Major disruption expected this morning due to signalling problems near Slough.

 
No signals working at all between Slough and Iver caused by a damaged signalling cable.

In otherwords, we suspect Network Rail have cut through a signal cable whilst undertaking engineering works at about 00:30 this morning.

 
Topic split off from http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=14258 - a major discussion concerning delays on 14th July 2014.

This morning's diagram ...



Those of the team who met up on Saturday were discussing (in relation to CrossCounty) how the trains go a very long way but most of the traffic is for much shorter journeys ... stand at York, see a Penzance train, and know that few passengers joining will be going to Cornwall ... or even Devon.    Let's hope there's a lot of that about this morning ... with sets that would normally be used for runs like Exeter to Paddington doing Castle Cary to Reading instead.

 
Absolute shower of s***

I was on a PLY-PAD service yesterday, grossly overcrowded to the point of danger due to other train failures (there was luggage in the vestibules and aisles blocking access as there was no room for people, never mind bags) and am aware of numerous other services with similar conditions, complete under provision of replacement transport at Didcot etc (bustitution now seems about as reliable as the trains they are supposed to replace, if they turn up at all), and now the week starts with colossal volumes of cancellations due (it is suspected) to some clown cutting through a cable.

Last time we were told that Hopwood would be "signalling" his displeasure to Network Rail, what's the message today I wonder?

 
Groundhog day again. I managed to rush to Twyford to get the 0643 stopper which after lengthy waits at Slough West and in Slough P3, and a crawl to Iver, eventually made it to Ealing Broadway at 0821 some 48 mins late where I bailed for the Central Line. However from RTT it looks like I might have been quite lucky, I see that the 0600 Bristol TM - Paddington HST has just taken slightly over TWO HOURS to travel from RDG to PAD.

Yes same old, same old, but what's just got my goat is listening to some NR spokesbot on BBC Radio Berkshire saying "we'll learn our lessons for next time". No you bl**dy won't, you'll just send along some other faceless bloke to say exactly the same thing. 

 
I see that Journeycheck is saying "signalling problems" led to all these cancellations, while the code in RTT is "power failure (IE)". Presumably that means the power supply to the signals has gone ... in which case restoring it should be a simpler single task (though not necessarily any quicker).

 
Apparently, some 1640 metres of 650v cable has needed to be replaced.

 

All the signals between Slough and Iver are black on all four lines.  Currently operating what is known as Temporary Block Working on the up and down mains only with Network Rail handsignallers at both Slough and Iver.  It should take around 20 minutes to pass through the affected area once a train leaves the point of entry to the TBW section. 

 
Replacement 650v cable now installed and power restored. However there are still some 650v power supply problems in nearby locations.

 
The BBC's Tom Edwards has just tweeted: "Network Rail say repairs at Slough have been completed BUT a further fault has been identified. Only able to allow 4 trains ph each way."

(Just checked the latest on RTT and the 0628 SWA-PAD which left RDG at 0916 didn't make it into PAD until 1151^, 141 minutes late)

 
Seemed to be more staff out and about at Swindon this morning. Perhaps a sign that they (FGW) are learning their lesson about getting people and information out there?

As usual the most up to date information seems to be coming from this forum, something we can all be proud of. 

EDIT: I guess it's an advantage having line control upstairs. 

 
Following replacement of 650v cable in affected area and powering up the system it was discovered that there was no power further along at the next relay location. Fortunately, new cable is already in place at this location and work is now in hand to connect that up. Testing should be underway by 1300.

 

I'm hearing the cable was crushed during engineering works, although obviously I can't confirm it.

What I find astounding is how the infrastructure is so fragile and contingency planning so feeble that damage to a pretty basic bit of kit can cause total and utter chaos for what is likely to be getting towards 24 hours by the time it's all done and dusted......no doubt we will get the usual platitudes from FGW about expecting better etc etc but frankly it is difficult to take them seriously........what a way to celebrate a 5 year franchise extension.......no doubt the best is yet to come! 

 
From the BBC:

 
Passenger Focus are carrying out a National Passenger Survey today at Bristol PW, Bristol TM, Exeter Central, Paddington, Oxford and Reading stations.

