Loadings, cancellations and other issues

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

Can confirm that figure. I was there with Graham.

Badly paraphrasing Brian Hanrahan... We counted 'em all on, and we counted 'em all off again. 

[Lee]

I was out counting other services on the route over the weekend, getting quite busy from time to time - Although like grahame, I don't hunk many either 

[TeaStew]

Given the (relatively) short delay before the second northbound train, hopefully most passengers to/from Melksham still travelled, but on the later train. In which case it might not be that difficult to estimate what the figures would have been (especially if those alighting at Trowbridge and Chippenham travelling on to Melksham were recorded as such).

Good to see that a pilot man was used, to prevent full cancellation of the Melksham service this morning.  Let's hope for a trouble free day tomorrow.

Anecdotally I can say that a few did travel later as I recognised some people on the platform. More than half the "regulars" though were not there.

[edit: by which I mean, about four or five.]

[bobm]

From Journeycheck

Cancellation of the 11:41 Swindon to Westbury due 12:23.

This train will be cancelled.

This is due to disruptive passengers earlier.

 

[grahame]

From Journeycheck

Cancellation of the 11:41 Swindon to Westbury due 12:23.

This train will be cancelled.

This is due to disruptive passengers earlier.

 

Amazing ... and, of course, the TransWilts service is the ONLY cancellation anywhere in the South West again.

11:41 cancelled ... next train 14:56

[Lee]

According to Real Time Trains, service from Westbury arrived a few minutes ago in Swindon, and will be running empty back to Westbury - The decision to do this was taken at 1104, which is when the service was at Chippenham.

Reason given on RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) is "disorder"

[bobm]

..and it is now running back empty - having left at 11:30.

[grahame]

..and it is now running back empty - having left at 11:30.

What on earth happened??   

[bobm]

One can only but speculate....

[Lee]

Interesting to note that if it had been just a week earlier, TWCRP^» (TransWilts Community Rail Partnership - about) volunteers would have been counting and surveying those very passengers...

[John R]

I guess the guard could have been shaken up or need some sort of attention. Or the unit damaged?

[grahame]

All fell apart last night ...

WTT^▸ (Working Time-Table)   1847   Cancel   Westbury   -   2M14   GW^▸ (Great Western)   Swindon   1848   Cancel
WTT   1918   N/R   Cheltenham Spa      2O00   GW   Southampton Central   1919   N/R
WTT   1946   N/R   Westbury      2M17   GW   Cheltenham Spa   1947   N/R
WTT   2038   Cancel   Swindon   -   2M16   GW   Westbury   2038   Cancel

19:18 and 19:46 did not call - trains redirected via Bathampton Junction, and ran approx 10 late thereafter.


Not sure if 16:30 call happened ... 2M12 left Westbury 15 late (at 16:30), droppend a further 16 minutes between Bradford and Thingley (did it run via Bathampton?) and got to Swindon at 17:31.

17:36 Swindon to Westury DID^» (Didcot Parkway - next trains) run ... 6 late from Swindon, 12 late by Westbury.  44 on from Melksham, where 15 had left and 5 joined the service - 59/20

15:14 Swindon to Westbury lost 17 minutes alomg the way - mostly bewteen Dauntsey and Thingley, probablay because they were working out if it could go via Melksham.

From earlier in the day, the 08:49 Swindon to Westbury set off 5 minutes late but was right time by Westbury.  Melksham was -5 +5 -> 10  15/10 for stats

[grahame]

15:14 Swindon to Westbury due 16:10
This train is being delayed from Chippenham onwards by between 14 and 17 minutes.
This train will be diverted between Chippenham and Trowbridge.
This train will no longer call at Melksham.
This is due to signalling problems.

Do you realise that we've gone a whole fortnight with the signalling working ... and indeed the problem today is a signal that fell over onto the track at Newbury ... so having important "class 1" trains diverted along the TransWilts and "class 2" stuff being chucked off.

[TeaStew]

Covered elsewhere on this forum: http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=14689.0

The situation this morning at Melksham was pretty dreadful. I rarely get angry with rail setbacks and today wasn't an exception for me - but it did seem pretty bad from what I saw.

I arrived off the rail link bus at about 07.05. Alarm bells rang immediately as there was a group of people around the information screen which was blaring hold music into the foggy light industrial environ. The bus usually delivers the first people for the 07.20 - most of the people there had been waiting for the 06.38. There was a young couple/parent with a pram and child who may have been there since then too.

The screen simply said delayed for every train. There was a man who seemed pretty peeved who had tried using the information button. I witnessed three calls which always seemed to stall at the "I know what is wrong, the previous people told me that - but what is being done about it?" stage - leading to "please hold" before being cut off after a minute.

People simply wanted to know whether there was any other form of transport coming at all as many had no other means of getting to their destination, it was wait in the cold for something, anything, or go home.

One call did suggest that people should get the 55 bus and that tickets would be valid. But there was no answer to where to go to get said bus. And those of us without a ticket would presumably buy one and then..?

Some people who had come by car gave lifts to others to Chippenham - as it turned out that would have been fine for my connection, the 0744 CPM^» (Chippenham - next trains) -> BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains) left at 0746 according to Real Time Trains, but all the calls had told us that trains on that line were badly affected too so many people stayed. I would have gone if my girlfriend had not been de-icing the car at that moment to come and get me.

When I left the station at about 0740 it was displayed that the 0638 was now due at 0757. About 6 people and the frost remained on the platform.

I am not really looking for any response to this, I just thought that while we can all imagine a large delay and cancellations on a cold morning, having some of the extra details really makes it real.

[grahame]

There was clearly a very big problem up until lunchtime today.   And the tragedy is that it's not the first time - lessons should have been learned:

a) It would appear that the infrastructure / Signalling provided by Network Rail is not fit for the purpose required of FGW^▸ (First Great Western), which is to operate 99% plus of trains without cancellation

b) In the event of disruption, information needs to be provided on a better basis.  We can all understand "we're working on it / don't yet know" for a short while, but boards that just say "delayed" and phone systems that cut off in the middle don't help.

I wasn't personally there this morning - I travelled yesterday to the site I'm working on this week, and thank goodness I didn't try by train this morning, as I would have been late and subject to punitive compensation clauses in my contract, with a room full of students and no tutor.  But I HAVE seen such problems in the past, I know what it feels like ... and I know that with careful use of Twitter and a mobile phone, it's possible to find out what's going on.

It shouldn't be beyond the realms of possibility to have signals that work for 99.5% of the time

It shouldn't be beyond the realms of possibility to provide alternative information when things do go wrong - after all, the rail operators get enough practise