Great Western Coffee Shop

Today we have problems with flooding at Ledbury.

04:49 Hereford - Paddington got through OK.
05:23 Hereford - Paddington got through OK.
Two West Midlands Trains services from Shrub Hill to Hereford got through OK.
But 06:40 Hereford - Paddington gave up at Ledbury.

Not a good day

Empty stock of 06:40 Hereford - Paddington now on its way to Bristol Temple Meads via Worcester.

06:50 Paddington - Great Malvern also cancelled.

Great - 140+ miles of railway appears to to be trespassed upon for a period of almost three hours.

Seems to me that any old excuse will do to cancel a service on the OWW these days

It'd be interesting to work out what percentage of the times this Hereford service doesn't reach Hereford - I think it would be quite high.

Yet another short working

Short workings happen all over the network, generally on long-distance services that have single-line sections. Restricts (very) late running/cancellation to just one or two services usually rather than lasting all day - and where stock from one line-of-route is then used on a different line-of-route, prevents delays/canx spreading across the network.

Realtime Trains has different explanations about what happened this morning, with no mention of trespassers:

05:23 Hereford - Paddington. Positioning journey from Bristol Parkway started 40 late and arrived 34 late. Started 17 late from Hereford, missed its path at Charlbury. 45 late from Charlbury (at 07:56), 62 late at Hanborough, 83 late at Oxford. Cancelled after that "due to a problem with the traction equipment". Due into Paddington at 08:24.

06:43 Shrub Hill - Paddington. Held at Evesham, left there 20 late. Arrived Charlbury 30 late, left 58 late (at 08:31). +60 at Oxford, progressively later after Reading. Into Paddington +90 (due 08:42).

07:01 Shrub Hill - Didcot halts train. Held at Evesham. Left there 18 late. Arrived Charlbury +37, left +52. Arrived Oxford +54. Cancelled after that.

06:40 Hereford - Paddington. Cancelled between Hereford and Oxford "due to the signalbox not being open". On time from Oxford, but progessively later after Reading. Into Paddington +29.

08:13 Shrub Hill - Paddington. On time from Shrub Hill. Into Charlbury on time (at 09:08) but left 17 late. Lost more time approaching Paddington - arrived 28 late.

08:56 Great Malvern - Paddington. Cancelled between Great Malvern and Shrub Hill "due to the signalbox not being open". Lost time approaching Paddington - arrived 18 late.

09:54 Great Malvern - Paddington. Cancelled between Great Malvern and Shrub Hill "due to late arrival of inbound service".

05:50 Paddington - Great Malvern. Cancelled between Shrub Hill and Great Malvern "due to the signalbox not being open".  Forms 08:56 above.

06:50 Paddington - Great Malvern. Cancelled between Shrub Hill and Great Malvern "due to late arrival of inbound service".  Forms 09:54 above.

07:50 Paddington - Great Malvern. On time at Oxford. +15 at Wolvercote Junction, +27 at Charlbury, +30 into Shrub Hill.

And a couple more cancellations:

Yes, but they are just helping to mitigate the symptoms when something has gone wrong and not addressing the root cause.  If the root causes can be fixed most of the time, there would be little need to treat symptoms.

Indeed, I agree.

I was referring to why the services were cut short of their destinations

I think the "service" on the OWW these days completely lives up to the worse and worse handle.  It's not much short of a total p*** take.

Yesterday's 1658 Paddington to Great Malvern was cancelled throughout, on a day of several other cancellations

[/i]
(Realtime Trains)

Tell me this isn't just taking the mick

Major track faultbetween Oxford & Didcot - all lines closed

Nuneham Bridge near Culham has been slowly sinking into the banks of the Thames for years.  A 50mph speed limit became 20mph a few weeks ago, but a driver reported a rough ride even at that speed so it’ll need an inspection before reopening and it’s in the middle of nowhere!

Is it ok if I be slightly alarmed by this...

Mark

From what Industry Insider has just reported it doesn’t sound good at all.

Alarm in the sense there will be a lot of disruption tonight and potentially into the future - YES
Alarm in the sense a bridge slowly sinking is likely to be a serious passenger safety issue - NO

I came across the bridge about 1 hour before this incident and it didn't seem any worse than usual, although I had had a beer  :)

More importantly this bridge has obviously been getting worse over the last few weeks, so is anyone aware of any plans to fix it or at least stabilise the situation.

The good: the Thames has settled down a bit now.

The less good: if it's not the bridge superstructure, the ground's clay and mudstone overlain by stuff from the quaternary (so, thrown down after the last ice age, and there it's listed as sand silt and gravel so not a forgiving ground from the point of view of foundations).

This sort of ground can fail gently before picking up its heels a bit and generally becoming a nuisance.

Mark

Surprisingly, that bridge is less than 100 years old. After a short-lived timber bridge, the second had iron spans and timber lattice piers. The current one dates from 1929, and is much more solid. Though maybe too heavy for its foundations?
(https://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/04/53/20/4532096_1c7b293e_original.jpg)
Copyright Mat Fascione and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/).

Has it REALLY been -9C overnight??   All around elsewhere reports are of it being much warmer last night than the previous night.

The -9C will not doubt refer to RAF Benson which is a well known cold spot in south Oxfordshire. Alright for those residing in the tropical climes of Melksham.

Those who waited for hours in those temperatures for replacement buses late last night (and were then charged to use them when they arrived!) would probably be best placed to confirm.

According to the Met Office website, Benson got as cold as 0C last night!

Perhaps it meant that with temperatures dipping as low as -9 over the previous few nights, including last weekend, temporary repairs to remove the 20mph restriction (and therefore prevent any further marked deterioration resulting in the report of a rough ride last night) weren’t able to be done.

Photo of the pre-1929 bridge here:

https://heritagesearch.oxfordshire.gov.uk/images/POX0118414 (https://heritagesearch.oxfordshire.gov.uk/images/POX0118414)

Does anyone know when, in the past, there's been talk of quadruple tracking Oxford to Didcot? It must have been a humungous bottleneck down the ages, is that still the case now? In 1929 the economy was shaky (when is it not...) but you wonder if four tracking was a consideration for the replacement bridge at that date. The width of the bridge deck is generous but not enough for two pairs of tracks, which is curious. The single central pier is wider still, perhaps that component actually was intended to be suitable to carry two pairs of tracks.

(https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nuneham_Viaduct_crosses_the_Thames_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1345749.jpg)

While it's something that would be difficult to do now: a 'least disruption option' might be quadruple tracking the existing line as far as Culham and then a 5 kilometre cut off to join the GWML at a new junction just east of Didcot.

Mark

There's been rumblings of quadrupling over the last thirty or so years, most recently south from Oxford as far as Radley, but nothing has gone beyond the aspiration stage.  Anything beyond that, including cut-offs, would be very expensive and therefore probably unjustifiable.  Four tracks south from Oxford to Radley, and grade separation at Didcot and possibly a reversible loop line between Didcot and Appleford Junction would be much more suitable IMHO.

I doubt the money will be forthcoming in the near term for anything though.

There were other delays and cancellations today. RealTimeTrains has some of them being "due to a rail defect".

1P02 05:23 Hereford - Paddington. On time to Wolvercote Junction, but 25 late arriving at Oxford. Cancelled after Oxford.
1P16 06:43 Shrub Hill - Paddington. Also on time to Wolvercote. 17 late into Oxford, 19 late into Paddington.
2E80 07:01 Shrub Hill - Didcot. On time to Oxford, but cancelled after that.
1P03 06:40 Hereford - Paddington. Empty journey started 18 late from Stoke Gifford and arrived 26 late. Left Hereford 26 late. Held at Norton Junction. Ran 41 late from there to Reading. Cancelled after that.
1P20 08:13 Shrub Hill - Paddington. Also held at Norton Junction. 14 late through to Paddington.
1P22 08:56 Great Malvern - Paddington. 13 late more-or-less throughout.
1P24 09:54 Great Malvern - Paddington. Cancelled between Great Malvern and Foregate Street. Delayed at Kingham (8 late) but further delayed after Reading. 32 late at Paddington.

1W13 Paddington - Great Malvern. On time to Didcot. 25 late after that, 36 late from Oxford and into Shrub Hill. Cancelled after Foregate Street.
1W15 Paddington - Great Malvern. On time to Radley, but lost time after that. 27 late into Great Malvern.

A bit more information on plans to sort out the bridge from a Network Rail Asset Engineer:

So a 20mph TSR until then, probably with regular inspections?

They’ve got some monitoring equipment there, so I’m guessing they can keep a good eye on it remotely.  Could go back up to a 50mph restriction if a bit of tamping is done perhaps?  But certainly not back up to line speed until the work detailed is undertaken.

Departed Great Malvern at 09:14, 18 late.
Departed Shrub Hill at 09:52, 36 late.
At 11:08, when JourneyCheck was "last updated", it was awaiting the single line at Charlbury. Departed at 11:09, some 58 late.

Why is JourneyCheck so patchy?

What do you mean by 'patchy'?

My guess is that was posted just following the decision not to call at Slough. So a sensible update.

Most morning peak services appear to have suffered some minor delays but services seem to be running smoothly at the moment (12:55)

16-seater minibus turned up for the RRB from Oxford to Worcester last night (2250ish from Oxford). Bit of a downgrade from an IET as I’m sure even Broadgage would agree. I felt sorry for the passenger who was travelling on it as far as Evesham…

Realtime trains suggests it got beyond Wolvercote Junction where its last timing was 18:33 (now 20:15). Realtime trains also suggseting the 17:26 WOF:PAD has been held at Charlbury since 18:38.

Ooof, lucky me! Got off the line just before this happened!

Seems quite serious…tweet from someone on the train

Thought to be masonry from an overbridge.

Oxford Mail is reporting a road incident nearby:


Speculation is never helpful and could just be coincidence.

Google maps reporting mahoosive stationary traffic at the bridge's location. Bridge is this:

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.8014957,-1.3228304,3a,75y,99.85h,63.43t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1stskNENjwhPmP2l1T-X6SWw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!5m2!1e4!1e1

Mark

I have just returned from Paddington where I was hoping to board the 19:50 to Hereford.

They announced at Paddington that there was a bridge collapse in the Hanborough area and there would be no through trains until the end of the day. I’m going to try again tomorrow and may have to be picked up at Oxford instead.

Rail Replacement Bus Service now running to and from Oxford heading north for the rest of the day.

Ongoing all day today too

From journeycheck

M

Train identified by a CLPG membee

Another well maintained Network Rail structure that requires no maintenance and fewer inspections….. perhaps!

oh come on, landslips are happening owing to climate change. Not much NR can have done....

There's a cab video of the route from 2019, taken in the 'Down' direction. The approach to the bridge can be found from 55 minutes in to the video. At 55' 22", as the train passes beneath the bridge, there's a glimpse of a 'Not quite benign looking' wing wall, that looks to have had issues with water seeping through. Then, this winter, the area's seen some very low night time temperatures.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMADOeBumAU

Mark

The RAIB are in attendance collecting evidence

Good cab video that.  I wonder who could have produced it?  ;D  P.S. It was 2020.

Oops, yes, 2020: sparse passenger numbers, people masked up.

So many cab videos seem to chance on weather that's not the best, but not this one. West of the Severn particularly, it's a lovely record of the line, the season, and the country. Always love to see that sight-line through Ledbury's station's footbridge.

Mark

That was my first thought when I saw it, was it an II production.

Interesting - the AA travel site attributed this to a vehicle striking the bridge. Which is correct (or which caused the other if both?)

BBC site now has a couple of photos from the track.

Mark

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-64609319

Yes but economists and Minsters in the Treasury know far more about these things than Network Rail engineers so if they say it is safe to reduce inspections it must be. 

GWR website saying that services are expected to resume this evening.

