Paddington - Reading more signalling problems (05/03)

[Snow1964]

Appears there are problems near Twyford, with all lines currently blocked. EDIT now amended to also include unable to leave depot

Has been multiple days of disruption due to points or signalling on this stretch of line over last few days

Due to a fault with the signalling system between Slough and Twyford all lines are blocked. Disruption is expected until 09:00 05/03.
Impact:
Train services between London Paddington and Reading will be cancelled.
Customer Advice:
Due to a fault on the signalling system between Slough and Twyford, the trains that run from London Paddington to Reading in both directions are unable to leave the depot. This means we have had to suspend the train service.

Trains stuck in a depot
What is going on ?

Live Train Times and Journey Updates | Great Western Railway

See the Great Western Railway TrainTracker for live departure times and up-to-the-minute train journey updates.

www.gwr.com

 

[Jamiescott1]

First EL train left maidenhead towards Paddington at 0645. A few EL trains now running but no GWR services.
Taxis were arranged (and actually turned up) to replace trains on the Thames valley branch lines.

 

[NSEWonderer]

I wondered why maidenhead depot was so full of elizabeth line trains. No wonder

 

[crablab]

It seems there is ticket acceptance on Chiltern between Oxford and Marylebone, and XC. So I wonder how many people are being routed that way, since everything seems to be terminating at Reading.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Lines said to be reopened, but with disruption until 1300 and problems at Greenford and Maidenhead with trains unable to leave depots.
Then there's this on NRE about EL services:
Some stations between Maidenhead and Reading will not be served.
That'll just be Twyford then...

Incident: Twyford | National Rail

Lines reopened: disruption between London Paddington and Heathrow Terminals / Reading expected until 13:00. Find details of all current incidents on National Rail Enquiries.

www.nationalrail.co.uk

 

[Falcon1200]

It seems there is ticket acceptance on Chiltern between Oxford and Marylebone, and XC. So I wonder how many people are being routed that way, since everything seems to be terminating at Reading.

At Oxford at 0630 passengers for London were certainly being advised to join the 0637 Marylebone service.

 

[800301]

There was a complete loss of signalling between Slough and Twyford


It’s not more a problem of staff and stock displacement, Greenfords aren’t running as the set left the depot for the 0354 but then returned to the depot an hour later, the set has just left the depot now

 

[PG]

The 9am news bulletin on Radio 2 said some services were being diverted to Waterloo but nothing is showing up online to confirm that.

 

[800301]

The 9am news bulletin on Radio 2 said some services were being diverted to Waterloo but nothing is showing up online to confirm that.

Passengers were being diverted to Waterloo at Reading via SWR but not trains

 

[PG]

Passengers were being diverted to Waterloo at Reading via SWR but not trains

Ah yes, that makes more sense. Possibly I've misinterpreted what was said

 

[Siemens Staines]

Passengers were being diverted to Waterloo at Reading via SWR but not trains

Unfortunately there was a problem with a passenger taken ill on 0639 Reading - Waterloo as it departed which ended up blocking P4-P6. Ultimately this service was cancelled and ran ECS. There were no Waterloo trains from Reading between 0609 and 0728

 

[CarltonA]

Things were getting back normal as I arrived at Slough this morning. The Didcot service was cancelled however and a 165 dashed past, presumably the unit for the Greenford service.

 

[Taplowgreen]

It was an absolute shambles - but then again over the last few weeks we've had virtually daily delays with broken rails, points failures, signal failures, overrunning engineering works etc between Paddington and Reading so no surprise really.

The Paddington - Thames Valley corridor is the most important stretch of line for GWR one wonders when something is going to be done with NR to address the fact that the infrastructure is decrepit.

 

[officewalla]

The GWR CEO continually reassures the troops that NR are being robustly challenged to be better. Doesn't help the frontline staff one bit as annoyed passengers assume it is the ToCs fault and act as such

 

[Jamiescott1]

The gwr staff at maidenhead were really good this morning. They were visible on platforms helping customers (and putting up with some unnecessary abuse), they were not hid away.

 

[Taplowgreen]

The GWR CEO continually reassures the troops that NR are being robustly challenged to be better. Doesn't help the frontline staff one bit as annoyed passengers assume it is the ToCs fault and act as such

I rarely, if ever hear anything from Hopwood, other than the cuddlier types of PR opportunities.

I would love to see the detail of his robust challenge to NR.

