Cotswold Line - 2018 cancellation and amendments log

[whole diary]

[TaplowGreen]

Well at least it's consistent................

16:22 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 19:26


16:22 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 19:26 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[CobboldCamper]

It's also misleading - the delay was at Paddington, not Reading:  I was on the 1552 to Moreton - a nice empty HST^▸ (High Speed Train) which was alongside the jam packed 1522 at Paddington and left (on time) 5 minutes after the 1522.  Small details but it does make you wonder if they are just making it all up

[charles_uk]

It's also misleading - the delay was at Paddington, not Reading:  I was on the 1552 to Moreton - a nice empty HST^▸ (High Speed Train) which was alongside the jam packed 1522 at Paddington and left (on time) 5 minutes after the 1522.  Small details but it does make you wonder if they are just making it all up

To be fair, the delayed 15:22 wasn't that crowded when it left Oxford; certainly not in the rear carriage where there were a fair few seats available, though perhaps it was different at the front as the train manager did advise passengers that the Moreton-in-Marsh train was just behind and much less busy. After being turfed off the 15:22 when it was terminated at the last minute at Oxford the previous day, I decided it was best to stay put rather than risk another on the hoof termination of the 15:52 MIM service at Oxford.

[charles_uk]

09:54 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 12:28 is being delayed at Worcester Foregate Street.
This is due to a fault on this train.

Is this an IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train)? (This service and the outward working had been cancelled the previous two days).

[IndustryInsider]

Yes it is. 800011 today.

[Worcester_Passenger]

12:21 London Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill due 14:38 has been cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train earlier today.
Further Information
Customers are advised to travel on the next available train service.

15:22 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington due 17:29 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train earlier today.
Further Information
Customers are advised to travel on the next available train service.

[Worcester_Passenger]

All IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) services along the Cotswold Line are supposed to be crewed by the new Worcester depot IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly), which has had a less than successful start - the depot manager has recently left after only a few months in the job. 

Not sure why they are short?  Possibly a case of relying on a small depot that is more likely to be affected by sickness or other issues that affect availability?

If the crew problems were at Worcester, then you'd expect the cancellation to occur in Worcester-ended pairs, as a Worcester-Paddington train followed by a later Paddington-Worcester one.  But this week, the cancellations are the other way round - a Paddington-Worcester followed by a Worcester-Paddington.

That would suggest to me that the problems are at the London end.

[IndustryInsider]

That sounds logical, until you look at the drivers diagrams, some of which have drivers travelling from Worcester to Oxford to do a trip to Worcester before returning to Oxford/London and then travelling back again at the end.  Here is a breakdown of some of the diagrams for this week:

WT321 (02:39 book on) is taxi to Hereford, work Hereford to Paddington and travel back Paddington to Worcester
WT322 (04:49 book on) is work Worcester to Oxford and travel back
WT9301 (05:01 book on) is work Worcester to Great Malvern and back
WT9302 (06:09 book on) is travel Worcester to Oxford, work Oxford to Worcester, work Worcester to Paddington and then travel Paddington to Worcester
WT9303 (11:12 book on) is travel Worcester to Paddington, taxi to North Pole, work North Pole to Paddington and work Paddington to Worcester
WT9304 (12:45 book on) is travel Worcester to Oxford, work Oxford to Worcester, work Worcester to Oxford, then travel Oxford to Worcester
WT9305 (18:46 book on) is work Worcester to Great Malvern, work Great Malvern to Paddington, travel Paddington to Oxford then taxi Oxford to Worcester

So, taking the example of 1W33, 16:22 PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)-GMV and return (the train that's not run all week, save for being a Turbo between Paddington and Oxford on Tuesday:
WT9303 works it from North Pole and then from Paddington to Worcester, having travelled up from Worcester, the WT9305 works it from Worcester to Great Malvern, then back through to Paddington before travelling back to Worcester via a taxi from Oxford! 

Optimal they ain't, perhaps 'staggeringly inefficient' is a better phrase - if Oxford drivers signed the new trains many of those diagrams would be more efficiently worked from that depot!  I am assuming over the next year or so these new Worcester diagrams will be optimised as the 800 workings are increased (along with Oxford eventually signing them) otherwise huge amounts of money will be being wasted, which the new depot was supposed to help save.

[Worcester_Passenger]

Gosh. Your description is appallingly accurate.

[ray951]

That is very interesting and helps to explain why the railways are so expensive to run and why there are never enough drivers.

In some of those diagrams there is only 1.5 hours of driving (WT321 Worcester to Oxford) or 3.5 hours of driving (WT322 Hereford to Padd). I assume that the length of a shift will vary (i.e. not fixed at 7 hours) and I appreciate that drivers will also have paperwork too complete, keep up to date with notices, walking time, etc. but that looks incredibly inefficient.

[charles_uk]

15:22 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington due 17:29 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train earlier today.
Further Information
Customers are advised to travel on the next available train service.

The next available service for some stations being:

15:14 Hereford to London Paddington due 18:29 will be terminated at Worcester Shrub Hill.
It will no longer call at Pershore, Evesham, Honeybourne, Moreton-in-Marsh, Kingham, Charlbury, Hanborough, Oxford, Reading, Slough and London Paddington.
It is being delayed at Hereford.
This is due to a fault on this train.

No sign on JourneyCheck of the 15:51 Worcester Foregate Street to Paddington making extra stops to fill the gaps as yet.

[Worcester_Passenger]

Having now looked in rather more detail at the content of those diagrams, I hesitate to ask the inevitable question - were they produced by a manual scheduler or by some piece of computer software?

[Worcester_Passenger]

Big hit today:

12:42 London Paddington to Hereford due 16:01 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

14:42 London Paddington to Hereford due 17:56 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

15:42 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street due 18:05 will be reinstated and will now run as scheduled.
Will be formed of 3 coaches instead of 10.

16:34 Hereford to London Paddington due 20:04 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

18:26 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington due 21:00 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

18:30 Hereford to London Paddington due 22:13 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

21:42 London Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill due 00:16 will be started from Reading.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Cancelling the three up trains in the afternoon means that there will be no train from Worcester towards London from 16:32 until 20:31.

[TaplowGreen]

10 down to 3.............is that a record?


15:42 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street due 18:05 will be reinstated.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Will be formed of 3 coaches instead of 10.

[grahame]

10 down to 3.............is that a record?

Not sure ... seen 8 down to 1