2025 - Service update and amendment log, Swindon <-> Westbury

[whole diary]

[grahame]

05:11 Gloucester to Southampton Central due 08:09

05:11 Gloucester to Southampton Central due 08:09 will be diverted between Gloucester and Swindon.
It will no longer call at Stonehouse, Stroud and Kemble but will call additionally at Bristol Parkway.
This is due to trespassers on the railway.

[grahame]

06:35 Salisbury to Worcester Foregate Street due 09:47

06:35 Salisbury to Worcester Foregate Street due 09:47 will be diverted between Swindon and Gloucester.
It will no longer call at Kemble, Stroud and Stonehouse but will call additionally at Bristol Parkway.
This is due to trespassers on the railway.

[Trowres]

The choice of reason "Trespassers on the railway" wasn't, I think, the best choice in this case (I accept that the person adding details to the system may not have been aware of the incident's details)

I wondered why there was no train through Stroud until 15:13. It turns out that there was a main road closure also, connected with what the police referred to as a "concern for welfare incident" involving one male.

[grahame]

17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06

17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

18:37 Westbury to Swindon due 19:21
20:12 Swindon to Westbury due 20:56

20:12 Swindon to Westbury due 20:56 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

So that's both the 18:44 and the 20:12 from Swindon to Westbury cancelled - service gap from 17:35 to 22:30.  How about marrying up the working trains with the working crew?

[grahame]

This feels like a repeat ...

05:11 Gloucester to Southampton Central due 08:09

05:11 Gloucester to Southampton Central due 08:09 will be diverted between Gloucester and Swindon.
It will no longer call at Stonehouse, Stroud and Kemble but will call additionally at Bristol Parkway.
This is due to trespassers on the railway.

But clearly something going on ...

07:41 Kemble to Swindon due 07:54

An additional train service has been planned to operate as shown 07:41 Kemble to Swindon due 07:54.
Last Updated:02/07/2025 04:55

[bobm]

Report of a woman seen on Stroud viaduct. 

[matth1j]

Report of a woman seen on Stroud viaduct. 

...hence lines closed between Gloucester and Swindon. Early Gloucester-Southampton diverted to Bristol Parkway, and was initially showing as on time at Swindon. Then it changed to delayed. Then it was back on time, so I had to jog to Melksham. Now it's delayed by 15 mins.

Report I saw earlier said lines were expected to be closed until 9:00.

EDIT sorry didn't see Graham's post (on phone).

[grahame]

21:16 Westbury to Swindon due 21:59
22:31 Swindon to Westbury due 23:12

22:31 Swindon to Westbury due 23:12 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew

.

[bobm]

Twenty minutes later - reinstated.

[grahame]

22:31 Swindon to Westbury due 23:12 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew

.

Twenty minutes later - reinstated.

FRUSTRATION ... I know that things have to be moved around during the day sometimes, but flagging up trains as cancelled, letting people know that they won't be able to get home anything like as easily as normal ... and then saying "just kidding" or "we didn't really mean that" is enough to put people off using the train!

[matth1j]

FRUSTRATION ... I know that things have to be moved around during the day sometimes, but flagging up trains as cancelled, letting people know that they won't be able to get home anything like as easily as normal ... and then saying "just kidding" or "we didn't really mean that" is enough to put people off using the train!

True, although that's 6.5 hours in the future so perhaps it allows them a bit more freedom.

Not like this morning's early Gloucester-Southampton (which I mentioned above - apologies for the repetition). I normally leave the house at ~6:05 to catch the 6:32 Melksham departure, and at that time it was showing as 'delayed' (after previously being 'on time', and 'delayed' before that). So I went from the front door back to my room and got my laptop out to start working, planning on catching one of the later services.

Then at ~6:15 I refreshed the web page and it had gone back to 'on time' Laptop back in rucksack, dash downstairs and jog most of the 1.6 miles to the station. Where it was now showing as 15 minutes late 

[grahame]

True, although that's 6.5 hours in the future so perhaps it allows them a bit more freedom.

Part of my frustration is that the information systems have just green and red lights.  I know that in the end it runs or it doesn't, but a "This train may be cancelled" or "this train may be delayed" warning with "please check back in an hour" might do wonders.




Better still - have enough of the right people available at the might time in the right place and don't have to cancel, or say you're cancelling, so many trains!

[bobm]

I have spent a bit of time trying to find the specifics of the cancellation and reinstatement of these services without success.

However it seems GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are in a bit of a no win situation when it comes to cases like this.   When the services were cancelled it was in the earnest belief that they would not run.   They could have delayed the announcement but then run the risk of being criticised for making it even more short notice.  Control and the rosters staff are eternal optimists and always hope they can pull something out of the hat and run a service.  So work continues behind the scenes to rescue a service or reduce a shortform until they run out of all options.   If they waited until they reached that point there would be a rash of last minute cancellations/alterations.   The current situation is not ideal, but personally if there are going to be cancellations I'd rather know as early as possible, even if it is later reinstated.

As for this morning's service from Gloucester, the confusing messages are down to the way the automated system works.  Once it went off its booked route at Standish Junction the system lost it and so defaulted to delayed.   It was only when it approached Swindon and picked up its planned route that the system started to update again.

[matth1j]

However it seems GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are in a bit of a no win situation when it comes to cases like this.

Yeah I appreciate that. As Graham says it would better/great if they fixed the root cause.

As for this morning's service from Gloucester ... Once it went off its booked route at Standish Junction the system lost it and so defaulted to delayed.

Thanks - I can understand that, although I'm fairly sure that it was showing as 'on time' at least for a short time on the National Rail app when the route included Bristol Parkway (which I assume corresponds to 'went off its booked route' - might have misunderstood).

[bobm]

Until just now when I went to quote Graham's message did I spot his postscript about solving the root cause - clearly (pardon the pun) my eyesight isn't up to seeing that colour against the background.