Cotswold Line - 2018 cancellation and amendments log

[whole diary]

[jdw.wor]

I understand what you say about the engineering works but is there no replacement service of any kind to cover?.... I cannot help feeling it is written in such a way to confuse and avoid providing cover.

[Worcester_Passenger]

I understand what you say about the engineering works but is there no replacement service of any kind to cover?.... I cannot help feeling it is written in such a way to confuse and avoid providing cover.

Normally the last train towards Oxford and London is the 21:51 from Hereford, into Paddington at 01:17.

This week, it's replaced by

(1)  a train at 21:51 from Hereford to Shrub Hill, arrive 22:39. Cancelled today due to no driver.
(2)  a non-stop bus at 22:50 from Shrub Hill to Oxford, arriving at 00:20.
(3)  a stopping bus at 22:48 from Shrub Hill to Oxford, arriving at 02:03.
(4)  a train at 00:07 from Oxford to Paddington, arriving at 01:17. Also cancelled today due to no driver.

Notice the scheduled -13 minute connection at Oxford between the arrival from Worcester and the departure to London.

Mind you, I can't imagine that this train carries a lot of traffic normally.

[IndustryInsider]

Notice the scheduled -13 minute connection at Oxford between the arrival from Worcester and the departure to London.

And Shrub Hill to Oxford in 1h 30m, even non-stop with no traffic, is asking an awful lot of a bus!

[TaplowGreen]

04:47 Hereford to London Paddington due 07:52 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.

[charles_uk]

And another cancellation as far as Cotswold Line users are concerned:

06:42 Hereford to London Paddington due 09:46 will be diverted between Worcester Shrub Hill and Reading.
It will no longer call at Pershore, Evesham, Honeybourne, Moreton-in-Marsh, Kingham, Charlbury, Hanborough and Oxford but will call additionally at Cheltenham Spa.
It has been previously delayed, is being further delayed between Worcester Shrub Hill and Reading and is now expected to be 68 minutes late.
This is due to train crew being delayed.

Last Updated:29/03/2018 07:43

[1st fan]

This evening didn't escape unscathed there was one casualty:

1W02 1722 London Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill
This service was cancelled between Worcester Shrub Hill and Hereford due to an issue with the train crew (TG).

[Worcester_Passenger]

OK, let's try to record what happened over the Easter weekend. The times from Paddington are the normal timetable ones - in practice they were departing at xx:18 or xx:12.

Good Friday was a good day. Admittedly several trains were not scheduled. But:

• 12:21 Padd'n - Shrub Hill : cancelled from Oxford (no crew)
  This ran empty instead, so as to be able to pick up the return working
• 21:51 Hereford - Padd'n : cancelled from Reading (no crew)

Easter Saturday was a total disaster on account of a lack of drivers:

• 05:18 Padd'n - Malvern : cancelled
• 06:22 Padd'n - Malvern : cancelled after Shrub Hill
• 07:22 Padd'n - Malvern : cancelled
• 08:22 Padd'n - Hereford : cancelled
• 09:22 Padd'n - Foregate St : ran normally
• 10:22 Padd'n - Hereford : formed of two coaches instead of 8
• 11:22 Padd'n - Malvern : ran normally
• 12:22 Padd'n - Moreton : cancelled
• 13:22 Padd'n - Malvern : cancelled after Shrub Hill
• 14:22 Padd'n - Malvern : cancelled
• 15:20 Padd'n - Malvern : ran normally
• 16:22 Padd'n - Hereford : cancelled
• 17:22 Padd'n - Foregate St : cancelled
• 18:22 Padd'n - Hereford : ran normally
• 19:52 Padd'n - Malvern : ran normally
• 21:50 Padd'n - Shrub Hill : ran normally
• 05:54 Malvern - Padd'n : ran normally
• 06:17 Hereford - Padd'n : ran normally
• 07:13 Hereford - Padd'n : ran normally
• 08:43 Malvern - Padd'n : cancelled
• 09:45 Malvern - Padd'n : started from Shrub Hill
• 10:45 Malvern - Padd'n : cancelled
• 12:06 Foregate St - Padd'n : ran normally
• 12:13 Hereford - Padd'n : cancelled
• 14:50 Moreton - Padd'n : cancelled
• 14:35 Malvern - Padd'n : ran normally
• 15:13 Hereford - Padd'n : 2 coaches instead of 8
• 16:35 Malvern - Padd'n : cancelled
• 17:45 Malvern - Padd'n : cancelled
• 18:35 Malvern - Padd'n : ran normally
• 20:04 Foregate St - Padd'n : cancelled
• 20:20 Hereford - Padd'n : cancelled
• 22:41 Malvern - Evesham : ran normally

These cancellations were posted on Journeycheck at something like 03:30 - but I'd've thought they were known in outline a week in advance.

