Cotswold Line - 2018 cancellation and amendments log

[whole diary]

[Richard Fairhurst]

Getting a bit tired of GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) mucking up our Saturdays, to be honest. For the last two weekends we've tried to go out on the Cotswold Line for the afternoon: to Worcester last weekend, to Oxford this weekend. Both times we've had to cut our trip short due to the train we planned to catch being cancelled - unfortunately, travelling with a nearly-two-year-old rules out catching the later train; a tired, fractious toddler well past his bedtime is not something the rest of the train wants to hear.

To add insult to injury, the cancelled train we wanted to catch today (the 17.18 from Paddington, 18.23 from Oxford, as per above) appears to actually have run in the end. But at the time we caught the 17.23 home, JourneyCheck was still showing it as cancelled. For goodness' sake GWR, a shortage of drivers is one thing, but still showing a train as cancelled after it's actually left Paddington is entirely avoidable.

(Still, Fairhurst Junior does love travelling by train - all the way up the hill into Charlbury this evening he was saying "bye-bye train". I suspect in ten years' time he'll be posting on this board and I'll be trying to work out what his account name is...)

[IndustryInsider]

Appalling service, especially at weekends.  Though nobody who could hold GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) to any kind of account appears to be giving much of a s**t!

Expect widespread cancellations during the Easter holidays.

[Worcester_Passenger]

A curious one today (Sunday March 25):

08:00 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 10:54 will no longer call at Oxford and Worcester Shrub Hill.
This is due to train crew being delayed.
Last Updated:25/03/2018 10:39

I think what it should say is that the train has been cancelled between Oxford and Shrub Hill. The subsequent train is making extra stops:

08:42 London Paddington to Hereford due 11:57 will call additionally at Hanborough and Honeybourne.
This is due to the train making extra stops because a train was cancelled.
Last Updated:25/03/2018 09:55

[Adelante_CCT]

19:42 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 22:26 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Last Updated:25/03/2018 13:42

Also the 12:42 to Hereford and return is truncated at Worcester SH

[charles_uk]

Welcome to a new week:

04:47 Hereford to London Paddington due 07:52 will call additionally at Honeybourne.
It has been delayed at Worcester Foregate Street and is now 20 minutes late (and 38 late by Oxford).
This is due to the train making extra stops because of service disruption.

05:11 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington due 07:27 will be diverted between Worcester Shrub Hill and Reading.
It will no longer call at Evesham, Honeybourne, Moreton-in-Marsh, Kingham, Charlbury, Hanborough, Oxford and Maidenhead.
It has been previously delayed and is now expected to be 20 minutes late from Reading.
This is due to train crew being delayed.

07:10 Moreton-in-Marsh to London Paddington due 08:51 will be started from Oxford.
It will no longer call at Moreton-in-Marsh, Kingham, Charlbury and Hanborough.
This is due to train crew being delayed.

[Class 50]

I too am getting wound up, why have we not got an emergency timetable, if that had been in place in January , at least the line would have not lost droves of passengers , as they would have certainty.
Clearly after 3 months , we now know a full timetable is not possible .

[1st fan]

I too am getting wound up, why have we not got an emergency timetable, if that had been in place in January , at least the line would have not lost droves of passengers , as they would have certainty.
Clearly after 3 months , we now know a full timetable is not possible .

It's amazing that the Right Honourable Nigel Huddleston, the Right Honourable Geoffrey Clifton Brown etc. haven't raised the issue in the House. The closest they get is the former suggesting that his constituents contribute to the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) franchise consultation. https://www.nigelhuddleston.com/news/government-launches-consultation-great-western-rail-franchise

[grahame]

from the  Oxford Mail

CALLS to dual the train tracks on the Cotswold Line ahead of thousands of new homes in West Oxfordshire could be put to the Government.

A motion will be put to Oxfordshire County Council today for its leader to urge the Transport Minister to upgrade the line which links Oxford with Long Hanborough, Charlbury and Kingham.

In putting forward the motion county councillor for Charlbury, Liz Leffman, said passenger numbers were declining due to regular delays and cancellations.

With just the one track, any broken down train or delay has a knock-on effect.

She said since Oxford Parkway opened numbers at Charlbury dropped ten per cent.

Nice photo of an Adelante ...

