South Western Railways Waterloo - Bristol services axed

[whole diary]

[Mark A]

South Western Railway's web site on the topic of Wimbledon tennis championships.

They don't seem to be going as far as organising that additional trains call at Wimbledon to ease and encourage travel from further afield. Not sure the extent to which that was done in the past, but it *was* done, and very recently.

Mark


https://www.southwesternrailway.com/destinations-and-offers/sights-and-attractions/trains-to-wimbledon-tennis-championship

[grahame]

South Western Railway's web site on the topic of Wimbledon tennis championships.

They don't seem to be going as far as organising that additional trains call at Wimbledon to ease and encourage travel from further afield. Not sure the extent to which that was done in the past, but it *was* done, and very recently.

Mark


https://www.southwesternrailway.com/destinations-and-offers/sights-and-attractions/trains-to-wimbledon-tennis-championship

Granted there are no through trains from Bristol, Bath, Bradford-on-Avon or Trowbridge to Wimbledon this fortnight, but there are extra calls - I took a look on Saturday:

Arrivals from beyond Basingstoke (Weymouth, Yeovil Junction, etc) at 05:49, 10:32, 11:06, 11:32, 12:06, 12:09 and 12:32

Returning at 18:03, 18:20, 18:33 and throughout the evening until 23:51

[Mark A]

So they do, thanks for this. Be good to mention that on the event promotion page on the SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) web site, I'll drop 'em a line.

The services include e.g. Exeter at 07:25 arriving Wimbledon at 10:32 so 3 hours 7 minutes. And, currently 9 advance singles for tomorrow available at £37.80, (cf offpeak return at £95:40, mind...)

Return trip mostly involves a change at Woking, but there is a through train from Wimbledon to Exeter at 20:33 with similar AP fares, which is thoughtful.

Mark

[Mark A]

Carrying on with the theme of bespoke train services for events, here's Iansvisits on the 2022 Imberbus day.

https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/the-surreal-experience-that-is-imberbus-returns-in-august-55660/

for ticket suggestions from London, he's reduced to suggesting split ticketing the fare at Salisbury.

No enhanced train service to this, but there's a through train at 08:50 from Waterloo. Nothing in the opposite direction though apart from, if the light is right, the ghost of the old service from Bristol which presumably passed Warminster at a rather useful 5 o'clock(ish).

Looking at return trains, the fares are a bit all over the place - and into the evening, there's a couple of traditional looong connection times at Salisbury - with near three hour travel times, while the last train of the day involves a connection via Bath.

Mark

[paul7575]

South Western Railway's web site on the topic of Wimbledon tennis championships.

They don't seem to be going as far as organising that additional trains call at Wimbledon to ease and encourage travel from further afield. Not sure the extent to which that was done in the past, but it *was* done, and very recently.

Mark


https://www.southwesternrailway.com/destinations-and-offers/sights-and-attractions/trains-to-wimbledon-tennis-championship

Granted there are no through trains from Bristol, Bath, Bradford-on-Avon or Trowbridge to Wimbledon this fortnight, but there are extra calls - I took a look on Saturday:

Arrivals from beyond Basingstoke (Weymouth, Yeovil Junction, etc) at 05:49, 10:32, 11:06, 11:32, 12:06, 12:09 and 12:32

Returning at 18:03, 18:20, 18:33 and throughout the evening until 23:51

I just did a drill down into RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) for a summary of this evenings (28/6) services, if you select passenger calls only, and subsequently calling at Woking, you get this:
https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/detailed/gb-nr:WIM/to/gb-nr:WOK/2022-06-28/2142?stp=WVS&show=pax-calls&order=wtt&toc=SW
AIUI^▸ (as I understand it) all the calls at P7 are tennis extras, as P7 is normally locked off to passengers.   It seems typical for the Wimbledon fortnight.  A similar exercise in the morning would involve looking for calls on P6.

[Mark A]

Andrew Murrison has resigned from a government post, here's his letter.

https://twitter.com/AWMurrison/status/1544385269138350081

(He's the Conservative MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) for South West Wiltshire. Circa 2004, when the Waterloo trains were previously threatened at a change of franchise, he did much to ensure the well used service was retained. Fast forward to the recent campaign, was it the case that he was supportive but with the current DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) decision makers found he had no influence on the issue?)

