Is the section of gwml beteen Paddington and reading the worst maintained line in the country?

[Jamiescott1]

This links into the thread about the poor performance of the EL.
So far this week we've had a cracked rail at iver and a cracked rail at maidenhead.
Since September we've had points failures, signal failures and ohle issues.

I have nothing to compare it with, but travelling on it daily and having to submit over 50 delay repay requests this year it seems that there are a lot of infrastructure issues

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Doubt it's the "worst maintained" (although it might seem like that if you're regularly subject to delays) but it's got to be up there as one of the most intensively used lines.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Doubt it's the "worst maintained" (although it might seem like that if you're regularly subject to delays) but it's got to be up there as one of the most intensively used lines.

My thoughts too. As such a heavily used and high speed section of line, it is total hyperbole to say “worst maintained“.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

My thoughts too. As such a heavily used and high speed section of line, it is total hyperbole to say “worst maintained“.

Travelled down it yesterday and it generally has billiard table ride on the Mains but it has numerous wet spots which maybe are always an issue West of Slough but left untreated will certainly be a probable contributor to a broken rail. Also now Crossrail is so intensive there maybe an issue for the maintainers to gain the access they actually need and as a result they are becoming reactive. Without the facts once can't ascribed such a blanket statement.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

...it has numerous wet spots which maybe are always an issue...

Is that the phenomenon where a saturated clay subsurface below the track can deteriorate and, in due course, affect ride quality?

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Is that the phenomenon where a saturated clay subsurface below the track can deteriorate and, in due course, affect ride quality?

Correct sleeper becomes unsupported and its subject to the wheelset vertical load causing a pumping actions which tends to accelerate the problem especially if its fed by rain. This then induces fatigue in the rails although it takes a tens of thousands of cycles. Usually picked up by the NMT and if the dip is too much would need a speed. Also the ultrasonic test train is pretty good at picking up rail defects which should then lead to local ultrasonics team using a handheld to do a local inspection. Also this is a Cat 1A route so will have the highest frequency monitoring regime so any defects are detected well before they lead to failure.

 

[Kingham West]

I have great confidence in its maintenance, and those who maintain it, but the Western does seem to look untidy , far too much vegetation ( blocking drains , hiding movement ) , and left overs from works at the track side .
It seemed to be far tiedIer when I was younger .

 

[Horizon22]

Performance is extremely poor on the GWML over the past 3-6 months. Wet beds are one ongoing issue (which led to a broken rail this week) but OLE issues, points issues and axle counter failures are also prominent. Take your pick and without hyperbole there appears to be a daily fault.

Whether it's the "worst maintained" is unlikely, but perhaps the "worst maintained intensively used section of the railway".

 

[JonathanH]

Whether it's the "worst maintained" is unlikely, but perhaps the "worst maintained intensively used section of the railway".

Now that a high frequency service has been introduced, the ability to do anything about it is going to be a whole lot more difficult.

Two track railway at the weekend used to mean a reduction to two stopping services an hour on a Sunday. That isn't really possible now, at least not east of Airport Junction.

Giving lines like this the maintenance time they need seems to be a challenge.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

I heard along the grapevine that there hasn’t been high-output ballast cleaning on the GWML for several years and the next NR control period doesn’t see the HOBC train visiting either. This won‘t be doing the formation & track quality any favours, I wonder why this is the case (if indeed it is).

 

[Horizon22]

Now that a high frequency service has been introduced, the ability to do anything about it is going to be a whole lot more difficult.

Two track railway at the weekend used to mean a reduction to two stopping services an hour on a Sunday. That isn't really possible now, at least not east of Airport Junction.

Giving lines like this the maintenance time they need seems to be a challenge.

There's quite a large closure this Sunday, but that is mainly HS2 related.

 

[JonathanH]

There's quite a large closure this Sunday, but that is mainly HS2 related.

Yes. If that is acceptable then maybe similar closures could be considered.

 

[Amlag]

Reading to Paddington seems to be the most unreliable railway into London.

 

[JonathanH]

Reading to Paddington seems to be the most unreliable railway into London.

