Great Western Coffee Shop

My feeling is that it was due to lack of accurate information from the driver. We were told from the outset that there were delays ahead, and those of us with access to the right internet sites could see that the train ahead ran more or less on time to West Drayton but then incurred a 45min delay.
However the news from the driver was of the ‘I don’t know what the cause of the delay is’ variety, accompanied by ‘we should be on the move shortly/in less than 5mins’.  That approach keeps the passengers optimistic but when fed continually over a 40min wait in the platform doesn’t encourage anyone to venture far from the train - and certainly not to go and seek a radar key!

I find it utterly astonishing that only a couple of years ago FGW (as was) we’re ripping seats out of overcrowded turbos to create their big red disabled toilets, and now tfl can run services on the same route with no toilets at all!!

Due to the electricity being switched off for safety reasons between Slough and Hayes & Harlington some lines are blocked.
Impact:
Train services running through these stations may be delayed. Disruption is expected until 17:15 08/01.

Just watching on the Slough Railcam and it appears all up traffic is on the Relief, and crawling through the area.
Looks like 1K55 (a Newbury-Paddington 387) is stuck on the Up Main between Slough and Langley?

I was at Slough and saw it happen......387 came barrelling through, there was a huge bang, flash of orange and down came some of the wires...…...there were some spotters on Platform 3 whose levels of excitement at what had happened seemed to know no bounds...….2 of them were seen to be offering advice to the GWR chap who was trying to make an initial assessment which given the look on his face he could have done without!

According to said GWR chap, all lines were very briefly closed but then they started routing most down the slow lines, still quite a few delays though, now pushed out until 1915.

I was very lucky and jumped on the TFL stopper which was approaching Slough when it happened and crawled onwards after a 5 minute wait (the train, not me!)

Damaged dropper, which that train's pantograph hit causing pan to drop and section to trip.  All fine with minimal damage after that dropper was removed with normal working resumed at 17:42, but heavy traffic delayed repair staff so trains routed through the up relief platform whilst waiting for them.  I would imagine proper repairs will take place overnight?

https://66.media.tumblr.com/ee8ba40fda563d662d31c48e65d4e288/tumblr_inline_pfvxb1EaGt1srob4n_1280.png 

I imagine that sort of thing have required a full isolation on the older style 'headspan' OHLE and trains would have been stopped for ages, instead of regaining 75% of capacity within a few minutes?

GWR Journeycheck (un)helpfully suggesting that passengers should just hop on a TFL service to Reading instead.

I think this has been the first significant incident since the timetable change. I’d be interested in how people think it went given the increase in services and what appears to have been a limited number of cancellations.

It is good that the effect on rail services wasn't the degree of total and catastrophic that we have become used to, but is it worrying that the failure of such a small part caused such disruption?

That's really just the nature of the system, being a network. Big interconnected systems tend to have this "every little bit's gotta work" principle, though railways do have it more than some others. It does make it harder work getting resilience up to a worthwhile level - this was one of the main reasons why buses took over from trams and trolleybuses, after all. 

Maybe we need one of those Cummings-approved oddballs to bring the ideas behind IP routeing into railways? Obviously it would be possible if you rebuilt all those parallel lines Beeching closed, and then built a load more ... just as long as you don't mind having no idea which route you'll be travelling on, or how long it will take.

Not necessarily, displaced droppers happen quite often, they are designed to give way if hit by a pan and the pan is designed to drop.

Risk on units with a single pan is it may need another unit to rescue it.

NR's MOMs (Mobile Operations Managers) are trained to use live line poles with a range of attachments to remove objects from the OLE including damaged droppers.  This allows the resumption of traffic usually at a reduced speed until the OLE maintenance team arrive to assess if normal running can resume

Thanks for that, ET.  I believe that different rules apply if there has been a ADD in an area of headspan Over-Head Line Equipment (OHLE) as opposed to cantilever or portal, which will likely delay resumption of normal working?

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

I noticed in Lisbon (the Portugal one) that the tram operator has a scissors jack vehicle with the platform mounted on 4 insulators, so they could maintain/repair the overhead wires while still live.  Sometimes they would just move the vehicle out of the way when a tram came along.

