The journey time from Salisbury to Chippenham via Bath Spa (no direct services at all) is approx. 1h13m. BUT, returning on a Sunday (as many people might), it takes over 2 hours! Also changing via Bath Spa bit with a 40 minute wait. Thankfully you can kill 40 mins at Bath during the day but honestly, this is not even viable by my reckoning and at £17.50 return, even less so.

On a weekday journey time back from Chippenham to Salisbury is reduced to 1h22 but we know there is a direct line ready and able from Salisbury to Swindon via Melksham that could do the job is under an hour.

I have finally got the attention of more people from south Wilts to join the continued TransWilts Rail Campaign and you can read more in the latest newsletter of Salisbury Campaign for Better Transport.

I am really very disappointed that I still can’t confidently recommend anyone travel from south to north Wiltshire or vice versa by rail at the moment, unless it is your only mode of travel.

The Save the Train has begun a ‘pledge’ campaign in order to gather as much support for this as possible so they are able to present the figures and the views of the Wiltshire public (and those travelling through the county) to FGW and our politicians.

So, what are you waiting for? Take the TransWilts Train Service Pledge.

Read the Guardian summary

This follows the revelation that FGW had cooked their punctuality and cancellation figures, although FGW said this happened through a mistake, and was not done on purpose.

This could be good.

I have just sent off for one, will see what happens.

Out. Took the 10.40 to Bristol Temple Meads. Surely a ‘peak’ service considering many travelling rugby fans on route to Bath Spa, many shoppers and long-distance weekend travellers with luggage. We had a two-coach 158. The train did not empty at Salisbury greatly and although we were lucky to find seats many at this stage were filling the corridors and even the guard’s cab! I will say nothing of the suitcases. By Warminster there was no improvement and while the guard tried his best to shepherd people all the way down the corridor, people were left at the station. This was worse at both Westbury and Trowbridge, hardly [b]anyone[/b] was able to get on let alone claim reserved seats. There was a large amount of emptying at Bath Spa (predictable?) Now, I do not know if the abandoned passengers were a) given appropriate excuse and apology or b) if alternative transport was organised. All throughout, there was no announcement but I do not blame the guard for this and indeed many were complementary at the way he tried hard to make the best of a very bad situation. I would like to add that there were two 158 units sitting pretty at a siding at Westbury which many noticed and were not impressed by, regardless of the ‘technical’ reasons as to why these were not pressed into service.

Return. Arrived in time for the 20.22 back to Salisbury. There was no indication of the service on the departure board let alone which platform: odd. We thought it could be the mysterious service to Barnham advertised at 20.25 so went to the platform (11) and saw a two-coach 158 and assumed it must be this train. However the train sat at the platform, no lights, doors shut. Mysterious Barnham service disappeared and no announcement or advertisement for the 20.22 to Portsmouth. On finding a station guard he informed us that the train was cancelled but they chose not to advertise the fact – or indeed the service! There was no driver. Reason? None given. We were to wait for the 21.22. This meant that one of my travelling companions whose onward journey was to Winchester would not reach until 00.10 with a 45-minute wait at Southampton, a woman on her own at not the most pleasant station!!! This made her total ‘journey’ almost 4 hours as this service missed the appropriate connection at Southampton Central.

In the final analysis the 21.22 which was advertised for the same platform as the cancelled 20.22 service left from platform 1 – an alteration made at the last minute making us all run while the two empty driverless units were still sitting at platform 11.

These are two problems FGW CANNOT blame Network Rail for. They are ‘old’ problems that on a number of occasions they have claimed to improve: capacity and cancellations due to inappropriate resources.

I look forward to the excuses.

May I add I also heard many echoes of: “might as well drive next time.”

As you may have read from previous posts, there is a direct railway connecting Salisbury and north Wiltshire (Chippenham and Swindon) via west Wilts (Melksham) but there is only one direct service a day timetable in the evening, the service starting in Southampton at 1827, arriving Salisbury 1905, arriving Chippenham 2000. An excelleLondon bound service at Bath Spa. The direct service continues to Cheltenham Spa. There is no direct journey back to Salisbury and/or Southampton. Using the www.nationalrail.co.uk website the following results were obtained for weekday and weekend services.

The search first yield the following warning on ticketing:

Please be aware, you may need to buy separate tickets for this journey, as a through ticket may not be available. If you don’t want to travel via this route, click ‘Restart journey’ at the bottom of the page and try again.

