Freight train derailment at Reading causing severe disruption - 28 January 2012

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From JourneyCheck:

Line problem: at Reading. Owing to a problem with line-side equipment at Reading train services through this station may be subject to disruption on all routes at short notice. An estimate for the resumption of normal services will be provided as soon as the problem has been fully assessed.
 
Additional Information:
Short notice alterations, cancellations and delays possible up to 60 minutes to all services passing running to, from or via Reading.

2 Train Cancellations
14:30 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads due 16:15
15:00 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 16:39

12 Other Train Service Updates
13:07 Oxford to London Paddington due 15:01
13:21 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 16:00
13:30 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads due 15:15
14:07 Oxford to London Paddington due 16:01
14:30 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 16:14
15:00 Didcot Parkway to Banbury due 15:50
15:02 Banbury to Oxford due 15:32
15:12 London Paddington to Reading due 16:13
15:37 Oxford to Didcot Parkway due 15:49
15:42 London Paddington to Reading due 16:43
15:45 London Paddington to Swansea due 18:46
15:48 Reading to London Paddington due 16:46

 

[Chris from Nailsea]

An update, from JourneyCheck - more cancellations:

Line problem: at Reading. Owing to a problem with line-side equipment at Reading train services through this station may be subject to disruption on all routes at short notice. An estimate for the resumption of normal services will be provided as soon as the problem has been fully assessed.

Additional Information:
Short notice alterations, cancellations and delays possible up to 90 minutes to all services passing running to, from or via Reading.

6 Train Cancellations
14:30 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads due 16:15
15:00 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 16:39
15:07 Oxford to London Paddington due 17:01
15:25 London Paddington to Oxford due 17:14
15:31 Oxford to London Paddington due 16:29
15:37 Oxford to London Paddington due 17:31

12 Other Train Service Updates
13:21 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 16:00
14:07 Oxford to London Paddington due 16:01
14:30 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 16:14
15:12 London Paddington to Reading due 16:13
15:15 Didcot Parkway to Bristol Temple Meads due 16:18
15:33 Swindon to Bristol Temple Meads due 16:18
15:42 London Paddington to Reading due 16:43
15:45 London Paddington to Swansea due 18:46
15:48 Reading to London Paddington due 16:46
16:05 Banbury to Didcot Parkway due 16:54
16:12 London Paddington to Reading due 17:13
16:18 Reading to London Paddington due 17:16

 

[Chris from Nailsea]

Situation getting worse:

Line problem: at Reading. Owing to a problem with line-side equipment at Reading train services through this station may be subject to disruption on all routes at short notice. An estimate for the resumption of normal services will be provided as soon as the problem has been fully assessed.

Additional Information:
Short notice alterations, cancellations and delays possible up to 90 minutes to all services passing running to, from or via Reading.

7 Train Cancellations
14:30 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads due 16:15
15:00 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 16:39
15:07 Oxford to London Paddington due 17:01
15:25 London Paddington to Oxford due 17:14
15:31 Oxford to London Paddington due 16:29
15:37 Oxford to London Paddington due 17:31
15:50 London Paddington to Oxford due 16:48

15 Other Train Service Updates
13:21 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 16:00
14:30 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 16:14
14:34 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 17:29
15:15 Didcot Parkway to Bristol Temple Meads due 16:18
15:30 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 17:14
15:33 Swindon to Bristol Temple Meads due 16:18
15:42 London Paddington to Reading due 16:43
15:45 London Paddington to Swansea due 18:46
15:48 Reading to London Paddington due 16:46
16:05 Banbury to Didcot Parkway due 16:54
16:12 London Paddington to Reading due 17:13
16:18 Reading to London Paddington due 17:16
16:42 London Paddington to Reading due 17:41
16:45 London Paddington to Swansea due 19:43
16:48 Reading to London Paddington due 17:46

 

[Chris from Nailsea]

Well, it's now got to the stage where even I will stop posting any more updates: 

Line problem: at Reading. Owing to a problem with line-side equipment at Reading train services through this station may be subject to disruption on all routes at short notice. An estimate for the resumption of normal services will be provided as soon as the problem has been fully assessed.

