Great Western Coffee Shop

Major disruption at Reading.
Services to Newbury and Basingstoke are suspended.
Everything on the first two departure pages shows delayed.

Relief lines at a standstill - and seen nothing up and down on the mains for 15 mins

Just looking at RealTime Trains, there's a Freightliner from Lawley Street (Birmingham) to Southampton with a last recorded time of 0630^ at Tilehurst East Junction. I wonder if this is the culprit? My usual train from TWY, the 0620 from DID, appears to be still trapped behind it as I type this post at 0840 (I managed to get into work on the 0659 from RDG).

UPDATE: FGW have just tweeted the following message:
"There are delays of up to 120 minutes as freight train couldn't be moved at Reading. Please make alternative travel arrangements."

However it looks like the 0620 from DID has now made it to RDG, some 130 minutes late.

It seems the initial problem was a freight failed on the west curve blocking both the up and down main lines.  Another freight was on the up relief waiting to get onto the curve.  So that left only the down relief open.

The failed freight then managed to limp on to Reading West where it sat down again.  The other freight was than talked over the four lines to couple up to the failure and push it onto the Basingstoke line to clear the station and the Berks & Hants route.  While this was happening all four lines west of Reading towards Didcot were blocked by the assisting freight train.

Didcot bound lines re-opened just before 9am.

Do you know whether London bound lines are now open?  Don't want this to mess up our family day out in London.

All lines now open between Didcot and Reading but obviously it is going to be a while before the service gets back to normal.  Two trains TO Bristol have been cancelled so that may well have a knock on effect to services returning from there.

........well it makes a change from signal failures and FGW's own trains failing I guess?  ::)

At Pangbourne, where they haven't seen an up train for quite a long time, they've just been told that taxis are coming to take them to Reading.  The 0937 from Oxford, 1017 at Pangbourne, which from RTT looks like they'd hope to run, was sitting at P1 at Oxford for 30 minutes or so (assuming RTT was reporting correctly) - maybe waiting a Driver? 

Thanks bobm. So far so good so fingers crossed.

I'm sure some people somewhere are doing their best but to be honest the last month or two has just been a shower of s*** as far as FGW goes - and yes I know it's not all 100% down to FGW themselves but if it hasn't been broken down trains it's been virtually daily broken down signals, short formations, staff "not available", no information for delayed customers, gross and unsafe overcrowding on the services which are running etc etc and yesterday fare rises were announced - perfect timing!......we are rapidly getting to a place where you have to question whether the line is fit for purpose......when is it feasible to assume that real and sustained improvement will be forthcoming on reliability, capacity, customer service etc?  I realise that this all sounds like rhetoric and now fully expect the FGW enthusiast/employee/those who know better brigade to fall on me like a pack of wolves but it's really just a plea for some positive news.....a lot of us pay a great deal of money for the privilege of using the "service" and are entitled to expect a great deal better.

Looks like FGW are having problems recovering the service, I've just seen reports on Twitter of a recent hour-long gap in Up services from Twyford & Maidenhead and the first train through was a 2-car Turbo. Talk about adding insult to injury.

TaplowGreen's post reflects my own feelings exactly. I know that after I give up the train for the car in December when my job moves to Reading I'll face a new set of commuting problems - but I really can't go on like this with FGW.

With electrification and Reading remodelling and Crossrail, we were told it would get worse before it got better. So we shouldn't be totally surprised at engineering works, at ancient cables being disturbed and failing in the twighlight of their use when they're hard to maintain, at a lack of line capacity (temporary bottlenecks) while works are done which will amplify any failures, and at a shortage of stock as passenger numbers grow but new trains / extra capacity isn't with us in any significant amount.  And in a complex system that's stretched to its limit, there's a knock-on effect.  "Staff not available" isn't always someone taking a sickie - in fact it's far more likely to be the knockon from the other issues.  If a driver's travelling as a passenger to Reading and the train he's on is held up by a couple of hours, then he ain't going to be at Reading to drive the next train ...

