Wednesday November 20

The 'halts' train, 2E14 17:04 Didcot Parkway to Moreton-in-Marsh, and return, 2E16 18:51 Evesham to Oxford, cancelled "cancelled due to a problem with the traction equipment (MD)", according to RTT.

1W41 20:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern cancelled throughout "due to an issue with the train crew (TH)".

 

Today's bingo card has "a fault with the signalling system", "a fault on a train in front of this one", "a tree blocking the railway", and "a fault on this train".

 

This service was due to have been started from Oxford due to delays resulting from the tree blocking the railway but, in the event, never got further than platform 3 at Oxford

 

 

 
I posted too soon. There are signalling problems between Worcester and Great Malvern.

1W13 06:50 London Paddington to Great Malvern was cancelled between Worcester Shrub Hill and Great Malvern due to a signal failure (IA).

The stock is running empty to Paddington.

 
Tuesday November 19

We have snow in Worcester this morning.

The trains look to be performing OK, except for 1P18 07:13 Great Malvern to London Paddington, which was delayed between Malvern Link and Newland East. It's now beyond Norton but is +38.

 
Monday November 18

1W11 0553 London Paddington to Great Malvern was cancelled throughout.

Held Wolvercote and Evesham. Arrived Shrub Hill +57, cancelled thereafter.


Added at 15:26:

1W02 11:52 London Paddington to Hereford departed +15, arrived Great Malvern +20 and was cancelled thereafter.


Bingo card doing well today - "engineering works not being finished on time", "broken down train earlier today" and "late from depot".

 
Saturday November 16

The problems between Ledbury and Hereford continue:

The signalling fault is reported on the National Rail 'Disruptions' list and is expected to continue until 09:30. West Midlands Railway are reported as running rail replacement coaches from Shrub Hill to Hereford. And indeed, these are listed on RTT for later in the day.

 

On Friday, the 20:56 ran OK.

But (according to RTT), 1P06 22:00 Hereford to London Paddington took 57 minutes to get from Hereford to Ledbury. West Midlands had cancelled their last train to Hereford, which should have crossed with 1P06 at Ledbury. 1P06 was held at Shrub Hill (+84) and arrived Paddington at 02:36 (+76). Though I can't imagine that many passengers were inconvenienced. Perhaps this train should be named the 'Night Cathedrals'.

And 1W05 19:53 London Paddington to Hereford was held at Malvern Wells (+15) and Ledbury (+43), arriving at Hereford +44.

 

Some good news

 
Friday November 15

 
Friday November 15

A curious entry on JourneyCheck:

Which is probably about the journey on Thursday evening, despite the 'last updated' time.

According to RTT, Thursday's 1P46 20:56 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington departed +12, was held at Shrub Hill (+43) and Norton (+55). It was further delayed between Reading (+48) and Paddington and arrived +76.

Meanwhile, also on Thursday:
1W31 15:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern was held at Reading (+31), arrived Worcester Foregate Street +49 and was cancelled thereafter.
The return working, 1P42 19:05 Great Malvern to London Paddington was started from Foregate Street .

 
Wednesday was a good day, with just the one cancellation.

Thursday November 14 started with 1P11 05:14 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington being delayed at Shrub Hill due to train crew issues. It left +33 and skipped stops, only calling at Evesham, Moreton, Charlbury and Hanborough. +16 at Oxford, +15 at Paddington.

 
In the end, it ran with 9 coaches.

Wednesday November 13

 
Tuesday November 12


1W25 12:51 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate St (15:00) : Reading +10, arrived Shrub Hill +23 and cancelled thereafter
1W27 13:50 London Paddington to Great Malvern (16:15) : Reading +20, arrived Worcester Foregate Street +20 and cancelled thereafter.

1P34 15:17 Worcester Foregate St to London Paddington started from Shrub Hill

- which means tomorrow's 05:23 from Hereford will only have 5 coaches.

 
Possibly been 'borrowed' by the Gatwick services to replace one of their faulty turbos?

