20:06 Westbury to Swindon due 21:21
An additional bus service has been planned to operate as shown 20:06 Westbury to Swindon due 21:21.

Additional Information
Four people carriers from Bath Taxis. Before getting in any taxi vehicle please check with the driver that they are working on behalf of GWR, the driver should not ask for payment.

 

And now cancelled throughout ... no real difference on the TransWilts section where it was cancelled anyway!

 

It is a "joke" ... a humeourless joke ... today. Goodness knows what has been cancelled and what has been re-instated and what ends up running in the end.    It  may feel OK to the folks who run the trains to chop and change during the day depending on staff availability - after all, a driver coming in to work at X O'clock doesn't need to know where he's going to be until a few minutes before.   However, for passengers (customers) rather more planning is needed, especially on services which are infrequent in the first place.  Perhaps more thought should be given to customers and the effect on them of all these "will-it, won't-it" flip-flops.

 
Just looking at options for my usual commute home Bristol-Melksham (on the National Rail website) and of 9 options between 13:00 and 19:25, 4 are currently showing as "This service is cancelled". 2 cancellations are for the Chippenham-Melksham leg, 2 for Trowbridge-Melksham.

 
The 16:23 from Westbury and the 17:35 from Swindon now re-instated.

However

 
Depressing ... and it feels it's getting even worse again.

Gap at Melksham ...
12:32 to 18:53 northbound
13:39 to 20:38 southbound
... and that's for a town of around 25,000 where an appropriate service would be running hourly each way; the timetable is thinner (just one every 2 hours) and the sort of thing being offered today has six hour gaps. Sadly, this is not unusual - it's ongoing.   The trains MAY end up being re-instated later but that's cold comfort to people who need to have their days planned. 

Things WILL go wrong occasionally ... but this is an ongoing problem and it is NOT occasional. It's difficult to see anything being done to provide a reliable service ... words are spoken, actions being taken explained and promised and there are even good patches for a while with it running a bit better, but it falls over again. Sad.

 
14:18 Westbury to Swindon due 15:00
14:18 Westbury to Swindon due 15:00 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew

15:15 Swindon to Westbury due 15:59
15:15 Swindon to Westbury due 15:59 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew

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.

17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06
17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06 will be terminated at Swindon.
It will no longer call at Chippenham, Melksham, Trowbridge, Westbury, Dilton Marsh, Warminster and Salisbury.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

 

Followed, as sure as night follows day, by

 
21:16 Westbury to Swindon due 21:58
21:16 Westbury to Swindon due 21:58 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

 

Both now re-instated.

 
...and if I search for Bristol Temple Meads - Melksham on the National Rail app it also shows the earlier 1545 option as cancelled as well, although I can't be bothered to check which of the 2 trains on that route aren't running.

 

That would have been the last leg of my commute home. Looks like another £3 on the buses 

 

 

Yeah ...


... it appears to have arrived on time in Swindon but spent 30 minutes rather than 10 there.  Looks like it will be on time from Salisbury, in spite of Journey Check assuming "once delayed, delayed all the way". Guessing it was some sort of issue the crew on local staff at Swindon were able to sort out.

 
Argh! First commute in over 2 weeks and the trains... 

When I left the house, it was looking good. But then the 0632 Southampton service I catch from Melksham to Trowbridge got delayed and was showing as 20 mins late, meaning I'd miss the 0646 Trowbridge Bristol. And the next option, the 0705 Cardiff service, was also showing as delayed, with the following Filton Abbey Wood cancelled.

So I'm on the bus to Bath, where I should be able to catch the 0747 Weston service. What's even more annoying is that the 0705 Trowbridge Bristol that was showing as delayed ended up being on time - it just started from Westbury instead of Frome.

Try again tomorrow...

 

 

Portsmouth to Cardiff running 50 minutes late ... now arrives in Westbury at 14:02 and I suspect the crew is transferring and is progammed to take a personal needs break.   

All a very long way from Mockava I'm travelling on, which is supposed to pause at Trakiszki for 8 minutes but but was there for more like 30 ... couple of Polish border guards going through and checking passengers. Not sure whether it was just the two who got on, but the two who came to all compartments in uniform left with two others not in uniform.

