This is a test of GDPR / Cookie Acceptance [about our cookies]
Really irritating test - cookie expires in 24 hour!
Great Western Coffee Shop
As at 16th March 2025 11:43 GMT
Recent Public Posts - [guest]
Re: RMT balloting for Industrial action on GWR
In "Across the West" [359490/29960/26]
Posted by ChrisB at 10:55, 16th March 2025
 
So who is doing the bullying?

Re: Plan for M4 to south coast corridor to avoid Bath, through West Wiltshire
In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [359489/30025/51]
Posted by grahame at 09:57, 16th March 2025
 
Yes that is their problem, the strategic route they had before doesn't work any more so they need a new one.  When they planned it I think they assumed they could build the now aborted Swainswick - Batheaston bypass to avoid Bath. 

Others have posted while I was writing this - I have decided still to post as it backs them up and has a few extras

Indeed - you have the very curious Batheaston bypass  (connecting the A4 East - West and the A46 headed north) crossing the River Avon twice that at one point on the same side of the Avon as the road headed south (A36) and only about a quarter of a mile from it. 



The way around it shown on this map is via the Clevedon Bridge which - however - is a revered piece of history and accessed along roads like the London Road and Bathwick Street which are unsuitable for HGVs, or for an easy increase in vehicle numbers.    Other ways are the toll bridge at Bathmapton (and I'm sure there are weight limits there) and through the old town and across the old bridge at Bradford-on-Avon with problems with air quality, congestion, vibration and so on, and which has a weight limit which is very visibly applied.

There is no blindingly obvious route north to the M4 from Warminster. There is a strong case for a road (the new A350)  that allows traffic to bypass Westbury, from the A36 where it crosses the main railway to the West Country, parallel to the railway to the Industrial area north of Westbury station.   That industrial area is altready linked to the M4 via the A350 though there are pinch points at Yarnbrook and in Melksham north of the Farmer's runabout that already - err - need attention.

We shouldn't be looking at the strategic route in isolation either.  Resident population growth is set to be and mandate to continue to be explosive, but the commercial / economic hub for that growth is the Bath and Bristol area, and good mass transit links are needed - beyond what we have at the moment, as the private car infrastructure already creaks at the seams.

Re: Plan for M4 to south coast corridor to avoid Bath, through West Wiltshire
In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [359488/30025/51]
Posted by Mark A at 09:53, 16th March 2025
 
Should route everything via M4 and the A34...

Musings from the top deck of a Swindon-Cirencester bus a week ago, and the sight (again) of the earthworks of the rail route between Cheltenham and Southampton cutting across the road, the old canal and fields at Siddington. It's a sight that's always evocative: the two rail routes playing a comparatively minor part in the railway age, and long out of use, but at least in part now paralleled by major roads constructed very much as 'Motorways by stealth'.

Roads are by their nature far better able to evolve piecemeal and as well as enjoying benefits we all pay the price.

Mark

Re: Plan for M4 to south coast corridor to avoid Bath, through West Wiltshire
In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [359487/30025/51]
Posted by Clan Line at 09:38, 16th March 2025
Already liked by Mark A, Andy E
 
Yes that is their problem, the strategic route they had before doesn't work any more so they need a new one.  When they planned it I think they assumed they could build the now aborted Swainswick - Batheaston bypass to avoid Bath. 

You are spot on there !  When the "proper" A46/A36 link was cancelled, that really made the remaining work that was carried out on the A46/A4 a complete waste of time and money and achieved absolutely zilch.

Re: Plan for M4 to south coast corridor to avoid Bath, through West Wiltshire
In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [359486/30025/51]
Posted by ellendune at 08:56, 16th March 2025
 
The objective is to avoid Bath. 

Bath is already "avoided" ! The closure of the Cleveland Bridge has already stopped heavy traffic from the A46 getting onto the A36 - as it used to do. This has moved traffic from the A46 to the A350. Bath has dumped its HGV problem onto West Wiltshire

Yes that is their problem, the strategic route they had before doesn't work any more so they need a new one.  When they planned it I think they assumed they could build the now aborted Swainswick - Batheaston bypass to avoid Bath. 

Re: Plan for M4 to south coast corridor to avoid Bath, through West Wiltshire
In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [359485/30025/51]
Posted by ellendune at 08:49, 16th March 2025
 
Warminster to Dorset strategic route remains via the A36 to M27 junction 2, then westward via the A31. I saw a discussion on the SABRE roads forum…

Paul

Just because someone has decided to call a route "strategic" doesn't mean it is capable of handling the required traffic volumes.  If only ...............

