Cotswold Line - 2018 cancellation and amendments log

[whole diary]

[martyjon]

I'm intrigued by the excuse for this one on JourneyCheck 04/07/2018 ;-

06:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 09:37
06:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 09:37 has been cancelled.
This is due to a late departure while the train was cleaned specially.

[martyjon]

Didn't think there was any signalling between the two places mentioned apart from St. Erth itself and the line operates with a train staff/ token or is a 'one engine in steam' branch. Hmm.

Cancellations to services between St Erth and St Ives
Due to signalling staff being taken ill between St Erth and St Ives the line is closed.

[charles_uk]

And a new excuse:

06:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 09:37 has been cancelled.
This is due to a late departure while the train was cleaned specially.
Last Updated:04/07/2018 07:20

not forgetting the return run:

09:54 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 12:28 will be cancelled.
This is due to a late departure while the train was cleaned specially.
Last Updated:04/07/2018 07:54

[grahame]

Didn't think there was any signalling between the two places mentioned apart from St. Erth itself and the line operates with a train staff/ token or is a 'one engine in steam' branch. Hmm.

Cancellations to services between St Erth and St Ives
Due to signalling staff being taken ill between St Erth and St Ives the line is closed.

I would suspect the signal box at St Erth is / was closed and no way to get the train onto the branch.  Looks like its running again in the next half hour or so.

[ChrisB]

And a new excuse:

06:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 09:37 has been cancelled.
This is due to a late departure while the train was cleaned specially.
Last Updated:04/07/2018 07:20

not forgetting the return run:

09:54 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 12:28 will be cancelled.
This is due to a late departure while the train was cleaned specially.
Last Updated:04/07/2018 07:54

last night's pewking fans methinks....

[charles_uk]

Just for the record:

11:20 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street due 13:44 was terminated at Oxford.

This is due to a fault on this train.

and

13:55 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington due 16:31 will be started from Oxford.

This is due to a fault on this train.

[Witham Bobby]

Just for the record:

11:20 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street due 13:44 was terminated at Oxford.

This is due to a fault on this train.

and

13:55 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington due 16:31 will be started from Oxford.

This is due to a fault on this train.

So cancelled, then, as far as stations between Hanborough and Worcester are concerned. 

These aren't amendments, are they?  Placing these disruptions in the "amendments" section of journey planner, rather than in "cancellations", is dishonest.

[ChrisB]

Part cancellations (for that is what they are) are probably amendments as far as the whole journey goes. unless you have a part-cancellation option.....

[grahame]

Part cancellations (for that is what they are) are probably amendments as far as the whole journey goes. unless you have a part-cancellation option.....

Agreed ... and of course there are part cancellations and there are part cancellations.   A Brighton to Great Malvern train that gets as far as Hove is (in my view) far more of a cancellation than a Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street service that only gets as far as Worcester Shrub Hill.

[charles_uk]

Part cancellations (for that is what they are) are probably amendments as far as the whole journey goes. unless you have a part-cancellation option.....

Anyway, it's no longer a part cancellation!

13:55 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington due 16:31 has been cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.

and as I type at 15:00, the 14:21 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street is still sitting at Paddington "due to this train being late from the depot."... and as I finish typing at 15:02 it has just departed!

[charles_uk]

And now it's a different sort of part cancellation!

14:21 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street due 16:44 will no longer call at Slough, Hanborough, Charlbury, Kingham, Honeybourne and Pershore.
It has been delayed at London Paddington and is now 40 minutes late.
This is due to this train being late from the depot.
Last Updated:05/07/2018 15:08

[Worcester_Passenger]

It was late from the depot on Tuesday as well.

[Worcester_Passenger]

And now it's the turn of the 17:22 to get speeded up by not stopping:

17:22 London Paddington to Hereford due 20:26 will no longer call at Hanborough, Charlbury, Kingham, Moreton-in-Marsh and Honeybourne.
It is being delayed between Reading and Oxford and is now expected to be 20 minutes late.
This is due to congestion.
Last Updated:05/07/2018 18:33

[charles_uk]

And now it's the turn of the 17:22 to get speeded up by not stopping:

17:22 London Paddington to Hereford due 20:26 will no longer call at Hanborough, Charlbury, Kingham, Moreton-in-Marsh and Honeybourne.
It is being delayed between Reading and Oxford and is now expected to be 20 minutes late.
This is due to congestion.
Last Updated:05/07/2018 18:33

That's a curious one. It's not unusual for this service to be running late - it's been at least ten minutes (and often much more) through Wolvercote Junction on eight of the last nine days - so it's odd that GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) has decided to cut out stops today. Were there other delays elsewhere on the line that made this a sensible option, or is this a new tool GWR has decided to use to manage its performance figures?

(It's a service I pay attention to as it's the one my partner used to take before she decided driving to and from Reading was a more reliable and flexible option than using GWR trains).

[IndustryInsider]

That's a curious one. It's not unusual for this service to be running late - it's been at least ten minutes (and often much more) through Wolvercote Junction on eight of the last nine days - so it's odd that GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) has decided to cut out stops today. Were there other delays elsewhere on the line that made this a sensible option, or is this a new tool GWR has decided to use to manage its performance figures?

Certainly an unusual decision from the powers that be.  I don’t think there was any attempt to massage performance figures as it still failed to make charter (arriving 19 late at Hereford) and would have counted as a part cancellation due to missing the stops.

The next service was right behind it, (and as a 9-car IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) could easily cope with the extra passengers) so I expect that was at least part of the reason for the decision - usually if one peak train from London is late, the next one is as well.

Anyone for Evesham and beyond benefitted from the decision of course.