I guess he's now running a zombie franchise however so perhaps doesn't want to rock the boat..........suspect he may be hoping for another seat on the railway Executive merry go round under GBR?

 

[Purple Train]

Two trains disappeared into the ether this morning, initially shown as "on time" despite never existing, but at least 9U75 ran. It was, however, leaving people behind even at Slough and I'm not convinced the disruption provision for Elizabeth Line in the sticks is very good. I can imagine it's even worse at places like Twyford, but at least they have GWR to bail them out.

 

[Jamiescott1]

Maxed out my daily delay repay allowance this morning due to these issues so no delay repay due on this evenings 30 minute delay.

 

[800301]

One thing to note, today was first time that Heathrow Express operated 4 car 387’s in service for more than an odd trip as not all the sets could get out of the depot

 

[Horizon22]

I rarely, if ever hear anything from Hopwood, other than the cuddlier types of PR opportunities.

I would love to see the detail of his robust challenge to NR.

I guess he's now running a zombie franchise however so perhaps doesn't want to rock the boat..........suspect he may be hoping for another seat on the railway Executive merry go round under GBR?

He may, but TfL is a more permanent entity and they are to put it mildly, extremely disappointed with the performance of NR Western, especially as they were allowed extra disruptive blocks as part of Project Brunel.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Mar 2025 ==

Two trains disappeared into the ether this morning, initially shown as "on time" despite never existing, but at least 9U75 ran. It was, however, leaving people behind even at Slough and I'm not convinced the disruption provision for Elizabeth Line in the sticks is very good. I can imagine it's even worse at places like Twyford, but at least they have GWR to bail them out.

Bit of a tricky one considering no trains could leave Maidenhead sidings first thing or even get to Maidenhead initially so it was bound to be sparse at first, as there simply wouldn’t be enough 345s out to do a full service without comprising another part of the route.

 

[Purple Train]

Bit of a tricky one considering no trains could leave Maidenhead or even get to Maidenhead initially so it was bound to be sparse at first.

Oh absolutely, I'd just have preferred they communicated that rather than promising two consecutive non-existent trains were on time until about three minutes before they were due! Although I had Open Train Times open throughout the entire saga so wasn't nearly as concerned as several of my fellow sardines. And it's good that there were actual trains this time, rather than last time there was a big signalling fault, although how many Down trains ran in the morning in the end?

 

[Horizon22]

Oh absolutely, I'd just have preferred they communicated that rather than promising two consecutive non-existent trains were on time until about three minutes before they were due! Although I had Open Train Times open throughout the entire saga so wasn't nearly as concerned as several of my fellow sardines. And it's good that there were actual trains this time, rather than last time there was a big signalling fault, although how many Down trains ran in the morning in the end?

Not sure on the specifics, as I think it was rectified at about 0700 but bearing in mind all the drivers starting at Maidenhead to bring units off sidings from 0500 onwards would all be displaced yet there’s still a need to bring all 6 units out for the next round (hopefully) there can’t have been that many departures before 0900 although I’m sure RTT or similar could provide an answer.

A lot of it would have been crew displacement for those who were meant to relieve and be relieved there.

 

[RJ]

I got caught in this, was hoping to go from London to Cardiff at 8am. Everything was showing as cancelled until the 0948, so I went to Euston to go via Birmingham instead. However due to the cost of doing that route at peak time and seeing trains were being reinstated at short notice, I ended up on the 0913 to Cardiff. Normally it goes the other way and trains keep being cancelled hence choosing to divert.

I got the 1318 from Cardiff back to London. I gather there was some further disruption on the network as the train did not go through Bristol Parkway, instead taking the scenic route via Bath Spa!

 

[father_jack]

I got caught in this, was hoping to go from London to Cardiff at 8am. Everything was showing as cancelled until the 0948, so I went to Euston to go via Birmingham instead. However due to the cost of doing that route at peak time and seeing trains were being reinstated at short notice, I ended up on the 0913 to Cardiff. Normally it goes the other way and trains keep being cancelled hence choosing to divert.

I got the 1318 from Cardiff back to London. I gather there was some further disruption on the network as the train did not go through Bristol Parkway, instead taking the scenic route via Bath Spa!

Points failure west of Bristol Parkway station with trains to and from Wales having to change ends at Filton Abbey Wood to access Bristol Parkway and yours indeed diverted.