South Western Railway services, winter 2022/2023

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

Just been chatting with an SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) guard. He tells me they have the staff and unit availability at all depots bar Clapham. No reason, he says, why his depot, Salisbury, can't put out a better weekday service, with just one or two early and late cancellations.

I'm guessing the strings are being pulled by the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about). Tell the operator to reduce services and it helps paint the unions in a bad light. Falsely overstating the effects of overtime and RDW bans.

[ChrisB]

Quite possibly - the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) are now in charge, so whatever the TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) are doing is with their blessing.

Chiltern have been told to run an RRS bus service for the stations they aren't serving north of Banbury. 1bth in both directions, with a possible change in Dorridge for stations further north to Birmingham. Or XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) from Banbury - Birmingham New Street (cheaper 'Chiltern-only' tickets accepted on these services). Still waiting for them to mention this on their twitter feed, although now in journey-planners/website.

[stuving]

SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) have stopped making stock allocations public for the Reading service, so they have disappeared from RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website). This seems to also be true for Alton, though the rest do seem to still be there. Both trains I took yesterday were 455s, and so are the others I've seen since, rather than the recent fare of all 450s. Are they ashamed of that? Their passengers are likely to be caught out as a result, or even short. Or is it just something to do with the makeshift nature of the service operating for the time being?

[IndustryInsider]

SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) have stopped making stock allocations public for the Reading service, so they have disappeared from RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website). This seems to also be true for Alton, though the rest do seem to still be there. Both trains I took yesterday were 455s, and so are the others I've seen since, rather than the recent fare of all 450s. Are they ashamed of that? Their passengers are likely to be caught out as a result, or even short. Or is it just something to do with the makeshift nature of the service operating for the time being?

They've disappeared from my internal system, called Genius, too.  Presumably they're still on TOPS^▸ (Total Operations Processing System) though...I'll see if I can take a look later.

[Mark A]

Hmm, the title of this thread needs to be pushed out to "8th January 2023", yes?

Also, looking to Twitter, SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) is taking a rules-based approach to ticket validity rather than thinking pragmatically.

e.g. passenger Swansea to Chessington requested varying the end point to Surbiton as that works for onward travel to Chessington, told no, ticket only valid to Raynes Park.

Another: passenger returning from London Waterloo to Pokesdown, but no train service to Pokesdown, so asked if they could travel to Bournemouth on the ticket, answer came back in the negative.

Even if its a symptom of weakness and low morale, the railways will *burn* goodwill from these passengers. I still have a soft spot for GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) staff because, years back, Paddington promptly excessed without hesitation a via Salisbury ticket after shenanigans in East Kent resulted in a late arrival into Waterloo East so this is a bit of a scorched earth approach.

Mark

[JayMac]

Hmm, the title of this thread needs to be pushed out to "8th January 2023", yes?

Done. Let's see if the topic needs pushing out further come 20th March 2023!

Now, where shall I go by train from Templecombe later this week?