Thames Valley infrastructure problems causing disruption elsewhere - 2016

[whole diary]

[FremlinsMan]

Does anyone know if the Great Western Railway Staff Association (GWRSA^» (Great Western Railway Staff Association - website)) premises were effected? I'm hoping to see a band there tonight!

https://www.facebook.com/didcotredhotblues/

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

[ChrisB]

If you check the link you provided, being Facebook, someone has asked that very Q and got a reply

[TaplowGreen]

On GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) Twitter........."Unless necessary, please do not travel out of Paddington this evening. Tickets will be accepted tomorrow instead"............I guess that's called managing expectations, although "necessary" is pretty subjective in the circumstances. Good luck to all those trying to get home.

[ChrisB]

yep - all these and others cancelled -

1718, 1736, 1800, 1818, 1845, 1847, 1900, 1912.....

[TaplowGreen]

Now advising disruption until 2359, apparently NR^» (Network Rail - home page) have identified the problem & are fixing it.

[IndustryInsider]

Now advising disruption until 2359, apparently NR^» (Network Rail - home page) have identified the problem & are fixing it.

Two replacement fuses have both blown shortly after installation, so sections of the signalling being isolated one at a time to trace where the fault is.

[IndustryInsider]

A lot of disruption today, obviously, but good to see the new layout at Reading once again easing the situation slightly with the additional through platforms and Kennet Bridge Loop being used to turn round those trains which were not able to make it to/from Paddington.

[TaplowGreen]

I wonder how much yesterday's fun and games would cost GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) under the Consumer Rights Act in terms of compensation once it applies, as opposed to their own current arrangements?  More/less/about the same?

(Notwithstanding that at the moment they get back far more in compensation from NR^» (Network Rail - home page) than they ever pay out to customers of course)

[The Tall Controller]

Given that Network Rail will be footing the bill for this one, I'm guessing it wont cost GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) that much at all.

[TaplowGreen]

Given that Network Rail will be footing the bill for this one, I'm guessing it wont cost GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) that much at all.

Yeah thanks I get that, but was more interested in the overall amount that GWR will be paying out to customers initially before they get the cheque from NR^» (Network Rail - home page)?

[IndustryInsider]

Depends how many people claim the compensation they are entitled to for yesterday's delays against the number of people who claim compensation under any new system that applies and how the parameters in which you can claim under any new system are more beneficial to the customer.

[Electric train]

Given that Network Rail will be footing the bill for this one, I'm guessing it wont cost GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) that much at all.

Yeah thanks I get that, but was more interested in the overall amount that GWR will be paying out to customers initially before they get the cheque from NR^» (Network Rail - home page)?

The problem is it becomes a vicious circle, trains are delayed because of old and worn out infrastructure, TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) customer aka passenger claims compensation, said TOC as a customer of NR claims compensations, NR then does not have the money to replace old and worn out infrastructure so this causes delays ............ TOC customer aka ....................

You get the picture.

Compound on top of this that when the infrastructure maintainer requests possessions in what are supposedly white periods ie no trains (white because the paper timetable used to be printed on had no black ink on them at these times) Ops say no or you can only have x amount of time because a TOC or FOC^▸ (Freight Operating Company, or possibly 'free of charge', depending on context) has a train booked to run; and its getting worse because people are now expecting a 24 hour railway, in the mean time some of the infrastructure is patched up to work (safely I will add)   

[onthecushions]

Now advising disruption until 2359, apparently NR^» (Network Rail - home page) have identified the problem & are fixing it.

Two replacement fuses have both blown shortly after installation, so sections of the signalling being isolated one at a time to trace where the fault is.

Still using fuses?

OTC

[Electric train]

Now advising disruption until 2359, apparently NR^» (Network Rail - home page) have identified the problem & are fixing it.

Two replacement fuses have both blown shortly after installation, so sections of the signalling being isolated one at a time to trace where the fault is.

Still using fuses?

OTC

What is wrong with fuses?
 
Fuses BS88 (HRC^▸ (High Rupturing Capacity)) fuses are very reliable, can handle high fault levels, work as well with dc and ac and are not susceptible to nuisance tripping due to mechanical vibration like MCBs^▸ (Miniature Circuit Breaker) also easy to grade in terms of discrimination.

MCB are used in places and the new signalling power supplies (650V) uses VCBs^▸ (Vacuum Circuit Breaker - electrification) and a auto reconfigurable system, however for the lower voltage parts of the system fuse are the most reliable.

The incoming supply from the DNO^▸ (Distribution Network Operator) or internal railway high voltage transformers will be a BS88 (type) fuse.

[TaplowGreen]

Due to engineering works not being finished on time between London Paddington and Slough:

Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 09:30 18/09.