Information systems never provide enough information for the more knowledgable of us, and indeed many remain rudimentary / embryonic in their algorithms and the well informed person can often predict what will happen ahead of them.  Facebook and Twitter people do an excellent job of getting much information out, but there are many more ways people want to be informed, and an expectation of information when it simply may not be [yet] available.   Informing takes time too - I recall one train manager who didn't announce what was going on during a 25 minutes stop at Swindon coming on the speakers as we headed out - "Sorry I couldn't keep you informed, but the only place I could announce from was 7 carriages from where I was resolving the issue, and to walk all the way up and down would have delayed us even more".

I may be sounding like that apologist; to a degree I am, but I'm also of the view that there are areas where more could be done to keep people informed.  I am frustrated to learn (as an intermediary) about replacement weekend timetables when they're published, at times contradicing what we've been told previous ... or to find that engineering arrangements / alternatives appear not to be tuned to suit the traveller.  But I have to say we're somewhat ahead of where we were on this a while back, and that if you think the train companies are difficult at times, the other public transport operators can be even more difficult.  From an intermediary viewpoint, we are all learning.

As an informed end user, there are / remain frustrations with the systems where I think FGW could do better.   Current backlog to answer web site questions is around 12 working days.  Individual issues that come up for me outside of my CRP / systemic tasks are just submitted through that system and sadly the last two questions asked have both resulted in very polite responses which, however, have answered different questions to the ones I have asked.  That's not unique to FGW - I had a very similar thing when asking about buses.  Again, I have sympathy for the companies for whom 95% of answers are probably the same old standard ones and "cut and paste" systems work well, but they could save themselves so much flack by reading what's asked and answering (even if "no, can't do that" or "that was an error on the day") ... and save time in having to follow up the resultant ongoing correspondence, thus cutting backlogs.

You talk about "fitness for purpose" and putting figures / percentages on that is difficult. Looking where I know best (TransWilts), a five or 10 minute delay is usually no big deal - except that if it's 10 minutes delay to the 11:45 from Paddington by Swindon, changes are that your Melksham connection has missed and your 13:13 arrival becomes a 15:52 arrival; even with a request for alternative transport, if granted, the delay will be around 40 minutes.  I've no answer to best measurement ... the current system measures for the train operator not for the passenger, but my criticism is rather unfair as I don't know how you would provide an alternative.

The paper this morning - the "i" - Dan Lewis of the institute of directors is quoted: "Passengers are angry because they feel that train operators are not listening to them.  And they're right; while the franchise system has been  success in driving a massive increase in passenger numbers , it has failed to create a proper relationship between train operators and their customers".

Perhaps there is scope to build on the seedlings of success of community rail - "Putting new life into local lines" and having the community do the same things for commuter lines, regional lines and intercity services too.

Caught up in this today, I'll post more about the journey later. Bit tired now, so I'm gonna grab a siesta. (http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/sleep/tired.gif)

We've discussed FGW's response to major incidents many times before.  The fact is, that while FGW controllers, train crew supervisors etc  will do their best to recover the service, many such posts have been taken out over the years and so the quality of response is reduced.  For commercial reasons FGW have decided that a sub-optimal response to major incidents is a price worth paying if they can reduce payroll costs.

If this incident had happened when I worked for Network Southeast Thames and Chiltern Division, I have no doubt whatever that we would have got the service back much more quickly and stations would not have been left with no service for an hour or more.  We will not get this quality of management again unless and until FGW invest in more posts that can manage incidents. 

So sending front line staff on courses on how to deal with frustrated passengers misses the point:  the effort should be focussed on tackling the causes of the frustration ie managing the incident.  Front line staff can't tell the passengers what trains are running etc until someone has decided what trains are running etc.

Sticking a screen up at main stations showing the @FGW Twitter feed would get the latest information out there as soon as it's known rather than dozens off staff having to answer the same questions over and over and re-relay any new information each time there is an update.

