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

[whole diary]

[Jim]

Booked to arrive in Taunton 1 minute EARLIER yet the Frome call will loose around 4mins!

[CliveD]

An unexpected but welcome addition. I note that they will also call on Saturdays but not until from Sept 13 although the up train departs 19 minutes later at 1614.

The down train also provides an additional connection at Westbury off the 1310 Bristol Waterloo service (Bath dep 1322), which at long last plugs the 3 hour gap that currently exists in the early afternoon.

[Lee]

The down train also provides an additional connection at Westbury off the 1310 Bristol Waterloo service (Bath dep 1322), which at long last plugs the 3 hour gap that currently exists in the early afternoon.

There are also changes in the other direction for Frome, with there no longer being a 3-hour gap in the morning and a longer gap in the early evening (around 2 and a half hours compared to around 2 hours.)

Peak morning arrival from the Frome direction at Weymouth is changed - 0820 (currently 0805.)

Peak evening departure from Weymouth towards Frome is changed - 1730 (currently 1711.)

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) timetable link.
http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Documents/Custom/DC%20MAY%202008%20TIMETABLE/Bristol%20to%20Weymouth.pdf

See also link below.
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=2465.msg18488#msg18488

[Lee]

From the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website :

09:35 Frome to Bristol Temple Meads due 10:43

This train will be started from Westbury.It will no longer call at: Frome.This is due to a member of train crew being unavailable.

[devon_metro]

Similar to yesterdays Torbay Express (0920 PGN-PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) via BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains) Hardly Express!)

Which wait for it...

Started at Newton Abbot. A clever move considering everybody is going home after half term.

I think NOT!

[John R]

Yes, thinking about it, that defeats the whole object of the service. There were others yesterday. The Pembroke Dock and Tenby to Paddington service was shown as starting at Carmarthen, so unless they bussed people to Carmarthen, passengers would have had an hour and a half wait, and a 2 hour later arrival west of Swansea, arriving London at 2231.

Can't imagine anyone inconvenienced by that will use the service again.

[devon_metro]

You are correct, defeats the whole object of the bloody service 

Late off the depot apparently, whats the harm in running it late? Run it via the B&H^▸ (Berks and Hants - railway line from Reading to Taunton via Westbury) if they had to make the time up!

[Hafren]

I was intending to use the Pembroke Dock - Paddington train - there seemed to be a minibus serving the less busy part of the line beyond Tenby - presumably supplemented by a coach or two from Tenby. I imagine it's better/cheaper for FGW^▸ (First Great Western) to provide replacement transport than pay out the refunds for the delay caused by waiting for the next train (over 1 hour's delay, and two for London and similar flows - full refund) - plus I don't think everyone would have fitted onto the pair of 153s forming the next train! When I got home Live Departure Boards were saying the train had started at Swansea.

This seems to have happened at least once a year in recent years on this train, often on the key bank holiday weekends - not a good advert for the one-off travellers, families etc who might be using it! Is there a problem with too few drivers having route knowledge - I guess not all FGW Swansea drivers sign it, and they probably need refreshing each year, and swapping drivers at last minute could mean cancelling one of the hourly SWA^» (Swansea - next trains)-PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) trains, whcih in the big picture is probably less desirable.

[swlines]

Hafren, even if the replacement transport that FGW^▸ (First Great Western) offer lead to arrival at your final destination longer than 1 hour late - you can still claim for compensation against FGW.

"Compensation is based on how long it took the next train (or alternative transport provided by us) to arrive at your intended First Great Western destination."

[Hafren]

True, but I assume a bus would make a significant difference to the total loss by keeping arrivals at least as far as Swansea within the hour, and Newport (along with Manchester-direction connections) if the bus made the 17xx off Carms, and halving the value of London claims...

(Edited a bit - hopefully clearer :-))

[swlines]

Sorry, I interpreted you as saying that instead of paying out refunds that they provide alternative transport...

[Lee]

From the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website :

06:56 Worcester Shrub Hill to Weymouth due 10:54
This train has been revised.It will no longer call at: Frome.This is due to an earlier train fault.

[Lee]

British Transport Police would like to speak to a young woman who they believe can help with an inquiry into a public order incident (link below.)
http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/news/Woman-train-sought-police/article-350308-detail/article.html

The incident happened at Frome railway station on September 6, at about 5.30pm.

[Lee]

A Frome environmental group is asking commuters to contact them about Frome's bus and train service (link below.)
http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/news/Travel-service-gaps-survey/article-360513-detail/article.html

Sustainable Frome's transport sub-committee is concerned about the gaps in the bus and train services and wants to hear views from residents.

A database will be compiled and then the group plans to put pressure on the authorities to combat the problem.

[Graz]

I've just sent an e-mail regarding trains. I also put in a note about the TransWilts