The Chiltern service connects reasonably well at both Banbury and Leamington Spa to CrossCountry’s Birmingham New Street and Manchester Picadilly service thus preventing the need for the walk from Birmingham Moor Street and New Street in sub-zero temperatures. This, was not mentioned however. There were delays en-route due to a trespasser on the line on the Chiltern route and big delays on the route via Coventry due to a cracked rail. 

Now, a personal tip for passengers out there. Sometimes when things are going badly train operators put on special services to try to assist in getting people home. If you are on a different train operator’s train other than the one that is running the special service the existence of this will not be announced to you – you have to physically check the departure boards at stations. This happened to me while I was being diverted via Manchester on CrossCountry even though there was a direct train to my destination just a few minutes behind the service I was on.

The problems with the West Coast Mainline (WCML) seem to have gotten worse with issues at Bletchley, Rugby and now Wembley affecting also the Overground between London Euston and Watford Junction and the Bakerloo line is partly suspended as well. There are now genuine doubts about the ability of Virgin Trains to run its new enhanced Very High Frequency (VHF) service. Indeed, there have now been five days of disruption on the line which does nothing to improve the image of rail as a quick and reliable mode of transport.

An accusation has been leveled at Network Rail by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) that, “the recent setbacks had occurred because the £9bn upgrade to the West Coast main line had been done in haste in order that it could be completed by the end of 2008.” It has been reported that the disruption has ‘cost’ businesses £38m.

Of course, with the recent inflation busting fare increases, passengers will not be feeling like giving an awful lot of goodwill to the train companies or Network Rail, especially with the all the buggering about train companies do with peak ticket restrictions now. This is shoddy deception from the published figures and a stop should be put to this.

The fare increases on the WCML should be postponed until mid-year as compensation for all, including those that followed advice from National Rail Enquiries not to travel unless absolutely necessary.

• Virgin expects to run a normal train service on Thursday 8th January 2009.

The work is going ahead in the way Network Rail desires despite protests from the Train Operating Companies that use the Main Line for its passenger and freight services. There will be disruption to routes at all bank holidays and most weekends until the end of the year meaning the challenge to passengers and the desirability of traveling via rail will be much reduced.

Network Rail details a number of benefits which are much welcome if the project succeeds by the end of the year:

• Increase in two to three trains per hour between London and Manchester Piccadilly,
• Increase in two to three trains per hour between London and Birmingham,
• A new hourly service between London and Chester and London and Preston.

Compared with 2003, there will be journey time improvements of up to approximately an hour for the route from Glasgow Central from 5h06 to 4h10 as well as 46 minutes being shaved off the Liverpool Lime Street-London Euston route, 43 minutes less from Manchester Piccadilly-London Euston and 23 minutes less from Birmingham New Street-London Euston.

The West Coast Main Line is Europe’s busiest mixed-use railway line so the challenges in upgrading the railway cannot be greater, whilst maintaining at least some of it operationally. It is hoped that Network Rail can deliver its ambitious plan to achieve project success by the end of the year and that they avoid too many slips along the way.

This weekend brought quite a nightmare for passengers as the route into London Euston was closed and there were also replacement bus services on the Chiltern services along the way affecting the only other real alternative route from Birmingham to London for passengers from the midlands and the north west. Added to these woes was a virtual meltdown of the West Coast Main Line again yesterday, 6 May when there was a signal failure at Milton Keynes (again).

The situation that this caused was not pretty with many services cancelled and passengers stranded. A BBC News report reported that up to 30,000 people were affected including 600 people stranded on trains for hours. Rail replacement buses replaced trains for the entire 50 mile stretch between Bletchley and London Euston. In yesterday’s sweltering heat, this cannot have been very pleasant.

The problem struck the network at 9:30am and affected the network until the close of business Tuesday night. Virgin Trains was only able to run three trains per hour after 17:30 compounding the issue. Value Advance ticket holders are being allowed today, 7 May, but are being urged to travel as close to their original ticket time as possible to avoid chronic overcrowding which would delay trains today.

London Midland was also operating a reduced service whilst London Overground was unaffected as it only goes as far as Watford Junction anyway. Other problems on the network included London Liverpool Street being affected by the failure of lineside equipment causing cancellations of trains to Cheshunt, Chingford, Cambridge and Enfield Town and a points failure at Wimbledon during the peak rush hour period affecting South West Trains.

