The early Sunday train

[whole diary]

[grahame]

08:35 Westbury to Swindon due 09:20
This train will be starting late from Westbury and is expected to be 5 minutes late.
This is due to over-running engineering works.

I am - very happy - to see this reported; information is key and it's good to see it being provided.  Not only useful, but also confirming a commitment to our little line.

A hectic summer schedule has precluded me from making too many trips out this summer, but on a miserable morning with a fine mist rain soaking us all, there were eight of us waiting on the platform when the train drew in, and I counted about 30 already on board - that's 36/6, as I was just there so see the train go by, and another person was seeing someone off.

Most of the group joining was people going to work ... Bath, Chippenham and Swindon.  Overall not bad going for a service that only started in May, and indications are that the traffic - at least the Melksham joiners - are (a) non-seasonal and (b) economically significant traffic (rather than "out for the day" leisure).

[John R]

Most of the group joining was people going to work ... Bath, Chippenham and Swindon.  Overall not bad going for a service that only started in May, and indications are that the traffic - at least the Melksham joiners - are (a) non-seasonal and (b) economically significant traffic (rather than "out for the day" leisure).

So what will these people do when the service ceases as I think it's summer only?

[grahame]

Most of the group joining was people going to work ... Bath, Chippenham and Swindon.  Overall not bad going for a service that only started in May, and indications are that the traffic - at least the Melksham joiners - are (a) non-seasonal and (b) economically significant traffic (rather than "out for the day" leisure).

So what will these people do when the service ceases as I think it's summer only?

It runs until 19th October.    From 26th October until 7th December, there are engineering works which are severely limiting the TransWilts service to just 4 northbound / 3 southbound trains    ... and there are some ideas being tossed around at the moment as that's under the spec that the operation contract requires.   Engineering works need to happen, but viable alternatives also needed.

Come 14th December, service levels are back up to "unengineered" levels for a while, details awaited but there are significant attempts being made (and not just by the community!) to start with the early train.   The issues relate to what's 'needed' in terms of regular Saturday night / Sunday morning possessions of the sort which, I understand, prevent any trains at all running south to Weymouth on winter Sunday mornings.

[grahame]

The return trip - 23 into Melksham, 2 off (again, not seasonal) and one on (not seasonal) ... 24/3.  The appalling rain (which has now cleared) seems to have completely wiped out days on the beach in Weymouth for today.

[John R]

The return trip - 23 into Melksham, 2 off (again, not seasonal) and one on (not seasonal) ... 24/3.  The appalling rain (which has now cleared) seems to have completely wiped out days on the beach in Weymouth for today.

Probably just as well in hindsight.  The 1026 from Westbury to Weymouth arrived into Weymouth 2 hrs 51 mins late, due to the steam excursion ahead of it having problems and suffering a similar delay.

[JayMac]

Yep. 34067 Tangmere, running the Weymouth Seaside Express 0855 Bristol TM^▸ (Train Manager, or possibly Ticket Machine, depending on context)-Weymouth, stalled on Evershot Bank just short of Evershot Tunnel. A lack of adhesion due, possibly, to wet rails. It was already half an hour late by then due to signalling problems between Bath and Westbury. The excursion set back into Chetnole station and made another attempt at the bank after the crew had sanded the rails. That didn't work so they had a third go and finally crested the bank. Arrived in Weymouth 2^ hours late. I believe the return working of the excursion is being diesel hauled as there wasn't time to run Tangmere light loco to Yeovil Junction and use the turntable.

The following scheduled service, the 0925 from Bristol TM, arrived in Weymouth nearly 3 hours late. Limited replacement road transport was provided from Yeovil Pen Mill where the service had to wait for two hours after already being delayed by half an hour by those signalling problems.

[grahame]

The 1026 from Westbury to Weymouth arrived into Weymouth 2 hrs 51 mins late, due to the steam excursion ahead of it having problems and suffering a similar delay.

Just read the details in the parallel post

There seem to have been an incredible number of Sundays where things have gone wrong on the Heart of Wessex this summer, and adding to that next weekend where there's bustitution on the whole TransWilts and the "Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Flyer" really has more fluttered than flown.

We've concentrated on marketing / making people aware of the service as a whole this summer;  in the summer of 2011, the only sellable service we had was 7 Sundays to Weymouth, and they sharpened the mind wonderfully.  This summer, we have a sellable service every day and I would much rather see what we're seeing - dozens and dozens of people on most trains every day of the week, with so many getting off year-long trains on a Saturday and travelling elsewhere on all Sundays - that a relatively small number of services packed to overcrowding / complaint level.   This makes it so much easier to meet overall targets and is so much more productive in providing a real economic benefit.   Besides, I've not been terribly sure how long a train the early Sunday one would be, and I really didn't want to get huge coverage in Swindon and risk offering 400 passengers to a 153!