UK Storms

[6Gman]

Hmm, ". In the interests of safety, Network Rail have advised us not to operate any trains on our network from Midnight on Sunday until it is safe to do so,"

Why haven't the other operators announced a similar after-midnight shutdown?

I wonder how many roads will be closed on a precautionary basis?

 

[Rich McLean]

I hope The Highland Chieftain makes it up from Kings Cross on Monday as I am due to travel on it Southbound on Tuesday from Falkirk.

On Monday the southbound Chieftain is starting from Perth rather than Inverness so even if that happens Tuesday I should be okay.

Seat reservations have been lifted and people offered the chance to travel on Tuesday instead of Monday.

Full East Coast Emergency Timetable is on the EC website.

Its departing Kings X at 1100 tomorrow instead of 1200

 

[D1009]

I find it rather strange that the strongest forecast winds are in the south west, but FGW still haven't announced any specific alterations to services, and I always considered them to be one of the most risk averse TOCs. As far as Dawlish is concerned, there are only normally problems if the gales are between due South and due East. the forecast wind direction for tonight is south west becoming west, meaning that Dawlish should be sheltered.

 

[infobleep]

Yesterday leaves and fast running heavy showers hit us. My poor 313 got a flat when on coming round from Bognor into Barnham, slowed for the junction with the main coast line, on a slight drop, and the wheels went, weeeeeeeee. Even on the run from Barnham to ford the wheels were spinning.

That sounds like something out of one of the Rev Awdry railway stories books, aka Thomas the thank Engine and all that.

Can't be much fun trying to drive a train in the bad weather. There again it is more of an adventure compared to normal and some people might enjoy that.

I asked the person at the back of Guildford station, if the timetable had been revised for tomorrow. This reply was no. South West Train Web Site of course said otherwise. Nothing like keeping the staff informed. Ha-ha. To be fair it may have only just been announced.

 

[A-driver]

I wonder how many roads will be closed on a precautionary basis?

Why would roads be closed in advance unless they are seriously I d anger of floods or trees fall?

The difference is that cars are driven on line of sight. A car driver only ever drives as fast as they can safely stop in the distance they can see to be clear.

You don't drive a train like that, you rely on the line ahead being clear.

If you drive round a blind bend in a car you slow down and anticipate the possibility of an obstructions ound the corner. Not the case on a train.

 

[bicbasher]

All LO services suspended until 9am. Tube/DLR are expecting to run a normal service.

I'm surprised they're not running anything along the ELL core which is TfL owned, although NR operate the signals.

 

[Dolive22]

I'm surprised they're not running anything along the ELL core which is TfL owned, although NR operate the signals.

Presumably the same safety considerations apply, and in any case, if the signaller's boss says it isn't safe, presumably any train trying to run would not meet many proceed aspects?

 

[ushawk]

Speed restrictions between Euston and Rugby on the WCML until at least 07.30.

 

[tsr]

I'm surprised they're not running anything along the ELL core which is TfL owned, although NR operate the signals.

The ELL Core is only going to be significantly useful if people can connect with it. If the only traffic is from around central London because Southern/FCC etc. aren't operating and buses are severely delayed, then it may not be worth trying to resource staff (and indeed trains). Plus there is the risk of structural damage on any sections which are exposed to the elements.

 

[syorksdeano]

Was just thinking.

What happened during the storm in 1987? Did trains start late then?

 

[infobleep]

Still severe uncertainty down at the Met Office over this one. Overnight weather models seemed to downgrade not only the strength of the wind but the areas involved.

The current most reliable source is suggesting 40mph winds in the South West gusting to 65mph between 0200 and 0600. Then it moves East with gales along Southern Counties (South of the M4 basically) but with the tail of the storm lashing East Anglia mid morning before moving out to sea. At the moment it looks like the middle of East Anglia will get the worst of it.

Then, Michael Fish waded in on Sky News just now suggesting that the Met Office now think it might move north instead.

Who knows?

When I looked on the BBC Web Site this morning and look at the hourly predictions for Guildford, it had 1 18mph spot in the afternoon and just 1 20 mile an hour spot during the night. It didn't give an indication that it will be really bad. Now the written forecast on there might have done but I wasn't reading that.

Anyway I was very glad the train wasn't bad today because I went on a nice walk from Gomshall to Dorking via the Greensands way. A lot of it was through wooded areas. There were some trees down but they could have been down for weeks. One was resting on another tree so whether they both would last the night is another matter. The wind kept coming and going. It got quite windy on Leith Hill. However the trains were running to time both ways, which made a nice change.

That's only the 5th time this year where every train I have taken, within a single day, have all departed and arrived on time. I count on time as being within a minute of the publicly listed time. Before anyone says anything I'm aware the official on time around this way would be 5 minutes and most days that is the case for all my trains. However for my own enjoyment I've been classing it to within 1 minute.