The 6 May was not a day to remember for the British Railways.

A quick look at the live departure boards reveals that the London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street 11:07 is currently running an hour late, as is the 11:56 London to Glasgow service. These issues are also affecting London Midland causing delays of up to thirty minutes on some services. Network Rail have no estimate as to when a normal service will be resumed.

Other problems affecting the railway at the moment are:

• Over-running engineering works between Slateford and Kirknewton (TOC: National Express East Coast, First ScotRail, CrossCountry) due to be resolved by 3pm.
• There was a broken down train between Ascot and Aldershot in the Camberley area (TOC: South West Trains)

In addition, there are 41 seperate engineering projects going on this week to add to these problems. For a full list of these you can go to the National Rail Enquiries website.

However, it has resulted in a large number of delays and cancellations which will affect services until the end of business today. Having a quick look at the London Euston live departure boards shows a number of cancellations into London Euston: 2100 from Wolverhampton, 2120 from Manchester Picadilly, 2122 from Manchester Picadilly, 2201 from Liverpool Lime Street, 2208 from Wolverhampton and the 2228 from Manchester Picadilly.

A Preston to London service has been substantially delayed with an estimated arrival time of 2243 when it should have arrived at 2128.  We can only imagine what the conditions will be like on this train!

Virgin Trains have said that tickets issued for today will be valid on services tomorrow and Monday 7 April.

Other issues affecting the network today, as well as about fifteen planned engineering works going on:

• Signalling issues at London Waterloo (TOC: South West Trains) – full service resumption delayed until 21:30 after an original report of 19:30 stated.
• Signalling issues affecting Stanstead Airport (TOC: CrossCountry, National Express East Anglia)
• All routes via Cambridge affected due to a security alert (TOC: First Capital Connect, National Express East Anglia, CrossCountry)
• Signalling issues in the Clifton area affecting routes between Salford Crescent and Bolton (TOC: Northern Rail, First Transpennine Express)
• There was a broken down train in the Sittingbourne area (TOC: Southeastern)
• There was a bridge struck in the Cam & Dursley area.
• There were signalling issues in the Mill Hill Broadway area affecting routes between Luton and London St. Pancras (TOC: East Midlands Trains, First Capital Connect)
• There was a bridge struck in the Ruabon area affecting routes between Chester and Shrewsbury.
• There were signalling issues affecting the line between Treherbert and Porth (TOC: Arriva Trains Wales)

Additionally, there were a large array of service alterations (which now seem to be referred to as “Travel Updates”) on CrossCountry services with a few trains suffering cancellations and delays due to a lack of staff. Some of these automated updates are woefully inadequate at providing decent information; we really need to know more about the situation of these trains.

• There were overruning engineering works between Oxted and Uckfield / East Grinstead (TOC: Southern)
• There were signalling issues between Nottingham and Worksop (TOC: East Midland Trains)
• There was a security alert at Moorgate (TOC: First Capital Connect)

• There was a broken down train at Hilsea (TOC: First Great Western, South West Trains, Southern)
• There were signalling issues between Darwen and Blackburn (TOC: Northern Rail)
• There was vandalism in the Northfleet area situated between Dartford and Gravesend (TOC: Southeastern)
• There was a fatality at Northallerton situated between York and Darlington (TOC: CrossCountry, First Transpennine Express, Grand Central, National Express East Coast) – More details

• “The West Coast Main Line will be closed from Good Friday to Easter Monday between Coventry, Rugby and Northampton and from London Euston on Easter Saturday until Easter Monday. No intercity services will operate from London Euston from Good Friday.  Local train services will operate between London Euston and Northampton only on Good Friday.  Local services will be replaced by buses at other times. Chiltern Railways will accept all valid Virgin and London Midland tickets on London Marylebone to Birmingham services.”
• “The East Coast Main Line from 2pm on Easter Saturday to 2pm on Easter Sunday, when services between London King’s Cross, the North East of England and Scotland will be diverted via Leeds due to work between Doncaster and York.”

• “The Great Western Main Line services between Didcot Parkway, Swindon and Chippenham will be disrupted from Good Friday to Easter Monday with trains being replaced by a bus service or diverted.”
• “Services from London Waterloo on the South West Main Line will be subject to alterations and diversions due to major engineering works taking place at Clapham Junction between Good Friday and Easter Monday.”
• “Services to East Anglia and the Essex coast from London’s Liverpool Street will also be disrupted between Good Friday and Easter Monday with a bus replacement service operating between Gidea Park, Billericay and Ingatestone. On Easter Sunday and Easter Monday other services to/from Liverpool Street will operate to alternative timetables.”

