The absolute *joy* of waiting at Kemble in the 80s, when the single track section to Swindon would tend to provoke fun and games.

But also the *joy* after walking four miles to the station in the '82 snow and within a day or five of the thermometer hitting minus 18C up there, when it was necessary to leave the lane as that was choked to hedgerow-depth with snow, and make ones way through the fields alongside - to Kemble Station, and in swept the London-bound HST from the Sapperton direction, with a decent collection of sticky snow on the front end and also between the carriages, passengers... ok, me...  once aboard, rocking up to the buffet for something to thaw them out.

Mark

 

9 minutes late off Swindon (17:44), maintaining connection from the 16:33 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa train.   Had it set off on time at 17:35, it would have got in the way of the Bristol and Taunton train due to leave Swindon at 17:22, but didn't leave today until 17:36.   The delay looks like a sensible call.

 
I, too, was caught up in the knock-on effects of that earlier failure of a train this morning, somewhere around Stroud apparently.

My own train towards home, from Kemble to Swindon, was initially reported as 'cancelled', then 'reinstated but 11 minutes late'.  I arrived at Kemble station, where to add insult to injury the booking office and waiting room were closed all day 'due to staffing issues'. There were many passengers, effectively out in the open, conferring about the delay to their arrival in London - a few of which, I overheard, were time-critical, for business meeting reasons, for example.

The information boards and announcements were then updated fairly frequently, with the delay increasing steadily from 11 minutes to, eventually, 29 minutes. [Image from here is not available to guests]

The other two trains involved in my journey home (Swindon to Temple Meads and Temple Meads to Nailsea) were spot on time throughout.

 
That is... really very poor. Sorry that people including you were on the receiving end of it.

Mark

 

 
What the lack of services means to an evening meeting in Trowbridge

From home at 16:05 ... at ASDA, Trowbridge, 16:55 - 50 minute journey for 17:00 meeting (bus)

The plan was 20:00 start homeward, 20:12 train, 20:22 Melksham Station, 20:50 home.
But turned into ... 19:00 from ASDA ... home at 22:20 - 200 minute journey.

We finished in good time, and I was quite happy to sit and do various writing up and things on my laptop in the "Rose end Crown" up to 20:00.  But - from "on time" the train switched to "Delayed" and eventually to 21:12 - a 60 minute delay.  At 21:12, it switched to being a few minutes later than that, the 21:25, and then it went "Cancelled".  And at 21:25, 165101 went through without stopping - I suspected it was the delayed 20:12, moving the empty train back up to Gloucester - turned out to be in service, but skipping all intermediate stations except Swindon.

The 21:22 - next train as far as Swindon - was shown as "on time", then 21:26, then 21:30. And it arrived and left at that time - 8 minutes late. It came to a halt just to the north of Trowbridge - waiting at a red signal - and we eventually go to Melksham Station at 21:45 - 13 minutes late.  Would have been home at 22:05, but stopped to get a takeaway for Lisa and me and that added time - far too late to start cooking at home.

Information at Trowbridge - appalling. Departure board "Delayed" not informative.  Impossible suggestions being made about 2 trains within a minute of each other which was clearly not able to happen. Announcemnets advising people to wait for the "next fastest train" which, however, was (yet) shown as delayed but was very cleraly going to be.   Help point when I asked about alternatives to get to Melksham offered to give me the travelline phone number to call about buses.  Train manager dispatched train at Trowbridge and disappeared into rear cab, not seen again until door opened at Melksham.  No other rail staff seen the whole evening.

Lisa suggested I was too principled sticking it out and should have looked for a taxi, though they can be sparse in the evening in Trowbridge. and with others waiting too, and five of us off the train eventually at Melksham, that might of been an idea.  It was not offered by the help point person, nor were there any indications of the train running screen or in announcements to help / mask that suggestion..  At one point I was considering D1 bus to Bath and 273 bus to Melksham with a midnight arrival home!

 

I have updated my "logging" page to strike through trains that are supposed to stop at Melksham, but run through without calling.  From a passenger viewpoint, I consider them to be cancellations.

