Daytime Traffic on the TransWilts

[whole diary]

[grahame]

12:36 at Melksham ... 20 on train into Melksham (from Westbury) - 4 off and 14 on. 34/18
Amazing for that time of day - especially as it's just 33 minutes after the previous train.

13:47 service at Melksham - sorry, no counts.  I was driving down the station approach (with Lee who I was giving a lift to) at 13:44 when I saw it pulling out ... not happy about that; gave Lee a lift to Westbury ... "Had I been a first time user, that would have put me off for good" says he.  Have to agree.

[Chris from Nailsea]

13:47 service at Melksham - sorry, no counts.  I was driving down the station approach (with Lee who I was giving a lift to) at 13:44 when I saw it pulling out ... not happy about that; gave Lee a lift to Westbury ... "Had I been a first time user, that would have put me off for good" says he.  Have to agree.

I, too, have to agree: that is appalling 'service' from Great Western Railway. 

[grahame]

08:43 at Melksham this Sunday morning

+10, -1 -> ~35  36/11

Not too shabby for only the second Sunday it's run through to Swindon and we've been "pacing" promotion ...

[Adelante_CCT]

18:39 from Westbury and 19:53 from Swindon cancelled this evening, train fault allegedly

[grahame]

18:39 from Westbury and 19:53 from Swindon cancelled this evening, train fault allegedly

And I would suspect that there really was a problem with the train ... though not always one to believe everything I read even on JourneyCheck. 

[grahame]

18:39 from Westbury and 19:53 from Swindon cancelled this evening, train fault allegedly

And I would suspect that there really was a problem with the train ... though not always one to believe everything I read even on JourneyCheck. 

Rather confirming my view that it was a train problem - tonight's last service cancelled because of a shortage of train drivers.  Good grade for honesty; pretty poor that we're looking at a situation where we're not surprised by cancellations.

[TaplowGreen]

18:32 Westbury to Swindon due 19:22 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.

........back to the usual excuse today!

[froome]

When a service is cancelled more often that it runs, how about they remove it from the timetable and then just have announcements saying there will be a special extra service today on those rare dates when it runs. 

[grahame]

When a service is cancelled more often that it runs, how about they remove it from the timetable and then just have announcements saying there will be a special extra service today on those rare dates when it runs. 

We are not at that level - thank goodness.  Indeed it's not as bad as January 2007 when we hit 35% cancellations - but I now classify those as different times, even though it was First Great Western.   There is another big difference though - in those days, the cancelled services on our line were near-empty trains at Silly O'clock times so the cancellations inconvenienced few people.  Today, our seat occupancy across all services is between "excellent" and "overcrowded" so any cancellation has much more effect.

I have noticed an improvement in the last couple of weeks - less cancellations.  Not sure yet if that's statistically significant, but a bit grateful never the less.   A big unknown coming up for the next couple of weekends and then we are promised that capacity will rocket and cancellations plummet in the New Year.

[TaplowGreen]

When a service is cancelled more often that it runs, how about they remove it from the timetable and then just have announcements saying there will be a special extra service today on those rare dates when it runs. 

We are not at that level - thank goodness.  Indeed it's not as bad as January 2007 when we hit 35% cancellations - but I now classify those as different times, even though it was First Great Western.   There is another big difference though - in those days, the cancelled services on our line were near-empty trains at Silly O'clock times so the cancellations inconvenienced few people.  Today, our seat occupancy across all services is between "excellent" and "overcrowded" so any cancellation has much more effect.

I have noticed an improvement in the last couple of weeks - less cancellations.  Not sure yet if that's statistically significant, but a bit grateful never the less.   A big unknown coming up for the next couple of weekends and then we are promised that capacity will rocket and cancellations plummet in the New Year.

I think it says a lot about GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) and the expectations that their performance drives when simply delivering something approaching what they are supposed to is considered something worthy of a Customers gratitude.  

[grahame]

I think it says a lot about GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) and the expectations that their performance drives when simply delivering something approaching what they are supposed to is considered something worthy of a Customers gratitude.  

Sadly, I have to agree with you ...

[phile]

1832 Westbury to Swindon and 2006 return cancelled this evening due shortage of drivers.

[grahame]

14:04 Frome to Swindon due 15:02
14:04 Frome to Swindon due 15:02 will be terminated at Westbury.
It will no longer call at Trowbridge, Melksham, Chippenham and Swindon.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.

15:12 Swindon to Westbury due 15:55
15:12 Swindon to Westbury due 15:55 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.
Additional Information
Customers travelling from Melksham are requested to make use of the Customer Help Point system, or contact National Rail Enquiries on 03457 484 950.

I guess the information button on the help point must be working again then 

[grahame]

17:36 Swindon to Westbury ... 20 late off Swindon due to trespassers on the line on the up journey.

96 passengers off Chippenham, -41 +5 at Melksham -> 101/46

Two questions ...
a) Isn't Friday evening supposed to be the quiet one?
b) How DID^» (Didcot Parkway - next trains) we manage with a 153?

[bobm]

There were 71 aboard that train between Swindon and Chippenham the night before with, I estimate, another 20-30 boarding at Chippenham.