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Alterations to services between Slough and Ealing Broadway

Following damage to the overhead electric wires between Slough and Ealing Broadway some lines have now reopened.
Train services running through these stations are returning to normal but some services may still be delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 14:30 04/01.


................they're not even being used yet are they?

Hayes electric services....

..............not a very promising start?

I think ChrisB is a little wide of the mark as the Hayes electric services use no new electric wires over what the existing Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect services use.  Will try and find out the real reason...

Is that an auto-generated public message? Whatever it was due to, I can't see any trains that were affected. Mind you, with only 10 minutes between the problem and its fixing (or rather the messages about them) it would be hard to spot.

Where does it refer to new wires?

Nowhere.  Although why mention Slough to Ealing Broadway if it's on the existing Over-Head Line Equipment (OHLE) network?  Also, the Hayes electrics seem to have been unaffected.

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

So people know that they can still reach Slough from the west or Ealing Broadway from PAD?

As suspected it was on the new section of Over-Head Line Equipment (OHLE) still to be commissioned, and no doubt still with temporary fixings.  From the NR log:

13:22 Advised by TVSC Slough Signaller that a member of Balfour Beatty staff has requested the Up and Down relief lines blocked to allow him to access the overhead lines to tension the overhead line on the up relief 17m 18ch as it is touching the tops of trains.

Not great that another bit of new kit is interfering with trains, but the disruption was minimal and again it's not a reflection of how durable the new kit will be when fully installed and commissioned.  If you are guessing ChrisB, perhaps indicate that with a question mark after your post like you did in your last reply?

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

Because, if it had been the original OHLE, and there was nothing in that message to suggest otherwise, the answer to


Would have been as I stated.

Thinking aloud, I accept the use of the question mark, but only because it may also have been the Connect services.

The question mark makes the world of difference - otherwise I'm sure most would have read that post taking it that you knew the cause, rather than making what turned out to be an inaccurate assumption.

More
So *not* between Ealing & Slough?

Have you taken GWR to task as heavily as you did me? As they will surely have misled a *lot* more pax than the few reading my response.

17m 18c is at Dolphin Junction.  That's between Ealing and Slough, so nothing to take task about.

Very slow running into Paddington this morning. This is due variously to a points failure at Ealing, a track safety inspection and a broken down train, according to gwr twitter.

I was on the 7.17 Maidenhead to Paddington HST and we came to a halt rather sharply somewhere between Iver and West Drayton I believe. Apparently there were sparks seen on a train in front so the signaller stopped all trains and sent our driver to investigate.. That's what we were told anyway.. That delayed us by about 25 minutes in the end

"Cancellations to services at Oxford
 
Due to a fault with the signalling system at Oxford all lines are blocked.

Train services running through this station may be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 minutes. Disruption is expected until 15:45 05/01."

Ho hum...

Seems to be getting worse.

Due to a fault with the signalling system at Oxford all lines are blocked.
Train services running through this station may be cancelled or delayed by up to 45 minutes. Disruption is expected until 16:45 05/01.

No particular problem when the 15:22 Paddington - Great Malvern went through at 16:20. We were held for 8 minutes north of the station, but that was waiting for the single line at Wolvercote.

Northbound seemed largely unaffected. It was southbound and Marylebone services that suffered delays and some cancellations. The 1522 PAD:GMV was held up by the usual knock-on effect from the 1322 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street arriving late at Evesham.

More weekend joy..............

Cancellations to services between Hayes & Harlington and Ealing Broadway


Due to a safety inspection of the track between Hayes & Harlington and Ealing Broadway trains have to run at reduced speed on the line towards London Paddington.
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 15 minutes. Disruption is expected until 23:00 08/01.
Customer Advice
Network Rail engineers have discovered some minor damage to a rail on the London-bound fast line in the Southall area. A speed restriction of 20mph has been imposed by engineers to ensure trains pass the site of the defect safely. The defect is due to be repaired after the close of service this evening.

With the slow lines closed between West Drayton and London Paddington for planned engineering works, all London-bound trains have to pass through the speed restriction. This is causing congestion to build on the only remaining open line towards London.

Some alterations to services and cancellations may be necessary to thin out the service over the affected section of line.

Sadly it gets even worse:

Only until 6pm when the strike starts...  ::)

A landlip at Stroud this morning (according to Twitter) caused the cancellation of some services into Paddington.
And a broken down Heathrow Express unit outside Paddington delayed my experience of the tube strike by a further 15 minutes ;)

Biggest problem at Paddington was the failure of a Heathrow Express unit which blocked the exit road at Old Oak Common preventing empty HST sets getting into the station.

The 05:18 to Swansea started at Swindon (using the High Speed Train (HST) which couldn't get to Cheltenham because of the landslip).
The 06:30 and 07:00 to Bristol Temple Meads were both cancelled.
The 07:30 ran
The 08:00 was delayed leaving Paddington by half an hour and left just ahead of the 08:30.

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Ealing Broadway

Due to a fault with the signalling system between London Paddington and Ealing Broadway some lines towards Reading are blocked.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 15 minutes or running non stop between London Paddington and Hayes & Harlington. Disruption is expected until 16:30 10/01.

Additional Information

Due to a fault with the signalling system on the slow lines at Acton Main Line, Network Rail engineers have had to close the Reading-bound slow line to effect a repair. This closure is only anticipated to last around 30 minutes, but for this period of time trains will not be able to serve stations between London and Hayes.

They should know better  ;D ;D
W.E

As somebody who lives in the South West, on the few occasions that I travel into Paddington I am surprised at the lack of lines into Paddington when compared with say Waterloo. I am not sufficiently knowledgeable of the nature of the lines to/from Paddington but wonder would it be feasible/possible to increase the number of lines between Paddington to say Reading from 4 to 6?

What should the lines be called in the future ... side thread / poll at http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=17868

Waterloo is 4 lines when you get out past Clapham Junction and Paddington is likewise 4 lines when you get beyond Old Oak Junction.  In the days that there were more than 5 trains a week from Paddington to and beyond Ruislip (services to places like Pwhelli and Birkenhead) it would have 'felt' much more like the Waterloo arrangement.  And I'm pretty sure that the Hot and Cold line use to be the Hammersmith Branch of the old GWR, with perhaps another 2 tracks?

I have an old map somewhere of the PAD arrangement, I think it mentions up and down city lines, (the electric service (when connected to BR)) and up and down carriage lines, when empty stock had to be taken out to OOC to be cleaned etc.
It looked much more complicated than todays layout.

By 1900 there was that huge goods station filling the whole space from Little Venice to the (now) H&C lines. Then there tracks for that, close-in sidings, engine sheds, and all manner of stuff a little further out. That's all gone, covered by new developments and the M4.

But there were only five tracks under Ladbroke Grove, one of which looks to be just for access to sidings etc., compared to six now.

Do you mean the A40/Westway? The M4 ends in Chiswick which is somewhat to the south and west of the Paddington area...

Yes, of course. All roads are the same if you don't need to go along therm!

Trespasser at burnham.  Signals at caution. Everything very slow this evening.

The lines through Royal Oak platforms were part of the suburban lines out of Paddington, originally the "main line" trains used platforms 13 and 16 at Paddington and the H & C used 14 and 15 this allowed for cross platform changes.

TfL lease the track bed from NR from Paddington to Westbourne Park.

Paddington was much more complex up to the late 60's when steam went the track layout was rationalised and then again in the 1990s for Hex also engine and coaches ceased to be the norm 

As you walk down 13/14 to 12 you walk pass over the link from 13, wider on the left as the H&C curves away. May be out of date due to work connecting 13 to 12.

Also all four platforms were through platforms allowing through working from GWR onto the Circle Line. Latterly meat to Smithfield market via the link to the Widened lines at Faringdon, using the 97XX condensing tanks.
It was also why the "Tanneroners" and the 97XX and the Boggits (117 DMUs) were fitted with tripcocks to run from Royal Oak to Padd 13 and 16.

Don't forget the Crystal Palace loop from the Up E&C and Down Main to the H and C on the South side of Subway Junction.

Well, it's certainly true that it was much more complex! But you can follow a track pair through (in 1900) from Bishops Road Station, via Royal Oak Station, through the underpass, and then through the Hammersmith platforms at Westbourne Park. There were four tracks past Old Oak from Paddington Station to their four platforms at Westbourne Park. And there was a pair linking Royal Oak platforms to the Relief lines through Westbourne Park. Of course there had to be, as trains ran from places like Windsor to Farringdon (or thereabouts) until well after that.

There have been engineering overruns at least twice this week impacting the early services into London (ie the ones I was trying to use to get into work early).

Whilst not infrastructure, the broken down train at Twyford yesterday did not help and now this:

Due to a broken down train between Slough and London Paddington some lines towards London Paddington are blocked.
Impact: Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed by up to 25 minutes or revised. Disruption is expected until 09:30 18/01.

All in all a very lousy week. Again.

Slow High Speed Train's (HST)s this am past the house.

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

Still 10-15 minute delays on local services.

Yes a very poor commute this morning. Not helped by some very questionable regulation in the Twyford area and short formed trains. The 0742 HOT-PAD 1P17 was just 2 coaches instead of the normal 4 and was full and standing coming off the branch, so could hardly take any of the many waiting at Twyford. It was held on the branch for no obvious reason and then given the route on to the up main through Ruscombe Junction whilst it stood at platform 4. It spent 4 minutes at the platform during which time a bit of a bottleneck formed on the up main further delaying 1A05, 1A04, and 1P19. It also held up the late running 1P16 on the up relief . I know it is easy to criticize, but it did seem rather odd to observe from the new staff information screen on the platform.

I eventually got the 0826 which crawled into Paddington 26 late and an hour later than I intended. Does anyone know which was the broken down train? There was also talk of signalling problems between Reading-Maidenhead and over running engineering works...

Think it was 1L10 0528 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington which sat down on the Up Main at Acton Mainline for 50 odd minutes: http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C22451/2017/01/18/advanced

Alterations to services between Slough and Langley
Due to a fault with the signalling system between Slough and Langley trains have to run at reduced speed on the line towards London Paddington.
Train services running through these stations may be delayed or running non stop. Disruption is expected until 08:00 20/01.

With all these signalling problems, surely it must be a nightmare being a signaller? Some must dread coming to work. Of course, that is also the situation with passengers!

I must admit that when I am stood on a freezing platform waiting for yet another delayed train, jumping up and down to keep warm and already anticipating the Boss tearing me a second one for being late (again), my first thought isn't always with the welfare of the signallers who are at least somewhere warm drinking tea.  ;D

Some relish disruption as it makes the job more interesting.  The time certainly flies by...

But the there is the S & T engineers stood out on the track side in the freezing cold and or pouring rain trying to fix the fault

Oh no we don't. From my second day on the railway I was told: "During rain, fog and falling snow into the cabin we shall go".

Also, we do have the reputation amongst signallers of being the Sick and Tired department. ;) :D ::) :P

"Cancellations to services at Hayes & Harlington

Due to a fault with the signalling system at Hayes & Harlington some lines are blocked.

Train services running through this station may be cancelled, delayed by up to 15 minutes or revised. Disruption is expected until 15:00 06/02."


Lots of late running westbound services through Reading atm

Not showing on JourneyCheck but a broken rail in the Twyford area causing delays at Reading. 1822 Paddington to Hereford 92 minutes late at Twyford and still not at Reading (currently 110 mins late)

Getting to become a daily occurrence again...

"Cancellations to services between Ealing Broadway and Slough

Due to a fault with the signalling system between Ealing Broadway and Slough trains have to run at reduced speed on the line towards Reading.

Train services running through these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 15 minutes or running non stop between Ealing Broadway and Slough. Iver and Langley will not be served. Disruption is expected until 15:30 07/02."

Due to a fault with the signalling system between London Paddington and Hayes & Harlington fewer trains are able to run on some lines.
Impact: Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 15 minutes or revised. Some stations between London Paddington and Hayes & Harlington will not be served. Disruption is expected until 17:00 13/02.

Another day and...

Alterations to services between Ealing Broadway and Slough

Due to a fault with the signalling system between Ealing Broadway and Slough fewer trains are able to run on some lines towards Reading.

Train services running through these stations may be revised. Disruption is expected until 14:30 14/02.

Great start to the day;

Cancellations to services at Hayes & Harlington


Due to a fault with the signalling system at Hayes & Harlington fewer trains are able to run on some lines.
Train services running through this station may be cancelled or revised. Disruption is expected until 11:00 28/02.

Cancellations to services between Reading and London Paddington
Due to a problem currently under investigation between Reading and London Paddington the line is blocked.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 minutes. Disruption is expected until 18:30 01/03.

Interesting reason for that one, a car door was reported open on one of the car transporting freight trains!  Soon rectified though, so should cause few problems for this evening's rush hour - indeed some planned alterations were hastily rescinded when disruption didn't last as long as initially thought.

......someone came up with an imaginative way to reduce overcrowding on trains....sit in cars instead?  :)

This mornings journeycheck:

Cancellations to services between Ealing Broadway and London Paddington
Due to engineering works not being finished on time between Ealing Broadway and London Paddington fewer trains are able to run on all lines.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 15 minutes. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.
Further Information
An update will follow within the next 1 hour.

End of the day? That's some over-run....anyone got the details?

It currently says:

Due to urgent repairs to the track between Ealing Broadway and London Paddington fewer trains are able to run on all lines.
Impact: Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.
Customer Advice: A section of track outside London Paddington station requires some remedial work so that section of line is not available for use today. As a result fewer train services are able to be accommodated at London Paddington station which has necessitated some train service cancellations and alterations.

I think the overrun was further West......this is just LTV's daily treat.

Cracked points on a crossover on Line 3 outside Paddington according to a poster on WNXX. Being replaced today so the crossover and part of Line 3 are closed hence the restrictions.

Today's daily treat.....

Due to urgent repairs to the track between Slough and Maidenhead the line towards Reading is disrupted.
Train services running through these stations may be delayed by up to 20 minutes or running non stop between Slough and Reading. Burnham and Taplow will not be served. Disruption is expected until 14:00 06/03.
Customer Advice
A minor defect with the track has been discovered just to the West of Slough station, on the Reading-bound fast line.

Trains may use other lines in the Slough area, or be cautioned over the affected section at a safe speed.

Network Rail Engineering teams are being mobilised to effect repairs, and some thinning of the train service will be required from 12:00 to allow them access to the track. This is expected to last a maximum of 2 hours.

Through services between London Paddington and Bedwyn in both directions will start/terminate at Reading. Customers should change at Reading for alternative train services.

Local stopping services towards Reading will not call at Burnham or Taplow while repairs are carried out. Trains towards London Paddington are unaffected.

Customers travelling TO these stations from the East should travel through to Maidenhead or Reading, and change at either of these stations for services back to Taplow or Burnham.

Customers travelling FROM Burnham or Taplow wishing to travel West towards Maidenhead, Reading etc should take first available service to SLOUGH and change for Westbound services there.

Got turfed off my THA-PAD service at Reading at around 1125, but being Reading jumped on an HST to PAD within a few mins.

We did slow to a crawl around 1 to 1.5 miles west of Slough, but were on the UM so not sure that was related.

Probably waiting for a train(s) to cross over in front of you from DM to DR at Slough West Junction I would imagine.

Last updated: 08:47

    Delays to services at Slough
    Due to a speed restriction over defective track at Slough trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines towards Reading.
    Impact:     Train services running through this station may be delayed by up to 15 minutes. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

( Non-Infra

Following a passenger being taken ill on a train between Ealing Broadway and London Paddington some lines towards London Paddington will be reopened shortly.
Impact: Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 30 minutes or revised. Disruption is expected until 09:45 07/03.

)

We seem to be returning to a situation whereby there are significant/long lasting incidents on a daily basis.

Had the situation been improving recently in your experience then, TG?

.....well I guess if you've experienced amoebic dysentery, then even regular diarrhoea  represents an improvement?

..enjoy your dinner....

.........all of a sudden the image/memories of a Casey Jones burger has hove into view...........as I recall you knew if you were drunk at Paddington because you'd order one, and you knew if you were REALLY hammered because you enjoyed it.........the effect on the digestive system is best left unsaid........... :-[

I dread to think what Southern commuters might have been popping to see their GP about over the last year then...  ;)

Beware the Ides of March!

Unpleasant and persistent rumblings with foul emissions from the nether regions - commonly diagnosed as ASLEF/RMT syndrome........generally manifests itself whenever a pay rise is required.

Due to a fault with the signalling system between Reading and Didcot Parkway trains have to run at reduced speed on the line towards Swindon.

