After a very acceptable improvement in the capacity of trains on the locals around Bristol recently, today train 2U18 13:08 TAU» - CDF» was operated by a single 153 from TAU to BRI» at least. I only travelled to Yatton from Weston-super-Mare (WSM) so cannot say what happened after that. On leaving WSM there was actually sufficient room for all with some spare seats, but suitcases were piled onto seats because a number of travellers seem to prefer to block the luggage racks than sit next to strangers and there is a reluctance for people to leave their possessions so far away from them. It's a good distance down the length of a 153 if you can't get a seat near the luggage area.
No explanation was offered as to the reason for this now unusually short formation (can you form a single carriage into a train?) but things must have been desperate to run in such a way on busy route and I wonder if anyone saw what happened later on in the journey. The train ran late throughout according to RTT» .
Hate to say it ... but in these parts we regard you as lucky to have even one carriage this week.
If you missed the 06:12 off Swidnon this morning, your next TransWilts train is at 12:47 ... and we haven't had a full scheduled service run any day since 19th December.
"I went to catch the 10.04 Swindon bound train this morning from Melksham, but again it has been cancelled.(I had checked the website only 30 minutes before hand and it said trains were running)
[Person] rang 03457 484950, there were 11 people waiting and he was told that there would be taxis sent to collect us. This was at 9.58 am. We waited until 10.25 and he rang again, was told taxis would be there shortly. 10.46 no taxis so we decided to go home.
I have complained so much recently about this train and a few other people waiting today said the same thing. It's getting to the point where it's unusable as it's not reliable enough.
GWR▸ may be facing all sorts of issues with provision to them by Network Rail and what they're allowed to do by the Department for Transport and by their own First board ... but the travelling public doesn't really care when they buy a service and are let down whether its the supplier they've bought the service from or one of their subcontractors. They simply want a train that runs 98% of the time when "they" say it will or within a short while thereafter, with sufficient space to get on and travel in safety and with a modicum of comfort.
GWR are currently failing to provide what they are contracted to provide. Further, when they fail to provide, they are falling down badly on providing any suitable alternative.
We are promised a miraculous improvement in the New Year. I look forward to seeing it, but I frankly have my doubts. Some promises have been kept - but others such as 2 carriages from last May, and the 08:30 (Sundays, Westbury) starting back at Warminster from January 2018, have been broken. Looking at the cancellations this morning, once again, it's TransWilts that disproportionately suffers. We're being treated as the scum again ...
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