Thames Valley infrastructure problems causing disruption elsewhere - 2015

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Stop / start in from Burnham at the moment - "congestion caused by signalling issues at Ealing Broadway" and we'll be "slightly delayed" into Paddington.   

No great shakes (could be much worse) but another interesting morning ... with congestion into Swindon and several stops inbound from Rushey Platt - due the the 05:17 Gloucester to Southampton hitting an "abandoned" bicycle between Kemble and Swindon and then blocking the bay; better that than hitting a person ... and reminds us just how the waves of one incident spread so far and wide.

[Jason]

Stop / start in from Burnham at the moment - "congestion caused by signalling issues at Ealing Broadway" and we'll be "slightly delayed" into Paddington.   

I've been getting texts all morning about various problems, the latest as of 10am is
"Due to signalling problems between Ealing Broadway and London Paddington trains have to run at reduced speed on the London bound fast line.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 45 mins or revised. "

...due the the 05:17 Gloucester to Southampton hitting an "abandoned" bicycle between Kemble and Swindon and then blocking the bay;

Ah thanks for the information. That would explain why my normal hop-on at RDG^▸ (Rail Delivery Group, or Reading station, depending on context) was so AWOL^▸ (Absent WithOut Leave)
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/P00898/2015/06/24/advanced

[grahame]

Stop / start in from Burnham at the moment - "congestion caused by signalling issues at Ealing Broadway" and we'll be "slightly delayed" into Paddington.   

I've been getting texts all morning about various problems, the latest as of 10am is
"Due to signalling problems between Ealing Broadway and London Paddington trains have to run at reduced speed on the London bound fast line.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 45 mins or revised. "

Arrived 32 late in the end ... everyone standing at the door waiting to get off and a lady at the back loudly saying "excuse me please - I need to get off here" 

[TaplowGreen]

Cancellations to services between Ealing Broadway and London Paddington.

Due to signalling problems between Ealing Broadway and London Paddington trains have to run at reduced speed on the London bound fast line.

Impact:
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 45 mins or revised.

[johoare]

When I was at Maidenhead earlier there was an issue with the 7.41 Bourne End train departing from platform 4 so it had to be taken out of the station and back into platform 5..

Then the 7.45 departure to Paddington got stuck at a red signal just outside Maidenhead for no obvious reason.. The 7.49 stopper was brought into platform 2 and left ahead of the 7.45 even though it stops at more stations (which made the 7.45 really slow) and according to twitter the 7.49 didn't stop at Taplow to the surprise of everyone waiting there..  All a bit of a mess really.. And looks like it got worse later on too

[BBM]

Regarding both last night's and this morning's problems at Ealing, is it not possible to instigate any sort of diversionary service via Greenford East? I remember from when I was commuting in 1989, following the derailment of a Class 50 at West Ealing an emergency service was quickly instigated which involved a diversion via Hanwell/Drayton Green Jcts and Greenford South/East Jcts. However I seem to recall that for some reason (possibly to do with track or signalling) the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) Class 57 specials last October weren't able to use the Hanwell/Drayton Green line as originally planned?

[IndustryInsider]

That's a good question, BBM.  Route knowledge is the main reason as only the Paddington crews sign that route (and even then I'm not sure they all do).  Obviously it would be a much reduced service, possibly three or four trains an hour each way, and often with a fatality by the time you've organised something meaningful the lines have re-opened.  Yesterday's sad events took longer than normal due to the nature of the incident though so it might have been worth it in the end.  As with Foxhall and Reading West diversions they are potential get-you-out-of-the-s*it moves and personally I think it would be better if more crews signed them for just such an example.

[Western Enterprise]

Yesterday's sad events took longer than normal due to the nature of the incident though so it might have been worth it in the end. 

Just as an aside, what time did things start back up last night?
Thanks,
WE

[johoare]

The first train that stopped at Maidenhead left Paddington about 9.. It probably wasn't the first departure though..

[Chris from Nailsea]

I received a text alert from First Great Western at 07:00 this morning, informing me that,

NLS^▸ (Nailsea & Backwell station) to BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains) on your route:
08:13 will have 2 not 8 coaches - a person hit by a train earlier.

Train stock still out of place overnight, apparently. 

[ChrisB]

The High Speed Train (HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units))) involved wouldn't have been back in service...


Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

[Jason]

Another morning of general delays for me, slow into Reading and then slow into Paddington, once again:

"Train services running through these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 10 mins or revised. Disruption is expected until 13:00 25/06.
Customer Advice:
As a result of signalling problems in the Southall area affecting the lines used by express services there will be a reduction in the frequency of express train services between London Paddington and Oxford in both directions. To compensate for this First Great Western ticket holders may travel on CrossCountry train services between Oxford and Reading, changing at Reading into / out of alternative fast services to / from London Paddington.
In addition, there will also be alterations to some train services between London Paddington and Bedwyn, and return, which will require customers to change trains at Reading."

It's not been a good week at all, this on top of the delays due to the fight at Reading West station last night.

[TaplowGreen]

This is neverending.

Presumably the cause of the signals in this area constantly being SNAFU^▸ (Situation Normal: All Fouled Up (I have toned down the F word)) has been identified by now?.....there seems to be a pattern of a week of chaos, followed by a few weeks of only "minor" (relatively speaking) problems, before a return to everything falling over again.......which to me suggests that there are a lot of temporary fixes being applied rather than a permanent solution?

[ChrisB]

Is it correct that the new signals are being attached to the old wiring? And later, the new wiring is being laid & then connected to these signals? Rather than signals & wiring being renewed together?

[BerkshireBugsy]

I was working in Birmingham yesterday (24th June) and came back using XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) from New Street to Reading. I caught the 17:06 XC Bournemouth service from New Street  which was slightly delayed at start and lost a few more minutes due to line congestion and was expecting to catch the 1912 Local Reading to Thatcham BUT the Frome service was delayed so managed to catch that at Reading.

The TM^▸ (Train Manager, or Ticket Machine, or Temple Meads (Bristol), depending on context) on this service apologised for the lack of PA^▸ (Public Address (broadcast loudspeaker announcements) or Passenger Assist (railway staff providing physical assistance to passengers with mobility issues), depending on context) announcements but found it difficult to reach the PA equipment due to unusually heavy passenger numbers (possibly as a result of issues raised by other forum members yesterday)

I arrived in Thatcham at just past 7pm which was about 40 minutes earlier than I would have expected.

So for very selfish reasons the delays which may have caused misery for others worked for me - I should add that on depature from RDG^▸ (Rail Delivery Group, or Reading station, depending on context) the Frome Service was if anything more lightly loaded than I would have expected for that service.