 
21:16 Westbury to Swindon due 21:58
21:16 Westbury to Swindon due 21:58 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.

22:31 Swindon to Westbury due 23:12
22:31 Swindon to Westbury due 23:12 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.

 

 
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 fault with the signalling system.
Will be formed of 3 coaches instead of 2.

 

Succinctly, because those at the upper reaches of GWR tend to be Managers rather than Leaders, and there are few better examples than this long running issue.

 

With crew shortages all over the place, so far the Westbury to Swindon service is doing far better than most today, having said which even a single cancellation on that line leaves a huge gap.   I have to personally wonder at why, after so many years, crew shortages seem to be almost routine and look to the management and direction (from inside and outside the TOC) for having failed to avoid such issues being so frequent, or to cynically have passed them off as an acceptable lack-of-service level.

 

Can't get the train out of platform 2??

Greetings from the Dutch traveller where I have proof that connections don't always work here.  I have just HAD TO DROP BACK to a train 7 minutes later that I planned.  It's a DIS-GRACE 

 

 

I am interested in the reasons why trains are often delayed for, apparently, no obvious reason and in the explanations provided to passengers.

In this particular instance the journey check text should have read '17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06 departed Gloucester 8 minutes having returned to Platform 1 from it's waiting point 10 minutes later than scheduled, because the platform was occupied by the late running 2T49 WOF>BRI service until 1748, and has been further delayed on the approach to Stonehouse.'

Too much information obviously but I think the majority of people understand what is meant by the term 'depot' and I doubt the Gloucester Loco Spur qualifies.

And I can't figure out why the service lost another c. 8 mins between Standish Junction and Stonehouse.

 

 

 
I am getting confused ... and not risking any trains today!

 

 

 

Now changed to


Still cancelled for my station, then ...

 

 
This is NOT the right forum section BUT.
10:45 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare due 12:35
10:45 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare due 12:35 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train.
11:12 Salisbury to Bristol Temple Meads due 12:31
11:12 Salisbury to Bristol Temple Meads due 12:31 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train.
15:00 Cardiff Central to Penzance due 20:42
15:00 Cardiff Central to Penzance due 20:42 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train.

One unit breaks down and three services cancelled?

 

20 minutes late into Westbury and no significant connections missed, return train left on time.   This turned out to be a pinprick of a delay compared to yesterday's major rupture when the train broke down which lead to the complete cancellation of six services.

 
08:44 Swindon to Westbury due 09:25
08:44 Swindon to Westbury due 09:25 is being delayed between Swindon and Chippenham.
This is due to a broken down train.

 

I've taken the liberty and had a look in a couple of directions ... not ideal, but here are some multiple units passing through Westbury.  16:08, 17:06 and 18:03 could all drop 2 carriages on their way to Portsmouth.  The first one would get a bit crowded further south, but the latter 2 with 3 and 2 carriages

What heads west - 10 carriages just after 6 p.m. and I'm sure only 5 are needed beyond Westbury. And there's that 9 car that goes out of service at Frome ;-)

 

And now ...


Would someone please fix the bl**dy thing or split a couple of carriages off another train?    You could even split 5 cars off a London to Plymouth evening service now as they get quieter when they get past Westbury.

 

I have a funny (peculiar, not haha) feeling that trains get swapped around and "fault on this train" is reported because an old crock or a train someone was doubtful about was assigned to the service.  The feeling is boosted by the reaction when I made a comment at Westbury about waiting for / catching the Swindon train (I forget the comment exactly) and eyes were rolled in such a way that indicated the staff see it as the flakiest that runs from there.

 
16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:05
16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:05 has been cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.

17:35 Swindon to Westbury due 18:19
17:35 Swindon to Westbury due 18:19 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.

 

 
12:17 left Westbury on time but was stopped outside Trowbridge for 20 minutes as the preceding train to Cardiff had come to a stand due to a fault with the driver vigilance device.  It got on the move after systems were isolated and terminated at Bath Spa.

The Swindon service didn't make up any lost time and arrived in Swindon 20 minutes late before leaving 12 down on the return journey.

