Reading - Paddington route set for overhaul - BBC report

[swt_passenger]

from Paul Clifton:

Network Rail has announced a recovery plan for the Reading-London Paddington route after months of poor performance.
It made national headlines when broken wires left 4,000 passengers stranded on trains for four hours at night, near Ladbroke Grove, on 7 December.
Most passengers had to walk along the tracks to reach safety. There have also been a spate of failures, including broken rails and signalling faults.
The route is now set to be overhauled in three phases over 18 months.
[…]
For the next four weeks, there will be fewer trains late at night, while engineers carry out remedial work to the tracks, signalling and overhead wires.
For the last couple of hours each evening, only two of the four tracks will be open.
A six-month period of work to stabilise performance will follow, then a year-long programme to put long-term solutions in place.
Beyond that, the overhead wires will be replaced in west London. They are 30 years old and were installed when the Heathrow Express began.

Reading-London Paddington route set for overhaul

A spate of failures include broken rails, signal faults and passengers stranded due to damaged cables.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[cactustwirly]

from Paul Clifton:

Reading-London Paddington route set for overhaul

A spate of failures include broken rails, signal faults and passengers stranded due to damaged cables.

www.bbc.co.uk

Hasn't that been the case for years that it became a 2 track railway after 8pm ish?

 

[The Planner]

Hasn't that been the case for years that it became a 2 track railway after 8pm ish?

Not that early, normally 2300.

 

[mangyiscute]

I think it used to be on sundays too - I remember whenever travelling from Reading to London on a sunday the journey time would be about 35 mins with plenty of time spent crawling on the slows. This seems to have been stopped, but if it's at the cost of worse maintenance perhaps something like this should be considred again.

 

[Mark J]

Hasn't that been the case for years that it became a 2 track railway after 8pm ish?

Yes, the class 800 'Express services' going at 90mph on the slow lines. Then getting slowed down further by local stopping services in front.

In 1990, Reading to Paddington (and vice versa) could be done in around 22 minutes.

Forward to 2024, most journeys take around half an hour, despite the newer rolling stock that can accelerate much quicker than the old Class 43.

'Progress' has resulted in journey times being worse than over 30 years ago.

 

[stuu]

Forward to 2024, most journeys take around half an hour, despite the newer rolling stock that can accelerate much quicker than the old Class 43.

That really isn't true, is it? Non-stop trains are timetabled at 22 or 23 minutes, and going out of Paddington are pretty good at sticking to the schedule in my experience. Going into Paddington is much more of a lottery admittedly, but that is a function of how busy the railway is compared with in 1990

 

[mangyiscute]

Yes, the class 800 'Express services' going at 90mph on the slow lines. Then getting slowed down further by local stopping services in front.

See its funny when you're just wrong - the trains up until the 2249 all run in 23 minutes.

 

[The Planner]

Yes, the class 800 'Express services' going at 90mph on the slow lines. Then getting slowed down further by local stopping services in front.

In 1990, Reading to Paddington (and vice versa) could be done in around 22 minutes.

Forward to 2024, most journeys take around half an hour, despite the newer rolling stock that can accelerate much quicker than the old Class 43.

'Progress' has resulted in journey times being worse than over 30 years ago.

How fast should they be and what counts as progress in this case? Should they be 15 minutes, 18 minutes? I never quite get the argument of "no faster than x decades ago". How fast should they be in 5, 10, 20 years time?

 

[Mark J]

See its funny when you're just wrong - the trains up until the 2249 all run in 23 minutes.

Not quite. Looking at the timetable many are 26-27 minutes. That also does not include time spent waiting outside Paddington for a free platform, which does happen more regularly than some will care to admit.

How fast should they be and what counts as progress in this case? Should they be 15 minutes, 18 minutes? I never quite get the argument of "no faster than x decades ago". How fast should they be in 5, 10, 20 years time?

My 'argument' was that if a Class43 could do RDG to PADD in 23 minutes in 1990, then current, more modern rolling stock should be able to do the same journey in the same, or slightly less time.

Most people expect to see an improvement in journey times with newer rolling stock.

 

[The Planner]

My 'argument' was that if a Class43 could do RDG to PADD in 23 minutes in 1990, then current, more modern rolling stock should be able to do the same journey in the same, or slightly less time.

Most people expect to see an improvement in journey times with newer rolling stock.

There is only so much you can squeeze out of acceleration and braking before its uncomfortable for passengers without infrastructure changes.

 

[Topological]

Reading to London does not need to be any faster, no other mode is competing over that stretch, it just needs to be reliable. If the number of trains, and hence capacity, rises then that is definite progress against the days of the HST.

