ushawk
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FCC Thameslink services have now been suspended.
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Weather related disruption - Christmas 2013 and New Year 2014
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Skimpot flyer
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From FCC website:
Delays can be expected on all routes as Network Rail have instructed us to operate at a reduced speed to reduce the risk of trees and other debris being blown onto the railway lines.
I realise there is a need for brevity, but the wording of this statement implies trains whooshing past, causes trees to come down !
All they needed was to add a few words, for the statement to read
... to reduce the risk of colliding with trees and other debris, which may have been blown onto the railway lines :roll:
Delays can be expected on all routes as Network Rail have instructed us to operate at a reduced speed to reduce the risk of trees and other debris being blown onto the railway lines.
I realise there is a need for brevity, but the wording of this statement implies trains whooshing past, causes trees to come down !
All they needed was to add a few words, for the statement to read
... to reduce the risk of colliding with trees and other debris, which may have been blown onto the railway lines :roll:
ushawk
Established Member
From FCC website:
Delays can be expected on all routes as Network Rail have instructed us to operate at a reduced speed to reduce the risk of trees and other debris being blown onto the railway lines.
I realise there is a need for brevity, but the wording of this statement implies trains whooshing past, causes trees to come down !
All they needed was to add a few words, for the statement to read
... to reduce the risk of colliding with trees and other debris, which may have been blown onto the railway lines :roll:
The draught (or whatever it is actually called) could actually pull weakened trees down, so they arent totally wrong.
Searle
Established Member
FirstCapitalConnect @FirstCC 10m
#UKStorm - All Thameslink services (Bedford - Brighton via St Pancras) are cancelled. Do not attempt travel.
The apocalypse is finally here!
Looks like the person on the FCC twitter desk wants to go home, is now answering in as few words as possible, with full stops at the end of the sentence!
#UKStorm - All Thameslink services (Bedford - Brighton via St Pancras) are cancelled. Do not attempt travel.
The apocalypse is finally here!
Looks like the person on the FCC twitter desk wants to go home, is now answering in as few words as possible, with full stops at the end of the sentence!
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Hyphen
Member
Think this one got overlooked on this thread. We set out earlier than planned to try to beat the weather but got unlucky when we were the first train to meet a landslip between Lydney and Gloucester.
Driver had cleared the clay and mud within half an hour of stopping but we didn't get clearance to proceed until NR had turned up to certify it safe... which took almost 3 hours.
There were a lot of unimpressed passengers for Shrewsbury, Crewe and Manchester who had been put on the service and told to change at Birmingham after the Marches had closed.
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C10664/2013/12/23/advanced
EDIT: That page is now lying... the train did go through to Birmingham and reached BHM 223 down.
If they have any colleagues on here or anybody who can identify the crew, please pass on a very heartfelt thank you to the driver and the guard, who kept us informed, entertained, and really did do everything in their power to get us going again.
Driver had cleared the clay and mud within half an hour of stopping but we didn't get clearance to proceed until NR had turned up to certify it safe... which took almost 3 hours.
There were a lot of unimpressed passengers for Shrewsbury, Crewe and Manchester who had been put on the service and told to change at Birmingham after the Marches had closed.
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C10664/2013/12/23/advanced
EDIT: That page is now lying... the train did go through to Birmingham and reached BHM 223 down.
If they have any colleagues on here or anybody who can identify the crew, please pass on a very heartfelt thank you to the driver and the guard, who kept us informed, entertained, and really did do everything in their power to get us going again.
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ungreat
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Not long got home and the wind has really picked up. Was home pass from Kings Cross having worked up earlier and caught 2100 EC. Got here at 2304.....having said that we didn't leave KX until nearly 2130
Peter Mugridge
Veteran Member
That agrees with what we have here in Epsom.
The peak of the storm for the London / South East area is forecast to be at around 01.00 so this could be a quite noisy night.
ModernRailways
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Just been having a look through some of the tweets they have received - and Southern, and SouthEastern - and the abuse the twitter handlers are getting is terrible!