Of course they had to remember not to touch anything on the wrong side of the insulators while they were up there.  And I accept that a Risk Assessment may rule out that method of working for 25kV!

The laws of physics still apply - just use bigger insulators ! :D  :o

Oddly enough, when I was in Lisbon I saw a couple of blokes dragging a steel tower on wheels around in the street - but no insulators. They were checking the (mains) bulbs in strings of decorative lights, which in the dark and drizzle seemed dodgy enough. But there were tram OLE wires too, and the tower only just passed under them.

Now that was 25 years ago, and I'm sure practices and attitudes to safety have moved on a lot since then. Likewise on the local trains, where you'd see people standing next to the open doors - and it wasn't even that hot (it was November).

Not like this then  ::) ;D https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/resources/images/4018337.jpg

I remember learning about how Arpanet, later known as the Internet, works. I had not long read the Beeching report, which was all about identifying and removing any redundancy from the rail network. Imagine my surprise to learn that, given the brief of designing a resilient network, one of the fundamental precepts ARPA applied was seamless invisible multiple redundancy.

I think it is fair to assume that resilience was not part of Beeching's brief.

DO NOT TRY THIS. VERY DANGEROUS - extra warning added by Grahame as members have expressed concern.  Better say "Don't do this" even three times than risk anyone missing the message

Live conductors may be touched with impunity provided that the person doing the touching is sufficiently insulated from earth, such that no current can pass through the person.

Observe for example that birds perch on high voltage wires without harm, there is no path via the bird to earth. If however the bird comes too close to anything earthed then it will be killed.

It is in theory perfectly safe to stand upon an energised conductor rail, provided that no part of you is in contact with earth.DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT ACTUALLY TRYING THIS. THE SLIGHTEST TRIP OR STUMBLE COULD KILL YOU

Quite so: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_NEAEGeFIw

Delays to services between London Paddington and Slough
Due to a fault with the signalling system between London Paddington and Slough the London Paddington bound high speed line is blocked.
Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed by up to 15 minutes. Disruption is expected until 07:00 24/01.

Alterations 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 delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 22:00 05/02.

Cancellations to services between Maidenhead and London Paddington

Due to damage to the overhead electric wires between Maidenhead 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.

Disruption is expected until 16:00 09/02.

Not sure if this has been caused by Storm Dennis or not - for the record:


Hard to tell how much disruption it's causing with all the other things going on but, certainly,  causing some ripples up towards the Cotswolds.

Today a friend was coming to Tilehurst from the Bedford area, a journey that she's made a dozen times. For some or no reason or other, she opted for an FGW stopper from Paddington and became confused about when it was due at Tilehurst, thinking she would be there for 1357.

I duly arrived to meet her, but she didn't get off the train. Turned out that her train was the one due at 1427, so I hung around. (I couldn't eke out reading Metro beyond eight minutes.) Around 1421, the station info display announced that the 1427 was cancelled (terminated at Reading), though the news wasn't imparted to the passengers until it was arriving in Reading.

Luckily the 1426 to Reading was running 16 minutes late, so I had time to move my car from the station forecourt to a side road (where parking isn't allowed until 1500, but ...) and meet my friend in town for a meal.

Our train back to Tilehurst was cancelled, so I paid for a taxi  :'(

There were several cancellations on the evening trains from Tilehurst to Reading, but the 1854 diesel was running some 14 minutes late. Whilst we waited, several express trains and a freight came along the up relief.

Being the school holidays, there were a dozen or so youngsters on my train into Reading - they may had to hang around for a service back home.

2nd day of this.....

Cancellations to services between Didcot Parkway and Reading
Due to damage to the overhead electric wires between Didcot Parkway and Reading some lines are blocked.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 23:00 18/02.
Customer Advice
Following damage to overhead electric wires between Didcot Parkway and Reading, we are expecting some changes to services on Tuesday 18 February.
Some lines will remain blocked to trains throughout the day as work to repair the damage continues.
While we will still be able to run the majority of services, fewer trains will run to avoid congestion and delays through the area.
Customers planning to travel on services between South Wales and Bristol and London, or between Reading and London, should check before travelling

Some trains diverted via the B&H.

