Night Riviera Sleeper train - between Paddington and Penzance

[whole diary]

[Sleepy]

   Sleepers cancelled Friday 12th August, Sunday 14th also following Weds / Thurs / Friday due to strikes by ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about) and RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers). About time Grant Schapps or whatever his name is this week sorted this mess out instead of telling DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) to sit on their hands !!

[grahame]

About time Grant Schapps or whatever his name is this week sorted this mess out instead of telling DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) to sit on their hands !!

But perhaps what they are [doing / not doing] in Horseferry Road is their way forward in sorting out this mess.  What are the various strategic objectives here?

[bobm]

Spotted at London Paddington this week.  The class 57 Tintagel Castle used for the sleeper has been fitted with new nameplates in the same style as the HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) Castle power cars.


(although they could have made a better job of covering up where the old plates were)

Meanwhile 57604 Pendennis Castle has kept its heritage GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) plates for the moment at least.

[GBM]

From Journeycheck today (31st August)
23:45 London Paddington to Penzance due 07:54
23:45 London Paddington to Penzance due 07:54 will be starting late from London Paddington and is expected to be 1 minute late.
This is due to a problem currently under investigation.

Eh?
Currently under investigation?
By implications there was a problem with the up Cornwall one.
It seems to have arrived on time at Paddington, but was running up to 10 minutes late through to Ivybridge.
Seems to be mostly running to time back to Reading TrainCare.

[GBM]

Seems to have stopped at a green light East of Slough.
Bit of a backlog behind it.
Freight 4Z86 diverted from platform 4 to 1.
2N12 & 9R36 still behind it at Langley (outbound).

[JayMac]

Excellent review of the Night Riviera by YouTuber Winginit! Paul Lucas.

[bobm]

Normally the up and down sleepers pass each other just east of Taunton.   Last night they met at Swindon.

The eastbound sleeper makes a staff call at Swindon just after 3am and just as it was departing the westbound (booked to start from Reading because of the problems nearer Paddington) passed through running some 1 hour and 40 minutes late.  It was still half an hour late when it reached Penzance.

It was a busy few minutes at Swindon.  The 23:32 Paddington to Temple Meads was late leaving London and then heavily delayed on the way to Reading to the extent it was 147 minutes late when it called at Swindon just after 3am.

[Rob S]

It was a busy few minutes at Swindon.  The 23:32 Paddington to Temple Meads was late leaving London and then heavily delayed on the way to Reading to the extent it was 147 minutes late when it called at Swindon just after 3am.

Yep, I was on it....it left Paddington full and standing, 39 minutes late and then we were held outside Slough for what was announced as problems related to the points failure although was described as due to an incident the police were attending. We were then held at Slough station due to a medical emergency with an ambulance in attendance...certainly plenty of passengers that were bored to death near me.

[1st fan]

I see the London bound Sleeper took over an hour to get from Ladbroke Grove to Portobello Junction this morning. As as a result the train arrived 64 minutes late into Paddington at 06:08 not that I suspect it mattered to most if not all of the passengers onboard.

[bobm]

Brake problems on the rear loco and wheels locked.  Another driver saw sparks as they passed. 

[1st fan]

Ah that may have woken someone up, thanks for the explanation.

[GBM]

Oops.
https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:G39092/2023-03-07/detailed#allox_id=0

As I post at 03h30, the up sleeper is just passing Liskeard. 248 minutes down.
Whilst there is a lot of make up time in their schedule, it's going to be a long night for passengers.
 
21:45 Penzance to London Paddington due 05:08
07/03/23 21:45 Penzance to London Paddington due 05:08 is being delayed between Par and Bodmin Parkway and is now expected to be 242 minutes late.
This is due to a fault on this train.

[IndustryInsider]

Arrived at 8am.  Perfect time for a good nights sleep! 

[bobm]

Especially if you were waiting to join at Plymouth where it didn't arrive until 4am rather than just before midnight!

[hoover50]

Perfect time for a good nights sleep!)

I very much doubt it - At some point in the proceedings this morning, the usual sleeper set was swapped out for an IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)).