The Bristol Railway Archive

From the Bristol Evening Post

Yate is to lose its direct train service to Weston- super-Mare and Taunton.It follows proposed changes to the timetable by operator First Great Western.

The rail company is scrapping the Gloucester to Taunton service, which stopped at Yate, in favour of a direct line from Taunton to Cardiff.

Trains from Yate railway station will be switched on to the line from Gloucester to Bath.

First Great Western claims the changes, which could be introduced in December, have been forced on it by the high number of commuters from North Somerset heading into Cardiff for work.

It means pensioners and the disabled will no longer be able to use their free Diamond Travelcard for direct day trips to the seaside.

Instead they will have to travel into Bristol and switch trains to complete the journey to Weston sea front.

Cricket fans will also have to take an alternative, and longer, route to Taunton to watch Somerset matches.

Yate town councillor Wully Perks, who regularly used the direct line to the Taunton ground, said: "The council has written to the rail company in protest at the change.

"The direct route is an asset to the town we don't want to lose. A lot of people enjoy the direct service and will be gutted to see it go.

"The new timetable will mean we have to change in Bristol, adding more time on to the journey."

Adrian Ruck, spokesman for First Great Western, said: "Some time changes don't suit everyone but we have to use the resources to benefit the majority of travellers.

"We are not able to please people all of the time but we have to go with the majority.

"Timetables are always under review and we do look at customer feedback.

"If there is sufficient demand for changes to specific services they will be looked at.

"Every time we make route changes, unfortunately it does have knock-on effects elsewhere."

Mr Rush said timetable changes have to be worked out between other rail operators and freight users because the track is a shared resource.

Keith Walton, of the Severnside Community Rail Partnership, said it worked with First Great Western on the timetable changes.

He said: "Timetables follow passenger trends and we know there are a lot of people who want a direct service from North Somerset to South Wales.

"We are looking at the possibility of changing the track at Yate so trains could turn around and we could have a service to Taunton."

guessing this is affecting all the way up the line, and not just to yate?

Why would they have to change the track at yate to facilitate a reversal as there is a crossover from the down to the up line and the up line is already signalled Bi-directional any how?. As an aside yate also now has an hourly service according to our local rag.

yates had an hourly service for quite sometime

What do you expect from a train company whose managers worked for supermarkets where they swop every thing round to make it worse for the customers.What you train lovers must remember that they are only in buisness to make money not to satisfy the travelling public. So sad .

tonyperks wrote:Why would they have to change the track at yate to facilitate a reversal as there is a crossover from the down to the up line and the up line is already signalled Bi-directional any how?. As an aside yate also now has an hourly service according to our local rag.

The current signalling does not allow for passenger trains to reverse at Yate. As you say the Up Charfield is signalled for down trains between Yate & Westerleigh but there is no signal on the Up Charfield to authorise the movement to return back to Westerleigh.

Alex

so are you saying that the crossover is not signalled for up trains to use it only for down trains into westerleigh yard?, sorry i'm not very up on my signalling rules and regs, apart from red means danger

The facing crossover at Yate is signalled for down trains to cross over to the bi directional up line and to access the Westerleigh branch. It also allows trains to cross from the Westerleigh branch towards a limit of shunt on the Down Charfield, allowing movements to reverse behind the main signal for onward journey to Westerleigh Junction. There is no signalled move from the Up Charfield to the Down Charfield through this crossover and even if there was it wouldn't be available to passenger trains as the limit of shunt would have to be replaced with a fixed red.

Alex

The bi-directional stretch is also very useful for allowing down Cross Country trains to pass late-running locals. I'm always impressed when
the signaller on the north panel has his eye on the ball and pulls off such a move.....