North Cotswold Line delays and cancellations - 2024

[whole diary]

[Witham Bobby]

07:25 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington due 10:00 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.
Last Updated:29/07/2024 02:14

[Worcester_Passenger]

Yesterday, Monday July 30, was a good day as far as whole-journey cancellations were concerned.

But there was some late running due to problems in the Thames Valley which resulted in part-route cancellations. For the record:

1W25 12:51 Paddington - Foregate Street departed on time but was held at Reading (+12), ended up +26 at Shrub Hill and didn't make it to Foregate Street.
1W27 13:50 Paddington - Great Malvern departed +14, arrived Shrub Hill +20 and was cancelled thereafter.
1W29 14:53 Paddington - Foregate Street departed on time, but arrived Evesham +17 and was held there for another 17 minutes. It arrived Shrub Hill +50 and never made it to Foregate Street.
1W30 15:23 Paddington - Foregate Street departed on time but was held at Evesham (+14) and arrived Foregate Street +24.
1W31 15:52 Paddington - Great Malvern was OK until west of Worcester. It arrived +19.
1W33 16:58 Paddington - Great Malvern was delayed after Charlbury and west of Worcester. It arrived +32.
1W03 17:34 Paddington - Hereford was delayed before Reading (+14), was held at Evesham (+26) and arrived +27.
1W34 17:57 Paddington - Foregate Street was held at Wolvercote, left Charlbury +28, was held at Shrub Hill and arrived +43.
1W36 18:57 London Paddington to Great Malvern was also held at Wolvercote, left Charlbury +16 and arrived +14.
1W05 19:53 London Paddington to Hereford left +8, was +19 at Reading and +14 on arrival at Great Malvern. Where it has a scheduled stop of 14 minutes, so it arrived Hereford on time.
1W41 20:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern left +17, was +32 at Reading, was held at Evesham (+46) and arrived +55.

1P26 10:59 Great Malvern to London Paddington was held at Henwick, +10 at Foregate Street and arrived +20.
1P28 11:57 Great Malvern - Paddington was started from Shrub Hill (see earlier post).
1P34 15:17 Foregate St - Paddington was started from Shrub Hill (+10), was held at Charlbury (+26) and arrived +22.
1P05 15:18 Hereford - Paddington was OK until Moreton (+17), was held at Charlbury (+52), arrived +56 at Reading and was cancelled thereafter.
1P38 16:32 Great Malvern - Paddington was started from Shrub Hill, was held at Charlbury (+15), but arrived Paddington +2.
1P39 17:26 Foregate St - Paddington was started from Shrub Hill (+27), was held at Norton (+36) and arrived +49.
1P40 18:02 Foregate St - Paddington left +8, was held at Norton (+17) and Charlbury (+28) and arrived +32.
1P44 19:45 Great Malvern - Paddington departed +28, benefits from an eight-minute stand at Charlbury, arrived Oxford +17 and was cancelled thereafter.
1P06 22:00 Hereford to London Paddington was held at Henwick (+9) and at midnight at Charlbury (+28). It arrived +19.

Few of these late runnings were flagged up on JourneyCheck.

One thing that I do take from all of this is the lack of resilience in the timetable : once things start to go wrong, they get worse. The current timetable has westbound and eastbound trains crossing at the two ends of the double-track section, at Charlbury and Evesham. When things go wrong, trains end up being held at Wolvercote, Charlbury, Evesham and Norton - and there's a lot in the list above. This doesn't look to be the most resilient arrangement - would it be better if the trains crossed somewhere in the middle, near Moreton?

[Richard Fairhurst]

I suspect it might prove difficult to timetable the current level of service if the trains crossed at Moreton, though I've not sketched it out. As you say the current setup is quite fragile: generally services recover ok from disruption outside the peaks - sometimes aided by a little judicious early turning-back - but the increased frequency in the peaks is very vulnerable.

[Worcester_Passenger]

I suspect it might prove difficult to timetable the current level of service if the trains crossed at Moreton, though I've not sketched it out. As you say the current setup is quite fragile: generally services recover ok from disruption outside the peaks - sometimes aided by a little judicious early turning-back - but the increased frequency in the peaks is very vulnerable.

"Fragile" is a good word to use here.

Meanwhile, things went wrong in the evening yesterday (Tuesday July 30):

1W33 16:58 London Paddington to Great Malvern : departed 14 late, arrived 16 late.
1W34 17:57 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street : departed +10, arrived +29.
1W36 18:57 London Paddington to Great Malvern : departed +17, Oxford +28, held Evesham (for on-time 1P46, +42), arrived +42.
1W05 19:53 London Paddington to Hereford : OK until west of Worcester. Arrived Great Malvern +16, held Malvern Wells (for 1P06, +24), arrived +31.

1P42 19:05 Great Malvern to London Paddington : held Charlbury (for 1W36, +18), delayed at Oxford (+28), arrived +26.
1P44 19:45 Great Malvern to London Paddington : held Norton (for 1W34, +26), arrived +12.
1P06 22:00 Hereford to London Paddington : held Ledbury (unsure why, +27), delayed Shrub Hill (+53), held Norton (for on-time 1W43, +62), arrived +52.

