That’s good news for those booked on this train and those who held back from the previous two trains. Some may have been advised to travel via Bristol of course.

 
Please remember, the London to Scotland routes are of a length where speed does make a difference, though whether that should have been 175 mph or 225mph I don't know.  Cutting HS2 off at Birmingham is what makes it a nonsense, though it time I believe it will be built. 

There are benefits though for those towns on the existing WCML as taking the fast non-stop (e.g. first stop Crewe or Warrington) off the lower section of the WCML will create huge extra capacity for more freight and local trains. Though it might be limited by capacity between Birmingham and Crewe at the moment. 

It will bring the same benefits to the ECML and the MML if the eastern leg is built. For those who think we should just improve existing lines ask the people of Bedford for their views as improvements to make way for the EW Rail means demolition of houses built on former railway in order to widen the MML to 4 tracks for a short distance. 

We should use the pause caused by the last government's decision to cancel north of Lichfield, in order to do what Mark Wild says should have been done in the first place.  So there is a shovel ready scheme in place when the chaos that will come in Staffordshire when HS2 opens comes to pass.

 

Indeed - and it makes sense.  For it to work well, it needs staff (volunteers) who have reason to want to work extra - to earn extra money, because they enjoy the work and the folks they work with, to support the team/organisation they work for,  to provide mental stimulation, or to get out of the house away from the screaming kids / in-laws ...

Once it becomes "expected" of them and less enjoyable and they feel "obliged", a system which is good for both employee and employer ceases to work well.   A story was told to me about a bus company who employed a bus-washer six days a week (Saturday overtime) ... so good was his work that he was given a pay rise - a big "thank you" from him and he cease Saturday work because he didn't need the extra money.  I wonder sometimes about just how much staff enjoy working on a variety of routes, and I wonder if restricting route knowdledge also restricts volunteering ... I wonder if so much chopping and changing between trains along the way rather than driving the whole way is a de-motivator.

 

The railway, nationally, has always run on volunteers working additional shifts.

 

Swaps happen at quite short notice sometimes.  800304, a 9-car, is working this train.

 

For the record - at 09:00 this morning

 
As of 10:10 83 cancellations and 58 amended services, so it’s not just the three lines out of Westbury that are affected.

Here’s one of note: 10:03 and 10:36 London to WoE services cancelled. Yeah it happens, but what’s concerning is the 11:03 Newquay train (making extra stops at Pewsey, Westbury and Castle Cary to cover the cancelled 10:36) is down as a 5 coach IET! Crazy!

 
Picking up - if I dare - on the "Codswallop" I posted a couple of days ago.   Saving 15 minutes on a journey from London to Birmingham by having a huge build cost increase does not to me feel like common sense.  Saving several hours on a journey like we made yesterday - Strasbourg to Rennes = 840 kms (525 miles) does make sense; almost exactly 5 hours city centre to city centre, top speed 315kms/hr does make sense.

The project has moved from being a whole Great Britain one to a regional one across just the lower part of the Heart of England.  Project drift and at this point and with hindsight, some of the what is there now is over specification ... it may come back into its own should high speed go further north; the Scottish Lowlands would seem to have been logical.   We can argue all year as to how much should be invested for such a future ...

Personally, and it's not so much HS2 as HS1.75, I would have liked to see HS2 linked across to HS1.   The Frankfurt (Main) Hbf model is an interesting one where some long distance trains across the country and beyond reverse in the Hbf (Hauptbahnhof - Main Station) and others call as stations around such as the airport and others terminate there.  Too late for such a model; I am very much aware that the UK decided it no longer wanted to be part of the EU, and it's not (never has been) part of Schengen (or Euro) - that different paths would have had some challenges  but many of the issues we as individuals and as a country faced today would have been less or eliminated.

 
Saturday July 12

...was a good day.

Sunday July 13

 

But surely the management contract specifies a minimum level of service, and thus that implies a certain number of staff contractually employed to work it.

