How are trains running on FGW lines at the moment?

Why does this page exist?

This page is brought to you by the Save the Train team who are campaigning for the restoration and retention of an appropriate train service linking the major population centres of Wiltshire - Swindon, Salisbury, Trowbridge, Chippenham and Melksham.

When First took over in April, 2006 we had a service of 10 trains a day and usage was growing rapidly. We now have just two round trips a day - from Swindon at 06:18 and 18:45, frequent cancellations, and a buy-on-the-day return fare from Melksham to London is no longer available for under 50 pounds - it will cost you over 100 pounds.

We're told that we have an excellent case for improvements - but all we get at each December timetable change is drafts and discussions that proposed something that is a step forward, and a FINAL timetable imposed that is - well - crap, and even that isn't run reliably!

The blame doesn't lie only with FGW, and we do have some optimism - expand the story ... here

Here are some of the recent / current problems over the FGW area as a whole:

20090702	16:42	London Paddington	17:46	Reading	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	16:18	Reading	17:16	London Paddington	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	15:06	London Paddington	20:44	Penzance	otherwise altered, catering change, staffing issues
20090702	15:00	Plymouth	18:21	London Paddington	otherwise altered, catering change, staffing issues
20090702	14:51	Great Malvern	19:12	Weymouth	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	14:42	London Paddington	15:42	Reading	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	14:37	Oxford	16:31	London Paddington	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	14:18	Reading	15:16	London Paddington	extra stop(s), staffing issues, knock-on effect
20090702	13:07	Oxford	15:01	London Paddington	skipping stop(s), staffing issues
20090702	12:37	Oxford	14:31	London Paddington	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	12:27	London Paddington	14:12	Oxford	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	11:18	Reading	12:16	London Paddington	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	11:10	Weymouth	14:30	Gloucester	skipping stop(s), rolling stock issues
20090702	10:27	London Paddington	12:12	Oxford	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	09:57	London Paddington	11:40	Oxford	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	09:54	Great Malvern	12:29	London Paddington	otherwise altered, catering change, rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	09:42	London Paddington	10:43	Reading	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	09:17	Reading	10:16	London Paddington	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	09:00	Brighton	14:37	Great Malvern	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	08:44	Penzance	13:44	London Paddington	otherwise altered, catering change, staffing issues
20090702	08:31	Reading	09:35	London Paddington	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	08:22	London Paddington	11:47	Hereford	staffing issues
20090702	08:12	Reading	09:18	London Paddington	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	07:42	London Paddington	08:42	Reading	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	07:12	London Paddington	08:11	Reading	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	07:07	Paignton	08:22	St James' Park	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	07:02	Reading	08:02	London Paddington	otherwise altered
20090702	07:01	Portsmouth Harbour	08:20	Brighton	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	06:48	Penzance	12:25	London Paddington	otherwise altered, catering change, staffing issues
20090702	06:48	London Paddington	09:34	Great Malvern	otherwise altered, catering change, rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	06:37	Reading	07:44	London Paddington	reinstated
20090702	06:34	Paignton	08:20	Exmouth	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	06:32	Reading	07:33	London Paddington	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	06:07	Reading	07:07	London Paddington	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	05:58	Westbury	07:45	Cardiff Central	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	05:45	Oxford	06:54	London Paddington	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090702	05:29	Bristol Temple Meads	10:04	Newquay	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	22:55	Oxford	23:48	Reading	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	22:31	Cheltenham Spa	23:37	Bristol Temple Meads	short working, rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	20:45	London Paddington	22:30	Bristol Temple Meads	short working, rolling stock issues
20090701	20:41	Bristol Temple Meads	22:12	Worcester Shrub Hill	-
20090701	19:57	London Paddington	21:40	Oxford	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	18:48	Reading	19:46	London Paddington	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	18:48	London Paddington	21:03	Cheltenham Spa	extra stop(s), rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	18:36	London Paddington	21:16	Exeter St Davids	extra stop(s), rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	18:33	London Paddington	20:14	Oxford	complete cancellation, rolling stock issues
20090701	18:30	London Paddington	20:55	Weston-Super-Mare	otherwise altered, rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	18:22	Portsmouth Harbour	21:45	Cardiff Central	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	18:07	Taunton	20:21	Cardiff Central	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	17:45	London Paddington	18:43	Reading	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	17:18	London Paddington	18:45	Oxford	complete cancellation, rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	17:00	Great Malvern	20:00	London Paddington	short working, knock-on effect, root cause not identified
20090701	17:00	Brighton	22:12	Worcester Shrub Hill	short working, rolling stock issues
20090701	16:25	Exmouth	18:07	Barnstaple	short working, rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	16:00	Cardiff Central	18:01	Taunton	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	15:48	Reading	16:46	London Paddington	skipping stop(s), rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	15:37	Oxford	17:31	London Paddington	extra stop(s), rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	15:07	Oxford	17:01	London Paddington	complete cancellation, rolling stock issues
20090701	15:00	Plymouth	18:21	London Paddington	otherwise altered, catering change, staffing issues
20090701	14:55	St Ives	15:09	St Erth	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	14:53	Exeter St Davids	15:23	Exmouth	-
20090701	14:51	Great Malvern	19:12	Weymouth	short working, rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
List above is typical length for a 99.5% (better target) running rate for a 48 hour report such as this. Any cancellations, short or skip stop workings below show a performance below that target.

