Planes grounded, special train requirements?

[Geezertronic]

According to RailNews, East Coast have spot-hired an additional set (configuration unknown) to cope with the extra services and demand

http://www.railnews.co.uk/news/general/2010/04/16-adonis-in-talks-with-rail.html

 

[jopsuk]

One of Corss Country's idle HST sets? Possibly even marshalled as a 9 car?

 

[Failed Unit]

One of Corss Country's idle HST sets? Possibly even marshalled as a 9 car?

That is what my money would be on as most of it is normally in Edinburgh anyway. They have done well to get the extra staff in however. They may be helped out tomorrow by the Edinburgh - Glasgow closure also releasing a set.

 

[Geezertronic]

They may be helped out tomorrow by the Edinburgh - Glasgow closure also releasing a set.

Engineering work might be postponed...

Operations director Robin Gisby said: “We have reviewed all engineering work we have planned for the next few days and where it will allow train operators to run existing or extra services, this work has been cancelled. This mainly applies to long-distance operators on the East and West Coast Main Lines and on routes to the Channel ports...

I'm a bit miffed that the news websites are not publishing the efforts of the railways more, there seems to be bugger all about the railways and the extra trains on the BBC News website

 

[Failed Unit]

Engineering work might be postponed...

Was thinking why? as Glasgow passengers can use Euston or travel via Falkirk, but then forgot if that takes place there will be no trains between Scotland and Carlisle which make services on ECML a little cosy!

 

[northwichcat]

Can you imagine the criticism of rail if things were the other way round?

Everyone mocked "the wrong kind of snow" etc

I think part of the region for that is we're constantly told in the Autumn when trains have delays due to poor traction conditions which don't affect cars that in the winter it's the other way around and that cars are affected by snow and ice, while trains run a good service.

Part of the criticism with both roads and rail relating to the heavy snow was that other countries can run a train service and clear main roads in such conditions but we had trouble trying to do that. No country is running a plane service that is affected by the current conditions.

 

[dk1]

Considering the volume of passengers the Intercity operators are having to absorb today, a quick check on various arrivals boards this afternoon reveals the rail network is doing a very credible job of keeping the UK moving. On the East Coast Anglo-Scottish services are generally within 15 minutes of time with even the Highland Chieften expected into King Cross at 15.59 just 9 behind. Virgin on the whole are performing even better with the 11.40 from Glasgow terminating Euston a whopping 10 minutes early at 15.53 & most other Pendos due on time or early. Eurostar also doing a sterling job but as they only carry the amount of passengers as there are seats, they dont suffer the overcrowding & last minute boarders that the rest of the TOCs have to tolerate.

 

[northwichcat]

There's certainly been plenty of "I paid £200 for my ticket and I can't get a seat" although the amount of luggage is near nil with the baggage allowance of the planes. People really do take too much on the train!

Under most passenger charters the TOC should offer some sort of compensation if they've had to stand for a couple of hours, especially for an off-peak journey.

But then the TOC certainly isn't in a bad situation if they have to issue a £20 travel voucher to someone who's paid £200 to stand in the area next to the external door.
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a quick check on various arrivals boards this afternoon reveals the rail network is doing a very credible job of keeping the UK moving

The 16:27 Manchester-Birmingham-Southampton-Bournemouth XC service is down to not start north of Macclesfield due to a problem with getting a crew member. If it does start at Macclesfield it won't be too bad but I suspect it'll actually start at Stoke or Birmingham as there wouldn't be a lot of point starting a service at Macclesfield.

The 09:40 Penzance to Manchester XC service is also showing a 30 minute delay due to a delayed crew member at Birmingham.

 

[Failed Unit]

Under most passenger charters the TOC should offer some sort of compensation if they've had to stand for a couple of hours, especially for an off-peak journey.

But then the TOC certainly isn't in a bad situation if they have to issue a £20 travel voucher to someone who's paid £200 to stand in the area next to the external door.

Strange thing to say considering £230 will buy an off-peak first class return, and the off-peak stand is about £110 from memory between London and Edinburgh.... Unless they were travelling between Newcastle and London and were forced into buying the anytime return...

 

[northwichcat]

Strange thing to say considering £230 will buy an off-peak first class return, and the off-peak stand is about £110 from memory between London and Edinburgh.... Unless they were travelling between Newcastle and London and were forced into buying the anytime return...

I was quoting silentone who gave the £200 figure but I can find singles for London-Inverness today (arriving tomorrow) for £159.50.

 

[Polls]

I am working in the Coach Broking industry at the moment and I have been working my socks off to get people from this country to all places in Europe on coaches....not easy when Channel Tunnel Coach sales pack up and go home at 5pm!! Bloody useless :roll:....nice to see the train services have some common sense though.

 

[dk1]

The 16:27 Manchester-Birmingham-Southampton-Bournemouth XC service is down to not start north of Macclesfield due to a problem with getting a crew member. If it does start at Macclesfield it won't be too bad but I suspect it'll actually start at Stoke or Birmingham as there wouldn't be a lot of point starting a service at Macclesfield.

The 09:40 Penzance to Manchester XC service is also showing a 30 minute delay due to a delayed crew member at Birmingham.

Seems XC are their own worst enemy at the moment. They should stop being so tight & get back to ASLEF for a rest day working agreement for their drivers so they can stop this chaos of cancelled & pined trains.

 

[Failed Unit]

I was quoting silentone who gave the £200 figure but I can find singles for London-Inverness today (arriving tomorrow) for £159.50.

Sorry if you thought i was taking a dig a you. It was the person on the train that claimed the paid £200 I was surprised about.

 

[TheBigD]

One of Corss Country's idle HST sets? Possibly even marshalled as a 9 car?

