2021 - TransWilts cancellation and amendment log

[whole diary]

[Lee]

It's been alluded to on another thread in the context of the final, but one wonders if there may be a correlation between tonight's events at Wembley and a crew shortage tonight?

Transwilts isn't the only branch affected.

Clearly if it IS coming home, it isn't travelling by train.

#Back home they'll be thinking about us
When we are far away
Back home they'll be jammimg the help points
For every train delayed
They'll share every minute we've wasted
Out there we will see schedules devastated
And we'll post up to the CoffeeShop
For the boys back home

Back home they'll be watching and waiting
As we divert via Bath
Back home they think we are heading for Melksham
You must be 'aving a laugh
Once more we'll be willing to trust
That there may or may not be a bus
To take us back to grahame's manor house
And the boys back home

They'll see as they're watching and praying
That we put our hearts in our delay repaying
Until the dispatcher's whistle blows
For the boys back home#

[bobm]

This afternoon's 16:25 ex-Westbury and the all important 17:36 ex-Swindon were also briefly cancelled before being re-instated.

[grahame]

This afternoon's 16:25 ex-Westbury and the all important 17:36 ex-Swindon were also briefly cancelled before being re-instated.

Good (that it was re-instated).   But I do hope that by designating 3 out of 17 trains as "all important", the rail industry (including the local CRP^▸ (Community Rail Partnership)) feel that they have provided successfully provided a service if the three run, even if other services are cancelled.  I am concerned about lowering the bar though, so that the "did a good job" box gets ticked if just three trains run rather than all seventeen, and I sense a move toward that lower bar when words like "all important" are used.  They are the most important, maybe, but they are not all important!

[Lee]

This afternoon's 16:25 ex-Westbury and the all important 17:36 ex-Swindon were also briefly cancelled before being re-instated.

Good (that it was re-instated).   But I do hope that by designating 3 out of 17 trains as "all important", the rail industry (including the local CRP^▸ (Community Rail Partnership)) feel that they have provided successfully provided a service if the three run, even if other services are cancelled.  I am concerned about lowering the bar though, so that the "did a good job" box gets ticked if just three trains run rather than all seventeen, and I sense a move toward that lower bar when words like "all important" are used.  They are the most important, maybe, but they are not all important!

Damn - I knew I should have done "Three Trains" rather than "Back Home"...

[grahame]

18:35 Westbury to Swindon due 19:24
18:35 Westbury to Swindon due 19:24 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

19:34 Swindon to Westbury due 20:16
19:34 Swindon to Westbury due 20:16 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[grahame]

One of three services running short formed too:

08:34 Swindon to Westbury due 09:18
Facilities on the 08:34 Swindon to Westbury due 09:18.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.
Will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 3.

Standard comment here has been that a train shorter than planned (i.e. 2 carriages rather than 3) has been no great problem - however, traffic has been starting to build back up.  I was near the station (litter picking!) at Melksham at 11:30 on Thursday and observed the Westbury train calling. Middle of the day, always one of the quieter trains, yet 8 people waiting on the platform and at least three got off - lots of through passengers too from (poor, it must be said) observation through the windows.   Past form suggests that for every person getting on / off at Melksham, there are two through passengers - so we're looking at a loading of perhaps 30 passengers.  At two carriages, 15 per carriage, and this (remember) what is just about the quietest of the day.   Me thinks we need 3 carriages (and a better frequency of trains!) as the regular offering pretty darned soon.

[bobm]

18:35 Westbury to Swindon due 19:24
18:35 Westbury to Swindon due 19:24 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

19:34 Swindon to Westbury due 20:16
19:34 Swindon to Westbury due 20:16 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Journeycheck now updated to confirm road replacement transport will be available.

[grahame]

12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 13:02
13:15 Swindon to Westbury due 13:56

13:15 Swindon to Westbury due 13:56 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Additional Information
Customers at Swindon and Chippenham travelling to Trowbridge or Westbury should travel on the 13:29 Bristol Temple Meads service from Swindon (13:41 from Chippenham) and change at Bath Spa for the 14:02 service towards Frome which calls at Trowbridge (14:24) and Westbury (12:31). If your ticket is routed via Melksham, it will be accepted on these services via Bath Spa.

[grahame]

12:17 Westbury to Chippenham due 13:07
13:45 Chippenham to Westbury due 14:35
An additional bus service has been planned to operate as shown 13:45 Chippenham to Westbury due 14:35.

[grahame]

20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 22:05
20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 22:05 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[grahame]

Cancellations so far this month ...
1st, 2nd, 6th, 7th, 10th, 13th, 15th

On a service that runs every 30 minutes, that may be acceptable. On a service with gaps of up to 150 minutes, every cancellation to a service that people had planned to use serious disrupts their day / routine, and has them asking "is there something better I should use".

Things go wrong occasionally, but this is not occasional or new (this forum started in January 2007 with this issue).  The TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) have plenty of experience of cancellations on this line, so should be experienced in looking after displaced patterns when it happens.  Sadly, experiences such as that reported by Phil earlier this month suggests that lessons may have been learned over the years, but they have only given a partial improvement on how these things are handled.

Real solution?  Run trains reliably.

[bobm]

20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 22:05
20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 22:05 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

The equivalent service was cancelled at one point yesterday only to be reinstated later.

[bobm]

Seems today has been reinstated as it has gone from the cancellation list.

[grahame]

Seems today has been reinstated as it has gone from the cancellation list.

Puts people off, though ... a proportion of people make / plan / check their journeys and day online - especially where the service has a poor record and re-plan if their train within a thin service is shown as cancelled.   

And for today ...

07:35 Westbury to Swindon due 08:17
08:45 Swindon to Westbury due 09:26

08:45 Swindon to Westbury due 09:26 will be cancelled.
This is due to a points failure.

So that's a gap from 06:11 to 11:05 in departures from Swindon for Melksham, Trowbridge and Westbury.  Swindon's A to Z:

[grahame]

17:50 Gloucester to Southampton Central due 20:36
17:50 Gloucester to Southampton Central due 20:36 will be terminated at Swindon.
It will no longer call at Chippenham, Melksham, Trowbridge, Westbury, Dilton Marsh, Warminster, Salisbury, Romsey and Southampton Central.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.