Cotswold Line - 2018 cancellation and amendments log

[whole diary]

[charles_uk]

10:22 London Paddington to Hereford due 13:47 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, Great Malvern, Colwall, Ledbury and Hereford.
It is being delayed at Culham.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Last Updated:11/12/2018 11:55

Not forgetting the inevitable:

15:14 Hereford to London Paddington due 18:28 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Last Updated:11/12/2018 12:02

[Richard Fairhurst]

No surprise that the new station usage figures show further falls at Kingham, Charlbury and Hanborough, and a further sizeable increase at Oxford Parkway.

[Adelante_CCT]

Not forgetting the inevitable:

15:14 Hereford to London Paddington due 18:28 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Last Updated:11/12/2018 12:02

This has now been altered:

15:14 Hereford to London Paddington due 18:28 will be reinstated.
It will be started from Worcester Foregate Street.
It will no longer call at Hereford, Ledbury, Colwall, Great Malvern and Malvern Link.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Additional Information
We have ticket acceptance with West Midland Trains and Virgin for the following services:

14:39 Hereford to Birmingham New Street
15:39 Hereford to Birmingham New Street
17:14 Birmingham New Street to London Euston
17:30 Birmingham New Street to London Euston.

At the expense of:

15:51 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington due 18:00 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train earlier today.

[Dispatch Box]

Redouble the whole line and be done with it.

FT reporting another £1 billion sought for Crossrail and opening may be put back to 2020, so why not a few hundred million for the Cotswold line, Oh! that's not London, forget it.

Where stations need a second platform do we always have to have a footbridge, why not use the wonders of todays tunnel boring technology and bore subways to connect the new platform at such locations where practical.

Looking at NR^» (Network Rail - home page) Site Looks like is to be done under CP6^▸ (Control Period 6 - The five year period between 2019 and 2024), With abbottswood junction being done soon aswell.

[charles_uk]

At the expense of:

15:51 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington due 18:00 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train earlier today.

Makes sense given the number of stations the 15:51 omits, the gap between the 15:14 HFD^» (Hereford - next trains):PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) and the following up service, and it can avoid some of the congestion that leads to the 15:50 PAD:MIM being terminated at Oxford as often as it is.

[charles_uk]

And for the 40th time this year the 15:50 Paddington to Moreton-in-Marsh will not get as far as the Cotswolds

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 a fault on this train.
Last Updated:13/12/2018 16:34

[charles_uk]

09:50 Moreton-in-Marsh to London Paddington due 11:30 will be reinstated.
It will be started from Oxford.
It will no longer call at Moreton-in-Marsh, Kingham, Charlbury and Hanborough.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Last Updated:14/12/2018 09:38

[Worcester_Passenger]

16:34 Hereford to London Paddington due 20:10
16:34 Hereford to London Paddington due 20:10 will be terminated at Worcester Shrub Hill.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:16/12/2018 09:25

19:37 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 22:23 will be terminated at Worcester Shrub Hill.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:16/12/2018 09:27

[Worcester_Passenger]

As of 15:00, the truncation of the 16:34 from Hereford to Paddington has disappeared from JourneyCheck - but has not appeared as "reinstated".

[Worcester_Passenger]

And as of 17:25 the truncation of the 19:37 has also disappeared, with no mention of its reinstatement.

[charles_uk]

05:28 Hereford to London Paddington due 08:28 will be reinstated.
It will be started from Oxford.
It will no longer call at Hereford, Ledbury, Colwall, Great Malvern, Malvern Link, Worcester Foregate Street, Worcester Shrub Hill, Pershore, Evesham, Honeybourne, Moreton-in-Marsh, Charlbury and Hanborough.
This is due to a fault with the signalling system.
Additional Information
Customers are advised to travel on the next available train service.
Last Updated:19/12/2018 04:47

[charles_uk]

Depressingly predictable:

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:19/12/2018 16:30

Whilst recognising sacrifices need to be made for the greater good and all that, GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are meant to be providing a service to their paying customers and, in the case of this particular service, are failing to do so. If a train has been cancelled 41 times in one year, there have to be underlying systemic problems rather than it just being a victim of circumstances.

[Dispatch Box]

Depressingly predictable:

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:19/12/2018 16:30

Whilst recognising sacrifices need to be made for the greater good and all that, GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are meant to be providing a service to their paying customers and, in the case of this particular service, are failing to do so. If a train has been cancelled 41 times in one year, there have to be underlying systemic problems rather than it just being a victim of circumstances.

Why congestion, The line is perfectly clear all the way up, This is giving me indigestion, Seems to be common now on this line

[charles_uk]

Why congestion, The line is perfectly clear all the way up, This is giving me indigestion, Seems to be common now on this line

The afternoon timings do seem to be quite tight but it has got noticeably worse recently.

Yesterday, the 13:22 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street was six minutes late onto the single track at Wolvercote Junction and had lost a further five minutes by Evesham coming off the single track at Norton Junction 12 minutes late.

That delayed the 15:22 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington which entered the single track at Norton Junction 11 late and lost further time as it continued - 17 late at Evesham, 22 late at Ascott-under-Wychwood and 31 late from Charlbury having been held for the 15:22 Paddington to Great Malvern.

And the inevitable consequence was the termination of the 15:50 Paddington to Moreton-in-Marsh at Oxford.

What's not clear is why the 13:22 PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains):WOF lost further time along the Cotswold Line nor, especially, why the 15:22 WOS^» (Worcester Shrub Hill - next trains):PAD failed to keep its timings. Not that an explanation would have been much comfort to the long suffering and - no doubt - jaded users of the 15:50 PAD:MIM.

[martyjon]

I am surprised that someone who regularly travels this line / season ticket holder doesn't take action against GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) by doing a 'charge back' with their credit cards providers or a small claims court action for constantly failing to provide the advertised service.

I recall earlier this year a guy got money back on his season ticket over and above that which the rail company would have given to him for the constant cancellations he was experiencing.

I am still waiting for a refund when a GWR train I was intending to travel on was cancelled on June 16th this year. With the festive break coming up it will give me a chance to catch up on this one with a letter before action to GWR, copy to Hopwood and if that doesn't produce my refund then it'll be a claim through the small claims court with the associated small claims court fee added together with my time in preping the case at £15 / hour.