Great Western Coffee Shop

Severe Disruption is expected across majority of Rail Network due to weather forecast of high - gale force winds.

As a result the Western Region have already advised TOC's of the following:

the following 50mph blanket speeds will be imposed:-
Exeter - Plymouth including Paignton - 1500-2100.
Paddington - Thingley Jcn / Castle Cary via B&H / Heyford / Thingley Jcn - Westbury via Melksham 1600-2200.

I understand from a friend at the ICCW that FGW are planning to run a reduced service tomorrow afternoon and details will be posted to relevant websites ASAP.

National Rail already have some info posted http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/65932.aspx (http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/65932.aspx)

While the winds will no doubt be a problem, the more lasting difficulty could be the 40 to 60 mm of rain forecast over much of the South West...

Any advance warning of problems for my journey tomorrow - Bristol TM-Taunton at 1644 - will be greatly appreciated.

If the rail network falls down then I'm going to be on the buses earlier in the day via Wells. And that may also be problematical seeing as the second bus I need travels across the Somerset Levels.  ::)

Added to that, I have to decide whether to buy a full price rail ticket, having lost my railcard, or chance my arm with the buses.

It seemed such a good idea at the time... got a collection of cheap advance tickets tomorrow to go from Newton Abbot to Penzance, up on the sleeper and then from Paddington to Swindon....  (oh and after a half day in the office back down to Newton Abbot....)

Might be just a touch problematical.... ;D

For once, I'm glad I'm not travelling.

Travelling up to London on the 24th departing Truro at 06.18. More than a little concerned about disruption given the forecast for tomorrow, and that the rain will continue through the night.

My question: in the event of rail replacement between Exeter St David's and Tiverton/Taunton, is it likely that my FGW advance ticket will be valid on South West Trains to Waterloo?*


*Assuming no landslips etc on this line, too

Crosscountry in anticipation, are carrying tickets for 22nd, 23rd AND 24th December on any services today. I know that probably does not help much but at least it is forward thinking. Not sure whether First are doing the same. Bignosemac has picked a 'choice' train tomorrow. Always full between Bristol and Exeter with commuters.....and if it is 4 coach train that 'really will be cosy'! Lol

Grim news - looks like being the second year running that people's travel plans will be thrown into chaos by the transport systems inability to cope with rough weather, no doubt some will be stranded....it's all very well telling people to travel today rather than tomorrow, but a lot of people have to work.

I hope that since the last disaster in areas such as Cowley Bridge, NR and the TOCs will have used the last year to make their services and contingency planning more robust.

Thankfully I don't have a long trip this year, but still have to get to work.

FGW have lifted Advance ticket restrictions for journeys after 12 noon tomorrow due to the anticipated bad weather thus allowing passengers to travel on earlier trains and minimise delays caused by speed limits.

Last year SWT were accepting FGW ticket holders into Waterloo and they strengthened their services too.

I don't think this has been officially published yet.  FGW are planning an announcement Monday morning. 

I was told by customer services when I phoned them.

Just seen that message confirmed on Twitter!

https://twitter.com/FGW/status/414865904565256193

The lifting of restrictions now confirmed on the front page of the FGW website.

Bringing my journey forward to around midday in the hope that I dodge any disruption. Does mean going out now to finish off the Christmas shopping, rather than mid-morning as planned.

Wording is

South West Trains have announced that from lunchtime its London Waterloo to Exeter service will terminate at Salisbury with a shuttle service running from Salisbury onwards.

Weather already horrendous down here in Truro. If this is indeed going to get worse then it's going to be a very long day for the railways.

Looks like the Looe branch is the first -perhaps unsurprising - casualty of the weather.

Oh, and next door's fence is now in my sister's garden  :(

SWT services Bristol to Waterloo seem to all be cancelled at the moment but I couldn't see any mention of it on their website, might just be as far as Salisbury though.

There's a shuttle service from Salisbury to Exeter at the moment

11.33 from Liskeard (originating Penzance ) to London Paddington now shown as cancelled

From the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25490384):

Confirmed Blanket Speed Restrictions will be as follows:

 50mph blanket speed restriction on the West Country area between Exeter St. Davids and Penzance, and Newton Abbot West Jn to Paignton between 18:00 and 23:59

 50mph blanket speed restriction on the Thames Valley area between Paddington and Thingley Jn, Didcot East Jn and Heyford, Reading Westbury Line Jn and Castle Cary and Thingley Jn to Westbury North Jn.
This will apply between 16:00 Mon and 03:00 Tue.

 50mph blanket speed restriction on the West Country area between Exeter St. Davids and Penzance, and Newton Abbot West Jn to Paignton between 10:00 and 14:00.

Looking at the latest radar picture conditions in Devon look horrendous. Expect reports of flooding to start to appear.

There are reports of flooding on both the Barnstaple and Paignton branches.

Been raining heavily in South Devon for the last four hours with only one brief respite.

As requested..

Newton Abbot - Paignton & Exeter St. Davids - Barnstaple closed for flooding.

Delays between Totnes & Plymouth due to obstruction on line in down direction.

