Loss of evening bus services

[whole diary]

[grahame]

If I miss the 17:45 off Paddington, travelling to my home town of Melksham, I currently have three trains which I can catch which "connect" (I use that word advisedly) into a bus at Chippenham, with an average journey time, end to end, of 107 minutes.

As from 3rd September, the three buses are reduced to a single service with an end to end journey time of 122 minutes.

http://www.wellho.net/mouth/3850_Bus-times-Chippenham-Station-to-Melksham-with-London-connections.html

This is not good news - it might be "Transforming Travel", but it's not transforming it in the right direction ...

[Worcester_Passenger]

Looking at the timetable, these journeys are currently operated "with financial support from Wiltshire County Council", so it's probably a case of local authority rather than FirstGroup belt-tightening.

[grahame]

Looking at the timetable, these journeys are currently operated "with financial support from Wiltshire County Council", so it's probably a case of local authority rather than FirstGroup belt-tightening.

I agree with you on the loss of one service, though goodness knows why it still runs on the quieter part of its run from Melksham to Trowbridge when the busier section is cut.  Perhaps it's because County is based in Trowbridge and officers of various sorts are known to use it to escape get home after Melksham meetings 

What I find myself really scratching my head about is what possible saving their could be from replacing a 10 minute connection (do-able) with a 2 minute one on the previous service, so it requires a whole half hour earlier departure from London, and then a move of the later bus 15 minutes later.  Looks like no-one's actually looked at the train times when planning the buses.

[grahame]

Rather than just rant here, I've asked First Bus why the remaining timings have changed - in the one case by just a handful of minutes - to the detriment of connections (also checking with them if they propose to hold the earlier bus for the arrival of the train; I would doubt it, but I should have checked before I assume not!)

Bus usage in West Wiltshire has shrunk in the past few years, while rail use has rocketed:

and we are working towards a rail improvement on the TransWilts, which could provide a far better evening alternative:
http://www.wellho.net/mouth/3826_TransWilts-trains-what-the-next-franchise-period-will-bring.html

[grahame]

Rather than just rant here, I've asked First Bus why the remaining timings have changed - in the one case by just a handful of minutes - to the detriment of connections ...

I wrote:

I often use the 18:00 train from Paddington to Chippenham, getting there are 19:14 for the 19:24 bus home to Melksham (service 234).  I note that as from 3rd September, the bus will leave at 19:16 (and the next bus at 20:44 is cancelled). As you run both the trains and the buses, will you be holding the bus to make sure that they still connect?   If not, what alternative will you be offering?

They replied:

Dear Mr Ellis,

Thank you for your E-Mail. Thank you for contacting First to provide your observations on the scheduling of evening journeys currently undertaken on the 234 Service operating between Chippenham and Trowbridge. We can confirm that this detail has been referred to the operating depot for the service, who regret that the rearrangement of the tendered services from September 2nd 2012, operated by First on behalf of Wiltshire County Council is no longer convenient for your needs.

We are advised that your comments have been referred to the Management Team for Bath Services for their consideration in the ongoing review of the 234 Route, and thank you for providing us with your observations.

If you need anything further please do not hesitate to contact us by replying to this e-mail and quoting the reference:122244

Regards,
First Customer Services

I don't see any answer to the question I asked in there, although the implication is "no we won't" and "we won't be providing any alternative".   Or have I missed something?

[Worcester_Passenger]

Key thing here is the "on behalf of Wiltshire County Council". They're the people who specify the timetable on a service like this. The bus side of First are working for them.

I can believe that Wiltshire have screwed this up - but it's more likely to be a cock-up than a deliberate conspiracy.