Storm Goretti disruption - 8/9 January 2026

[LAX54]

Don't provide facts like that!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Jan 2026 ==



There are certainly locations across the country where signallers, train crew, and controllers have been unable to get to from their home to their work location to start their shift today. It's by no means universal, but it has certainly happened.

I know when we had our last bout of severe snow in the Anglia region, a good few years ago, Signalling Staff, who lived a fair distnce away, from the PSB were offered overnight accomodation in a hotel close to the PSB so that they could get into work without issues. quite a few took up the offer.

 

[dk1]

I know when we had our last bout of severe snow in the Anglia region, a good few years ago, Signalling Staff, who lived a fair distnce away, from the PSB were offered overnight accomodation in a hotel close to the PSB so that they could get into work without issues. quite a few took up the offer.

Yes and all staff in the GA ROC were also offered overnight accommodation in Romford and expenses. Complimentary Taxi’s to/from home were also offered to anyone requesting them.

 

[Requeststop]

National Rail is saying 1600 earliest reopening for Cornwall, does anyone in the know, know how things are looking on the ground?

Booked on the sleeper tonight and GWR say it's running, but it is concerning...

The wind has really died down here in West Cornwall but there are maybe tens and maybe hundreds of trees down. it's warm-ish and even sunny. How it is on the rails is uncertain. The St Ives Branch is a bus service this week and RTT is not reporting any movement on the Cornish Main line at this time and only movement from Plymouth eastwards. I'd check maybe two hourly.

 

[londonbridge]

There was a documentary on BBC4 over Christmas (and on iPlayer for the next couple of weeks) about the winter of 62/63. Makes you wonder how society today would cope if we were to experience another winter like that one.

 

[Rail Ranger]

TPE are to run a 15.09 from Manchester Oxford Road to Sheffield via the Hope Valley.

 

[Killingworth]

TPE are to run a 15.09 from Manchester Oxford Road to Sheffield via the Hope Valley.

Bravo, both TPE and Northern seem to be resuming from about 16.00 from Sheffield; https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/se...0000-2359?stp=WVS&show=pax-calls&order=actual

And from Manchester from about 15.00; https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/detailed/gb-nr:MAN/to/gb-nrHF/2026-01-09/0000-2359?stp=WVS&show=pax-calls&order=actual

 

[Rich McLean]

Cornish Mainline now opened to Par. 2C23 with 158798 being the first following a route proving run. Par to Penzance should be open tomorrow.

 

[dk1]

Cornish Mainline now opened to Par. 2C23 with 158798 being the first following a route proving run. Par to Penzance should be open tomorrow.

They are doing a sterling job.

 

[Killingworth]

This is a big weekend at Edale on the Hope Valley line, the Montane Winter Spine; https://www.thespinerace.com/race/montane-winter-spine/

It's a very serious running event starting the Pennine Way at Edale with 7 different destination options walking or running. Some will go all the 268 miles to Kirk Yetholm. This is tough at any time, but even the shorter sections in this weather. You have to be very well prepared. The entrance fee reassures that maximum precautions are being taken and makes sure you will be very aware of what's needed.

Last year Edale was swamped with visitors, mostly arriving by car. Rail services fell apart with 2 hour delays and cancellations!

It would be good if the railway could be more positively showcased in 2026.

At the time the Hope Valley line was reprieved from closure one of the reasons suggested for retention was the poor road access at times like this - before 4x4s became so common, obviously!

 

[Krokodil]

I don't think it's a lack of a "can do" attitude just an appreciation of a reality of the resources you have available to you at any given time / location, and the amount of work required. And, having done that assessment, making a realistic proposal about the sevrice provision. Having enough snowploughs and "workmen with chainsaws" can not just be sorted with the click of a fingers.

I would say that the example quoted below demonstrates a lack of a 'can do' attitude:

Personally I'm more interested in my own experience than national statistics.