Totally agree.  All they are going to do as I understand it, is change the sign posts.  Though if they ever have money to spend on improvements it will be part of the justification. 

Re: RMT balloting for Industrial action on GWR
In "Across the West" [359484/29960/26]
Posted by TaplowGreen at 08:36, 16th March 2025
 

Seen on another forum - from Bruvver Dempsey - not sure if it's connected to the dispute on the original post, there seem to be a lot of them about! 


7th March 2025

Dear RMT Member

BREAKDOWN IN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, STATION GRADES - GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY

As you may be aware RMT went into dispute with the company regarding Rest Day Work rates of pay, Sunday rates of pay, and back pay to achieve parity with Driving grades who were given enhanced Sunday and Rest Day Work payments in 2024. The company has an agreement with the Unions to treat all grades equally, which it was in breach of, both with Joint Stations Divisional Council and On Trains Divisional Council.

This dispute arose as the company appeared to be dragging their feet over obtaining a Department for Transport mandate to negotiate and JSDC ran out of patience.

Station staff have been treated as poor relations to other grades for far too long.

GWR obtained a mandate in January and talks commenced; but the company brought forward plans similar to their Workplace Reform proposals which they wished to negotiate alongside the dispute issue. This included, under the banner of a '7 Day Railway', proposals that would mean significant changes to every member's Terms & Conditions, and see Sundays brought into the working week. There has been no mention of any significant compensation for our members in exchange for these huge concessions.

JSDC insisted that the company settle the outstanding dispute before any further negotiations took place, and the company returned to the DfT for a mandate to do so. They returned with an offer which failed to even address the back pay issue, and only offered Safety Critical staff a Sunday enhancement, leaving Ticket Office staff, non-safety critical platform staff, TSSO staff, and Gateline staff offered nothing at all for Sunday working, and all Station Grades offered no enhancements for RDWK at all.

This in no way offered parity with the Driver's deal; it was a derisory offer that denigrates the vital work Station staff do, and was completely unacceptable to your Staff side representatives; we were unanimous in this. JSDC turned down the offer and the talks collapsed. We have expressed our willingness to talk to the company, but until the material dispute is settled, this is not possible.

It now appears that the company intends to press ahead with its desired reforms to current working practices without agreement from your representatives, and without first settling the current dispute.

JSDC remains open to continuing discussions with the company to find a way forward but we will not be bullied into accepting a settlement that does not respect the efforts our members make on behalf of the company, day in day out, in all weathers, on the frontline, delivering the best service we can.


Re: Extra trains for the six Nations, 15.3.2025
In "London to South Wales" [359483/30024/11]
Posted by TaplowGreen at 08:19, 16th March 2025
 
It sounds like the extra trains ran roughly as planned, though with some delays because the platforms were so crowded that the next trains weren't brought in until the one across the platform from them had been loaded. As for the match, this is a public transport forum and I have no knowledge or comment 

Well......sort of.

There was also a train chartered from West Coast which departed half an hour late.

That said, after such a stunning English victory I am sure those heading back towards Bristol/London wouldn't have been too unhappy to wait a little longer to savour the atmosphere (..........and no doubt to accept the sincere congratulations of the locals!) 

Re: Great British Railways
In "Looking forward - the next 5, 10 and 20 years" [359482/30032/40]
Posted by TaplowGreen at 07:54, 16th March 2025
 
Looking at the governments recent decision to abolish NHS England deemed a quango; is the new Briitish Railways just another quango overseen by the Department of Transport.

Yes.

Re: Extra trains for the six Nations, 15.3.2025
In "London to South Wales" [359481/30024/11]
Posted by UstiImmigrunt at 07:42, 16th March 2025
Already liked by grahame, Timmer
 
Pleasantly surprised that GWR managed to run the additional trains from both crew and rolling stock perspectives. Now how about 2 an hour via the B+H in a fortnight?


Re: Great British Railways
In "Looking forward - the next 5, 10 and 20 years" [359480/30032/40]
Posted by grahame at 07:26, 16th March 2025
 
Looking at the governments recent decision to abolish NHS England deemed a quango; is the new Briitish Railways just another quango overseen by the Department of Transport.

Oh - the same irony that rail franchising is declared dead and the TOCs will be nationalised, whereas flavour of the month in bus operation is a network designed by the public sector, with routes or areas operated by franchises?

Great British Railways
In "Looking forward - the next 5, 10 and 20 years" [359479/30032/40]
Posted by REVUpminster at 07:10, 16th March 2025
Already liked by Timmer
 
Looking at the governments recent decision to abolish NHS England deemed a quango; is the new Briitish Railways just another quango overseen by the Department of Transport.