One person's excuse is that 'It's not your fault, but the company.' To me it shouldn't be posted anyway. Fair enough complaining, but the abuse is unnecessary!
I think this says it all though.
What has happened is that 'the weather' has moved further south. When these sort of storms appeared over the Scottish Highlands on a regular basis they attracted minimal attention due to the relatively small number of communities affected. Of course, a key reason why those areas were sparsely populated in the first place is the weather. The heavily populated South of England is a different kettle of fish all together.
Yes, stupidity combined with arrogance, a dreadful combination.
Indeed. Not what you want from an official spokesperson.
Tracked
Established Member
I had a day out in Canterbury today, bit risky but I had the tickets booked in advance, and it's been a bit wet and windy but it sounds like I've missed the worst - out of 6 trains the only one that was late was the final one from KGX-DON (set off 30mins late, arrived 90mins late).
Missed the chaos around Ashford Int this evening, not sure what was happening at Newark when we crawled through - a HST was sat at the outer platform but the end Power car and last coach weren't in the platform, there's surely plenty of space for it?.
Missed the chaos around Ashford Int this evening, not sure what was happening at Newark when we crawled through - a HST was sat at the outer platform but the end Power car and last coach weren't in the platform, there's surely plenty of space for it?.
Train hit a tree at St Mary Cray earlier causing severe delays from Victoria to Kent. One passenger reported that the train hit the tree and then allegedly slid along the tracks unable to break due to debris. All that even at the lowered limit of 50mph. Trains along that area do around 90mph normally. Shocking picture, must have been terrifying for the driver.
I would have thought most of the brakes would have been unaffected. Perhaps the brake control was damaged, or the driver was too stunned to respond promptly? I assume from what was said he is fine now.
One for RAIB?
Unable to comment myself, was just what one person on the train said had happened.
Was gusty and rainy up here in Yorkshire earlier...so much so I didn't venture out of the house. Going out later, the rain had all but stopped, as had the wind.
However, since about midnight the gusts have got back up again and I have heard the rain on the windows at various points. I'm half expecting to have to retrieve some of our icicle lights off the garage roof again in the morning!
Yep, it did get into Leeds this morning - 0036!
One of my friends has been monitoring flights over the day and I think they said Gatwick at one point this evening had 6 go-arounds in a row...quite unprecedented!
However, since about midnight the gusts have got back up again and I have heard the rain on the windows at various points. I'm half expecting to have to retrieve some of our icicle lights off the garage roof again in the morning!
If anyone wants a laugh/wants to feel sorry for some people, check out this service. Running from London King's Cross to Leeds, via Lincoln. Was due to take just under 4 hours, and it's already 2 hours late at Peterborough. At this rate it'll get to Leeds tomorrow morning
Yep, it did get into Leeds this morning - 0036!
One of my friends has been monitoring flights over the day and I think they said Gatwick at one point this evening had 6 go-arounds in a row...quite unprecedented!
Monty
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Nothing running to at least 1000 this morning on SWT, a couple of severely crippled units stuck on the Windsor side of things. Not looking good to be honest.
Woken up early to find all trains cancelled, and the operators offering the advice "passengers are advised not to travel today"
Its Christmas eve. Not traveling is simply NOT an option today.
I need to get to work today, and I need to get to Bristol later today to spend Christmas with my family.
Trains will be running to Bristol Parkway later right?? I am booked on the 19:15 train.
Its Christmas eve. Not traveling is simply NOT an option today.
I need to get to work today, and I need to get to Bristol later today to spend Christmas with my family.
Trains will be running to Bristol Parkway later right?? I am booked on the 19:15 train.
Wivenswold
Established Member
Well, drive or get a friend to give you a lift.
I hate this attitude towards the railways when bad weather cripples the network. Watch weather forecasts, listen to the advice and make contingency plans if your trip is essential.