Do I hear a faint echo of "we don't need experts"?

Services back running. Realtime trains saying the 14:46 Paddington to Great Malvern is just getting to Wolvercote Junction 24 minutes late.

[update]

But now cancelled again:

Wondering if users of the adjacent industrial site got the memo that the road has a 7.5 tonne weight limit on it. (Signed from one direction at least). Also, what services cross the bridge whose wing wall has failed.

Mark

Which weekend?

My thinking is this weekend, until notified of further delays

From Network Rail, on Twitter (https://twitter.com/networkrailwest/status/1625155755283214338)

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fo21ULVXwAI7Riy?format=jpg&name=4096x4096)

RealTimeTrains seems to be suggesting that services might extend to Charlbury from tomorrow rather than Moreton, but who knows:

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/detailed/gb-nr:MIM/2023-02-14/0000-2359?stp=WVS&show=all&order=wtt

Tuesday February 14 - the problem continues, with some diversions, some cancellations and other services only operating between Worcester and Charlbury. At 08:07, JourneyCheck was reporting:

Diversions via Stroud only apply in the up direction:

04:49 Hereford - Paddington (due 07:38)
05:23 Hereford - Paddington (08:24)
17:26 Foregate Street - Paddington (19:54)
22:00 Hereford - Paddington (01:17)

Cancellations:

15:20 Paddington - Foregate Street
17:34 Paddington - Hereford
22:50 Paddington -  Worcestershire Parkway

With the opening of Worcester drivers depot a few years ago, and all of them signing the route via Swindon, it makes diverting trains so much easier than it was when Oxford and Paddington crewed virtually all the North Cotswold services.

One of those little things than can sometimes make a big difference!

Journeycheck now reporting this as continuing to the end of service tomorrow (Wed Feb 15).

Plus two more cancellations: 10:50 Paddington - Shrub Hill and 13:16 return.

15:20 Paddington - Foregate Street now restored, but diverted via Stroud
17:34 Paddington - Hereford likewise

Just to add to the challenge there’s a gas main on the roadway which is slowly being uncovered as soil falls away at the bridge. 

Not causing issues at the moment but is being watched. 

National Rail website now reporting that the line will be closed until the end of Tuesday February 21.

JouneyCheck mirroring that.  On local bus connections:


So that's buses between Kingham and Oxford, although the train from Worcester goes as far as Charlbury.  I am not familiar with the geography of the area - would it be fair to guess that Charlbury station and village are well separated, and running the bus operation from Charlbury Station would be impractical? -- - here's the answer:


Only a very small proportion of users - but what about the halts? -- - here's the answer:


What about passengers from east of Didcot to west of Worcestershire Parkway?   Travel via Swindon?


It would appear that advice is to use coaches.   For those with cycles, dogs, heavy luggage, or who find coach travel far less comfortable:


I note that only says TODAY - though I suspect it applies up to the line re-opening

Nothing about "via Moreton in Marsh" tickets being accepted on GWR trains via Swindon which is (I recall) a more expensive route.   Again, I suspect that no-one would be surcharged, though I wonder what tickets will be offered for sale

Charlbury station is just in the Evenlode valley below the town - it's a five-minute walk from the town centre, two minutes from the nearest houses.

The bridge with the weight restriction is the one over the River Evenlode, directly between the town and the station. It first started showing signs of wear about 10 years ago, and there's been a deliberate decision to keep the weight limit on it to prevent heavy traffic going through Charlbury (and, in particular, the tight turn at the top of the hill). In practice Oxfordshire County Council are forgiving of rail replacement buses using it, but I can see that GWR wouldn't want to plan to use it regularly.

The split Charlbury/Kingham solution is quite a clever move. Others will know more than me but I also suspect trains can turn around at Charlbury but not at Kingham.

GWR's designation of the stop on Nine Acres Lane as "Charlbury Village" (it's not the first time it's been used) has caused some muttered comments locally - Charlbury is very proud of being a town!

You can go back from Kingham with a pilot but it involves running on the wrong line all the way to Moreton, so more complex (max 50 mph for example).

Journeycheck is reporting

RealTimeTrains is showing the 15:20 from Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street as being diverted via Stroud, and just leaving Swindon.

It is going via Swindon & South Cotswolds

Video update from Network Rail on site with the miscreant bridge:

https://twitter.com/networkrailwest/status/1625909007679467521

Mark

Now closed only from Oxford to Hanborough - trains Hanborough to Worcester.

Bit of a novelty at the moment, as it's currently possible to travel non-stop between Worcester and Reading. The 0537 and 0610 departures from Worcester Shrub Hill this morning both ran non-stop through Cheltenham, along the Golden Valley Line, through Swindon and Didcot, until their next booked stop at Reading.

So, if the North Cotswolds Line Task Force’s assumptions are correct, this new express Worcester service will result in thousands of Worcester passengers flocking to the train and increased economic prosperity for the city, right?

…right?

It needs to be a service that people can rely on over a considerable period, so more substantial damage will be required to keep the line closed for perhaps a period of years.   But income will be helped as an anytime return via Stroud costs £196.80 whereas via Evesham is £95.00

From JourneyCheck:

Yep, every weekday until the line re-opens. Two up services in the morning go that way too.

NOTE however, that tomorrow, and possibly Sunday, services are restricted again and bustitution starts at Moreton-in-Marsh to Oxford. Guessing they need more of the line to bring in equipment.

Or a Pilot can’t be sourced.

You may well be right....wording may be suggesting that.

From Journeycheck -

Yes, that’s the issue.

The RRBs today were not in a great way. I will probably post more some time later but right now I need a drink…

yeghes da (Cornish for 'cheers')

Indeed so. But Journeycheck only lists the up services once, under 'Other Train Service Updates', whereas it lists the afternoon down services in the afternoon twice, once as 'Cancellations' and a second time under 'Other Train Service Updates' as being diverted. The double listing of the down services is not as clear as it should be. Either don't bother with the 'Cancellations' entry (and they haven't worried about this for the up trains) or have a new heading for 'Diverted Services'.

Looking good to reopen tomorrow with a 20mph check.

Here's Network Rail's description of what they've done: (https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/railway-line-between-oxford-and-worcester-to-reopen-following-repairs-to-wall-collapse-and-landslip-at-yarnton)

PS: The Guildford line bridge in Wokingham had a similar tantrum last Friday. Part of the parapet fell onto the road, and it wasn't because it got hit - too high above the road, for one thing. So a day with the road closed and a brickie up a scaffold tower, and now we have a stretch of new brickwork.  No trains to disrupt, of course.

And everything reopened this morning as expected.

Curious engineering train scheduled for this evening: Honeybourne to Finstock. I bet that combination hasn't appeared very often! https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:U03583/2023-02-22/detailed

Just the thing for a Friday afternoon...


Those decanted at Oxford having to take the next service...


Leaving a two car turbo to pick up all those for stations to Moreton-in-Marsh!

The 15:20 from Paddington, missing out lots of stops, got to Foregate Street 41 late at 18:22.

Curiously, the return journey, the 17:58 from Foregate Street has been started from Shrub Hill, but is running 30 minutes late.

RealTimeTrains is reporting that the 19:05 from Great Malvern is being started from Oxford (due to an issue with the train crew) - but this is not being reported on JourneyCheck.

RAIB have announced  (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/train-striking-debris-at-yarnton)an investigation into this. The first thing to look at was where, of several candidates, it was - Yarnton is the decision:

It's good to see this described as a wingwall collapse rather than a landslip.

Everything looks a bit... damp, and people working with this will now be very familiar with the services the bridge carries.

If a water main's involved along with other services, sometimes the fix for a water leak can be delayed while the various services have a conversation and everyone sort of loses focus on the potential risk particularly if the services cross a structure.

Anecdotes follow ... tl;dr - we sometimes don't take into account the vulnerabilities of bridges and the 'Stitch in time' principle.

Anedote 1: Out on a walk, passing beneath a bridge over the canal, everything was wet. The bridge's retaining wall had a healthy spout of potable water issuing cheerfully from it that looked to have been running for so long that it was surprising that it wasn't marked on OS maps as a spring, and the leak looked to have redirected itself from its previous path of least resistance through the bridge arch, which was and remains a bit distressed. The road surface above indicated services below, so, phone call to the water authority.

It emerged that their leak reporting line was unable to locate a leak without a postcode - awkward as, despite a house alongside it, canal bridges do not have postcodes. They finally located the leak from identifying the intersection of the (b) road and the canal - and then responded that the leak had indeed been reported some time ago and were thankfully indiscrete enough to say the fix was complicated as it was beneath a wooden pole mounted through the bridge approach and carrying a lowish voltage electricity pole, which had delayed things. This is some way from home and I didn't revisit until the end of August last year when the whole area was dry (and the leak had not prompted an actual collapse before it was fixed).

(https://i.postimg.cc/HxxgbJCQ/b3101-bridge-1000.jpg)

(https://i.postimg.cc/52VjLmKL/b3101-bridge-spout-1000.jpg)

Anecdote 2: one Friday, we received a report that Bath's Two Tunnels path was abruptly wet at Claude Avenue bridge - that's one of the two overbridges in Oldfield Park. Dropping by on the way home from work, water was seeping from a very wide area of the bridge's masonry including the flat & vulnerable retaining wall on the uphill side.

There followed a phone call to Wessex Water making clear the position of the leak and the potential for structural damage. To their credit, they were out that evening, and over the weekend they dug things up, fixed it and the bridge quickly dried  and we didn't need to contact them again about it.

Mark

Interestingly, Rail Advent (https://www.railadvent.co.uk/2023/02/investigation-into-train-striking-debris-at-yarnton-oxfordshire.html) carries an extra snippet -


Wonder where they got that from.

The photograph in the RAIB announcement makes it look as if the wall is made up of two skins of brickwork, with little bonding between the two. You can see this more clearly in the RailAdvent piece.

That bit is in the RAIB release quoted by stuving.

So it is, Ollie. Thanks.

If every crack in the road adjacent to a railway bridge has to be investigated for soil movement, god help the railway.

Looks like work on the bridge will start soon as they have been busy building an access road down to the Culham end of the bridge. This access road is between the railway and the adjacent 'dirt-bike' track.

I wonder if they will lower the track bed to meet the current bridge height or try to raise the bridge to match the track bed, this is assuming that it is the bridge that has sunk.

No trains between Didcot and oxford on Sunday 26th March and Sunday 2nd April to repair the bridge over the Thames between Culham and Radley.
Rail replacement buses between Didcot and Oxford and Cotswold line services will start/end at Oxford.

From GWR:

On the 26th two direct trains will run from London Paddington at 1920 to Hereford and 2050 to Worcester Shrub Hill, diverted via an alternative route between Didcot Parkway and Worcester Shrub Hill.

On the 1st a very limited direct service will run from London Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill, diverted via an alternative route between Didcot Parkway and Worcester Shrub Hill.

Not quite sure what was going on this morning. According to RTT, the Oxfordshire Halts stopper left Shrub Hill 38 minutes late; lost more time en route; and was terminated at Charlbury at 08.53. I cycled past at about 09.00 and there was a Turbo sitting in platform 2, presumably this service.

But then it looks like the 08.44 from Oxford to Worcester was also cancelled between Oxford and Charlbury, to be replaced with an ECS working. Perhaps the guard from the Halts train was required on the 08.44, and swapped trains at Charlbury, meaning that the Oxford<–>Charlbury journeys couldn't carry passengers without a guard?

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/detailed/gb-nr:CBY/2023-05-02/0000-2359?stp=WVS&show=all&order=wtt

An unusual entry on JourneyCheck today:

     14:27 Hereford to Oxford due 16:28
     14:27 Hereford to Oxford due 16:28 will no longer call at Ledbury, Colwall, Great Malvern and Malvern Link.
     This is due to a shortage of train crew.

