Night Riviera Sleeper train - between Paddington and Penzance

[whole diary]

[TaplowGreen]

21:45 Penzance to London Paddington due 05:07

13/02/26 21:45 Penzance to London Paddington due 05:07 is being delayed at Taunton and is now expected to be 200 minutes late.

This is due to a fault on this train.

Goodness - how the information system is so wonderful at getting it wrong.   Due into Paddington at 05:07, actually in at 07:04 - only 117 late - and for many passengers, I suspect that's a far better arrival time anyway.  And - question - how does delay/repay work with the sleeper - fare, berth fees, ...

"Only" 2 hours late 

[ChrisB]

21:45 Penzance to London Paddington due 05:07

13/02/26 21:45 Penzance to London Paddington due 05:07 is being delayed at Taunton and is now expected to be 200 minutes late.

This is due to a fault on this train.

Goodness - how the information system is so wonderful at getting it wrong.   Due into Paddington at 05:07, actually in at 07:04 - only 117 late

That's a result of timing the run at a sedate pace to allow sleep. Of course, once late, the train can & does go faster & catch up.

I'm sure it was 200 late when that warning was posted - why would it not be?
Lumo even post that their delays can be caught up further down/up the line.....

[Andy E]

It seems that the train was declared a failure at Taunton where it had arrived at 01.38. An 802 IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) was sent from Exeter to continue the service leaving Taunton at 05.05.

[ChrisB]

I hope that they were all l;eft in their cabins until the IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) was ready & waiting at TAU^▸ (Taunton station)?

[TaplowGreen]

I hope that they were all l;eft in their cabins until the IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) was ready & waiting at TAU^▸ (Taunton station)?

A rude awakening indeed!

[bobm]

Part of the apparent discrepancy may be down to a change of route.   After leaving Taunton it was scheduled to go via Box and Swindon but instead went up the Berks & Hants line.

When it passed Cogload Junction it was 194 minutes late.  By the time it got back on route west of Reading it had reigned that in to 157 minutes late. 

As the service was replaced by a five car IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) at Taunton, it also saved 20 minutes with the Reading stop as it didn't pause to attach the second loco to the rear.

[TaplowGreen]

21:45 Penzance to London Paddington due 05:04

16/03/26 21:45 Penzance to London Paddington due 05:04 will be diverted between Taunton and Reading.

It is being delayed between Taunton and Reading and is now expected to be 110 minutes late.
This is due to an obstruction on the track

[grahame]

21:45 Penzance to London Paddington due 05:04

16/03/26 21:45 Penzance to London Paddington due 05:04 will be diverted between Taunton and Reading.

It is being delayed between Taunton and Reading and is now expected to be 110 minutes late.
This is due to an obstruction on the track

Trowbridge at 02:29 on time.
No report at Melksham.
Chippenham at 04:39, 110 minutes late.   
Paddington arrival 06:35, 90 minutes late.

[grahame]

23:50 London Paddington to Penzance due 07:55

22/03/26 23:50 London Paddington to Penzance due 07:55 will be diverted between Reading and Exeter St Davids.

It has been delayed at London Paddington and is now 59 minutes late.
This is due to train crew being delayed.

Probably due to the closure due to a fire on a train between Totnes and Newton Abbot last night.

It's interesting to compare what the official "JourneyCheck" and Real Time Trains are telling me now - at about 06:30 - as to how this train is doing.   

A good example of how some of the AI systems spew out - err - false suggestions. Even at 2 O'Clock this morning, it might have been a good bet to suggest that the train would make up most of the delay. As the sleeper is set down only once it gets west, JourneyCheck is not in this instance going to mislead people into missing their train, but it might mean that someone getting off the train in Liskeard and being picked up by taxis finds they have nearly an hour to wait if the taxi has looked at this information feed.

[bobm]

Looks like with the late start it may have been forced to go around scheduled engineering work.

After Reading it took the Berks & Hants as far as Westbury before going up the Avon Valley to rejoin its booked route at Bath Spa.

Thanks to the generous layover at Exeter St David’s it was all but on time going forward. 

[grahame]

Shock, horror  - 9 minutes late into Penzance - 08:04 versus 07:55.   All that remains is for anyone who's told their lift to pick them up at the JourneyCheck expected time of 08:54 to twiddle their thumbs for 50 minutes.

[bobm]

There was a time in the not too distant past when the Monday morning sleeper arrived in Penzance an hour later than the other days.

[TaplowGreen]

Shock, horror  - 9 minutes late into Penzance - 08:04 versus 07:55.   All that remains is for anyone who's told their lift to pick them up at the JourneyCheck expected time of 08:54 to twiddle their thumbs for 50 minutes.

Do you think that perhaps, assuming a reasonable amount of common sense (risky I know), that someone on the train in question expecting to be picked up would ring ahead and confirm any revised arrival time, especially given yesterday's events at Newton Abbot?

[grahame]

Shock, horror  - 9 minutes late into Penzance - 08:04 versus 07:55.   All that remains is for anyone who's told their lift to pick them up at the JourneyCheck expected time of 08:54 to twiddle their thumbs for 50 minutes.

Do you think that perhaps, assuming a reasonable amount of common sense (risky I know), that someone on the train in question expecting to be picked up would ring ahead and confirm any revised arrival time, especially given yesterday's events at Newton Abbot?

You give Jo Public a great deal of credit ... we are informed here on the Coffee Shop, but remember that the rail systems tell people that ballast is "stones on the track" and points are things which "allow the movement of trains from one line to another".

Friends coming the the WWRUG^» (West Wiltshire Rail Users Group - about) meeting last Wednesday, with successive trains 110 minutes late, cancelled, and 55 minutes late kept me message / informed. However, the are well informed ... and there are two sides to the story and I was so busy with meeting setup that there was a distinct delay in me hearing.