Cancelled trains from Charlbury

Thu 13 Apr 2023, 09:05

As the delays are being caused by an infrastructure issue, Network Rail will be compensating GWR for disruption to their services.

Thu 13 Apr 2023, 08:51

Out of curiosity where do GWR get the money from to pay out the claims?  I do hope its not from the increased ticket price. 

Wed 12 Apr 2023, 21:56

I’ve claimed back on GWR delay repay this afternoon. I got on the timetabled 15:45 at Oxford only to be given the announcement that there wasn’t a train driver, that they were waiting for him to arrive. Then we were told he’d arrived and was completing paperwork! We were then advised on arriving at Charlbury to make a claim! To be fair, we were kept informed of the farce.

Wed 12 Apr 2023, 19:05

It is all so infuriating, isn't it - so many wasted minutes in one's life because of delayed trains. And oh, the anxiety over never knowing whether a train will *actually* arrive and arrive on time. How GWR is allowed to increase its ticket prices year on year is beyond me. 

Wed 12 Apr 2023, 18:57

Today’s trip to Oxford- two journeys, combined time 43 minutes. Total delay today: 69 minutes. I encourage everyone to claim money back when they’re delayed. GWR pay out £1.4m a month in compensation which is a small fraction of their turnover so they barely notice it.

Wed 12 Apr 2023, 09:12

It seems the 07:11 to Oxford/London has now disappeared from the timetable. I presume this is a temporary measure whilst the viaduct is being fixed.

Wed 12 Apr 2023, 08:13

Major signalling problems today so expect delays and cancellations again!

Mon 10 Apr 2023, 20:22

Network Rail now saying they hope to have a temporary viaduct open by 10 June, not before.

Mon 10 Apr 2023, 10:35

BBC reporter says he has a report from tyrellcheck.com that it will be closed until 'mid-June', but what's a couple of weeks at this point.

Mon 10 Apr 2023, 10:18

National Rail Enquires has this morning updated its notice about the closure of the Oxford-Didcot line to say that this is going to last until at least May 31st.

Sun 9 Apr 2023, 11:53

Janet,  I believe that using a Chiltern train from Marylebone is acceptable with an advance single ticket Pad/Cby and you may continue to Oxford to connect with the Oxf/Cby trains. You are not required to alight at Parkway. 

 More info is at: GWR.com/oxford-update ;   although this seems not to have been updated since last Thursday and is rather ambiguous.

Sun 9 Apr 2023, 09:52

Yes you can use Pad -> Cby prebooked tickets on Marylebone trains from Oxford Parkway: website has this -

​​​​​​​To assist with your journey, you may use your ticket on the following at no extra cost:

• Chiltern Railways via any reasonable route (very busy trains 7-10 April)
• Great Western Railway via any reasonable route
• London Underground via any reasonable route
• South Western Railway between Bournemouth and London Waterloo
• Thameslink between Bedford and London St Pancras International (until end of service on 10 April only)

Sun 9 Apr 2023, 09:27

Can anyone confirm whether advance tickets purchased from Paddington to Charlbury can be used on the Marylebone trains without futher payment?

Sat 8 Apr 2023, 12:41

The Cotswold Line Promotion Group's chairman John Ellis has written a letter about the cancellation of the charter train to Torbay on April 22nd and arrangements for refunds - this has been emailed to everyone who gave an email address when they booked and will be posted to other passengers.

Is is also available on the CLPG website at this link https://clpg.online/2023/04/bridge-closure-forces-cancellation-of-clpg-charter-train/

It is hoped to arrange a new date for a train to run to Devon in early autumn.

Fri 7 Apr 2023, 09:56

Fri 7 Apr 2023, 09:49 (last edited on Fri 7 Apr 2023, 13:26)

I’ve found a picture of the damaged bridge - how can I post it here? Will this link work? https://share.icloud.com/photos/084QaDS1JWH_9RaGNg7kRo35w 

Fri 7 Apr 2023, 09:43

I'm afraid that it has been decided that the CLPG charter train will have to be postponed. 

People who have booked tickets for the train will be contacted by the CLPG with more details in the next day or two and I will post information here as well.

