Blockade to allow Waterloo upgrade to take place, resulting in timetable changes

[infobleep]

There was a track circuit failure affecting platforms 11-13 this morning from around 0800-1000 which was the source of many of the problems which emerged, other than that it was all pretty smooth. 455s on Shepperton and Kingston loops, 450s on the Hounslow Loop, 458s on Readings and Weybridges. Mainline suburban services mainly 455+455+456 (456) at the country end.

The International side looked smart for such a temporary affair although it was a busty underfoot!

Thanks for the info. I am looking forward to being able to use some of new journey opportunities that only exist because of the works. For example there's a 19.12 and 19.38 fast and semifast service from Surbtion to Woking. Usually after the 18.40 has left there is nothing fast until 20.00.

If going to Alton, after the 17.41 has left, there is usually nothing until 20.11. During the works there is a train every 30 minutes during those times. Another nice bonus for those wishing to go to Alton from Surbtion.

It's not all doom a gloom. Not that the media would want to know about that.

 

[spark001uk]

10-car Class 458/5 formations have been in use to Reading for the first time this weekend.

They've been down there before. Maybe not regularly but I have seen them once or twice. I remember it as I thought it odd at the time and think I picced it, will have a sift thru later.

The 458 are nicely suited to the Reading line though, they have good acceleration, and the doors shut reasonably quickly too unlike the 450s.
In fact, I got a 458 this morning on the Staines Weybridge branch and I did notice they'd hastily re-fitted antimacassers and first class signs, though not the saloon doors or reading lamp panels. My questioning of it was answered when I then got a Reading up and it was a pair of 458s.
I'm guessing they've pinched a few 450s for mainline strengthening during the Waterloo works? (and the 10/458 to strengthen some of the Readings with 2 extra coaches).
Oddly though I passed at least two Windsors on my way up which were 8/455, I would have thought they'd need to keep it at 10car on that run, it does get rather busy.
However after Clapham I noticed quite a few 10/455, so they must be taking advantage of the ability already, which is good cos at least they can keep it that way when they return to p1-4 at Waterloo when the work is finished.

 

[randompixel]

So I've quickly learnt that coming out the W&C line and going right, you can't get to the subway under the platforms but are in fact funnelled into the bottom of the international platforms (very nice), but then your ticket doesn't work to let you out again. FYI.

 

[Goldfish62]

So I've quickly learnt that coming out the W&C line and going right, you can't get to the subway under the platforms but are in fact funnelled into the bottom of the international platforms (very nice), but then your ticket doesn't work to let you out again. FYI.

There seem to be a number of issues with the ticket gates. My smartcard doesn't work with a number of them.

 

[Sean Emmett]

16.12 RDG - WAT was 458 510 + 458 507.
Class 450 on the Ascot - Guildford shuttle.

 

[spark001uk]

There seem to be a number of issues with the ticket gates. My smartcard doesn't work with a number of them.

My smart card worked to get out of 20-24 onto main concourse earlier.

16.12 RDG - WAT was 458 510 + 458 507.
Class 450 on the Ascot - Guildford shuttle.

Ah. That'll be where they've found all the extra 456s to slap on the end of a number of the 8/455s then. I thought the idea of them on the Camberleys was that they could reduce it to 2car when necessary, but I don't think I've ever seen it!

 

[swt_passenger]

I thought the idea of them on the Camberleys was that they could reduce it to 2car when necessary, but I don't think I've ever seen it!

THe SWT driver who posts here fairly regularly has explained before that SWT policy is to always have them doubled up on the Ascot-Guildford turns.

 

[SamYeager]

The International side looked smart for such a temporary affair although it was a busty underfoot!

The mind boggles....

 

[IanXC]

Apps like NRE have been requested not to allocate platforms as this is going to cause congestion.

That is entirely within SWTs control... no need to request anyone does anything!

The mind boggles....

I'm glad you thought that too.

 

[swt_passenger]

I'm glad you thought that too.

Must be something to do with the service going tit$ up...

 

[Blindtraveler]

Iether that or they've got some loveley new gate attendants manning the shiny new gates?

 

[ashworth]

Does anyone have any information about how busy it has been in the Vauxhall area today for National Rail, Tube and buses. Was it as busy with the queues that were anticipated?

I'm booked in for a week at Vauxhall Travelodge from Wednesday of next week. To get a reasonable rate I booked it weeks ago and never thought about the blockade. I'd originally planned to travel by rail to visit various locations in the south of England often changing at Clapham Junction. I've now decided to have a complete change of plan and get a 7 Day Thames Rover instead visiting Windsor, Henley, Oxford etc instead. Will I experience any delays to and from Paddington via tube Victoria and Bakerloo Line or the 36 bus.

 

[infobleep]

Here is a quote from page 13 of the print edition of the Evening Standard. To be fair it appeared in paragraph 10 of 11. Is that an Evening Standard record for something so negative to be placed so late in the story?