 

[anthony263]

I find it rather strange that the strongest forecast winds are in the south west, but FGW still haven't announced any specific alterations to services, and I always considered them to be one of the most risk averse TOCs. As far as Dawlish is concerned, there are only normally problems if the gales are between due South and due East. the forecast wind direction for tonight is south west becoming west, meaning that Dawlish should be sheltered.

Well the sleeper from Penzance is supposed to be only running as far as Plymouth at least that is what I read on the FGW coffee shop forum

 

[tsr]

When I looked on the BBC Web Site this morning and look at the hourly predictions for Guildford, it had 1 18mph spot in the afternoon and just 1 20 mile an hour spot during the night. It didn't give an indication that it will be really bad. Now the written forecast on there might have done but I wasn't reading that.

Anyway I was very glad the train wasn't bad today because I went on a nice walk from Gomshall to Dorking via the Greensands way. A lot of it was through wooded areas. There were some trees down but they could have been down for weeks. One was resting on another tree so whether they both would last the night is another matter. The wind kept coming and going. It got quite windy on Leith Hill. However the trains were running to time both ways, which made a nice change.

That's only the 5th time this year where every train I have taken, within a single day, have all departed and arrived on time. I count on time as being within a minute of the publicly listed time. Before anyone says anything I'm aware the official on time around this way would be 5 minutes and most days that is the case for all my trains. However for my own enjoyment I've been classing it to within 1 minute.

Nice to hear that A good walk or cycle in the North Downs/Greensand area is something I try to make time for as often as possible. The timely running of your trains is something that shows just how effective Railhead Treatment Trains can be. We'll see what happens if trees fall or when the snow/ice comes later this winter. I have made polite but emphatic comments to various FGW management people and the social media teams about keeping people informed, which I am pleased to say they agree with - essentially, this should mean that any disruption which does occur should be publicised fairly well. A bus broke down on a level crossing at Ash on Friday (I think), and their improvements could be seen in the way they broadcast information. The hard bit is reopening lines if something happens...

 

[infobleep]

I didn't get that one!

May be they don't care about your safety. Only joking. It's not so great being a train driver / guard in these situations I'm sure. I wish all the rail staff the best for tomorrow. I intend to travel if I can for the experience but that's my choice and not because I must.

I've been on a train that hit a tree once. There was a thud and we soon came to a halt. I think I might have banged my knee on the seat in front it but wasn't anything too bad. The driver was then seen sawing the log away as it had become lodged into the side of the train. After which we proceeded at caution to the next station where a second check of the train was made. Only delayed by 30 minutes which was really good I thought.

Out of interest, does anyone know what would have been put in place in the days of steam or in reality the mix of steam/electric/diesel that we had for some years. They certainly didn't have computer systems to help them model emergancy timetables back then.

 

[infobleep]

I was on the 1804 from Havant yesterday which was rerouted at the very last minute to avoid the tree. The signal changed from green to red at 1801. The train arrived 1802. The guard made several emergency announcements about the tree advising anyone for south of Haslemere to get off but everyone else to stay on and change at Woking as it would likely be the quickest option despite the diversion. The crew's very quick reactions meant a very quick reversal happened and we left at 1806 beating out the late running 1805 to Bristol. We then got an almost completely clear run to Woking (except for a few seconds delay approaching Eastleigh and a few second approaching Basingstoke due to XC running late. They even held the Exeter-Waterloo train for us at Worting Junction meaning not only did we reach Woking by 1911 only 14 mins late but also it meant people caught the 1913 to Guildford and the Exeter-Waterloo train for Clapham. The guard initially apologised for the delay and wouldn't give an arrival time as obviously he had to wait to see what path we got but he promised updates during the trip. On walking thru the train he spoke to everyone and offered as much help as possible. On approach to Woking he listed connections to almost the entire area covering all passengers and even offered the following connection in case people needed a bit longer to cross platforms. All in all possibly the best example of an on train team working as one as I've seen in a long while. Full marks to both driver and guard as leaving Havant a couple of minutes later we would have missed our path at each junction/single track bit and so not only did they provide excellent customer service they also saved us between 20-30 minutes.

That is really great to hear. Well done to the staff involved. I don't mind delays myself. What I don't like it not being told why there are delays.

I imagine tomorrow the online departure board system will struggle to cope if things get bad.

 

[Rapidash]

The view from the Dawlish webcam isn't looking too bad, to be honest. Though it is low tide, could well change when the high returns at midnight.

 

[Dolive22]

May be they don't care about your safety. Only joking. It's not so great being a train driver / guard in these situations I'm sure. I wish all the rail staff the best for tomorrow. I intend to travel if I can for the experience but that's my choice and not because I must.

