Severn Beach line - timetables, engineering work, closures, incidents (merged topics)

[whole diary]

[devon_metro]

0525 BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains)-SVB Ran
0549 BRI-AVN Ran
0631 BRI-SVB Ran
0705 BRI-SVB Ran
0803 BRI-AVN Cancelled
All further trains cancelled

0603 SVB-BRI Ran
0632 AVN-BRI Ran
0720 SVB-BRI Ran as far as Avonmouth (presume ran ECS^▸ (Empty Coaching Stock) to Bristol TM^‡(resolve))
All further trains cancelled

[Chris from Nailsea]

Following devon_metro's very helpful post (thanks, Liam!), this topic then moved on to a discussion of the service on the Exmouth line: just to avoid confusion, I've split that subsequent discussion to a new topic, in 'Shorter journeys in Devon' - see http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=4281.0

[ReWind]

Can anybody confirm details on a turnback facilitly that I have overheard FGW^▸ (First Great Western) staff talk about at Clifton Down?

I do believe this would allow trains to terminate on the down side and re-enter service on the upside!

Does this mean extra trains for the BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains) - Clifton line?

Or are some Avonmouth trains now going to terminate at Clifton?

AS a regular user of this line, I am intrested to know of any plans for this line!

[Rogang]

Yes, Clifton Down is available for a turn-around. Used occasionally of late to get Avonmouth services back on time by terminating short.

[ReWind]

Does anyone know when the Station information monitors on the SVB are ALL going to be working?

I know some are working, Clifton's are, for example, but others on the route have been dormant for an age now, especially on the Bristol side at Lawrence Hill.

[JayMac]

I know Shirehampton's has been working, although I've not used the station for 7 days. Sea Mills and Redland's were working as I passed through. The last time I was at Lawrence Hill (9 days ago) the PIS^▸ (Passenger Information System) on the northbound platform was working.

[Lee]

Stations visited today:

PIS^▸ (Passenger Information System) working - Severn Beach, Avonmouth (Severn Beach side)

PIS not working - St Andrews Road, Avonmouth (Bristol side)

[Graz]

These seem like a good idea, but I would much prefer LED departure boards like South West Trains uses as their smaller stations. By far easier to read and more informative.

[JayMac]

These seem like a good idea, but I would much prefer LED departure boards like South West Trains uses as their smaller stations. By far easier to read and more informative.

The new PIS^▸ (Passenger Information System) on the SVB Line are not like the traditional overhead monitors. These are wall mounted and include Help Point/Emergency buttons with two-way voice connection to a control centre. They are circular in appearance and vaguely similar to Help Points on the London Underground but with the addition of a real-tme information monitor.

[Lee]

I have received the following e-mail from FOSBR^▸ (Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways) (apologies if this info has already been posted elsewhere) :

You will be interested to know that there will be some improvements to the service on the SB^▸ (Signal Box) line on Sundays next summer (2010) when there will be an hourly service to Severn Beach, 2 of which will also run through to Taunton via WsM. There will also be 11 services on the Sunday instead of the present 8. The winter timetable will have 11 trains too but only 2 to SB. This improvement is due to financial support from S Glos. Thus SB will have a better service on Sundays in the summer than it gets during the week.

[JayMac]

Well done to SGC for funding improvements on the SVB line for a better Sunday service. Congrats also to FoSBR^» (Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways - site) for their sterling campaigning work.

I often travel to Taunton on a Sunday from Shirehampton, but I'm not sure that I can endure 100 mins plus on a Class 143! Unless, of course there are plans to employ 15x DMUs^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) for the direct trains. So I'll probably still change onto a Voyager at BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains). (I can just about endure 35mins on a 220/221!)

[JayMac]

From FGW^▸ (First Great Western):

Train services have been disrupted due to signalling problems between Bristol Temple Meads and Severn Beach.Engineers have worked as fast as possible to restore services to normal. Short notice alterations and delays of up to 20 minutes may still occur.

Road Transport is currently in operation.

Weather related?

[JayMac]

From Bristol Evening Post:

An article from last month I've only just come across:

Passengers on the Severn Beach railway line into Bristol are fed up ^ because they cannot pay their fares. They say they want to support the service which has come close to being axed in the past. But the peak-time trains often get too busy and the journey times are too short for the conductors to check tickets or take fares.

