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Topic: Monday, 11th December (Read 9595 times)
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Graham Ellis
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06:48 ... 3 on into Melksham, +3 -0 , so six to Trowbridge
07:17 ... 28 on into Melksham, +6 -2, so 34 to Chippenham
19:08 ... 17 on into Melksham, +0 -6 so 11 to Trowbridge
19:50 ... cancelled.
Very curiously, there was a bus headed to Cheltenham at Melksham station at 19:00 - "here to pick up the straglers" said the driver. When I suggested he wait to 19:50, he assured me there was anothe bus behind him.
The 06:48 was 2 x 153, Spilling at Westbury with one going up to Filton Abbey Wood.
The 07:17 amd 19:08 were class 143 (2 coach Pacers) - bus-on-rails
And the 19:50 was a bus-on-road.
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Lee
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Heres how my day went yesterday : Went to catch the 1031 Cardiff Central train at Fratton - cancelled due to lack of rolling stock. 1131 - Success! This train turned up. Then it got stuck behind a freight train between Southampton & Westbury.... Result? Freight train went through Westbury at 1320 (I would be interested to learn of anything passing through Melksham 15 - 30 mins later.) We arrived (and I got off) at 1327 (20 minutes late.) I then tried to catch the 1332 Westbury - Cardiff central train. All seemed well , the information screen said "on time" and then.... Nothing. The screen went blank and no train arrived. Quote from FGW employee : "This is the first time weve tried this timetable." I then caught the 1407 to Bristol. As planned , a trip to Clifton Down followed (train out , bus back to test Bristol's ledgendary congestion) with me arrriving back to join a vocal (and well attended) protest by Save Severn Tunnel Junction (link below.) http://www.saveseverntunnel.co.uk/The plan was then to have a nice cup of tea followed by catching the 1800 Bristol - Chippenham train. Cup of tea successfully under my belt , only to discover that the 1800 , which now starts from Weston - super - mare , had got stuck behind a freight train! I know that I post regularly on "The Freight Angle" but this is ridiculous! I made it to Chippenham with just a minute to spare before the 1858 to Westbury (via Melksham , passenger count below.) I then intended to count the passengers on the 1935 return (Class 153 unit , 1827 from Southampton Central) but.... Would you believe it , IT HAD RUN OUT OF FUEL and the Westbury - Swindon section was replaced by a coach!!! Neither the staff at Westbury or passengers were informed of this until the train arrived. So I decided to catch the 2006 Westbury - Southampton "shuttle" service (formed of the SAME Class 153 unit mentioned above) , and count the passengers (I use this term loosely) on that instead (see below.) Quote from stranded FGW employee : "Things are only going to get worse." CONCLUSIONS 1) A cynic would suggest that this timetable is not meant to work. Very few FGW employees seemed to know what was expected of them , and most were quite open about this. A cynic would also suggest that using the "Melksham bound" Class 153 unit to form the 2006 Westbury - Southampton service and return trip to Bristol could be "operationally useful." (which is what happened last night.) 2) It would appear that Network Rail (who were blamed by the announcer at Bristol for the 1800 debacle) have scheduled extra freight trains in , taking advantage of the new timetable when they should be letting it "bed down" first. |
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« Last Edit: December 12, 2006, 10:32:01 AM by Lee »
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Lee
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1858 CHIPPENHAM - WESTBURY CLASS 143 PACER UNIT
This count is accurate (treble - checked) , Graham , so I think that you may have added the 4 off at Melksham to the "on - train" total that I quoted you at the time.
12 already on the train.
Chippenham - 2 on , 0 off.
Melksham - 0 on , 4 off.
Trowbridge - 1 on , 2 off.
Westbury - 9 off.
Call me a cynic (again) , but a 104 seat 2 - coach Pacer unit looks rather empty when deployed on poorly - timed commuter journeys.
2006 WESTBURY - SOUTHAMPTON ("our") CLASS 153 UNIT
Westbury 2 on (including me)
Dilton Marsh 0 on , 1 off.
Warminster 0 on , 0 off.
Salisbury 1 on , 0 off.
Dean 0 on , 0 off.
Mottisfont & Dunbridge 0 on , 0 off.
Romsey 0 on , 0 off.
Southampton Central 2 off (including me)
From what I can gather , the Southampton - Westbury "shuttle" passenger loadings did not rise above a handful all day. This is because they are timed to run just after the Portsmouth - Cardiff train has gone through , which means that a 75 - seat Class 153 unit is being deployed solely to provide connections for a handful of Dean , Dilton Marsh and Mottisfont & Dunbridge passengers.
Unfortunately , I can foresee "carting fresh air around the countryside" reports being prepared , which is why I believe that we should keep up our intense pressure & efforts.
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Graham Ellis
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1858 CHIPPENHAM - WESTBURY CLASS 143 PACER UNIT
This count is accurate (treble - checked) , Graham , so I think that you may have added the 4 off at Melksham to the "on - train" total that I quoted you at the time.
Yes, I possibly did ... couldn't quite believe just how dreadful it was?? |
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Ruthg
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I was informed by a FGW employee that the reason we've had these "buses on rails" for the last 2 days is because Arriva and Central Trains have asked for their trains back. I was starting to miss them this morning as these things are like ice boxes.
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« Last Edit: December 12, 2006, 01:30:06 PM by Ruthg »
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Lee
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What I would very much like to know is whether some travelled out of loyalty yesterday , and if others will still use the service , but couldnt make it yesterday. How busy was it earlier today , Ruthg?
On Southampton - Westbury , yesterday I counted 5 off the 1339 arrival and an earlier service was said to have had just 2 passengers.
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Ruthg
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I think there are regular commuters who have decided to catch the train in the morning to Swindon, not out of loyalty, but because they don't want to go via Bath, most of us seem to be going back via Bath though rather than wait until 18.43.
3 people got on at Melksham but I have noticed some familiar faces missing from there. What I did notice is the amount of people getting on at Chippenham seems to have dropped quite a bit, maybe this will pick up. When we get to Swindon there are plenty of people waiting to go on to Cheltenham Spa.
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Lee
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Thanks Ruthq. Could you possibly keep us updated from time to time?
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Ruthg
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Yes, I'd be happy to.
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Lee
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People are fainting and being turned away due to a lack of rolling stock on the Trowbridge - Bath line , as senior FGW managers seem powerless to intervene (link below.) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/6174969.stm Quote : "I spent the journey standing on one leg as there wasn't anywhere to put the other one." |
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« Last Edit: December 13, 2006, 02:15:27 PM by Lee »
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Nick Field
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Looks like the woes of the new timetable is making the news everywhere this week. Firstly Melksham gets onto the ITV West news on Monday night, then last night a big news item on BBC Points West. The film showed people being left behind at Oldfield Park and the general overcrowding problems getting into Bristol. I noticed on the clip that an SWT service stopped to pick up the standed passengers at Oldfield Park; I wasnt aware that SWT stopped there, so perhaps a special exception was made that day? Theresa Hopkins and Titus Jennings (Both mentioned in the above online article) were featured. Mr Jennings (becoming infamous for travelling on one leg) was in the studio along with Andrew Griffiths who was on a link via their Exeter studio. Andrew Griffiths refused to take questions directly from Mr Jennings but basically said they were using all rolling stock available but had a back log of work to be completed on the train sets they inherited from wessex. He said that once they get some units back currently undergoing engineering work things should improve.
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« Last Edit: December 14, 2006, 08:57:32 AM by Nick Field »
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Graham Ellis
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He said that once they get some units back currently undergoing engineering work things should improve.
Yep, I've dropped him a note pointing out that they were able to move very quickly when they realised that 7TJ was screwed up and asking him to move quickly on the TransWilts when they get that stock back. |
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Nick Field
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It did raise a wry smile when I saw the program, it was almost as if Andrew Griffiths was blaming the previous operator for letting the trains get into a poor state of repair!
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Nick Field
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Further to my above post I have just checked the timetable and found that SWT do stop at Oldfield Park
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Graham Ellis
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It did raise a wry smile when I saw the program, it was almost as if Andrew Griffiths was blaming the previous operator for letting the trains get into a poor state of repair!
I've noticed that there's very much a company approach within First that they'll cast themselves as the victims of others or circumstances in situations where I feel that, perhaps, they're at least partly responsible. I note Glenda Lamont's referenced to disruption due to bridge hits, signalling problems, weather and former suppliers all in the last week. And, true, those have been the cause of some disruption. But I also note crew shortages, a train running out of fuel, and a change in loading patterns which surely to goodness they should have forseen at First - topics on which our Glenda has been stranglely silent. It's more of "Changed", "Altered" and "Amedned" being used to describe the changes, when a less biased choice of words might have been "reduced". I would love to see the positive marketing stance used to promote posive use of the servives such as the TransWilts and the Westbury to Southampton shuttle, both of which are running with timetables that could almost have been planned to lead to low loadings. |
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