Christmas travel advice from GWR, with local comments for Melksham

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Travelling by train this month?   Latest advice from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) - basically the regular "wash hands, wear a face covering, keep your distance" but this month in festive red and green, and not just in green.  Massive amounts of effort have been put into making rail travel SAFE, but can we echo The Government's words and suggest you very carefully consider whether your travel over Christmas is really necessary, however you are going?  Best wait another few months to catch up with familiy in their homes, or to crowd into the sales!

Train timetables for Melksham - at http://melksh.am/tt , current running at http://melkssh.am/trains . Services running every day except 25th and 26th.  Note that connections to the West Country at Westbury will be very limitied indeed due to many rail staff in Plymouth isolating at the moment.

[infoman]

Could I put forward my suggestion and try to use direct trains(if possible) and try not to use "small trains".
Thinking of the Bristol to manchester services where(to the best of my knowledge) are needing a change of trains at Birmingham.
Just keep away from two small trains bristol TM^▸ (Train Manager, or Ticket Machine, or Temple Meads (Bristol), depending on context) to Newport and Newport to Manchester.
In the other direction just try and keep away from the local stopping train from BTM^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads (strictly, it should be BRI) but BTM is a commonly used alternative)) to Taunton if your heading for the south west of england.
From a personal point of view I try and get in the first coach in the second class end,
 of cross country trains which can prevent passengers having to walk past you, and return)

[grahame]

Could I put forward my suggestion and try to use direct trains(if possible) and try not to use "small trains".
Thinking of the Bristol to manchester services where(to the best of my knowledge) are needing a change of trains at Birmingham.
Just keep away from two small trains bristol TM^▸ (Train Manager, or Ticket Machine, or Temple Meads (Bristol), depending on context) to Newport and Newport to Manchester.
In the other direction just try and keep away from the local stopping train from BTM^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads (strictly, it should be BRI) but BTM is a commonly used alternative)) to Taunton if your heading for the south west of england.
From a personal point of view I try and get in the first coach in the second class end,
 of cross country trains which can prevent passengers having to walk past you, and return)

We have a huge variety of services and rules.    So general wording that applies right across ... from Newquay to Newcastle, from Chetnole to Chester and even from Melksham to Sea Mills (a journey that Lisa and I have on hold for personal business) ... is a very blunt tool.   

The banner across the top and the tick list are GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) official and the highlighted yellow text is what it means for Melksham passengers.   MRUG^» (Melksham Rail User Group - site) has done that with a view to sorting out local specific issues without providing so much that it confuses occasional users.  Others welcome to use the same approach.

[grahame]

Here are the new tiers from Saturday 19th December 2020 if you are thinking of travelling



The tier 3 dark red area that "stick out into the orange tier 2 area are ..
* South Gloucestershire
* Berkshire, Reading and Wokingham
* Portsmouth, Gosport and Havant

Tier 1 (lighter) ...
* Hereford
* Cornwall
* Isle of Wight

[bobm]

Where are the Isles of Scilly?   

[grahame]

Where are the Isles of Scilly?   

Off our map to the west. In order to maximise resolution, we clip the off; there are no stations there.  The Shetlands cause a similar problem with "all British Isles" maps.

[johnneyw]

The pedant in me is grateful that, on this forum, they are correctly referred to as "The Isles of Scilly" rather than the Scilly Islands.  Mind you, I still mutter beneath my breath at mention of the "Mendips" rather than the Mendip Hills. Perhaps I should sit down and, in modern parlance, take a "chill pill" or a glass of Port?  😁

[grahame]

Trains and buses over the next 2 weeks - MELKSHAM story



Gloriously different schemes between the trains and the buses!