Rollercoaster rides - Has ride quality declined?

[Harpo]

The LTS has lengthy speed restrictions, 40 mph through Vange and 50 mph east of Upminster, which I assume are those related to the soil shrinkage issues causing the temporary timings changes mentioned on the C2C website.

As in other parts of the country, the track has been affected by the driest spring in more than 50 years. The clay soil underneath the c2c lines has shrunk following the prolonged spell of dry weather, causing the track to drop in places and become uneven.

The combination of engineering work, precautionary speed restrictions and limited service alterations from Monday 18 August………….The alterations are expected to be in place for between two and three months.

Temporary amendments to c2c timetable from next week after driest spring since 1974 | Trains to/from London, Southend & Essex with c2c Rail

For trains to and from London, Southend and elsewhere in Essex, plus timetables, ticket sales, information and events and offers, visit c2c-online.co.uk

www.c2c-online.co.uk

RTT shows 3.5 minutes in additional performance allowances for C2C services between Upminster and Benfleet and 3 minutes between Pitsea and Stanford-le-hope.

Realtime Trains | Departures from Pitsea all day on 09/11/2025

Train information at Pitsea all day on 09/11/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[Snow1964]

Might be partly the prolonged dry spell over the summer followed by a fairly sharp wet spell. This is likely to be causing some issues with the underlying formation in places.

Yes, basically where they is clay like soils under the track. It drys and shrinks, then expands again.

The lines that are busiest or have highest speed limits get done first

 

[Bald Rick]

What does OTMR stand for?

On Train Monitoring Recorder.

Essentially a ‘black box’ that records what the train was doing. It is used post incidents but also for regular checks for driver competency reviews etc.

 

[tfw756rider]

On Train Monitoring Recorder.

Essentially a ‘black box’ that records what the train was doing. It is used post incidents but also for regular checks for driver competency reviews etc.

Ah, thanks. I was more familiar with On Train Data Recorder (OTDR).

 

[apinnard]

Yes, basically where they is clay like soils under the track. It drys and shrinks, then expands again.

The lines that are busiest or have highest speed limits get done first

@dk1 what’s your patch like? Shenfield to Chelmsford used to be a pain with clay shrinkage and wet beds.

 

[dk1]

@dk1 what’s your patch like? Shenfield to Chelmsford used to be a pain with clay shrinkage and wet beds.

It’s pretty rough in places and of course the Brentwood-Harold Wood section has had its usual severe speed restrictions again this year.

Yesterday travelling back from Peterborough I noticed the 170 had a few violent lurches between there and March.

 

[Harpo]

Yesterday travelling back from Peterborough I noticed the 170 had a few violent lurches between there and March.

Late 1990s, I had a few trips on an old track testing car that dropped paint on defects and had differing loud alarms for each defect category, twist, vertical, lateral etc. to alert PW staff who rode their patch. 99% of the journey was silent but as soon as we turned left at Ely North all hell broke loose with those alarms.

 

[LowLevel]

Late 1990s, I had a few trips on an old track testing car that dropped paint on defects and had differing loud alarms for each defect category, twist, vertical, lateral etc. to alert PW staff who rode their patch. 99% of the journey was silent but as soon as we turned left at Ely North all hell broke loose with those alarms.

Ely West Junction was always awful, they relaid it a few weeks ago and it's much improved, see how long that lasts!

 

[dk1]

Ely West Junction was always awful, they relaid it a few weeks ago and it's much improved, see how long that lasts!

Yes I noticed the fresh ballast as we waited for another EMR to cross our bows from Norwich. Had a friend on the 156 that derailed there in the early 90s.

 

[350401]

Apologies if this is an old thread, but I’m on a Pendolino to Manchester and between Stafford and Stoke, and especially around Stone, the ride quality seems a lot worse than the last time I was on this train. Constant bouncing, hunting, and having to hold onto my coffee to stop it falling off the fold down table. Is this a new problem?

 

[Bletchleyite]

The tables with no recess or lip certainly are!