Re: Ferries across waterways - whether by vehicle, foot or both (merged posts)
In "Buses and other ways to travel" [359477/3662/5]
Posted by grahame at 05:52, 16th March 2025
 

Additional sailings have also been added between Lochranza in Arran and Claonaig in the Kintyre peninsula.  The operator said all passengers should have a booking prior to arriving in Troon, adding that those who had not booked could not be guaranteed travel


Claonaig is a VERY long way round and I don't think public transport goes anywhere near it  ... I suppose for passengers with their own transport headed for northern Dumbartonshire it might have been a viable alternative.




Even when Glen Sannox is running (and it seems it's back after being patched up later today), it's running to and from a jetty in Troon which is not rail connected and it involves a transfer bus, rather than the service from Arran running to Ardrossan Harbour on the mainland which [is/was] adjacent to - err - Ardrossan Harbour station

Re: Extra trains for the six Nations, 15.3.2025
In "London to South Wales" [359476/30024/11]
Posted by grahame at 05:38, 16th March 2025
 
It sounds like the extra trains ran roughly as planned, though with some delays because the platforms were so crowded that the next trains weren't brought in until the one across the platform from them had been loaded. As for the match, this is a public transport forum and I have no knowledge or comment 

Re: Extra trains for the six Nations, 15.3.2025
In "London to South Wales" [359474/30024/11]
Posted by TaplowGreen at 21:18, 15th March 2025
Already liked by Chris from Nailsea
 
... and Wales were well and truly stuffed.

Oops - I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that out loud. 

Chris from England. 



Men against boyos

Re: Extra trains for the six Nations, 15.3.2025
In "London to South Wales" [359473/30024/11]
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 21:00, 15th March 2025
 
... and Wales were well and truly stuffed.

Oops - I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that out loud. 

Chris from England. 


Re: Travelogue observations - 27th September 2019 - painting 42,000 words
In "Introductions and chat" [359472/22232/1]
Posted by grahame at 20:56, 15th March 2025
 
The crew and customer profiles are both things we have noticed.   LONG discussion could follow but whilst we know and are concerned at the massive differences (in attitude but not in age, skin colour or current nationality) between us and most of the people we meet - we tend to be far more circumspect in talking about our views than I would be even in the regular member areas of the forum here.

Re: Ferries across waterways - whether by vehicle, foot or both (merged posts)
In "Buses and other ways to travel" [359471/3662/5]
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 20:54, 15th March 2025
 
From the BBC:

Glen Sannox ferry sailings to resume after crack repair

The new Glen Sannox ferry is expected to resume sailings on Sunday after repairs have been completed on a crack in the ship's hull.

The brand new vessel only began operating in January after being delivered almost seven years late and costing more than four times the original contract price.

CalMac confirmed the news after divers carried out a detailed assessment of the damage on Saturday.  The ferry had been operating for just over two months between Troon in South Ayrshire and Brodick in the Isle of Arran.

A CalMac spokesman said: "The dive inspection has identified a hairline crack on a weld seam on MV Glen Sannox's hull earlier today and we can confirm repairs are now underway at Brodick and expected to complete later today.  We anticipate MV Glen Sannox to resume timetabled service on Sunday 16 March and will confirm this evening."

It added the MV Alfred would operate an extra return sailing on Saturday to provide cover and said the "vast majority" of booked customers had been able to travel.

(Article continues)



Re: Extra trains for the six Nations, 15.3.2025
In "London to South Wales" [359470/30024/11]
Posted by TaplowGreen at 20:54, 15th March 2025
 
Delays to services at Cardiff Central

Due to overcrowding because of a sporting event at Cardiff Central trains have to run at reduced speed. Train services through this station may be subject to disruption on all routes. Disruption is expected until 21:45 15/03.

Additional Information
A major sporting event has taken place in Cardiff today, and many fans are making their way home.

In order for us, and TfW to run safely, it has been necessary to delay trains in and out of the station, as well as in the station whilst passengers board their trains.

On departure from Cardiff Central, trains in all directions have been reported as being extremely busy.

Work starts to remove sunken boats from River Avon - Bath, March 2025
In "Buses and other ways to travel" [359469/30030/5]
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 20:20, 15th March 2025
 
From the BBC:



Work has begun to remove five sunken boats from the River Avon in Bath.

Bath and North East Somerset Council (BANES) said the submerged vessels near Pulteney Weir are dangerous to others and pose a pollution risk.

Councillor Tim Ball, cabinet member for neighbourhood services, said: "We have exhausted our attempts to work with the owners to arrange self-recovery, so as a last resort we will be carrying out the operation on their behalf."