As these surveys are 'based on your journey today...' they'll no doubt be getting some interesting responses!

 
Void day? 

 

I'd hope so. Especially with disruption being expected until later this afternoon.

It's days like these that put many people off jobs requiring inter town/city commuting...on the train at least...

 
Notwithstanding the fact there was major disruption still, I did feel that the revised service plan held up reasonably well given the circumstances - there seemed more staff on the ground at the locations I witnessed, and the usual complete meltdown didn't seem quite as catastrophic.  For example, the Oxford<>Reading stopping services pretty much ran as normal, whereas often there's a mad scramble for drivers and sets meaning loads of last second cancellations.  Perhaps some lessons have been learned?  Perhaps forum members who were directly affected can give a summary of how their journey was affected today and how they thought it compared with previous major signalling outages as I may just have been 'lucky' in what I witnessed?

 
Still some residual problems in the area after the new cabling was energised.

Track circuits showing occupied when clear, and one or two signals still 'black' - i.e. not showing any aspect.

 

Considering the length of the affected section, I think they done well.  They ran as many trains as possible through the area and, most importantly, it was done safely.  

There's not much more you could do when you have no power to any of the signalling equipment on all 4 lines.  No train detection system, no point detection, no working signals, no interlocking the lot.  No contingency plan is going to get you around that and you can't plan for every single eventuality.  The finer details of a train plan is formed once an incident has been declared and the full extent of the incident is known.  No two incidents will ever be the same.  Network Rail will inform FGW control how many trains they can safely handle through the area and its worked out from there.
Early hours of the morning, taxis were being provided for cancelled trains.  At the height of rush hour it is not possible to acquire anywhere near the number of taxis and coaches required.  Even if you provided a handful of coaches you'll end up with a stampede of commuters all trying to fight their way onto a coach when its announced.  You'll have people being trampled over left right and centre.  

 


......woke up, went downstairs, checked trains, realised everything was melting down, woke Mrs TaplowGreen, asked for a lift to work, arrived at work, logged onto Interflora website 

Based on previous experiences it clearly wasn't going to be worth going to the station and hoping for the best.

 
Likewise.

Woke up.  Put on suit.  Read text messages.  Took off suit.  Went downstairs.  Turned on computer...

 

 

Indeed. There may not have been a florist at the station. 

 
I saw the text messages and tried to get the early train from Swindon (0641) which wasn't cancelled - didn't make it.  Sat at the train station until the next train (0728 actually left at 0745) and got the one after instead (0741, arrived at 0752 and left about 10 minutes later after we'd managed to convince everyone left on the platform that it was full and there was no more space).

Standing room only with extra stops at Maidenhead and Slough, although no-one got on or off as there was no space, finally crawled into London Paddington at 11:25ish

Wish my boss allowed me to work from home

 

Too much detail I think.  Sitting naked in front of your computer?  

Paul

 
Unusually for me I didn't check the rail planner app when I first woke up. So I went to Thatcham to catch the 06:57 to Paddington only to start to realize the size of the problem.

I did ask at Reading if I could use my Thatcham to Paddington ticket via Guildford so that I could avoid the SWT service to Waterloo but wasn't convinced that the person offering assistance understood the question so took the snail service and arrived 90 minutes late.

Sadly I had to be on site otherwise I would have done what a lot of you did.

Let's just hope we are not in for another bad run of signal failures

 
The information available on-line is a bit conflicting..

I am waiting for someone who is arriving at Maidenhead on the 15.12 departure from Paddington.. Journeycheck says it is cancelled.. National Rail departures board says it's cancelled from West Drayton.. Real time trains shows it as just having left Slough and the report from the person on the train coincides with that..

How any one is going to work out what is going on for the trip home this evening (those that made it in that is) is beyond me 

 
I got to the station usual time, train arrived a few minutes late. Was usual 3 cars and was standing room only. Travelled to Reading which was fun when the Pangbourne and Tilehurst commuters tried to squeeze on. Arrived at Reading around 0800. Most of us started getting off, but loads didn't even flinch until some of us said it was terminating. I checked it was terminating with one of the dispatch staff who confirmed it, and then they must have announced it on the train as everyone piled off.