Impact: Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed by up to 20 minutes. Disruption is expected until 10:00 09/03.

Customer Advice:
A fault has occurred with the signalling system just to the East of Didcot Parkway station. Trains on the Oxford/Swindon -bound Fast line have to be stopped and cautioned through the affected section at low speed. This is currently adding approximately 20 minutes to journey times.
Local stopping services between Reading and Didcot are not affected by the failure.

Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Ealing Broadway

Due to a fault with the signalling system between London Paddington and Ealing Broadway trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 20 minutes or revised. Disruption is expected until 15:45 10/03.

Additional Information

A fault has occurred with the Signalling system on the Reading-bound slow line near Acton Main Line. As a result of this trains have to be brought to a stand and proceed through the affected section at caution.

Network Rail engineers are on site attending to the failure, but in order to allow them access to the track the train service through the affected section has had to be reduced. This means services may diverted on to the fast line; run non-stop through certain stations or be cancelled throughout.

Well, if nothing else it's been a consistent week (so far) with things going wrong with signals/track/points every day......

Though, in the main, they've been fairly minor and not lasted very long at all.  As a commuter you probably wouldn't have been affected by most of them, or in pre-internet days you wouldn't even have known of them.

Have you ever considered a career in Marketing?

Nope.  Just trying to debate from a balanced viewpoint.  For example, I can't find any delays into double digits from today's incident that charles_uk posted, and only a couple of cancellations on the Heathrow Connects.

You never quite know how these things are going to develop. In this case, the incident was originally suggesting delays of 10 minutes and expected to last until 12pm, and then the disruption forecast was extended until 15.45 with 20 minute delays - clearly not as straightforward as originally anticipated. In the event, as IndustryInsider said, disruption was minimal.

Main reason for posting, though, was I find this thread to be a useful resource to see whether the service has been particularly poor over a period or whether it's just a perception in my mind - it's good to have it as comprehensive as possible!

It's certainly true that there is so much information available now that there will be much more awareness of issues, and maybe a perception that issues sorted relatively quickly are bigger than they actually are. That's particularly true for those of us who take an interest in the subject and are therefore looking at sites that impart such information whether or not it affects us.

I'm even aware of examples of people not affected by an incident complaining about it and then getting compensation.

Really? That's shocking - if you feel strongly about it perhaps you should report it to GWR?

.......although you never know, it may take them 3 months to get back to you with the outcome of your enquiry, and in recognition of such a long delay they may make an unsolicited gesture in recognition of their poor customer service?

Examples? More than one? Care to share the details of them?

Or just thinly veiled disapproval of another forum member's actions?

Three months? If only. I've been waiting four months for a reply to one query! But perhaps that's for another thread.

Try referring it to Hopwood directly - that eventually catalysed some action on mine.

Welcome to the new week.......

Alterations to services between London Paddington and Hayes & Harlington
Due to a fault with the signalling system between London Paddington and Hayes & Harlington some lines are disrupted.
Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed by up to 20 minutes or revised. Disruption is expected until 08:30 13/03.

Disruption now expected to 10:00am with 30 minute delays. A number of cancellations including a few fast services to Oxford well after the forecast end time.

Yes, some quite significant disruption caused this morning, delays of nearly an hour to some trains, though settling down a little now.  A failed Solid State Interlocking module affecting signals in the Hanwell area is the cause I believe.

Disruption now expected until 11:00 am with 45 minute delays, so commuters and off peak travellers alike have been impacted.........were it not for the internet of course, all would be in blissful ignorance.......until they got to the station :(

Indeed, the internet has revolutionised the information passengers can obtain prior to arriving at the station.  Some passengers from stations between Twyford and London might have chosen to use SWT or Chiltern stations instead - and vice-versa when there are problems on those lines.  Forewarned is forearmed.

No trains running into or out of Didcot at the moment. I'm sat in one ...

Looks like it will be one of those days.  The new Oxford to Marylebone service will be proving very useful in keeping passengers from Oxford and the Cotswold Line moving into and out of London then!

(Another) "one of those days"

Cancellations to services at Didcot Parkway

Due to a fault with the signalling system at Didcot Parkway all lines are closed.
Train services running through this station may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 12:15 13/03.

Well I've come back home. To be fair some replacement buses were being put on to Reading and Oxford, but the former wouldn't have got me there in time. Glad really I was stuck in the station though and was able to do this rather than being outside it. May try again this afternoon if everything is mended ... indeed I see it may already have been to some extent.

Yep, all open again, but it'll take some time to get rid of the residual delays from both that incident and the signalling problems at Hanwell.

Except that some trains on the Cotswold line are being cancelled or starting at Oxford. This usually happens as soon as there is some disruption and they want to get the trains running back in some sort of regular schedule.

Just the one return trip unless I'm missing something? The 09:20 PAD-WOF and return 12:06 WOF-PAD have been cancelled as far as Oxford on the return journey.  Additionally the 10:20 PAD-HFD is terminating at Worcester.

Due to a fault with the signalling system at Southall some lines are blocked.
Impact: Train services running through this station may be delayed by up to 20 minutes. Disruption is expected until 10:00 16/03.

Don't know whether it's an escalation of the above or a new incident but...

Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Slough

Due to a fault with the signalling system between London Paddington and Slough some lines are blocked.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 30 minutes or revised. Disruption is expected until 13:00 16/03.

Additional Information

Owing to signaling problems affecting a couple of running lines between London Paddington and Slough, we are unable to operate the full timetabled service to and from London Paddington at present.

Main Lines still shown as blocked 10:45 Open train times.

Signal 271 Down Main after Southall West Jn
Signal 254 Up Main     after Southll West Jn

Cancellations to services between Reading and London Paddington
Due to a safety inspection of the track between Reading and London Paddington some lines are blocked.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 15 minutes or revised. Acton Main Line will not be served. Disruption is expected until 10:00 25/03.

Alterations to services between Reading and London Paddington
Due to a safety inspection of the track between Reading and London Paddington all lines are blocked.. Disruption is expected until 13:00 26/03.Alterations to services between Reading and London Paddington
Due to a safety inspection of the track between Reading and London Paddington all lines are blocked.
Train services running to and from these stations have been suspended between Reading and Hayes & Harlington. All stations between Reading and Hayes & Harlington will not be served. Disruption is expected until 13:00 26/03.
Customer Advice
Network Rail are carrying out vital railway upgrade work between Reading and Hayes & Harlington which means there are changes to train services to and from London from 00:15 until 13:00.

Some High Speed Services will be diverted, and replacement buses will run between Reading and Heathrow, for train services into London.

Wherever possible, passengers should travel after 13:00. Tickets for earlier services will be accepted on all GWR services on Sunday.

I note:


Another good idea that should be a permanent addition to the timetable!

Not enough paths Oxford-Didcot.

Think the electrification testing might be over running a tad  ???

That's not as black and white as your comment implies.

No, the line has always been planned to open at 13:00, the first from Paddington SHOULD be the 12:47 to Port Talbot

Not really disruption, more like planned disruption as discussed here (http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=18114.0)

This is not 'new' - I heard about this at the beginning of last week (it has been on GWR.com all that time)!

Put in that section of the website as it wasn't part of planned engineering work.

Wondered why I hadn't heard any trains this am.

So used to them that it takes a while to realise that they are not running. Tend to pick up disruption quicker to due to slow running High Speed Train (HST) s are much noisier at slower speed.

Open train times map for Hayes Twyford is blank apart from something in the siding at Maidenhead.

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

Thats a reminder for a 3187 Form.  That form indicates that the signalling equipment is signed out of use. ;)

Thanks wondered what it was.

Trains now running

The something in the sidings at Maidenhead may have been the electrification test train, the test train likely to be a diesel with one or two electric locos to act as a load bank, part of the energisation testing is a "Directional Check" on the Distance Protection Relays; these relays have both current and voltage inputs and use the phase angle between them to determine the direction of power flow this is needed because a fault can be feed by multiple circuit breakers the power flow direction is blocked in load flow reverse.  The other tests are the Vl / Vt (Voltage longitudinal / Voltage transverse) tests required by telecoms.

The test train will have operated in a special rules possession, been involved in quite a few of these type tests over the years, but not this testing though.

The 3187 description has been stuck in there since the signalling 'commissioning' at xmas/new year 2016/2017 ;)  I think II told us in another thread that the physical construction hasn't been completed yet.  Anybody got a photograph as it would be nice to see whats been done at Maidenhead (no good looking out of a train window at 125mph)?  ::) :P

It not always easy to see even from a photo if the OLE is complete; things like OLE switches can be in place but the blades may not be aligned, cross track feeder drapes not in place, tails from cable palm plates to OLE drapes not in place, contact wire registration and height. The one that cannot physically be seen is SCADA (SCADA is the smart dancing pixies that control the large angry pixies in the OLE)  ;D

Having said all that, I feel they may be in a position where they can commission an OLE system, it might not be in its final configuration, but would be sufficient to operate the initial May timetable services to Maidenhead as it has a limited number of trains

Rather surprisingly, as of yesterday at least, platform 5 at Maidenhead hadn't been fitted with contact wire.  Unless it was done last night prior to today's testing?  That platform will need to be available for the May electric service to give a certain amount of flexibility.

A wire run like that does not take much to install, it would not stop the key commissioning of section proving. protection relay directional tests and Vl / Vt test

I noticed from Real Time Trains that the services used Didcot West Curve rather than into Didcot Parkway then reverse.

When local (electric) trains from London terminate at Didcot and there's a shuttle from there to Oxford, might it not be logical to start that shuttle back at Bristol and reverse at Didcot - it then doubles up as the local connector and the Oxford to the West service, tapping the Oxford to Swindon market and not taking an extra paths.  Should a Wantage station open at some date in the future, it's also an enabling service that would provide a useful connection to London at Didcot.

Reported on twitter that energisation of wires happened over the weekend from Airport Junction to Maidenhead. The 387s won't reach Maidenhead in service until the May17 timetable change however.

Delays to services between Slough and London Paddington
Due to a fault with the signalling system between Slough and London Paddington trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines towards London Paddington.

Todays daily delay......Currently sitting on 0702 from Maidenhead, roughly 30 minutes late.....still a fair way from Paddington and crawling along (.....the train, not me)

18 minutes late for me on 1L10. There are some mutterings on Twitter about a broken down train as well as the inevitable signalling problems.

From Journey Planner:


Hope it helps.

TG's train arrived 23 minutes late, so that along with Jason's 18 minute late arrival were typical of many services this morning.  Roll on DelayRepay15...!

No photos sadly, but I can confirm the current state of play:

1) Station area:  Wires up throughout station area (and now assumed live) except for the London end of Platform 5 through to Maidenhead East Junction.
2) Turnback siding:  Wires are up on the turnback siding and signalling is installed, but there's no track beyond the S&C as yet - I heard it was to be installed during April, so presumably Easter weekend.
3) Stabling sidings:  No wires on any of them yet, though all other OHLE fixtures and fitting seem to be installed.  First two sidings are 'open' and signalled, the others all have rails and are ballasted but signalling work remains to be installed.

I just want the trains to run on time reliably, that's all....signal failures are a virtually daily occurrence now in LTV, despite all the promises going back years......weather marginally warmer today, wonder how long it'll be before the mass cancellations & delays caused by "poor rail conditions " add to the fun?

I have continued the discussion on Maidenhead here: http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=5066.msg211985#msg211985

With thanks for the suggestions, I'm now going to do a bit of 'moving and merging' of some recent posts on this topic.  CfN.  ;)

Fault at Burnham it would appear

At the moment I am commuting between Reading and Watford Junction leaving RDG on the 6:16am. I've been doing this for about 2-3 months now and I am struggling to remember there being any major disruption!

That will be the death knoll then!

This morning's "fun" delayed me by half hour in the end on the 7.59 Mai to Pad.. That's twice out of four journeys into work this week that I've been late.. I guess on the positive side 50% of the time I got to work on time  ;D ;D

I was lucky, I got the 0702 from Maidenhead which arrived at Paddington "only" about 8 minutes late - managed 3 out of 5 on time this week so not too bad by GWR standards!

30 out of 5 only 60%!

600%! Very impressive  ;)

OOPS finger trouble

Lots of these this morning - National Rail or National Grid?


06:12 London Paddington to Reading due 07:14 will call additionally at Hanwell.
It will be delayed at Hanwell.
This is due to failure of the electricity supply.

A view of the future perhaps ! Let's hope not .

There are serious concerns that the UK lacks enough generating capacity to reliably meet the peak winter demand.
We have got through the last few winters with a certain amount of luck.

However at present, this morning, there is no indication of an any general shortage of generating capacity. Demand is about normal for the time of year and considerable capacity is available but not needed this morning.

The "failure of the electricity supply" must therefore be some form of localised breakdown and not any general shortage of electric power as might occur in midwinter.

National grid status
http://www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk/ (http://www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk/)

(note to anyone viewing this in the future, clicking the link shows the grid status at the time you click the link, and NOT the position when I posted this)

Problems on the Heathrow Express/Connect depot apparently.  The GWR Hayes electric shuttles were running as normal.

The frequency is 50.03 Hz, suggesting that all is well at the moment. Coal (1.5%) continues to fall in popularity, although some of the plants are kept on standby. Gas (44%) and nuclear (22%) provide the lion's share, with significant imports via the interconnectors with other countries. Wind, statistically the most dangerous source of power with two workers killed in separate accidents in as many months in Scotland, chips in less than 4%. Biomass and solar barely trouble the scorers.

Electricity accounts for under 40% of energy use in this country, with gas, petrol and diesel accounting for much of the rest. That means that some 80% of our energy comes from fossil fuels, which shows just how far we are from cleaning up our act, despite all the hot air from government and pressure groups. I am not sure what sort of difference the electrified GWR and other lines will make to the overall consumption in the country as a whole, but I hope someone has done the maths and made provision.

This last winter we were actually feeding to France for much of November to January as they had more power stations out than expected. Usually that and the Dutch interconnector are at maximum in the UK direction.

Today it isn't very windy but it is rather sunny leading to the combined renewables total being a bit over 4GW. This is rather less than on a windy day when it can easily be 6GW.

Due to a fault with the signalling system between Southall and Ealing Broadway some lines towards London Paddington are disrupted.
Impact: Train services running through these stations may be delayed. Disruption is expected until 09:15 04/04.

Now 11:45,,, and counting

and now "may be delayed by up to 30 minutes", up from 20 minutes.

(later edit)...  and now "disruption is expected until 14:45". Certainly simmering away nicely!

All lines reopened, residual delays until 1445.

......here we go again......


Alterations to services between London Paddington and Slough
Due to a fault with the signalling system between London Paddington and Slough some lines towards Reading are disrupted.
Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed by up to 45 minutes or revised. Disruption is expected until 15:00 10/04.
Customer Advice
Transport for London and London Underground are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice.
Additional Information
Owing to signaling problems affecting a couple of running lines on the approach to London Paddington, we are unable to operate the full timetabled service to and from London Paddington at present. There will be a reduction in the frequency of train services (in both directions) between London Paddington and Reading / Oxford. Any other train service cancellations or alterations will be advised

Six days since the last post.  That must be a record...?  ;)

I know that when my phone lights up at 16:00 (the start of my SMS alerting window) that  it's from GWR...

The residuals drag on...
Following a fault with the signalling system between London Paddington and Slough some lines towards Reading are disrupted.
Impact: Train services running to and from these stations are returning to normal. Disruption is expected until 16:15 10/04.


Due to a broken down train between Reading and Westbury the line towards Westbury is blocked.
Impact: Train services running to and from these stations will be diverted via Swindon. Pewsey will not be served. Disruption is expected until 16:30 10/04.

Explains the High Speed Train (HST) that passed through Melksham at 16:33, much to the surprise of us passengers awaiting the 16:37 to Swindon which dragged in about 8 minutes late.  Don't really mind ... plenty of London connections at Swindon (I hope).

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

The Last Post - could be GWR's theme tune!  ;)

Perhaps rather interestingly, I have a very similar set up on my own mobile phone (my version starts at 16:30) - dating back to the days when I was commuting between Nailsea and Bristol.

I haven't taken the trouble to update / remove that facility - if only because it reminds me why I so enjoy not having to rely on trains for my commute to work these days.  ;) :D ;D

............the shape of things to come........

Cancellations to services between Slough and Twyford


Due to an object being caught on the overhead electric wires between Slough and Twyford some lines towards Twyford are blocked.
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled. Disruption is expected until 07:15 12/04.

A sheet of polythene caught on a tensioning wire.

Let's hope not ... but I'll admit to drawing a deep breath when I saw two successive threads on the WNXX forum's "breaking news" section ...

