Cotswold Line - 2020 cancellation and amendments log

[whole diary]

[Worcester_Passenger]

Monday February 17. And today we do have cancellations as a result of the weather:

06:43 Hereford to London Paddington due 09:37 will be cancelled.
This is due to heavy rain flooding the railway.
Last Updated:17/02/2020 04:30

The two earlier ones (04:48 and 05:23 from Hereford) seem to be working normally.

Meanwhile, this is going to be cosy:

Facilities on the 06:43 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington due 08:40.
Will be formed of 5 coaches instead of 9.
Last Updated:17/02/2020 05:18

[charles_uk]

Meanwhile, this is going to be cosy:

Facilities on the 06:43 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington due 08:40.
Will be formed of 5 coaches instead of 9.
Last Updated:17/02/2020 05:18

Vestibules were filling up nicely by Hanborough. And, again, not helped with the CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) displays showing the formation the wrong way round meaning passengers had gravitated towards the first class end of the train.

[charles_uk]

Nothing on JourneyCheck but Realtime Trains showing the 12:50 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill as "cancelled between Oxford and Worcester Shrub Hill due to a problem with the electrified line (I1)". Not entirely clear why as it appeared to arrive at Oxford on time.

Seems to have been a late call judging by this Tweet:

@GWRHelp cancelled the train with 3 minutes notice. Staff have no idea what's going on. Pretty difficult to keep 2 small children entertained for an hour on platform...

and looks like they're going to need more than an hour's entertainment as the following 13:50 Paddington to Great Malvern train has just departed Reading 21 minutes late!

[charles_uk]

And now JourneyCheck is saying of the return run of the 12:50:

15:20 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington due 17:24 will be terminated at Oxford.

whilst Realtime Trains is saying:

This service was cancelled between Worcester Shrub Hill and Oxford due to late arrival of an inbound service (YI)

[charles_uk]

In the event:

15:20 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington due 17:24 has been cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Last Updated:17/02/2020 16:01

[charles_uk]

17:34 London Paddington to Hereford due 20:25 has been cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Last Updated:17/02/2020 17:55

and the return 22:00 Hereford to Paddington

[Worcester_Passenger]

It looks like this will be the norm for the rest of the week - the empty stock can't use the route via Newport and there isn't enough capacity via Ledbury:

06:43 Hereford to London Paddington due 09:37 will be started from Worcester Shrub Hill.
It will no longer call at Hereford, Ledbury, Colwall, Great Malvern, Malvern Link and Worcester Foregate Street.
This is due to heavy rain flooding the railway.
Last Updated:18/02/2020 06:28

Question - could they send out the stock for both the 05:23 and the 06:43 coupled together? Are you allowed 18-coach trains? Would it fit into the loop at Ledbury?

And today's cosy journey is

Facilities on the 17:58 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street due 20:07.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.
Will be formed of 5 coaches instead of 9.
Last Updated:18/02/2020 07:33

[IndustryInsider]

Question - could they send out the stock for both the 05:23 and the 06:43 coupled together? Are you allowed 18-coach trains? Would it fit into the loop at Ledbury?

It wouldn't fit in to the passing loop at Ledbury - a 9-car only just fits in on the down direction, and there's a whole host of other reasons why it would be a very awkward thing to do.  Whilst 18-car operation is possible, it would only be used for rescuing a failed train in practice, as has happened a few times.

And today's cosy journey is

Facilities on the 17:58 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street due 20:07.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.
Will be formed of 5 coaches instead of 9.
Last Updated:18/02/2020 07:33

That train would generally be OK with a 5-car anyway being first stop Oxford - it only ever really needed to be a full length train (HST^▸ (High Speed Train) in those days) when it stopped at Maidenhead and Reading.  That's by-the-by though as it looks like 9-car 802107 is allocated to it, so JourneyCheck is wrong.

[Worcester_Passenger]

Thanks for that.

[Worcester_Passenger]

20:58 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington due 23:44 will be terminated at Oxford.
It will no longer call at Didcot Parkway, Reading, Maidenhead, Slough and London Paddington.
This is due to damage to the overhead electric wires.
Will be formed of 5 coaches instead of 9.
Last Updated:18/02/2020 14:48

22:00 Hereford to London Paddington due 01:17 will be terminated at Worcester Shrub Hill.
It will no longer call at Pershore, Evesham, Honeybourne, Moreton-In-Marsh, Kingham, Charlbury, Hanborough, Oxford, Didcot Parkway, Reading, Slough and London Paddington.
This is due to damage to the overhead electric wires.
Last Updated:18/02/2020 14:58

22:50 London Paddington to Evesham due 00:53 will be cancelled.
This is due to damage to the overhead electric wires.
Last Updated:18/02/2020 14:50

[Worcester_Passenger]

And today RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) has the 06:43 from Hereford as starting from Shrub Hill - but it's not been listed on JournyCheck.

