Cotswold Line - 2018 cancellation and amendments log

[whole diary]

[Richard Fairhurst]

Following Halts service unsurprisingly rammed.

It would help if the tannoy announcement that “to alight at Hanborough, you must be in the rear three coaches” was made before the train had stopped...

[charles_uk]

Looks like the halts service is going to be rammed again:

15:50 London Paddington to Moreton-in-Marsh due 17:26 was terminated at Reading.
It will no longer call at Oxford, Hanborough, Charlbury, Kingham and Moreton-in-Marsh.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Last Updated:29/11/2018 16:32

By my reckoning, that's the 37th time this year this train has failed to run through to Moreton-in-Marsh. It must be so frustrating for those who use this service (ir)regularly.

[edit to remove duplicate words]

[charles_uk]

And whilst I'm here, I've just picked up that it wasn't a great morning service either:

The 04:47 Hereford to Paddington "was cancelled between Worcester Shrub Hill and London Paddington due to the train operator's request (TB)"

And the following 05:28 HFD^» (Hereford - next trains):PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) was 34 late by Oxford and 33 late into Paddington. The 07:10 Moreton-in-Marsh to Paddington ran on time but, I suspect, might have been quite cosy on board.

[IndustryInsider]

The 04:47 HFD^» (Hereford - next trains)-PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) was cancelled at Wos due to engine problems on the HST^▸ (High Speed Train).  Both following services are 9-car IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train) so hopefully managed to cope ok.

[fladpass]

17:38 Moreton-In-Marsh to London Paddington due 19:03
17:38 Moreton-in-Marsh to London Paddington due 19:03 will be started from Oxford.
It will no longer call at Moreton-in-Marsh.
This is due to a broken down train.

Because 1W32 15:50 PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) MIM terminated at Oxford. For the third day in succession. This service's profile on OnTimeTrains is abysmal:

https://www.ontimetrains.co.uk/journeys/PAD/MIM/15:50/17:26/GW;dayOfWeekRange=Weekdays;dateRange=12W

Presumably the 'broken down train' referred to above isn't the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) on this service since the return (from Oxford) is still slated to run?

[Adelante_CCT]

No, the one in front (15:45) run into trouble at Langley delaying services behind it


Having said that....

Due to damage to the overhead electric wires between West Drayton and Slough trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines towards Slough.

Train services running through these stations may be delayed by up to 15 minutes. Disruption is expected until 18:15 30/11.

[charles_uk]

More afternoon congestion yesterday:

Again it was the 1322 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street losing time on the Cotswold Line going through Norton Junction 9 minutes late.

The 1522 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington left on time but hit Norton Junction 11 late and was 20 late by the time it got to Charlbury.

That in turn held up the 1522 Paddington to Great Malvern by 16 minutes and which was terminated at Worcester Shrub Hill.

Surprisingly the 1550 Paddington to Moreton-in-Marsh was run through to MIM, and put ahead of the 1551 Worcester Foregate Street to Paddington which departed Oxford 31 late.

The 1514 Hereford to Paddington was terminated at Reading, arriving 44 minutes late.

The 1522 WOS^» (Worcester Shrub Hill - next trains):PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) has been late off the Cotswold Line every day this week delaying the 1522 PAD:GMV at Wolvercote Junction, partly due earlier late running services on the single track. And as I write this, I can see the 1209 Hereford to Paddington is already 22 minutes late which may well impact upon the 1322 PAD:WOF etc...

[Richard Fairhurst]

Entertaining disruption this morning. The 7.12 ran fast through Charlbury at 7.30ish, at which point the display flipped to showing the two-coach 7.49 (exp. 8.04) Halts train as the next arrival... to the consternation of the many waiting passengers. Eventually the 7.31 turned up 15 minutes late, proudly displaying its next stop as “00.00 Hanborough”. The Midnight Express?

[charles_uk]

Entertaining disruption this morning. The 7.12 ran fast through Charlbury at 7.30ish, at which point the display flipped to showing the two-coach 7.49 (exp. 8.04) Halts train as the next arrival... to the consternation of the many waiting passengers. Eventually the 7.31 turned up 15 minutes late, proudly displaying its next stop as “00.00 Hanborough”. The Midnight Express?

The problem with this "fix" to bring the 05:28 Hereford to Paddington back on time is that the 07:10 MIM:PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) is inevitably delayed, so those waiting at Charlbury and Hanborough are doubly inconvenienced. And not helped today by the pouring rain and misleading display board.

