Some positive news for the Wiltshire & Somerset constituents amongst us.  The ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road, formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) have approved new train services between Swindon - Taunton & Weston Super Mare.  Initially I assumed these would be via Bristol but reading the press release suggest these may run via Melksham & Westbury instead;

https://www.orr.gov.uk/search-news/regulator-approves-new-go-op-train-service-between-swindon-taunton-and-weston-super

Apologies if there were a more suitable sub thread to put this news in, instead.

Not sure what traction is lined up for this though.

I’d be surprised if there wasn’t a big backlash from the freight operators with regards to turning the current down reception into a 4th passenger platform at Westbury.

The Merehead & Whatley freight quarry lines are single track, largely 20mph max speed.  The down reception is heavily used to stable inbound quarry trains out the way whilst an outbound quarry train travels down the single line from the quarries.  Taking this away & turning it into a passenger platform would mean those quarry trains having to sit on the main line and blocking that waiting for a path into the quarries.  Yes, time tabling & pathing can be altered to minimise this but we all know trains regularly run late & out of path. 

Not sure how much room there is for an additional track adjacent to the current down reception. 

The Melksham branch struggling to cope with the diverted IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan))’s & freight, along with the timetabled traffic.  Congestion either side of the branch now;

Things not looking good if you want to get back to Oxford from London tonight.

It's either a RRB^▸ (Rail Replacement Bus) from Didcot or er...... that's it.  Chiltern route blocked due to a failed freight train causing mayhem there.

Container traffic to/from Southampton (which makes up a large portion of freight traffic over the route in question) is being diverted via Reading, Acton Wells and the WCML^▸ (West Coast Main Line) to its onward destination.

Colas are sending their traffic via Bristol and Bromsgrove.  Not sure about DB^» (Deutsche Bahn - German State Railway - about) yet.

Other traffic such as Stone traffic to/from Oxford Parkway and car traffic to/from Morris Cowley will cease for the immediate future.

This is all short term, quick fix stuff.  No doubt a more concrete plan will emerge once more details about the situation and longevity come clear.

The Mendip quarry trains that usually traverse the B&H^▸ (Berks and Hants - railway line from Reading to Taunton via Westbury) route via Newbury to get to Acton and beyond are having to be sent via Melksham and Swindon instead due to the 2 week blockade on the B&H.  The quarries are still running a full, usual service for their customers, as their customers have paid for this and FL have paid the relevant track access fees to NR^» (Network Rail - home page).

The trouble is, these stone train run as class 6 & class 7 trains, so they are long, heavy, slow freight trains.  Going via the normal route (Newbury), they would normally be recessed in either Woodborough or Hungerford Goods Loops, to allow the passenger traffic to pass then continue their journey in the next free gap.  The route via Swindon does not have any Goods Loops between Westbury and Swindon.  With GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) still running a normal timetable for fasts between Bristol/Bath and London, along with a normal timetable of cross Wiltshire services between Bath & Westbury, these freights haven’t the lengthy gaps between passenger traffic to unaffect passenger trains, as they do via Newbury where (until you reach Newbury and beyond), passenger traffic is less frequent to that on the Box route.  So end result, passenger train catches up with freight train, delays start occurring, missed paths on the single line through Melksham and once that ball starts rolling, it’s unlikely to stop that day.

The Mendip quarries have an increase of work coming this summer, with further new, freight services planned for Gloucester, Oxford, Appleford and Thorney Mill.  There is definitely an argument to installing a recess loop at Thingley, to allow freights to recess off the main line, whilst waiting access to the single line.  A typical shift for a Merehead based driver on an Acton/Hanwell and back turn is 11 hours.  Add in the delays this week, and many drivers have been working 12 - 13 hour shifts on this route.  It is not a sustainable way to operate.  The quarry traffic isn’t going no where anytime soon so investment is definitely needed in the Westbury and Chippenham areas to recess freight accordingly.

Sorry if I'm missing something obvious here, but I was wondering how the IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan))'s are accessing Stoke Gifford depot during the BPW^» (Bristol Parkway - next trains) blockade?

I was under the impression the whole of the BPW station area was closed today and for the foreseeable for electrification works, but I still see the empty IET's are still able to exit and enter Stoke Gifford depot, like this one;

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/V20152/2018/09/15/advanced

Concorde at Filton Airport.

Near the Henbury Loop.

That's an interesting thought there.

A lot of Conductors and ATE's on the Severn Beach line only change the origin station at Severn Beach/Avonmouth & Clifton, where the price changes.  To maximise revenue and ticket sales, they sell tickets from Clifton for example, to Temple Meads, regardless which station after Clifton you got on at, as it's the same price.

All they have to do is press the reprint button on their avantix.

Surely Pilning, with 1 train a week in each direction, is a lesser used station.  I can't imagine too many people waiting for the SO trains.

My attention got drawn more towards the pig that thinks she's a dog. 

Westbury & Gloucester both sign the Melksham branch.

There is overnight possessions on lines affected by the removal of the conveyor at any one time.  This is having an adverse impact on the departure and arrival of stock from SPM^▸ (St Philip's Marsh (Bristol depot)) forming the first various services from BTM^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads (strictly, it should be BRI) but BTM is a commonly used alternative)) in the morning.

Possession overran last night for example, we were nearly an hour late finishing at the station due to this.

I've taken a 4 car rake down to Warminster to turn back.  This involved a Class 150/2 and a Class 150/1.

I can concur that changing ends on non corridor stock at Warminster is challenging.  We ended up asking for a block on the adjacent line as the shrubby was just too overgrown in the cess to do it there.

5.  Birmingham International