Storm Darragh - 6/7th Dec

[Mcr Warrior]

Don't suppose anyone has any idea when the Heart of Wales Line might reopen? No update on TfW since 2am last night...

Not heard anything. The Heart of Wales line is, at best, a tertiary route, so possibly it's not the highest priority.

 

[williamn]

Not heard anything. The Heart of Wales line is, at best, a tertiary route, so possibly it's not the highest priority.

That shouldnt stop TfW updating their website a little more often. I’m not sure the line feels tertiary for residents who live along it either.

 

[DelW]

That shouldnt stop TfW updating their website a little more often. I’m not sure the line feels tertiary for residents who live along it either.

TfW Journey Check is suggesting (at present anyway) that the line will be open tomorrow:

Due to heavy rain and strong winds caused by storm Darragh, Transport for Wales services operating between Shrewsbury and Swansea via the Heart of Wales have been suspended all day on Tuesday 10th December.
You cannot travel there are no trains running and we are unable to run rail replacement.
If you are unable to complete your journey today, you'll be able to use your ticket to travel tomorrow (Wednesday 11th December) at no extra cost.

As an aside, this is the last week of the 5tpd timetable introduced two years ago. From next Monday the weekday service drops back to 4tpd, though with changes from the 2022 version.

 

[crosscity]

Seems to be a regular occurrence with the 730s, presumably usually at Soho. Rarely a few days goes by now without seeing at least one come past our office that hasn't been redecorated.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Dec 2024 ==


5Z99 now on its way to assist from Northampton.

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:37862/2024-12-10/detailed

Not sure of any details going forward beyond this at present. Wasn't expecting Class 43 haulage of 730s to be on the agenda this week!

5Z99 arrived at Kings Norton at about 16:30, and was parked on the 'Down Slow' next to the yard. It was then split into 1Z99 and 5Z99, each consisting of two HST power cars and a barrier vehicle.

At about 18:00 the unit at Kings Norton (730006) finally left without assistance and headed off towards New St.

1Z99 then ran into P1, and left about twenty minutes later wrong line towards Northfield with the barrier vehicle leading, presumably to rescue the two units at Northfield station.

Both lines through Selly Oak are now open.

 

[TPO]

Naturally seconded - being more than aware of the massive difficuties that have been seen , in the last few days. Huge appreciation of the very strong efforts made. (and frankly annoyed as one can tell by the "why was not xxx done - I need to know")

Agreed. A massive amount has happened over the past few days. Those of us who see the logs know what an enormous challenge has been faced. Not just the hard-working people out on the ground with chainsaws and the electrical teams, but also the planning teams, and Controllers who were getting kit and people into place day after day. There was certainly a level of additional staffing in the run up, I can imagine everyone involved is very tired and needing a good rest now. The whole thing made more difficult in that some areas are still without electrical power- the National Grid is talking about Friday before power is restored in some areas (according to a BBC Wales news report i saw).

I imagine a lot has to do with the number of staff/contractors available for line clearance. In the old days when you had a PW maintenance gang for every few miles of track you had a lot more bodies available to do work in parallel and of course they would be local staff, within walking/cycling distance so not so hampered by road closures. EDIT and of course line sides were relatively devoid of trees unlike these days.

Problem is with an exceptional situation like this, is that the arb contractors are working flat out as it's not just the railway, but the National Grid and Highways who also need stuff clearing. And not all of the locations are very accessible, especially on the railway and National Grid.

TPO

 

[edgar13]

TfW Journey Check is suggesting (at present anyway) that the line will be open tomorrow:

As an aside, this is the last week of the 5tpd timetable introduced two years ago. From next Monday the weekday service drops back to 4tpd, though with changes from the 2022 version.

This is the perfect example demonstrating their poor communication - from what I see they have cancelled all trains on Heart of Wales tomorrow, hidden under the cancellations tab, without updating the line announcement.

Appreciate the severity of this storm and line clearance staff resources are stretched, but had they properly announced the line won't be reopening anytime soon instead of quietly pushing the date back every evening, I could've cancelled my plans entirely - now I'm in Wales for two nights for absolutely no reason!

 

[infobleep]

No. Infrastructure staffing is driven by asset inspection and maintenance volumes not just track mileage.

Rural railways can have very few bits of kit over large distances with low wear and tear from their line speeds, traffic type and level.

Thanks. So the fact it took longer to deal with Wales may partly be less staff working there than day the south east. There is only so much staff can do.

 

[williamn]

This is the perfect example demonstrating their poor communication - from what I see they have cancelled all trains on Heart of Wales tomorrow, hidden under the cancellations tab, without updating the line announcement.