Having got caught up in the problems between Reading and Didcot last night - resulting in a bus journey from Reading, I struggled to see what the actual issue was.

Certainly the 165/166 services were running up to Banbury ( although no good for me -can someone provide an explanation why the 17:02 ex Reading runs fast to Goring !)
There seems to be a healthy number of IEP going on both up main and up relief.

Checking open train maps there seemed to be trains on each line running ?

So what is the issue exactly ?

Stopping trains particularly badly affected.

Only 4 out of 11 trains calling at Goring & Streatley after 7-45 running.

Most (but not all) trains running on the relief lines.  Exception being an XC just gone through.

Also impacting Didcot - Oxford services, between 0700 and 0900 4 of the 6 services cancelled.
I also got caught up last night with my journey home cancelled.
It's ironic that diesel trains to Oxford get cancelled by problems with overhead wires! And I don't understand why GWR couldn't at least operate a half hourly service between Oxford and Didcot.
I gave up and took the car, thankfully it is half-term so little traffic.

It is odd that not ALL trains are effected - just the majority. And the relief lines do seem to be getting a lot of fast (Bristol, Cardiff, Swansea) services running over them.

Do I suspect that relief services are being culled for the ability to run mains?

And is this really a ‘lines down’ event (which would surely necessitate full line closure while repairs are carried out) or is this really some other kind of electric fault - which may be a few days more before all is right (time for fault tracing and cause, new replacement parts orders and delivered and required and then actual fitting) ?

I am a bit confused about where this event happened as the hashtag used by Network Rail for this incident was #Culham. See http://m.nationalrail.co.uk/pj/disruption/details/538A652F9AC14A8EA3CD1A03139AA0C7 (http://m.nationalrail.co.uk/pj/disruption/details/538A652F9AC14A8EA3CD1A03139AA0C7)
I assume this was a mistake unless NR are trolling us about the cancellation of the electrification to Oxford.

I note that the Didcot - Oxford service is now running half-hourly, presumably because in the off-peak these trains don't continue to Reading.

The line closure tagged by the signallers is east of Tilehurst on the Up Main. I guess there may be restricted working on the Down lines (either side) if repair work is going on. So all the up trains are being channeled towards P12-15 at Reading.

One odd effect of this is that TfL Rail trains have been swapped across to reverse in P10 (and at times P9 too), as this is operationally a bay at the moment.

Here's the reason:


SB901 signal is one of a couple that are mounted on the OLE support rather than a seperate signal structure (there is a similar one, T596 at Maidenhead).

Indeed.  The signal is now repaired and the overheads in the process of being repaired, but until they are nothing is able to use the Up Main between Didcot East and Reading - there are a couple of trains 1P24 and 1L13 showing as on the Up Main on OpenTrainTimes, but they have hung in their system from yesterday and aren't actually there!

I hope not, as the signals in rear of each train description are showing clear on the OTT map! ;)

Line closed between Didcot and Reading from 2130 tonight until 0600 tomorrow in an attempt to get it fixed.

GWR telling everyone to travel early tonight.

Ummm - where exactly are they saying this !

Not on any public presence that I can see (and I’ve just arrived at Paddington
)
 ::)

@GWRHelp on Twitter


Image with that tweet:
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/helpmoredetail.jpg)

Fair enough  ;D

I’m just surprised there was no mention (announcements or on screens) at Reading or Paddington ....

Network Rail also did an excellent job in tweeting how it affects various parts of the network:
https://twitter.com/networkrailwest/status/1229812620435304449?s=21
Scroll down for each area affected.

Not quite the same as on the GWR website but that often takes second place to Twitter now something I find frustrating. Why should I have to sign up and give my information to a third party to get current or accurate information?

I’m a bit suspicious of this, a signalling cable came into contact with Over-Head Line Equipment (OHLE) because of recent bad weather?   

I’d be wondering whether it had ever been correctly secured in the first place, this shouldn’t really be able to happen...

Paul

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronyms

Looks like we are entering day 3  :-[

Hard to comprehend how much damage a signal cable coming loose can do !

