Chiltern Railways - Early Services on Thursday 13th February 2014

Chiltern Railways had a torrid day yesterday. Major problems were caused following a power / signalling system failure in the Banbury area.

This caused the total suspension of services between Bicester North & Leamington Spa for almost six hours.

I expect many long distance commuters will work from home today, simply due to the times that they eventually got home.

Anyhow, at present, it would appear that the problems at Banbury have been fixed and the vast majority of trains operated by Chiltern Railways are running, and to time.

Good show chaps and chapesses!

I wonder how common this is?

Yesterday afternoon, I was heading South on a Chiltern Railways train which had just left Banbury.

After a couple of minutes, the train ground to a halt (in an entirely controlled manner) and we sat there, just North of Kings Sutton.

A quick check of a couple of on-line reference sources showed that, just in front of us was a First Great Western train going from Banbury to Oxford. In front of that was a Cross Country train heading from Manchester to Bournemouth. 

The driver came on the PA and told us that a train in front had broken down and that a rescue locomotive was being sent to assist with moving it. Somewhat erroneously I assumed that the issue was with the FGW train. 

As there was nothing else to do, I let loose on Twitter and discovered something slightly unusual had happened. 

It transpired that the Cross Country Service to Bournemouth (train 1O18, which I had earlier seen pass through Leamington Spa) had actually taken a 'Wrong Route'.

What this means is that the signaller had set the points and signals for the train in the wrong direction. Now, obviously, a train driver cannot actually steer a train but, nevertheless one would hope that the driver would not have knowingly taken the wrong route. 

The reality is that if the train was traveling at say 75 - 100 mph on green signals, the driver would probably not have had time to stop before the incorrectly set signal.

My working assumption is that the Cross Country train diverted off the Oxford Line and, instead started to head towards Bicester North, on the line usually used exclusively by Chiltern Railways passenger trains. I have no idea how far the train got, or what it did to reverse back up the line to resume it's correct journey. 

What I can say is that the incident delayed the Cross Country train by 35 minutes between Banbury and Oxford. It then eventually arrived into Bournemouth 34 minutes late at 1745. From what I can see, the train then set off just 3 minutes later (and 3 minutes late) for a 302 mile trip to Leeds, which it achieved without incident. 

The train I was on eventually arrived into London Marylebone 31 minutes late. 

Given the thousands of train movements that happen throughout the day, over thousands of sets of points, I am amazed that this sort of incident doesn't seem to happen more often. 

I've pasted below the eventual timings of the trains involved / delayed over Aynho Junction, plus a copy of the tweet I received advising of the true cause of the incident. 

Stay happy. Stay safe!

CU

______________

As a footnote, I ought to say that at no time were any men, women, children or animals put in any danger by this incident. The signalling system is designed to ensure that safe gaps are maintained between trains, wherever they may actually be going to. The fact that our train came to a perfectly smooth and controlled stop is evidence of this. 

Railway Children Special

There is a rather unusual railtour happening today down in my neck of the woods. Why unusual? Well it will be a train full of enthusiasts that will travel through Chiltern Railways depots, pass across unusual sets of points and will generally reach areas of track and infrastructure only usually ever seen by insiders.

It is hoped that the event will raise £10,000 - £12,500 for Railway Children with ticket sales, on board raffle and sales etc.

The train is being provided by Chiltern completely free of charge, the trains crews are donating their pay to The Railway Children and Network Rail are not charging for their work in planning and  running  the train etc. The whole day has been facilitated by the Branch Line Society.

Below is full detail of the Working Timetable for this unique, interesting and unusual trip. In Twitterland I occasionally use the hashtag "#traingeek". Well, looking at today's itinerary I think that today's trip possibly takes train enthusiasm to a new level. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I hope that a good day is had by all and that lots of money is raised for charity.

Tickets for this event have been sold in advance. If you don't have a special ticket, please do not attempt to board the train.

For operational reasons the timetable for today has been organised into  six different chunks. Hopefully live tracking will be available via the following links, which may act as a historical record just for a day or two.

The timetable data and Real Time Train data has all been extracted using the Real Time Trains web site.