Additional Information:
Short notice alterations, cancellations and delays possible up to 90 minutes to all services passing running to, from or via Reading.

7 Train Cancellations
15:00 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 16:39
15:07 Oxford to London Paddington due 17:01
15:25 London Paddington to Oxford due 17:14
15:31 Oxford to London Paddington due 16:29
15:37 Oxford to London Paddington due 17:31
15:50 London Paddington to Oxford due 16:48
16:00 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 17:38

16 Other Train Service Updates
13:21 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 16:00
14:30 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 16:14
14:34 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 17:29
15:30 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 17:14
15:42 London Paddington to Reading due 16:43
15:45 London Paddington to Swansea due 18:46
15:48 Reading to London Paddington due 16:46
16:05 Banbury to Didcot Parkway due 16:54
16:12 London Paddington to Reading due 17:13
16:18 Reading to London Paddington due 17:16
16:42 London Paddington to Reading due 17:41
16:45 London Paddington to Swansea due 19:43
16:48 Reading to London Paddington due 17:46
17:00 Didcot Parkway to Banbury due 17:50
17:12 London Paddington to Reading due 18:13
17:21 Reading to London Paddington due 18:16

 

[anthony215]

According to an email I had earlier a  Lawley Street - Southampton freightliner derailed near Reading and then got re-railed but has caused some damage to the track.

From what I heard the 13:28 Swansea - London Paddington service will form a  16:45 Swindon - Bristol TM^‡(resolve) service.

This is teh freight service concerned:

FEA-B wagon #640166 onboard Freightliner's 4O02 Lawley Street - Southampton liner with 66593 up front derailed and then re-railed earlier at Reading West Junction and has damaged 15 chairs in the track

[adc82140]

The 14:39 Reading to Paddington (ex Cheltenham) is reported as being 2 hours 56 minutes late. I wonder if it's taken a weird and wonderful route, as NR^» (Network Rail - home page) are reporting nothing able to run between Didcot and Reading.

[LiskeardRich]

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) local radio in cornwall are reporting average 2 hr delays around Reading!

[Surrey 455]

I'm surprised that the "Travel Disruptions" tab on the home page makes no mention of this. I know that the Journeycheck link further down the page does give you this news, but you have to scroll down the home page to find this. Many visitors to the page will see the Travel Disruptions" tab, click on it and assume all is well. It wouldn't occur to them, or me for that matter, that the real travel disruptions are on a completely different link.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Indeed, lhrdave. 

Just for information, the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) JourneyCheck page is available at http://www.journeycheck.com/firstgreatwestern/

However: the previous post could be an action point for those responsible for the First Great Western website, possibly? 

[JayMac]

Won't be the first time FGW^▸ (First Great Western) have been asked why they no longer provide a clear link from the top half of the homepage to a travel disruptions page that includes current running information across their whole network.

You'd assume that the tab that is there would call up the correct information, but, no. It just gives some mostly useless information about the Hammersmith flyover and one entry about engineering works.

No plans to change the layout was an answer I saw on either FGW's twitter feed or Facebook page (one or the other). 

[Chris from Nailsea]

Hmm. 

In that case, I'll be taking this matter up with one of my 'very senior contacts' at First Great Western. 

[Chris from Nailsea]

Meanwhile ... from one of my many impeccable sources: 

UPDATED  28/01/12 20:17   
   
Other TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) Information (FGW^▸ (First Great Western)/Crosscountry)

A problem with line-side equipment is causing disruption at Reading, Please pass Crosscountry tickets on SWT^▸ (South West Trains) services between Basingstoke and Bournemouth and also via London in both directions until further notice. Also please pass FGW tickets between Reading and Basingstoke via London and between Reading and Waterloo Until further notice. Thanks.

[johoare]

I was travelling into London and back today.. On the way in our train (the 3.02pm departure from Maidenhead which started at Reading) only left Maidenhead a few minutes late.. We had to stop additionally at Langley and Iver though as their half hourly service was provided by the trains from Oxford which weren't making it through Reading at that point...so that delayed us a bit more..

On the way back we travelled from Ealing Broadway.. I'd hoped it would be sorted out by then (7.30pm) but it wasn't.. The trains were very overcrowded but again I was lucky not to be too delayed..

