Thames Valley infrastructure problems causing disruption elsewhere - 2026

[whole diary]

[TaplowGreen]

Alterations to services between Reading and London Paddington

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

Train services running to and from these stations may be running non stop between Reading and London Paddington. Twyford, Maidenhead and Slough will not be served.

 Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

[TaplowGreen]

Normal weather - normal service

Cancellations to services between Reading and London Paddington

Due to a points failure between Reading and London Paddington some lines are blocked.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 08:01 01/06.

[Mark A]

Coffeeshop map's a mess, or rather, reflecting a mess, and a lot of cancellations from the likes of Oxford.

Mark

[John D]

Normal weather - normal service

Cancellations to services between Reading and London Paddington

Due to a points failure between Reading and London Paddington some lines are blocked.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 08:01 01/06.

Now going to take extra 7 hours to fix disruption

Disruption is expected until 15:00 01/06.

[TaplowGreen]

Normal weather - normal service

Cancellations to services between Reading and London Paddington

Due to a points failure between Reading and London Paddington some lines are blocked.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 08:01 01/06.

Now going to take extra 7 hours to fix disruption

Disruption is expected until 15:00 01/06.

Now been expanded to "all routes".

Cancellations to services on all routes

Due to a points failure between Reading and London Paddington fewer trains are able to run on some lines.
Train services running across the whole Great Western Railway network may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 15:00 01/06.

Customer Advice
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What has happened?
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There has been a points failure between Reading and London Paddington. A points failure is a fault with the movable pieces of track that enable trains to change tracks.


................I got to Taplow at around 0540 to find everything being cancelled in both directions, hung around for half an hour, advised to go to Maidenhead although there was very little moving from there either and no taxis available for at least half an hour, so am working from home - fortunately I am able to although there were other customers arriving at the station who clearly weren't, and were extremely concerned/frustrated about how they were going to get to work.

What a (woeful) mess.

[bobm]

Electrical failure affecting the points at Dolphin Junction near Slough and one signal in the area.

Hope to be resolved in the next hour. 

[Marlburian]

A new reporter has joined the Reading Chronicle team, though this article does not make for a happy start: "Several trains to London trains and vice versa pass through Reading."

[bobm]

Edward Burnett was formerly at the Swindon Advertiser and became noted for his restaurant reviews.

He is now at the Oxford Mail and I suspect filling in at fellow Newsquest title, the Reading Chronicle.

[bobm]

Network Rail are saying on X that today’s problems were caused by cable theft.

[charles_uk]

Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Reading

Due to a fault with the signalling system between London Paddington and Reading some lines are closed.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 10:15 02/06.

There is a fault with the signalling system between Slough and Acton. The signalling system is how trains are kept a safe distance apart and directed onto the various lines along their journey. When there is a fault with the signalling system trains may need to stop at the affected signals so that the Driver can speak to the Signaller to confirm if the track ahead is clear.

The problem affects 2 of the four lines between London Paddington and Reading, so we are having to reduce the train service through the area to avoid congestion.
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Some services between London Paddington and Oxford, and between London Paddington and Cardiff Central, will not run, in either direction.
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Local stopping services between London Paddington and Didcot Parkway/Newbury will only run between Reading and Didcot Parkway/Newbury.
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Most longer distance Intercity services will continue to run between London Paddington and Reading, but may be subject to delay.
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We are working with Network Rail to be able to return to running our normal timetable as soon as possible.

[TaplowGreen]

Disruption pushed out till midday now - last couple of weeks have been shambolic on this line - with so many people relying on the Elizabeth Line thanks to the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) Tube strike today it makes the situation even worse.

[John D]

And in a bit of comedy timing, whilst all the disruption continues, the regulator ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road, formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) has decided to issue a letter to Network Rail Western saying ORR is satisfied with their performance and improvement.

Even includes :

A major area of focus has been the Thames Valley and Network Rail has carried out a high volume of asset interventions concentrating on track, overhead line equipment, axle counters and points.

https://www.orr.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2026-06/2026-06-01-nr-wales-and-western-compliance.pdf

So apparently ORR thinks the interventions are good enough, even though failures are continuing.  Words fail me.

[TaplowGreen]

And in a bit of comedy timing, whilst all the disruption continues, the regulator ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road, formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) has decided to issue a letter to Network Rail Western saying ORR is satisfied with their performance and improvement.

Even includes :

A major area of focus has been the Thames Valley and Network Rail has carried out a high volume of asset interventions concentrating on track, overhead line equipment, axle counters and points.

https://www.orr.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2026-06/2026-06-01-nr-wales-and-western-compliance.pdf

So apparently ORR thinks the interventions are good enough, even though failures are continuing.  Words fail me.

Genuinely couldn't make it up

https://www.railmagazine.com/news/network-rail-improvements-lead-to-end-of-enforcement-action-on-poor-performance

[charles_uk]

And just like London buses...

Delays to services between London Paddington and Reading

Due to a fault with the signalling system between London Paddington and Reading trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines towards Reading.

Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed by up to 20 minutes. Disruption is expected until 19:15 02/06.
Customer Advice
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What has happened?
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Some axle counters, part of the signalling system, have stopped working in the Ruscombe area. Axle counters tell the signalling system if a section of track has a train on it. If an axle counter stops working, trains need to stop at the affected signal so that the Driver can speak to the Signaller to confirm if the track ahead is clear.