New service from this Sunday

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From Sunday, 18th May ... a new Westbury / Trowbridge to Bath / Bristol commute option

08:35 from Westbury and 08:40 from Trowbridge, arriving Bath Spa at 09:42 and Bristol Temple Meads at 09:57

Potentially a big improvement for people who want to have a longer day in Bath or Bristol, and a new chance for those who work in shops in either city centre to use the train.   First train otherwise hasn't been until 09:53 from Westbury / 09:59 from Trowbridge, arriving into Bath Spa at 10:22 and Bristol Temple Meads at 10:45.

Question ... what fare would be charged / is a West Wilts to Bath / Bristol season valid via this route?

[rogerpatenall]

Wow! Trowbridge to Bath in 62 minutes. That is value. . .o

[bobm]

Question ... what fare would be charged / is a West Wilts to Bath / Bristol season valid via this route?

Train Times app says "you must buy more than one ticket for this journey" - so I guess the best price will be Westbury/Trowbridge to Melksham and then Melksham to Bath.

[JayMac]

Booking engines will not offer a through ticket for Westbury/Trowbridge to Bath/Bristol via Chippenham. The Routeing Guide also disallows such a journey. So the only ticketing options are two tickets or use of a Rover/Ranger.

[bobm]

It does feature on the new Google Maps transport feature and illustrates rather well why through tickets are not available (although it doesn't actually tell you that)

[grahame]

Wow! Trowbridge to Bath in 62 minutes. That is value. . .o

Westbury to Bath by bus ... 11:23 to 12:32 first sunday service (69 minutes).    There *are* earlier Trowbridge to Bath services, taking around 45 minutes.

Yes - it's a long time Trowbridge to Bath ... better metrics if you do a longer journey - i.e. start at Westbury or carry on to Bristol.   But I've been impressed over the years by just how much of a divert / long journey passengers will still make - met someone waiting 4 hours for a train at Melksham, but then he explained he wasn't able to drive for medical reasons and that he had been working out in a nearby village and that his only option had been a lift to that station.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Bristol Post:

New train service in Bedminster for early morning commuters


Bedminster Railway Station

Early bird commuters enjoyed the first train ride of a new service from Bedminster to London this morning.

Two new stops at Bedminster station and Parson Street station have been added to First Great Western^s service.

As the sun was rising, rail campaigners met at Bedminster Station to welcome passengers on the new 6.16am service from Western-super-Mare.

Councillor Mark Bradshaw got on the train at 6.13am at Parson Street station and was welcomed by campaigners and the CEO^▸ (Chief Executive Officer) of Bristol Blue Glass on Bedminster station who had opened his show room especially.

Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways (FOSBR^▸ (Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways)) was delighted at the latest developments, which mean early commuters in South Bristol will not have to walk to Temple Meads to catch the city-bound service.

First Great Western has also added another evening train to both stations.

FOSBR secretary, Tina Biggs, said: ^I think pushing for more services to Bedminster and Parson St shows that decision makers have listened to campaigners.^

First Great Western^s Regional Development Manager Dan Okey said: ^I am very pleased that we have been able to provide these additional stops, providing our customers with the opportunity to take full advantage of all the services that we offer. Monday^s launch shows our commitment to securing further improvements, working with the West of England authorities. We will continue to work to provide the additional capacity and services we know our customers want.^

From Monday 19 May, the Monday to Friday 0512 service from Taunton will also call at Parson Street at 0613 and Bedminster at 0616, and the 1908 from Weston-Super-Mare, will call at Parson Street at 1935 and at Bedminster at 1937

Bristol^s Assistant Mayor for Transport, Cllr Mark Bradshaw welcomed the improvements, saying: ^As a local resident and frequent user of train services from Parson Street, the additional stopping services will help boost the attraction of local rail in South Bristol, particularly for earlier morning connections into London and evening trips into the centre.

^Better local rail services, connected to bus, walking and cycling routes is where we need to be as a City, so I welcome FosBR; Severnside Community Rail Partnership, the Council and First Great Western all working together to deliver these new services for Greater Bedminster and Bristol."

[Andrew1939 from West Oxon]

We could do with a few of tthese early morning trains on the Cotswold Line. However we are told that the extended Saturday midnight to early Sunday morning line clousre is essential do do certain maintenance jobs that cannott be done within the shorter weekday overnight closures. It would be good to have a few Sunday days out at the seaside!

[grahame]

We could do with a few of tthese early morning trains on the Cotswold Line. ...

I don't think I'm talking out of turn if I tell you that the train operator (FGW^▸ (First Great Western)), the local council (Wiltshire) and the community all had aspirations for an 07:30 rather that an 08:30 round trip from Westbury, but that proved not to be possible.