Yup - you need to et the hourly Cheltenham Spa service.....


Arrgh!! So Reading it would be & doubling back. Or BRI or Welsh services from the east.

 


They could try but the lifts at Didcot (P2/3 and P4/5) are also out of order, seems to be connected to the heatwave as happens every time we get 'extreme heat'.

 
Lifts and anything else will inevitable fail from time to time, or require to be out of service for maintenance work and servicing.    Where that is a single point of failure,  the rule appears to stipulate that it should have been thought through and a Plan B should be in place:

Based on the lack of direction / instruction / information we have seen on this one so far, there has not been a customer friendly "Plan B" in place, or if there has been, NR and GWR have failed to action it.    Of course - if "Plan B" were to be "keep as quiet as you can about it and hope it doesn't make the headlines so we don't have to spend on these passengers who are expensive to look after", it could be that they have implemented it  - their unfriendly Plan B.

There days, Lisa and I are travelling by train a lot and it's very hard for her to use straights.   At Osnabroek and at Beurs we have used the "three lift solution".  Where lines cross each other and there are four lifts linking the platforms, a single lift out of action can be replaced by using three.  Same would work at places like Berlin Hbf.  A lift out of action at Brescia lead to another three lifts being used - rather than rising to the main entrance from the main subway, we went back up to the platform, and along to the secondary subway also fitted with lifts and did a down, across, up there.

We'll be coming back London - Swindon - Melksham next week.  It will be interesting to see what advice if any we are offered at Paddington; Swansea or Cardiff trains will be an issue - we know the solution for Bristol and Cheltenham Spe services.

 

This is another area of divided responsibility between the TOC and NR. There is a short NR document called "Lifts and Escalators handbook for Franchised Stations" (dated March 2023). Here are a couple of quotes:

That second bullet point is the only explicit mention of the vital importance of lifts to passengers who can only travel through a station using them. And it is basically passing the buck to the TOCs!

 

Thanks, Bob.   There are lots of flows that go through those staircases or have to use the lifts if they can't ...

What about people who arrive at Swindon Station by bus / taxi / on a mobility chair and are headed for London?

 
That lift has been problematic for a few weeks but in recent days it seems to have suffered a  fault which needs a more permanent repair.

I am aware of one person who arrived at Swindon for a TransWilts service and needed the lift.  They were put on a train from platform 4 (which has both a lift and level access) to Chippenham where they could change onto the following TW train a few minutes later.   Not sure what would have happened if they had arrived closer to the TW departure time.

I understand the favoured option for people heading east is to stay on the train to Reading.   There is level access to platform 1 at Didcot Parkway but it involves going through the gateline and out into the car park to get there.   There is no lift for platform 1.   There is also a more frequent service from Reading back to Swindon - although of course don't catch one to Cheltenham Spa!

I have asked what the prognosis is for the lift at Swindon and am awaiting an answer.

 
Still 1 out of 10, GWR. No indication of how long it is likely to be, what the problem is and how long on the current knowledge it might take to resolve it (technical failure or closure on a long term basis), what is being done about it and what the other places you may have to travel to to get back to Platform 4 (and that you'll not be charged - assuming that's the case) - or even which trains call at which platforms and are therefore either affected by lack of step-free access or available for the suggestion to go to the next available station and return to platform 4 to get out of the station.

Worse still, the main GWR website (where I expect most non-regular passengers would check to see what disabled facilities are available still does not alert passengers, either in the "Travel Updates" on the landing page or on the information for Swindon in the "Stations" section.

Quite appositely, the video uploaded today by Jago Hazzard on You Tube (see - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLkxZRJHsQo) gives some examples of inadequate information on problems for passengers, one from GWR, but also an example of good practice from them by way of contrast.   

 

JourneyCheck has this as a station update:

So some text exists, but could do with copying to other places enquirers may land.

 

I would think so - and even Reading on a train non-stop Didcot!!

Might just be quicker via Chippenham & taxi though....

 
Trying to recall how much retail stuff there is on that island platform too, and whether there may be a second lift for... goods.

Mark

 

Indeed, and unconfirmed data suggests that "until further notice" may be for a significant period, with the lift "condemned" and needing to be replaced.

Knowing that some of our members are at the annual TransWilts meeting today - is / was anything said there about the loss of accessibly to the town for those who can't use stairs at the terminus at one end of the line? 

 
Lifts out at platforms 1,2, 3 at Swindon is a bit high impact on some of the travelling public...

Mark

 
I checked the main GWR website, assuming that there would be something there explaining what had happened and when they expected to rectify matters. Nothing about this I could find! On the Swindon station page, under "Step-free access" it assures passengers "Step Free Category A Station - This station has step free access to all platforms via subway and the lifts via the main entrance subway"

The only warning information is that the ticket office opening hours will be different between 26 July and 1 August.

What can you say?

 
From Journey Check


Does this mean that passengers for Swindon with mobility issues from the west may travel to Didcot and double back there at no extra charge?