I'm actually MUCH preferring the rail replacement bus. There seems to be much less chance of last minute cancellations to services to and from Melksham. Timings might be a little bit erratic but at least there's a service. Bus crews actually turn up for duty, amazingly enough. Buses leaving Chippenham seem to be much less prone to suddenly veer off at Thingley and go straight to Trowbridge via Bathampton, Freshford, Bradford on Avon etc. missing out Melksham altogether. Buses leaving Westbury don't suddenly dump passengers at an unstaffed Trowbridge station and instruct them to find taxis or alternative buses to Melksham because they are now apparently heading for Chippenham via Bradford on Avon, Freshford, Bathampton etc.

Very occasionally. Since a health scare I've been making the most of my time, including the enjoying the views offered by train journeys, leaving work to be done during (my dramatically reduced) working hours.

Opera on Apple M2 running Sequoia 15.1.1 all good here (apart from the cancellations map which I gather is part of a larger issue)

This is a completely unusable service now. I live in Melksham. Yesterday I wanted to go to Bristol to attend a meeting at the old Bristol & Exeter building at Temple Meads. The timings of the Melksham trains fitted in with my requirement, but I was too scared to use them as it was important that I got there on time (and ideally home again) (preferably on the same day)

So I drove to Westbury. Cheaper parking than Chippenham, plenty of parking spaces compared to Bradford on Avon, and less chance of my car being jacked up on bricks when I got back had I parked it in Trowbridge.

What a stupid, illogical, untenable position to find myself in though, (a) having to drive at all, and (b) having to drive ten miles south in order to travel twenty five miles west.

I seem to remember that didn't work out very well for MP and celebrity food writer Clement Freud...

The phrase "thrown under a bus" springs to mind...

 

I read that the gentleman who passed away unfortunately suffered a heart attack, but wasn't physically injured in the crash itself. No doubt the shock was a contributory factor however.

I can only speak for myself, but chronic service unreliability is the one and only reason I now rarely use the train from Melksham. If I'm travelling out of the county, I will normally drive to Westbury where there's at least a sporting chance of getting back again.

The presenter also mentioned "Evercreek Junction" that episode

Not a good start, with the commentator repeatedly mispronouncing the name of the city of Bath... 

Nope, sorry; I stand by what I said. The visitors who are "not knowing their way who I have never met before" are a red herring here. The only person of note is the car driver, who has a responsibility to make her or himself aware of where it is safe and legal to park at all times. There is clear signage at these locations indicating that the waiting limit is 20 minutes. Towards the end of that 20 minutes, you either move your car, pay the fees and take yourself off to stand where your passengers will see you, or you risk incurring a fine. That's your choice, but you don't go bleating to social or mainstream media if you get it wrong. You gambled and you lost. Tough.

This tale of woe makes it sound like the driver had no choice, whereas to the best of my knowledge Yeovil Junction car park has over 200 spaces, including a long-stay area (£2.30 for 24 hours). So what the driver actually means is, he couldn't be bothered (or was too tight) to move from the clearly marked 20 minute short stay area to somewhere that the car could be left for hours on end. Guilty as charged and no case to answer in other words. Next?

The same film is available on the British Transport Films DVD compilation 'On and Off the Rails' (which I have here, and suspect other members may have as well)