Swindon <-> Westbury service updates and amendments, ongoing discussion - 2026

[whole diary]

[grahame]

18:37 Westbury to Swindon due 19:21
20:12 Swindon to Westbury due 20:56
21:16 Westbury to Swindon due 21:58
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.

10:14 Plymouth to Penzance due 12:12
13:14 Penzance to Plymouth due 15:10

08/09/26 13:14 Penzance to Plymouth due 15:10 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

With a pattern in cancellations (and posting elsewhere that the Cornish service reductions will last for months), are there spare crews around who might be able to learn a route in Wiltshire and help out here? 

[grahame]

Additional Information

Due to the cancellation of the 18:37 Westbury to Swindon service, you are advised of the following road transport running in replacement of this service. You may use the following road transport using your original ticket; at no additional cost.

A minibus will depart Westbury at 18:37, calling all stations to Chippenham where you may use alternative services towards Swindon.
-
Due to the cancellation of the 20:12 Swindon to Westbury service, you are advised of the following road transport running in replacement of this service. You may use the following road transport using your original ticket; at no additional cost.

Please board the 20:26 GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) service from Swindon towards Weston-super-Mare and alight at Chippenham where a minibus will depart at 20:41 calling all stations towards Westbury.
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Due to the cancellation of the 21:16 Westbury to Swindon service, you are advised of the following road transport running in replacement of this service. You may use the following road transport using your original ticket; at no additional cost.

A minibus will depart Westbury at 21:16, calling all stations to Chippenham where you may use alternative services towards Swindon.
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Due to the cancellation of the 22:31 Swindon to Westbury service, you are advised of the following road transport running in replacement of this service. You may use the following road transport using your original ticket; at no additional cost.

Please board the 22:58 GWR service from Swindon towards Bristol Temple Meads and alight at Chippenham where a minibus will depart at 23:15 calling all stations towards Westbury.

Last Updated:08/09/2026 14:53

[bobm]

The 17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury via Swindon left 27 minutes late and was still 20 late when it departed Swindon after reversing.

Service also running with no on board toilets according to Tiger.

[grahame]

The 17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury via Swindon left 27 minutes late and was still 20 late when it departed Swindon after reversing.

Service also running with no on board toilets according to Tiger.

And terminated at Westbury "due to the train operator's request (TB)"

[grahame]

21:16 Westbury to Swindon due 21:58
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.

[TaplowGreen]

18:37 Westbury to Swindon due 19:21
20:12 Swindon to Westbury due 20:56
21:16 Westbury to Swindon due 21:58
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.

10:14 Plymouth to Penzance due 12:12
13:14 Penzance to Plymouth due 15:10

08/09/26 13:14 Penzance to Plymouth due 15:10 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

With a pattern in cancellations (and posting elsewhere that the Cornish service reductions will last for months), are there spare crews around who might be able to learn a route in Wiltshire and help out here? 

I think the question is more why is there a shortage of train crew during the normal working week?

[IndustryInsider]

Just updated my Melksham statistics for the whole of summer 2026, compared with summer 2025*

Summer 2026 - 91.92% of services ran
Summer 2025 - 88.47% of services ran

So that's a modest, but welcome, 3.45% improvement from last years very low base score.  Especially welcome given the number of hot days in 2026 compared to 2025, which we know has an effect on infrastructure/train reliability.

It's pretty quick and simple to do, so I might cover the whole of the year when I have a bit more time.


* 1st June to 31st August on services planned to call at Melksham.  So it doesn't cover services cancelled because of engineering works, services that started/finished short of Melksham, or services that were severely delayed.

[grahame]

Just updated my Melksham statistics for the whole of summer 2026, compared with summer 2025

Summer 2026 - 90.69% 91.92% of services ran
Summer 2025 - 88.47% of services ran

So that's a modest, but welcome, 2.22% 3.45% improvement from last years very low base score.  Especially welcome given the number of hot days in 2026 compared to 2025, which we know has an effect on infrastructure/train reliability.

It's pretty quick and simple to do, so I might cover the whole of the year when I have a bit more time.

Hugely appreciated, thank you.   It's a drift towards in the right direction, appreciated when it could have been a canter or even a gallop in the wrong direction.  And, indeed, the wider picture is that the railways are not well set to cope with extreme weather. 

How easy (or otherwise) would it be to separate out weekday and weekend stats?

With a pattern in cancellations (and posting elsewhere that the Cornish service reductions will last for months), are there spare crews around who might be able to learn a route in Wiltshire and help out here? 

