2021 - TransWilts cancellation and amendment log

[whole diary]

[grahame]

06:11 Swindon to Southampton Central due 08:08

06:11 Swindon to Southampton Central due 08:08 will be reinstated.
It will be terminated at Westbury.
It will no longer call at Dilton Marsh, Warminster, Salisbury, Romsey and Southampton Central.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[grahame]

17:50 Gloucester to Southampton Central due 20:36

17:50 Gloucester to Southampton Central due 20:36 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[brooklea]

17:50 Gloucester to Southampton Central due 20:36

17:50 Gloucester to Southampton Central due 20:36 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

For the record, the Gloucester to Westbury section was later reinstated.

Bus connection provided from Westbury on to Southampton.

[grahame]

For the record, the Gloucester to Westbury section was later reinstated.

Thank you

Bus connection provided from Westbury on to Southampton.

Yuk! 

Noting significant concern from DILTON MARSH at all the cancellations that are happening there; a noticeable part of their sparse service is provided by the extended TransWilts trains at 06:11 and 18:52 from Swindon, and their return workings from Southampton. 

Whilst there's no other passenger trains through Melksham (on the Swindon - Westbury leg), there ARE other services from Westbury to Southampton, and I wouldn't have thought it beyond the wit of train control to add an extra stop on one of these when the TransWilts extensions are cancelled south of Westbury.   But then ... the folks in train control are looking after thousands of journeys, tens of thousand of individual stops - so perhaps we should flag up to them .... if you cancel a train due to call at Dilton Marsh, please stop one of the Portsmouth to Cardiff (and Cardiff to Portsmouth) trains there to give the passengers a [real/rail] alternative..  The stops are already made by a handful of these trains, early morning and evening - no reason not to do so in place of a cancelled TransWilts extension.

[grahame]

13:15 Swindon to Westbury due 13:56
14:20 Westbury to Swindon due 15:02

Facilities on the 14:20 Westbury to Swindon due 15:02.
Toilet facilities are not available.

[grahame]

17:50 Gloucester to Southampton Central due 20:36
17:50 Gloucester to Southampton Central due 20:36 will be terminated at Westbury.
It will no longer call at Dilton Marsh, Warminster, Salisbury, Romsey and Southampton Central.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Is Dilton Marsh moving towards an even greater percentage cancellations than Melksham?

What alternative arrangements are there for customers to and from there?

[brooklea]

17:50 Gloucester to Southampton Central due 20:36
17:50 Gloucester to Southampton Central due 20:36 will be terminated at Westbury.
It will no longer call at Dilton Marsh, Warminster, Salisbury, Romsey and Southampton Central.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Is Dilton Marsh moving towards an even greater percentage cancellations than Melksham?

What alternative arrangements are there for customers to and from there?

Reinstated now

[grahame]

20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 22:05
20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 22:05 will be delayed at Swindon.
This is due to the train departing late to maintain customer connections.

Sounds like common sense.

[grahame]

05:17 Westbury to Swindon due 05:59
06:11 Swindon to Southampton Central due 08:08
09:45 Westbury to Swindon due 10:34
11:05 Swindon to Westbury due 11:46
12:20 Westbury to Swindon due 13:02
13:15 Swindon to Westbury due 13:56
14:20 Westbury to Swindon due 15:02
15:14 Swindon to Westbury due 15:55
16:25 Westbury to Swindon due 17:08

16:25 Westbury to Swindon due 17:08
Facilities on the 16:25 Westbury to Swindon due 17:08.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Will be formed of 3 coaches instead of 5.
Further Information

If you hold a valid single, return, or weekly ticket, you will be able to claim compensation for delays of 15 minutes or more. Please keep your ticket and visit GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway).com/DelayRepay
Last Updated:20/08/2021 04:13

Err ... surprised at 5 cars in the first place.

[grahame]

10:33 Westbury to Swindon due 11:17
10:33 Westbury to Swindon due 11:17 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.

[grahame]

11:03 Weymouth to Swindon due 13:27
11:03 Weymouth to Swindon due 13:27 will be terminated at Westbury.
It will no longer call at Trowbridge, Melksham, Chippenham and Swindon.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[TaplowGreen]

14:47 Westbury to Swindon due 15:29
14:47 Westbury to Swindon due 15:29 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

13:41 Swindon to Weymouth due 15:51
13:41 Swindon to Weymouth due 15:51 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[GBM]

.....

I wondered who would take up the mantle......... 

[bobm]

15:41 Swindon to Frome due 16:31

15:41 Swindon to Frome due 16:31 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

16:41 Frome to Swindon due 17:34

16:41 Frome to Swindon due 17:34 will be started from Westbury.
It will no longer call at Frome.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[grahame]

.....

I wondered who would take up the mantle......... 

Thank goodness we have made the very blunt (and heart-breaking) decision at the Melksham Transport User Group NOT to promote train use to new leisure travellers from our station this summer. 

I would be embarrassed to have to explain what had gone wrong on something we suggested, and with cancellations more days than not - leaving 4 HOUR gaps between trains per typical connection, likely to do more harm to long term prospects than any good from working days.

For sure, we can be sympathetic to a shortage of staff due to covid. But that sympathy has to be tempered by problems explained for other reasons in previous years.  Tempered further by a feeling that staff numbers had been reduced to just enough to run a fair-weather service if everything was OK with no contingency. And tempered by us noticing that someone who has to decide which services to cancel thinks it's OK to leave 4 hour gaps on our line, while running trains 30 minutes apart elsewhere.

I travelled from Melksham yesterday.
... on a wet Saturday.
... in the opposite direction to the major flow from the town.
And that 2 car train was busy - around 100 passengers.  We are NOT short or passengers, even if not promoting

How much of a success? Well - the 2014 to 2016 trial (and beyond) were a one carriage train, with a challenge to get 20 users on the average train to, from or through Melksham.   Ladies and Gentlemen at GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) and the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about),  we have met your aspirations 5 times over in spite of the issues with the service.  Please have the good grace to step up the reliability of our service, in line with other lines, such that we don't have any longer wait at Melksham than there would be at Warminster or Stroud or Furze Platt in the event or a cancellation.   Levelling up, please!