North Cotswold Line delays and cancellations - 2024

[whole diary]

[a-driver]

I do not trust hitachi and strongly suspect that they have better lawyers than do GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)/the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) government and that  they have found some way to evade their liabilities.
IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion), the government should take a very much firmer line with hitachi over this failed project.

A botched electrification programme and a resulting change in train specification and intended use would almost certainly be the card played by Hitachi.

[Worcester_Passenger]

05:23 Hereford to London Paddington due 08:24 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Last Updated:26/02/2024 02:00

The journey out to Hereford last night did not go well. 10 late on departure from Paddington, +26 at Didcot, missed the path at Wolvercote, +41 at Charlbury and into Hereford +52.

[Witham Bobby]

[snipped]

It also has to be said that points failures are relatively rare around here. The signal boxes at Shrub Hill and at Henwick operate their points with (old-fashioned) levers that have mechanical connections to the points.

The points close to the signalboxes are worked by direct mechanical rodding connected to the lever in the signal frame.  Anything further than 200 yards (I think.  It used to be 350 yards) from the 'box is worked by a motor of some kind.   In these cases, the signal lever in the leverframe acts more like a switch than a mechanical lever.  Many of the points in the area of the Worcester signalboxes are motor worked

[Witham Bobby]

RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) is reporting that 1P02 0523 Hereford to Paddington was cancelled throughout because "of a power supply failure".

Would that be an OHLE failure, or a third-rail failure, I wonder?

[IndustryInsider]

RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) uses generic internal industry codes which aren’t necessarily ‘customer friendly’ or indeed always make sense.

[stuving]

RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) is reporting that 1P02 0523 Hereford to Paddington was cancelled throughout because "of a power supply failure".

Would that be an OHLE failure, or a third-rail failure, I wonder?

You can look up the two-letter codes RTT pass on: they are in the DAPR. XK is "Failure due to External power supply". (They are not all as understandable as that one!)

[Witham Bobby]

Further cancellations today, according to RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website):

1W27 1350 Paddington to Great Malvern.  Cancelled throughout because of lineside vegetation

1W29 1453 Paddington to Foregate St.  Terminated at Oxford and cancelled thereafter because of an issue with the train crew

1P38 1632 Great Malvern to Paddington cancelled throughout because of late arrival of inbound service (must mean non-arrival, in fact)

1P39 1738 Foregate St to Paddington cancelled between Worcester and Oxford, and due to start from there

[Worcester_Passenger]

RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) reports that
11:52 Paddington - Hereford was delayed "due to lineside vegetation (JP)".
Left Paddington on time but 25 late by Reading. Held at Wolvercote (+38) and at Evesham (+54). Arrived Great Malvern 70 late and cancelled thereafter.
Return journey, 1P05 15:18 Hereford to London Paddington, started from Great Malvern (though JourneyCheck has "being delayed at Hereford but is expected to be on time from Great Malvern".

1W27 13:50 London Paddington to Great Malvern cancelled throughout for same reason.

JourneyCheck reports:

14:53 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street due 17:04 has been cancelled.
This is due to a landslip.
Last Updated:26/02/2024 15:52


16:32 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 19:29 will be cancelled.
This is due to a landslip.
Last Updated:26/02/2024 14:19

17:26 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington due 19:52 will be started from Oxford.
This is due to a landslip.
Will be formed of 9 coaches instead of 5.
Last Updated:26/02/2024 15:52

15:23 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street due 17:47 will be started from Reading.
This is due to a landslip.
Will be formed of 9 coaches instead of 5.
Last Updated:26/02/2024 14:23

16:58 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 19:26 will be started from Reading.
This is due to a landslip.
Last Updated:26/02/2024 15:57

[Worcester_Passenger]

06:43 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington due 08:43 will be cancelled.
This is due to a landslip.
Last Updated:27/02/2024 02:04

And the very special

07:00 Worcester Shrub Hill to Didcot Parkway due 08:45 will no longer call at Honeybourne.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Last Updated:27/02/2024 06:54

[Worcester_Passenger]

For the record, yesterday's meltdown:

1W02 11:52 Paddington - Hereford : arrived Great Malvern 70 late and cancelled thereafter.
1W25 12:51 Paddington - Foregate Street : departed 14 late, arrived Shrub Hill 16 late and terminated there.
1W27 13:50 London Paddington to Great Malvern : cancelled throughout.
1W29 14:53 London Paddington to Foregate Street : cancelled between Oxford and Worcester Foregate Street "due to an issue with the train crew (TH)".
1W30 15:23 Paddington - Foregate St : Started from Reading 13 late. On time into Foregate Street.
1W31 15:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern : left 7 late. +31 at Reading. +37 at Oxford. Passed Norton +33, but took 25 minutes from there to Shrub Hill (+53). Cancelled after Foregate Street.
2E14 17:04 Didcot - Moreton : Sat at Oxford for 20 minutes. Arrived Moreton +24.
1W33 16:58 London Paddington to Great Malvern : cancelled throughout.
1W03 17:34 London Paddington to Hereford : cancelled throughout.
1W34 17:57 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street : cancelled throughout.
1W36 18:57 London Paddington to Great Malvern : left +2, +9 at Reading, sat at Oxford for 12 minutes (+21), arrived Great Malvern +30.
1W05 19:53 London Paddington to Hereford : RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) reports departed +32, sat at Reading for 10 minutes (+44), +46 at Shrub Hill, arrived Hereford +35.
1W41 20:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern : cancelled throughout.
1W43 21:53 London Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill : Left +8, arrived +13.
1W45 22:51 London Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway : ran more-or-less to time.

