Bath Spa - facilities, improvements, parking, events and incidents - merged posts

[whole diary]

[WelshBluebird]

We are not talking about the Midland Main Line or the South Wales portion of the Great Western Main Line here; unlike those routes I beleive electrification through Sydney Gardens is postponed not cancelled

Maybe officially. But unofficially? Based on the comments we have seen recently about bimode being as good as electric etc, I would be very very surprised if the wires go up through Bath at any point in the short to medium term anyway.

[grahame]

The Bath Christmas Market will run from Thursday 22nd November 2018  to Sunday 9th December inclusive.

Filton Bank is closed on 24th and 25th November, and 1st and 2nd December (during the Christmas Market), with ticket easement for journeys from South Wales and north Bristol via Swindon to Bath Spa in place.  Apparently around 10% of rail travel to the Christmas Market is down Filton Bank.  Forty one extra trains to/via Bath Spa are planned over the three Saturdays - 24th November, and 1st and 8th December, and GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are confident in stock and staff availability.

Above as told by GWR major possessions team - a couple of elements may still be draft, but I am cleared to share. Please take this more as guildines that rules just for the moment.

[Adelante_CCT]

and GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are confident in stock and staff availability.

Today is September 11th, not April 1st!

[grahame]

and GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are confident in stock and staff availability.

Today is September 11th, not April 1st!

The question was explicitly asked  . For the first two Saturdays, the Severn Beach line will be closed and that will provide an extra margin ...

[CMRail]

Any idea if Gloucester to Bath will be valid via Swindon during the works?

[grahame]

Any idea if Gloucester to Bath will be valid via Swindon during the works?

"Passengers who make journeys normally routed via Filton Bank will have an easement to allow them to travel all the way by train".  Of course, that may just be the plan ...

Hold your thoughts on that one ... serious journey requirement ?? ... I may be able to find out and ensure it's requested (that is different from ensuring it is granted though.)

[CMRail]

Any idea if Gloucester to Bath will be valid via Swindon during the works?

"Passengers who make journeys normally routed via Filton Bank will have an easement to allow them to travel all the way by train".  Of course, that may just be the plan ...

Hold your thoughts on that one ... serious journey requirement ?? ... I may be able to find out and ensure it's requested (that is different from ensuring it is granted though.)

For the sake of the people I meet at Gloucester I note that a fair few people travel to Bath from there. I am visiting friends down there and I will pay the extra to avoid the bus, however I have used it the last time as it came up on journey planner.

[froome]

Huge numbers of people come from south Wales for the market, so am not surprised by the figures which have been quoted.

[the void]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bath-swans-train-station-b1759858.html

"The Independent has contacted National Rail for comment on the incident"

I wonder if 'National Rail' will respond?

[bobm]

Swans on the line are a fairly common occurrence across the network.

As to how they came to be on the platform at Bath Spa?   They were herded there by track staff after being found on the track.

[TaplowGreen]

Swans on the line are a fairly common occurrence across the network.

As to how they came to be on the platform at Bath Spa?   They were herded there by track staff after being found on the track.

I hope they were wearing masks?

[grahame]

Swans on the line are a fairly common occurrence across the network.

As to how they came to be on the platform at Bath Spa?   They were herded there by track staff after being found on the track.

I hope they were wearing masks?

Don't think swans are required to, but the original article does tell us there were other reasons for them not to be there:

Eventually, both swans were cornered and forced to leave the premises, with neither waterfowl likely to have paid the required fare.

[Robin Summerhill]

Paid the fare? Did they get on at Bradford or Avoncliff them?

[ChrisB]

From the Independent

Workers at Bath Spa station struggled to round up the fowl pair.

Things got a little wild at a Bath train station on Saturday afternoon after two swans managed to make their way onto the platform.

In a series of videos published to Instagram by bystander Ed Shaw, workers at the Bath Spa station can be seen trying to round up the two waterfowl.

In one video, a worker attempts to catch one of the duo by tossing a coat over the bird.

The worker then falls over, however, giving the swan a chance to flee.

The bird?s partner in crime appeared to be rounded up more easily, with another worker holding onto the waterfowl throughout the course of the incident.

Eventually, both swans were cornered and forced to leave the premises, with neither waterfowl likely to have paid the required fare.

Speaking with The Independent, Mr Shaw said he had initially thought the first station worker had been holding a baby in his arms. He was shocked when he realised that it was a swan.

?It looked like a baby wrapped in a blanket, but as I got closer to him, I saw that it was a swan,? Mr Shaw said. ?Then the other two people came trying to get [the other swan]."

Mr Shaw said he had stumbled upon the scene after exiting the train and couldn?t say ?where they came from or how they would have gotten onto the platform?.

All in all, Mr Shaw said, ?it was a good start to the day?.

?It was pretty funny and quintessentially English," he said.

Other Instagram users appeared to agree, with Mr Shaw?s videos getting more than 160,000 views.

?Loads of people have found it funny. I hope it spreads and makes a few people laugh,? he said.

Saturday?s incident, however, does not appear to be the first of its kind.

According to past tweets, travellers were held up in a similar incident just over two years ago, when a swan wandered onto the railway at Bath Spa station in September 2018.

There's video of the capture on the linked page above.

[Bmblbzzz]

They'd been for a trip on the Wareham to Swanage line.