Welcome to the retimed late(r) service from Swindon to Westbury on Monday to Friday, and the extra later train on Sunday. And welcome too to the new early train on Mondays to Fridays from Westbury to Swindon.
I don't expect the new trains will be easy to fill ... but both surprised me, pleasantly, last night. "Madness" to be out at that time of night, perhaps ... but this was a unique opportunity to quantify where we started.
The 20:34 off Melksham (retimed 19:55) carried 14 into Melksham, 2 off and 2 on,
16/4. For a bleak Sunday evening, not too bad and no grumbles heard about it being later (but I do expect grumbles next summer when a 10 minute connection at the end of day trips from Weymouth turns into a wait of over 45 minutes with tired children!),
The brand new 21:10 off Swindon conveyed 14 people off Chippenham. 3 off and 1 on at Melksham, making for
15/4 on our standard measure. Which was very much more than I would have guessed. This gentleman pictured boarded at Swidnon, delighted at the new extra train and will be a regular passenger. Others were asleep on the train at the end of what had probably been a long day for them - hardly the "party train" though it was the same 165 that Santa had used earlier in the day, and I was delighted to note that our "clean up crew" had done a good job.
The 05:33 this morning had just one passenger on board into Melksham and I was the sole person joining; I expect this one to need a little tender loving promotion as it's crept onto the timetable without the same level of promotion as things like the London super-fasts. Never the less, pick ups at Chippenham and there were 8 passengers into Swindon.
2/1
So far - and it's VERY early - so good. The 06:05 to Paddington called on time in Swindon (arrive at 06:03) and picked up a good shower (rather than a flood) of passengers, and after grabbing (!) a cup of coffee, I've returned to Melksham on the 06:11, with 15 people on board from Swindon. It looks to me like in the new diagrams this is how they're rotating the set off the Swindon - Westbury run as it's the same train as yesterday for Santa, now headed for Southampton - it looks like it got as little sleep as I did!
Off back home - a day's work from 9 to 5 giving a training course in Python, with travelling on the trains being "far, far away". 17 on the train into Melksham (lots off and on at Chippenham) and Melksham was -4 +3 -
20/7
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