My boss "had" to be in work today, so he called a friend in London, stayed over and, by all accounts, had a lovely old catch up last night. Lucky as none of his trains are running today.
VauxhallandI
Established Member
Whilst we are paging the Oracle then.
What is my contingency plan for getting from Herts to Glasgow?
Dieseldriver
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Sounds like either wheelslide or simply someone not realising how long it takes to bring a train to a stand. Trust me, I don't think there is a driver out there who wouldn't have the brake handle in emergency the second that came into view. Another point, these people who are complaining about reduced speed, this is why. I wouldn't be too worried as a passenger, I'd be more concerned about me and my colleagues sat in the crumple zone as we are very vulnerable in situations like this.
Drsatan
Established Member
It took me over three hours to get home last night. I caught the 1743 from Swanwick (ex Victoria) to Southampton which eventually departed at 18:30. Upon arrival at Southampton at 18:50 I was prepared to wait for the heavily delayed 18:40 service to Romsey via Eastleigh, but FGW, to their credit, ran a service to Cardiff Central starting at Southampton Central with a 158/9 left in Platform 5. I got home at about 20:00.
Now, with no SWT trains until 10:00 and flooding on the line blocking all trains between Westbury and Southampton Central, I'm not sure how I'm going to get to work, or even collect my bike from Swanwick. This is because I locked my bike up there due to an assumption the 1743 would be full and standing, since the 1709 and other services had been cancelled.
Now, with no SWT trains until 10:00 and flooding on the line blocking all trains between Westbury and Southampton Central, I'm not sure how I'm going to get to work, or even collect my bike from Swanwick. This is because I locked my bike up there due to an assumption the 1743 would be full and standing, since the 1709 and other services had been cancelled.
Wivenswold
Established Member
Well, it's too late now but personally, I would have travelled up yesterday or hired a car.
It's certainly not the fault of your railway company or Network Rail, as your comment seemed to be suggesting.
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Rather than start another thread, does this on the Virgin website :
mean that seat reservations for people booked on specific services will have been canned (which usually happens during disruption)?
Trying to decide whether to take our 1530 EUS-GLA and hope to find our reserved standard seats with no one sitting in them, or just go for an earlier train and take part in the bun fight.
virgin said:
mean that seat reservations for people booked on specific services will have been canned (which usually happens during disruption)?
Trying to decide whether to take our 1530 EUS-GLA and hope to find our reserved standard seats with no one sitting in them, or just go for an earlier train and take part in the bun fight.
Southern have posted a number of tweets on their situation. Trees blocking a number of lines including Streatham Hill depot. Flooding at Balcombe and Christs Hospital. Electrical Supply problems at Horsham blocking all lines. Several level crossings damaged including Littlehaven. Earlswood subway flooded by 2ft. Complete loss of signalling on Oxted route. No trains expected to run brfore 9am. Half hour service runing between Caterham and East Croydon and a shuttle service between Clapham Jnc and Sherperds Bush.
Searle
Established Member
considering the northwest is gonna be nasty today, I'd go for the bunfight! Just make sure you're primed and ready to get onto the platform quickly and walk fast to the very end of the train and you should get a seat :P
VauxhallandI
Established Member
Sorry where did I blame anyone?
Obviously you can just blow off work when you like, not possible for all of us.
The weather conditions are expected to improve during the day in the South, so keep an eye on the various resources on-line (NRE, ToC Twitter feeds etc) as to how the services are running. It seems that most operators may be allowing ticket holders from yesterday to travel today, and the advice will probably be get away as soon as you can. The advice about not travelling usually relates to non-essential travel to try and prevent what services running getting overcrowded, especially as most services will finish early this evening.
But to be quite honest, we've known about this potential disruption since the middle of last week at least. The wife & I travelled yesterday morning & thankfully were not affected, but I already had contingency plans in place should the worst have happened. NR & the ToCs will be working as hard as they can to get things back to some state of normality, but you really have to as a passenger (especially booking in advance) consider what effect adverse weather might have on your travel plans & have backup in place.
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