10cars maybe with only one train manager until GMV?

All/any pax at HFD into one 5car unit with TM, then non-stop to GMV to pick up second member of staff?

RealTimeTrains is reporting it as a five-car unit.

Surely this is a cancellation of the service, in all but name?

Well, it wasn't terminated at Shrub Hill or cancelled.  The service ran as timetabled, and the same unit returned from Oxford to Worcester later as the last down service of the day

Lots of cancellations posted on JourneyCheck for today due to shortage of train crew:

05:10 Oxford to Worcester Shrub Hill due 06:15 ("due to the emergency services dealing with an incident near the railway yesterday")
11:45 Oxford to Worcester Shrub Hill due 13:01
13:16 Worcester Shrub Hill to Oxford due 14:29
17:30 London Paddington to Hereford due 20:26
19:45 Great Malvern to Oxford due 21:30
21:43 Oxford to Great Malvern due 23:11
22:00 Hereford to Oxford due 00:07
00:15 Oxford to Worcestershire Parkway Hl due 01:19

And more today:

Due to shortage of train crew:

10:50 Great Malvern to Oxford due 12:22
15:46 Oxford to Great Malvern due 17:14
17:30 Hereford to Oxford due 19:27

Due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time:

19:46 Oxford to Hereford due 21:55
19:58 Great Malvern to Oxford due 21:28
20:46 Oxford to Great Malvern due 22:17

GWR is apparently trying to rustle up some road transport to provide some kind of substitution, but how successful this is remains to be seen.

Getting worse. JourneyCheck is now reporting as cancelled:

15:30 Hereford to Oxford due 17:28
17:30 Hereford to Oxford due 19:27
18:58 Great Malvern to Oxford due 20:25
19:58 Great Malvern to Oxford due 21:28

17:46 Oxford to Great Malvern due 19:14
19:46 Oxford to Hereford due 21:55
20:46 Oxford to Great Malvern due 22:17
21:46 Oxford to Worcester Shrub Hill due 22:59

This leaves a four-hour gap in the timetable in each direction.

And now there's a line cancellation note : "Replacement road transport has been requested to operate in both directions between Hereford and Oxford".

Plus...

16:46 Oxford to Great Malvern due 18:17 - terminate at Shrub Hill
16:58 Great Malvern to Oxford due 18:25 - start from Shrub Hill

18:46 Oxford to Great Malvern due 20:14 will be reinstated and will now run as scheduled.
Will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 5. First class not available.

20:40 Great Malvern to Oxford due 22:22 will be reinstated and will now run as scheduled.
Will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 5. First class not available.

22:46 Oxford to Worcester Shrub Hill due 23:59 will be reinstated and will now run as scheduled.
Will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 5. First class not available.

And the problems continue into Monday morning, with JourneyCheck reporting as cancelled due to repairs

05:10 Oxford to Worcester Shrub Hill due 06:15
05:23 Hereford to London Paddington due 08:24 [via Stroud]
06:35 Evesham to Oxford due 07:29
07:25 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington due 10:00 [via Stroud]
07:48 Oxford to Worcester Shrub Hill due 09:05

That leaves, out of Shrub Hill

    05:14 to Oxford
    06:43 to Oxford
    07:01 to Oxford ("halts train")
    07:31 from Great Malvern to Oxford

RTT is showing both the 05:23 Hereford - Paddington and the 07:25 Shrub Hill - Paddington as operating, but as empty coaching stock.

It's as if we've time-warped back to pre-2011 redoubling style reliability levels

And the amount of concern this is to anyone in authority will be close to zero, I bet.  Stuff the passengers.  They're only fare payers, after all

From JourneyCheck:

14:45 Oxford to Great Malvern due 16:15 will be terminated at Worcester Shrub Hill.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

16:32 Great Malvern to Oxford due 18:26 will be started from Worcester Shrub Hill.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

20:56 Worcester Foregate Street to Oxford due 22:21 was terminated at Worcester Shrub Hill.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

But RTT reports that it did operate as empty coaching stock Shrub Hill - Oxford.

It's Sunday again. Journey Check is reporting the following as being cancelled due to a shortage of train crew:

13:11 Worcester Foregate Street to Oxford due 14:28
14:46 Oxford to Hereford due 17:00
17:30 Hereford to Oxford due 19:27
19:46 Oxford to Hereford due 21:55

One driver's turn.....

That little lot would be on more than one drivers turn….they do get a break! 

More likely to be a TM shortage anyway, as there is difficulty covering the Reading and London crews work on the North Cotswold services due to them needing to get through to Oxford by bus/taxi.

1W02 1152 Paddington to Hereford also cancelled throughout "due to an unknown cause ZW"

From JourneyCheck:

RTT suggests that the stock will run empty to Paddington via Stroud at 08:45, arriving 11:40.

From JourneyCheck:
RTT reports this as being a 5-car IET.

Yes, booked for a 5-car.  Leisure travel has gone bonkers!

Summer tourists in Oxford....?

That's where they need to add another 5car IET at Oxford....

07:50 Paddington - Great Malvern failed at Hanborough (problems with the doors) and was cancelled thereafter.

08:15 Worcester Shrub Hill - Paddington was held at Charlbury and ran 43 late.

A freight (a rarity on this end of our line) followed the 08:15 on the single line.

08:52 Paddington - Great Malvern was held at Oxford and left 33 late.

Return workings affected - JourneyCheck reports:

Running long-formed as a 9-car today (starting at Great Malvern).

Left Padd on time and was 12 late by OOC

From JourneyCheck:

Looks like it'll be terminated at Ledbury, and the return working 1P04 started from there

I wonder what proportion of the trains intended to reach Hereford from Paddington ever actually arrive there?

The late departure of the 09:52 to Hereford from Paddington (+16) meant that it had to wait at Wolvercote Junction for the single line to Charlbury (+39).

In turn that meant it had to wait at Malvern Wells for the single line to Ledbury (+52).

The late departure from Paddington seems to be the result of a set swap. The 09:52 is normally a set that has come from North Pole but today it was a set that had come in from Oxford (at 09:52!).

From JourneyCheck:
Full and standing from Worcestershire Parkway is a new one.

From JourneyCheck:

During the week commencing Monday June 2, there should have been 33 GW arrivals and 33 GW departures at Hereford. Four of each failed to make it, so the answer to the question is 12%.

Mon 5 scheduled arrivals + 5 departures - all OK
Tue  5+5 but lost 1+1
Wed same
Thu same
Fri 5+5 all OK
Sat 5 departures + 4 arrivals but lost 1+1
Sun 3 departures + 4 arrivals - all OK

From JourneyCheck:

From JourneyCheck:

And Realtime trains is showing that the 05:14 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington service was also cancelled meaning the short-formed and late running 06:43 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington was the first up service of the day.

The first train from Hereford is not having a good week:

Note that cancellations due to the overtime ban are reported as "This is due to industrial action".

Many cancellations today on Cornish branches due to shortage of train crew (rather than industrial action).
Interesting.

As yesterday, the following 06.43 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington only five coaches and running over half an hour late.

Not a good day. According to RTT:

1P11 05:14 Shrub Hill - Paddington ran to time
1P02 05:23 Hereford - Paddington cancelled after Shrub Hill
1P16 06:43 Shrub Hill - Paddington (5 cars) left Shrub Hill 29 late, arrived Paddington 36 late. (Late departure from Worcester sidings.)
2E80 07:01 Shrub Hill - Didcot (2 cars) left Shrub Hill 15 late, was held at Norton, arrived Oxford 24 late, cancelled after that
1P18 07:13 Great Malvern - Paddington (9 cars) left Malvern 15 late, held at Henwick and Charlbury, arrived Oxford 40 late

1W11 05:53 Paddington - Great Malvern (5 cars) ran on time to Evesham, where it has a scheduled wait of 12 minutes. Despite this, it left Evesham 14 late and arrived Malvern 7 late.

From JourneyCheck:

07/07/2023

1P30 1316 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington arrived on time at 1334 at Evesham, departed 15 minutes late, no real picking-up of time to Oxford, where it was terminated.  5 car 800018 "Problem with the train (M8)"

1W02 1152 Paddington to Hereford.  5 mins late Didcot, 15 late off Oxford, 23 late off Foregate St, got to Hereford 32 minutes late (1513).  Due to form the 1518 back to Paddington, 1P05  9 car 802106

Saturday July 8

1W11 05:52 Paddington - Foregate Street was cancelled between Worcester Foregate Street and Great Malvern due to a points failure (IB). On time at Langley but 25 late after Slough.


RTT is reporting 1W17 08:52 Paddington - Great Malvern as

Wrong code perhaps?

RTT reports this as being a 5-car.

Sunday July 9 : JourneyCheck reports

Sunday July 9 had time-keeping issues. The worst cases:

1W15 07:36 Paddington - Great Malvern : held at Didcot due to overunning engineering work. Left 53 late. Arrived Foregate Street 59 late, cancelled thereafter.
1W35 08:53 Paddington - Great Malvern : held at Reading and at Wolvercote. 22 : late at Hanborough, arrived Malvern 20 late.
1W01 09:47 Paddington - Hereford : 13 late at Shrub Hill, but it has a scheduled 13 wait at Malvern, so on time at Hereford.
1W03 13:44 Paddington - Hereford : problems before Reading. Left Oxford 26 late, arrived Hereford 32 late.
1W47 14:44 Paddington - Great Malvern : delayed at Didcot. Left Oxford 17 late, arrived Malvern 24 late.
1W51 16:44 Paddington - Great Malvern : left Paddington 23 late. 30 late at Norton Junction, but arrived Shrub Hill 56 late, cancelled thereafter.
1W59 17:44 Paddington - Great Malvern : on time until after Evesham. 18 late at Norton Junction and 27 late at Malvern.
1W08 18:51 Paddington - Hereford : lost time after Charlbury. 18 late at Shrub Hill, arrived Hereford 19 late.

1P30 08:15 Foregate St - Paddington : held at Charlbury. Left there 48 late. Arrived Paddington 48 late.
1P37 08:58 Great Malvern - Paddington : held at Charlbury. Left there 21 late. Arrived Paddington 22 late.
1P45 11:05 Great Malvern - Paddington : started from Foregate St. On time into Paddington.
1P49 11:55 Great Malvern - Paddington : started 8 late. Arrived Paddington 14 late.
1P55 13:12 Foregate St - Paddington : cancelled throughout. RTT does not record it as starting from Oxford as per JourneyCheck.
1P59 13:58 Great Malvern - Paddington : lost time. Held at Charlbury and left 23 late. Arrived Paddington 30 late.
1P63 14:30 Hereford  - Paddington : 6 late at Shrub Hill, 19 late at Charlbury. Arrived Paddington 31 late.
1P69 15:31 Hereford  - Paddington : 12 late at Charlbury. Arrived Paddington 13 late.
1P73 16:58 Great Malvern - Paddington : held at Charlbury and left 16 late. Arrived Paddington 16 late.
1P77 17:30 Hereford  - Paddington : left 25 late. Arrived Paddington 30 late.
1P81 18:58 Great Malvern - Paddington : held at Foregate St and Shrub Hill. Left Shrub Hill 48 late. Arrived Paddington 57 late.
1P85 20:16 Great Malvern - Paddington : started from Foregate St, 19 late. Arrived Paddington 35 late.
1P88 20:40 Great Malvern - Paddington : left 21 late. Scheduled wait of 7 at Evesham. Arrived Paddington only 4 late.

Monday July 10.

Ominously, train 1D10, 05:05 Paddington - Oxford (due 06:07), seems to have stopped at Appleford, with the stock for the 06:48 Oxford - Paddington trapped behind it.
CrossCountry's train 1M18, 05:15 Southampton - Manchester (due Oxford 06:37) is running wrong line from Didcot.

