Gas leak at Didcot 23/09/26

[CR165022]

At Bournemouth station at 16:15 today we saw with our own eyes a XC arriving. Nowhere on RTT can I see where it had come from, according to all the sources I’ve checked if it was the 11:25 ex-MAN PIC then it was terminated at Oxford.

Did it perhaps continue ECS?

Will be this service from Reading. XC have been splitting the services, regular timetabled ones being cut short on the Oxford side and VST 1Z services on the reading side.

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:18382/2026-09-23/detailed#allox_id=0

 

[LW84]

I am fairly sure XC have run some services from Reading to Bournemouth on Wednesday (as per above)

I can see the last two southbound services on XC between Oxford and Reading (22:16 at Oxford onto Southampton C / 23:16, with the start now B'ham NS at 22:03) are due to run through.

 

[800301]

Still nothing going through at present although I'd imagine service alterations that have already been made can't be reverted that quickly

Any trains that do go via Didcot will NOT have their calling patterns changed, they for some reason are keeping to the advertised train plan tonight

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

A friend is supposed to be travelling from Reading to Cardiff tomorrow and is very worried about this. Are there any alternative routes he could try? National Rail Enquiries journey planner is extremely unhelpful as it just lists all the cancelled services.

Reading to Cardiff was my old uni commute.
Reading to Westbury, Westbury to Cardiff, is what I'd do in these circumstances.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Wednesday at 21:24 ==

Gave way to the rare sight of CrossCountry using the Oxford bays with Manchester services starting there, with a Cotswold shuttle on through Platform 3 and a Bristol service on through Platform 4.





Images show a XC Voyager parked in Oxford’s bay platform 1.
It is dark and there is a Marylebone 168 in bay platform 2, and a Hereford 802 in bay platform 3.

 

[moogal]

Just seen this:

UPDATE: Rail services to resume as normal on Thursday after Didcot gas leak repaired

Rail services will operate again between Reading and Swindon on Thursday 24 September as engineers from gas distribution company SGN have successfully repaired a gas leak near railway land in the Didcot area.

www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk

Relevant part:

Rail services will operate again between Reading and Swindon on Thursday 24 September as engineers from gas distribution company SGN have successfully repaired a gas leak near railway land in the Didcot area.


Network Rail and GWR expect to run a normal level of service from Thursday 24 September, following a day of severe disruption to services between Reading and Swindon.


While most services are expected to run to their usual timetable, passengers are advised that some short-notice changes may still occur as GWR works to fully restore normal operations across the network. Passengers are urged to check their journey before travelling.

 

[mrmartin]

Out of interest, would there be compensation due from the gas company to NR? And assuming it was a construction company that hit the gas main, would they be liable to the gas company?

 

[trainophile]

Excellent, thanks for the update. Was wondering if we’d get home from Bournemouth tomorrow, not that I’d have minded staying on!

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Well, that was interesting yesterday, to say the least!

I travelled up from Newport to Didcot Parkway in the morning via Bristol Temple Meads (there was quite a delay there) but got to the Railway Centre okay. My colleague in the Museum had a more difficult journey from Basingstoke as he went to Reading by train as normal and from there to Didcot by bus. He was around an hour late, so we didn't open the Museum until around 11.00am as opposed to 10.00am as usual.

Having read the messages above from several of you (thanks!), my colleague started to get a bit twitchy about how he was going to get home. It looked as if he had two options - train from Didcot to Oxford, bus from there to Reading and train from there to Basingstoke or train from Didcot to Bath Spa, train from there to Reading and train from there to Basingstoke. Both of these would have been a lot longer time-wise, so he decided to leave earlier than normal; I think that he was going to get the first option, although I won't know until I see him next week.

I wasn't in a great hurry to get home, so I stayed until the site closed at 4.00pm. My return journey was fairly straightforward, being Didcot Parkway - Bristol Temple Meads - Newport, although there were some delays, although nothing that couldn't be dealt with.

I'm pleased to see that the leak has been sorted out, though - I can only imagine that the disruption today and tomorrow would have been severe if it hadn't been.

 

[davews]

Thanks for your tale of woe..... You may be aware that a group of Mensans are visiting you on Sunday, I was planning to join in but other things got in the way. I trust you will give them a good show.

 

[Falcon1200]

It looked as if he had two options - train from Didcot to Oxford, bus from there to Reading and train from there to Basingstoke or train from Didcot to Bath Spa, train from there to Reading and train from there to Basingstoke.

Too late now of course but there is also a bus service between Didcot and Newbury (Thames Travel X24), then train to Reading. Possibly a shorter way round!

 

[181]

Too late now of course but there is also a bus service between Didcot and Newbury (Thames Travel X24), then train to Reading. Possibly a shorter way round!

Or the bus from Didcot to Wallingford to intercept the Oxford-Reading bus there.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Thanks for your tale of woe..... You may be aware that a group of Mensans are visiting you on Sunday, I was planning to join in but other things got in the way. I trust you will give them a good show.

I won't actually be there on Sunday, but I'm sure that my colleagues will give them a good times.

 

[Thames99]

Is it really that case that the gas pipe did not have isolating valves? It seems extraordinary if that is the case - what would happen if there was a fire after a leak?

 

[Nevasleep]

Is it really that case that the gas pipe did not have isolating valves? It seems extraordinary if that is the case - what would happen if there was a fire after a leak?

I think the problem with isolating immediately might be that after the gas supply is isolated, they can’t restore it until safety checks have been completed by visiting every property impacted.

 

[John Webb]

Is it really that case that the gas pipe did not have isolating valves? It seems extraordinary if that is the case - what would happen if there was a fire after a leak?

If the leaking gas catches fire, it is far safer for it to be allowed to burn off while the Fire Service use cooling water sprays on the surrounding area. Gas flames are not usually extinguished as the continual leaking gas will rapidly form a much more dangerous explosive mixture with the surrounding air. Turning the gas off in some way is the recommended means of extinguishing gas flames. But the exact action depends on the size of the leak and availability of technical staff to perform the sealing.