So all in all not too bad considering..  And we had quite a few announcements on the train on the way in apologising for the delay and also advising us of the extra stops.. And on the way back they were making some very useful announcements at Ealing Broadway too as I think there had been quite a big gap between trains before we arrived..So I think in this instance the staff did very well in communicating (well on my journeys at least).

Mind you on the way back we did have "stary man" and "smelly man" (I hope I'm allowed to call somoene smelly on here) in our carriage which made the journey seem very long..

[Rob S]

Well that was a minor nightmare getting back from Bath to Swindon with the 1513 cancelled and then the 1543 being diverted after off loading Swindon people at Chippenham....for an hour's wait with no information until a replacement bus turned up. Total delay a few mins short of 2 hours.

[eightf48544]

I was going to post a thread on this called A Tale of Two TOCS or A Bad Day for FGW^▸ (First Great Western) and a Good Day for DB^» (Deutsche Bahn - German State Railway - about) Schenker. I was going to post in the lighter side as for us All Well that Ends Well.

Got up horrendously early Saturday motrning to catch the 06:36 Taplow to Padd to catch the 07:49 from Padd To Swanscombe via Bentford, Colnbrook, Woverton Works and the that white elephant the Bletchley Flyover. 

All was looking good when we left all ontime. Got to station and found 06:36 shown as 07:52 or 16 late not so bad should still be in at 7:30 or so. Then an 06:49 popped up arrivng at  07:52 and 06:36 went back a few moremnutes and was then cancelled. Still possible as that would be 06:47 off Maidenhead which doesn't normally stop at Taplow due Padd 07:31. So FGW on the ball putting in special stops.

Any rate it arrived at about 07:55 and after a lacklaustre run to Padd arrived on platform 10 at about 07:35 (It's marvelous how much time Turbos are allowed from Ealing to Padd to find our train on Platform 11 across the platform directly opposite our coach. Met up with rest of party.

I had a contingency paln which was if were too late at Southall to bail out there and phone our friends to get picked from Platform 1? as the train came accross to enter the West Yard.

Rest of day with DB Schenker went well and back at Euston 7 early not bad for a 66.
Scored at least 20 points at Fenny Stratford stopping across the level crossing to reverse.

Why is it that we throw so much rubbish onto our railway lines especially freight only ones?

 As I'm mean we didn't get a Travelcard but just a return from Taplow to Padd as I know the 205. So we could use our passes. Plus it's not as far to walk to Bus Stop H as Euston Square. Got there just as 205 drew up. Got on, went upstairs saw some of the party still on their way along Euston Road.

Got to Padd at 18:57. Then we ran into Jo 's problem. To find lots of people milling about and very few trains a sure sign of trouble. Now on a good day We would have got the 19:21 Hereford and changed at Slough butt in the meantime the 18:12 stopper came as being on Platform 13 so a train in teh paltform being better than 2 on the indicator we legged with hundreds of others to Platform 13 to find a 2 Car Turbo with no CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) indication to show what it was. Well we piled in and got seats. I then went and checked with the driver, no platform staff in sight, that this realy was the 18:12 and not a stray Greenford. Trundle off roughly ontime and stopped all staions to Taplow full and standing all the way. When we got to Slough the Hereford had just pulled in on Platform 2 but due to the eagarness of SLough despatch staff several would be changers were left behind so we would have been stuck at Slough, So a good tip in times of disruption if you can get on train get on it! Don't worry about tickets the RPIs^▸ (Revenue Protection Inspector (or Retail Price Index, depending on the context)) that got on at Ealing stayed in the back cab.

Now there's a follow up to this tale at around 9 o'clock, siting catching up on Michael Portillo my mobile rang. It was one of the party asking where we were, he was amazed when I said I was at home. Some how he was still at Reading when he wanted Maidenhead or Slough. Not sure of full story but it involved Platform 15 being shut for Circle and Hammersmith and them going to Royal Oak! Then back to Baker Street. Surprised LUL^▸ (London Underground Ltd) wasn't saying change at Edgware Road to Padd this train is not stopping. Waiting to hear full story.