Slippery rails and broken down trains this morning:

05:11 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington due 07:30 has been delayed between Honeybourne and Moreton-in-Marsh and is now 20 minutes late.
This is due to slippery rails.

05:47 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street due 08:16 has been cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.

07:10 Moreton-in-Marsh to London Paddington due 08:51 will be started from Oxford.
It will no longer call at Moreton-in-Marsh, Kingham, Charlbury and Hanborough.
This is due to a broken down train earlier today.

08:26 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington due 10:57 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on a train in front of this one.

A number of issues today:

05:47 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street terminated at Oxford (and return 08:26 WOF:PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) started at OXF^» (Oxford - next trains)) due to shortage of train crew.

10:59 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 13:30 will be started from Worcester Shrub Hill.
It will no longer call at Great Malvern, Malvern Link and Worcester Foregate Street.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.

11:22 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 13:57 was terminated at Oxford.
This is due to a fault on this train.

14:25 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 16:59 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.

(and 15:21 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington on Wed 18 Oct also cancelled due to staff shortages).

Insignificant in relation to problems many are suffering as a result of Storm Ophelia but for the record:

05:28 Hereford to Paddington delayed by congestion. Half an hour late into Oxford (and now 48 late at Ealing Broadway, presumably caught up in the latest Paddington signalling issues)

and, inevitably:

07:10 Moreton-in-Marsh to London Paddington due 08:51 will be started from Oxford.
It will no longer call at Moreton-in-Marsh, Kingham, Charlbury and Hanborough.
This is due to congestion.

Just picked up on this...

"Delays to services between Evesham and Moreton-In-Marsh

Due to a fault with barriers at a level crossing between Evesham and Moreton-in-Marsh all lines are blocked.

Train services running through these stations are returning to normal but some services may still be delayed. Disruption is expected until 12:00 13/10.

Last Updated:13/10/2017 11:32"

Not sure how much actual disruption has been caused but the 09:58 Great Malvern to Paddington was started from Worcester Shrub Hill and is currently running about an hour late.

0511 finally got to Oxford 80 minutes late and was to be terminated at Didcot.

and the following 0450 Hereford - Paddington 73 late by the time it got to Oxford.

Only nine working days into October and there has been significant morning disruption on four of those days.

Another scheduled service failing to run on the Cotswold Line:

"20:22 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 23:05 will be terminated at Oxford.
This is due to a shortage of train crew."

A number of morning services 15 minutes or so late into Oxford this morning due to slippery rails, and for second time in four days 15:49 Paddington to Moreton-in-Marsh (and the 17:32 return from Moreton-in-Marsh) cancelled due to a train fault.

Two scheduled services didn't run on the Cotswold Line today:

06:52 Paddington to Great Malvern terminated at Oxford due to shortage of drivers, and return 09:58 Great Malvern to Paddington started from Oxford

I am aware there's a danger this could turn into my own personal GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) rant thread. And I accept failing trains are to be expected from time to time. In isolation these would just be an irritation but in the context of the autumn service on the Cotswold Line, they do begin to form a pattern. Anyway, this afternoon:

13:22 Paddington to Worcester Foregate was terminated at Moreton-in-Marsh due to slippery rails (and return run cancelled in its entirety);

and

14:22 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street due 16:44 will no longer call at Slough.
It has been previously delayed but is now 19 minutes late from Oxford.
Will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 5.
This is due to a fault on this train.

and

15:49 London Paddington to Moreton-in-Marsh due 17:25 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.
(resulting in return run also being cancelled)

"Due to slippery rails at Honeybourne fewer trains are able to run on the line towards Oxford.

Train services running through this station may be revised. Honeybourne will not be served. Disruption is expected until 11:00 06/10."

and the 05:28 Hereford to Paddington diverted via Swindon again

In my post about the Cotswold Line service on 3 October, I said "last autumn's Cotswold Line service was dire and early signs are it could be the same again this year". As has just been posted in a separate thread, today we have the first slippery rails of the season. There's a thread for Thames Valley disruption in the Across the West sub-forum which is a very useful record of problems that occur on a seemingly regular basis. I'm wondering whether there is a case for a similar thread for the Cotswold Line (not that I'm suggesting the line is unique in having more than its fair share of disruption).

Anyway, at the risk of duplicating the previous thread, today's slippery rails took out a big chunk of the morning service:

05:11 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington cancelled;
04:50 Hereford to Paddington left Evesham 71 late and 82 late by Oxford;
05:28 Hereford to Paddington diverted via Swindon;
07:10 Moreton-in-Marsh to Paddington started on time but 15 late at Oxford having been held by late running 05:47 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street;
06:53 Worcester Foregate Street to Didcot arrived at Oxford 39 late.

A patchy morning to say the least on the Cotswold Line:

05:11 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington cancelled;
04:50 Hereford to Paddington started from Worcester Shrub Hill, and 52 late by the time it came off the Cotswold Line at Wolvercote Junction;
05:28 Hereford to Paddington arrived roughly on time at Worcester Shrub Hill before losing time and getting to Wolvercote Junction 45 minutes late;
07:10 Moreton-in-Marsh to Paddington was squeezed in before the 05:28 HFD^» (Hereford - next trains):PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) and only 11 late when it got to Wolvercote Junction;
06:53 Worcester Foregate Street to Didcot started dropping time from Evesham onwards, departing Oxford 50 minutes late;
06:42 Hereford to Paddington started from Oxford.

JourneyCheck seemed to suggest that these delays were in part unrelated, explaining them as caused by over-running engineering works, signalling problems, an earlier broken down train and an incident under investigation, and GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s Twitter team helpfully added "services on the same line can be affected by different incidents".

Last autumn's Cotswold Line service was dire and early signs are it could be the same again this year.

[10:20am edit to add next two services]

08:26 Worcester Foregate Street to Paddington left Worcester on time, 16 late by time it departed Oxford;
10:22 Moreton-in-Marsh to Paddington to be started from Oxford.

In all, three of the first eight up services failed to run along the Cotswold Line today, and three others at least 30 minutes late.

Make that 23:59!

No idea how it'll pan out but...

Cancellations to services between Ealing Broadway and London Paddington

Due to a fault with the signalling system between Ealing Broadway and London Paddington trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines towards London Paddington.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 15 minutes or revised.

Disruption is expected until 17:00 10/08.

Last Updated:10/08/2017 15:48

And once again, it shows the value of this thread.

From a GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) user perspective, it appears the service has deteriorated significantly over the last five-six weeks. Is it just an impression or are there hard facts to prove it? This thread confirms that the service really hasn't been acceptable.