The work begins on Saturday and is expected to last approximately one week.

"We're chasing the owners for recovery costs when we know who exactly owns the boats - but we only know one or two of them," Mr Ball said.  The council is hoping to recover the £72,600 costs of the removal once the work is completed. "The sunken boats have been creating a hazard in the waterway and posing a risk to its ecology for a long time, however they are the property of the boat owners who are responsible for them," Mr Ball said.

Several of the boats have been left for several years, and the logistics of such an operation present a challenge, the council said. "Some of them are in difficult positions and whether we can actually pull them out on Wednesday and Thursday next week is largely dependent on the weather," Mr Ball said.  The same project was attempted last year but was abandoned due to the weather.

The works are being done as part of the council's Better Moorings Project, which seeks to address a range of boat mooring-related issues. Several other sunken boats along the river have already been removed by the Canal and River Trust.

The council has promised to try to minimize disruption, but sections of the towpath will be closed while the boats are removed.



Re: Callers queue to save under-threat red phone box - Sharrington, Norfolk
In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [359468/30029/51]
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 19:39, 15th March 2025
 
From the BBC:
Villager Derek Harris ... said the phone had been used for a 999 call by people who lived nearby, and only last week by an ambulance driver who could not get a mobile phone signal in Sharrington ...

Minimum of 60p in coins required for any call these days

Hopefully, then, ambulance drivers are instructed to carry at least 60p in coins at all times - or would they just dial '999' ?


Re: Travelogue observations - 26th September 2019 - painting 42,000 words
In "Introductions and chat" [359467/22232/1]
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 18:58, 15th March 2025
 
I'm just catching up with this particular topic, whilst looking (as usual) for something else. 

Some thirty years ago, I went on a 'Western Mediterranean' cruise on the QE2.  My now wife was then a Merchant Navy Officer onboard, so I was invited to many cocktail parties, as a guest.  The catering staff were generally of Filipino or east European origin - the two waiters at our table in the dining room were Serbo-Croat, as they told us, lamenting the current troubles in their homeland at that time.

I'm not saying it was right - it was just the economic reality at that time: employ domestic staff as cheap as you can, long before the minimum wage and all that.


Re: Plan for M4 to south coast corridor to avoid Bath, through West Wiltshire
In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [359466/30025/51]
Posted by Clan Line at 18:54, 15th March 2025
 
Warminster to Dorset strategic route remains via the A36 to M27 junction 2, then westward via the A31. I saw a discussion on the SABRE roads forum…

Paul

Just because someone has decided to call a route "strategic" doesn't mean it is capable of handling the required traffic volumes.  If only ...............

Re: Plan for M4 to south coast corridor to avoid Bath, through West Wiltshire
In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [359465/30025/51]
Posted by Clan Line at 18:50, 15th March 2025
 
The objective is to avoid Bath. 

Bath is already "avoided" ! The closure of the Cleveland Bridge has already stopped heavy traffic from the A46 getting onto the A36 - as it used to do. This has moved traffic from the A46 to the A350. Bath has dumped its HGV problem onto West Wiltshire

The proposed route is the A350 as far as Warminster then the A36

You are just repeating what this useless Study is saying. The A350 and the A36 are barely capable of handling the existing traffic at the moment. To get it to the required capacity will take  £ Billions and 25+ years !

It is not ideal I agree, but the existing route is the A46 from the M4 to Bath then the A36 from there. So there is no change in route from Warminster to the Dorset Coast.

The "existing route" is not A46 to A36 even now, except in the simplistic minds of the "Study" who just seem to look at Google Maps. - unless the traffic goes over Bathampton Toll Bridge ! The proposed A350/A36 route is not "ideal" - it has just not been thought out. Even worse I don't think anyone has ever driven down that route.


Re: Plan for M4 to south coast corridor to avoid Bath, through West Wiltshire
In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [359464/30025/51]
Posted by paul7575 at 18:45, 15th March 2025
 
Warminster to Dorset strategic route remains via the A36 to M27 junction 2, then westward via the A31. I saw a discussion on the SABRE roads forum…

Paul

Re: First Bus driver saves passenger's life: Bristol - Yate, 2019
In "Media about railways, and other means of transport" [359463/22082/49]
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 17:13, 15th March 2025
Already liked by FarWestJohn
 
That link to the BBC no longer works, but here's a link to the Stoke Gifford Journal coverage:

Little Stoke bus driver thanked for actions



A bus driver from Little Stoke has been praised for his actions in dealing with a series of medical emergencies affecting one of the regular passengers on his route.

First West of England driver James Mills has sprung into action on four separate occasions when regular customer Rachael Jay has suffered seizures or hypoglycaemic attacks whilst travelling on his service.