DISCLAIMERPlease do not use the timings given below as a guide to using these services, use www.networkrail.co.uk

Monday to Friday

[time requested from 0000 on a Monday. Advanced fares quoted at £3.00 to £8.00 single with standard Open return fare at £13.70 (with anomalous fare of £22.00 if on the 17.41) and Saver/Cheap Day return at £16.00]

Dep. 06:02
Arr. 07:30
Dur. 1:28
Cha. 1 [Westbury 29mins wait]

06:40
07:54
1:14
1 [Bath Spa 11mins wait]

07:19
08:54
1:35
1 [Bath Spa 23mins wait]

08:25
09:54
1:29
1 [Bath Spa 20mins wait]

09:03
10:24
1:21
1 [Bath Spa 11mins wait]

09:41
11:24
1:43
1 [Bath Spa 36mins wait]

11:11
12:24
1:13
1 [Bath Spa 9mins wait]

11:41
13:24
1:43
1 [Bath Spa 36mins wait]

12:41
14:24
1:43
1 [Bath Spa 36mins wait]

13:51
15:24
1:33
1 [Bath Spa 29mins wait]

15:03
16:24
1:21
1 [Bath Spa 11mins wait]

15:41
17:24
1:43
1 [Bath Spa 36mins wait]

16:41
17:54
1:13
1 [Bath Spa 9mins wait]

17:41
19:54
2:13
1 [Bristol Temple Meads 39mins wait]

19:05
20:00
0:55

19.11
20.54
1:43
1 [Bath Spa 48mins wait]

20.56
22.07
1:11
1 [Bath Spa 2mins wait]

21.41
23.02
1:21
1 [Bath Spa 16mins wait]

Saturday
in compilation

Sunday
in compilation

The erratic waiting times for changes at Bath Spa indicate that this is not a route that was planned for. While many argue that the spheres of leisure and work travel are very different in south and north Wiltshire, with those in Chippenham for example preferring to travel to Bath, Bristol and Swindon and those in the south preferring Salisbury or Southampton, has anyone bothered to find out about the potential for travelling across Wiltshire by rail? Considering the significant traffic problems on north-south routes such as the A350 (Chippenham to south coast) and also A338 in the south east of the county, there has never been a better time ti make changes to mass travel.

Next, North to South Wiltshire by rail.

At the moment it is very difficult to request certain details about the running of the railways from Network Rail owing to technicalities in the way the body is organised. It is a powerful public body in terms of the influence it has on strategy and direction for the railways yet is not a proper public body and cannot be interrogated as such. Why?

Consider signing this petition in order to place pressure on the Secretary of State and Prime Minister to take a closer look at how Network Rail operates.

TravelWatch have issued a response to the article in The Times in which they say that after a series of talks FGW have agreed to withdraw the threat.

It makes me feel uneasy to think that a company who are clearly profiting greatly from providing a public service feel it perfectly reasonable to make the threat of legal action against the ‘watchdog’ that monitors service and performance on behalf of its customers (passengers). While I do not in any way advocate the incorrect pedaling of ‘facts’ I cannot help but think that this was a muscle-flexing exercise rather than one aiming to reveal the truth.

The daily experiences of those who used services on the First Great Western network in and outside London clearly demonstrate general levels of disappointment at the service provided. It is not possible to measure this ‘accurately’. It is much easier to get worked up about a delay or cancellation than an entire journey that runs on time, makes connections and is on a train with ample capacity for people and luggage, that is clean, not too hot and stuffy and with seats, aisles and windows that are clean and in a good state of repair (and perhaps even with a buffet cart that doesn’t aim to sell you Stella or Coke for breakfast).

All too often the indicators used in creating statistics which measure ‘service’ do not take into account the whole experience of the passenger from buying tickets to arriving at the destination (“that’s a different company, not our responsibility”). Of course reliability and punctuality are fundamental but on whose terms are these measured? At the moment passengers cannot claim any recompense for a delay of less than one hour. Therefore is a service reliable if it gets you to your destination anything up to 60 minutes later than you planned?

Yet we are in a position where we are squeezed into a corner, stuck with arguing about the technicalities of Service Level Commitments, themselves set by people who are unlikely to use the service, nor have made an effort to get to know the communication needs of difference places – or rather they have in terms of consulting with ‘partners’ and ‘stakeholders’ but little is actually acted upon, giving the illusion that views have been taken on board hiding the real desire for providing a minimum service (cheapest) for maximum profit.

Those who set the commitment (government) and those who are charged with providing it (train operators) too frequently pass the buck from one to another when problems are raised with little recourse to users. In addition, those independent bodies such as local authorities and watchdogs claim they have little influence or power to make a difference. So where are the facts in all this? What is the truth of it all and will we ever be in a position to raise criticism, and have it received without it being either stonewalled or countered with legal threats?

I am, at least, now hoping that travelling from north to south and south to north of the county will become a priority especially as so many services are based in mid and north Wiltshire, such as the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre in Chippenham. Will I have to leave the county to reach there from Salisbury or else take a bus and change in Devizes? Is this really improved access to facilities and services?

To be continued.

This motion is being supported by passenger groups and rail unions.