Disruption threads

[QueensCurve]

This has been niggling at me for a while, and today something occurred that triggered me to start this thread.

There are often threads started on the forum about disruptive events as they happen. Sometimes they are quite large events - pretty much every OLE problem on the ECML or track fault on the GWML for example, and sometimes they are quite small. Today’s derailment on the HoW line being the example that triggered me. https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/heart-of-wales-line-closed-27-08-24.272993/#post-6914441. It is almost comically amusing that the only people affected on the train concerned were one passenger ‘and his dog’.

And yet, last week, there was the largest single point* unplanned disruption on the network in terms of trains cancelled and passengers delayed, and as far as the search facility allows me, not a single mention on the forum.

So why is it that some incidents that affect very few people generate lots of comments, and yet sometimes massive incidents don’t?


* ie not a multiple location but same cause issue as often caused by extreme weather.

I was surprised that yesterday's tree down at Beatock, and Avanti giving up North of Preston again, provoked no interest.

 

[Nottingham59]

I was surprised that yesterday's tree down at Beatock, and Avanti giving up North of Preston again, provoked no interest.

Maybe the answer to that can be found in the word "again"

 

[peter166]

I was surprised that yesterday's tree down at Beatock, and Avanti giving up North of Preston again, provoked no interest.

Because everytime there is an incident that blocks the line north of Carlisle Avanti cancel everything north of Preston. It is normal and everybody seems resigned to it. Avanti does not seem to be held to accountas to why they cannot at least run some trains as far as Carlisle. It seems to be operational convenience at the expense of customer service.

 

[Deepgreen]

Because everytime there is an incident that blocks the line north of Carlisle Avanti cancel everything north of Preston. It is normal and everybody seems resigned to it. Avanti does not seem to be held to accountas to why they cannot at least run some trains as far as Carlisle. It seems to be operational convenience at the expense of customer service.

The simple philosophy of the privatised railway is play (contractually) safe at every opportunity, in contrast to the former philosophy of 'let's see what we can do for our passengers'.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I was surprised that yesterday's tree down at Beatock, and Avanti giving up North of Preston again, provoked no interest.

Not so. The impact of same was actually discussed here.

Advice please - Charged by ScotRail for ticket to GLC via Dumfries due to disruption (26/09)

Good afternoon, I am writing this post for my friend and would like to have some advice for him. He took the 0531 Avanti service from Euston to Glasgow by using Advance Single ticket, but the train terminated at Carlisle due to a fallen tree causing the all lines blocked further North. As a...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[Starmill]

I realise that. My point in starting this thread - which I perhaps didn’t explain well - was that on average, disruptions that seem to affect relatively few people seem to get raised, but those that affect relatively more people don’t get raised, especially if they are in commuter land on the third rail railway.

The extreme examples I gave being an incident on the Heart of Wales line that affected, quite literally, one man and his dog (raised on the forum), and the single biggest incident in recent years - the trespass at Raynes Park which affected several hundred thousand people (not raised).

I guess there's also the element that commuters usually don't need advice, they already know what their alternatives are during severe disruption.

 

[apinnard]

I

We are not some structured reporting service for the system, it all depends on who on here was there at the time, writing here, and who followed up. That's how it works.

Some years ago I walked into Waterloo at 7am, to find the derailment/collision that happened there shortly beforehand in full progress, so reported it here. That was just a chance. A substantial thread followed. I also recall encountering at Liverpool Street, around 1980, what must have been a very substantial bufferstop collision being cleared up by a large civils gang. There's not a mention anywhere of that I've ever found; it's all just a chance of who might be around and who wants to write about it.

I witnessed the aftermath of the little publicised Freightliner derailment at Rivenhall (between Witham and Kelvedon) as a teenager in 1997.) I lived in relatively close proximity at the time. Had this forum have been around then, and had I actually have had the internet, I’d have reported it on here. And probably got told off by the admins anyway

Totally off topic I know. Balfour Beatty took a pretty hefty fine for that, I believe.

 

[childwallblues]

Network Rail Scotland have tweeted -
We expect overhead wire repairs at Beattock to be complete by approx. 21:30 this evening.

Our control team remain in close contact with @AvantiWestCoast, @TPExpressTrains and freight operators to keep them updated. We’re diverting freight services where we can.

And that was not the only problem on the West Coast yesterday when the line was closed in the Watford Junction area after a suicide.

 

[GordonT]

And that was not the only problem on the West Coast yesterday when the line was closed in the Watford Junction area after a suicide.

And the (albeit very safe) Euston station was closed to additional users for a time due to being full and standing.

 

[Magdalia]

I was surprised that yesterday's tree down at Beatock, and Avanti giving up North of Preston again, provoked no interest.

If a tree falls in a forest and nobody is there to hear it, does it make a sound?

Early yesterday morning (Friday) a train struck a fallen tree near Wymondham and the line was closed until lunchtime but no sound here on RailUKForum.

 

[RailwayRookie]

I thought the suggestion for a dedicated section wasn't in order to help people plan around it or provide updates.

But just as a consolidated place for us to have a good old natter about it instead?

And a slightly easier way of looking back and seeing what's been happening while people may have been away from the forum.

 

[Shrop]

.Network Rail Scotland have tweeted -
We expect overhead wire repairs at Beattock to be complete by approx. 21:30 this evening.

Our control team remain in close contact with @AvantiWestCoast, @TPExpressTrains and freight operators to keep them updated. We’re diverting freight services where we can.

Credit to Network Rail where its due, it seems the line was indeed re-opened in time for the first of the four Caledonian Sleepers to pass through, ie the Glasgow/Edinburgh southbound shortly before 2.00am, followed by the northbound Aberdeen/inverness/Fort William soon after.

Moderator note: Discussion regarding what could be done about cable theft can be found at:

What could be done to reduce/prevent cable theft?

.Network Rail Scotland have tweeted - We expect overhead wire repairs at Beattock to be complete by approx. 21:30 this evening. Our control team remain in close contact with @AvantiWestCoast, @TPExpressTrains and freight operators to keep them updated. We’re diverting freight services where we...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[87electric]

I guess there's also the element that commuters usually don't need advice, they already know what their alternatives are during severe disruption.

I would also add that we now live in an information overload. People are naturally filtering out a lot of the noise, on board train announcements being a prime example.

 

[GordonT]

I thought the suggestion for a dedicated section wasn't in order to help people plan around it or provide updates.

But just as a consolidated place for us to have a good old natter about it instead?

And a slightly easier way of looking back and seeing what's been happening while people may have been away from the forum.

Excellent observations.