2018 cancellation and amendment log

[whole diary]

[Phantom]

Broken down train - these two cancelled this morning;

07:33 Westbury to Swindon due 08:15

08:53 Swindon to Westbury due 09:41

Looks like we're bottom of the pile again ... everything else in the area running.

A number of services cancelled out of Weston this morning, had to wait just under an hour for a train

[TaplowGreen]

09:46 Westbury to Swindon due 10:32

09:46 Westbury to Swindon due 10:32 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.

10:47 Swindon to Westbury due 11:28

10:47 Swindon to Westbury due 11:28 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.

......not a good day for the Transwilts

12:20 Westbury to Swindon due 13:02
13:29 Swindon to Westbury due 14:10

Cancelled due to train faults

[Rob on the hill]

09:46 Westbury to Swindon due 10:32

09:46 Westbury to Swindon due 10:32 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.

10:47 Swindon to Westbury due 11:28

10:47 Swindon to Westbury due 11:28 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.

......not a good day for the Transwilts

12:20 Westbury to Swindon due 13:02
13:29 Swindon to Westbury due 14:10

Cancelled due to train faults

Looks to be the same unit plying between Westbury and Swindon which failed to leave Westbury DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) sidings at 0713.
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C43787/2018/06/28/advanced

[grahame]

Lots of these today ...

17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:17
Facilities on the 17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:17.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.
Will be formed of 1 coach instead of 2.
Last Updated:29/06/2018 06:24

... at least we have something.  Promises to be a hot and uncomfortable journey.


As from 1st July ... in correspondence from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)

If you see one of the 5 remaining cl.153s at Melksham something has gone wrong!

with the majority of TransWilts services switching to 2 car 165 units which are starting in the area

[grahame]

15:06 Westbury to Swindon due 15:50
15:06 Westbury to Swindon due 15:50 will be cancelled.
This is due to the train driver being taken ill.
Last Updated:30/06/2018 10:04

16:00 Swindon to Westbury due 16:43
16:00 Swindon to Westbury due 16:43 will be cancelled.
This is due to the train driver being taken ill.
Last Updated:30/06/2018 10:04

[grahame]

Cancellations to services between Salisbury and Westbury
Following a broken down train between Salisbury and Westbury the line towards Westbury has now reopened.
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 minutes. Disruption is expected until 19:30 30/06.
Customer Advice
Customers should look at alternative routes to their destinations using South Western Railway via any reasonable route and Cross Country services between Reading and Southampton due to further cancellations we will have to make throughout the evening.
CrossCountry are conveying passengers between Reading and Southampton Central in both directions until further notice. Arrangements have been made for Great Western Railway rail tickets to be accepted for these journeys.
South Western Railway are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice. Arrangements have been made for Great Western Railway rail tickets to be accepted for these journeys.

Not only between Salisbury and Westbury ... I joined the crowd at Trowbridge Station at around 16:30 of the 16:54 (as it was today) to Melksham.   Lots of "delayed"s and even trains shown as coming, at one point our train was expected within a few minutes.    Then like everything else cancelled.   I don't know when the Bath / Bristol folks got away ... I let other Melksham / Chippenham passengers know about the last bus which we took- 17:29 from Trinity Church, 18:05 into Melksham.  Fare £4.50 single.

Automated boards and announcements of questionable accuracy and relevance.   Help point lady answering down to a scripted response rather than up to helping customers.

[grahame]

09:22 Swindon to Westbury due 10:02
09:22 Swindon to Westbury due 10:02 will be cancelled.
This is due to engineering works not being finished on time.

The 08:28 Westbury to Swindon and 08:30 Westbury to Warminster also cancelled, the 08:48 Warminster to Bristol started late at Westbury. 

I was at Westbury and seeing another very un-clever set of goings on and circumstances, with limited staff doing their very best to find out what was going on, help people many of whom were on their first legs of long journeys, and deal with a last minute set / platform switch.

[grahame]

Today is the day that (I was promised!) the new platform would come into use at Melksham.   Pity there are so few trains to use it ...

18:39 Westbury to Swindon due 19:21
18:39 Westbury to Swindon due 19:21 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

19:55 Swindon to Westbury due 20:35
19:55 Swindon to Westbury due 20:35 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

That makes 4 out of 13 gone so far ... 31% cancellation rate

[Timmer]

I was at Westbury and seeing another very un-clever set of goings on and circumstances, with limited staff doing their very best to find out what was going on, help people many of whom were on their first legs of long journeys, and deal with a last minute set / platform switch.