They are also offering four steps to achieving an easier and as hassle free a journey as possible: plan your journey using the timetable enquiry service on National Rail Enquiries, book in advance of travelling to ensure a seat reservation, make seat reservations if not already held and check engineering works affecting the route intended to travel on.

• There are signalling problems affecting the Redbridge area near to Southampton Central (TOC: CrossCountry, First Great Western, South West Trains)
• There has been a fatality between Leeds and Wakefield Westgate (TOC: CrossCountry, East Midlands Trains, National Express East Coast, Northern Rail)
• There has been a broken down train between Oxted and Uckfield (TOC: Southern)

• There is a problem with line side equipment between Nottingham and Worksop (TOC: East Midlands Trains)
• There was a broken down train at Briton Ferry situated between Swansea and Cardiff Central (TOC: Arriva Train Wales, First Great Western)
• There were signalling issues between Great Malvern and Worcester Foregate Street (TOC: First Great Western, London Midland)
• There were overhead line issues between Upminster and Romford (TOC: National Express East Anglia)
• There were signalling issues between Preston and Kirkham & Wesham (TOC: First Transpennine Express, Northern Rail)
• There was a problem with line side equipment between Walton-on-the-Naze and Colchester (TOC: National Express East Anglia)

• There was a fatality at Harrow & Wealdstone which is situated between London Euston and Watford Junction (TOC: London Midland, London Overground, Southern, Virgin Trains)
• There were two separate events of signalling issues at Llansamlet which is situated between Bridgend and Swansea (TOC: Arriva Trains Wales, First Great Western)
•  There was a fatality at Tile Hill which is situated between Coventry and Birmingham New Street (TOC: CrossCountry, London Midland, Virgin Trains)

• There was a bridge struck by a road vehicle at Dunbridge between Salisbury and Southampton Central (TOC: First Great Western, South West Trains)
• There were signalling issues between Cardiff Central and Bridgend (TOC: Arriva Trains Wales, First Great Western)
• There was a problem with a river bridge at Goole situated between Hull and Doncaster (TOC: Northern Rail)

Deutsche Bahn hauls the trains up to the Tunnel where EWS then takes over and pulls the train into the UK and all the way up north to Manchester.

According to DB this is the first in a series of rail links between the UK and continental Europe. The service started operations on 04 March 2008.

We welcome DB establishing the rail link finally using some of the excess spare capacity of the Channel Tunnel. It would be nice if, in cooperation with other freight and train companies, services like this would be developed as a strong competitor to road and air freight between continental Europe and the UK.
Not only does this mode of freight bear a much smaller carbon footprint compared to the afore mentioned modes, it also makes use of the available capacity through the Tunnel, which finally could see the Tunnel being made much better use of.

• There were overhead line issues between Doncaster and York (TOC: CrossCountry, Grand Central, Hull Trains, National Express East Coast). This is still on-going and there are no through services between the North East and Scotland. National Rail Enquiries are advising passengers to delay non-essential journeys until Friday when tickets will still be valid.
• There was a tree on the line between Chester and Hooton (TOC: Merseyrail)
• There was a broken down train at Bootle Oriel Road situated between Liverpool Central and Southport (TOC: Merseyrail)

• There was a broken down train at Mossley situated between Stalybridge and Huddersfield (TOC: First Transpennine Express, Northern Rail)
• There was emergency engineering work undertaken at Oulton Broad South (TOC: National Express East Anglia)
• The poor weather conditions were affecting East Midlands Trains, CrossCountry and Virgin Trains quite badly
• There was a broken down freight train at Goldthorpe situated between Sheffield and York and Leeds (TOC: CrossCountry, Northern Rail)
• There was a broken down train between Bletchley and Bedford (TOC: London Midland)
• There was a broken down freight train between Severn Tunnel Junction and Bristol Parkway and Bristol Temple Meads (TOC: First Great Western)
• There were overhead line issues between Norwich and Diss (TOC: National Express East Anglia)
• There was vandalism in the Nuneaton area (TOC: Virgin Trains)

Quite a large number of issues blighted the network yesterday and the number of broken down trains continued, albeit not quite as many as the previous day!