Thames Valley infrastructure problems causing disruption elsewhere - 2016

[whole diary]

[TaplowGreen]

...........estimate for continuing delays now pushed out to 1400;


Cancellations to services between Maidenhead and Slough


Due to a fault with the signalling system earlier today between Maidenhead and Slough trains have to run at reduced speed on all lines towards London Paddington.
Train services running through these stations will be cancelled, delayed by up to 25 minutes or revised. Disruption is expected until 14:00 18/10.
Further Information
An update will follow within the next 1 hour.
Update 10:00hrs: At approximately 11:00hrs one of the two lines towards London Paddington will be taken out of use for 60 minutes to allow specialist technicians access. While this is in place further alterations to the train service will come into affect.
From 11:00hrs:
Customers travelling TO Taplow and Burnham are advised to remain on the train through to SLOUGH, and change at Slough for services back to Burnham and Taplow.
Customers due to travel FROM Taplow or Burnham are advised to take the first service to MAIDENHEAD and change at Maidenhead for Slough and stations towards London Paddington.
Initial Incident: This is due to ongoing axle counter failures in the Slough area. Technicians have been on site rectifying the issue throughout the night.
Trains are required to run at a reduced speed on the two lines towards London Paddington and therefore delays are to be expected traversing through to Slough from Reading/Maidenhead.
Alterations and cancellations will be used to ease congestion and preserve a timetabled service.

[JayMac]

I have just checked my records (sad, I know  ) and 19 of my up trains were at least 15 minutes late (most recent being today) since this date last year, only one of which was more than 30 minutes late.  I've done the sums and 5% off my annual season ticket is still working out the better deal for me. I completely understand that this may not be the case for others similarly affected.

It's also the case that, under the current system,  you may face several 15+ minute delays over the life of a Season Ticket, but the punctuality target for your area is just met. You then get nothing on renewal. With Delay Repay 15, at least you'd be compensated in this scenario.

[Jason]

Trains now running normally between Maidenhead and Slough
Following a fault with the signalling system earlier today between Maidenhead and Slough all lines towards London Paddington are now open.
Impact: Train services running through these stations are running normally.


Cancellations to services between West Ealing and Greenford
Due to a fault with the signalling system between West Ealing and Greenford all lines are blocked.
Impact: Train services running to and from these stations will be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 14:30 18/10.

 

[lordgoata]

It is a clumsier system to claim rather than the automatic charter renewal system, but it is much fairer and has a number of advantages.  Jason on here with his Mortimer to Paddington season, gets no discount whereas you from Goring (or is it Pangbourne?) do.  That's not fair on him as he suffers the same delays as you do.

Also, if you stop commuting for any reason, then the delays you've suffered in the last year count for nothing as there's no renewed ticket for you to get a discount on.

I would imagine in the longer term, technology will mean the claim system will become easier and easier over time and eventually automatic.

Thanks, as always II, for your reply - and yes, its Goring! I guess I am just a bit miffed as 5% is something, where as I just know I will never claim if I have to do it myself (too lazy and I'll just forget about it after I get home/to work and life takes over), so I know ultimately I will end up losing out (and yes, I know I only have myself to blame...).

To be honest, there are not THAT many delays over 15 minutes anyway, the vast majority are 5 or so, but over the course of a month they all add up, so I always felt the 5% I got back at least went someway to making it up. If I am delayed by an hour and totally ruin my evening plans, then no amount of monetary compensation makes up for it anyway.

[Oxonhutch]

To be honest, there are not THAT many delays over 15 minutes anyway, the vast majority are 5 or so, but over the course of a month they all add up, so I always felt the 5% I got back at least went someway to making it up. If I am delayed by an hour and totally ruin my evening plans, then no amount of monetary compensation makes up for it anyway.

I did my calculations on our stretch of the LTV^▸ (London [and] Thames Valley) and the threshold for delay repay comes to 50 delayed journeys annually - considerably more than I experienced in the last year (19).  Not forgetting that when it goes completely up the wall, I get a void day - I remember having eight one year!

[dviner]

Presumably this will get worse as more of the new signalling is installed ?

An industry expert has stated a couple of pages back that the new signalling equipment is "less robust and has a shorter life" than the old stuff.
We also learn that axle counters were chosen over track circuits on the grounds of lower cost, because fewer are needed.

It seems to me that either the new equipment IS working as intended, with the failure rate being normal and that this is "the new normal" in which case better get used to it.

Or perhaps the equipment is not working correctly. And might improve at least in theory. Who supplied and installed it ?

Nice bit of selective quoting there.

[Jason]

And again:

Due to a speed restriction over defective track between Ealing Broadway and London Paddington trains have to run at reduced speed on all lines towards London Paddington.
Impact: Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 15 minutes or terminated at and started back from West Ealing. Some stations between Southall and London Paddington will not be served. Disruption is expected until 10:00 19/10.

"Up to 15 minutes" seems conservative from what I saw as I came through Paddington.

[TaplowGreen]

Cancellations to services between Ealing Broadway and London Paddington
Due to a speed restriction over defective track between Ealing Broadway and London Paddington trains have to run at reduced speed on all lines towards London Paddington.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 25 minutes or terminated at and started back from West Ealing. Some stations between Southall and London Paddington will not be served. Disruption is expected to continue until 2200 19/10.............3 days out of 3 this week....

[Western Enterprise]

Well that explains us being swung over to the Up Relief just before Hanwell.
Not much time wasted luckily and not stuck behind a stopper.
What is defective track anyway; loose pandrols perhaps?
W.E

[IndustryInsider]

What is defective track anyway; loose pandrols perhaps?

Can be a multitude of things, in this case it looks like overnight track tamping (ballast work) the caused the track to go slightly out of alignment and a driver reported 'rough riding'.  As a result trains had to be cautioned, and a 20mph speed limit enforced.  That limit will shortly rise to 50mph when EROS^▸ (Emergency Restriction Of Speed) (Emergency Restriction Of Speed) warning boards have been erected trackside.  Obviously the tolerances for a 125mph line are very strict, so a slight error can lead to this sort of thing.  Wouldn't have been so bad had there not already been two days of morning disruption already this week

[eightf48544]

i thought modern Tamping machines were supposed to be laser controlled to perfectly align the track.

[NickB]

Nearly overslept this morning without my regular 'delays are occurring...' text message from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway). 

[Oxonhutch]

i thought modern Tamping machines were supposed to be laser controlled to perfectly align the track.

Your comment reminded me of that old, but famous Fiat advertisement: "Designed by computers, built by robots, driven by Italians"! 

[TaplowGreen]

Nearly overslept this morning without my regular 'delays are occurring...' text message from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway). 

............the day is as yet young! 

[JayMac]

Not signals or points for once:
   
"Due to congestion between Reading and London Paddington trains have to run at reduced speed on the high speed line.

Impact:

Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed by up to 10 minutes. Disruption is expected until 09:00 20/10.

There is congestion on the Up Main between Reading and Paddington caused by the following incidents:

1A02 05.29 Bristol TM^‡(resolve) to Paddington ATP^▸ (Automatic Train Protection) problems earlier at Maidenhead East

1A03 06.00 Bristol TM to Paddington late presenation at Reading causing out of booked order running due to freight train overweight causing delays in the Swindon area."