Today we have problems with flooding at Ledbury.

04:49 Hereford - Paddington got through OK.
05:23 Hereford - Paddington got through OK.
Two West Midlands Trains services from Shrub Hill to Hereford got through OK.
But 06:40 Hereford - Paddington gave up at Ledbury.

 

Not a good day

 
Empty stock of 06:40 Hereford - Paddington now on its way to Bristol Temple Meads via Worcester.

 
06:50 Paddington - Great Malvern also cancelled.

 


Great - 140+ miles of railway appears to to be trespassed upon for a period of almost three hours.

Seems to me that any old excuse will do to cancel a service on the OWW these days

It'd be interesting to work out what percentage of the times this Hereford service doesn't reach Hereford - I think it would be quite high.

 

Yet another short working

 
Short workings happen all over the network, generally on long-distance services that have single-line sections. Restricts (very) late running/cancellation to just one or two services usually rather than lasting all day - and where stock from one line-of-route is then used on a different line-of-route, prevents delays/canx spreading across the network.

 
Realtime Trains has different explanations about what happened this morning, with no mention of trespassers:

05:23 Hereford - Paddington. Positioning journey from Bristol Parkway started 40 late and arrived 34 late. Started 17 late from Hereford, missed its path at Charlbury. 45 late from Charlbury (at 07:56), 62 late at Hanborough, 83 late at Oxford. Cancelled after that "due to a problem with the traction equipment". Due into Paddington at 08:24.

06:43 Shrub Hill - Paddington. Held at Evesham, left there 20 late. Arrived Charlbury 30 late, left 58 late (at 08:31). +60 at Oxford, progressively later after Reading. Into Paddington +90 (due 08:42).

07:01 Shrub Hill - Didcot halts train. Held at Evesham. Left there 18 late. Arrived Charlbury +37, left +52. Arrived Oxford +54. Cancelled after that.

06:40 Hereford - Paddington. Cancelled between Hereford and Oxford "due to the signalbox not being open". On time from Oxford, but progessively later after Reading. Into Paddington +29.

08:13 Shrub Hill - Paddington. On time from Shrub Hill. Into Charlbury on time (at 09:08) but left 17 late. Lost more time approaching Paddington - arrived 28 late.

08:56 Great Malvern - Paddington. Cancelled between Great Malvern and Shrub Hill "due to the signalbox not being open". Lost time approaching Paddington - arrived 18 late.

09:54 Great Malvern - Paddington. Cancelled between Great Malvern and Shrub Hill "due to late arrival of inbound service".

05:50 Paddington - Great Malvern. Cancelled between Shrub Hill and Great Malvern "due to the signalbox not being open".  Forms 08:56 above.

06:50 Paddington - Great Malvern. Cancelled between Shrub Hill and Great Malvern "due to late arrival of inbound service".  Forms 09:54 above.

07:50 Paddington - Great Malvern. On time at Oxford. +15 at Wolvercote Junction, +27 at Charlbury, +30 into Shrub Hill.

 
And a couple more cancellations:

 

Yes, but they are just helping to mitigate the symptoms when something has gone wrong and not addressing the root cause.  If the root causes can be fixed most of the time, there would be little need to treat symptoms.

 
Indeed, I agree.

I was referring to why the services were cut short of their destinations

 
I think the "service" on the OWW these days completely lives up to the worse and worse handle.  It's not much short of a total p*** take.

Yesterday's 1658 Paddington to Great Malvern was cancelled throughout, on a day of several other cancellations

[/i]
(Realtime Trains)

Tell me this isn't just taking the mick

 

 
Major track faultbetween Oxford & Didcot - all lines closed

 

Nuneham Bridge near Culham has been slowly sinking into the banks of the Thames for years.  A 50mph speed limit became 20mph a few weeks ago, but a driver reported a rough ride even at that speed so it’ll need an inspection before reopening and it’s in the middle of nowhere!

 
Is it ok if I be slightly alarmed by this...

Mark

 
From what Industry Insider has just reported it doesn’t sound good at all.

 

Alarm in the sense there will be a lot of disruption tonight and potentially into the future - YES
Alarm in the sense a bridge slowly sinking is likely to be a serious passenger safety issue - NO

 
I came across the bridge about 1 hour before this incident and it didn't seem any worse than usual, although I had had a beer 

More importantly this bridge has obviously been getting worse over the last few weeks, so is anyone aware of any plans to fix it or at least stabilise the situation.

