166206 Chilson 24 July 2017

166206 passes Chilson on 24 July 2017 with the 2Z45 17:26 Oxford to Worcester Foregate Street GWR service. The line was closed for engineering works between Didcot and Oxford, which explains the Z headcode. Note how close the bushes on the right are to the train. For several years these bushes have been 'pruned' by the trains, and are now shaped to the loading gauge! This is one very graphic indication of the terrible state of our railways, caused by Network Rail's decision to completely abandon routine lineside maintenance. Leaves on the line in the autumn are entirely their own fault!