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

[whole diary]

[IndustryInsider]

That is indeed a big benefit of the IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train)’s.

[Jason]

That is indeed a big benefit of the IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train)’s.

"Intermediate Electric Trains" ?

[Worcester_Passenger]

Surely "Intermittent Electric Trains"?

[broadgage]

........so to recap.....the Infrastructure upon which the railways have spent billions of £ of taxpayers money and is (apparently) the future, can be brought to a screeching halt by.......a carrier bag, a dead pigeon........and/or a "bit of rope"......thank God the IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train) can run on diesel.....🙈

Indeed, and whilst overhead line equipment is by its very nature always somewhat vulnerable to such items, I have a cynical suspicion that there is something about UK^▸ (United Kingdom) electrification equipment or operating procedures that renders it particularly vulnerable.
After all, European railways are largely electrified and don't seem to suffer from these incidents as often as we do.

A bit like the annual leaves on the line fiasco, Overseas railways suffer the odd delay caused by leaves, whilst ours degenerates into chaos.

My now famous crystal ball forecast declining reliability due to electrification. In particular I forecast that ever growing safety rules and procedures would result in large areas of OHLE being isolated for relatively minor problems.

And whilst the new IET can run on diesel, the new suburban units are pure electric. An IET can still be held behind an all electric suburban unit, each time an incident occurs.

[ChrisB]

And if they need access to the OHL^▸ (Over-Head Line) equipment (such as to remove offending objects), that will still delay anything running on diesel too....

[charles_uk]

And as a diversion from the chaos arising from lack of drivers:

Delays to services between London Paddington and Slough

Due to a fault with the signalling system between London Paddington and Slough the line towards Slough is disrupted.

Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed by up to 30 minutes. Disruption is expected until 20:00 11/03.

Last Updated:11/03/2018 17:21

[stuving]

...
After all, European railways are largely electrified and don't seem to suffer from these incidents as often as we do.

A bit like the annual leaves on the line fiasco, Overseas railways suffer the odd delay caused by leaves, whilst ours degenerates into chaos.
...

Once again, I feel that the point has to be made that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. What seems not to happen may be happening after all, it's just that no-one's told you.

With respect to leaves, SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) put out very similar explanations to Network Rail (NR^» (Network Rail - home page)) (including leaflets) for the frequent delays and even cancellations due to leaf fall. For 2015 they published a figure of 1173 hours of delays, which doesn't sound huge but I've no idea what kind of delay attribution process recorded it. It's not hard to find twitter complaints saying things like "France - the country where you're trapped in a train because of dead leaves" as if it's one of their particularities.

SNCF talk about putting repair shops up from two to three shifts to deal with wheel flats, and admit they are behind their neighbours in dealing with the issue. They have been buying more RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) trains, fitting ABS/WSP (not easy as a retro-fit), and trialling things like the adhesion gel used by Network Rail (NR). they claim to have largely solved the problem of "déshuntage" - loss of detection by track circuits - but that was not only due to leaves (the solution being to stop running single-car trains).

On 10th November 2017 they even closed two lines - from Guéret to Montlucon and the branch to Felletin - for over two weeks (as announced) due to leaves. That was subject to "or until we get an RHT train in",  which I suspect happened sooner. Not that either is much of a service anyway: four a day each way to Montlucon, and two to Felletin. But even so, other trains have been stuck for hours on gradients on these minor lines.

I suspect the same is true of OverHead-Line Equipment (OHLE), noting that many other European networks are far more reliant on it than we are.

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronyms

[Thatcham Crossing]

Great fun getting the younger family members (students) back to Exeter from Newbury this evening.

1648 from Newbury cancelled (not enough drivers)
1848 delayed, then cancelled (due signalling problems "between London and Slough"), then revised again to delayed and turned up 50 mins down
(actually surprised that they did manage to find a couple of seats as it was expectedly busy).

When they said, "why don't we just go in the morning", I said "could do", then after a few secs realised there are no trains west (or in any other direction) from Newbury tomorrow.

Just arrived in EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains) 60 down. Long evening for those going all the way to PNZ.

[Jason]

Due to a fault with the signalling system between Reading and Didcot Parkway trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines.
Impact: Train services running through these stations may be delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 17:45 12/03.

[ChrisB]

Lasted all of 10mins, according to emails I received

[PhilWakely]

A slight deviation from the main topic, ...........

I took a trip on HS1^▸ (High Speed line 1 - St Pancras to Channel Tunnel) yesterday, taking a circular trip to Dover Priory - out via HS1 and back meandering around coast on third-rail. I was surprised how simple the HS1 metalwork is compared to the stuff on the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) main line. I know we hear plenty about the wires coming down on the WCML^▸ (West Coast Main Line) and ECML^▸ (East Coast Main Line), but I cannot recollect hearing anything about HS1.

Can somebody with the knowledge explain why the metalwork in GWR land could not be as simple as HS1?

[stuving]

Can somebody with the knowledge explain why the metalwork in GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) land could not be as simple as HS1^▸ (High Speed line 1 - St Pancras to Channel Tunnel)?

Before considering the OverHead-Line Equipment (OHLE) design per se, there is a big difference in what the wires have to do. HS1 is pretty much one track pair, once it gets out of the yard at Dollands Moor. It does have a few junctions and loops, and the stations at the London end are a bit fancier, but at Ashford the trackwork is simpler than a typical GWR station. So most of what you see should only be compared with a bit of plain twin-track GWR main line.

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

[charles_uk]

Recently breaking news so no idea what actual impact will be but:

Alterations to services between London Paddington and Hayes & Harlington

Due to a fault with the signalling system between London Paddington and Hayes & Harlington some lines are closed.

Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 10:45 16/03.

Last Updated:16/03/2018 09:53

and

Cancellations to services between Didcot Parkway and Oxford

Due to a fault with the signalling system between Didcot Parkway and Oxford some lines are disrupted.

Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 minutes. Disruption is expected until 11:00 16/03.

Last Updated:16/03/2018 09:59

[charles_uk]

Delays to services between Reading and Didcot Parkway

Due to a fault with the signalling system between Reading and Didcot Parkway trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines.

Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed. Disruption is expected until 16:15 21/03.

Last Updated:21/03/2018 15:26

Not sure how serious it is or likely to be but the 14:21 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street lost 24 minutes between Pangbourne and Moreton Cutting.

[Jason]

Due to a fault with the signalling system between Slough and London Paddington some lines are blocked.
Impact: Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed. Disruption is expected until 11:00 22/03