Flooding at South Croydon - lines blocked

[sonic2009]

Don't think people trying to get to eastbourne via Hastings will be happy either nre reporting buses replacing trains between tonbridge and Hastings.

 

[moggie]

Would imagine that the drains are going to be pretty clogged up with silt after this - could be a long repair if they dig these up as well - after all Thames Water will be footing the bill. ouch!

 

[jopsuk]

A23 and M23 between Croydon and Gatwick are now thirty flavours of f***ed

 

[moggie]

Knowing the fondness of southern commuters to abandon ship I wonder if the impatient ones have gone for a swim down the line to cool off!

 

[Minstral25]

A23 and M23 between Croydon and Gatwick are now thirty flavours of f***ed

That's just normal.............


Glad I'm sitting at home in the sun today and not commuting to London as normal

 

[swt_passenger]

The fast lines have been reported reopened (albeit with speed restrictions) now.

The Southern website front page has the temporary timetable from 1900, and they are running to the west coastway (well Bognor anyway) via Dorking.

 

[Jimini]

I passed through Victoria at about 1830. It was pretty chilled to be honest, bit of a mad dash when platforms were announced (especially when a London Bridge train was advertised from platform 18!) but nothing unusual in that. Got pretty busy at Clapham Jcn but again nothing mental. I guess folk had left work early or tried an alternative route.

 

[radamfi]

A23 and M23 between Croydon and Gatwick are now thirty flavours of f***ed

That's just normal.............


Glad I'm sitting at home in the sun today and not commuting to London as normal

But you don't normally get long queues from M25 to Gatwick at 2000. National Express diverted via Reigate. Shows how significant the rail line is.

 

[Malderon]

My journey home is Kingswood - Chichester which involves going Kingswood - East Croydon and East Croydon to Chichester so I would have had to go past the blockage twice!

As it was I took a bit of a gamble and got a taxi to Redhill without even knowing what trains were running (usually Arun Valley trains bypass Redhill via Quarry line).

Luckily they were by that time terminating usual (or usualish) Victoria trains at Redhill and running an all stops service down the Arun Valley. (Arrived at 16:59, the Redhill - Bognor service was running as departing at 17:00)

Somehow despite leaving work at the normal time I got home 3 minutes earlier than usual.

Talk about lucky! Much better than braving the chaos that I guess was East Croydon and getting either a bus to Three Bridges (apparently there was a mammoth queue/backlog for them) or going up to Clapham Junction and back down to Havant which was the other option. It was a bit of a gamble though as there was no advice to try and get to Redhill and they were only advertising that they were running Gatwick - Brighton. So I figured if I was wrong about the Arun Valley services at worst I could get to Brighton and then along the coastway.

 

[Manc27]

Was just my luck to get caught up in this today, though by the looks of it I got off easy... My plan for the day was to get to Manchester from Hassocks...

First sign of trouble was waiting at Hassocks and the delay messages were coming up on the display. The 11:47 Bedford bound train was already 15 minutes late in getting to Hassocks and I thought I might struggle to make my connection. Little did I know how much I would miss it by!

Got on the train, when past a few stations, then at 3 Bridges it stopped and said it would only be going to Gatwick and anybody wanting to go north of Gatwick needed to go to the front of the station to get rail replacement buses.

I wasn't quite sure what was going on, checked with another passenger who seemed very laid back about it all, he said the buses were going from Gatwick, not from 3 bridges, he had an easy plan to get to Gatwick and then get a bus from there to Heathrow then get the tube from Heathrow - he must have ended up at the back of the queue for the rail replacement buses as 15 minutes later they suspended the train there at 3 Bridges and started buses for that too...

Queued for over an hour, some of it in scorching sun, managed to find the only other Manc for miles and got chatting to him, we were handed water by the station staff, and eventually got on an old double decker bus and headed for Croydon... About 40 minutes to get to Croydon, and another 40 minutes to get through Croydon to East Croydon station... Which was in total pandemonium. but it seemed most of the people were heading the other way, probably to get on the bus we had just vacated. We spotted a train bound for London Bridge, jumped on it just as the doors were beeping, it was of course packed...

And then took 45 minutes to get to London Bridge, stopping at every station along the way...

By the time I'd got the tube to Euston I was wilting, having missed my 13:40 booked train to Manchester 2 hours ago... I asked at the customer info desk what to do, and was directed to the Virgin ticket office, more queuing, but the lady behind the counter was very helpful and endorsed my ticket so I could get the 15:40 to Manchester. I held the stamped ticket in my hand, and went to the platform, which was announced late, not having a reserved seat I wanted to make sure I got on the train and got an unreserved seat that suited me, after already having been travelling since 11am (some way to go to get to Hassocks station where a friend drops me off).