[Worcester_Passenger]

And today, Wednesday July 31, there's a points failure at Southall. But JourneyCheck does include an advance warning that it'll be worked on tonight...

07:13 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 09:42 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:31/07/2024 01:39

08:15 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington due 10:23 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:31/07/2024 01:41

Cancelling two in a row - nothing eastbound from Shrub Hill between the halts train at 07:00 and the next at 09:15.

05:53 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 08:38 will be starting late from London Paddington.
This is due to a points failure.
Last Updated:31/07/2024 05:34

06:50 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 09:29 will be starting late from London Paddington.
This is due to a points failure.
Last Updated:31/07/2024 05:34

07:50 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 10:13 will be starting late from London Paddington.
This is due to a points failure.
Last Updated:31/07/2024 05:37

08:51 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 11:14 will be starting late from London Paddington.
This is due to a points failure.
Last Updated:31/07/2024 05:37

22:00 Hereford to London Paddington due 01:15 will be delayed at Southall.
This is due to a points failure.
Last Updated:31/07/2024 01:32

[Worcester_Passenger]

07:50 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 10:13 will be terminated at Worcester Foregate Street.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:31/07/2024 08:39

10:59 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 13:25 will be started from Worcester Foregate Street.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:31/07/2024 08:39

On the plus side, the delay to the 22:00 has disappeared from JourneyCheck.

[Worcester_Passenger]

15:17 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington due 17:29 will be started from Worcester Shrub Hill.
This is due to train crew being delayed by service disruption.
Last Updated:31/07/2024 15:09

15:18 Hereford to London Paddington due 18:29 will be started from Great Malvern.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Last Updated:31/07/2024 13:43

[charles_uk]

07:13 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 09:42 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:01/08/2024 00:06

[charles_uk]

Some more from yesterday not previously mentioned:

1W33 1658 London Paddington to Great Malvern - This service was cancelled due to high winds (XW)
1P44 1945 Great Malvern to London Paddington - This service was cancelled due to late arrival of an inbound service (YI)

In addition, a number of delays and services terminated short due to heavy rain

[Worcester_Passenger]

Friday August 2 was a good day, with no cancellations.

But today:

18:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 21:13 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:03/08/2024 08:50

19:00 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 21:24 will be terminated at Oxford.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.
Last Updated:03/08/2024 11:17

Later : after it arrived at Oxford, the 19:00 ran empty to Paddington.

[Worcester_Passenger]

Sunday August 4 : JourneyCheck has started offering suggestions to passengers on cancelled trains.

08:58 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 11:24 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Additional Information
We are sorry for the delay to your journey today. An alternative service is available at 0958 from Great Malvern, which arrives at London Paddington at 1222 and calls at the same stops as the 0858 Great Malvern to London Paddington service.
Last Updated:04/08/2024 03:40

16:58 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 19:26 will be started from Worcester Shrub Hill.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:04/08/2024 10:03

13:50 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 16:17 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:04/08/2024 02:09

14:50 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 17:16 will be terminated at Worcester Shrub Hill.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:04/08/2024 09:59

19:50 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 22:16 will be terminated at Worcester Shrub Hill.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Further Information
GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) ticket acceptance with West Midlands Railway 22.51 Worcester Shrub Hill to Great Malvern.
If you hold a valid single, return, or weekly ticket, you will be able to claim compensation for delays of 15 minutes or more. Please keep your ticket and visit https://www.heathrowexpress.com/faqs/ticket-faqs
Last Updated:04/08/2024 05:09

The 19:50 arrives at Shrub Hill at 21:58, so there'll be a wait of just under an hour for the WMR train.

10:20 : Short workings on 14:50 from Paddington and 16:58 from Great Malvern added.

[Witham Bobby]

20:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 23:13 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:08/08/2024 11:43

[Worcester_Passenger]

15:17 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington due 17:29 is being delayed between Oxford and Didcot Parkway and is now expected to be 22 minutes late.
This is due to a late running train being in front of this one.
Last Updated:08/08/2024 17:01

15:18 Hereford to London Paddington due 18:29 will be started from Great Malvern.
This is due to a points failure.
Last Updated:08/08/2024 13:58

16:32 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 19:29 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:08/08/2024 11:41

17:34 London Paddington to Hereford due 20:25 will be delayed at Reading and is expected to be 15 minutes late.
This is due to train crew being delayed.
Last Updated:08/08/2024 17:19

18:57 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 21:20 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.
Last Updated:08/08/2024 13:50

[Worcester_Passenger]

Friday August 9:

15:23 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street due 17:47 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:09/08/2024 15:02

No mention of the return working, 18:02 from Foregate St.

[Worcester_Passenger]

Saturday August 10

11:55 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 14:23 will be delayed at Worcester Shrub Hill and is expected to be 5 minutes late.
This is due to train crew being delayed by service disruption.
Last Updated:10/08/2024 09:58

18:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 21:13 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:10/08/2024 09:23