Similiar to yesterday 4 out of 6 peak services cancelled between Didcot and Oxford.

I gave up and took the car again, along with the daily delays I am not sure why I bother commuting by train these days. And then I remember I have to use the A34.

According to information posted elsewhere, the OLE has been repaired but the signal hasn't.  Don't quite understand why one signal being out of use should result in so much disruption (unless the damage was more extensive than originally reported).

The stopping trains between Didcot and Reading also remain considerably reduced (less than a third running I'd guess), with fast London bound trains all using the relief line.

Presumably they will try again to fix tonight?

Stopping services look to be hourly instead of half-hourly. The morning peak was more then decimated with no services at Pangbourne in the Up direction until 0655 and the 0705 not arriving until 0724.

GWR do not seem to be thinking about mitigating passenger impact either. There's no acceptance of tickets at alternative stations (e.g. Theale for Pangbourne) and neither is there any relief to permit passengers to circulate via Didcot. Both would reduce the impact on passenger delays and even reduce Delay Repay liability.

According to the log, with T832 showing no aspect, all trains would have to be stopped twice, firstly at the signal before to warn of it showing no aspect, then stopped again  to be authorised to pass it,  and then 3.5 working (whatever that is?) to Reading West Junction.

Yesterday I had planned to take the train to Goring, walk up into the edge of the Chilterns and down into Pangbourne. I was musing to a friend that if there were no trains at Pangbourne I could walk back home (a good further 75 minutes) - probably along the permissive path that runs at the bottom of the railway embankment. The main road into Pangbourne (from the Purley side) was flooded and so was the footpath alongside it.

Instead I decided to take the car and drive to Compton and then up to the Ridgeway. As I neared the DNS trackbed I recalled the YouTube clip about

Churn Station (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O6mtC0Pmxc)

I'd visited the remains decades ago and as I approached the site was minded to do so again, but couldn't remember the exact location. It was muddy and windy (even windier up on the Ridgeway), so I left it for another day.

There is still a platform noticeable, and a curious buzzing sound.

Perhaps when it was open it was one of the least-used stations in Southern England - except when soldiers were camped nearby.

Paddington tonight at 17:41 - devoid of trains Platforms 1-8

Re Churn Station (or Halt)

(Moderators- new thread please- not sure where? )

In recent years its remains have largely disappeared into the vegetation. Easiest way to find it is to go along the Ridgeway. It's just north of the bridge that takes the Ridgeway over the track bed of the DN&S north of Compton.

There's no public access to the site of the station itself, and whereas in the 1980s you could walk down the track bed all the way from Compton it's long been too overgrown to do so.

Hope that helps!

When I got back home, I checked the station site on an old OS map and marked the position on mn modern one.

Since I've already taken this thread off track (apologies) I'll mention that the stretch of the DNS between Hampstead Norris village hall and Furze Hill, Hermitage has just been cleared and turned into a recreational route (one has to walk under the M4 bridge).

In a weak attempt to get back on topic, I'll observe that some think that if the DNS had remained open, it would have taken freight off the Thames Valley line and perhaps reduced the need for the extensive recent works east of Reading Station. (And if that prompts further discussion the mods WILL have to consider moving these last few posts.)

Back on topic- all seems well this morning between Reading and Didcot.

No delays or cancellations and fast trains back running on the up main.

Not quite. The 0621 Didcot-Paddington started from Didcot late and ran fast to Reading. The next service, 0634 Didcot-Paddington also started late but didn't skip so ended up 13 down at Paddington.

Still an improvement on previous days.

A few 15-20 minute delays showing at Reading earlier. Estimated end of disruption has been extended from 14:30 to 15:30 so far... and lo:

Due to a fault with the signalling system between Reading and Newbury trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines towards Newbury.
Impact:
Train services running through these stations may be delayed by up to 30 minutes. Disruption is expected until 18:00 21/02.

Delays to services between Reading and London Paddington


Due to a safety inspection of the track between Reading and London Paddington the line towards London Paddington is blocked.
Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed by up to 20 minutes. Disruption is expected until 10:45 22/02.

