From the BBC:

 
Thanks - I had that heading too - but the data on the actual spreadsheet was headed last year.   It has updated in the last hour.

 
Just 1. and 5. to go ... and 6 to finish off.

 

 
The 2tph service is really starting to look necessary to deal with this fantasic growth!  https://www.northcotswoldline.co.uk/

 
Thought it worth mentioning here, Hanborough is now the busiest intermediate station exclusively served by GWR services. It's just squeaked ahead of Moreton-in-Marsh by 658 entries and exits. All main stations showing big increases on 2023-24, and numbers well in excess of pre-Covid levels.

 
And again, today, 4th December.  This time 800305 and 802113 doing the run

The return working, 1P34 1518 Foregate Street to Paddington also has the two unit, 18 car, formation

Trying out repaired units?  Belt-and-braces to improve the chances of a successful round trip? 

 

Having suffered an unprovoked DVT in the past (not rail related, but fearful that one might occur on a train journey)  which led to very serious consequences for me, here's another good reason for avoiding GW trains from the Vale of Evesham when I need to go to London.  The loco-hauled trains on the Chiltern route between Warwick Parkway and Marylebone offer a cheaper, more reliable and less uncomfortable alternative.  Thank goodness

 

Is it me - or does that link go to the previous year's data?

 
According to this BBC article GWR are expecting 3,300 journeys per week, which by my arithmetic could mean just over 170,000 per year.

But there are a couple of factors which make the existing service offer so unattractive that it is surprising the usage figures are as high as they are: Montpelier has an established service with half-hourly direct trains to a variety of local destinations. Ashley Down's trains are hourly, and as long as they terminate at Filton Abbey Wood the offer will be a bit limited. Once trains are extended through to Brabazon and Henbury, and frequency is improved, usage could increase significantly.

There is one other major problem though: fares. An adult single from MTP - BRI is £1.60, whereas ASD - BRI is £3.70. For most people, the No.70 bus will not only be cheaper, but it will often get them there quicker.  This really needs to be sorted!

 

Moorfields has three platforms. 

 
I never thought that photos of decayed upholstery stuffing could qualify as astonishing and then... these photos of yours.

Totally guessing here: that looks to be a polyurethane ether foam that's suffered chemical instability. Specifically, it has oxidised, and the changes in its chemistry have destroyed the physical integrity of the material. Perhaps the material was defective from the time it was manufactured, or it's possible that it's not withstood whatever cleaning regime is used on the seats - this might involve steam cleaning + chemicals that have oxidised the padding.

Comfort aside, there's the DVT risk (something that is real even if the airlines have successfully batted away several legal cases brought by passengers). For good measure, some of the decay products of this sort of foam are toxic.

Mark

 
So station usage estimates are out (already a thread about it in the other section here). Roughly 50k for Ashley Down based on what is probably around half a year of it being open, so ~100k if you were to assume the same usage patterns over a full year period. Do we know how that compares to the estimates and business case prior to opening?

Initially it sounds a bit low to me (especially when compared to Montpellier a 20 minute walk away at over 300k), but then in that comparison Ashley Down has a much less frequent service, with much later first trains and earlier last trains, a Sunday service may aswell not exist half the time given GWR's Sunday issues and of course it is still a new station so people will be finding out about it etc. So maybe its actually doing well considering all that!

 
Stronger than a rumour so I thought I'd put it here....
https://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/25669640.agenda-reopening-branch-line-spur-falmouth-docks/?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1764828103

 
Ah, it *is* a portent then, and a terrible one. At least, it is if the 'Flooding' is tidal.

Mark

 
Yes it is a concern for vulnerable road users and young people
https://bsky.app/profile/canseengland.bsky.social/post/3m72vixwln226
Surprisingly most of the research supporting this has been done in America. Don't tell King Donald, or maybe that is why he has a down on universities.

 
From the BBC:

 

Appears to be Moorfields in Liverpool

 
So passenger numbers at Melksham Station have dropped from 63,350 in the year 2023/24 to 60,930 in the year 2024/25.
Disappointing when passenger numbers across the UK have increase by 7% over the year. 
Why might the Melksham figure have fallen?

1. Trains were good as suspended during engineering works at Westbury from 24th December 2024 to 24th January 2025. Without that suspension, passenger journeys would have been just over 66,000. Replacement buses ran well in the circumstances, but a bus service taking several times as long as the train is no substitute, and only a tiny proportion of people used them.