..not a bad idea - although I suspect you'd only want to show FGW's outgoing messages not the sometimes frustrated hyperbole from those tweeting in....   ;)

On my arrival at TWY at about 0643, the 0653 to PAD (the 0620 from DID) was shown as 8 minutes late on the screen so I checked RealTime Trains which showed a late departure from DID. I kept checking RTT and I became concerned when the train arrived at Tilehurst at 0647 but by 0653 it had shown no sign of departure. The TWY screen was still showing 0701 as the expected time and and there were then two recorded announcements that the next train would be the 0653.

Shortly after that I saw an FGW tweet about a broken down train at Tilehurst. There was no mention of which train so I assumed it was the 0653 and I duly informed the others waiting with me. We moved up the platform for the shorter 0705. At about 0702 the 0653 vanished from the screen with the next train becoming the 0705.

So in this case a screen with FGW's Twitter feed might have been better than the station platform system which with its disappearing trains makes me wonder if Paul Daniels is operating it...

There's often much worse than 'frustrated hyperbole'. Although @FGW do do a good job in deleting the worst. Sometimes though, not before it's been up for a while.

This morning was a nightmare having got stuck in the problems between Didcot and Reading.

The situation this morning highlights just how incompetent Network Rail are.  Getting towards the height of passenger traffic you have TWO freight trains virtually following each other.  One failed on the West Curve and because the freight train was too long to fit on the curve it blocked the main lines between Reading and Didcot.  This begs the question as to why Network Rail allow freight trains that are too long to run on the network, perhaps they don't even know the length of these freight trains that operate.
At the moment, these are the biggest causes of delays around Reading Station.  If your train has to queue to get in Reading Station, or stops between Reading and Tilehurst its is generally because either a freight train has been given priority or the freight train that is on the curve is too long and the rear of the train is blocking the mainlines. 
No amount of investment is going to stop this happening.  It is purely down to poor planning and management by Network Rail for which they need to sort urgently. 

Just to prove my point.  I can pretty much guarantee you that 2M50 1557 from Paddington to Banbury will be late as it is everyday because Network Rail insist on running a freight train conveying Ford cars right in front of it. 
Realtime information for 2M50 is here http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C42491/2014/08/20/advanced......... and the freight train, 6X44 is the one that will delay it http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/H37025/2014/08/20/advanced.  Watch!!! 

At the moment, in the evenings we go down to a two track railway between Didcot and Paddington.  Despite these engineering works being planned well in advanced our 90 to 125mph passenger trains are having to share the one line towards London with 50mph freight trains.  You can guarantee services between 21:00 and 01:00 will be heavily delayed.  The schedules and the times for these don't exist and in some cases, clash with our passenger trains.

If you were to remove freight services or even significantly reduce the number of freight services running through the area you would massively increase punctuality and reliability.  Reliability would increase because freight services cause significant damage to the track for which the freight operators DO NOT fully cover the cost of.
A report out by the ORR suggests that freight traffic costs ^280-^400 million each year through increased wear and tare on the track.  The freight companies only pay around 21% of this cost with the rest being paid by.... yes, you've got it.  Passengers and the taxpayer!   
(the report by the ORR is here http://orr.gov.uk/news-and-media/press-releases/2013/rail-freight-charges-to-better-reflect-costs-and-give-industry-clarity-to-plan-for-the-future-orr)

Having said that, FGW could have helped themselves this morning if they had local managers at each depot working 24 hours a day.  As it was, most local managers were only just starting work when this kicked off and as a result walked straight into chaos.  You need to have managers with good local knowledge of their particular area who can make proper informed decisions and be able to liaise directly, face to face, with members of traincrew not someone sitting in HQ somewhere trying to contact all parties.  When you have local traincrew managers you get an interaction with traincrew which often results in traincrew suggesting better ways of doing things. 

Won't the flyover stop this happening?

I catch this twice a week and it winds me up no end that the train gets delayed to get this ruddy freight train through - so I agree with you 100%!

It'll help, but freight services between Southampton and Manchester will still be crossing over the relief lines near Tilehurst and crossing over again at Reading West and at Southcote.  The flyover is primarily there to benefit freight more than it is to benefit passengers, I wouldn't be surprised if they are able to increase the number of freight services through the area especially once the redevelopment of Oxford is completed.

