westbury are currently shut.

Where possible trains will divert around the problem via Melksham and Swindon. This will add additional time onto journeys.
Replacement Road Transport has been requested between Newbury - Bedwyn and Pewsey to Swindon. However, due to low availability in the local area, this may not be available or extremely limited.

So. Anticipated cancellations of all local services, and West Country services diverted but not stopping.

[grahame]

Going to be an interesting day.

A number of these about:

08:35 Plymouth to London Paddington due 12:05 will be diverted between Westbury and Reading.
It will no longer call at Pewsey and Newbury but will call additionally at Swindon.
It will be delayed due to the diversion and is expected to be 26 minutes late.
This is due to heavy rain flooding the railway.

In my view, probably a correct decision to make the extra call on some services and to offer a shuttle service of road vehicles (if they can find them and the drivers) to make the Pewsey connection; Newbury passengers can double back at Reading.

Having said that for Pewsey, I note that the major flows at Pewsey are to London (over half the passengers), Reading and Newbury, and there are other trains from Chelteham, Cardiff, Bristol and beyond which already provide a frequent Swindon to Reading and London service which lessens the need so make the extra call.   The biggest flow to/from points west at Pewsey was Westbury - just 8% of passenger at Pewsey last year. 

Alternative travel provision, and at an immediate cost on the day it happens to the rail industry, is absolutely correct and what we expect. For Pewsey, it might be the Swindon call which will slow down through passengers a bit.  If and when local trains are cancelled to allow expresses to run through, selected extra stops should be added ... as a generality following the Pewsey / Swindon Example.

My figures for Pewsey come from http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/flows.html?stn=3062&limit=50&sortby=4 and I am fully aware that this is ticket data and not journeys made.   I am aware of split ticketing travel in the area which may boost numbers between Pewsey and Newbury, and between Pewsey and Westbury which in fact are parts of longer journeys, some of which start or end at Pewsey and some of which do not.

[TaplowGreen]

Going to be an interesting day.

A number of these about:

08:35 Plymouth to London Paddington due 12:05 will be diverted between Westbury and Reading.
It will no longer call at Pewsey and Newbury but will call additionally at Swindon.
It will be delayed due to the diversion and is expected to be 26 minutes late.
This is due to heavy rain flooding the railway.

In my view, probably a correct decision to make the extra call on some services and to offer a shuttle service of road vehicles (if they can find them and the drivers) to make the Pewsey connection; Newbury passengers can double back at Reading.

Having said that for Pewsey, I note that the major flows at Pewsey are to London (over half the passengers), Reading and Newbury, and there are other trains from Chelteham, Cardiff, Bristol and beyond which already provide a frequent Swindon to Reading and London service which lessens the need so make the extra call.   The biggest flow to/from points west at Pewsey was Westbury - just 8% of passenger at Pewsey last year. 

Alternative travel provision, and at an immediate cost on the day it happens to the rail industry, is absolutely correct and what we expect. For Pewsey, it might be the Swindon call which will slow down through passengers a bit.  If and when local trains are cancelled to allow expresses to run through, selected extra stops should be added ... as a generality following the Pewsey / Swindon Example.

My figures for Pewsey come from http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/flows.html?stn=3062&limit=50&sortby=4 and I am fully aware that this is ticket data and not journeys made.   I am aware of split ticketing travel in the area which may boost numbers between Pewsey and Newbury, and between Pewsey and Westbury which in fact are parts of longer journeys, some of which start or end at Pewsey and some of which do not.

Also of course worth remembering that at times such as this (Maundy Thursday/Good Friday), services are subject to extreme levels of overcrowding even under normal circumstances so adding extra stops might jeopardise safety as well as timekeeping where diversions take place.

For example I read elsewhere that the 0803 service to Penzance left Paddington full and standing this morning (reservations not loaded either). That's not a pleasant prospect for anyone seeking to board at scheduled intermediate stations, never mind adding on extras.

[TaplowGreen]

09:46 Westbury to Swindon due 10:34
11:05 Swindon to Westbury due 11:47
12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 12:59
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
16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:08
17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:20
18:37 Westbury to Swindon due 19:21
20:13 Swindon to Westbury due 20:58
21:16 Westbury to Swindon due 21:58
22:30 Swindon to Westbury due 23:11

- all cancelled due to flooding.

[grahame]

- all cancelled due to flooding.

"due to flooding" of a different line, right - all part of this:

We are sorry for the disruption to your journey today. Due to heavy rain flooding the railway yesterday between Newbury and Westbury, the line is currently closed. The flood water has now subsided, however there has been significant damage to the railway infrastructure so Network Rail need to keep the line closed in order to make the railway safe. This disruption is expected to last until the end of the day.

Our high speed trains between London Paddington and the South West of England will divert between Reading and Taunton. This will add additional delay to your journey. We are currently unable to run any trains between Bedwyn and Newbury, we have 8 seater taxis running between Newbury and Bedwyn which are also calling at Kintbury and Hungerford. For customers at Pewsey, we have taxis running up to Swindon where rail connections are available.

BUT Journey Check does say

Due to flooding on the railway, the line between Swindon and Westbury is shut to passenger traffic.

so does that mean that they are NOT diverting (long distance) passenger traffic through Melksham?

Is GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s online ticket sales engine is offering only double price fares between Westbury/Trowbridge and Chippenham/Swindon?  I have very poor connectivity today and can't take a look.

[a-driver]

09:46 Westbury to Swindon due 10:34
11:05 Swindon to Westbury due 11:47
12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 12:59
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
16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:08
17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:20
18:37 Westbury to Swindon due 19:21
20:13 Swindon to Westbury due 20:58
21:16 Westbury to Swindon due 21:58
22:30 Swindon to Westbury due 23:11

- all cancelled due to flooding.

Those cancellations are largely unnecessary.

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) removed a lot of route knowledge from its HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) drivers preventing diversions via Bristol, and the GWR drivers operating that route have zero diversionary route knowledge. 
This issue highlights how out of touch with reality the decision making within the company has become.

[Trowres]

Is GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s online ticket sales engine is offering only double price fares between Westbury/Trowbridge and Chippenham/Swindon?  I have very poor connectivity today and can't take a look.

gwr.com is currently offering only the via Bath fare, except for the 18:37 WSB^» (Westbury - next trains)-SWI^» (Swindon - next trains) which presumably is the only train after the current time that hasn't (yet?) been cancelled.

Checking on nationalrail, it says the 18:37 has been cancelled. Journeycheck/greatwesternrailway agrees.

 

[TaplowGreen]

From GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) Twitter......

"Due to flooding between Westbury and Swindon, this line is closed.

Train services running through these stations have been cancelled.

Please check your journey at gwr.com/check.

Disruption is expected until the end of the day."