Bank Holiday Monday on the TransWilts

[whole diary]

[grahame]

07:44 Westbury to Swindon due 08:31 This train will be cancelled.
This is due to over-running engineering works.

08:35 Swindon to Westbury due 09:17 This train will be cancelled.
This is due to over-running engineering works.

I really don't know whether to laugh or cry.   The only day on which a TransWilts service is scheduled at a decent time for commuters to Swindon and for visitors coming into the area is Bank Holiday Monday.   It doesn't appear in the printed timetables at all (so you have to search for it / find it by luck online if planning a journey).  And then it gets cancelled ...

Next train ... 18:44 from Swindon to Westbury.  19:35 from Westbury to Swindon.

Edit to add ... I note that a diverted express is being stopped to provide the up service.   Thank you - sensible way to provide the service (no Trowbridge call, I note!).  Bank holiday timings on the route / lack of publicity to them / schedule inadequacy concerns remain

[grahame]

Following up on that:

07:06 London Paddington to Paignton due 10:19 This train will be delayed at Westbury and is expected to be 6 minutes late.
This train will be diverted between Reading and Westbury.
This train will call additionally at Swindon.
This train will no longer call at Newbury and Pewsey.
This is due to over-running engineering works.

and

05:30 Plymouth to London Paddington due 09:21 This train will be delayed at Reading and is expected to be 1 minute late.
This train will be diverted between Westbury and Reading.
This train will call additionally at Melksham, Chippenham and Swindon.
This train will no longer call at Pewsey and Newbury.
This is due to over-running engineering works.

Timings:

05:30   05:30    Plymouth
05:58   05:58    Totnes
06:11   06:11    Newton Abbot
06:21   06:21    Dawlish
06:35   06:35    Exeter St Davids
06:51   06:51    Tiverton Parkway
07:06   07:06    Taunton
07:27   07:27    Castle Cary
07:51   07:51    Westbury
08:09   Not Stopping    Pewsey
08:29   Not Stopping    Newbury
08:04    Melksham
08:16    Chippenham
08:27    Swindon
08:52   08:53    Reading
09:21   09:22    London Paddington

Hmmm ... wish we had known ... could have got a substantial traffic for a day out with advanced planning (not that we need much more of an illustration of potential after last year's very full indeed Weymouth services and the big Santa success!)

[bobm]

Saw that earlier and also noted I could have had an early through train to Paignton from Swindon as well rather than waiting for the late morning one.  Taking up your point about the Sunday Weymouth trains, is there any news on this summer?

[grahame]

Taking up your point about the Sunday Weymouth trains, is there any news on this summer?

Wouldn't it be great if there was a summer Sunday morning service again on the TransWilts, or indeed a regular Sunday morning service throughout the year?

Last summer, the 07:30 from Westbury to Swindon carried up to 70 passengers - not bad for a service that ran for just a few weeks and hadn't made the printed timetable, and most of those passengers were long distance and not seasonal. The 08:20 from Swindon to Westbury, which formed the 09:12 Westbury to Weymouth, had up to 400 people on board by the time it got to Westbury, with an extra 80 or 90 joining before it got to Weymouth.  Standing in the aisles, heavily packed, but not so overloaded that people were denied boarding.

The knock on effect of the extra service was that the 09:12 Westbury to Weymouth, the 17:56 Weymouth to Bristol, and the 19:35 Westbury to Swindon all loaded very well indeed - taking services which are normally quiet and filling them up - to the extent that FGW^▸ (First Great Western) had to strengthen them, and even then (and with advise from our travelling team) some people were actually left behind at Westbury and Trowbridge in the evening.   There were also complaints of overcrowding in the local press in Wiltshire and, ironically, complaints about a lack of publicity in that many people didn't even learn about the services until too late and they were over.

The 2011 summer service was styled / described as a "trial service" and it fitted peculiarly well into the First schedule.  However, even though the train used was one which would otherwise have been sitting in the siding, and notwithstanding the fact that it generated additional passengers and revenue on timetabled trains, sponsorship was required.

We made enquiries in the autumn of 2011, and again early in January this year, to see whether the service could run again this summer.  Things change from year to year, amongst them:
* Major sporting events such as the Olympics
* Availabiity of Rolling Stock
* Engineering works which may mean that lines aren't availability
* Management availability to plan this service (rather than wider issues)
There is also the matter of the requirement for / availabiity of sponsorship money to support the service - ridiculous though that sounds with full trains, and the potential fear of creating a demand for travel which cannot be met. Bearing all that in mind, no suggestion, offer or price came forward, and so there's no repeat of last year's trial this summer.

I can't say I'm totally disappointed.  Much as I would loved there to have been a Sunday morning service from Westbury to Swindon, and from Swindon to Weymouth (meeting a clearly illustrated demand), the planning time and effort that it would have taken can be well spent making sure that there's a propper setup and specification in place for a service 7 days a week, and throughout the day, under the next franchise.  That will include a Sunday morning service which - with year-round service, another train 2 hours later, and options on other days, will be able to handle the volumes of traffic generated rather than providing a service which is inadequate provision for the traffic it will be called to carry.