 
The good: the Thames has settled down a bit now.

The less good: if it's not the bridge superstructure, the ground's clay and mudstone overlain by stuff from the quaternary (so, thrown down after the last ice age, and there it's listed as sand silt and gravel so not a forgiving ground from the point of view of foundations).

This sort of ground can fail gently before picking up its heels a bit and generally becoming a nuisance.

Mark

 
Surprisingly, that bridge is less than 100 years old. After a short-lived timber bridge, the second had iron spans and timber lattice piers. The current one dates from 1929, and is much more solid. Though maybe too heavy for its foundations?

Copyright Mat Fascione and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

 

Has it REALLY been -9C overnight??   All around elsewhere reports are of it being much warmer last night than the previous night.

 
The -9C will not doubt refer to RAF Benson which is a well known cold spot in south Oxfordshire. Alright for those residing in the tropical climes of Melksham.

 

Those who waited for hours in those temperatures for replacement buses late last night (and were then charged to use them when they arrived!) would probably be best placed to confirm.

 

According to the Met Office website, Benson got as cold as 0C last night!

 

Perhaps it meant that with temperatures dipping as low as -9 over the previous few nights, including last weekend, temporary repairs to remove the 20mph restriction (and therefore prevent any further marked deterioration resulting in the report of a rough ride last night) weren’t able to be done.

 

Photo of the pre-1929 bridge here:

https://heritagesearch.oxfordshire.gov.uk/images/POX0118414

Does anyone know when, in the past, there's been talk of quadruple tracking Oxford to Didcot? It must have been a humungous bottleneck down the ages, is that still the case now? In 1929 the economy was shaky (when is it not...) but you wonder if four tracking was a consideration for the replacement bridge at that date. The width of the bridge deck is generous but not enough for two pairs of tracks, which is curious. The single central pier is wider still, perhaps that component actually was intended to be suitable to carry two pairs of tracks.



While it's something that would be difficult to do now: a 'least disruption option' might be quadruple tracking the existing line as far as Culham and then a 5 kilometre cut off to join the GWML at a new junction just east of Didcot.

Mark

 
There's been rumblings of quadrupling over the last thirty or so years, most recently south from Oxford as far as Radley, but nothing has gone beyond the aspiration stage.  Anything beyond that, including cut-offs, would be very expensive and therefore probably unjustifiable.  Four tracks south from Oxford to Radley, and grade separation at Didcot and possibly a reversible loop line between Didcot and Appleford Junction would be much more suitable IMHO.

I doubt the money will be forthcoming in the near term for anything though.

 

 
There were other delays and cancellations today. RealTimeTrains has some of them being "due to a rail defect".

1P02 05:23 Hereford - Paddington. On time to Wolvercote Junction, but 25 late arriving at Oxford. Cancelled after Oxford.
1P16 06:43 Shrub Hill - Paddington. Also on time to Wolvercote. 17 late into Oxford, 19 late into Paddington.
2E80 07:01 Shrub Hill - Didcot. On time to Oxford, but cancelled after that.
1P03 06:40 Hereford - Paddington. Empty journey started 18 late from Stoke Gifford and arrived 26 late. Left Hereford 26 late. Held at Norton Junction. Ran 41 late from there to Reading. Cancelled after that.
1P20 08:13 Shrub Hill - Paddington. Also held at Norton Junction. 14 late through to Paddington.
1P22 08:56 Great Malvern - Paddington. 13 late more-or-less throughout.
1P24 09:54 Great Malvern - Paddington. Cancelled between Great Malvern and Foregate Street. Delayed at Kingham (8 late) but further delayed after Reading. 32 late at Paddington.

1W13 Paddington - Great Malvern. On time to Didcot. 25 late after that, 36 late from Oxford and into Shrub Hill. Cancelled after Foregate Street.
1W15 Paddington - Great Malvern. On time to Radley, but lost time after that. 27 late into Great Malvern.

 
A bit more information on plans to sort out the bridge from a Network Rail Asset Engineer:

 
So a 20mph TSR until then, probably with regular inspections?

 
They’ve got some monitoring equipment there, so I’m guessing they can keep a good eye on it remotely.  Could go back up to a 50mph restriction if a bit of tamping is done perhaps?  But certainly not back up to line speed until the work detailed is undertaken.

