Tree collapse last night brings overhead lines down at Wivenhoe (29 to 30 July)

Bringback309s · 30 Jul 2026

Services are still suspended between Colchester and Clacton / Walton due to a tree falling across the track at Wivenhoe. Could the power not be isolated allowing services to run further up the line?

Trains CANCELLED after tree falls on tracks causing damage

Commuters face disruption this morning between Clacton and Colchester due to a fallen tree on the tracks at Wivenhoe.

www.gazette-news.co.uk

The incident, which occurred between Colchester and Clacton, damaged overhead electric wires and forced the closure of lines on July 30, affecting services to Clacton and Walton.

The damage was caused by a fallen tree and repairs by Network Rail teams throughout the night revealed the problem was worse than first thought.

Lines are not expected to reopen before 10am, and passengers were advised to avoid travel between Colchester and Clacton-on-Sea or Walton-on-the-Naze via Thorpe-le-Soken, as no trains would run before that time.

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GRALISTAIR · 30 Jul 2026

Trees do not belong near railways - end of .

Horizon22 · 30 Jul 2026

GRALISTAIR said:
Trees do not belong near railways - end of .

This one fell from outside the boundary fence I believe and was huge. Suggestions are the rooting became loose following the large spell of dry weather.

It then caused a significant amount of OLE damage, only fully realised once it was removed.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 Jul 2026 ==

Bringback309s said:
Services are still suspended between Colchester and Clacton / Walton due to a tree falling across the track at Wivenhoe. Could the power not be isolated allowing services to run further up the branch?

You could run a Thorpe shuttle but there’s nowhere else to turn a train from Clacton / Walton.

Also depends where the OLE can be switched out from.

Bald Rick · 30 Jul 2026

Bringback309s said:
Services are still suspended between Colchester and Clacton / Walton due to a tree falling across the track at Wivenhoe. Could the power not be isolated allowing services to run further up the branch?

You posted this after the line had reopened.

GRALISTAIR said:
Trees do not belong near railways - end of .

Well yes, but…

Horizon22 said:
This one fell from outside the boundary fence I believe and was huge.

And AIUI the owners of said tree had been advised several times their tree was a potential risk.

liamf656 · 30 Jul 2026

GRALISTAIR said:
Trees do not belong near railways - end of .

Not even branch lines? *grabs coat*

saismee · 31 Jul 2026

Bringback309s said:
Services are still suspended between Colchester and Clacton / Walton due to a tree falling across the track at Wivenhoe. Could the power not be isolated allowing services to run further up the branch?

The damage was extensive but close to being fixed at the time of your post. I believe they found more damage and had to extend the possession to repair another section.

Horizon22 said:
This one fell from outside the boundary fence I believe and was huge. Suggestions are the rooting became loose following the large spell of dry weather.

It was indeed huge, spanning across and well beyond both lines.

Bald Rick said:
You posted this after the line had reopened.

I believe the line was closed until 1300

TAS · 31 Jul 2026

Bald Rick said:
And AIUI the owners of said tree had been advised several times their tree was a potential risk.

To be fair, it's a brave person who tries to cut down a tree in Wivenhoe. Aviva have been trying to get one in the main town car park cut down by the town council as they think it is causing subsidence to a house by the railway. Various protests, sit-ins, art installations, crowdfunders, court injunctions etc. later, the tree is still there (but according to one claim circulating may have picked up a disease, possibly as a result of damage caused by the pro-tree protesters taking a sample for dating analysis) and the legal profession is getting richer... I suspect this reverence for trees out of all proportion to the worth of any individual tree is making it harder for even responsible landowners to make the right decisions when managing them.

But getting back to the topic, on the evening this happened, Colchester Town terminators appeared still to be running (although knock-on consequences meant I missed a connection at Colchester and walked into town), albeit with gaps in the overall service owing to the absence of the Walton ones. Come Thursday morning all Colchester Town services appeared to be suspended. Does anyone know why (guessing it may be down to the need to extend the possession)?

