Two of many staff shortage cancellations today that I noticed across the network

 

Poor approach signage at western (A36) side.   

Never a problem other way as there is warning just before roundabout before Winsley village, and good visibility of the bridge itself that side.

Basically traffic heading north on A36 approaches Limpley Stoke (road) viaduct and is faced with a sign saying 7.5t if turn left, 18t if carry on along A36, or turn right (with no warning of low bridge).

There is then a warning sign, under multiple other signs just before a narrower stone bridge on a corner.  Needless to say virtually impossible to read that far if driving and watching the corner.

Then road runs alongside the railway, this bit had the former Camerton branch, but is now just vegetation overhanging the road.  Network Rail could easily erect a warning sign facing the road on their land (but haven't).   

Because Network Rail haven't cut the vegetation (and this is where a track was lifted, so quite a few metres from live railway), and allowed it to protrude into the road, it cuts the sightlines of the warning signs on the bridge to about 10-15m before the bridge.  The road does sharp corner under the bridge.

There used to be extra deck span for branch track, the concrete pads and different brickwork are clearly visible.  It would be easy to install a physical beam in this area (but again hasn't been done, because presumably bridge hasn't been hit enough yet to justify it)

Sort of smacks of safety of bridge being deemed less than cost of extra signs, and a vegetation crew with a battery hedge trimmer to cut the obscuring the warning signs vegetation etc.  Cost first, safety second.

 
Judging by the number of cancellations in and around the Thames Valley area (amongst others) today due to "crew shortage", it would seem that BBQ season is underway!

 
26th May - Harwich to Arnhem - via Stena Ferry, the Rotterdam Metro, and Dutch Railways. 

Ferry worked a treat - walk on, walk off, lovely ship, lovely staff, even border control folks nice, and quick.  Biggest issue of the day - lifts out of order at Schiedam Centraal which left us marooned on the platform (we caught the next train onwards) and also at Rotterdam Blaak (where we struggled via escalators). The result of the Schiedam incident was a change of plans - we ended up in Blaak where we had a magic meal, but also meant we were some 2 hours down by Arnhem.

 
Oh dear ... teething troubles for the new service, or is GWR / NR locally in meltdown?  Journeycheck is reporting 40 cancellations across the GWR operated services this morning, and a further  21 updates which look like they're largely short runs (cancellations for some).

 
09:03 Oxford to Bristol Temple Meads due 10:11
09:03 Oxford to Bristol Temple Meads due 10:11 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

11:18 Bristol Temple Meads to Oxford due 12:29
11:18 Bristol Temple Meads to Oxford due 12:29 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

13:03 Oxford to Bristol Temple Meads due 14:15
13:03 Oxford to Bristol Temple Meads due 14:15 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

15:04 Oxford to Bristol Temple Meads due 16:13
15:04 Oxford to Bristol Temple Meads due 16:13 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

 
Big "thank you" for that report, Mark ... which I have shared onto Facebook / MTUG group to let people have a further idea and note.  It's always difficult to reach a full customer base - especially where you have a whole series of operators each dealing with their own services / customers without there being a single easy authoritative source.

First Bus do have an update at https://www.firstbus.co.uk/bristol-bath-and-west/news-and-service-updates/updates/manvers-street-bridge-street-bath-road which includes a map and details / links for each of their services.

 
If you happen to be in Melksham this evening ...

Travel and Transport account for a high proportion of our greenhouse gas generation, and we do well to consider the effect of that  on our ongoing environment - what we leave for our children and grandchildren.

In Melksham, and across much of The West, our trains and buses remain fossil fuelled.  Now that's far better than us all taking individual petrol or diesel vehicles - for energy use, congestion, and indeed the exclusive financial and medical nature that limits who can drive.   However - still an issue to be considered.



Promoted for the Melksham Environment Group - full flyer at https://mkmeg.org.uk/peb.pdf - other screenings un the area:
10th June - Trowbridge Old Town Hall
11th June - Warminster Athenaeum
26th June - Market Lavington Community Hall

 

Walking back this morning, we took a slightly different route and it was much more obvious.  Where we joined up with out walk out to the Premier Inn of last night, we noted the absence of a sign which would have been a HUGE help. I also noted that the walking directions took us around 2 sides of a square where the (horrid, main) road ran across the middle ... and judging by the worn out grass on the verges of that road, people frequently short cut it.   As with so many places, its works if you know it.  Asa newcomer I saw the challenges.

Similar challenge in Arnhem tonight - and again it will be be easier to get back to the station in the morning.

 

 

Or the Braille notice that says "Do not touch!"

 
Very localised in Swindon.  Someone barely a mile away from me had thunder and torrential rain.  Nothing here for another hour.

Also looks to triggered four power cuts across the town.

 

Welcome to the Coffee Shop forum, chipbury, and thank you for your first post.

Yes, that poor bridge in our local area must have a claim to being the unluckiest.

CfN. 

 
I got told off last week on only my second visit to Chippenham for attempting to access the station via the barriers half way along the disused platform. l had walked from the bus station crossed the road outside the station via the Zebra crossing and followed the path straight ahead which led to the side entrance.