 

 

I was put off, but happy to take the less stressful 08:02 option

 

In summary ... the 06:32 call didn't happen at Melksham and a taxi at 06:35 from Chippenham was added at some point.  Useful for those headed towards Southampton though it would have arrived at Trowbridge / Westbury well after the diverted train had passed there, so passengers for Salisbury who joined at Melksham and normally carry on at 06:55 would drop back to the 07:40 as far as Salisbury, or the 08:01 if headed for Southampton (yes, there is a commuter flow)

Personally I was trying my luck with a sub-5-minute change at Westbury onto the Weymouth train which runs every 2 hours and of course that would have failed.  With the taxi added, I would have left Westbury 2 hours after plan, and without the taxi (on the 09:10 from Melksham) 4 hours late. For a day trip, a 4 hours delay kills the day and I didn't try it once the cancellation came up (decision made before the taxi got added).  Had I been required to travel, I could have caught a bus to Frome and picked up the train there 2 hours after my plan.

For Bristol, the 06:32 connects into Bristol with an arrival at 07:28.   That would have failed this morning as taxis are slower.  Arrivals into Bristol at 07:48 or (more likely) 08:11 depending on how long the taxi too.

The 07:21/07:23 did call in the end, and the quick connection into Bristol that sometimes worked appears to have done so ... not sure how many people got put off and looked at other alternatives such as the bus or waiting (with fingers crossed) for the 08:02.

There are some slight but noticeable improvements in how issues are handled, but the rail industry seems to be intensely unreliable, with shortages of crew, trains breaking down, signalling failures. Short term cancellation rates are 5% at present and that's 3 times what "Which?" described as "dreadful" for an airline - it means that if you commute from Melksham Station for a fortnight, 5 days a week, you can expect one journey to be cancelled.  For passengers on the 07:21 to Chippenham or Swindon, that's "just" a 40 minute delay - with almost all other trains, especially with connections, it's far worse.   With a proper (every 30 minutes or better) service, a 5% cancellation rate could perhaps be shrugged off, but with a 120 minute frequency, every one hurts and damages the public confidence.

There IS a "thank you" due to the people who fixed the line, to the people who arranged the taxis.  But [they/you] should not be put into a position of having to do that so often, and they should have tools to give better feedback to the customers.  To some extent, they are victims of a skimping on maintenance and a reduction of available staff below sensible limits, just as the passengers are.  Here's looking to you - management and controllers ...

 
The Salisbury-Worcester service now showing as running (on National Rail app), due Melksham 07:23 

(started from Westbury I think)

 
Cancellations to services between Trowbridge and Chippenham
Due to a fault with the signalling system between Trowbridge and Chippenham the line towards Melksham is closed.
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 08:00 08/05.
Customer Advice
Taxis have been sourced as below:

Bath Taxis - 06.35 Chippenham calling Melksham, Trowbridge and Westbury. Please wait for the taxis at the rail replacement bus tops.
Bath Taxis- 07.11 Trowbridge calling at Melksham and Chippenham. Please wait for the taxis at the rail replacement bus tops. Passengers can use any London Paddington train from Chippenham to Swindon.

We're sorry for the delay to your journey.

 
Cancellations to services between Trowbridge and Chippenham

Due to a fault with the signalling system between Trowbridge and Chippenham the line towards Melksham is closed.
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 08:00 08/05.

 

To confirm to anyone who might be reading this in GWR - these are not just "7 minute delay"s - they are cancellations as far as Melksham (population 25,000) is concerned

 

Yeah and the 06:35 Salisbury to Worcester Foregate Street, which I would have caught at Melksham at 07:21 instead, is also showing as cancelled due to a signalling problem. Will wait for the 07:45 Westbury - Swindon (Melksham 08:02) and hope they've fixed things by then - I'm not buying a ticket, yet...

 
05:11 Gloucester to Southampton Central due 08:09
05:11 Gloucester to Southampton Central due 08:09 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 fault with the signalling system

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 and diverted between Trowbridge and Chippenham.

It will no longer call at Salisbury, Warminster and Melksham.

It will be delayed due to the diversion and is expected to be 10 minutes late.
This is due to a fault with the signalling system.

 

 

 
Well it flippin should be for £425
https://saphostrains.com/journey/the-golden-arrow-07-05-2025/

"The day starts as you settle into your seat with a glass of chilled bucks’ fizz..." - before 7am...

