Train going to Salisbury only but shown as Exeter on the board?

[miklcct]

I am on the 09:20 diesel train from Waterloo platform 8. It is shown as Exeter on the board but the driver entered Salisbury into the on board announcement.

I was busy doing things with my phone but I heard something that the train would terminate at Salisbury and bus replacement.

I checked the National Rail Enquiries app. The train was shown as Exeter. After I tapped into the service, it only went to Salisbury. If I used the new National Rail website and entered Waterloo to Gillingham or Exeter on the departure board, and tapped into the details, it returned me to the home page.

I checked unofficial sources. The train was timetabled for Salisbury only, not going to Exeter.

I finally checked the SWR Engineering Works page. The line between Salisbury and Gillingham is closed.

Fortunately I was heading for Salisbury only. If I wanted to go anywhere beyond, I would have been confused. Why did the station departure board and National Rail Enquiries showed Exeter? The same applies to all subsequent xx:20 departures as well.

 

[Kite159]

Did the board mention changing to a replacement bus at Salisbury to Gillingham where the train service will resume?

I've seen that happen a few times in the past when a journey has been split up with a bus.

 

[louis97]

Fortunately I was heading for Salisbury only. If I wanted to go anywhere beyond, I would have been confused. Why did the station departure board and National Rail Enquiries showed Exeter? The same applies to all subsequent xx:20 departures as well.

The trains and buses have been linked, it's a bit rubbish as it is never totally clear that there is a bus for part of the journey.

Sounds like the NRE website can't handle this linkage, can't say I'm surprised.

 

[miklcct]

Did the board mention changing to a replacement bus at Salisbury to Gillingham where the train service will resume?

I've seen that happen a few times in the past when a journey has been split up with a bus.

Unfortunately I didn't even look at anything below the destination, and on my return journey, I arrived Waterloo before the 16:20 train which was advertised for Salisbury only. The only words I looked at on the departure board was Exeter and the platform number.

I appreciate if anyone can share a photo of the departure board here for the 17:20, 19:20, 20:20 or 21:20 trains.

 

[miklcct]

The trains and buses have been linked, it's a bit rubbish as it is never totally clear that there is a bus for part of the journey.

Sounds like the NRE website can't handle this linkage, can't say I'm surprised.

Thank you. I have just checked Darwin data and the services have been linked with an LK association.

This association type is not even documented on the Open Rail Data Wiki at all.

I'll send an email to the mailing list for an explanation.

 

[The exile]

I am on the 09:20 diesel train from Waterloo platform 8. It is shown as Exeter on the board but the driver entered Salisbury into the on board announcement.

I was busy doing things with my phone but I heard something that the train would terminate at Salisbury and bus replacement.

I checked the National Rail Enquiries app. The train was shown as Exeter. After I tapped into the service, it only went to Salisbury. If I used the new National Rail website and entered Waterloo to Gillingham or Exeter on the departure board, and tapped into the details, it returned me to the home page.

I checked unofficial sources. The train was timetabled for Salisbury only, not going to Exeter.

I finally checked the SWR Engineering Works page. The line between Salisbury and Gillingham is closed.

Fortunately I was heading for Salisbury only. If I wanted to go anywhere beyond, I would have been confused. Why did the station departure board and National Rail Enquiries showed Exeter? The same applies to all subsequent xx:20 departures as well.

If it only showed Salisbury there would then be howls of protest from people saying there was no indication of how to get to Exeter. I suspect it’s one of those situations where you can’t win. As the OP states, people don’t always read the information - even when it’s provided. IMO what the departure board should have said was Salisbury for Exeter - with a clear indication of RRB between Salisbury & Gillingham

 

[greaterwest]

I saw this, and the board clearly said "Bus from Salisbury to Gillingham" and in the list of stations it had a "Then bus service" and "Then train service" phrase. The PA announcement stated that a replacement bus would be in operation between Salisbury and Gillingham when it announced the calling pattern of the train. It's a good way of advertising a replacement bus service to people I think.

The LK association is for linking trains to buses. The new NRE website doesn't handle it at all, and SWR's app throws an error.

 

[The exile]

I saw this, and the board clearly said "Bus from Salisbury to Gillingham" and in the list of stations it had a "Then bus service" and "Then train service" phrase. The PA announcement stated that a replacement bus would be in operation between Salisbury and Gillingham when it announced the calling pattern of the train. It's a good way of advertising a replacement bus service to people I think.

The LK association is for linking trains to buses. The new NRE website doesn't handle it at all, and SWR's app throws an error.