I was first or second at Platform 14. So far, all the staff had been really helpful and friendly, despite the chaos, now I had one more of them to get through... I showed him my ticket...

Platform Guard: "Where's the other coupon that ticket ain't valid without a reservation."
Me: (fishing the reservation coupon out of my pocket, having forgot about the reservation with all the other palaver, and having missed my book train) Sorry, I've just had to go to the ticket office to get it sorted as I got caught up in all the chaos with the closed lines at Croydon.
Guard (looking at reservation coupon): This ticket was for 13.40. You are not getting on this train.
Me: But look on the back, it's endorsed!
Guard: Well why didn't you tell me that do you think I'm a mind reader.. blah blah blah.

He was still chunnering on once he'd let me on the platform. :roll: The thing is, I had told him... He was extremely rude and unpleasant...

After that the Virgin train itself ran 15 minutes late because of something in the Wembley area.

So not my best day out on the railways recently...

 

[JonathanH]

Up and down fast clear now (at 2030) and service returning to normal but still a lot of mud to clear on the other three lines.

 

[ushawk]

Ive just arrived home about 2 hours later than usual. Usually catch the 16.47 from Victoria to Hastings but was obviously cancelled, was sent via tube to Charing X, where the train to Ore was cancelled due to a lineside fire near Tonbridge. Was then sent over to London Bridge to get a SE train to Hastings & West St Leonards (which today didnt divide and the whole 12 coaches continued as a whole to Hastings). Got to St Leonards Warrior Sq with a Brighton train on P2, but the guard refused to hold the train for the 150 or so people going over for it, leaving a 35 minute wait for another train, apparently going to Victoria.

Still wondering on how the service will be early tomorrow morning, chances are some sort of service will be running. Good thing is i qualify for a small refund through Delay Repay (and im guessing SN, GX and FC will be soughting compensation from Thames Water).

 

[bnm]

Up and down fast clear now (at 2030) and service returning to normal but still a lot of mud to clear on the other three lines.

..... plus a check on the subgrade, ballast, possible tamping and not to forget checking the gauge and third rail alignments.

 

[Evvy73]

Finally home - door to door journey time was 4hours 15minutes! (Usual is about 80minutes).

I tried the Cannon St - Tonbridge - Redhill route (the train to Tonbridge was packed - obviously a few other people had the same idea as me!), which started off ok, but just as I left Cannon St I received a tweet about the lineside fire at Tonbridge. We got to Tonbridge 5 minutes late, around 17:45 and then found out that the 17:21 to Redhill hadn't turned up yet. Then a 375 South Eastern Train sat in the Platform we were supposed to be leaving from. Eventually they squeezed a Southern 377 in the front of the 375 and we managed to leave Tonbridge for Redhill some 59 minutes late.

At Redhill, there was nothing going anywhere. Then a Southern Chap said there was a bus waiting outside to take us fast to Gatwick, so we all rushed outside.....to be told by another Southern guy that there wasn't a bus! :roll: Another guy then sent us over to the Bus station to get a local bus from Redhill to Gatwick.....which went all round the 'finer' parts of South Surrey.

Eventually we got to Gatwick and were told a train to Wivelsfield would be leaving from Platform 5 in 15 minutes.......so you can imagine our annoyance when 5 minutes later an Ore service pulled in to Platform 3 .....cue a mass stampede over the footbridge, but to be fair they did hold the train until everyone had made the platform switch.

This was train was supposed to be an Ore/Littlehampton splitter, but for some reason at Haywards Heath they changed their minds and said the whole train would now go to Ore....cue some more annoyed people trying to get to the Coastway West lines!

So, an eventful journey and on the plus side, I did get to travel on two routes I'd never been on before!

Glad I am not in work tomorrow........

 

[The Planner]

Incident 104753 for those with TRUST. 12510 minutes delay this morning and the incident isnt closed yet. 512 trains cancelled in total with 973 delayed. Ouch !!

 

[Super Sprinter]

Well I managed to get in this morning on time from Purley.

The train was rammed to put it mildly with some people getting quite aggressive and a few arguments breaking out. The main problem was the fact that what is normally an 8 car service was today a 4 car service (any reasons why? rolling stock in the wrong places?). Had it not been for this then I actually think the train would have had a few empty seats, that is up until Croydon.

Hopefully my journey on a 445/8 this evening will be a little more comfortable.

 

[Aictos]

Incident 104753 for those with TRUST. 12510 minutes delay this morning and the incident isnt closed yet. 512 trains cancelled in total with 973 delayed. Ouch !!