1A83 - Due to a train fault - not stopping at St Austell, Par, Bodmin Parkway and Liskeard.

A bit calmer now in Truro, bit still raining and gusty, just not rocking the house anymore!

EXD-Barnstaple re-opened, but now another tree down, so expect further cancellations.

Forecast of Severe Weather - Monday 23rd December 2013 - UPDATE at 1245

Owing to the weather forecast indicating that severe weather conditions will affect much of the First Great Western network in England later today certain revisions will take place to our advertised timetable from approximately 15:00 this afternoon.

As a result, customers may experience a reduction in train service frequencies together with extended journey times. Specific details of cancellations and alterations to services will be issued later on today. Extended journey times may be experienced from late morning as a result of where Network Rail impose speed restrictions on those routes affected by high winds but as any such restrictions may evolve to take account of those areas which are affected it would not, at this stage, be possible to precisely quantify delays.

The following alterations to ticket validity will apply for today:

Customers holding tickets for departures today, Monday 23rd December, may travel earlier or delay your journey until tomorrow, Tuesday 24th December, on the understanding that these trains are in many cases likely to be very busy and thus a seat cannot be guaranteed; seat reservations for the original train will NOT be transferred to an earlier one. Customers with tickets dated for travel for Tuesday 24th December may also travel today Monday 23rd December.

Where customers have been delayed getting to the station, or on other train operators services, and have missed their booked First Great Western service, they will be permitted to travel on the next service forward, irrespective of the type of ticket held.

Hearing on twitter that a northbound HST has brake failure outside of Plymouth. Passenger has photographed three passengers jumping out of the window(s) and running up the embankment :o

Any news anyone?

AMENDED TRAIN PLAN FOR THIS AFTERNOON

HSS - Train Specific Alterations
South Wales to Paddington 
1L74 1555 Cardiff Central to London Paddington; this train will run.
1L82 1655 Cardiff Central to London Paddington; service cancelled. 
 1L88 1755 Cardiff Central to London Paddington; service cancelled. 

Paddington to South Wales  All services are planned to operate.   

Bristol to Paddington 
1A24 1600 Bristol TM to London Paddington; service cancelled 
1A26 1700 Bristol TM to London Paddington; service cancelled.   
1A28 1800 Bristol TM to London Paddington; service cancelled 

Paddington to Bristol
1C21 1600 London Paddington to Bristol TM; service cancelled
1C23 1700 London Paddington to Bristol TM; service cancelled. 
1C25 1800 London Paddington to Bristol TM; service cancelled.
1C27 1900 London Paddington to Bristol TM; service cancelled.
1C29 2000 London Paddington to Bristol TM; service cancelled. 
   
 
Cheltenham and Gloucester to London 
1L67 1420 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington; service runs throughout. 
1L80 1628 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington; service terminates Swindon.   
1L91 1834 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington; service terminates Swindon 

London to Gloucester and Cheltenham. 
1G47 1536 London Paddington to Cheltenham; service runs throughout.   
1G60 1742 London Paddington to Cheltenham; starts Swindon at 1845
1G70 1847 London Paddington to Cheltenham; starts Swindon at 1955.

London to Oxford, Worcester and Hereford
1D49 1622 London Paddington to Oxford; service cancelled
1D51 1649 London Paddington to Oxford; service cancelled
1W07 1722 London Paddington to Hereford; service will run. 
1W59 1749 London Paddington to Worcester; service cancelled. 
1W08 1822 London Paddington to Hereford; service will run.  Expected to be 30 minutes late by Didcot, run as booked. 
1D67 1850 London Paddington to Oxford; service cancelled
1W09 1922 London Paddington to Hereford; service will run. 

Hereford to Worcester, Oxford and London
1P63 1701 Oxford to London Paddington; service cancelled.
1P69 1801 Oxford to London Paddington; service cancelled. 
1P71 1831 Oxford to London Paddington; service cancelled.
1P87 2059 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington; service cancelled. 
1P81 2101 Oxford to London Paddington; service cancelled. 
1P90 2151 Hereford to London Paddington; service will run.
 
London Paddington to Newbury, Westbury, Taunton and the West of England
1C88 1636 London Paddington to Exeter St Davids; service runs. 
1C90 1706 London Paddington to Bristol TM (via Newbury); service cancelled.
1C91 1733 London Paddington to Paignton; CALLS ADDITIONALLY at Thatcham and Theale in lieu of 1C90.
1J93 1806 London Paddington to Frome; service cancelled
1C94 1835 London Paddington to Exeter St Davids, CALLS ADDITIONALLY at Thatcham and Theale in Lieu of 1J93. 
West of England to Taunton, Westbury, Newbury and London Paddington 
All services will run as advertised. 
 

AMENDED TRAINPLAN FOR THIS AFTERNOON

LTV Service Alterations

All Oxford and Reading to Paddington stopping services will run as booked. 