What (if any?) penalty would the Freight Operator be liable for as a result of their asset causing today's chaos?

At a guess, considering its peak time you're probably looking at ^100-^150 per minute, could even be more than that, for every delay caused (including the knock on delays)...... if they accept the delay.

Freightliner will also have to cover the compo that FGW pays out to the passengers, the ones that can be bothered anyway.

I thought that was covered in the fine? I do know that FGW will be remunerated by the freight company based on a set formula around number of trains delayed and the total delay minutes caused by the incident (all TOCs delayed get this)

Out of that, the compo claimed is covered....

When I got into Reading eventually FGW was running announcements for customers travelling to stations to Basingstoke and Newbury to come to the gate line - where taxis were being dispatched.

So, FGW were at least trying to get people to their destinations dispite the massive disruptions

Have to say, the stations announcements and electronic signs were next to useless. Information was being gleaned from fellow passengers using the Internet and their preferred social media site to find out what was going on.

There was at least one train manager at Reading getting information from passengers because his source of information wasn't working.

I thought I had read somewhere that freight operators were exempt from this for some reason.

And that explains the difference had it been a FGW caused event, when the emphasis shifts from running most trains late, to cancelling everything to reduce the delay minutes.  ::)

Well I suppose the three hour delay to FGW services last Saturday caused by the steam excursion being unable to get up the hill to Evershot tunnel must invoke some compensation, but I don't suppose the seaside travellers will think about claiming, so FGW can probably keep the lot.

I think fines imposed on Charter train operators are capped as a significant fine could easily put them out business.  Some operators have been known to waive the fine as well.

That would have been me relaying information to the TM that bobm was sending me via text. I was on the 0730 from Paddington to Bristol stuck at Reading.

I was stopped at Reading for 40 minutes (we'd already arrived 15 late) whilst the various manoeuvres were carried out by the two freight trains. My train manager was doing an excellent job by making regular announcements over the PA, but those announcements consisted mostly of "I have no news" or "I'll update you when I know something".

bobm was, via text message, kindly refering information to me about the exact status of the broken down freight train and the following freight that was to make the attempted shunt. The source of the information should have been available to my TM, but he was having trouble getting said information. I therefore provided him with updates and he then relayed them to all passengers over the PA. Much better I think to be told something, every five minutes or so, rather than "no news". All passengers on our service therefore got updates about the rescue train's progress, the coupling, the shunting, the completion of the movements, and the reopening of the lines to passenger trains.

In some ways I, and the other passengers on my train, were fortunate that we were at a station. More members of staff to talk to, a chance to step off and stretch legs, and so on. I feel for those who were on trains stacked up east of Reading. I was actually intending to catch the 0745 from Paddington to Bristol Parkway (Swansea service), but having heard from bobm of the failed freight, I decided to board the 0730. On the concourse at Paddington at 0738 I was waiting for the platform to be called for the Swansea train and noticed that the 0730 to Penzance via Bristol had still not left so decided to board that one instead.

I was also lucky that I didn't decide to have a more leisurely breakfast in London and travel from Paddington later in the morning. Practically everything to the west via Reading was cancelled between 0845 and 1030.

Cancelled HSS services:

0900 to Bristol TM
0906 to Newquay (started from Taunton, see below)
0915 to Cardiff
0930 to Bristol TM
0945 to Swansea
1000 to Paignton via Bristol TM (later reinstated and ran as far as Newton Abbot departing 40 late)
1006 to Penzance
1015 to Cardiff

I can imaging that, when things started moving again from 1030 onward, the services were more than a little cosy.

I got an appreciation of the fluid nature of these such incidents and how the train planners have to frantically rearrange things. My service, timetabled to Penzance, was first of all going to be terminated at Bristol TM. This was then moved on to Taunton. The train itself didn't actually terminate at Taunton, but instead ran on to Newquay taking the path and head code, from Taunton onward, of the 0906 from Paddington to Newquay.

