My thoughts on today, having been at work and driven through one of the more gusty areas in the north east of England heading down to South Yorkshire, is that things seem to have been managed (atleast in this area), quite sensibly.
Firstly, people seem to be using a degree of sense and deferring travel arrangements, which is good to see. This in turn leaves the system capable of moving those who need to travel with lower service frequency - eg: Newcastle to York at roughly 1 tph. Seems an entirely sensible approach, allowing people to keep moving, without having all hell break loose if one train ends up stranded/unable to continue forward.
Blanket ESRs are always sensible in such conditions, driving along at 50mph seems a good compromise. I felt quite safe as compared to travelling at higher speeds (in locations where there were not blanket ESRs), specifically in so far as, should I have sighted anything like wires down or a tree on the line, from 50mph I'd have had half a chance of stopping short (or on more curvaceous sections, would be able to slow to such a speed that damage would have been much reduced).
I think, in some areas, it would have been nice to have attempted a much reduced and slower service (eg: token diesel traction only under a blanket ESR north of Newcastle after the proving loco), just to help keep folk moving who had essential needs.
What I've been especially impressed with is the berth triggered broadcasts used on the ECML, in resposne to weather at local weather stations. This allows blanket ESRs to be instated and removed in line with the conditions. For instance, Northallerton to York was at line speed, whilst the rest of the north was under a 50mph ESR, thanks to this use of technology - it'd be great to see this rolled out more widely across key mainlines (eg: XC route York - Sheffield, TPE route Leeds - Manchester).