1P04 13:18 Hereford to Paddington : Cancelled after Reading.
1P34 15:17 Foregate St - Paddington : started from Shrub Hill, arrived Reading +8 and terminated there.
1P05 15:18 Hereford to Paddington : started from Great Malvern, arrived Oxford -1 and terminated there.
1P38 16:32 Great Malvern to London Paddington : cancelled throughout.
1P39 17:26 Foregate St - Paddington : started from Oxford (+11 - "an issue with the train crew"). Held at Didcot avoiding line (+45), sat at Reading for 14, Paddingtom +58.
1P40 18:02 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington : on time to Oxford. Sat at Didcot for 27 (+43), arrived Paddington +41.
1P42 19:05 Great Malvern to London Paddington : started from Foregate St, held at Charlbury (+12), arrived Paddington +18.
1P44 19:45 Great Malvern to London Paddington : cancelled throughout.
1P46 20:56 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington : cancelled throughout.
1P06 22:00 Hereford to Paddington : ran from Oxford to Reading.

[Witham Bobby]

For the record, yesterday's meltdown:

1W02 11:52 Paddington - Hereford : arrived Great Malvern 70 late and cancelled thereafter.
1W25 12:51 Paddington - Foregate Street : departed 14 late, arrived Shrub Hill 16 late and terminated there.
1W27 13:50 London Paddington to Great Malvern : cancelled throughout.
1W29 14:53 London Paddington to Foregate Street : cancelled between Oxford and Worcester Foregate Street "due to an issue with the train crew (TH)".
1W30 15:23 Paddington - Foregate St : Started from Reading 13 late. On time into Foregate Street.
1W31 15:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern : left 7 late. +31 at Reading. +37 at Oxford. Passed Norton +33, but took 25 minutes from there to Shrub Hill (+53). Cancelled after Foregate Street.
2E14 17:04 Didcot - Moreton : Sat at Oxford for 20 minutes. Arrived Moreton +24.
1W33 16:58 London Paddington to Great Malvern : cancelled throughout.
1W03 17:34 London Paddington to Hereford : cancelled throughout.
1W34 17:57 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street : cancelled throughout.
1W36 18:57 London Paddington to Great Malvern : left +2, +9 at Reading, sat at Oxford for 12 minutes (+21), arrived Great Malvern +30.
1W05 19:53 London Paddington to Hereford : RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) reports departed +32, sat at Reading for 10 minutes (+44), +46 at Shrub Hill, arrived Hereford +35.
1W41 20:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern : cancelled throughout.
1W43 21:53 London Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill : Left +8, arrived +13.
1W45 22:51 London Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway : ran more-or-less to time.

1P04 13:18 Hereford to Paddington : Cancelled after Reading.
1P34 15:17 Foregate St - Paddington : started from Shrub Hill, arrived Reading +8 and terminated there.
1P05 15:18 Hereford to Paddington : started from Great Malvern, arrived Oxford -1 and terminated there.
1P38 16:32 Great Malvern to London Paddington : cancelled throughout.
1P39 17:26 Foregate St - Paddington : started from Oxford (+11 - "an issue with the train crew"). Held at Didcot avoiding line (+45), sat at Reading for 14, Paddingtom +58.
1P40 18:02 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington : on time to Oxford. Sat at Didcot for 27 (+43), arrived Paddington +41.
1P42 19:05 Great Malvern to London Paddington : started from Foregate St, held at Charlbury (+12), arrived Paddington +18.
1P44 19:45 Great Malvern to London Paddington : cancelled throughout.
1P46 20:56 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington : cancelled throughout.
1P06 22:00 Hereford to Paddington : ran from Oxford to Reading.

What a way to run a railroad!

From buddliea growing out of masonry, to overflowing drains, to massive vegetation growth on the lineside, it's easy to see that basic maintenance tasks are not being given the attention that they have been, in the past.  Unexciting basics like keeping drains flowing and vegetation cut-back go a long way towards reducing the occurrence of landslips

[IndustryInsider]

The recent trend towards warmer and wetter winters is also a significant reason.

[Witham Bobby]

The recent trend towards warmer and wetter winters is also a significant reason.

Absolutely.  Persistent wet weather cannot help soil stability.

I think this needs to be taken into consideration when assessing the need for maintenance.  If there's more water running or falling onto the railway, the means of shifting the increased volume need to be adequate

[Richard Fairhurst]

15.52 Paddington–Great Malvern cancelled at Didcot today due to a fault on the train.

That will mean seven coaches worth of people trying to squeeze onto the halts service, which is already showing as "Full and Standing" before even leaving Oxford.

[Witham Bobby]

RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) reports that 1P02 0523 Hereford to Paddington was cancelled throughout today "because of a problem on a road"

The return working, 1W01 the 0952 Paddington to Hereford, is cancelled throughout, according to GW^▸ (Great Western) Journeycheck, because of "an obstruction on the track"