Non-Existent Service

[whole diary]

[fullspeedahead]

Ive recently noticed that on a number of occasions at Portsmouth and Southsea recently, the 1745 FGW^▸ (First Great Western) weekday departure to the Harbour (from cardiff) has not been listed on the departure boards at all, even as a cancellation. Presumably even if the train was stopped short at Fareham due to heavy delay, it would still be listed as cancelled?
Nobody else there at the time seems to even be put out about these mystery disappearances. Am I actually just going insane?

[amiddl]

No not mad at all. I have traveled fairy frequently on the 09.21 Paighton from Newbury and this has been missing from the departure board a couple of times causing much confusion amongst passengers and with station staff unsure as to why it is not shown. Every other train is correctly shown except this one. I would be interested to know what causes these departures not to be shown on the departures boards.

[moonrakerz]

Probably the same reason that the 0946 from Warminster to Waterloo is announced as a service to Waterloo, whereas the 1400 and 1647 services to Waterloo are announced as services to Salisbury   

[Not from Brighton]

But surely the departure board cannot be wrong?!! 

[eightf48544]

I would be interested to know what causes these departures not to be shown on the departures boards.

Probably finger trouble they've not been entered correctly on the computer.

[paul7575]

Ive recently noticed that on a number of occasions at Portsmouth and Southsea recently, the 1745 FGW^▸ (First Great Western) weekday departure to the Harbour (from cardiff) has not been listed on the departure boards at all, even as a cancellation. Presumably even if the train was stopped short at Fareham due to heavy delay, it would still be listed as cancelled?
Nobody else there at the time seems to even be put out about these mystery disappearances. Am I actually just going insane?

Is this prior to 1745? As soon as a cancelled trains timetabled departure comes up the SWT^▸ (South West Trains) PIS^▸ (Passenger Information System) will remove it.  Although why they even bother with a PIS at Portsmouth and Southsea P2 makes me a bit worried for the little man inside it, who must get bored after a day of switching on the same little lights every time...

Paul

[fullspeedahead]

Hi, Yes this is prior to 1745, I usually arrive at the station just after 17.30. There are no manual annoucements regarding the missing service either, it is most purplexing.

[Rogang]

Picking up on various comments in this thread, the Portsmouth screens are indeed the reponsibility of SWT^▸ (South West Trains) - we at FGW^▸ (First Great Western) notify them and expect them to show any alterations to our services right up to departure time - I will make some enquiries tomorrow. The Waterloo services are a constant problem - they should all say Salisbury as a destination with a note "continues to Waterloo" - but the system has a nasty habit of 'dropping' the last bit. If Warminster station is manned at the right times, they should be phoning FGW CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) to tell us! Likewise with Newbury - suprised that a train is 'missing'  as Penny and Graham are usually very much 'on the ball' there

[rogerw]

In my view Waterloo services should show that as the destination which enables all stopping points to be listed.  Anything else is inaccurate and misleading.

[paul7575]

I'm not an expert, but is the problem possibly that as the train joins another at Salisbury, something has to be manually added to the PIS^▸ (Passenger Information System) database, because the actual reporting ID will only be a Bristol - Salisbury service. Left to its own automatic devices the PIS will not pick up the onward train, cos beyond Salisbury it takes on the ID of the other portion?

The reason I supect this, is that in SWT^▸ (South West Trains) land, whenever the normal timetable is running reliably, trains that join further up the line are reported reliably all the way through to final destination on the PIS, but when temporary timetable arrangements are in place for engineering work for instance you see oddities arise, such as Waterloo trains appearing to terminate at Eastleigh in the up direction on a Sunday. I've also seen SN services leave Southampton for Horsham, during disruptions, where they become the rear portion of an earlier train from Bognor, although they normally display as Victoria.  Suggesting the full data hasn't been entered for an 'off pattern' train?

Paul

[Tim]

I'd always assumed that the Waterloo trains were shown as "Salisbury, continues to london Waterloo", to stop the inexperienced or foriegn traveller wanting to get "the next train to London" from getting on the SWT^▸ (South West Trains) train and having a slow journey rather than the Paddington service.

[smithy]

I'd always assumed that the Waterloo trains were shown as "Salisbury, continues to london Waterloo", to stop the inexperienced or foriegn traveller wanting to get "the next train to London" from getting on the SWT^▸ (South West Trains) train and having a slow journey rather than the Paddington service.

dont forget the cheaper service rather than the fgw expensive one.

[moonrakerz]

I went through the station this afternoon, timed for the 1647 service. The TV screen (hardly legible in the bright light, couldn't get into the waiting room to see it properly - padlocked at  1630  ) correctly described the service as going to "London Waterloo via Salisbury, etc, etc. I waited to hear the description of the train on the platform announcement - guess what ? No announcement !   

[Steve44]

I'd always assumed that the Waterloo trains were shown as "Salisbury, continues to london Waterloo", to stop the inexperienced or foriegn traveller wanting to get "the next train to London" from getting on the SWT^▸ (South West Trains) train and having a slow journey rather than the Paddington service.

dont forget the cheaper service rather than the fgw expensive one.

I'd rather the cheaper service.  A friend and I went to Exeter and back (down tuesday, back thursday) for ^7.90 each each way (with rail cards) compared to the 20 pound odd each way we were quoted on a FGW^▸ (First Great Western) service.  Have to say i prefer the 'cheaper service', yes it takes quite a bit longer but the train was very comfortable and clean, the air-con was terrific and the staff were very helpful and friendly (we'd had problem getting our tickets from the machines at waterloo because we had been stuck in traffic and there was a long queue literally 2 mins before our 8.20 was due to leave, the guard was most helpful).  I'm not knocking FGW as such, i'm sure a trip down would have been most enjoyable, but for us 'poor students' 7.90 each way was a lot more inviting.

[The Grecian]

I'd always assumed that the Waterloo trains were shown as "Salisbury, continues to london Waterloo", to stop the inexperienced or foriegn traveller wanting to get "the next train to London" from getting on the SWT^▸ (South West Trains) train and having a slow journey rather than the Paddington service.

dont forget the cheaper service rather than the fgw expensive one.

I'd rather the cheaper service.  A friend and I went to Exeter and back (down tuesday, back thursday) for ^7.90 each each way (with rail cards) compared to the 20 pound odd each way we were quoted on a FGW^▸ (First Great Western) service.  Have to say i prefer the 'cheaper service', yes it takes quite a bit longer but the train was very comfortable and clean, the air-con was terrific and the staff were very helpful and friendly (we'd had problem getting our tickets from the machines at waterloo because we had been stuck in traffic and there was a long queue literally 2 mins before our 8.20 was due to leave, the guard was most helpful).  I'm not knocking FGW as such, i'm sure a trip down would have been most enjoyable, but for us 'poor students' 7.90 each way was a lot more inviting.

The SWT service is certainly useful for leisure travellers for whom money is more important than time, although the FGW service will always be more popular for business travellers. It'll be interesting to see how well SWT market their hourly service to London from December, as some hours their offpeak services will likely only be about 20-30 minutes behind the hourly FGW service.