Thames Valley infrastructure problems causing disruption elsewhere - 2026

[whole diary]

[TaplowGreen]

Huge fire next to Slough Station, Windsor line is closed and it sounds as if Slough Station may be closing soon, message is stay away.

https://www.sloughobserver.co.uk/news/26459437.slough-fire-trains-cancelled-due-massive-blaze/?fbclid=IwVERTSATphPxwZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHkZoc_3MnSiYL33_QjOVsXwZBBk602QU5TBtRlqdcxkqtyqf9qixgICp5QRN_aem_KSV7HO-zDZOwN1eJR2F1Qw&sfnsn=scwspwa#Echobox=1786550372

[IndustryInsider]

Huge fire next to Slough Station, Windsor line is closed and it sounds as if Slough Station may be closing soon, message is stay away.

Looks like it was brought under control before it caused thousands of pounds worth of improvements.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Looks like it was brought under control before it caused thousands of pounds worth of improvements.

You monkey, II^▸ (IndustryInsider - a respected member of this forum). 

[Bob_Blakey]

.....Looks like it was brought under control before it caused thousands of pounds worth of improvements.

Similarly the joke about the fallout from the long predicted massive Cumbre Vieja (La Palma) rockslide; 'A tsunami hit Plymouth yesterday, causing an estimated £15 million worth of improvements."

[TaplowGreen]

Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Reading

Due to severe weather between London Paddington and Reading fewer trains are able to run on some lines.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.
Customer Advice
-
What has happened?
-
The extreme heat that is forecast for today can lead to an increase in points failures.
Points are the moving pieces of metal that enable trains to change tracks.
-
What are we doing about it?
-
To reduce the risk of this happening, a number of points will be set for one route and not moved, protecting the route to and from London Paddington.

[Mark A]

*snip*
Points are the moving pieces of metal that enable trains to change tracks.
*snip*

The day that rail industry people, as part of disruption information, stop mansplaining components will be a good day. It' a really bizarre practice.

Mark

[ChrisB]

A genuine question: where does this come back to bite GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) ?

Why should it?

Nothing to do with GWR where any fault can be pinned. It's climate change & network Rail infrastructure. GWR are the affected customer.

[grahame]

The day that rail industry people, as part of disruption information, stop mansplaining components will be a good day. It' a really bizarre practice.

Mark

I'm inclined to disagree, Mark - it's not there for you, me and other Coffee Shop members who know these things.  It's there for the other people - many of whom are bright - who have other skills and knowledge that fill their brains in preference to "points", "overhead electrics", and "staff".  From an IT viewpoint, having the explanations come up as rollovers might be worth them considering.

[TaplowGreen]

Journeycheck doesn't seem to be awake to this one - from National Rail.............

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

All Great Western Railway routes to / from London Paddington

Heathrow Express between London Paddington and Heathrow Terminal 5

Description

A failure of the electricity supply between London Paddington and Heathrow Terminals / Reading means all lines are disrupted. As a result, trains will be cancelled, delayed by up to 60 minutes or revised.

Major disruption is expected until 15:00.

[Mark A]

Yes, but in day to day disruption notices it comes across as yet more filler. When it's items like railway points, or ballast, it's a couple of hundred years since railways have been in existence, and it has to be fairly common knowledge as to what those are and if it's not, is a disruption notice the best place to start educating travellers?

Also, the system that produces these doesn't seem to be able to handle location - messages are vague about that, and in a way which even puzzles everyone on this forum. Many people travelling would find location actually useful as they could then think e.g. 'The road bridge at Limpley Stoke again, that'll be about two hours if we're lucky'. They'd then be in a better position to look for a plan 'b' or 'c' (assuming that staff haven't been available to help).

Can someone remind me of the name of the drag-and-drop software to which the staff that issue these bulletins are shackled?

Mark

[TaplowGreen]

Journeycheck doesn't seem to be awake to this one - from National Rail.............

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

All Great Western Railway routes to / from London Paddington

Heathrow Express between London Paddington and Heathrow Terminal 5

Description

A failure of the electricity supply between London Paddington and Heathrow Terminals / Reading means all lines are disrupted. As a result, trains will be cancelled, delayed by up to 60 minutes or revised.

Major disruption is expected until 15:00.

Now extended until 1900.

Elizabeth Line suspended between Reading - Paddington.

I pity anyone trying to travel today in these conditions with the system failing left, right and centre.

[Mark A]

And: this sort of thing.

https://bsky.app/profile/gwr.com/post/3msxo4xjtzy23

-⚠ Travel Update - 13/08 ⚠
Due to a fault on this train between Swindon and Westbury the line is closed.

Train services running through these stations have been cancelled.

Disruption is expected until the end of the day

That's a message that 'As is' has immediately caused everyone travelling on the GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) to burst into tears, but I've no idea if travellers between, say, Reading and Bristol, need to feel despondent about this. Would the traveller know the train to which 'This train' refers.

(Also, if a train sits down on the single line south of Thingley Junction and another train's already left Swindon and needs the line to Westbury, what's the contingency plan to avoid disruption for services to Bristol?)

Mark

[NickB]

A genuine question: where does this come back to bite GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) ?

Why should it?

Nothing to do with GWR where any fault can be pinned. It's climate change & network Rail infrastructure. GWR are the affected customer.

Because to the passenger putting their hand in their pocket everyday they are paying GWR and expecting a train service that operates.
The point that I was trying to make was that sometimes it feels like it suits the train operator (in this case GWR) to have a reason to cancel services and not engage with the reason for their existence - ferrying passengers from A to B in the quickest possible time.

[TaplowGreen]

Journeycheck doesn't seem to be awake to this one - from National Rail.............

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

All Great Western Railway routes to / from London Paddington

Heathrow Express between London Paddington and Heathrow Terminal 5

Description

A failure of the electricity supply between London Paddington and Heathrow Terminals / Reading means all lines are disrupted. As a result, trains will be cancelled, delayed by up to 60 minutes or revised.

Major disruption is expected until 15:00.

Now extended until 1900.

Elizabeth Line suspended between Reading - Paddington.

I pity anyone trying to travel today in these conditions with the system failing left, right and centre.

Guess what? "Disruption is expected until the end of the day".

[TaplowGreen]

Alterations to services between London Paddington and Oxford

Due to forecasted severe weather between London Paddington and Oxford fewer trains are able to run.
Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 20:45 14/08.

Customer Advice
As a result of the forecast severe weather today (potential high temperatures) we have had to make some revisions to the train service.