• 1Z21 (Starts from Maylebone at 1105)
• 1Z65 (Starts from Gerrards Cross Siding at 1320)
• 1Z66 (Starts from Aylesbury at 1500)
• 1Z67 (Starts from Great Missenden at 1710)
• 1Z68 (Starts from Aylesbury at 1733)
• 1Z72 (Starts from Bicester North Turnback Siding at 1952)

 =======================================

Working Timetable Information for the Day

=======================================

1Z21 1105 London Marylebone to Gerrards Cross Siding
Operated by CH
STP schedule UID U50894, identity 1Z21
Runs SuO on 26/05/2013 only
TSC 25217004
Unadvertised Express
	WTT Working		Realtime
Location	Arr	Dep	Dep	Dly
London Marylebone formed from 2H19 from Bicester North		1105	1105	RT
Marylebone Up Tunnel Sdgs	1108	1115
London Marylebone	1118	1125	1121	-4
Neasden South Jn	pass	1133	1129	-4
Wembley Gcj	pass	1135
Wembley Lmd	1137	1227	1220	-7
Wembley Stadium	pass	1229	1223	-6
Wembley Siding	1231	1238	1240	2
Wembley Stadium	pass	1240	1242	2
Neasden South Jn	pass	1242	1243	1
Neasden South Jn Sig Me525	1243	1250
Neasden South Jn	pass	1251	1247	-4
Wembley Stadium	pass	1253	1252	-1
Sudbury & Harrow Road	pass	1254
Sudbury Hill Harrow	pass	1254
Northolt Park	pass	1255
Northolt Park Jn	pass	1257	1256	-1
South Ruislip	pass	1258	1256	-2
West Ruislip	1301	1302	1259	-3
Denham	pass	1305
Denham Golf Club	pass	1306
Gerrards Cross	pass	1309	1306	-3
Gerrards Cross Siding	1311			-3
1Z65 1320 Gerrards Cross Siding to Aylesbury
STP schedule UID U50895, identity 1Z65
Runs SuO on 26/05/2013 only
TSC 25217004
Unadvertised Express
	WTT Working		Realtime
Location	Arr	Dep	Dep	Dly
Gerrards Cross Siding		1320	1320	RT
Gerrards Cross	pass	1322	1322	RT
Denham Golf Club	pass	1323
Denham	pass	1324
West Ruislip	1328	1335	1336	1
Denham	pass	1338
Denham Golf Club	pass	1339
Gerrards Cross	pass	1342	1342	RT
Seer Green	pass	1344
Beaconsfield	pass	1345
High Wycombe	pass	1350	1349	-1
West Wycombe	pass	1352
Saunderton	pass	1355	1353	-2
Princes Risborough	1359	1400	1358	-2
Monks Risborough	pass	1406
Little Kimble	pass	1413	1410	-3
Aylesbury	1421			-2
1Z66 1500 Aylesbury to Great Missenden
STP schedule UID U50898, identity 1Z66
Runs SuO on 26/05/2013 only
TSC 25217004
Unadvertised Express
This train started from Aylesbury due to a decision by the train operating company (TR)
	WTT Working		Realtime
Location	Arr	Dep	Dep	Dly
Aylesbury		1500
Aylesbury D.M.U. Depot	1505	1537
Aylesbury	1542	1542
Aylesbury (Sdgs 1-7)	1603	1610
Aylesbury	1613	1619
Aylesbury (Sdgs 1-7)	1622	1629
Aylesbury	1632	1633	1626	-7
Aylesbury North Loop	1637	1640	1639	-1
Aylesbury Sig Me302	1642	1649
Aylesbury	1652	1653	1650	-3
Stoke Mandeville	pass	1657	1653	-4
Wendover	pass	1659	1655	-4
Great Missenden	1704			-4
1Z67 1710 Great Missenden to Aylesbury
STP schedule UID U50899, identity 1Z67
Runs SuO on 26/05/2013 only
TSC 25217004
Unadvertised Express
	WTT Working		Realtime
Location	Arr	Dep	Arr	Dep	Dly
Great Missenden		1710		No report
Wendover	pass	1718	pass	1710	-8
Stoke Mandeville	pass	1720	pass	1714	-6
Aylesbury	1723		1716		-7
1Z68 1733 Aylesbury to Bicester North Turnback Sg
STP schedule UID U50896, identity 1Z68
Runs SuO on 26/05/2013 only
TSC 25217004
Unadvertised Express
	WTT Working		Realtime
Location	Arr	Dep	Arr	Dep	Dly
Aylesbury		1733		1734	1
Little Kimble	pass	1742	pass	1742	RT
Monks Risborough	pass	1745	No report
Princes Risborough	pass	1748	pass	1747	-1
Saunderton	pass	1752	pass	1751	-1
West Wycombe	pass	1755	No report
High Wycombe	1759	1805	1758	1801	-4
West Wycombe	pass	1808	No report
Saunderton	pass	1811	pass	1806	-5
Princes Risborough	1815	1816	1809	1812	-4
Princes R'boro Ace	1818	1841	1814	1847	6
Princes Risborough	1843	1848	N/R	1847	-1
Princes Risborough Me666	1850	1855	No report
Princes Risborough	1857	1909	1852	1906	-3
Haddenham & Thame Parkway	pass	1915	pass	1910	-5
Blackthorne	pass	1923	No report
Bicester North	1927	1927	1923	1923	-4
Bicester Signal Me2034	1929	1934	No report
Bicester North	1936	1941	1928	N/R	-8
Bicester North Turnback Sg	1943		1932		-11
1Z72 1952 Bicester North Turnback Sg to London Marylebone
STP schedule UID U50897, identity 1Z72
Runs SuO on 26/05/2013 only
TSC 25217004
Unadvertised Express
	WTT Working		Realtime
Location	Arr	Dep	Arr	Dep	Dly
Bicester North Turnback Sg		1952		1952	RT
Bicester North	1954	1955	1954	1956	1
Blackthorne	pass	1958	No report
Haddenham & Thame Parkway	2007	2008	2006	2008	RT
Princes Risborough	pass	2014	pass	2013	-1
Saunderton	pass	2017	pass	2015	-2
West Wycombe	pass	2019	No report
High Wycombe	2022	2023	2019	2021	-2
Beaconsfield	2029	2030	2027	2028	-2
Seer Green	pass	2032	No report
Gerrards Cross	2036	2037	2034	2035	-2
Denham Golf Club	pass	2039	No report
Denham	pass	2039	No report
West Ruislip	pass	2042	pass	2039	-3
South Ruislip	pass	2044	pass	2040	-4
Northolt Park Jn	pass	2044	No report
Northolt Park	pass	2045	No report
Sudbury Hill Harrow	pass	2046	No report
Sudbury & Harrow Road	pass	2047	No report
Wembley Stadium	pass	2049	pass	2044	-5
Neasden South Jn	pass	2051	pass	2045	-6
London Marylebone	2059		2052		-7