Cancellations to services between Slough and Southall
Due to engineering works not being finished on time between Slough and Southall some lines are blocked.
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 minutes. Disruption is expected until 07:30 28/02.
Customer Advice
TFL Rail are conveying passengers between Reading and London Paddington in both directions until further notice. Arrangements have been made for Great Western Railway rail tickets to be accepted for these journeys.

For those of us who don't often travel within (not just through) that corridor ... amazing that such arrangements have to be made and are not just standard.  I know it's not unique to this journey - seen it with open access operators on the East Coast - but between two government specified operations?

National Rail now says delays possible up to 0830. I'm planning to go to Paddington and then on to Kentish Town to meet a friend. There's just 30 minutes' leeway in my schedule and, given the ominous weather forecast, am wondering whether to use the delays as an excuse to postpone our meeting. Can't say I fancy walking around London in heavy rain. I'll check again later.

Cancellations to services at Acton Main Line

Due to a person being hit by a train at Acton Main Line some lines are blocked.
Train services running through this station will be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 22:00 28/02.

Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Ealing Broadway

Due to a broken down train between London Paddington and Ealing Broadway all lines are blocked.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 15:00 15/03.

I was monitoring the Crossrail testing on Open Train Times. Only lines 1 to 3 available.

1C15 1300 Pad to Bri stopped at Ladbroke Grove signal SN107 for approx 45 minutes. It went back into Pad.

Everything sorted out by 14:30.

Spoke too soon.

1G42 1433 Pad to Cheltenham, also left on Line 2 and stops at Ladbroke Grove SN107.

At 1452, it reverses back to Pad.

Is there a problem on Line 2?

Broken Down Train - back at 15:00 has morphed into

Cancellations to services between Maidenhead and Reading


Due to a speed restriction over defective track between Maidenhead and Reading trains have to run at reduced speed on all lines.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 12:00 19/03.

Currently a 5mph speed restriction over the defective track.

Cancellations to services between Reading and Newbury


Due to a points failure between Reading and Newbury the line is blocked.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 17:30 08/05.

Alterations to services between Slough and London Paddington

Due to damage to the overhead electric wires between Slough and London Paddington fewer trains are able to run on some lines.

Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 09:00 18/06.

Update;

Cancellations to services between Slough and London Paddington

Due to damage to the overhead electric wires between Slough and London Paddington some lines are blocked.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 15:00 18/06.

Delays now expected until 2200

Will we still be using trains by then?

Is that Freudian?

After damage to the wires yesterday, it's the turn of the signals to fall over today.

Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Slough
Due to a fault with the signalling system between London Paddington and Slough trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 10:00 19/06.

Two very poor days for LTV

Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Slough
Due to a fault with the signalling system between London Paddington and Slough trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 15:00 19/06.

Problems with overhead wires and then signals - I'm wondering if lightning has been involved, there's been a lot about over the last few days?

Disruption now expected until 1800 and a fair number of cancellations. It's going to be a miserable commute home for a lot of essential workers.

Followed by problems between Reading and Newbury delaying a few local and West of England services. 

Glad to see the end of the week of easing lockdown restrictions brings other forms of familiarity ie non working trains!

During the height of the lockdown there was a reduced service which meant less stress on the systems, maintenance were able to get easier access during the day and at night to resolve faults and failures due to the reduced numbers of trains.

Under the current Covid Secure Regs staff dealing with faults cannot work the same way as they use to, as soon as they need to work within 2 metres of each other they need to carry out a risk assessment and agree how they are going to do the task. 

And for those jobs that can't be done while keeping 2 m apart, here's what you do... (https://safety.networkrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/COVID-19-Masks-Face-Shield-Visors-Subs.mp4)

Yes and it working well on site, but I know from actual experience it does add time to tasks; however this is improving as the maintenance teams have got accustomed to the additional measures.

Some teams have been affected by normal team members having to self isolated due to their or members of their house hold needing to shield.

Alterations to services between Slough and Maidenhead

Due to engineering works not being finished on time between Slough and Maidenhead some lines are closed.
Train services running through these stations will be delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 09:00 05/07.

Cancellations to services at Reading

Due to a points failure at Reading fewer trains are able to run.