I've been on a train that hit a tree once. There was a thud and we soon came to a halt. I think I might have banged my knee on the seat in front it but wasn't anything too bad. The driver was then seen sawing the log away as it had become lodged into the side of the train. After which we proceeded at caution to the next station where a second check of the train was made. Only delayed by 30 minutes which was really good I thought.

Out of interest, does anyone know what would have been put in place in the days of steam or in reality the mix of steam/electric/diesel that we had for some years. They certainly didn't have computer systems to help them model emergancy timetables back then.

I'm not sure they would have known what was coming for much of the steam era. We know, maybe, what to expect because we have satellite data, and weather stations at sea, and a massive supercomputer.

I assume they had emergency timetables prepared the same way they had any others prepared. I don't know if they had plans for shutting lines or proceeding at caution in severe weather other than snow and fog, where of course they had special signalling provision.

 

[dk1]

Was just thinking.

What happened during the storm in 1987? Did trains start late then?

I remember not being able to get into work & always told to report to my local station & ring in. Was then told to do what i wanted as supervisor didnt want everyone hanging about. Result.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Was just thinking.

What happened during the storm in 1987? Did trains start late then?

I recall the storm and yes, they did - a lot of lines were blocked with leaves ( still attached to the trees! ). At the time I commuted the two stops Stoneleigh - Epsom and that wasn't operating; got a lift into Epsom and there was quite a lot of debris on the roads as well so it took a bit longer than usual to get there!

The eye of the 1987 storm literally passed directly over where I was living at the time ( parents' place ); we had a few minutes of total calm with a clear sky before the winds started up again in the opposite direction from earlier!

 

[ushawk]

EMT have suspended trains in and out of St Pancras until 10AM

 

[Dolive22]

FCC intend to run the Great Northern until the 0136 but may stop before that and avise passengers to travel earlier. There will not be replacement buses.

 

[ushawk]

London - Penzance sleeper will be running as planned tonight.

 

[Paul180]

I for one am happy to know now so I can try to make alternative arrangements for getting to work, it is easy to do it know than at 0400. Just look at the news sites and they will show that trees have been falling all ready, and you can also use any photo search engine or video site to see what happens when a train gets hit by a tree, just look what happens when that truck fell on to a train a while back.

 

[ModernRailways]

I find it rather strange that the strongest forecast winds are in the south west, but FGW still haven't announced any specific alterations to services, and I always considered them to be one of the most risk averse TOCs. As far as Dawlish is concerned, there are only normally problems if the gales are between due South and due East. the forecast wind direction for tonight is south west becoming west, meaning that Dawlish should be sheltered.

Just asked a driver I am friends with and she says that FGW have an amended timetable that hasn't been released and won't be until the damage has been assessed. Meaning those commuters will no doubt have to wake up early to find out how many trains are running.

She's been off the past few days though so has only found out through a fellow driver.

 

[infobleep]

You honestly think that announcing it at 4am would work at all?

An example of do nothing is this. When we had the bad snow in 2011, South West Trains tried to run a normal service. I woke up between 5-6am. I went online and looked to see how the 6.31 to Clapham was doing. It was listed for a time as running late. Suddenly it vanished never to be seen again.

There was no real train times to check back then so no way of know what had happened to it. It was at that point that I thought, ok I won't be going anywhere today.

Interestingly they managed to run trains to Aldershot from Guildford for a time. They were less affected than London. Then the next day they did implement an emergency timetable, even though by now it wasn't snowing much. However, suddenly all the trains that were running to Aldershot the previous day were not. So you have some inconsistancy on top of the previous days problems.

Thus I think it's best to tell us in advance and do what they are doing. Sure if they can see room for tweeking the times in future then that's a bonus.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

London - Penzance sleeper will be running as planned tonight.

At least if that gets stuck anywhere for hours the passengers have somewhere comfortable - unless they're unfortunate enough to be in the seated bit...

 

[YorkshireBear]

The comments on twitter are incredible. Some people saying drivers are just lazy!

 

[Dolive22]

The comments on twitter are incredible. Some people saying drivers are just lazy!

I know it's my job to drive a train into that tree trunk but I just can't be bothered.

 

[BradNufc]

Does anyone know what XC are doing as I am travelling from didcot parkway to Newcastle via oxford, Birmingham new street and Doncaster!!

 

[philjo]

Why would roads be closed in advance unless they are seriously I d anger of floods or trees fall?

The difference is that cars are driven on line of sight. A car driver only ever drives as fast as they can safely stop in the distance they can see to be clear.

You don't drive a train like that, you rely on the line ahead being clear.

If you drive round a blind bend in a car you slow down and anticipate the possibility of an obstructions ound the corner. Not the case on a train.

THere will be certain exposed sections of roads where the wind can cause lorries to topple over/blown sideways into ofther traffic so I would expect roads such as the Severn & Dartford Bridges etc to be closed to high sided vehicles (lorries, double deck buses and also caravans etc)