Sounds as near perfect as you can get.Theres a limit to how many allowances you can make for people who will neither read nor listen. (Note - “will”, not “can”)

 

[swt_passenger]

I saw this, and the board clearly said "Bus from Salisbury to Gillingham" and in the list of stations it had a "Then bus service" and "Then train service" phrase. The PA announcement stated that a replacement bus would be in operation between Salisbury and Gillingham when it announced the calling pattern of the train. It's a good way of advertising a replacement bus service to people I think.

The LK association is for linking trains to buses. The new NRE website doesn't handle it at all, and SWR's app throws an error.

It’s not exactly a new thing, I remember many years back getting a train described as being for Weymouth where the departure indicators at Waterloo clearly showed there was a coach leg in the middle of the route. IIRC it was between Southampton Parkway and Bournemouth, but I was only going to Parkway.

 

[Oxalin]

SWR seemed to have a mix of approaches going on yesterday at Waterloo:

• Waterloo - Exeter services were running Waterloo - Andover, bus Andover - Gillingham, then another train Gillingham - Exeter. These were displaying Exeter.
• Waterloo - Portsmouth via Guildford services were running Waterloo - Haslemere, bus Haslemere - Havant, then another train Havant - Portsmouth. These were displaying Havant, omitting the final train.
• Waterloo - Weymouth services were running Waterloo - Wareham, then bus Wareham - Weymouth. These were displaying Wareham, completely omitting the bus connection.

So three different approaches across one TOC!

Personally I quite like the idea of connecting the services (although having got used to trains being advertised without the connecting bus, I might find it a little confusing the first few times). The departure boards made it reasonably obvious, provided you were paying attention to the scrolling text at the bottom. It was more obvious at intermediate stations. Just need to make sure the app shows the correct info now!

 

[PupCuff]

I will admit, as a seasoned rail user (and rail staff!) seeing a departure screen showing this would confuse me. I'd expect the departure screen to show where the train is going, not where I could get to if I got on that train to it's destination, then changed onto a bus, then changed onto another train.

 

[greaterwest]

SWR seemed to have a mix of approaches going on yesterday at Waterloo:

• Waterloo - Exeter services were running Waterloo - Andover, bus Andover - Gillingham, then another train Gillingham - Exeter. These were displaying Exeter.
• Waterloo - Portsmouth via Guildford services were running Waterloo - Haslemere, bus Haslemere - Havant, then another train Havant - Portsmouth. These were displaying Havant, omitting the final train.
• Waterloo - Weymouth services were running Waterloo - Wareham, then bus Wareham - Weymouth. These were displaying Wareham, completely omitting the bus connection.

So three different approaches across one TOC!

Personally I quite like the idea of connecting the services (although having got used to trains being advertised without the connecting bus, I might find it a little confusing the first few times). The departure boards made it reasonably obvious, provided you were paying attention to the scrolling text at the bottom. It was more obvious at intermediate stations. Just need to make sure the app shows the correct info now!

I suspect the train from Waterloo to Haslemere (Havant) omitted the Portsmouth leg because it's quicker to go via Eastleigh by train?

I know that if a train has a Split (like the Wareham services did yesterday) you cannot link a bus service to it so that will be the reason why it wasn't shown on the screens in the same way as the Exeter and Havant service was.

There was also a train from Alton to Farnham which had a bus to Farnborough Main linked to it at Farnham!

It's a shame the apps don't show this properly.

 

[miklcct]

I suspect the train from Waterloo to Haslemere (Havant) omitted the Portsmouth leg because it's quicker to go via Eastleigh by train?

I know that if a train has a Split (like the Wareham services did yesterday) you cannot link a bus service to it so that will be the reason why it wasn't shown on the screens in the same way as the Exeter and Havant service was.

There was also a train from Alton to Farnham which had a bus to Farnborough Main linked to it at Farnham!

It's a shame the apps don't show this properly.

I hadn't seen anything similar to this before, and it wasn't even documented on the wiki. After I sent an email to the mailing list I received a reply referring me to the technical specification.

Unfortunately the app I'm developing in my job also doesn't support it and won't do in the short term, as we have chosen GTFS instead of Transmodel as our data format for rapid prototyping when I started my job, due to my familiarity with the data format (the backend supports GTFS and NeTEx Nordic profile in both input and the API). GTFS doesn't support this functionality.

 

[Frontera2]

We trialled this in the SE region and whilst it worked from a technical perspective, it did cause a number of issues for onboard and station staff as customers simply didn't understand the linkage and therefore we stopped as it was causing more harm than good. Instead changes have been made to the CIS to allow the information to be better presented at stations whilst leaving the individual train / bus services unassociated in Darwin.