Weather related delays - 27th & 28th June

[northwichcat]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-13926651

 

[lemonic]

Also see this http://www.nationalexpresseastangli...strictions_monday_27_june_service_alterations

It's being reported as being much worse than it is. Not that many services are cancelled and while there are inevitably some delays, it's not that bad.

 

[Nevasleep]

"The wrong type of sunshine" was mentioned on Talksport.

What's the problem this time, surely it's been hotter than 31C before.

 

[SouthEastern-465]

I remember the last heat wave (2003 or 2004?) NR had speed restrictions due to the heat.

 

[swt_passenger]

"The wrong type of sunshine" was mentioned on Talksport.

What's the problem this time, surely it's been hotter than 31C before.

The 1949 vintage OHLE out of Liverpool St does not have auto tensioning, which is why it is currently being replaced with modern stuff.

Every time there's a sudden hot spell it has to be manually adjusted, there have been threads about it here in the past.

 

[Crossover]

The 1949 vintage OHLE out of Liverpool St does not have auto tensioning, which is why it is currently being replaced with modern stuff.

Every time there's a sudden hot spell it has to be manually adjusted, there have been threads about it here in the past.

Makes sense. Does that mean then if it suddenly gets cooler again there is danger of them snapping from over tensioning?

 

[Ferret]

I remember the last heat wave (2003 or 2004?) NR had speed restrictions due to the heat.

I remember it far too well! Heat related ESRs everywhere and a timetable in chaos. Mind you, I fell victim to a heat related ESR in March this year, when the temperature was about 15 degrees. Both the man from Control and myself had to go for a long lie down over that one.....

 

[GB]

Wires reported down at Bethnal Green now.

 

[142094]

More bad news for the railways - one woman on BBC commenting on how everything is the wrong type - leaves, snow, heat, rain.

As a comparison, how are other countries with similar climates to us affected by heatwaves such as this?

 

[captainbigun]

Wires down at Bethnal Green, Hockley, train without pan at Shenfield, so presume more OHL damage. Other OHL problems at LST and Maryland. Add in a smattering of signal related issues and the whole GE route all but collapsed.

NR have no excuse, this is nothing short of shambolic. If the equipment is in as bad a state as it would appear then they should be asking for weekend blocks to get it sorted. The punters aren't going to put up with a repeat of the Church Lane farce.

 

[londonmidland]

Delays through London Blackfriars,
A signalling problem is causing disruption at London Blackfriars.
Because of this, journeys may be delayed by up to 60 minutes. These delays are expected to last until approximately 22:00.

Probably more disruptions tomorrow due to "adverse weather conditions" hence the thunderstorms tonight in some areas.

 

[Old Timer]

Wires down at Bethnal Green, Hockley, train without pan at Shenfield, so presume more OHL damage. Other OHL problems at LST and Maryland. Add in a smattering of signal related issues and the whole GE route all but collapsed.

NR have no excuse, this is nothing short of shambolic. If the equipment is in as bad a state as it would appear then they should be asking for weekend blocks to get it sorted. The punters aren't going to put up with a repeat of the Church Lane farce.

The design work for the replacement of the OHL started off in about 2005 as I recall.

The delays to the work are also due in part to the lack of suitably trained OHL staff - Construction not maintenance.

From a technical perspective, as has been mentioned already, the wire runs are of fixed length, rather than being auto-tensioned.

With time the wire has worn and with contraction and expansion has been extended in length, not by much but by a sufficient amount for it to sag when it is really hot.

It is difficult to cut a section out and re-terminate as when the temperature drops the wire will contract again and because it is now very worn, there is a strong possibility that it will snap.

The alternative of installing new contact and catenary wire is both expensive and time consuming - assuming of course that the staff were available.

This problem has been known about for years and Network Rail have known as long as they have been in existence that the problem was coming to a head. Instead of engaging OHL Contractors to go straight onto the GE, especially after the WCRM OHL Alliance finished, NR were more keen to "break" the Contractors than to solve a known problem coming to a head.

Unfortunately there is now little chance that ALL the OHL projects now starting can be accommodated, even with NR using cheap Eastern Europeans, AND the problems on the GE really being sorted out in time for the Olympics.

 

[TheManWho]

There were a couple of NR workers around the Straford area all afternoon (perhaps standing by for something to happen?), although one seemed to be making the most of the sunshine and was sunbathing for the most part

 

[HST Power]

I remember the last heat wave (2003 or 2004?) NR had speed restrictions due to the heat.

How could anyone forget! Now that was true heat!

 

[trainplan1]

You hit it bang on the head there Old Timer.

I do feel embarrassed at times when NR keep promoting the "fully utilised olympic timetable" or something like that yet the infrastructure has yet to be properly seen too...

Having a chat with one of the senior chaps at NXEA sometime ago he said he'd quite happily do bus replacements for as long as it took until it meant "getting the damn thing working" as he put it. And I wholeheartedly agree with him.

Like you say Old Timer, I'll be very suprised if they get all the work done by this time next year.

