Thanks Grahame.  Yes those £12 fares between Melksham and Penzance are excellent value fares.  Though as you say, it appears they do offer fares as cheap as this at times anyway.  So this suggests this isn't really a sale.

I was looking at doing a trip from Bristol down to Plymouth and Penzance last month, to get a last journey or two on the HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units))'s.  I didn't bother in the end.  But the fares I found then were actually around £10 from Bristol to Plymouth, and around £12 for Penzance to Bristol anyway. 

This sale isn't half as good as the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) sales they've had say 6 or 7 years ago.  Back then it was quite easy to find bargain advance fares such as Bristol to London for £10 and a number of other destinations for excellent prices.  Not the case in this sale.  No bargain advance sale fares to/from places like London, Oxford, Southampton, Portsmouth, Worcester, Cardiff, etc.  They're just the same prices as normal.  A number of other people commenting similarly on the GWR Facebook page.

Is there going to be a Great British Rail Sale this year?  I think I'll wait for that instead!  That was very good last year and I think back in 2023 too.  It blew this current supposed GWR sale out of the water!

Indeed, or fares that are the same price they are normally!

It appears to be not easy to find these advance sale fares! 

Anyone got any examples they can post of true advance sale fares you've found?

Cheapest tickets between Bristol and London £21 single.  No big deal about that, as that's the cheapest they are even when the sale isn't on anyway!  I found this to be the case when GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) had a sale last year!

Checking all those extra services on realtimetrains, I see that most of them all ran today.  The only ones cancelled were those 1142 and 1641 Bristol-Cheltenham via Swindon services.  Not too bad really.  Went better than I expected it to.  Though we'll see what it's like on the next two Saturdays.

Looking through Realtimetrains for this Saturday, here are the additional services running.  The following two Saturdays may be the same, or may be slightly different.

Eastbound services
---------------------


0810 Bristol Temple Meads-Bath Spa
0924 Bristol Temple Meads-Westbury
1008 Bristol Temple Meads-Westbury
1039 Bristol Temple Meads-Swindon
1107 Bristol Temple Meads to Westbury
1142 Bristol Temple Meads to Cheltenham Spa via Swindon and Gloucester
1613 Bristol Temple Meads to Westbury
1641 Bristol Temple Meads to Cheltenham Spa via Swindon and Gloucester
1714 Bristol Temple Meads to Westbury
1742 Bristol Temple Meads to Swindon
1811 Bristol Temple Meads to Westbury
1835 Bristol Temple Meads to Swindon
1903 Bristol Temple Meads to Westbury
1932 Bristol Temple Meads to Swindon

Westbound services
----------------------

0840 Westbury to Bristol Temple Meads
0856 Westbury to Bristol Temple Meads
0934 Swindon to Bristol Temple Meads
1016 Westbury to Bristol Temple Meads
1034 Swindon to Bristol Temple Meads
1103 Westbury to Bristol Temple Meads
1133 Swindon to Weston-Super-Mare
1534 Swindon to Bristol Temple Meads
1602 Westbury to Bristol Temple Meads
1707 Westbury to Bristol Temple Meads
1717 Swindon to Bristol Temple Meads
1806 Westbury to Bristol Temple Meads
1908 Westbury to Bristol Temple Meads

Just 2 days now before the launch of these extra services.  But they're still not loaded onto the journey planners and realtimetrains websites yet.  Are they not loaded on them until the actual days they're running?

Thanks Grahame.  I'll look out for when these extra services show up on the journey planners or realtimetrains.  I'm going to Bath on Saturday 14th December, though not to visit the Christmas Market(way too crowded for me).  On the journey back, I'd prefer to get on one of the extra trains that either start at Bath, Chippenham/Swindon or Westbury, rather than one of the usual services from London Paddington or Portsmouth Harbour which will already have loads of passengers already on them travelling to Bristol or beyond.

But yes, with all this ongoing "shortage of train crew", all these extra trains/a train every 6 minutes may well not go as well as it should do!  I wouldn't be atall surprised if a number of them are cancelled.

The last few years GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) have put on additional trains on SATURDAYS during the period the Bath Christmas Market is on.  As often as a train every 7 minutes last year apparrently! https://news.gwr.com/news/a-train-every-seven-minutes-for-bath-christmas-market

No news about this yet from GWR.  Though I guess they might still announce it within the next few days.  Though with the ongoing "shortage of train crew" I wouldn't be surprised if they don't put on these extra trains this year!

Thanks for the replies.  Some mixed opinions then on whether they will finish on 14th December or not.  Maybe there will be some definite news on this within the next month.  Though with having to book at least a few weeks in advance to get the cheapest fares down to Plymouth and Penzance, I think I'll book a trip down there for next month as I'd like to get a journey or two on them before they're retired.  If indeed they do finish on 14th December, I expect that last day the sets will be very busy with rail enthusiasts getting  one(or more) last ride on them before they're gone.  The last of the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units))'s, and the last of HST's in England. I wonder if there will be an additional GWR HST Farewell Tour?