A postscript to my journey. We left Reading 55 minutes late and lost a few more minutes by Swindon. By then I was actually hoping for a couple more minutes delay, because if I arrived in Bristol TM 60 minutes late I'd be entitled to compensation. The train arrived at 1009^, which was 59^ minutes late! Although I didn't step onto the platform until gone 1010. I'm always of the opinion of, "Don't ask, don't get", so I enquired via social media of the likelihood of receiving passenger charter compensation. I've had it confirmed that I will receive compensation as allowed for an hours delay.

Every cloud...  ;D

I dunno but when it's FGW at fault trains get very rapidly cancelled to minimise cost.

If it's another company at fault, watch the delay bill go through the roof. NeR are as much to blame as the FOC. Allowing freight to run on a very important junction at the beginning of peak your gonna get problems. I also believe on some routes on gwml freight gets priority over pax trains of there is no loop.

As I mentioned earlier, the flyover should alleviate some of the problems caused by conflicting moves between freight and passenger services at Reading. It can't come soon enough.

That said, even if it was in use yesterday the relief lines and the up and down Westbury would still have been blocked.

Yes, the west end of the station will be unlocked massively next year, and will allow the full benefit of the changes at the eastern end of the station and the new platforms themselves to be realised at Reading.

.....I guess all we'll need then is reliable infrastructure that doesn't constantly fail and cause twice weekly chaos, decent communication/customer service and something approaching sufficient capacity to avoid cattle truck conditions, then we may get something worthwhile in return for the highest fares in Europe...........one step at a time I suppose?

Indeed.  Another small step being taken over the next week or so with the redoubling from Swindon to Kemble coming to fruition.  Another one will be taken next year when the flyover at Airport Junction will be brought into use, then the dive under at Acton shortly after that.  Then electrification and new electric trains arrive the year after that - all whilst the daily throng of passengers is still being transported to their destinations in even increasing numbers on trains almost exclusively built in the 1970s, 80s and early 90s.

Disruption such a yesterday's freight train and signalling failures, suicides etc. will continue to happen, but hopefully on a reduced basis when all this 'open heart surgery' on the route is complete - it's the response at times of disruption which sorely needs to be improved in my opinion.  I don't think Graham could have put it any better in his reply to your post on page 1 of the thread.

Returning to the issue of information to passengers during disruption.

Would it not be possible for FGW to have staff dedicated to customer information (for example the social media team) based in the same office as those who are making the necessary adjustments to train running?

Train control is based in Swindon, with social media staff either in (I believe) Plymouth or Paddington.

Obviously the train controllers and planners need to able to get on with the job of returning things to normal, but if there was someone briefed to give out information during disruption from the same location, it may help give a much better understanding to the travelling public of what is causing delays and how things are being worked on to resolve them.

And I'm not just talking about social media, those same people attached to train control and planning (or whatever its actually called) could also be relaying information to station staff across the network, so they don't have to bother the controllers and train planners directly.

One small point from the larger issue of information to the public. All the CIS announcements I heard yesterday referred to 'a broken down train'. To the ears of the average passenger this is likely to make them think of a passenger train. Why can't the the announcements include the word 'freight'? Why, as a passenger train operator, should you give your customers the impression it is one of your trains that has broken down? This isn't just assumption on my part. After arriving at Bristol TM yesterday I overheard someone grumbling, "Typical. Great Western's trains are always breaking down."

Reminds me of when I was stuck at Crewe earlier in the year.  Station announcements were advising of a 'derailment outside the station', which was actually a very low speed light-loco derailment which needed the juice switching off nonetheless.  But I heard two people on phones asking the people they were speaking to to check the news as they'd been a crash.  Just shows what vagueness can mean to some passengers.

I seem to recall reading on another, similar thread that there was a policy of TOC/NR not blaming each other (at least in public) when things go wrong, perhaps that extends to freight operators as well?

If you look at Realtime Trains, it shows all the cancelled trains as "This service was cancelled throughout due to a problem with the traction equipment (MC)." Presumably that is the reason flag used throughout the system. That does look odd - is it part of the same policy of giving neutral explanations, or is it just wrong?