 

Chaos this evening ...  WWRUG Committee meeting finished around 19:15 in Trowbridge and I have just got home at 22:30.       Particularly galling to see trains going through Trowbridge without stopping ... the young lady waiting for the 20:12 there and headed home to Stroud will still not be there.

 
20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 22:06
20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 22:06 will no longer call at Trowbridge, Melksham, Chippenham, Kemble, Stroud and Stonehouse.
It has been delayed at Westbury and is now 75 minutes late.
This is due to a fault with the signalling system.

 

 
12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 13:01
12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 13:01 has been delayed at Chippenham and is now 18 minutes late.
This is due to passengers causing a disturbance on a train earlier today.

13:13 Swindon to Westbury due 13:55
13:13 Swindon to Westbury due 13:55 will no longer call at Melksham and Trowbridge.
This is due to passengers causing a disturbance on a train

 

Not sure of that ...

20 minutes late confirmed - 3 carriages will be plenty, but I like the idea of an IET that terminates at Westbury and normally runs empty to Stoke Gifford running via Swindon and standing in for s broken local train.   Sounds sensible.

How are they going to have a train calling at Melksham at 20:39 southbound then one at 20:41 northbound - I suspect the AI part of the system is AU (Artificial Unintelligence)

 

Wow!

 

 

And made up ...
11 minutes late from Swindon
1 minute late from Gloucester
3 minutes early into Worcester Shrub Hill where it sat for 16 minutes
on time into Worcester Foregate Street
... an interesting example with slack in the timing of this train.

 

19 minutes late from Melksham .... no chance of a quick change at Chippenham for Bristol today then ...

 

Stilll showing at 07:30 ... it was 1 minute late off Gloucester.   Mountain out of what turned out to be a molehill.

 

Official reason was "overcrowding/not enough wheelchair spaces".

 

I am rather suspecting that performance records stretching back to the last decade would set me off on a tangent I can do without.

 
Not 100% a propos, but I was amused last evening when I got on the 18.46 from Temple Meads to Montpelier.

This train - and you will see the tenuous connection to the topic, -  is often cancelled when I try to catch it due to lack of crew. I had come off the Plymouth - Leeds train on Platform 3, so it should have been a simple matter of stay put while the Leeds train shuffles off, and catch the Severn Beach train from the same platform. The minutes ticked by, ramps were obtained, a chap in a wheelchair got off and then the ramp was installed in a door at the other end of the train. Then, suddenly! Nothing happened. People shrugged. Someone cleared his throat. No-one went and no-one came. And then, over the wheezing rattle of the Vogager, the inevitable platform change was announced. So I joined the crowd hotfooting it to Platform 7, and just a few minutes later we were on our way.

The odd bit was the conductor's announcement. He apologised for the confusion. I thought he was going to explain why the Leeds train had delayed us and led to a platform change. What he actually told us was that our train had been cancelled and then uncancelled because he had been reallocated to another train but then another guard had come in on a later, delayed train thus allowing him to work our train. So that puts us in our place then!

The Leeds train, incidentally, left 26 minutes late but surpisingly left New St on time. No idea what held it up for so long at Temple Meads.

 

Please don't encourage him, IndustryInsider. [Image from here is not available to guests] [Image from here is not available to guests] [Image from here is not available to guests]

 

A realtimetrains+ subscription gives you the option to search back 5 years (or right back to 2012 with the 'Extended History' upgrade).

Might be very useful to you in terms of charting performance/timings over an extended period?

 

07:30 - 07:31 Salisbury to Worcester train calls at Chippenham
07:31 - 07:33 London to Weston-super-mare train calls at Chippenham

A year ago, yes, it was 07:34 departure from Chippenham in the public timetable, with the 07:31 departure to Worcester unchanged and I would assume (data no longer easily to hand) that the arrival from Salisbury was at 07:30.  So 4 minutes has indeed become 3.

