Bus service via Melksham instead of trains October 2026

[whole diary]

[John D]

Engineering work for a week Bedwyn - Pewsey/Westbury Saturday 10th to Friday 16th October sees diversions via Melksham, with some buses doing set down only at Trowbridge

Saturday to Friday:
No trains will run between Bedwyn and Pewsey / Westbury.
Long distance trains between London Paddington and Exeter St Davids / Paignton / Plymouth / Penzance will be diverted, and will either run via:
Bristol Temple Meads (calling to drop off only when running towards London Paddington, and picking up only when running from London Paddington)
Chippenham (some trains will additionally call at Swindon, Westbury and Castle Cary)
No trains will run to / from Pewsey. Replacement buses will run direct between Swindon and Pewsey.
Trains will continue to run between Reading and Bedwyn.
Some trains between Swindon and Westbury will be retimed to run up to 23 minutes earlier or later than usual, in order to accommodate the diverted services.

Monday to Friday:
An amended train service will run during morning / evening peak times between London Paddington and Newbury / Bedwyn.
Due to diversions, the vast majority of local trains between Swindon and Westbury will not run and will be replaced by road transport between Chippenham, Melksham, Trowbridge and Westbury.
However, the 17:36 Swindon to Westbury and 07:45 (amended to depart at 07:52) Westbury to Swindon trains will run.
At Trowbridge, buses towards Westbury will drop off only, and buses from Westbury will pick up only.

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/engineering-works/bedwyn-and-pewsey-westbury-20261010/

[grahame]

Oh dear ... whatever has happened to their ability to stop main line trains along the way instead?   The suggestion for that is not to stop the precious Plymouth and Cornwall expresses, but just to call the trains that are already servicin the other intermediate stations prior to Taunton - i.e. Westbury and Castle Cary ...

There seems to be some conflict between the two sections as I read them, and what's that 17:36 off Swindon?  Is it the train that now leaves at 17:44?

I would usually encourage GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) to additionally organise with Faresaver for ticket acceptance on the 271/2/3 between Melksham and Bath Spa Station.  No note of that - perhaps it will come in detail, though I note that the 271/2/3 aren't serving Bath Station until November due to closed roads

Further follow up / learning needed ...

[JohnM]

Quick look on National Rail 'plan your journey' for Melksham-Bristol... currently Monday 12th Oct is latest you can plan, and it shows what is usually the 06:29 Melksham-Trowbridge becomes the 06:10 replacement bus. The 07:21 and 08:02 Melksham-Chippenham become the 07:26 (bus) and the 08:09 (train) respectively.