[charles_uk]

Tuesday 3 April

04:47 Hereford to Paddington

This service was cancelled throughout due to an issue with the train crew (TG)

The following 05:28 Hereford Paddington was delayed due to making extra stops, departing Oxford 23 late and arriving at Paddington 22 late. There were knock on delays on the next two Oxford bound services.

Realtime Trains has been showing the 07:10 Moreton-in-Marsh to Paddington as being an HST^▸ (High Speed Train) this week but it was still a Turbo yesterday and again today.

[Steve Bray]

On Easter Monday, there was one further cancellation; I think it was the 1059 from GMV to PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains), and the previous working from PAD.

I caught the 0954 from GMV to Reading (the first thing I did when I woke up was to sadly look at my phone to see if it was operating). This was my first journey on one of the new trains. Between Oxford and Didcot, the recorded announcements had a mind of their own "We are now approaching Worcester Foregate St". And also the Seat Reservation system wasn't working, so that created some angst.

On leaving Shrub Hill, I was surprised to see 2 HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s stabled in the sidings

[charles_uk]

Another regular this afternoon:

15:52 London Paddington to Moreton-in-Marsh due 17:26 will be terminated at Oxford.
It will no longer call at Hanborough, Charlbury, Kingham and Moreton-in-Marsh.
It has been delayed at London Paddington and is now 20 minutes late.
This is due to a broken down train.

Last Updated:04/04/2018 16:50

With the return 17:38 working to be started from Oxford.

[Worcester_Passenger]

Tuesday 3 April

04:47 Hereford to Paddington

This service was cancelled throughout due to an issue with the train crew (TG)

JourneyCheck reported that this was due to the train crew being delayed. Presumably they're in a taxi from Bristol.

According to RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website), the stock left Hereford at 05:56, running empty by way of the Severn Tunnel to reach Paddington at 09:03.

[charles_uk]

A bit of a random one:

18:34 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 21:29 will be terminated at Reading.
It will no longer call at Pershore, Honeybourne, Kingham, Charlbury, Hanborough, Slough and London Paddington.
It has been delayed at Great Malvern and is now 31 minutes late.
This is due to a fault on this train.

and to compound things, the following service is running about 30 minutes late.

[TaplowGreen]

............Now they're spoiling you! 


14:35 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 17:26


14:35 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 17:26 will be reinstated and will now run as scheduled.
Will be formed of 8 coaches instead of 5.

[Worcester_Passenger]

Yesterday (Saturday April 7) wasn't as bad as Easter Saturday. But not good:

• 05:18 Padd'n - Malvern cancelled - no driver
• 12:22 Padd'n - Moreton cancelled - no driver
• 13:22 Padd'n - Malvern 41 late
• 17:22 Padd'n- Foregate St cancelled - no driver
• 08:43 Malvern - Padd'n cancelled - no driver
• 14:50 Moreton - Padd'n cancelled - no driver
• 20:04 Foregate St - Padd'n cancelled - no driver
• 22:41 Malvern - Evesham cancelled after Shrub Hill - disorder

[Worcester_Passenger]

Easter Sunday (April 1) was surprisingly good, certainly by comparison with Easter Saturday. Several journeys pulled from the timetable on account of it being Easter Sunday, which may have helped the performance - though I'm not sure where this was publicised (other than on the journey planners). None of what was left was cancelled.

Today (Sunday April is a different story:

• 08:00 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 10:54 - shortage of train crew
• 14:42 London Paddington to Hereford due 17:56 - shortage of train crew
• 15:42 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street due 18:06 - shortage of train crew
• 11:14 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 14:07 - shortage of train crew
• 18:26 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington due 21:00 - shortage of train crew
• 18:30 Hereford to London Paddington due 22:13 - shortage of train crew

The last pair of these leaves a three-hour gap towards London in the late afternoon, with nothing out of Worcester between 17:28 and 20:31.