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

Does anyone know what the issues are today. Both relief lines seem open as does the down main. The up main seems closed though Paddington to the other side of Slough.

Thanks.

There's a broken rail on the Up main near Southall.

Ah thanks.

16:00 rolls around for the daily good news:

Due to a fault with the signalling system at London Paddington:
Impact: Train services running to and from this station may be delayed or revised. Acton Main Line will not be served. Disruption is expected until 16:45 18/04.
Customer Advice:
Any customers travelling to Acton Main Line should utilise London Underground Central Line to North Acton then Transport for London Bus route 266 (and customers from Acton Main Line same arrangement applies but in reverse).

Due to engineering works not being finished on time at Bath Spa fewer trains are able to run on all lines.
Impact: Train services running through this station may be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 minutes. Disruption is expected until 11:00 19/04.

This had knock on effects through Reading this morning (and a lot of angry people at Bath on Twitter). Was cancellation of 1A72 due to this ?

Non-infrastructural - a broken down train affected the Reading-Basingstoke line earlier according to my SMS alert. Realtimetrains says "a problem with the traction equipment (MC)."

Then I took 1L10 into Paddington which was late into Reading due to (according to the on-board announcments) a broken down train around Didcot.

Due to an Olympic style sprint at Reading I was only 5 mins late.

There would have been as Bath is already down to one Paddington train an hour due to only one platform being available. Other local services were cancelled as well.

The sad thing is all the work being carried out will only partly benefit Bath passengers, enabling new trains to call, now electrification won't be coming through the station.

UPDATE: Obviously more serious than just overrunning engineering work.

From Twitter: Disruption due to overrunning works at Bath Spa is expected until the end of the day.

And apparently a replacement coach service laid on around 0830 has broken down shortly after leaving Bath.

Whoops. Be a few very unhappy passengers on that service this morning. At least with schools being off sourcing replacement road transport shouldn't be too difficult.

Indeed.  Schoolchildren are ideal as rickshaw-pedallers. ;)

Service pattern appears to be two trains in each direction every hour.  1 Bristol-Paddington and 1 Cardiff-Portsmouth (also calling at Keynsham and Oldfield Park to cover for Bristol-Weymouth services which start/terminate at Westbury)

A engineering train ran through a set of points which were incorrectly set causing considerably damage to them. The amount of time needed to repair the damage means it can only be done tonight.

Would I be correct in saying it was the set of points just outside Bath Spa meaning trains on the UP line having to join the down line at the crossover at Saltford to enter platform 1 rather than in Bath?

Running through wrongly set points under an engineering possession seems to be getting a common problem these days. I recall there was one by Ealing Broadway recently.  Is there a systemic problem with the communication between PICOP*, PICOW and signaller?

*PICOP/W Person in Charge of Possession/Work - acronyms appear to change regularly.

Seems like there is.  As you say, happens regularly.  I think there was one at Maidenhead recently as well which resulted in no through trains from Bourne End/Marlow to Paddington.  That set of points was out of use for over a week.

There's a lot of it about, here's todays starter for 10..........

Cancellations to services between Reading and Slough


Due to engineering works not being finished on time between Reading and Slough some lines are blocked.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 20 minutes. Disruption is expected until 07:30 20/04.

Problems still continuing at Bath Spa as well

Should be back to normal this morning (?) - except


How can it be an "alteration" - isn't it a different train?

Well, there is a Great Malvern-Westbury train in the normal timetable (2F97), though recently the work at Bath (which isn't in the Thames Valley, is it?) has led to it being changed and part-cancelled. Today's has now been reinstated as per the normal working, but JourneyCheck reads:

However, it has vanished from Realtime Trains, at least in Bristol.

I guess the software (probably "assisted" by some soft but also warm and sqidgy ware) has tried to match the new service to one in the current timetable (whatever that means) and got confused by the way it has been messed about.

Alterations between Reading and Newbury
Due to a road vehicle colliding with level crossing barriers between Reading and Newbury all lines are blocked.
Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed by up to 30 minutes or diverted. Disruption is expected until 14:00 21/04.

Lorry with a crane on the back.  Not only the level crossing gates at Colthrop damaged but some cables brought down across the tracks too.

Several West of England services diverting via Melksham and Swindon.

The gates were open at the time. What they think happened is the crane on the back of the lorry caught the overhead BT phone lines, brought them down first which then became entangled in the crossing barrier which, as the lorry continued forward, badly damaged the crossing barrier. 

Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Slough


Due to earlier engineering works not being finished on time between London Paddington and Reading disruption is expected until 10:00 14/05.
Train services between London Paddington and Slough are returning to normal but some services will still be cancelled, delayed by up to 65 minutes or revised.

Due to a fault with the signalling system at Hanwell some lines will be blocked. Disruption is expected until 11:00 22/05.
Impact: Train services between London Paddington and Hayes & Harlington will be running non stop.
Additional Information:
To fix a fault with the signalling system Network Rail engineers require access to the railway line at Hanwell from 10:00 for approximately one hour. During this time train services from London Paddington towards Slough/Reading will not be able to call at Ealing Broadway, West Ealing, Hanwell or Southall.
Customers at these stations wishing to travel West should use services to London Paddington and change there for Westbound services.
Customers wishing to travel to these stations from the East should travel through to Hayes and Harlington and change there for Eastbound services which are able to call at Southall, Hanwell, West Ealing and Ealing Broadway.

.....well that didn't take long did it?  ::)


07:33 Maidenhead to London Paddington due 08:06


Facilities on the 07:33 Maidenhead to London Paddington due 08:06.

Will be formed of 3 coaches instead of 8.
This is due to damage to the overhead electric wires.

I don't think there is any damage as such, just the same precaution as yesterday with the supply not ready to be run at full power as discussed on another thread.  Though just a 3-car Turbo substituting today instead of yesterday's 5-car unfortunately.

I gather that the two diagrams (of three planned) being worked by 387s east of Maidenhead are restricted to only using 75% power until that is resolved.  That's still enough to leave a Turbo trailing in their wake though.   :D

II, do you happen to know why the 0811 from Maidenhead (0738 from Goring) was a 3-car today? Or more importantly, do you know if its planned to be 3-car again tomorrow ? I'll be working from home if it is, was horrible this morning :-(

Thanks as always!

Perhaps the local trains should have been bi-mode ;D as well as the longer distance units.

Useful for when the wires come down/are not yet ready/cant supply sufficient current.

Just the usual shortage of trains reason.  Obviously covering a Class 387 diagram with a Turbo(s) so far this week doesn't help.  That's the train that used to be a horribly busy 3-car, but was extended to 5-car a year or so ago wasn't it?

As for tomorrow, it just depends on what is available come tomorrow morning.  All being well it won't be short-formed, but any evening/overnight failures might change that!  The stock position is still critical, and will remain so until more 387s come on stream later in the year.

Thanks II - and yes, it was. Been a 5-car for a long time now, once or twice it was reduced to 3-car, but I don't remember it being as bad as it was today.

This morning's 7:34 Didcot Parkway to London Paddington was down to being a 2-car turbo instead of an High Speed Train (HST).

Better than being cancelled altogether I guess.

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

Only just better!

I must have been in a charitable mood when I wrote that.

So warm weather is forecast for the end of the week.....I'm tempted by an accumulator....delays due to "poor rail conditions", "damage to overhead equipment" and "more trains than usual needing repairs".......if it's beach weather you could add "shortage of drivers"......odds anyone?  ;)

Historically it seems that above 25c and there's a chance of weather related disruption, and above 30c it's likely they'll be disruption.  Forecast is for high 20's currently.  Who's got the white paint...

Please no, I'm traveling to London Friday afternoon.

I think we were already into trouble with toasty turbo interiors on Monday.

.......place your bets Gentlemen! Who knows, we might put a man on the moon one day! 😃

Dunno about the white paint, but there is a shortage of tipex at the moment, as they are busy making timetable adjustments to block out all those electric trains that they can't run  ;D

Delays to services between Reading and Slough
Due to a broken down train between Reading and Slough some lines are blocked.
Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed by up to 20 minutes. Disruption is expected until 07:45 24/05  :-[

Due to the disruption this morning an High Speed Train (HST) (delayed 7.08) pulled into platform 5 at Maidenhead this morning (the first I know of)! A little bit of railway history!

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

Welcome to the forum, Birdie100.   These unusual happenings are not only a piece of history, but evidence of what can be done - a learning exercise which (certainly on my own community line) helps us understand why things are as they are, and what is practical for the CRP to ask about in the future.   Many thanks for posting that information / picture ... I know that there was talk of a Marlow line CRP at one point - though I can't see them suggesting an HST to Bourne End except perhaps as a promotional trip.

Welcome Birdie 100! I've seen the freights thundering through platform 5 since they did the track layout changes, but yes, can't say I have seen an HST there before either. Its definitely given a lot more flexibility around Maidenhead.

gwr.com adds the following detail.

Following a broken down train earlier today between Reading and London Paddington all lines have now reopened.
Impact: Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed by up to 10 minutes. Disruption is expected until 10:00 24/05
An engineering train had broken down in the Slough station area earlier which has now moved. This train was part of engineering works which have been finished late however all lines are now open for normal working. Delays may occur on trains towards London due to congestion caused by the high volume of delayed services currently heading towards London.
Some trains may run with revised calling patterns to try and recover the service towards on time running.

You missed the obvious "an unusually large passenger flow".  ;D

What's the air conditioning like on the new trains? Satisfactory?

Very effective.

Due to a broken down train earlier today between Slough and London Paddington:
Impact: Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed by up to 20 minutes. Disruption is expected until 09:30 25/05.

Delays to services at Maidenhead
Due to a fault with the signalling system at Maidenhead:
Train services running through this station may be delayed. Disruption is expected until 13:15 25/05.

Wheee....

Due to a speed restriction because of high track temperatures between Gloucester and Bristol Parkway trains have to run at reduced speed on the line towards Bristol Parkway.
Impact: Train services running through these stations may be delayed by up to 5 minutes. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Due to a speed restriction because of high track temperatures between Bristol Parkway and Bristol Temple Meads trains have to run at reduced speed on the line towards Bristol Temple Meads.
Impact: Train services running through these stations may be delayed by up to 5 minutes. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Due to a fault with the signalling system between Bath Spa and Swindon some lines are blocked.
Impact: Train services running through these stations may be delayed by up to 25 minutes or diverted between Bristol Temple Meads and Swindon. Disruption is expected until 16:00 25/05.

...err.  What has the post above got to do with the Thames Valley?  Should be in 'Bristol Commuters' surely.... ::)

True but, to be fair, I think Jason was just picking up on the points made earlier in the thread about white paint and Tippex...

Damn.....forgot signal failures & lineside equipment problems.....they came up trumps too! Good luck if you're at Paddington!

No idea why but my train this morning was cancelled (06.53 from Twyford) - just after the previous very crowded one had left. Should have been a clue. There also seem to a lot of short formation trains recently. Has some stock already been redeployed or have they just been unlucky with breakdowns?

It wasn't cancelled, it neglected to call at Twyford, presumably due to late running which was down to a freight train running late in the Oxford area.

Due to damage to the overhead electric wires between London Paddington and Maidenhead trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines.
Impact:
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 minutes. Disruption is expected until 09:00 06/06.

Hmm. And it was cleared around that time.

Doesn't wire damage taken longer to attend, assess & fix than just over an hour or so?

http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2017-06-06/new-electric-trains-face-delays-weeks-after-launch/

ITV reporting "loss of power" and arcing around West Ealing.

Maybe three units has turned out to be one too many?

Not a good day for Maidenhead...

Following a points failure at Maidenhead some lines towards London Paddington have now reopened.
Impact: Train services running through this station may be delayed by up to 50 minutes. Disruption is expected until 12:45 06/06.

Frankly? Pathetic. Overdue, overspent, over promised.

From the NR log:

07:52 TVSC SSM reports that they have lost all the overheads between Paddington & Hayes due to some sort of flash over. TVSC SSM speaking with the ECO to sort out a reset.

So I would imagine the arcing near West Ealing tripped something which caused the power to fail between Paddington and Hayes, so not on the newly electrified section of track, and I would imagine the extra draw from the new electrics would not have been the cause, though perhaps ElectricTrain could clarify?

In all honesty it was reset within 15 minutes by the Electrical Control Officer and didn't really cause any very significant delays, but that and a combination of other issues (fire bells going off in a HST cab being one, a driver injury another) combined to result in a very poor morning peak.

According to the NR spokesperson in the linked article above, the fault was reset in 12 minutes, which strikes me as being pretty efficient really.


This is an unusual one - can you elaborate?!

Only to say that it happened whilst changing ends at Slough and (I think) caused one off the platforms to be blocked for 25 minutes.

A pretty grim day, especially in both peaks,  all sorts of issues, Paddington was chaotic tonight, very poorly managed - seems to be sorting itself out now, let's hope for better tomorrow.


Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Reading


Following a safety inspection on a train between London Paddington and Reading all lines are now open.
Train services running to and from these stations are returning to normal but some services may still be cancelled, delayed by up to 20 minutes or revised. Disruption is expected until 21:00 06/06.

There appears to have been a fatality somewhere, so not all the railway's cause

Possibly this sad incident - from DevonLive (http://www.devonlive.com/one-person-dead-after-being-hit-by-train-at-tiverton/story-30374170-detail/story.html):

As an aside the 0509 Plymouth to Paddington this morning didn't have a 1st class customer host until Bath Spa.  Why?  Because the person rostered was 2 hrs late back yesterday and thus didn't have the minimum break (12hrs) before booking on again. Presumably other (more important) rosters were also affected thus needing some rejigging of this morning's rosters at relatively short notice.

Now clearly this was the most trifling of inconveniences, but it demonstrates how any disruption can have knock on effects well beyond what many people not involved in running the railway might expect.

Thoughts as always with the family and all those directly affected by yesterday's sad incident.

Noticed this morning on OpenTrainTimes that the Slough-Windsor unit failed at Windsor.

It was rescued by cancelling a Paddington-Reading local service at Slough. This unit then went down the branch and brought the failed unit back to Slough platform 2. The units then split. The failed unit then set off for Reading (I assume a problem with the London end driving vehicle) and the rescue unit went back onto the branch.

When all the 165/166s on the main line are replaced they won't be able to do this. The sooner the branch is electrified the better.

It would get rescued either by a spare or by a 165 on another branch.

That's rather less elegant and probably far more time consuming though.

Cancellations to services between Bourne End and Marlow
Due to a fault with the signalling system between Bourne End and Marlow the line is blocked.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.
Customer Advice
Rail replacement coaches have been requested for Bourne End and Marlow.
GWR departures from Bourne End to Maidenhead will resume with the slightly delayed 18:03 service.

Passengers for Marlow should change at Bourne End for a rail replacement coach to Marlow.
Passengers from Marlow should catch the rail replacement coach service from the station car park to Bourne End and change there for GWR rail services to Maidenhead.

1818 cancelled from Maidenhead having just been announced as approaching the platform .......grand total of 1replacement  bus provided.

Ironically the 1742 electric from Paddington which connects with it was on time!

Bound to happen with all those signals between Marlow and Bourne End  ::)

No signals only crossing and point indicators. Although the point indicators at Bourne End look like signals.

Plus 2 tokens Maidenhead to Bourne End and Bourne End  Marlow. Used to operate panel at Bourne End and lock train on Marlow line.

I think you possibly missed the emoji in that post?

Delays to services between Twyford and Slough
Due to engineering works not being finished on time between Twyford and Slough:
Train services running through these stations may be delayed. Disruption is expected until 08:15 11/06.

Just been checking back through my emails and over running engineering work seems to be a regular occurrence on a Sunday morning.

Is it just a run of bad luck with on site equipment failures each week or are they trying to cram too much in overnight and no one is learning the lessons?

Indeed, a glance at this mornings service indicates that it's catching up with "shortage of train crew" as a reason for cancellations on a Sunday, although this doesn't seem to be restricted to weekends at the moment.

Been the same every Sunday morning since I joined the railway in the 80s.   :)

On a more serious note though, the number of possessions and individual worksites is immense on the GWML as electrification and Crossrail works continue.  The main difference since the 80s is the time allowed to do the work.  Safety measures mean it takes longer to set up and give back a possession reducing the amount of time the work can be done in, and pressure from the TOC's to get early morning trains running as the travelling public now demand a comprehensive service on most routes on a Sunday morning also mean any slight delay can have large ramifications.

