Cotswold Line redoubling: 2008 - 2011

[whole diary]

[Worcester_Passenger]

Interesting I still have some of the engineering notices for when Slough panel box was commissioned in the early sixties. They were done overnight!

From 'Southern Electric', by G.T.Moody:

"The change to colour-light signalling at Waterloo was made on Sunday October 18, 1936. ... The changeover was made smoothly; the 12.35am to Hampton Court was signalled out by semaphores and the 1.30am to Salisbury by colour-lights."

Perhaps if you're doing a clean break, from semaphores to colour-lights, it was easier to test everything and get it all working under a set of hoods. But you must still have had to connect a lot of points!

[jebeale]

Hi - this is my first post, and its a privilege! I have been following the thread and thank Will for his great photos!

I was at Honeybourne on Sunday evening and the NR^» (Network Rail - home page) chaps seemed confident all would be working on time. The signalling at Honeybourne had been worked on all day and we had seen coloured lights on them all. I can only assume something went seriously wrong overnight Sunday. By Monday morning the Down signal at Honeybourne was no longer lit and had gained a white cross!

Whilst it appears shambolic we must remember that ther was a lot of civil engineering to do and if there were any delays it would have severely constrained the time the signalling team had to get everything working. The fact that it is now taking several days to sort is probably a symptom of not being able to do very much whilst trains are operating.

The other reason why trains are being delayed is due to speed restrictions, many of which are due to new track. I think there would always have been some delays even if everything had gone to plan.

I look forward to everything working well, maybe the weekend, perhaps??

[ellendune]

The other reason why trains are being delayed is due to speed restrictions, many of which are due to new track. I think there would always have been some delays even if everything had gone to plan.

I recall the former Bristish Rail Research Division developed some compaction techniques to allow new track to be opened at speed after a blockade.  I remember these being used in earnest on the Crewe Blockade back in the 1980's?

Is is not still used?
 

[stebbo]

In hindsight one wonders if NR^» (Network Rail - home page) should have allowed an extra week for the whole thing. A rather disappointing end to what one hopes will be a much better future for the Cotswold Line.

Perhaps a bit more redoubling in 5 years or so once NR have sorted the signalling at Worcester and Oxford which I believe are major constraints on full redoubling?

[Electric train]

Hay you know things go wrong, I am sure the engineers and project managers had a realistic program agreed with their contractors.  One of the process NR^» (Network Rail - home page) project teams have to go through at stages in the development and planning process is Risk Management Assessment this is a very rigorous process where just to say there is a risk of something happening or affecting a project is not sufficient, treatments have to be developed.

There will not have been a "lets start this and keep our fingers crossed" attitude while it is frustrating for the passengers and embarrassing for the project team safety comes first and systems will not be signed off until they satisfy the Tester In-charge and the ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) HMIR

[bobm]

Bit of a no win situation.  What if they had planned for an extra week's possession (ignoring the costs that would incur) and they had finished early.  Do they then re-instate the train service and cause confusion as the services are not in the on line planners.  Or leave the line empty and run the risk of the same comments the roads get when there are miles of cones and no workmen?

[willc]

The other reason why trains are being delayed is due to speed restrictions, many of which are due to new track. I think there would always have been some delays even if everything had gone to plan.

Not really, the key issue at present is that there are severe speed restrictions with pilotman working.

There are indeed speed restrictions applied while the new track beds in but not crippling ones. When this was the case in West Oxfordshire in June, trains were having no problems keeping to time. Once the signals are sorted - fingers crossed should all be working on Thursday - then I can't see there being any problems keeping to time, given that until September 11 trains are still using the old timetable, with all the timing allowances built in for the token exchanges at Evesham and Moreton-in-Marsh.

PS: A pdf of the September timetable is now posted at the CLPG^» (Cotswold Line Promotion Group - about) website http://www.clpg.co.uk/FGW19-120911.pdf

[dmacw]

I'm not that familiar with the timetables for that line, can anyone say what the high/low lights are?

(Alternatively, I could get the two timetables side by side and do it that way )

[jebeale]

The delays seem shorter this morning, must be a good sign. Have they perhaps got the automatic barriers working?

Can anyone confirm the method of pilotman working? I would assume that, on the single line, a pilotman woudl shuttle back and forth on alternate up and down trains. Presumably on the new dual track the pilotman would have to arrive at MIM box (or EVE) before another train is allowed on the same line?

[Electric train]

The delays seem shorter this morning, must be a good sign. Have they perhaps got the automatic barriers working?

Can anyone confirm the method of pilotman working? I would assume that, on the single line, a pilotman woudl shuttle back and forth on alternate up and down trains. Presumably on the new dual track the pilotman would have to arrive at MIM box (or EVE) before another train is allowed on the same line?

I would think this section of The Rule Book is in operation http://www.rgsonline.co.uk/Rule_Book/Rule%20Book%20Modules/P%20-%20Working%20by%20Pilotman/GERT8000-P2%20Iss%202.pdf

[IndustryInsider]

PS: A pdf of the September timetable is now posted at the CLPG^» (Cotswold Line Promotion Group - about) website http://www.clpg.co.uk/FGW19-120911.pdf

It's also been available on the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website for a few days now in the 'Timetable Supplements' section. http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=5250 - Not particularly easy to find for the uninitiated.