 

Departed Great Malvern at 09:14, 18 late.
Departed Shrub Hill at 09:52, 36 late.
At 11:08, when JourneyCheck was "last updated", it was awaiting the single line at Charlbury. Departed at 11:09, some 58 late.

Why is JourneyCheck so patchy?

 
What do you mean by 'patchy'?

My guess is that was posted just following the decision not to call at Slough. So a sensible update.

 

Most morning peak services appear to have suffered some minor delays but services seem to be running smoothly at the moment (12:55)

 
16-seater minibus turned up for the RRB from Oxford to Worcester last night (2250ish from Oxford). Bit of a downgrade from an IET as I’m sure even Broadgage would agree. I felt sorry for the passenger who was travelling on it as far as Evesham…

 


Realtime trains suggests it got beyond Wolvercote Junction where its last timing was 18:33 (now 20:15). Realtime trains also suggseting the 17:26 WOF:PAD has been held at Charlbury since 18:38.

 
Ooof, lucky me! Got off the line just before this happened!

 
Seems quite serious…tweet from someone on the train

 
Thought to be masonry from an overbridge.

 
Oxford Mail is reporting a road incident nearby:


Speculation is never helpful and could just be coincidence.

 
Google maps reporting mahoosive stationary traffic at the bridge's location. Bridge is this:

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.8014957,-1.3228304,3a,75y,99.85h,63.43t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1stskNENjwhPmP2l1T-X6SWw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!5m2!1e4!1e1

Mark

 
I have just returned from Paddington where I was hoping to board the 19:50 to Hereford.

They announced at Paddington that there was a bridge collapse in the Hanborough area and there would be no through trains until the end of the day. I’m going to try again tomorrow and may have to be picked up at Oxford instead.

 
Rail Replacement Bus Service now running to and from Oxford heading north for the rest of the day.

 
Ongoing all day today too

 
From journeycheck

M

 
Train identified by a CLPG membee

 
Another well maintained Network Rail structure that requires no maintenance and fewer inspections….. perhaps!

 
oh come on, landslips are happening owing to climate change. Not much NR can have done....

 
There's a cab video of the route from 2019, taken in the 'Down' direction. The approach to the bridge can be found from 55 minutes in to the video. At 55' 22", as the train passes beneath the bridge, there's a glimpse of a 'Not quite benign looking' wing wall, that looks to have had issues with water seeping through. Then, this winter, the area's seen some very low night time temperatures.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMADOeBumAU

Mark

 
The RAIB are in attendance collecting evidence

 

Good cab video that.  I wonder who could have produced it?    P.S. It was 2020.

 
Oops, yes, 2020: sparse passenger numbers, people masked up.

So many cab videos seem to chance on weather that's not the best, but not this one. West of the Severn particularly, it's a lovely record of the line, the season, and the country. Always love to see that sight-line through Ledbury's station's footbridge.

Mark

 
That was my first thought when I saw it, was it an II production.

 
Interesting - the AA travel site attributed this to a vehicle striking the bridge. Which is correct (or which caused the other if both?)

 
BBC site now has a couple of photos from the track.

Mark

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-64609319

 

Yes but economists and Minsters in the Treasury know far more about these things than Network Rail engineers so if they say it is safe to reduce inspections it must be. 

 
GWR website saying that services are expected to resume this evening.

 

Do I hear a faint echo of "we don't need experts"?

 
Services back running. Realtime trains saying the 14:46 Paddington to Great Malvern is just getting to Wolvercote Junction 24 minutes late.

[update]

 
But now cancelled again:

 
Wondering if users of the adjacent industrial site got the memo that the road has a 7.5 tonne weight limit on it. (Signed from one direction at least). Also, what services cross the bridge whose wing wall has failed.

Mark

 

 
Which weekend?