 

This reminded me of the now infamous Welsh road sign which read, in Welsh, to baffled drivers, "The office is now closed, please call back during business hours".
Evidently an email requesting a Welsh language translation of a road sign created an automated out of office reply in Welsh.
This is just one of several documented, some being utterly and bewilderingly unfathomable.  I recall one translation which appeared to warn about cyclists with inflated bladders and another specifically prohibiting sports teachers.  These were probably the result of confusion with bicycle tyres and passenger coaches.

 
I always liked "Private Notice, please do not read"

and

"Do not throw stones at this notice"

 

Yes,  but many people don’t realise that!  Many still think all the failings of the railway are down to the private companies….. and the DfT don’t want to change that thinking!

Previously, any franchised operator had to display its owning company, be it First, Stagecoach etc pretty much from day one.  The nationalised operations don’t.  I wonder why?!

 
I still smile at the notice on the SWR toilet lids, which presumably means they are at least partly successful.

 
Self-driving buses still have some way to go https://www.rte.ie/news/newslens/2026/0525/1575160-sweden-bus/

 
The fact GWR arent stopping other westbound services at oldfield park and Keynsham this afternoon is madness. The official advice is to double back via Bath. Which would be great if half of those weren't disrupted too.

Thankfully I dont go to the office much these days but when I did GWR were pretty good at adding stop notices  at Keynsham when the normal stopping services had issues. Whats changed?

 

Had to look that up on Google satellite view and that's not trivial - the route via the shared use path from Dovercourt(?) looks to be a bit intimidating, but not as intimidating as the pavement-less A120. And from Parkeston Quay... ummmm...
Mark

 
Passing through Chippenham occasionally over the years, I've never been able to work out why the island platform was used in  both directions when the track layout was simplified, rather than allowing down trains to serve the platform with direct level access to the street rather than all passengers having to use the bridge.  Was there really not enough space to allow the track to be aligned alongside the now-disused platform while still keeping a full 125mph line speed for non-stopping trains, or was level access such a low priority in the 1970s that it just didn't seem important?  Duffield north of Derby is similar, and in that case there is more than enough wriggle room for a better alignment so that can only have been a lack of thought, perhaps combined with convenience and a small cost saving in only having to maintain lighting, tarmac etc on one surface.

 
The vegetation was very lush on the bridge approach even a few weeks ago, and has probably not been trimmed. More could be done there to make the structure scream 'Low bridge'.

(Though we'll be well aware from the Ely-tractor debacle that nothing sort of a tazer-equipped drivers seat will help if someone's really not looking...)

Mark

 
Hope that the railway doesn't end up in the firing line for these: there's a lot of energy in the atmosphere.

Swindon's made the first move as the urban area seems to have cooked up its very own thunderstorm.

Mark

https://www.lightningmaps.org/#m=ses;t=3;s=0;o=0;b=;ts=0;z=11;y=51.5848;x=-1.8794;d=2;dl=2;dc=0;

 
Day one. The bus station board still has no information, the display screens at the west end of the concourse switched off. A small thing, but the 700 that's still booked to serve the bus station went past and headed out on its route without calling - and what might have been a First bus + full passenger load to Trowbridge via Bathford, on exiting the bus station, the driver out of habit turned right instead of left and would have had to do a three point turn outside the railway station.

The amount of traffic heading into Dorchester Street surprised me, but then I found a diversion sign in connection with other road works has not been removed and directs traffic into Dorchester Street (now a no through road).

Outside the bus station, an intending passenger talking with the gaggle of bus drivers there and I heard the word 'Melksham' - said drivers had no information, but sent him in the direction of that road - Ambury - that many people couldn't point to on a map - saying 'Ask again there'. I intercepted him and pointed him at the Hilton - which he knew well as he'd actually alighted there earlier but hadn't twigged that the Faresaver buses were turning there - and hadn't absorbed any information on the changes to the services.

Also... the bridge strike at {insert location of usual suspect at Limpley Stoke}. Four coaches at the north end of the Manvers Street blockade bravely set off towards the station and then had to do a group 'U' turn in limited space and among heavy pedestrian traffic. Not ideal. Rumours on the street was that these were contracted to GWR to cover for the closed line to Westbury but I'm not sure they weren't simply tourist buses heading away from Bog Island to their layover location - there being no signage on the right turn from the exit to bog island that Manvers Street is closed - and the first bit of it is open to provide access to that silly car park in front of St Johns Church.

But... it wasn't just the public transport... within an hour, two delivery artics turned up badged 'Marks and Spencer' and one in particular needed most of the forecourt in front of Bath Spa Station, including the pavement, to turn. Fortunately he had an impromptu banksman for this otherwise the station building might have been more at risk of losing another gable + the supporting structure.

All this causing some very poor hangrydriving from a minority of the motoring fraternity so a good day to take additional care on the roads here.

Up at the bottom of Walcot Street - the temporary terminus for Faresaver buses, a bit more calm - though with several buses waiting, not much road space.

The world's notorious for not working the way I expect it to, the people on the ground working the barriers were treating the confusion as god given - or rather, they were saying, with a certain satisfaction in one case "We just implement what the council tells us to put in place" - with the general impression that at during day one there's no mechanism to gather feedback as to what can be improved so *that* can be put in place for day two (and the next six month). But perhaps there is - let's see.

Mark

 
17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06

17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.

 
My favourite . . .

 
I think this is the 5th or 6th time the bridge has been hit this year!

 
My favourite was this one; see https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/inverness-psychopath-road-sign-was-rogue-installation-304917/