[charles_uk]

Not a great morning:

Cancellations to services between Charlbury and Worcester Shrub Hill

Following a fault with the signalling system between Charlbury and Worcester Shrub Hill all lines will be reopened shortly.

Train services running through these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 08:15 19/02.


Cancellations to services between Oxford and Moreton-In-Marsh

Due to signalling staff being taken ill between Oxford and Moreton-In-Marsh some lines are closed.

Train services running through these stations will be cancelled. Disruption is expected until 09:00 19/02.


05:50 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 08:34 was terminated at Charlbury.
It will no longer call at Kingham, Moreton-In-Marsh, Honeybourne, Evesham, Pershore, Worcester Shrub Hill, Worcester Foregate Street, Malvern Link and Great Malvern.
It has been delayed at Oxford and is now 20 minutes late.

06:43 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington due 08:40 will be diverted between Worcester Shrub Hill and Reading.
It will no longer call at Evesham, Moreton-In-Marsh, Kingham, Charlbury, Hanborough and Oxford.
It is being delayed between Worcester Shrub Hill and Reading and is now expected to be 41 minutes late.

06:43 Hereford to London Paddington due 09:37 will be started from Worcester Shrub Hill and diverted between Worcester Shrub Hill and Reading.
It will no longer call at Hereford, Ledbury, Colwall, Great Malvern, Malvern Link, Worcester Foregate Street, Pershore, Evesham, Honeybourne, Moreton-In-Marsh, Kingham, Charlbury, Hanborough and Oxford but will call additionally at Didcot Parkway.
It will be delayed due to the diversion and is expected to be 32 minutes late.

06:53 Worcester Foregate Street to Didcot Parkway due 08:41 will be terminated at Evesham.
It will no longer call at Honeybourne, Moreton-In-Marsh, Kingham, Shipton, Ascott-Under-Wychwood, Charlbury, Finstock, Combe, Hanborough, Oxford, Radley and Didcot Parkway.
This is due to signalling staff being taken ill.

08:13 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington due 10:24 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 Didcot Parkway.
It will be delayed due to the diversion and is expected to be 31 minutes late.

An additional train service has been planned to operate as shown 08:35 Evesham to Oxford due 09:39.

Nothing on JourneyCheck to suggest that the terminated 05:50 PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains):GMV might be converted into an additional service to make up for the Oxford/London bound cancellations at the moment.

[modified to add staff illness, 08:13 WOS^» (Worcester Shrub Hill - next trains):PAD & 08:35 EVE:OXF^» (Oxford - next trains) to list]

[DavidT]

The Cotswold line service at the moment is totally unreliable. The number of cancellations is shockingly high and even when trains do run the punctuality is terrible.  So, yet again, I'm driving to Oxford Parkway where the Chiltern line does what a train service is supposed to do and the trains turn up and run pretty much to time.  I'd sooner not drive but I just have no choice. GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) just can't be relied upon to get me to my destination.

[charles_uk]

Further developments:

08:13 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington due 10:24 is now running as scheduled.
Last Updated:19/02/2020 08:24

08:56 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 11:24 will be started from Oxford.
It will no longer call at Great Malvern, Malvern Link, Worcester Foregate Street, Worcester Shrub Hill, Pershore, Evesham, Honeybourne, Moreton-In-Marsh, Kingham, Charlbury and Hanborough.
This is due to a fault with the signalling system earlier today.
Last Updated:19/02/2020 08:43

[Worcester_Passenger]

According to RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website), the earliest trains (the 5:11 from Shrub Hill and the 04:48 from Hereford) ran normally, though they had to wait at Oxford for the overnight Didcot - Reading engineering to be finished.

The 05:23 from Hereford seems to be running normally.

But then the two 06:43s, one from Shrub Hill and one from Hereford, were sent round via Stroud.

The halts train, the 06:53 from Foregate Street, was cancelled at Evesham at 07:18 - but now seems to have restarted from there at 08:23.