Parks Bridge Junction problem and upcoming Hayes' line impact

[brad465]

There appears to be a track problem in the Parks Bridge jct area that will require an amendment to services for at least 3 weeks, while a bespoke part is made and installed. Judging by train movements in the area today, the problem appears to be the diamond on the up line where down trains to Hayes avoiding Lewisham diverge. Up trains on the mainline have had to go across to the slow lines and then immediately back over to the fast lines in this area, while down Hayes' services booked to avoid Lewisham are having to pass through without stopping. Up services from Hayes and Down mainline services appear to be unaffected. From Monday the calling patterns are being amended to skip certain stations, presumably to make up for lost time navigating the area more slowly than usual:

Incident: Hayes Line | National Rail

Changes to Hayes Line services from Monday 6 January. Find details of all current incidents on National Rail Enquiries.

www.nationalrail.co.uk

Description​

Upcoming repairs to the track in the Ladywell area mean that trains from Monday 6 January will be cancelled or revised.

What has happened?

Because of damage to the track near Ladywell, a speed restriction has been imposed. Our partners at Network Rail advise that a specialist part is required which isn't immediately available as it needs to be specially produced and then delivered to where it needs to go.

How will this affect my journey?

Until the repairs have been completed, we need to make some temporary changes on the Hayes line in order that we can continue to run the same number of trains whilst minimising the impact of the speed restriction.

The following changes will be in place from Monday 6 January for at least 3 weeks:

Towards London:

Some trains won't stop at Eden Park or New Beckenham during weekday evening peak period.

From London:

Some trains won't stop at Eden Park or New Beckenham, however in "peak periods" trains will stop at all stations as usual.

What do I need to do?

If you're using one of the affected stations, please allow more time for your journey.

For the moment we're unfortunately only able to update journey planners 24 hours in advance of travel, so changes from Monday will be available from Sunday morning.

Happy to be corrected, but if the fault is on the diamond crossing, I'm guessing it is having to be temporarily plain-lined to allow the mainline through services to continue running safely while the replacement part is sourced. This was what I recall they did at Buckland jct, north of Dover Priory, when this needed an emergency repair many years ago.

 

[Class 170101]

Same happened at Lewisham just before Dover Priory with a piece of track there. It is really frustrating that these parts have to be specially made aren't kept in store. Are there really that many specialised parts on the whole railway network?

 

[brad465]

Same happened at Lewisham just before Dover Priory with a piece of track there. It is really frustrating that these parts have to be specially made aren't kept in store. Are there really that many specialised parts on the whole railway network?

AIUI Colton Junction has a bespoke spare in store at the site, given its 125mph speed on both routes, unique shape and the ECML being a critical route. I don't know of any other examples of spare track parts being stored next to the site they're needed at, though suspect there are others.

 

[Horizon22]

Same happened at Lewisham just before Dover Priory with a piece of track there.

Eh? Those two places are miles apart! Not sure if you just need to rephrase.

It is really frustrating that these parts have to be specially made aren't kept in store. Are there really that many specialised parts on the whole railway network?

Some really complex layouts around Lewisham, so yes pretty specialised.

It seems like a reasonable compromise - lose time in the peak direction but serve all stations and run fast in the contra-peak direction on the way back to recover.

 

[Tram203]

Eh? Those two places are miles apart! Not sure if you just need to rephrase.

I read the "just before" part of the post as meaning in terms of when the 2 issues occurred, e.g one in June one in July, as opposed to meaning the respective geographic locations of Lewisham and Dover.

 

[Belperpete]

Same happened at Lewisham just before Dover Priory with a piece of track there. It is really frustrating that these parts have to be specially made aren't kept in store. Are there really that many specialised parts on the whole railway network?

The crossings are often specially cast to suit the particular site, in terms of crossing angle, lie, length, and track type. You would need a fairly massive store somewhere if you were going to keep a spare of every one in stock. It isn't like Peco Setrack!

 

[30907]

Happy to be corrected, but if the fault is on the diamond crossing, I'm guessing it is having to be temporarily plain-lined to allow the mainline through services to continue running safely while the replacement part is sourced. This was what I recall they did at Buckland jct, north of Dover Priory, when this needed an emergency repair many years ago.

This would make sense.

(RTT for tomorrow doesn't show the trains rerouted via Lewisham, only the stops omitted, but I don't think that can be treated as gospel!)

 

[43066]

Some really complex layouts around Lewisham, so yes pretty specialised.

It seems like a reasonable compromise - lose time in the peak direction but serve all stations and run fast in the contra-peak direction on the way back to recover.

True, although Park’s Bridge junction itself is relatively straightforward, so you would *think* not too bespoke.

RTT for tomorrow doesn't show the trains rerouted via Lewisham, only the stops omitted, but I don't think that can be treated as gospel!)

Unless they’ve found another fix (the whole area is T3 today), there’s no other way?

 

[brad465]

Here is an image of the junction, clearly plain-lined in the down direction for Hayes' services, so these services will have to go through Lewisham to get to Ladywell:

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

True, although Park’s Bridge junction itself is relatively straightforward, so you would *think* not too bespoke.



Unless they’ve found another fix (the whole area is T3 today), there’s no other way?

If it was standard geometry they would have found a replacement but as it says in the press release its a special probably has slight curve on it for the through line or its cross canted. They will have to go back to the original manufacture to get a new one cast.

 

[30907]

If it was standard geometry they would have found a replacement but as it says in the press release its a special probably has slight curve on it for the through line or its cross canted. They will have to go back to the original manufacture to get a new one cast.

I think both of those might apply. Memory says that the Ladywell Loop drops quite sharply away from the main line, and the latter is ceetsinly on a curve.

 

[brad465]

I'd be very surprised if any of the junctions in the Lewisham area were not a bespoke design, as they are all one or a combination of the following:

- Either branching off the mainline on a curve
- The diverging route rises/falls in gradient immediately before/after the junction, while also continuing on a curve
- High up on a viaduct
- A very complicated diamond crossing
- A mainline crossover wedged between two bridges, or on the mainline curve.

 

[Chiltern006]

Not sure if it’s related but 2 Hayes line trains are diverting to Bromley South tonight (same yesterday and tomorrow)

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Not sure if it’s related but 2 Hayes line trains are diverting to Bromley South tonight (same yesterday and tomorrow)

via the Mid Kent and Beckenham Jcn presumably?

 

[30907]

via the Mid Kent and Beckenham Jcn presumably?

Yes, RRB from New Beckenham to Hayes. Two engineers' trains headed that way, so not connected with Parks Bridge.

 

[brad465]

Not sure if it’s related but 2 Hayes line trains are diverting to Bromley South tonight (same yesterday and tomorrow)

via the Mid Kent and Beckenham Jcn presumably?

The first of the two services is a pair of 707s, while the second appears to be a pair of 376s (this unit doesn't show up on RailChecker, however by elimination it's easy to identify their services). Given 5-car units don't go to Victoria in passenger service, and ECS moves of them are rare, they will be rare sights at Bromley South.