Train services running to and from this station may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 06:45 28/07.

Delays to services between Newbury and Bedwyn
Due to a fault with the signalling system between Newbury and Bedwyn all lines are disrupted.
Train services running through these stations may be delayed by up to 20 minutes. Disruption is expected until 16:00 29/07.

Yep .... and diverted too.


There she goes ...
(http://www.wellho.net/pix/1a87_20200729.jpg)
... could really do with double track through there!
(from Open Train Times (https://www.opentraintimes.com/maps/signalling/westbury#T_MELKSHM))

Delays to services at London Paddington

Due to a problem currently under investigation at London Paddington:
Train services running to and from this station will be delayed. Disruption is expected until 09:00 21/09.

(According to National Rail it's a signalling fault between Paddington and West Drayton and there will be problems until 10am)

There's a lot of red at Reading this morning on RTT, and 1A10 stopped short there. 
Any ideas as to 'wasson' please?

Whatever it was, it was quickly resolved ... I was with the Swindon Gateline doing Journey Maker stuff and a few delays flashed up and then soon cleared - 'minor issue' - perhaps an alert of some sort going off relating to track, signalling or power that was quickly corrected - perhaps in the monitoring circuits - or found to be finger trouble somewhere.  Educated guess, by that way!

I was watching on Open Train Times and it seemed everything came to a stop just east of Reading around 9am.

1A10 (07:49 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington) and 1A72 (05:34 Plymouth to London Paddington) were both at a stand just after leaving the platform.    Both then returned to the station.  After a while 1A10 continued empty to North Pole Depot while 1A72 went to Paddington arriving nearly an hour late.   It had already been delayed by problems on the Berks & Hants.

Caused delays to quite a few westbound services as well.

1A10 is showing as "cancelled between Reading and London Paddington due to an issue with the train crew (TG)." So maybe a driver taken ill?

Cancellations to services between Reading and Bedwyn

Due to a road vehicle colliding with level crossing barriers between Reading and Bedwyn trains have to run at reduced speed on all lines towards Bedwyn.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 18:00 03/11.

Cancellations to services between Maidenhead and Bourne End

Due to earlier engineering works not being finished on time between Maidenhead and Bourne End all lines are blocked.
Train services running to and from these stations will be cancelled or suspended. Disruption is expected until 18:30 14/11.

Oh dear.......

Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Reading

Due to damage to the overhead electric wires between London Paddington and Reading all lines are blocked.


Train services running to and from these stations will be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

.....continuing today.......all day

Alterations to services between London Paddington and Reading
Due to damage to the overhead electric wires between London Paddington and Reading fewer trains are able to run on some lines.
Train services running to and from these stations will be delayed by up to 20 minutes or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Further Information
An update will follow within the next 2 hours.
As a result of damage to a section of the overhead power lines in the Ealing Broadway area during Sunday evening some remedial work is required. In order to facilitate this some lines will be closed and fewer trains will be able to operate between London Paddington and Reading.
.
Train services will still be available serving all routes that are normally covered. However, for certain journeys a change of train may be required and / or the frequency of them will be reduced.
.
Apart from longer distance services, those train services which normally operate between London Paddington and Bedwyn will only operate between Reading and Bedwyn in both directions with customers from / to London Paddington having to use other services for that portion of the journey, changing trains at Reading.
.
Local stopping train services which normally operate between London Paddington and Didcot Parkway will only operate between Reading and Didcot Parkway in both directions with customers from / to London Paddington having to use other services and a change of train will be required at Reading.
GWR ticket holders may use TfL Elizabeth Line train services between Reading and London Paddington, in either direction, as an alternative.
.
Fast train services between London Paddington, Slough, Reading and Oxford will not operate in either direction except where they form a longer distance service to / from Worcester.

Damage to the overhead electric wires between Reading and London Paddington is resulting in some lines being blocked between these stations.

Trains running to / from London Paddington may be cancelled or delayed by up to 20 minutes. Disruption is expected until 08:00.

These are all of the posts from 2020.

There are far fewer for that calendar year than the previous ones.  That doesn't necessarily mean things improved - it's simply the number of posts on this forum for that year.

 :-X