Rachael, aged 46, from Yate, suffers from epilepsy and has type 1 diabetes. She travels regularly on the Y2 service between Bristol and Yate. She wanted to say a formal thank you to James, and so the two recently met up in happier circumstances at Marlborough Street bus station in Bristol.

Driver James, aged 27, has had to call for an ambulance on four occasions for Rachael when she has been suffering an epileptic seizure or hypoglycaemia caused by low blood sugar – once in Downend, once in Coalpit Heath and twice in Yate – staying by her side until paramedics arrived.

Rachael has since had her medication changed and says her condition is now “more under control”, but she wanted to thank James in person as well as raise awareness of the effects of epilepsy and diabetes and how it can affect everyday life.

Rachael, whose eight-year-old son Jacob has also recently been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, said: “I want to thank James for being so brilliant and acting so quickly when I have suffered attacks on the bus. Living with epilepsy and diabetes can really affect your lifestyle and for James to have presence of mind and to act so swiftly on all those occasions really helped.”

Chris Hanson, head of operations, First West of England, said: “We are very proud of James, who responded as we would hope all our colleagues would do in the same or similar circumstances. We are pleased that Rachael seems to be none the worse for her experiences and really touched that she has taken the trouble to recognise James for his actions.”



Re: This surely has to be a case for 'delay, repay' compensation?
In "The Wider Picture Overseas" [359462/29053/52]
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 16:35, 15th March 2025
 
Yet another update, from the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/cvgw8lndg9zo

They're still stuck there! 

Re: Belfast's Grand Central station, opening on Sunday 8th September 2024
In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [359461/29112/51]
Posted by grahame at 16:32, 15th March 2025
 
From the Irish Post

IT’S been almost six months since the Enterprise rail service between Belfast and Dublin extended its timetable to provide hourly train journeys between the two cities. As one of the main transport routes along the east coast of the island, commuters rely heavily on the rail network as a means of facilitating both trade and leisure.

The service now runs fifteen times during weekdays – between 6am and 9pm – and eight times a day during weekends. Enterprise received nearly €25 million of funding from the Irish Department for Transport in one of the first manifestations of the Shared Island Fund.

Government ministers on both sides of the border have been enthusiastic about what the new service could mean for intra-island cooperation. Speaking in the wake of increased timetable operations in October, then Taoiseach Simon Harris called it “really, really important for the all island economy, for the island of Ireland, from a public transport point of view”.

Former Northern Ireland Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd said that the expanded service “offers opportunities to drive jobs and growth, stimulate development and regeneration and boost access to services and education… [It will also] help decarbonise transport and encourage behavioural shift to public transport”.

Environmental impact concerns have been at the heart of both Translink NI and Iarnród Éireann’s lobbying around Enterprise. Yesterday, a spokesperson for Translink said that boosting the economy and meeting climate change targets justified increasing the number of daily trains, despite any potential breach of planning rules by the service.

Translink revealed that they had been asked by the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland to justify granting retrospective consent for breaching a condition that the number of services would not exceed more than eight journeys each way.

This, they said, was one of the main contingencies for receiving nearly £340 million to open a new state-of-the-art train station at Grand Central in Belfast. Residents in the nearby Sandy Row area of the city have claimed an increased level of noise and a deterioration in the quality of life. Residents in the Co. Armagh town of Lurgan – which the rail network passes through – have also claimed disruption as a result of increased level crossing closures and higher car traffic.

Good - I think.  I am delighted with the increased service and would love to see passenger number figures to help put some numbers on how well it's doing.

There will - always - be concerns at the extra people flowing through an around an area when a service is dramatically enhanced.   I wonder how th houses that overlook Ashley Down are finding it.  I know that when our service in Melksham was restored up to 8 each way per day, we got an expression of concerns at the extra train noise from a Beanacre resident, though that was before the new service started.  For a major terminal such as Grand Central, yes, it will - I hope - have made that area much busier.  Not just the Dublin trains, but also for Bangor, Larne, (London)Derry and Lurgan too.

 
The Coffee Shop forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western). The views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit https://www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site at admin@railcustomer.info if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules. Our full legal statment is at https://www.greatwesternrailway.info/legal.html

Although we are planning ahead, we don't know what the future will bring here in the Coffee Shop. We have domains "firstgreatwestern.info" for w-a-y back and also "greatwesternrailway.info"; we can also answer to "greatbritishrailways.info" too. For the future, information about Great Brisish Railways, by customers and for customers.
 
Current Running
GWR trains from JourneyCheck
 
 
Code Updated 11th January 2025