2023 - Train update and amendment log - Swindon <-> Westbury

[whole diary]

[GBM]

I note the Boardmasters trains are advertised as "reservations mandatory"......I wonder how that will be enforced?

With a bit of flex I should imagine.

Probably need cable rather than flex with those numbers!

High voltage cable perhaps (live, of course)!

[grahame]

14:19 Westbury to Swindon due 15:01
14:19 Westbury to Swindon due 15:01 will be diverted between Trowbridge and Chippenham.
It will no longer call at Melksham.
It will be delayed due to the diversion and is expected to be 10 minutes late.
This is due to a safety inspection of the track.

15:14 Swindon to Westbury due 15:59
15:14 Swindon to Westbury due 15:59 will be diverted between Chippenham and Trowbridge.
It will no longer call at Melksham.
It will be delayed due to the diversion and is expected to be 7 minutes late.
This is due to a safety inspection of the track.

16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:08
16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:08 will be starting late from Westbury.
This is due to a safety inspection of the track.

[TaplowGreen]

14:19 Westbury to Swindon due 15:01
14:19 Westbury to Swindon due 15:01 will be diverted between Trowbridge and Chippenham.
It will no longer call at Melksham.
It will be delayed due to the diversion and is expected to be 10 minutes late.
This is due to a safety inspection of the track.

15:14 Swindon to Westbury due 15:59
15:14 Swindon to Westbury due 15:59 will be diverted between Chippenham and Trowbridge.
It will no longer call at Melksham.
It will be delayed due to the diversion and is expected to be 7 minutes late.
This is due to a safety inspection of the track.

16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:08
16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:08 will be starting late from Westbury.
This is due to a safety inspection of the track.

17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:20

17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:20 will be starting late from Swindon.

This is due to a safety inspection of the track.

[grahame]

06:35 Salisbury to Worcester Foregate Street due 09:47

06:35 Salisbury to Worcester Foregate Street due 09:47 will be started from Westbury.
It will no longer call at Salisbury and Warminster.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[grahame]

13:15 Swindon to Westbury due 13:57
13:15 Swindon to Westbury due 13:57 will be cancelled.
This is due to urgent repairs to the track.

14:19 Westbury to Swindon due 15:01
14:19 Westbury to Swindon due 15:01 will be diverted between Trowbridge and Chippenham.
It will no longer call at Melksham.
It will be delayed due to the diversion and is expected to be 10 minutes late.
This is due to urgent repairs to the track.

15:14 Swindon to Westbury due 15:59
15:14 Swindon to Westbury due 15:59 will be diverted between Chippenham and Trowbridge.
It will no longer call at Melksham.
It will be delayed due to the diversion and is expected to be 7 minutes late.
This is due to urgent repairs to the track.


16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:08
16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:08 will be cancelled.
This is due to urgent repairs to the track.

17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:20
17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:20 will be cancelled.
This is due to urgent repairs to the track.

[grahame]

Re-instated though running late - MUCH better

16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:08

16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:08 has been delayed at Westbury and is now 19 minutes late.
This is due to urgent repairs to the track earlier today.

17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:20
 
17:36 Swindon to Westbury due 18:20 will be starting late from Swindon.
This is due to urgent repairs to the track earlier today.

[grahame]

15:14 Swindon to Westbury due 15:59

15:14 Swindon to Westbury due 15:59 is being delayed at Swindon.
This is due to a speed restriction over defective track.

[TaplowGreen]

16:35 Westbury to Swindon due 17:17
16:35 Westbury to Swindon due 17:17 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

17:44 Swindon to Westbury due 18:25
17:44 Swindon to Westbury due 18:25 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[grahame]

19:40 Weymouth to Swindon due 22:01

19:40 Weymouth to Swindon due 22:01 will be started from Westbury.
It will no longer call at Weymouth, Dorchester West, Maiden Newton, Chetnole, Yetminster, Thornford, Yeovil Pen Mill, Castle Cary and Frome.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

That will be interesting for any of the 35 people who joined the opposite working at 09:10 at Melksham this morning on the way to Weymouth.   I think there is a train half an hour later from Weymouth to Westbury - hope GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) gave a good supply of buses there!

[Timmer]

That will be interesting for any of the 35 people who joined the opposite working at 09:10 at Melksham this morning on the way to Weymouth.   I think there is a train half an hour later from Weymouth to Westbury - hope GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) gave a good supply of buses there!

And it wasn’t as a result of the driver overtime ban as the train ran ECS^▸ (Empty Coaching Stock) to Westbury. Couple this with the 17:35 being canned meant it wasn’t the best of evenings on the Heart of Wessex line.

[grahame]

09:14 Swindon to Westbury due 09:56
09:14 Swindon to Westbury due 09:56 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

10:46 Westbury to Swindon due 11:31
10:46 Westbury to Swindon due 11:31 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

11:42 Swindon to Weymouth due 14:01
11:42 Swindon to Weymouth due 14:01 will be started from Westbury.
It will no longer call at Swindon, Chippenham, Melksham and Trowbridge.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[Bob_Blakey]

A vaguely philosophical, or possibly unnecessarily pedantic, question; might a majority of the aforementioned cancellations be better described as an absence of train crew?

[grahame]

A vaguely philosophical, or possibly unnecessarily pedantic, question; might a majority of the aforementioned cancellations be better described as an absence of train crew?

Certainly the word "shortage" makes it feel (to me, anyway) that the reasons are technical in nature and it dumbs down the severe and ongoing issues we have, and the utterly heartbreaking effect of customers (or, rather, on customers and the potential customer base) and those of us who want to befriend the railways and foster their success.  How on earth can we motivate ourselves, and ask our friends and contacts to trust our advocacy of rail, when the service provided leaks like a colander?

[TaplowGreen]

A vaguely philosophical, or possibly unnecessarily pedantic, question; might a majority of the aforementioned cancellations be better described as an absence of train crew?

Certainly the word "shortage" makes it feel (to me, anyway) that the reasons are technical in nature and it dumbs down the severe and ongoing issues we have, and the utterly heartbreaking effect of customers (or, rather, on customers and the potential customer base) and those of us who want to befriend the railways and foster their success.  How on earth can we motivate ourselves, and ask our friends and contacts to trust our advocacy of rail, when the service provided leaks like a colander?

Having missed the last "Meet the Manager" due to work commitments, were these issues and the subject of crew "shortage" on the agenda, and what was Mark Hopwood's response?

Certainly feels like it's the #1 issue just now (not just on the Transwilts), whether induced by industrial action or simply a failure of the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) to recruit and retain enough staff to fulfil their commitments.

[ChrisB]

DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) won’t authorise any increase in base personnel number