I am - disappointed - that this has just slipped in, bearing in mind requests to move it to 07:35 as GWR have been known to do for their own convenience when engineering works have been taking place. At the least, I would have hoped to have received a notification of changes as has happened with so many changes in the past.  However, the GWR team could be characterised at present by being operational rather than customer responsive. Ask passengers who used to finish work at Salisbury at the end of a conventional 9-to-5 day and catch the 17:42 home to Dilton Marsh, and suddenly found on 15th December that the train that had called at Dilton Marsh was now running empty, and their alternative didn't leave Salisbury until 19:13. 

Conversations are being had, but in reality the passengers and the regulators are pretty toothless.  There are times that changes make sense and occasionally that will inconvenience some people - we have accepted a number of such changes in the past - but at present changes are being put in more, it seems, with a view to improving performance stats than to serving the customer.   Frustrating, as there are ways of doing both at the same time.

 
I wish you hadn't said that - I'm going to be testing it out later... [Image from here is not available to guests]

BTW the (unofficial) connection at Chippenham is even tighter than it used to be, isn't it? Has the Paddington Weston-super-Mare service crept forward a minute?

 
A good week - how it should be, and here's hoping it can continue like this.



I am delighted that the 07:21 in the mornings has consistently been on time, so (Thingley Junction traffic allowing) will allow a good connection into Bristol. 

The late running by a few minutes of the final train of the day is encouraged and expected, as it's scheduled as a 5 minute connection off the express from London and little delays to connect make it work.  I was on this train last Tuesday, and a noticeable number of people joined us off the London to Cheltenham Spa express before we set off from Swindon.    And there are no onward connections at Trowbridge or Westbury that are compromised by a few minutes late running, so it's AOK on this train.

 

 

 

Interesting.  I can be at Melksham Station and it tells me my train has arrived when it hasn't!

 

For those trains fitted with working GPS, the reports should be totally accurate.  For those that don't it does rely upon a guesstimate from when the train passes the previous signal berth at the junction either end - usually pretty accurate, but not so if there's a delay at the station or a long speed restriction etc.

 
Here's a clearer table  ... removing the pedantic detail for trains that are virtually on time

 
To help quantify / analyse the issues in particular for passengers who are departing and arriving at Melksham Station, I am recording the logged performance of each train timetabled to call at present, from industry feeds. 



I have taken the delay/repay cutoffs of 15 and 30 minutes as my colour change points, with an extra short "within 2 minutes" note in particular to watch the 07:21 train which has a tight unofficial connection at Chippenham for Bristol Temple Meads.

Northbound and Southbound are separate reports - this is an analysis for customers and if someone's headed for Westbury, the next train isn't much use to them if it's going to Swindon.

Reporting systems for Melksham are from equipment a little way from the station; whilst we have had occasions where a train has left early, in practise most train manager and drivers do wait until the due time; the lines showing early departures above are in most cases accounted for by a train that's ready to leave early, but in fact hung around.

 

 
Same again this morning, although it arrived at 06:27. It's also scheduled for 06:31 tomorrow, but back to normal on Monday.

 
From the Wiltshire Times

 

Oops


"we are unable to operate our service".  With no suggestion about what customers - that first one (the 10:02 at Melksham) is the busiest northbound of the day - should do.    This is where a volunteer presence at the station would be so helpful ... but that is a subject for a fresh thread.

 
Cancellations to services between Swindon and Westbury via Melksham

Due to a broken down train at Melksham the line is blocked. Disruption is expected until 12:00 14/01.
Train services between Swindon and Westbury via Melksham will be cancelled.

Customer Advice
A freight train has broken down on the line between Westbury and Swindon; as a result we are unable to operate our service.

 
Looks like chaos on the Trans Wilts this morning. A failed freight near Kintbury on the Berks and Hants has meant that up West Country trains have been diverted over the Trans Wilts. Now though it looks as though infrastructure train 6M50 has failed somewhere south of Melksham blocking that line. 1A73 and 1J74 up passenger trains from the West Country have diverted from Westbury up to Bath/Bathampton Junction and reversed there to continue to London.

 
A bit of both - but the end result is the same.

The 07:45 is normally formed from an incoming service from Bristol Parkway.   This morning that train started from Temple Meads and arrived at Westbury 14 minutes late at 07:43.   For some reason the decision was taken not to run the TransWilts service, even with a late start.

