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31  Journey by Journey / London to Didcot, Oxford and Banbury / Re: Train hit by car Sandy Lane 18/5/2023 on: May 18, 2023, 10:46:26
That is a very good question and something I did think about.
I have made the assumption (and I should not have done that) that the car should not be on the crossing therefore it is the car's fault and worded the subject to reflect that.

I always think that Car hit by Train makes it sound like the train is at fault when most crossing incidents are the fault of the car driver.

But you are right we do need to be careful with our words and not make assumptions.

32  Journey by Journey / London to Didcot, Oxford and Banbury / Train hit by car Sandy Lane 18/5/2023 on: May 18, 2023, 09:25:31
Services are currently suspended between Oxford and Banbury due to a car hitting a train at Sandy Lane level crossing.
https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/23530328.car-hit-train-level-crossing-kidlington-near-oxford/
33  All across the Great Western territory / The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom / Re: FirstGroup sacked from TransPennine Express Contract on: May 11, 2023, 09:45:23
According to the GBR (Great British Railways) Transition Team it is government policy is to have a privatised railway, despite the failure of the current approach, so presumably they would want to re-let these contracts.

Of course, you have to ask how many companies do we have left that could or would want to take on these contracts, unless of course there is a bribe massive cash incentive.

With a General Election due in the next year or so let’s hope the new government has a different and more realistic approach.
34  Sideshoots - associated subjects / The West - but NOT trains in the West / Re: Local elections, 4th May 2023 on: May 05, 2023, 12:09:47
"This decision comes after experiencing persistent bullying from some councillors and staff members of the Town Council, causing me significant distress." And I know how she feels - I have experienced much the same, but there's a lack of duty-of-care from anyone (council staff or other councillors) once one has gone independent.

I wonder if this is a common problem as the independents on Didcot Town Council said the same and are no longer standing.


Edit to clarify quoting - grahame
35  Journey by Journey / London to Didcot, Oxford and Banbury / Re: Black Bridge, Nuneham: southern abutment failure on: May 02, 2023, 10:59:51
I see that the Oxford - Radley shuttle service ran today. The schedule is for 3 services in the morning peak and 3 in the evening peak.

The Didcot - Culham service didnt run this morning, although this afternoon's services have not yet been cancelled.

Services do not appear to be scheduled to stop at Appleford, and the timings are very slack 19 minutes to get to Culham and 14 on the return, I would assume if they do eventually run there would be a lot of early arrivals.
36  Journey by Journey / London to Didcot, Oxford and Banbury / Re: Black Bridge, Nuneham: southern abutment failure on: April 04, 2023, 13:27:28
NR» (Network Rail - home page) saying shuttle services are to be run Oxford -  Radley and Didcot - Culham.

Shame they can't run up to the bridge, where we can walk across and get on another train on the other side; that would be quicker than taking the bus  Cheesy

And yes I understand all the issues about why that wouldn't happen.

According to Google would take 26 minutes to cycle between those two stations!
37  Journey by Journey / London to Didcot, Oxford and Banbury / Re: Black Bridge, Nuneham: southern abutment failure on: April 03, 2023, 16:10:48
Local press now suggesting that it will be closed for at least 3 weeks for temporary repairs.
38  Journey by Journey / London to Didcot, Oxford and Banbury / Re: Black Bridge, Nuneham: southern abutment failure on: April 03, 2023, 14:16:34
Could be weeks apparently!

Oops!

Advice on Cross Country from National Rail:

Quote
Urgent repairs to a bridge between Reading and Oxford means all lines are blocked. As a result of this, trains running between these stations may be cancelled, delayed or suspended. 
Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Customer Advice:

CrossCountry
To assist with your journey, you may use your ticket on the following at no extra cost:
Avanti West Coast via any reasonable route
Chiltern Railways via any reasonable route
London Underground via any reasonable route
London Northwestern Railway via any reasonable route
South Western Railway between Bournemouth and London Waterloo

Interesting that no cross-availability on GWR (Great Western Railway) ... So if I have a Bounemouth to Oxford advanced ticket (are there such things?  I must travel Bournemouth to Southampton on an XC (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) train, but I can then use SWR» (South Western Railway - about) to Waterloo, tube to Marylebone, and Chiltern to Oxford.   Not allowed to use XC from Bournemouth as far as they are running and the GWR to Didcot and bus to Oxford.

Could that be because they are hoping to run Bournemouth to Didcot, like they were on Sunday? Although looks like only Bournemouth to Reading at the moment.

Even if they didn't run to Didcot, I would be tempted to catch XC to Reading then bus to Oxford, especially as the extra cost would only be £2. Going via London would be mad.

39  Journey by Journey / London to Didcot, Oxford and Banbury / Re: Black Bridge, Nuneham: southern abutment failure on: April 03, 2023, 11:47:50
Seems like I spoke to soon as the bridge at Culham has now been closed.

GWR (Great Western Railway) are saying for rest of the day (3rd April), but I would like to know if that is realistic and is it really going to be longer?

Passengers from Didcot to Oxford asked to catch local buses.
40  Journey by Journey / London to Didcot, Oxford and Banbury / Black Bridge, Nuneham: southern abutment failure on: March 30, 2023, 13:11:01
This thread has been extracted and regrouped from several others including
http://www.passenger.chat/14689 - Infrastructure problems in Thames Valley causing disruption elsewhere - ongoing, since Oct 2014
once the severity of the isse became apparent


The bridge over the Thames between Culham and Radley now appears to have a temporary speed limit of 5mph. This is adding about 4 minutes to each journey.

Hopefully that won't be lowered to 0mph before the work has finished. Smiley

Edit to add introductory paragraph - grahame
41  Journey by Journey / London to the Cotswolds / Re: 2023 Delays and Cancellations on: March 22, 2023, 11:19:56
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 (Great Western Railway):

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.
42  Journey by Journey / London to the Cotswolds / Re: 2023 Delays and Cancellations on: March 09, 2023, 16:46:03
A bit more information on plans to sort out the bridge from a Network Rail Asset Engineer:

Quote
The proposed intervention is to use a geopolymer in the bank and the area behind the abutment to stabilise the transition between the two assets. There are some elements that I need to detail through with the proposed geopolymer, organic content of the embankment and EA approvals etc, but I am working to complete the works in late March into April.

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.
43  Journey by Journey / London to Didcot, Oxford and Banbury / Re: Oxford Station - improvements, incidents and events (merged topic) on: March 09, 2023, 16:39:45
Yep, due to be demolished any day now

I notice today that they have started to demolish the Youth Hostel.
44  All across the Great Western territory / The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom / Re: HS2 - Government proposals, alternative routes and general discussion on: March 09, 2023, 12:30:46
So it isn't going to save any money.
So delaying it will also cause benefits and the value of the assets to be realised later; so again adding to the overall 'cost' of the project.

But apparently we need to do this so that the PM and Chancellor can hit their target of seeing debt fall as a % of GDP.

We don't live in a serious country any more; see also the half-completed Didcot-Oxford electrification, etc.  Smiley
45  All across the Great Western territory / The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom / Re: HS2 - Government proposals, alternative routes and general discussion on: March 09, 2023, 11:31:57
HS2 (The next High Speed line(s)) to be delayed....

BBC» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) News - HS2 construction to be delayed to save money
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64901985
Delaying a project never saves money, unless we enter a period of deflation.
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