At the moment the line makes it a bit of a lottery about when you will arrive in Paddington, get that sorted and then everything is good.

 

[Mag_seven]

Right can we ditch the discussion about Padd - Reading journey times past and present please - this thread is about the initiative to improve the reliability of the infrastructure.

 

[JN114]

I fear a couple of things from this:-

1) Funding. As the article says, this is all being done from Western Route’s existing budget; which is cut vs previous budgets, and significantly so if you factor in inflation and the like.

Whilst the problems are most acutely felt in the inner Thames Valley - there’s a concerning number of service affecting issues occurring further west as well. With a renewed focus east, what is this going to mean for the assets already suffering further west?

2) What I’m going to call Honesty. I am not convinced that these changes are coming from an honest intent to resolve the issues. I feel this is a knee-jerk response to high profile issues to forestall the conclusions of the ORR review into Western Route performance. Yes there have been a small handful of OLE issues on the stretch of old wires from the 90s; and those issues were high in profile with negative media coverage etc. But in the day to day running of the railway I find the much more common issues are around track condition; and reliability of signalling assets. Whilst it may feel unpalatable to wait for the results of the ORR review; I feel it’s necessary to ensure that the focus goes the right way.

***

There are then wider questions to be answered around operations philosophy and resilience. Politics interfering with train service recovery; the suitability and applicability of industry contingency plans; and minimum resilience levels for both operational and maintenance resources - and agreed contingency when those cannot be met. All that may need some difficult decisions made regarding service levels in the short-medium term.

 

[itfcfan]

There are more details about the passenger impact in this Evening Standard article:

Elizabeth line passengers face month of cancelled trains amid work to tackle Paddington-Reading track failures​

From Sunday, there will be no Elizabeth line trains west of Paddington before 7.40am, and services will terminate at the mainline station – meaning no through running to and from central London.

In addition, a number of the stations between Paddington and Maidenhead will be reduced to only two trains an hour. There will also be fewer services from around 10pm.

GWR trains are also likely to be affected, though the impact is expected to be more limited.

Between Monday and Thursday until March 28 there will be a reduced Elizabeth line service from Paddington from 9.30pm, with four trains an hour to Heathrow airport and two to Reading.

Network Rail said it would take 18 months before performance on the Great Western Main Line returned to “good” levels.

During the first month of work, only two of the four tracks in and out of Paddington will be open.

Network Rail will try to co-ordinate later work with about 70 days of track closures that are planned over the next five years to connect the Great Western Main Line to the HS2 station at Old Oak Common.

Full article: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/tra...s-network-rail-track-sadiq-khan-b1141676.html

Has anyone seen an official source for this information? I'm interested to understand exactly how the timetable will be temporarily changed.

 

[mangyiscute]

There are more details about the passenger impact in this Evening Standard article:

Elizabeth line passengers face month of cancelled trains amid work to tackle Paddington-Reading track failures​

Full article: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/tra...s-network-rail-track-sadiq-khan-b1141676.html

Has anyone seen an official source for this information? I'm interested to understand exactly how the timetable will be temporarily changed.

I think what theyve done in the past is just run 6tph on the reliefs out of pad, 4 going to heathrow and then 2 to reading. as mentioned in the article, in the very early morning trains will run from ealing, but it'll only affect the first 1 or 2 services, and perhaps on some days trains won't run into the elizabeth line core (or something they only start around 10am), although that seems more like engineering work in the core than work on the GWML. They've done this in the past quite a bit, I wouldn't expect it to be much different, and it generally runs fine.

 

[YorkRailFan]

For the next four weeks, there will be fewer trains late at night, while engineers carry out remedial work to the tracks,

Let's face it, most of these services are impacted anyway by infrastructure failures and staff shortages. (Quoted from Post #1)

Will be interesting to see if/how the ORR responds as they are investigating the poor reliability in the Wales & Western Region.

 

[Horizon22]

There are more details about the passenger impact in this Evening Standard article:

Elizabeth line passengers face month of cancelled trains amid work to tackle Paddington-Reading track failures​

Full article: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/tra...s-network-rail-track-sadiq-khan-b1141676.html

Has anyone seen an official source for this information? I'm interested to understand exactly how the timetable will be temporarily changed.

Makes it sound a lot worse than it is - with the exception of the airport, very few people are travelling before 0800 on a Sunday.

Anyway yes the intention is to run 2 of the 4 lines only from 2130 vice the normal 2330-0000. Other services will be curtailed from Abbey Wood at Paddington. Some stations (Acton Main Line, Hanwell and West Ealing) will get an earlier last train when the block is on the Relief Lines. It's not too complex.