Just curious but so far this year does that figure come anywhere near the highest number of delay minutes so far this year?

 

[Super Sprinter]

Just curious but so far this year does that figure come anywhere near the highest number of delay minutes so far this year?

Must certainly be up there, particularly when one thinks about the longevity of the incident and the importance of those commuter services.

Would an ECML or WCML delay rival this perhaps?

 

[WestCountry]

Got into Cambridge at 7:30, having reached Gatwick at midnight... No trains at all before 4:35, then a few service trains and quite a bit of southbound ECS. More orange jackets than I've ever seen in one place swarming around Croydon.

 

[GodAtum]

I was travelling yesterday evening and this morning from East Croydon, trains where very busy as expected and unfortunately got into an argument with a guy who's wife wanted to sit in my seat in 1st (they didnt have a first class ticket so obviously I refused).

 

[Super Sprinter]

I was travelling yesterday evening and this morning from East Croydon, trains where very busy as expected and unfortunately got into an argument with a guy who's wife wanted to sit in my seat in 1st (they didnt have a first class ticket so obviously I refused).

That is fair enough, why should you give up a seat that you have paid money to sit in.

We had the usual shovers telling people to move down (where to I do not know, maybe in with the driver!). One big bloke then looked at another guy pushing to get on and told him to "stand still and zip it" lol.

 

[David Sinnett]

Bit puzzled by the effects of this. Even though the train was on the platform this morning the 8.04 Bedford to Brighton was cancelled due to a landslip. I can see the reason for not going all the way but would have thought they'd have run it through to Kentish or somewhere for the people from the north or perhaps even through the core and then return on another ex Brighton path.
Was the landslip just a poor excuse or are there operational reasons not to run part way?

 

[Mike395]

Bit puzzled by the effects of this. Even though the train was on the platform this morning the 8.04 Bedford to Brighton was cancelled due to a landslip. I can see the reason for not going all the way but would have thought they'd have run it through to Kentish or somewhere for the people from the north or perhaps even through the core and then return on another ex Brighton path.
Was the landslip just a poor excuse or are there operational reasons not to run part way?

It's probably to do with knock-on pathing issues caused by the landslip

 

[DarloRich]

Normal service is expected to run from tomorrow morning (50% service running at present)

There was 600 tonne of slurry/waste to remove from the track and 800 tonne from the embankment. Fast lines open tomorrow, slow lines expected to be closed until the weekend when all works will be finished

 

[Minstral25]

Don't really understand that when they are running between 50-75% of services (i.e. 25 - 50% of trains are in the sidings), that trains are being sent out short formed.

Whilst I appreciate that an element of stock is out of place there were far too many 4 coach trains out in this mornings Rush Hour to be anything less than very bad management.

 

[jopsuk]

Surely not a "normal" service if the slow lines aren't going to be open? Surely must still have some delays/cancellations?

 

[DarloRich]

Surely not a "normal" service if the slow lines aren't going to be open? Surely must still have some delays/cancellations?

might mean things are a bit slower than normal i suppose.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
As an addition LM are accepting southern tickets between MKC and Euston in both directions

 

[swt_passenger]

Fast lines open tomorrow, slow lines expected to be closed until the weekend when all works will be finished

Where was that being reported? The fast lines were reopened last night according to SN's website...

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Surely not a "normal" service if the slow lines aren't going to be open? Surely must still have some delays/cancellations?

Currently reporting four lines open tonight. A new revised timetable is on the SN website.

 

[gpb_croppers63]

I was caught up in all of this yesterday. I had from 8am to around 5pm free in London so decided to get a Southern DaySave ticket. All seemed to be going well when I got on the 10:36 Brighton express (on a class 442 which was the main point of this day out). We then crawled to Clapham Junction and East Croydon where we were told that the train was cancelled. I got back on to return to Victoria and see what options I had from there. I thought I may try a run to Milton Keynes but that train was delayed indefinitely when I got to Clapham Junction.

In the end, I gave up and made my way over to Southend Airport around 5 hours before my flight as I didn't want to risk getting stuck somewhere and missing my plane home.

All in all, it was an eventful day but I am a little gutted that I was unlucky enough to have a DaySave ticket on a day when everything goes spectacularly wrong. Lol!! On the plus side, I did get on a class 442 for the first time.

 

[pendolino]

Currently reporting four lines open tonight. A new revised timetable is on the SN website.

Presumably the Down Slow is still shut leaving Up/Down Fast, Up Slow and Slow Reversible. At least that means trains can get to East Grinstead/Uckfield via the Reversible.