This morning wasn't too bad as things were back to normal before most people's alarm clocks had gone off.  Apart from the cancellation of the first round trip to Windsor from Slough, a 45 minute delay on the first train from Twyford to London and stops removed between Paddington and Reading of that trains return trip to get it back on time from Reading, nothing else was delayed by more than 15 minutes. But it must be frustrating for those who do regularly make early morning Sunday journeys.

Sadly I can't see much changing until most of the work is finished in a couple of years time.

A change between now and the 1980's for instance when the platforms at Taplow, West Drayton etc were re-aliened most of the block work laying was done between trains ie a Lookout gave the brickies a warning they stopped work the train went past and they resumed work a lot of this done during the working day.  Now this type of work can only be done under full possession and needs RRV's to move materials therefore can only be done at weekend or nights

Morning all

Due to engineering works not being finished on time between Maidenhead and Hayes & Harlington fewer trains are able to run.
Train services running through these stations may be delayed by up to 15 minutes. Disruption is expected until 10:00 14/06.
Customer Advice
This is primarily affecting the electric services betweem Maidenhead and Hayes & Harlington as the main line is not available to electric services.
Last Updated:14/06/2017 06:26

Delays to services at London Paddington
Due to a fault with the signalling system at London Paddington:
Train services running to and from this station may be delayed by up to 20 minutes. Disruption is expected until 13:30 14/06.

Cancellations to services between Twyford and Didcot Parkway

Due to engineering works not being finished on time between Twyford and Didcot Parkway all lines are blocked.
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 09:30 18/06.

................now pushed out till 1100, to add to the joy, none of the ticket machines are working at Paddington......imagine the queues at the ticket offices.

Hmmmm, some sort of time warp system in place between Reading and Charlbury it would seem.

Imagine the extra penalty fare income :D

....so this is going well......on the upside, I guess the inevitable Sunday cancellations due to staff shortages aren't having such an impact?

Cancellations to services between Twyford and Didcot Parkway
Following engineering works not being finished on time between Twyford and Didcot Parkway all lines have now reopened.
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 14:00 18/06.

3 minutes Reading to Didcot eh?  :o

.....welcome to the new week......

Alterations to services between Hayes & Harlington and London Paddington
Due to a broken down train between Hayes & Harlington and London Paddington some lines are blocked.
Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed by up to 20 minutes or revised. Disruption is expected until 08:00 19/06.

Elements of a perfect storm this morning. Don't know what the reported signalling problem at Didcot was this morning, needless to say whist waiting at my favourite signal 907 contemplating a Didcot East grade separated junction, I missed my connection - which was a pity, as it had my reserved seat on a busy Monday morning commute.  Then, in a move I have never seen before, an over-long steel freight backed out of Didcot Yard on to the Up Relief and drew into Platform 4 completely blocking the departure of 0632 HST up local while it waited the road. 

The empty stock of the second High Speed Train (HST) up local (0706 ex Didcot) broke down at Maidenhead and the Up Main looked like it was blocked while the driver/fitter inspected the train. Heavy delays ensued crossing from Mains to Reliefs and back again.  A final long pause, followed by a switch back onto the Reliefs at Ealing Broadway (of unknown cause) meant the day was already uncomfortable warm when awaiting the bus in Praed Street!

Wrong sort of weather I think.

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

My train was delayed by 15 minutes.. It's a lot less of a issue on a train with working air con (I was on the 7.33 Mai to Pad)  than for some of the people on the old style trains though I imagine

A double dose of entertainment:

Delays to services at Didcot Parkway
Due to a fault with the signalling system at Didcot Parkway:
Train services running through this station may be delayed by up to 20 minutes. Disruption is expected until 14:30 19/06.

and

Alterations to services between London Paddington and Hayes & Harlington
Due to checking reports of an obstruction on the line between London Paddington and Hayes & Harlington trains have to run at reduced speed on all lines.
Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 14:30 19/06.

Looking at National Rail Enquiries, significant disruption at Paddington and Reading. Can't see things settling down by 14:30.

Pushed back to 1600 now, with 60 minutes delays.....odds on the rush hour being a disaster?

I've just taken a quick peek at Open Train Times - there are currently 9 trains queued on the UM between Hayes and Burnham but then you have to go back as far as Cholsey to find the next one - so I'd say the rush hour is most definitely not looking good.

I would expect a disruptive peak.  My thermometer has nudged over 30.

Sure enough, pushed back to 1730, 8 carriage electric trains to Maidenhead  (the only ones with reliable air conditioning) cancelled. Expect tonight to be bloody awful......God knows how warm countries manage, but they seem to.

I have been reading on twitter that A Pidgeon flew into the OLE and exploded ! Up Main is blocked by rubble from this or so it would seem .
Good luck to those trying to get home this evening ,hottest day of year so far  my sympathies .

A word of warning for those who may be relying on it for information, OTT appears to be suffering from the heat as well as it seems to be lagging by over 5 minutes on the actual position of trains.

Not Caroline I hope. That would be ironic given her transport responsibilities.

And the GWR website is helpfully informing passengers "There are minor disruptions on the GWR Network"!  ???

Did I not predict that Over-Head Line Equipment (OLHE) would be vulnerable to pigeons ?
And that "attacks" by such birds could cause widespread disruption.
IIRC my remarks were considered unduly pessimistic.

And anyway, just how much rubble does one exploded pigeon create.

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

Last updated     19/06/2017 17:39

The obstruction on the track between Hayes & Harlington and London Paddington has been removed (probably not by ambulance to St Columba's) allowing all lines to reopen.

Major disruption is expected until 19:00 due to trains and train crew being out of position.

Currently at Paddington and it is not looking pretty. Best avoided if you can.

Edit: the words piss-up and brewery spring to mind (as always). Fully seated High Speed Train (HST) that had been waiting for 40mins just got emptied at the last minute. No explanation other than 'disruption'.   The trains are well over 40 degrees and rising.

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

+ a freight train has failed between Midgham and Aldermaston, meaning even less sets arriving Paddington to provide services outbound in the later part of the peak

There is of course a loop just to the east of Aldermaston, but not sure if accessible from up as well as down lines?

Plenty of "parking" for freights just up the line at Theale. 

No, only accessible in the down direction.

Yes, Theale is where they have shoved it for now

At 1900 its lagging by 30mins whereas real trains are lagging by up to two hours.  Like watching a time warp..... ::)

......did it hit a pigeon?

I left work at 4 and got on a train to Swansea which was first stop Reading and then doubled back to Maidenhead.. I was aiming for the 16.42 which being electric was cancelled  and got back at 17.45 so not too bad.. I decided it better to be stuck at Reading than Paddington

I saw there had been disruption during the day but the GWR website was saying minor disruption and all trains on time. Got  Paddington just before 5 and it looked like no trains running at all. Hard to tell as the display only had Heathrow Express services and some cancelled Maidenhead one. No staff around to ask of course, no station announcements and nothing on the board before I wandered up to H&C end to wait. There was a network rail person up there who I asked but he was 'security' and doing his checks. He did comment about the GWR staff and how they all disappear as soon as there's an incident.

I'm about truly staggered (each time - you think experience would teach me) how GWR fail to provide not just information but often wrong information. How can a company think it acceptable to withdraw all frontline staff every time there's an incident? This wasn't even a major one from the comments above. If you're worried about staff safety for a BAU incident then I think you seriously need to review your operating model.

Don't tell me my train is on time when it never was. I'm fortunate in that I can work flexibly. If there's problems I can work late, go to the pub, go for a meal and that's one less person at Paddington and I'm sure I'm not alone. Just give me information. Hottest day of they year and nothing. How about handing out bottles of water to the elderly and infirm? Or even not charging me to use the toilets when I've been stuck waiting for trains and/or information.

In the end I got on the first stopping (first service full stop) to Twyford which was truly horrible. People fighting to get on, other trying to get off because they're ill and one woman had a panic attack in the heat and crowds.

Barely seems worth mentioning being 25 mins late this morning.

Information and service recovery not helped by the complete removal of key behind the scenes operational staff at key locations (Cardiff, Westbury and Oxford) at the end of March to save money.  Savings that will no doubt be lost in extra delay minutes they would have prevented.

For those who have been caught up in the pigeon poo today hope this helps
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yhuMLpdnOjY

And from my Monday morning email...

Pretty much mirrors my experience yesterday (after also being 25 mins late in the morning) - I got back to Paddington around 1730, pretty chaotic, those few GWR staff that were around seemed too busy shouting at each other and those customers who did dare to talk to them rather than being helpful......no water on offer despite the temperatures and the delays having been ongoing pretty much all day.

Thought I'd got lucky when I saw that the 1711 to Henley was still waiting to depart (about 25 mins late), managed to cram on it - 3 car turbo despite the delays, hugely overcrowded, aircon? no chance. Crawled along to Ealing (they let a Hayes stopper out just in front) by which time you could have literally wrung out my shirt - temperature on the train was 40 degrees Celsius and there were a number of people who were obviously on the point of keeling over.

People were offering water/giving up seats for those finding it harder - apart from a couple of railway employees who studiously avoided the gazes of others - you would have thought they would be the first to jump up really.

So we get to Slough eventually "ladies and gentlemen this train will no longer stop at Burnham or Taplow due to an obstruction on the line" -hmmmmmm (no staff offering help at Slough either)

So a lot of us are turfed off to see that our next option is still over 20 minutes away and eventually turns up about 40 minutes late.

If this really was all caused by a pigeon it's quite a fitting symbol for GWR's resilience. Irrespective of who is ultimately to "blame" they own the Customer experience 100% and on this occasion, as on so many others, their response was pathetic.

So other than someone having a pre-cooked meal, and some feathers for a new hat to go to Ascot with, do we actually know what happened last night, and why on earth it took so long to sort out?

Was it a rock dove?!

Pigeon perched on Over-Head Line Equipment (OLHE) very close to underside of a bridge.
Pigeon exploded due to flashover.
Small amount of cement render fell from bridge.
Chaos ensued.
The pigeon did not survive.

Or so I heard from someone involved who was told not reveal details because it would "make the railway a laughing stock"


Edit:VickiS-Clarifying Acronym

..............you're suggesting GWR needs help to look like a laughing stock? Generally speaking it manages to achieve that perfectly adequately on its own.

I suspect that "exploding pigeons" may become as notorious as "the wrong type of snow" as a reason for railway delays.

GWR = Grilled With Relish !

The levity is fine, but please don't underestimate the pretty awful effect that this farce had on tens of thousands of people last night and once again exposed GWRs/the railways frailties and systemic failures.

Learning points

1) were clear signs exhibited warning of the limited clearance between OHLE and the bridge.
2) can the pigeons read the signs, and understand them.
3) if not, what steps are to be taken to improve the reading skills of pigeons.
4) was counselling offered to other pigeons affected by this event.
5) are other species of bird at risk.

Yes, but what about the effect on the family of the pigeon ?

So, on to today's issue...

Cancellations to services between Ealing Broadway and London Paddington
Due to a fault with the signalling system between Ealing Broadway and London Paddington some lines towards London Paddington are blocked.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 30 minutes or revised. Disruption is expected until 14:45 20/06. [edit... disruption now expected until 15:00]

No idea how this'll develop but a few delays showing up at Paddington at the moment.

There's also a TSL (Temporary Speed Limit) affecting at least the Up Main - it seems as though the Oxford Fasts have had their Slough stop removed.

Is it really worth posting this ?   Seems to be the norm now. :) :)

Warning notices on Over-Head Line Equipment (OHLE) to the west of London are to be written in pidgin English in future..........

Edit: VickiS - clarifying Acronym

Now where are Dick Dastardly and Muttley when you need them   :D

Tonight GWR seem to have mislaid most of their train crews at short notice and we are left watching trains turn from on time to preparing to delayed to we might run maybe. Utter tosh.  I cannot convey in words my hatred of this company.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pigeon.
You have no idea how hard I had to resist using that quote myself  :D

I'm very selective in posting my personal woes when I've had a poor journey ... but yesterday evening was something. I had planned to check in to my hotel (in St Albans) at around 23:00 but in the end got here at 1 a.m.

OK - so I missed the 19:47 because of a fire drill at Melksham Without Parish Council and was at the station there for the next and final train - the 20:32.   When a stone train came through at 20:32 I kinda new we were in trouble, and I knew that the lady who answered the help point and assured me it would be along at 20:40 had been fed a porkie by her computer.  We need an intermediate signal to do that - I wonder if providing such a signal might be cheaper and easier than fixing the prediction software  ;)

Train rolls in at 20:50 (exactly as I had predicted to other passengers on the platform!) ... although I was catching the 21:06 from Westbury, I wasn't too worried as the help point lady said that was running 20 late.  And indeed so - chaos at Westbury, and a 25 minute delay.

I speculated to myself that this was the final run before retirement of the driver of the Paddington train, and he was so sad to be retiring he was taking his time.  Crew on the train were talking about speed restrictions due to hot weather (no mention of pigeon) but it did seem there was an awful lot of relief line running.  Rolled into Paddington an hour late - around 23:30.

Edit to correct typos

This was a quote on the WNXX Forum:

Please tell me someone that these idiots are not preparing to run (in to the ground) South West Trains as well..

Aren't Network Rail picking up these delay minutes? Hardly fault of GWR?

 Cheer up, tomorrow is forecast to be even hotter, more speed restrictions, more train failures, and more dead air conditioning.
After that thunderstorms and lightning are expected. I seem to recall a lightning strike disabling the signalling over a wide area, followed by reassurances that this was very rare and unlikely to happen again until it occurred again within a couple of weeks.
Do the axle counters work in heavy rain yet ?

Not Thames Valley infrastructure but on the subject of air-con, the Customer Host this afternoon mentioned that only 2 coaches had working air-con on our 7 coach set. Fortunately it was before the evening rush hour, but I guess the next working was going to be decidedly uncomfortable with a train load of passengers.

And why does it constantly fail on High Speed Train's (HST)s? Because passengers will not close the drop down windows in the vestibules when leaving/joining the train.

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

You can hardly blame passengers for failing to do that.  The blame lies with old fashioned and dangerous opening windows, and old air-con technology.  One of the benefits of new trains is that air-con is generally much better, the 387s are already demonstrating that and I've little doubt the new 800 series trains will do the same.

The air handling system on an HST (Mk3) coach is very similar to the design used on Mk2 d, e, f.  These air con systems were design for a 50/50% split in each coach being smoking and non smoking, can you remember those day  :-X  The air flow is designed for enter at the non smoking end and extracted from the smoking end.  Its quite a big ask for the air handling unit to do this, where as modern trains 387 etc have a much more distributed air handling system.

Also remember the Mk3 air con system is basically 40 years old, parts will have been changed and mods done but basically a 40 year old design, how many car on the road have 40 year old air con or offices that have 40 year old air con systems

Another example of the benefit of new trains over old.

But the 'HSTs Must Plod On' brigade will doubtless say that sweltering is a small price to pay.

Whilst the initial course of the disruption my well-being Network Rail's fault, GWR are responsible for minimising the resulting delays.  This is something they continue to be woeful at doing.  Removing operational staff at Cardiff, Westbury and Oxford recently is an indication of how ridiculous their strategy for improvement is.

They have become much better at dealing with planned disruption, such as engineering blockades, but continue to fall apart when dealing with unplanned disruption.

I never cease to be a-mazed at the depth of knowledge and the things I learn here.

How do the "financials" stack up?   Is the system set up so that it's in a TOCs short term financial interest to minimise NR caused delays?

One can imagine a scenario (surely not the case?) where a delay that a third party such as Network Rail leads to increasing compensation payments to the TOC the more minutes that can be attributed back to it.  If compensation received is more than compensation paid out, this would lead to an accountant's temptation to discourage measures that would get things back on schedule quicker.

I can recall a number of discussions on this topic, GWR have been asked on several occasions for the figures as to compensation received from NR v compensation paid out to customers for given incidents and whilst they have always refused to disclose it there is little doubt that the former massively outweighs the latter - for one thing, the compensation from NR is contractual and doesn't rely on individuals claiming it (and being prepared to wait for weeks/months for a reply) - so whilst GWR are perversely indirectly incentivised to string out delays  I wouldn't suggest that they do that, good old fashioned incompetence/inefficiency is the main reason, however resting easy in the knowledge that they are going to be compensated by NR certainly takes the commercial heat out of the situation for them (whilst their customers melt in the heat!)

If you hit GWR with a Customer satisfaction KPI on which senior management bonuses/salary increases were dependent, then you would see some more urgency, it tends to concentrate minds wonderfully if the Boss thinks he's going to take a hit to the pocket.

There's certainly a marked difference in the approach of GWR to an NR caused delay and one they've caused - that's nothing new.  Though as TG says the systems in place are woefully inadequate to deal with either.