Train 1W11 05:53 Paddington - Great Malvern is reported by JourneyCheck as being delayed by this.

This will explain what’s happening:

Looking at OpenTrainTimes, somebody did some nifty work to extricate the trapped stock back into Didcot and put it into service towards Paddington from there (and on time).

Train 1D10 is now on the move again and is arriving at Oxford some 92 late.

Knock-on effects on other trains.
1W11 05:53 Paddington - Great Malvern left Oxford 35 late and will be terminated at Foregate St.
1W13 06:50 Paddington - Great Malvern was held at Reading and has left 21 late.

Bi-Di signalling installed five years ago proving very useful again as at least three trains went round the failed train that would previously have been stuck.

Next month, as the first part of the latest Oxford corridor works comes to fruition, the line speeds will increase in the ‘wrong’ direction from 60 to 75mph which will be even better.

Tuesday July 11. JourneyCheck reports:

There seem to have been quite a few niggly cancellations and delays over the past few weeks. Nothing like as bad as it was in the good old days but it's becoming noticeable.

I've been following the record of this Paddington to Hereford train lately.  Seems to run late (and get progressively later) very often, resulting in terminating short of destination sometimes, or a late return working.  Also a high-up-the-list candidate for cancellation

It's almost as if either the powers-that-be or the fates have decided that travellers need to be deterred from using a train if they want to get to Hereford from London with ease.

Good news - it has reached Hereford today!

Yes, and only 4 minutes late

The following 1152 Paddington 1W02 is, as I type, also heading for Hereford, 9 minutes late at Malvern Wells

Owing to a signal failure in the west trains are heavily disrupted. The 19:53 to Hereford started from Reading and was 21 minutes late last time I checked.

1P26 1059 Gt Malvern return working also showing on RTT, but not on the GW Journey Check

This feels ominous - posted early on JourneyCheck:

And a bit later:

Ominous indeed............

Cancellations to services between Great Malvern and Oxford

Due to engineering works not being finished on time between Great Malvern and Oxford all lines are closed.
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or diverted. Some stations between Worcester Foregate Street and Reading will not be served. Disruption is expected until 10:00 23/07.

Customer Advice
Due to over running engineering works, the line between Worcester Shrub Hill and Oxford is still closed. Stations on the North Cotswolds line are currently not being served. Trains are being diverted from Worcester to run straight to Reading. Road transport is operating in place of the train on the North Cotswolds line until further notice.

If using an unstaffed station, please use the Help Point.
Replacement road transport services are conveying passengers between Worcester Foregate Street and Oxford in both directions until further notice.

And later:

No mention of the 08:58 Great Malvern - Paddington, which is still listed on RTT.

The line between Oxford and Worcester looks to have reopened - it has disappeared from JourneyCheck's 'Line Updates' section.

But...

National Rail says disruption till 1300

We're back on the 'Line Updates' section, with the news


Meanwhile, train 1P41, the 09:58 Great Malvern - Paddington, has been held at Evesham and has now left 63 late.

And in Oxford, train 1W01, the 09:47 Paddington - Hereford, has been held for so long that 1W37, the 10:44 Paddington - Great Malvern has now arrived behind it.

And 1W01 has set off, 73 late.

1W01 had a further delay between Hanborough and Charlbury but has now arrived at Shrub Hill, 118 late.

And 1P41, having been held at Charlbury for 40 minutes, has reached Reading, 104 late (and, understandably, given up there).

The latest JourneyCheck bulletin:

Service recovery did indeed "take some time". Here's the list of delays:

1P30 08:15 Foregate Street - Paddington : ran via Stroud, arrived 24 late
1P37 08:58 Great Malvern - Paddington : ran via Stroud, arrived 9 late
1P41 09:58 Great Malvern - Paddington : held at Evesham (for 65) and at CBY (40), arrived RDG 109 late. Cancelled after RDG.
1P45 10:50 Great Malvern - Paddington : started at Oxford, arrived 23 late
1P49 11:55 Great Malvern - Paddington : started at Oxford
1P55 13:12 Foregate St - Paddington : 12 late
1P59 13:58 Great Malvern - Paddington : started from Shrub Hill
1P63 14:30 Hereford - Paddington : started from Great Malvern
1P69 15:30 Hereford - Paddington : started from Great Malvern

1W15 07:36 Paddington - Great Malvern : arrived Oxford 19 late, cancelled after Oxford
1W35 08:53 Paddington - Great Malvern : arrived Oxford 20 late, cancelled after Oxford
1W01 09:47 Paddington - Hereford : held at Oxford (for 75), further delayed between Hanborough and Charlbury. Arrived Great Malvern 133 late, cancelled thereafter.
1W37 10:44 Paddington - Great Malvern : held at Oxford (for 74). Arrived Shrub Hill 81 late, cancelled thereafter
1W02 11:44 Paddington - Hereford : held at Oxford, Wolvercote and Evesham. Arrived Great Malvern  late, cancelled thereafter
1W39 12:44 Paddington - Great Malvern : started from Reading 46 late. Arrived Great Malvern 64 late.
1W03 13:44 Paddington - Hereford : started 16 late but is scheduled for six-minute stand at Didcot and 13 at Great Malvern.
1W59 17:44 Paddington - Great Malvern : started 12 late, arrived 17 late
1W08 18:51 Paddington - Hereford : on time at Parkway on time but 65 late at Shrub Hill, cancelled thereafter ("due to an issue with the train crew")
        Quite what happened here isn't obvious from RTT.
1W73 19:44 Paddington - Great Malvern : held at Evesham (for 29), arrived 35 late

Today, the 'halts' train, the 07:01 Shrub Hill - Didcot Parkway has problems:

The 07:13 Great Malvern - Paddington will have to do the stops instead:

And it's failed to get there today:
09:52 delayed further at Wolvercote Junction and at Evesham.

And the omens are not good for the 11:52 Paddington - Hereford, which left Paddington 44 late.

1W02 11:52 Paddington - Hereford arrived Shrub Hill 56 late. Cancelled thereafter.

1P04 13:18 Hereford - Paddington cancelled throughout "due to a problem with the train".

1P05 15:18 Hereford - Paddington started from Shrub Hill.

So it's the 17:34 Paddington to Hereford service... for some at least:

But the 17:57 from Paddington to Foregate Street is now in front of the 17:34 to Hereford.

And it has been given the path over the single line from Wolvercote Junction. Meanwhile the 18:02 from Foregate Street to Paddington is drumming its fingers at Charlbury.

At 19:38:

The 17:57 arrived at Charlbury 17 late.
The 18:02 from Foregate Street has set off from Charlbury (16 late) and passed Wolvercote 11 late.
The 17:34 to Hereford was held at Wolvercote but has now set off, 60 late. But is supposed to be running non-stop to Shrub Hill.

Later:

Signal problems meant delays between Paddington and Reading.
1W03 17:34 Paddington - Hereford : left 36 late, held at Wolvercote, arrived 65 late.
1W34 17:57 Paddington - Foregate Street : 14 late at Reading, arrived 25 late.
1W36 18:57 Paddington - Great Malvern : delayed between Paddington and Reading, arrived 15 late.

It's like a timewarp back to the bad old days before the 2011 re-doubling of several miles of the OWW

The signalling problems between Paddington and Reading are affecting services, though this is not always being reported on JourneyCheck.

1P11 05:14 Shrub Hill - Paddington : arrived 25 late.
1P02 05:23 Hereford - Paddington : arrived 22 late.
1P16 06:43 Shrub Hill - Paddington : arrived 22 late.
1P18 07:13 Great Malvern - Paddington : cancelled between Great Malvern and Foregate St due to a signal failure (RTT). Arrived 24 late.
1P20 08:15 Shrub Hill - Paddington : arrived 22 late.
1P22 08:56 Great Malvern - Paddington : arrived 3 late. What was different here?
1P24 09:54 Great Malvern - Paddington : arrived 18 late.
1P28 12:17 Great Malvern - Paddington : cancelled between Great Malvern and Foregate St.


1W15 07:50 Paddington - Great Malvern : 17 late by Reading, arrived 17 late.
1W17 08:51 Paddington - Great Malvern : 21 late at Reading, 22 late at Shrub Hill and cancelled thereafter.
1W01 09:52 Paddington - Hereford : left Paddington 28 late, 49 late at Reading. Cancelled after arriving 60 late at Great Malvern.
1W21 10:53 Paddington - Shrub Hill : left Paddington 11 late, 18 late at Reading. Arrived 14 late.

Oh dear

The 09:52 got to Hereford and back today, but the second one is having problems:

42 late Charlbury according to RTT

1W01 0952 Paddington to Hereford got to it's destination today, a mere 7 minutes late

Four trains a day each way between Paddington and Hereford - but not to be relied on.

The 11:52 to Hereford has not had a good week:

Friday July 28
1W02 11:52 Paddington - Hereford : late arrival from depot, departed 31 late. Held at Wolvercote. Lost more time at Shrub Hill and Malvern Wells. Arrived Ledbury 67 late and cancelled after that.
1P05 15:18 Hereford - Paddington : started from Ledbury.

Thursday July 27
1W02 11:52 Paddington - Hereford : late arrival from depot, departed 42 late. Lost more time at Shrub Hill. Arrived Great Malvern 60 late and cancelled after that.

Wednesday July 26
1W02 11:52 Paddington - Hereford : late arrival from depot (+15), departed 8 late. Lost more time at Shrub Hill. Arrived 15 late.

Tuesday July 25
1W02 11:52 Paddington - Hereford : late arrival from depot (+49), departed 44 late. Lost more time to Reading (+56). Arrived Shrub Hill 59 late and cancelled after that.

Monday July 24
1W02 11:52 Paddington - Hereford : everything worked OK.

With nearly three days down to signal failure outside Paddington, no surprise & others will have faired similarly this week

About half of tomorrow's services to and from Paddington cancelled compared to a normal Saturday - counting lines on real time trains for GWR gives me 184 movements tomorrow and 367 for 5th August.

Moreton-in-Marsh shows a single train tomorrow at 00:36 to Worcesteshire Parkway.  It shows 36 departures for 5th August, half to Hanborough and most of the rest to Worcester or Great Malvern, with one each to Hereford and Worcestershire Parkway.

Block at Oxford for the next 9 days. Nothing between Didcot & Hanborough until August 7

I wonder if the performance of 1W02 is irredeemable?  Got to Hereford today 9 minutes late after starting (only from Hanborough on time), and then losing minutes here and there all the way onwards from Kingham to it's destination.

Presumably losing time slowly but surely is down to the low power issue being discussed in the IET topic.

Meanwhile, it's noticeable that the problems with 1W02 were not experienced last week with the two later trains to Hereford. 1W03, the 17:34 Paddington - Hereford, arrived 9 / 65 / -1 / 95 / -1 minutes late on the five days, while 1W05, the 19:53 from Paddington arrived 0 / 5 / -1 / 5 / 0 minutes late.

I'd suspect that the problem with 1W02 is down to the fact that its previous journey was empty from North Pole.  That's a conflicting movement out of the depot, which has the potential to cause delays.  Now some trains that have spent the previous night at the likes of Worcester or Hereford will have to go to North Pole during the day for fuel and for the toilets to be emptied. If the signalling problem had gone on longer, then the diagrams would have been reorganised so that nothing went to and from North Pole during the middle of the day.

Wednesday August 2:


Hanborough is not a good place to wait for an extra hour.

Getting worse:

But somebody is being sensible:

... unless you're wanting to go to Gloucester.

Thursday August 3:

Now, here's a curious thing. I looked to see what the alternatives would have been from Great Malvern, and I get the attached. Which wants me to get off my direct train at Swindon and change to a Swansea that doesn't stop at Reading and so saves four minutes.  OK, the direct train appears as well, but you do have to ask why bother?

