2018 cancellation and amendment log

[whole diary]

[grahame]

The issue with your sensible suggestion Grahame is almost certainly the lack of a train to form the service; a fault on a Turbo headed for Weymouth this morning resulted in the morning Transwilts unit being utilised to cover this failure (this train being otherwise idle due to the fault at Bradford Junction), with the unit which would have worked the afternoon Transwilts services being redeployed on the Westbury - Bristol Parkway - Bath - Parkway - Westbury circuit.

Ah - that figures.    Broken down train AND broken track, but reason given is purely the track.   That way, it looks like Network Rail's problem, and presumably any penalties and costs go against Network Rail's account not GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s!

[grahame]

Customer Advice

Buses are being provided to run at the times of the trains from Westbury and Chippenham.

Replacement road transport services are conveying passengers between Westbury and Chippenham via Trowbridge and Melksham in both directions until further notice. Please see signage at the station for the location of the rail replacement bus stop and local bus stop information.

Nice to know / have confirmed.

Deadly for passengers from SWINDON who will have to leave there earlier than usual in order to be at Chippenham in time for the bus.  15:00 for 15:18, 17:30 for 17:36, 20:00 for 20:06 ... I suspect the 18:48 WILL run as its an important service a through train north to south

[phile]

Appears that 2O00 1741 Cheltenham to Southampton ran through normally, but 2M18 1932 Westbury to Cheltenham was diverted.

[grahame]

Appears that 2O00 1741 Cheltenham to Southampton ran through normally, but 2M18 1932 Westbury to Cheltenham was diverted.

What I would have expected - the important through trains, and the crossover at Trowbridge out of action.  Yet impractical to divert a northbound local train during the day even to let the peak return service run.

[grahame]

05:17 Gloucester to Southampton Central due 08:09
Facilities on the 05:17 Gloucester to Southampton Central due 08:09.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.
Will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 3.
Last Updated:18/04/2018 06:48

NOT a major problem - insignificant compared to yesterday, when only one train out of 14 scheduled managed to travel along the line between Trowbridge and Chippenham after 10 a.m.    But symptomatic of the broken railway we have at present.

[grahame]

18:39 Westbury to Swindon due 19:22
18:39 Westbury to Swindon due 19:22 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.
Additional Information
Customers should use the next service, the 19:41 from Westbury to Cheltenham Spa which calls at Trowbridge (19:46), Melksham (19:57), Chippenham (20:08) and arrives Swindon at 20:25.

19:53 Swindon to Westbury due 20:36
19:53 Swindon to Westbury due 20:36 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.
Additional Information
Customers travelling from unstaffed stations are requested to make use of the Customer Help Point systems available, or contact National Rail Enquiries on 03457 484 950 detailing the total number of passengers travelling, and their intended destinations. This will enable us to get suitable road replacement transport to customers as quickly as possible.

Considering the chaos all around with a sea of cancellations on other lines, we have gotten off lightly - and the customer service information on Journey Check is streets ahead of what it's been in the past.

Locally (from experience of running a hotel in Melksham) we could source suitable transport to get people to Chippenham or Trowbridge from an unexpected (standing) start in around 15 to 20 minutes at the worst.   I am delighted to read that sped is of the essence now in sourcing road replacement, as the previous system used by GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) routinely took four times linger than what I know is possible.

[grahame]

From last night

17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:19
17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:19 has been previously delayed, is being further delayed between Chippenham and Melksham and is now expected to be 14 minutes late.
This is due to congestion.
Last Updated:23/04/2018 18:10


17:41 Cheltenham Spa to Southampton Central due 20:44
17:41 Cheltenham Spa to Southampton Central due 20:44 will be terminated at Swindon.
It will no longer call at Chippenham, Melksham, Trowbridge, Westbury, Dilton Marsh, Warminster, Salisbury, Romsey and Southampton Central.
This is due to train crew being delayed by service disruption.
Further Information
Passengers are requested to utilise the next available service.