But obviously no danger of a Void Day being declared to ensure that all passengers affected receive something approaching adequate compensation??  No, no danger at all. 😒

"Unlikely" according to GWR's Twitter team.

The magic word is 'day'. If that had happened at start of service, I suspect the Thames Valley & High Speed Train (HST) charter grouos may have got one, but not for less than a full days disruption.

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

And also morexlikely when the delay minutes are atributable to themselves, rather than some other, like Network Rail in this case, who will fully refund GWR for all costs/compensation for each & every minute atributed

And the money goes round and round and the train service doesn't improve.

Is this the same Twitter team that were too busy to do updates on Monday due to individual queries? I think most of us can accept delays happen but GWR need to talk to their customers.

My train home was on time today except the usual 8 coach (or maybe 7) 125 was replaced by a 2 coach Turbo. On the train I did catch there was an announcement that air con was only working in one or two coaches and passengers should move to one of these coaches. Great advice except there's people standing in the aisle and others running up and down the platform trying to get on. It may have been well intentioned advice but it was met with withering scorn where I was standing.

Sounds truly horrific....the 1736 is packed at the best of times....suspect the High Speed Train (HST) was nicked to transport the great unwashed to Glastonbury.

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

17:29 from Swansea
17:45 from Paddington
18:31 from Oxford
18:50 from Paddington

All cancelled and the 17:49 from Paddington is 5 car instead of 8, and 17:36 2 car instead of 8
All the units for the above services have failed apparently, that's quite a large proportion of HSTs

Surprisingly good performance today from NR and GWR.  A few delays/cancellations/short forms, but overall not too bad given it was the hottest day of the four day heatwave (hottest June days in over 40 years), the disruption of the previous three days (especially Monday) and sets being nicked for Glastonbury.

Just for interest there is a detailed explanation of the problems which affected OTT on Monday here - https://blog.opentraintimes.com/2017/06/19/post-incident-review/ (https://blog.opentraintimes.com/2017/06/19/post-incident-review/)

There is a 1967 British Transport Film called "Second Nature". The main theme of the film concerns repairs to the catenary wire following a flashover under a bridge triggered by a crow.

Fifty years on...

Perhaps ElectricTrain can elaborate on whether the new electrification equipment provides any extra resilience against this rare but potentially very disruptive bird risk?  I believe Monday's incident occurred near West Ealing so that's obviously an older section done in the mid 90s.

An excellent and unusual example of the provision of feedback to a quite detailed level. There are others (web, train operation and infrastructure) who could do worse than follow the example.

.......which goes to show that whilst you can't polish a turd, it's always possible to scatter a little glitter over it! ;-)

Bird strikes on OLE used to be very common on the older Mk1 (what was on most of the WCML) Anglia suffer from swan and goose bird strikes.............. now they do make a mess, however bird strikes are not so common Mk3 and UK series 1

If it was in the Ealing area it could have been a couple of pigeons getting a bit frisky on perhaps one of the bridge arms under the "tunnels"

Birds (pigeon size) make a mess of insulators.


The OLE engineers have designed out places where birds can roost and nest on OLE and generally birds don't like pan wells because the trains move

The other thing that can happen is birds nesting or roosting in the Pan wells on traction units.

Swan and Goose strikes? 

If the infrastructure is so feeble that a small, humble pigeon can turn the service to rats**t for the best part of a day and evening, God knows what a swan could do? No service for a week?

Maybe scarecrows in GWR uniforms could be strategically positioned trackside to frighten them off?

Lagging by 10 minutes or so tonight as well, but I think that's a problem with the NR feed rather than OTT as the railcam maps are also lagging by the same amount.

Usually pigeons just go phut in a big cloud of feathers often not even tripping the circuit breakers feeding a section.

I don't know what happened Monday, if the mortal remains of a bird stayed put which meant the ECR keep getting circuit breaker trips and if the MOMs cannot clear it with the live working tools they have then the OLE team is called out to site to inspect the suspect area, the protection relays used on OLE circuit breakers give a reasonably accurate location of where the fault is and usually the MOMs can deal with things quite quickly.

I heard there was more concern with the debris on the track than usual, and that took an unduakly long time to get clearance / cleared

I assumed, from the time it took, that the condition of the bridge was the issue. Such as: peering into the hole left by the flashover, and waggling the potentially loose bits round the edge, it looked as if a lot more might be ready to fall on the track.

Also https://www.gov.uk/raib-reports/partial-collapse-of-a-bridge-onto-open-railway-lines-at-barrow-upon-soar (https://www.gov.uk/raib-reports/partial-collapse-of-a-bridge-onto-open-railway-lines-at-barrow-upon-soar) has just been published, so maybe a touch of extra caution regarding possible damage to overbridges was appropriate.

Ok, Barrow-upon-Soar incident is perhaps not quite the same as the Ealing one. 

If the Ealing incident was caused by a bird and this lead to a flashover from the OLE to a masonry over bridge the discharge of electrical energy as an earth fault into a relatively high impedance, this can result in the masonry fracturing (exploding), indeed its has been know for the fault current to travel tens of metres through the masonry before the protection clears the fault, its should noted that we are talking a max of 200mS.

The mitigate / control OLE to masonry over bridges earthed metal strips are now run on the underside of the bridge in flash over strike zone, normally 2 parallel strips.  In some locations insulating shrouds are fitted on the top of the catenary, this is generally not likes by the OLE engineer as they require a lot of maintenance, another measure can be to paint the underside of the bridge with insulating paint this is expensive and again can be high maintenance.

The use of earthed strips has only been a requirement for about 5 or 6 years.   Anyone travelling through Slough at a relatively low speed look at the underside of Stoke Rd Bridge (this is the at the West end of the station) and you will see the strips on the underside of the bridge above the OLE

2 coaches again for the 17.36. not a chance of getting on.

From what people said above this is planned changes around Glastonbury so why not give passengers a chance and advertise it? I got a text just before 17.00 by which time I was already committed to my commute across London but it sounds like this had been planned some time in advance but there was nothing on the GWR website about formation changes when I left work. To me it doesn't seem a difficult thing to communicate around planned work.

On a different topic is customer service/communication part of the infrastructure thread as it doesn't quite sit with the conversations about OLE or even 125 air con (I never knew that!)? Happy to start a separate thread although I worry it might just be me and Taplow Green comparing journeys home.

I wonder how many years before we are seeing such a post/complaint on the Trans Wilts board.  :D

I was thinking of offering a swap of their 17:36 for our 17:36.   I will glady accept that turbo and they can borrow Casper  ;D .

1742 Electric was noticeably busier last night, I think a lot of Maidenhead passengers took that option rather than the 1736 matchbox!

All the Stations ... "Maidenhaed to Marylebone"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL2PQ0zteps&feature=youtu.be

.....welcome to the new week!

Alterations to services at Oxford
Due to a fault with the signalling system at Oxford the line towards Didcot Parkway is closed.
Train services running through this station may be delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 07:45 26/06.
Further Information
Owing to some signalling issues we are currently only able to operate a very limited train service from Oxford towards Didcot Parkway or Reading.

Get ready for a fun evening everyone, got the 1742 from Paddington, now stuck at Southall.......

Delays to services between West Drayton and Southall
Due to a fault with the signalling system between West Drayton and Southall some lines are blocked.
Train services running through these stations may be delayed by up to 30 minutes. Disruption is expected until 20:00 05/07.

I was just ahead of you TG on the 1733 from PAD. We've just been authorised to pass next 5 signals at danger on down main. You were lucky to be able to cross to down relief and pass us. We have to stop at each red for driver to call signaller and get authorisation to continue.

Quite a list of long distance services cancelled or starting from Reading. I feel for those stuck at Paddington on this very warm evening trying to get home.

I've just left Reading for Castle Cary 65 late. Rather perversely after the delay had crept past 45 minutes I was hoping for another 15 mins at least. I get half my fare back!

Paddington is a mess.
I specifically did a count of official personnel on the concourse and counted as follows:
BTP: 6
Network Rail: 2
GWR: 0
When are they going to learn?!?

I've decamped to marlybone and can report the following
1) I have a seat
2) it has working aircon

I will be billing GWR for my connecting taxi which should cost no more than £50.

Could I ask our signalling experts what a 'module' is. It's one of these that apparently failed this evening.

And are these modules 'cheap Chinese crap' as I heard it described by a member of GWR staff?

Yes I've been in that situation where you want the late running service you are on to just be a bit more late so you can at least have the satisfaction of getting some or all of your money back!

Cheap, I very much doubt it !
Chinese, probably, or if made elsewhere almost certainly incorporating Chinese components or sub-assemblies.
Crap, Rather subjective, but going by the poor and apparently worsening reliability, then IMO, crap.

The signalling in that area is an upgraded version of the original 1992 BR Solid State Interlocking (SSI).  The interlocking is triplicated in a 'two out of three configuration' (i.e. it requires two of the three to agree before giving an output) and is located at the Thames Valley Signalling Centre (TVSC) at Didcot.  The interlocking is connected to the trackside equipment by means of two diverse data links using a pair of Long Distance Terminals (LDT).  At the local site the remote data links are connected to the local data links via duplicated Data Link Modules (DLM). The actual signals and points are interfaced to by a Trackside Functional Module (TFM) which although a single unit has two independent processors built into it, one connected to each separate data link.  In theory no single failure should close down the whole system.  All of this equipment is of British manufacture although the firms that make it are French (Alstom) and German (Siemens).

Hope thats not too technical?

Oh dear just realised thats a lot more acronyms/abbreviations for CfN...... ::) :P

Thanks for that explanation, S&TE.

So, cheap British and European crap then?  :P ;) ;D

I can tell you that all of those modules I mentioned are certainly not cheap.

Personally I think there must be a fundamental underlying issue with the system configuration in the original Paddington to Hayes scheme as we don't seem to suffer quite as many failures on other more newer areas using the same equipment and system configuration.  Of course relay interlockings are much more reliable than modern electronic kit (look for example at Plymouth which is still using its original 1960 relay equipment and I can count the number of failures of that installation over the past 20 years on one hand).

Whether Chinese or British, cheap or expensive, it's clearly crap, like the rest of the service, and GWR's attitude to its customers........reports of people fainting on crush loaded trains in the heat tonight (.........but hey no doubt we'll be told that it's their own fault for boarding in the first place)

Here's a good example of the level of information customers are provided with during severe disruption (taken by a pal tonight at Paddington)

People still being told to complain to the non responsive @gwr email address, Twitter in meltdown

Well worth the steep rise in fares announced today..............

+1 Thanks for the explanation!

The BR SSI was a well-proven system and my recollection from 1992 onwards when the Slough New (SN) scheme was implemented was that it was pretty reliable. Given all the inbuilt redundancy you describe I'm wondering what's changed in the past three years to make it fall over so regularly. Can't be the change to axle counters, can it?

What steep rise in fares is that, TG?

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/rail-commuters-face-brexit-fare-hike-of-nearly-four-times-the-one-per-cent-public-sector-pay-cap-a3580271.html

.....................and on this occasion there is absolutely no need for you to ask "oooooooooooooo's gunna pay for it?"........we all are!!!  :D

The thing that does give SSI (Solid State Interlocking) a problem at times is the signalling power supply; certain modules will fail safe if they are unhappy with power that they are supplied with which requires a signal tech to reset them.  Occasionally if there is a problem external to the railway with the DNO system this can cause problems; UPS have been installed and are being installed in a lot of the supply points.

Appears things weren't too good at Waterloo last evening either:
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/825203/London-Waterloo-Paddington-travel-commuting-delays-train-rail-rush-hour

We increasingly have a fair weather only railway that seems unable to cope with entirely predictable temperatures, or with rain or wind.

Any reasonable passenger would expect disruption in truly extreme conditions, but by "truly extreme" I mean winds of 100MPH, or 10 foot deep snow drifts, or temperatures that break records.

Large scale disruptions certainly seem to have got worse in recent years. Of course breakdowns occurred back in the old days, but I do not recall major London termini EVER being closed in the rush hours, yet now it seems to happen several times a year.
Paddington seems to be the worst in recent years, with Waterloo being a close second.

I expect it to get worse as more and more signalling is controlled from large centralised and remote signalling control centres. And of course electrification though a good thing in theory has added another risk of large scale failure, more exploding pigeons and more chance of failures in windy weather.

Due to a fault with the signalling system between Reading and London Paddington some lines are closed.
Impact: Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed. Disruption is expected until 09:45 06/07.

You just have to be patient. Once GWR have finished "building a Greater West" everything will be fine & dandy and we will move into broad, sunlit uplands with no delays, plenty of seats, trains/air conditioning/signals that dont break down every 5 minutes and even emails answered within 6 months.....staff will be easy to find at stations and will rush forward to offer assistance rather than picking their noses and scowling at passers by......you may even find them working on Sundays......I'm not sure which year, or even decade this huge leap forward will take place, but it is scheduled for April 1st.

.....and to back up what I said earlier in this thread the signalling has just failed again at Hayes (1600 on 06/07/2017) ::) :P

Paddington at a standstill as well.  Seems nothing being let out to avoid blocking up the whole area for the next few hours.

Due to a safety inspection of the track between Newbury and Reading trains have to run at reduced speed on the line towards Reading.
Impact: Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed by up to 15 minutes. Disruption is expected until 17:30 06/07.

Is this how GWR is currently reporting the Hayes problem ?
"Due to a fault on this train between London Paddington and Slough all lines are blocked.
Impact: Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 60 minutes. Disruption is expected until 22:00 06/07."

Edit: now amended to read: Due to a fault with the signalling system between London Paddington and Slough all lines are blocked.

Multiple signalling problems further out west too.

Thanks for the heads up! Would my Travel Card from Didcot allow me to go via Marylebone and Oxford?

The advice now reads:

Customer Advice:
Chiltern Railways are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice.
CrossCountry are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice.
South West Trains are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice.
London Buses are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice.
First in Berkshire & The Thames Valley are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice.

You really couldn't make it up could you? Totally unfit for purpose.

Judging from Jason's post I would consider the answer to be 'yes'

Allow plenty of time though because the Marylebone-Oxford trains get quickly wedged once Paddington is stuffed. They're mostly 5 car units every 30 mins (more in the peak with one loco-hauled service.

I am half hoping Chris Grayling is caught up in all this , after his visit to us  out in the sticks and returning to his ivory tower.

Quite. Looks like I was lucky in managing to miss this. Completed my meetings in London and decided to head home early catching the 14:30 from Padd which was fine - even had working aircon.

Looks like still nothing moving out of Padd. Another screwed up evening peak to come  >:(

Fortunately I was on the bus to Paddington so easily diverted to Marylebone and am now sitting in an air conditioned train  leaving in ten minutes not stuck at Paddington!

If its two nights on the trot GWR might need to reinforce those 6 BTP at Paddington that I observed last night.

What an utter utter farce.  And zero compensation for season ticket holders for this.

And passengers using the Cotswold Line had no morning peak service due to the failure of the 04:50 Hereford blocking the line at Charlbury for two hours. Wonder what the justification will be for not declaring a void day.

At 17:56

At least this time the website is saying major disruptions rather than last nights some trains may be delayed up to 30 mins.

I also noticed the Twitter team was being slightly more conciliatory when season tickets complained telling them to email GWR rather than that's your terms and conditions tough. Although that's not going to help the email backlog much.

If it wasn't before, I think it is now time for a deep level cross-industry enquiry regarding the ongoing signalling reliability between Maidenhead and Paddington.  There are far too many minor outages and far too many major ones such as today and yesterday.  With the ever increasing numbers of people wanting to travel by train, this simply isn't good enough.

That's utterly pathetic "postpone journeys"....how are people supposed to get home?

Spoke to soon. Apparently all lines blocked out of Paddington is a minor disruption. Go customer service.

Any idea if the stoppers from Reading might run some way into London for the final leg of the Waterloo to Reading journey? According to the website all running and all on time.

Kinda sums it up really....

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/pad0607.png)

Hear, hear. This thread should be forwarded to the DfT. It's an excellent catalogue of the frequent failings of infrastructure in the Thames Valley. The ministers in the department need to start kicking butts at Network Rail.

I am told the A link failed today and when the techs tried to use the B link it established briefly and then also went down.

 ''Better go to plan C, then  ''

They have - stop everything.

From this tweeted photo I assume that the guy in the distance in the hi-vis is the sum total of Customer Service at Reading tonight!

https://twitter.com/Sarah_CSR/status/883031136213114880 (https://twitter.com/Sarah_CSR/status/883031136213114880)

Realtime Trains is suggesting the 15:49 Paddington - Moreton-in-Marsh has been stationary near the Heathrow Airport Junction since 16:12 (as at 19:56). Is that really the case, or what have GWR managed to do with services which had departed from Paddington and then got caught up in the chaos?

