Engineering Overrun Paddington (27/12/14)

[14xxDave]

Local radio in Cornwall. Obviously cant post a link to a radio broadcast....
The bloke they were talking with said he was from Rail Future whoever they are

Really, you having that much bad weather down there in the west?

D.

 

[richw]

Really, you having that much bad weather down there in the west?

D.

Not really, although a hailstorm caused a crash and subsequent closure of the A30 this morning at Camborne.

yesterday we had a lot of rain, some of it the heaviest I've seen in a long time. At a guess heavy rain would slow engineering work down?

 

[Warner31]

London is in meltdown today. Severe delays on services from Euston and Paddington, King's Cross closed and services diverted from there to Finsbury Park has led to the closure of that station as well.

 

[Robertj21a]

London is in meltdown today. Severe delays on services from Euston and Paddington, King's Cross closed and services diverted from there to Finsbury Park has led to the closure of that station as well.

No probs - we're British. Tomorrow is another day !

 

[HowardGWR]

London is in meltdown today. Severe delays on services from Euston and Paddington, King's Cross closed and services diverted from there to Finsbury Park has led to the closure of that station as well.

You just found out?

 

[PHILIPE]

18 30 resumption now slipped back again, now 20 30

 

[trainophile]

There was a lengthy interview with the top bod of Network Rail, shown on BBC News a couple of hours ago, and the weather wasn't mentioned once as a relevant factor. In fact no reason for the overrun was given, unless I missed it somehow.

 

[Busaholic]

There was a lengthy interview with the top bod of Network Rail, shown on BBC News a couple of hours ago, and the weather wasn't mentioned once as a relevant factor. In fact no reason for the overrun was given, unless I missed it somehow.

Live interview with NR top honcho 17.15 today P.M. programme Radio 4: he gave the reasons as
a) Paddington- problems with signalling rewiring this (early) a.m. which required safety checks that have spiralled on;
b) Kings Cross- problems with 'faulty equipment' on both Dec 25th and 26th so that he was aware yesterday afternoon that things would not be back to normal this morning and consequently contingency plans were being made yesterday by NR in association with East Coast and local operators, including TfL whom he went out of his way to praise.

 

[PHILIPE]

Resumption time now slipped again to 23 30. No hint of tomorrow's train service.

 

[DT611]

Into the Compensation chest. Take it from the bosses not from the Company itself. Of course, as in any public service industry, nobody at the top ever gets the sack.

the sack for what in this case. sometimes rail works over run. yes its inconvenient, but thats life.

 

[PHILIPE]

the sack for what in this case. sometimes rail works over run. yes its inconvenient, but thats life.

I was referring to all "public" bodies in general.

 

[jimm]

I was referring to all "public" bodies in general.

Why "public" bodies? There are plenty of people in the private sector responsible for things that have messed up people's lives, often rather more seriously than delaying journeys, who have managed to avoid the sack. Do bankers ring a bell?

Who do you suggest should be sacked? The people doing the signalling work outside Paddington, or the chief executive of Network Rail, because he is "responsible" for it all? In what way would this stop something similar happening in future?

 

[Rich McLean]

Handback due at 0900hrs tomorrow

 

[cjmillsnun]

i do love posts like this! :roll:

Why and who should they give it to? Should they just stand out side the station and give you a fiver or would you prefer a cheque?

Considering it is a government owned company, back to their paymasters (HMG)

 

[highlander]

Live interview with NR top honcho 17.15 today P.M. programme Radio 4: he gave the reasons as
a) Paddington- problems with signalling rewiring this (early) a.m. which required safety checks that have spiralled on;
b) Kings Cross- problems with 'faulty equipment' on both Dec 25th and 26th so that he was aware yesterday afternoon that things would not be back to normal this morning and consequently contingency plans were being made yesterday by NR in association with East Coast and local operators, including TfL whom he went out of his way to praise.

It is inconceivable that contingency plans were drawn up during the incident. Surely they would have been drawn up as part of the planning for the works? Looks like a complete lack of any planning from anyone. Total shambles. Very amateurish.

 

[LAX54]

It is inconceivable that contingency plans were drawn up during the incident. Surely they would have been drawn up as part of the planning for the works? Looks like a complete lack of any planning from anyone. Total shambles. Very amateurish.

There are only so many 'plans' that you could come up with, and as sure as eggs is eggs, none of them would meet what was wanted! I think there was plans 'just in case' but none of them met the issuues that were presented!

Maybe the Christmas shutdown should be longer, and not done in 48 hours, shut down from 2359 on the 24th to 0600 on the 30th maybe ? scope for recovery, and hopefully nothing for the 'experts' to whinge about !

 

[trainophile]

There are only so many 'plans' that you could come up with, and as sure as eggs is eggs, none of them would meet what was wanted! I think there was plans 'just in case' but none of them met the issuues that were presented!

Maybe the Christmas shutdown should be longer, and not done in 48 hours, shut down from 2359 on the 24th to 0600 on the 30th maybe ? scope for recovery, and hopefully nothing for the 'experts' to whinge about !

That's what Arriva have done for some fairly major work between Hereford and Shrewsbury. Shut down middle of the day on 24th, re-opening afternoon of 29th (all being well!). Bit of a bu**er for those of us wanting to travel during that period, but at least we all knew in reasonable time so could re-hash our plans. Also a full RRB service in operation throughout (presumably excluding 25th/26th).

 

[SPADTrap]

People are happier to see someone sacked rather than something proper done to avoid it again in the future.

 

[PHILIPE]

Up and running this morning at Paddington with 2 lines open. There are delays up to 15 mins.

