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

[whole diary]

[Red Squirrel]

Not 100% a propos, but I was amused last evening when I got on the 18.46 from Temple Meads to Montpelier.

This train - and you will see the tenuous connection to the topic, -  is often cancelled when I try to catch it due to lack of crew. I had come off the Plymouth - Leeds train on Platform 3, so it should have been a simple matter of stay put while the Leeds train shuffles off, and catch the Severn Beach train from the same platform. The minutes ticked by, ramps were obtained, a chap in a wheelchair got off and then the ramp was installed in a door at the other end of the train. Then, suddenly! Nothing happened. People shrugged. Someone cleared his throat. No-one went and no-one came. And then, over the wheezing rattle of the Vogager, the inevitable platform change was announced. So I joined the crowd hotfooting it to Platform 7, and just a few minutes later we were on our way.

The odd bit was the conductor's announcement. He apologised for the confusion. I thought he was going to explain why the Leeds train had delayed us and led to a platform change. What he actually told us was that our train had been cancelled and then uncancelled because he had been reallocated to another train but then another guard had come in on a later, delayed train thus allowing him to work our train. So that puts us in our place then!

The Leeds train, incidentally, left 26 minutes late but surpisingly left New St on time. No idea what held it up for so long at Temple Meads.

[grahame]

Might be very useful to you in terms of charting performance/timings over an extended period?

Please don't encourage him, IndustryInsider.

I am rather suspecting that performance records stretching back to the last decade would set me off on a tangent I can do without.

[bobm]

The Leeds train, incidentally, left 26 minutes late but surpisingly left New St on time. No idea what held it up for so long at Temple Meads.

Official reason was "overcrowding/not enough wheelchair spaces".

[grahame]

05:11 Gloucester to Southampton Central due 08:09

05:11 Gloucester to Southampton Central due 08:09 is being delayed at Gloucester.
This is due to a points failure.
Last Updated:27/01/2026 05:13

Stilll showing at 07:30 ... it was 1 minute late off Gloucester.   Mountain out of what turned out to be a molehill.

[grahame]

06:35 Salisbury to Worcester Foregate Street due 09:47 will be started from Westbury.

It will no longer call at Salisbury and Warminster.
It will be delayed at Westbury.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

19 minutes late from Melksham .... no chance of a quick change at Chippenham for Bristol today then ...

[grahame]

19 minutes late from Melksham ....

And made up ...
11 minutes late from Swindon
1 minute late from Gloucester
3 minutes early into Worcester Shrub Hill where it sat for 16 minutes
on time into Worcester Foregate Street
... an interesting example with slack in the timing of this train.

[grahame]

17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06

17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06 has been cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Further Information

If you arrive at your destination 15 or more minutes late because your GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) train was delayed or cancelled, you can claim Delay Repay compensation. Please keep your ticket and visit GWR.com/DelayRepay
Last Updated:30/01/2026 17:54

[grahame]

20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 22:06

20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 22:06 will be starting late from Westbury and is expected to be 20 minutes late.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Will be formed of 9 coaches instead of 3 to Swindon.

Wow!

[grahame]

20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 22:06

20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 22:06 will be starting late from Westbury and is expected to be 20 minutes late.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Will be formed of 9 coaches instead of 3 to Swindon.

Wow!

Not sure of that ...

20 minutes late confirmed - 3 carriages will be plenty, but I like the idea of an IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) that terminates at Westbury and normally runs empty to Stoke Gifford running via Swindon and standing in for s broken local train.   Sounds sensible.

How are they going to have a train calling at Melksham at 20:39 southbound then one at 20:41 northbound - I suspect the AI part of the system is AU (Artificial Unintelligence)

[TaplowGreen]

12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 13:01
12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 13:01 has been delayed at Chippenham and is now 18 minutes late.
This is due to passengers causing a disturbance on a train earlier today.

13:13 Swindon to Westbury due 13:55
13:13 Swindon to Westbury due 13:55 will no longer call at Melksham and Trowbridge.
This is due to passengers causing a disturbance on a train

[grahame]

17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06

17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06 will be terminated at Warminster.
It will no longer call at Salisbury.
It is being delayed at Swindon.
This is due to a fault with the signalling system.

[TaplowGreen]

20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 22:06
20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 22:06 will no longer call at Trowbridge, Melksham, Chippenham, Kemble, Stroud and Stonehouse.
It has been delayed at Westbury and is now 75 minutes late.
This is due to a fault with the signalling system.

[grahame]

20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 22:06
20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 22:06 will no longer call at Trowbridge, Melksham, Chippenham, Kemble, Stroud and Stonehouse.
It has been delayed at Westbury and is now 75 minutes late.
This is due to a fault with the signalling system.

Chaos this evening ...  WWRUG^» (West Wiltshire Rail Users Group - about) Committee meeting finished around 19:15 in Trowbridge and I have just got home at 22:30.       Particularly galling to see trains going through Trowbridge without stopping ... the young lady waiting for the 20:12 there and headed home to Stroud will still not be there.

[grahame]

Chaos this evening ...  WWRUG^» (West Wiltshire Rail Users Group - about) Committee meeting finished around 19:15 in Trowbridge and I have just got home at 22:30.       Particularly galling to see trains going through Trowbridge without stopping ... the young lady waiting for the 20:12 there and headed home to Stroud will still not be there.

I have updated my "logging" page to strike through trains that are supposed to stop at Melksham, but run through without calling.  From a passenger viewpoint, I consider them to be cancellations.

[grahame]

What the lack of services means to an evening meeting in Trowbridge

From home at 16:05 ... at ASDA, Trowbridge, 16:55 - 50 minute journey for 17:00 meeting (bus)

The plan was 20:00 start homeward, 20:12 train, 20:22 Melksham Station, 20:50 home.
But turned into ... 19:00 from ASDA ... home at 22:20 - 200 minute journey.

We finished in good time, and I was quite happy to sit and do various writing up and things on my laptop in the "Rose end Crown" up to 20:00.  But - from "on time" the train switched to "Delayed" and eventually to 21:12 - a 60 minute delay.  At 21:12, it switched to being a few minutes later than that, the 21:25, and then it went "Cancelled".  And at 21:25, 165101 went through without stopping - I suspected it was the delayed 20:12, moving the empty train back up to Gloucester - turned out to be in service, but skipping all intermediate stations except Swindon.

The 21:22 - next train as far as Swindon - was shown as "on time", then 21:26, then 21:30. And it arrived and left at that time - 8 minutes late. It came to a halt just to the north of Trowbridge - waiting at a red signal - and we eventually go to Melksham Station at 21:45 - 13 minutes late.  Would have been home at 22:05, but stopped to get a takeaway for Lisa and me and that added time - far too late to start cooking at home.

Information at Trowbridge - appalling. Departure board "Delayed" not informative.  Impossible suggestions being made about 2 trains within a minute of each other which was clearly not able to happen. Announcemnets advising people to wait for the "next fastest train" which, however, was (yet) shown as delayed but was very cleraly going to be.   Help point when I asked about alternatives to get to Melksham offered to give me the travelline phone number to call about buses.  Train manager dispatched train at Trowbridge and disappeared into rear cab, not seen again until door opened at Melksham.  No other rail staff seen the whole evening.

Lisa suggested I was too principled sticking it out and should have looked for a taxi, though they can be sparse in the evening in Trowbridge. and with others waiting too, and five of us off the train eventually at Melksham, that might of been an idea.  It was not offered by the help point person, nor were there any indications of the train running screen or in announcements to help / mask that suggestion..  At one point I was considering D1 bus to Bath and 273 bus to Melksham with a midnight arrival home!