20090701	14:43	Barnstaple	16:18	Exmouth	short working, rolling stock issues
20090701	14:42	Gloucester	16:28	Westbury	skipping stop(s), infrastructure issues
20090701	14:41	St Erth	14:55	St Ives	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	14:30	Cardiff Central	17:54	Portsmouth Harbour	extra stop(s), infrastructure issues
20090701	14:25	St Ives	14:39	St Erth	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	14:11	St Erth	14:24	St Ives	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	14:00	Cardiff Central	16:04	Taunton	skipping stop(s), infrastructure issues
20090701	13:55	St Ives	14:09	St Erth	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	13:43	Barnstaple	15:18	Exmouth	short working, rolling stock issues
20090701	13:41	St Erth	13:55	St Ives	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	13:27	London Paddington	15:12	Oxford	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	13:25	St Ives	13:39	St Erth	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	13:21	London Paddington	16:04	Great Malvern	short working, knock-on effect, root cause not identified
20090701	13:11	St Erth	13:24	St Ives	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	12:55	St Ives	13:09	St Erth	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	12:41	St Erth	12:55	St Ives	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	12:37	Basingstoke	13:00	Reading	skipping stop(s), knock-on effect, root cause not identified
20090701	12:25	St Ives	12:39	St Erth	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	12:18	Reading	13:16	London Paddington	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	12:11	St Erth	12:24	St Ives	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	11:55	St Ives	12:09	St Erth	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	11:41	St Erth	11:55	St Ives	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	11:25	St Ives	11:39	St Erth	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	11:10	Weymouth	14:30	Gloucester	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	10:55	St Ives	11:08	St Erth	complete cancellation, rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	10:42	London Paddington	11:43	Reading	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	10:27	London Paddington	12:12	Oxford	reinstated
20090701	10:15	London Paddington	10:39	Greenford	skipping stop(s), infrastructure issues
20090701	10:12	London Paddington	11:11	Reading	skipping stop(s), infrastructure issues
20090701	10:00	Penzance	15:23	London Paddington	otherwise altered, catering change, staffing issues
20090701	09:57	London Paddington	11:40	Oxford	skipping stop(s), infrastructure issues
20090701	09:45	London Paddington	10:09	Greenford	skipping stop(s), infrastructure issues
20090701	09:42	London Paddington	10:43	Reading	skipping stop(s), infrastructure issues
List above is typical length for a 99% (lower target) running rate. Any cancellations, short or skip stop workings below show a performance below that lower target.

20090701	09:37	Taunton	11:03	Bristol Parkway	skipping stop(s), root cause not identified
20090701	09:27	London Paddington	11:14	Oxford	skipping stop(s), infrastructure issues
20090701	09:21	London Paddington	11:42	Worcester Foregate Street	infrastructure issues
20090701	09:12	London Paddington	10:17	Reading	skipping stop(s), infrastructure issues
20090701	09:00	Brighton	14:37	Great Malvern	short working, rolling stock issues
20090701	08:40	Weston-Super-Mare	10:18	Cardiff Central	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	08:37	Oxford	10:31	London Paddington	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	08:09	Didcot Parkway	08:31	Oxford	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	07:51	Bristol Temple Meads	08:26	Weston-Super-Mare	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	07:09	Worcester Shrub Hill	10:56	Weymouth	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	07:02	Plymouth	09:11	Penzance	otherwise altered, catering change, staffing issues
20090701	06:56	Newbury	07:28	Reading	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	06:30	Exeter St Davids	09:44	London Paddington	skipping stop(s), rolling stock issues
20090701	06:28	Cardiff Central	09:54	Portsmouth Harbour	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect
20090701	06:15	Reading	06:47	Newbury	rolling stock issues, knock-on effect

In order to keep up to date on train reliability, the Save the Train team has learned how to monitor performance ... and the techniques we use for Melksham (population 24,000 - train service cut to 2 a day each way by First) can be applied elsewhere too. We do hope to improve the reporting and statistics from this page in the near future - at the moment, use it with care as we have a few details to resolve and in any case we can only be as good as our sources.

In the table above, we report on 110 different service(s).

Status 'skip_stop': 15
Status 'altered': 11
Status 'short_run': 10
Status 'catering': 9
Status 'extra_stop': 5
Status 'canned': 4
Status 'reinstated': 2

Reason given 'stock': 80
Reason given 'infrastructure': 11
Reason given 'staff': 10
Reason given 'not_identified': 4

What service level SHOULD be achieved?

FGW run about 8500 services a week. With a weak target that 99% of them run their complete scheduled route, that means you should see 85 or less cancellations or short workings listed per week on average, which works out at 24 or less such services shown on this page which presents reports that are less than 48 hours old only. With a more reasonable 99.5% target, you should see 12 or less cancellations / short workings in any list above.

Current running rate 98.81% (29 trains cancelled or not calling at all scheduled stations)
Target running rate 99.5% or better (12 trains or fewer cancelled or running reduced routes)

For further information on First Great Western services, visit their official site. There's also a discussion forum run by passengers (and wannabe passenger).

For contact information, see the Save the Train web site or email the site admin.

This is a test page ONLY and it will tend to present optimistic figures that are showing a brighter picture than really exists.
Known issues:
Only limited status conditions are monitored
Some trains that run past midnight are double-reported
"Planned Cancellations" notified 24 hours ahaed are NOT shown
Failures on route do NOT show

Information from public sources presented by the Save the Train Campaign