2023 Delays and Cancellations

[whole diary]

[Worcester_Passenger]

We're back on the 'Line Updates' section, with the news

The latest update from Network Rail is that we may be able to get the 'UP' line towards London back relatively shortly. The 'DOWN' line towards Worcester may have to remain blocked for a little while longer. We're currently awaiting a rescue locomotive to get to the train stranded on the DOWN line. Until it gets there, the failed train won't be going anywhere.
Last Updated:23/07/2023 11:49

Meanwhile, train 1P41, the 09:58 Great Malvern - Paddington, has been held at Evesham and has now left 63 late.

And in Oxford, train 1W01, the 09:47 Paddington - Hereford, has been held for so long that 1W37, the 10:44 Paddington - Great Malvern has now arrived behind it.

[Worcester_Passenger]

And 1W01 has set off, 73 late.

[Worcester_Passenger]

1W01 had a further delay between Hanborough and Charlbury but has now arrived at Shrub Hill, 118 late.

And 1P41, having been held at Charlbury for 40 minutes, has reached Reading, 104 late (and, understandably, given up there).

The latest JourneyCheck bulletin:

Cancellations to services between Great Malvern and Oxford

Following engineering works not being finished on time between Great Malvern and Oxford all lines towards Oxford are now open.

Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 120 minutes. Disruption is expected until 16:00 23/07.

**Latest update (13:31)** - All lines have since reopened however service is badly damaged due to the duration of this incident. Service recovery is going to take some time.

[Worcester_Passenger]

Service recovery did indeed "take some time". Here's the list of delays:

1P30 08:15 Foregate Street - Paddington : ran via Stroud, arrived 24 late
1P37 08:58 Great Malvern - Paddington : ran via Stroud, arrived 9 late
1P41 09:58 Great Malvern - Paddington : held at Evesham (for 65) and at CBY (40), arrived RDG^‡(resolve) 109 late. Cancelled after RDG.
1P45 10:50 Great Malvern - Paddington : started at Oxford, arrived 23 late
1P49 11:55 Great Malvern - Paddington : started at Oxford
1P55 13:12 Foregate St - Paddington : 12 late
1P59 13:58 Great Malvern - Paddington : started from Shrub Hill
1P63 14:30 Hereford - Paddington : started from Great Malvern
1P69 15:30 Hereford - Paddington : started from Great Malvern

1W15 07:36 Paddington - Great Malvern : arrived Oxford 19 late, cancelled after Oxford
1W35 08:53 Paddington - Great Malvern : arrived Oxford 20 late, cancelled after Oxford
1W01 09:47 Paddington - Hereford : held at Oxford (for 75), further delayed between Hanborough and Charlbury. Arrived Great Malvern 133 late, cancelled thereafter.
1W37 10:44 Paddington - Great Malvern : held at Oxford (for 74). Arrived Shrub Hill 81 late, cancelled thereafter
1W02 11:44 Paddington - Hereford : held at Oxford, Wolvercote and Evesham. Arrived Great Malvern  late, cancelled thereafter
1W39 12:44 Paddington - Great Malvern : started from Reading 46 late. Arrived Great Malvern 64 late.
1W03 13:44 Paddington - Hereford : started 16 late but is scheduled for six-minute stand at Didcot and 13 at Great Malvern.
1W59 17:44 Paddington - Great Malvern : started 12 late, arrived 17 late
1W08 18:51 Paddington - Hereford : on time at Parkway on time but 65 late at Shrub Hill, cancelled thereafter ("due to an issue with the train crew")
        Quite what happened here isn't obvious from RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website).
1W73 19:44 Paddington - Great Malvern : held at Evesham (for 29), arrived 35 late

[Worcester_Passenger]

Today, the 'halts' train, the 07:01 Shrub Hill - Didcot Parkway has problems:

07:01 Worcester Shrub Hill to Didcot Parkway due 08:45 will be started from Oxford.
This is due to a fault with the signalling system.
Last Updated:25/07/2023 04:40

The 07:13 Great Malvern - Paddington will have to do the stops instead:

07:13 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 09:40 will call additionally at Shipton, Ascott-Under-Wychwood, Finstock and Combe.
This is due to the train making extra stops because of service disruption.
Last Updated:25/07/2023 04:59

[Worcester_Passenger]

09:52 London Paddington to Hereford due 12:46 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

13:18 Hereford to London Paddington due 16:22 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

There seem to have been quite a few niggly cancellations and delays over the past few weeks. Nothing like as bad as it was in the good old days but it's becoming noticeable.

I've been following the record of this Paddington to Hereford train lately.  Seems to run late (and get progressively later) very often, resulting in terminating short of destination sometimes, or a late return working.  Also a high-up-the-list candidate for cancellation

It's almost as if either the powers-that-be or the fates have decided that travellers need to be deterred from using a train if they want to get to Hereford from London with ease.

And it's failed to get there today:

09:52 London Paddington to Hereford due 12:46 will be terminated at Worcester Shrub Hill.
It has been delayed at London Paddington and is now 33 minutes late.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Last Updated:25/07/2023 11:47

13:18 Hereford to London Paddington due 16:22 will be started from Worcester Shrub Hill.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Last Updated:25/07/2023 11:48

09:52 delayed further at Wolvercote Junction and at Evesham.

