Weymouth Line - service issues (merged posts)

[whole diary]

[bobm]

Situation now compounded due to a points failure at Castle Cary.  The 14:02 from Yeovil Pen Mill (due to have been the 13:11 from Weymouth) has been delayed by over two hours.

[IndustryInsider]

How would you both present that information in a way that would please everyone?

[grahame]

Delays to services between Castle Cary and Weymouth

Following animals on the railway earlier today between Yeovil Pen Mill and Weymouth all lines have now reopened.

Disruption is expected until 19:00 02/05.
Train services between Castle Cary and Weymouth are returning to normal.

[eightonedee]

How would you both present that information in a way that would please everyone?

As the meerkats would say - "simples"

Change first part from-

"Cancellations to services between Castle Cary and Weymouth

Due to animals on the railway between Castle Cary and Weymouth all lines are blocked.

Train services running to and from these stations will be cancelled or terminated at and started back from Yeovil Pen Mill. Disruption is expected until 12:00 02/05."

to

"Cancellations to services between Castle Cary and Weymouth

Following a train hitting several cows near Yetminster yesterday, a clean up operation is in place. Until this is complete, and we can ensure the line is not damaged, trains will be amended.

Train services running to and from these stations will be cancelled or terminated at and started back from Yeovil Pen Mill. Disruption is expected until 12:00 02/05."

Then the key information is the first thing people will read, and understand it's not just another cow on the line, that they will pass at walking pace with a farmer holding securely on a halter after a 15 minute delay, and why the line is closed without having to spool down.

[IndustryInsider]

Perhaps suggest it to GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)…?

For the record, I think that is a slight improvement but hardly makes the world of difference TBH^▸ ('to be honest').

[Robin Summerhill]

I just came back to the forum to give my views and I see I’ve been beaten to it!

My only change to 81Ds suggestion is that I think the fact that animals have been killed adds emphasis to the severity and possible longevity of the situation, and that should appear in sentence/ paragraph 2

[infoman]

There was a road incident between Shepton Mallet and Yeovil at Wraxall on the Monday morning.

[Timmer]

Due to a shortage of train crew between Westbury and Weymouth fewer trains are able to run on all lines.
Train services running to and from these stations will be cancelled. Disruption is expected until 15:30 21/12.

Customer Advice
Apologies to customers travelling between Westbury and Weymouth this afternoon. Unfortunately due to a shortage of train crew caused by a combination of late notice sickness and recent industrial action, some services are having to terminate short at Westbury and Bristol Temple Meads today. Currently, the 12:34 departure of Westbury to Weymouth is cancelled. We have a confirmed coach and x2 8 seater vehicles that will be in position to run instead of the train service (your rail ticket will be valid on this). These vehicles will depart Westbury at 12:34.

A reminder if travelling from an unstaffed station you may trigger one of the available help-points located on platform level, or alternatively you may contact one of our social media specialists via Twitter handle @GWRhelp for further assistance.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused to your journey with us today.
Replacement road transport services are conveying passengers between Westbury and Weymouth in that direction only until further notice. Arrangements have been made for Great Western Railway rail tickets to be accepted for these journeys.

[bradshaw]

05.26 Weymouth to Filton Abbey Wood started from Westbury
06.42 Weymouth to Bristol Parkway started from Westbury
10.40 Gloucester to Weymouth cancelled beyond Westbury
16.41 Gloucester to Weymouth starting at Temple Meads, more trains needing repairs this one.
20.15 Weymouth to Bristol T M cancelled beyond Westbury, more trains needing repairs.

[Trowres]

Another thread http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=27614.msg335372#msg335372 mentioned a points failure at Taunton. From what was happening (or not), it appears that the crossover at the eastern end of the station was reversed for the 18:11 Taunton to Bristol TM^▸ (Train Manager, or Ticket Machine, or Temple Meads (Bristol), depending on context) to depart, and restoration to the normal position failed. Up trains were able to proceed by calling at platform 2 and using the crossover, but down trains were stuck. The first affected was 1V60 Edinburgh-Penzance that was delayed by 2 hours 10 minutes. In its rear was a light engine.

However, it appears that a common policy was followed of holding other trains at stations (on the routes from both Bristol and Westbury). So it was that westbound trains from Paddington were held at Castle Cary, Bruton, Westbury and even Pewsey.

As this was happening, 2O94, the 17:48 Bristol-Weymouth became stuck at Frome at 18:48 due to the IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) at Bruton. Eventually it was terminated there and ran back to Westbury.

A consequence was that 2V94, the last northbound train of the day from Weymouth, was cancelled (apart from the Westbury-Bristol section).

Also affected was 2V93, the 17:53 Weymouth-Bristol, which waited at Castle Cary for over an hour.

[Witham Bobby]

The repercussions of something going wrong on today's railway would have been unimaginable when I was a bobby.  There just seems to be no capacity, in terms of rolling stock, people, or infrastructure, to cope with any sort of failure, without causing really significant disruption.

[Timmer]

The repercussions of something going wrong on today's railway would have been unimaginable when I was a bobby.  There just seems to be no capacity, in terms of rolling stock, people, or infrastructure, to cope with any sort of failure, without causing really significant disruption.

Or any major event such as Glastonbury without other parts of the network suffering due to rolling stock and staff being needed for extra services to cope with the volume of passengers this event brings.

[bradshaw]

Today the 13.10 Gloucester to Weymouth cancelled. According to Journey Check due to a broken down train but RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) gives cause as incident with dangerous goods.

[Timmer]

Today the 13.10 Gloucester to Weymouth cancelled. According to Journey Check due to a broken down train but RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) gives cause as incident with dangerous goods.

Which has meant the 17.28 Weymouth to Bristol has been cancelled as well.

[grahame]

From Somerset Live

The little train ride from Bath Spa station to Weymouth is absolute heaven. It is a small little train, two or three coaches and it takes about two hours, stopping in nice country villages along the way and with some fantastic countryside.

The little train goes through villages like Freshford, Bradford on Avon, Yeovil, Westbury, and you have to put your hand out if you want the train to stop in some places. There are about 16 stops in the two hours but it is such a gentle, relaxing journey you don't mind.

And there is a regular service. A good one to get is the 10.03am from Bath Spa, it gets to Weymouth at 12.06pm, perfect, just in time for lunch.

Or if you want to go earlier you can get the 9am which gets in around 11am. The station in Weymouth is about two minutes from the beach, you are right there, and it is a beautiful bay.