Easter Engineering Work

[whole diary]

[Lee]

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) link.
http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/NewsItem.aspx?id=588

Main service changes:

Swindon to Didcot Parkway ^ Lines closed 21 ^ 24 March with replacement buses operating between these two stations. Trains will run from Didcot Parkway to Oxford and Reading onwards.

Swindon to Chippenham ^ Lines closed 21 ^24 March with replacement buses operating between these two stations. Train services will run from Chippenham to Bath and Bristol Temple Meads.

Gloucester ^ Severn Tunnel Junction ^ Line will be closed on Easter Sunday, 23 March with replacement buses service between Gloucester and Newport.

Par to Newquay - Branch line closed from 21 ^ 25 March. Replacement bus service.

Frome Station - Station closed 21- 23 March: Replacement bus services to and from Westbury station as alternative station stop.

[Timmer]

In the press release by FGW^▸ (First Great Western) it says that:

we at First Great Western know that these service changes are inconvenient to our customers and we will do all we can to inform our customers of these unavoidable changes over the holiday period

Does anyone know if this means that FGW are publishing timetable alterations booklets like they did last Easter? Bearing in mind that the engineering work taking place this time round in the Swindon area over the whole four day period means many more trains are being revised than they were last Easter.

So far only revised timetables for local branchline services have appeared on their website.

[miniman]

Does anyone know if it is EVER going to be possible to get from Chippenham to London at the weekend without getting on a damn bus? They seem to have been doing this engineering work for literally years now. Presumably it's a bit like painting the Forth Bridge in that by the time they finish, something else will have worn out and off they will go again.

[BRADNOCK]

For those of you that like a challenge have a go at getting from My Station Kidwelly to Weymouth on Sunday 30th March  My daughter is going back home after spending Easter with us. Has to be Sunday to get the children ready for school  so I though that I would check train times She usually leaves around dinner time and the journey takes approx 6 hours with 3 Changes When the Weymouth Train started from Cardiff it was only 2 changes. (Happy days) The first journey is 4 changes include a bus ride 9.06hrs. 2nd 7 changes with two bus rides 7.41hrs. 3rd 6 changes 1 bus 8.20hrs 4th 5 changes incl 2 bus 7.20 5th 6 changes incl 2 bus rides 6.40 I think I got the times right but you get the idea  When she has her two children and the luggage she really dose not want the agro it looks like Dads taxi.  Did some body once say let the train take the strain. I know they need to do maintenance But?

[grahame]

Does anyone know if it is EVER going to be possible to get from Chippenham to London at the weekend without getting on a damn bus?

Yes - change at Bath 

[smokey]

It's well and truely time NR^» (Network Rail - home page) went back to Single line working for Engineering Work.

For the H & S pundits who claim it's a safety Issue,

FACT, due to the false sense of safety due to No Train movements, when in fact Engineering trains DO move past relaying and other work sites, more men have died on these work sites than when trains ran past engineering sites at FULL line speed.

If H & S want to make it SAFER, allow trains to past work sites at say 10 MPH.

[swlines]

SWT^▸ (South West Trains) have been running past engineering works more often than not recently. A few weeks ago they had Single Line Working in place from Wimbledon to Weybridge for down trains running on the up fast, up trains ran on the up fast. Before that, SWT ran all trains on the up slow going up, and down to Guildford and reverse to Woking for down trains.

[Timmer]

Does anyone know if it is EVER going to be possible to get from Chippenham to London at the weekend without getting on a damn bus? They seem to have been doing this engineering work for literally years now. Presumably it's a bit like painting the Forth Bridge in that by the time they finish, something else will have worn out and off they will go again.

Yes Chippenham does have way more than it's fair share of bustitution because of it's location with services either diverted via the Berks and Hants or Hullavington when their is engineering work anywhere between Bristol-Swindon.

As Graham says you can go via Bath when services are diverted via the B&H^▸ (Berks and Hants - railway line from Reading to Taunton via Westbury) which is better than changing at Swindon for a bus to Reading.

Direct services to London resume 29/30 March though watch out for some Sunday morning services not running to/from London due to engineering work just outside Temple Meads station on this date and the following weekend as well!
http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=2278

[swlines]

On that day, most services in the morning will be running via Bristol Parkway from the south.

Departures from Bath Spa onwards to London Paddington will be at:
1213 Bath Spa, 1225 Chippenham, 1241 Swindon, 1258 Didcot Parkway, 1315 Reading, 1355 London Paddington
1313, as above to London Paddington arriving 1503.
1413, as above to London Paddington arriving 1556.
1513, as above to London Paddington arriving 1653.
1613, as above to London Paddington arriving 1752.
1643 Bath Spa, 1655 Chippenham, 1711 Swindon, 1729 Didcot Parkway, 1744 Reading, 1821 London Paddington
1713, as normal xx13 pattern, arriving Paddington 1856

Goes in that half hourly pattern until 2013, when the next service will be ...
2114 Bath Spa, 2127 Chippenham, 2142 Swindon, 2201 Didcot Parkway, 2218 Reading, 2307 London Paddington
last service 2217 Bath Spa, 2229 Chippenham, 2250 Swindon, 2329 Reading, 0011 London Paddington

[Lee]

Bristol Evening Post article link.
http://thisisbristol.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=145365&command=displayContent&sourceNode=145191&contentPK=20146539&folderPk=83726&pNodeId=144922

[Lee]

Wiltshire Times article link.
http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/display.var.2115361.0.easter_changes_to_rail_services.php

[Lee]

Further FGW^▸ (First Great Western) link.
http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=2254

[Lee]

This Is Somerset article link.
http://thisissomerset.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=147472&command=displayContent&sourceNode=243687&home=yes&more_nodeId1=242222&contentPK=20208121