Swindon <-> Westbury service updates and amendments, ongoing discussion - 2025

[whole diary]

[grahame]

12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 12:59
13:14 Swindon to Westbury due 13:57

13:14 Swindon to Westbury due 13:57 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[grahame]

12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 12:59
13:14 Swindon to Westbury due 13:57

13:14 Swindon to Westbury due 13:57 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

I'm seeing it's no longer reported as cancelled.   

That's all right then?  NOT really - witness the measure on Wednesday evening when a train was cancelled and late re-instated and passenger numbers dropped from around two dozen that would normally have used it to just five.  At least that experience shows the effectiveness of the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) / JourneyCheck and other systems in reaching prospective customers.

[bobm]

It is something we will never know for certain, but the fact the proceeding four trains were cancelled may well mean people had abandoned their outward journey and so would not be returning even if the train was re-instated.

[grahame]

It is something we will never know for certain, but the fact the proceeding four trains were cancelled may well mean people had abandoned their outward journey and so would not be returning even if the train was re-instated.

Yes - we *do* know that was part of it on that particular evening as we had a number of apologies at the West Wiltshire Rail Users Group meeting from members in Melksham and Chippenham who abandoned their entire evening out

[grahame]

12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 12:59
13:14 Swindon to Westbury due 13:57

13:14 Swindon to Westbury due 13:57 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

I'm seeing it's no longer reported as cancelled.   

That's all right then?  NOT really - witness the measure on Wednesday evening when a train was cancelled and late re-instated and passenger numbers dropped from around two dozen that would normally have used it to just five.  At least that experience shows the effectiveness of the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) / JourneyCheck and other systems in reaching prospective customers.

And cancelled again ...

12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 12:59
13:14 Swindon to Westbury due 13:57

13:14 Swindon to Westbury due 13:57 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Can't make their minds up ... or is it actually "crew delayed" because of the broken down train at Ealing?  Knowing that this service is (or has been) a route learner for long distance drivers who come off the semi-fast train from London. 

[TaplowGreen]

12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 13:01
12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 13:01 has been delayed at Trowbridge and is now 11 minutes late.
This is due to a late running train being in front of this one.

[TaplowGreen]

19:44 Swindon to Westbury due 20:29
19:44 Swindon to Westbury due 20:29 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[bobm]

Unusual one this.   The incoming service ran from Westbury and the unit is now going to sit in Platform 2 until it forms the 21:25 to Cheltenham Spa.   The empty stock train which was due to run from Westbury to provide the unit for the Golden Valley has been cancelled.

[TaplowGreen]

20:38 Westbury to Swindon due 21:24
20:38 Westbury to Swindon due 21:24 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

21:34 Swindon to Westbury due 22:16
21:34 Swindon to Westbury due 22:16 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew

[grahame]

Unusual one this.   The incoming service ran from Westbury and the unit is now going to sit in Platform 2 until it forms the 21:25 to Cheltenham Spa.   The empty stock train which was due to run from Westbury to provide the unit for the Golden Valley has been cancelled.

All summer, an empty train has run up from Westbury to Swindon on a Saturday evening to form some evening service(s) on the Golden Valley line.  That empty has seemed all the more reliable than the service trains - either the previous local one or the final train of the day coming through from Weymouth.    On one occasion, looking to get back to Melksham when all else was cancelled on the line, I approached a GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) staff member at Westbury as to whether it could take passengers.  Apparently NOT ... and it set off, empty, for Swindon from platform 1, lights blazing through the carriages and a couple of (?) train managers riding on the cushions in the nice former-first seats at the front.

20:38 Westbury to Swindon due 21:24
20:38 Westbury to Swindon due 21:24 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

21:34 Swindon to Westbury due 22:16
21:34 Swindon to Westbury due 22:16 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew

And re-instated ... (at least no longer shown as a cancellation).  I wonder how many people this has put off their day trips. On a Sunday evening, there is no safety net into Melksham in the shape of a midnight bus arrival from Bath.

[grahame]

17:35 Swindon to Westbury due 18:19

17:35 Swindon to Westbury due 18:19 is being delayed between Swindon and Chippenham and is now expected to be 11 minutes late.
This is due to trespassers on the railway earlier today.

[grahame]

17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06

17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06 will be terminated at Westbury.
It will no longer call at Dilton Marsh, Warminster and Salisbury.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[TaplowGreen]

10:41 Westbury to Swindon due 11:23
10:41 Westbury to Swindon due 11:23 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew

11:32 Swindon to Weymouth due 13:45
11:32 Swindon to Weymouth due 13:45 will be started from Westbury.
It will no longer call at Swindon, Chippenham, Melksham and Trowbridge.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[grahame]

10:41 Westbury to Swindon due 11:23
10:41 Westbury to Swindon due 11:23 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew

Thank you for flagging that up.   Second train of the day.  Yesterday, the second train of the day conveyed 58 passengers into Chippenham.   Just sayin' - pointing out to any GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) of DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) types reading this that such cancellations have a significant effect on a lot of your customers of potential customers.

To a very great extent, the Coffee Shop is now something of a "social medium" and we cannot expect the "important people" who can actually do something about it to read and take note.  We need to feed back to them in addition through official channels ... which I do / will be further doing after last week's MTUG^» (Melksham Transport User Group - site) meeting.   It remains useful - and thank you to those who help - to log service failures here.  Although I love the forum being busy, my dream here is of a thread that at the year end has fewer follow ups than there are days of the year. (This is reply 598, there are 365 days this year, so my dream is not granted for 2025)

[TaplowGreen]

08:27 Plymouth to London Paddington due 12:06

08:27 Plymouth to London Paddington due 12:06 will be diverted between Westbury and Reading.
It will no longer call at Pewsey and Newbury but will call additionally at Trowbridge, Melksham and Chippenham.
It will be delayed due to the diversion and is expected to be 8 minutes late.
This is due to engineering works not being finished on time.

Melksham at 1053