Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 21:55 28 Mar 2024
* Bus plunges off South Africa bridge, killing 45
* Easter getaways hit by travel disruption
- Where Baltimore bridge investigation goes now
- How do I renew my UK passport and what is the 10-year rule?
- Family anger at sentence on fatal crash driver, 19
- Easter travel warning as millions set to hit roads
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]
 02/06/24 - Summer Timetable starts
17/08/24 - Bus to Imber
27/09/25 - 200 years of passenger trains

On this day
28th Mar (1988)
Formal end to carrying coffins by BR (link)

Train RunningCancelled
18:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
18:36 London Paddington to Plymouth
19:33 London Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill
19:35 Exeter St Davids to London Paddington
20:29 Gatwick Airport to Reading
20:54 Reading to Gatwick Airport
20:56 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington
21:30 Shalford to Reading
21:53 Newbury to Bedwyn
22:25 Bedwyn to Newbury
22:30 Gatwick Airport to Reading
22:47 Newbury to Bedwyn
Short Run
17:03 London Paddington to Penzance
17:36 London Paddington to Plymouth
18:03 London Paddington to Penzance
19:04 Paignton to London Paddington
20:03 London Paddington to Plymouth
20:42 Bedwyn to London Paddington
21:04 London Paddington to Plymouth
21:20 Bristol Temple Meads to Severn Beach
22:10 Severn Beach to Bristol Temple Meads
23:04 Reading to Bedwyn
23:17 Bedwyn to Reading
Delayed
Additional 17:26 Castle Cary to Penzance
19:04 London Paddington to Plymouth
21:30 Gatwick Airport to Reading
23:45 London Paddington to Penzance
PollsOpen and recent polls
Closed 2024-03-25 Easter Escape - to where?
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple MeadsBath SpaChippenhamSwindonDidcot ParkwayReadingLondon PaddingtonMelksham
Exeter St DavidsTauntonWestburyTrowbridgeBristol ParkwayCardiff CentralOxfordCheltenham SpaBirmingham New Street
March 28, 2024, 21:58:49 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[104] West Wiltshire Bus Changes April 2024
[103] would you like your own LIVE train station departure board?
[78] Infrastructure problems in Thames Valley causing disruption el...
[56] If not HS2 to Manchester, how will traffic be carried?
[41] Return of the BRUTE?
[25] Reversing Beeching - bring heritage and freight lines into the...
 
News: the Great Western Coffee Shop ... keeping you up to date with travel around the South West
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: 1 [2] 3 4
  Print  
Author Topic: Oxford Area Resignalling 2018  (Read 20951 times)
stuving
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 7156


View Profile
« Reply #15 on: July 09, 2018, 12:24:14 »

And the biggest pain in the !!!! to engineers today is the whole tendering and contractual process that is in place now that would have been much simpler and quicker in the 1930's

Yes - the public sector seems to spend half their budget on ensuring that they get good value for money...

But the same trend towards bigger documents, more planning (except for what actually goes wrong), and more cost in the contracts department has happened within the private sector. In some cases the company's structure and methods were set up for subcontracts within public contracts, but the impression I got was that this was seen as a more professional way of doing things.
Logged
SandTEngineer
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 3485


View Profile
« Reply #16 on: July 09, 2018, 13:32:46 »

Well then, back to the topic title Roll Eyes   Stage 1 seems to have been successfully commissioned this morning (09 July 2018).
Logged
martyjon
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1941


View Profile
« Reply #17 on: July 09, 2018, 14:07:34 »

Well then, back to the topic title Roll Eyes   Stage 1 seems to have been successfully commissioned this morning (09 July 2018).


.... till the "faults with the signalling system" start to occur when normal traffic resumes ....
Logged
SandTEngineer
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 3485


View Profile
« Reply #18 on: July 12, 2018, 19:46:56 »

A small update.  Things seem to be progressing to plan with just a couple of minor signalling design modifications so far.  Out of interest there is a track map showing the non-signalling changes at the top of the drawing here: https://www.oxford.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/1839/east_west_rail_b90505b-drg-pwy3003.pdf
« Last Edit: July 12, 2018, 21:54:49 by SandTEngineer » Logged
SandTEngineer
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 3485


View Profile
« Reply #19 on: July 16, 2018, 09:24:06 »

Stage 2 commissioned to plan today (16 July 2018).  Trains running to/from London Paddington to Oxford and Cross Country to/from South only, using Platform No.4 at Oxford.  All other services still bus substitution.
« Last Edit: July 16, 2018, 10:34:36 by SandTEngineer » Logged
ray951
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 461


View Profile
« Reply #20 on: July 16, 2018, 10:54:17 »

Does the stage 2 cover all the reversible signalling to Didcot?

Given that we are told that it takes a long time for drivers to learn routes how are they trained with the new signalling (and there is lots of it) given that the first trains only ran today and were service trains?


Logged
SandTEngineer
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 3485


View Profile
« Reply #21 on: July 16, 2018, 11:14:31 »

The train crew have a 78 page briefing document which fully describes the new signalling.  Then its down to actual familiarisation on site once its commissioned.

