Thames Valley infrastructure problems causing disruption elsewhere - 2025

[whole diary]

[TaplowGreen]

First warm day of the year so of course the railway melts down........

Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Reading

Due to a speed restriction because of high track temperatures between London Paddington and Reading fewer trains are able to run.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 17:00 30/04.

[TaplowGreen]

........for future reference, a warm (26°) sunny Spring day now apparently constitutes "severe weather" for the purposes of the railway.

Customers on platform/concourse utterly incredulous (especially those from genuinely hot countries struggling to get to Heathrow) when the announcement was made.

Kudos to rail staff who were advising people of this dramatic meteorological phenomenon and managed to keep a straight face.

[TaplowGreen]

Cancellations to services between Newbury and Reading

Due to a points failure between Newbury and Reading trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines.

Train services running to and from these stations will be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 10:00 01/05.

Customer Advice
Due to an Axle Counter Failure near Thatcham Station, the line towards Reading is delayed. Trains maybe cancelled, altered or delayed as a result.

[TaplowGreen]

Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Reading

Due to a broken rail between London Paddington and Reading some lines are blocked.

Train services running to and from these stations will be cancelled or delayed by up to 60 minutes. Disruption is expected until 09:30 09/05.

Customer Advice
Due to a broken rail at Slough services passing through this area will be delayed, altered or cancelled.

[TaplowGreen]

Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Reading

Due to a broken rail between London Paddington and Reading some lines are blocked.

Train services running to and from these stations will be cancelled or delayed by up to 60 minutes. Disruption is expected until 09:30 09/05.

Customer Advice
Due to a broken rail at Slough services passing through this area will be delayed, altered or cancelled.

And now........"Disruption is expected until the end of the day"

[UstiImmigrunt]

Correct, no staff available during the day to replace the rail. There is tonight but it means cancelling the booked possession on the relief lines.

I've seen a picture of the broken rail and it is a bad break with the pandorol clip detached from the hook and a few inches away from the rail.

[NickB]

Is the absence of crew that are able to make the repair during daylight hours a new thing or a recent (past 5yrs) thing?
From a non-expert/passenger perspective it seems remiss not to be able to fix problems for 12+ hours after they occur, but is the logic that the disruption to fix during daylight hours is => than managing the closed line for a day?

[TaplowGreen]

Is the absence of crew that are able to make the repair during daylight hours a new thing or a recent (past 5yrs) thing?
From a non-expert/passenger perspective it seems remiss not to be able to fix problems for 12+ hours after they occur, but is the logic that the disruption to fix during daylight hours is => than managing the closed line for a day?

Very good question, certainly the habit of routinely forecasting disruption "until the end of the day" seems quite a recent development.

I too do find the idea that there is no-one available from Network Rail to react to this type of incident for 12 hours incredible, especially given the significance, and state of the infrastructure in the Paddington-Reading area - these are hardly isolated incidents.

[grahame]

Is the absence of crew that are able to make the repair during daylight hours a new thing or a recent (past 5yrs) thing?
From a non-expert/passenger perspective it seems remiss not to be able to fix problems for 12+ hours after they occur, but is the logic that the disruption to fix during daylight hours is => than managing the closed line for a day?

Very good question, certainly the habit of routinely forecasting disruption "until the end of the day" seems quite a recent development.

I too do find the idea that there is no-one available from Network Rail to react to this type of incident for 12 hours incredible, especially given the significance, and state of the infrastructure in the Paddington-Reading area - these are hardly isolated incidents.

I suspect that the issue may relate to access for staff to a live railway.   In older day and you still see it in other counties, trains run on adjacent lines while work is ongoing but in order to reduce / eliminate as far as possible casualties, it's very rare if at all these days.  So that means as nighttime stoppage ...

I feel for staff having to put a time on disruption and how long it will go on.  The honest thing to say is "we don't know" but that is not helpful without an estimate, and systems are not set up to say "probably" and "possibly" and "if we're lucky", and I'm not sure how such terms and information would be taken by members of the public who are less analytic than readers here.

[TaplowGreen]

Is the absence of crew that are able to make the repair during daylight hours a new thing or a recent (past 5yrs) thing?
From a non-expert/passenger perspective it seems remiss not to be able to fix problems for 12+ hours after they occur, but is the logic that the disruption to fix during daylight hours is => than managing the closed line for a day?

