Weymouth summer weekend services

[whole diary]

[Timmer]

Didn't mean it in a nasty way, sorry if you got the wrong end of the post TBH^▸ (to be honest), is doesn't suprise me that NRES^▸ (National Rail Enquiry Service) wasn't correct & I doubt a crew diagram has even been made yet.

I know you didnt mean it in a nasty way and no offense was taken. Just hope I didnt come across as being too harsh in my reply  Everyone is much more friendly on this site compared to some sites these days.

[Jim]

Agree there! All we need to guess now is the number of carriges ALLOCATED for the services for the summer!

[Timmer]

Agree there! All we need to guess now is the number of carriges ALLOCATED for the services for the summer!

That is the million dollar question. Especially bearing in mind the loss of the 08:54 Westbury-Weymouth and the return 16:41 Weymouth-Bristol. It could get interesting come home time!

When Wessex stopped the loco and coaches, the 09:00 Bristol to Weymouth always seemed to run as a five coach 150/158/153. That was a few years back before they reverted to running two morning services like they do on weekdays (now the 08:04 and 09:04 ex Bristol) FGW^▸ (First Great Western) could use their sole three car 158 along with a 150 but they would have to bolster both morning services as both will be just as busy especially the 08:04 after Westbury now the 08:54 ex Westbury no longer runs.

Another point worth noting is FGW's decision to put the evening service return departure time back from 17:21 to 17:49. Love to know their reasons for this is bearing in mind the inbound service still arrives at 17:09. (Don't tell me, so people can have longer on the beach) After mid-september it reverts back to 17:21. It also stops at Yeovil for 10 minutes and again at Westbury for another 7 minutes!!!! making it a jolly long end to the day.

[Jim]

Agree there! All we need to guess now is the number of carriges ALLOCATED for the services for the summer!

That is the million dollar question. Especially bearing in mind the loss of the 08:54 Westbury-Weymouth and the return 16:41 Weymouth-Bristol. It could get interesting come home time!
.

That service wasn't as well used as I thought it would be to be honest, well in terms of 'norms' when the 31's did it & it terminted at Westbury, I don't know what it was like last year though.

Yes, there was indeed the 5 car combo, I used to love that, everyone was wedged in the 158, the 150 was busy & the 153 had 5 people in most Saturdays going down in the morning!

[whistleblower]

Looks like 'whistleblower' was incorrect! There will be an eaarly Bristol -Weymouth on Sundays

WHAT?!!!  How dare you accuse me of being ink incrre incorrek wrong.  Why, you little whippersnapper........

cheers,

whistleblower

[Jim]

WHAT?!!!  How dare you accuse me of being ink incrre incorrek wrong.  Why, you little whippersnapper........

cheers,

whistleblower

There is a 1st time for everything Lol

[Timmer]

Well another bank holiday weekend is almost with us and the sun is set to shine once again (for a change  ) So this means many will want to travel on the Heart of Wessex line this weekend. What sort of service are they going to get?

Well if they try and travel on a sunday none at all until the afternoon as we are still on winter timetable and FGW^▸ (First Great Western) have removed the Warminster-Weymouth morning service that used to start running early May in advance of the summer timetable.

If anyone is travelling/working this line this bank holiday weekend do let us know how things turn out passenger wise along with what stock FGW provide. Have they made plans to cover for the extra journeys?? all will be revealed. Happy travelling.

[Jim]

Happy travelling.

Am I not going on FGW^▸ (First Great Western) trains then

[Timmer]

Happy travelling.

Am I not going on FGW^▸ (First Great Western) trains then

Lol, I must have said that more in hope I think Jim.

[Lee]

An interesting post from the Save The Train Forum (link below.)
http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=2338.msg5358#msg5358

[Jim]

All due respect, but some of that article is a load of tosh!

1)There is now a morning (Sunday) Bath - Weymouth, leaves BTM^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads (strictly, it should be BRI)) at 0915!
2)It was on Sunday, along with at least 1 other service
3)Has the person ever been on a St IVes train in the summer

[Timmer]

An interesting post from the Save The Train Forum (link below.)
http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=2338.msg5358#msg5358

With regards to the second letter that appears on this link. Lance Cole of FGW^▸ (First Great Western) saying they have added an extra service at 9am from Westbury. This is in fact the same service that used to start from Warminster before heading for Weymouth so that is not true to say its an extra service as far as previous summer timetables are concerned; its actually a service which has been cut back!

Clever bit of spin me thinks here. Yes it's extra in terms of what runs in the winter but no different to what has run in previous summers.

In fact, FGW have made cuts to the previous year's summer Sunday services: A morning service that used to start from Weymouth leaving at 8.25 now starts at Frome and an afternoon service that used to run between Westbury (dep 16.05) and Weymouth in the summer no longer runs, so FGW are in no position to be blowing any trumpets right now about services on this line on Sundays. However they can redeem themselves by operating a loco and coaches over the summer 

[Timmer]

All due respect, but some of that article is a load of tosh!

1)There is now a morning (Sunday) Bath - Weymouth, leaves BTM^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads (strictly, it should be BRI)) at 0915!
2)It was on Sunday, along with at least 1 other service

I was reminded of the fact that the 09.15 didnt appear on the journey planner until a few weeks ago and certainly doesn't appear in the National Rail Timetable. It wasn't until FGW^▸ (First Great Western) published their timetable books (quite late this time round and still riddled with errors) that it was certain that this service was running this year.

When Mark Annand wrote to the Chronicle at the time there was no sign of the 09.15 despite enquiries being made. I decided to wait until FGW published their timetables before making comment and sure enough it was there.

P.S There now appears to be confusion regarding the Saturday evening service from Weymouth. FGW's TTs says it's 17.49 during the summer, the journey planner says 17.21 just like it has been in previous years. So if you are travelling from Weymouth on a Saturday evening beware as you may miss your train if you think it leaves at 17.49.

All in all I have a great deal of concern for the future of printed timetables as the ones FGW publish now tend to be riddled with errors and timings of some services are incorrect which is not good when people rely on them for when a service is meant to run. I'm not wanting to intentionally bash FGW on this but their timetables need to improve on their accuracy as this has slipped in the last year.

[Jim]

All in all I have a great deal of concern for the future of printed timetables as the ones FGW^▸ (First Great Western) publish now tend to be riddled with errors and timings of some services are incorrect which is not good when people rely on them for when a service is meant to run. I'm not wanting to intentionally bash FGW on this but their timetables need to improve on their accuracy as this has slipped in the last year.

Timettables have always been ridled with errors, some of them quite funny!

[grahame]

The Sunday morning trains to Weymouth were indeed a last minute addition according to confirmations now to hand.   Mark Annand's letter was 100% when it was written and it's naughty (to put it mildly) for anyone to suggest that he was wrong, or to claim loads of credit for offering a better service than he suggested would be available while "rubbishing" him.

Remember this tactic.    If you are running 12 trains but you really only want to run 10, announce you're going to cut  back to 8 services.   Then you'll be seen as the white knight when you - at the last minute - run 10.  Of course, you've managed to sneak in the cuts you wanted to make in the first place ....