Commuters at the station [Waterloo] today complained of crowded trains, delays and lack of information ion. Zara Hall, 34, said: "All the train timetables have moved a few minutes earlier, so I missed my train to Sudbury".

Aww poor Zara.

Not that the trains are as busy as last week mind you. Not in my experience.

Incidentally more congestion tonight due to a points issue affecting platform 11.

Were there any signalling issues during the day or were NR / SWT just unlucky that the issues only occurred during peak rush hours?

The 17.52 to Alton departed 23 minutes late as a result. Just my luck as that was the train I'd planned to catch, since it's an additional service from Surbtion that doesn't usually run. Needless to say I ended up on a another service and I'll be at my destination later than if it had been a usual day with no disruption or engineering works. Such is life.

Still they can't have signalling issues every day of the engineering works, so I'll be sure to make use of that additional service at some point.

I am fairly keen to make use of the silver linings of these works. That is additional services or faster connection opportunities only running or existing because less trains are running.

I managed to get an additional service this morning. That is board a train service that stopped at a station it doesn't normally stop at.

The Woking announcements today were manual but actually loud and clear. Have they come to some arrangement with the local residents with regards to the noise levels of the announcements?

Previously I had been told annual announcements had to be quieter, to be the point where passengers could hardly hear them, if not at all, as they would be too noisy for the residents in the much more recently built flats. However automatic announcements could be louder because they were controlled remotely. Hopefully this change is permanent. After all if you by a flat by a railways station, you should surely expect station announcements. I might understand if the station came layer but it came over 150 years before!

 

[evergreenadam]

Strange that some peak time stops at Richmond and Twickenham have been removed from Reading trains. Long gap in service from Richmond towards Feltham this evening, after 1718 the next train finally arrived at 1754.
10 cars on Reading line is a real help but unloading at Feltham took a while with its 7 car long short platform.

Richmond to Hounslow services poorly used as usual, what a waste of capacity when trains to Feltham and beyond are bursting. Hope a turn back can be built at Hounslow so that the circular service can be broken in two and provide more capacity where it is needed.

 

[cjohnson]

Nice to have a full 10 car 455+455+456 working the Epsom lines. Although the PIS needs a bit of a fix, as at Wimbledon the screens were saying "Customers for Ashtead should join the front 10 coaches .... This train is formed of 10 coaches" - not inaccurate but not a helpful use of the PIS displays!

 

[infobleep]

In the end they had two points failures tonight. Last one was between Queenstown Road and Waterloo. Some trains running over 40 minutes late.

Also am operating incident on a Portsmouth bound train that left Clapham Junction 1 hour 9 monies down.

Are the points failures on old infrastructure and will that replaced at another time?

There was an interesting video from National Rail about the works. For those who can't access the video, it explains what they are doing at Waterloo in simple short paragraphs for 90 seconds.

https://twitter.com/networkrailPR/status/894579572028481536

 

[Searle]

Overall, fairly impressed with SWT, although the decision to close the underground concourse in the evening peak is pretty ridiculous. Caused absolute chaos with everyone coming in from the Waterloo & City line, took about 15 minutes just to get to the main concourse, which was chaotic itself.

 

[Blindtraveler]

Im hearing via Facebook that interchange at CLJ is restricted to the overbridge tonight, no underpass/subway. Related?

 

[Kite159]

Im hearing via Facebook that interchange at CLJ is restricted to the overbridge tonight, no underpass/subway. Related?

When I interchanged at Clapham yesterday, the staff were in the process of getting fences out to control the queues. I guess the subway is closed to try and prevent people attempting to jump the queues

 

[Hophead]

Announcements late afternoon (17:15 anyway) was that the subway was for station exit and the bridge for interchange. There were some barriers up there, though you did need to look out for their intended purpose to avoid getting funnelled into an unwanted direction. Heading towards Platform 1-6, there are banners hanging from the roof directing the "crowds" into lanes for different destinations (I skipped the station this morning, but I'll take a chance tomorrow - Tuesday).

 

[spark001uk]

Lots of people complaining on the mezzanine today, people coming in from Waterloo East, or in fact anyone on the mezzanine - every escalator has been set to go up, except for the one at platform 1 end. (and staircases are blocked off). So everyone has to walk all the way down there to come down the escalator, to then walk all the way back along the concourse to platforms 11+ !! Daft isn't the word.

 

[hassaanhc]

Richmond to Hounslow services poorly used as usual, what a waste of capacity when trains to Feltham and beyond are bursting. Hope a turn back can be built at Hounslow so that the circular service can be broken in two and provide more capacity where it is needed.

Those trains are only "bursting" because the fast trains to Richmond and Twickenham are also the fast trains to Feltham and Staines. Passengers from Waterloo/Vauxhall/Clapham Junction to Feltham and Staines wouldn't care if their fast service went via Hounslow, but none do so and therefore the trains via Richmond is what they use.