 
My thinking is this weekend, until notified of further delays

 
From Network Rail, on Twitter

 
RealTimeTrains seems to be suggesting that services might extend to Charlbury from tomorrow rather than Moreton, but who knows:

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/detailed/gb-nr:MIM/2023-02-14/0000-2359?stp=WVS&show=all&order=wtt

 
Tuesday February 14 - the problem continues, with some diversions, some cancellations and other services only operating between Worcester and Charlbury. At 08:07, JourneyCheck was reporting:

Diversions via Stroud only apply in the up direction:

04:49 Hereford - Paddington (due 07:38)
05:23 Hereford - Paddington (08:24)
17:26 Foregate Street - Paddington (19:54)
22:00 Hereford - Paddington (01:17)

Cancellations:

15:20 Paddington - Foregate Street
17:34 Paddington - Hereford
22:50 Paddington -  Worcestershire Parkway

 
With the opening of Worcester drivers depot a few years ago, and all of them signing the route via Swindon, it makes diverting trains so much easier than it was when Oxford and Paddington crewed virtually all the North Cotswold services.

One of those little things than can sometimes make a big difference!

 
Journeycheck now reporting this as continuing to the end of service tomorrow (Wed Feb 15).

Plus two more cancellations: 10:50 Paddington - Shrub Hill and 13:16 return.

 
15:20 Paddington - Foregate Street now restored, but diverted via Stroud
17:34 Paddington - Hereford likewise

 
Just to add to the challenge there’s a gas main on the roadway which is slowly being uncovered as soil falls away at the bridge. 

Not causing issues at the moment but is being watched. 

 
National Rail website now reporting that the line will be closed until the end of Tuesday February 21.

 

JouneyCheck mirroring that.  On local bus connections:


So that's buses between Kingham and Oxford, although the train from Worcester goes as far as Charlbury.  I am not familiar with the geography of the area - would it be fair to guess that Charlbury station and village are well separated, and running the bus operation from Charlbury Station would be impractical? -- - here's the answer:


Only a very small proportion of users - but what about the halts? -- - here's the answer:


What about passengers from east of Didcot to west of Worcestershire Parkway?   Travel via Swindon?


It would appear that advice is to use coaches.   For those with cycles, dogs, heavy luggage, or who find coach travel far less comfortable:


I note that only says TODAY - though I suspect it applies up to the line re-opening

Nothing about "via Moreton in Marsh" tickets being accepted on GWR trains via Swindon which is (I recall) a more expensive route.   Again, I suspect that no-one would be surcharged, though I wonder what tickets will be offered for sale

 

Charlbury station is just in the Evenlode valley below the town - it's a five-minute walk from the town centre, two minutes from the nearest houses.

The bridge with the weight restriction is the one over the River Evenlode, directly between the town and the station. It first started showing signs of wear about 10 years ago, and there's been a deliberate decision to keep the weight limit on it to prevent heavy traffic going through Charlbury (and, in particular, the tight turn at the top of the hill). In practice Oxfordshire County Council are forgiving of rail replacement buses using it, but I can see that GWR wouldn't want to plan to use it regularly.

The split Charlbury/Kingham solution is quite a clever move. Others will know more than me but I also suspect trains can turn around at Charlbury but not at Kingham.

GWR's designation of the stop on Nine Acres Lane as "Charlbury Village" (it's not the first time it's been used) has caused some muttered comments locally - Charlbury is very proud of being a town!

 
You can go back from Kingham with a pilot but it involves running on the wrong line all the way to Moreton, so more complex (max 50 mph for example).

 
Journeycheck is reporting

RealTimeTrains is showing the 15:20 from Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street as being diverted via Stroud, and just leaving Swindon.

 
It is going via Swindon & South Cotswolds

 
Video update from Network Rail on site with the miscreant bridge:

https://twitter.com/networkrailwest/status/1625909007679467521

Mark

 
Now closed only from Oxford to Hanborough - trains Hanborough to Worcester.

 
Bit of a novelty at the moment, as it's currently possible to travel non-stop between Worcester and Reading. The 0537 and 0610 departures from Worcester Shrub Hill this morning both ran non-stop through Cheltenham, along the Golden Valley Line, through Swindon and Didcot, until their next booked stop at Reading.

 
So, if the North Cotswolds Line Task Force’s assumptions are correct, this new express Worcester service will result in thousands of Worcester passengers flocking to the train and increased economic prosperity for the city, right?

…right?

 

It needs to be a service that people can rely on over a considerable period, so more substantial damage will be required to keep the line closed for perhaps a period of years.   But income will be helped as an anytime return via Stroud costs £196.80 whereas via Evesham is £95.00

 
From JourneyCheck:

 
Yep, every weekday until the line re-opens. Two up services in the morning go that way too.

