North Cotswold line delays and cancellations - 2026

[whole diary]

[Witham Bobby]

21/07/2026

More news from the crumbling edge of quality otherwise known as the London to Worcester and Hereford route

According to RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website):

1P26 1316 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington was cancelled between Worcester Shrub Hill and Moreton-in-Marsh due to the planned train being replaced with a slower train

The down working, 1W21 1053 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill is in trouble, at present 36 minutes late off Charlbury

[Witham Bobby]

Monday 27th July 2026

According to RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website)

1W21 1053 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill was cancelled after Oxford "due to an unknown cause".

The service had departed Paddington 9 minutes late, remained at around that much delayed until Reading, from where it departed 27 minutes down, and expired at Oxford also 27 minutes late.

The return working, 1P26 1316 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington, did not run between Worcester and Oxford, also because of "an unknown cause"

[Richard Fairhurst]

It would be churlish not to mention that today is the day of the year when Charlbury gets its best ever service, with extra departures to Paddington at 0938, 1036, 1137, and 1237 (Reading) making for a half-hourly service between 0711 and 1312. The extras don't even stop at Hanborough!

(GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) puts them on to help deal with overcrowding on the way back from the Wilderness Festival at Cornbury Park.)

[Witham Bobby]

Tuesday 4th August

08:18 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington due 10:26 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

Last Updated:04/08/2026 04:14

RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) shows 1G01 0632 Swindon to Worcester Shrub Hill as being cancelled "due to the planned train being replaced with a slower train (MS)."

[charles_uk]

13:16 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington due 15:22 will be terminated at Oxford.
It will no longer call at Didcot Parkway, Reading and London Paddington.
It is being delayed at Evesham.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

13:18 Hereford to London Paddington due 16:25 will be diverted between Worcester Shrub Hill and Didcot Parkway.
It will no longer call at Worcestershire Parkway Hl, Pershore, Evesham, Honeybourne, Moreton-In-Marsh, Kingham, Charlbury, Hanborough and Oxford.
This is due to a passenger being taken ill on a train.

14:53 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street due 17:04 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

and not mentioned but the truncated 13:16 service was a two car Turbo^▸ (Class 165 and 166 trains used on Thames Valley services).

(added the following morning)

Also needing to be mentioned, the return working of the 14:53, the 17:26 Worcester Foregate Street to Paddington service was also cancelled. The 17:04 Didcot Parkway to Evesham halts train was terminated at Oxford and the return 18:51 Evesham to Oxford cancelled completely.

[charles_uk]

Friday 7 August:

1P06 0516 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington – lost 63 minutes between Honeybourne & Moreton-in-Marsh
1P10 0523 Hereford to London Paddington – diverted via Swindon
1W11 0553 London Paddington to Great Malvern - cancelled between Oxford and Great Malvern due to unknown cause (ZW)
1P12 0643 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington – departed WOS^▸ (Worcester Shrub Hill stationnext trains) 37 minutes late
2E80 0700 Worcester Shrub Hill to Didcot Parkway – cancelled due to late arrival of an inbound service (YI)
1P14 0713 Great Malvern to London Paddington - cancelled between Reading and London Paddington due to the train operator's request (TB). Departed GMV^▸ (Great Malvern station) 99 minutes late
1P18 0856 Great Malvern to London Paddington - cancelled between Great Malvern and Oxford due to unknown cause (ZW)

[bobm]

Believe the first train hit a fallen tree.

[ChrisB]

At Kingham

[ChrisB]

From Oxford Mail

An update has been issued after passengers faced delays and disruption after a train struck a fallen tree early this morning.

The incident happened near Kingham in the Cotswolds, blocking the Great Western Railway (GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)) route between Oxford and Worcester Shrub Hill.

GWR said the tree had fallen onto the track and was hit by a train during the Friday morning rush hour, forcing services to run at reduced speed and causing delays of up to 30 minutes.

A GWR spokesperson said: "We are sorry to customers whose journeys were disrupted this morning after a train struck a fallen tree near Kingham, resulting in the temporary closure of the railway while the situation was assessed and made safe.

"Working with Network Rail, we were able to reopen the line as quickly as possible, and services have now returned to normal.[/quote]

[charles_uk]

1W11 0553 London Paddington to Great Malvern cancelled between Oxford and Great Malvern due to unknown cause (ZW).

Facilities on the 08:18 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington due 10:26.
Will be formed of 5 coaches instead of 9.