 

[valenta]

How could anyone forget! Now that was true heat!

Oh yes it was. I was up in Scotland at the time, and even we were feeling it. Now that's something!

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I remember the last heat wave (2003 or 2004?) NR had speed restrictions due to the heat.

I can go back to 1975 and 1976 as being an example of British heatwave weather on two consecutive years running. My wife was pregnant in 1975 and she really had a very difficult time during that summer. There was much rail deformation problems in those days due to the very high temperatures.

 

[Crossover]

There were a couple of NR workers around the Straford area all afternoon (perhaps standing by for something to happen?), although one seemed to be making the most of the sunshine and was sunbathing for the most part

I've seen a few people in orange hi-viz around Stafford when I've been at the station a few times in the past few weeks....usually down off the south end of platforms 4/5

 

[dk1]

Why oh why did we continue to send so many trains through to Liverpool St? Took me 45 mins to get in from Stratford only to leave with around 50 punters as right up the backside of the previous train & with everything & its uncle in front of that. A booked non-stop run to Colchester ended up taking a mere 2hr 05m!!

 

[ANorthernGuard]

as a Pway lad said to me once, people don't realise we live in a country of extremes..in Jan it can be minus 20 in July it can be plus 30 Metal is just designed to take that much variation

and you know what

Hes Right

 

[YorkshireBear]

as a Pway lad said to me once, people don't realise we live in a country of extremes..in Jan it can be minus 20 in July it can be plus 30 Metal is just designed to take that much variation

and you knwo what

Hes Right

No one will accept it is a temperate climate and we get such temperature differences.

Leaves on line - not allowed to cut down trees
Cable thefts - not allowed to shoot on sight

 

[ANorthernGuard]

No one will accept it is a temperate climate and we get such temperature differences.

Leaves on line - not allowed to cut down trees
Cable thefts - not allowed to shoot on sight

I still reckon sneak a 25kv cable in with the rest..saves on bullets lol

 

[YorkshireBear]

I still reckon sneak a 25kv cable in with the rest..saves on bullets lol

Yep, its so simple!

 

[iphone76]

The thing I don't understand about yesterday's problems is that NXEA said on Sunday the wires between London and Stratford had been replaced so would hold up. Also, we have had a non existent / reduced Xmas and bank holiday services into London for the past 4 years or so to update the wires (or so we were told).

I also don't think it helped that some trains had their heating on. The train which turned up to form the 454 to Southend had the heating on and windows closed. The very good, informative driver had to open a cupboard in the first carriage to turn the heating off.

Although it took 1.5 hours to get back to Wickford the driver did his best by making constant announcements and when we got stuck at billericay told people they could wait on the platform.

I notice that the first couple of trains into London are cancelled today and the next couple are terminating at Stratford, so let's hope things improve for the main peak.

 

[ANorthernGuard]

The thing I don't understand about yesterday's problems is that NXEA said on Sunday the wires between London and Stratford had been replaced so would hold up. Also, we have had a non existent / reduced Xmas and bank holiday services into London for the past 4 years or so to update the wires (or so we were told).

I also don't think it helped that some trains had their heating on. The train which turned up to form the 454 to Southend had the heating on and windows closed. The very good, informative driver had to open a cupboard in the first carriage to turn the heating off.

Although it took 1.5 hours to get back to Wickford the driver did his best by making constant announcements and when we got stuck at billericay told people they could wait on the platform.

I notice that the first couple of trains into London are cancelled today and the next couple are terminating at Stratford, so let's hope things improve for the main peak.

on alot of the older trains (80s DMU's) you can't turn the heating off (Pacers are the worst for it)

 

[whhistle]

More bad news for the railways - one woman on BBC commenting on how everything is the wrong type - leaves, snow, heat, rain.

That's the problem.

Because one TOC once suggested it was the wrong type of leaves, then any type of weather is said to be the "wrong" type for the railways. While it may seem like an on-going joke, I don't find it funny at all.
Not even a smile.
Not a sausage.

 

[dk1]

on alot of the older trains (80s DMU's) you can't turn the heating off (Pacers are the worst for it)

On most of the 15x series you just trip 'saloon fans' in each cab & does the trick.

 

[ANorthernGuard]

On most of the 15x series you just trip 'saloon fans' in each cab & does the trick.

that only stops the heat circulating, the heat is still there and it can cause the engines to overheat, and then you have bigger problems

 

[DaveNewcastle]

as a Pway lad said to me once, people don't realise we live in a country of extremes..in Jan it can be minus 20 in July it can be plus 30 Metal is just designed to take that much variation . . .

which would explain why some of the huge and (relatively) ancient metal structures such as the Forth Bridge wouldn't be able to withstand the UK's temp. variations.

Er, wait a minute . . .

 

[philjo]

Lightning strikes causing signalling problems at Welwyn Garden City & Hertford North - delays of up to 90 minutes at the moment.
Also lightning strikes affecting St Albans & Gatwick areas on the TL route

FCc online departure boards suggest many services from Cambridge may be terminating at Stevenage.