Edit: While the formating is particularly rubbish, I have now (22:50) edited the WTT above to show what actually happened during the day. All data is drawn from an automated system, hence why some places have no data.

The 1750 Train - My, was that a Mistake

I am lucky in that my job is relatively flexible. This means that I usually catch a reasonably early train to work and a reasonably early train home.

Today I was a little later than usual leaving work, so I had to catch the 1750 Chiltern Railways train from London Marylebone. I also had a party to go to to wish a friend 'Bon-Voyage' on a trip to Australia. She leaves tomorrow.

Problems, problems, problems.

• The train is supposed to be a six car train. Tonight it was three carriages long. That is a significant reduction in capacity on a busy train. The train was absolutely rammed more than five minutes before it was due to leave.
• We did not leave on time. In fact we left eleven minutes late. Apparently the driver was delayed on an in-bound service and a replacement had to be found.
• The slower 1753 train (bound for Aylesbury) left in front of us, two minutes late. The 1750 Sardine Special (which left Marylebone at 1801 and which terminates at Bicester North) caught up the slower train before Denham. A quick analysis showed that we would be a minimum of 19 minutes late from High Wycombe. It would not be possible to overtake the slow train.
• In the event the train left High Wycombe 21 minutes late and arrived into Princes Risborough the same number of minutes late.
• This is where it got annoying.
• Someone took the decision to hold the late running train at Princes Risborough to allow the 1815 & 1818 Marylebone departures to overtake it.
• The original 1750 then left Princes Risborough 32 minutes late. It then left Haddenham & Thame Parkway 35 minutes late and terminated at Bicester North 34 minutes late, according to the Working Timetable.

