Great Western Coffee Shop

Not being in need of using the railways for anything other than leisure purposes normally, I have read the daily woes of those who have to rely in them with increasing frustration on their behalf, but today it hit me personally.

I need to visit Salisbury every few months for reasons connected with some voluntary work. I always use the train, for who in their right mind would drive from Bristol unless they had to?  Most times all is well.  Indeed, the journey this morning was text book.  Good connections at Temple Meads (BRI) (from Yatton (YAT)), reservations worked, coffee from the trolley and everything running to time.  Perfect.

Returning, the reservation system always makes me change at Bath (BTH).  By that I mean my seat is given away to someone else going further.  It thinks it's easier for a 'same-platform' change to a through train to YAT from London.  Ok if the London train runs.  Tonight the 'official' connection at 18:02 off BTH was cancelled as a person was taken ill on the train. Next train was to Malvern at 18:08.  Imagine all the pax for the HST and the Malvern train pax packed into a 2/3 carriage train, I thought.  Then good news.  At 18:30, another HST. But no: cancelled because of safety inspection at PAD. Next through train at after 19:00.

I am considering my options on the platform at 17:45: pack onto the small train promised in 25 mins and perhaps get a connection, or wait over an hour for a through train to YAT? I have a meeting at 19:30.

In the end I left the station, caught the 18:00 X39 bus to BRI and picked up a train at 18:56 to YAT where my car was - great to have a bus pass.

I arrived home exhausted 40 minutes later than anticipated, but actually quite pleased I hadn't waited on a cold platform for a train at BTH.  I am writing this when I should have been in my meeting.

All you folk who put up with this daily have my sympathies and I wonder how packed the peak services that did make it out of PAD were.

Many thanks for writing that up - an excellent reminder of the importance of connections that work, and how spectacularly they can go wrong multiplying individual passenger's delays.

Personally I always carry a laptop so I can make good use of wait time ... and where possible travel one train ahead of that I need to be on when headed for a timed appointment.  A failure of the system that such measures are necessary!