I think the question is more why is there a shortage of train crew during the normal working week?

Yes, have to agree with that.  This forum was seeded at time when there weren't enough TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) resources (trains / crews) to provide a reliable service even at two trains each way per day.  We have come forward up to 8 or 9 each way per day and there are - sadly still shortages to a level that the local sentiment is still that the trains are unreliable, and many people still won't use them.  We have even supported GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) in their culling of two round trips on a Saturday, and one on a Monday to Friday, to help them improve reliability of the trains that remain ... and now every train remaining is crucial to its passengers' lives.

I conjecture that it's more profitable to allow a higher cancellation rate than to resource up to a high reliability rate, allowing for resources available to be allocated to new flagship improvements.    Whatever the reason, the problem really has to remain on the radar at these current times of great change.  And whatever the reason, we need to acknowledge not only how far we have to go, but how far we have come forward in the last 20 years - https://grahamellis.uk/blog2078.html

[IndustryInsider]

Hugely appreciated, thank you.   It's a drift towards in the right direction, appreciated when it could have been a canter or even a gallop in the wrong direction.  And, indeed, the wider picture is that the railways are not well set to cope with extreme weather. 

How easy (or otherwise) would it be to separate out weekday and weekend stats?

No problem.

Separate stats for weekdays/weekends give:

Weekdays:
Summer 2026 - 91.92% of services ran
Summer 2025 - 94.78% of services ran

Weekends:
Summer 2026 - 91.94% of services ran
Summer 2025 - 68.72% of services ran

So, a drop in 2026 for weekdays (-2.86%), but a huge rise at weekends (+23.22%).

[grahame]

Separate stats for weekdays/weekends give:

Weekdays:
Summer 2026 - 94.30% 91.92% of services ran
Summer 2025 - 94.78% of services ran

Weekends:
Summer 2026 - 91.94% of services ran
Summer 2025 - 68.72% of services ran

So, a slight drop in 2026 for weekdays (-0.48% -2.86%), but a huge rise at weekends (+23.22%).

The weekend stats are hugely significant, thank you.   They rather confirm our decision to promote both train and bus days out at weekends this summer.    We have still been somewhat muted on the promotion of the direct trains from Melksham to Weymouth and back on Saturdays; with the trains being just 3 carriages all the way these says, rather than 5 south of Westbury, it would have been all too easy to load not only full-and-standing but beyond that to crush south of Yeovil Pen Mill.  As it was, on both occasions I went the down train was certainly not carrying fresh air when it got to Dorset.

[IndustryInsider]

The weekend stats are hugely significant, thank you.   They rather confirm our decision to promote both train and bus days out at weekends this summer.    We have still been somewhat muted on the promotion of the direct trains from Melksham to Weymouth and back on Saturdays; with the trains being just 3 carriages all the way these says, rather than 5 south of Westbury, it would have been all too easy to load not only full-and-standing but beyond that to crush south of Yeovil Pen Mill.  As it was, on both occasions I went the down train was certainly not carrying fresh air when it got to Dorset.

Thanks, Graham - doing the weekend splits enabled me to spot a mistake I made, so I've since corrected the figures in my posts above... (basically the weekday gap between last and this year is a bit higher in the favour of last year, and the all week gap is also a bit higher, but in favour of this year).

[grahame]

The weekend stats are hugely significant, thank you.   They rather confirm our decision to promote both train and bus days out at weekends this summer.    We have still been somewhat muted on the promotion of the direct trains from Melksham to Weymouth and back on Saturdays; with the trains being just 3 carriages all the way these says, rather than 5 south of Westbury, it would have been all too easy to load not only full-and-standing but beyond that to crush south of Yeovil Pen Mill.  As it was, on both occasions I went the down train was certainly not carrying fresh air when it got to Dorset.

Thanks, Graham - doing the weekend splits enabled me to spot a mistake I made, so I've since corrected the figures in my posts above... (basically the weekday gap between last and this year is a bit higher in the favour of last year, and the all week gap is also a bit higher, but in favour of this year).

Ah - I was scratching my head as to how the weekend figures could be so different and yet the weekday figures so much the same year on year.    I have put the new figures in my quotes of you so that they reflect your update

[Chris from Nailsea]

Thank you for your very detailed and useful work in producing such figures, IndustryInsider.

Chris from Nailsea. 

[grahame]

17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06

17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06 has been delayed at Gloucester and is now 12 minutes late.
This is due to congestion.

[grahame]

20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 22:06

Facilities on the 20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 22:06.
This is due to the train making extra stops because a train was cancelled.
Will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 3.