Weymouth Line - service issues (merged posts)

[whole diary]

[Bmblbzzz]

Tell me again – is it a big train?

[grahame]

Short forms to Weymouth

06:50 Westbury to Weymouth due 08:27
Facilities on the 06:50 Westbury to Weymouth due 08:27.
Will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 3.

06:55 Cheltenham Spa to Weymouth due 10:32
Facilities on the 06:55 Cheltenham Spa to Weymouth due 10:32.
Will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 3.

13:10 Gloucester to Weymouth due 16:27
Facilities on the 13:10 Gloucester to Weymouth due 16:27.
Will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 3.

Return trains at 09:30, 11:30 and 17:35 are also 2 carriages long.

Weather wise, it's scheduled to be a dry and mainly sunny day in Weymouth, with a pleasant top temperature of 21 degrees C. It's the second Saturday of the summer term school break. 

Shouldn't more services be running by this time of year? Are 2 car trains going to be adequate?

[Mark A]

Operating a year-round visitor attraction but with a seasonal bump we were very aware that if we didn't make provision ahead of the bump, the bump itself tended to fizzle. That June railway timetable change feels way to late to be making changes to meet seasonal demand. Was it only last Sunday that the morning through train from Bristol was cancelled at short notice?

Bristol to Weymouth's massively capacity constrained and people hoping to travel are somewhat battered by current experiences, and in some cases by recollections of the timetable antics that were deployed in the nineties to kill the demand for day trip traffic as the rolling stock expired of old age.

Mark

[Timmer]

Shouldn't more services be running by this time of year? Are 2 car trains going to be adequate?

Yes they should by now. The second Saturday of June for the extra summer services isn’t really acceptable IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion). This has meant both Saturdays of the school half term holiday have not had an enhanced summer Saturday service.

No, 2 car trains wouldn’t be anywhere near adequate today, especially by the time the train reaches Yeovil. 3 car trains would be pretty loaded too. As the 2 car trains are on the two earlier services of the day it might be okay.

They need to see if they can strengthen the return 17:35 service or provide a replacement bus service as I expect Weymouth will be very busy today given the forecast. A 2 car train will mean passengers being left behind otherwise.

[bobm]

I can’t remember why the timetable change was delayed this year.

Meanwhile there’s a Weymouth to Gloucester service that’s come to an unscheduled halt outside Yeovil Pen Mill. Now stranded with 15 passengers on board.

[bobm]

Perhaps this is a sacrifice to provide more capacity on a Weymouth service?

Facilities on the 08:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central due 11:45.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

Will be formed of 3 coaches instead of 5 between Bristol Temple Meads and Cardiff Central.

Additional Facilities Information
Customers travelling beyond Bristol Temple Meads should travel in Carriages A, B or C.
Carriages D and E will be detached at Bristol Temple Meads.

[grahame]

I can’t remember why the timetable change was delayed this year.

Meanwhile there’s a Weymouth to Gloucester service that’s come to an unscheduled halt outside Yeovil Pen Mill. Now stranded with 15 passengers on board.

"To co-ordinate with changes in Europe" was what I heard.  My understanding is that the delay was planned a very long time ago and is no longer really relevant ... but once it became irrelevant it was to late to change back.

[grahame]

Perhaps this is a sacrifice to provide more capacity on a Weymouth service?

Facilities on the 08:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central due 11:45.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

Will be formed of 3 coaches instead of 5 between Bristol Temple Meads and Cardiff Central.

Additional Facilities Information
Customers travelling beyond Bristol Temple Meads should travel in Carriages A, B or C.
Carriages D and E will be detached at Bristol Temple Meads.

Or even to provide a Weymouth service at all!

[bradshaw]

Journey check stating
Due to trespassers on the railway between Weymouth and Westbury some lines are blocked.

Delaying both up and down services, the 0638 from Weymouth now 83+ minutes late as is the 06.50 from Westbury

[grahame]

Bristol to Weymouth's massively capacity constrained and people hoping to travel are somewhat battered by current experiences, and in some cases by recollections of the timetable antics that were deployed in the nineties to kill the demand for day trip traffic as the rolling stock expired of old age.

Indeed.  One has to wonder if the people who plan the train services actually want people to use them - whether the seasonallity is a nuisance that they would prefer to be without ... "It would be so much more operationally and cost convenient if the Westbury to Weymouth ran all day, every day, every 2 hours with two trains of 2 carriages each passing each other at Yeovil Pen Mill." Income, customer confidence, the business brought to Weymouth, goodwill, encouraging people to travel in a more carbon friendly way, would all be lost - but who cares in a system which is cost of operation driven to the apparent exclusion of anything else, including the fares received to pay for it?  For the absence of doubt, I am not advocating a change to this proposed service.

[Timmer]

Just to set the record straight, GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) have ran an extra service to and from Weymouth last Saturday and today. The 08:09 Gloucester to Frome has continued to Weymouth and there is an additional service from Weymouth to Bristol at 18:45. That will reduce the demand for the 2 car 17:35 later today, so no need for a replacement bus!

So fair play to GWR, they have provided extra trains over the two Saturdays that straddle the half term break.

[grahame]

Just to set the record straight, GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) have ran an extra service to and from Weymouth last Saturday and today. The 08:09 Gloucester to Frome has continued to Weymouth and there is an additional service from Weymouth to Bristol at 18:45. That will reduce the demand for the 2 car 17:35 later today, so no need for a replacement bus!

So fair play to GWR, they have provided extra trains over the two Saturdays that straddle the half term break.

Ah - thanks.   I hadn't spotted that in the publicity; will be very interesting to hear about (relative) loadings.

EDIT to add - bit late in the day to let people know (it's gone already!) but, yes, my local journey planner gave me the following - mind you, I had to know to look!!   Was there any extra publicity in the towns on the route of that useful extra train?



Much better from next Saturday with a through train,  2 hour journeys, earlier arrival and later return.

[bradshaw]

Following on from Graeme’s earlier comments

Journey Check just now

. 09:30 Weymouth to Gloucester due 12:57
09:30 Weymouth to Gloucester due 12:57 will no longer call at Trowbridge, Bradford-On-Avon, Oldfield Park and Keynsham.
It has been previously delayed but is now 40 minutes late from Maiden Newton.
This is due to overcrowding as this train has fewer coaches than normal.
Will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 3. Service full and standing from Yeovil Pen Mill.

[bobm]

..and now a Gloucester to Weymouth service has had to be swapped over to a new unit at Bristol Temple Meads due to vandalism on the original train.

[Timmer]

Following on from Graeme’s earlier comments

Journey Check just now

. 09:30 Weymouth to Gloucester due 12:57
09:30 Weymouth to Gloucester due 12:57 will no longer call at Trowbridge, Bradford-On-Avon, Oldfield Park and Keynsham.
It has been previously delayed but is now 40 minutes late from Maiden Newton.
This is due to overcrowding as this train has fewer coaches than normal.
Will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 3. Service full and standing from Yeovil Pen Mill.

Indeed, the Heart of Wessex line isn’t just about those heading for a day out at the seaside. Plenty of traffic in the other direction too. I suppose it is good to see that two car trains aren’t even enough for trains that aren’t peak time seaside trains.