I agree though that these remaining sets are not as good as they once were.  The fabulous Valenta engines long taken out and replaced with quieter engines, and the much better unrefurbished(pre 2006) seating long gone too!  Plus them no longer operating proper long distance intercity services to and from London Paddington.

Anyone know if GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units))'s on Plymouth-Penzance services are definitely finishing on Saturday 14th December?  According to this website they are.  http://www.railtourinfo.co.uk/locohauled.html   But just wondering if that might not be the case, and they still end up going on a few months or more longer.

If they are due to finish on 14th December, I'll have to book(booking well in advance to get the cheapest fares!) a trip down to Plymouth and Penzance to get a last ride or two on them before they go.

A really bad again for anyone using(or intending to use) Ashley Down station today.  On Sundays, the calling point of Ashley Down is included in the hourly services between Cardiff Central and Taunton/Exeter St Davids/Plymouth/Penzance.  But so far today, every single one of those services has been cancelled!  The first service northbound from Ashley Down currently expected to be on time isn't until 1421 and the first service southbound until 1445!!   What an absolute joke!

I don't see what's good or excellent news about the bus fare cap rising to £3.  This will probably mean that even very short distance bus journeys now will rise from £2 to £3.  I expect it will be the case with First Bristol/First West of England buses anyway.  As all their single fares are a flat fare of £2.  I can't see them changing their fare structure to for example short distance journeys for £2 and longer distance journeys for £3.  Will their "Tap in Tap out" system be able to work out short distance and longer distance journeys to calculate the fare?  We'll have to see.  But I expect they'll probably just change their flat fare single journeys to £3 to keep it simple.  So this would even mean even very short distance journeys of up to a few stops or only about a mile or so in distance would be £3 now.  Which is pretty expensive!  Some people would probably decide to walk instead of forking out £3 for such a short distance journey.

Indeed.  This is what I expressed concern about in my posting a month or so ago.  A lot of times when I've been at Temple Meads over the year or so, I've noticed that the Filton Abbey Wood services have been cancelled.  And when at home looking on live departures on the National Rail website or Realtimetrains website, that a fair number of these have been cancelled. 

As you said, some cancellations yesterday.  The 1804 Bristol Temple Meads-Filton Abbey Wood, the 1851 Filton Abbey Wood-Bristol Temple Meads, and the 1904 Bristol Temple Meads-Filton Abbey Wood services were cancelled for "unknown reasons".  https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/simple/gb-nr:ASD/2024-10-10/1900

And looking now, the 1504 Bristol Temple Meads-Filton Abbey Wood is currently showing as delayed.  But will probably be cancelled.  If so, the 1551 Filton Abbey Wood-Bristol Temple Meads will be cancelled too.  EDIT:  Yes, both those services were cancelled "due to a shortage of train crew"!!  Additionally, the 1604 Bristol Temple Meads-Filton Abbey Wood and 1651 Filton Abbey Wood-Bristol Temple Meads services are cancelled too!  What an absolute joke of a service!

Just one train an hour in each direction and frequent cancellations is just not good enough.

As you say, if this carries on I can see many people giving up on using Ashley Down station and going back to using the 70 bus instead.

If there was a Lockleaze station, journey times between there and Temple Meads would only be 11/12 minutes.  Much quicker than the journey times on the buses.   Indeed at peak times in the late afternoons/early evenings it can take the service 70 bus about 10 minutes or more just to get along Ralph Road heading to UWE.  Due to heavy traffic and those traffic lights at the junction of Ralph Road and Muller Road that stay on green for only about 10 seconds at a time and then staying on red for about 3 minutes!  And then there's the service 72 bus than runs between Temple Meads and Constable Road.  But only runs every hour, and runs via a very "round the houses" route taking 40 minutes(or longer if there's traffic problems!)

Bristol really does need somewhat more stations than just the recently opened Ashley Down and Portway Park & Ride stations.  I know that Filton North and Henbury stations are due to be opened in 2026, but that's ages away yet and will it actually be that year or delayed until 2027?!  I'm pretty sure originally these two stations were also due to be opened way back in 2016 or 2017!

Ah right I see.  I see the point of opening a new Lockleaze station on Constable Road.  Though reopening Horfield station on the original site on Bonnington Walk would also be very beneficial.  If both stations can't be agreed on to be built, then perhaps some compromise can be made of a new station half way between Constable Road and Bonnington Walk, perhaps called Horleaze or Lockfield!(only joking about this suggestion!)

I just looked on Google Maps for a reminder of the road the original Horfield station was located, and bizzarrely it's got Horfield railway station on the map!  If only it was the case that the station is actually there!

As for proposals for old stations to be rebuilt and reopened/new stations to be built and opened in the region, it is surprising just how long this can take just for simple two platform stations to be built and the bureaucracy involved.  It can take several years or even decades, if atall.  I remember back in 1993 watching the Video 125 HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) Great West Driver's Eye View VHS video.  During the passing through of the site of the old Saltford station, the late Anton Rodgers mentioned in the commentary "Saltford station closed along here back in 1970.  Future reinstatement is on the cards.".   Over 30 years later, the station still hasn't been reopened!