Thames Valley infrastructure problems causing disruption elsewhere - 2014

[whole diary]

[lordgoata]

And the earlier train I catch twice a week from Maidenhead has just 33% for the arriving in time for the past 100 days! I keep saying its always late, now I have proof (Its ALWAYS held up due to some poxy freight train. Maybe one day they will change the timetable to reflect the real time it actually runs at....

[Western Enterprise]

  Some others are very poor though - the 08:35, too late for most commuters, but still a busy train is at only 43%!

The 08.35 is one I catch often, and it has never been on time. It stops in the country platforms , sometimes coupling up with another Turbo Unit in front, and sometimes its 'doors to manual' with one open per carriage !
I have just written complaint letter #1 to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) 

[johoare]

You may be interested in http://recenttraintimes.co.uk/ which sets all these figures out in black and white. Or, more often, red.

Maidenhead to Paddington's most punctual fast train in the peaks appears to be the 07:59 with a 90% chance of a 5 minute or less delay at Paddington.  Some others are very poor though - the 08:35, too late for most commuters, but still a busy train is at only 43%!

Coming back the 17:35 has a 100% record which is pretty impressive.  Less impressive is the 45% recorded by the semi-fast 17:42 train.

Data based on the last three months.  A very useful website, but it's a shame longer time periods can't be analysed, as whilst three months sounds quite a long time, it is in fact only 60 or so occurrences of a given train of course.

I agree that the 7.59 appears to be the most punctual.. The train almost always gets to Paddington on time. However those stats don't show that not always all the passengers get there on time even if the train does.. If the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) that forms this set has an issue then it gets replaced with a class-180.. So probably 3/8 of the passengers are then delayed..

[TaplowGreen]

Delays to services between Swindon and Didcot Parkway
Due to over-running engineering works between Swindon and Didcot Parkway all lines will be blocked.
Impact:
Train services running through these stations may be delayed by up to 30 mins. Disruption is expected until 13:00 21/12.


Good luck to anyone heading home by train for Christmas - not a very good start today! 

[bobm]

So far, fingers crossed, looking at the departure times from Swindon things don't look too bad.  Single line working has been introduced with trains from London using the Up line for the section between Uffington and the outskirts of Swindon.

[BerkshireBugsy]

I totally understand that signalling /track problems are outside of the TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) control but the last few months - in my opinion - are hardly a good incentive to travel by rail in our area.

Personally I despair every time I see "delays between XXX and YYY causing delays of up to..."

Is it me or has there always been a concentrated run of delays of this nature? Judging by the title of this thread it's been going on file a while but surely these cant be a knock on effect from the October 6th issue

(In the above example XXX and YYY are not real station codes before anyone notices )

[bobm]

This morning's issues would more accurately be described as track problems.  They are struggling to fit a new/replacement point.

[BerkshireBugsy]

This morning's issues would more accurately be described as track problems.  They are struggling to fit a new/replacement point.

Thanks for clarifying bobm. I sincerely hope travellers plans are not disrupted by this.  I would suggest that most members this forum are used to these delays but the occasional traveller may not be so understanding of individual problems

[IndustryInsider]

This morning's issues would more accurately be described as track problems.  They are struggling to fit a new/replacement point.

Thanks for clarifying bobm. I sincerely hope travellers plans are not disrupted by this.  I would suggest that most members this forum are used to these delays but the occasional traveller may not be so understanding of individual problems

The heaviest delay I can spot is 12 minutes on the 08:37 PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)-SWA^» (Swansea - next trains), so as 'bobm' said earlier this isn't causing any real problems.  Bi-directional signalling helps enourmously as such times, and it's good to see that such signalling flexibility is slowly being expanded on the network.

[BerkshireBugsy]

The heaviest delay I can spot is 12 minutes on the 08:37 PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)-SWA^» (Swansea - next trains), so as 'bobm' said earlier this isn't causing any real problems.  Bi-directional signalling helps enourmously as such times, and it's good to see that such signalling flexibility is slowly being expanded on the network.

If that's the limit of delays like you say that's not too bad and I totally agree about bi-directional running.i know someone that is coming up from Cardiff to Reading this morning so hopefully they won't be delayed too much if at all. I'm not sure what service they are on otherwise I would have a look out of curiosity

[TaplowGreen]

The heaviest delay I can spot is 12 minutes on the 08:37 PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)-SWA^» (Swansea - next trains), so as 'bobm' said earlier this isn't causing any real problems.  Bi-directional signalling helps enourmously as such times, and it's good to see that such signalling flexibility is slowly being expanded on the network.

If that's the limit of delays like you say that's not too bad and I totally agree about bi-directional running.i know someone that is coming up from Cardiff to Reading this morning so hopefully they won't be delayed too much if at all. I'm not sure what service they are on otherwise I would have a look out of curiosity

Unless of course you're travelling to Cheltenham, as virtually every service seems to be cancelled due to "a member of staff being unavailable" - Christmas parties?

[bobm]

I think the problem in the morning was no one to take the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) stock from Bristol to Swindon to provide a set for the run to Cheltenham and thence to London.  That therefore meant three cancellations.

In the afternoon the problems weren't helped by the unit booked to work the service in between the cancelled Paddington services running with the sole toilet locked out of use.

[ChrisB]

There was over-running Engineering work twixt Didcot & Swindon till 1300, according to Journeycheck

[TaplowGreen]

I think the problem in the morning was no one to take the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) stock from Bristol to Swindon to provide a set for the run to Cheltenham and thence to London.  That therefore meant three cancellations.

In the afternoon the problems weren't helped by the unit booked to work the service in between the cancelled Paddington services running with the sole toilet locked out of use.

I guess the question must be then why was no-one available to take the stock from Bristol to Swindon?

Signal problems again this morning it seems - Bristol TM^‡(resolve) & Westbury/Pewsey......cancellations over the next couple of days are likely to cause real problems with trains already overcrowded for Christmas.

[IndustryInsider]

Signal problems again this morning it seems - Bristol TM^‡(resolve) & Westbury/Pewsey......cancellations over the next couple of days are likely to cause real problems with trains already overcrowded for Christmas.

Again though, I'm struggling to find much real disruption from either issue - one early PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)-BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains) cancelled and its return at 09:30 and a couple of trains in the Westbury area about 10 minutes late.  I'm sure if disruption of that magnitude is all we get this Christmas then staff and customers will be pretty pleased.

I think it was Graham that pointed out with modern information systems like journeycheck to refer to it can look like the network is always in turmoil when the reality is that a tiny percentage of passengers are actually being disrupted and without that information the rest would not realise anything was wrong.