As I understand it, the reversible signalling is not commissioned until Stage 3.
Logged
IndustryInsider
Data Manager
Hero Member
******
Posts: 10095


View Profile
« Reply #22 on: July 16, 2018, 12:02:34 »

The train crew have a 78 page briefing document which fully describes the new signalling.  Then its down to actual familiarisation on site once its commissioned.

As I understand it, the reversible signalling is not commissioned until Stage 3.

Yes, that's right.  All GWR (Great Western Railway) drivers have (or will have) a briefing day to learn the many changes to signals and routes, and other TOC (Train Operating Company)'s/FOC (Freight Operating Company)'s will have undertaken a similar approach.

I believe that the trains are using the new reversible signalling between Oxford's platform and Hinksey South Junction, but otherwise the full commissioning of all routes will be after next weekend.
Logged

To view my GWML (Great Western Main Line) Electrification cab video 'before and after' video comparison, as well as other videos of the new layout at Reading and 'before and after' comparisons of the Cotswold Line Redoubling scheme, see: http://www.dailymotion.com/user/IndustryInsider/
ray951
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 461


View Profile
« Reply #23 on: July 16, 2018, 14:51:27 »

Stage 2 commissioned to plan today (16 July 2018).  Trains running to/from London Paddington to Oxford and Cross Country to/from South only, using Platform No.4 at Oxford.  All other services still bus substitution.
I commented earlier that I didn't understand why the Paddington to Oxford services couldn't stop at Didcot Parkway and I am even more confused now because it appears that there are 3 services each way that do stop at Didcot that is the 0527, 0616 and 0709 from Didcot and the 0540, 0631, 0724 from Oxford.
 
So does anyone know why they are making us catch us a bus when it seems to be perfectly possible to run a train service?
Logged
SandTEngineer
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 3485


View Profile
« Reply #24 on: July 16, 2018, 15:15:16 »

I believe that the trains are using the new reversible signalling between Oxford's platform and Hinksey South Junction, but otherwise the full commissioning of all routes will be after next weekend.
Correct.  But I took the question to mean the reversible signalling to Didcot!  Between Hinksey South Junction and Oxford Platform No.4 trains are using the fully reversible signalled Down Oxford Main or Down Oxford Relief.
Logged
SandTEngineer
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 3485


View Profile
« Reply #25 on: July 20, 2018, 07:21:08 »

Just a quick update (Friday 20/07/2018).  The resignalling seems to be progressing to plan.  Couple of minor non-critical signalling power supply snags and a problem with the Ascott-Under-Wychwood (Charlbury) fringe being sorted, but at the moment all looks reasonably OK for early Monday morning commissioning.
Logged
IndustryInsider
Data Manager
Hero Member
******
Posts: 10095


View Profile
« Reply #26 on: July 20, 2018, 10:50:50 »

From my observations, the replacement bus services, whilst not ideal because they're buses of course and much slower, seem to have been very well organised again.  Plenty of staff at Oxford and Didcot, free water, shelter (from the sun, rather than rain this time!) at Oxford in the car park.

For me this once again demonstrates how good GWR (Great Western Railway) are a running such planned disruptions and throws into sharp focus how bad they are at organising the more difficult unplanned ones!

I commented earlier that I didn't understand why the Paddington to Oxford services couldn't stop at Didcot Parkway and I am even more confused now because it appears that there are 3 services each way that do stop at Didcot that is the 0527, 0616 and 0709 from Didcot and the 0540, 0631, 0724 from Oxford.
 
So does anyone know why they are making us catch us a bus when it seems to be perfectly possible to run a train service?

I can only assume it's a lack of platform access at Didcot, given the extra services that are terminating and starting back from there?  I have to say though that it doesn't look like it would have been impossible to have stopped the trains there during week 2 to provide an hourly train service.
Logged

To view my GWML (Great Western Main Line) Electrification cab video 'before and after' video comparison, as well as other videos of the new layout at Reading and 'before and after' comparisons of the Cotswold Line Redoubling scheme, see: http://www.dailymotion.com/user/IndustryInsider/
MVR S&T
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 438


View Profile
« Reply #27 on: July 23, 2018, 01:14:34 »

Oxford area now on Open Train Times map, thers a LOT more capacity there!

https://www.opentraintimes.com/maps/signalling/oxford#T_OXFD

Logged
martyjon
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1941


View Profile
« Reply #28 on: July 23, 2018, 06:43:13 »

Oxford area now on Open Train Times map, thers a LOT more capacity there!

https://www.opentraintimes.com/maps/signalling/oxford#T_OXFD

.... till there is a fault with the signalling system ....
Logged
SandTEngineer
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 3485


View Profile
« Reply #29 on: July 23, 2018, 07:06:26 »

Stage 3 commissioned as planned (Monday 23 July 2018) and train services running again, now under control of the new signalling.  Haven't heard (yet) of any snags, but most schemes of this size usually have a few items deferred until a suitable time can be found to fix them.

Reminder: The Oxford area is closed again this coming weekend 28/29 July 2018 for some further work.
« Last Edit: July 23, 2018, 07:30:29 by SandTEngineer » Logged
Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: 1 [2] 3 4
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules (email link to report). Forum hosted by Well House Consultants

Jump to top of pageJump to Forum Home Page