08:56 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 11:27 will be started from Oxford.
It will no longer call at Great Malvern, Malvern Link, Worcester Foregate Street, Worcester Shrub Hill, Worcestershire Parkway Hl, Pershore, Evesham, Honeybourne, Moreton-In-Marsh, Kingham, Charlbury and Hanborough.
This is due to a fault on this train.

15:23 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street due 17:47 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

18:02 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington due 20:29 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time

Edit - 15:23 and 18:02 cancellations no longer showing on JourneyCheck

Further edit - but can add to the list:

17:04 Didcot Parkway to Evesham due 18:23 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

18:51 Evesham to Oxford due 19:50 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.
Last Updated:11/08/2026 16:41

[charles_uk]

Cancellations to services between Hereford and Oxford

Due to a broken down train between Hereford and Oxford some lines are blocked.

Train services running through these stations will be cancelled or delayed by up to 120 minutes. Disruption is expected until 16:30 13/08.

Customer Advice
-
What has happened?
-
A train has broken down between Kingham and Charlbury.
Last Updated:13/08/2026 15:27

Looking at Realtime Trains, it seems 6Q58 1338½ Honeybourne Sidings to Swindon Transfer might have been the cause. Went through Ascott-under-Wychwood on time at 14:27 and then Charlbury 146 minutes late. The following 1P28 1318 Hereford to London Paddington service was held at Evesham departing 137 minutes late.

And later:

15:18 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington due 17:25 was started from Worcester Shrub Hill and will be diverted between Worcester Shrub Hill and Reading.
It will no longer call at Worcester Foregate Street, Worcestershire Parkway Hl, Evesham, Moreton-In-Marsh, Kingham, Charlbury, Hanborough, Oxford and Didcot Parkway.
This is due to severe weather.

15:18 Hereford to London Paddington due 18:29 has been cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

17:04 Didcot Parkway to Evesham due 18:23 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.

18:51 Evesham to Oxford due 19:50 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.

[charles_uk]

Quite a lot not going on today...

1P10 0523 Hereford to London Paddington cancelled due to an issue with the train crew (TH)

1W15 0750 London Paddington to Great Malvern cancelled due to unknown cause (ZW)

08:18 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington due 10:26 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

09:52 London Paddington to Hereford due 12:48 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

10:59 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 13:25 will be cancelled.
This is due to this train being late from the depot.

13:18 Hereford to London Paddington due 16:25 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

and later:

11:52 London Paddington to Hereford due 14:43 will be terminated at Great Malvern.
It will no longer call at Colwall, Ledbury and Hereford.
It has been delayed at London Paddington and is now 11 minutes late.
This is due to this train being late from the depot.

13:50 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 16:15 will be terminated at Oxford.
It will no longer call at Hanborough, Charlbury, Kingham, Moreton-In-Marsh, Honeybourne, Evesham, Pershore, Worcestershire Parkway Hl, Worcester Shrub Hill, Worcester Foregate Street, Malvern Link and Great Malvern.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

15:18 Hereford to London Paddington due 18:29 will be started from Great Malvern.
It will no longer call at Hereford, Ledbury and Colwall.
This is due to this train being late from the depot.

16:32 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 19:29 will be started from Oxford.
It will no longer call at Great Malvern, Malvern Link, Worcester Foregate Street, Worcester Shrub Hill, Worcestershire Parkway Hl, Pershore, Evesham, Honeybourne, Moreton-In-Marsh, Kingham, Charlbury and Hanborough.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

and also:

16:58 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 19:25 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

17:04 Didcot Parkway to Evesham due 18:23 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

18:57 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 21:18 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

18:51 Evesham to Oxford due 19:50 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

19:45 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 22:24 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

I understand that the extreme heat can cause disruption but that doesn't seem to be the attributed reason for any of today's issues.

[charles_uk]

Cancellations to services between Oxford and Worcester Foregate Street via Evesham

Due to a safety inspection of the track between Moreton-In-Marsh and Honeybourne the line is blocked. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Train services between Oxford and Worcester Foregate Street via Evesham and Worcester Shrub Hill may be cancelled, delayed or diverted.

At the time of posting it seems there's been no services running since shortly after 5pm.

[ChrisB]

There was a safety check of the line which blocked between Evesham & Honeybourne at one stage this afternoon, reported on National Rail & Journeycheck

[charles_uk]

And, presumably a knock on from yesterday evening's problems:

1P10 0523 Hereford to London Paddington cancelled between Hereford and Oxford due to unknown cause (ZW)

1P12 0643 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington cancelled due to unknown cause (ZW)

From what I can tell looking at Realtime Trains, nothing run yesterday all the way between Oxford and Worcester in either direction after the 15:23 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street service (which was terminated at Worcester Shrub Hill)