You don't have to - but the OJP has to select on the basis of what it's been told to do, and (in most cases) that is earliest arrival for any departure time. Adding other filter rules, like offering direct trains as well (probably with the same selection metric among them) should be OK in some cases. Of course every complication adds scope for mistakes and, given the complexity an inconsistency of the fares and timetable data it's fed on, weird results.

But if you expect the thing to know how big a time difference you think would make switching trains worthwhile, bearing in mind that someone else might have different views on that, is problematical. If you think about it, even deciding how much choice to offer, as opposed to providing the one and only answer, involves pre-judging the user's level of understanding of the system.

Adding lowest cost as an additional selection comes up frequently in users' comments, but has proved tricky. Of course sellers may not be motivated to try very hard; NRE has a cheap fare finder, but they hardly promote it.

You are of course quite right.

Adding the fares, as attached, is even better - it's cheaper to change at Swindon. Though should you be offering cheap Advance tickets on a train that arrives at Paddington at 08:16?

Especially if it will fill a seat left otherwise unsold and bring in revenue. Not a great fan of advance tickets at slightly reduced prices (or which are actually more expensive than walk-up tickets, though)

As a passenger booking advance tickets, I'm now in the habit of finding the cost, for a particular journey, of an "Annual season ticket divided by 365". Like the annual season ticket holder, in the past having been committed to using rail for many journeys, it's a useful figure to have in mind as a floor for the price of a ticket.

Whether it then has any basis in reality to consider that "Anything below that floor feels like a distress sell for the railway, while anything above it is a distress purchase for me" is another matter...

Mark

Monday August 7:

Train 1W13, 06:50 Paddington - Great Malvern, which forms the 09:54, was cancelled after Shrub Hill this morning. Stock is returning to North Pole empty.

Train 1W13, 06:50 Paddington - Great Malvern, which forms the 09:54, was cancelled after Shrub Hill this morning. Stock is returning to North Pole empty.

[/quote]

You have to wonder why it's returned ECS to London.  The only thing I can think of is that it would get the driver back to depot sooner, and therefore may have been before the "overtime" length of the shift had been reached?

Who's thinking of the passengers and growing the railway in all this?

1W01 0952 Paddington to Hereford today

On time to Oxford, 8 late off there, now 9 late off Evesham

Will it get to Hereford today?

Why is train travel in these parts such a lottery?

So far, 1W02, the 1152 to Hereford is on time

No.

It got to Foregate Street (due 12:07) 7 late, but then sat there in platform 1 for 29 minutes. Eventually arrived Great Malvern 44 late and cancelled after that.

Its return working is reported as

If you're not familiar with the oddities of our line, Foregate Street has two platforms but each of them is a bi-directional single track line. So platform 1 connects round to Shrub Hill while platform 2 is used by trains to and from Birmingham.

So, with platform 1 blocked, train 1P28, the 11:57 Great Malvern - Paddington, had to wait over the other side of the river. Eventually left Foregate Street 33 late and had to be held at Charlbury. Now 50 late, though that's not mentioned on JourneyCheck.

Backed up behind that, the 11:40 Hereford - Birmingham New Street had to wait at Newland East and left there 24 late.

And waiting patiently at Shrub Hill for the two Londons to sort themselves out, the 10:38 Bristol Temple Meads - Foregate Street arrived 29 late at 12:50. Which saved it having to do the short journey across the river to the turnback siding at Henwick. So it went back towards Bristol on time at 12:53.

1W02 1152 from Paddington to Hereford arrived at Oxford around 1 minutes late, departed 4 minutes late and has just lost more and more time as it heads west.  Currently it's 33 minutes down at Malvern Link

1P28 11:57 Great Malvern - Paddington ended up being cancelled after arriving 53 late at Reading.

1W29 14:53 Paddington - Foregate Street started from Reading.

05:14 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington "cancelled due to late arrival of an inbound service (YI)".

Following two trains 05:23 Hereford to Paddington and 06:43 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington both short-formed though only former reported on JourneyCheck. The 06:43 was full and standing before it got to Oxford.

This does not bode well for the 05:14 from Shrub Hill to Paddington on Thursday morning.

The 05:14 was indeed cancelled. Remember - you heard it here first.

Meanwhile

1W25 1253 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street is also showing as being formed of a 2-car DMU on RTT, but I can't see a mention of it on JourneyCheck

RTT is also showing that 1W01 0952 Paddington to Hereford is cancelled throughout, but the corresponding return, 1P04 1318 ex Hereford, is still running.  Perhaps.  Maybe.  Who knows?

Edit to amend information:  RTT is now showing the 1253 from Paddington and the 1517 return from Worcester Foregate Street ans being covered by a 3-car DMU (1015, 11/08/2023)

07:50 Paddington - Great Malvern departed 22 late. Arrived Shrub Hill 22 late and cancelled thereafter.

Return jorney, 10:59 Great Malvern - Paddington, started from Shrub Hill.

Today the 07:50 was formed from the back half of the 04:59 Swansea - Paddington, due into Paddington at 07:44 but actually arriving 17 late.

The three-car 15:17 from Foregate Street will be very cos once it has collected the day-out traffic at Oxford at 16:30.

1W01 was indeed cancelled throughout.
1P04, the 13:18 from Hereford, was formed of the stock that should have been the 05:23 Hereford - Paddington.
It departed 38 late, recovered a bit of time but was then held at Norton and is now 41 late, unreported on JourneyCheck.
Fortunately it won't get held at Charlbury, as 1W29, the 14:53 Paddington - Foregate Street, departed 22 late and is now 20 late, again unreported on JourneyCheck.

THe 1517 3-car DMU from Foregate Street did pretty well - kept time to Oxford, which may show that the bigger express units are not really working very hard on the OWW route.  It arrived at Reading 9 minutes late, after a six minute late departure from Oxford

Not much difference.  A maximum linespeed of 100mph with lots of 75/90mph sections too.  The IETs on diesel accelerate a little better than a turbo, but nothing to write home about.  Perhaps a minute of so quicker up Campden Bank as they’ll get to 70-75mph whereas a turbo only reaches 55 or thereabouts.

In the Across the West sub-forum, the number of short-formations is being commented upon: "problems with IETs▸ continue, with short formations being routine."

So, having a quick look at the first three London bound services since 7 August, we have:

0514 WOS:PAD - cancelled 9 & 10 August, short-formed 7 August
0523 HFD:PAD - cancelled 11 August, short-formed 9 & 10 August
0643 WOS:PAD - short-formed 9,10 & 14 August

(not to mention the loss of a whole train from the timetable in May).

And, as also mentioned "The present situation is a powerful deterrent to use of GWR services. Reserving a seat does not much help as reservations are voided on half length trains." From experience, the 0643 is pretty much full by Oxford when short-formed.

Rejoice!

Both 1W01 (0952) and 1W02 (1152) Paddington to Hereford trains managed to reach their destination today.  And both were less than 15 minutes late when they got there.  I have a feeling this may be some kind of record

Two cancellations from yesterday (15 August)

1704 Didcot Parkway to Moreton-in-Marsh and the returning 1851 Evesham to Oxford.

And some more morning short-formations:

15 Aug - 0514 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington
Today - 0523 Hereford to Paddington and 0643 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington

And a "long-formation" (if that makes sense). Today train 1W11, the 05:53 Paddington - Great Malvern (arrive 08:38), and the return working 1P22, the 08:56 Great Malvern - Paddington, were operated by a 9-car unit.  It was only a 5-car on Monday and Tuesday.

As a result of the issues in the Didcot area:


whilst the previous service, 11:52 Paddington to Hereford, is currently going through Didcot North 69 minutes late, and will terminate at Great Malvern.

updated to add details of 11:52 truncation

It lost even more time - 77 late at Oxford, 97 late at Shrub Hill - and 110 late at Great Malvern.
The return journey, normally the 15:18 from Hereford, left Great Malvern 27 late and was held at Charlbury. It arrived at Paddington 31 late.

And there's another cancellation this evening:
Note the time-stamp. I had assumed that it would be reinstated at some stage, but no.

For the record, both the 0523 Hereford to Paddington and 0643 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington were short-formed again this morning.

The empty journey from the depot ran 29 late.  It left Paddington 24 late, recovered a bit of time but then lost it again.

And two more peak London bound short-formations this morning - 5.14 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington and, for the third day running, 5:23 Hereford to Paddington.

RTT reports that

1W31 15:52 Paddington to Great Malvern (5 cars) was cancelled after Shrub Hill due to a signalling systems failure.
1W33 16:58 Paddington to Great Malvern (5 cars) was cancelled after Shrub Hill due to a signalling systems failure.
1W03 17:34 Paddington to Hereford (5 cars) was held for 12 minutes at Worcestershire Parkway. It arrived at Hereford 26 late.
1W34 17:57 Paddington to Foregate Street (5 cars) was held at Evesham and arrived 16 late.

1P40 18:02 Foregate Street to Paddington was cancelled throughout.

JourneyCheck reports that
It was held at Norton Junction and is now 23 late.

The CLPG have been informed that "20 or so 800s are with Hitachi awaiting parts (the contract provides for only 13 undergoing overhauls at any one time)) and are told they are having to use several trains running with one diesel engine out of use. Mark Hopwood has been very vocal with Hitachi and the DfT on the issue and accusing breach of contract by Hitachi. The latter blame shortage of parts.

But MTU apparently blaming Hitachi design faults with inadequate cooling systems which they apparently raised when it decided to uprate the 800s to 940 bhp ."

JourneyCheck is reporting

...whilst RTT has

1203 Padd to Penzance today was terminated, very unusually, at Redruth arrg at 1716 39 late
“Due problems with the traction equipment”
It had already had its Totnes stop cut out and was specially given a clear run there;  shades of the times when HSTs on one power car did not stop at Totnes  or had a loco attached over the steep South Devon banks.
With the steadily increasing number of GW based IETs running with engines isolated, might we see a Thunderbird loco. based at Exeter ?!

This is the Board for the North Cotswold Line, mods please move that stray animal above.

Getting worse:

On Sunday August 20, Shrub Hill was closed and trains from London were turning round at Worcestershire Parkway.

There was only one cancellation, the 19:44 Paddington - Worcestershire Parkway, which was cancelled after Oxford. According to RTT, "This service was cancelled between Oxford and Worcestershire Parkway due to the planned train being replaced with a slower train (MS)". The "slower train" being a five-car Turbo.

Cancelling it at Oxford did at least save the long empty journey it should have made back to Stoke Gifford by way of Oxford and Bath.

Meanwhile, on Monday August 21:

1P11 0514 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington was cancelled today, "at operators request" according to RTT

The OWW well and truly lives up to it's nickname, these days

Some late running this evening, none of which made it onto JourneyCheck:

1W36 18:57 London Paddington to Great Malvern - on time to Reading, but sat there for 48 minutes. Arrived Shrub Hill 77 late and cancelled thereafter.
1W05 19:53 London Paddington to Hereford - on time to Oxford. Held at Wolvercote (for 1P42 and 1P44), left there 47 late. Arrived 53 late.
1W41 20:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern. Left Paddington 36 late. Arrived 39 late

1P42 19:05 Great Malvern to London Paddington - departed 23 late, held at Norton Junction and at Charlbury (for 1W36 above). Arrived 54 late.
1P44 19:45 Great Malvern to London Paddington - departed 12 late. Arrived 12 late.

Occupation of the single line between Wolvercote and Charlbury:

Train           Schedule           Actual
1W36   19:51-20:03   20:57-21:06
1P42   20:14-20:26      21:06-21:18
1W05   20:49-21:01   21:36-21:50
1P44   21:10-21:25   21:24-21:36

The empty train left the depot 13 early, but waited for some time at Shrub Hill and got to Great Malvern 16 late.
The 07:13 departed 13 late, but was held at Henwick and Charlbury (33 late), was 26 late at Slough but lost more time on the approach to Paddington. Arrived 49 late.