 
Becoming quite a regular feature of the evening peak:

 
Saturday November 9

RTT is reporting that 1P13 06:18 Hereford to London Paddington as "cancelled between Hereford and Great Malvern due to an issue with the train crew (TG)", though  this change doesn't appear on Journeycheck. This is probably because of last night's short working - the stock is currently (05:30) running empty from Oxford.

And in the other direction,
The 05:52 was indeed started from Oxford, some 20 late. It was held at Wolvercote and Evesham (+48). It arrived Foregate St +50 and was cancelled thereafter.
The return working, 1P17 08:50 Great Malvern to London Paddington was started from Worcester Foregate Street.

 

"Terminated at Oxford" = a cancelled service between there and Hereford, and should be shown as such, really, rather than as an "other service amendment"

Hereford will soon forget what it was like to have a half decent GWR service of direct trains to London

 


I guess the days of having spare crew in the cabin ready to step in when things like this happen are long gone 

 
Yes, I think it was because the 1734 was running so late that the 1757 had basically caught it up by Oxford. The announcement at Oxford was that the 1734 would be first stop Moreton.

 

Presumably the Hanborough call has been missed to avoid congestion on the single track stretch. Otherwise seems odd when the train is still calling at less busy stations.

 

And this morning saw significant disruption to the later peak services due to a points failure in the Worcester area:

2E80 0700 Worcester Shrub Hill to Didcot Parkway terminated at Oxford arriving 97 minutes late
1P18 0713 Great Malvern to London Paddington terminated at Reading arriving 46 late
1P20 0815 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington terminated at Reading arriving 57 late

 
Plus a couple of short workings.
1W02 11:52 London Paddington to Hereford was cancelled after Great Malvern "due to an issue with the train crew (TH)" (RTT)
1P05 15:18 Hereford to London Paddington was started from Great Malvern likewise.

1W25 12:51 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate St was cancelled after Shrub Hill "due to a problem with the traction equipment (MD)" (RTT)
1P34 15:17 Worcester Foregate St to London Paddington was started from Shrub Hill likewise
It departed +21, was held at Norton and arrived+40.

Meanwwhile, 1P06 22:00 Hereford to London Paddington was held at Foregate St (+33) and arrived +37.

 

 

 
Friday November 1:


04:11 : The 10:53 from Paddington has been removed from the JourneyCheck list.

07:52 : additional cancellations:

09:50 : More:

 
1W03 17:34 London Paddington to Hereford (20:25) : delayed Didcot - Oxford (+18), held Wolvercote, arrived +36.
1W34 17:57 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street (20:11) : held Wolvercote, arrived +24
1W36 18:57 London Paddington to Great Malvern (21:20) : departed +14, Reading +33, arrived +50.
1W05 19:53 London Paddington to Hereford (22:58) : held Oxford (+39) and Malvern Wells (+66), arrived +68.
1W41 20:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern (23:13) : fine until Newland East, arrived +32.

In the end, 1P44 19:45 Great Malvern Worcester Shrub Hill (22:24) to London Paddington ran back from Shrub Hill as ECS.

 

Announced at 16:27

 
And one of GWR's regular quick fixes:


No news yet whether the truncated 16:58 London Paddington to Great Malvern will call at the halts.

 
Thursday October 31:

12:14 : edited to add


14:12 : subsequent edits deleted

 
Departed Shrub Hill +21.

 
And the afternoon 'halts' train:
-though there's no mention of the return working (yet).

Until

 
The issues with the 05:23 Hereford to London Paddington service had a bit of a knock on:

1P16 0643 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington 29 minutes late at Oxford and arrived Paddington 25 late;
2E80 0700 Worcester Shrub Hill to Didcot Parkway 26 late at Oxford and arrived Didcot 26 late;
1P18 0713 Great Malvern to London Paddington 20 late at Oxford and arrived Paddington 17 late.

 

There is now...

 
No mention of the return working, 1P38 1632 Great Malvern to London Paddington.

 
Wednesday October 30:

1P02 05:23 Hereford to London Paddington (08:24) is not having a good week.

It arrived Foregate St +4 and was cancelled thereafter.