It's a public thread ... anyone is free to forward a copy and judging by the number of "like"s you have, someone probably has already.

GWR could IMHO have done better WRT informing and assisting passengers, but we must remember that the root cause is the failure of network rail infrastructure, yet again.

Does anyone know how many people have been trapped on trains for hours, and are there any plans for rescue/evacuation ?

And what about those with longer journeys to make, is it just a case of sleeping on the concourse at Paddington, or there any plans to obtain taxis or coaches to Cornwall ?
For those who can get home via Waterloo, are there any plans to run an all night service from Waterloo to Exeter etc. And connecting taxis.

In short, is anyone in authority actually DOING ANYTHING to help those stranded, or is it just a case of hoping for the best. (and hiding)

I think there have been problems with the feeds these sites rely on - see http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=15702.msg216277#msg216277 (http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=15702.msg216277#msg216277)

I suspected that might have been the case but - even so - what did happen to that service (and others)? Did it eventually get through to Reading or was it sent back towards Paddington?

Edit - Realtime Trains is now showing it having arrived at Slough 269 minutes late, and National Rail Enquiries says it will arrive at Moreton-in-Marsh at 21:45!

Looks like it is, as it has just arrived Slough, 269 late

Well that apology really sounds sincere.......... :P

Reading right now !

Three hours on and halfway home.

Reading overbridge is heaving - why - there are no local TV trains until 23:13

How is this justified ??

As if it wasn't bad enough for the passengers on the 15:49, it has now just been held at Kennet Loop for around 10 minutes whilst a class 7 freight was routed through, has now arrived Reading 292 late

And left 312 late - that's over five hours. That is some delay whatever the length of journey.

Actually arrived 312 late and terminated there (maybe not surprisingly, I'm sure the crew are out of hours).  So still a bit longer to wait for those going towards the Cotswold Line.

Ooooo I'm going to hit these f**** with a big taxi bill this evening. With a vengeance.

No, it arrived 292 late, and then as Charles said it departed 312 late, hence why RTT says 16:19 - 21:11 (292). It says 312 late because that was the time it did depart,  perhaps it continued empty or as a different headcode, but I saw it leave on OTT around 21:30

Might it have become this service, 1Z41 2132 RDG to Worcester Shrub Hill?

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/O10218/2017/07/06/advanced (http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/O10218/2017/07/06/advanced)

Just leaving Waterloo on the 2258 to Windsor.. under normal circumstances I'd have been on the 1742 from Paddington-Maidenhead and may have been able to say goodnight to my kids......I believe there are some people who are "proud" to work on the railways. Time to look in the mirror & think very hard.

Yup, that explains that then

...and while they are at it, they could do something about the seemingly almost daily signalling problems around Wimbledon/ Clapham .

Really sorry to hear about the problems  in and out of Paddington, must be miserable for anybody affected,

Absolutely TG. It is not the ineptitude that I resent but the comtempt that I'm held by GWR workers for trying to just get home. I've taken Friday as holiday as I haven't seen my one year old since Monday due to gwr's doing. Utter utter dishclothes from start to finish.
 

Luckily for me it wasn't too bad tonight. I arrived at Maidenhead around 5pm to see platform 3 heaving. Once I found out what was going on, I prepared for a long wait. Couldn't believe my eyes when a freight train went thundering through platform 4. Not only do these things constantly delay paying customers, now they also don't seem to need signals!

A 3 car service to Reading arrived which saw 99% of the platform cram on (no idea how they actually managed that, it must have been a GWR Tardis). I didn't even bother moving. A short while later there was an announcement that the train at Platform 4 was running back to Reading and advised all passengers for Reading and beyond, or wanting Paddington to travel to Reading and get a service to Waterloo. Train was relatively empty as the vast majority had just crammed on the other 3 car turbo.

Arrived at Reading expecting to be stranded while we wait for something to get through the signal problems and crawl to Reading, when there was an announcement that the turbo at platform 14A was going to run to Oxford.

In the end I was home about 20mins late.

For once, common sense seemed to prevail and they managed to keep some local service running for those passengers not travelling to the affected areas by running the two shuttle services - so kudos for that.

Sorry to hear everyone else is having such a dire time, especially in this heat (which always makes frustrations boil over even more). Hope you guys manage(d) to get home eventually.

I'm still proud to work on the railway.  I strive to personally do my best at all times for an industry that has its problems but still often provides people with a great experience.  If I can help that happen in some small way, I will.  I am also not afraid to criticise vehemently when people are badly let down as they have been this week.

I was supposed to get the 1835 to Taunton. Didn't fancy a cramped and sweaty Waterloo train so hung around for a couple of beers. Eventually got on the wedged 2045 to Bristol which was the first High Speed Train (HST) out of PAD. I was on the bridge so beat the stampede  a and got a seat - thankfully in a coach with AC (several coaches were sweat boxes I hear). We lost loads of time on the way West, but connected with the 2306 to Exeter. Should get to Taunton just after midnight - not looking forward to the ride to Lydeard in the dark. Was hoping to do it in the light and have a pint in the Lethbridge. Ho hum!

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

Agree. Many employees work hard and diligently and are justifiably proud of so doing, but this does not excuse the appalling response of GWR and many employees whose response was to hide until it was over.

In view of the increasing frequency of these major shutdowns, GWR really need to have some more robust contingency plans for hot weather, cold weather, wind and rain. (and exploding pigeons)

Despite the very poor response by GWR, we must remember that the actual breakdown was not their fault, it was yet another network rail failure. This is beginning to look like basic incompetence.
Most reasonable passengers would very reluctantly accept even breakdowns on this scale provided that they were truly exceptional. By this I mean once or at the most twice in an average working lifetime, and certainly not several times a year.
Whilst breakdowns have always occurred, I do not recall London terminals being closed/providing no effective service in the rush hour until relatively recently.

Is 5 hours late a record, for a local service in peacetime ?

Joint statement issued by GWR and Network Rail.

This morning's cancellations

05:11 Worcester SH to Paddington
07:12 Taunton to Paddington
05:30 Plymouth to Paddington
(05:53 Plymouth to Paddington to call additionally at Totnes, Dawlish and Pewsey)
08:20 Plymouth to Penzance
07:41 Penzance to Paddington
06:05 Frome to Paddington
07:59 Swansea to Paddington

0546 Exeter to Paddington will a 150 as far as Taunton then an HST

Also some Paddington-Hayes shuttles cancelled.

Well said. If a train operating company failed to provide any kind of service they'd be hauled up in front of the DfT to answe some serious questions. Network Rail seemingly get away with it time and time again. We've had complete meltdowns of the infrastructure at Bristol, twice between Exeter and Taunton and now twice in the Thames Valley in the last 2 to 3 weeks. Someone within Network Rail needs to be made publically accountable for these serious failings because it's becoming increasing apparent that the management within Network Rail Great Western are out of their depth.

I was on this train from Paddington to Charlbury - it just continued from Reading! Sat down at 1535, got off at Charlbury at 2220 (instead of 1703).

The four hour stop at Hayes was the highlight - at least platformed so they could open the doors and provide water. This then became an all-stopper to Reading so further delayed progress.

I thought my being stuck at Hayes for an hour the day before was bad enough, but four hours?! You have my sympathy.  :o

Welcome to the forum.  :)

The failure of of the 0633 Charlbury to Paddington in the morning wasn't great either, blocking the line for a few hours!

Only running 10 minutes late this morning - so all looking positive! Still a while to run yet

Me too.

I spend my working day identifying and solving equipment problems, the infrastructure is large, complex and access to do anything to it extremely limited, yet we catch 99.9% of the problems before they become a crises; and I do mean WE its a diverse team of people with different skills that keeps the trains moving.

The motivation for many is about to sink as NR staff are now classed as public sector so 1% pay rise which will equate for most as 0.8% ................. I can see many skilled staff leave NR to work for contractors or like me contemplate retiring early and take final salary pension and the 40 plus years of experience with me

............apparently there is as yet no decision as to whether yesterday will be declared a Void Day  ::)

I would imagine the big cheeses at GWR will be in Mark Hopwood's office right now digesting what's taken place these past few days deciding if passengers have suffered enough to declare a void day.

I will eat my seat reservation if they declare it as void!

That 1% cap was one reason why I went. The main one was the thought of another winter getting up at 6.15 am. You could take the pension and presumably also go to work for the contractors.

Just as well it isn't a Cross Country seat reservation ... those electronic bits can be very difficult to digest.....

.......more likely on the 1st tee! I'm sure the amount of money they will trouser in compensation from NR in respect of the last couple of days will more than outweigh any gesture they may graciously decide to make......they certainly won't be passing it on to their customers in any other ways!

GWR have lifted ticket restrictions into and out of Paddington today.

Just as well it isn't a Cross Country seat reservation ...those electronic bits can be very difficult to digest....especially if someone comes along and turfs you out of your seat, having plucked it off the menu earlier.

Just out of interest to those who say GWR response was poor and employees hide etc... From my experience last night that simply isn't true given the circumstances. What do you want to happen when the Railway is broken to such an extent they can NOT run trains through such a key location.

I was at Paddington just after 16:00 trying to get to Reading. By 16:20 the CIS had been turned off because service was suspended. TO advertise trains as Delayed and then cancel at train time is just annoying and false information. The announcer for Network Rail was making very clear PA that ALL service was suspended. By 1630 they were advising to use SWT from Waterloo, Chiltern from MYB. Local buses from Ealing (Central Line). Also LUL for Heathrow.

Many people including myself chose to ignore those messages, hoping it would be all ok soon. I headed upstairs to the pub. Is it GWRs fault that we ignore their advice?? Or just our own stubbornness or just that we are use to diverting for 2 hours to find that the line had opened 5 mins after you left.

From what I observed on the concourse there were plenty of staff at the 2 help desks. The announcements were frequent advising they had no estimate for service and to please use alternative routes. Also that tickets would be valid tomorrow if that was easier option for those who could postpone journeys. I actually stood near a help desk by the ticket office for about 20 mins just to be nosey.

The staff were well informed and were providing info on the diversions. By now it was around 1800, and they had been told at least another 2 hours before any departures. The diversions were extended to allow Virgin Trains via Birmingham for North Cots and also Bristol etc.

I had arranged a lift from a friend to Slough and got there about 1915. I didn't have to wait long and a turbo arrived from Reading to go back all stations. I asked the staff there how frequent the service had been. And they said not too bad. Local buses were taking tickets for Langley & Iver. Also on the 81 which runs towards Heathrow and connects for other buses to get to West Drayton & Hayes/Southall. So people were moving. London was being served via Windsor and a walk to SWT services.

When I got back to Reading, I had a wander around there were PA's, staff were visible. Yes it was busy on plats 456 for SWT services, but it was being controlled safely. From speaking to a friend later in evening. SWT even ran additional services to CLJ and WAT only vice booked ECS. So nice to see other TOCS helping.

There were services being turned around I see a Bristol and a S Wales service leave. Also Oxford trains seem to be running too.

Then being sad when I got home I watched what service ran when the lines opened which was around 2030.

And I was amased how many trains actually ran, given the displacement of crew. All HSS services from 2045 until close ran as booked. LTV services had an odd cancelled service. A couple of Oxfords called into Didcot extra to help ease congestion. But was far better than evening before. Even the 0022 Pad Oxford ran which is my normal train home after drinks in London.

And on a final note, I'm not saying GWR did good. But I don't feel they did as bad as some make out. Too many peoples default setting on here is just to criticise. From what I witnessed first hand, staff were dealing with a terrible situation as best they could. There were PA's. I could see staff.

Network Rail should be ashamed....but ultimately they are responsible for the safe operation of trains. And lets all just remember that no one was injured, we were all just late (some more than others) home, but we got home.
Personally I would rather be late home safe than someone try and risk running a train on an unsafe system of signalling.
Of course Id rather have a seat on an air conditioned train and be on time.....but to expect that every day is madness ;)

Bytes?  :-[

Always good to hear the alternative view!  :)

There was a good brief issued to staff about the cause of the failure.  In short, it could happen again until NR get to the root cause of the issue

Not very reassuring - perhaps that Brief should be shared with customers so that our expectations can be managed as to GWR/NRs future performance?

If it's the case that it could happen again at any time, no doubt GWR will be increasing the robustness and resilience of their contingency plans for severe disruption? As they pretty much appear to be non existent at the moment, beefing them up shouldn't be too difficult.

Well this was published on the WNXX Forum and appears to be from the GWR MD to its staff:


Note in particular that last paragraph..... :P

Any kind of contingency plan will require an operational railway line.

Especially when I hear that GWR are saying its the same fault that caused the stoppage on Wednesday!

....apparently no news on a Void day until next week, how long can it take to decide that there was "....serious, extended disruption during a morning or evening peak period and when no reasonable alternative such as rail replacement service has been provided...." ???

I know this is very technical but why don't they make something like this public instead of the usual we're really sorry this has happened waffle? Explain what's going wrong to your passengers and what's being done to fix it.

By now, DafT should have announced an independent inquiry into the whole shoot-bang-works. I assume they are waiting for the problems to be solved before doing that, so it can find that there were problems, but they're in the past.

The DfT or probably the ORR will be in contact with the Network Rail (NR) Route, its more likely that the Network Rail (NR) team would have contacted the ORR and said "Huston we have a problem" Network Rail (NR) would give their understanding of the issue and what NR are doing about it also that they are working with the TOC's FOC to manage the impact.

My experience of this type of event is the failure is dealt with at the time, the full understanding of the event and failure and what the long term resolution is to prevent future occurrences is usually a few weeks may be months later as it can take time to analyse all the data perhaps model it and then it a technical solution is needed this may need to be run thought a safety review and then trialled.

Short answer is I expect they know what it is, what's caused it but the thing that may take time is how fix it so it don't happen again   

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

Of course there was a reasonable alternative ! wait until the next day !
And such is the generous nature of GWR that they even announced that tickets could be used the next day, what more could one ask :)

With almost perfect timing today one of the advertising flyers that the postman brought me today was from GWR telling me all the wonderful places I can go (or not as the case was earlier this week) on their services.. Consigned to the recycle bin already ;D

And yes, I am repeating myself, but passengers... sorry customers on the Cotswold Line had no morning peak service to speak of either with the 04:50 Hereford blocking the line at Charlbury for two hours - with no reasonable alternative being provided.

The GWR website says "if we think our performance falls below an acceptable level during a peak period, we’ll declare the day ‘void’". Are GWR seriously still considering whether Thursday's performance was "acceptable" or not?

Patience. Good things comes to those who wait and all that. You never know, there might be some surprises that are currently being finalised.

Wow really? Sounds great!.....signals that work? Trains with working aircon and something approaching sufficient capacity that don't break down every 5 minutes and aren't constantly short formed? An industry that doesn't treat its most important stakeholders as inconvenient freight? A railway that doesn't melt down faster than ice cream when  it gets warm? A business that has a contingency plan for its customers when things go wrong?

Any of those would be a fantastic surprise! Manana Manana?

Network Rail (NR) are out if their depth and have brought in the manufacturers - Siemens and another as no one in Network Rail (NR) understands the data problem. Bring back mechanical signals, bloody IT

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

I think there's a certain level of cynicism towards GWR's reluctance to declare void days. I appreciate they can cost money and should be for exceptional events, but having realised the levels of disruption caused by the derailment last July and the exploding pigeon were acceptable, passengers do wonder how bad things have to be before they become unacceptable.

If there's something being finalised then great, but perhaps a holding statement from GWR might have helped quell some of the current frustrations.

If the government keep on slashing the budget of NR and then in turn NR have to keep cutting their costs then this situation will keep on arising.  Pay them a decent wage and keep the experience to keep the network runnin smoothly. Everything is done on the cheap and it will keep coming back to bite them on the rear end. This is what will happen with a fully nationalised railway.   

TaplowGreen you won't get any of that when the government is involved.

Slashing the budget? What happened to the £7.5 billion that was going to be "Building a Greater West"?

Hopelessly delayed and overspent projects and not even the day to day is maintained properly.........doesn't sound like expertise and experience in action to me - sounds exactly like the public sector in action.

Just look how much debt Network Rail has. You've got people in the DfT with no experience in operating a railway trying to tell those that have.

wasn't it the EU that demanded that NR become an agency with debt in the Government books. Then one small advantage of Brexit might mean it can go borrowing on its own...