We were told the next stopper to London was 0831 on Platform 13A, so we all queued up waiting. 0831 came and went, by which point platform 13A was about 8 people deep! 0834 came and went, then in typical fashion the 0831 vanished completely. Everyone was somewhat bemused. Then it changed to 0841 (or something) to Banbury! Empty 6 car turbo arrived, everyone totally confused, dispatch didn't have a clue where the London stopper was. I walked down to ask the driver where she was going, she said "Banbury I think, but don't ask me, I just work here" which made me chuckle! She was mobbed by people asking the same as she walked back down the platform to the other end. That then left, with about 4 people on it, to run non-stop to Oxford.

Suddenly there were shouts from all directions that the stopper was on Platform 14A. Everyone bundled up the escalator which promptly stopped. There was a mad crush up, along the bridge and back down the other side.

The dispatcher on 14A kept blowing his whistle, despite being loads of people trying to get down the escalator. Some poor lady went flying across the platform in her panic to reach the train before it left, I believe the dispatcher came to help her.

Finally made it down onto the train, which was standing room only as we left - not that it stopped people with their full size bikes trying to get on.

BTP were on the platform, as a precaution I assume.

Arrived at Twford which was relatively quiet, so once the students got off, there was space for the commuters, so wasn't too much of a crush.

Then we arrived at Maidenhead, which as usual, was a complete chaotic nightmare with the idiots that stand in front of the doors so no one can get off (hint, if you let us off, you can get on). Oh except the one chap who decided he would get on before we even had a chance to get off (I have never experienced this phenomenon anywhere else apart from Maidenhead!).


Can't wait to go home!

 
Long distance train plan for the rest of the day:


Up relief line in the affected area running normally. Down relief has one signal out with trains being talked past. Paddington to Reading currently has an all stations hourly service.

Ticket acceptance on all reasonable alternative rail routes (particularly SWT Waterloo-Reading, Virgin Euston-Birmingham then London Midland to Worcester/Hereford. Chiltern Marylebone-Banbury) an on First Berkshire buses:

1B/2 Slough to Burnham
58/78 Slough to Langley
75 Maidenhead > Taplow > Burnham > Slough > Langley
76 Burnham > Slough > Langley

 
Discussion that took a Pythonesque turn has been split off to a new topic:

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=14692.0

 

They did Swindon the other Sunday when most services were substituted by buses.  Suspect that skewed the comments somewhat.

 
They'll most likely exclude these papers & run extra questionaires to cover.

 
BBC Points West have been guilty of rather a huge over-simplification.  Apparently the problems were caused by "a damaged signal".

 
Same on BBC London.  Apparently it was a "points failure".

 
Does anyone know if this might be sorted before tomorrow morning's rush hour? It doesn't look that good currently.. Half hourly service Paddington to Reading.. and the trains still seem to be losing a lot of time along the way

 
Testing of signal circuits is ongoing at present.

 
Just had a tweet from FGW saying that they're holding a 'Meet the Manager' session at Reading tomorrow (Tuesday) between 16:30 and 18:30.

Brave...

 
In case tomorrow reflects today's situation...

When FGW says Chiltern will accept FGW tickets between Banbury and Marylebone does that mean Chiltern will accept a CHO-PAD season ticket from Princes Risborough to MYB?  Notwithstanding a longer car journey at the start (and finish), it will be significantly quicker than crawling with SWT via Staines to Waterloo.

It would need to honoured on the way home too, as my transport home would be in PRR!

 
Planning to get the 0903 THA-PAD this morning and thanks to BBC Berks heard about 0700 that there were major probs.

Waited at home till 0830, when Journeycheck was showing that the 0903 was on time but would terminate at RDG.

On the basis that it could then take me hours to get from RDG-PAD (if at all), I drove to Basingstoke and caught the 0930 to Waterloo. Never realised how comfy the seats on a 159 are! (compared to 165/166 anyway).

Admittedly, I was travelling outside the peaks but got a seat into Waterloo and back again this evening. Journey time was about 45 mins in each direction.

If I didn't live within walking distance of THA I might go into London that way more often :-) Much quicker getting to the City from Waterloo (via "The Drain") aswell.

