2018 cancellation and amendment log

[whole diary]

[phile]

The 1957 to Plymouth (1C96) is going to be starting from Reading today due to the late arrival of the inbound service.  JourneyCheck says that it will be held at Reading to await the arrival of the 2000 from Paddington to Weston-super-mare (1C29) which is a very good plan since this is the last train of the day to Plymouth (excluding the sleeper).

Indeed. The current services are very much less complete and stable than they ought to be, and those failures cause massive upset to people's journeys ... however, there are also some shining beacon examples of mitigation of issues such as this one - some darned good people doing what they can with a broken system and a lack of available resources.

Passengers on the late incoming train are complaining on Twitter about being kicked off at Reading without, of course, being unable to see the bigger picture.    The train was full and standing also

[grahame]

07:21 Westbury to Swindon due 08:05
07:21 Westbury to Swindon due 08:05 is being delayed at Chippenham.
This is due to a passenger being taken ill on this train.

A totally correct reason for a delay. I wish the passenger the best of attention and treatment and a speedy recovery.

[grahame]

07:21 Westbury to Swindon due 08:05
07:21 Westbury to Swindon due 08:05 is being delayed at Chippenham.
This is due to a passenger being taken ill on this train.

A totally correct reason for a delay. I wish the passenger the best of attention and treatment and a speedy recovery.

Knock-on:

08:28 Swindon to Westbury due 09:14
08:28 Swindon to Westbury due 09:14 will be starting late from Swindon.
This is due to a passenger being taken ill on this train earlier in its journey.

and a separate delay:

06:44 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 09:05
06:44 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 09:05 has been previously delayed but is now 5 minutes late from Swindon.
This is due to a late running train being in front of this one.

[bradshaw]

0828 ex Swindon, no longer calling at Melksham due to delay (30/7)

[grahame]

0828 ex Swindon, no longer calling at Melksham due to delay (30/7)

Oh geeeeeze ....

The base reason today is a "good" one - a passenger being taken ill and delaying the up train to Swindon.   But the cancellation at Melksham as a knock-on effect shows just how limited the resources are to be able to recover quickly from incidents.   We've really not got the capacity in place to meet even the reduced timetable that's running at present.

[bobm]

Suspect the Melksham call was sacrificed so as not to delay the diverted Up Golden Hind (05:05 ex Penzance) on the single line.

[grahame]

Suspect the Melksham call was sacrificed so as not to delay the diverted Up Golden Hind (05:05 ex Penzance) on the single line.

I expect you're right.



On - and the next train has "gone" too:

17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:17
17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:17 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[grahame]

And

19:15 Frome to Cheltenham Spa due 21:33
19:15 Frome to Cheltenham Spa due 21:33 will be started from Westbury.
It will no longer call at Frome.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

TransWilts section running OK (or at least scheduled to do so as I write) and through traffic from the Heart of Wessex would be very limited as this is an "engineering times special" linkage, so here more for the record than because significant TransWilts passenger disruption.

[bobm]

17:36 was then re-instated five minutes later.

[bobm]

19:15 Frome to Cheltenham Spa due 21:33

19:15 Frome to Cheltenham Spa due 21:33 will be diverted between Trowbridge and Chippenham.

It will no longer call at Melksham.

It will be delayed due to the diversion and is expected to be 7 minutes late.

This is due to congestion.

[bobm]

Text at 20:07 to say the above train would now run via Melksham....

[Trowres]

...it passed Bradford Jn at 2006, so that's about 5 minutes notice for any Melksham hopefuls to run back to the station.

[grahame]

08:28 Swindon to Westbury due 09:14
Facilities on the 08:28 Swindon to Westbury due 09:14.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 3.

Not a problem - two is plenty!

I travelled up to Swindon on the up working - 07:37 at Melksham - also 2 coaches, 150126.   Thought we had seen the last of the 150/1s our way - but never mind, far more suitable that a 153, which would not have coped.

Melksham estimates - 15 off and 35 on.  Actual number of passengers on from Melksham, 89.  Big flow off and even more on at Chippenham - around 110 into Swindon.  104/50

Reports of 15:15 (ish) rail replacement bus from Chippenham, and some up from Trowbridge, being crowded.  Rather confirms that people need the service.

[grahame]

16:21 Westbury to Swindon due 17:03
16:21 Westbury to Swindon due 17:03 has been delayed at Westbury and is now 15 minutes late.
This is due to a broken down train.

Not a big issue ... 2 on the scale 1 to 10.   Hope it doesn't grow from the seed into something bigger!

[bobm]

Freight train broke down just east of Bedwyn.  Two services from the west diverted via Melksham.