Cotswold Line - 2018 cancellation and amendments log

[whole diary]

[Witham Bobby]

08:42 London Paddington to Hereford due 11:57
08:42 London Paddington to Hereford due 11:57 will be started from Reading.
It will no longer call at London Paddington and Slough.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.
Last Updated:18/02/2018 06:29

[TaplowGreen]

.....cosy.


13:42 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street due 16:07 will be started from Reading.
It will no longer call at London Paddington and Slough.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.
Will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 8.

[Worcester_Passenger]

The 08:42 Paddington - Hereford, started from Reading today, was also formed of 2 coaches instead of 8.

12:42 London Paddington to Hereford due 16:01
12:42 London Paddington to Hereford due 16:01 will be started from Reading.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.
Will be formed of 3 coaches instead of 8.
Last Updated:18/02/2018 11:20

13:32 Hereford to London Paddington due 17:11
Facilities on the 13:32 Hereford to London Paddington due 17:11.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.
Will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 8.
Last Updated:18/02/2018 10:17

16:28 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington due 19:09
Facilities on the 16:28 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington due 19:09.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.
Will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 8.
Last Updated:18/02/2018 11:55

16:34 Hereford to London Paddington due 20:09
Facilities on the 16:34 Hereford to London Paddington due 20:09.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.
Will be formed of 3 coaches instead of 8.
Last Updated:18/02/2018 11:21


19:42 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 22:24 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.
Further Information
Replacement road transport will operate between Oxford and Great Malvern. Customers are requested to wait for road transport in the designated road replacement areas. Customers are advised that buses will run later that than the advertised train times due to line of route and additional time required for loading and unloading.
Last Updated:18/02/2018 14:33

[charles_uk]

A new week:

04:47 Hereford to London Paddington due 07:52 has been delayed at Worcester Foregate Street and is now 17 minutes late.

and 40 late at Oxford

05:11 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington due 07:27 has been delayed at Worcester Shrub Hill and is now 35 minutes late.
This is due to this train being late from the depot.

05:28 Hereford to London Paddington due 08:27 has been delayed at Hereford and is now 14 minutes late.
This is due to train crew being delayed.

as well as the 07:10 Moreton-in-Marsh to Paddington being short-formed for the 26th day running.

[Adelante_CCT]

Just because the 07:10 used to be an HST^▸ (High Speed Train), does not mean it is short formed, it has planned to be a turbo for a while now and is now retimed to 07:12

[charles_uk]

Just because the 07:10 used to be an HST^▸ (High Speed Train), does not mean it is short formed, it has planned to be a turbo for a while now and is now retimed to 07:12

It's in the January 2018 timetable as one where "Bike reservations are compulsory. First Class accommodation, seat reservations, Wi-Fi and power points are available." That suggests to me that it's an HST/IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train). Certainly you cannot reserve seats on a turbo. It does seem a little odd to have a change just a couple of weeks after the timetable came into force. If it's now planned to be a turbo, presumably there's something somewhere on the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) website to say so?

[JayMac]

Just because the 07:10 used to be an HST^▸ (High Speed Train), does not mean it is short formed, it has planned to be a turbo for a while now and is now retimed to 07:12

Someone should tell GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) then. Their timetable and booking engines still show it departing at 0710, offering seat reservations, first class, catering, power sockets...

[charles_uk]

20:22 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 22:57 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Further Information
Due to no road transport available, customers are advised to travel on the next available train service.

The next available (and last) train departing Paddington one hour 26 minutes later, and only going as far as Worcester Shrub Hill.

[TaplowGreen]

20:22 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 22:57 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Further Information
Due to no road transport available, customers are advised to travel on the next available train service.

The next available (and last) train departing Paddington one hour 26 minutes later, and only going as far as Worcester Shrub Hill.

So the message from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) is basically "You're on your own"

[Richard Fairhurst]

Someone should tell GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) then. Their timetable and booking engines still show it departing at 0710, offering seat reservations, first class, catering, power sockets...

Quite. Interestingly on RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) it's shown as "Pathed as Class 165/1 or 166 (Turbo) DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit)" but also "Reservations available" and "Buffet service from Reading", and all those can't be true. While I realise that "Pathed as" doesn't necessarily mean "Booked for", the WTT^▸ (Working Time-Table) times have indeed been rescheduled - not that working, or published, or any times bear much relation to reality on the Cotswold Line these days. From 5th March onwards, it's once again showing as "Timed for 125mph max: High Speed Train (HST125)".

The point has been made a couple of times on the Charlbury forum that GWR should have instituted an emergency timetable ufn on the Cotswold Line. That way people would know which trains were likely to run, when, and with what level of comfort. If you're (say) heading for Heathrow, it's genuinely useful to know that the 7.10 will have less luggage space than usual, never mind the fact it's usually late.

But there seems to be a curious level of official denial. Whereas the timetable alteration PDFs on the GWR website are happy to warn people that "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday – The 2351 London Paddington to Reading service will depart 1 minute later than usual and will not call at West Ealing or Hanwell. Please travel on alternative services to complete your journey", retimings and substitutions on the Cotswold Line aren't mentioned at all. The two GWR representatives at the recent public meeting in Charlbury were very apologetic about the level of service - but I've not heard anything similar outside that room. What is going on?

[JayMac]

What is going on is GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are treating their customers with utter contempt.

[Worcester_Passenger]

Monday's sad story, with a lot of late running, also includes the cancellation of the 15:22 Shrub Hill - Paddington from Oxford onwards. RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) giving the problems as being the doors.

[charles_uk]

Anyway, irrespective of whether it's a short-formation or not, this morning GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) served up just two coaches for the 07:10 (or is it 07:12 - who knows, certainly not JourneyCheck or National Rail Enquiries) Moreton-in-Marsh to Paddington train - a service which was an 8 coach HST^▸ (High Speed Train) until mid-January.

[IndustryInsider]

Anyway, irrespective of whether it's a short-formation or not, this morning GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) served up just two coaches for the 07:10 (or is it 07:12 - who knows, certainly not JourneyCheck or National Rail Enquiries) Moreton-in-Marsh to Paddington train - a service which was an 8 coach HST^▸ (High Speed Train) until mid-January.

It is supposed to couple up to another 3-car at Oxford to form a 6-car, which isn’t too bad and will obviously not be a long term arrangement as an IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) should be working it by the end of the year, after which the timetable will be changed. 

Today’s 2-car coupled to another 2-car to form a 4-car, which isn’t as good!

[TaplowGreen]

Anyway, irrespective of whether it's a short-formation or not, this morning GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) served up just two coaches for the 07:10 (or is it 07:12 - who knows, certainly not JourneyCheck or National Rail Enquiries) Moreton-in-Marsh to Paddington train - a service which was an 8 coach HST^▸ (High Speed Train) until mid-January.

It is supposed to couple up to another 3-car at Oxford to form a 6-car, which isn’t too bad and will obviously not be a long term arrangement as an IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) should be working it by the end of the year, after which the timetable will be changed. 

.............I can't see that being too much of a comfort - an IET "should" be working it but that's still the thick end of a year away and there's a bit too much "should" rather than "is" or "will" with GWR these days - in any case I wouldn't say that's short term in this context, particularly with the appalling service folks on the Cotswold line are going through day to day.

8 coach HST to 2 car/supposed to be 6 car Turbo does not represent progress for such a lengthy journey.

Once again, expectations raised and then dashed. It's difficult to avoid the conclusion that GWR regard the Cotswolds line as somewhat irrelevant and its customers expendable in the greater scheme.