Missed train.. but why...?

[whole diary]

[inspector_blakey]

To catch the 1844 ex Swindon "connection" you should be on the 1730 ex Padd, not the 1745.

Absolute nonsense! It's an advertised connection in the timetable (Swindon arr 1838, dep 1844).

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

Absolute nonsense! It's an advertised connection in the timetable (Swindon arr 1838, dep 1844).

No its not nonsense IB.  If you travel around the railway and base your plans on "advertised connections" you must miss a lot of trains.  If I wanted to make sure I got the 1844 off Swindon I would be on the 1730 ex Padd. 

Just because FGW^▸ (First Great Western) say there is a 6 minute connection doesn't mean it actually works on a regular basis. 

[inspector_blakey]

I stand by that comment. If you plan all your journeys on the basis of missing connections you'll waste hours of time. I always plan around the advertised ones and find that the vast majority of the time they work well.

As long as the connection is advertised, you have a contract with the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) to get you to your destination. In the case of Melksham, seeing as that connecting service runs only twice a day, FGW^▸ (First Great Western) either has to hold the connecting train for a few minutes or provide alternative transport for everyone off the 1745 ex-Padd.

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

One needs to apply some common sense here.  A 6 minute connection at Swindon with a change of platform and maybe quite a long walk (run!) and congested stairs etc?  To be avoided if possible in my view.  But a 16 minute connection I'd probably go for.

Yes, FGW^▸ (First Great Western) may have a contract to get you from A to B, and no doubt if you miss the 1844 off Swindon there's another train an hour later. But wouldn't you rather make an effort to get the 1730 off Padd to give yourself some leeway for the 1844 off Swindon?  Do you really want to be on the 1745 Padd - Swindon looking at your watch all the time and wondering whether you'll make the connection into the 1844 off Swindon, or whether you need to walk through the train to be by the stairs, and how fast you're going to have to run?  If you're happy with that fine, but I wouldn't be. Better to get an earlier train and relax a bit.

[inspector_blakey]

Quite.

One does apply some common sense every time one travels. Stick to the advertised connections and you're usually fine. Given that many times I end up connecting two or three times en route (say, Oxford to west Wales) with most of the services involved running roughly hourly, I could allow myself an extra hour for each connection and double the length of the journey it's true. Why on earth I'd want to though I have no idea.

I can only go by personal experience where I have made many hundreds of journeys involving connecting trains en route - nearly always there has not been an issue; occasionally there has but the time that such delays have cost me pales into insignificance compared to the time I would have wasted messing about to ensure that I had half an hour between connecting trains!

no doubt if you miss the 1844 off Swindon there's another train an hour later.

Erm, putting things politely, that's something of a bone of contention for the resident of Melksham. There isn't another train until the following morning. In fact the poor service provided en route was one of hte original raisons d'etre of this forum!

[grahame]

Coming in as a Melksham resident ... and clearing up a couple of issues.

The train after the 18:44 is at 06:15 (If you travel from London on a Monday to Thursday) or at around 15:20 on Saturday afternoon if you travel on a Friday.   "Another train an hour later" is what the GWRUS^▸ (Great Western Route Utilisation Strategy) says should be provided, but it's not there at the moment.

With such a sparse onwards service, I do always try to be on a service earlier out of Paddington.  However - if there are lower priced advanced tickets for sale, they will only be on that train with the shorter connection - so much as I would advocate common sense and allowing another 10 to fifteen minutes in Swindon, I can find myself penalised pricewise to do so.

And finally - let's be realistic.  We don't end up sleeping overnight on the platform at Swindon if the connection misses.  The staff at Chippenham are very good / professional / well practised in sorting things out for those of us who know our rights and where to find 'em.   And standing in the booking office asking in a loud voice "can you tell me the time of the next train to Melksham" often brings the offer of a lift from a sympathetic fellow resident who has driven up there to collect an otherwise-stranded partner.  Indeed - I have "picked up" people this way when I have been meeting people ...