 
Golden Arrow - diesel (47) from Bristol to West London (Hanwell)  then Brittania London to Canterbury. 

 
Yes - there was an announcement that a charter service was due at 0653, and I wondered whether it might be worth leaving the waiting room if it was going to be steam powered. I didn't, and it wasn't - a diesel of some sort, obviously old and 'special', but not a Deltic. It stopped to pick up a lucky few - looked like they were in for a very nice breakfast

 

No obvious reason - it seems to have left Chippenham on time and then been stuck for 5 minutes at Thingley - however that was NOT waiting for something else to clear the single line.

Next train from Trowbridge was only a 19 minute wait ... next train from Chippenham when the unofficial connection fails is a 34 minute wait (it did connect this morning). Because it's official you can claim delay / repay for an 07:28 expected arrival to an 07:48 actual arrival into Bristol whereas you have no claim via Chippenham.  Only negatives about the Trowbridge change are the earlier start and the need to cross the footbridge which if you have heavy luggage or are in a wheelchair is not clever.

Looks like a special train went though Trowbridge while you were waiting?

 
The 06:32 service from Melksham to Southampton was uncharacteristically late this morning - departed at 06:38, which meant I just missed the (official) connection with the 06:46 Bristol service at Trowbridge. Don't know what caused the delay to the Melksham train - it left Chippenham on time, and was just described as 'running late'. Not a disaster though - caught the 07:05 Cardiff train.

First time there's been any sort of problem taking this route to Bristol for quite a few weeks. It's so much more reliable than the alternative via Chippenham, and is worth the very early start.

 

I think most people would check to see if the service is running and if it isn't, they will make other plans - realistically, no-one is going to keep checking back on the off chance of a reinstatement.

 

It would require considerable data logging and analysis and work to try to remove other factors from the results.

It is probably a fair assumption that it makes SOME difference, with their being some people who don't book / make other plans when a train is recorded as cancelled.    An on that basis is worth pointing out to the people who cancel and then re-instate services that this practise reduced the number of passengers carried and p***es off quite a number too, and is a practise they should avoid.. If something is bad, it's not necessary to put a number on exactly how bad it is before you fix it!

 
It is a question asked many times.  Unfortunately I suspect we will only ever have anecdotal answers.

 

Thank you.  I wonder, sadly, just how much damage cancellation and re-instatement of services does on a line where waiting for the next service will be a significant change to plans.

 

Reinstated.

 

 
Let's record a day when it all worked - Saturday, 3rd May.

Back to a familiar scene this morning

 
A summary from yesterday - of 18 calls planned, just 7 happened.



Southbound at 06:32, 20:39 and 23:12
Northbound at 07:21, 08:02, 18:52 and 21:31
Early evening calls at 19:09 and 20:22 were cancelled, even though the line had been re-opened by that time.

 

I'd point that question at Hopwood if I were you, after all it's his trains that are being cancelled and his customers inconvenienced.  Given that, I'm sure he's all over those responsible and should be able to address your points.

 

Oops - and sadly that's not what they have done with the evening trains after all


So "disruption until 20:00" is the operational description.  Anyone who hopes to head from Melksham to Cheltenham Spa (agreed not a huge flow) at 20:25 won't get there until - what - 11 p.m. or later?  [Edit - looked it up - 23:31!]

 

 
"Short" runs this evening too - the 17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury and the 20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa both missing out Melksham.  Makes sense to be reversing TransWilts trains at Bathampton - remembering that 2 out of 3 passengers along the single line on a normal day are going through (not from or too Melksham) and so this is the best solution for them.

I have to ask ... why does it take so LONG to get a failed locomotive out of the way?  Is it part of a more general set of things that seem for whatever reason to take fare longer to sort out when things go wrong?  No backup plans?  No spares/staff around?  Extra Health and safety requirements? Everyone a specialist?

 
20:14 Swindon to Westbury due 20:57
20:14 Swindon to Westbury due 20:57 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train.

 

At least there is a replacement bus in place (scheduled to arrive Westbury 40 minutes after the train, but better than telling people to wait hours) ... not a clever day today. 

 

Thanks for that, Bob ....

 
The problem is with the freight loco itself and fitters are having difficulty isolating components on it before it can be moved.    A rescue loco is on site ready to move it once that becomes possible.

