Thames Valley infrastructure problems causing disruption elsewhere - 2018

[whole diary]

[NickB]

What exactly has overrun and caused these problems? Should I read anything in to the fact that Paddington this evening only contains High Speed Train's (HST^▸ (High Speed Train))s and Turbos?  Another misplaced carrier bag by a contractor per chance?

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

[charles_uk]

All lines expected to be reopened by 3pm though displaced trains and crew will probably result in another miserable commute home for some.

Hand back now delayed further with no ETA.  Magnificent work from the railway industry again.

"Disruption" now expected till 2000.....yep, a miserable evening rush hour too.

Now 05:00 tomorrow morning. What odds another disrupted morning rush hour?

[Sixty3Closure]

So far as I can tell every fast service to Maidenhead and Twyford was cancelled. Got a load of texts about 4.30 saying that various trains after 5.30 were cancelled so rushed out the office only get to Paddington to discover earlier services now cancelled. Still its all fine now according to the website although a very angry girlfriend at Paddington seems to diagree.

More wonderful incident management and comms from our favourite train company.

[TaplowGreen]

So far as I can tell every fast service to Maidenhead and Twyford was cancelled. Got a load of texts about 4.30 saying that various trains after 5.30 were cancelled so rushed out the office only get to Paddington to discover earlier services now cancelled. Still its all fine now according to the website although a very angry girlfriend at Paddington seems to diagree.

More wonderful incident management and comms from our favourite train company.

.......would that train company be the Rail Business of the year by any chance? 🤔

[a-driver]

All lines expected to be reopened by 3pm though displaced trains and crew will probably result in another miserable commute home for some.

Hand back now delayed further with no ETA.  Magnificent work from the railway industry again.

"Disruption" now expected till 2000.....yep, a miserable evening rush hour too.

Now 05:00 tomorrow morning. What odds another disrupted morning rush hour?

There’s also now a cracked rail in the Maidenhead area. A 20mph emergency speed imposed on London bound services travelling on the up main..... to be rectified overnight..... hopefully

The overrun at Paddington was reportedly caused by “sickness and a lack of familiarity“. Looks like the planned works were late starting.

[Jason]

Four journeys today, two local, two HST^▸ (High Speed Train). All full and standing in first and standard , three were shortfomed. Both local services were 2 not 3. One HST was 5 not 10. Generally unpleasant.

[TaplowGreen]

Maybe Mr Hopwood will be at Paddington tomorrow morning, greeting customers with a cheery smile, handshake & donut as they arrive an hour late, sweaty & crushed?

[hassaanhc]

Last update 2143 with no change to timescales. Will the 0500 reopening be met in the morning? In any case my brother isn't taking chances and will be travelling from Hounslow to Reading tomorrow morning instead of from Southall for his university exam. The first time in the academic year he is having to go that way, and doing so doubles the journey time (both the train and having to get to Hounslow Station in the first place). My mum also happens to have an appointment at St Mary's Hospital at 0850, so I really hope things are fine in the morning (leaving extra early just in case because of the disruption and also due to a local road closure in Southall causing extra traffic). She's not a confident traveller as she rarely uses public transport of any sort, let alone the mess known as GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) and the GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line). As for me? My plan was to use SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) from Hounslow to Waterloo anyway as I am lucky to have that alternative route without incurring that much of a time penalty, and gives the bonus of avoiding the Bakerloo Line

The line block itself seems to be east of Ealing Broadway, so why are GWR stating Hayes & Harlington? Although that's nothing new as they've been doing it for the last year or so now. All day they didn't update the vague message, not even a hint of being open about what went wrong. And there was no apology from either them or Network Rail on their website or on Twitter. Just shows what a disgusting state of affairs we have on the GWML

Cancellations to services between Hayes & Harlington and London Paddington
Due to engineering works not being finished on time between Hayes & Harlington and London Paddington some lines are closed.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 05:00 15/05.
Customer Advice
Owing to engineering work not being finished on time some of the lines between Hayes & Harlington and London Paddington station are not available for use which will require a significant number of train service alterations.
Underground services are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice.
London Buses route 140: Hayes & Harlington - Heathrow (Central Bus Station) are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice.
Last Updated:14/05/2018 21:43

[a-driver]

The line block itself seems to be east of Ealing Broadway, so why are GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) stating Hayes & Harlington? Although that's nothing new as they've been doing it for the last year or so now. All day they didn't update the vague message, not even a hint of being open about what went wrong. And there was no apology from either them or Network Rail on their website or on Twitter. Just shows what a disgusting state of affairs we have on the GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line)

The initial engineering possession was from Ladbroke Grove to Southall East junction

All lines appear to be open this morning into Paddington. 

[Jason]

A speed restriction over defective track in the Acton Main Line area is causing delays to services to and from London Paddington. As a result of this, trains may be delayed by up to 20 minutes.

This is expected to continue until approximately 11:00.

[hassaanhc]

Even later than that now

Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Ealing Broadway
Due to urgent repairs to the track between London Paddington and Ealing Broadway trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines towards Reading.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 minutes. Disruption is expected until 12:00 15/05.
Last Updated:15/05/2018 10:12

[TaplowGreen]

Tinpot railway.

[charles_uk]

Even later than that now

Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Ealing Broadway
Due to urgent repairs to the track between London Paddington and Ealing Broadway trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines towards Reading.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 minutes. Disruption is expected until 12:00 15/05.
Last Updated:15/05/2018 10:12

And later still now:

Disruption is expected until 13:00 15/05

And guess what:

Disruption is expected until 15:00 15/05

[CJB666]

Tinpot railway.

No - its the "Tin Lizzie Line" - a figment of the imagination. All they have to do is paint the Yellow-brick Road on the sleepers and the illusion will be complete. Like the new TfL^» (Transport for London - about) tickets machines that can't actually issue tickets. And they call all of that an improvement!!

BTW^▸ (by the way) heard a great moan this a.m. at Hayes & Harlington. There were a bevy of MTR / Crassrail staff at platform 4 checking tickets. One was moaning that yesterday he'd driven into Station Parade to turn round and been photographed for a trespass fine by the High Point Village security 'goons.'

[nickswift99]

Even later than that now

Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Ealing Broadway
Due to urgent repairs to the track between London Paddington and Ealing Broadway trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines towards Reading.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 minutes. Disruption is expected until 12:00 15/05.
Last Updated:15/05/2018 10:12

And later still now:

Disruption is expected until 13:00 15/05

And guess what:

Disruption is expected until 15:00 15/05

The Oxford semi-fasts are shown as cancelled through to 2050, as well as many of this week's fast Theale services. Combined with the level crossing incident causing the cancellation of some of the longer distance services, it's going to be another nightmare at Paddington for the peak return.