West Oxfordshire rail passengers left stranded - 4 May 2012

[whole diary]

[dzug]

Use of the Mk1 human brain in problem-solving mode is rare these days.

Especially in industries where macho management exists.....

That's a generalisation and is not intended as a comment on this particular incident.

[Andrew1939 from West Oxon]

Btline's comment on further redoubling being needed is of course quite correct but when? No immediate hopes for progress on this front for various reasons - money and technical constraints. However the problems could be eased if there was a major timetable revision of CL trains so that trains did not pass at Evesham or Charlbury. To get the most advantage of the recent redoubling work, trains need to pass somewhere around the middle of the redoubled length of track (Moreton area?) but it is appreciated that this is not easy because of the difficulty of getting alternative paths to Paddington from Oxford onwards. So many trains now have waits of up to 10 minutes at Evesham and Charlbury because of the timing of trains to and from the single track sections. However some Up trains have waits put in the timetable on the CL because they are not wanted at Oxford as they have to fit into the Oxford/Paddington service times. I suspect that any major timetable revisions will have to wait for the new franchisee whether it should be FGW^▸ (First Great Western) or other and that is likely to be at least two years away.

[Btline]

That is true that the timetable doesn't help. But Evesham to Worcester redoubling is still necessary to enable 2tph for this stretch (the 2nd train being a LM^▸ (London Midland - recent franchise) service to Brum - new commuting opportunities and a turn up and go service to Worcester).

The approach is too London centric and has resulted in up-tapped growth/ trips to Warwick Parkway.

I still can't believe they redoubled the stretches they did when they weren't planning to change the timetable.