Frome station - facilities, services, improvements, events and incidents - merged posts

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Been a long time writing this - writ before the reply from thetrout, hence some duplication?

Quoting for critical review ...

Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Frome and Somerton, David Warburton, met with Rail Minister Claire Perry last week.

He said due to Frome's rapid expansion, the town needs better links to the capital, and hopes it will become a reality.

He said: "Fast and efficient rail links to Frome must form a vital part of the infrastructure for the future, and a fast train service to London would represent a massive benefit for local people, businesses, tourism and the economy in general.

and

Former chairman of the Frome Public Transport Users Association, John Leach, said he believed it would not be feasible in this time of austerity.

Mr Leach said: "Frome has been a single line station since 1968 and in order for it to become a double line, a new bridge would have to be built by the former First and Last pub, which would cost millions of pounds.

"The station is well used by residents and commuters, that is not in doubt, but the answer is more rolling stock from suppliers for larger trains. Mr Warburton's plans just aren't feasible in this current economic climate. I fear it is more of an electioneering stunt to get people to support their ideas."

And that review:

I wouldn't care to say whether this is an early feasibility suggestion, something that's well researched, or indeed electioneering.  In my view, the current service at Frome is sparse; any town of over 20,000 in the BaNES / West Wilts / North Wilts / Mendip economic area with a station could really do with an hourly service, and a gap from 09:35 to 15:01 on winter Sundays is dire, with 2-hour gaps during the day on weekdays being something that could do with infilling up to an hourly service.   But I'm not convinced that an hourly service would need a second track.  An examination of upcoming timetables sees scheduled trains at 13:44, 14:03, 14:41, 14:50, 14:59, 15:31, 15:47 and 15:55 on Mondays to Fridays, and it would seem to my (perhaps simple) mind that it's trains not tracks through the station that are needed.

Here are some things which might allow dramatic improvements at Frome:
* Re-arranging other local Westbury terminators and local trains passing through Westbury to and from the south to provide a more even service and better stock use for everyone
* 2 extra trains each way per day with re-diagramming of South West trains, London to Yeovil
* Provision of additional carriages / trains
* Updating of signalling and layout between Frome and Clink Road Junction to avoid freight blockage pinch points
* Relay existing track at Westbury Station platform 0 to allow robustness of operation there
* Resignalling of onward routes beyond Westbury to allow better than 35 minute headway.

[Red Squirrel]

What also doesn't help is Frome being one of the Oldest Railway Stations in the Country has made it a listed building...

Does this cause much of a problem? I mean, OK, if English Heritage get involved they may ask NR^» (Network Rail - home page) to reinstate the broad guage tracks...

[thetrout]

Does this cause much of a problem? I mean, OK, if English Heritage get involved they may ask NR^» (Network Rail - home page) to reinstate the broad guage tracks...

Truth be told, I have absolutely no idea. But I vaguely recall some time ago that there were issues regarding the colour of the station building when it came to painting it...

I also agree with grahame that no Westbury bound trains between 09:35 and 15:01 on a winter Sunday is pathetic!

With regards to the 2 hour gaps in the timetable. I am very conscious of the bus services to Bath and Trowbridge of which there are 2 and 3 per hour retrospectively.

Faresaver run their X34 service to Trowbridge, Melksham and Chippenham upwards of every 30 minutes. It's a reliable and punctual service. However to Chippenham takes forever. Their 267 service is also hourly and takes around 40 minutes to complete the journey depending on traffic.

First Bus offer a 234 and 267 service both running hourly and taking slightly longer routes via Rode. Also a reliable and punctual service.

[stuving]

So it can be done on 1 Track already however it takes 15 minutes for a HST^▸ (High Speed Train) to take the Frome Branch line and to call there. So the risks to punctuality must be considered.

Really? 1J99 is an HST that is timetabled to do Blatchbridge Jn to Clink Road Jn in 6^ minutes. It is, after all, less than two miles plus a stop. So the gain from doubling would be small.

If you were concerned about even that time, it might be because a train running late could cause another to wait on the main line. In that case surely you would be better advised to reinstate the other platform.

But that is where the historic status might rear up and bite you - you'd need a footbridge plus plus lifts for access (on both equality and safety grounds). I can only suggest making both platforms as long as the space available, which looks to be a 10-car IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) or thereabouts. Then you can put even an unsightly footbridge so far away it can't easily be seen at the same time as the station building.

[thetrout]

It seems that I cannot count. You are quite right stuving - my apologies.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Frome Standard:

Lift Share Initiative for Frome Commuters



For the whole of August trains from Frome to Bath Spa will be replaced with buses as the line is upgraded and electrified.

In response a lift share evening is taking place at 7pm at the Three Swans pub on King Street this Wednesday to link people up who drive or get the train to Bath or Bristol regularly.