If the train had been allowed to leave Princes Risborough without being held, It would have arrived at Bicester at about 1906. It would not have delayed any Southbound trains, but would have delayed each of the following two trains by a few minutes. This is a potential problem approaching Banbury - a freight train and a Cross-Country train to York might have been delayed.

The reality is though that passengers for High Wycombe and Princes Risborough would have been better off if they had caught the 1753 from Marylebone.
Passengers for Haddenham & Thame Parkway and Bicester North could have caught the 1818 train and got home earlier.

All in all, catching the 1750 was a bad mistake tonight if punctuality was your aim. The train was badly overcrowded and deeply unpleasant for many. Passengers for Haddenham and Bicester would have been deeply dischuffed to see two trains overtake them.

To rub salt into the wound, the train, while 34 minutes late into Bicester according to the Working Timetable, was actually 'only' 29 minutes behind the Public Timetable, meaning that Charter Claims for late running might be declined, while claims for Haddenham & Thame Parkway will be valid and honoured without quibble.

I have said before that running the railway involves make many tricky decisions with often conflicting priorities. I do not claim to know how to run the railway better than those that do, but instead simply present a passenger's view. Many passengers will however have been deeply hacked off this evening.

Does anyone have a shoe horn?

The 0744 Silver Train from Princes Risborough, supposedly provided by Chiltern Railways,was cancelled again this morning.

The 0715 from Bicester North ran 10 - 15 minutes late and Chiltern Railways got it to stop at Princes Risborough to fill the long gap that would have been caused by the cancelled train.

The 0744 is usually full and standing (calling at just High Wycombe and Beaconsfield).

So today we had all the passengers from the Bicester Train, plus all the passengers on the Princes Risborough train. To say the train was full would be mild understatement.

There were probably about 150 people left on the platform at Gerrards Cross.

Train currently due into Marylebone at about 0831. Lots of annoyed commuters. Not a good start to the day.

Class 67 Problem Tonight at Bicester

Traction power for the Chiltern Railways Silver Trains(and for the old Blue and Grey set) is provided by Class 67 Locomotives.

Tonight the 1706 Silver Train from London Marylebone left London three minutes late. It trundled through North West London and even took the scenic route around the South Ruislip Loop.

The train was booked to run non-stop to Bicester North, before calling at principal stops to Birmingham Snow Hill. The train is then supposed to run empty from Birmingham to the depot at Stourbridge Junction, arriving there just after 2000.

Well, tonight the train eventually limped into Platform 1 at Bicester North just before six o'clock with a technical fault, and the service was then cancelled. Northbound passengers were transferred to either the following Statford-upon-Avon service which left Bicester at 1824 or the next Birmingham service which left at 1837.

Neither the original driver, a replacement driver or a fitter sent to repair the problem were able to fix the train, so Platform 1 (the Northbound platform) at Bicester North was blocked for some hours. Fortunately the track and signal layout allows trains to use platform 2 in either direction, so that is what happened for every Northbound train until just before eleven o'clock this evening.

Eventually a rescue locomotive was sent up from Wembley Depot, attached to the front of the broken down engine, and the train was hauled up to Banbury, leaving Bicester at about 2150.

Apparently DB Schenker who lease the engine are to send a couple of engineers down tomorrow to try to fix the problem, hopefully in time for the start of the working week on Monday.

So, currently there is a set of Silver Train carriages not where they should be (though they could be en-route to Stourbridge, I don't know). There is a Class 67 locomotive out of action, and the Blue & Grey set of carriages sat at Wembley without an engine.

It'll be interesting to see what Monday morning brings.