There were a couple of manual station announcements while I was stopped at Reading that referred to the broken down freight train. And 'my' TM, relaying the information I'd given him, told all aboard via the PA the delays were being caused by the failed freight train and the use of another freight train to shunt.

Just mentioning 'freight' would surely be okay. No need to mention the freight operating company by name, just as passenger TOCs aren't explicitly mentioned by name when they cause delays to other operators.

No such qualms about naming names here. The failed freight was 4O22 from Trafford Park Freightliner Terminal to Southampton Maritime Container Terminal, operated by Freightliner Ltd.

Of course in the 'Good Old Days' the station train announcers used to sit in the local signalbox and could relay very up to date information ::)

within the control centre there are 3 members of staff (1 for each area LTV/WEST/HSS) that are dedicated to getting the information out....it should be noted that the information sent out from control is the information that the twitter folk use, they don't have a special crystal ball to get anything extra. Again staff on the ground may have issues such as signal problems getting that information or just user error / training needs in actually understanding it or how to get it?

Recently within the control there is also an extra person on shift, that supervises the above staff and assists them in major disruption, with getting the info out.

With regards to the automatic announcements, and "a broken down train", these options are set by ATOC, and are agreed by the entire industry, same applies to messages that would be seen on Journeycheck etc... Technically by the rules station announcers should also use the exact same script, but in reality they say the actual problem.

This is a basic extract of the internal messages sent to staff during the disruption yesterday. Forgive the format as a quick copy/paste job!! You have to read from the bottom up, to get time order correct. these messages purely relate to the state of the line blockage and not to individual train services.

Update at 10:40 : Both lines between Reading and Basingstoke are now open.

Update at 10:06: Major congestion is still being experienced following this mornings broken down Freight train. All lines remain open(except Basingstoke). Delays and cancellations to be expected until further notice.

Update  at 09:10 : freight train is on the move but running on emergency brake

Update at 09:01: Failed freight has now been moved onto the Down Basingstoke and therefore all lines (except Basingstoke) have now re-opened. Delays to be expected.

Update at 08:52 : The shunt is now taking place after building up air pressure.

Update at 08:50: Issues shunting freight. Passengers advised not to travel.

Update at 08:24: Congestion is being experienced at Reading Station as platforms are blocked with trains awaiting route to be cleared via the B&H. Coupling of freights has now been completed, to now be shunted onto Down Basingstoke.

Update at 08:11: Freight shunt currently in progress. Swindon standby bus en route to Pewsey.

Update at 08:04 : 4018 has been talked past signal TR145 on to the back of 4O22.

Update at 07: 54: 4O18 to attach to 4O22 to push through on to the Down Basingstoke. RRS being sourced for Pewsey to Swindon.

Update at 07:16: Due to failure of 4O22, 4O18 remains on the Up Relief West of Reading stations blocking the line. This leaves 1P06, 1P08 and 2P20 queued behind.

Update at 07:12: 4O22 having moved down onto B&H line has declared a repeat failure and is now blocking Newbury and Basingstoke bound lines from Reading.

Update at 07:00: 4O22 observed having moved having rectified fault with loco.

4O22 service to Southampton has failed at Reading West curve. Up and down mains are blocked. Up relief is also blocked by 4O18.

Definitely, especially when it comes to the routing of XC services as they will be able to access the Up/Down Westbury lines via Plat 12-15 (I think!!) this will effectively give us another through platform.


The hardest task I think is getting information out to DOO drivers.  Our only point of contact really is with the signallers.  Yesterday it took them over 30 minutes to broadcast a message to all trains in the area to advise briefly what the problem was.
I'm not knocking the signallers in anyway because there main priority is with the freight drivers and safely getting them back on the move.  There aren't enough signallers to handle the volume of calls they receive if every driver who was stationary tried to contact them.
Our control won't contact drivers directly.  They have no way of guaranteeing the train is stationary first of all.  All contact from control to drivers is made through platform staff.
Yesterday, the only way I found out what was going on was to leave the cab, turn on my mobile phone and access FGW Twitter feed!!