People's perception will differ depending on which routes they regularly travel. There are also occasions when Reading is reached in 22 minutes from Paddington throughout the day.

 

[Taunton]

I was one of those who wrote recently on the EL delays thread, having been delayed (but saw worse to others) both ways, morning and evening, on this section only yesterday, 23 Nov.

I recall when HSTs ran without infrastructure issues in the 1970s-80s, so don't think it's something that can be blamed on underlying ground conditions.

The comment on huge weed growth is correct, and is nowhere more apparent than at the infrastructure maintenance depot west of Southall, where the sidings alongside the Down Main seem to be disappearing behind weeds rising from the ballast like something from The Day of The Triffids, pretty much hiding the MPVs there. If they can't manage weed growth at their own maintenance base location, what chance the rest of the line. Presumably someone has said there's no budget for it. Unchecked weeds can break the drainage and do a range of other damage.

We have of course had disruption on this line long term, the electrification by "totally wonderful high productivity modern methods" caused extensive delays long term as it continually dug up and disrupted the signalling, and took far longer (and more money) than programmed.

I'm a bit lost about "difficult to maintain" comments, because there's also extensive commentary about the 'two track railway' scheduling that allows one or the other pair of lines to be out of service, which judging by the continuous announcements of late night and Sunday curtailments on the Elizabeth Line there implies a lot of work.

Mr Brunel must be turning in his grave. And I wonder what the Western Region Chief Civil Engineer has to say about his immaculate billiard table got ready for the HSTs.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

The other 'new' factor is the introduction of the IETs with their inside-frame bogies. Are they hammering the track - they are appallingly rough-riding at times?

 

[Horizon22]

I'm a bit lost about "difficult to maintain" comments, because there's also extensive commentary about the 'two track railway' scheduling that allows one or the other pair of lines to be out of service, which judging by the continuous announcements of late night and Sunday curtailments on the Elizabeth Line there implies a lot of work.

Most of this is HS2 prep, meaning Elizabeth line services on the Main Lines. So not really much to do with good maintenance, unfortunately.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

The other 'new' factor is the introduction of the IETs with their inside-frame bogies. Are they hammering the track - they are appallingly rough-riding at times?

Technically only the trailers on the 9-car sets have inside frame bogies. And to my understanding, the stiffer the bogie, the more damage it does to the track. So technically the lightweight bogies are probably the least damaging, and the outside-frame bogies impart higher forces into the infrastructure. (The rough riding demonstrates when the energy is being dissipated inside the train.)

For the same reason a Class 220 with inside frame bogies is far more track friendly than a 221 with the heavy outside frame tilt-capable bogies. I seem to recall it was 2-3 times the difference in terms of energy.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

The other 'new' factor is the introduction of the IETs with their inside-frame bogies. Are they hammering the track - they are appallingly rough-riding at times?

They are lighter so exert less force. The poor riding is a function of the stiff suspension to control body roll and naff seats with no give in the cushion.

 

[The Planner]

I heard along the grapevine that there hasn’t been high-output ballast cleaning on the GWML for several years and the next NR control period doesn’t see the HOBC train visiting either. This won‘t be doing the formation & track quality any favours, I wonder why this is the case (if indeed it is).

The problem with the HOBC is that it needs a decent shift to be actually productive, a good 8 hours or so. Otherwise it becomes pretty inefficient as it isn't cheap to run.

 

[Geeves]

Reading to Paddington seems to be the most unreliable railway into London.

It might seem to be but it probably isn't any worse than the WCML into Euston. Seems to be many signal faults recently especially around Euston. I'm unsure if it's axle counters but they do seem very delicate and that's a national thing.

 

[Purple Train]

Local GWR services to Didcot/Newbury all cancelled east of Reading - was the case on coming in at 0920 and on coming out again at 1700. A points failure was given as the cause.

Anecdotal, but this is the first major disruption I've encountered going in and out. GWR expresses via Didcot are also heavily disrupted this evening, I think due to an unrelated track fault in the Swindon area.

The vegetation has grown hugely in the last two years. Obviously not an indicator of how well-maintained it is, but it does give the appearance of scruffiness.