Mine today is that all Llandudno to Manchester services are cancelled (and were from yesterday). The line isn't and wasn't closed, just no services.

That's an impressive 0% of scheduled services running at both Llandudno and Deganwy stations. Statistics are great.

I spoke to the station staff today. They aren't impressed. A proving train went in this morning (not that there was likely to be anything wrong) so the line is physically open but nothing is being run regardless. There was no extreme weather here, nor was there ever forecast to be - it was outside of any weather warning zone. Just a couple of wet, grey days, with temperatures that are "a bit chilly", but far from freezing. No replacement buses - remember that this area wasn't even in the yellow warning zone, not even any ticket acceptance on service buses.

Simply, if theres a tree that needs a whole team with specialist, large equipment laid across a railway, we should be asking why this risk hadn't been identified and managed at some point in the many years it will have taken that tree to grow.

There was a big lineside blitz on the Conwy Valley this autumn. I understand that Network Rail did assess those on neighbouring land and offer to take down those that might pose a risk. So the owner of a conifer that came down in December and was hit by a train may get a large bill that they could have avoided.

 

[Russel]

Cornish Mainline now opened to Par. 2C23 with 158798 being the first following a route proving run. Par to Penzance should be open tomorrow.

Should I read this as the Night Riviera is likely not to run tonight?

 

[dk1]

This is a big weekend at Edale on the Hope Valley line, the Montane Winter Spine; https://www.thespinerace.com/race/montane-winter-spine/

It's a very serious running event starting the Pennine Way at Edale with 7 different destination options walking or running. Some will go all the 268 miles to Kirk Yetholm. This is tough at any time, but even the shorter sections in this weather. You have to be very well prepared. The entrance fee reassures that maximum precautions are being taken and makes sure you will be very aware of what's needed.

Last year Edale was swamped with visitors, mostly arriving by car. Rail services fell apart with 2 hour delays and cancellations!

It would be good if the railway could be more positively showcased in 2026.

At the time the Hope Valley line was reprieved from closure one of the reasons suggested for retention was the poor road access at times like this - before 4x4s became so common, obviously!

Hopefully it will go well tomorrow with the improving weather conditions. Hope Valley stations from Chinley through to Dore & Totley saw decent growth in passenger numbers last year and that was during the tail end of over two years of industrial action.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Jan 2026 ==

Should I read this as the Night Riviera is likely not to run tonight?

It’s not yet listed on GWR Journey Check as cancelled or altered.

 

[Russel]

It’s not yet listed on GWR Journey Check as cancelled or altered.

This is what is concerning me, it's not showing as cancelled, but also the GWR site suggests the line to Penzance is going to be closed the rest of the day, unless they plan to have it open in time for the sleeper then I'm not sure what to make of the situation.

I've messaged GWR to try to get some clarity.

 

[jfollows]

"Manchester Evening News" reporting that the incident is at Sandbach. If so, that's some fourteen miles beyond Wilmslow.

All rail lines shut from Stockport after tragic discovery of body - updates

A number of services are being delayed or cancelled

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Extract...

I was affected by this, but it was nothing to do with the weather.
Wilmslow-London yesterday without significant delay.
London-Wilmslow today ran as booked initially but was diverted around this.
About 45 minutes late back after going via Stoke and Stockport.
Journey Check told me before the train displays updated, before there was any announcement.
Stockport station displays continued to be wrong after the lines were re-opened. Displays were that up trains were next stop Stafford, whereas they were back to booked route via Wilmslow and Crewe.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I spoke to the station staff today. They aren't impressed. A proving train went in this morning (not that there was likely to be anything wrong) so the line is physically open but nothing is being run regardless. There was no extreme weather here, nor was there ever forecast to be - it was outside of any weather warning zone. Just a couple of wet, grey days, with temperatures that are "a bit chilly", but far from freezing.