I think most people can understand that if a freight train sits down and blocks all lines then disruption is inevitable. However, having been on a service (0740 ex Paignton) that arrived into Reading over 2 1/2 hours after the lines had reopened to be told that it was being terminated there due to the disruption and congestion at Paddington, one can question the ability of the railway to recover from the incident in an efficient way. When we finally got to Paddington, there appeared to be more than a couple of spare platforms, indeed the station seemed strangely empty.  Has any thought been given to curtailing the Greenford service to the branch in such circumstances, to release an extra platform at Paddington?

Where would you dump the Greenford carriages?

There are 3 perfectly good platforms that are being wasted during disruption. 6/7 & 12. All because BAA/HAL are paying stupid amounts of money to NeR they get to keep their platforms.
Should say to them, ur going down to 30min services and 1 platform.... deal with it.,

I'll presume that the facility to turn them around at West Ealing hasn't been constructed then - I assumed it was an existing facility.

Not yet - work should be starting shortly though.

I heard that they did get severely congested at Paddington once the route reopened as they were sending HSTs through from Reading one after another.  Someone said at about 1030-1100 they had trains queuing outside Paddington for around 15 mins.  Sounds like they may have curtailed a few too many at Reading!!

We have used platforms 6 and 7 recently during disruption.  HSTs using platforms 6 and 7 need additional staff to meet arrivals to warn passengers of the considerable gap there is between the train and the platform.  Providing the additional staff might not always be possible if they are trying to clear other platforms especially when you have HSTs going empty to the depot.

Greenford services always use Platform 12.  Platform 12 is only 6 or 7 carriages in length so you can't fit an HST on there anyway.

Agree with the comments about HEx.  A train every 15 minutes is excessive at the best of times, given a lot to seem to cart fresh air!  Aside from the main subject.  Have noticed HEx have shortened their sets to 4 or 5 cars throughout the day, a cost cutting measure??

I think it's a cost cutting measure during the summer holiday period. Presumably HEx relies more on business passengers than leisure ones?

Earlier this year I did see an HST in one of the HEx platforms, and one evening back in June following a fatality at Southall I caught the 1735 PAD-OXF Turbo from platform 7. However I've also seen HEx sets simultaneously occupying three different platforms on at least a couple of occasions in the past year or so!

I remember seeing someone tweet a picture of that HST in 6

True, I forget about the Summer hols!  Travelling on Heathrow Express with your family isn't going to be cheap is it?!  ^21 per adult single and ^10.50 per child.  :o

As I understand it was a Class 70 that failed. Considering these are the latest "imports" until the Class 68s enter service they seem very prone to failure, but at least it didn't catch fire.

Perhaps more attention should be paid to ironing out their faults before they are let out on trains!

It was very fortunate that the following train on the Up Relief was also a freight train as it was available to push the failed train out of the way. Although I believe there was further delay when the it was found that the assissting loco could not release the brakes on the failed train.

If it had been a Turbo or Voyager think how long it would have taken to get a loco to the front of the failed train it would have had to come from Bristol/Westbury or Southampton assumming there were any spare locos in these places.



Don't forget, as has been pointed out earlier there will still be flat junctions at Tilehurst on the Relief lines and at Oxford Road and Southcote Junctions on the B&H. But the Mains should be open.
 
Also don't forget that there has been a considerable disinvestment in freight loops and sidings so there are a lot less places to shunt a failed train.

I've heard from another forum that the driver of the 0730 from Paddington only became aware of the changes to his service headcode and destination when he saw the CIS at Taunton, showing a call at Tiverton Parkway and a destination of Newquay. I expect he was only due to take the set as far as Exeter where there's usually a driver change, but had he not seen the CIS the call at TVP would have been missed.

Had a taxi in connection with work this morning,  got talking to the taxi driver about the disruption on Wednesday. 
FGW gave the taxi company a job to take a passenger from Reading through to Holyhead!  5.5 hours apparently and he estimates the cost to be around ^400!

The taxi driver was more than happy with it. 