What a way to run a railroad

Meanwhile, train 1P26, 10:59 Great Malvern to London Paddington spent 41 minutes sat in Foregate Street's platform 1 due to a more local signalling failure. Still yet to be reported on JourneyCheck.
This forced trains 2E55 09:38 Bristol Temple Meads to Worcester Foregate Street and 2V36 10:03 Dorridge to Worcester Foregate Street and their return workings to be terminated at Shrub Hill. The problem with the Bristol train is reported on JourneyCheck.

Unreported on JourneyCheck, train 1W02, the 1152 London Paddington to Hereford, left Paddington on time, was 15 late at Oxford, lost time thereafter and was terminated at Shrub Hill having arrived there 27 late. Reported on RTT as being "due to an issue with the train crew (TH)".

This train departed Paddington 27 late and ran that late throughout.

1W27 1350 London Paddington to Great Malvern departed 21 late. Arrived Shrub Hill 27 late and cancelled thereafter.

In consequence

Train 1P34 15:17 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington.
RTT reports: started from Shrub Hill, 12 late. Held for 14 minutes at Charlbury. Arrived 24 late.

In the interests of completeness, we should record problems with yesterday's (Thu Aug 24) train 1P06 22:00 Hereford to London Paddington.
This left Hereford on time, was held at Norton (for 1W41 20:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern, which lost time between Oxford and Worcester, arriving at Malvern 15 late)  and at Charlbury and arrived at Paddington 24 late.
But ... does this lateness matter? Does anybody travel on this train? You have to ask what it is for - would it not be more sensible to leave it parked in the sidings at Shrub Hill and use it on an early journey to Paddington?

Meanwhile, in early journeys to Paddington today (Fri Aug 25):

1P11 0514 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington was cancelled throughout, "due to an issue with the train crew (TG)" according to RTT.


So, at Evesham, the trains towards Paddington were
    05:35 cancelled
    06:35 from Hereford - OK
    07:00 cancelled
    07:21 halts train (to Oxford and Didcot Parkway), just 2 cars
    07:51 cancelled
    08:35 from Shrub Hill - OK

The halts train is usually 2 cars as the halts station platforms are two cars long.

They could use SDO stock, but a 2car turbo is cheaper.

Indeed it is cheaper. It is probably inadequate too if the previous train was cancelled!

It’s ironic that it’s by far the most reliable of the Hereford to London trains, but hardly anyone uses it for that journey.

There will usually be up to a dozen on board from Hereford getting off at either Ledbury or Worcester, a few more join there (on a Friday night a couple of dozen), a few more on at Parkway, but mostly they will leave at Pershore/Evesham.  Then you’ll usually be in single figures to Oxford where up to another couple of dozen will join (twice that on a Friday), mostly heading to Didcot.  From there you might have a couple of dozen boarding and alighting through to Paddington (again, quite a lot more on a Friday).

So, a one car Class 153 would be ideal, apart from a Friday when you might need a two or three car Turbo.  A 9-car IET is a little bit of an over provision to put it mildly.  It’s not alone in that regard for a late evening service heading to Paddington though.

And if it didn’t run at all beyond Worcester I’m sure the locals wouldn’t be happy about having a last train to Evesham, Oxford and London as early as 9pm.

Complete shambles

Reliability of any of the OWW services these days is somewhere close to zero.  The only thing that can be relied on is that there will be cancellations and delays every day

Isn't this just a working to balance the rolling stock?  Could be ECS but, as it's running, why not take a few quid in fares

1W27 1350 Paddington to Great Malvern cancelled throughout today because of a problem with the doors on the unit

and the return working, 1P38 1632 Great Malvern to Paddington, is also scrubbed

According to RTT this should have been operated by 802009

Nightmare of a day continues

1P25 1253 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street, 30 late starting out from Padd, 49 late arriving at Shrub Hill where it was terminated and started back to London as 1P34, 30+ late

RTT reports:

1W27 13:50 London Paddington to Great Malvern
This service was cancelled due to a problem with the doors (M7).

JourneyCheck:

And today, it being Bank Holiday Monday, the 'halts' train does not operate.
But RTT records this with a curious choice of words:

And we have plenty of notice for a cancellation this evening:

I have questions!

Particularly as RTT shows:



Edit: to include additional information

ECS to WOS?

Yes.  RTT says 802009 for outward and return services.  But why?

Disorder? Maybe the BTP wanted evidence?

The ECS  5W25 is shown as a very short term provision in the timetable, 1318 Reading to Wocester Shrub Hill via Honeybourne. No details on RTT until the train reached Didcot North Jcn, 51 minutes late.

It's not going to be at Shrub Hill in time for a 1521 departure back towards Paddington, which is what the GW JourneyCheck is still showing

Guard verbally abused and accused of being racist by a passenger.

From JourneyCheck:

According to RTT, on arrival at Worcestershire Parkway, this journey was scheduled to depart at 22:06 and run empty to Stoke Gifford, arriving 00:41.

After this one, the last two trains are the 20:44 from Paddington, scheduled to run back empty to Oxford, and the 21:49, scheduled to run back empty to Evesham (arrive 01:17) and wait for the engineering work at Shrub Hill to be finished. Scheduled to depart 02:25, arriving into Shrub Hill at 02:45.

and later:

RTT is reporting that this train was formed of two 2-car Turbo units from Paddington to Oxford, and one 2-car unit from Oxford onwards.

Some delays yesterday because a van struck a barrier at the Bruern level crossing (between Ascott-under-Wychwood and Kingham).  I was on the 1053 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill which was held-up for six minutes whilst the driver was being instructed to pass AW200 (the Bruern home signal) at danger.  According to the train manager on our train, this process was taking up to 15 minutes earlier in the morning

There were various issues with the early morning services yesterday (6 September) due to a track defect.

Realtime Trains suggests that both the 05:14 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington and 05:23 Hereford to Paddington services were sent via Swindon (the latter certainly didn't run along the North Cotswolds line) meaning the 06:43 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington was the first train of the day. Fortunately, it wasn't a short formation!

Adding to the confusion, the GWR and National Rail apps weren't showing the progress of the services. The 06:43 WOS:PAD's first sign of life on Realtime Trains was after it departed Charlbury 8 minutes late.

Seems to me the will on the part of GWR to run trains to and from Hereford is hanging by a thread.  The timetable says one thing, but reality day-to-day is often very different

5-coach IET on the Oxfordshire Halts stopper this morning. Admittedly I haven’t caught this train for ages but I wasn’t expecting that!

Looks like the Hereford and Malvern starters both started short at Shrub Hill though…

Looks like 2E77 0510 Oxford to Worcester Shrub Hill has been replaced the last two mornings by 5E80 0543 Oxford Up Carriage Siding to Worcester Shrub Hill.  GThe latter was on-time leaving the sidings this morning, and substantially late thereafter.  I can't image too many potential passengers will have been inconvenienced

It is described on RTT as

A very sad event has led to ...

1W31 and corresponding 1P42 return being caped

From JourneyCheck:

From JourneyCheck:

Other delays being flagged up.

Yesterday's problems with the track between Honeybourne and Moreton-in-Marsh affected Oxford-bound trains:

1P30 13:16 Shrub Hill - Paddington : cancelled throughout
1P04 13:18 Hereford - Paddington : diverted via Stroud
1P34 15:17 Foregate Street - Paddington : started from Shrub Hill 53 late. Cancelled after arriving at Reading 63 late.
1P05 15:18 Hereford - Paddington : 21 late by Moreton, arrived Paddington 11 late.
1P38 16:32 Great Malvern - Paddington : started 25 late, arrived Evesham 21 late and then reversed so as to divert via Stroud. Cancelled after arriving Reading 152 late.
1P39 17:26 Foregate Street - Paddington : cancelled after arriving at Worcestershire Parkway 18 late.
1P40 18:02 Foregate Street - Paddington : started from Shrub Hill 24 late. Diverted via Stroud.
1P42 19:05 Great Malvern - Paddington : started from Foregate Street and diverted via Stroud.
1P44 19:45 Great Malvern - Paddington : started from Shrub Hill 26 late. Diverted via Stroud.
1P46 20:56 Foregate Street - Paddington : cancelled after Shrub Hill and ran empty to Paddington via Stroud.
1P06 22:00 Hereford - Paddington : ran normally.

JourneyCheck did not mention rail replacement buses.
No trains ran from Evesham towards Oxford from 16:47 to 23:12.
A couple of down trains were turned round at Moreton so as to maintain London-bound services at 18:49 and 19:08.

From JourneyCheck:

A lot of cancellations today. JourneyCheck is reporting

There were a number of cancellations yesterday (Wed Oct 18) as well, but for some reason they didn't get listed on JourneyCheck.

And there's more:

Those are using the same train as the 0523 ex-HFD

And to that gloomy list we have to add the 19:53 Paddington to Hereford, cancelled throughout due to what RTT reported as "late arrival of an inbound service (YI)".

Not showing on JourneyCheck but the 08:51 Paddington to Great Malvern appears to have been cancelled. The following 09:52 Paddington to Hereford has just departed Paddington 17 minutes late.

Well, here i am on the Hereford - Paddington. I have to report that the ticket office space at Foregate Street is covered in water. Not very deep, but enough for it to be taped off with a sign "buy your tickets at your destination".  And West Midlands Trains have stopped running from Birmingham to Hereford.

oops, Radley! Wonder if anyone wanted to board or alight?  :o

Probably.  It’s at least the third time it’s happened since Radley calls were added to long distance services on Sundays only.

There were about 12 alighters from the 11:44 Paddington - Hereford yesterday.

Posted for the record.  I haven't been particularly looking, but I did not see any advance information about this

That IS the advance notice (assuming you got it off the GWR website?)

After filleting the service for this week's engineering works:


So no early morning services to Oxford/London for almost two and a half hours!

I did get it from the GW website, but to be advance information, it should be out and publicised, err, in advance - not on the day, don't you think?

Planned engineering works through to the end of the year, with advanced notice of what's coming up in the first three months of next year, can be found at https://www.gwr.com/travel-information/travel-updates/planned-engineering. ... however, people need to know to look.     

There are various industry briefings, and it gets flagged up in various ways, but such things tend to be easily missed; I can recall a none-rail project where we listed 10 different ways we reached people, and we still got complaints that "I hadn't heard".   Just a couple of weeks ago, I noted on my personal Facebook page the last in a series of consultation events coming that evening, and got a slamming response "why are you only just telling us" ... but actually the 3rd or 4th telling but this last one just happened to reach wider.

It would be lovely of there was a way of getting the right information to the right people at the right time ...

I first heard about it a couple of weeks ago, but I also wasn't really looking for it. 

I expect the online journey planners had alterations on them some time before that as it's half term week, so likely to have been planned for a reasonable amount of time?

Something about this... the railway's long been into the practice of charging premium and sometimes unfeasably premium prices for one-off peak time travel, as well as providing annual season ticket rates that bring the daily rate down to around the level of (in GWR's case) the cost of a super off peak return.

Was it the case that they then put a lot of staff effort into ensuring that the perhaps infrequent long distance trains in the morning peak ran as reliably as possible?

The refrain 'More trains than usual' is a bit 21st century, especially when used with respect to the morning peak, and especially on the Hereford to Paddington route with its relatively infrequent trains. This must have a very suppressing effect on the passenger figures for trains at these times.

Mark

It's been listed in the forward plan for Engineering Works that Graham mentioned for over a month - probably longer - and route season ticket holders I understand were emailed a while ago. How else could GWR identify that any particular account holder needed to know about that particular route? We at the CLPG put it out a while ago to our members.