And the omens are not good for the 11:52 Paddington - Hereford, which left Paddington 44 late.

[Worcester_Passenger]

1W02 11:52 Paddington - Hereford arrived Shrub Hill 56 late. Cancelled thereafter.

1P04 13:18 Hereford - Paddington cancelled throughout "due to a problem with the train".

1P05 15:18 Hereford - Paddington started from Shrub Hill.

16:58 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 19:26 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Last Updated:25/07/2023 16:46

19:45 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 22:24 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Last Updated:25/07/2023 16:47

[charles_uk]

16:58 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 19:26 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Last Updated:25/07/2023 16:46

So it's the 17:34 Paddington to Hereford service... for some at least:

17:34 London Paddington to Hereford due 20:26 will no longer call at Hanborough, Charlbury, Kingham, Moreton-In-Marsh, Evesham and Worcestershire Parkway Hl.
It has been delayed at London Paddington and is now 37 minutes late.
This is due to this train being late from the depot.

[Worcester_Passenger]

But the 17:57 from Paddington to Foregate Street is now in front of the 17:34 to Hereford.

And it has been given the path over the single line from Wolvercote Junction. Meanwhile the 18:02 from Foregate Street to Paddington is drumming its fingers at Charlbury.

At 19:38:

The 17:57 arrived at Charlbury 17 late.
The 18:02 from Foregate Street has set off from Charlbury (16 late) and passed Wolvercote 11 late.
The 17:34 to Hereford was held at Wolvercote but has now set off, 60 late. But is supposed to be running non-stop to Shrub Hill.

[Worcester_Passenger]

Later:

Signal problems meant delays between Paddington and Reading.
1W03 17:34 Paddington - Hereford : left 36 late, held at Wolvercote, arrived 65 late.
1W34 17:57 Paddington - Foregate Street : 14 late at Reading, arrived 25 late.
1W36 18:57 Paddington - Great Malvern : delayed between Paddington and Reading, arrived 15 late.

[Witham Bobby]

But the 17:57 from Paddington to Foregate Street is now in front of the 17:34 to Hereford.

And it has been given the path over the single line from Wolvercote Junction. Meanwhile the 18:02 from Foregate Street to Paddington is drumming its fingers at Charlbury.

At 19:38:

The 17:57 arrived at Charlbury 17 late.
The 18:02 from Foregate Street has set off from Charlbury (16 late) and passed Wolvercote 11 late.
The 17:34 to Hereford was held at Wolvercote but has now set off, 60 late. But is supposed to be running non-stop to Shrub Hill.

It's like a timewarp back to the bad old days before the 2011 re-doubling of several miles of the OWW^▸ (Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton)

[Worcester_Passenger]

The signalling problems between Paddington and Reading are affecting services, though this is not always being reported on JourneyCheck.

1P11 05:14 Shrub Hill - Paddington : arrived 25 late.
1P02 05:23 Hereford - Paddington : arrived 22 late.
1P16 06:43 Shrub Hill - Paddington : arrived 22 late.
1P18 07:13 Great Malvern - Paddington : cancelled between Great Malvern and Foregate St due to a signal failure (RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website)). Arrived 24 late.
1P20 08:15 Shrub Hill - Paddington : arrived 22 late.
1P22 08:56 Great Malvern - Paddington : arrived 3 late. What was different here?
1P24 09:54 Great Malvern - Paddington : arrived 18 late.
1P28 12:17 Great Malvern - Paddington : cancelled between Great Malvern and Foregate St.

13:18 Hereford to London Paddington due 16:22 will be started from Great Malvern.
This is due to a fault with the signalling system.
Last Updated:26/07/2023 11:37

1W15 07:50 Paddington - Great Malvern : 17 late by Reading, arrived 17 late.
1W17 08:51 Paddington - Great Malvern : 21 late at Reading, 22 late at Shrub Hill and cancelled thereafter.
1W01 09:52 Paddington - Hereford : left Paddington 28 late, 49 late at Reading. Cancelled after arriving 60 late at Great Malvern.
1W21 10:53 Paddington - Shrub Hill : left Paddington 11 late, 18 late at Reading. Arrived 14 late.

[Witham Bobby]

08:56 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 11:24 has been delayed at Evesham and is now 15 minutes late.
This is due to passengers causing a disturbance on this train.

Oh dear

[Worcester_Passenger]

The 09:52 got to Hereford and back today, but the second one is having problems:

11:52 London Paddington to Hereford due 14:41 will be terminated at Great Malvern.
It has been delayed at London Paddington and is now 42 minutes late.
This is due to a fault on a train in front of this one.
Last Updated:27/07/2023 12:59

15:18 Hereford to London Paddington due 18:29 will be started from Great Malvern.
This is due to a broken down train.
Last Updated:27/07/2023 13:00

[Witham Bobby]

11:52 London Paddington to Hereford due 14:41 has been delayed at London Paddington and is now 31 minutes late.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Will be formed of 5 coaches instead of 9

42 late Charlbury according to RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website)

1W01 0952 Paddington to Hereford got to it's destination today, a mere 7 minutes late

Four trains a day each way between Paddington and Hereford - but not to be relied on.