London Bridge issues 19/9

[ushawk]

Big problems on the Southern/FCC side of London Bridge tonight as 3 out of the 4 line have been shut for emergency work.

Barely any Southern services, except a limited service to/from Caterham are running to/from London Bridge with peak services to the Coast/Oxted Line starting at East Croydon. FCC are as usual diverting via Elephant and Castle.

Anyone know what the work is to rectify ? Must be pretty bad to take out a block on 3 out of 4 lines of one of the most congested peak times routes in the country.

 

[tony6499]

A big hole under the tracks at Bricklayers Arm Junction apparantly

 

[ushawk]

Update, just heard that a large hole has appeared under the tracks, causing the closure - can anyone confirm ?

 

[High Dyke]

Reports mention a hole in a brick arch, Rayworth Road area. Daylight can be seen through the arch and reportedly a quarter of tonne of ballast is on the floor. Apparently staff are looking into it.

 

[asylumxl]

Reports mention a hole in a brick arch, Rayworth Road area. Daylight can be seen through the arch and reportedly a quarter of tonne of ballast is on the floor. Apparently staff are looking into it.

The hole or the issue?

 

[ChiefPlanner]

FCC going via the Elephant is a standard diversion (albeit causing late running) - not the first this fortnight either .....

Sounds a bad one all round - especially for Southern ....

 

[Chrisgr31]

A number of trains and certainly the Uckfield line diesels were starting and terminating at East Croydon. How does that work, there normal trip to London Bridge and back takes them around 40 mins. They couldnt sit at East Croydon for those 40 minutes so where did they go?

 

[causton]

A number of trains and certainly the Uckfield line diesels were starting and terminating at East Croydon. How does that work, there normal trip to London Bridge and back takes them around 40 mins. They couldnt sit at East Croydon for those 40 minutes so where did they go?

a) They may have been delayed by up to 40 minutes!
b) There's a nice big depot next to East Croydon, called Selhurst depot. Maybe there? Should have a lot of space free in the peak!
c) The above two points are speculation and guesswork only, sound about right though? *shrug*

 

[Bald Rick]

Small hole, about 1ft cube, appeared in one of the arches between the Down Main and Down Slow. Got to the point where track integrity was compromised so lines blocked. Up Main had to be closed also in case the DM shifted. Structures rapid response bolted a steel sheet to underside of viaduct, then pway tipped a load of ballast in the hole. Trains diverted via Spur lines or in FCCs case via Elephant & Castle (most go this way in the peak anyway). All lines reopened at linespeed before 1800. Brilliant effort from the response teams.

 

[tsr]

Small hole, about 1ft cube, appeared in one of the arches between the Down Main and Down Slow. Got to the point where track integrity was compromised so lines blocked. Up Main had to be closed also in case the DM shifted. Structures rapid response bolted a steel sheet to underside of viaduct, then pway tipped a load of ballast in the hole. Trains diverted via Spur lines or in FCCs case via Elephant & Castle (most go this way in the peak anyway). All lines reopened at linespeed before 1800. Brilliant effort from the response teams.

Yes, it was an excellent effort indeed. Thumbs up to Southern who also seem to have done relatively well with service recovery and customer service, given the trying circumstances and frustration of passengers. I heard and saw plenty of clear and detailed information across parts of the affected routes. In addition, it seems that congestion was dealt with quite well at Redhill. Unfortunately, this was to the detriment of information about some delays and a few alterations following a level crossing issue on the West Coastway, but such is life.

Some passengers may disagree, as obviously there is a lot of inconvenience when running around the Tube, East Croydon or Redhill in the rush hour, but all in all the closure of 3 lines into London Bridge has not caused utter calamity tonight.

 

[Chrisgr31]

Brilliant effort from the response teams.

Agree it was a good response although I must admit to being slightly concerned about a hole appearing in the first place! I do occasionally wonder about the structural integrity of the arches approaching London Bridge (and I guess other stations) because I would assume the mortar, bricks etc may lose strength over time? Although I guess they have been there a long time!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Yes, it was an excellent effort indeed. Thumbs up to Southern who also seem to have done relatively well with service recovery and customer service, given the trying circumstances and frustration of passengers. I heard and saw plenty of clear and detailed information across parts of the affected routes. In addition, it seems that congestion was dealt with quite well at Redhill. Unfortunately, this was to the detriment of information about some delays and a few alterations following a level crossing issue on the West Coastway, but such is life.

Some passengers may disagree, as obviously there is a lot of inconvenience when running around the Tube, East Croydon or Redhill in the rush hour, but all in all the closure of 3 lines into London Bridge has not caused utter calamity tonight.

Yes and Southern did do well tonight, although I still wonder how they coped with all the terminations at East Croydon!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

b) There's a nice big depot next to East Croydon, called Selhurst depot. Maybe there? Should have a lot of space free in the peak!

I assume Selhurst was involved unless they went up to Norwood Junction and back. Was just wondering if anyone actually knew!

 

[tsr]

I assume Selhurst was involved unless they went up to Norwood Junction and back. Was just wondering if anyone actually knew!

Some turnbacks in the platforms at East Croydon and Redhill, some diversions to/from London Victoria, one train sent ECS Redhill-Tonbridge-Redhill, plus I believe some pretty effective fiddling around at Selhurst Depot. Oddly enough, the cancellation of an FCC service at Harpenden due to a door fault looks like it might have helped clear some space, too.

 

[westcoaster]

A number of trains and certainly the Uckfield line diesels were starting and terminating at East Croydon. How does that work, there normal trip to London Bridge and back takes them around 40 mins. They couldnt sit at East Croydon for those 40 minutes so where did they go?

There is a turn back siding just north of east croydon which can be used to turn back and hold units ( termite at east croydon run to the turn back siding-wait x amount of time-ecs back to east croydon for departure time). It can be seen on all slow trains from norwood to east croydon using the down london bridge slow (it's on the left hand side just before where the lines from norwood and selhurst join together).

 

[tsr]

There is a turn back siding just north of east croydon which can be used to turn back and hold units ( termite at east croydon run to the turn back siding-wait x amount of time-ecs back to east croydon for departure time). It can be seen on all slow trains from norwood to east croydon using the down london bridge slow (it's on the left hand side just before where the lines from norwood and selhurst join together).

Yes, I forgot to mention that. You can always tell the magnitude of disruption by watching what's happening at the turnback...