Most fast services between London Paddington to Oxford will be withdrawn from approximately 1600, with the exception of those services which continue towards or have come from the North Cotswolds.  There are certain exceptions, especially later in the evening when fewer other services running provide paths for the Oxford services to be reinstated in order to get rolling stock to Oxford for start of service on Tuesday. 
The following trains between Paddington and Oxford which are currently scheduled to run may be cancelled at short notice should weather conditions prove to be worse than expectations:
1D77 2048 London Paddington to Oxford
1D79 2118 London Paddington to Oxford
1D83 2218 London Paddington to Oxford. 
1D85 2248 London Paddington to Oxford
1D87 2318 London Paddington to Oxford; 

Reading to Basingstoke services will run an hourly service from 1600 with an additional unit at Reading to step up and mitigate any late running.

A full service is anticipated to run on the North Downs with the exception of the evening peak services to Shalford which will not run. Consideration will be given by the LTV Train Service Controller to terminating/starting Gatwick services at Redhill to mitigate late running on this line of route. 

LTV - Train Specific Alterations
Reading to Basingstoke (and vv). 
Services departing Reading for Basingstoke at xx.07 from 1607 until close of service WILL BE CANCELLED.
Services departing Basingstoke for Reading at xx.36 from 1636 until close of service WILL BE CANCELLED. 
 
North Downs Services
2O45 1651 Reading to Shalford; service CANCELLED. 
2V69 1758 Shalford to Reading; service CANCELLED
2O50 1904 Reading to Shalford; service CANCELLED
2V72 2202 Shalford to Reading; service CANCELLED
All other services are scheduled to run, but may be subject to alteration due to late running on the day. 

Class 2 Stopping Services ^ Oxford to Paddington and v.v. 
Contrary to previous advice, all Class 2 stopping services between Oxford and London Paddington will run as booked. 

Thames Valley Branches
All Thames Valley branches will be ^locked in^ for the evening peak.  The following alterations will be made:

Henley Branch
1H48 1712 London Paddington to Henley on Thames; starts Twyford
1H52 1812 London Paddington to Henley on Thames; starts Twyford
1H54 1905 London Paddington to Henley on Thames; starts Twyford

Marlow Branch
1N44 1742 Paddington to Bourne End; cancelled.
2B43 1821 Marlow to Bourne End; runs ^
1N52 1842 Paddington to Bourne End; cancelled.
2B48 1847 Maidenhead to Bourne End;
2B46 1831 Bourne End to Marlow; service cancelled. 
2B47 1852 Marlow to Bourne End; service cancelled. 
2B49 1902 Bourne End to Maidenhead; service cancelled. 
2B51 1924 Marlow to Bourne End;
2B54 1934 Bourne End to Marlow; service cancelled. 
2B55 1953 Marlow to Bourne End; service cancelled. 
2B57 2005 Bourne End to Maidenhead; service cancelled. 
 

London Paddington to Newbury and Bedwyn (and vv). 
1K65 1439 Bedwyn to London Paddington; terminates at Reading.
1K74 1618 Paddington to Bedwyn; starts Reading
1K83 1853 Newbury to London Paddington; terminates at Reading
1K84 1954 Bedwyn to London Paddington; terminates at Reading.. 

London Paddington to Oxford
1D53 1718 London Paddington to Oxford; service cancelled
1D57 1735 London Paddington to Oxford; service will run. 
1D61 1818 London Paddington to Oxford; service cancelled
1D69 1918 London Paddington to Oxford; service cancelled
1M73 1950 London Paddington to Banbury; starts from Oxford at 2055.
1D77 2048 London Paddington to Oxford; service will run*. 
1D79 2118 London Paddington to Oxford; service will run*..
1D83 2218 London Paddington to Oxford; service will run*.  . 
1D85 2248 London Paddington to Oxford; service will run*. 
1D87 2318 London Paddington to Oxford; service will run*.
Note that all services marked * may be cancelled if conditions prove to be more severe than expected

Oxford to London Paddington
1P61 1553 Moreton-in-Marsh to London Paddington; service terminates Reading
1P63 1701 Oxford to London Paddington (HSS); service cancelled. 
1P69 1801 Oxford to London Paddington (HSS) service cancelled.
1P71 1831 Oxford to London Paddington; (HSS) service cancelled.
1P75 1931 Oxford to London Paddington; service cancelled.
1P77 2002 Oxford to London Paddington; service cancelled
1P81 2101 Oxford to London Paddington (HSS), service cancelled. 
1P89 2311 Oxford to London Paddington, service will run*

10.00 departure from Penzance to Paddington stuck near Devonport with brake failure, and causing inevitable delays to all trains.

Thank you to .. and thoughts with all those FGW members of staff out there helping in appalling conditions, especially those who didn't sign up for the foul weather outside work.

From my email:


"All hands to the pumps" - perhaps literally in some places!

Rescue engine sent out, terminated at Plymouth 112 Late  :-[

Just had a very quick twitter response to my questions about services tomorrow morning, so well done the media folks, too.

I ended up taking the (slightly delayed) 1344 from Bristol TM - Taunton. Apart from having to stand all the way, not to bad.

