Storm Darragh - 6/7th Dec

[father_jack]

Are GWR tickets refundable today? The advice from GWR suggests they are

All tickets are yes, but don't let the third party agencies (Trainline, Trainpal, Uber etc) charge you admin fees. Email instead of using the automatic systems if they want to charge a fee.

 

[RailwayRookie]

No of course not but that’s bimodal benefit for us

Perhaps it’s a blanket restriction for ALL traction today as my colleagues along with XC are also losing 12-15 minutes.

Yes it's the all inclusive, the freight movements for Middleton Towers are also affected, albeit only a handful of runnings booked for a Saturday.

 

[dk1]

Yes it's the all inclusive, the freight movements for Middleton Towers are also affected, albeit only a handful of runnings booked for a Saturday.

Thanks. Had a look on the internal disruptions site but nothing has been posted.

 

[Magdalia]

As Dk1 has said, the west is getting it hard, but even we have a 40mph Blanket ESR from Cambridge North to King's Lynn on the Fen Line

High wind was a factor in the Littleport dewirement of 5 January 2012.

The Accident Report is here:

https://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/RAIB_Littleport2012.pdf

Accident involving a pantograph and the overhead line near Littleport, Cambridgeshire 5 January 2012

 

[1D54]

Hope there are some kind TM's on Northern and LNR who have no objections to folk wanting to travel early to get home. Come on guys, you know it makes sense.

 

[TheLastMinute]

GWR are reporting that Westbury station is closed due to the station roof incurring significant damage.

Customer Advice
The station roof at Westbury has incurred significant damage from Storm Darragh, and is not safe to keep Westbury station open; therefore WESTBURY STATION IS CLOSED!

No trains will call in and out of Westbury until further notice. We are looking at various alternatives, but we do not expect to be able to source enough road transport to meet the demand, therefore customers are encouraged to delay their plans for today.

 

[Howardh]

Hope there are some kind TM's on Northern and LNR who have no objections to folk wanting to travel early to get home. Come on guys, you know it makes sense.

Advances wanting to travel earlier or later? Makes sense, should be a nationwide policy today!

 

[1D54]

Advances wanting to travel earlier or later? Makes sense, should be a nationwide policy today!

Earlier.

 

[Chingy]

GWR are reporting that Westbury station is closed due to the station roof incurring significant damage.

 

[A S Leib]

I haven't travelled; the 07:56 Carlisle to Glasgow's been cancelled due to power supply issues and the next scheduled arrival's for an hour after that one, so would I be better off submitting a delay repay request than a refund request?

 

[Wivenswold]

Looking at the latest model runs, I'd avoid any wired lines in the East of England after dark, it's going to get nasty on the back end of the storm when it passes.
The threat of coastal flooding around East Anglia tonight could mean there's no service on the Wherry/Harwich/Felixstowe Lines later.

 

[800301]

No less than 400 cancellations on GWR journey check and 17 line updates, 100 other train service updates, got to be a record this?

 

[Wivenswold]

Possibly a record for GWR. Though this remains a pup of a storm compared to what the SE got in 1987. It wasn't gusting to 60mph that night, that was a mean wind speed for a few hours and I don't think anything ran in the NSE area the following day.

 

[jayah]

GWR are reporting that Westbury station is closed due to the station roof incurring significant damage.

The messaging is very confused.

On X, Network Rail have told them various routes in the South West and Wales will be closed and customers should not attempt to travel on these.
This has been extended to cover the incident at Westbury. Elsewhere there is a rather vague variation, that customers should avoid travelling if possible.

But the mesaaging on GWR.com is simply that some routes may have no service and customers should avoid travelling if possible.

If the advice for Westbury is Do Not Travel, why even attempt to organise buses to ply the equally dangerous roads? At this time of day they would just be conveying folk away from home who will all need to return later, when the situation may be even worse.

 

[Magdalia]

this remains a pup of a storm compared to what the SE got in 1987. It wasn't gusting to 60mph that night, that was a mean wind speed for a few hours and I don't think anything ran in the NSE area the following day.

In Storm Fish, the damage was mostly overnight. Cambridge-Kings Lynn ran the day after, and the Cambridge-Royston shuttle also started up mid morning after some fallen trees were cleared. But in 1987 neither were electrified.

 

[Wivenswold]

In Storm Fish, the damage was mostly overnight. Cambridge-Kings Lynn ran the day after, and the Cambridge-Royston shuttle also started up mid morning after some fallen trees were cleared. But in 1987 neither were electrified.

Yes, electric is better for the environment until that environment turns on you. It wasn't just trees, it was garden furniture, building site materials and on the LTS (C2C to you youngsters), boats, lots of them.

