Thames Valley infrastructure problems causing disruption elsewhere - 2018

[whole diary]

[broadgage]

An official "level 3 or amber" heatwave alert has been issued covering the South east of England.

This warns that "action is required" though the actions that most of us can take are rather limited. I do not normally carry drinking water when away from home, but would so during a heat wave warning.

[IndustryInsider]

Indeed:

Due to a speed restriction because of high track temperatures at Oxford trains have to run at reduced speed on all lines.
Impact: Train services running through this station may be delayed by up to 15 minutes. Disruption is expected until 18:00 23/07.

Isn’t this the age old problem of it being fresh track layed over the last couple of weeks? Always a pain regardless.

Indeed it is.  Basically a 50mph Temporary Speed Restriction throughout much of the area has been reduced further to 20mph.  No more than 3-4 minutes delay as a direct result of that, though or course reactionary delays increased that a little for some services.  I would expect similar restrictions until the end of the week given the hot weather.

[IndustryInsider]

Same 20mph heat restriction today, but from 13:00-18:00 so three hours less in length.

[Electric train]

The one thing that concerns the Track Engineer at this time of the year is CRT^‡(resolve) (Critical Rail Temperature)

They will design the track to be stable over a wide range of temperatures normally expected in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom), the nominal ambient is 20 deg C and that is what they stress the CWR^▸ (Continuously Welded Rail) (continuously weld rail) too.  Factors that effect it are curves and the cant, normal line speed, S&C^▸ (Settle and Carlisle ) etc.  What can impact on the CRT is where the ballast shoulder has been disturbed, new track that has not been fully tamped, condition of the ballast perhaps where it has not been renewed etc.

In the relatively (to the UK) extream tempratures we are expierencing at the moment each of the Route Track Eng, local PWay managers and the NR^» (Network Rail - home page) Ops teams will be holding regular teleconference through the day to make the judgement call on ESR^▸ (Emergency Speed Restriction )'s they will always default the side of being safe.

[charles_uk]

Not looking good at Oxford at the moment:

Due to a fault with the signalling system at Oxford trains have to run at reduced speed on all lines. Disruption is expected until 17:30 02/08.

Train services between Didcot Parkway and Oxford may be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 minutes.

Train services between Worcester Shrub Hill and Oxford may be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 minutes.

Train services between Banbury and Oxford have been suspended. Banbury, Kings Sutton, Heyford and Tackley will not be served.

It's not clear what the issue is but there are some significant delays and cancellations, with CrossCountry northbound services also affected by a broken down train.

(edit) Bit more info from CrossCountry Journeycheck:

Due to a fault with barriers at a level crossing at Oxford trains have to run at reduced speed on all lines.

[bobm]

A problem with the phone system means every crossing - including farm ones - between Didcot and Banbury have had to be locked out of use before trains could run again.

[charles_uk]

Not sure about the impact though there seems to be a lot running late through Reading at present, but, for the record:

Cancellations to services between Didcot Parkway and Reading

Following a fire on a train between Didcot Parkway and Reading some lines have now reopened.

Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 60 minutes. Disruption is expected until 18:30 02/08.

Customer Advice
London-bound fast line remains blocked, but Didcot-bound lines have reopened.
Last Updated:02/08/2018 17:35

and

Delays to services between London Paddington and Reading

Due to a fault with the signalling system at Slough trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines towards Reading. Disruption is expected until 19:30 02/08.

Train services between London Paddington and Reading may be delayed by up to 15 minutes.

Additional Information
Customers travelling to Burnham or Taplow are advised to travel through to Maidenhead and change at Maidenhead for services back to Taplow and Burnham.

Customers travelling from Taplow or Burnham should take the first available service to Slough and change at Slough to travel West.
Last Updated:02/08/2018 17:40

[bobm]

Not sure about the impact though there seems to be a lot running late through Reading at present, but, for the record:

Cancellations to services between Didcot Parkway and Reading

Following a fire on a train between Didcot Parkway and Reading some lines have now reopened.

Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 60 minutes. Disruption is expected until 18:30 02/08.

Customer Advice
London-bound fast line remains blocked, but Didcot-bound lines have reopened.
Last Updated:02/08/2018 17:35

There is a slight Cotswold connection charles_uk.  Small fire on power car 43053 University of Worcester.  Train now reached Reading - but I don't think it will be going any further.....

[BBM]

I've just been keeping an eye on the OTT^▸ (Open Train Times website) maps in the Twyford area and I noticed something a little strange just now as the attached screenshot shows. 1C25 (18.00 PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)-BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains)) and 1R06 (17.57 PAD-RDG^‡(resolve)) were held on the DR while 1K93 (18.03 PAD-THE) was routed via the UR to call at P4. While all this was happening, 1A27 (17.10 WSM-PAD) was later held for a few minutes on the UM at Twyford West. This all seems to be something of a kerfuffle which caused further delay to already late trains (1C25 went from being 27L to 41L according to RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website)). Presumably this was done to benefit connecting Henley Branch passengers but why hold so many other trains while the route was set all the way from Twyford East to West?

[martyjon]

I've just been keeping an eye on the OTT^▸ (Open Train Times website) maps in the Twyford area and I noticed something a little strange just now as the attached screenshot shows. 1C25 (18.00 PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)-BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains)) and 1R06 (17.57 PAD-RDG^‡(resolve)) were held on the DR while 1K93 (18.03 PAD-THE) was routed via the UR to call at P4. While all this was happening, 1A27 (17.10 WSM-PAD) was later held for a few minutes on the UM at Twyford West. This all seems to be something of a kerfuffle which caused further delay to already late trains (1C25 went from being 27L to 41L according to RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website)). Presumably this was done to benefit connecting Henley Branch passengers but why hold so many other trains while the route was set all the way from Twyford East to West?

FIRE onboard a powercar of 1A24 I understand from an earlier post from bobm causing disruption.

[bobm]

Fire was on a London-bound train - 1A24 the 16:00 ex-Bristol Temple Meads.

[martyjon]

Fire was on a London-bound train - 1A24 the 16:00 ex-Bristol Temple Meads.

Yea, got my C and A mixed, correcting post.

[BBM]

I was just making the point that it seemed strange that the route was set all the way from Twyford East to West. I'd have thought that 1K93 could have just been routed as far as P4, then once the other 2 or 3 trains were out of the way the route could have been set onward to the DM at Twyford West. Presumably this is some sort of quirk of the new signalling system at TVSC^» (Thames Valley Signalling Centre - about)?

[TaplowGreen]

Cancellations to services between Reading and Theale
Due to a points failure between Reading and Theale all lines are closed.
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled. Disruption is expected until 14:00 03/08.

[IndustryInsider]

Looking at the weather forecast this week the temperature looks to be edging into the 90s for the LTV^▸ (London [and] Thames Valley) area virtually every day...…...what price loads of delays/cancellations for melting rails?

We've been largely surprisingly free of this so far during this warm period, but I have an inkling that luck may be coming to an end...……...

Another surprisingly good couple of weeks generally as the latest warm period in this lovely summer draws to a close.  A lot to be critical of within the railway industry at the moment, but the infrastructure has by and large held up much better than usual.