Cotswold Line - 2018 cancellation and amendments log

[whole diary]

[charles_uk]

Sunday January 14, at 05:10:

09:35 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 12:25 will be started from Reading.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.
Will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 8. First class not available. Catering is not available. There are no reservations on this service.

Facilities on the 13:15 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 16:04.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.
Will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 8. First class not available. Catering is not available. There are no reservations on this service.

15:42 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street due 18:05 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.

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

And

08:00 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 10:54 has been cancelled.
This is due to this train being late from the depot.

11:14 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 14:07 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.

[TaplowGreen]

It seems that the Cotswold line suffers very disproportionately taking into account the infrequency of services at the best of times - almost daily cancellations creating huge gaps between services.

Shortforming an 3 hour, 8 carriage HST^▸ (High Speed Train) service down to a 2 car Turbo is simply appalling.

[grahame]

It seems that the Cotswold line suffers very disproportionately taking into account the infrequency of services at the best of times - almost daily cancellations creating huge gaps between services.

Shortforming an 3 hour, 8 carriage HST^▸ (High Speed Train) service down to a 2 car Turbo is simply appalling.

It really shouldn't be down to just the odd train having an accident and needing significant repair of even being written off ... but GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are two power cars down on what they expected at the moment due to collisions with trees, and I understand the damage isn't quickly fixable - indeed may not be fixed with the power cars in question now being amongst those withdrawn from service as they're displaced by IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train) rather than heading for Scotland or Cornwall.

Yes, the (north) Cotswold line really is getting hit at the moment;  wouldn't like to comment on the operational choice between reducing London - Bristol or London - Cardiff to hourly, replacing London - Cheltenham Spa HSTs with a turbo between Swindon and Cheltenham Spa, and dropping north Cotswold services.

There are services (elsewhere at least) where planned trains are longer than they really need to be in the winter especially; issue is that at some time during the day the full capacity is often needed on the diagram.  Reduction in the length of a service isn't "appalling" by virtue of the reduction - it's only appalling if it results in the train having to carry more passengers than it can really cope with in comfort.

[Worcester_Passenger]

The main passenger flow on the 09:35 out of Paddington on a Sunday morning will be tourists off to Oxford for the day. Too many for a two-car Turbo. But if you're forcing them to change at Reading there are alternatives in the form of four-car Voyagers.

[eXPassenger]

The main passenger flow on the 09:35 out of Paddington on a Sunday morning will be tourists off to Oxford for the day. Too many for a two-car Turbo. But if you're forcing them to change at Reading there are alternatives in the form of four-car Voyagers.

I wasn't aware that GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) had any Voyagers, or that any Voyager drivers had route knowledge between Paddington and Reading.

[Richard Fairhurst]

It really shouldn't be down to just the odd train having an accident and needing significant repair of even being written off ... but GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are two power cars down on what they expected at the moment due to collisions with trees, and I understand the damage isn't quickly fixable - indeed may not be fixed with the power cars in question now being amongst those withdrawn from service as they're displaced by IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train) rather than heading for Scotland or Cornwall.

The start of the year was always going to be challenging for GWR with the departure of the 180s, the Turbo/387 cascade, and the teething problems with the IETs.

But too many of the Cotswold Line cancellations are "due to a shortage of train drivers" or "due to a shortage of train crew". That's no-one's fault but GWR's.

In previous years, when there'd been really heavy disruption, passengers would board their morning train the next day to find a letter on every seat from the MD apologising. Season ticket holders would have been mollified with a couple of free first-class returns at weekends. We haven't seen any of that this time. Right now GWR isn't communicating with passengers, or stakeholders, or anyone, other than by the increasingly unconvincing "There is generally a good service on the GWR network" banner on their website.

Engineering issues and DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)-imposed cascades are one thing, but GWR is failing at the very basics of running a railway.

[grahame]

The main passenger flow on the 09:35 out of Paddington on a Sunday morning will be tourists off to Oxford for the day. Too many for a two-car Turbo. But if you're forcing them to change at Reading there are alternatives in the form of four-car Voyagers.

