2019 - TransWilts cancellation and amendments log

[whole diary]

[grahame]

7 O'Clock in the morning and ...

16:32 Westbury to Swindon due 17:22
16:32 Westbury to Swindon due 17:22 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:20
17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:20 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

At 10 hours notice, GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) really should be able to find a stand by driver from the considerable number they employ.   

Difficult call at what point to announce a cancellation - it really mucks people about who are planning day trips if the service can be re-instated and the cancellation can be turned into a "false alarm", and yet if people go out for the day not realising there may be. problem getting home ...

Personal view would be to:
a) provide a statistical feed  - "20% chance not running" or "80% not running" together with "we'll  know better at 10 a.m." Some may argue about the extra effort to get this data out, but the planners already know it anyway.  Some may argue that Jo Public may not understand the estimates.
b) At 10 hours notice, plenty of time to have a standby rail replacement bus in place and to publish its times.  This is the busiest train of the day ... and theres a long gap after it ....

[grahame]

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

Facilities on the 13:29 Swindon to Westbury due 14:10.
Will be formed of 3 coaches instead of 2.

I'll admit that when I see a blue streak on the map at the top of the forum in a certain place, I roll my eyes and think "what this time".  This time - not a problem 

[grahame]

Due to damage to the overhead electric wires between Didcot Parkway and Swindon trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines.
Impact:
Train services running through these stations may be delayed by up to 10 minutes. Disruption is expected until 11:30 25/06.

Knock on ...

08:53 Swindon to Westbury due 09:41
08:53 Swindon to Westbury due 09:41 has been previously delayed but is expected to be 6 minutes late from Trowbridge.
This is due to a late running train being in front of this one.

[bobm]

..and a knock on to the knock on.

The 08:00 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads was four minutes late at Swindon but lost another four minutes after catching up the TransWilts service before Thingley Junction.

[grahame]

..and a knock on to the knock on.

The 08:00 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads was four minutes late at Swindon but lost another four minutes after catching up the TransWilts service before Thingley Junction.

Yeah ... the Swindon to Westbury train was formed of 150243 which has a top speed of 75 mph, even though the units supposed to be on these diagrams now are 165s with a top speed of 90 mph.  The 150 is perfectly adequate for the job (happy to have them) and even made up most of the time after Melksham. Really makes one wonder how the timetable will perform when ripples from those little events such as overhead problems ... or wheelchair passengers taking longer to load,  more than usual passenger flows, police called to deal with passengers knock the schedule - examples, you'll note, that are not really of GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) origin.

[bobm]

Signaller was short of options with 08:53 off Swindon.

There was a late running train to Cheltenham in Platform 3 needing to cross in front of the bay.   There was a service from South Wales waiting at Rushey Platt for the Cheltenham to leave, with the unit from Gloucester via Bristol behind it (which needed the bay the TW unit was sat in).

Meanwhile there was a service to South Wales and the 08:00 from London queuing for Platform 4.

So after the Cheltenham left, the service from South Wales was signalled into Platform 3 as the service to Swansea departed from Platform 4.   Then the TW was let out in front of the Bristol to free the bay for the other unit waiting outside. 

The 08:53 left nine minutes late.

[grahame]

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 with the signalling system.
Further Information

If you hold a valid single, return, or weekly ticket, you will be able to claim compensation for delays of 15 minutes or more. Please keep your ticket and visit GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway).com/DelayRepay

[grahame]

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 with the signalling system.

16:21 Westbury to Swindon due 17:03
16:21 Westbury to Swindon due 17:03 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault with the signalling system.