Or are you saying GWR have accepted a contract that can only be performed if volunteers choose to help up, and GWR cannot incentivise the staff to volunteer.  Illogical (but if DfT are involved, plausible)

 
Wow, they weren’t joking when they said that fewer trains would run between Westbury and Bristol. Almost a three hour gap between the 8.39 and the next train at 11.36 with this train down as a 2 car 165! 

 

HS2 became a political vanity toy, Governments and particular PM's wanted the construction to start so they could beat their chests in Parliament and media that they were getting things done.  The comments Mark Wild has made that planning and consents are key to the success to any infrastructure projects both in terms of budgets and timescale.

Mark Wild HS2 July update on Youtube  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN_Mef7LHkE

 

I have been involved quite a few times in the conference calls that are managing service disruption, there are so many moving parts and demands.  I as the electrification Engineer or my colleges PWay and S&T Engineers may need access to fix a fault  this may add to the initial impact but ultimately will result in a full recovery but that has to be balance against the urgent operational need to provide even a limited service also more importantly we have to say sometimes it is unsafe to use this section of the railway.  The TOC and NR Ops have to consider train crew, suitable rolling stock, train pathing out and return


I'm not involved in the Western Region but each Region has a Silver Command head by senior leaders of NR and the TOCs this will be Route Director level.

 

Given that these franchises are now management contracts that are micromanaged by DfT, how many of these things are actually in GWR's power to change?

1) I suggest that increasing staff is probably subject to DfT approval, and even then would take many months.
2) Yes as far as I can see this is down to GWR
3) I am not sure where they are going to get these from at certain times.  The bus/coach industry is cut-throat and a company that has vehicles and drivers sat around is likely to go out of business very quickly. 
4) Again DfT have demanded that they reduce the number of trains in service to cut costs.  That is why the HSTs have largely gone and other so called surplus stock. 

 
Following up on a-driver's comments on the transfer of some of the class 387s, I am afraid this seemed inevitable. The fleet was procured when it was anticipated not only that electrification would get to Oxford, but also would extend to the Windsor, Marlow, Henley and Basingstoke branches. The Elizabeth Line has also absorbed quite a proportion of GWR stopping train traffic east of Reading.

The result has been that services west of Reading that 10 years ago were run by 3 car Turbos now run often with very lightly loaded 387s. Some have (of course) already been reallocated to Heathrow Express duties, but the rolling stock shortage across GWR territory extends to all non-electrified Thames Valley services too (remember the 769s?).

The contrast with the glacial progress in introducing the 185s further west is striking. If all that I have learned as a member of this forum over the years, this bears the fingerprints of DfT. Will GBR, when it eventually takes over do better (or be allowed to)?

 

I'm often less than impressed with decisions operators make during disruption, but I genuinely don't think that minimising repayment claims figures highly, other than as a by-product of the underlying "how can we best sort out this mess?", for which there are various meanings of the word "best".  Where the cost more directly affects the response is likely to be in areas such as arranging alternative transport (bus, taxi etc), for which there are probably guidelines on severity/timescale of disruption etc and someone will need to authorise it.  Staff overtime may be another area, though working time limits will restrict that anyway.

 

GWR were instructed to release the 387's by the DfT.  As Oxford wasn't electrified the DfT calculated that GWR had a surplus of 387's


There was I believe, a points failure at Didcot with no access from Reading to Oxford.  Trains used Foxhall Jn which requires a reversal and free platforms at Didcot.


Multiple failures at Didcot, Maidenhead and Ladbroke Grove simply means a constantly changing situation and an overstretched controller juggling resources and attempting to perform miracles!

Decision are never made to benefit the company.  The controllers sole intention is trying to keep things moving with what you've, some days whatever decision you make minutes later something else happens that scuppers that plan. 

 
A miserable couple of days relying on the UK train service.

I’ll start elsewhere and then bring it back to GWR towards the end.