Later journey was more interesting though. Taking the bus from Taunton to Curry Rivel in Somerset was fun. The A378 was barely passable to normal cars in places. We witnessed one car in front of us get stuck after he went for speed through a deep flood rather than slow and steady. Bus driver inched up behind him and pushed him out. Water was deep enough to come into the bus, so we all moved to the back, up the step, above the rear axle. After getting through this flood driver told us to hold tight as he did a firm bit of braking to force all the water back out the door at the front.

All good fun.  ;D

Good service from FGW telesales team.

Have a 1st Advance on the 06.18 Truro - Paddington tomorrow, but will be travelling on the 09.26 as weather forecast to improve, so less chance of cancellation etc than the early train.

They were happy to book me a seat in coach H for this service at no extra cost despite said Advance ticket. Well done, a happy customer!

Glad you were able to make the journey earlier than the 16.44. I know it was packed but at least you got there. Interesting bus journey as well!

Ouch! High Speed services heading down to Penzance suffering extreme delays of up to 140 mins. Safe journey to all passengers and crews, especially as the wind is really picking up again down here in Truro

Problems with flooding at Royal Wotton Bassett junction causing major delays. 16.30 Paddington to Taunton currently running 140 minutes late.

Update: 16.15 and 16.45 Paddington to Swansea trains both over 150 minutes late.

Info at Paddington was a bit lacking (no surprise really). I got there about 7.10pm... No local trains on the board as all the intercities were so delayed there was no room for our trains..

I asked one of the lovely information ladies... But to be fair all they do when asked is all I do.. Look at the departure board.. So nothing useful there other than telling us the 19.27 would be running but no idea which platform.. After a while I went for wander, couldn't find my train, came back to the info point. Someone else was also asking at this point. The original lady spotted me and said platform 13.. I did say "it won't be there by the time we get there" and she said it would.. I was one of the last people on the train yet it still hadn't made the main departure boards.. We left people behind who were slightly less fast than me.. ooops

16.45 Paddington to Swansea now running 185 minutes late with the Carmarthen train behind 166 minutes late. These are East Coast type delays.

And still the rain comes down. Thoughts with everyone down in Devon and Cornwall where the rain has hardly ceased since the early hours. Must be a concern now.

You would ahve thought FGW would have got used to running trains off paltform 13 after all it's only +100 years old, especialy now the level access via 11 is available.

I've had a thought why not two extra departure boards above the gateline of 11 for Platforms 13 and 14 showing the next trains off just those two platforms. Then at least people in the know could look there if it wasn't on the main departure board.

However, I don't what you can do about them starting the 200 m dash 2 minutes before the train is due out.

That's why at times like this I used to wait on the bridge.

Now worried about Cowley Bridge tomorrow, the rain here in Cornwall has been unrelenting, and I gather it's the same in Devon

Looking at the rainfall radar it is and along the south coast.

About to hit 3hr delay on the 16.06 ex- Pad -Pnz. Tracks flooded between Axminster & Crewkerne with rail replacement impossible due to flooded roads.

South West Trains reporting no services tomorrow until 7.30am though I think so some parts of their network trains won't be running then either along with other train operators across Southern England where the rain continues to fall at quite a pace with no real sign of it clearing anytime soon. Very concerning indeed.

The 16.06 ex Pad - Pnz appears to be stuck between Newton Abbot & Totnes and is now reported 208 mins late. Hopefully not many travelling, but thoughts of course to the crew and passengers

The 21:45 sleeper from Penzance to Paddington is unlikely to leave much before midnight because the driver and train manager are on an incoming train which is 160 minutes late.

1C86 15.06 ex-pad currently 175 late at St. Austell - the Driver & TM are for the up-sleeper 1A40, so by the time a break is had, will be looking not far off a 00:00 departure from Penzance.

Yeah what he said...  :D

Sorry Super Guard. I am on the sleeper and that's what someone told me  ;)

Shouldn't that read platform 12 not 11?

1C87 now 273 late after hitting a tree west of Newton Abbot - ok to continue though.

1C86 arriving 183 late at Penzance.

No HSS until 9am, some West and Thames Valley services running where they can but many lines severely disrupted due to flooding.

Mentioned on the news this morning that there is a train stranded at Taunton for the past 9 hours?

1C98 2035 Paddington to Plymouth got to Taunton 179 minutes late and couldn't get any further due to flooding on the line at Hele and Bradninch between Tiverton and Exeter. This service also struck a tree between Pewsey and Westbury but luckily only suffered minor damage.

I believe, also, an additional service ran from Newbury, 1Z96 around 2300 last night, due to go through to Plymouth. This service also only got as far as Taunton by 0300.

FGW were unable to source replacement road transport overnight and subsequently passengers have been stuck on these trains in Taunton station all night.

Just heard from a passenger on BBC Breakfast News who says they've just left Taunton by coach.

I note also that the Up Sleeper 2145 from Penzance, after departing 164 minutes late, only got as far as Exeter at 0400 where it was cancelled. Spare a thought for bobm of this parish who was on this service overnight.

It sounds calmer outside - wind and rain gone - but leftover effects.    For the record ...


and

Network Rail's morning start up report on the FGW area:

Looks like FGW are thinning out services so an hourly service operates Paddington - Bristol at 00.30 past each hour and Swansea at 00.45 minutes past each hour with the 00.00 Bristol and 00.15 Cardiff services not running, the same in reverse. As for Paddington to West of England, not looking good there at all as bignosemac has listed there are various line blockages including Cowley Bridge.