[grahame]

Cancellations to services between Swindon and Westbury
Due to a fault with the signalling system between Swindon and Westbury the line is blocked.
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or suspended. Disruption is expected until 17:00 25/06.
Further Information
Customers travelling from unstaffed stations are requested to make use of the Customer Help Point systems available, or contact National Rail Enquiries on 03457 484 950 detailing the total number of passengers travelling, and their intended destinations. This will enable us to get suitable road replacement transport to customers as quickly as possible.
If you hold a valid single, return, or weekly ticket, you will be able to claim compensation for delays of 15 minutes or more. Please keep your ticket and visit GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway).com/DelayRepay

Err ... GWR should know passenger flows and rough numbers and be able to get alternatives in place in good time - not waiting until people get to the station and press the help point button before suitable road transport is sourced.    Waiting until people call in before pressing the green button - even if it has been primed - is NOT "as quickly as possible".

[grahame]

What a surprise - not.

Busiest train of the day ...

17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:18
17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:18 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault with the signalling system.
Further Information

[phile]

Cancellations to services between Swindon and Westbury
Due to a fault with the signalling system between Swindon and Westbury the line is blocked.
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or suspended. Disruption is expected until 17:00 25/06.
Further Information
Customers travelling from unstaffed stations are requested to make use of the Customer Help Point systems available, or contact National Rail Enquiries on 03457 484 950 detailing the total number of passengers travelling, and their intended destinations. This will enable us to get suitable road replacement transport to customers as quickly as possible.
If you hold a valid single, return, or weekly ticket, you will be able to claim compensation for delays of 15 minutes or more. Please keep your ticket and visit GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway).com/DelayRepay

Err ... GWR should know passenger flows and rough numbers and be able to get alternatives in place in good time - not waiting until people get to the station and press the help point button before suitable road transport is sourced.    Waiting until people call in before pressing the green button - even if it has been primed - is NOT "as quickly as possible".

Surely it should be the duty of the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) to take responsibility for the passengers and not expect them to go chasing for info regarding their travel arrangements and provide the facility at the booked time of the train..   I regularly see requests from GWR in the event of cancellations on Cornish Branches for passengers to use the Help Points and to tell them how many are there are and their travel. details.

[grahame]

Surely it should be the duty of the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) to take responsibility for the passengers and not expect them to go chasing for info regarding their travel arrangements and provide the facility at the booked time of the train..   I regularly see requests from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) in the event of cancellations on Cornish Branches for passengers to use the Help Points and to tell them how many are there are and their travel. details.

Yes - I agree. In theory - but I have a degree of sympathy for train operators and for the environment at the financial and environmental cost of running around number > 1 of replacement vehicles carrying fresh air to and from stations that would have offered little or no traffic anyway.

Some West Country branches are primarily end to end ... with some intermediate station calls made only on request.   Divide the number of passenger journeys to or from the station in a year by the number of trains timetabled to call if required, and you'll get a figure of just 1 or 2.  And in those cases, although the principle may be wrong, the pragmatic approach is to run replacement on demand.   I suspect end to end for every such line the  traffic is far, far higher - the stations in question being characterised in normal service by busy trains calling but hardly anyone getting on or off.

Where an average usage per train in not just 1 or 2 journeys, but much higher - different guidelines should apply.  They should apply to the termini of the West Country branches, and they should apply to certain intermediate stations such as Crediton (around 6 journeys per average train), Falmouth Town (around 10 journeys per average train) and Melksham (around 14 journeys per average train).  In those cases, as soon as there's a probability of the station loosing its service an alternative should be put in place.

Cost of providing alternative transport makes your TOC weep?   Maybe - and the solution is to fix the underlying problems where things keep going wrong.   4 out of 18 lost today at Melksham - that's a 22% cancellation rate.  How do you cut the cost of rail replacements?   Reduce the cancellation rate to under 5%, then you'll have cut your rail replacement costs to less than a quarter, AND you will have a lot more happy customers - happy because they'll have been able to use the train service they [morally] contacted for when they planned their day or booked their ticket.

[rogerw]

With the problems today being caused by signal problems there should be no cost to the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) as NR^» (Network Rail - home page) would have to pick up the tab

[TaplowGreen]

With the problems today being caused by signal problems there should be no cost to the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) as NR^» (Network Rail - home page) would have to pick up the tab

aka the taxpayer.

[grahame]

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.