9:41 to Oxford

Tue 29 Jul 2014, 20:53 (last edited on Tue 29 Jul 2014, 23:43)

Something obviously went wrong this morning - probably with the signalling system which prevents two trains from being on the single line at the same time. The 0941 arrived on time at Charlbury and the 0822 from Paddington to Hereford (Charlbury 0939) was on time approaching Oxford. It left Oxford 9 minutes late, but did not enter the single line at Wolvercote Junction until 0948 (22 minutes late). It then appears to have had to wait at a signal until the preceding train to Moreton-in-Marsh cleared the single line at Charlbury at about 1000 (it was due at 0914), with the result that it was almost 40 minutes late at Charlbury. Details obtained from Realtimetrains website.

Tue 29 Jul 2014, 19:26 (last edited on Tue 29 Jul 2014, 19:27)

"instead of holding it at Oxford when it's running late FGW let it through"
Hmm well that would smack of planning :)
Why does this never seem to happen with trains on mainland Europe like Switzerland, Germany or Czech Republic.
Given we have the most expensive railway in Europe it to should be bl!!dy fantastic.

Tue 29 Jul 2014, 18:38

The trouble with the 9.41 is that it has to wait for a train going in the opposite direction at nearly the exact same time to clear the single line. Mostly, this train gets in just before the 9.41 or at the same time but sometimes it runs into trouble instead of holding it at Oxford when it's running late FGW let it through. The 8.30 or the 10.08 are slightly more reliable.

Tue 29 Jul 2014, 16:48

And I nearly 'caught' it - but drove instead...

Tue 29 Jul 2014, 11:55

Thanks, Nigel. Yes, they've honed their apologies very well. Much better at them than they used to be..

Tue 29 Jul 2014, 11:48

Not regular no, but First Great Western and Network Rail as a whole offer an increasingly erratic service. But they apologise very efficiently.

Tue 29 Jul 2014, 11:46

Not regular no, but First Great Western and Network Rail as a whole offer an increasingly erratic service. But they apologise very efficiently.

Tue 29 Jul 2014, 11:18 (last edited on Tue 29 Jul 2014, 11:42)

Hello, all. I moved into Charlbury at the weekend and today, for the second time only, caught the 9:41 to Oxford.

This finally left Charlbury at 10:25 and arrived in Oxford about 10:50 over an hour after we'd got on at Charlbury.

Is this sort of thing a regular occurrence? Hope not!