Great Western Coffee Shop

A very 'odd' train - the 15:20 Westbury to Exeter, Fridays only.

Today I note


I don't really understand the background to this train - what market it's to cater for, or whether it's a route learning / retention train running in passenger service?   Where it comes from before it form the service from Westbury?

Stock move for strengthening  for the Friday hoardes at Exeter?

Providing additional capacity along the route due to heavier passenger loadings on Fridays.      Only a 153 which comes ECS from Bristol and which runs ECS direct Bristol to Exeter on other days.

I caught this train a few weeks ago, I was quite surprised to find it pretty full at Frome. I am not, however, surprised that it is yet another train not shown on the display timetables at Frome station.

Out of interest, when does it go out of service.  It isn't the unit that forms part of the 0812 Bristol to Swindon which then runs up to Gloucester before being taken out of service by any chance?  Just thinking how many 153's are sitting idle and where at various points in the day and what else they might be doing.

It comes to westbury ECS from Bristol. Leaves Bristol around 1409. I can't work out from realtime trains where it comes from before Bristol- either 2v93 (from Weymouth) or 2k23 (from avonmouth) as they are the only two services arriving at Bristol and not having an obvious departure out again, unless a carriage is taken from a 150/153 joint working

Ah yes - I see http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C44043/2014/11/27/advanced - 5E01, 12:49 BRI to Exeter which runs Monday to Thursday, and http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C49130/2014/11/28/advanced - 5J93, 14:09 BRI to Westbury on Friday only.



I'm not sure how it gets to Bristol.   I've asked about 153 units around the system during the day previously, and learned that they're there to cover for any failures - indeed I noticed (yesterday?) that a Gloucester to Bristol service was reported running as 1 carriage not two, and that it was due to overcrowded due to an "unusually large passenger flow".  I remember thinking at the time that the 'full and standing' was probably due to an unusually short train rather than more passengers than usual. ;) ... there's probably a connection between that formation change and the cancellation of the Westbury - Exeter service, thinking about it - a 150 breakdown, and the 153 that was headed for Exeter took its place - robbing Westbury to serve Gloucester, probably a good call bearing in mind the "full and standing" report.

I'm not sure just how much / many odd 153s are idle during the day - not all that many, I suspect. However, I'm not convinced that off-peak service boosts without peak time boosts, making use of them, would gain too much.  Combined with other long turn arounds such as 16:38 to 17:11 at Westbury and 16:24 to 17:54 at Swindon, there are jigsaw pieces around which we've wondered about over the years and in combination with a daytime 153 they were one of the ways that some of us wondered about providing a TransWilts improvement.    The provision of an extra carriage in the area, though, has met the first-step need for a more appropriate TransWilts service in a more robust way (ironic, that, considering the current reliability issues due to repeated signalling failures).  Looking at it now, and with the huge success of the single diagram daytime and peak service on the TransWilts, perhaps an appropriate service is hourly, and this resource as modified by electrification changes in due course could be used to provide some of those extras?

It works up from Exeter on 05 12 Taunton to Bristol (portion) 06 49 Bristol TM to Westbury, attaches 06 00 Portsmouth to Cardiff (to Bristol) 09 05 Bristol TM (on own) thence attaches 08 50 Weymouth to Bristol TM.   The rest we know.   
The only ones I know of standing Spare are Gloucester (morning) then runs coupled to the 07 10 Gloucester to Swindon one on it's return to Bristol and the 2 go strengthening from Bristol in the afternoon.   There is one which spends a few hours at Plymouth in the morning due to nothing to do there until attaching 15 57 to Penzance.

I wonder whether the need for the 153 on the 0600 Portsmouth to Cardiff between Westbury and Bristol is as great as it used to be, given that there is now a direct alternative for those who used to dogleg to Swindon via Bath?