 

[bramling]

Looking at the latest model runs, I'd avoid any wired lines in the East of England after dark, it's going to get nasty on the back end of the storm when it passes.
The threat of coastal flooding around East Anglia tonight could mean there's no service on the Wherry/Harwich/Felixstowe Lines later.

What do we thinks the odds of King’s Cross to Cambridge being okay for 1800? By east of England do we mean exposed coastal areas, or inland as well?

 

[pompeyfan]

I remember that happening before for electric traction Cambridge North-Ely so I remained in diesel mode on the 755s so as to keep time.

That’s an interesting thought in terms of fuel diagraming miles. Did you have to report to your fleet team so they could adjust the numbers to ensure your unit didn’t run out of go-go juice?

 

[Haywain]

I haven't travelled; the 07:56 Carlisle to Glasgow's been cancelled due to power supply issues and the next scheduled arrival's for an hour after that one, so would I be better off submitting a delay repay request than a refund request?

If you are not travelling you should claim a refund from the retailer.

 

[Wivenswold]

What do we thinks the odds of King’s Cross to Cambridge being okay for 1800? By east of England do we mean exposed coastal areas, or inland as well?

Tough one to call, it's going to be brutal on the North Norfolk coast tonight but inland you're still looking at strong gusts of up to 60mph. I'd say 18:00 is just about in the sweet spot in the lull before the wind and rain ramps-up over night in the East.

 

[bramling]

Tough one to call, it's going to be brutal on the North Norfolk coast tonight but inland you're still looking at strong gusts of up to 60mph. I'd say 18:00 is just about in the sweet spot in the lull before the wind and rain ramps-up over night in the East.

Okay fingers crossed then, thanks for your thoughts. Conditions aren’t too bad in London at the moment, a bit blustery but nothing massively notable yet.

 

[Wivenswold]

Network seems to be holding up well at the moment. https://www.map.signalbox.io

 

[Train Maniac]

Great Western Railway is taking a battering this morning, apparently Chippenham footbridge has collapsed, blocking all lines. Advice at the moment is to go to Bristol Temple Meads to seek alternative travel arrangements

 

[side effect]

Hope there are some kind TM's on Northern and LNR who have no objections to folk wanting to travel early to get home. Come on guys, you know it makes sense.

Also Avanti as the Everton v Liverpool game has been postponed.

 

[fandroid]

Possibly a record for GWR. Though this remains a pup of a storm compared to what the SE got in 1987. It wasn't gusting to 60mph that night, that was a mean wind speed for a few hours and I don't think anything ran in the NSE area the following day.

The 1987 storm was in October. All trees had a full set of leaves on and many were brought down everywhere along the path of the storm. There's only a few trees with leaves on after last month's strong winds so the lasting effect on transport is likely to be much reduced.

 

[RedPostJunc]

Not exactly!

 

[Western Sunset]

Great Western Railway is taking a battering this morning, apparently Chippenham footbridge has collapsed, blocking all lines. Advice at the moment is to go to Bristol Temple Meads to seek alternative travel arrangements

Was that the footbridge preventing further westwards electrification?

 

[LickeyIncliner]

On the first LNER service north of Newcastle and doing a max of 50mph once over the Scottish Border. 70mph gusts predicted in a couple of hours in this area.....

Similar speed limit for 1E07 (08:30 EDB-KGX), at least from Dunbar southwards; seemed to be normal line speed before that

 

[infobleep]

You know things must be bad where are two disruption notices at the top of the live deparure baord for Guildford on the old National Rail Enquiries app for the same disruption but separate TOCs.

Storm Darragh will be affecting train services across the South Western Railway network. Please check your journey before travel. More details and the full impact to your journey can be found in Status and Disruptions.

Storm Darragh may affect train services across the Great Western Railway network. Please check your journey before travel. Passengers are advised to NOT travel, road transport will NOT be provided. More details and the full impact to your journey can be found in Status and Disruptions. MORE INFO MORE > INFO

 

[Magdalia]

What do we thinks the odds of King’s Cross to Cambridge being okay for 1800? By east of England do we mean exposed coastal areas, or inland as well?

Tough one to call, it's going to be brutal on the North Norfolk coast tonight but inland you're still looking at strong gusts of up to 60mph. I'd say 18:00 is just about in the sweet spot in the lull before the wind and rain ramps-up over night in the East.

The lull is happening now here in the Fens. The wind has eased and the rain stopped about half an hour ago.

The forecast is for the wind to veer north west and strengthen this afternoon before dusk.