Great Western Coffee Shop

What a mess!  What a classic illustration of the failure of our public transport to run as a network!  Management summary - Phil's 20 minute journey took 3 hours.  But even with the cancellation of his train he could have made the journey in under an hour if only all the public transport available worked as a network service.

Let me quote background from another thread.




Phil arrived at Westbury Station at about 14:15 and didn't reach Melksham until 17:15 - 180 minutes later.  What should have happened? He should have reached Melksham by 14:35. So his journrey took 9 times as long as it should have done.  It should have taken 20 minutes.

But hang on a moment - what if our public transport system was treated as a network?  What if buses and trains talked to each other? 

Phil could have been directed to the 14:40 train to Trowbridge, to change there (14:45 to 15:14 at Trinity Church onto the x34 bus at the top of Station Approach) and arrive into Melksham at 15:55 -  just 100 minutes after arriving at Westbury Station.

Or had he been at Westbury station in good time ... the 14:12 train from Westbury, change to the bus (14:18 to 14:29 at Trowbridge) and get to Melksham at 15:03 - so that's just over 50 minutes after arriving in Westbury.

"OOOze gonna pay for it?". Nobody. It's already paid for.  Both trains and buses are under the tight management regulation of the public sector, all the alternative services I have mentioned are running already, financed already, and with (I can be pretty sure) space available for Phil and his two fellow passengers.

So who is going to do the clever IT coding to work this out? Nobody. It's already been done. I have just asked Google about an afternoon journey from Westbury to Melksham for a future weekday. 48 minutes.

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/wsb2mkm_irc.jpg)

Hardly rocket science, then.  In my days as Community Rail Officer for the line, we had what we called the "Integrated TransWilts Rail Corridor" which included timetable leaflets with both trains and buses shown, an even an arrangement (in daily use) where passengers could catch certain buses on their rail ticket - at a time that there wasn't a train.  The bus policy was expanded after my departure - see https://transwilts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Bus_Policy.pdf dated six months after I was gone.  I'm disappointed that much of this remains work in progress and hasn't yet got to the point where Phil was directed to other aleady running public transport to complete his journey.

With ticket offices set to close, and more accessible customer service available around stations rather than behind glass selling tickets to a rapidly dwindling base, this is precisely the sort of holistic assistance which the railway should aspire to.

A customer service bod armed with a handheld or tablet could quickly look up this sort of information for a customer and set them on their way.

I think its all about being proactive.

I was at Ipswich heading to London with a rail/coach/underground replacement in operation.

No one suggested travelling via Cambridge(by train) and then Cambridge to London (by train)

In Cornwall, First Kernow are run as a commercial service - they run if profitable.
GoCornwall/Transport for Cornwall are run on a council subsidy, so tend to run in the early mornings/late evening/Sundays, etc.

There are reports that even bus services that are supposed to connect to each other don't.
Largely due to traffic, temporary road works, diversions, lack of staff, etc.
Almost impossible to run a connected service on time.

If a train is delayed - should the bus wait?  Delaying it even a few minutes will give it late running further down that schedule, possibly missing other connection slots.
No easy answer.

Yes ... and no.  Is there doublespeak here?  Do they receive public purse inputs from ENCTS passes?  Do they still receive BSOG?  Are they receiving support for the £2 / will be £2.50 flat fare?  Can they receive ZEBRA funding?  If "yes" to any of these (and there may be more) then I suggest thay are not commercial services in fact - just in name.   And as such they should be "persuadable" to be part of an overall network.  Strikes me this is an EP (enhanced Partnership) - perhaps extend it further to include trains - an REP - Really Enhanced Partnership.

Yes, £2 flat fare and concession passes (except Park for Truro plus a few other college & university services) for all busses in Cornwall.
However, timings of runs, and turn around times for First have been screwed so tight, it is not possible to wait for anything delayed anywhere.
Kernow were struggling for staff as GoCornwall were paying more for drivers than First.
First suffered a few strikes and the pay was broadly in line with GoCornwall.
However, GoCornwall now have a further pay rise, so suspect more Kernow drivers will defect.

Another thing Graham - what if that *bus* in Trowbridge was cancelled? Google wouldn't know about it - and the customer is then adrift in a place they may well not know whatsoever, and would likely then miss that next train at Westbury when they caught the next train back, rather than waiting for the next bus (which is when? Is there one? How would the customer find out?)

Until all these can be sorted out positively for sure, then its possibly best to wait for the next train (& at least claim some delay repay!)

In my view, no, Chris.  If I am "stuck" at Westbury in that situation, I will catch the next train to Trowbridge, from where I have a choice of buses onward to Melksham, and if the worst comes to the worst, I could wander back down to the station and catch the train that Phil used in the end.  I do not want to wait around at Westbury for an extra two hours plus just in case a whole series of possible buses may be cancelled or late.

Your suggestion is especially ironic, instilling a fear of bus delays ... when the next TRAIN was over half an hour late!

One can monitor lateness of trains / cancellations, but no so for most buses.

You know that area, I for one wouldn't be at all confident, more so in evenings, as I don't. Many wouldn't. Something to remember.

Ideally fully integrated travel (as in Switzerland? - or it used to be.  Not been there for many a year).
There again, are all those links fully subsidised, or run by private and separate operators.

Some time ago somebody was enquiring at Reading station about getting to High Wycombe. Needless to say was quoted eye-watering sums of money via London. I stuck my oar in (as I do!) and suggested going to Friar Street and catch an 800 or 850 which will probably get you there quicker and certainly cheaper.

As in Thomas the Tank Engine?