Great Western Coffee Shop

This train started at Great Malvern and arrived at Worcester Shrub Hill on time, but was cancelled thereafter, with the explanation that it was "due to a fault with this train".  Does anybody have any idea what the fault was, please?

Train cancellation seems to be adopted quite casually these days, I must say.  When I was a railwayman back in the 1970's it was very much a last resort and we'd do all we could to make sure that cancellations were kept to a minimum and that alternatives were offered to the paying passengers in the event of trouble.

The driver failed the train due to a strong smell of fumes in the cab.

In the old days, the driver woukd have simply opened his cab windows.

It was enough to be giving him a headache apparently.  I guess drivers are a little more 'precious' than they used to be, but I've known drivers fail trains for the most minor things for as long as I've been working in the industry.

So would it have been impossible to turn the unit at Worcester, round the triangle, and thereby avoid all the inconvenience to passengers?
Today's railway baffles me

That would have meant arranging a pilot driver (none of the GWR crew sign the route via Tunnel Junction) and would have taken quite a while to do at a time of day when there are lots of other trains from Worcester to London.  They suggested running it on one engine only but apparently the fumes weren't coming from the engine itself - presumably leaking batteries?