Same service, different operational decisions on different days

[VT 390]

Just curious if anyone has any idea why the same service would be terminated short one day but run through, delayed, on another.

The Great Western Railway service 1W02 (1152 London Paddington to Hereford) yesterday 08/09/2026 was 16 minutes late at Great Malvern (GMV) and terminated at GMV yet today 09/04/2026 this service was 19 minutes late at GMV but ran through to Hereford (HFD) and caused delays to West Midlands Railway services which would have been on time had the service terminated at GMV again.

On 08/09/2026 the service destination was changed from HFD to GMV around the Evesham area (at least for informing passengers) where the same service on 09/04/2026 had a very similar delay time.

I have used this service multiple times and from what I can tell the train crew change at Worcester Shrub Hill so I do not think train staffing would be the reason for this variation.

Just to note this is not a complaint on how the situation was handled on either day as I am sure they will be reasons for the decisions made but am curious as to why similar situations have been managed so differently.
Does anyone have any idea why on different days with similar situations different decisions have been made regarding if this service runs through to HFD or gets terminated short at GMV?

Realtime Trains | 1W02 1152 London Paddington to Great Malvern | 08/04/2026

Real-time train running information for 1W02 1152 departure from London Paddington to Great Malvern on 08/04/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Realtime Trains | 1W02 1152 London Paddington to Hereford | 09/04/2026

Real-time train running information for 1W02 1152 departure from London Paddington to Hereford on 09/04/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[Horizon22]

Different controllers, different workload, different causes for delay and chance of secondary incidents given the specific issue / root cause of the delay. Could be a few things.

For example on the 8th it was 17' late from departure (and remained pretty much similarly late all the way to Worcester), but 9th accrued time en route, being only 5' down from Oxford and then only reaching '15 at Moreton in Marsh. Ideally decisions are made further up the line as it gives people more opportunity to wait and change at busier stations. On the 8th a RTT line up at Hereford also looks more delayed and congested than 9th, which may have been why.

 

[lowe1409]

Ideally decisions are made further up the line as it gives people more opportunity to wait and change at busier stations.

Still doesn't stop Northern from expressing an Airport to Liverpool stopper whilst said train is in platform at the airport. You can never predict the decisions control as everyday is different. What are the chances as well if a train picks up its delay quite late and a controller not noticing? Do they get automatically notified when a train is delayed?

 

[Horizon22]

Still doesn't stop Northern from expressing an Airport to Liverpool stopper whilst said train is in platform at the airport. You can never predict the decisions control as everyday is different. What are the chances as well if a train picks up its delay quite late and a controller not noticing? Do they get automatically notified when a train is delayed?

There are a LOT of notifications in a control room. I doubt there are automatic "notifications" in the way you envisage them, but your attention could be drawn to them by a variety of different measures.

 

[lowe1409]

There are a LOT of notifications in a control room. I doubt there are automatic "notifications" in the way you envisage them, but your attention could be drawn to them by a variety of different measures.

I was expecting it to be something along the lines of a message type notification, but I'd have no idea how easy it is for attention to be drawn towards it

 

[Harpo]

On the 8th a RTT line up at Hereford also looks more delayed and congested than 9th, which may have been why.

A performance study over two decades ago identified timetabling flaws at Ledbury that have been reintroduced over time.

Hereford to Birminghams wait at Ledbury (their very first call) for the ex-Birmingham to exit Colwall single line rather than arriving after the ex-Birmingham. Thus, delays from the midlands get re-exported there.

One workaround is to hold late ex-Birminghams at Great Malvern and run the ex-Hereford first. This is what happened on the 8th to 1V26 12.50 Bhm - Hereford (started Bromsgrove) which then used the London train’s path through Colwall tunnel. It shows how easing the line capacity helped.

 

[VT 390]

One workaround is to hold late ex-Birminghams at Great Malvern and run the ex-Hereford first. This is what happened on the 8th to 1V26 12.50 Bhm - Hereford (started Bromsgrove) which then used the London train’s path through Colwall tunnel. It shows how easing the line capacity helped.

Whilst holding Hereford bound services is often good for service recovery in most hours it does sometimes mean terminating short at Ledbury with an hours wait for the next Hereford, though I accept when this is done it does help recover the service and is better overall.

 

[lowe1409]

though I accept when this is done it does help recover the service and is better overall.

I've had someone in control put it to me before that it's about minimising the impact for as many people as possible and that canceling two stations impacts less people than severely delaying 10-15 on the return journey.

 

[VT 390]

I've had someone in control put it to me before that it's about minimising the impact for as many people as possible and that canceling two stations impacts less people than severely delaying 10-15 on the return journey.

Yes I completely agree with the reasoning as it makes the most sense for minimising disruption for the most passengers, especially with the multiple single track sections on the Birmingham to Hereford route.
I was just pointing out that holding services at Great Malvern does not automatically solve the disruption as holding a service will have other impacts.

 

[endofthetunnel]

The controller responsible for that train will also be responsible for 10s or 100s of others, and simply may have been dealing with other more pressing matters on one day so not able to make the calls/decisions to terminate early that day.

They will probably be watching a screen listing all the services they are responsible for, ordered and colour coded by lateness, and of course have to deal with the whole system rather than each train in isolation, so daily decisions may differ but it could be neither is wrong.