[snip]  ... Note that if you travel outbound on a via Taunton ticket, you need to come back the same way - you can't drop back to the cheaper route via Trowbridge.

12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 13:05

12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 13:05 will be cancelled.

This is due to a points failure.

13:14 Swindon to Westbury due 13:57

13:14 Swindon to Westbury due 13:57 will be cancelled.

This is due to a points failure.

14:18 Westbury to Swindon due 15:01

14:18 Westbury to Swindon due 15:01 will be cancelled.

This is due to a points failure.

15:14 Swindon to Westbury due 15:58

15:14 Swindon to Westbury due 15:58 will be cancelled.

This is due to a points failure.

09:45 Westbury to Swindon due 10:30

09:45 Westbury to Swindon due 10:30 will be cancelled.

This is due to a points failure.

10:34 Swindon to Westbury due 11:21

10:34 Swindon to Westbury due 11:21 will be cancelled.

This is due to a points failure.

To my knowledge, yes, that's allowed.

There are no fewer than 3 off peak return fares Newbury to Weston-super-mare.   Cheapest via Trowbridge, then via Taunton, then not via London.   Note that if you travel outbound on a via Taunton ticket, you need to come back the same way - you can't drop back to the cheaper route via Trowbridge.

07:45 Westbury to Swindon due 08:34
08:44 Swindon to Westbury due 09:26
09:45 Westbury to Swindon due 10:30
10:34 Swindon to Westbury due 11:21
12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 13:05
13:14 Swindon to Westbury due 13:57
14:18 Westbury to Swindon due 15:01
15:14 Swindon to Westbury due 15:58
16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:06
17:45 Swindon to Westbury due 18:26
18:37 Westbury to Swindon due 19:21
20:12 Swindon to Westbury due 20:56
21:16 Westbury to Swindon due 21:58
22:31 Swindon to Westbury due 23:12

Facilities on the 22:31 Swindon to Westbury due 23:12.
Disabled toilet facilities are not available.
This is due to a fault on this train.

Not as cheap as going via Bristol, but I note that the following fares for Newbury-WSM via Taunton are available:
Off-peak return £82.80 valid 09:15 and later from Newbury.
Super Off-peak return: £63.00 valid 10:30 and later from Newbury,

Break of journey is allowed in both directions for these tickets. Perhaps someone would confirm that this permits the train to be boarded at Pewsey?

An off-peak return from Pewsey to Weston-Super-Mare costs an eye-watering £103.60
...

The Eurostar trains slow right down as they go through Antwerp Central anyway ... and remember that you loose a significant proportion of customers travelling from C to A if you make them changes at B - and not just crossplatform along the way.

Seems odd really when Antwerp is only 50km or so from Brussels and there are plentiful HS services along that route - perhaps testing the waters or trying to keep the competition at bay.

All fares ought to be the same for recognised routings....based on one metric (miles per £1 maybe?)

Indeed.  Perhaps in a parallel universe, the UK would have been a part of the Schengen zone (and indeed remained in the EU) and travel from Belgium to the UK would have been as easy as crossing the German - Poland border which I think we have done 4 times in the last few days.   I say "I think" - I know we did it twice on the train, but I think that the rail replacement bus from Goerlitz to Zittau took us from Germany into Poland and back into Germany again.

well, it's done on shortest, not quickest....shortest always valid

East Midlands Railway (EMR) has released more details about the problems with its fleet of trains which prompted it to reduce services.

Last week, the company said reliability and maintenance issues with the new Aurora (Class 810) trains - made by Hitachi Rail - were to blame.

Now EMR has outlined "challenges" with both the 810s and the older Class 222s, affecting the toilets, air conditioning and catering equipment.

It added that the Class 222 trains had also required "additional maintenance support to accommodate increased running and operational requirements".

The operator first introduced the Aurora trains into passenger service in December, after what EMR said was a three-year delay.

Several Intercity services, which run to and from London St Pancras, have been cancelled because of problems with the new fleet, while other services will have fewer carriages.

Will Rogers, managing director of EMR, said the performance of the Class 810 fleet had "fallen below the levels we and our customers expect", and that the timetable change was "necessary"...

Pewsey to Bristol Temple Meads via Taunton IS a mapped route in the Routeing Guide. However it fails the 'fare check' rule meaning it isn't a permitted route.

The fare from Pewsey to Taunton is more expensive than the fare from Pewsey to Bristol Temple Meads. This rules out using the Pewsey to Bristol TM ticket via Taunton.