By the looks of it the down sleeper 1C99 didn't run from Paddington, and used the stock from terminated 1A40 to run Exeter to Penzance.

Crosscountry have confirmed they have given up and not running trains south of Bristol, with no alternatives being provided.

FGW Twitter also reporting it's unlikely EXD-TAU will be open today and buses are in operation.

1A35 last night (1739 from Penzance) was due to arrive at Paddington 2344 but is showing to have actually arrived there at 0552  so even though it was very late, it must have at least made it through Cowley Bridge before the line became blocked.

FGW are operating London - West of England services via Bristol, terminating at Tiverton Parkway for a replacement bus service to Exeter where a shuttle service will operate to Plymouth/Penzance.

Someone on UK Rail Forums has just posted a picture of Cowley Bridge, doesn't look good at all.

Perhaps more difficult in the circumstances here, but XC regularly give up and don't even attempt any contingency arrangements.

They should have at least continued to Taunton then buses to Exeter. Instead, all ready busy trains from London will pick up XC passengers at Bristol to take them onto Tiverton for bus connections to Exeter.

Interesting as under an hour ago I saw a Voyager at Redruth station stopped and picking up passengers.

Looking at Realtime trains it was 1m49 running a Penzance to Plymouth service,

It certainly isn't going through Cowley Bridge any time soon.

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/xeve13_2.jpg)

At least it'll have two days with no service to dry out, as with other locations.  I wonder whether the flooding will affect any of NR's Xmas engineering work?  At least the winds are dropping otherwise I could see a lot of projects being delayed!

Unfortunately they are due to pick up again on Friday - though not currently forecast as bad as yesterday.

Picture of Cowley Bridge this morning around 10am. From Network Rail on twitter:

 (https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BcPi4a8CQAAZ0l3.jpg)
https://twitter.com/NetworkRailPAD/status/415425049571508224/photo/1

No actual flooding at this location, just preparation for high water later. There was some flooding earlier, but further up the line at Hele and Bradninch.

It has no need to as its only running a Penzance to Plymouth service. Later this evening it is returning with a Plymouth - Penzance service.

Couple of updates from the FGW website:

As of 1515 hours the line between Tiverton Parkway and Exeter St Davids has reopened after early flooding.  High Speed Services are now looking to resume services in this area.

Tickets will be valid for travel on Friday 27th December, if required.

First Down train 1C84 1303 Paddington to Plymouth and first Up train 1E63 1505 Plymouth to Leeds just passing through the flooded area between Cowley Bridge Jcn and Tiverton Parkway at 1630ish.

Sensible ... but reminds me of the time, many years ago, that an airline cancelled the flight I was taking the children on for a Christmas Holiday (around 18th December) and (in that case ONLY) offered me a flight 2 weeks later on the basis "well, you bought a cheap ticket and that's our next flight with cheap seats available".   Just imagine the cancellation of a train with an advanced ticket requiring you to rebook on the next train with advanced fares available at the same price - unthinkable.   The railway does have a lot right  ;D

Well I made it!

As already reported the Penzance to Paddington sleeper didn't leave until after midnight. Those in the berths were then woken around Teignmouth to be told the service was terminating at Exeter St David's as both the routes forward were flooded.

Within 10 minutes of getting off the train at 4am I was in a taxi heading for Reading. My eventual destination was Swindon, which although we passed it on the M4, it's against the rules to be dropped off there.   On arrival at Reading it became clear there wasn't going to be train to Swindon anytime soon. So time for some lateral thinking. There was a XC service to Newcastle leaving at 06:40 which called at Oxford. Took that and the Stagecoach bus service 66 from Oxford to Swindon for the princely sum of ^4.60 and arrived in Swindon at 08:50 - long before any train.

Collected the post, processed it, dealt with messages and a couple of domestic chores and then back to the station. My planned train was cancelled but another West of England service was diverted to call at Swindon a few minutes later. That reached Tiverton Parkway in good time after only calling at Bristol Temple Meads, Weston-super-Mare and Taunton.

There were a few problems loading the buses. Mostly caused by people collecting or dropping off friends parking randomly and preventing buses turning etc.  On the flip side some offered lifts to strangers which eased the queue. The coach took me to Exeter St David's from where the trains were running west again.

I saw one incident of "suitcase rage" but other than that most people just got on with it.

Full marks to FGW. Technically I can claim a refund for most of my journeys over the last 36 hours but it almost feels churlish to do so given all they have done.

Welcome back, Bob!  ;D

In situations like this, surely there is an argument for some early Christmas Day & Boxing Day services?

Yes, we all know & appreciate how much Rail staff like to have these two days off, but surely in these circumstances something could be arranged? Otherwise there are people who are not going to see their families at all.

Suspend engineering works, pay generous overtime and get some trains running - I was passing through Reading today (local Reading-Paddington trains all OK so well done FGW for that), but there were people literally weeping on the concourse - not blaming the staff, just in despair.

