Pretty terrible evening for Southeastern

[urpert]

https://www.journeycheck.com/southeastern/

Apparently signalling issues between New Cross and St Johns (so presumably not the new stuff commissioned over Christmas?)

They're diverting trains from the coast into Victoria, at least.

 

[telstarbox]

Our driver announced "the Down Fast is stuffed so everything has to go on the Down Slow, sorry for the delay!"

 

[Antman]

https://www.journeycheck.com/southeastern/

Apparently signalling issues between New Cross and St Johns (so presumably not the new stuff commissioned over Christmas?)

They're diverting trains from the coast into Victoria, at least.

It's been a pretty terrible week for Southeastern but things seem to be looking up, the Bexleyheath line has reopened and everything seems to be running normally at the moment

 

[al78]

With the arrival of the cold weather there has been a significant increase in sunshine. Are there any further adverse effects from that?

 

[Antman]

With the arrival of the cold weather there has been a significant increase in sunshine. Are there any further adverse effects from that?

They're not gonna live that down for a while

 

[Minilad]

They're not gonna live that down for a while

Only from people who don't understand how this can cause problems though

 

[Antman]

Only from people who don't understand how this can cause problems though

It is pretty obvious how low sunlight can cause problems in all manner of things, there are ways and means of putting things over to the public however

 

[Minilad]

It is pretty obvious how low sunlight can cause problems in all manner of things, there are ways and means of putting things over to the public however

While I agree with that in the main there are always some people who wouldn't listen however you put things across. Unfortunately they also often appear to be the ones that shout the loudest

 

[al78]

Only from people who don't understand how this can cause problems though

I wasn't aware of the issues until I read a couple of threads on here. Having done so I can appreciate the problem much better, what I would like to know is whether it is theoretically possible to install blinds to stop the sunlight from shining directly on the monitors? If it is then why hasn't it been done? Has it always been a problem on the railway since monitors came into use?

It is the apparent lack of robustness to normal weather conditions that people don't really get and which leads to frustration, which is understandable as they are the ones being inconvenienced by it. It does appear the media deliberately worded it to make it sound as ridiculous as possible, as though they were doing a stand up comedy act rather that reporting news objectively which is what they are supposed to do.

I assume this problem doesn't arise in summer as the sun is higher in the sky so doesn't shine directly on screens or signal lights.

 

[SPADTrap]

And now someone laying down in the four-foot at Lewisham refusing to move!

 

[Class 170101]

And now someone laying down in the four-foot at Lewisham refusing to move!

Just turn the power on

 

[CatfordCat]

I wasn't aware of the issues until I read a couple of threads on here. Having done so I can appreciate the problem much better, what I would like to know is whether it is theoretically possible to install blinds to stop the sunlight from shining directly on the monitors? If it is then why hasn't it been done? Has it always been a problem on the railway since monitors came into use?

It is the apparent lack of robustness to normal weather conditions that people don't really get and which leads to frustration, which is understandable as they are the ones being inconvenienced by it. It does appear the media deliberately worded it to make it sound as ridiculous as possible, as though they were doing a stand up comedy act rather that reporting news objectively which is what they are supposed to do.

I assume this problem doesn't arise in summer as the sun is higher in the sky so doesn't shine directly on screens or signal lights.

The exact angle of the sun varies through the year, it's only at exactly the same height for a few days each year, and it may be that there haven't been many clear sunny days at this exact stage of the year for a while.

I'm not a regular traveller through Lewisham these days so haven't noticed if the monitors have been replaced or moved recently, but that line has had DOO monitors since about the early 90s.

Just speculation on my part, but there's a heck of a lot of building work going on in Lewisham at the moment - I wonder if a building that used to provide a screen in these circumstances has been demolished, or even if a new building with a lot of glass in it was setting up reflections? (skyscrapers can cause unexpected problems like the one in the City that was cooking parked cars...)

 

[Bald Rick]

The exact angle of the sun varies through the year, it's only at exactly the same height for a few days each year, and it may be that there haven't been many clear sunny days at this exact stage of the year for a while.

For any given time of day, the Sun is only at the same height / angle for a few minutes each year. But once a sunlight issue is reported on a signal or CCTV, the equipment is treated as defective until someone proves it is ok.

 

[Antman]

The exact angle of the sun varies through the year, it's only at exactly the same height for a few days each year, and it may be that there haven't been many clear sunny days at this exact stage of the year for a while.

I'm not a regular traveller through Lewisham these days so haven't noticed if the monitors have been replaced or moved recently, but that line has had DOO monitors since about the early 90s.

Just speculation on my part, but there's a heck of a lot of building work going on in Lewisham at the moment - I wonder if a building that used to provide a screen in these circumstances has been demolished, or even if a new building with a lot of glass in it was setting up reflections? (skyscrapers can cause unexpected problems like the one in the City that was cooking parked cars...)

I was at Lewisham this morning, low wintery sunshine again but it didn't seem to be causing any problems, I don't think it's anything to do with the tower blocks probably just a freak occurrence the other day.

 

[blakey1152]

There was a brilliant tweet on Wednesday after the "sunshine" issue that made me laugh.
Someone tweeted - Another cancelled train after work your shambolic. What's excuse today? too cloudy

and Southeastern responded with...

Hi Shane, no trains have been cancelled today because of clouds. What service are you referring to? CS

And I had this vision of someone at Southeastern going...cancelling the trains because of the wrong type of clouds? We haven't thought of that one...note it down at the back of the book for future use!!!!

Blakey

 

[nom de guerre]

Just speculation on my part, but there's a heck of a lot of building work going on in Lewisham at the moment - I wonder if a building that used to provide a screen in these circumstances has been demolished, or even if a new building with a lot of glass in it was setting up reflections? (skyscrapers can cause unexpected problems like the one in the City that was cooking parked cars...)

It wasn't a contributory factor in this case, but it certainly can be. I recall several reports in the control log last year of signals near London Bridge becoming obscured by reflections from the Shard.