I think it was something like that.  My guess, let the debts mount up and then it'll be a prime candidate to privatise.

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/ons-decision-on-the-classification-of-network-rail (https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/ons-decision-on-the-classification-of-network-rail)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_System_of_Accounts (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_System_of_Accounts)

Whether or not "the EU demanded", it is debatable how much increase in NR's debt would be sustainable.

My understanding was that the EU said that the debt guarantees that the government had given NR meant that it was not a real private sector company. The debt that had been guaranteed by the government therefore had to be counted as part of government debt.

The government then decided that if NR's debt was a government debt, then it should treat it as a government agency.

That is a little different to EU demanding a change.

But adherence to the ESA won't be necessary after Brexit, this opens the door to a return to NR not being an agency again ( if so wished)

In part it was to do with EU regulations about State funding of companies; in addition the UK Treasury were also uneasy with the fact that the UK tax payer had a large investment in something it could never get back if Network Rail PLC folded as it could not sell the assets easily.  DfT were not keen on moving NR into a State Agency ............ errrrrrrrrrrr because they would become accountable and not be able to hide behind the Network Rail is a company responsible to its "share holders" (NR share holders were not share holders that have invested but people nominated to act in that roll)


NR is a Government owned agency, the UK Government however wanted NR to continue as if it was a commercial company but NR could not raise finance externally like it could before (that's the £50B + national debt)

Although Brexit will allow the UK Government possibly more flexibility HM Treasury will still have a view on how much the railways contribute to the National debt.    Of course the Government could go for the Big Four or Six railway companies based on sink or swim .................... passengers would not like the fares and motorway users would not like the congestion       

There was an argument within government for many years about the status of these debts. NSOONS have always been pushing for them to be - honestly - labelled as public sector liabilities, but then they would, wouldn't they, as that kind of classification task is what they do. At least as far back as 2001, when other agreed international accounting standards made this clear, ONS had it on their "to do" list. They were also granted a bit more independence just after that, beefing up the role of the National Statistician.

In 2006, NSOONS were able to reclassified LCR's debt (for HS1) as public, followed very soon by a huge lump of PFI debt. "Everyone" knew that the same rules said that NR was controlled by the government, so it should also be moved across. However, DfT managed to hold that off by pointing out what a huge jump in the national debt (as accounted) it would be. The change in the EU's statistical norms just made their (and the chancellor's) claims that white really is just a very very light shade of black too hard to keep up.

What would happen after Brexit isn't clear, any more than whether it will lead to politicians saying (in effect) "vote for me and have dirtier diesels" just because that would no longer be prevented by EU commitments.

Okay, I know what ONS is (Office for National Statistics) as my stepfather worked for them.

But what are NSO and LCR? PFI is widely known but some readers may not be aware it stands for Private Finance Initiative.

Please can we have the full name when first using acronyns/abbreviations.

Guilty yer honour - too much of a hurry. NSO is a typo, maybe suggested by their pre-1996 name of CSO. LCR probably deserves a place in the forum's list, being London snd Continental Railways. Perhaps adding (HS1) is more helpful though.

Returning to the topic of LTV gross inadequacy it's a new week, so here's a new problem

Due to a fault with the signalling system between Slough and Maidenhead trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines towards Maidenhead.
Train services running through these stations may be delayed by up to 20 minutes. Disruption is expected until 12:00 10/07.

Oddly, early trains from Oxford were curtailed/cancelled/started short this morning too, so something else had also taken place causing problems.

Turned out the 12:00 prediction was overly pessimistic.  The fault (axle counters at Taplow) was cleared just after 7.30am.

A set of points run through at Oxford.  High Speed Train's (HST)s which terminate there will have to terminate at Didcot Parkway.  Turbos will continue to Oxford but will have to do some extra shunting to return.


Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

The 7.17 HST from Maidenhead to Paddington, which starts at Oxford, arrived in 5 carriage formation this morning leading to 1st class being declassified. It also managed to lose 10mins between reading and Maidenhead during clear running which is it's regular special trick.

Now a security alert @ PAD, meaning cancelled & delayed starts/arrivals

According to a news report on BBC Radio Oxford today there were over 300 signal failures between Reading and Paddington alone in the 12 months up to the end of March this year (info obtained under Freedom of Information). The highest number of different failures on a single day was 5. This is 20% up on the previous year. Unfortunately there is no online story to link to in case my memory of what was said is inaccurate.

No written story but it's the lead news item and is also covered at about 1h 6m into the programme:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0572x82#play (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0572x82#play)

I find that absolutey incredible.  In my time in S&T maintenance/faulting that would have led to a significant 'not having a job' risk :-[

NR do really need to get to grips with this issue and the DfT should be pressurising them to do so.

Perhaps this might be a suitable time to remind network rail that in a few weeks time, daylight hours start to noticeably reduce, heavy rain becomes more likely, wind speeds increase, and deciduous trees shed their leaves.
This is known as autumn and occurs every year, perhaps with a gentle reminder they might be ready this year !

However worse is to follow, autumn is assuredly followed by winter, when daylight is very much reduced and temperatures fall significantly. During winter, small white flakes of frozen water fall from the sky, this is known as "snow" and often seems to be unexpected.
Snow is cold, but if it is blown into warmer spaces and turns back into liquid water and can have deleterious effects on electrical equipment.
Snow can jam points, or even stop trains. It would be well to prepare for this.

That's a bit unfair: they are prepared - they have got that same spokesman chap who was interviewed by BBC Oxford, fast-tracked him through another Meeja Tranining session, reminded him not to start every sentence with 'so' and given him a new piece of paper with the following notes:

1  Apologise profusely and often

2  Mention that we are bringing the railway into the 21st Century

3  Er...

4  That's it...

Think you missed a smiley there Patch38.......

The thing is that that stretch of line is 21st Century and the signalling kit has (mostly) all been renewed in the near recent years.  It had to be to make it 25kv traction immune.

The failures last week really sum it up for me.  The only time we used to bring in manufacturers was when we had really serious technical problems that we didn't have the skills to solve.  I would also ask why the NR Technical Investigation Centre at Crewe has not been brought in (oh, just remembered, they have made a lot of the skilled and experienced staff there redundant......)?

I thought it was so obvious, I was saving pixels...  ;D

Most impressed with the young graduate  engineers in the Crossrail programmes who were given a great deal  of responsibility for huge complex projects....but they always seemed to have a wise, experienced workforce under them to fall back on, and to advise and warn. No matter how brilliant the young high flier, you need that bedrock under them to catch them should they fall. The loss of the skilled and experienced professionals in engineering, (teaching/nursing civil service.. the list goes on ) in their 50s is the cause of much of these problems. Why does the older worker get thrown on the scrapheap just because they are seen to be 'expensive' and expendable. It's crazy.

Sometimes it works the other way. My ex-next-door neighbour was a petro-chemical engineer and was out of work for most of his 40s as his would-be employers brought in the whizz kids with (supposedly) all the qualifications and for less money. Then in his 50s he suddenly found himself back in high demand as they discovered that the juniors knew all the right buzzwords but would cave in when there was real pressure.

What goes is the ability to speak truth to power.

The old (and expensive) crusties like me in the last few years of their career realy don't care about threats to their job prospects when being the harbinger of bad or arkward news.  The keen young graduate is both cheap and acutely aware of their future - as they should be: they have a family and young kids to care for. But get rid of us cantankerous, and bloody annoying old crusts that have seen it all before - whose job it is to keep accountancy-driven management on-track - and it all falls to bits (usually after about five years, while the bean counters are still slapping each other on the backs).

Ask Shell, who had to write-down several billions $$ of their oil reserves due to generous rubber-stamping.  The old guard had been put out to pasture. Didn't half give their share price a serious drumming.

Never a truer word spoken my friend  :-[

Quite. A mantra I repeated often during my final decade before retiring, whilst still working hard and achieving more than was required I hasten to add, was "Go on, sack me then. You'd be doing me a favour." Never even came close. I knew when I was talking more sense than the guv'nor.


Or, if they had worked especially hard, stud.

In my dreams boy.  In my dreams!  :)

I nearly replied to that!  ;D

Well here's a new one!

Alterations to services at London Paddington
Due to the fire alarm sounding at a station at London Paddington all lines are closed.
Train services running to and from this station may be delayed by up to 45 minutes or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.
Customer Advice
Owing to fire alarms sounding at London Paddington station the area has been evacuated whilst safety checks are undertaken. As a result train services on all routes between London Paddington and Reading are subject to delay and / or alteration.

Didn't this happen the other morning (Monday?) as well?

Smell of electrical burning - 2000 pax had been evacuated before fire brugade arrived

Reported elsewhere as an electrical fire under Platform No.10.  Hope everybody is safe.  Station still shut at 2230.

Platforms 1 to 6 reopened.   Air conditioner in a CCTV room failed and equipment started to overheat apparently.

Still an infrastructure failure then! Recent posts don't need splitting.  ;)

As you were...

Fwiw I diverted to Marylebone from Paddington when I became aware of the problem. I expect a full and robust challenge from GwR about my path home. I.e.  Not my problem.
What might it take for GWR to come out in front and admit to the giant problems that they have ??

I have to say communication by GWR was much improved during the incident with proper regular updates posted on Twitter and the website. Perhaps some good came out of last weeks chaos, not that it takes away from the inconvenience and disruption that is caused when things go wrong.

They need to get their act in gear a great deal more before Waterloo's capacity is drastically cut next month - I can't see "go to Waterloo if you need to get to Reading/onwards" being much of an option based on the advice SWT are already giving all of the their regular customers, let alone another influx from Paddington if (when) GWR fall over again.

If a train operating company has been performing as badly as Network Rail Western region the DfT would have hauled them in, fined them, issued ultimatums, strip them of the franchise.... and probably done so in public.
Why do the DfT do this, because it's easy to attack private companies in the form of the train operating companies. It's a hell of a lot more difficult to pubically attack an organisation that you effectively have direct control over, a nationalised organisation, so it's easier to sweep it under the carpet and allow rail passengers to carrying on blaming the TOC.
Network Rail as a result of the actions of our government, Network Rail are no longer able to retain experienced staff and attract new staff.  The railways are in a slow decline which will only pick up momentum. The railways need to be at the forefront of technological, all we are doing to temporarily repairing an old antiquated system. The bits we are renewing are done on the cheap and is being maintained by staff who probably don't fully understand how it works. . 

Strong rumours of a void day for last week's chaos have been detected.

That statement brought tears to my eyes  :'(  :o

According to GWR's Twitter team, Wednesday and Thursday have been declared void days:

"Last Wednesday and Thursday are void you can get a refund for those days from Monday 17 July. -Andy"

That sort of attack is definitely below the belt.

A good decision there. Can't replace the time that people lost that evening but at least there is a bit of financial compensation for the inconvenience caused.

And I want to hear if anyone fails to get a compensation response over 8 weeks going forward please - the have put management resource into their contractors workplace recently & the response times are dropping steadily.

I think there's external factors as well. Where I work we lost huge numbers of 50 something workers recently with pension changes before dramatic increase in penalties for taking it early. Even now there's people leaving because they're worried there won't be a pension fund in a couple of years or increasing meddling by the government just adds to the uncertainty. I think there also comes a point when you decide you've had enough of changes (attacks?) on your terms and conditions/benefits, below inflation pay rises and continual change. I've had about half a dozen reorganisations in the last two-three years.

None of these things are aimed directly at older workers but as someone said earlier they're the ones most likely to say they've had enough and leave or take redundancy.

Oh and the commute doesn't help...

Why is that? 

DfT starts asking questions to Network Rail about their performance. Network Rail responds by telling the DfT "you control our budget and you sign off our major engineering projects". The ball lands back in the DfTs and they've no where to return it to
Passengers blame the TOCs, as far as the DfT are concerned them being distanced from any blame works for them.

I am somewhat doubtful about that anaylsis.  NR do have performance (and other) targets set by the government (aka DfT) and they can hold NR to account over them if they really tried.  Unfortunately, personally I don't see much evidence of that at present (i.e. things seem to just carry on as they were before ::) ).

GWR have announced tickets dated yesterday are valid today following the fire alert at Paddington last night.

Or it could be due to the "location" of said attack:

  ;) ;D

Oh............... I see!!  ;D ;D

Pretty much all services out of London Euston are currently cancelled due to a total loss of signalling.  Need I say anything more?

Hah....easily restored back to normal within 45 minutes.  Its not the GWML you know... ;)

So I hear thanks to the replies to the sarcastic messages from my former colleagues at Euston!  I think I was a bit too hasty in trying to get my own back.

Not much choice really if GWR want to retain the few tattered shreds of credibility they cling on to?........the surprise is that it's taken a week for Hopwood et al to decide that the level of service last Wednesday/Thursday evening was unacceptable.

If I were a cynic I'd say that time period would be just about long enough for GWR to get a data analyst to figure out whether it's better to pay out either:

A) 2 void days or
B)  the (possible) 5% discount for missing reliability too on season ticket refunds in the next twelve months.

......another day.....

Cancellations to services between Oxford and Didcot Parkway
Due to a fault with the signalling system between Oxford and Didcot Parkway fewer trains are able to run on all lines.
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 minutes. Disruption is expected until 08:30 14/07

Disruption now expected until 10:00.

I'm on holiday for two weeks after today - two weeks without waking up & wondering what GWR and/or National Rail have got in store for me  :)

Delays on Reading bound services now getting on for 60 minutes as congestion between Oxford and Didcot gets worse.  Many trains currently forming an orderly queue.  Services going the other way unaffected by delays, but some may be cancelled as the service is being thinned out a little.

Currently 11 trains backed up between Culham and north of Oxford station on the up line at the time of posting!  :o

And delays now building to 90 minutes.  Another almighty mess to add to GWML's July month of hell!

Disruption expected until 11:00 - still appears overly ambitious.

Things are starting to clear now as the signalling is now up-and-running again thankfully.

And once again, it shows the value of this thread.

From a GWR user perspective, it appears the service has deteriorated significantly over the last five-six weeks. Is it just an impression or are there hard facts to prove it? This thread confirms that the service really hasn't been acceptable.

I don't think anyone would argue that it's been a terrible summer with a huge number of significant delays.  New signalling has been woefully unreliable, and whilst most of the problems have not been directly down to GWR, their response to the problems has been questionable at best - driver shortages and removal of key operational staff have worsened an already bad situation.

At least it's not just our railway falling foul of technology problems...

http://www.citymetric.com/transport/how-did-single-computer-failure-take-out-whole-melbourne-rail-network-3185

I went for the 0915 off Pangbourne (0835 from Oxford) for an optician appointment in Reading.  It didn’t show up of course – Pangbourne went for 75 minutes with no trains to Reading.  Is it really that difficult to turn trains round at Didcot to maintain something like a normal service towards Reading – probably not, but as II says (and as I said in another topic) GWR have removed the key staff who could perhaps have fixed this type of thing.

So lost optician’s appointment and had to rearrange for this afternoon.  And this is after I got caught at Padd on Wednesday evening and had to come back via Marylebone and XC from Oxford.  Third time lucky this afternoon?

Driver shortages?  Is this in reference to Sunday's or general. We are significantly overstaffed where I am to the point we don't require rest working to cover our jobs.
I think where we are short is in control, or that's the impression I've got over the past few meltdowns and that's based on a few things

Sunday's in particular, but also Saturday's and more than you might regard as usual weekday services have recently been cancelled on some of the LTV routes with driver shortages the reason cited.  I think establishment at the HSS depots is pretty healthy, but not so elsewhere given the amount of 387 training that's taking place.

I thought at least one of our LTV depots will be significantly overstaffed, can't remember the number exactly, but I'm sure it was in excess of 40 drivers once training was completed. I know a lot have put in too transfer to HSS as we know our future is bleak once CrossRail takes over.

Let's be frank, the last few weeks have seen a rapid deterioration, performance wise as well as a PR and Customer service disaster..........even leaving aside Weds/Thurs last week (still can't believe it took a week to decide they should be Void days but I'm inclined to believe Birdie's theory)...............

1) Huge amounts of short formations (apparently due to "more trains than usual needing repairs", when asked what the % was compared to the normal rate of trains needing repairs the response was "we don't have that information"),

2) Cancellations due to "staff shortages" now regularly affecting weekday services.
3) Tickets offices closed (when asked why, response is "we don't have that specific information")
4) Non operational TVMs ("thanks for reporting this" - but several days later they are still not working)
5) The laughable advice to use the FGW.com email address for compensation, complaints and general enquiries, knowing replies will take weeks.
6) Twitter melting down faster than a chocolate signal when disruption kicks in.
7) The lack of sufficient staff/useful information available at Paddington and elsewhere during times of severe disruption
8 A total and utter lack of contingency planning - basically its "go to another station/use another TOC" or you're pretty much on your own mate.
9) Non operational aircon on the hottest days of the year - probably a cost saving exercise if the truth was to be told.