Looks like TfW prioritised Holyhead-Shrewsbury which generally ran (via Crewe for much of the day, as Wrexham-Salop and routes beyond were closed).
The Llandudno-Manchester trains were started at Chester.
Avanti ran some services on the North Wales route.
No snow along the coast, but gain any height and it soon piled up.

 

[Krokodil]

Looks like TfW prioritised Holyhead-Shrewsbury which generally ran (via Crewe for much of the day, as Wrexham-Salop and routes beyond were closed).
The Llandudno-Manchester trains were started at Chester.
Avanti ran some services on the North Wales route.
No snow along the coast, but gain any height and it soon piled up.

I can't wait to find out their excuse for cutting off a town of 20k residents, plus tourists. I've previously described a way in which a shuttle could have been run without risking disruption to through trains on the main line.

 

[RealTrains07]

what would help when a storm causes issues for so many different rail operators is having better ticket acceptance in place.

The fact avanti have no ticket acceptance with cross country or midlands metro is just silly considering the storm impact on the midlands

 

[Omnishambles]

Just notice x2 electrical sections isolated on the XCity North which explains no services. Any ideas on cause as predicted in #370 so I can chance my arm on tonight’s Euromillions

 

[dk1]

This is what is concerning me, it's not showing as cancelled, but also the GWR site suggests the line to Penzance is going to be closed the rest of the day, unless they plan to have it open in time for the sleeper then I'm not sure what to make of the situation.

I've messaged GWR to try to get some clarity.

Fingers crossed you get some positive news mate.

 

[CharlieSpotted]

The fact avanti have no ticket acceptance with cross country or midlands metro is just silly considering the storm impact on the midlands

I'm not sure what the situation is now but this morning when I checked the Metro was out of action too, with fallen trees.

 

[NeakPed]

23.12 isn't showing cancelled in realtimetrains which makes me wonder if they've set it up wrong - it's a new service but in the exact path of the usual Euston - Birmingham service.

It looks like the 2150 Euston-New St amended to start at Northampton.
RTT takes it feed from TRUST/TOPS or a data source that is reliant on those internal systems. There is no feed from Darwin or any other info systems.
As a general rule, trains only become ‘live’ one hour before departure.
Network Rail are responsible for any reporting to the system, and from experience, trains that are cancelled from ’origin’ are not routinely cancelled in a timely fashion.
An on the ball NR Controller will occasionally notice the lack of report and rectify the situation but this is the exception rather than the rule.
In some case as TOC Controller, with relevant knowledge, will do this but the number who know how to do this are dwindling.

in other words, if it is cancelled, the earliest it will be reported as cancelled in RTT will be 2212 (or possibly 2050).
(It is possible to make a manual input 8 hours beforehand but I very much doubt either NR or TOC control will do this).

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Jan 2026 ==

And who in their right mind would go to Fenny Stratford to watch the Franchise Club Stealers. stay at home or go to the pub. Don’t legitimise them by giving them any money.

 

[Vexed]

Between 9pm last night, and 9am this morning, there were 12 separate instances of description "TREE" being interposed in a TD berth. Many of these came in pairs - one berth on the up line, and one on the down line; and I can imagine that not every tree across the track causes the signaller to use the Train Describer in this way. (e.g. if the line is already blocked and protected with reminder appliances.)

10 of these 12 "TREE"s were in the West Midlands (Willenhall, Oakengates, Sutton Park freight line, Bordesley, Camp Hill line). The other two were near Dean/Mottisfont&Dunbridge.

Only one instance of "SNOW" - in a berth near Barnetby on the line towards Lincoln.

And as of right now (16:44) there are two, one at Telford (West Midlands), and one between Walsall and Wolverhampton.

 

[Omnishambles]

Of course, but we are skint and I promised my wife I wouldn't spend anything tonight - even foregoing the beer - so would rather not have to get a taxi. What I'm trying to work out is whether I should head to Rugby or Northampton.

23.12 isn't showing cancelled in realtimetrains which makes me wonder if they've set it up wrong - it's a new service but in the exact path of the usual Euston - Birmingham service.