 

To be fair, the routes into Waterloo has just as many days when the service is a disaster!

 
This even affected local mainline services in Cornwall today. I got the 2A63 1141 Penzance to Newton Abbot from Truro which was 16 late, due to the previous service the unit works from Bristol arrived at PNZ 20 late.

This afternoon after a trip down to Looe I arrived back at Liskeard to find the 1C84 was an hour late and then the 2C51 from Plymouth was 24 late from due to crew shortage because of train delays, which had most seats taken and people standing as it is a single 150.

To make matters worse apparently a freight train broke down on the up line at Lostwithiel blocking trains. meaning the 1C94 was 106 late upon starting again from Par according to RTT. This of course caused a huge backlog of trains on the up line waiting at signals.

Although the station manager at Liskeard was very good at passing on information, going along the platforms telling all the passengers the current situation.

 

This could be one of those rare times when every passenger approached actually does have time to answer a few questions!


Let's hope he isn't delayed...

 
Visited Reading earlier (not been there since the rebuild completed), and I was waiting for the 19:18 service to Paddington (from Newbury) on platform 10 when there was an automated tanoy announcement to say that there was a platform alteration and that this train would depart from Platform 1!

People started to make a dash for the escalators, only to drift back a few minutes later, presumably when they realised they realised the train wouldn't be advancing any further!

Staff on the over bridge were advising people to take the stopper to Paddington, and these looked to be full to standing. But at 19:40 a service originating from Penzance rolled in and got that one to Paddington, Passing several stoppers on route.

 

A prime example of how automation can fail. What did the system think was going to happen? Into the west facing bay, back out, stop, reverse, then on to Paddington?

Someone knew what was going to happen to that service, having taken the decision to terminate it at Reading. That information should have been communicated to the passenger information systems or to station staff to make a manual announcement.

 

Route via Melksham, cut out the reversal...


Manual announcement did come, but too late. T'was just myself, one member of staff (in purple jacket) and a meandering subway beaker (the modern day tumbleweed) remaining on platform 10.

I would have thought a few more people would have known it was a bay platform. Thats more local geography than technical rail operations.

 
I intended to catch the 23:35 from BRI to EXD...

I am still waiting..............

 

And why not    ... there are even precedents where reversal upon departure is required, such as trains from Limerick Junction to Waterford. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limerick_Junction

 
Many services reverse direction during a diagram at Bristol Temple Meads every day. Including Local Class 15x stock and InterCity High Speed Train (HST)/Voyager Stock

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

 
Up Sleeper has a massive delay also. Meant to depart Exeter St Davids at 01:06 and is now expected 05:08 and counting... Flooding on the line apparently. Staff at Exeter St Davids have been fantastic in making everyone comfortable however

 
Driver for 1C99 (Down Sleeper) from Exeter St Davids has not arrived to work the train... He has since been located inside 1A40 (Up Sleeper) which at the time of writing has just passed Saltash 286 minutes late...

bobm are you in one of the births by chance?

 
No I didn't jinx it for once.

Up sleeper currently 4 hours 45 minutes late approaching Totnes and the Down 23 late leaving Newton Abbot.

 
Meanwhile back at Slough repairs were completed at 3am. Hopefully a normal service this morning barring rolling stock being in the wrong place.

 

However to get to Padd from Platform 1 at Reading would require a reversal on the running line not in teh platform.

 

Hold on a minute..........are you saying that on a day of colossal disruption, when people were being advised not to travel on FGW services, FGW were relying on drivers getting to their starting points..........by FGW trains?

You really couldn't make that one up - why on Earth didn't they put him in a taxi? It would have been a great deal cheaper than the compensation bill which will come out of this delay!!!  

 

And so it does at Limerick Junction, to this day.   The train leaves towards Limerick, then changes direction on the running line towards Tipperaray and Waterford.  And it used to be even more complex there!

 

One other running line reversal happens regularly at Inverness - the 1714 Kyle of Lochalsh to Elgin has to take the avoiding line at Inverness and then reverse at Welsh's Bridge Jct into Platform 2 in order to get access on departure to the Elgin route.

