During a planned closure on my commute earlier this year, I made a few DR claims, and was quite irked from time to time watching the 'connecting' train departing as the bus arrived.

Sometimes the claims went through fine. I have no idea how they processed the total delay without tracking data; maybe they just accepted the times I put in.

Another time the response suggested they thought I was claiming for the delay compared to normal timetable. However appeal worked; I made clear that I was claiming for a delay against the replacement bus timetable and they accepted. (But still went down a delay tier with a 29 minute late arrival at destination on a connection-off-the-connection!)

 
There is a bus dispatch app for GWR staff and I think late departures can be logged by staff on the ground at stations.  Not sure if that feeds through to Tiger though for the CIS?  And of course small places like Melksham don’t have bus coordinators or station staff.

Your proposed ‘Information At The Station’ scheme can perhaps obtain numbers for staff at Swindon, Chippenham and Westbury so you can try to keep tabs with them?

Agree with ChrisB that it’s far from simple providing tracking given the ragtag mix of executive coaches, normal buses and everything in between that are used for RRS services.

It’s like stepping back in time 15-20 years when all you could refer to at a bus stop was a sheet of paper with the timetable on.

 
Not the same company at all. Different registration numbers at Companies House.

Appalling programming. You should know all about that subject?

 

Trains run by First.  Bus was a First bus.  Same company. 

If there's no way they can show anything but due time, why do they not say "Due Time" correctly, rather than "On Time" which lies / is false information?

 
You'd need to set up numerous new bustimes feeds for many RRS services, and then the coach's transponder be switched between all these feeds, depending on which RRS service each coach was assigned to each week. Heavy workload for several people at least.

 
Well you say that but through open data, sites like bustimes.org show tracking information for a wide range of buses.  I think it may be mandated by the Traffic Commissioners.

In the same way First Travel Solutions specify accessible vehicles presumably they could require tracking information which could then be fed through to screens or Worldline for Tiger feeds.

 
Buses are trackable by their owning company, not to a company that they are on hire to.

So there is no way that departure boards can show anything other than due time, and of course they disappear a minute after they're due to depart.

Little that can be done until tech is improved.

 

I went down to Melksham Station at about quarter to three this afternoon (to see if the Smart Parking sign is still on show) and took the opportunity to observe.

At 14:40, The platform display said "No services from this platform'. The screen that overlooks the pick up and drop off car park area showed a number of buses - next one 15:00, to Chippenham, showing "on time"

At 15:08, I took another look at the display, and it said that the next service was bus to Westbury, "on time" for 16:10, with the next bus to Chippenham not until 17:26.

At 15:13, A bus rolls up headed to Chippenham.

Buses claiming to be "on time", not appearing and disappearing off the board seem calculated to mislead and worry  customers.  Buses can track these days, and if they're not doing so, the system should not say anything which might suggest that they are.

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Trains had passed through at 14:58 (southbound stone trucks) and 15:14 (northbound IET).  Neither stopped.

 
A quick Google search throws up the following

From National Rail website


From As an example, TfW has this

 
Can you confirm my understanding here - as I understood it, a rail replacement bus is in effect a trin on the road, and if a GWR rail replacement bus gets held up, you can claim delay/repay in just the same way.

I am answering ...


My reply