Anna Francis, Frome Town Council's energy and recycling Officer said: "We know that over 1,500 people drive out of Frome to Bath and Bristol every day. Enabling people to link up and share lifts is a great way to cut journey costs, congestion and carbon, so do pop along if you can."

As well as the face to face link up there is also a Somerset Liftshare website and app so if you can't make the event you can sign up for free at: https://somerset.liftshare.com/

The rail replacement service is part of a ^7.5billion electrification programme which has now reached the First Great Western Line at Bath Spa, allowing faster, more efficient trains. This may also free up more diesel carriages for Frome. A full timetable of the changes is available here https://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/bath2015

[TaplowGreen]

Nice idea, but how many people can you realistically get in a tractor? 

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Frome Standard:

^15k windfall to create better transport links to rail services

Frome Town Council has secured ^15,000 in funding from First Great Western's Community Improvement Fund.

The project aims to increase access to rail services for low income residents through discounted tickets, promotion, affordable car and bike hire and new bus links.

The council has said it will be working closely with First Great Western to explore opportunities to increase services at the station as part of the project.

The town council's resilience officer Anna Francis secured the funding. Ms Francis said: "This is a great opportunity to look at ways we can increase access to public transport in Frome. We will be working with Fair Frome, Frome's job centre and others to offer discounted tickets and easier routes. We will also be talking to local bus companies about linking up services with the railway station. And as part of the wider programme, we will be improving signage and pedestrian access."

[WSW Frome]

Points to note are that some progress is already apparent in Frome. We have had an additional (all year) Sunday service for a while - in from WSB^» (Westbury - next trains) and out to BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains) at around 11.40. The Summer Sunday service has started at Easter this year, ca 7 weeks earlier. Every little helps.

Frome Town Council have plans to improve access to the station mainly from Housing Developer-provided funds. This will mainly be improved pedestrian links/signs/crossings. Doubtful whether bus connections will be improved as most bus services are in decline in Frome and elsewhere. First did try extending the 234 service at the station for a while but that obviously did not work very well.

Improved timetabling, rolling stock availability and perhaps track layout improvements towards Clink Road Junction are the only likely ways forward. SW Trains may also provide more but they will wish to review after 1-2 seasons.

[WSW Frome]

Yesterday we joined the 16.29 FRO^» (Frome - next trains)-BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains) at Frome on time. The train then stopped almost immediately at Frome North Junction. We were advised that there was a points problem at Clink Road and that the train would now reverse - all the way to East Somerset Goods Loop (at Witham Friary). This was done efficiently and we then set off for WSB^» (Westbury - next trains) directly arriving about 20 mins down. The train then proceeded fast to Bath arriving about 10 mins down. So all this was quite an efficient recovery. Passengers for Trowbridge and Bradford were catered for by the immediate following train. Avoncliff and Freshford passengers "may" not have fared so well.

Such a lengthy reversal always seems a bit bizarre but no doubt necessary to make a "permitted" signalled movement. Points failures on the Frome loop are not uncommon so why cannot the problem be "properly" fixed?? The immediate problem was fixed for later in the evening. Although this was a minor event it just adds to the raft of signalling problems occurring every day now.

[Timmer]

From JourneyCheck:

Alterations to services at Frome
Due to a points failure at Frome the line towards Castle Cary is blocked.
Train services running through this station may be delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.
Customer Advice
Owing to a problem with a set of points (which allow trains to move from one track to another) West of Frome we are unable to run trains between Frome and Bruton or between Bruton and Frome. Trains will run directly from Westbury to/from Bruton.
-
A minibus has been arranged to convey customers between Frome and Westbury.
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Network Rail engineers are on site and investigating the fault.
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First Bus route D2: Bath (Bus Station) - Frome (Market Place) are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice.

Buses running from Frome to stations towards Weymouth. Love the explanation as to what a set of points does 

[SandTEngineer]

.....or in the case of the recent derailment in Long Rock Depot, what they don't do.....

[froome]

The current train running towards Westbury and Bath is just showing as delayed. However, I'm assuming once that train can get through, trains will run from Weymouth to Westbury missing out Frome without too much delay. A friend of mine is due on a later train this afternoon, so just checking if that is the case.

[bobm]

If a train booked to call at Frome skips it via the avoider it will show as delayed between Blatchbridge and Clink Road junctions as the system "loses" the train when it diverts from its booked route.   It will also show as delayed if the system detects it hasn't moved for 10 minutes or so.  In the later case it stops the automated announcements going off every 60 seconds as another minute is added to the delay.

[froome]

If a train booked to call at Frome skips it via the avoider it will show as delayed between Blatchbridge and Clink Road junctions as the system "loses" the train when it diverts from its booked route.   It will also show as delayed if the system detects it hasn't moved for 10 minutes or so.  In the later case it stops the automated announcements going off every 60 seconds as another minute is added to the delay.

Thanks. My friend actually arrived ok with little delay, so I'm guessing this incident has been resolved.