Was a normal XC 2+7 set. I noticed it going south from Peterborough at 1650. I think it was on the 1540 LDS-KGX but not 100% sure.

 

[Drimnagh Road]

With Irish Sea services carrying more passengers than ever before in over 30 years, and full to the brim with foot passengers, I wonder how the two car Arriva 158 is coping on the all shacks service Holyhead to Chester?

Hmmm an 8 coach Virgin HST would be nice to see waiting on platform 2. Memories.

 

[anthony263]

Apparently the volcano is getting worse, last time it went off, it poured out ash like this for over a month, then slowed down over 2 years. The one next to it blew, which was far worse, and could have the potential to raise the earth's temperature.

You mean cool the earths temperature, and it depends on the amount of ash the volcano blasts into the atomosphere

 

[silentone]

The set is probably the set they had just a few weeks ago from XC. I think it was kept on slightly longer than planned last time.

The £200 figure was a First Class ticket which had been purchased 20minutes before the train left. Hence my disbelief.

East Coast carried an additional 5000 people yesterday. Crews are being picked from spares & overtime.

There is nothing in the East Coast charter about standing and refunds. The advice is always to book a seat, if you don't you face the risk of not getting a seat.

 

[anthony263]

With Irish Sea services carrying more passengers than ever before in over 30 years, and full to the brim with foot passengers, I wonder how the two car Arriva 158 is coping on the all shacks service Holyhead to Chester?

Hmmm an 8 coach Virgin HST would be nice to see waiting on platform 2. Memories.

I did here that ATW did run a a extra 03:00 Holyead - Crewe train today using 3 class 158 dmu's to connnect with a London service @ Crewe

 

[thegrich37423]

The trains should frankly keep their noses out of the air industry's business. If they can't keep to a level of service offered by their airline rivals, then they should ask themselves what went wrong?

 

[Kinghambranch]

A friend has come to visit us here in Lincolnshire from York and travelled by East Coast. She said the train was absolutely packed.

Now, here's a note to the next bloke/woman that comes round wanting my vote:

Rebuild the Waverley Route (all of it you muppet)
Rebuild the Great Central
Rebuild the Somerset and Dorset (yes THAT one!)
Rebuild the Kingham Branch (well maybe not but it would be nice)

The volcanic activity is somewhat unpredictable but such levels of ash in the medium levels of the atmosphere over the UK could cause the Country to be a no-fly zone for quite a while, or it could cease very quickly. Lets take it as a reheasal for when the oil runs out shall we? I am alone in feeling a sense of guilty pleasure in all this? (Yes I am an aviation enthusiast too!) Somehow its like mother nature telling us to get our transport sorted out.

 

[Bittern]

The 16:27 Manchester-Birmingham-Southampton-Bournemouth XC service is down to not start north of Macclesfield due to a problem with getting a crew member. If it does start at Macclesfield it won't be too bad but I suspect it'll actually start at Stoke or Birmingham as there wouldn't be a lot of point starting a service at Macclesfield.

The 09:40 Penzance to Manchester XC service is also showing a 30 minute delay due to a delayed crew member at Birmingham.

Seems XC are their own worst enemy at the moment. They should stop being so tight & get back to ASLEF for a rest day working agreement for their drivers so they can stop this chaos of cancelled & pined trains.

If you wish to quote someone, use the quote button. That way, it reduces confusion.

 

[dk1]

How about a class 40 hauling a 12-car rake of MKIs with another in hot persuit as a relief?
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If you wish to quote someone, use the quote button. That way, it reduces confusion.

Did that & still buggered it up

 

[Lampshade]

Are there even 12 mk1s left?

 

[dk1]

Are there even 12 mk1s left?

Several with the charter operators. Sorry, i meant it would be nice to have them operating Euston-Holyhead connecting with Sealink, whoops Stena-Line & Irish Ferries to Eire. Just like the good old 1970s/80s before the dreaded low cost airlines.
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Anybody know whether GBRf or DBS are operating any additional loco-hauled or 325 operated services for Royal Mail? Hope it isnt all going on a lorry.

 

[Big Chris]

They may well be swapping pendolino's to voyagers on lightly used diagrams to liverpool and manchester to give spares

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I have been told that Eurostar are running eight additional services tomorrow ( which sounds like the normal Friday service + today's extras being run on a Saturday to me ).

As for the Royal Mail; there is a warning on their website about delayed postal transmission - combine that with a lack of seeing any reports of extra 325s running, I very much fear the post is going by road...

 

[merlodlliw]

I did here that ATW did run a a extra 03:00 Holyead - Crewe train today using 3 class 158 dmu's to connnect with a London service @ Crewe

I would be surprised if they had the spare stock, when you say 3 class 158s, do you mean 6 coaches in total, as 158s are only twins.

 

[Geezertronic]

The trains should frankly keep their noses out of the air industry's business. If they can't keep to a level of service offered by their airline rivals, then they should ask themselves what went wrong?

What's that supposed to mean?

 

[route:oxford]

Given that this may go on for a bit longer...

Have any tour or excursion operators jumped at the opportunity to run an anglo-scottish relief service or perhaps supply locos plus coaching stock to temporarily release the three Adelantes from Northern.

Providing there were plenty of seats and an operating buffet, would complaints from passenger be fairly low if Tornado were to turn up with 12-14 coaches for an east-coast diagrammed relief service?

 

[jopsuk]

I'd have thought that the likes of Cargo-D etc are currently thrashing out plans- though you'll see mark 3s and possibly aircon mark 2s with diesel and electric locos. I really doubt anyone will be running reliefs using steam and mark 1s...
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I've seen that in France there's extra chaos being caused by a rail strike- not paralysing, but 10-40% (depending on sector) nationwide trains not running, some areas worse hit than others.