Thu 6 Apr 2023, 22:46

Rachel,  This charter train starts from Oxford and doesn't need to use the closed viaduct over the Thames. It does mean that GWR will have to rearrange things to bring the train empty to Oxford from the Worcester direction. Charlbury passengers are however likely to face a later time returning to Charlbury as the train will be unable to travel via Didcot (because of the closed bridge) and will be routed through Worcester. If you have booked tickets, you will hear more from CLPG, the charter organisers.

Wed 5 Apr 2023, 18:15

CHARTER TRAIN TRIP CHARLBURY TO PAIGNTON SAT 22 APRIL

Is this postponed or a TBC? 

Wed 5 Apr 2023, 10:06

The issue over the Easter weekend is that London Euston is closed from Friday to Monday for engineering work by Network Rail, so passengers  travelling to and from the West Midlands are being advised to use the Chiltern services between Birmingham and London Marylebone instead.

As a result, there will not be any trains spare for Chiltern to lengthen services on the Oxford route.

Wed 5 Apr 2023, 08:25

Chiltern trains between Oxford and Marylebone very overcrowded. Passengers advised to only travel on them if necessary over the Easter weekend. 

Tue 4 Apr 2023, 18:50

Lack of maintenance? underfunding ? The consequences- more road travel , so with this dry weather- hopefully the pit hole work can progress with great speed 

Tue 4 Apr 2023, 14:33

Basically the rail infrastructure is over 150 years old, its all needs to be updated.

Tue 4 Apr 2023, 13:17 (last edited on Tue 4 Apr 2023, 13:18)

By chance is anyone travelling back to Charlbury this evening from Oxford Parkway? For either a lift or taxi share?

Tue 4 Apr 2023, 09:00

The timetable says that disruption between Oxford, Didcot and Reading is expected until 23.59 on Sunday 23 April.

Everyone reminded that there are now no late night buses from Oxford as the no 7 bus has been rerouted to Witney after calling at Woodstock (now called the S7 bus). Let's hope that the late evening trains between Oxford and Charlbury continue to run. 

Fortunately we have the route to Marylebone to and from Oxford for those travelling to or from London. For getting to or from Heathrow the best option would seem to be an express bus from Oxford. Express buses also between Oxford and Reading.

Tue 4 Apr 2023, 07:49

Network Rail have been undertaking works at the Nuneham Bridge since at least 3rd March (when they closed the footpath under the bridge) and damage was apparent many months before that. Sinkage of one of the piers seems to have accelerated.  Blame it on the old GWR who clearly skimped on the foundations back in 1929 when the bridge was last rebuilt.

There is a general shortage of buses for rail replacement work and they cannot be whistled up at a moments notice.

Tue 4 Apr 2023, 07:03

The fault this time of Network Rail. There’s been a speed restriction across this bridge for months. Just like the Yarnton land slip, years of neglect and under investment are catching up with the infrastructure. This one could last weeks.

Tue 4 Apr 2023, 03:41

Train from Charlbury at 18.41 - terminated at Oxford.

Replacement bus to Didcot , 1 hr wait , more people in the que than spaces 

Shared Taxi to Didcot with Baptist Minister ( new friend made ) to miss the train by 1 min 

Next train, terminated at Reading due to a fatality on the line  

Only way into London was the slow train to Waterloo about 18 stops 

 Not a good advertisement for using public transport.

A good solid vehicle with large wheels to go over the Charlbury pot holes looks a good option until we have dry and perfect weather conditions to do repairs 

Mon 3 Apr 2023, 21:51 (last edited on Mon 3 Apr 2023, 21:52)

Oh yes we can!

Whenever there's a school holiday week there's a problem! 

On Friday night the 19:45 from Oxford to Charlbury was cancelled because there were not enough carriages to form a train available! The last thing I needed after a long day and it was bucketing down! 

Mon 3 Apr 2023, 21:00 (last edited on Mon 3 Apr 2023, 21:03)

We can’t blame GWR for today’s cancellations which might last for quite a while , but I’d like to thank the extremely kind person with her friend from London who saw me walking down to the station with my case and warned me all trains were cancelled, and then offered me a lift to OXP so that I could get my train to France tomorrow. 
I’m afraid I didn’t take her name or contact as we got to Parkway minutes before a train left, so I hope I thanked her properly in the rush. Thank you so much, lady from Combe !