It’s been a rubbish commute home tonight – a broken down train at Winnersh meant that trains between Wokingham and Reading were cancelled.
South West Trains has given the all clear now:
Sorry for delays to train services this evening. This was caused by a broken down train at #Winnersh and delayed train leaving Waterloo.
— South West Trains (@SW_Trains) October 26, 2015
But it’s not been that way for a while. It couldn’t have happened at a worse time either – just in time for the evening commute home.
A broken down train at #Winnersh is causing delays and alterations to services to and from Reading. Sorry for the delays this is causing. — South West Trains (@SW_Trains) October 26, 2015
South West Trains did manage to arrange for some rail replacement buses to be laid on:
#Winnersh UPDATE – replacement buses expected at Wokingham at 18:15 and Reading at 18:30 approximately
— South West Trains (@SW_Trains) October 26, 2015
But Reading Buses, which runs the Lion service between Bracknell, Wokingham and Reading reported brisk trade earlier today:
Due to no trains running between Reading and Wokingham buses on the lion 4 route are very busy. We are very sorry if you are unable to get
— Reading Buses (@reading_buses) October 26, 2015
Cont..a seat or worse, unable to board due to buses running at full capacity.
— Reading Buses (@reading_buses) October 26, 2015
It wasn’t until 7.16pm that South West Trains were able to report trains were moving again:
#Winnersh: First train Reading – Waterloo is expected to be the delayed 19:09 https://t.co/x8URuzoyMA — South West Trains (@SW_Trains) October 26, 2015
But the delays have knock-on effects for the network:
#Winnersh – Delays to Great Western Railway services between Reading and Wokingham expected until 22:00.
— National Rail (@nationalrailenq) October 26, 2015
If you were caught, South West Trains said that compensation could be due:
#Winnersh – details of our compensation policy can be found here if you have been delayed by over 60 minutes today. https://t.co/y20Famc8Hk
— South West Trains (@SW_Trains) October 26, 2015
Of course, being Britain, we made the best of it – as commuters turned Monday into Pubday.
Any news on the broken down train @SW_Trains? Wondering whether to wait it out by having another pint! #Winnersh — Mike (@DontGetTwits) October 26, 2015
@DontGetTwits @SW_Trains #Winnersh Have another pint, just in case.
— Ade (@brainofade) October 26, 2015
“@SW_Trains: The broken down train at #Winnersh has now been moved. Thank you for bearing with us this evening.” Yay! #FromPubInLondon — John Breakwell (@JohnBrea) October 26, 2015
Ironically, today was the day that the new Winnersh Triangle park and ride opened, offering commuters the opportunity to take a bus or a train to Wokingham or Reading…
The new park & ride opens at Winnersh Triangle today! Remember to keep hold of your bus ticket to exit the car park! https://t.co/gEIY5njKlH
— Reading Buses (@reading_buses) October 26, 2015
And to make matters worse … Peach Street is being closed for emergency repairs from tonight for five nights.