The direct services between the Hounslow line and the Richmond line are extremely useful, but just because they're not going to be wedged doesn't mean they should be withdrawn! From Hounslow to Kingston can be reached in less than 30 minutes with a change at Twickenham, and at Richmond you've got connections for the District and North London lines.

 

[TEW]

Lots of people complaining on the mezzanine today, people coming in from Waterloo East, or in fact anyone on the mezzanine - every escalator has been set to go up, except for the one at platform 1 end. (and staircases are blocked off). So everyone has to walk all the way down there to come down the escalator, to then walk all the way back along the concourse to platforms 11+ !! Daft isn't the word.

It's deliberate. It's something TfL do a lot, making people walk a longer route that necessary to disperse the crowds.

 

[infobleep]

It's deliberate. It's something TfL do a lot, making people walk a longer route that necessary to disperse the crowds.

When the underground is busy, say at Victoria, I will walk a longer route to avoid going with the crowds. So I can see their point.

 

[TEW]

It makes sense to make people walk via the Platform 1 end of the station, where there are no trains and no people waiting. If everyone was able to walk directly to the higher number platforms it would make overcrowding worse there. I suspect there is the ability to implement a queuing system at the platform 1 end of the station if necessary too.

 

[infobleep]

This morning I decided to make use of a faster journey opportunity that doesn't normally exist and catch the 7.53 from Guildford towards Waterloo.

To my surprise it was a 10 car 444 that turned up. I thought they woild run these Portsmouth services as 12 car 450s, given less trains running and the fact most of the time in the peaks they are 12 cars. Are all the 12 cars being used elsewhere?

The train is packed in coach 5 at least with people standing in the asiles and the carriages either side looked packed too. Still I'll save 8 minutes on my journey time if all goes to plan. You wouldn't get a newspaper reporting how happy a commuter was to be having faster journeys during the disruption!

I'd have thought this train would have benefited from 12 cars but maybe that would also be the case for the next one and which one do you prioritise the 12 cars for?

I then boarded an 8.09 from Woking. This had come from Alton and was a 12 car 450. It was busy but there were spare seats in coach 7. Coach 7 today being the 5th coach from the front. I could even rest a bag on one. Wonder what this would have been like as a 10 car train? Of course it's stopping at Surbtion so it might run out if spare seats very soon.

At Surbtion there was a choice of 2x450s. One was going to Wimbledon, Clapham Junction and Waterloo and the other just Waterloo. Of course as the fast train left first, despite arriving second, it seemed that everyone was queueing to be on it. Still by doing that they save 15 minutes over the semi fast. There were no queues into the station but they did have better signage as to which side of the stairs one should use. Hopefully that will remain as a legacy of these works. Whether commuters read them and take note is another matter of course.

Do any of the public facing sites give rolling stock details? Be interested to see which services are 10 cars and which are 12.

Are they able to use nearly all the rolling stock because of train legnthing?

If the 707s had been in operation by now, I assume that would have changed what stock could be used on services and they might have been able to use more 450s on Portsmouth services. I wonder if the commuters who hate 450s enjoy standing on 444s over using a 450?

 

[swt_passenger]

I
Are the points failures on old infrastructure and will that replaced at another time?

The points failures you describe must be on the parts of the infrastructure that are not part of the blockade work, because they are still open. It has never been intended to renew the entire railway under this scheme, has it?

There were some slight changes at Queenstown Rd in advance of the work, but I expect the majority of the route is not being renewed outside normal timescales.

It's quite possible that certain items of S&C are getting significantly more use than they do normally, and that would be a good way of revealing existing faults...

 

[hwl]

It's quite possible that certain items of S&C are getting significantly more use than they do normally, and that would be a good way of revealing existing faults...

Agreed - and possibly the default point ends position during the works is the opposite to the pre works one given the locations...

 

[SamYeager]

There was an interesting video from National Rail about the works. For those who can't access the video, it explains what they are doing at Waterloo in simple short paragraphs for 90 seconds.

https://twitter.com/networkrailPR/status/894579572028481536

Thanks for posting the link. Explanation somewhat spoilt by repeated use of "civils". Presumably this means "civil engineering"? The presenter seemed to making a distinction between "civils" and some other type of (unmentioned) work. Infrastructure work no doubt known as "infra" in the trade?

 

[DelW]

Thanks for posting the link. Explanation somewhat spoilt by repeated use of "civils". Presumably this means "civil engineering"? The presenter seemed to making a distinction between "civils" and some other type of (unmentioned) work. Infrastructure work no doubt known as "infra" in the trade?

My (work) browser won't play that video, but in my area of the construction industry "Civils" does indeed refer to civil engineering work, usually as opposed to "MEICA" (mechanical, electrical, and instrumentation control & automation). In a railway context, I would expect the non-civils to be mainly permanent-way, power supply and signalling (which collectively roughly equate to MEICA).