Heatwave 22-27 June - effect on the UK Railway

[The exile]

I doubt that any passengers would be damning TfW for reinstating the normal timetable now that the weather is back to normal. It's what a passenger-focused company would do.

If we’re talking about Shrewsbury - Birmingham, BBC says it’s currently 32 degrees - which may be nothing compared with yesterday but it’s hardly “normal”

 

[orestad]

But we could do better, if we invested more in infrastructure and railway management and staff had a better attitude towards maintaining the service.

I definitely agree. I think that if the beginning of summer is just going to get hotter and hotter and more uncomfortable for the railway then changes need to be made as soon as possible, but unfortunately money is not unlimited in this world. I think the best you can do in these circumstances at this current moment is reduce your timetable and advise to not travel.

 

[The Planner]

I’m annoyed because if the situation was so serious that a do not travel warning is issued all trains should be cancelled, you can’t have a glass half full situation, It’s a Friday when everyone is getting away…

Do not travel messages are frowned upon by those in DfT apparently.

 

[Forty29]

I see mentioned mk5's pulled on the Chiltern line but have heard class 68's mostly early morning so perhaps taken out later in day when much hotter, or on training runs not sure what is going on.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I’m annoyed because if the situation was so serious that a do not travel warning is issued all trains should be cancelled, you can’t have a glass half full situation, It’s a Friday when everyone is getting away…

Suggesting people don't set out from home for a new trip and offering them a refund of normally non-refundable tickets to encourage that is a different thing than stranding them possibly without accommodation if already away from home. The situation is nowhere near bad enough for a "shelter in place" type arrangement to need to apply, other than for those with serious health issues. If you cancel all trains you have stranded people.

 

[stuartl]

All trams in Sheffield have been withdrawn from service due to heat causing safety concerns.

The hot weather causes disruption to tram services across England | British Trams Online News

www.britishtramsonline.co.uk

On Friday 26th June – day three of the very hot weather – it was announced that all Supertram services would be suspended from 1330 until temperatures cooled in the evening. With all trams having returned to depot, Supertram tickets were being accepted on both First and Stagecoach buses. Services resume from around 1900.

Service disruption has also not been limited to heat related either…

 

[CR165022]

I see mentioned mk5's pulled on the Chiltern line but have heard class 68's mostly early morning so perhaps taken out later in day when much hotter, or on training runs not sure what is going on.

Must just be shunting around the depots because there hasn't been any in service at all this week since the heatwave started

 

[Horizon22]

It's not been mentioned here, but Heathrow (HAL) has been having a torrid time of it.

There's been a reduced service to Terminal 4 for the Elizabeth line since Tuesday, but for much of yesterday Terminals 2/3 were closed due to issues reportedly with sewage and right now Terminal 5 is closed due to some sort of water ingress issue. There's been an ongoing track circuit failure for days now too.

It's not entirely clear these are all related to the hot weather, but the timing is oddly convenient.

Heathrow Express have actually said very little other than "Due to an incident outside of our control..."

Due to a significant incident outside of our control, there are currently no Heathrow Express services running. We are actively working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Current service information can be found here: https://heathrowexpress.com/service-updates

PS: I also love how this page seemingly deliberately has no reference to the Elizabeth line as an option at all, calling the Piccadilly line the "next quickest"!

If your Heathrow Express train is cancelled on the day and you’re already travelling, you can:

• Get a later train: You may be able to wait for the next running Heathrow Express train if you have time before you need to get to the airport or back into central London. Our Heathrow Express trains run every 15 minutes.
• Find an alternative mode of transport: If you're travelling from Paddington to Heathrow, or the other way, your next quickest option is to take the Piccadilly Line on the London Underground.

 

[kingston_toon]

The WCML is really struggling at the north end today. My 17 year old niece is on her way to London, originally booked on the 15:57 ex-GLC but I advised her to get the slightly delayed 14:34 as the trains to form both the 15:38 and 15:57 were getting progressively later coming up through the Lake District. There appears to be a problem delaying everything at Carstairs (single line working in place perhaps?) and seemingly now a backlog of southbound trains at Carlisle and north thereof, though the 12:40 ex-GLC has just departed south 119 late.

 

[EYFanatic]

Trains from Piccadilly to Blackpool cancelled today due to damage to the overhead lines according to station staff and departure boards at Deansgate (although watching on traksy and opentrainmaps shows single line working was used for a while)

Although Realtimetrains appears to have lineage vegetation as the cause

Silly thing is that I was routed that way instead of via Leeds because of previous cancellations to that stations service to Blackpool due to point failure

Looks like I am going to get six vouchers for the three members of my party given we got to Blackpool North over three hours after the planned arrival time

Wouldn't be so mad or upset, given the weather, but no information was given for quite a long time

 

[Coleridge]

If we’re talking about Shrewsbury - Birmingham, BBC says it’s currently 32 degrees - which may be nothing compared with yesterday but it’s hardly “normal”

I'm talking about Coryton - Penarth, where it's 10 degrees cooler today than it was yesterday. Yet the service is cancelled until end of day on Saturday.

 

[D1511]

Bit of a red face for the met office again today......today's record temperature was recorded outside of the red extreme heat warning area.

I can confirm the WCML issues today......currently on 9S77 at Stafford (which was routed via TVL to make up time) awaiting a driver arriving on a southbound service. I have given up on 9S80 already. It's an hour late at Hanslope, but apparently still going via WM, with a unit swap at Wolves. Not convinced they won't just cancel it there.....