 

[rob.rjt]

The BBC and the Standard seem to be reading very different things. The BBC makes it sound like there are extended engineering hours, whilst the Standard makes it sound like a wholescale decimation of the service. I hope the reality is more like the BBC and what @Horizon22 said, then the Standard with no early morning trains any day on the west side.

 

[Horizon22]

I fear a couple of things from this:-

1) Funding. As the article says, this is all being done from Western Route’s existing budget; which is cut vs previous budgets, and significantly so if you factor in inflation and the like.

Whilst the problems are most acutely felt in the inner Thames Valley - there’s a concerning number of service affecting issues occurring further west as well. With a renewed focus east, what is this going to mean for the assets already suffering further west?

2) What I’m going to call Honesty. I am not convinced that these changes are coming from an honest intent to resolve the issues. I feel this is a knee-jerk response to high profile issues to forestall the conclusions of the ORR review into Western Route performance. Yes there have been a small handful of OLE issues on the stretch of old wires from the 90s; and those issues were high in profile with negative media coverage etc. But in the day to day running of the railway I find the much more common issues are around track condition; and reliability of signalling assets. Whilst it may feel unpalatable to wait for the results of the ORR review; I feel it’s necessary to ensure that the focus goes the right way.

***

There are then wider questions to be answered around operations philosophy and resilience. Politics interfering with train service recovery; the suitability and applicability of industry contingency plans; and minimum resilience levels for both operational and maintenance resources - and agreed contingency when those cannot be met. All that may need some difficult decisions made regarding service levels in the short-medium term.

There has been a slight boost to Western's route budget AFAIK, but not the full amount required for the work suggested. So you are right, some will be pulled from other parts away from the Thames Valley and as you say there's already plenty of drainage and assets issues so it will be interesting to see how that is felt.

It has got political to some extent because now TfL has a huge stake in what is going in on Network Rail territory. Unlike Anglia route - who have fairly well prepared for Crossrail / Elizabeth line - and were used to a proper metro operation (running some 4-5 car Turbos at at irregular peak intervals doesn't count), for some reason the Elizabeth line operation appears to (somehow!) caught Network Rail offguard on the Western route, even though TfL has been running a service out that way for almost 6 years now and infrastructure had been put in place (Maidenhead sidings improvements) to accomodate.

The BBC and the Standard seem to be reading very different things. The BBC makes it sound like there are extended engineering hours, whilst the Standard makes it sound like a wholescale decimation of the service. I hope the reality is more like the BBC and what @Horizon22 said, then the Standard with no early morning trains any day on the west side.

Yes they've worded it badly - its "from Sunday" but only on Sundays!

The train service on the GWML for the Elizabeth line would be 2tph to Reading (occasionally curtailed to Maidenhead), 2tph to Heathrow T5 and 2tph to Heathrow T4.

 

[cactustwirly]

There has been a slight boost to Western's route budget AFAIK, but not the full amount required for the work suggested. So you are right, some will be pulled from other parts away from the Thames Valley and as you say there's already plenty of drainage and assets issues so it will be interesting to see how that is felt.

It has got political to some extent because now TfL has a huge stake in what is going in on Network Rail territory. Unlike Anglia route - who have fairly well prepared for Crossrail / Elizabeth line - and were used to a proper metro operation (running some 4-5 car Turbos at at irregular peak intervals doesn't count), for some reason the Elizabeth line operation appears to (somehow!) caught Network Rail offguard on the Western route, even though TfL has been running a service out that way for almost 6 years now and infrastructure had been put in place (Maidenhead sidings improvements) to accomodate.



Yes they've worded it badly - its "from Sunday" but only on Sundays!

The train service on the GWML for the Elizabeth line would be 2tph to Reading (occasionally curtailed to Maidenhead), 2tph to Heathrow T5 and 2tph to Heathrow T4.

But what is being proposed isn't anything new!
2 track railway ok in Sundays has been the case for many years, and is the reason why Acton, West Ealing, Hanwell etc never got a Sunday service before TfL took it over.

 

[Acton1991]

Assuming this timetable will mean only 2tph on Sundays for Acton Main Line, Hanwell and (potentially) West Ealing?

 

[Deepgreen]

The BBC and the Standard seem to be reading very different things. The BBC makes it sound like there are extended engineering hours, whilst the Standard makes it sound like a wholescale decimation of the service. I hope the reality is more like the BBC and what @Horizon22 said, then the Standard with no early morning trains any day on the west side.

The 'Standard' has the tabloid disease of hyping things.

It would be interesting to understand what has led to the current infrastructure situation, if the truth is ever released.

 

[class ep-09]

The 'Standard' has the tabloid disease of hyping things.

It would be interesting to understand what has led to the current infrastructure situation, if the truth is ever released.