.............and all this alongside the now familiar weekend cancellations for all the familiar reasons.

GWR/NR need to work hard to arrest the image of a Business in decline despite billions of £ of investment............"Building a Greater West" is now seen as a bit of a joke, and the attitude to customer service is frankly appalling.

Let's hope Hopwood et al have a Master plan for swift improvement..............one more "Manana Manana" type response and I will probably find him and insert a GWR whistle somewhere painful.........

I'll give another example of the creeping rottenness that seems to be pervading at the moment; there are only two lifts from the main entrance at Reading (ie platform 7) to the transfer deck. One of these has been out of order for some time leading to long queues or people taking inappropriate items up the escalators. Last week when in the working lift with a member of GWR staff assisting someone in a wheelchair I asked him if he knew when the other was going to be repaired. 'No' he replied (fair enough) but he continued 'we never do anything quickly or on time on the railway'. Maybe he thought he was making lighthearted banter, but it kind of sums up the summer on GWR.

[If anyone knows if the lift is back in service please, post since it was a few days ago.]

I suspect a lot of the present decline in standards is what might be called "new train syndrome". It seems that they have become fixated by the idea that all will be wonderful when the trains come into use.

Completely ignoring the fact that new trains wont cure most of the present ills including
Lack of staff, both train crew and other grades at stations.
Fixing TVMs in a timely fashion
Mending broken lifts at Reading and elsewhere promptly
Inability to provide information beyond "don't travel with us"
Taking weeks to respond to emails, and so on.

As is well known I am somewhat critical of the new trains, but I refer here NOT to the design of said trains, but the fact that everyone seems to believe that the new trains will in some magical way sweep away unrelated shortcomings and failures.

Slightly off topic I know but very much in context................68 short formations already listed today due to "more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time".

This has seemed to be the case for several weeks now, can anyone "in the know" explain it? (GWR Twitter is useless on the subject) - why are so many repairs necessary at the same time? Has there been a "Demolition Derby" at the depot?

(.......or could the shortages perhaps at least in part be due to a rather premature "cascade"?)  ;)

Not sure the cascade is premature might be the GWEP and traction unit cascade have not lined up as envisaged; I also believe some of the GWR Mk3 for the 5 car HST West Country trains have been sent for refurb (plug-in external doors retention toilets etc)

At least in the Thames Valley we are getting new trains and not the planned 319 or 365 cast off, a little pain in the short term and then you can look forward the church pew hard seats in the 387 or the generous standing space in the 345's

Been reduced now as some units have come good. The 68 short forms makes it sound worse than it actually is. Generally speaking, they are short by about 3 to 5 units at the start of service across the company.
Why?  Don't exactly know but having units that are going through major exams and modifications doesn't help.

I was told at the Community Rail conference in Barnstaple last month that due to the decision to keep some of the rolling stock longer than originally planned, there was a backlog of maintenance to catch up on.  This had originally been cancelled as it was thought the units would be going. 

It also isn't helped by the fact the West fleet, in particular, is even more tightly diagrammed in the summer to try to cater for seasonal demand.

Agree with that.  To add

With the Severn Beach service now being run with Turbos cascades from the Thames Valley, we might have expected to see an easing up of short formations and cancellations due to lack of available rolling stock on "The West" fleet, but informally looking at feeds that has not [yet] happened.

The "spot hire" unit that's borrowed each day from SWT / Salisbury is still being hired - saw it in Bristol on Thursday (so that's not a 2 car we have lost yet), but it's been strongly suggested that the new franchise that takes over from Stagecoach wants it back a.s.a.p.

Although more of the older fleet *is* being retained the West for longer (in some cases for much longer) I don't believe that means that the whole of the fleet is being retained.  So there are some units going.   And in the Thames Valley, I think some of our members may have noticed HSTs running on Oxford services becoming turbos.   That's the HSTs starting to go to be prepared for new homes.

---

Our feed map - and journey check - sometimes make things look far worse that they are. 

A reduction from (say) 2 carriages to 1 on the Liskeard to Looe service prior to the schools breaking up - on a  wet Wednesday - isn't going to leave anyone standing, but it may flag up as 24 short formations.   

A cancellation showing up (AGAIN) of the 11:11 Westbury to Southampton in no worry what so ever when there's an addition train also shown at 11:11 from Westbury to Southampton.   Just that the stock type has changed, and the train has to be flagged up to the signallers not to use platform 3 at Salisbury.  This train conveys up to 50 people from Westbury, and the replacement (a 153 - one carriage) is sufficient - typical journeys Plymouth to Southampton.  Where it is a problem is where the uninitiated see a cancellation report and are put off using the replacement

My heart sinks when I see a line on our map showing issues Swindon to Westbury - but at times the improved flow of information leads only to the perception of an increased problem.  2 or 3 minutes late - good to be informed, but no huge panic. 2 coaches down to one on the extra lunchtime time - no problem; that's not where the two coaches were needed in the first place.

I may suggest to a fellow moderator to split some of these posts off -  I fear I'm getting off topic in my explanations, but editing / splitting off myself would be like being judge and jury ...

However, there were only two possibilities mentioned in the SW franchise ITT.   One was to carry on as is, and the other was to permanently transfer to it GWR by returning it via the ROSCO.   "Getting it back' was not shown as an option, and the 'SW' current fleet tables include it in the total with a footnote that 2 units will not be available to the new franchisee (there's another one permanently with EMT).

The unit sub-lease to GW has an explicit end date of March 2020.

Paul

That is an interesting comment.   Whilst adherence to the ITT ("giving what they asked for") is a key feature of winning a franchise, it is open to bidders to propose alternatives, and to negotiate on them.

You may think you are judex in sua causa, but I couldn't possibly comment...

In any case, I lack the technical skill. That's me off the hook.

Are they the same as the People's Front of Judea?


(Edit by FT,N! to correct format)

No, and I think in any case you are confusing them with the Judean Peoples' Front. Splitters!

You may have missed this one!

I was checking on Open Train Times last night about 11:00pm for any engineering work - there was main lines closed west of Airport Junction - I was looking at the West Ealing to Heathrow map.

All of a sudden everything came to a grinding halt at Southall - there was yet another signalling failure, and amongst all of this a freight train then looked liked it also failed just east of Southall.

Although down trains faired better than up trains the late night chaos continued to well past midnight. HSTs and DMUs were eventually routed through Hanwell Bridge Up Loop.

At one point there were 4 up Hex services between Hayes and Southall, one was still in the Southall area at 00:45, when I gave up watching.

Possibly connected to electrical activity following the large number of lightning storms?

I was quite surprised how well the signalling throughout GWR's region held up given the number of flashes in the sky!

Welcome to Monday - another pigeon?

Cancellations to services between Hayes & Harlington and Ealing Broadway


Due to damage to the overhead electric wires between Hayes & Harlington and Ealing Broadway the local stopping line is blocked.
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 15 minutes or running non stop between Hayes & Harlington and London Paddington. Hanwell and West Ealing will not be served. Disruption is expected until 08:30 24/07.

Up relief shut between Hayes and Acton which means the service needs to be thinned out.

 That's on another existing electrified section before anyone gets too excited about reliability of the new electrification equipment.  Though of course if the old sections prove unreliable then that will not be good news as more and more services go over to electric haulage.

Consider yourselves lucky......... at least the line from Reading into Waterloo is operating normally....

Disruption now expected until 1030

.......and now it's 2030.....what a fantastic performance, with the reduction in services to Oxford all week too.

Trouble on SWT between Woking and Surbiton expected until close of service tomorrow night!  :o

https://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/disruptions/9CCE3C022E4C4F9C83A4C2718D1CE8FB/

Overhead wire damage was caused by vegetation.  Now cut back, but damage is substantial enough to need to be repaired overnight so although it should open soon to diesel trains, electric trains will be only able to use the mains until tomorrow.

NR will want to forget about July!

Preventative Maintenance doesn't seem to be in NR's vocabulary. Vegetation is known to grow during summer months particularly.

So will its customers.

And we all know that in autumn, small detachable parts of many types of vegetation fall off. These pieces are known as "leaves" Wet and windy weather accelerates the falling off of these leaves.
Perhaps they might be prepared this year !

Vegetation clearance has gotten noticeably worse over the last few years, from my observations at least.

Run a few steam trains with coal that produces "jaffas" Although you need dry weather.

Triffids ?

They are the first to be forgotten about.

Track access is the problem to do some of the de-veg along with NIMBYs who do not want the veg cut back and go to extraordinary lengths the stop NR and their contactors carrying out the work even to the extent of Section 60 (Noise abatement) complaints to local authorities

But is track access that is the biggest problem

Been plenty of closures this year....

Perhaps during severe disruptions customers could be issued with chainsaws and pointed in the direction of the nearest overhanging shrubbery?

Might give them something constructive to do whilst waiting for hours for TMs to finish their tea breaks (yes, we've all heard about it! ;-) ) the signals/points/pigeon damage to be fixed?

I do wonder if bushes and trees grow faster and stronger in the UK these days with the trend to a rise in temperature, and whether Network Rail has had to (or should) significantly increase its work on keeping trackside bushes under control

Via WikiPedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change_in_the_United_Kingdom) - graph is declared as public domain:

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

I don't recall very much trains brushing bushes in the good old days when I used to travel a good bit by train; these days there are certains places I could be blindfolded yet identify by the sound of the bushes.  Perhaps the short term solution for minor lines would be to use smaller, narrower stock such as ex London Underground or even tube trains, which should sort out the issue for a control period or election cycle.

I am heartily Sycamore excuses for poor service  ;)

Only if the election cycle is less than a growing season - which might be possible at the moment! 

How narrow would you make the trains?  Have you seen how fast some trees grow?

With Mark Carne at the 'elm, who is surprised ? :o

Yew wood knot bet against other loggers on this thread leafing through their forest of tree related puns. I won't ah- bore-e-all with mine !

http://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/gallery/burnham/118671/fire-crews-put-out-train-fire-near-burnham.html (http://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/gallery/burnham/118671/fire-crews-put-out-train-fire-near-burnham.html)

I hadn't thought of that one as a side-effect of electrification. But then, wouldn't they normally use foam on an engine fire?


And we won't even go here...

Any member of the emergency services normally will not go on a railway line if the overheads are still live.

Probably not a good idea to use form as the engine room still contains electrics. The power cars are fitted with Inergen fire extinguishers.

I gather the Over-Head Line Equipment (OHLE) was switched off within 5 minutes of the first report of the engine fire to the signaller (which was made as it passed Maidenhead), so that would have been before the fire services arrived on site, though obviously communicating that fact to them would take a little longer.  Only two tracks were available out of the four due to an engineering possession which complicated things a little.

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

If there was no risk to life or the fire spreading from the confines of the engine compartment / cab etc then the Fire Brigade may have waited until the RIO was on site (RIO Rail Incident Officer) likely to have been a MOM (Mobile Operations Manager). 

I expect a Bronze or even a Silver Command would have been established between the various control centres (NR, Fire, BTP, Ambulance and TOC)  This a well document process, which the various organisations hold regular liaison meetings

A fault with the signalling system at London Paddington has been resolved and services are returning to normal. Delays of up to 20 minutes to journeys to and from the station is expected to continue until 10:00.

Re Slough Fire, it was a little emotional heading back on the 23:18 from Pad to Reading...... stopped for an hour outside Pad, then a little longer at Hayes and Harlington, before pulling into Reading around 03:20hrs.

Whilst we were having a slow, information free adventure up the main line (thanks to a knackered Tannoy system on the little donkey train), those remaining at Pad had to wait until the station staff agreed to organise taxis at around 03:00 hrs in the morning.

Not one of the network's finer moments for incident management........!

Just to keep this threads record up to date: The signalling on the Up Main between Taplow and Slough failed yesterday evening (Sunday 30/07/2017) and caused some disruption for two or three hours.  Hopefully TAPLOWGREEN was tucked up in bed by then..... ;)

Sadly no - I was doing Missionary work in Cornwall  ;)

Got caught in this failure on the Valley Legend (Pad to Ebbw Vale and Tower Colliery.

Should have been around 15 early but crawled signal to signal from Birkenhead.

Crikey, bet that was a lot of signals to pass at danger. Did you mean Burnham...... ::)

well off course then, even for a railtour!

Spell checker!

Good morning....................?

Due to engineering works not being finished on time between Slough and London Paddington some lines are blocked.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 20 minutes or revised. Disruption is expected until 10:00 03/08.

Customer Advice
Owing to enginneering work not finishing on time, this is affecting the relief lines between Slough and Southall which are currently blocked, we are unable to operate the full timetabled service to and from London Paddington at present. There will be a reduction in the frequency of train services (in both directions) between London Paddington and Reading / Oxford. Any other train service cancellations or alterations will be advised on an individual basis.

Seems to be Readings & Maidenheads that are being cancelled currently

.......and plenty of them!  >:(

No idea how it'll pan out but...

Cancellations to services between Ealing Broadway and London Paddington

Due to a fault with the signalling system between Ealing Broadway and London Paddington trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines towards London Paddington.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 15 minutes or revised.

Disruption is expected until 17:00 10/08.

Last Updated:10/08/2017 15:48

Disruption now till 2000

Make that 23:59!

For ease of reference the discussion following the derailment of High Speed Train (HST) power car 43188 at Paddington today has been moved to a topic of its own and merged with a duplicate thread.

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=18609.0 (http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=18609.0)

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

You didn't just do CfNs job did you?  :o

I'm not the only person on the admin team who can do a bit of 'moving and merging' - and, even for a man of his girth, bobm can be a very good full-back, if the opportunity or need arises.  ;) :D ;D

*If* your description of me is correct I'd be a good goalkeeper.  ;D

Is it too early to suggest that, with nothing on this thread for two weeks, that the infrastructure has finally settled down and started working as designed?

Or is everyone so inured to the system failing that it's no longer post-worthy?

Or have I just jinxed it by posting this?

Over the area that the Coffee Shop covers as a whole, I tend to notice posting volume fluctuating is sync with there being issues which are newsworthy - and those newsworthy items are typically NOT  "there were plenty of seats on the 19:30 and it ran on time".   

April to June ... our post numbers were in the 1150 to 1350 range.   July to now - 1750 to 2150 range. (extrapolating from the first few days of this month, we're still in that range).   We have "new" problems ... lack of train crew, lack of available trains ... but those problems are now further west than the Thames Valley.

And rather than problems with old stuff, perhaps the Thames Valley is moving into the "teething issues" phase which may be more appropriate on other threads.

The infrastructure may have inproved, but I would love to know what the heck is going on with the trains. The 0738 from Goring has been 2 carriages this week, and its absolute hell. Its standing room only leaving Tilehurst, then it has Reading, Twyford and Maidenhead. If I recall, it used to then do non-stop to Paddington, but its now also doing Burnham, Slough and Southall I think the driver said. Its insane. A couple of weeks ago it went from 5 cars to 6, and now its 2?!

About the only good thing is the driver telling all those with full bikes to get off, or refusing to let them on - polietly pointing out they have never been allowed on this service as it arrives into Paddington before 9am. Nice to see that finally being enforced - and to be fair to the cyclists, all the ones I have seen have complied without any issues.

From the Reading to Paddington perspective there have been infrastructural niggles over recent weeks but generally after I've already passed through.
Yesterday there were minor signalling delays and a broken down train around 9:30

It doesn't really seem worth posting the same issues each time. My morning is nearly always 5-10 mins late, generally over crowded and occasionally just doesn't turn up. Or the lack of information on GWR's website as that's been consistent over the years

Standing on the platform with the regular commuters its just become the accepted level of service.

Much better performance recently though, don't think anyone could contest that, and reflected in performance figures over the last few weeks.  Hopefully it will continue, though I'm sure there will be disruption again soon as it is such an intensively used section of track.

"Much better" - relatively to an extent in that "only" 1 in 5 trains are late?  I'm not sure too many Businesses would be celebrating that stat.

To show an improvement on June/July when there were several total meltdowns between Reading and Paddington is hardly a significant achievement, and your final comment emphasises that it's more down to luck/timing than anything else.

I get that the area is intensively used, but if memory serves we were all told that the extensive signalling work which in itself created massive disruption was supposed to address the problems and issues that this created along with replacing the older systems?

Level crossing barriers between Newbury and Reading causing disruption this morning.
eg, 1A72 lost 15 minutes.