An additional 06:10 from Shrub Hill, using the same stock (were the passengers allowed to stay on board?), departed +24 and was held at Norton (+37) for the single line but then skipped stops:
By skipping the stops it's now arrived Paddington only +8.

 

 

And as a result:

 

...and later

 
Monday October 28:


At Hereford, nothing before; the one after is at 13:18.

 
Final score for Sunday October 27:

1W15 07:36 London Paddington to Great Malvern (10:15) departed +12, was delayed at Langley (+28), was held at Evesham (+54), arrived Worcester Foregate Street +59 and was cancelled thereafter.
1W35 08:43 London Paddington to Great Malvern (11:18) was cancelled between Worcester Shrub Hill and Great Malvern "due to an issue with the train crew (TH)" (RTT» ).
1W37 10:48 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 13:15 cancelled due to a shortage of train crew.
1W47 14:48 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 17:16  terminated at Worcester Shrub Hill due to a shortage of train crew.
1W49 15:48 London Paddington to Great Malvern held Oxford (40) and Wolvercote, terminated at Worcester Foregate Street (+55) due to an issue with the train crew (TH).
1W51 16:48 London Paddington to Great Malvern (19:15) arrived +19.
1W59 17:48 London Paddington to Great Malvern : started from Reading due to a points failure (IB).
1W08 18:48 London Paddington to Hereford due 21:55 cancelled due to a points failure
1W73 19:48 London Paddington to Great Malvern (22:16) : held Evesham (+47), arrived +50.

1P45 10:58 Great Malvern to London Paddington was cancelled between Great Malvern and Worcester Foregate Street due to late arrival of an inbound service (YI).
1P47 11:58 Great Malvern to London Paddington was cancelled between Great Malvern and Worcester Shrub Hill due to late arrival of an inbound service (YI).
1P55 13:11 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington was cancelled throughout due to an issue with the train crew (TG).
1P59 13:58 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 16:38 cancelled due to a shortage of train crew.
1P63 14:28 Hereford to London Paddington (17:35) was held at Shrub Hill (+38), cancelled after Reading (+51) due to a points failure (IB).
1P69 15:31 Hereford to London Paddington (18:38) arrived +20.
1P81 18:58 Great Malvern to London Paddington (21:35) : started from Foregate Street due to late arrival of an inbound service (YI).
1P88 20:46 Great Malvern to London Paddington (23:40) : terminated at Reading due to an issue with the train crew (TH).

 

Subsequently became a full cancellation:


and the following 1W73 1948 London Paddington to Great Malvern being reported as "full and standing"

 
Some short workings:

1W15 07:36 London Paddington to Great Malvern (10:15) departed +12, was delayed at Langley (+28), was held at Evesham (+54), arrived Worcester Foregate Street +59 and was cancelled thereafter.
1W35 08:43 London Paddington to Great Malvern (11:18) was cancelled between Worcester Shrub Hill and Great Malvern "due to an issue with the train crew (TH)" (RTT).


1P45 10:58 Great Malvern to London Paddington was cancelled between Great Malvern and Worcester Foregate Street due to late arrival of an inbound service (YI).
1P47 11:58 Great Malvern to London Paddington was cancelled between Great Malvern and Worcester Shrub Hill due to late arrival of an inbound service (YI).
1P55 13:11 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington was cancelled throughout due to an issue with the train crew (TG).
1P63 14:28 Hereford to London Paddington (17:35) was held at Shrub Hill (+38)

 

The latter two leaving a three hour gap services from the Cotswolds to London

 

In the end, it operated normally.

But 1W05 19:53 Paddington to Hereford (22:58) was started from Reading ("due to unknown cause (ZW)" according to RTT) and terminated at Great Malvern ("due to a decision by the train operating company (TR)").

The stock spent the night at Shrub Hill, and ran empty to Hereford early this morning to become 1P13 06:18 Hereford to London Paddington (09:23).

 


I wonder if this will dent tomorrow's early trains?

[ Edited: - upon realising it's not the day's final down train to Worcester  ]

 

A game of chance indeed... good news:


And return run also "as scheduled"

 
At least it'll take you as far as Worcester today:


Relying on GWR to get you beyond Worcester these days does seem to be a game of chance.