LAX54 · 31 Jul 2026

TAS said:
To be fair, it's a brave person who tries to cut down a tree in Wivenhoe. Aviva have been trying to get one in the main town car park cut down by the town council as they think it is causing subsidence to a house by the railway. Various protests, sit-ins, art installations, crowdfunders, court injunctions etc. later, the tree is still there (but according to one claim circulating may have picked up a disease, possibly as a result of damage caused by the pro-tree protesters taking a sample for dating analysis) and the legal profession is getting richer... I suspect this reverence for trees out of all proportion to the worth of any individual tree is making it harder for even responsible landowners to make the right decisions when managing them.

But getting back to the topic, on the evening this happened, Colchester Town terminators appeared still to be running (although knock-on consequences meant I missed a connection at Colchester and walked into town), albeit with gaps in the overall service owing to the absence of the Walton ones. Come Thursday morning all Colchester Town services appeared to be suspended. Does anyone know why (guessing it may be down to the need to extend the possession)?

Think the OHL sub-sections cover quite a distance, so extending the posession and iso, may well have taken out Col Town.
NR and 3rd party trees are always troublesome ! think NR Anglia have been 'taken to Court' a few times regarding cutting down, or trying to cut down trees.

Purple Train · 31 Jul 2026

Obviously trees can and do cause significant disruption, but a line does have to be drawn somewhere. Cutting down "all trees near the railway" is pretty subjective - you could hypothetically use such a definition to justify cutting down nearly all the woodland around the railway line there which is ridiculous (and, selfishly, would spoil what is an excellent walk down there) - but obviously if a tree is a danger to the safe operation of the railway then that's not on, and I hope that ways can be found to sort out the issue of landowners refusing to comply, if that is indeed the case here.

Belperpete · 31 Jul 2026

Bald Rick said:
And AIUI the owners of said tree had been advised several times their tree was a potential risk.

Presumably if they have ignored the warnings, this increases their liability?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 31 Jul 2026 ==

Purple Train said:
Obviously trees can and do cause significant disruption, but a line does have to be drawn somewhere. Cutting down "all trees near the railway" is pretty subjective - you could hypothetically use such a definition to justify cutting down nearly all the woodland around the railway line there which is ridiculous (and, selfishly, would spoil what is an excellent walk down there) - but obviously if a tree is a danger to the safe operation of the railway then that's not on, and I hope that ways can be found to sort out the issue of landowners refusing to comply, if that is indeed the case here.

I understand that the power distribution companies have the right to enter land and remove trees that could endanger power lines. I was informed that a tree in my garden had to be removed as it was too close to the power line (they appointed a contractor to remove it at their expense). Does Network Rail have the same rights?

Thames99 · 31 Jul 2026

Could the railway not have cut branches that overhung the boundary fence? With private houses it is certainly the case that you can cut back anything that encroaches the boundary with a neighbour. You should offer the cut pieces back, not that they are likely to want them.

I imagine it could be more complex with a very large tree as you could unbalance it and provoke a fall of the remaining part at some point with maybe legal consequences to follow. More regular cutting back of encroaching branches would take this risk away.

GRALISTAIR · 31 Jul 2026

Belperpete said:
Presumably if they have ignored the warnings, this increases their liability?

I would b----y well hope so!

The exile · 31 Jul 2026

Bald Rick said:
And AIUI the owners of said tree had been advised several times their tree was a potential risk.

In which case, I hope they are going to be presented with the entire bill.

Russel · 31 Jul 2026

Bald Rick said:
And AIUI the owners of said tree had been advised several times their tree was a potential risk.

If this is the case, the owners should be facing some kind of consequences given the very real danger that a train could have hit it.

Bald Rick · 31 Jul 2026

saismee said:
I believe the line was closed until 1300

1224

Alfie1014 · 3 Aug 2026

Bald Rick said:
You posted this after the line had reopened.

Well yes, but…

And AIUI the owners of said tree had been advised several times their tree was a potential risk.

The owners being Colchester City Council who are responsible for most of Wivenhoe Woods.

GB · 3 Aug 2026

deleted

Tree collapse last night brings overhead lines down at Wivenhoe (29 to 30 July)

Bringback309s

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Trains CANCELLED after tree falls on tracks causing damage

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GRALISTAIR

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Horizon22

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Bald Rick

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liamf656

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saismee

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TAS

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LAX54

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