Blowing out the Wobcebs - Journey reports, 5th Feb 2022, Melksham to W-s-M

[whole diary]

[grahame]

I had intended to travel at £12.90 Melksham to Weston-super-mare yesterday, but GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) lost much of their business with me by cancelling the 08:50 departure overnight, and I woke to find I would need to set off nearly an hour earlier to catch the alternative they were now offering 08:00 on their web site and then have 61 minutes to wait at Chippenham if I were to meet my friends on time! 

Fortunately, I know my local public transport and could leave home somewhat between the 07:35 I would have needed for the 08:00 and 08:25 for the 08:50 - 07:55 for the 08:00 bus that passes my home into Bath.  Old Fogies card valid at any time on a Saturday, and unlike last week it was a clean bus I could see out of and even had a table I could work at.  The only thing making work impractical was the rough ride - a combination, I suspect, of road conditions and vehicle springing as there were good stretches.  But I digress.

Into Bath Bus Station and just a couple of minutes later I left on the X39 to Bristol, calculating I had good time to use that and still make the train at Temple Meads.  x39 bus in the right (labelled) bay, but no driver, waiting. Good job I spotted another vehicle, also labelled x39 outside in the next bay which is for some other service in the next bay, the door opened when I approached it and the driver admitted he was the service I wanted. Good ride to Bristol, plenty of space. 

Rang the request bell as we approached the River Avon ... and the bus carried on, around the roundabout, past "The Sidings" at the bottom of Station, past roadworks with a stop behind them, pas various offices, past the Hilton, and eventually stopped outside the church of St Mary's Redcliffe. Not sure how long those road works are going on, but an epic failure to provide a good alternative. Something of a relief to have good time, good energy, and good enough mobility for the walk back!

Queues in the ticket office in Temple Meads - to the extent that I was worried I would miss my train; queues also for the ticket machines.  Local knowledge ;-) sent me to the extra rank of TVMs^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) outside in the old train shed and with an unfamailiar (to me) machine I had a play with easy options and found myself a £5.05 day return to Weston-super-mare.  Ideally, I would have purchased a Bath Spa to Weston ticket, guessing that would be cheaper than a split later and save me a transaction but, never mind, at least I had a ticket.

Plan to grab a coffee at BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains) thwarted by a queue at the one outlet available on platform 3/4 - getting a bit decaffinated by this time, as I had left home early (thanks, GWR!), missed there, and missed at Melksham Station. Met good friends ... admired the "proper" train (almost, Broadgage, 7 carriages not headed for Exeter, resisted the temptation to change the outing destination to there, and caught a tired looking, blue, "First Great Western" turbo to Weston.  Multiple staff on the platform at Weston, but barriers wide open and no ticket check.

Delighted to see the "Badgerline" branding on a bus waiting outside the station (what a novel idea to have buses that call / stop at the station!) and a chance for us to find a late breafast as we wandered into the seaside city. An interesting looking place turned out to be a great success, and a level of customer service and care which others might well learn from; no criticisms of the staff all the way MKM^» (Melksham (Station code) - next trains) to WSM, and a professional approach, but a matter-of-factness that doesn't make the customer feel special and is so hard to do, day in and day out.

Now this is getting much better. Space to make journey time useful (and straight away a longer journey time may not really matter) and clean windows!


Bus stopped for "Temple Meads".  In the distance, you can see the old train shed.  Behind that is the main entrance to the current station, and beyond that are the platforms themselves (long walk out to Platform 4 for Weston - feels like half way to Taunton!)


Significant queue for tickets.  Some windows not even open, of course. Travel centre looks like an empty shell - would have thought staff from there could have been staffing main ticket desks!


Now that's what I call a PROPER train


Tired old turbo with last decade branding to bring people for a day out


As it should be - a bus at the station when the train arrives


Picture and brief comment from Weston at http://www.passenger.chat/25889

Return journey (and conclusion of fare saga) to continue

[grahame]

Picture and brief comment from Weston at http://www.passenger.chat/25889

Return journey (and conclusion of fare saga) to continue

Continues ...

