Paddington delays and "Information"

[whole diary]

[gpn01]

Beware...<rant mode on>!

So, received my normal "FGW^▸ (First Great Western) reports no delays" email at 17:00...always a good sign as it means I simply need to do battle with the Tube network on my journey home.  But, surprisingly, no problems with the Tune journey (beyond it being cramped/stifling/sweaty, etc. etc.).

Arrived at Paddington in plenty of time for 18:18....and immediately the sixth sense kicked in as I realised that there seemed to bemore passengers than normal at the stadium.  Sure enough, delays showing on several departures on the board.  Ho, hum, let's take a look at the FGW departure board on the web.....Good news, no delays showing and 18:18 due at Platform 2.  Soon twigged however, as more trains on the Paddington board showed "delayed", that there were problems (although no tannoy calls at this point).  Then noticed the message on the board to say that there were problems with signalling at Slough and that delays were being expected.  fair enough I thought but the website shows my train on time, althoug the board now said 18:18 - delayed.

At around 18:22, web link for 18:18 said that details of the train were no longer available.  H'mmm.  A while afterwards the board showed that it was cancelled.  Bugger!  Never mind, there's the 18:36.....just wait till it appears on the board.  Meanwhile a check on the website shows it as on time (hurrah!).     Tannoy announcements then started to explain about signalling problems in the Slough area and that people should head to Waterloo and take alternate route to Reading, etc......Which doesn't work if you're going to Maidenhead!

Anyway, 18:36 continued to show on the board as delayed and on the web site as on-time until about 18:50 when pretty much all trains magically went from showing as on-time or delayed to Cancelled!  Meanwhile the link to the train's details on the website suddenly switched to 'details of journey no longer available' or something similar.

Waited for 19:18 which showed a by now familiar pattern - on-time on website, delayed on Paddington noticeboard, follwed a while later by cancelled on the Paddington board.  Having now stood at Paddington  for over an hour I went for a stroll (can recommend Paddington Basin!) and returned in time (around 19:30) to discover that there was now a train on platform 9 that would shortly call at all stations in the Western hemisphere, including Maidenhead...that'll do nicely!

Judging by the number of FGW staff who crammed into the driver's cab in the middle of the train (apols, don't know its proper name!) it was obvious that there werer major problems being experienced...and you know, I kind of accept that.  What I struggle to accept is when a web-site says one thing and departure boards say another and when trains appear as on-time, delayed, delayed, delayed, delayed, cancelled....when it's quite obvious that they're simply not going to operate and that the entire system is going to be stuffed for a few hours.

Why can't FGW simply recognise that the supply of accurate information is an important element of the service that they provide?  If there's expected to be no service to Maidenhead for a couple of hours then tell me so I can decide what to do, and plan accordingly.  If they keep saying on-time, delayed, delayed, delayed, cancelled then there's no way for me to plan/re-arrange, etc.   Ditto when a website says one thing and a noticeboard says another!

Grrrrr..

<rant mode off>

[johoare]

No I totally agree.. This happened to me a couple of weeks ago and I spent a good couple of hours stood at Paddington.. I am so glad I had today off.. It's definitely getting worse :-)

[bobm]

That is one of the big weaknesses with the live departure boards. They always assume that a train will start out from its destination on time - until it doesn't.  Now I know at Paddington it wouldn't work because they can swap sets about but on branch lines like Marlow or Henley it doesn't take a genius to work out that if the incoming service is late then the return will be too. Why it cannot program the boards to say "delayed" I don't know.

As to why the two sources of information can't agree is anyone's guess.

None of the three cancellations you mentioned were shown on the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) network updates page.

[Boppy]

Currently on the 11.30 fast train from Paddington. Just stopped beyond Slough. Still delays due to the signalling problems.

Problems must have lasted all evening I guess.

Boppy.

[Worcester_Passenger]

Just got in to Worcester Shrub Hill over an hour late on the 19:48.

[hertzsprung]

Tannoy announcements then started to explain about signalling problems in the Slough area and that people should head to Waterloo and take alternate route to Reading, etc......Which doesn't work if you're going to Maidenhead!