I might ring LNR customer service to see if they can confirm whether it's running or not.

I’d be wary of these feeds today given the TRUST clerks being overwhelmed during today, as well as LNR customer services would likely only be able to give you the stock “it’s running at the moment” line. I think it’s still a movable feast even though the bulk of the weather has passed stock and crew displacements will still hamper any attempt to uprev any services.

 

[Porty]

This doesn't merit a response. It's as pathetic as our response to bad weather, and as all the apologists.

 

[Starmill]

Is the line between Hereford and Shrewsbury actually blocked? Or are there just no trains running?

 

[CaptainHaddock]

This is a big weekend at Edale on the Hope Valley line, the Montane Winter Spine; https://www.thespinerace.com/race/montane-winter-spine/

It's a very serious running event starting the Pennine Way at Edale with 7 different destination options walking or running. Some will go all the 268 miles to Kirk Yetholm. This is tough at any time, but even the shorter sections in this weather. You have to be very well prepared. The entrance fee reassures that maximum precautions are being taken and makes sure you will be very aware of what's needed.

Last year Edale was swamped with visitors, mostly arriving by car. Rail services fell apart with 2 hour delays and cancellations!

It would be good if the railway could be more positively showcased in 2026.

At the time the Hope Valley line was reprieved from closure one of the reasons suggested for retention was the poor road access at times like this - before 4x4s became so common, obviously!

View attachment 195562 View attachment 195563 View attachment 195564

Thanks for the tip off, I was planning on walking part of the Steel Cotton Trail from Hope to Edale tomorrow but will head elsewhere. I suspect that this event plus the pent-up demand from those who couldn't travel today means the Hope Valley stoppers will be rammed this weekend.

 

[spp]

I'm not sure what the situation is now but this morning when I checked the Metro was out of action too, with fallen trees.

It wasn’t completely out of action and even then not for long. Was running Wolverhampton-Wednesbury only till around 7.45-8amish, since then it’s been running full route all day

 

[Starmill]

I spoke to the station staff today. They aren't impressed. A proving train went in this morning (not that there was likely to be anything wrong) so the line is physically open but nothing is being run regardless. There was no extreme weather here, nor was there ever forecast to be - it was outside of any weather warning zone. Just a couple of wet, grey days, with temperatures that are "a bit chilly", but far from freezing. No replacement buses - remember that this area wasn't even in the yellow warning zone, not even any ticket acceptance on service buses.

I think cancelling all the trains to Glossop and Llandudno was a massive over-reaction, especially because it has made so much extra work.

Clearly reinstating some trains to Glossop was doable and the same should have been done for Llandudno.

TfW and Northern very poor at communicating ticket acceptance, or no ticket acceptance or road transport in place, despite the roads being perfectly safe to use and barely even snowed on.

Clearly the total opposite is true on a lot of other routes where there was significant disruption.

 

[spp]

what would help when a storm causes issues for so many different rail operators is having better ticket acceptance in place.

The fact avanti have no ticket acceptance with cross country or midlands metro is just silly considering the storm impact on the midlands

Joined up ticket acceptance and joined up
messaging is all I ever want from a railway.

 

[Vexed]

Is the line between Hereford and Shrewsbury actually blocked? Or are there just no trains running?

No trains running for TfW

Incident: Storm Goretti TfW | National Rail

Storm Goretti is impacting Transport for Wales services today. Find details of all current incidents on National Rail Enquiries.

www.nationalrail.co.uk

The following routes are suspended today, Friday 9 January:​

No trains or replacement buses are in operation on the below routes:

• Between Llandudno and Llandudno Junction
• Between Llandudno Junction and Blaenau Ffestiniog
• Between Shrewsbury and Swansea (via Heart of Wales line)
• Between Hereford and Shrewsbury
• Between Birmingham International and Shrewsbury
• Between Aberystwyth and Shrewsbury