I needed to go to Cambridge on Thursday (actually a day early than needed but the extortionate day return price meant going a day before was 1/2 the price).

My Thames Valley stopper gave up at Reading - no reason given, just an announcement from the Driver pulling into Reading. Not to worry - hustled across to platform 10/11 to catch a fast 5 car IEP at 12:34, pausing briefly to notice the number of delayed services on the list. Hmmm - glad I went now as later on could be a mess.

Arrived at King Cross at the start of a major meltdown - the next 3 Cambridge Great Northern train all delayed/cancelled. RTT actually showed all running. Message on the boards said due to a signal failure journeys north of Cambridge would be delayed and subject to cancellation.

Hmmm - but surely running to Cambridge should be fine? Jumped onto OTT and started looking at the maps and it was clear the issue was at the Kings Cross/Cambridge box boundary - south of Cambridge, hence no trains. Gate line staff were pretty hopeless, basically telling people to wait. Jumped onto National Rail where they said fault would not be fixed until 10:00 pm

I started sharing this with other stranded customers - amazingly much to the clear annoyance of the Great Northern staff.

Back onto RTT/OTT - and worked out that if I jumped on the Victoria line to Tottenham Hale I could catch a slow all station stopper from Liverpool Street to Cambridge. Yes it was going to take forever - but I should get there.

Apart from a protracted discussion with Great Anglia gate line staff who had to be convinced that this was a valid route for my ticket I arrived at Cambridge at 5pm (to a scene of armageddon as hundreds stood in the longest queues for taxis to Royston from which trains to Kings X were running.

In total my 2:15 scheduled journey took 5 1/2 hours.

Friday was the return trip - leaving Cambridge at 1:00pm on a GWR liveried  Class 387, albeit with logo removed. I actually spotted 3 more on this trip - I was unaware GWR were transferring these to other operators. Even the WiFi onboard was GWR, so it must be a recent movement.

Kudos to Network Rail who had repaired the signalling interface problem and it’s was a smooth, fast 45 trip to Kings Cross and then onto Paddington.

Arriving at 2:30pm the Thames Valley Didcot stopped was cancelled - alongside several others. Again, back onto RTT and I could see the train actually scheduled to start from Reading.

So why were GWR announcements saying to wait for the next train in 30 minutes.

Jumped into a 10 car IEP bound for Penzance and actually found a seat ! Things were looking up and a smooth ride to Reading took place. This where the GWR customer experience really bottomed out.

I arrived to see the train I was trying to catch showing for Platform 12. Five minutes after the supposed departure  this changed to Delayed - which a s everyone knows is GWR speak for a coin-toss as to whether the train will depart or not.

Some disgruntled customers started merging to for a group to get a taxi to Pangborne - as the previous train has been cancelled.

Time ticked by the the next service was due - but it too fell to the dreaded Delayed banner. I started talking to some friendly GWR staff who like me were glued to their OTT like app trying to work out what the hell was going on.

We finally got an announcement - as they officially Cancelled the first train I was going for - to say there was an issue as Reading Traincare meaning units could not be released. By now the next service has appeared and was showing as Delayed.

To summarise - for at least 2 hours GWR had failed to run 4 local services to Didcot.

Finally, around 4pm Class 387’s started emerging from Reading Traincare.

Excellent news, or so I thought - surely at least one of these units would service the crowd of hundred customers on Platform 12 and send a train to Didcot. (By this time I have seen a service at Slough, in bound).

But No! GWR sent all these units (I witnessed at least 3) towards London.

At 4:30 I board the Class 387 - the one that arrived from Slough. This was a sauna as the aircon on-board was not working and people arriving fell out of the train gasping for air, and issuing us dire warnings.

So here is my ire (in no particular order)

Why oh why didn’t GWR send a unit to Didcot once they had overcome the Traincare issues?  Is it because those poor customers who had been stranded at Reading for 2 hours were already a lost cause in terms of repayment claims - so to minimise the damage to the GWR coffers it was better to send units to London?

