Infrastructure problems in Thames Valley causing disruption elsewhere - ongoing, since Oct 2014

[whole diary]

[TaplowGreen]

Direct Henley/Bourne End services cancelled for much of today due to anticipated "hot weather".

This will be interesting if it continues into tomorrow with the Henley Regatta starting however I think there will be extra services on that branch anyway to allow for this.

From my recollection during previous Regattas all of the Henley trains are diverted to Twyford and everyone gets booted off to join the dedicated branch line service.  I could be very much mistaken though.

As a side story, during last year's Regatta I was making my way from Paddington to Henley about 6pm and was awaiting the branch line train to arrive in to Twyford.  As the train arrived it was clearly rather busy with the daytime revellers returning to Twyford.  The doors opened and the woman at the front cleaved forwards 90 degrees face first on to the platform.  She didn't even flinch as she fell.

A 90 degree cleavage would make the bravest man flinch.

[rower40]

In previous years, the regatta service runs as a shuttle, but it uses Twyford platform 4.  This is because it is strengthened to 5 (or is it 6) cars, and Twyford platform 5 is only long enough for 4 at most.

The purpose of running the branches as self-contained shuttles in hot weather is to minimise the number of times that points have to be moved.  That's not going to work if the regatta service is too long to fit in Twyford platform 5.

[didcotdean]

The Regatta timetable suggests longer trains only on the Saturday, and by then the temperatures are down somewhat.

There are no through services during the Regatta, so today is kind of a prelude.

[TaplowGreen]

..........why worry about hot weather when we can rely on signal failures?

Cancellations to services between Reading and Slough

Due to signalling problems between Reading and Slough the London bound main line is disrupted.
Impact:
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 15:00 30/06.
Customer Advice:
Passengers at Reading for the following stations Twyford, Maidenhead, Langley, West Drayton, Hayes & Harlington and Southall are advised to circulate via Ealing Broadway.

..........are they seriously advising customers at Reading who want to go to Twyford to travel via Ealing???

[Tim]

Plenty around, you just haven't noticed them

there is plenty around, but clearly not enough.  Just a thought, but why can't rail be delivered from the factory with white paint already on it?  Must be easier and cheaper and safer to install in the factory than out on the track. Seems to be newer track that is more prone to buckling as it may not yet have been tensioned.   

[ChrisB]

Done to highlight specific areas that are going to cause real problems if it even moves by millimetres - such as points, crossovers, etc. Continuous rail is more easily tensioned.

[chrisr_75]

Done to highlight specific areas that are going to cause real problems if it even moves by millimetres - such as points, crossovers, etc. Continuous rail is more easily tensioned.

Continuous Welded Rail also has appropriate expansion joints anyway and is designed to expand and contract freely, within certain environmental constraints of course, so is less of an issue on open track. I believe the main issue is with fixed track, primarily at and in short sections between points and crossovers, which has less space to expand than CWR^▸ (Continuously Welded Rail) and you will see the white paint applied to the sides of the rails at these locations across the 'western region'.

It doesn't appear to be something that has been adopted nationally for some reason and as I recall from a bit of googling when I first noticed the white paint, it is a 'Western' region thing going back many years.

Quite why this appears to be such an issue in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) and not so much in countries on the continent that experience much larger annual temperature ranges is beyond me!

[Andrew1939 from West Oxon]

Long stretches of the Cotswold Line, particularly between Hanborough and Combe have had all trees removed over the past year - at what must have been an enormous cost. I had assumed that this was to reduce the Autumn leaf fall making the tracks slippery. If sunlight makes the rails more prone to buckling in high temperatures it would seem that one risk of problems seems to have been replaced with another as the rails are now in the blazing sun instead of being sheltered from direct sunlight.

[Jason]

This is flagging as a major disruption on the website.

"Due to signalling problems between London Paddington and Reading trains have to run at reduced speed on all lines.
Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed by up to 20 mins. Disruption is expected until 20:00 30/06."

[TonyK]

8 late at BTT today, for all three trains due around the time I was there.

[NickB]

All TV out of Paddington look rather messy at the moment. I'm on the 17.49 to Worcester that hasn't left yet and is now becoming overcrowded as the Maidenhead 18.18 crowd arrive and spy an earlier/better service.

[TaplowGreen]

This is flagging as a major disruption on the website.

"Due to signalling problems between London Paddington and Reading trains have to run at reduced speed on all lines.
Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed by up to 20 mins. Disruption is expected until 20:00 30/06."

So two sets of signal failures today (so far) and heat related disruption too on a very warm day..........tomorrow it will be v v hot, up to 96 degrees if forecasts are to be believed.....meltdown?

[NickB]

Now the brakes on the 17.49 set are broken. 😢

[NickB]

I really can't convey how much I hate rail travel right now. Whether it's the fault of fgw or network rail or Bob the builder I couldn't care less, it's just crap.

[TaplowGreen]

I really can't convey how much I hate rail travel right now. Whether it's the fault of fgw or network rail or Bob the builder I couldn't care less, it's just crap.

Hear hear, sums it up very succinctly!