30 cancellations on the North Downs this morning

[whole diary]

[grahame]

05:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 07:33
06:28 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 07:54
06:51 Reading to Redhill due 08:28
07:52 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 09:26
07:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 09:30
08:36 Redhill to Reading due 09:57
09:30 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 11:04
09:54 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 11:25
10:24 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 11:55
11:24 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 12:55
11:29 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 12:57
11:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 13:27
12:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 14:27
13:24 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 14:55
13:54 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 15:25
14:54 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 16:25
14:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 16:28
15:29 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 17:02
16:29 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 18:00
16:50 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 18:25
17:20 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 18:55
18:21 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 19:55
18:29 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 19:57
18:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 20:28
19:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 21:37
20:22 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 21:57
20:54 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 22:25
22:01 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 23:21
22:30 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 00:17
23:33 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 01:08

23:33 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 01:08 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.

All train faults / More trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.  Is there some general problem? 

I'm not sure what the diagram is this summer of the Saturday Swindon to Weymouth train, but can anyone advise if the risk of it being cancelled tomorrow (I think it's been a Reading based unit in the past) is significant? 

[ray951]

There have been quite a few cancellations over the last few weeks with the Didcot -  Oxford/Banbury services for the same reason; so I assume that they GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are having problem maintaining these units. And they certainly don't have enough spare capacity.

[bobm]

Last Saturday the Weymouth service was operated by 166 207.  I believe all the 166s are based at St Philip’s Marsh.

Today that unit is currently heading from Bristol Temple Meads to Warminster before going to Gloucester.

After another round trip to Westbury and back and an outing to Weymouth, it will go to Bristol again before ending its day at Westbury. 

Last Friday it was covering Cardiff/Portsmouths. 

Whether it was first choice for last week’s Swindon-Weymouth or a last minute replacement, I don’t know.

[TaplowGreen]

05:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 07:33
06:28 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 07:54
06:51 Reading to Redhill due 08:28
07:52 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 09:26
07:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 09:30
08:36 Redhill to Reading due 09:57
09:30 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 11:04
09:54 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 11:25
10:24 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 11:55
11:24 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 12:55
11:29 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 12:57
11:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 13:27
12:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 14:27
13:24 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 14:55
13:54 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 15:25
14:54 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 16:25
14:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 16:28
15:29 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 17:02
16:29 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 18:00
16:50 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 18:25
17:20 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 18:55
18:21 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 19:55
18:29 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 19:57
18:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 20:28
19:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 21:37
20:22 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 21:57
20:54 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 22:25
22:01 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 23:21
22:30 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 00:17
23:33 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 01:08

23:33 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 01:08 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.

All train faults / More trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.  Is there some general problem? 

I'm not sure what the diagram is this summer of the Saturday Swindon to Weymouth train, but can anyone advise if the risk of it being cancelled tomorrow (I think it's been a Reading based unit in the past) is significant? 

Similar story today.

[grahame]

Last Saturday the Weymouth service was operated by 166 207.  I believe all the 166s are based at St Philip’s Marsh.

...

I have been suggesting a Weymouth trip ... however, weather forecast has got worse ... I will probably go to Melksham Station and make a last hour / minute / second choice there.  I have pictures of Weymouth in the wet already!

[Timmer]

Cancellations to services between Reading and Gatwick Airport via Guildford

Due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Train services between Reading and Gatwick Airport via Guildford and Redhill may be cancelled.

Customer Advice

What has happened?

Some of the trains that operate between Reading and Gatwick Airport have developed faults which means we are not able to use them until repaired. This means some services, in both directions, between Reading and Gatwick Airport will be cancelled.

What are we doing about it?

Our maintenance team are working on the trains to get them back into service as soon as we can.

What are my options?

Option 1: Use the National Rail Enquiries real-time journey planner to check if a journey by rail is currently possible. If you are at a station please check the Live Departure Boards or speak to a member of our station team.

Option 2: Your ticket can be used, at no extra cost, with the following operators, in both directions on these routes:

Elizabeth line services between London Paddington and Farringdon.
Thameslink services between Farringdon and Gatwick Airport.