 
RTT reporting 1W02 1154 Paddington to Hereford cancelled today


GW journey check says


Corresponding up working 1P05 1518 Hereford to Paddington also CAPE

[Edit: to correct train information]

 

Services actually recovered remarkably quickly:

1P22 08:56 Great Malvern to London Paddington (11:24) departed Shrub Hill at 10:07 (+51), arrived Paddington +48.
1P24 09:55 Great Malvern to London Paddington (12:23) held Norton (+31), arrived Paddington +26.
1P26 10:59 Great Malvern to London Paddington (13:25) started from Shrub Hill
1P28 11:57 Great Malvern to London Paddington (14:23) started from Shrub Hill

1W15 0750 London Paddington to Great Malvern (10:13) left Moreton at 10:06 (+47), arrived Worcester Shrub Hill +57 and cancelled thereafter.
1W17 0851 London Paddington to Great Malvern (11:14) arrived Worcester Shrub Hill +34 and cancelled thereafter.

 

1P22 0856 Great Malvern to Paddington is showing on RTT still at Worcester Shrub Hill 0t 0956 (due to have departed at 0912)

1W15 0750 London Paddington to Great Malvern still at Moreton in Marsh (due to have left at 0918)

Someone should have given me a call 

 
Cancellations to services between Moreton-In-Marsh and Worcester Shrub Hill

Due to signalling staff being taken ill between Moreton-In-Marsh and Worcester Shrub Hill all lines are closed.

Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 60 minutes. Disruption is expected until 10:15 23/10.

 
Tuesday October 22
Last night's short working on 1W05 19:53 London Paddington to Hereford means that this morning's 1P02 05:23 Hereford to Paddington starts with an ECS working from Shrub Hill to Hereford. It departs Hereford +20; held at Norton (+28), into Paddington +29.
There's a knock-on effect on the following 1P16 06:43 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington. Departs on time, but is held at Norton (+12). Into Paddington +27.

In the afternoon,
1W29 1453 London Paddington to Foregate St is held at Oxford (+14) and Evesham (+33), and is cancelled after Shrub Hill (+32).
2E14 17:04 Didcot Parkway to Moreton-in-Marsh and the return 2E16 18:51 Evesham to Oxford were cancelled throughout.

 
In the evening, 1W05 19:53 London Paddington to Hereford arrived at Worcester Shrub Hill +28 and was cancelled thereafter "due to a problem with the brakes (MN)."

Tuesday October 22
JourneyCheck is reporting
'Halts' calls by 1P18 07:13 Great Malvern to London Paddington

 
In which case, why not send the 5-car unit off as the empty working and use the 9-car one for train 1P16 at 06:43 from Shrub Hill?

 

I'm not sure how busy Monday services are these days - certainly Wednesdays seem busier than ever - but the following 1P16 0643 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington service which would have had to pick up the displaced passengers as well as its normal load was a five car short-formation.

 
According to RTT, the stock arrived in Hereford on Saturday evening.

 
Friday and the weekend were better than Thursday; for the record:

Friday October 18:

1W25 12:51 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street (15:00) : held Reading (+13), Didcot avoiding line (+52), arrived Shrub Hill +49, never made Foregate St.
return 1P34 15:17 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington (17:29) : cancelled throughout (train crew).

1W27 13:50 London Paddington to Great Malvern (16:15) : started from Reading (traction equipment)

Saturday October 19:

1W31 15:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern (18:29) : cancelled throughout (ZW - unknown cause)
1P37 19:00 Great Malvern to London Paddington (21:27) : cancelled throughout

1P41 20:20 Hereford to London Paddington (23:38) : cancelled throughout (XP - bridge strike)
2E98 22:42 Great Malvern to Evesham (23:22) : cancelled after Worcester Shrub Hill (TH - train crew)

Sunday October 20:

1W01 09:47 London Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway (11:55) : cancelled after Oxford (TG - train crew)
1W02 11:50 London Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway (13:55) : arrived +28
1W03 12:50 London Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway (14:55) : departed +25, arrived +33
1W39 13:50 London Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway (15:55) : departed +36, arrived +53
1W47 14:50 London Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway (16:55) : held Evesham (+32), arrived +33.
1W73 19:50 London Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway (21:55) : departed +21, arrived +33