 

of if you prefer ...

 
And now ...

 

 

The IET was 1K71 - the 05:10 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington that usually calls at Kennet Valley stations.  Got to Westbury on time (actually a couple of minutes early at 05:48, but say there until 06:14 and left headed back (16 minutes late) up whence it came, passing Bradford Junction ar 06:22 for the second time and headed, though untracked on my system, via Chippenham and Swindon - it has appeared on the trackers again at 07:28 - 21 minutes late - into Reading.

Oh for increased capacity, Bradford Junction to Thingley Junction.

 
This could be why an unexpected IET was around and delayed the [06:29/06:31].    That won't account for the scheduled change to 06:31 today ...

 
Actually the 06:46 is delayed, showing as 07:01. But that's probably going to be busier than usual, might wait for the 07:05 anyway.

 
Departed Melksham at 06:43 - will miss the 06:46 Trowbridge-Bristol, but at least the 07:05 has 3 carriages [Image from here is not available to guests]

 
Well an IET just passed through towards Chippenham (at 06:28), might be related...

Don't think 06:31 is likely [Image from here is not available to guests]

 

There is a 2 minute "Pathing Allowance" at Thingley Junction - a "special" tomorrow; I looked at Wednesday next week and it's back to normal.  Nothing showing on Real Time Trains to need that allowance though.

 
Just buying my ticket for tomorrow morning's Melksham-Bristol commute, and spotted that what is usually the 06:29 Melksham-Trowbridge is scheduled for 06:31 (it was 06:29 on Monday). Anyone know why?

 

 

 

Congratulations to the crew for getting it running just 10 minutes late.   The above message still being issued three quarters of an hour after the train had left Salisbury - even though it implies it's still there - and it still suggests it's stuck at Salisbury at 08:07 as I write.

 

Is it just me or... or are the old crocks put on our line?   Feels like that sometimes!

 

And there was a false alarm cancellation on this one ...

 


It's a piece of text that's used when a "whoopsie" is found in the temporary timetable around engineering.  

In this case, 5M11 ECS arrived as normal at Frome at 13:43.  It normally sets off at 14:05 for Swindon, clearing in good time for the 14:28 call of the (Swindon, but today Chippenham) to Weymouth train.  However, the trains from Frome can't go as far as Swindon today - only to Chippenham - and so it didn't leave until 14:38.    Frome has just one platform ...

 
Today, we have removed the Frome stop from this service.

 

... which means ... exactly what, GWR ?

Your text is just random words, selected from the Oxford Dictionary.

 

 

Here is that same train 4 weeks ago - 14th December.  At that date, it was running to both Chippenham and Swindon.  For today, it had been cut back to Chippenham because of planned engineering, and then less than an hour before it was due, it was cancelled. 


Image © 2026 by Graham Ellis is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. I am taking this opportunity to post / remind readers of the copyright on my photographs shared / used on the Coffee Shop - it's been a recent subject of discussion (here) and it's worthy of occasional reminder.

 

 
With Storm Goretti ranging, it's amazing that the only change on trains that run via the Westbury - Swindon line is:


To some extent, a technical report as far as the TransWilts is concerned - through passengers from South of Swindon to Foregate Street are few and far between, and the 12 minute scheduled wait at Shrub Hill on this train means that it's not attractive anyway.

 
A bit OTT but the central waiting room at Chippenham was flippin cold yesterday evening while waiting for the 1735 Swindon-Westbury. I can understand the heating having trouble keeping it warm in sub-zero temperatures, but the blowers weren't even blowing - something was broken. I reported it to the staff on the main exit barrier (across the bridge) who said they would investigate.

 

In amongst all the other - chaos - on GWR this is minor

 

 
I suspect the 16.23 to Swindon, a 2 car 158, was rather cozy as it would have had passengers off 13.55 Paignton to London. This train terminated at Westbury because of the track issue between Westbury and Pewsey. See:
https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=31378.msg370461#new

Transwilts to the rescue!

 
I guess that drivers are able to volunteer to do that - as long as their mileage claim to the TOC isn't fraudulent - but the way you posed the question Mark A - it read as though you thought there was a duty on the driver if you so asked? There definitely isn't.

