North Cotswold line delays and cancellations - 2025

[whole diary]

[Worcester_Passenger]

Saturday April 12

A good day

Sunday April 13

13:41 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 16:16 will be terminated at Oxford.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:13/04/2025 00:25

14:41 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 17:15 will be terminated at Worcester Shrub Hill.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:13/04/2025 03:35

Later:

16:58 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 19:34 will be started from Oxford.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:13/04/2025 07:42

[Worcester_Passenger]

Monday April 14

A good day. Attached is the RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) listing for GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) at Evesham.  Only three red departures, and the worst of those was +7. No short workings.

Though 1W05 19:53 London Paddington to Hereford was a 5-car unit - which means that Tuesday's 1P02 05:23 Hereford to London Paddington (08:23) is a 5-car.

[IndustryInsider]

Monday April 14

A good day. Attached is the RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) listing for GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) at Evesham.  Only three red departures, and the worst of those was +7. No short workings.

A good idea that.  Provides a daily summary in a very clear and easy to understand format and quick and easy to do. When things go wrong more detail is useful, but most of the time a screenshot like that from RTT is perfect. 

Are you listening, Melksham? 

[Worcester_Passenger]

A good idea that.  Provides a daily summary in a very clear and easy to understand format and quick and easy to do. When things go wrong more detail is useful, but most of the time a screenshot like that from RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) is perfect. 

Are you listening, Melksham? 

What would improve it would be if short workings had their starting or finishing stations shown in red.
Are you listening, RTT?

[Worcester_Passenger]

15:18 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington due 17:29 has been delayed at Worcester Shrub Hill and is now 22 minutes late.
This is due to a late running train being in front of this one.
Last Updated:15/04/2025 15:58

16:32 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 19:29 will be started from Worcester Shrub Hill.
This is due to a late running train being in front of this one.
Last Updated:15/04/2025 15:58

[ChrisB]

I'm hearing that Bristol drivers are losing driving knowledge for the North Cotswold Line at the May timetable change, so only Worcester & Oxford drivers will be signing the line after that.

So Bristol drivers take IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) out of Stoke Gifford & pass stock over to Worcester drivers when heading to the North Cotswolds....

Expect driver shortages....who's idea was that, I wonder?

[IndustryInsider]

Expect driver shortages....whose idea was that, I wonder?

All part of a depot wide review on routes.  Worcester is expanding and Oxford has a fair bit of spare capacity, so it might not be the worst idea in the world as they only cover a handful of trains over the route.  Time will tell.

[Timmer]

All part of a depot wide review on routes.  Worcester is expanding and Oxford has a fair bit of spare capacity, so it might not be the worst idea in the world as they only cover a handful of trains over the route.  Time will tell.

Let’s hope that review included having more Bristol based drivers signing the Berks and Hants again so we don’t see a repeat of the vastly reduced Sunday timetable that the last two times the line between Swindon and Didcot has been closed for engineering work.

[Worcester_Passenger]

At present, there's only one empty stock movement from Stoke Gifford to the North Cotswold line in the morning, 3G18 04:42 Stoke Gifford to Great Malvern, which forms 1P18 07:13 Great Malvern to London Paddington. The empty stock is at Shrub Hill at 06:31.

There's two return workings in the evening.

5G36 21:23 Great Malvern to Stoke Gifford (at Shrub Hill at 21:58) is the empty stock from 1W36 18:57 London Paddington to Great Malvern (21:18).
5G29 22:21 Worcester Shrub Hill to Stoke Gifford (23:45) is the empty stock from 1G29 19:36 London Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill via Stroud.

The two Great Malvern movements would have to be done with the driver doing the 'other' half of the working (back to Stoke Gifford in the morning and out from there in the evening) either 'on the cushions' or in a taxi.

If you're going to expand the establishment of drivers at Worcester, then it makes more sense for this stock to be parked overnight at Shrub Hill.

[ChrisB]

I'm told that they won't even be learning Stoke Gifford to Worcester, so the Worcester/Oxford drivers will sign that (with a taxi trip from/to their depot), or a hand-over maybe at Cheltenham, for example?....

[Worcester_Passenger]

I'm told that they won't even be learning Stoke Gifford to Worcester, so the Worcester/Oxford drivers will sign that (with a taxi trip from/to their depot), or a hand-over maybe at Cheltenham, for example?....

If you do it that way, then there's one night-time duty for Worcester, taking the 5G36 from Shrub Hill (21:58) to Stoke Gifford (23:40) and  coming back with 3G18 04:42 from Stoke Gifford to Shrub Hill (06:31)

[Witham Bobby]

I'm hearing that Bristol drivers are losing driving knowledge for the North Cotswold Line at the May timetable change, so only Worcester & Oxford drivers will be signing the line after that.

So Bristol drivers take IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) out of Stoke Gifford & pass stock over to Worcester drivers when heading to the North Cotswolds....

Expect driver shortages....who's idea was that, I wonder?

Genius

I clicked "Like", but really don't like at all

[IndustryInsider]

I'm told that they won't even be learning Stoke Gifford to Worcester, so the Worcester/Oxford drivers will sign that (with a taxi trip from/to their depot), or a hand-over maybe at Cheltenham, for example?....

If you do it that way, then there's one night-time duty for Worcester, taking the 5G36 from Shrub Hill (21:58) to Stoke Gifford (23:40) and  coming back with 3G18 04:42 from Stoke Gifford to Shrub Hill (06:31)

That might well be how they do it, Worcester_Passenger.  Although don't forget Gloucester drivers also sign the route from Worcester to Bristol.

[Worcester_Passenger]

Wednesday April 16

Problems with level crossing barriers at Newlands (between Foregate St and Malvern Link).

1P28 11:57 Great Malvern to London Paddington (14:23) departed +20, arrived +18.

1W21 1053 London Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill (13:01) : held at Evesham for 1P28 (+17), arrived +21.

Thursday April 17

13:18 Hereford to London Paddington due 16:24 will be terminated at Reading.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Last Updated:17/04/2025 10:22

14:53 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street due 17:04 will be delayed at Reading.
This is due to a points failure.
Last Updated:17/04/2025 15:13

[Worcester_Passenger]

Friday April 18

More points failures today:

07:00 Worcester Shrub Hill to Didcot Parkway due 08:46 is being delayed at Worcester Shrub Hill.
This is due to a points failure.
Last Updated:18/04/2025 07:21

Though it's most likely that the problem was at Oxford.
2E77 05:10 Oxford to Worcester Shrub Hill, the positioning journey for the 07:00, departed Oxford +60 and arrived Shrub Hill +79.
The 07:00 departed +39, running after 1P18 07:13 Great Malvern to London Paddington. It arrived Oxford +38 and was cancelled thereafter.