2018 cancellation and amendment log

[whole diary]

[bobm]

Does seem odd.   

Due to the engineering work the unit that forms the 17:36 comes empty stock from Bath Spa.  Earlier it runs from Westbury to Castle Cary and then to Bristol Parkway before coming back to Bath.  All three trips were also cancelled.

[bobm]

19:15 Frome to Cheltenham Spa due 21:33

19:15 Frome to Cheltenham Spa due 21:33 will no longer call at Trowbridge, Melksham and Chippenham.

It is being delayed at Westbury.

This is due to train crew being delayed.

[grahame]

Fingers crossed today ... but I would like to see TransWilts running at even the worst of the reported cancellation rates and - yes - I know they are 10 times higher than they should be.

[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 a fault on this train.
Will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 3.

No problem ... school holidays mean this will be quieter than normal into Southampton.   

This is the 06:10 Swindon to Westbury - one of only 2 trains a day that ran prior to December 2013.   At that point it was a bit of a "joke" - the single regular passenger who used it from Swindon said the timing was excellent (for his use) giving it a 100% rating in certain statistics.  These days, with sensible round trip day commutes available, there's up to about 30 passenger by the time it reaches Westbury, and it grows thereafter.

[bobm]

For the record it was shown as 2 instead of 3 yesterday as well.

[TaplowGreen]

Fingers crossed today ... but I would like to see TransWilts running at even the worst of the reported cancellation rates and - yes - I know they are 10 times higher than they should be.

Appalling figures. At least there's a higher discount however it should be much higher to reflect the standard of service.

[grahame]

13:32 Westbury to Castle Cary due 13:56
13:32 Westbury to Castle Cary due 13:56 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Fingers crossed.   During the engineering works, this is the train that then goes to Bristol Parkway, to Bath Spa, then to Swindon to form the 17:36 peak TransWilts train to Westbury

[bobm]

17:41 Cheltenham Spa to Southampton Central due 20:44

17:41 Cheltenham Spa to Southampton Central due 20:44 will no longer call at Melksham.

This is due to a late running freight train.

[grahame]

17:41 Cheltenham Spa to Southampton Central due 20:44

17:41 Cheltenham Spa to Southampton Central due 20:44 will no longer call at Melksham.

This is due to a late running freight train.

Yep, freight has priority .... even empties to Merehead Quarry!
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/H43509/2018/07/27/advanced

[CMRail]

It’s getting to the point wher  I wonder when are these “improvements” going to come in.

The answer is new timetable, but that does not sort staffing issues and GWRs^▸ (Great Western Railway) ability to do maintenance at more convenient times. You still are going to have half trains as people will still need to be trained, and maintained. TransWilits gets at least on average two amendments or cancellations per day and none of this would “work” with a new timetable.

[grahame]

It’s getting to the point wher  I wonder when are these “improvements” going to come in.

The answer is new timetable, but that does not sort staffing issues and GWRs^▸ (Great Western Railway) ability to do maintenance at more convenient times. You still are going to have half trains as people will still need to be trained, and maintained. TransWilits gets at least on average two amendments or cancellations per day and none of this would “work” with a new timetable.

For TransWilts, I would expect to see the percentage of cancellations drop - but be still way above franchise targets - as the Newbury electrification works come to an end.   Getting back to being close to the real timetable is probably a few months off, and a few months longer for the main line.

The "new timetable" as drafted needs serious adjustment (again, from  TransWilts viewpoint) - thank goodness for the 5 month postponement as it gives rail, local government and community a sporting chance to actually fix a few things for everyone's (including, ironically, the railway's) benefits.  See http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=20084.0 if you're a TransWilts board member.

[grahame]

Saturday, 28th July 2018

Services cancelled: 4 (blame attribution will be all 4 to GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway))
Services still running: 12 (at present!)
Performance factor: 75%
Performance target: 99.5%

Dear Great Western Management.   

I'm disgusted.   This is not a one-off - it's time and time again and it's taking you far longer to fix than you said it would.  These are the ONLY cancellations shown so far for today on the whole of your network, and that's after public promises from your MD (who I'm pretty sure has other plans today!) that efforts would be especially made on 4 services across the whole franchise to bring them back up to even the currently-low standard of the other services.

Ironic that you choose to cancel yet again on the day of the Melksham Carnival, where unpaid volunteers are walking through the town promoting your services (to generate you income) - a real slap in the face to them.

4 Train Cancellations
07:33 Westbury to Swindon due 08:20

08:36 Swindon to Westbury due 09:20

11:37 Westbury to Swindon due 12:20

12:54 Swindon to Westbury due 13:42

12:54 Swindon to Westbury due 13:42 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Last Updated:28/07/2018 03:32

[bobm]

Those four cancellations have now been joined by five from the other old favourite - the North Cotswold line - also due to staff shortage.

[JayMac]

Along with a severely curtailed service to/from Weymouth. Just what's needed when SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) services to/from Weymouth are also disrupted due to strikes.

Have Westbury based GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) staff come out in sympathy for their SWR colleagues? 

At least the rain will be keeping some daytrippers at home. GWR's inability to ensure adequate staffing levels will put off the rest.

And still there is silence from Mark Hopwood to the general public on the woeful performance of the company he's supposedly running.

[grahame]

Those four cancellations have now been joined by five from the other old favourite - the North Cotswold line - also due to staff shortage.

And another round trip gone on the TransWilts ... and two of the three peak afternoon trains off Weymouth to Westbury.  That's three of the four old favourites.

07:33 Westbury to Swindon due 08:20
08:36 Swindon to Westbury due 09:20
09:45 Westbury to Swindon due 10:35
10:47 Swindon to Westbury due 11:31
11:37 Westbury to Swindon due 12:20
12:54 Swindon to Westbury due 13:42

So that's 62.5% against a 99.5% target.  Oops.