 

 

Although the siding is not easily accessible from the Melksham line

 

Guessing on what's wrong with the train - but there IS a siding still at Thingley Junction.

 

 

Just knock the faulty vehicle out of the train and drop it onto the North Loop to await attention from C&W.  Nothing booked to run over that today.  Oh.  Wait.

I know, I know.  If only

 

Without inside information, we can only guess.  JourneyCheck was telling us about problems until the end of the day, and I speculate that a skate might be needed to get something with wheel problems out of the way.   With lack of bypass loops and sidings, perhaps they are waiting for the more important lines between Chippenham and Swindon, and between Trowbridge and Westbury to become clear after service? 

 

According to Traksy, 6A16 is still somewhere between Bradford Junctions and Melksham, at 1040

 


Too late to do anything about it today, but a proper integrated transport system should offer an alternative when you look up your train and try to book.  Rather that cancelled and a note that the next train is 151 minutes later, if the 09:52 id cancelled what not suggest that people catch the 09:55 bus from the top of the Trowbridge station approach - 10:29 in Melksham Town Centre and about 10:33 at the top of the Melksham Station Approach?   The fact that the bus goes past Melksham Station Approach and does not actually stop there is another issue ...

 

Looks like it ...

 
Has 6A16 (Whatley Quarry to Oxford) sat down?

 

No suggested alternative ... late notice cancellation.  There may be operational reasons but it's the very late changes without an (it could be automatic) passenger-focused advise line are highly damaging to customer morale.

 

Agreed at Swindon but the toilets are on the same island platform and I reckon, even at the speed I walk, you could get to the lavatory and back in the time allowed.

 

At least they've given is two hour's notice this time rather than cancelling it at 18:08 as they did on Easter Monday.   One of those "don't ask" days.

Interesting that it's the 17:50 to Salisbury that's cancelled rather than the 18:10 to Westbury, on a service with a far more frequent service where a gap might be less missed.

 
17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06
17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train

 
Hold it!


Opportunities if the train is running to time, you have ...
1 minute (no chance!) at Westbury
7 minutes at Swindon (*)
9 minutes at Gloucester (*)
17 minutes at Worcester Shrub Hill
* - Train calls at platform away from station building

 

Here's the proof, and comparison to other services:



Because of the very thin service, any cancellation is serious.

 

This train has run 89 times in the last six months, in which there have been 130 weekdays.  28 of those days it was cancelled because of planned engineering, 2 because it was Christmas / Boxing Day.   So 100 "should" have run. 11% cancellation rate - a very high percentage for a weekday.

 

It's in "Oh no - not AGAIN" territory ...  known as being a risky train. I will look at putting some numbers on it some time.

 

Cancelled as the guard for those services is booked to arrive at Westbury on the 1C77 10:35 Paddington to Exeter St Davids service which is currently being diverted via Swindon. Not the first time that problems or delays with 1C77 see the Swindon services cancelled.

For the record, the points failure at Westbury yesterday caused the cancellation of the 2M28 15:15 Swindon to Westbury and 2M21 16:23 Westbury to Swindon services. The unit stayed in the bay platform at Swindon and became the 17:35 departure to Westbury.

 
Only 2 trains in GWR area cancelled through lack of crew ... guess where

 

 
17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06
17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06 was terminated at Westbury.
It will no longer call at Dilton Marsh, Warminster and Salisbury.
This is due to train crew being delayed by service disruption.

 
and some additional information.

 
14:22 Frome to Swindon due 15:34
14:22 Frome to Swindon due 15:34 will be terminated at Westbury.
It will no longer call at Trowbridge, Melksham, Chippenham and Swindon.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

15:44 Swindon to Frome due 16:38
15:44 Swindon to Frome due 16:38 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

16:43 Frome to Swindon due 17:34
16:43 Frome to Swindon due 17:34 will be started from Westbury.
It will no longer call at Frome.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

 

 
The lineside fire related disruption bit Bath rugby going home time, a bit of a queue outside the station and at least one bus driver being generous to people travelling back to places that suddenly had no train service. The bus station wasn't quite coping with the volume of people some of which were displaced from the trains and some *waves at the bus to Wells* definitely weren't.

Mark