 
Yes, near-midnight Yorkshire taxi person on a railway contract working on a dirty night took me to the door rather than to the... awkwardly situated station some distance from the village.

Mark

 
On the Chippenham-Melksham route they've been kind enough to drop me off at the bottom of Westlands Lane a couple of times (home is in Whitley). Once I was the only passenger so it potentially saved them about 2 x 1.5-2 miles of driving, but there was a couple of us on the most recent occasion.

 

I would agree with that.  And in this case he had to do a drop off and perhaps a pick up too.   They are averse to letting you off early - "you're driving past the end of my street - can I get off here?" either - but then so are buses, and have you ever asked a train not due to call at Dilton Marsh to make a stop there, even if the local train that should call is cancelled?

 

 

Errr......your ticket is to the *station* - not your 'preferred destination'. Taxi drivers are usually required to meter to the station & won't be paid any additional mileage incurred - so don't be surprised if your taxi will only go to the station. This is definitely the case when carrying more than 1 passenger - each passenger can not insist that they are dropped at their 'preferred destination' - but at the station concerned.

 
Here is a summary of yesterday:



1 planned cancellation because (?) it was a public holiday
2 cancellations described as "staff shortage"
6 cancellations described as "fault on this train"
9 services ran

50% cancellation rate

Of note from personal experience

* the 13 minute delay to the 07:21 (2M81) was due to 6M50 (Westbury to Bescot) which passed through Melksham at 07:09 (35 minutes early - it was due at 07:43) but then got held on the single line approaching Thingley, blocking 2M81 on the line approaching Bradford Junction.   At the time the train was due, the display on the platform at Melksham said:


* I was returning to Melksham on 2M30, and arrived into Chippehnam from Bristol (separate story) at 17:34.  I knew to go over to the gateline and ask staff for help.   The announcement system was advising people that the train was cancelled and "The next fastest train will be the 19:00 to Salisbury" - correct advice, but not telling people who didn't want to wait for nearly an hour and a half that they could seek further assistance if they did not want to wait for the train.


Capacity was also limited between Bristol and Bath yesterday afternoon, with single line working on one line while a safety check was made.  Altenate London <-> Bristol trains routed via Bristol Parkway, and just one an hour not 3 running from Westbury to Bristol. One has to wonder as a passenger why one of the trains stuck at Westbury could not have been used in place of the faulty one on the Swindon service.  My taxi driver from Chippehnam was metering his run, and GWR will be invoiced just shy of £45 - not a cheap ride at Bank Holiday rates!

Final thought - why when a train is cancelled does it say "Calling at" on the boards - the whole point is that it is NOT calling at and really it should say "not calling as planned at" should it not?

 

No - that is a taxi dropping three occupants at the station.   On the cusp of a delay-repay claim - 15 minutes late. The taxi was also charged with picking any passenger from Melksham to Trowbridge, so there was logic in him going there. Fuller reports to follow - a very interesting "state of the nation" set of learning journeys!

 
Is that a taxi dropping its sole occupant down at the station rather than at their preferred destination?

Mark

 
A ... wonderful day ...



... four bus journeys, and supposed to be four journeys by train but one turned into this ...

.

 
21:16 Westbury to Swindon due 21:58
21:16 Westbury to Swindon due 21:58 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

22:31 Swindon to Westbury due 23:12
22:31 Swindon to Westbury due 23:12 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

 
and


No alternative offered

 
 18:37 Westbury to Swindon due 19:21

Additional information added just after 15:50.

 
18:37 Westbury to Swindon due 19:21
18:37 Westbury to Swindon due 19:21 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

20:12 Swindon to Westbury due 20:56
20:12 Swindon to Westbury due 20:56 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

 

 

Thank you. Let's hope it's much much much much quieter than this year.

Lisa and I celebrating the New Year tonight - firstly because we like to be ahead of the game, and secondly because I want to be up early on 1st January to catch the first train of the year!

 
Here's another new topic I've primed, ready.  CfN.  [Image from here is not available to guests]