South Western Railway services between Guildford and Clapham Junction.
Southern services between Clapham Junction and Gatwick Airport.

If you had intended to changing trains at Reading to catch a train towards Gatwick Airport, your ticket will be valid to continue on the train to London Paddington for travel via Farringdon.

Option 3: Replacement transport provided by us such as a buses, coaches or taxis, will not be provided as there are train services running. However, we will continue to monitor the need for this as the situation develops and provide updates here.

Option 4: Travel at a later time. You might want to consider postponing your journey until our service returns to normal.

After all the recent promotion by GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) of taking the train to Gatwick airport from Reading, this is most unfortunate and highlights the need to get on with procuring new trains to replace the turbos.

[Timmer]

I have been suggesting a Weymouth trip ... however, weather forecast has got worse ... I will probably go to Melksham Station and make a last hour / minute / second choice there.  I have pictures of Weymouth in the wet already!

Sigh, yes the weather doesn’t look good. I was planning a day trip today, but based on the forecast decided against. I’ve done Weymouth in the wet and I didn’t stay very long getting the next train home after a bite to eat.

[eightonedee]

As to Timmer's first post above (with GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)' s advice), that advice is totally inadequate.  It assumes all traffic is through traffic from Reading to Gatwick and ignores the fact that the line is an important local line for the Blackwater Valley and Surrey Hills areas.

At the very least there should be advice that travellers between Reading and Farnborough and Guildford should go via Basingstoke and (in the latter case) Woking, Wokingham passengers should use SWT^▸ (South West Trains) and some information on buses for other destinations. Have any arrangements been made for buses to accept GWR tickets? Some should be made ASAP.

[grahame]

I have been suggesting a Weymouth trip ... however, weather forecast has got worse ... I will probably go to Melksham Station and make a last hour / minute / second choice there.  I have pictures of Weymouth in the wet already!

Sigh, yes the weather doesn’t look good. I was planning a day trip today, but based on the forecast decided against. I’ve done Weymouth in the wet and I didn’t stay very long getting the next train home after a bite to eat.

At Melksham - +17-2 on the 09:09 ... the major destination being Weymouth, and it was explained to me buy one group that it doesn't rain in the pub.  Also passengerd headed towards Portsmouth and Taunton.    No real reason to travel and lots else to do ... the photolibrary update of some parts of Weymouth can wait, so I am back home.

[TaplowGreen]

Cancellations to services between Reading and Gatwick Airport

Due to a shortage of train crew between Reading and Gatwick Airport fewer trains are able to run on all lines.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 10 minutes. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Customer Advice
Apologies to customers, we don't have enough drivers and guards on shift today to run all our scheduled services on the North Downs Line between Reading and Gatwick Airport via Guildford.

[TaplowGreen]

Cancelled - "more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time"

09:54 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 11:25
11:29 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 12:57
13:24 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 14:55
14:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 16:28
16:50 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 18:25
18:29 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 19:57
20:22 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 21:57
22:01 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 23:21

[Fourbee]

I read a letter in RAIL this month from a Blackwater resident - one paragraph from that: "Not enough trains, not enough drivers, and not enough guards. Result: the current unreliable service."

[ray951]

Cancelled - "more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time"

09:54 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 11:25
11:29 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 12:57
13:24 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 14:55
14:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 16:28
16:50 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 18:25
18:29 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 19:57
20:22 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 21:57
22:01 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 23:21

Not surprisingly it is the same on the Didcot - Banbury trains today with a lot of cancellations.

[grahame]

Cancelled - "more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time"

09:54 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 11:25
11:29 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 12:57
13:24 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 14:55
14:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 16:28
16:50 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 18:25
18:29 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 19:57
20:22 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 21:57
22:01 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 23:21

Looking carefully - that's all just one train ...

[GBM]

Looking carefully - that's all just one train ...

Might be just one train, but still insufficient crew to run it.
Unfortunate if that was the one a passenger had selected to travel on earlier.