I travel on this service frequently, and often for the whole journey (Weymouth to Bristol TM) and it has honestly got to be one of the worst routes there is.
- There are several request stops (Chetnole, Yetminster, Thornford) which a lot of the time no one will get on or off adding on several minutes.
- Several other stations (e.g Avoncliff, Freshford) no one will get on or off.
- About 75% of trains are late, often frequently 20+ minutes.
- No wifi / plug sockets.
- The stock used is awful and varies each day, GWR do not seem to understand stock allocation, sometimes there will be a 4 car service for a 11:00 service, and yet there will be only 2 cars (without adding at Westbury) for the morning peak.
- Infrequent services.
What a joke!
Thornford, Yetminster & Chetnole are request stops, so if nobody gets on or off, the train will not stop! Avoncliff anf Freshford used to be request stops but usage has improved at Freshford over the years and Avoncliff was made compulsory for operational reasons I believe. Both Avoncliff and Freshford are very lucky with where on the route they are.
The trains are frequently late on the route, but this also applies to Cardiff - Portsmouth and numerous other lines in the West. The problem with The Heart Of Wessex line is there are a few very short turnaround times after long journeys at Weymouth and Gloucester, single tracks with passing loops between Upwey and Frome mean that delays just escalate with trains having to wait at passing points. Also, these trains can get severely overcrowded between Trowbridge and Filton Abbey Wood which slows down boarding/alighting.
No 'West' units are fitted with plug sockets, though I agree they should be.
The stock allocation on GWR in the west is absolutely dire at the moment. Everyone is having to make to do with whatever turns up. The worst is 150/1s covering for 158s. I even saw a 153 covering for a 3-car 158 a few weeks ago. Hardly ideal. Units have been breaking down all over the place and others have to be sent away for refurbishments pre-2020. Every day the 16:40 Gloucester - Weymouth seems to be just 2 (instead of the booked 4 coaches) as far as Westbury and this gets so overcrowded that people can't board. I dread to think anyone wanting Bruton onwards as they'd have to wait three hours for the next one...
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The line is a bit neglected. I think two-hourly Bristol - Weymouth is okay. Yeovil Pen Mill is within walking distance of the town centre, I'm thinking if a semi-fast Newbury/Reading - Yeovil Pen Mill service would be of any benefit, calling at Hungerford, Bedwyn, Pewsey, Westbury, Frome, Bruton, Castle Cary and Yeovil Pen Mill, giving the latter an hourly service. The issue is that the GWR franchise is still run as three separate companies.
Weymouth - Yeovil Pen Mill has its own flow for local traffic so a unit could be sourced for this giving 1tp2h (then somewhere else possibly via Junction) giving this part 1tph on average. I'm not sure of the passenger flows from Weymouth after towards Bristol or Southampton - Would Exeter be greater than Salisbury?
Longer trains are needed on some services to/from Weymouth, especially high summer, and also Christmas too, as many visit the markets or go shopping in Bath or Bristol and the trains are packed.
What's more embarrassing is that SWT have shown more interest in the route than GWR have, despite Warminster - Pen Mill being GWR's network. Although SWT's intention was good, Waterloo - Yeovil Pen Mill via. Frome is a bit of a backwards route with it probably being faster to just to go Junction and get a bus if travelling from Salisbury or before, and Warminster - Yeovil will never have huge passenger flows.