[JontyMort]

Entertaining disruption this morning. The 7.12 ran fast through Charlbury at 7.30ish, at which point the display flipped to showing the two-coach 7.49 (exp. 8.04) Halts train as the next arrival... to the consternation of the many waiting passengers. Eventually the 7.31 turned up 15 minutes late, proudly displaying its next stop as “00.00 Hanborough”. The Midnight Express?

The problem with this "fix" to bring the 05:28 Hereford to Paddington back on time is that the 07:10 MIM:PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) is inevitably delayed, so those waiting at Charlbury and Hanborough are doubly inconvenienced. And not helped today by the pouring rain and misleading display board.

And last night's 2148 HST^▸ (High Speed Train) sat down at Reading. I was glumly contemplating a taxi but, to be fair, GW^▸ (Great Western) intelligently terminated an up train at Reading and turned it back.

[DavidT]

Thursday's 19.22 from Paddington left 48 mins late -- and was then held at Slough to let the 20.22 overtake it. It ended up 72 mins late at Charlbury.  Another triumph.

[charles_uk]

For the fifth time this week, afternoon congestion causing delays. Today, GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) have fallen back on another of their regular fixes:

15:50 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.
This is due to congestion.
Last Updated:07/12/2018 16:12

From my records, this appears to be the 39th time this year GWR have failed to take this service beyond Oxford.

[later] and just to add to the pain, the following 16:22 PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains):GMV was delayed at Wolvercote Junction due to the late running 15:14 Hereford to Paddington service.

It's hard to see if there's a single reason for the congestion but it does seem that some of the timings on the single track can be quite tight and, this week, a number of these timings have slipped with all the knock on consequences.

[Dispatch Box]

For the fifth time this week, afternoon congestion causing delays. Today, GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) have fallen back on another of their regular fixes:

15:50 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.
This is due to congestion.
Last Updated:07/12/2018 16:12

From my records, this appears to be the 39th time this year GWR have failed to take this service beyond Oxford.

[later] and just to add to the pain, the following 16:22 PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains):GMV was delayed at Wolvercote Junction due to the late running 15:14 Hereford to Paddington service.

It's hard to see if there's a single reason for the congestion but it does seem that some of the timings on the single track can be quite tight and, this week, a number of these timings have slipped with all the knock on consequences.

Flipping gets on your goat now, This often happens with a Weymouth to Great Malvern, if 20 mins late they get terminated at Worcester shrub hill.

[JontyMort]

For the fifth time this week, afternoon congestion causing delays. Today, GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) have fallen back on another of their regular fixes:

15:50 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.
This is due to congestion.
Last Updated:07/12/2018 16:12

From my records, this appears to be the 39th time this year GWR have failed to take this service beyond Oxford.

[later] and just to add to the pain, the following 16:22 PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains):GMV was delayed at Wolvercote Junction due to the late running 15:14 Hereford to Paddington service.

It's hard to see if there's a single reason for the congestion but it does seem that some of the timings on the single track can be quite tight and, this week, a number of these timings have slipped with all the knock on consequences.

Flipping gets on your goat now, This often happens with a Weymouth to Great Malvern, if 20 mins late they get terminated at Worcester shrub hill.

At least if they get terminated at Shrub Hill there's a chance of getting to Malvern on West Midlands, depending on the time of day. Not that at WMT are much better, as they often do the same thing coming late from Brum.

[grahame]

For the fifth time this week, afternoon congestion causing delays. Today, GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) have fallen back on another of their regular fixes:

15:50 London Paddington to Moreton-in-Marsh due 17:26 will be terminated at Oxford.

From my records, this appears to be the 39th time this year GWR have failed to take this service beyond Oxford.

Flipping gets on your goat now, This often happens with a Weymouth to Great Malvern, if 20 mins late they get terminated at Worcester shrub hill.

At least if they get terminated at Shrub Hill there's a chance of getting to Malvern on West Midlands, depending on the time of day. Not that at WMT are much better, as they often do the same thing coming late from Brum.

GWR or any operator running to a timetable are caught between a rock and a hard place when a train's running late - especially where single track is involved - whether to inconvenience passengers on the current service by terminating it short of booked destination, or inconveniencing others on trains if the late running means it's going to get in the way and knock on effects continuing perhaps for hours or until close of service.

Solutions?  Sort out delays and run trains much better to time, and these problems will be reduced as a consequence.  Other possible solutions (scheduling fewer trains, providing spares so there's something to send back even if an incoming service is late, easing schedules, denying train use to slow-to-board people) are rather unattractive.

Personal favourite annoyance ... late (or even early) running freight train in the way.  Not thrilled when reliability goes to pot because of problems on other lines either and 'we' get used for diverted passenger trains which take up the capacity - without even the courtesy of stopping at the stations where they have removed services for many hours.