 

Poster was already up on Saturday, so pre-planned. Brave not to cancel it, I agree. They wouldn't dare....


By any reasonable route...so if that suited you, it is likely to be reasonable, I'd say. They were accepting almost anything Thames Valley-wise to HWY for example....

 

As I understand it, yes, the driver was on the train going the other way.    And in "sound bites" it might sound like a poor decision.   However, this was the train from Penzance - a long long way from the Thames Valley, and already in place there for the journey up to Exeter and beyond - no reason at all to suspect that it wouldn't be reliable until the other issues hit.

A train operating company is between a rock and a hard place when it comes to decisions like these.   They should move their own staff around by train ("patriotic" to the railway) and indeed I observe that they do when it's practical.   However, especially where they're looking at first / last services, sometimes there is no practical train, and they'll fall back to road.

In my personal view, they normally come up with a sensible compromise in this area, and in my own volunteer work I follow much the same philosophy;  I'll take an hour or two longer to go by public transport, but if it's much more than that / means missing a vital meeting then it's car / taxi - either to a suitable railhead, or all the way.   In times of disruption it's harder to judge, and I'm sure that the folks in Penzance would have loved to have had a crystal ball to see that the up sleeper would be delayed.

 
There was (widely predicted) severe weather in Cornwall earlier in the day yesterday causing flooding and structural damage and which also affected the railways notwithstanding the signal failures - the local media were advising people not to attempt to travel by rail towards London due to the weather AND the signalling problems in Slough.......I wouldn't have thought a crystal ball would have been necessary to at least manage the risk? (Unless of course that's the method FGW employ these days?)

Under these circumstances do you really think it was a good call to rely on a train to get the single most important person involved to the place he needed to be to move the last service of the day, risking delay and inconveniencing hundreds of customers?

 

Firstly, 'hundreds of customers' on the night sleeper after Exeter?  A couple of dozen more like.  Secondly, the train was only delayed at Exeter by 19 minutes, and was back on time by departure from Plymouth, so only the handful travelling to Newton Abbot/Plymouth would have suffered minor inconvenience.  Thirdly, the driver for the train may well have been utilised to work another train down towards Plymouth due to the disruption -  looking at the diagram that it books on at 23:25 and does one shunt before 'working as required' until departing with the sleeper at 04:11.  He/she would therefore have been a prime candidate to be used to work another train in the meantime, perhaps to Plymouth, so a taxi may not have been viable or necessary.   
 

 
My journey yesterday was Working from home (planned in advance so not a problem)..

Today however it went as follows:

1 Get up on time but check NR site first.. trains running ok so carry on getting ready for work
2. Check Journey check (several times) -  no issue with 7.59 Maidenhead to Paddington
3. Get to station..as soon as previous service leaves it becomes apparent that the 7.59 is a class-180 not the usual HST - would have been good to know in advance as I've had got the preceding stopping service
4. Attempt to get on 7.59 departure - give up
5. Attempt to get on 8.02 departure - give up
6. Get on 8.11 departure but abandon it at Slough as it was sooo overcrowded
7. Get on 8.29 Slough to Paddington
8. Tweet FGW re why journey check was not showing the change to the 7.59 (it never does show it when this happens)
9. FGW on twitter tweet to say (pretend) it was on there 
10. Get to work 40 minutes late so not bad all things considering but information is what we need.. 40 minutes late at work is ok when I have no early meetings but if that is going to happen I'd rather spend the time at home.. not platform swapping at Maidenhead 

 
My journey yesterday consisted of:

Woken by alarm on phone
Roll over to turn off alarm
Stare in disbelief at 06:30 text notifying of 20+ cancellations
Double check twitter and journeycheck
Roll over and go back to sleep

Sometime later I started working from home

 
Out of interested following the problems yesterday are weekly ticket holders allowed to recover any of the cost of their ticket?

I thought I saw mention of this somewhere.

 
I would think so! Complete a claim with your details/delay. If you didn't travel, they may well also pay out, but I'd email or tweet them & find out before claiming.

 

Many thanks

 

I saw it there this morning. The 07:34 (180) ex DID was shown as cancelled due to train fault. The 07:06 High Speed Train (HST) ex DID was shown as a 5 car rather than 8.

