A train every four and a half minutes this Saturday.
Additional services to support the Bath Christmas Market.
Bath will be served by a train every four and a half minutes this coming Saturday, but Great Western Railway (GWR) is warning that customers will still have to queue at the busiest times to board trains home from the Bath Christmas Market.
Between 1600 and 1900 on Saturday a train will leave Bath Spa station every four and a half minutes to support the first Saturday of this year’s Bath Christmas Market, or one from each platform every nine minutes. But with 400,000 people expected to visit the city during the market period, weekend train services will be very busy.
Massive 30% increase in seats
With new, longer Intercity Express Trains having replaced the majority of GWR’s long distance fleet, the operator is able to provide over 30% more train seats to get people home again.
Trains are however expected to be very busy during peak arrival and departure times, and a queuing system will be in place to help people board trains safely. Engineering works between Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway will also affect journeys from north Bristol and South Wales.
Bath Spa Station Manager Lynn Edginton said:
“Once again we will welcome a huge number of additional visitors to our city, and the ever-popular Christmas market.
“Our friendly and approachable staff will be on hand to help keep people moving. But, I urge those travelling to allow time for their journeys as the station will be very busy; and with engineering works taking place in north Bristol those travelling from further afield should plan their journey in advance.”
A number of services will also have extended dwell times at key locations and there will be slight alterations to normal timetabled services as a result.
Craig Jenkins, Executive Chairman, Visit Bath said:
“We are aware of the challenges involved in moving large numbers of visitors in and out of Bath Spa - which is a relatively small station. We have been working very closely with GWR over the last six months to ensure that visitors travelling by train to the Bath Christmas Market will have the best possible journey.
“We are very pleased that measures put into place by our partner GWR include bringing longer trains with more seats into service on the busiest routes, and more station staff to help our visitors both at Bath Spa and other stations along the key routes.”
Those travelling from south Wales are advised to travel via Swindon for connecting, direct high-speed services towards Bath. Engineering work is taking place between Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway, and a bus replacement service will operate for stations stops in between.
Real-time running information for GWR can be found at www.journeycheck.com/greatwesternrailway, or for further information or advice please visit www.gwr.com.
Notes to editors
Great Western Railway (GWR) provides high speed, commuter, regional and branch line train services. We help over 100 million passengers reach their destinations every year - across South Wales, the West Country, the Cotswolds, and large parts of Southern England.
We’re currently seeing the biggest investment in the network since Brunel so we can offer more trains, more seats, and shorter, more frequent journeys and continue the network’s heritage of helping connect more businesses to new and prosperous markets. Through a series of initiatives we aim to be a good neighbour to the communities we serve and are committed to making a positive social impact in those regions. Learn how we're Building a Greater West at GWR.com. GWR is a FirstGroup company.