Also, at least one line into Paddington has "*WET BED*" inserted into two of the berth boxes, according to OpenTrainTimes. Judging by other Forum posts, it's been ongoing for some time. Do they normally take a while to sort out?

 

[sh24]

I do London-Plymouth return most weeks. 50% of journeys result in some form of delay repay, with a significant proportion of that derived from infrastructure issues between Paddington and Reading. It certainly feels quite fragile to this regular passenger

 

[Sly Old Fox]

There was a points failure at Slough this morning, along with the afore mentioned wet bed between Twyford and Maidenhead, so most up trains were using the up relief. A cracked rail near Swindon this afternoon I believe, and Line 2 in and out of Paddington has been closed for over a week now, again due to a wet bed.

 

[Taunton]

I know maintenance has to be done, but was it really necessary to close both the Heathrow Express and Liz Line, AND the Piccadilly Line, into Heathrow T5, all together this weekend, so it goes from three train routes to zero? Is there some lack of co-ordination here? Can't see it being some works embracing both, as the T5 stations are quite separated. The airlines at Terminal 5 must be hacked off.

The vegetation has grown hugely in the last two years. Obviously not an indicator of how well-maintained it is

But it surely is. All sorts of issues arise from unchecked weed growth, to drainage, to signalling kit, attraction of ground moisture, hazard to staff walking, etc.

 

[Purple Train]

But it surely is. All sorts of issues arise from unchecked weed growth, to drainage, to signals, hazard to staff walking, etc.

I was thinking more about line-side vegetation, sorry - you're quite right.

 

[MasterPhillips]

The Up Main between Twyford and Maidenhead has been shut for large periods for the last 3 days. Yesterday until around 7pm. The down main has also been shut on occasions, presumably when maintenance teams were on the Up Main doing work.

I notice it’s also closed today, luckily won’t cause too many issues as it’s a reduced service east of Reading to Slough/Ealing Broadway only.

 

[mikeb42]

Performance is extremely poor on the GWML over the past 3-6 months.
(...)
Whether it's the "worst maintained" is unlikely, but perhaps the "worst maintained intensively used section of the railway".

Hopefully this is widely accepted analysis among industry insiders. It certainly reflects the reality on the ground.

I've mostly avoided using it entirely since early summer due to the recent scourge of ubiquitous 5 car trains on long distance services. However, that's led to using up too much PCP mileage quota on the road vehicle alternative and forced a reluctant return for a few months.

Performance is just disgraceful. The underlying cause mostly seems to be outwith GWR's control. Almost always it's the terrible reliability of the infrastructure. As noted, it isn't hyperbole that almost every day there is a track/points/signal/axle counter/track circuit/OHLE failure. My own recent experience looks like this:

https://www.recenttraintimes.co.uk/Home/Search?Op=Srch&Fr=Bristol+Parkway+(BPW)&To=London+Paddington+(PAD)&TimTyp=D&TimDay=4p&Days=Wk&TimPer=4w&dtFr=&dtTo=&ShwTim=AvAr&MxArCl=25&TOC=All&ArrSta=0&MetAvg=Mea&MetSpr=RT&MxScDu=&MxSvAg=&MnScCt=

Appalling. Almost 100% of recent journeys have attracted Delay Repay on one or both legs. Yesterday, the service fell apart again. Multiple infrastructure failures, this time at both Swindon and ?Slough - the latter seems near-compulsory. So, at the last minute I had to abandon rail and drive, something that is happening ever more often.

So many of the failures are between Reading and London - surely the stretch of line accounting for proportionally by far the biggest slice of income on the network out of Paddington? However much maintenance it's getting, it's self-evidently not enough.

I start to wonder about the safety implications of such frequent failures. Can wrong side failures be so completely uncorrelated with right side that this doesn't all reflect some measure of increase in underlying risk?

 

[RailWonderer]

Is Network Rail not spending enough time and budget maintaining this line? Ride quality on it is terrible, epsecially with IETs which ride like dinner trolleys on a cliff face.

 

[Sly Old Fox]

Maintenance staff have been cut, it’s not a surprise. It’s the future.