1P49 12:19 Worcestershire Parkway to London Paddington : started from Oxford
1P69 16:21 Worcestershire Parkway to London Paddington (18:32) : departed +36, cancelled after Oxford
1P73 17:20 Worcestershire Parkway to London Paddington (19:26) : departed +14, delayed at Didcot (+27), arrived +33

 
RTT reported 1P02 0523 Hereford to Paddington cancelled throughout because of a bridge strike.

5P02 ran in it's place - empty cars Hereford to Paddington.  More-or-less on time on the Cotswold line, but arrived at Paddington 25 minutes late

 
Final score from Thursday October 17:

Up trains
1P24 09:55 Great Malvern to London Paddington (12:23) : held Norton (+21), arrived +26.
1P26 10:59 Great Malvern to London Paddington (13:25) : held Norton and Charlbury (+50), arrived+58.
1P28 11:57 Great Malvern to London Paddington (14:23) : started from Worcester Foregate Street, held Shrub Hill (+22) and Charlbury (+50), arrived Reading +54 and cancelled thereafter.
1P30 13:16 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington (15:23) : departed +16, aarrived +17.
1P04 13:55 Hereford to London Paddington (16:25) : started from Great Malvern, held Henwick (+14), arrived +14.
1P34 15:17 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington (17:29) : OK
1P05 15:18 Hereford to London Paddington (18:29) : OK
1P38 16:32 Great Malvern to London Paddington (19:29) : started from Oxford
1P39 17:30 Worcester Foregate St to London Paddington (19:52) : started from Shrub Hill

1P06 22:00 Hereford to London Paddington (01:15) : started from Worcester Shrub Hill

Down trains
1W17 08:51 London Paddington to Great Malvern (11:14) : held Evesham (+57), arrived Worcester Foregate Street +63 and cancelled thereafter.
1W01 09:52 London Paddington to Hereford (12:46) : held Evesham (+51), arrived Great Malvern +83 and cancelled thereafter.
1W21 10:53 London Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill (13:01) : held Evesham (+23), arrived +21.
1W02 11:52 London Paddington to Hereford (14:44) : held Evesham (+15), arrived +15.
1W25 12:51 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street (15:00) : held Evesham (+10), arrived +11.
1W27 13:50 London Paddington to Great Malvern (16:15) : departed +39, arrived Oxford +29, cancelled thereafter.
1W29 14:53 London Paddington to Foregate St (17:04) : started from Reading, held Moreton (+25), arrived Worcester Shrub Hill +28. Foregate St cancelled.
1W30 15:23 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street (17:47) : OK
1W31 15:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern (18:26) : OK
1W33 16:58 London Paddington to Great Malvern (19:26) : started from Reading
1W03 17:34 London Paddington to Hereford (20:25) : cancelled between Worcester Shrub Hill and Hereford due to an issue with the train crew (TG).

 
Departed +39, arrived Oxford +29.

 
And...

1P26 1059 Great Malvern to London Paddington was held at Worcestershire Parkway (+42)
1W01 0952 London Paddington to Hereford was held at Evesham (+51), arrived Great Malvern +83 and was cancelled thereafter.

 
Power failure in the Pershore/Eckington area

 
Thursday October 17 : problems with the signalling system.

 
Add to that:
1W01 09:52 London Paddington to Hereford (12:46) : departed +27, arrived Great Malvern +23 and cancelled thereafter.
1P04 13:55  Hereford to London Paddington (16:24) : started from Great Malvern, ran OK

1W45 22:51 London Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway (01:06) : departed +37, Reading +57, arrived +70.

 
Monday October 14 :
Departed +41

'Additional information' is a cut-and-paste from 05:23, which starts at Hereford.
Only train towards Oxford from Evesham from 06:13 to 08:35 will be the 2-car 'halts' train. Shrub Hill has a via-Stroud at 07:25.


