12:09 Hereford to Paddington

[whole diary]

[charles_uk]

Being a bit of an anorak, I find myself keeping an eye on the services coming on and off the Cotswold Line at Wolvercote Junction around 2 - 2.30pm, as delays then can have knock on effects that disrupt the early evening peak from Oxford when I'm wanting to get home.

I have noticed that the 12:09 Hereford to Paddington seems to be late through Worcester almost every day. It does have a ten minute contingency at Moreton-in-Marsh but even that seems to be insufficient at times. As far as I can tell, it was at least ten minutes late at Evesham every day in June (and was again yesterday).

I'm a little curious as to why this delay seems to be the norm. Any ideas?

[Worcester_Passenger]

The fact that it's always late in arriving at Hereford (as the 08:21 Paddington departure) probably doesn't help matters.
 
Since Tuesday June 19, it has arrived 17 / 11 / 24 / 14 / 17 / 14 / cancelled / 13 / 20 and 16 late. Where this delay is triggered varies - Evesham four times, Oxford twice and Reading twice.

And today it's 18 late at Ledbury as I write.

[IndustryInsider]

That's pretty much the reason, Worceter_Passenger.  Now it's a HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) instead of a Turbo the timings at Hereford are very tight to get it shunted at Hereford and back into the platform for a right time departure.