I wasn't aware that GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) had any Voyagers, or that any Voyager drivers had route knowledge between Paddington and Reading.

As the original says "forcing them to change at Reading", I suspect the original poster was thinking of Oxford passengers catching any HST^▸ (High Speed Train) out of Paddington and changing to a Cross Country Voyager at Reading - minimum 4 cars, occasionally 5!

[eXPassenger]

The main passenger flow on the 09:35 out of Paddington on a Sunday morning will be tourists off to Oxford for the day. Too many for a two-car Turbo. But if you're forcing them to change at Reading there are alternatives in the form of four-car Voyagers.

I wasn't aware that GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) had any Voyagers, or that any Voyager drivers had route knowledge between Paddington and Reading.

As the original says "forcing them to change at Reading", I suspect the original poster was thinking of Oxford passengers catching any HST^▸ (High Speed Train) out of Paddington and changing to a Cross Country Voyager at Reading - minimum 4 cars, occasionally 5!

Understood.  Apologies.

[TaplowGreen]

It seems that the Cotswold line suffers very disproportionately taking into account the infrequency of services at the best of times - almost daily cancellations creating huge gaps between services.

Shortforming an 3 hour, 8 carriage HST^▸ (High Speed Train) service down to a 2 car Turbo is simply appalling.

It really shouldn't be down to just the odd train having an accident and needing significant repair of even being written off ... but GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are two power cars down on what they expected at the moment due to collisions with trees, and I understand the damage isn't quickly fixable - indeed may not be fixed with the power cars in question now being amongst those withdrawn from service as they're displaced by IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train) rather than heading for Scotland or Cornwall.

Another illustration of the folly of using HSTs to potter around between Plymouth & Penzance, when they could be far more usefully and appropriately used elsewhere for the sort of runs they were designed for.

[IndustryInsider]

They were never designed for those runs either really, but for high speed limited stop trips between London and large cities on the east and west coast lines.  And over 40 years ago.

[Worcester_Passenger]

And for those of you who had changed your travel plans:

15:42 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street due 18:05 will be reinstated.
It will be started from Oxford.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.

18:26 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington due 21:00 will be reinstated.
It will be terminated at Oxford.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.

[Worcester_Passenger]

The main passenger flow on the 09:35 out of Paddington on a Sunday morning will be tourists off to Oxford for the day. Too many for a two-car Turbo. But if you're forcing them to change at Reading there are alternatives in the form of four-car Voyagers.

I wasn't aware that GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) had any Voyagers, or that any Voyager drivers had route knowledge between Paddington and Reading.

As the original says "forcing them to change at Reading", I suspect the original poster was thinking of Oxford passengers catching any HST^▸ (High Speed Train) out of Paddington and changing to a Cross Country Voyager at Reading - minimum 4 cars, occasionally 5!

Indeed, the alternative that the journey planners would offer would normally be a change at Reading into a CrossCountry - but whether that would appeal to a tourist is another matter.  My expectation would be that they would prefer the next direct train, one hour later.

[IndustryInsider]

Same reason as previous Sunday’s it seems.  Worcester’s new depot unable to cover their allocated turns, and Oxford (the obvious alternative) not signing IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train)’s yet, hence a scramble for a Turbo or nothing at all.

[Richard Fairhurst]

Indeed, the alternative that the journey planners would offer would normally be a change at Reading into a CrossCountry - but whether that would appeal to a tourist is another matter.  My expectation would be that they would prefer the next direct train, one hour later.

For Oxford-bound tourists, I suspect increasingly they would prefer the service from Marylebone...

[Worcester_Passenger]

For Oxford-bound tourists, I suspect increasingly they would prefer the service from Marylebone...

But if you're a visitor from overseas who has flown into Heathrow and is staying in one of the many hotels that cluster around Paddington, then you're not going to bother with Marylebone. Well, unless you've only come to London so as to go to Bicester Village.