Why at Paddington did they not tell customers that the cancelled train would start at Reading (OK - it did not in the end but did they know that at that point in time?)

Why do customer service facing staff have no better (and in some cases less) information that Joe Public? If I wasn’t aware of RTT or OTT I would be completely at the whim of the train companies

Why are GWR 387s being released elsewhere when they can’t hold/recover the timetable together with the stock they have.

… I could go on.

I have watched and read much on the coming of Great British Railways - and have been neutral about the pros and cons. Privatisation has brought investment to the railway (alongside large shareholder payouts) but this investment has done nothing to allow the railways to continue to operate on days when it is stressed. So what is the point? Maybe public ownership will correct some my experiences - but maybe not.

But most importantly I want a railway that puts customers FIRST and the banishment of operational decisions that benefit no one except the train operating company themselves.

I’ve written this 24 hours after arriving home - giving at lease my blood pressure time to fall, if not the actual temperature. My original draft was far far more spicey.

 

In the short term only.

The problem is, GWR have too many depots in some areas fighting over too little work which is why they’ve had to take route knowledge away.
A driver for example can do 4 hours (I think) continuous driving,  a well run company would strive to get close to that getting the most productivity out of a driver. 

In the good old days!
Driver 1 would drive A to E and take would take, for argument sake, 4 hours.  Then a break, and then 4 hours back E to A.

What you have now is something like:
Driver 1 goes A to B, then 30 minute break, then drives B to A, 30 minute break etc etc
Driver 2 does the B to C, 30 minute break, then drives C to B etc
Driver 3 does C to D etc
Driver 4 does D to E etc
As you see, half their day could see them sitting around doing nowt.  When there’s service disruption, all 4 drivers are in the wrong place which leaves trains stranded or perhaps Driver 2 doesn’t work their Sunday and the whole service is cancelled.

 
Thanks Chris - I should have guessed there was an HS2-related discussion ongoing somewhere.

 
Scotsman specials running as scheduled today, Saturday 12th July 2025.

Tomorrow would normally have been a standard WSR running day but they are instead running Flying Scotsman services for those who missed out on Friday. All affected passengers were given the option of the travelling on Sunday or a full refund.

 

Fewer routes to learn saves time in route learning and route refresh days. So instead of taking 50 days to route learn it takes 30 and a driver is productive for those extra 20 days.

 

It doesn’t, that’s why it’s baffling decision.

Removing route knowledge from crew increases the number of crew you actually need to run the service.   

 
Of course neither line was blocked - quite the opposite.  There were no trains available to run on them - so they were totally clear. 

 
How does taking routes off traincrew save money?

 

Yes, I’m aware. I had routes taken off me too. I believe only the LTV depots didn’t lose routes in May.

 

They’ve taken routes off several depots….. and immediately felt the consequences!  Staff questioned this with management at the time and they were told this was a “decision based on the needs of the businsss”.   

That level of decision making is what cost First Group the TPE franchise.

 

Interestingly the banner headline on GWR seems to imply multiple failings on GWRs part.

1) failed to have enough serviceable staff
2) failed to update journey planners in timely way
3) failed to hire in replacement buses (or coaches, or charter train)
4) what trains they run will be busy because not lengthening them

And what do they mean by "Your comfort and safety are our priority.  Please check live updates...."   is that PR speak for we can't be bothered to get you there.

https://www.gwr.com/sunday-disruption

 


Yes, but guards only, and there are only a few of them down there. Taking Weymouth (and Gloucester) off Bristol drivers and Melksham off Gloucester drivers certainly raised a few eyebrows in May.

 
And:
https://x.com/chimewhistle/status/1943983000024142016?s=61
Anyone able to explain the benefits of GWR doing this from a PASSENGER point of view? So far since the summer timetable change in May, the Heart of Wessex line reliability has gone down with trains either starting or terminating at Westbury.

See: https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=30417.msg363068
and https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=30356.0