Cuts, cuts , cuts ….

 

[Bald Rick]

What I’m going to call Honesty. I am not convinced that these changes are coming from an honest intent to resolve the issues. I feel this is a knee-jerk response to high profile issues to forestall the conclusions of the ORR review into Western Route performance. Yes there have been a small handful of OLE issues on the stretch of old wires from the 90s; and those issues were high in profile with negative media coverage etc. But in the day to day running of the railway I find the much more common issues are around track condition; and reliability of signalling assets. Whilst it may feel unpalatable to wait for the results of the ORR review; I feel it’s necessary to ensure that the focus goes the right way.

But this plan covers all assets, not just the OLE. Quite how you can see it is not an honest plan to resolve the issues is quite frankly insulting. The people involved have been sweating blood for a couple of years on this and that makes them dishonest?

It would be interesting to understand what has led to the current infrastructure situation, if the truth is ever released.

Pretty simple in my eyes. Running a lot more trains on the same infrastructure with little in the way of additional maintnenance and renewal. The asset wears out more quickly. And because of all the work to electrify, rebuild stations, new flyovers, new depots, rebuild Reading, etc, there has been precious little ‘space’ in the engineering work schedules to do the essential work that needed doing.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

It would be interesting to understand what has led to the current infrastructure situation, if the truth is ever released.

Cuts, cuts , cuts ….

An over-simplification in my humble opinion, but part of the reason.

Pretty simple in my eyes. Running a lot more trains on the same infrastructure with little in the way of additional maintenance and renewal. The asset wears out more quickly. And because of all the work to electrify, rebuild stations, new flyovers, new depots, rebuild Reading, etc, there has been precious little ‘space’ in the engineering work schedules to do the essential work that needed doing.

This in my opinion is the fuller and better answer by far. I would add that in days gone by Sunday workings were much fewer and that was a "maintenance day". I don't think those times are coming back.

 

[Horizon22]

But what is being proposed isn't anything new!
2 track railway ok in Sundays has been the case for many years, and is the reason why Acton, West Ealing, Hanwell etc never got a Sunday service before TfL took it over.

Yes. Indeed it's weird there's so much fuss because really it's just a) an extension of blocks for a couple more hours and b) every weekday other than a selected few days. As I said, not very complex.

 

[Adrian1980uk]

There has been a slight boost to Western's route budget AFAIK, but not the full amount required for the work suggested. So you are right, some will be pulled from other parts away from the Thames Valley and as you say there's already plenty of drainage and assets issues so it will be interesting to see how that is felt.

It has got political to some extent because now TfL has a huge stake in what is going in on Network Rail territory. Unlike Anglia route - who have fairly well prepared for Crossrail / Elizabeth line - and were used to a proper metro operation (running some 4-5 car Turbos at at irregular peak intervals doesn't count), for some reason the Elizabeth line operation appears to (somehow!) caught Network Rail offguard on the Western route, even though TfL has been running a service out that way for almost 6 years now and infrastructure had been put in place (Maidenhead sidings improvements) to accomodate.



Yes they've worded it badly - its "from Sunday" but only on Sundays!

The train service on the GWML for the Elizabeth line would be 2tph to Reading (occasionally curtailed to Maidenhead), 2tph to Heathrow T5 and 2tph to Heathrow T4.

Anglia region went through the unreliability 2005 to 2015, then basically worked hard through that period and beyond to improve infrastructure and maintenance to solve the issue.

 

[Horizon22]

Assuming this timetable will mean only 2tph on Sundays for Acton Main Line, Hanwell and (potentially) West Ealing?

It might be 0tph if the Relief lines are blocked.

 

[Tester]

The 'Standard' has the tabloid disease of hyping things.

It would be interesting to understand what has led to the current infrastructure situation, if the truth is ever released.

To be boringly pedantic, decimation is actually reducing by one tenth (the Roman practice of killing every tenth soldier to encourage the others).

Of course it isn't used that way now

 

[Fidelis]

But this plan covers all assets, not just the OLE. Quite how you can see it is not an honest plan to resolve the issues is quite frankly insulting. The people involved have been sweating blood for a couple of years on this and that makes them dishonest?



Pretty simple in my eyes. Running a lot more trains on the same infrastructure with little in the way of additional maintnenance and renewal. The asset wears out more quickly. And because of all the work to electrify, rebuild stations, new flyovers, new depots, rebuild Reading, etc, there has been precious little ‘space’ in the engineering work schedules to do the essential work that needed doing.

Yesterday Network Rail confirmed exactly the points that Bald Rick states.
Compared with 2018-19 there are now 17% more trains on this stretch of track, 14% more station stops and 38% more tonnage.