Cotswold Line services autumn 2017

[whole diary]

[Richard Fairhurst]

Service tonight already looking pretty terrible. The last train from Oxford (22.51) is cancelled. Previous train is terminating at Worcester and not going on to Malvern. The late night Worcester-Evesham round trip is cancelled too. All attributed to "a shortage of train drivers".

[Worcester_Passenger]

And today, Sunday December 10, it's the weather:

Cancellations to services between Oxford and Worcester Shrub Hill
Due to severe weather between Oxford and Worcester Shrub Hill all lines are blocked.
Train services running through these stations have been cancelled. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

I can completely understand

09:25 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 12:01
09:25 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 12:01 has been cancelled.
This is due to severe weather preventing train crew getting to work.

But I'm slightly nonplussed by

08:42 London Paddington to Hereford due 11:51
08:42 London Paddington to Hereford due 11:51 will no longer call at Oxford.
It has been previously delayed, is being further delayed between Kingham and Moreton-in-Marsh and is now expected to be 75 minutes late.
This is due to a fault with the signalling system.

This train is showing on RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) as having stopped at Oxford. Ominously, it passed Wolvercote Junction at 10:36 (39 late) but, as of 11:48, had yet to reach Ascott.

It's being followed by an IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) (train 5Z25). This passed Wolvercote at 10:56 and also has yet to reach Ascott.

[Worcester_Passenger]

Later...

08:42 Paddington - Hereford passed Moreton at 13:22, some 176 minutes late.
It has given up at Worcester Shrub Hill after getting there 195 late.

And the IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) passed Moreton at 13:44, some 165 late.

Everything else now cancelled.

[IndustryInsider]

Quite heavy snowfall.  Four inches or so at Oxford and I expect you can add another couple of inches at least the further you head towards Birmingham.  No surprise to see the more rural routes closing.

[Worcester_Passenger]

Today's service has been trying to recover from stock not being in the right place for today's start. The morning's trains towards London were started from Worcester Shrub Hill.

But this one is rather special, and is not obviously weather-related:

09:58 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 12:27
09:58 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 12:27 was started from Worcester Foregate Street.
It will no longer call at Great Malvern, Malvern Link and Slough.
It has been previously delayed, has been further delayed between Worcester Shrub Hill and Evesham and is now 33 minutes late.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.
Will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 5. Service full and standing from Worcester Shrub Hill. Toilet facilities are not available at both ends.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Toilet facilities are not available at both ends.

Oooh, err. 

[charles_uk]

A few bits and pieces this morning:

Generally

Cancellations to services between Worcester Shrub Hill and Oxford

Due to a broken down train between Worcester Shrub Hill and Oxford the line towards Oxford is blocked.
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 09:00 12/12.

and specifically

06:42 Hereford to London Paddington due 09:45 is being delayed at Worcester Shrub Hill.
This is due to a broken down train.

06:53 Worcester Foregate Street to Didcot Parkway due 08:23 was started from Worcester Shrub Hill.
It will no longer call at Worcester Foregate Street.
It is being delayed between Worcester Shrub Hill and Pershore.
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 fault with the signalling system.

08:26 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington due 10:57 will be started from Evesham.
It will no longer call at Worcester Foregate Street, Worcester Shrub Hill and Pershore.
This is due to a broken down train.

10:22 Moreton-in-Marsh to London Paddington due 12:01 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.

It does seem that the services starting/terminating at Moreton-in-Marsh have been especially hard hit over the last couple of days for one reason or another.

[later edit] Realtime Trains suggests that neither the 06:42 Hereford to Paddington nor the 06:53 Worcester Foregate Street to Didcot Parkway services made it onto the Cotswold Line at all.

[Worcester_Passenger]

It looks as if it was the halts train (06:53 Foregate Street - Didcot) that broke down, between Shrub Hill and Norton Junction, so as to block both the Oxford and the Cheltenham lines.

And that resulted in the 06:42 Hereford - Paddington giving up at Shrub Hill.

The next one to London is the 08:26 from Foregate Street, which turned round at Evesham.

The 09:58 from Malvern has been cancelled throughout.

So the first one to run through looks like the 10:59 from Malvern. Which is a 3-car Turbo.

So nothing from Shrub Hill towards London between 06:19 and 11:22. Nothing on JourneyCheck about ticket acceptance via Birmingham. Instead, "road transport is operating to Oxford".

A corresponding set of cancellations and short workings on the Worcester - Cheltenham line.

[charles_uk]

It does seem that the services starting/terminating at Moreton-in-Marsh have been especially hard hit over the last couple of days for one reason or another.

And sure enough:

15:49 London Paddington to Moreton-in-Marsh due 17:22 will be terminated at Oxford.
It will no longer call at Hanborough, Charlbury, Kingham and Moreton-in-Marsh.
This is due to heavy snow over recent days.

[charles_uk]

And repeating myself:

It does seem that the services starting/terminating at Moreton-in-Marsh have been especially hard hit over the last couple of days for one reason or another.

today we have:

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 fault with the signalling system.

10:22 Moreton-in-Marsh to London Paddington due 12:01 will be started from Oxford.
It will no longer call at Moreton-in-Marsh, Kingham, Charlbury and Hanborough.
This is due to severe weather earlier.

The choice of excuses seems almost random.

[Timmer]

Groundhog Day on the North Cotswold Line.

Performance figures for this route when they are released are going to look very bad for various reasons.

[Richard Fairhurst]

And with the Adelantes leaving GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) on Sunday, I fear things are going to get worse before they get better.

[charles_uk]

And with the Adelantes leaving GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) on Sunday, I fear things are going to get worse before they get better.

Possibly needs to be a new thread but that's going to be interesting. Does that mean, for example, the 14:22 PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains):WOF & 15:22 PAD:GMV will become three car turbos and the 16:22 PAD:GMV a two car one in the short-term?

[jmc85]

And we have to assume the 15:49 (HST^▸ (High Speed Train)) will be cancelled as normal (or culled at Oxford!)

I can't wait

[charles_uk]

And we have to assume the 15:49 (HST^▸ (High Speed Train)) will be cancelled as normal (or culled at Oxford!)

I can't wait

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s Twitter team have said "there is nothing to indicate that the 15:49 service won't run as scheduled all the way to Moreton-in-Marsh at present." They also reassured me yesterday evening that this morning's 07:10 MIM:PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) was expected "to run as scheduled."