Myself and my staff may well have to pitch in over Christmas to cope with the effects the weather has had on our industry......we're just doing it because it has to be done - come on guys, step up to the plate and have your Christmas lunch a bit later!!!

You've done a great job to maintain any sort of service in the last 24 hours, let's see if you can really pull it off! (so to speak!), what a great advert for the rail industry that would be!  :)

One for the memoirs there bobm!  ;D

The problem is not the TOC staff or the NR Ops staff to run the service it would be the cost of binning the engineering works all of the Christmas work will have been planed for over the last 2 years (if not longer) will have been contracted out certainly in the last year.   There are literally thousands of people contracted to work over the next few days. 

Much of the work if it were binned now at this short notice would cost many millions of pounds and would put some projects (like Crossrail) back years and I do mean years.

I am already involved in detailed planning works for Christmas 2015 and Easter 2016 with planning for Christmas 2016 and Easter 2017 some of these contracts will be let in the next few months.

Is this correct? (from JourneyCheck)


Which way did it go?

Was it really over 24 hours late?

Perhaps it got stuck behind http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=13339.0 (http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=13339.0).

Nope - according to Real Time Trains, that ran right time or even a minute early (tut!) all the way. It appears to have even had special permission to run between Llandecwyn and Penrhydeudreath - multiple times - whilst that is currently bustituted for regular services

Boring explanation ... that train normally uses a unit on hire from SWT at Salisbury and this run is part of its run home. With the early morning cancellations, the Stroud line (Golden Valley) was probably run by a Bristol based unit, and this was the logical route home for it.  And someone (!) entered "25th" not "24th" into the system  ;D

From FGW's Journey Check at 10.15 on Christmas Day:


So it still ain't there yet, but at least time has stood still.

No longer really 'news', but just for the record - from the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-25507361):

............I wonder what they'll be offered by way of compensation?  ???

Strictly speaking, nothing. FGW's Customer Charter doesn't pay delay compensation for problems outside the control of the rail industry. And the severe weather conditions were something they couldn't control.

FGW Customer Charter Compensation Arrangements (http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/~/media/PDF/AboutUs/CustomerServices/PassengerCharter/Passenger_Charter_2013_nov.ashx#page=8)

National Rail Conditions of Carriage allow for a full refund from the point of purchase if you decided not to travel at all due to disruption/cancellations, but delay compensation will most likely be only as a gesture of goodwill on a case by case basis. I'd always suggest asking - because if you don't ask you don't get. But ultimately, FGW, unlike TOCs who offer 'Delay Repay', are not obliged to offer compensation for weather related delays to journeys undertaken.

It's interesting that in the case of a flight, the onus is on the airline to look after its passengers, make alternative arrangements for them or arrange suitable accommodation if a flight is cancelled for whatever reason, whereas rail passengers are pretty much left to their own devices.

No-one can control the weather that's a fact (not even a strike threat from Bob Crow could do that!), but if FGW dig their heels in and say that they're not going to even make a gesture of goodwill "because the book says they don't have to" after an 11 hour nightmare like that it says more about their concept of Customer Service than anything else.

I note Easyjet had their staff in today, Christmas Day at Gatwick and laid on extra flights for stranded passengers.

You had your answer previously.


I am sure Gatwick would not have opened if it would have delayed their massive refurbishment programme by a year and cost them millions of pounds in compensation to contractors.

Delaying the works by a 24 hours, if that were possible, would have meant lines not reopening on time and delays for travelers at the end of the holiday.  Is this really better?

You've missed my point completely and I aware that someone attempted to address my previous point - I was referring to any compensation/goodwill payments that might be made, and the lack of alternative arrangements for these passengers who were stranded for hours - to preserve the feelings of some, this was not implying any criticism of their beloved TOC for failing to arrive on time in horrendous conditions, more the plight of their customers, with whom they have entered into a contract, when they are stranded and/or massively delayed.

My observation re: Easyjet was just that - they innovated and adopted a "can do" attitude, they asked themselves "what can we do for our customers" and came up with a solution.

The major Airports, like most important services with the almost unique exception of the railways , do not shut up shop for 48 hours over Christmas, they realise life goes on, despite maintenance works, so for Gatwick it wasn't an issue.

Even the Tube is running on Boxing Day, albeit having narrowly avoided the traditional festive RMT strike with a bribe.

The people left stranded at Taunton, we understand were not left to their own devices there were FGW staff with them trying to help.  And they did get a coach in the morning. Getting Coaches at 1:00 am is surely not reasonable, but they managed it the following morning. And before you say it. Hotels for a whole crowded train at that time in Taunton is surely not realistic either.

Whether they compensate those affected is up to FGW and they have not said anything.  All that has been said in this thread is that the rules do not require them to compensate.

I'm pretty sure in extreme circumstances like these train operating companies use their discretion and give those involved a bit extra on top of the usual full refund. I know that following major delays on East Coast recently those who were on trains that were heavily delayed (10 hours +) were refunded and given some first class tickets.

As is pointed out earlier they don't have to do this but compassion usually wins out at times of major disruption.

