I'd heard a rumor about the Weymouth train on 3rd June as well. Is it too much to hope for a 37?! I have the day off work and think I'll be making a trip to the seaside if this happens.

A real shame the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) can't make it through to Minehead tomorrow. Sadly I won't get to see it at BL as I'm firing the afternoon train from Minehead that leaves after D1010 at 1455. Hope everyone has a good day!

I saw the green set with Sir Kenneth on the London end go through Twyford earlier today - I hoped they were going to have the IC^▸ (Inter City) Swallow power car on the set as well?

Yes a very poor commute this morning. Not helped by some very questionable regulation in the Twyford area and short formed trains. The 0742 HOT-PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) 1P17 was just 2 coaches instead of the normal 4 and was full and standing coming off the branch, so could hardly take any of the many waiting at Twyford. It was held on the branch for no obvious reason and then given the route on to the up main through Ruscombe Junction whilst it stood at platform 4. It spent 4 minutes at the platform during which time a bit of a bottleneck formed on the up main further delaying 1A05, 1A04, and 1P19. It also held up the late running 1P16 on the up relief . I know it is easy to criticize, but it did seem rather odd to observe from the new staff information screen on the platform.

I eventually got the 0826 which crawled into Paddington 26 late and an hour later than I intended. Does anyone know which was the broken down train? There was also talk of signalling problems between Reading-Maidenhead and over running engineering works...

From the document linked to above it says the first timetabled public use of the infrastructure between Maidenhead and Didcot will be in CP6^▸ (Control Period 6 - The five year period between 2019 and 2024)? Surely this isn't the case - I would have thought the IEPs^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) will use the juice for as far as possible once they start running. Also I thought the plan was to start using 387's to Didcot sooner than CP6?

Great news - I look forward to riding on/under it in due course. Another important piece of infrastructure that will make travel in to Paddington more reliable. Just looking at the map it seems odd that there is a signal for down movements from the fly under and a shunt signal as well - what would/could they be used for? I don't see what route the down signal could be used for!

10/10 with a couple of educated guesses (like the direction of the sunset in relation to the land!)

So are there any headline changes? I've had a flick through the timetables (PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)-TWY^▸ (Twyford station) and TWY-HOT) that affect me and most things look pretty similar...

There were problems between Iver and Slough this morning as well. I caught the 0959 down stopper from Hayes and Harlington which used the Down Main until just after Slough and missed the HOT connection at TWY^▸ (Twyford station).

Thanks for the explanation of purpose of the siding - I somehow thought it might be used for turning back services to Slough on the main lines. It does seem like quite a lot of effort to go to for something that will get used so infrequently - electric trains are even more reliable than diesel and they don't break down that often! Will the Henley and Marlow branches be getting these cripple sidings, or is it because the Windsor branch is on the down side of the main line and hence trickier to gain access to during the day because of all the IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.)'s that will be wizzing by.

I^m working later shifts for a few weeks at the moment which is allowing me to commute using the excellent value 7 day Thames Rover (^53.40 with a railcard!). As a result I went on a trip to Windsor just for fun today as I hadn^t traveled the branch for a few years. A few things struck me:

1)   The removal of the loop just outside Slough, which is understandable as it never got used. I was perplexed to see it replaced with a 4 car turnback siding though. I can^t see a use for this and with electrification coming there (hopefully) won^t be many 4 car trains running, so it will become even more useless. Am I missing something obvious?

2)   The 20 minute frequency doesn^t fit in very well with the main line services. Is there scope for line speed increases once the line is electrified and a 15 minute service? It would be tight, but this morning we comfortably did a round trip from Slough in 14 minutes with a 4 minute turnaround at Windsor. The approach and departure from Slough seems very slow, which I hoped might have been improved with the recent track works.

3)   The early shutdown of service compared to other Thames Valley branches. The last down service is at 2320 Monday ^ Friday. Is there any reason a couple of extra shuttles can^t be run? The last down Marlow branch service leaves at 2351 and Henley at 0003.

(I have made a couple of these points before but they are still relevant!)

This has got me scratching my head!

A crossover was installed between Paddington and Royal Oak a few weekends back, but I can't really understand why!

Are they planning to turn back some trains short of Hammersmith, or is it just for resilience?

Think I saw this go through Twyford this afternoon - I don't remember seeing the waggons before either.

I think it was this train: http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/H63775/2016/01/21/advanced

I spoke to Norman the other day and he is now staying on until the end of October (previously a date in early September had been mooted).

The only train I sometimes have to stand in on the way in is the 0643 which is a 180 which runs non-stop to PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains). However if it gets a clear run you only have to stand for just over 20 minutes and it isn't usually sardine can conditions. My favourites are the 0623 and 0653 which always seem to have plenty of seats at Twyford. I'd not feel over confident taking a Brompton with me but I know others do. There are special bike racks at Paddington for season ticket holders - I know several people who keep cheapish bikes there permanently.

So I've travelled the line a few times since the new signalling came in and I have a couple of questions.

Now that the down home at Henley has been replaced by a fixed distance, what is the point of having an up starter at Henley? Would it still allow in theory 2 (or 3!) units to run down to Henley then split forming two departures in a row?

I'm I right in thinking the new arrangement wouldn't allow (which I think used to be possible?) two units to follow each other down the branch and join at Henley.

Not that I've seen either of the above ever happen - the branch is just operated as a long siding, and has been for the 25 years I've been using it!