2024 - Service update and amendment log, Swindon <-> Westbury

[whole diary]

[grahame]

20:08 Westbury to Swindon due 20:54
21:10 Swindon to Westbury due 21:52

21:10 Swindon to Westbury due 21:52 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

It will be very interesting to see if they find train crew to run the 20:38 (class 3) Westbury to Swindon.

[TaplowGreen]

20:08 Westbury to Swindon due 20:54
21:10 Swindon to Westbury due 21:52

21:10 Swindon to Westbury due 21:52 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

It will be very interesting to see if they find train crew to run the 20:38 (class 3) Westbury to Swindon.

Class 3? What does that mean?

[GBM]

It will be very interesting to see if they find train crew to run the 20:38 (class 3) Westbury to Swindon.

Class 3? What does that mean?

(Possibly this?)
https://www.rail-record.co.uk/understanding-a-headcode/
Understanding a Headcode
23 Comments / UK^▸ (United Kingdom) Rail Information / By matt
All trains which run on the UK Rail Network are allocated a headcode – a 4 digit alphanumeric code used to identify a train service.

Before we look at example headcodes, it is important to know how they’re broken down.

1. The first digit is the train class category.
.............
3 is a priority ECS^▸ (Empty Coaching Stock) (empty coaching stock) train, parcels, or a seasonal / weather related vehicle used to spray the rails or weeds.
...........

[grahame]

Yep, I meant an empty passenger train.   The 20:08 that should have carried passengers and been the last train of the day was cancelled due to lack of crew, but the 20:38 ran (actually early) as a "class 3" - passenger train not actually carrying passengers - starting at 20:31.   It sat in Swindon for 20 minutes then as scheduled left for Cheltenham Spa, with passengers on board.

[TaplowGreen]

09:12 Swindon to Westbury due 10:05
09:12 Swindon to Westbury due 10:05 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

10:46 Westbury to Swindon due 11:31
10:46 Westbury to Swindon due 11:31 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

[grahame]

09:12 Swindon to Westbury due 10:05
09:12 Swindon to Westbury due 10:05 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

10:46 Westbury to Swindon due 11:31
10:46 Westbury to Swindon due 11:31 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

The 08:11 Warminster to Swindon is replaced by a bus this morning as far as Chippenham.  Would it be too joined up for the bus to turn around at Chippenham and provide a service back to Westbury, and customers to be told of that option on Journeycheck?

[TaplowGreen]

16:52 Westbury to Swindon due 17:34
16:52 Westbury to Swindon due 17:34 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[bobm]

Yep, I meant an empty passenger train.   The 20:08 that should have carried passengers and been the last train of the day was cancelled due to lack of crew, but the 20:38 ran (actually early) as a "class 3" - passenger train not actually carrying passengers - starting at 20:31.   It sat in Swindon for 20 minutes then as scheduled left for Cheltenham Spa, with passengers on board.

I know the week you witnessed it at Westbury, there was both a driver and a guard but the last two weeks it has been shown as driver only operated.  No idea if that is accurate.

[TaplowGreen]

16:52 Westbury to Swindon due 17:34
16:52 Westbury to Swindon due 17:34 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

17:44 Swindon to Westbury due 18:25
17:44 Swindon to Westbury due 18:25 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

21:34 Swindon to Westbury due 22:17
21:34 Swindon to Westbury due 22:17 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[brooklea]

For those struggling to keep up with the cancellations today, as it stands the last northbound departure from Melksham is at 15:03, and southbound at 16:09. Last three round trips all showing as cancelled on JourneyCheck “due to a shortage of train crew”.

[grahame]

For those struggling to keep up with the cancellations today, as it stands the last northbound departure from Melksham is at 15:03, and southbound at 16:09. Last three round trips all showing as cancelled on JourneyCheck “due to a shortage of train crew”.

Thank you ... and the first train has yet to run - 12:09 to Westbury (it has just left Chippenham)  and 12:53 to Swindon

[grahame]

Yep, I meant an empty passenger train.   The 20:08 that should have carried passengers and been the last train of the day was cancelled due to lack of crew, but the 20:38 ran (actually early) as a "class 3" - passenger train not actually carrying passengers - starting at 20:31.   It sat in Swindon for 20 minutes then as scheduled left for Cheltenham Spa, with passengers on board.

I know the week you witnessed it at Westbury, there was both a driver and a guard but the last two weeks it has been shown as driver only operated.  No idea if that is accurate.

There is no need for a train manager on the empty train so that's fine. 
2M40 arrived from Swindon at platform 1, Westbury in service so with train manager at 20:25
3M31 left for Swindon at 20:31 from platform 1, arriving these at 21:07  at platform 2
2G31 left platform 2 at Swindon for Cheltenham Spa at 21:30 in service so with a train manager.
All are shown as 158767  and as an educated guess there is no crew changes in there; I don't have the rotas to confirm that, and it could be that the train manager gets a personal needs break or there's a changover.

[bobm]

There is no need for a train manager on the empty train so that's fine. 

Appreciate that - but we have speculated in the past whether it could run in passenger service when other services are cancelled.

[grahame]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg50lq9j4vo

Train passengers are being warned of disruption due to ongoing engineering works.

Network Rail is replacing the track in the Newbury area, working on flood alleviation at Newbury Station and improving level crossings at Kintbury, Thatcham and Midgham.

From 11 to 14 November there will be no train services between Theale, in Berkshire, and Westbury, in Wiltshire.

Trains between London Paddington and Devon or Cornwall will be diverted between Reading and Taunton via Swindon. Some will continue via Bristol Temple Meads and some via Melksham.

Network Rail explained trains between London Paddington and Bedwyn would terminate at Theale.

There will also be fewer trains between Swindon and Westbury due to diverted services.

Replacement buses will be in place.

Further disruption is expected between 10 and 12 December.

Yeah - down from 9 each way (appropriate service would be 16) to 1 each way.  'Fewer Trains" would be a good example of an understatement for a GCSE English exam.

[grahame]

With 88% of trains cancelled this week (thank you GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)) I thought we would have a quite week on this thread

17:45 Swindon to Westbury due 18:28

17:45 Swindon to Westbury due 18:28 is being delayed at Swindon and is now expected to be 10 minutes late.
This is due to the train departing late to maintain customer connections.

In some ways that's good news - it's right that the only train of the day (insulting service, eh?) waits for connecting passengers.