Appreciate the severity of this storm and line clearance staff resources are stretched, but had they properly announced the line won't be reopening anytime soon instead of quietly pushing the date back every evening, I could've cancelled my plans entirely - now I'm in Wales for two nights for absolutely no reason!

Indeed, line info still says “If you are unable to complete your journey today, you'll be able to use your ticket to travel tomorrow (Wednesday 11th December) at no extra cost.”

 

[Chriso]

Pleased to hear the 730s have been removed from isolation and will hopefully have a decent clean at Soho

 

[williamn]

TfWhave finally updated their journey check to reflect a further day of closure for the Heart of Wales line.

It’s incredible however the page still says ‘Due to forecasted severe weather between Shrewsbury and Swansea all lines are closed’ - presumably too much work to change it to something retrospective.

While stating the line is closed today Wednesday, it also says “If you are unable to complete your journey today, you'll be able to use your ticket to travel tomorrow (Wednesday 11th December) at no extra cost.”

Really, how hard is it to update a webpage properly?!

Rail replacement buses are now in operation but apparently may depart their origin station up to an hour earlier than the train schedule. Not sure how you guess what time to turn up at.

 

[edgar13]

TfWhave finally updated their journey check to redirect a further day of closure for the Heart of Wales line.

It’s incredible however the page still says ‘Due to forecasted severe weather between Shrewsbury and Swansea all lines are closed’ - presumably too much work to change it to something retrospective.

While stating the line is closed today Wednesday, it also says “If you are unable to complete your journey today, you'll be able to use your ticket to travel tomorrow (Wednesday 11th December) at no extra cost.”

Really, how hard is it to update a webpage properly?!

Rail replacement buses are now in operation but apparently may depart their origin station up to an hour earlier than the train schedule. Not sure how you guess what time to turn up at.

Looks like they've finally heard us. Page now updated to say services "have been suspended until Sunday 15th December."
Train times showing as cancelled but replacement bus times still yet to be shown.
Too late for me but hopefully many others would find this information useful!

 

[crosscity]

Pleased to hear the 730s have been removed from isolation and will hopefully have a decent clean at Soho

I don't know what happened to the stranded 730's at Longbridge and Bromsgrove. They were still there in the early hours of this morning. The passenger service did start first thing, so they were out of the way by then. Or perhaps one or both just ran in service.

 

[John Luxton]

YouTube Storm Damage Report by the manager of the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway regarding the damage caused by Storm Darragh. The section of railway between Beddgellert and Rhyd Ddu appears to have been particularly affected by the storm where it passes through quite dense plantations. About 30 trees down some very large ones with roots dragged up. One wonders what could be done to mitigate such problems in the future?

 

[yoyothehobo]

YouTube Storm Damage Report from the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway. About 30 trees down some very large ones with roots dragged up.

Surely all those trees should be cut down as they are near a railway line. Never mind the fact they are 20+m tall and outside the railway boundary... How hard can it be. *SARCASM ALERT*

 

[Liam L]

I don't know what happened to the stranded 730's at Longbridge and Bromsgrove. They were still there in the early hours of this morning. The passenger service did start first thing, so they were out of the way by then. Or perhaps one or both just ran in service.

Both ran the first services off the respective stations, I had the Longbridge pair home about a hour and half ago.

 

[crosscity]

Both ran the first services off the respective stations, I had the Longbridge pair home about a hour and half ago.

I think that wraps up the fates of the four stranded Crosscity 730 trains.
Yesterday the Kings Norton one (730006) left ECS under its own power at 18:06; the Northfield two (don't know which units) were 'rescued' by the Rail Adventure HST's at around 19:00; the Longbridge two (730029 and 730003) worked today's 2P05, the 06:13 to Lichfield and the Bromsgrove pair (units unknown) came up the rear with 2P07 the 06:29 to Lichfield.

Not the railway's best recovery performance with four days of no local services, although the half-hourly one-way only DMU service at University yesterday was amusing.
The storm was severe and I understand why the service crumbled on Saturday afternoon, and was non-existent on Sunday. Clearly Network Rail were stretched in dealing with the fallout, and had to prioritise which routes to clear up first.
The TOC's didn't come out of it well especially with the lack of quality information at the station and on-line. For instance the new information screens installed on the platform didn't say the service was suspended, but just showed the next 'Cancelled' service or two.

 

[43055]

Holyhead Port is closed to all ferry traffic until at least Monday. Irish Ferries' Ulysses collided with the berth ahead of the 02:40 departure this morning, but sailed with a delay.

I'm supposed to be going to Dublin on Wednesday morning. Bit concerned about that now.

Holyhead port is still closed with ferries still cancelled. This evening the Stena Adventurer has gone to Fishguard and successfully docked and loading freight for Dublin. The Stena Estrid is apparently going to do a run to Birkenhead as well.