In the case of the train stranded at Taunton being on the train whilst not the most comfortable of places was possibly the safest place overnight, hopefully FGW provided hot drinks and snacks.

The airlines more often than not do not cover themselves in glory how many time have we seen news footage of passengers sleeping on the floors of airports. 

Whereas the rail companies, faced with the physical impossibility of running trains, adopted a "Can't do" attitude? If easyPeasy were to be grounded once more by a new volcanic ash cloud, I'm sure the railways would step up to the plate to ferry pax from Bristol or Gatwick to Edinburgh or Newcastle, there to be lauded for their "Can do" attitude. The real difference is to be seen in the work done over Christmas to prepare the way for a recovery from this recent inconvenience.

It is reported that they did

Those passengers were patient and understanding. Evidenced by the lack of vitriol directed at FGW on social media despite the length of the delay. I'm fairly sure that, with the all the advance warnings of possible disruption, passengers were relatively stoic. Being during the season of goodwill probably helped as well.

Compare and contrast with the delay to a FGW service in August when a HST suffered a fractured air-pipe (cause unknown yet as far as I'm aware). FGW were pilloried across social and news media following that incident.

The passengers heavily delayed at Taunton were lucky to be on an old and diesel powered train.

Would have been much worse on a new, shorter and therefore heavily loaded train without toilets or catering.

And consider how much worse it will be when the route is electrified ! At least some services ran over part of the route, and others made to stations such as Taunton.

On an electric railway the wires would have come down at multiple locations and probably nothing would move for days.

To be stuck overnight on an HST at Taunton, with heating, lighting, toilets, and some catering, would be exceedingly inconvenient, but these things happen.
To be stuck overnight on a modern EMU, standing up in the cold and dark, without toilets or refreshments, is an EMERGENCY that could well end in loss of life.

The IEP's that, may, replace the London - West County HST's will be bi-mode that is electric and diesel so not get stranded with out power or the ability to move, even the pure electric IEP's will have diesel generator sets on board to provide "hotel services" and the ability to move the train at 30mph.

But they won't be moving far if the overhead lines are littered all over the lines in front and behind! Will be interesting (assuming one is not stuck on said train) to see how all the electrified lines cope with storms like these, of course I am not expecting the structures to just collapse, but the potential tree damage to the cables themselves etc, is surely going to be quite high.

Usually when the wires are ripped down this tends to be localised, might be a few miles but it tends not to be lots of rip downs.   The GWML electrification OLE system is a different design to that of previous UK systems, GWML is not using headspans; one of the reason there is so much road over rail bridge replacement is to get the wire height to remain constant and not to keep dipping down, even the neutral sections being used on the GWML are likely to be a radically different approach to that on the rest of the UK, the last major failure on the ECML at Tallington was due to a due a neutral section component failure.

^^^ What Electric Train says!

When was the last time the wires fell down on HS1? OHLE engineers have learnt from the past.

Whilst there are always exceptions (like the SWT 159 fleet), electric trains are usually more reliable than diesel trains. Although OHLE failure can be severe, even on the East Coast it is still a rare enough event such that it makes headlines when things go wrong. It's not a day to day occurrence.

The Taunton incident involved a diesel train, so what complaining about electric trains proves I do not know!

Actually it's normally ASLEF drivers that demand triple pay plus a day in Lieu for Boxing Day running. RMT drivers just refuse to cross picket lines.
The tube/National Rail shouldn't be running on Boxing Day or Xmas Day at all, it's just commercialisim forcing it to. I know my contract states I don't have to work any Sundays, Xmas Day, Boxing Day or New Years Day and to be honest I regularly invoke this clause.

"Commercialism" is an odd word to choose to describe people wishing to see their families/friends, socialise, attend major sporting events etc etc but point taken re: sales etc.......I think your reference to your contract is closer to the mark however......and very lucky you are to have such a contract!

My employment contract (not rail-related!) is similar - but I was happy to work a 12 hour Sunday last weekend: kerching!  ;) :D ;D

England and Wales do not celebrate the true festival of boxing day. Traditionally boxing day is of sporting events in the UK, and fans need transport to visit sporting events. In more recent years it has become the busiest shopping day of the year again people need transport.

UK Transport companies need to come out of the dark ages and provide a service on boxing day.

-absolutely right, but can you see Bob Crow and the rail unions agreeing to it? They specialise in living in the Dark Ages, or the 1970s at least.....

Good luck to everyone hoping to travel by train tomorrow (including me!), looking at the forecast I reckon it'll be fun and games again!!!

We go round this most years. Boxing Day services were withdrawn some years in the mid 70s to early 1980s to save money as there wasn't in those days the demand. Christmas Day services went for similar reasons a decade earlier. ASLEF at the time protested against these cuts on public service grounds. Working on those days were part of the normal contractual terms back then; for whatever reason this was allowed to drop out of contracts in the 1990s, which makes it difficult to bring them back, engineering work planning notwithstanding. Not impossible in limited circumstances though.

Indeed - a colleague of mine has told me that all the bus firms refused to attend, customer hosts and a fresh supply of food and drink were sent up from Exeter, and also replacement TM/driver were sent to relieve the crew.  In addition a member of management was present during the night, so passengers were definitely NOT left on their own.

