2023 Delays and Cancellations

[whole diary]

[Worcester_Passenger]

1W01 0952 Paddington to Hereford today

On time to Oxford, 8 late off there, now 9 late off Evesham

Will it get to Hereford today?

No.

It got to Foregate Street (due 12:07) 7 late, but then sat there in platform 1 for 29 minutes. Eventually arrived Great Malvern 44 late and cancelled after that.

Its return working is reported as

13:18 Hereford to London Paddington due 16:22 will be started from Great Malvern.
This is due to a fault on a train in front of this one.
Last Updated:07/08/2023 12:58

If you're not familiar with the oddities of our line, Foregate Street has two platforms but each of them is a bi-directional single track line. So platform 1 connects round to Shrub Hill while platform 2 is used by trains to and from Birmingham.

So, with platform 1 blocked, train 1P28, the 11:57 Great Malvern - Paddington, had to wait over the other side of the river. Eventually left Foregate Street 33 late and had to be held at Charlbury. Now 50 late, though that's not mentioned on JourneyCheck.

Backed up behind that, the 11:40 Hereford - Birmingham New Street had to wait at Newland East and left there 24 late.

And waiting patiently at Shrub Hill for the two Londons to sort themselves out, the 10:38 Bristol Temple Meads - Foregate Street arrived 29 late at 12:50. Which saved it having to do the short journey across the river to the turnback siding at Henwick. So it went back towards Bristol on time at 12:53.

[Witham Bobby]

1W02 1152 from Paddington to Hereford arrived at Oxford around 1 minutes late, departed 4 minutes late and has just lost more and more time as it heads west.  Currently it's 33 minutes down at Malvern Link

[Worcester_Passenger]

1P28 11:57 Great Malvern - Paddington ended up being cancelled after arriving 53 late at Reading.

1W29 14:53 Paddington - Foregate Street started from Reading.

15:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 18:26 has been delayed at London Paddington and is now 30 minutes late.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:07/08/2023 16:28

18:57 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 21:21 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:07/08/2023 13:00

[charles_uk]

05:14 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington "cancelled due to late arrival of an inbound service (YI)".

Following two trains 05:23 Hereford to Paddington and 06:43 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington both short-formed though only former reported on JourneyCheck. The 06:43 was full and standing before it got to Oxford.

[Worcester_Passenger]

21:53 London Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill due 00:02 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:09/08/2023 19:37

This does not bode well for the 05:14 from Shrub Hill to Paddington on Thursday morning.

[Worcester_Passenger]

21:53 London Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill due 00:02 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:09/08/2023 19:37

This does not bode well for the 05:14 from Shrub Hill to Paddington on Thursday morning.

The 05:14 was indeed cancelled. Remember - you heard it here first.

Meanwhile

08:51 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 11:14 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:10/08/2023 04:18

11:57 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 14:22 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:10/08/2023 04:19

[Worcester_Passenger]

05:23 Hereford to London Paddington due 08:24 will be cancelled.
This is due to the train driver being taken ill.
Last Updated:11/08/2023 05:14

07:13 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 09:40 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:11/08/2023 02:47

09:52 London Paddington to Hereford due 12:46 will be cancelled.
This is due to the train driver being taken ill.
Last Updated:11/08/2023 05:43

[Witham Bobby]

15:17 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington due 17:24 will be terminated at Reading.
It will no longer call at London Paddington.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.
Will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 9.

1W25 1253 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street is also showing as being formed of a 2-car DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) on RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website), but I can't see a mention of it on JourneyCheck

RTT is also showing that 1W01 0952 Paddington to Hereford is cancelled throughout, but the corresponding return, 1P04 1318 ex Hereford, is still running.  Perhaps.  Maybe.  Who knows?

Edit to amend information:  RTT is now showing the 1253 from Paddington and the 1517 return from Worcester Foregate Street ans being covered by a 3-car DMU (1015, 11/08/2023)

[Worcester_Passenger]

07:50 Paddington - Great Malvern departed 22 late. Arrived Shrub Hill 22 late and cancelled thereafter.

Return jorney, 10:59 Great Malvern - Paddington, started from Shrub Hill.

Today the 07:50 was formed from the back half of the 04:59 Swansea - Paddington, due into Paddington at 07:44 but actually arriving 17 late.

The three-car 15:17 from Foregate Street will be very cos once it has collected the day-out traffic at Oxford at 16:30.

[Worcester_Passenger]

RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) is also showing that 1W01 0952 Paddington to Hereford is cancelled throughout, but the corresponding return, 1P04 1318 ex Hereford, is still running.  Perhaps.  Maybe.  Who knows?

1W01 was indeed cancelled throughout.
1P04, the 13:18 from Hereford, was formed of the stock that should have been the 05:23 Hereford - Paddington.
It departed 38 late, recovered a bit of time but was then held at Norton and is now 41 late, unreported on JourneyCheck.
Fortunately it won't get held at Charlbury, as 1W29, the 14:53 Paddington - Foregate Street, departed 22 late and is now 20 late, again unreported on JourneyCheck.

[Worcester_Passenger]

13:18 Hereford to London Paddington due 16:22 will be terminated at Reading.
It will no longer call at London Paddington.
This is due to the train driver being taken ill.
Last Updated:11/08/2023 15:51

16:58 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 19:26 will be started from Reading.
It will no longer call at London Paddington.
This is due to the train driver being taken ill.
Last Updated:11/08/2023 15:51

[Witham Bobby]

THe 1517 3-car DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) from Foregate Street did pretty well - kept time to Oxford, which may show that the bigger express units are not really working very hard on the OWW^▸ (Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton) route.  It arrived at Reading 9 minutes late, after a six minute late departure from Oxford

[IndustryInsider]

THe 1517 3-car DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) from Foregate Street did pretty well - kept time to Oxford, which may show that the bigger express units are not really working very hard on the OWW^▸ (Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton) route.

Not much difference.  A maximum linespeed of 100mph with lots of 75/90mph sections too.  The IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train) on diesel accelerate a little better than a turbo, but nothing to write home about.  Perhaps a minute of so quicker up Campden Bank as they’ll get to 70-75mph whereas a turbo only reaches 55 or thereabouts.

[charles_uk]

In the Across the West sub-forum, the number of short-formations is being commented upon: "problems with IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train)▸ continue, with short formations being routine."

So, having a quick look at the first three London bound services since 7 August, we have:

0514 WOS^» (Worcester Shrub Hill - next trains):PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) - cancelled 9 & 10 August, short-formed 7 August
0523 HFD^» (Hereford - next trains):PAD - cancelled 11 August, short-formed 9 & 10 August
0643 WOS:PAD - short-formed 9,10 & 14 August

(not to mention the loss of a whole train from the timetable in May).

And, as also mentioned "The present situation is a powerful deterrent to use of GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) services. Reserving a seat does not much help as reservations are voided on half length trains." From experience, the 0643 is pretty much full by Oxford when short-formed.

[Witham Bobby]

Rejoice!

Both 1W01 (0952) and 1W02 (1152) Paddington to Hereford trains managed to reach their destination today.  And both were less than 15 minutes late when they got there.  I have a feeling this may be some kind of record