 

[infobleep]

There are now 10 pages re the Kings Cross fiasco but not even a post on the fact that Paddington is completely stitched up as well and no trains can run between Paddington and Hayes and Harlington. Fortunately, the effects are not as bad as Kings Cross as the current estimate to have things moving is 13 30.
A poster did mention it in passing on the KX thread.
Network Rail bosses should be handing a chunk of their own salary back, never mind forfeit their bonus.

This perfectly mirrors the BBC news reports yesterday on their Web Site. Kings Cross had a BBC reporter commenting and more details about the issues, including a very brief mention of Paddington near the beginning, with a link to the Paddington news report.

Where as Paddington had less details; no BBC reporter present and no mention of or link to the Kings Cross news report. I can only assume more people use the East Coast line so there's more interest in it.

 

[21C101]

This perfectly mirrors the BBC news reports yesterday on their Web Site. Kings Cross had a BBC reporter commenting and more details about the issues, including a very brief mention of Paddington near the beginning, with a link to the Paddington news report.

Where as Paddington had less details; no BBC reporter present and no mention of or link to the Kings Cross news report. I can only assume more people use the East Coast line so there's more interest in it.

or maybe it was because a secondary route was operating to Waterloo and able to get pax in and out of London.

And maybe because someone was organised enough to ensure the secondary route had 8/12 car trains rather than the 4 car trains that GN was running according to a poster on the ECML thread.

 

[swt_passenger]

And maybe because someone was organised enough to ensure the secondary route had 8/12 car trains rather than the 4 car trains that GN was running according to a poster on the ECML thread.

Waterloo to Reading ran with its normal 2 tph 8 car service yesterday. As an example the train I was on was "nearly all seats taken" with some standing in vestibules on arrival at Reading. In the adjacent platform the 2x458 about to depart for Waterloo was completely full and standing with no one else being allowed to board, so there were a couple of hundred waiting to get on my incoming train as it arrived, with half an hour to sit in the train as it filled up prior to departure.

I doubt 'someone was organised enough' at all, they just filled the normal trains to capacity on departing Reading, so I guess they'd have run into big problems later on during the journey towards London, as they'd probably be unable to pick up many passengers.

 

[hotelmode]

Looks like a Heathrow Express has hit a track trolley left behind by Network Rail.

http://twitter.com/JaniLDN/status/549171140938452992/photo/1

 

[LAX54]

Looks like a Heathrow Express has hit a track trolley left behind by Network Rail.

http://twitter.com/JaniLDN/status/549171140938452992/photo/1

Network Rail or and outside contractor ??

 

[Kite159]

This morning the hourly Heathrow Connects were not running (messages about being stuck in depot) but even so Paddington was dead (a bit like Euston late at night waiting for the sleeper). FGW even linked together 3 turbos to make a 8 car turbo for a Reading stopper (10:15 service).

 

[infobleep]

People are happier to see someone sacked rather than something proper done to avoid it again in the future.

If I heard Duncan Barks on LBC correctly just now then yes. I believe he quoted a minister or someone else high up in relation to Kings Cross saying the person who made a mistake should be sacked. Whilst that's Kings Cross, I think a number of people who think the same here.

I personally wouldn't want anyone to be sacked if they were trying to do their best and something went wrong. If they weren't trying their best and didn't care well that's a different matter. However I'd be very surprised if that was the case.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

@trainophile - In terms of London terminal closures and issues there is London Bridge, which is completely closed of course to all Southern services (planned) and the southeastern side had a large number of alterations and cancellations this morning between London Bridge and Charing Cross due to point problems. What London terminals have been running ok?!

How about Victoria; Waterloo; Liverpool Street; Marylebone and Fenchurch Street? What about Canon Street?

 

[hassaanhc]

This morning the hourly Heathrow Connects were not running (messages about being stuck in depot) but even so Paddington was dead (a bit like Euston late at night waiting for the sleeper). FGW even linked together 3 turbos to make a 8 car turbo for a Reading stopper (10:15 service).

Thats weird, many of the platforms can't fit more than 6 cars of Turbo. At Southall I'd be surprised if the 6th car fits on the fast line platforms. For much of the day, only the Fast lines were in use from Ealing Broadway to Slough (as far as I'm aware). Heathrow Connect cancelled all day.

1015 service: http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C22954/2014/12/28/advanced

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Thats weird, many of the platforms can't fit more than 6 cars of Turbo. At Southall I'd be surprised if the 6th car fits on the fast line platforms. For much of the day, only the Fast lines were in use from Ealing Broadway to Slough (as far as I'm aware). Heathrow Connect cancelled all day.

1015 service: http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C22954/2014/12/28/advanced

Do their Turbos currently have any sort of SDO installed?

 

[paulravuslante]

Thats weird, many of the platforms can't fit more than 6 cars of Turbo. At Southall I'd be surprised if the 6th car fits on the fast line platforms. For much of the day, only the Fast lines were in use from Ealing Broadway to Slough (as far as I'm aware). Heathrow Connect cancelled all day.

1015 service: http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C22954/2014/12/28/advanced

Southall Mainline platforms can take 6 car trains maximum
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Do their Turbos currently have any sort of SDO installed?

No, I was once on an evening service booked to call at Hayes & Harlington platform 1 which (at the time) could only accommodate 5 car trains. As the train was formed of two 3-car turbos the driver had to get everyone out of the rear unit and locked it out of use.

 

[SWT_USER]

Anyone know why the 20:15 Paddington to Reading stopper was only 2 cars last night? 20:12 Heathrow Connect before it had been cancelled so it was absolutely rammed and left people behind at Ealing Broadway.