2. When the services did run, they were very much prone to cancellation. If you look at ((this thread)) where we kept an eye on performance you'll find no less that 808 posts for 2024 - and we are up to 772 already this year.  This reflects an ongoing issue with cancellations, and it's little wonder that people don't buy tickets for trains that aren't running.  The cancellation rate on-the-day is in excess of 10%, and that does not take into account the engineering works mentions in (1) just above

3. Community promotion of Melksham’s train service has been muted last year and this.  Whilst the service has been useable for regular passengers who know what they are doing and have a “Plan B” and understanding boss, we at MTUG have been very limited is suggesting try-it-out trips with the risk of people being disappointed and put off for years. And I have not seen any general promotions in our area from Community Rail. In hindsight, the sad decisions not to market were correct, bearing in mind some of the stories I have heard.

I am actually amazed at how robust the figures are.  That's probably because Melksham's train service provides a lifeline to many of its users - it is nothing like as much a leisure / optional market here as it is in so many other places.

From April this year until November, reliability issues were serious with far too many cancellations, and with trains declared as cancelled but then re-instated - sometimes with little or no notice, and running nearly empty. So the figures we see next year are also likely to be disappointing.  However, the problems are at long last being noticed, it appears, by people who have some ability to give us a level playing field and I would hope to see them improve.   Having said which, 60,000 journeys is still twenty times the numbers given to me of around 3,000 when I first asked "how many people use Melksham Station".  We are up from ten to two hundred journeys a day.

Numbers should be far higher.  And there is opportunity.  Once people have a product that is useful and they can rely on.  At 9 trains a day each way, it is useful but thin.  It's the reliability that's needed back - with the provision of an appropriate alternative on the very rare occasions when things go wrong.  I hope we don't hear "oops - we've not got a driver" or "oops - we've not actually got a working train" in 2026!

---

From a Facebook post:

 
From the BBC:

 

Separate thread ... in preparation  for local circulation

 
Yes, commendable actions from the train crew.

 
Some very impressive (and slightly surprising) leaps.

I guess the combination of the return of many office workers, the continued explosion of leisure travel and other more minor factors such as the end of industrial action have all played their part?

Imagine how the numbers would stack up if the railway were providing a better and more consistent service - cue Graham to talk about the slight drop at Melksham, but there are other examples too, such as the generally 'meh' service Chiltern now provide leading to stagnat figures at Oxford Parkway.

As for Bath Spa?  77th busiest station in the whole country.  I can only see one busier one (outside of central London) with only two platforms...can anyone guess which it is?

 
Yes - looking pretty good in the Bristol area too!

 
I think that the bus driver had attempted to turn his vehicle, realising he had gone the wrong way. Cleeve Wood Road is wide enough for a bus.

 
I have just used the fresh data to update the maps of station usage here: https://timjupp.github.io/stations.html

"Map 1" gives the long-term trend since 1998.

"Map 2" shows (as black dots) the stations for which 2024 - 25 was their best ever year. There are a lot of them, especially in our region.

 
ORR has just published station usage data, and at the end has regional busiest stations

Bristol Temple Meads 10.9m
Bath Spa 9.5m
Swindon 3.2m
Exeter Central 3.0m
Exeter St Davids 2.9m

Others not in South West top 5
London Paddington 69.9m
Reading 14.3m
Cardiff Central 12.5m

https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/msigcn24/station-usage-2024-25-statistical-release.pdf

For those who like to do pre-covid comparisons, the 2018-2019 report is here

https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/1668/estimates-of-station-usage-2018-19-factsheet.pdf

The link to ORR data page with links to to the data spreadsheets is here (not yet looked) but could check rank of your local station or its change

https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/usage/estimates-of-station-usage

Edit : just looked up some figures from 2018-19 which shows big jump on some stations eg
Bath Spa was 6.538m
Exeter St Davids 2.619m

But others less important eg
Reading was 17.08m 
Swindon was 3.75m
(perhaps few more trains need to skip these if usage down)

 

Right answer .. wrong question  .  Peter's role in the DfT was one I do not envy him - I am leaving the double post here though as a "tip of the hat" in respect to a gentleman with whom we didn't / don't always see eye to eye with, but for whom, never the less, I hold a great respect.

 
I was sad to learn over the weekend of the passing of John Ingram (at the age of 90), chair of the West Wiltshire Rail Users Group from around 2008 to 2010.  John was a gentleman, and a good friend and supporter of public transport in the area.

From April 2009 -  a typical practical but positive campaigning contribution to a press release https://www.passenger.chat/r4498.html - "First Great Western have improved many of their services that pass through Wiltshire in the last two year" say John Ingram, Chairman and Warminster Committee representative at the West Wilts Rail Users Group, "but the service linking the main Wiltshire Towns remains unfit for purpose, and dramatically worse than it was three years ago. The proposals are eminently practical and are what are needed to get the service up and running again."

Thank you to John's son Richard for letting me know; the WWRUG committee which met last night passes on it condolences to John's family and friends. Fond memories and John was a rock who will be sorely missed.

 
Try again, 7 Peter West OBE, named class 150 units.