Temple Meads is the only station on the line where passengers can buy tickets. Otherwise they have to get them from a conductor on the train.

First Great Western, which runs the service, says it has put on extra staff at busy periods and are also looking at putting in ticket machines at stations along the line.

Bristol's transport leader Dr Jon Rogers, a family GP who regularly uses the service to travel to Avonmouth, said he had complaints from people who use the line from Montpelier Station. He said: "It is something I have spoken to First Great Western about before and I shall do so again. The council is pleased to invest in our local railway services, but First Great Western has a duty to maximise the collection of fares so that this taxpayer subsidy is not wasted."

The council pays an annual ^450,000 subsidy so the train company can run half-hourly trains at peak times. During the past year, the number of passengers who use the line has increased by nearly a third. The number of passengers who get on the train at Severn Beach or Avonmouth are few but the carriages quickly fill up at the stations nearer Bristol. Many passengers hop on and off the train for just a few stops which means they are only on board for a matter of a few minutes. The train takes 29 minutes to travel from Avonmouth to Bristol Temple Meads, stopping at Shirehampton, Sea Mills, Clifton Down, Redland, Montpelier, Stapleton Road and Lawrence Hill.

Paul Harrod, prospective Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Bristol North West, who raised the issue with Dr Rogers, said he was getting an increasing number of complaints from commuters who regularly use the line. He said: "We all welcome the extra investment the council has put into the Severn Beach line so that a half-hourly service can be run. Yet no one wants to see a taxpayer subsidy continue indefinitely. First Great Western need to make every effort to collect fares ^ even when passengers are making journeys of just a few miles. It is a bizarre state of affairs when people are complaining about not being able to hand over money to a train company!"

First Great Western spokesman Dan Panes said: "The enormous success of the enhanced Severn Beach services has seen passenger numbers grow by up to 30 per cent on the line in the past year. Unfortunately this, coupled with the relatively short journey times on the route, makes it more difficult for our guards to check all tickets before the end of the journey.
"However, we've put on additional staff on peak services, and at some interim stations to make sure we can check the majority of tickets. We are actively looking to find funding for ticket machines at stations along the route, but these can be expensive and we need to be careful that the cost of machines does not outweigh the benefits."

[Brucey]

I wrote a letter to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) after the guard never came out except to open the doors, so I wasn't sold a ticket and had to queue at Temple Meads.  I received a very standard letter back, along the signs of "we are sorry you're ticket wasn't checked" along with a few excuses.

It may be strange for passengers to complain that you wanted to pay the fare but without cash coming in and ticket sales increasing, what chance have we got of the service improving without more taxpayer subsidy?

My suggestion is to have a Parking Meter type of machine (I imagine these are fairly cheap and vandal-proof), where the minimum for a ticket to be issued is 75p (i.e. the railcard price for a single).  This ticket can then be exchanged for a real ticket or used as a permit to travel for longer journeys.  At least FGW will then take a minimum of 75p from every passenger who manages to get away without a ticket.

[rich0099]

I'm now a regular commuter from SVB to CFN^▸ (Clifton Down station) and back - and yes there are problems with the ticketing.

For my part of the journey, most of the problems occur between Shirehampton, Sea Mills and Clifton Down as the distances are so short.

The other problem is that the system needs to be 'cash only'. Besides the machines being slow to print anyway, it's the people purchasing a ^1.50 single fare with a credit card (mostly because they've been caught out trying to fare-dodge).

If an easier cash-only tear-off & punch ticketing system was adopted - that would save all the hassle. I understand this would be non-standard - but so far, the furthest station I've heard anyone ask for is Bath Spa.

During the morning commute - currently there are two guards - surely this can't be cost effective for FGW^▸ (First Great Western)?
Last night's journey, no... my pass wasn't checked.

As an aside, it was either last Thursday or Friday (sorry... getting old) the SVB morning trains were cancelled 'due to vandalism' and only ran as far as Avonmouth until late in the afternoon. Does anyone know any details of the incident - I'm guessing that this co-incided with the last few days of school half term... *sigh*