It's pretty much as we were told it would be, and discussed from page 70 of this thread (http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=3602.1035).  When you see it in timetable form though it's noticeable that there are still several services with disappointing dwell times at Evesham or Moreton-In-Marsh.  The 08:22 PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)-HFD^» (Hereford - next trains) has 7 minutes at Evesham, the 10:22 PAD-HFD, the 14:21 PAD-WOF and 17:32 OXF^» (Oxford - next trains)-GMV all have 9 minutes and, worst of all, the 12:21 PAD-GMV has a 13 minute layover.  Coming the other way, there are several services with waits of 5-8 minutes at Evesham, or Moreton-In-Marsh, and the 18:49 WOF-PAD has a whopping 17 minutes sat at Moreton.

Way back on page 17 of this thread (http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=3602.240) you can still view my sample timetable of what could be achieved timetable wise post-redoubling and the discussions we had on it at the time.  I found that in order to reduce most of the waits at stations you would have to alter the departure times from Paddington (or the other way) from what has become the standard recently, otherwise trains would still clash on one of the two single line sections, or between Worcester Shrub Hill and Henwick.  That appears to have been proven and leads to a disappointing timetable in some respects.  Don't get me wrong, some of the improvements are impressive and welcome - the extra trains east of Moreton, the acceleration of certain services is great, and most importantly of course, the recovery from delays will be so much better with all that extra track.

We also have another morning peak HST^▸ (High Speed Train) from Charlbury and Hanborough to look forward to from December.  What I will be interested to see is whether major changes to the structure of the timetable will be made to remove most of the dwell times, whether a tweak or two over time can make things a little better, or whether the service will stay as the September service being offered up until IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.)'s arrive on the scene.  The latter would be disappointing.

[ChrisB]

I have the dec11 TT already. Need to compare the two side ny side, but it won't be this week

[Steve Bray]

For Great Malvern passengers, the September timetable has more minuses than plusses. Gone are 2 conveniently timed through services to Paddington at 0858 and 1700, but to keep the same level of services there is now a 1522 service to Oxford and a 1944 to Paddington.

The 1522 is almost an express, not calling at Malvern Link, Honeybourne and Handborough. It is the fastest service between Great Malvern and Oxford. However, just 22 minutes later, you can travel in the comfort of a 125 all the way to Paddington.

The 1944 will (I assume) be a 2-car turbo and takes 2 hours 59 minutes to Paddington.

Also, it should not be forgotten that due to the withdrawal of the 0858 service, the existing 0826 Gt Malvern to Westbury which had a long layover at Worcester, will now depart at 0851, so effectively, Great Malvern commuters lose a very handily timed rush hour service.

[IndustryInsider]

Also, it should not be forgotten that due to the withdrawal of the 0858 service, the existing 0826 Gt Malvern to Westbury which had a long layover at Worcester, will now depart at 0851, so effectively, Great Malvern commuters lose a very handily timed rush hour service.

I can also forsee a few angry souls stranded at Worcester Foregate Street having arrived on the connecting service for the old 08:58ex Malvern (now starting WOF at 08:26), with a very tight connection out of the 07:34 from Hereford which will no doubt fail to connect quite often.  Either that or a hefty taxi/bus bill.  Next train from Worcester to London?  A Turbo 100 minutes later!

[willc]

Before everyone gets quite so het up about the 08.58, maybe they ought to remember that it didn't exist before December 2008 (the equivalent train to the new 08.26 having started at Worcester for many years before that), that its introduction messed up the journeys of many more people further down the line, with the 30-minute later arrivals in Oxford and London that resulted, and ended up with an extra train being put in the timetable (09.29 from Moreton-in-Marsh) to try to compensate.

And those travelling from Great Malvern into Worcester (the majority of those actually using the 8.58 on the first 10 minutes of its journey, I would venture to suggest) will have departures at 8.05, 8.38 and 8.51 from September 12. Hardly the end of the world.

which will no doubt fail to connect quite often

With a 10-minute connection? I hope not.

As for dealing with the dwells at Evesham and Moreton, sadly it's probably right to think in terms of having to wait until IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) (and Oxford and Worcester resignalling schemes solving capacity issues in those areas) before this can be dealt with, as you run up against the Olympic freeze on timetable changes next spring, the freeze on December 2012 changes because of the GW^▸ (Great Western) franchise bidding round, and Reading rebuilding/electrification effectively meaning no major changes on the GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) for four to five years.

Not great, but the key goal of redoubling was to get as many trains as possible off the Cotswold line and through Oxford on time to hit their main line slots at Didcot. In the other direction, redoubling will give trains a fighting chance of recovering time lost east of Oxford (or stuck at a certain signal outside Oxford station...) so they are at least on time into Worcester - even if things could be so much better.