I would have thought that GWR had an excellent database on who travels on which line, thanks to Delay Repay.

Unless they all sign up to these notifications, GDOPR would prevent any contact outside of Delay/Repay refunds

A few cancellations today:

1W29 1453 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street - cancelled due to an issue with the train crew (TH).

2E14 1704 Didcot Parkway to Oxford - cancelled between Oxford and Moreton-in-Marsh due to unknown cause (ZW).

2E16 1851 Evesham to Oxford - cancelled due to late arrival of an inbound service (YI).

The inbound was the service above 2E14....late arrival? Never got past Oxford!! :o

The stock of 1W29 (a 9-car set) ran empty from Paddington to Shrub Hill (missing out the bit round to Foregate Street) in order to pick up service as train 1P39, the 17:30 from Shrub Hill back to Paddington.

It cannot be beyond the wit of the IT department to add a cople of GDPR permission tick-boxes for when you register or claim for DelayRepay - one for "tell me about future engineering works that would affect this journey" and another for tell me about any disruptions that would affect this journey today".

JourneyCheck:

13:50 Paddington - Great Malvern cancelled after Shrub Hill - a change that was announced to the passengers as we came into Shrub Hill, some 19 late.

I was looking to go round to Foregate Street, as I had very heavy luggage and I can rely on there being taxis at Foregate Street. Fortunately I rang up for a taxi to come to Shrub hill and only had to wait in the cold for a few minutes.

The return working is shown as

Note that 'updated' time - why the change could not have been communicated to the train manager of the 13:50 isn't obvious (and wasn't obvious to the TM either).

And the following 06:43 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington was a five car short-formation.

5 coaches instead of 18!

08:51 Paddington - Great Malvern reported on RTT as "cancelled due to a problem with the train".

An odd one:

No mention of 1P16 06:43 Shrub Hill - Paddington, held for 17 minutes at Norton Junction for westbound departmental train 3S31, running 23 late.

1P16 0643 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington departed Shrub Hill 15 late and was 21 late by Charlbury and 26 late into Paddington.
In consequence, 1W13 0650 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street was held at Wolvercote. 18 late at Charlbury and into Shrub Hill. It has a scheduled wait at Shrub Hill, so was only 7 late into Foregate Street.
The halts train, 2E80 0701 Worcester Shrub Hill to Didcot Parkway, was held at Charlbury and reached Oxford 20 late.
And behind that, train 1P18 0713 Great Malvern to London Paddington was also held at Charlbury and reached Oxford 16 late.

I don't imagine there's any chance of anything being done about the remaining single-line sections, at either end of the Wolvercote Junction to Norton Junction railway, but they really do need fixing.  One out-of-course train can still wreak as much havoc as it would have done in the days before the 2011 re-doubling of part of the line

The North Cotswold Line Task Force proposals envisage shortening the single line at each end - basically redoubling Wolvercot to Hanborough, and Evesham to Pershore. (I have my doubts that it'll happen.)

In terms of helping with regulation of trains, I'd think a short section of double line - wouldn't need to be much more that a train length - at both Wolvercot and Norton Junctions could be very useful, particularly if the junctions were doubled, too.  Meaning trains waiting for a path onto the single lines wouldn't have to stand in the way of trains heading towards Banbury from Oxford or towards Abbotswood from Worcester.

I suspect there's no money for this (even though it would have such benefits), any more than there's money to add any substantial distance to to the double-track milage that already exists

it's surprising that that's not been standard practice on single line junctions with double track from the off. Perhaps it was that at the first, it wasn't envisaged that there'd be the density of traffic and the thinking didn't evolve. Though that hardly excuses locations where lines have been singled.

Mark

Thinking about this from the time at which lines were singled - taking Thingley Junction as an example.

a) A crossover and single turnout has allowed the main line to be canted and so have its line speed raised

b) The line was run with a single line token.  If a trains could pass onto a short section of double track clear of the junction, there would need to be a way to get the token to the driver

c) With just a handful of trains a week down the single line, go for the cheapest option to install and maintain

d) A crossover then a single point to the branch provides for reversal of a train on the main line which a double junction would not

It would need an auxiliary token instrument to be provided in a small hut in a convenient place for the driver to withdraw a token in cooperation with the signallers at each end of the section.  In fact, I think there was one at Thingley Jcn in the days of Bradford Junctions 'box working the single line with Swindon Panel

The down relief is used for that purpose north of Oxford, such that trains heading north of Wolvercot use the Down Main to get past.

There might have been one there - though I have seen a video of a token being collected on the platform at Chippenham Station (in addition?)

I remember visiting Bradford Junctions box and giving the release for a token to be taken at the Swindon end of the single line.  What a great 'box to work!  And they couldn't get rid of it when they wanted to with the Westbury resignalling in 1985 - Westbury panel couldn't work to Swindon, Swindon couldn't work to Bristol at Bradford Jcn.  So until they worked out a way of knitting it all together, the box stayed.  An oasis.

and, correspondingly:

The found a way of doing in in 1990, very sadly by closing the north side of the triangle at Bradford Junction so that it's no longer possible for a train to work from Melksham to Bath without reversing or making an extraordiarily long diversion (work it out  ;D )

P.S. We may be off topic here - though we are on the very edge of The Cotswolds ... I think Lacock IS in The Cotswolds and the singleton's lin passes through there ...

RTT reports that 11:52 Paddington - Hereford was "cancelled between Oxford and Hereford due to an issue with the train crew (TG)".

JourneyCheck reports

It's clearly nothing like the dark days of 2018 but the fact that this thread is up to page 22 (last year's only got to three) does suggest that it's not been a good year service-wise on the north Cotswold Line.

Certainly, when I wake up and check the trains I am always prepared for a cancelation, delay or short-formation. And I am using Delay Repay and the GWR Refund Portal quite regularly too.

Outbound journey, 1W03 1343 London Paddington to Hereford, reported on RTT as

Sunday late afternoon: the last through train to London.

The next service, 20 minutes later, involves a change and an hour's wait at Newport. The one half an hour later involves a half hour wait at Foregate Street.

The (cancelled) through train: 2 hours 55 minutes. The others around 3 hours 30 minutes, the Newport connections involving an hour's wait.

Mark

Not clever ... but (ironically) not as much delay as the bus that went the wrong way yesterday which due in London at 23:40 but the special train didn't drag in until 01:04 . 

RTT reporting this train as 24 late out of Oxford.

Shown as calling at the booked stations on RTT now, 33 late off Honeybourne, and later than that earlier in the journey

...and now cancelled after Great Malvern, where it arrived 30 late.

And in consequence:

JourneyCheck is reporting

Nothing about the return working of the 16:58, which should form the 19:45 from Great Malvern.

On Tuesday November 14:

16:58 Paddington - Great Malvern WASN'T cancelled. OK, it was a 5-car, which must have beeen cosy.

20:56 Foregate Street - Paddington ran normally. Also a 5-car, so the 17:57 from Paddington must have been cosy.

It’s booked for a 5-car, isn’t it?

09:52 held at Wolvercote Junction and now 38 late at Charlbury. A scheduled turn-round time at Hereford of 32 minutes.

Left Worcester Shrub Hill only 23 minutes late

RTT is reporting it arriving at Great Malvern 57 late, and being cancelled after that.

JourneyCheck reports

And during the evening of Wednesday November 15:

The 'halts' train (17:04 Didcot - Moreton) was cancelled from Oxford (RTT: "due to a problem with the traction equipment (MD)").

The 16:58 Paddington - Great Malvern lost time as a result of doing all the extra stops, arrived at Shrub Hill 33 late and was cancelled thereafter.

The 17:34 London Paddington to Hereford missed its path through the single line at Evesham. It left there 30 late and reached Hereford 26 late.

The 19:05 Great Malvern to London Paddington was held at Charlbury and arrived at Oxford 18 late.

An odd pair today:

The second of those feels wrong - surely it should be started from Shrub Hill?

Both have now disappeared from JourneyCheck.

Meanwhile...

Awkward as that's the last train of the day. There *is* a connection that leave two minutes earllier, but that's change Newport and Hereford, with a wait of over 90 minutes at Newport and over three hours at Hereford, giving an arrival next day at Worcester at after 6am. *Blinks*

Mark

There is a 22:51 from Paddington, but it only goes to Worcestershire Parkway, so you'd need to have a taxi to take you to our destination.

Worcestershire Parkway... is that a rather odd final call for it?

(Edit: removed bad info.)

Off topic, but I'm now moved, for reasons of history and anecdote, to look out the last arrival into Shrub Hill on a Sunday...

Mark

Shrub Hill is staffed by WMR and is closed and locked up before that train would arrive, so it terminates at Parkway and runs empty (and straight into) the sidings at Worcester.

So, not ideal…but there is a reason for it.

And today is Retro Friday:

Shown on RTT as being operated by 165 114.

Ah. Now wondering what that service did before Parkway opened in 2020, if anyone can recall.

Mark

Two and a half hours on a Turbo, great!  :(

Fridays-only short working from Paddington to Moreton-in-Marsh.

Cardiff .... Portsmouth ....

An equally unattractive prospect.

5 late at Reading, right time Evesham

Who needs 125mph IETs anyway?

The rolling stock substitution has disappeared from GW journeycheck, btw

As reported above, the 1632 Great Malvern to Paddington isn't getting very far today - to be terminated at Worcester Shrub Hill.  No mention on Journeycheck at present about the 1350 from Paddington which provides the stock for it

There is now...

???

The GWR app is reporting that the following 14:53 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street has no unoccupied seats!

I suppose cancelling a few services each day and ramming passengers onto the remaining trains is one way of making the railway less costly to run

I was on it from Oxford. Standing room only to Hanborough and very busy on to Charlbury. Haven't checked but it looks like maybe the Cotswold Line was down one diagram - there were cancellations either side too.

Given the recent level of reliability of the Worcester line services its good that GWR haven't decided, from the December timetable change, to halve the number of services on the Didcot to Oxford shuttle and replace them by stopping the Worcester services at Didcot parkway instead.

Oh wait......

Given that when fares go up the standard line 'about paying for investments in services' is trotted out maybe we will see a reduction in fares to match the reduction in services. ;)

If reliability gets too bad, hopefully they'll move that Didcot stop to the other half-hour Oxford service, which frankly is where it should go anyway (yes, I have had the explanation as to why its in the Worcester service, but I don't agree with it)

The idea of Retro Friday didn't actually work:
- worked OK.

RTT reports "This service was cancelled between Worcester Shrub Hill and London Paddington due to a planning error (TI)."

RTT reports "This service was cancelled due to a decision by the train operating company (TR)."

RTT reports "This service was cancelled due to late arrival of an inbound service (YI)."

Or just reinstate the Didcot to Oxford shuttle service to run every half an hour.

Of  course if they hadn't cancelled the half-complete (maybe more) Didcot-Oxford electrification then none of this would have been happening.

No way to reinstate as the DfT has thrown the toys out & won't pay for the turbo used to run it. It's going elsewhere.

From JourneyCheck:
This train (and the 07:25 Shrub Hill - Paddington via Stroud, also delayed) start from Shrub Hill sidings, so the fault seems to have only affected these sidings.

The train was held at Charlbury for the single line (crossing the 06:50 Paddington - Great Malvern, on time), and is now reported as 33 late at Oxford.

Meanwhile, the 'halts' train, the 07:01 Shrub Hill - Didcot, is now at Charlbury, 17 late.

And an odd pair of reasons for delays:
The 08:51 was on time to Shrub Hill.

Maybe a travelling Hitachi fitter needed stationary time to fix a problem?

It was a 9 vice 5 IET and so can’t fit within the turnback at Malvern Wells. So it would have to shunt onto the single line…but test train 1Q15 was going to be occupying that section.