And, ominously

 
Final score for Sunday October 13:

1P37 09:18 Worcestershire Parkway to London Paddington : OK
1P41 10:17 Worcestershire Parkway to London Paddington : started from Oxford (+16), arrived +15
1P45 11:18 Worcestershire Parkway to London Paddington : cancelled throughout
1P49 12:17 Worcestershire Parkway to London Paddington : cancelled due to overrunning engineering works (I5).
1P55 13:18 Worcestershire Parkway to London Paddington : OK
1P59 14:18 Worcestershire Parkway to London Paddington : cancelled between Reading and London Paddington due to an issue with the train crew (TH).
1P63 15:18 Worcestershire Parkway to London Paddington : departed +20, arrived +20.
1P69 16:18 Worcestershire Parkway to London Paddington : cancelled due to an issue with the train crew (TG).
1P73 17:18 Worcestershire Parkway to London Paddington : departed +41
1P77 18:21 Worcestershire Parkway to London Paddington (20:35) : departed +18, arrived +15
1P81 19:18 Worcestershire Parkway to London Paddington (21:35) : OK
1P85 20:18 Worcestershire Parkway to London Paddington (22:35) : departed +21, terminated at Reading +19.
1P88 21:09 Worcestershire Parkway to London Paddington (23:40) : OK; advertised (13:31) as starting from Oxford, but actually started at Parkway.

1W15 07:38 London Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway : cancelled after Oxford due to overrunning engineering works (I5).
1W35 08:45 London Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway : cancelled due to overrunning engineering works (I5).
1W01 09:47 London Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway : cancelled due to overrunning engineering works (I5).
1Z35 10:20 London Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway : an advertised extra (see above), but cancelled after Oxford due to overrunning engineering works (I5).
1W37 10:48 London Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway : OK
1W02 11:48 London Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway : OK
1W03 12:48 London Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway : held Reading (+32), arrived +36.
1W39 13:48 London Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway : cancelled due to an issue with the train crew (TG).
1W47 14:48 London Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway (16:55) : departed +27, held Reading (+42), arrived +53.
1W49 15:48 London Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway (17:55) : held Evesham (+35), arrived +38.
1W51 16:48 London Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway (18:55) : held Evesham (+15), arrived +16.
1W59 17:48 London Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway (19:55) : held Oxford (+29), arrived +33.
1W08 18:48 London Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway (20:55) : advertised (13:31) as terminating at Oxford, but ran to Parkway. Held Evesham (+14), arrived +15.
1W73 19:48 London Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway (21:55) : OK; stock returns ECS to Oxford
1W79 21:48 London Paddington to Evesham (23:37) : OK; ECS to Shrub Hill scheduled at 02:30, actual 04:09. Does a driver really sit there for all that time?

 
Later still:

and

 
Sunday October 13
The trains are only running as far as Worcestershire Parkway this weekend, with buses beyond.
Even so:
It's curious that there's no cancellation(s) in the other direction.

Meanwhile, ominously:

And this results in
09:40 : yet to depart. Later : cancelled.

11:00 : Paddington - Reading problems projected to last until 13:00.

So, at Parkway nothing towards Oxford from 09:18 until 13:18.

Later : in the end, the 11:18 ran ECS from Oxford to Paddington.

 
Note the time of the update.

 

Not really a late arrival - RTT has the inbound service, 1G01 06:33 Swindon to Shrub Hill, as "cancelled between Gloucester and Worcester Shrub Hill due to a problem with the traction equipment (MD)".

 

RTT has this one cancelled because of late arrival of inbound service

 
Sunday October 6:
In the end, this train operated through to Hereford - though it never made it to JourneyCheck as 'reinstated'.

RTT reports the 13:11 change as

 
Saturday October 5:
Note the 'update' time.

 
Later:

 
Tonight, to keep everyone on their toes, the last train is cancelled:

 
Sigh. I've not had a lot of luck with Cotswold Line journeys this week. My journey home from Perpignan on Tuesday went swimmingly as far as Oxford, from where we were bustituted. Yesterday's journey home from Oxford (the Hereford train) was cancelled. And now today the Halts train is cancelled yet again...

