Signalling & Services Between Paddington & Reading Not Fit For Purpose

[whole diary]

[CJB666]

Yet again there was disruption this evening 'until the end of service' due to signalling failures. This has been going on for weeks, if not months, if not years.

There is a developing thread at uk.railway

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/uk.railway/xZ4VJ0b-woo

I opined on tonight's fiasco:

[q]This obviously affects the Heathrow Express - the most expensive train in Europe, and the Heathrow Connect. I wonder how many intending airline passengers have missed their flights - with all the horrendous consequences of missed connections, missed departing cruise ships, cancelled accommodations, etc., etc.

And I bet that their were no FGW^▸ (First Great Western) / NR^» (Network Rail - home page) / HAL management on the concourse at Paddington. In fact Heathrow Airport Ltd. NEVER responds with visible management at Paddington to such emergencies, despite the fact that their trains - HEX and HConn - also form shuttle services between the Terminals at Heathrow.

Bustitution^▸ (the practice of replacing trains with buses) or cabstitution are NEVER arranged for airline passengers from Paddington. All that tends to happen is that HConn terminate or FGW trains stop at Hayes & Harlngton and passengers are told to catch the 140 bus which invariably requires an Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) card to use.

John McDonnell (Lab) the MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) for Hayes & Harlington also travels on this line. I expect that he is fully aware of the disruptions.

This line, its services, and its crap signalling are not fit for purpose.[/q]

CJB

[JayMac]

I wouldn't say it was an emergency. No life or death involved.

There is also a well developed thread on this forum.

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=14689.885

[NickB]

It is totally crap though.  And by my recollection 2015 has brought more regular problems than previous years.

[ChrisB]

Indeed, and we know why - disturbing seriously old cables buried for decades while piling for electrification causes these cables to fail....

[CJB666]

I wouldn't say it was an emergency. No life or death involved.

There is also a well developed thread on this forum.

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=14689.885

Yes - a well developed thread but FGW^▸ (First Great Western)-centric. No-one mentions the impact on passengers heading for Heathrow when the HEX and HConn are cancelled. And no contingency arrangements are ever made by HAL to get them to the Airport to catch their flights.

At Paddington there might be a few FGW / NR^» (Network Rail - home page) staff to placate passengers delayed by cancellations etc. But there is NEVER any HAL staff to advise as to how to get to the Airport when their trains are cancelled. All of my emails to HAL are ignored. How on earth can they justify a third runway at Heathrow when they can't even run a couple of simple 'out and back' train services for the runways they have.

CJB

[ChrisB]

I wouldn't say it was an emergency. No life or death involved.

There is also a well developed thread on this forum.

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=14689.885

Yes - a well developed thread but FGW^▸ (First Great Western)-centric.

That clue would be in the Board's title, then?

[tom m]

I think that is being rather unfair to HEX as they are as much at the mercy of Network Rail as FGW^▸ (First Great Western) are. Other than take on the infrastructure themselves what else can they do? Both FGW and HEX are bound by the fragmented rail system we now find ourselves in today.

In my opinion its the whole fragmented rail system that is not fit for purpose.

[ChrisB]

Quite. Agree wholeheartedly.

[chrisr_75]

This obviously affects the Heathrow Express - the most expensive train in Europe, and the Heathrow Connect. I wonder how many intending airline passengers have missed their flights - with all the horrendous consequences of missed connections, missed departing cruise ships, cancelled accommodations, etc., etc.

Bustitution^▸ (the practice of replacing trains with buses) or cabstitution are NEVER arranged for airline passengers from Paddington. All that tends to happen is that HConn terminate or FGW^▸ (First Great Western) trains stop at Hayes & Harlngton and passengers are told to catch the 140 bus which invariably requires an Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) card to use.

John McDonnell (Lab) the MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) for Hayes & Harlington also travels on this line. I expect that he is fully aware of the disruptions.

This line, its services, and its crap signalling are not fit for purpose.[/q]

CJB

There ARE alternatives from central London - Piccadilly line has reached Heathrow since 1977 and takes around 50-60 minutes from central London, depending on destination terminal, and there are a plethora of coach services from Victoria. If sufficient time had been allowed for arriving at the airport as per the airline requirements, then no-one would've missed any flights if they had to take an alternative form of transport from central London, or continued their onward journey by bus from H&H or West Drayton.

[didcotdean]

During the 2014/15 financial year there were 411 signal faults between Oxford and London according to day's BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Oxford report, a 22% increase on the previous year.

[ChrisB]

The kit is getting steadily older, and is now also being disturbed by the piling for electrification. I don't think any of us are surprised by this?

THe comments about prices going up but services not getting better....well, they will, as staff get annual pay rises which have to be paid for & I suspect are a very % of the total cost of running railways

[SandTEngineer]

Hang on a minute 

The signalling equipment between Didcot and Paddington is now some of the most up to date on the network.  The reason it probably keeps failing is that maintence has been cut back so far that its exceeding historic norms that previously kept it going.  This is entirely NRs^» (Network Rail - home page) fault and nothing to do with age  

Some of the mechanical signalling equipment in Cornwall is now over 100 years old and I managed to keep it going when I had the honour of looking after it some years ago    If you maintain it properly it will continue to give sterling service.

[ChrisB]

So Didcot now controls *all* Pad-DID^» (Didcot Parkway - next trains)?

[SandTEngineer]

So Didcot now controls *all* Pad-DID^» (Didcot Parkway - next trains)?

Yes. All controlled from Thames Valley Signalling Centre at Didcot (with the Oxford, Swindon and Bristol areas to be added within the next year or so).

[bobm]

How much of the equipment has been replaced though?  Where it is controlled from has changed but what about trackside?