Very good question, certainly the habit of routinely forecasting disruption "until the end of the day" seems quite a recent development.

I too do find the idea that there is no-one available from Network Rail to react to this type of incident for 12 hours incredible, especially given the significance, and state of the infrastructure in the Paddington-Reading area - these are hardly isolated incidents.

I feel for staff having to put a time on disruption and how long it will go on. 

I tend to reserve my feelings for the customers- those who have paid for a service and end up being massively inconvenienced, time & time again on this route.

Those "having to put a time on disruption" at least have the comfort of being paid to do so.

[Electric train]

Is the absence of crew that are able to make the repair during daylight hours a new thing or a recent (past 5yrs) thing?
From a non-expert/passenger perspective it seems remiss not to be able to fix problems for 12+ hours after they occur, but is the logic that the disruption to fix during daylight hours is => than managing the closed line for a day?

Very good question, certainly the habit of routinely forecasting disruption "until the end of the day" seems quite a recent development.

I too do find the idea that there is no-one available from Network Rail to react to this type of incident for 12 hours incredible, especially given the significance, and state of the infrastructure in the Paddington-Reading area - these are hardly isolated incidents.

I suspect that the issue may relate to access for staff to a live railway.   In older day and you still see it in other counties, trains run on adjacent lines while work is ongoing but in order to reduce / eliminate as far as possible casualties, it's very rare if at all these days.  So that means as nighttime stoppage ...

I feel for staff having to put a time on disruption and how long it will go on.  The honest thing to say is "we don't know" but that is not helpful without an estimate, and systems are not set up to say "probably" and "possibly" and "if we're lucky", and I'm not sure how such terms and information would be taken by members of the public who are less analytic than readers here.

There is are a number of reasons why the repair cannot be undertaken in the day.
NR^» (Network Rail - home page) has geared up it workforce to carryout maintenance on track to nights, for a number of reasons first is workforce safety, the ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road, formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) has made it quite clear to NR that working on a !live" railway is basically no longer permitted without very stringent control measures, second is performance maintenance during the day would impact on service performance.
On and Off tracking the OTM's (on track machines) to move the equipment and materials to site during normal train running is high risk, also the OTM's may be in the wrong place and need transporting by road.   

If a temporary repair could have been made then it would have with reduced speed.

The question that I am sure the Route and TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) will be asking is why yet another "catastrophic" broken rail on the Western ML

[Trowres]

ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road, formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about)» has made it quite clear to NR^» (Network Rail - home page) that working on a !live" railway is basically no longer permitted without very stringent control measures

Would it be a good idea if the Office of Rail and Road also had responsibility for regulation of road safety? It might, for example, encourage ORR to develop policies that minimise overall casualties, instead of deterring people from using rail and pushing them onto a more dangerous mode of transport.

[NickB]

(Caution: this is a joke)

Might be interesting to see how that works out. Perhaps everytime a repair is necessary on a motorway we can shut it completely until it’s fixed.
Customers/drivers can just find another way home, like taking the M40 and M5 rather than the M4.

[grahame]

(Caution: this is a joke)

Might be interesting to see how that works out. Perhaps everytime a repair is necessary on a motorway we can shut it completely until it’s fixed.
Customers/drivers can just find another way home, like taking the M40 and M5 rather than the M4.

Many a true word written or asked in jest - "reductio ad absurdum".  At times it feels like the spirit of thoughtful comedy.  And that is - emphaticlally - not - a joke.

[Electric train]

ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road, formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about)» has made it quite clear to NR^» (Network Rail - home page) that working on a !live" railway is basically no longer permitted without very stringent control measures

Would it be a good idea if the Office of Rail and Road also had responsibility for regulation of road safety? It might, for example, encourage ORR to develop policies that minimise overall casualties, instead of deterring people from using rail and pushing them onto a more dangerous mode of transport.

The ORR regulate health and safety (eg 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act for workforce safety) for the entire mainline rail network in Britain, as well as London Underground, light rail, trams, and the heritage sector, were as for highways this duty lies with the H&S^▸ (Health and Safety) Executive