I suspect its a cost cutting measure and also the fact they would only need 1 dispatcher instead of 2/3 when running with double sets.

Remember HAL/BAA is loosing money and they want to claw it back anyway and everyway they can.

This weekend the HEx service is suspended.  They're advising passengers to travel to Hayes and then catch the number 140, a London transport bus service, to Heathrow. Not even a dedicated replacement coach service. 
Not exactly good if they're still charging their normal expensive fare!!

As it is down to Crossrail, maybe they should be providing one?

........another one this morning apparently as well as signal failures and safety checks?

Along with late night chaos last night due to overhead wire problems.........guess that's a taste of things to come?

Pal of mine was still trying to get home at 0330 this morning  :(

Fortunately that only affected four very late evening services between Reading and Didcot (the last Cardiff, the last two Oxford's and the late evening Banbury to Paddington stopper) and wasn't overhead wire problems in the traditional sense of the wires that supply power to the trains failing (as there aren't any installed there yet), but a staff error on the electrification train raising a jib and bringing down a overhead cable that runs over the line at that point.  Unfortunate, but with the complexity of doing the electrification overnight, when trains are running on adjacent lines, this sort of thing will happen occasionally.

..........must have come as quite a shock to all concerned? (.....I've already got my coat and am leaving the building)  :-[

Yes, the cable was arcing as it came down, though fortunately nobody was injured or electrocuted!  All staff were given a drug screening and work was stopped for the night which gives an indication of how seriously such errors are taken.

Ouch.......sounds nasty.

Some v unhappy customers last night stranded for hours looking at FGW Twitter this morning, especially on the last service towards Cardiff that you mention.......suspect the taxi/coach/compensation bill will be pretty hefty for last night, and there will be some cabbies ordering Aston Martins this morning as a result!!!

It's a shame things went (partially) pear shaped this morning too with the freight, signals etc.

Also 40 nearby houses left without electricity.  A generator is being brought in until the power line can be repaired at the weekend.

...........suspect there are a few "interviews without coffee" going on this morning as a result? :o

I received my compensation for the delays I experienced at Reading on 20th August. Waiting for me on the doormat today after a fortnight away. The letter was dated 11th September, but the postmark was 16th. I imagine I received it on 17th or 18th.

Been a fair while since I've had compensation from FGW, is 4+ weeks about right for them? Last time I made a Customer Charter/Delay Repay claim was with CrossCountry. In that case I received the Rail Travel Vouchers within 10 days.

Not really complaining, just curious about response times. Any other forum members able to comment on response times from any TOC when due compensation?

The letter accompanying my RTVs was well written and didn't appear to be a cut and paste job, which was nice. As was the amount paid. I had an excess fare added to my original ticket and was concerned this might lead to confusion. I was also only 59 minutes late at my destination, according to the official timing point (my reckoning was just over the hour when I stepped onto the platform) but had been assured, after conversation on social media, that a claim would be honoured.

All told, a good customer service experience from FGW.

The letter I received with my RTVs, quoted in full:

Timescale seems about right at the moment - the claim I put in which is detailed under another thread "Consequential loss" took about the same, in all honesty I'd pretty much forgotten about it when it turned up.

I see quite a few comments on the Twitter feed complaining about correspondence delays, I think there is a backlog at the moment.

I travelled from Swindon to Torquay on 23 July. I bought an advance ticket online from FGW. Swindon to Bristol Parkway on a FGW train, then Cross-country BPW-NTA, FGW NTA-TQY. The XC HST was delayed by signalling problems in the Birmingham area and was approx 90 mins late leaving Bristol. "They" cut out most intermediate stops so it only stopped at Exeter, where I had to change. End result an arrival at Torquay nearly 2 hours late.
I downloaded claim form from FGW site and posted it next day to the FGW address at Plymouth. On 11 September I received a letter from FGW apologising for not replying within 5 days and telling me they had forwarded my claim to XC in Birmingham. This week I received a letter from XC dated 19 September, and attached is a voucher for the full price I paid for the journey:  ^12.35.
All comes to those who wait . . .