 
Friday October 4
The calls at the halts are being handled by the 16:58 Paddington - Great Malvern.

Later:

 

This evening's points failure affecting the down Hereford fast has been predicted well in advance.  Should be a great help 

 
Everything went well on Tuesday October 1.

Likewise Wednesday October 2, except that the 19:53 from Paddington to Hereford was cancelled after Ledbury, due to a points failure. And the 22:00 Hereford - Shrub Hill was cancelled throughout.

Thursday October 3:
RTT reports this journey is being operated by a 5-car IET instead of the usual 2-car Turbo.

06:23 : Departed Shrub Hill +13

 
Monday September 30

 
Sunday September 29
Stock ran as ECS from Paddington to Shrub Hill.

Removed from JourneyCheck list at some stage (but not 'reinstated') and ran normally.

Also removed from JourneyCheck list at some stage (but not 'reinstated').

 
This won't help...........

Cancellations to services between Moreton-In-Marsh and Evesham
Due to the emergency services dealing with an incident near the railway between Moreton-In-Marsh and Evesham all lines are blocked.
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 14:00 28/09.

 
Friday September 27:
1W25 1251 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate St left +17, arrived Shrub Hill +23 and was cancelled thereafter.
That doesn't sound much, but it can be very annoying.  Most of West Midlands' Birmingham - Hereford trains don't serve Shrub Hill. If you were using the 12:51 to try to get beyond Worcester, then there's a (poor) WMR connection at Foregate Street at 15:34. But if you've been left at Shrub Hill at 15:20 (scheduled 14:57), then you'll have to wait for the next GWR train, an hour later, at 16:01. That'll take you to Great Malvern, where you can change onto WMR's 16:32 to Hereford.

The trip round to Foregate St gets cancelled so that the service back to Paddington can run to time.
Not sure "congestion" is the right word here. In the event, the 15:17 left +9 from Shrub Hill.

 
Yesterday's big one was a bit special:
The stock ran ECS from Hereford to Oxford.

 
I prefer "This timetable is an aspiration of ours, but that doesn't mean we have the resources to operate it".

 
The GWR timetable for Paddington to Oxford, Worcester and Hereford now needs a health warning on it.

How does "This timetable is an ambition of ours, but that doesn't mean we have the resources to operate it" sound?

 
And an early warning for tomorrow (Thursday September 26):

In the end, the 19:53 made it to Hereford, and came back as the 05:23 this morning.

 

A cancellation for anyone who was expecting to travel beyond Worcester Shrub Hill, then.

 
Anyone would think that a service has been advertised and promoted while there are insufficient staff and insufficient trains to run it.  But that couldn't be true, could it?

 
This morning's 0523 Hereford to London Paddington service was cancelled due to more trains than normal needing repair. Fortunately, the following 0643 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington train was a full (and it was!) nine coaches for the first time this week.

 

Was also cancelled last night which would have explained one of the short-formations.

 

So I'm guessing that there will be at least one short-form tomorrow morning.  Do you like sardines?  GWR seem to think you do

 
Realtime Trains showing the first three up services as five coach short-formations this morning

0514 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington
0523 Hereford to London Paddington
0643 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington

 
A horribly wet morning - not the day to be stuck waiting for late running trains after cancellations.

The 1P11 0514 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington was cancelled due to a problem with the traction equipment (MD).

The following 1P02 0523 Hereford to London Paddington departed 39 late and was 50 late by Norton Junction. It then ran fast up the North Cotswold Line missing out most of its scheduled stops. That left the short-formed 1P16 0643 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington train, delayed by almost half an hour due to the late running 0523 Hereford to Paddington service, as the first up train for many.

 
Sunday September 22

 
Yesterday's issues at Evesham caused a lot of delays in the afternoon, and today we have


which is creating more problems including the familiar contingency of terminating the 1350 Paddington to Great Malvern service at Worcester Shrub Hill. The 1453 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street has just gone through Charlbury 28 minutes late, the 1523 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street is 21 late at Oxford and the 1552 Paddington to Great Malvern has just left Reading 19 late.

 

And will now only take you one stop down the line:


Presumably due to: