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Topic: Melksham SLC2 WAS Changed (Read 3489 times)
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Lee
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I am now in possession of an up to date copy :
F5 WESTBURY – SWINDON
1 Route Definition
1.1 Services shall be provided between Westbury and Swindon calling at Chippenham, Melksham and Trowbridge.
1.2 Services may be joined to services specified in Route A4 (Swindon - Cheltenham) or Route F4 (Westbury – Weymouth).
2 Frequency
2.1 Mondays to Fridays
(a) Between and including the Early and Late Services, two services from Westbury shall be provided. One service shall arrive at Swindon between 0730 and 0830.
(b) Between and including the Early and Late Services, two services from Swindon shall be provided. One service shall depart between 1730 and 1900.
2.2 Saturdays
Between and including the Early and Late Services, two services shall be provided in each direction.
2.3 Sundays
Between and including the Early and Late Services, two services from Westbury shall be provided.
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Graham Ellis
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That's very curious, Lee ... I was given a copy under Freedom of Information in September that showed that the morning train had to arrive in Swindon between 08:00 and 08:30, even though the draft timetable was showing an earlier (07:50) arrival. Your version (dated October) appears to have been amended to suit the draft timetable. Isn't this a case of moving the goalposts to allow the operator to gain - well - something
What is the gain in having the train arrive at 07:50?
There was a near-unanymous view on commuter train last week that the arrival time of 08:15 (as it was in those days) was OK - although perhaps 08:30 would have been better. And that 07:50 was too early for most people.
Possible gains include:
1. Giving the operator the ability to have one less train in their fleet (and if that's the case, did they increase their premium to the government?)
2. Allowing the operator to run the service at a more marginal time in order to help them supress the service. This is a 'conspiracy theory' approach - it seems far fetched but some strange things have been happening.
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Lee
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Your version (dated October) appears to have been amended to suit the draft timetable. The DfT have "confirmed" that this copy of SLC2 is valid at todays date (15/12/2006) |
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Lee
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I have received "clarification" from the DfT on this in which they claim that the Melksham SLC2 was NOT changed :
"Section F5 of SLC2 has not been changed. The way in which the service reduction to/from Melksham was specified was for there to be a difference between SLC1 and SLC2. SLC1 was the service specification until the timetable change on 10 December (it specified basically the same service as had been previously provided by Wessex Trains). SLC2, which only specifies two trains each way per day via Melksham has effect from the 10 December timetable change. The change to the number of services at Melksham was therefore caused by different SLCs having effect before and after the December timetable change, not by there being a change to either of the SLCs themselves."
A classic case of avoiding the issue methinks......
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Lee
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Further (& extremely significant) clarification obtained from the DfT :
"I am afraid that the version of the SLC2 received in August was an earlier iteration of the document, which was never validated. The document, which I sent to you last week is the true and current version of the SLC 2, and is the timetable that FGW operate their services by.
The SLC for route F5 Westbury - Swindon was re-timed in summer 2006 to arrive at 0749/50 to form an 0752 Swindon to Cheltenham Spa, calling at Kemble at 0807 and Stroud at 0822. This was in response to identified passenger feedback in relation to schools' traffic on the Swindon/Kemble/Stroud line.
I hope this explanation is clear. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused by this error."
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Graham Ellis
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They appear to have enshrined the "marginal time" workings from Swndon between 6 and 7 a.m. and back into Swindon between 8 and 8:30 at night into the specification. And eased the running time right back - for a run that should / could be a 40 minute schedule, they're now allowed to take oer an hour on Sundays, for example. |
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