[charles_uk]

06:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 09:37 will be terminated at Oxford.
It will no longer call at Hanborough, Charlbury, Kingham, Moreton-in-Marsh, Honeybourne, Evesham, Pershore, Worcester Shrub Hill, Worcester Foregate Street, Malvern Link and Great Malvern.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.

09:54 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 12:28 will be started from Oxford.

Last Updated:28/03/2018 03:26

and a later update:

09:50 Moreton-in-Marsh to London Paddington due 11:30 will be terminated at Oxford.
It will no longer call at Reading, Slough and London Paddington.
This is due to a broken down train earlier today.

Last Updated:28/03/2018 10:09

[ChrisB]

I too am getting wound up, why have we not got an emergency timetable, if that had been in place in January , at least the line would have not lost droves of passengers , as they would have certainty.
Clearly after 3 months , we now know a full timetable is not possible .

It's amazing that the Right Honourable Nigel Huddleston, the Right Honourable Geoffrey Clifton Brown etc. haven't raised the issue in the House. The closest they get is the former suggesting that his constituents contribute to the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) franchise consultation. https://www.nigelhuddleston.com/news/government-launches-consultation-great-western-rail-franchise

From a Robert Courts email yesterday -

I have secured a Westminster Hall debate on “The Future of West Oxfordshire Rail Services (Upgrades to the Cotswold Line)” here in Parliament.  During this debate, I will highlight the points you have raised with me [about the service] and bring them before the Transport Minister, outlining the improvements to rail services on the Cotswold Line that we want to see, and making clear the strength of feeling around this issue.

I am therefore writing to invite you to Parliament to attend this debate, which will take place tomorrow, Wednesday, 28th March [today!] in Westminster Hall from 16:30 – 17:30.

[charles_uk]

From a Robert Courts email yesterday -

I have secured a Westminster Hall debate on “The Future of West Oxfordshire Rail Services (Upgrades to the Cotswold Line)” here in Parliament.  During this debate, I will highlight the points you have raised with me [about the service] and bring them before the Transport Minister, outlining the improvements to rail services on the Cotswold Line that we want to see, and making clear the strength of feeling around this issue.

I am therefore writing to invite you to Parliament to attend this debate, which will take place tomorrow, Wednesday, 28th March [today!] in Westminster Hall from 16:30 – 17:30.

I received that email too. A pity it was short-notice as it might have been an interesting day out (travelling with Chiltern Railways to be on the safe side). I hope sufficient time is devoted to the immediate problems customers are experiencing rather than focusing solely on longer-term aspirations, desirable as those may be.

[Worcester_Passenger]

Forget "The Future of ..." - a better title would have been "The Present of ...".

Meanwhile,

13:22 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street due 15:41 will be terminated at Worcester Shrub Hill.
It has been previously delayed, will be further delayed at Evesham and is expected to be 20 minutes late.
This is due to a fault on this train which is now fixed.
Last Updated:28/03/2018 14:53

15:51 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington due 17:59 will be started from Worcester Shrub Hill.
This is due to a fault on this train which is now fixed.
Last Updated:28/03/2018 14:51

17:22 London Paddington to Hereford due 20:26 will be terminated at Worcester Shrub Hill.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.
Last Updated:28/03/2018 14:24

21:51 Hereford to Worcester Shrub Hill due 22:39 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.
Last Updated:28/03/2018 14:24

[jdw.wor]

Shouldn’t the last message say “2151 Hereford to Paddington will start from Worcester Shrub Hill. This service will not serve Hereford, Ledbury, Great Malvern, Malvern Link and Worcester Foregate Street”. As it is it can be misunderstood quite easily.

[ChrisB]

No, it's the last HST^▸ (High Speed Train) of the day & is probably headed back to SPM^▸ (St Philip's Marsh (Bristol depot)) from WSH if there is no driver

[charles_uk]

Shouldn’t the last message say “2151 Hereford to Paddington will start from Worcester Shrub Hill. This service will not serve Hereford, Ledbury, Great Malvern, Malvern Link and Worcester Foregate Street”. As it is it can be misunderstood quite easily.

This service was only scheduled to run between Hereford and Worcester Shrub Hill due to engineering works:

Planned engineering work will take place between London Paddington and Worcester Shrub Hill, and between Hereford and Worcester Shrub Hill on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, from 21:45, Tuesday 27 March 2018 to 01:00, Friday 30 March 2018.

The 2151 Hereford to London Paddington service will terminate at Worcester Shrub Hill.