Is the base reason for substituting 9car vice 5car, not why it terminated short.

Suddenly that makes much more sense - thank you!

Last night (Monday November 27), the 20:52 Paddington - Great Malvern was cancelled after Oxford with RTT reporting this as "due to disorder (VA)". That's the last train this week - subsequent ones are buses.

For today, JourneyCheck is reporting:

This week, as a result of overnight engineering works, the 21:53 is diverting via Stroud (running non-stop from Didcot to Shrub Hill), whie the 22:51 to Worcestershire Parkway is terminating at Oxford.

'Halts' train (17:04 Didcot - Moreton and return) and 21:43 Paddington - Shrub Hill both ran normally yesterday.
Not sure when the 'cancelled' warnings were replaced by 'reinstated' messages on JourneyCheck.

It's not immediately clear how disruptive this is going to be but JourneyCheck is flagging a number of services as "will be delayed at Oxford".

Thanks for the heads up on this one - it was clear when I checked a tad earlier!

Meeting someone off a now cancelled train & trying to postpone.

Hope tomorrow is a clear day!

I think today is best described as "Shall we forget that happened?".

The evening halts train left Didcot about 20 minutes late due to awaiting a train manager on an incoming service. That put it right in front of the following IET (the 16.58 from Paddington).

The IET was allowed to overtake before Oxford, and went first out of Oxford at 1757 (14 late) - I was on that one. The halts train left Oxford at 1810. It then appears to have waited between Oxford and Wolvercot to allow the up IET to come through, and as I write is currently running 74 minutes late according to RTT.

Running the halts train, rather than putting extra stops on the IET, strikes me as an unusual choice but there you go.

To add to the fun, there appears to have been a signalling fault between Wolvercot and Charlbury in the early evening - at least one train was given permission to pass a signal on red, apparently.

That problem is/was the same problem reported up thread - a pilot was on board each service needing to pass at red causing many delays & cancellations from at least midday through to at least 1700. We knew the halts train was going to be delayed when I left Oxford Information point at 1600.

And today is not getting off to a good start.  The stock for the 'halts' train (05:10 Oxford - Shrub Hill) gave up at Moreton "due to a problem with the train (M8)" according to RTT. And

Some reinstatement, this

And there's more!

And more still....

RTT has the reason for the cancellation as "late arrival of the incoming service"

Service?  What service?

I take it the drivers' overtime ban is the proximate cause.  But isn't there a cause-behind-the-cause of not sufficient drivers being employed to cover the service with normal working hours?

1350 and 1523 from Paddington both running about 20 late.

Unsurprisingly, the GWR app is showing the late running 15:23 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street as having no unoccupied seats.

JourneyCheck showing that the two main commuter trains tomorrow are cancelled:

https://tinyurl.com/atdnkxnz

Seriously unimpressed. Mrs F is currently working out what time she has to drive from Charlbury to get to work (in Oxford) on time. No trains between 0611 and 0805 is not a great situation.

The 0805 is going to be entertaining carnage if two IETs’ worth of people are trying to fit into an (already fairly busy) 2-carriage Turbo!

And now some more:

And, from RTT

And, looking in more detail at RTT (at https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:P75690/2023-12-04/detailed#allox_id=0 (https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:P75690/2023-12-04/detailed#allox_id=0)) the 17:34 from Paddington to Hereford set off from Paddington with unit 802106 but at Reading this was swapped for 800305. This left Reading 34 late. It was 36 late at Charlbury but lost time after that, arriving at Shrub Hill 62 late, where it gave up.

And the preceding 05:23 Hereford to Paddington being a five coach short-formation.

I'm supposed to be catching the 06:43 tomorrow. Hopefully, third time lucky this week...

And this evening:

Unfortunately not. That’s three days in a row it’s been cancelled, and tomorrow is a strike day.

Passengers were apparently left on the platform at Hanborough on the 0523 yesterday and there was a tannoy announcement regretting the “unsafe” conditions.

Sorry Richard:

And meanwhile the 0523 seems to have been sitting in Foregate Street platform 1 for 50 minutes and counting, if the live departure boards are to be believed.

GWR on Twitter say the signalling system is up the spout (not exact quote).

Realtime Trains suggesting it's just got to Worcestershire Parkway 74 minutes late. Luckily, the halts train seems to be on time so will be able to pick everyone up...

Adding to the earlier list:

1P02 05:23 Hereford - Paddington : left Shrub Hill 74 late as described above, 67 late into Paddington.

1P18 07:13 Great Malvern - Paddington : RTT reports "This service was cancelled due to late arrival of an inbound service (YI)"
Inbound service is 3G18 04:40 Stoke Gifford - Great Malvern : "This service was cancelled due to a delay not investigated (OU)."

1P24 09:54 Great Malvern - Paddington : "cancelled between Great Malvern and Oxford due to unknown cause (ZW)".

1W13 06:50 Paddington - Great Malvern : cancelled after Oxford "due to unknown cause (ZW)"

Today - Friday 8 December - RTT seems to have lost quite a bit of data.

From RTT:

1P11 0514 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington
"This service was cancelled due to a decision by the train operating company (TR)."

1W13 0650 London Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill
"This service was cancelled between Worcester Shrub Hill and Great Malvern due to late arrival of an inbound service (YI)." [42 late into Shrub Hill]

1W15 0750 London Paddington to Great Malvern left Paddington 33 late. Currently 42 late at Honeybourne.

From JourneyCheck:
RTT reports the 08:51 as having left 30 late. Currently 24 late at Hanborough.

RTT had a major hiccup earlier this morning.
Seems to be returning to normal service now.

RTT:

JourneyCheck:

1W02 turned into the following service at Reading, more or less on time, to Worcester Foregate Street.

The falling-down of the wires continues to cause problems. JourneyCheck has

Meanwhile, RTT reports:

1P66 08:28 Foregate Street - Paddington : started from Shrub Hill 89 late. JourneyCheck has "This is due to train crew being delayed by service disruption".
1P17 08:50 Great Malvern - Paddington : Problems with reversing at Malvern. Departed 57 late and ran to Shrub Hill (+84). Cancelled thereafter "due to severe flooding (X2)".
1P19 09:58 Great Malvern - Paddington : "cancelled due to severe flooding (X2)". JourneyCheck has "This is due to damage to the overhead electric wires earlier today".
1P21 10:50 Great Malvern - Paddington : "cancelled due to late arrival of an inbound service (YI)". Inbound service cancelled throughout. JourneyCheck has "This is due to damage to the overhead electric wires earlier today".

1W13 06:52 Paddington - Great Malvern : "cancelled due to an issue with the train crew (TG)".
1W15 07:52 Paddington - Great Malvern : "cancelled due to the train operator's request (TB)".

And Journey Check reports:

Sunday's shambles is caused by the OHLE falling down between Reading and Paddington.

Again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eXFzqWiCSI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eXFzqWiCSI) may be relevant.

RTT reports:
1P30 0815 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington : terminated at Reading (?)
1P37 0858 Great Malvern to London Paddington : terminated at Reading (?)
1P41 0958 Great Malvern to London Paddington : same

JourneyCheck reports:

Small correction. The OLE didn't fall down. It merely tripped out. Early reports of 'damage' were incorrect.

JourneyCheck:

JourneyCheck reports:
The level crossing seems to be between Evesham and Honeybourne. RTT is reporting that train 1P02, 05:23 Hereford - Paddington, left Evesham on time but was 12 late at Honeybourne. It continued to lose time thereafter - +22 at Reading and +36 at Paddington.

But ... the problem does seem to have cleared by the time of the halts train.

RTT has the cancellation being as "due to an issue with the traincrew"

No mention about the return working being caped

JourneyCheck:

18:00 - Edited to add halts train to JourneyCheck list.

This morning's 06:43 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington service was "cancelled due to late arrival of an inbound service (YI)". The following London bound service, the 07:13 Great Malvern to Paddington train was "cancelled between Great Malvern and Worcester Foregate Street due to late arrival of an inbound service (YI)" and was 34 minutes late by the time it arrived at Oxford. Effectively a delay of almost an an hour and a half for those due to travel on the earlier service.

At present, no mention of 1P40, the 1802 return to Paddington from Foregate Street

JourneyCheck now reporting:

The halts train, 17:23 departure from Oxford, will be a bit busy tonight.

I might be sticking my neck out here but I cringe every time I read   xxxx WILL be cancelled. If the decision is made not run a train it IS cancelled. If there is an overwhelming desire by those who update information to us the word WILL could they not say the train WILL not run.

JourneyCheck is no longer reporting that the 15:23 from Paddington to Foregate Street will be terminated at Oxford.

It is not reporting that this "has been reinstated", which is the usual format.

GWR have a 'nasty' habit of reinstating trains previously notified as cancelled - presumably as they might find crew/stock/etc become available.

So "will" is quite possible.

They've changed their explanation. RTT is reporting

It is an extremely difficult call for them within the limits of being able tp say a train is running or it isn't - whatever wording they use. 

If GWR are 95% they can run a train, I (presume) they'll say nothing about it being cancelled.  If they know that a train won't run barring a 5% miracle, they all say it is cancelled.  But what should they say at a 50% chance - if they simply don't know?   

Really Guys
Whether GWR cannot decide if they are to run a train or not is not the issue here. Once they have decided to go public and the decision has been made  the train is cancelled. I am finding it difficult to understand an argument which supports the use of "will be cancelled" in case they might run it. If circumstances do change and a previously cancelled train can run the standard reinstatement message can be made. Please do not create another situation where railway communications are less than 100% clear

JourneyCheck:

JourneyCheck:

No mention of the 09:52 from Paddington to Hereford.

Add to that list:

It's not turning out to be a good day:

Keep up:

And more:

Well JourneyCheck couldn’t.  It was reinstated, but still showing as cancelled for a l-o-n-g time after!

JourneyCheck:

10:19 from Reading was held for the single line at Evesham and is now 61 late.

The "late running train in front of this one" looks to have been a late arrival at Reading by train 1P20, the 08:15 from Shrub Hill to Reading. This left Shrub Hill 28 late, was held at Norton and at Charlbury, and arrived at Reading 50 late. It left Shrub Hill late becaause the empty stock from Stoke Gifford arrived 34 late.

For 2024 - new topic at http://www.passenger.chat/28354 - please carry on there.  This thread remains open for archive and historical reference back.

The RAIB report into this incident has been published (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/report-012024-train-striking-debris-at-yarnton), and identifies the big gap between the original wing wall and this thin wall in front (added to it at some time) as important. Not only did it hide the load-bearing wall behind it, but it meant that the last repair (pins grouted into the wall in 2013) was ineffective. It also meant that, when this wall bulged, the one behind was bulging even more, and the state of the wall was misassessed.

OK, the big issue in the report is about the wing wall.

But given that there has been much discussion of late about emergency evacuation of trains, there's little mention of what actually happened here.

It's noticeable that the incident happened at 18:35, but that evacuation of the train didn't start until 22:15 and wasn't complete until 23:57. The train was "carrying 365 passengers plus 2 crew" (para 26).  Evacuation was "assisted by Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service" (para 31), who presumably set up lighting and ladders to move the passengers to the rescue train.

I'm assuming that during this time the driver would be mainly concerned with the train.  The conductor must have done a sterling job in keeping everybody calm and well-informed. And on their own - "2 crew" implies no trolley and no First Class host.  Perhaps there were Hanborough passengers on board who said "we're out in the middle of nowhere - let's just stay on this nice safe train".  We're not told when the fire service arrived - but I'd imagine that if they appeared inside the train then that must have been helpful.

And the evacuation took over an hour and a half - worth remembering that.

The RAIB would have only been concerned with this if there had been a safety aspect - but as the train was probably the safest place for stranded passengers, they found nothing to investigate.