Down from 18 to 7 trains this week ... and can't even find the staff to run all of those

The next train to Westbury after the 18:48 last night was the 06:10 this morning ... to be fair, there was also a rail replacement bus for the later train, due into Westbury at 21:16 when the train which was short of a conductor (ran empty, I understand) should have got there at 19:30.

[grahame]

And again ... can't even manage all 7 services ...

08:28 Swindon to Westbury due 09:14
08:28 Swindon to Westbury due 09:14 will be diverted between Chippenham and Trowbridge.
It will no longer call at Melksham.
This is due to a late running freight train.

Further Information
Customers travelling from unstaffed stations are requested to make use of the Customer Help Point systems available, or contact National Rail Enquiries on 03457 484 950 detailing the total number of passengers travelling, and their intended destinations. This will enable us to get suitable road replacement transport to customers as quickly as possible.

There seems to be something of a question mark as to whether anyone will want to travel from Melksham (the unstaffed station left out ... and something of an assumption that they'll notice the cancellation in good time and know to call.

Realitically, a call from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) to get a local taxi to the station when they first knew of the issue ... or better still to have one of their five extra staff employed to chat to each other at Trowbridge based at Melksham while the chaos is ongoing ... would be far better for customer service ...

[grahame]

17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:19
17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:19 will be starting late from Swindon.
This is due to the ambulance service dealing with an incident.
Last Updated:25/04/2018 16:24

[grahame]

And for today ...

17:41 Cheltenham Spa to Southampton Central due 20:44
17:41 Cheltenham Spa to Southampton Central due 20:44 will be diverted between Gloucester and Westbury.
It will no longer call at Stonehouse, Stroud, Kemble, Swindon, Chippenham and Melksham but will call additionally at Bristol Parkway.
This is due to a fault with the signalling system.

[martyjon]

And for today ...

17:41 Cheltenham Spa to Southampton Central due 20:44
17:41 Cheltenham Spa to Southampton Central due 20:44 will be diverted between Gloucester and Westbury.
It will no longer call at Stonehouse, Stroud, Kemble, Swindon, Chippenham and Melksham but will call additionally at Bristol Parkway.
This is due to a fault with the signalling system.

That's some diversion.

[grahame]

And the return working ... at least it covered as far as Swindon; does not count as a TransWilts cancellation

19:15 Frome to Cheltenham Spa due 21:33
19:15 Frome to Cheltenham Spa due 21:33 will be diverted between Swindon and Gloucester.
It will no longer call at Kemble, Stroud and Stonehouse.
It is being delayed between Swindon and Gloucester and is now expected to be 17 minutes late.
This is due to a fault with the signalling system.

[grahame]

11:47 Westbury to Swindon due 12:34
Facilities on the 11:47 Westbury to Swindon due 12:34.
Toilet facilities are not available. Disabled toilet facilities are not available.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Additional Information
Toilets are not available.

We apologise for the inconvenience this may cause.

12:47 Swindon to Frome due 13:41
Facilities on the 12:47 Swindon to Frome due 13:41.
Toilet facilities are not available. Disabled toilet facilities are not available.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Additional Information
Toilets are not available.

We apologise for the inconvenience this may cause.

A little inconvenient ... but when compared to no train, a minor issue ...

[grahame]

Train Cancellations
11:15 Avonmouth to Bristol Temple Meads due 11:49
11:47 Westbury to Swindon due 12:34
12:47 Swindon to Frome due 13:41

Due to a fault on the train ... just 3 cancellations across the whole GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) area, and two are on TransWilts.  For last month, the service group that includes the TransWilts was the worst performing on "ppm" - official.  And whatever passengers on other lines feel - we've had it worsererer 

[grahame]

14:04 Frome to Swindon due 15:03
14:04 Frome to Swindon due 15:03 will be started from Westbury.
It will no longer call at Frome.
This is due to a broken down train earlier today.

Big relief - looks like they've fixed it or found a new(er [replacement]) train at Westbury