 

[jumble]

The WCML is really struggling at the north end today. My 17 year old niece is on her way to London, originally booked on the 15:57 ex-GLC but I advised her to get the slightly delayed 14:34 as the trains to form both the 15:38 and 15:57 were getting progressively later coming up through the Lake District. There appears to be a problem delaying everything at Carstairs (single line working in place perhaps?) and seemingly now a backlog of southbound trains at Carlisle and north thereof, though the 12:40 ex-GLC has just departed south 119 late.

I am also stuck at Carstairs on the 1434 ex Glasgow. Tm says transformer broken somewhere and that him and driver both advised control not to send train but was ignored
There is an ex edb in the other platform
fortunatly aircon. Working

 

[Michael B]

Travelled yesterday from Dawlish to Woking via GWR and SWR. The GWR service to Exeter was an IET which was on time with very efficient air con. The SWR service was changed to a shuttle from Exeter to Salisbury with an extra 30 minutes added to the journey time, then a 15 minute connection to another shuttle from Salisbury to Waterloo. Again it had some extra time added to it and we didn't go at full line speed between Basingstoke and Woking. All worked perfectly and we arrived Woking on time.

The downside was the air conditioning on the 158/159 units which both gave up after a few minutes into the journey. You can imagine what it was like, we were melting! The guards on both shuttles opened the few openable windows in the carriage so at least we had movement of very hot air.

Michael

 

[londonmidland]

The CrossCountry network is a complete mess due to various issues. Currently showing as 62 cancellations.

 

[JamesT]

Bit of a red face for the met office again today......today's record temperature was recorded outside of the red extreme heat warning area.

What's the humidity there though? The risk is the combination of heat and humidity (the 'wet bulb' temperature).

 

[Horizon22]

Bit of a red face for the met office again today......today's record temperature was recorded outside of the red extreme heat warning area.

It was in Suffolk and was still in Amber and the red area already stretched into Essex, so maybe about 30-40 miles away. In the grand scheme of things that's not too far and these things are going to be subject to a bit of local variation when we're talking fractions of one degree to be the place that breaks the max.

 

[jumble]

1M15 on the move

 

[kingston_toon]

1M15 on the move

Yep... though I'm bracing my niece for a wait at Lockerbie and Carlisle, as the 13:33 and 13:38 ex-Glasgow were both held around the former for quite some time.

 

[45Fox]

The CrossCountry network is a complete mess due to various issues. Currently showing as 62 cancellations.

The class 170 services appear to have gone into a mega meltdown, again.
Glad I'm RD off.

 

[LAX54]

It was in Suffolk and was still in Amber and the red area already stretched into Essex, so maybe about 30-40 miles away. In the grand scheme of things that's not too far and these things are going to be subject to a bit of local variation when we're talking fractions of one degree to be the place that breaks the max.

Today it was 36c where I live near Colchester, but went to Dovercourt 10 mile or so away it was 28c

 

[pnepaul]

It would seem that the WCML issues were overhead wire problems between Carlisle and Penrith., now resolved. Trains on the move again.

 

[jumble]

Yep... though I'm bracing my niece for a wait at Lockerbie and Carlisle, as the 13:33 and 13:38 ex-Glasgow were both held around the former for quite some time.

Hopefully not. We are running at full linespeed

 

[MikeWM]

What's the humidity there though? The risk is the combination of heat and humidity (the 'wet bulb' temperature).

The dewpoint in Ely at 11am was about 24C with the temperature approaching 35C. Which is a *considerably* higher dewpoint than I've ever seen here before.

Over the course of the day the dewpoint has considerably reduced and it is currently at about 12C, with the temperature still hovering around 35C. Which is still far too hot but *considerably* less unpleasant.

 

[jfowkes]

Services eastbound out of Nottingham (Newark/Grantham bound) are not doing well.

Sat on a 158 at Nottingham (1L14) with no aircon waiting for a departure that might not come.

 

[Bald Rick]

and railway management and staff had a better attitude towards maintaining the service.

Sorry but I’m not having that. Literally everyone I know in railway management and staff involved in service provison has been working their socks off this week. Given the constraints we have on the GB railway, and the intensity of which it is used, it has been extremely hard going.

I was out on the patch yesterday, and every single member of staff I spoke to was doing their very best to keep people moving and providing information where they could.

The service has not been great these last few days, of course, and we can do better. But “attitude“ is not an issue.

 

[speedy1]

Transpennine were good today. Opening all interior doors to balance aircon. Tech on board fixing aircon en route. Guard even saying he had water if you needed it (bottles presumably)

 

[jfowkes]

Sorry but I’m not having that. Literally everyone I know in railway management and staff involved in service provison has been working their socks off this week. Given the constraints we have on the GB railway, and the intensity of which it is used, it has been extremely hard going.

Seconded.

 

[td97]

Impressive to see track workers out at key locations on the WCML south these past few days.
On Wednesday was cautioned past Ledburn Junction which had a team of P-Way looking after it, and yesterday noticed a P-Way gang at Watford Junction with a track measuring gauge.

 

[sh24]

Emergency call at Clapham on the Southern lines so everything is stopped and the power is off. Currently sat on the 1B49 Bognor-Victoria feeling the temperature slowly rising…

EDIT - Trespass incident so not heat related

On the move! Everything in and out of Waterloo stopped too. What a circus.