 

[185143]

Holyhead port is still closed with ferries still cancelled. This evening the Stena Adventurer has gone to Fishguard and successfully docked and loading freight for Dublin. The Stena Estrid is apparently going to do a run to Birkenhead as well.

Seen that. Unsurprisingly I didn't get my Dublin duty free day trip. I know Stena Nordica and Stena Horizon have ran Dublin-Birkenhead before no trouble.

Given Birkenhead is served by Stena Edda and Stena Embla all the time, there will be no issues with Estrid fitting there.

I appreciate this is (to an extent!) Going off topic for a Rail Forum though. That said, if this goes on into next week and Adventurer ends up carrying passengers, I'll be down for that and my first 756s in the Valleys, probably on the way home.

 

[John Luxton]

Surely all those trees should be cut down as they are near a railway line. Never mind the fact they are 20+m tall and outside the railway boundary... How hard can it be. *SARCASM ALERT*

Obviously the tree issue lies with the landowner. Getting third parties to remove dangerous trees can be difficult.

Myself, a neighbour and near neighbour had a bit of a battle dealing with a dangerous poplar tree in 2022. Only after garden sheds were crushed by a large falling limb, and only nearly missed my next door neighbour were we able to get the landowner in the development site to the rear to take action and that required getting the local council and councillor on board.

 

[yoyothehobo]

Obviously the tree issue lies with the landowner. Getting third parties to remove dangerous trees can be difficult.

Myself, a neighbour and near neighbour had a bit of a battle dealing with a dangerous poplar tree in 2022. Only after garden sheds were crushed by a large falling limb, and only nearly missed my next door neighbour were we able to get the landowner in the development site to the rear to take action and that required getting the local council and councillor on board.

Exactly, and your issues were only over 1 tree and seemingly involved a lot of people to undertake action. Imagine that times by 1000s of trees! I wonder just how many people would be required to remove every dangerous tree, from identification, to landowners, to councillors, legal and actual tree removal and the costs would be astronomical.

 

[Penmorfa]

Holyhead port is still closed with ferries still cancelled. This evening the Stena Adventurer has gone to Fishguard and successfully docked and loading freight for Dublin. The Stena Estrid is apparently going to do a run to Birkenhead as well.

Stena Adventurer currently on way to Holyhead from Dublin. First ferry for several days

 

[poffle]

Stena Adventurer currently on way to Holyhead from Dublin. First ferry for several days

Stena website shows no ferries before Friday evening at earliest now.

There be some substitute sailings to Birkenhead or Fishguard that don't show up on website though. I would expect focus is on freight.and keeping the trucks moving to some extent.

 

[Sporty60]

My flat overlooks the rail line near Torquay and we want to fell a large tree just inside our boundary because it could topple onto the track.
The council won't let us, so each year we apply nevertheless so that if the worst happens we can point the finger of blame at Torbay Council.

 

[1D54]

Next time there is a storm give it a helping hand!

 

[Falcon1200]

Exactly, and your issues were only over 1 tree and seemingly involved a lot of people to undertake action. Imagine that times by 1000s of trees!

And if a tree outside the railway boundary was to be felled the line would have to be closed during the operation as well, in case things went wrong....

 

[43055]

Stena Adventurer currently on way to Holyhead from Dublin. First ferry for several days

Just for a crew change. Will return to Dublin and apprently will do another run to Fishgurd. The Estrid is also apprently going to do another run to Birkenhead as well.

On the Irish Ferries side the Ulysses is currently on the way to Cherbourg which is the first time it has been off the Dublin - Holyhead route.

 

[Krokodil]

No information from Stena at all about the fact that Holyhead port remains closed. No banner on their website, nothing on social media. If you use their journey planner it just comes back with "no data" which doesn‘t tell you that the ferries aren't running, whereas Irish Ferries actually lists the planned timetable and marks them as "cancelled".

No information either about additional routes as discussed above.

 

[sh24]

Good to see it's not just the railway that's bad at information provision in times of disruption.

 

[Krokodil]

Good to see it's not just the railway that's bad at information provision in times of disruption.

I've never seen an information vacuum of this magnitude from the railway.

 

[43055]

No information from Stena at all about the fact that Holyhead port remains closed. No banner on their website, nothing on social media. If you use their journey planner it just comes back with "no data" which doesn‘t tell you that the ferries aren't running, whereas Irish Ferries actually lists the planned timetable and marks them as "cancelled".

No information either about additional routes as discussed above.

I think it is just for freight. On the Stena freight website it does have a banner and on the live timetable page shows the Birkenhead sailings continuing until next Thursday:

Timetable - Stena Line Freight

Stena Line has one of Europe’s largest route networks and offers many sailings every day. Please find all departures here.

stenalinefreight.com