Dilton Marsh - platform, services and incidents (merged posts)

[whole diary]

[grahame]

No brand new railway station has been opened in Wiltshire for 85 years! Dilton Marsh station opened on 1st June 1937.  At that date, set in the rural countryside but now sitting between the major residential area of Westbury Leigh and the very much expanded Dilton Marsh, there are only a few fields left in the immediate area of the station.

The train service at Dilton Marsh has been sporadic and appalling over the years and remains so to this day - it seems very much an afterthought in the train planner's work and there are some real failures to provide a decent service for customers - both in terms of the timetable and in terms of the reliability of those trains. 

At present, it's a request stop on trains that are run more at operationally convenient times than to meet the station's potential customers needs. I speculate that hourly calls on the Cardiff to Portsmouth services - which call at all other stations from Bradford-on-Avon through to Salisbury - would quickly elevate it way above being a request stop.  And I note the three week trial just before Easter in which an extra call was made by one of the Cardiff - Portsmouth trains just after 8 O'Clock in the morning; the train was still on time at Salisbury (so no timetable issue) and I'm told there were passengers picked up every day - remarkable for something that received no publicity - just appeared on the online timetables.

As a statement of the obvious - trains in the reverse direction (Portsmouth to Cardiff) should also stop.  Actually much easier to timetable, as the gradients near the station make it downhill to Westbury.

A very great deal of investment has been put into Dilton Marsh Station in recent years, and the station is now in excellent condition.  Come on, GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), SWR^» (South Western Railway - about), DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) - please provide that final piece of the jigsaw to make Dilton Marsh a success story over coming years.

[infoman]

The most famous resident of DM^▸ (Dilton Marsh) would be very pleased,Bristol City footballer John Atyeo.

[Clan Line]

Had to be done !

[grahame]

From a correspondent in Dilton Marsh (by email, reproduced with permission):

Just a quick update on the abysmal service we are having to endure on a daily basis: short formations, overcrowding and air conditioning that generally doesn’t work.

I’m sure I remember GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) stating that withdrawal of the Brightons would enable them to run the 5 coach trains we are supposed to have on the Portsmouth to Cardiff line. Since their withdrawal, I have seen the short formations of 2 and 3 coaches become more prevalent with yesterday morning being nothing short of a disgrace.

As usual on a Sunday I caught the 1052 from Dilton Marsh to Keynsham to visit my mum. It turned up a few minutes late as an already overcrowded 3 car. I managed to get on as did the other Dilton Marsh passengers and while there were no seats, I was able to move into the carriage away from the numerous suitcases blocking the doorways because there was nowhere else for them to go. A number of passengers got off at Dilton Marsh. I did ask if they actually wanted Dilton Marsh as they were laden with suitcases. Their English was poor and I don’t think they understood me. As we started moving they looked at the station sign and moved back towards the train but as the guard was by the front door he wouldn’t have seen them and as we were already moving, there was nothing he could have safely done anyway. Why can’t the automatic announcements give out Dilton Marsh, rather than when the door opens at Dilton Marsh state, “This is Westbury” with the monitors “confirming” this?

Also on this train, it was so overcrowded that people were left behind including a wheelchair at Bradford on Avon due to not only there being no room on the train for it but it was physically impossible for the guard to get to the cupboard which stored the ramp. This isn’t the only train that is regularly short formation. While the 1105 is a welcome addition at Dilton Marsh to replace the old 1111 from Westbury, it is only ever a 3 car with standing room only. This is the train that connects with the cruise ships so it is vital with no 1111 relief it is a 5 car.

[froome]

We visited friends on Sunday who are only occasional train users. They told us that they had recently used the Cardiff to Portsmouth service to travel to Southampton, and then on by SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) to Poole to catch a ferry to the Channel Isles. Their journeys there and back match all the comments made in this correspondents ones, and they specifically mentioned the issue of the cruise passengers pretty much swamping Southampton Central's platforms to the point that when the train our friends had hoped to catch back towards Cardiff came in, they couldn't get on, and they had to wait an hour for a similarly overcrowded train to arrive to squeeze onto. They did also note with surprise how different the SWR trains were, where there was plenty of space and none of the issues highlighted here about the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) service.

[grahame]

From another local correspondent - another day, another train, a similar problem

Yet again I have to complain about this train. It arrived in Salisbury with only 2 carriages. Mid morning Friday, holiday time, lovely weather, everyone taking advantage of the sun. Mothers with buggies, holiday makers with large suitcases, day trippers.

I had to stand in the vestibule for 45 minutes from Salisbury to Bradford on Avon. At [xx] years of age I did not appreciate this.

When we reached Bradford 4 people had to get out so I could get off. Eleven people were left on the platform because there was just no room. One passenger [snip] ...

Absolute disgrace. Do the words "forward planning" exist in GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)?

 

[GBM]

As so often seen in journeycheck "More trains than usual needing repairs"!

[Timmer]

There's a 2 car 165 doing the rounds again on the CDF^» (Cardiff - next trains)-PMH line today.

[grahame]

There's a 2 car 165 doing the rounds again on the CDF^» (Cardiff - next trains)-PMH line today.

On its own?  No parent??

[Timmer]

There's a 2 car 165 doing the rounds again on the CDF^» (Cardiff - next trains)-PMH line today.

On its own?  No parent??

On its own:

0803 BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains)-PMH
1023 PMH-CDF
1430 CDF-PMH
1824 PMH-CDF
2230 CDF-BRI

[grahame]

There's a 2 car 165 doing the rounds again on the CDF^» (Cardiff - next trains)-PMH line today.

On its own?  No parent??

On its own:

0803 BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains)-PMH
1023 PMH-CDF
1430 CDF-PMH
1824 PMH-CDF
2230 CDF-BRI

Thank you - interesting to note it's not flagged up as a short form on journey check ...

[IndustryInsider]

It’s booked for a 3-car 166.  Is it possible that the night staff that do entries for journeycheck were on strike last night, so some entries have been missed?  It’s also quite possible that it’s just another journeycheck inaccuracy.

Either way, it’s good that the much more accurate data on realtimetrains can be used to find out such things.

[Timmer]

It’s booked for a 3-car 166.  Is it possible that the night staff that do entries for journeycheck were on strike last night, so some entries have been missed?  It’s also quite possible that it’s just another journeycheck inaccuracy.

Either way, it’s good that the much more accurate data on realtimetrains can be used to find out such things.

RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) was where I found out that there was a diagram down as a 2 car 165. Coming up on departure boards as such as well.

[Clan Line]

For the last few weeks I have been helping out in an allotment alongside the railway line at Warminster - at various times of day. From my totally unscientific observations 5 car trains are very rare. Out of curiosity  I had a quick look at RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website).
Last Monday, out of 32 Cardiff/Portsmouth trains just 6 were 5 cars.
Today (Sunday) out of 29 Cardiff/Portsmouth trains 18 were 5 cars.
This seems to tell me something - but I am not quite sure what ...............

Be interesting to see what tomorrow brings.

[Clan Line]

Be interesting to see what tomorrow brings.

According to RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website): this Monday 12 trains are shown to be 5 cars.  Double last Monday - but a third down on yesterday.