Michelle Donelan, the MP for Chippenham has been appointed Secretary of State for Education. A fair percentage of her constituents signed Graham's lovely petition in support of the service, just trying to recall exactly what percentage... ah, here it is: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/598397

Mark

[grahame]

Andrew Murrison has resigned from a government post, here's his letter.

We have gotten to know Andrew well over the years and he's certainly been a good friend on the public transport side - an unassuming man who you could quite easily pass on Westbury station, and I feel that he's put his principles ahead of his career or his popularity with his colleagues and ministers at times. His support at the tail of last year was notably strong and genuine - he really asked the questions with a view to getting concrete local consideration and change, going rather beyond just meeting with ministers to let us know he had put our case. 

I don't always agree with Andrew's views but I have a repect for him. Sad to see him resign, but in the funny world of politics and the Conservative party ...

[JayMac]

Michelle Donelan, the MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) for Chippenham has been appointed Secretary of State for Education.

It's surprising that there are Tory MPs out there prepared to join a sinking ship.

[GBM]

Our local (Conservative) M.P has recently spoken against the Prime Minister.
Prior to that, he's kept his personal views quiet, only speaking about current agenda issues.
He's the only Cornish one to do so.
Steve Double has said as he's a Whip, he's supporting the party line.
George Eustice has said he's remaining in post.
The other three MP^▸ (Member of Parliament)'s haven't said anything.

I know, I know, politics will divide us and this is nothing to do with Waterloo to Bristol

[JayMac]

Michelle Donelan, the MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) for Chippenham has been appointed Secretary of State for Education.

It's surprising that there are Tory MPs out there prepared to join a sinking ship.

She's resigned. That has to be a record for the shortest tenure as a minister of state.

[TonyK]

Michelle Donelan, the MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) for Chippenham has been appointed Secretary of State for Education.

It's surprising that there are Tory MPs out there prepared to join a sinking ship.

She's resigned. That has to be a record for the shortest tenure as a minister of state.

36 hours, with a payoff of £17,000. Although she left without making any big mistakes, like Sam Allardyce, the only England manager never to lose a game.

[oldshire]

It's very sweet of her to give her payout to charity but the money belongs to the taxpayer!

[Mark A]

South Western Railway has published its 2022-23 business plan. Among other things, changes arising from the December '22 timetable consultation have been put back 'till is it May '23.

https://www.southwesternrailway.com/other/about-us/our-plan

(No sign of them reinstating the chunk of the December '21 timetable change on which they didn't consult of course...)

Mark

[grahame]

https://www.southwesternrailway.com/other/about-us/our-plan

(No sign of them reinstating the chunk of the December '21 timetable change on which they didn't consult of course...)

No direct reference.   But I hope that

We will modernise and simplify the customer offer, taking into account the full end to end journey experience to improve our customers’ on-train and at station experience.

means that clockface connections at Salisbury will be sorted out

We will deliver a punctual and reliable train service that meets the needs of our customers through matching capacity to demand

means that demand from WECA^» (West of England Combined Authority - about) and West Wiltshire will be met with punctual and reliable trains

We will maximise and sustain the recovery and growth of our own and whole industry revenues following the pandemic

means, again, that they will look for growth

Sadly, most the quotes above are sandwiched with weasel words and phrases ... and I could find some very negative things that could be done within the plan's apparently positive design.   I note that the ultimate way to simplify something is to withdraw it, and one approach to raising revenue is to increase the price - directly or by limiting the usefulness of lower priced options.

[Mark A]

From the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) Customer and Stakeholder report 2021/22 published August 2022, grateful to one Chris Irwin for this:

"It was, therefore, of regret that GWR seemed unable to find ways of ameliorating the very poor connection times for passengers at Salisbury from Bristol, Bath and west Wiltshire to the southern home counties and London Waterloo caused by SWR^» (South Western Railway - about)’s withdrawal of through service between Waterloo, Salisbury, and Bristol."

It would have been lovely if it had been a bit of a theme from everyone though. Mark Hopwood in his introduction states, quite correctly:

"Rail is not about trains, it is about connecting people and places and we do that best when we work together"

With regards to current Bristol - Waterloo service provision, that report is a case of 'Talk the talk' at a time that they need to get down and fix something that, starting with the arrival of the new SWR franchise, the industry conspicuously broke.

Mark