Not a good customer experience is it making your journey stressful worrying about missing your next connection(s).

Most if not all of us here are pretty savvy at trying to sort ourselves out in the event of delays and cancellations but if you are an infrequent rail traveller, elderly or vulnerable person you are heavily reliant on rail staff...if you can find one or they are not busy just trying to do their jobs.

[Western Pathfinder]

Cancellations to services between Salisbury and Westbury
Following a broken down train between Salisbury and Westbury the line towards Westbury has now reopened.
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 minutes. Disruption is expected until 19:30 30/06.
Customer Advice
Customers should look at alternative routes to their destinations using South Western Railway via any reasonable route and Cross Country services between Reading and Southampton due to further cancellations we will have to make throughout the evening.
CrossCountry are conveying passengers between Reading and Southampton Central in both directions until further notice. Arrangements have been made for Great Western Railway rail tickets to be accepted for these journeys.
South Western Railway are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice. Arrangements have been made for Great Western Railway rail tickets to be accepted for these journeys.

Not only between Salisbury and Westbury ... I joined the crowd at Trowbridge Station at around 16:30 of the 16:54 (as it was today) to Melksham.   Lots of "delayed"s and even trains shown as coming, at one point our train was expected within a few minutes.    Then like everything else cancelled.   I don't know when the Bath / Bristol folks got away ... I let other Melksham / Chippenham passengers know about the last bus which we took- 17:29 from Trinity Church, 18:05 into Melksham.  Fare £4.50 single.

Automated boards and announcements of questionable accuracy and relevance.   Help point lady answering down to a scripted response rather than up to helping customers.

. listed below is the service which I and others got on at Trowbridge yesterday afternoon having said goodbye to Grahame,a three car 166 with no working Aircon ,and two thirds full of most displeased passengers by the time it got to us,that's bad enough but then compounded by our Halt outside Bath Spa at the entry to platform signal,for the best part of an hour whilst a passenger that had collapsed on the service in front of us was dealt with by the paramedics that had been tasked to attend it got so hot it was dangerous and I had to persuade the train crew to open the doors of the middle carriage to prevent persons who were not well from passing out,to my surprise they got them open quickly and then staffed the doors to prevent anyone detraining,along with the driver getting out and taking a position on the trackside,having at last reached Bath an hour later ,platform staff were there to offer assistance to those that needed it and to provide plenty of bottled water which was most welcome, as an aside to this story I am pleased to report that I've at last found a use for The Famous Five ,or at least their posters ,which when removed from the mounts ,make for a useful fan substitute
All in all a dreadful experience yesterday,made much more bearable by the actions of the staff of GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) who did their upmost under extremely difficult conditions,for which my heartfelt thanks.

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C47989/2018/06/30/advanced.

[bobm]

That does indeed sound grim.

I was lucky today with my train travel, even benefitted from catching a late running train which got me to my next destination earlier than I had planned.

One of my trains was the 12:57 from London Paddington to Penzance.  I was on it between Reading and Westbury.  Apparently one coach had aircon problems and while mine was warm it wasn't unbearable.   There was however no catering due to staff shortage.  Thankfully complimentary bottles of water were made available and frequent announcements advertising their availability.

I am glad I got off at Westbury though - the platform looked about three deep as we pulled in and it took a good three minutes to get everyone on board despite exhortations "to use all the available doors".

[bobm]

18:32 Westbury to Swindon due 19:21

18:32 Westbury to Swindon due 19:21 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

20:08 Swindon to Westbury due 20:49

20:08 Swindon to Westbury due 20:49 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[phile]

There are quite a few cancellation in the Bristol/Westbury areas and even Portsmouth Hbr today due to shortage of train crews

[Timmer]

There are quite a few cancellation in the Bristol/Westbury areas and even Portsmouth Hbr today due to shortage of train crews

The ‘Brightons’ have gone for a burton.

[bobm]

14:10 Frome to Swindon due 15:07

14:10 Frome to Swindon due 15:07 will be terminated at Westbury.
It will no longer call at Trowbridge, Melksham, Chippenham and Swindon.
This is due to a fault on this train.

15:19 Swindon to Westbury due 16:00

15:19 Swindon to Westbury due 16:00 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.