Here's another new topic I've primed, ready.  CfN^▸ (Chris from Nailsea, an administrator on this forum). 

 18:37 Westbury to Swindon due 19:21

Additional information added just after 15:50.

21:16 Westbury to Swindon due 21:58
21:16 Westbury to Swindon due 21:58 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

22:31 Swindon to Westbury due 23:12
22:31 Swindon to Westbury due 23:12 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

Is that a taxi dropping its sole occupant down at the station rather than at their preferred destination?

Mark

Here is a summary of yesterday:



1 planned cancellation because (?) it was a public holiday
2 cancellations described as "staff shortage"
6 cancellations described as "fault on this train"
9 services ran

50% cancellation rate

Of note from personal experience

* the 13 minute delay to the 07:21 (2M81) was due to 6M50 (Westbury to Bescot) which passed through Melksham at 07:09 (35 minutes early - it was due at 07:43) but then got held on the single line approaching Thingley, blocking 2M81 on the line approaching Bradford Junction.   At the time the train was due, the display on the platform at Melksham said:


* I was returning to Melksham on 2M30, and arrived into Chippehnam from Bristol (separate story) at 17:34.  I knew to go over to the gateline and ask staff for help.   The announcement system was advising people that the train was cancelled and "The next fastest train will be the 19:00 to Salisbury" - correct advice, but not telling people who didn't want to wait for nearly an hour and a half that they could seek further assistance if they did not want to wait for the train.


Capacity was also limited between Bristol and Bath yesterday afternoon, with single line working on one line while a safety check was made.  Altenate London <-> Bristol trains routed via Bristol Parkway, and just one an hour not 3 running from Westbury to Bristol. One has to wonder as a passenger why one of the trains stuck at Westbury could not have been used in place of the faulty one on the Swindon service.  My taxi driver from Chippehnam was metering his run, and GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) will be invoiced just shy of £45 - not a cheap ride at Bank Holiday rates!

Final thought - why when a train is cancelled does it say "Calling at" on the boards - the whole point is that it is NOT calling at and really it should say "not calling as planned at" should it not?

On the Chippenham-Melksham route they've been kind enough to drop me off at the bottom of Westlands Lane a couple of times (home is in Whitley). Once I was the only passenger so it potentially saved them about 2 x 1.5-2 miles of driving, but there was a couple of us on the most recent occasion.