2246 Taunton to Weston-super-Mare. Why a bus?

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

I can't quite fathom why this service is listed as a bus for the entirety of the timetable. Surely there can't be engineering work on the 'up' line every weekday night from May to December?

Printed timetables show it as a bus and also subject to engineering work. Now how exactly is a rail-replacement bus affected by engineering work?

Journey Planners also always show it as a bus with no note to say that this is because of engineering works.

What's going on? Are FGW^▸ (First Great Western) pulling a fast one because there is no stock/staff to operate the service. Instead putting on a bus then hiding behind the excuse of engineering work?

I'm also heartened to see that I can buy a 1st Class ticket to travel on this bus as well!

[inspector_blakey]

I'm just making an educated guess here, but...

There are often services in the timetable operating very late at night or early in the morning, for which little demand is anticipated, that are advertised to run as buses throughout the timetable at least in order to make arranging engineering work easier when it's needed. Another example, assuming nothing's changed recently, is that the first service from Oxford to London on a Sunday morning is nearly always a bus to Didcot Parkway, changing into a train service there.

Anyway, I bet the rail fare is somewhat cheaper than First Somerset and Avon would want for a bus service from Taunton to W-S-M!