Thames Valley infrastructure problems causing disruption elsewhere - 2025

[whole diary]

[TaplowGreen]

Ongoing from yesterday.......

Alterations to services between Bourne End and Marlow

Due to a fault with the signalling system between Bourne End and Marlow all lines are blocked.
Train services running to and from these stations will be suspended.

Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

[TaplowGreen]

From National Rail, apparently the problem is at Southall.

Route(s) affected
between London Paddington and Heathrow Terminals / Reading

Description
Lines have now reopened following a safety inspection of the track between London Paddington and Heathrow Terminals / Reading. As normal service resumes, trains may still be cancelled, delayed by up to 10 minutes or revised.

Disruption is expected until 21:15.

[TaplowGreen]

Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Reading

Due to engineering works not being finished on time between London Paddington and Reading trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 07:00 21/05.

Customer Advice
Due to engineering works not being finished on time between London Paddington to Reading, trains will be delayed, altered or cancelled as result. Speed restrictions may apply.

[TaplowGreen]

Cancellations to services between Bourne End and Marlow

Due to a fault with the signalling system between Bourne End and Marlow all lines are blocked.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 06:45 28/05.

[TaplowGreen]

Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Reading

Due to damage to the overhead electric wires between London Paddington and Reading some lines will be blocked.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 13:30 28/05.

[nickswift99]

There was a signal failure yesterday between Reading and Paddington. Journeycheck then reported further delays due to trespassers on the line. Was there an unexpected detraining somewhere?

[a-driver]

Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Reading

Due to damage to the overhead electric wires between London Paddington and Reading some lines will be blocked.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 13:30 28/05.

No damage confirmed. A trains pantograph automatically dropped. That could be caused by damage to the overheads but it could also be an issue with the pantograph itself or just a spurious fault.

NR^» (Network Rail - home page) will inspect all 4 lines first as a precaution

[TaplowGreen]

Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Reading

Due to damage to the overhead electric wires between London Paddington and Reading some lines will be blocked.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 13:30 28/05.

No damage confirmed. A trains pantograph automatically dropped. That could be caused by damage to the overheads but it could also be an issue with the pantograph itself or just a spurious fault.

NR^» (Network Rail - home page) will inspect all 4 lines first as a precaution

Delays & cancellations now until 3pm......or will it be the familiar/dreaded "until the end of the day"?

[TaplowGreen]

Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Reading

Due to damage to the overhead electric wires between London Paddington and Reading some lines will be blocked.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 13:30 28/05.

No damage confirmed. A trains pantograph automatically dropped. That could be caused by damage to the overheads but it could also be an issue with the pantograph itself or just a spurious fault.

NR^» (Network Rail - home page) will inspect all 4 lines first as a precaution

Delays & cancellations now until 3pm......or will it be the familiar/dreaded "until the end of the day"?

........and it's now pushed out to 1800 on National Rail.....

[TaplowGreen]

Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Reading

Due to damage to the overhead electric wires between London Paddington and Reading some lines will be blocked.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 13:30 28/05.

No damage confirmed. A trains pantograph automatically dropped. That could be caused by damage to the overheads but it could also be an issue with the pantograph itself or just a spurious fault.

NR^» (Network Rail - home page) will inspect all 4 lines first as a precaution

Delays & cancellations now until 3pm......or will it be the familiar/dreaded "until the end of the day"?

........and it's now pushed out to 1800 on National Rail.....

.......and almost inevitably.....

Route(s) affected
Elizabeth line between Shenfield and Heathrow Terminal 5, and also between Abbey Wood and Heathrow Terminal 4 / Maidenhead / Reading

Great Western Railway on all routes to / from London Paddington

Heathrow Express between London Paddington and Heathrow Terminal 5

Description
Damage to the overhead electric wires between London Paddington and Southall means some lines are blocked.

Trains between London Paddington and Heathrow Airport / Reading may be cancelled, revised or delayed by up to 20 minutes.

Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

[ChrisB]

Interesting - GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) has said that all lines are open, speed limit imposed, expect delays - proper fix tonight

[a-driver]

Interesting - GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) has said that all lines are open, speed limit imposed, expect delays - proper fix tonight

IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) will probably run diesel Paddington to Reading.  Possibly a minor issue like a broken dropper wire

[TaplowGreen]

........and it's fallen over again.....

Cancellations to services between Slough and London Paddington

Due to urgent repairs to the railway between Slough and London Paddington some lines towards London Paddington are closed.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 20 minutes or revised.

Disruption is expected until 16:15 29/05.

[Fourbee]

There's an article in this month's Rail magazine with some of the people working on Project Brunel (the project tasked with improving the performance of the infrastructure between Reading and Paddington). Fairly interesting read.

My main recollections: undergrowth was cut back that was tripping the OLE^▸ (Overhead Line Equipment, more often "OHLE"), too many/heavy trains using it (broken rails), pigeons nesting in bridges culled particularly at Ealing Broadway as they were tripping the OLE when a train passed, 777 axle counters replaced that still get loose, but are monitored/tightened before they fail again, addressing wet bed issues to do with drainage being covered over when track was realigned.

This may not have been the sentiment intended or I misread it: the team want to maintain the current level of progress without slipping back (!).