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

[whole diary]

[Mark A]

Yes, near-midnight Yorkshire taxi person on a railway contract working on a dirty night took me to the door rather than to the... awkwardly situated station some distance from the village.

Mark

[ChrisB]

I guess that drivers are able to volunteer to do that - as long as their mileage claim to the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) isn't fraudulent - but the way you posed the question Mark A - it read as though you thought there was a duty on the driver if you so asked? There definitely isn't.

[Timmer]

I suspect the 16.23 to Swindon, a 2 car 158, was rather cozy as it would have had passengers off 13.55 Paignton to London. This train terminated at Westbury because of the track issue between Westbury and Pewsey. See:
https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=31378.msg370461#new

Transwilts to the rescue!

[Trowres]

...
Transwilts to the rescue!

21:16 Westbury to Swindon due 21:58 will be cancelled.

22:31 Swindon to Westbury due 23:16 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[grahame]

07:45 Westbury to Swindon due 08:34

07:45 Westbury to Swindon due 08:34 has been delayed at Westbury and is now 10 minutes late.
This is due to a points failure.

In amongst all the other - chaos - on GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) this is minor

[matth1j]

A bit OTT^▸ (Open Train Times website, or possibly 'over the top', depending on context) but the central waiting room at Chippenham was flippin cold yesterday evening while waiting for the 1735 Swindon-Westbury. I can understand the heating having trouble keeping it warm in sub-zero temperatures, but the blowers weren't even blowing - something was broken. I reported it to the staff on the main exit barrier (across the bridge) who said they would investigate.

[grahame]

With Storm Goretti ranging, it's amazing that the only change on trains that run via the Westbury - Swindon line is:

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

06:35 Salisbury to Worcester Foregate Street due 09:47 will be terminated at Worcester Shrub Hill.
It will no longer call at Worcester Foregate Street.
This is due to severe weather.

To some extent, a technical report as far as the TransWilts is concerned - through passengers from South of Swindon to Foregate Street are few and far between, and the 12 minute scheduled wait at Shrub Hill on this train means that it's not attractive anyway.

[grahame]

08:44 Chippenham to Westbury due 09:19

08:44 Chippenham to Westbury due 09:19 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train.

Last Updated:10/01/2026 07:20

07:45 Westbury to Chippenham due 08:11

07:45 Westbury to Chippenham due 08:11 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train.

Last Updated:10/01/2026 07:05

[grahame]

07:45 Westbury to Chippenham due 08:11

07:45 Westbury to Chippenham due 08:11 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train.

Last Updated:10/01/2026 07:05

Here is that same train 4 weeks ago - 14th December.  At that date, it was running to both Chippenham and Swindon.  For today, it had been cut back to Chippenham because of planned engineering, and then less than an hour before it was due, it was cancelled. 


Image © 2026 by Graham Ellis is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. I am taking this opportunity to post / remind readers of the copyright on my photographs shared / used on the Coffee Shop - it's been a recent subject of discussion (here) and it's worthy of occasional reminder.

[grahame]

13:54 Chippenham to Weymouth due 15:45

13:54 Chippenham to Weymouth due 15:45 will no longer call at Frome.
This is due to a short-notice change to the timetable.

[Chris from Nailsea]

13:54 Chippenham to Weymouth due 15:45

13:54 Chippenham to Weymouth due 15:45 will no longer call at Frome.
This is due to a short-notice change to the timetable.

... which means ... exactly what, GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) ?

Your text is just random words, selected from the Oxford Dictionary.

[ChrisB]

Today, we have removed the Frome stop from this service.

[grahame]

13:54 Chippenham to Weymouth due 15:45

13:54 Chippenham to Weymouth due 15:45 will no longer call at Frome.
This is due to a short-notice change to the timetable.

... which means ... exactly what, GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) ?

Your text is just random words, selected from the Oxford Dictionary.

It's a piece of text that's used when a "whoopsie" is found in the temporary timetable around engineering.  

In this case, 5M11 ECS^▸ (Empty Coaching Stock) arrived as normal at Frome at 13:43.  It normally sets off at 14:05 for Swindon, clearing in good time for the 14:28 call of the (Swindon, but today Chippenham) to Weymouth train.  However, the trains from Frome can't go as far as Swindon today - only to Chippenham - and so it didn't leave until 14:38.    Frome has just one platform ...

[grahame]

16:53 Frome to Chippenham due 17:30

16:53 Frome to Chippenham due 17:30 is being delayed at Westbury and is now expected to be 25 minutes late.
This is due to a fault on this train.

And there was a false alarm cancellation on this one ...

17:59 Chippenham to Salisbury due 18:55

17:59 Chippenham to Salisbury due 18:55 will now run as scheduled.
Last Updated:11/01/2026 17:41

[grahame]

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

06:35 Salisbury to Worcester Foregate Street due 09:47 is being delayed at Salisbury.
This is due to a fault on this train.

Is it just me or... or are the old crocks put on our line?   Feels like that sometimes!