Return journey ... and a decision made while in Weston to switch to the bus in Bath.  And, goodness, a staffed ticket counter at the station!   I approached the young lady there, asking to excess my Bristol to Weston ticket up to a Bath to Weston ticket, asking if that was the lowest cost way, or if I would be better to buy a single Bristol to Bath.  She answered that a single would be cheaper, but quoted me £5.30 which for a quarter hour journey struck me as expensive when compared to the £5.05 I had paid earlier for my return from Temple Meads to Weston - two journeys totalling just under an hour.

I queried whether my railcard discount had been applied to her quote, and she confirmed it had.  I asked why a shorter single journey was more expensive that a longer and return one - how this worked - and she told me that it's because Weston-super-mare is on a branch line, but the line to Bath has main line trains.  I bought my ticket and left it at that, deciding not to engage in a conversation about longer mainline traisn requiring less staff per seat (so cheaper to run) and going faster (so gathering the money per seat faster) and how that should make it cheaper not more expensive.  Total paid - £10.35

Total paid - £10.35 which is odd when I work out that a Bath Spa to Weston-super-mare off peak day return on senior railcard comes in at £9.20.  How can the single ticket I was sold (and told was cheaper than upgrading my ticket) actually be cheaper?   It feels like I was mis-sold and paid £1.35 more than I should.  It's not going to break the bank, but on principle should the staff not know the best fare, be able to look it up, or if they have any doubt say "I don't know" rather than making it up and giving the wrong information and overcharging?

Anyway ... uneventful journey home.  By that time, I was well blown out, cobwebs away, and relaxed after consuming far more than I should.  Ticket barriers open at Weston and Bath Spa and I could have got away (not that I would have taken the gamble / risked it / felt it right / condoned myself) to look to pay if necessary when I had got to Bath .   No ticket check for us on the Turbo - the staff were doing checks and selling tickets, but I'm pretty sure they saw us as we got on getting our tickets out, and rightly felt that we were OK and others probably needed their 'help' far more than we did - ah the advantage of being old and stereotyped!   From Bristol to Bath - 16:12 arrival at the railway station for a 16:15 bus.  The Train Manager came to our door and I will admit to commenting in a lounder voice than usual to mey companion that I hoped I made the 3 minute connection - "going to be tight". TM^‡(resolve) overhead I suspect (totally intended) and stood back quickly to let us through ... connection made with 2 or 3 minutes to spare; the bus left a couple of minutes late.  Good ride back to Melksham - in fact I slept some of the way.

Through trains now across Bristol - from Weston to "The Beach" line.  One of our number stayed on to take advantage of this - Weston to Lawrence Hill, much easier to catch his connecting bus there.

Bristol Temple Meads ... while all the works are going on there are some limited facilities and some stark pictures to be taken - and yet a lovely and welcoming display celebrating 180 years of the station, and much other artwork around.  Could this be because it's a Network Rail station rather than a GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) one?

Getting off and on the Weston-super-mare to Severn Beach train at Temple Meads


Barriers out of use in Bath Spa


Bus 271 at Bath Bus station (yet this was a Devizes service? - New topic!)


Crowds amongst the building work at Temple Meads


Catching the local bus in Weston


180 years of Bristol Temple Meads - interprettaion boards:

[JayMac]

You should have been sold an over-distance excess fare. That should have been the difference between the fare paid and the appropriate return fare for the intended journey.

Ticket held: BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains)-WSM Off Peak Day Return £5.05
Ticket needed: BTH^» (Bath Spa - next trains)-WSM Off Peak Day  Return £9.15
Difference: £4.10

Overcharged. Complain.

[Mark A]

A sight that eluded Grahame as he was on the bus from Bath: the 09:14 departure from Bath Spa in the direction of Paddington departed *fabulously* full and standing - and largely maskless - the vanished 9:08 to Waterloo would have been a welcome sight.

Every aisle on the IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) appeared full, as did the vestibules, with bodies pressed up against the carriage doors. Might be partly 'cos that train was (the glamour) just about all stations from Exeter, and partly because Bristol to Paddington on Saturdays at the mo, isn't half hourly.

[plymothian]

You should have been sold an over-distance excess fare. That should have been the difference between the fare paid and the appropriate return fare for the intended journey.

Ticket held: BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains)-WSM Off Peak Day Return £5.05
Ticket needed: BTH^» (Bath Spa - next trains)-WSM Off Peak Day  Return £9.15
Difference: £4.10

Overcharged. Complain.