... and, purely in the interests of accuracy and to avoid causing any possible offence, it's actually Dan Panes from First Great Western.  ::)

Already this year too...

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=4057

We do indeed  ;)

I would be very interested to hear how the Chiltern service from Bicester to Marylebone did today if anyone knows.

There are very strong views in several directions, and it's good to air them here - they are very welcome.   Society is changing, and with it the balance will change over the years, so I expect we'll have more here on the subject in 2014, in 2015, in 2016 ... that's presuming that things haven't changed in such a way that this forum gets swept away!

I look forward to getting some trains back on the TransWilts after a gap of some 88 hours, which is some 50 hours longer than the gap I would like to have seen purely from a marketing and impetus perspective.   Would love to have had the opportunity to pack 'em in today to the football and sales at the Outlet centre rather than seeing 'em all going in their cars.

With respect, from reading through I don't think the point has been missed completely, you seem to be merging two topics of discussion into one argument.  (1. X-mas & Boxing Day lack of service and 2. What alternatives/compensation should be provided in times of being stranded/mass-disruption).

You were given a reasonable explanation as to why service is not even attempted at Christmas and the implications of cancelling engineering.  There are plenty of railway staff who probably would run a service on Boxing Day, money always talks, even though our contracts say we are not required for work.  (There are drivers who already volunteer to work in depots over Christmas/Boxing Day to ensure rolling stock is fit for service on 27th).  The fact is it is a moot point for a number of years due to the mass engineering works going on the GWML.  However, please don't tarnish all staff with the brush that we are all stuck in the 70s.  Afterall, Chiltern managed to crew a Boxing Day service didn't they?

You were also given a reasonable reply as to the arrangements that were made for the Taunton terminator and we obviously cannot discuss what compensation may or may not be forthcoming in due course.  I don't have an issue with anyone coming on here criticising our beloved TOC when it's due, although I reserve the right to say absolutely nothing negative about my employer for obvious reasons  ;), however you keep implying that FGW didn't have a "can do" attitude, so out of interest, with 200+ passengers, coach companies saying no, no chance of 50+ taxis available at that time of night and a belief the line may be open during the night, with free food, drink and a dry environment provided, AND passengers already knowing there could be mass cancellations and delays due to the weather, what more would you have done if you were the manager in charge?  I'd be more than happy to feedback your suggestions...

To add, from personal experience I was once delayed 7hrs 53 minutes at Gatwick due to an aircraft fault and awaiting parts from Paris to arrive and be fitted.  I was offered a ^5 airport food voucher after 4 hours and was told to claim anything else from my travel insurer.  The fact my policy didn't pay out for travel delay until 8 hours had passed I got nothing.  No refund, no additional compensation, nothing. (This was a few years before EU Compensation came into force).  I have a lot of interest in the aviation industry and I have read many many cases of our wonderful airlines now refusing EU compensation even when it's due in black and white!

I don't know the network, I couldn't tell you where HS1 was even if I used it! Nor could I tell you if it was even electrified, I'm merely a customer using FGW, which is how I ended up here. So from a purely simplistic point of view, my line of thinking was if 80+ trees had come down across the network (plus the sheds and trampolines Network Rail reported), that a lot of the overhead lines would have had trees landing on them, causing damage. Sure the equipment maybe strong enough to withstand it, I have no idea, but falling trees and over head cables always sound like a recipe for disaster, I know that's often the cause of electricity outages in these conditions at least.

If the OHLE system will be more robust in high winds and storm conditions, then alls the better and roll on its completion!

The OLE can with stand quite a lot, NR does clear trees from around the OLE (until that is locals get irate in the nesting season, vegetation grows the quickest in the nesting season).  Its items like plastic sheeting blown form neighbours land that can be a big problem wet plastic conducts a 25kV and doesn't do pantographs a lot of good either.  In very high winds trains will be slowed down due to the train sway caused by the wind also the wire gets moved by the wind

Chiltern's service did well. The penultimate round trip from London being delayed by a collision with a Muntjac - fortunately, the train was able to continue.

Some crowding issues on the last run - 3 1730 kick-offs were missed in the planning & fans only just scraped onto this last service.

I suspect Bicester Village got a good enough return to pay for it again next year. Crew were failing over each other to work for what was a very good offer on the table.

Good news there then.  I heard there were roughly double the number of volunteers against the number of shifts available, so a draw was done to determine who got the work.

yup, that's right!

I doubt the Unions will acknowledge this in their crusade that their members don't want to work such days!

...ahhh, but he acknowledges they might for triple pay & day of in lieu! Not quite what was on offer - hence 'volunteering', but possibly close to the money-side of offer

The real difference is to be seen in the work done over Christmas to prepare the way for a recovery from this recent inconvenience.
[/quote]

I'm not sure if this was meant to be ironic, but in identical fashion to Dec 27th last year, today was utterly shambolic.....my own experience.....inaccurate passenger information, overrunning engineering works, lengthy delays and cancellations, no information or explanation either at the station or on the train, signal failure, Information points not answered......