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Paddington closed 12/07

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PHILIPE

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Not signalling problem tonight but station has been closed and nothing has moved since 1930. Fire alarms were ringing and understood from NRE and GWR Journey Check that Fire Brigade were dealing with an electrical fire below Platform 10. Passengers being advised to catch tubes to Euston, Maylebone or Waterloo to catch alternative services to Midlands, West of England or to Reading to catch some services turning back there. Many passengers are, of course, concerned about getting home late at night with train and bus connections winding down. GWR Twitter in Overkill with queries. There is no estimate up to the moment as to when the station may reopen.
 
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bluegoblin7

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Correct. Been outside since the alarms went off. Shambolic scenes from GWR and NR staff with nothing moving. A few stalled trains have arrived in to off load pax.

No affect on Tube services.
 
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SpacePhoenix

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http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/167196.aspx

A fire alarm sounding at London Paddington is causing major disruption to trains to and from this station.

Owing to fire alarms sounding at London Paddington station the area has been evacuated whilst safety checks are undertaken. As a result train services on all routes between London Paddington and Reading are subject to delay and / or alteration.

Heathrow Connect and Heathrow Express services are currently suspended.

Disruption is expected to continue until the end of service.

Advice for Great Western Railway customers:

You may use:

Chiltern Railways between London Marylebone and Oxford / Banbury
South West Trains between London Waterloo and Reading / Exeter St Davids
London Midland between London Euston and Birmingham New Street
Virgin Trains between London Euston and Birmingham New Street
CrossCountry, London Buses and London Underground services on reasonable routes.

Advice for Heathrow Express customers:

You may use London Underground services on reasonable routes.
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duncananderson

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221129 said:
Not sure that's true...
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I've just been in and out of Paddington on the Hammersmith & City line - no effect on their service at all.

No information from gwr staff at Paddington at all - they couldn't even send someone to face the crowd of angry public, that job was left to some poor person from the btp.
 
BestWestern

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bluegoblin7 said:
Correct. Been outside since the alarms went off. Shambolic scenes from GWR and NR staff with nothing moving. A few stalled trains have arrived in to off load pax.

No affect on Tube services.
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What was 'shambolic' about it, just out of interest? Several thousand people have been evacuated onto the street, at the tail end of rush hour. Were you expecting an orderly queue?
 
bluegoblin7

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221129 said:
Not sure that's true...
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Trust me, it's true.

Station re-opened 2230 with limited services running.

I've conducted evacuations during rush hour and it was very disorderly without any kind of staff assistance. Continuing to push customers and train crew out the main entrance into a main road with nothing in place to keep those by the main road moving and safe is not an orderly evacuation. Quietly asking people to leave "please" does not give results. Screaming at people to get across the road now causes nothing but unnecessary panic.

Shambolic is definitely the word.
 
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SpacePhoenix

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Looking at OpenTrainTimes there's five services with headcodes beginning 1Z would they be ECS to OOC?
 
CosherB

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Am I the only person that finds the title of this thread, at best inaccurate, and at worst emotive and misleading?
 
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PHILIPE

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CosherB said:
Indeed, a case of sensationalised desk journalism typical of the Daily Mail / Daily Express.

Oh look ......

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/826745/Paddington-station-closed-suspect-package-emergency-security-alert :roll:
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As the OP I think people are being petty discussing the title of the thread. Rest assured the Daily Express didn't get the news, or title of course, from me.

According to the Cambridge English Dictionary, the definition of a lockdown is a situation in which people are not allowed to enter or leave a building or area freely because of an emergency. Must admit that I wasn't aware of this at the time of first posting
 
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CosherB

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PHILIPE said:
As the OP I think people are being petty discussing the title of the thread. Rest assured the Daily Express didn't get the news, or title of course, from me.

According to the Cambridge English Dictionary, the definition of a lockdown is a situation in which people are not allowed to enter or leave a building or area freely because of an emergency. Must admit that I wasn't aware of this at the time of first posting
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So why didn't you clearly and unambiguously title the thread along the lines of "Paddington station - fire evacuation - 12/07", which is exactly what it was, and particularly as you admit that you didn't fully understand the term "lockdown"? To me, glancing at the thread title in the index has connotations of terrorism thanks to it's popular use in the media.
 
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6Gman

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CosherB said:
Am I the only person that finds the title of this thread, at best inaccurate, and at worst emotive and misleading?
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No. It was an evacuation, not a lockdown.

Which is something else entirely.
 
FGW_DID

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In an evacuation you are clearing an area, everybody gets the f**k out of dodge!

If an area is in "Lockdown" nobody moves anywhere, if you're in you're in, if you're out you're out! The only movement authorised will be the emergency services / security forces dealing with the particular situation.
 
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AndyW33

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I think the word lockdown comes from the USA and referred originally to their technique for controlling prison riots where the prison guards lock every door that they can reach to minimise the risk of escapes or other wings of the prison joining in. Now the words usage has spread to securing buildings with terrorists inside.
Lockdown is absolutely the last thing you would want to do if there was a fire, even in a prison!

And somewhere Brunel is either wondering if he put his cigar out properly, or blaming that youngster Spagnoletti for running his electric wires underneath Paddington.
 
Crossover

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When I saw "lockdown" I initially thought on the lines of "oh no, not another potential terrorism incident"
 
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