Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Reading

Due to a points failure between London Paddington and Reading some lines are blocked.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 14:00 22/12.

 
Nice to see there are now a couple of vending machines. Haven't been to the station for a few weeks, so not sure when they got added. Plus the guy doing the coffee was outside as well, so nice little bonus. Mind you, I then had to go into one of the toilets to drink it as there are radiators in the toilets, making them the warmest place to wait in the whole station!

 

and



How the **** do they expect trains to be used when they are so often cancelled on the day?  People will some other way to get around or not get around at all, and that is not good for the finances / business of the railway.

 


And indeed it IS Polsloe Bridge. 

 
16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:06
16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:06 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

17:35 Swindon to Westbury due 18:19
17:35 Swindon to Westbury due 18:19 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

 
Yes, I thought that, too. 

 
The best geometric fit for the names in 4 is Polsloe Bridge.

 
No. 1 is indeed Paddington, No. 2 is Taunton and No. 3 is Melksham.  Some of the words that come up are delightfully misleading - "Parking" the big word at Melksham, indeed!  Just No. 4 to identify

 
Oh yes, see what you mean about Paddington and Bristol.  Bear- pub or rugby team? I took underground to refer to the never ending proposals to build one in Bristol!

 
3: Melksham

 
I suggest that 3 might be Westbury

 
1 might be Paddington instead of Bristol.

 
No2. Taunton......

 
1 must be Bristol!

 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czdg795m5epo


But are they really in chaos, or is it planned?   

Or if they are in chaos at Christmas, are they in chaos the rest of the year too?

 
Asking Google about something results in AI results these days ... I have asked about certain stations and put the results (excluding the station name itself) into a word cloud.  What stations did I ask about?  Do you agree with AI's choice of key words?

1.


2.


3.


4.

 

You hit on another very good and concerning issue - the dominance in so many (most?) of these groups of older people and it's something that we at TravelWatch SouthWest are very much aware of.  Had you come along to our general meeting in October (which I think are the pictures you refer to) or our AGM in December (held online) ... you would have heard discussion of the concern and indeed activities looking to help address it.   And that concern is taken up at board level too.

How many had to take a day off?  Very few - and you break your own argument for a daytime meeting for local groups, infoman, by suggesting a daytime meeting for them.  My evidence at WWRUG with evening meetings suggests that moving to the daytime would only amplify the elderly and make the group even more unrepresentative.

No magic wand - and I appreciate that one of the most difficult things for any organisation or service is to reach people who want to be and could usefully be involved, but are put off to the extent of none-engagement by various hurdles.  And it is so important for the future to be aware of and address those hurdles.

 
Monday December 22

 
Great Western railway which I presume this forum got its inspiration to be named after hold their AGM's in day light hours.

Looking at the photos from the recent Travel watch south west AGM,it seemed a very mature group,

not sure how many are in full time employment,let alone attend college and had to put in a request for a day off.

Keep hearing about mature drivers who don't want to drive nights times nowadays due eye sight not being as good as it use to be.

Not to mention those blinding LED highlights.

We are not all privileged to have a good transport net work in our area.

Who wants to stand on bus stops in the dark winter days waiting for a bus that may never arrive?

 

I would agree.  Very few were it to go around like that.   It's written as a reminder and as an evidence document to be quoted as appropriate (spon fed out) - the full thing perhaps attached as an appendix.

Lead will change in a minute, as will other typos spotted!

 

So do I, Phil ... but it's a moving target. The results of the Melksham Community Vision Survey that closed on 30th September has been published on the MTC website and the transport results are on one of the 23 pages:



I wish it were a bit more granular, but it does confirm people want train and bus services improved.

 
I will confess after a day at work I haven’t read the whole draft but in the first line it should be led rather than lead.

Being candid I wonder how many of the intended audience will read the whole piece.  Sometimes less is more.  You’d like to think they would but…..

 

Asquith Avenue
Walpole Close
Macdonald Close
Gladstone Road
... off Sandridge Common.

At present one bus a day run along the common each way. It goes into Bath - service x76 to the RUH in the morning. In the afternoon it runs to Marlborough, with the bus back the following day.   Two or three service on service 14 into Melksham typically pass by each afternoon as well. They are the ones which call at Skylark Road optionally if there are passengers on board for the stops there, but if not the bus runs up the relief road and into town along the common.

 

Bus Lane, Four Wheel Drive ...

 
Brilliant stuff. I learned a fair few things from that too, and I like to think I'm fairly well informed about Melksham's transport.

One thing though, item 30 suggests that the Prime Ministers are a potential destination for Melksham travellers, which I confess caught me by surprise. I'm guessing it's a typo, but I can't imagine what for. Churchill Avenue perhaps? May Close? Major Road? Eden Grove? Edward's Heath? Alec Douglas's Home?

 

You would be amazed how many guests and lurkers we have ... a silent majority in fact.