My interpretation was that the High Speed Train (HST) failed at OOC - or rather was not available after yesterday's chaos - and the 180 was run in place of the High Speed Train (HST).  The up Bristol called additionally at DID (07:31) to make up for the cancelled 07:34

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

 

What time did you see that? When I left home about 7.20 the 7.34 didcot departure was showing as cancelled but the 7.06 wasn't showing as any change from normal..

Still no excuse for not telling us at the station.. unless they didn't know either?

 
Apparently FGW Tweeted that the delays of the 6th October are NOT disruptive enough for it to be classed a void day... :-x

 
That really really gets my goat. It displays a level of arrogance that I find both absurd and upsetting.

 
Hmmm. If they advise people not to travel (did they?) then I think it is very suspect not to declare a void day.

 

Very valid point John R

 
That really beggars belief with the amount of delays and cancelations that took place. Anyone know what the threshold is set at to declare a void day?

 
Who sets the criteria for a void day?  I would have thought it would have been in FGW's interests to declare it void. So presumably something must have stopped them.

 

Well someone asked that very question. More recent twitter talk suggests that it is being reviewed again however.

FGWs tweet 7th October AM

 

It was after I got to work at 07:45. I was looking at various information regarding late running on RTT and wanted to clarified a cancellation on FGW.  That is when I picked up the details.

 
Void days are entirely in the choice of the operator....

 

There was some further Twitter discussion in this thread: FGWs tweet 7th October PM

In particular Leo says "That's correct, out of 814 planned LTV services yesterday, 146 didn't run."

I've just checked RTT for Twyford last night between 1700 and 1900. Of the 30 services due to call, 17 were cancelled. Of the 13 which did run, 7 were Henley Branch trains (one of which should have started from PAD but didn't). So how did they come up with 146 out of 814 not running?

 
Assuming your delay qualifies (and if it doesn't, why do you think you are hard done by?), you would get the same comp with the delay payment as you will if a void day is declared...equivalent to your fare refunded (for daily ticket/7day season) or a days equivalent on a monthly or longer season.

I don't see the complaint?....

 
Do you get a refund on a longer dated season. I thought the only compensation was either a void day or a 5% discount if the overall performance warrants it. As the performance is already beyond that threshold, it costs FGW nothing, whereas if they declare a void day it does.

Looking at Chippenham as an example, of the 13 trains timetabled to leave before noon for Paddington, only 4 made it the whole way, four stopped short at Reading and 5 were cancelled. Of the four that made it through the average delay was 108 minutes, with the 0725 being delayed for 2 hrs 38 mins.

If that wasn't enough disruption to declare a void day, I don't know what is.

 
Indeed, claiming comp gives you vouchers usable across ticketing, void day extends your season. Which would you find more useful?

Good point re monthly/longer seasons. Void day extends your season, otherwise it would count towards a 5% didcount. If that kicks in, it will cost FGW more..if it doesn't, they gain.

My point re weeklies & daily tickets is correct though.

But it is entirely choice of the TOC

 
Interesting though....

The perpetrator (Network Rail this time) would ultimately pay the full comp paid out by the TOC. Who (and how on earth is it calculated?!) would they cover a void day declared?

 

My thoughts are that by saying this wasn't a void day then FGW are saying this didn't have a notable impact to the majority of travellers on that day - almost like saying 'these things happen and we don't owe you an apology' - which i find arrogant and disrespectful to paying customers.

By having to claim individually passengers a) have to write in themselves; b) are subject to the extremely inconsistent approach applied by FGW customer service.

Given that many many people won't be bothered to do this* and FGW will be recompensed themselves by NR we run the risk of creating the moral hazard that TOC's may come to regard such incidents as 'nice little earners' which I find objectionable.



*i have no stats on what proportion of travellers will actually claim.

 
Once smartcards are introduced, auto-compensation will be easily assessable (your train journey will be recorded, so proof you travelled when you say you did) and therefore payable.
Until then, the TOC doesn't know who travelled at what time, and thus needs to know. Not everyone would have been delayed by the full (two hours is it) amount to be entitled to full refund.

In this case, I think I'm with the TOC...