NOTE however, that tomorrow, and possibly Sunday, services are restricted again and bustitution starts at Moreton-in-Marsh to Oxford. Guessing they need more of the line to bring in equipment.

 
Or a Pilot can’t be sourced.

 
You may well be right....wording may be suggesting that.

From Journeycheck -

 
Yes, that’s the issue.

The RRBs today were not in a great way. I will probably post more some time later but right now I need a drink…

 

yeghes da (Cornish for 'cheers')

 

Indeed so. But Journeycheck only lists the up services once, under 'Other Train Service Updates', whereas it lists the afternoon down services in the afternoon twice, once as 'Cancellations' and a second time under 'Other Train Service Updates' as being diverted. The double listing of the down services is not as clear as it should be. Either don't bother with the 'Cancellations' entry (and they haven't worried about this for the up trains) or have a new heading for 'Diverted Services'.

 
Looking good to reopen tomorrow with a 20mph check.

 

Here's Network Rail's description of what they've done:

PS: The Guildford line bridge in Wokingham had a similar tantrum last Friday. Part of the parapet fell onto the road, and it wasn't because it got hit - too high above the road, for one thing. So a day with the road closed and a brickie up a scaffold tower, and now we have a stretch of new brickwork.  No trains to disrupt, of course.

 
And everything reopened this morning as expected.

Curious engineering train scheduled for this evening: Honeybourne to Finstock. I bet that combination hasn't appeared very often! https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:U03583/2023-02-22/detailed

 
Just the thing for a Friday afternoon...


Those decanted at Oxford having to take the next service...


Leaving a two car turbo to pick up all those for stations to Moreton-in-Marsh!

 
The 15:20 from Paddington, missing out lots of stops, got to Foregate Street 41 late at 18:22.

Curiously, the return journey, the 17:58 from Foregate Street has been started from Shrub Hill, but is running 30 minutes late.

RealTimeTrains is reporting that the 19:05 from Great Malvern is being started from Oxford (due to an issue with the train crew) - but this is not being reported on JourneyCheck.

 

RAIB have announced an investigation into this. The first thing to look at was where, of several candidates, it was - Yarnton is the decision:

 
It's good to see this described as a wingwall collapse rather than a landslip.

Everything looks a bit... damp, and people working with this will now be very familiar with the services the bridge carries.

If a water main's involved along with other services, sometimes the fix for a water leak can be delayed while the various services have a conversation and everyone sort of loses focus on the potential risk particularly if the services cross a structure.

Anecdotes follow ... tl;dr - we sometimes don't take into account the vulnerabilities of bridges and the 'Stitch in time' principle.

Anedote 1: Out on a walk, passing beneath a bridge over the canal, everything was wet. The bridge's retaining wall had a healthy spout of potable water issuing cheerfully from it that looked to have been running for so long that it was surprising that it wasn't marked on OS maps as a spring, and the leak looked to have redirected itself from its previous path of least resistance through the bridge arch, which was and remains a bit distressed. The road surface above indicated services below, so, phone call to the water authority.

It emerged that their leak reporting line was unable to locate a leak without a postcode - awkward as, despite a house alongside it, canal bridges do not have postcodes. They finally located the leak from identifying the intersection of the (b) road and the canal - and then responded that the leak had indeed been reported some time ago and were thankfully indiscrete enough to say the fix was complicated as it was beneath a wooden pole mounted through the bridge approach and carrying a lowish voltage electricity pole, which had delayed things. This is some way from home and I didn't revisit until the end of August last year when the whole area was dry (and the leak had not prompted an actual collapse before it was fixed).





Anecdote 2: one Friday, we received a report that Bath's Two Tunnels path was abruptly wet at Claude Avenue bridge - that's one of the two overbridges in Oldfield Park. Dropping by on the way home from work, water was seeping from a very wide area of the bridge's masonry including the flat & vulnerable retaining wall on the uphill side.

There followed a phone call to Wessex Water making clear the position of the leak and the potential for structural damage. To their credit, they were out that evening, and over the weekend they dug things up, fixed it and the bridge quickly dried  and we didn't need to contact them again about it.

Mark

 

Interestingly, Rail Advent carries an extra snippet -


Wonder where they got that from.

 
The photograph in the RAIB announcement makes it look as if the wall is made up of two skins of brickwork, with little bonding between the two. You can see this more clearly in the RailAdvent piece.