Each time this happens I take the train from Marylebone to High Wycombe, then get a bus to either Marlow or Bourne End.  Depending on how well the buses and trains connect, it takes around 2-3 hours.  A nice scenic route if you're not in a hurry

[Ollie]

Yes it is one of the flaws of NRE^‡(resolve)'s "Live" Departure Boards.

The only one for Paddington that is actually Live is available here: http://www.networkrail.co.uk/pad purely as it's the same information as on  the actual boards at Paddington.

When I last check at 23:30 trains were still being talked past 1 signal on each line near Burnham (that's where my train got stopped anyway)

And in terms of your e-mail, you probably realise anyway, but at 17:00 the service was actually fine..

[adc82140]

Still looks bad this morning- seems to be only a half hourly service through Maidenhead.

I'm glad I'm no longer doing the Paddington commute, although the problems were impacting the North Downs Line as well- probably due to misplaced stock & train crew- a lot of the Gatwicks were turning back at Redhill.

[adc82140]

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) have now posted a release on their website. Seems like another cable theft 

[BBM]

I've just looked at Live Departure Boards on the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website and it's reporting that this morning's 08:57 stopper to Oxford left Paddington at 09:00, Langley at 09:28, then 'no report' until Maidenhead where it left at 11:12! If this is correct then things still must be horribly wrong at the moment.

EDIT: Looks like the following stopper 30 minutes later was also similarly delayed - it's shown as leaving Slough 09:59, then Maidenhead at 11:42. I was planning on going into Reading on the train shortly but it looks like I'll have to drive in and pay the car parking. 

[Timmer]

They are with the delays and cancellations list growing ever longer. Not going to bother listing them as there are too many. Check the current running page for the latest info: http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/tgf.php

Last Saturday it was East Coast who were suffering from infrastructure problems. Today it's FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s turn this coming after a pretty difficult few days. Made all the more annoying by the fact that it's cable theft that is making many people's day a bit of a misery 

[bobm]

Wonder how long before the national media pick up on it. Admittedly the EC has had problems more than once over recent months so that may have made it more newsworthy.

[JayMac]

Normally we get contradictory information because of the fractured nature of today's railways. But FGW^▸ (First Great Western) have managed to contradict themselves on their own website regarding ticket acceptance during the ongoing disruption.

The main message on the website home page says:

"Customers travelling on Advance Purchase tickets, who find that their train has been cancelled or delayed, may travel on the train scheduled before their original journey or on the next available service after their scheduled journey only."

Note that word 'only'. For further information you are directed to FGW's 'Live Updates' page which has the following in regard to Advance Purchase ticket acceptance:

"Whilst the problem has been rectified the extent of disruption means that train services will take some considerable time to be restored to normal. Customers travelling on Advance Purchase tickets who have had their intended journey disrupted by this incident may travel at any time today or tomorrow, Sunday 5th June."


Oh, and the 'Live Updates' page is for some reason not including all individual cancellations. No mention of the xx30 BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains)-PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) and xx00 PAD-BRI being cancelled.
 

[eightf48544]

The lads at Slough had a good time watching the disruption on a bright June evening. WE just had to contend with the Brunel roundabout in Slough which is being dug up and without traffic lights.

I'm just glad I'm not commuting anymore, but commiserations to all those on coffee shop caught up in the chaos, I've been there.

Trains still going slow past my house this am.

[Timmer]

Apology from Mark Hopwood that appears on the front page of the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website:

Sunday 05th June 2011

Last week^s disruption ^ an apology.
 
Last week a number of unrelated infrastructure failures, a trackside cable theft, vandalism and a suicide resulted in our train service and your journeys being significantly disrupted.
We are very sorry for the disruption these failures and line closures will have had on your journeys with us and the affect on your home and business lives.
We are working together with our infrastructure provider, Network Rail, to identify what more could have been done to prevent these incidents from happening.
Again please accept our sincere apologies for the disruption caused to your journeys.

Mark Hopwood
Managing Director