Bournemouth -Southampton Bustitution Nov 14-15

[Domeyhead]

Last weekend no passenger trains ran between Bournemouth and Southampton and passengers were conveyed between intermediate stations by bus.
Needless to say on Sunday travelling on a full bus from Bournemouth I witnessed frustrated and angry passengers turned away at Christchurch by our Stagecoach driver because the bus was full. There was no SWT rep at the station and the looks on the faces of the 15 or so people left stranded said that there are 15 passengers lost to rail fpr good and a lot more besides when they recount to others how SWT left them for dead instead of providing an adequate service. I don;t know how many other stations suffered this humiliating fiasco but I bet my bus and the one station we called at before the driver gave up and went non stop to Southampton Central with a full load was not the only incident.
So does anyone know why such a huge stretch of main line was closed? How much of the line was worked on - could it have been operated using Single line running and shorter sections?
Surely the entire 25 miles (plus Lymington branch) is not all being tamped or whatever at the same time - was this massive outage and the corresponding bustitution just for Network Rail and Stagecoach's personal convenience because it sure as h*ll wasn't for the passengers!
If any SWT drivers read this I'd be interested to know how many crossovers exist between Soton Central and Bournemouth - I'm guessing Brockenhurst is at least one?

 

[Oracle]

On the Sunday there was a long P/way train on the embankment between Christchurch and Hinton Admiral.

 

[djw1981]

Personally I think the TOC should have a rep on every bus and at every station. a) checking tickets b) working out whether there is sufficient capacity - full buses with all passengers for C could avoid B (cant pick up anyway).

 

[Hydro]

Surely the entire 25 miles (plus Lymington branch) is not all being tamped or whatever at the same time - was this massive outage and the corresponding bustitution just for Network Rail and Stagecoach's personal convenience because it sure as h*ll wasn't for the passengers!

Large possessions can contain multiple worksites doing different things. Large weekend maintenance blocks (Golden Blocks) cram as much as they can into the possession to achieve the maximum output of work.

If there was a long train in possession, then that smacks of a renewals job. No SLW available there as the train normally runs on the adjacent road to offload materials. I've not been in the office recently so couldn't tell you whether it was in fact a Maintenance Golden Block or Renewals site.

Unfortunately, large possessions are sometimes necessary both from a safety and operational point of view.

 

[thefab444]

If any SWT drivers read this I'd be interested to know how many crossovers exist between Soton Central and Bournemouth - I'm guessing Brockenhurst is at least one?

Trains can terminate at Totton coming in from the west (and they can also terminate coming in from the east but as they have to use the yard for this the stock would have to be a diesel). Trains can terminate at Brockenhurst from either direction.

Other than that, they can't terminate anywhere else without SLW being put in - this has been done in recent years between Brockenhurst and New Milton and Brockenhurst and Christchurch.

 

[Oracle]

There is a facing #-over from the Down to the Up at Redbridge which enables trains running wrong-line on the Up from Totton Junction/Yard to gain the correct route. It has a gpl (I have a photo 'in service') and was I think used by Voyagers a while back when there was a problem on the Up. Totton station is I gather bi-directional, with limit of shunt in the Up platform but is it passenger-signalled for reversing Up to Down?

 

[thefab444]

As far as I know, Platform 2 at Totton can be used for turning trains from the west. Platform 1 can be used both ways, but as this requires dispatch from a Shunt Signal in the westbound direction, it can't be done in passenger service. Whilst in theory you can run from Platform 2 to the Up Line, wrong line over the Redbridge Causeway and then using the Xover you mentioned just past Redbridge station, this move is very unusual.

 

[Metroland]

At one time single line working and diversions were the norm, these days it costs so much money for handsignalmen - plus there's always a risk the contractors will put a JCB through the side of a train - we have to put up with it. As much as I detest bus travel, which at times ends up with long journey times so I end up having to book a taxi.

Network rail is on about the 7 day railway, but we'll have to see whether it actually happens. It all depends if ready made points can be transported to sites overnight and fitted in a typical 8-12 hour possession.

In the meantime, some main lines are bi-directional, but obviously Bournemouth-Southampton hardly counts as a main line and is signalled with 2 aspect signalling through most of its length, let alone SIMBIDs or full blow bi-di such as most lines on the continent.

 

[fgwrich]

In the meantime, some main lines are bi-directional, but obviously Bournemouth-Southampton hardly counts as a main line and is signalled with 2 aspect signalling through most of its length, let alone SIMBIDs or full blow bi-di such as most lines on the continent.

Actually...Its funny that you mentioned NRs attitude towards the Bournemouth to Southampton line... As a friend of mine was talking about the fact a year or so ago, the damaged Merseyrail 507/508 was taken by road to MOD Marchwood and then dragged to Eastleigh for repairs...yet the funny thing is, that Network Rails reason for not dragging it down from Merseyside was down to safety concerns regarding dragging a damaged unit along the mainline...

So What does this make the Sotton-Bournemouth route then?

As for the buses...is it me or are / we the bournemouth buses starting from sotton airport parkway...

And can anyone tell me why a FGW 158 Ran down to Sotton Airport Parkway via Eastleigh on satuday?

 

[Oracle]

and then using the Xover you mentioned just past Redbridge station, this move is very unusual.

I know of a Marchwood train that went that route some time back, and so it may be not uncommon for freights but the only time I have heard of a Totton Junction-Redbridge Junction-Redbridge wrong-line bi-di move was when there was a problem in the Totton area on the Up and the supply was cut off. Voyagers were thus able to, and permitted to, run that way to by-pass the problem. E786 at the end of Totton's Down platform seems to be the only signal on the route..is it amber and red only? E774 on the causeway gantry seems to be a dixed red with the white lightrs and theatre indicator. Does this mean that special consent has to be given to allowing passengers through? Such would obviously be granted if required in the case of SLW.