The new TVMs^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine)▸ should have the option to buy tickets from another station.

[plymothian]

to add:

OVER-RIDING TRAVEL TO A DESTINATION BEYOND THAT ON A TICKET

Return Tickets
a) Travel in one direction
Anytime / Anytime Day

Off-Peak / Off-Peak Day

Super Off-Peak / Super Off-Peak Day
   Charge the difference between the fare paid and the appropriate Return fare for the throughout journey. If cheaper, charge the appropriate Single fare for the extra journey, but must comply with NRCoT

https://internal.nationalrail.co.uk/187064.aspx#DESTINATION

[JayMac]

to add:

OVER-RIDING TRAVEL TO A DESTINATION BEYOND THAT ON A TICKET

Return Tickets
a) Travel in one direction
Anytime / Anytime Day

Off-Peak / Off-Peak Day

Super Off-Peak / Super Off-Peak Day
   Charge the difference between the fare paid and the appropriate Return fare for the throughout journey. If cheaper, charge the appropriate Single fare for the extra journey, but must comply with NRCoT

https://internal.nationalrail.co.uk/187064.aspx#DESTINATION

Exactly what I looked at. What, Plymothian, is the appropriate Return fare in this instance, where grahame wanted to extend the return portion of his BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains)-WSM Off Peak Day Return to Bath?

[plymothian]

Exactly as yourself and Graham have worked out.

[Timmer]

A sight that eluded Grahame as he was on the bus from Bath: the 09:14 departure from Bath Spa in the direction of Paddington departed *fabulously* full and standing - and largely maskless - the vanished 9:08 to Waterloo would have been a welcome sight.

Every aisle on the IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) appeared full, as did the vestibules, with bodies pressed up against the carriage doors. Might be partly 'cos that train was (the glamour) just about all stations from Exeter, and partly because Bristol to Paddington on Saturdays at the mo, isn't half hourly.

Ah yes the 9.14. Best avoided owing to the large number of passengers it picks up between Exeter and Bristol. Busy at the best of times, but with no 8.43 or 9.43 either side to help spread the load. I imagine passengers at Chippenham probably weren’t even able to board the train.

[Mark A]

On its way to Weston, when the train made its stop at Yatton I was moved to attempt to remember the date the last TPO^▸ (Travelling Post Office) called there - the answer turns out to be early in the morning of the 10th January, as it called a bit before 1am. The crew of the TPO kindly gave many people a whistle-stop tour of one of the carriages - pigeonholes* labelled with a series of more or less remote destinations in Devon and Cornwall. But perhaps others from the Coffeeshop were there too.

*Not actual holes for pigeons.

[froome]

Into Bath Bus Station and just a couple of minutes later I left on the X39 to Bristol, calculating I had good time to use that and still make the train at Temple Meads.  x39 bus in the right (labelled) bay, but no driver, waiting. Good job I spotted another vehicle, also labelled x39 outside in the next bay which is for some other service in the next bay, the door opened when I approached it and the driver admitted he was the service I wanted. Good ride to Bristol, plenty of space. 

Rang the request bell as we approached the River Avon ... and the bus carried on, around the roundabout, past "The Sidings" at the bottom of Station, past roadworks with a stop behind them, pas various offices, past the Hilton, and eventually stopped outside the church of St Mary's Redcliffe. Not sure how long those road works are going on, but an epic failure to provide a good alternative. Something of a relief to have good time, good energy, and good enough mobility for the walk back!

I noted this bit when reading your account the first time. I wasn't aware of this bus stop closure, and yesterday I had to go to Bristol and caught this bus. The road works have stopped the bus stop, but the bus driver I had stopped the bus immediately after them (by the island in the middle of the side road, though there is very little pavement here due to the road works) to let those off who wished to get to Temple Meads (not me, I was heading to the Centre). I assume this was an informal stop made by the driver rather than company policy, as there is nothing there to say the stop is temporarily moved to that point.

The X39 has had some pretty bad decisions made about where it stops in Bristol city centre recently. Apart from moving the Temple Meads stop further away from the station approach road, there is also now no bus stop anywhere between St Mary Redcliffe church and the Centre. This means that there is no convenient stop for the whole Queen Square/Prince Street area, including the most direct access to the Harbourside and south to Southville, leaving anyone wishing to go to these areas a much longer walk.