 
And what of those who didn't travel because they were told not to?

 

What about people who bought Advance tickets for a specific train via the FGW website? They would have all the customers details and would be able to refund automatically with no need for a claim if it was cancelled?.

 
Indeed, agreed - but that applies to all TOCs and thus becomes an ATOC issue - suggest taking it up through Passenger Focus maybe?

 
Tweet from @FGW: "Following Mondays disruption we're offering compensation to affected Season Ticket Holders. We'll be in contact directly with more details."

https://twitter.com/FGW/status/519811385715617792

 
And so today we have a signalling failure between Twyford (TWY) and Maidenhead (MAI) affecting all lines... 

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronyms

 
Having just boarded at maidenhead on the delayed 7.08 I'm sorry to say that there were no station announcements, no platform staff to ask, no update on journeycheck, and once onboard no acknowledgement of the delay by the TM.

... So I came here to find out the cause... 

 
To add to those delays the 7.59am High Speed Train (HST) has been replaced by a Class-180 for the second time this week. So late to work again then... '

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

 
I am on said 180 - crawling through Twyford. Signalling issues in the Maidenhead area.

 
Indeed,  I'm just passing Twyford some 25mins after leaving Reading on the 8:09 service.

 
Here we go again...

Fun fact: Passing through the station on the way to work the 0929 from Swindon to Paddington was showing as now stopping on platform 'UML' ...mind the gap 

 
Looking at some recent replies on their Twitter account, FGW are currently blaming the fault on Network Rail (NR) cutting through a cable AGAIN... 


Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

 

......for the second time this week, total chaos, RTT listing over 30 trains cancelled - lucky I came in early today and missed it - this affects peoples jobs and lives and is simply unacceptable.......and yes I know Network Rail look after the signals before all the FGW devotees start going all Railway enthusiast fundamentalist on me, but it's FGW that take a chunk of my salary in return for providing a service of sorts, so I expect them to sort their infrastructure providers out, rather than their Directors bleating about learning lessons year after year......first lesson to learn, use cable scanners, if my blokes don't, they get sacked.

 
Reliability certainly seems to be getting worse, and subjectively seems to be much worse than back in the "good old days"
Breakdowns certainly occurred back in the old days, but I don't recall major failures resulting in DOZENS of cancellations, occurring on a near weekly basis.
Thirty trains are cancelled at present, and many other services are running for only part of the scheduled journey.

This weeks two major failures appear to be network rail incompetence, and might not be repeated for some weeks, but the rainy season has just started and will probably result in a third consecutive autumn of disruption caused by "once in a century extreme weather"

Looking further ahead we have electrification to look forward to with the inevitable weather related disruption.

 

Your [original] comparison was over the top, and could have been read very much in the wrong way. Thank you for going back and amending it.

I have to agree with you that the current rate of failure has moved well beyond what should be provided - as I read it, there has been one morning out of four so far this week that has run smoothly, with two lots of engineering problems and a person under a train.   And I have to agree that when you buy a service from someone, it's really up to them to get what they need from their suppliers in turn.

But we have a problem ... it's tightly regulated and there IS only one supplier ... you can write "unacceptable" and the answer has to be "then don't accept it" - and that might mean some sort of campaigning, or a switch to an alternative means of travel, or to another home or to another job.  Frankly, the passenger / travelling public is pretty powerless against what is a monopoly of service, and to take the work "unacceptable" at face value means some pretty tough decisions.   And even if there were an open access operator on the line, it's still Network Rail behind it ...

 
To paraphrase Lady Bracknell,

    "To cut one cable may be regarded as a misfortune. To cut two in one week looks like carelessness."

I agree with TaplowGreen about cable scanners.

 
Why are there so many single points of failure ? Is that simply the way signalling infrastructure works ?

 

The whole area is CAT scanned, quite often see them trackside during the day undertaking this.  Still doesn't stop some idiot damaging the cable.  Monday they managed to crush a cable I believe.
Today's signalling failure is currently logged as a track circuit failure between Twyford and Maidenhead. Cause not reported as yet although it was logged that the first train up in the morning operated track circuits correctly which suggests some work was carried out overnight??