Weather related disruption 31/10

[Mcr Warrior]

It’s one of those days. Poor control staff.

No doubt they're doing the very best they can in the prevailing circumstances but I know what you meant to say!

 

[DarloRich]

Euston very quiet now. Made 2130 lnwr to milton keynes. Light load. Carriage to myself

 

[thenorthern]

Jon Snow the Channel 4 Journalist has caused a bit of controversy on Twitter linking the disruption to climate change as he is on the way to the climate thing in Glasgow. In Twitter terms he has been "Ratioed" by people pointing out that trees blocking the line during storms is quite common.

 

[aar0]

Jon Snow the Channel 4 Journalist has caused a bit of controversy on Twitter linking the disruption to climate change as he is on the way to the climate thing in Glasgow. In Twitter terms he has been "Ratioed" by people pointing out that trees blocking the line during storms is quite common.

Climate change makes severe storms and rainfall more frequent and severe (apologies for using severe twice!). He’s not wrong…

 

[Fokx]

So ToCs bill NR for delay repay compensation? Come on.

Yes. That’s literally how the system works

 

[dk1]

No doubt they're doing the very best they can in the prevailing circumstances but I know what you meant to say!

You’ve lost me mate.

 

[voyagerdude220]

Possibly more problems on the West Coast?
9M54 10:51 Edinburgh to London Euston via Birmingham appears to have been sat at Harrow and Wealdstone since 21:31- 308 minutes late and counting.

1M15 14:35 Glasgow to London Euston had been sat ahead of 9M54 but both trains appear to be moving again.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

You’ve lost me mate.

Describing the control staff as "poor"?! I'm sure they're highly professional and extremely competent but having a rather trying day/weekend/week.

 

[dk1]

Describing the control staff as "poor"?! I'm sure they're highly professional and extremely competent but having a rather trying day/weekend/week.

I did wonder but hoped it couldn’t be that cringing.

 

[seagull]

Climate change makes severe storms and rainfall more frequent and severe (apologies for using severe twice!). He’s not wrong…

That's only one theory.

Others have differing theories. For example the fact that an ever expanding population inhabits areas that previously were uninhabited, or that greater global connectivity allows us to hear about events we would never have done prior to the Internet, or that building housing estates on green pastures causes massive issues somewhere else during heavy rainfall events where previously the ground could have soaked up much of the rainfall, or that the proliferation of buildings causes much higher resultant wind speeds in proximity to them, etc etc.

Easier to blame it all on climate change though.

Anyway, apologies for the O/T.

 

[bramling]

Jon Snow the Channel 4 Journalist has caused a bit of controversy on Twitter linking the disruption to climate change as he is on the way to the climate thing in Glasgow. In Twitter terms he has been "Ratioed" by people pointing out that trees blocking the line during storms is quite common.

An observation; it’s interesting that today seems to have turned out quite a bit worse than envisaged. I’m normally quite alert to the possibility of adverse weather, but the forecasts for my area didn’t really allude to anything too disruptive - my main worry was the usual autumn problem of my gutters blocking! What we actually got was some nasty squally weather, which seems to have persisted for much of the day.

 

[londonmidland]

Not sure how relevant this is, due to the time of day, however CSL2 Code BLACK has been declared due to ALL Avanti West Coast services now cancelled.

 

[Butts]

Currently on possibly the last "Avanti out of Town" left Euston at 2150 bound for Birmingham New Street.

Supposed to have been on 2225 but everything is haywire.

Train declassified and I have First Class Tickets so hopefully will get a refund.

Staff are all sitting in Coach K with us - no service !!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Not sure how relevant this is, due to the time of day, however CSL2 Code BLACK has been declared due to ALL Avanti West Coast services now cancelled.

"Code black" meaning what exactly? All Avanti services immediately suspended, do not travel and come back tomorrow?

 

[DarloRich]

An avanti has just passed me near leighton buzzard heading north. Looked like a voyager. Loaded but not vastly so

 

[Statto]

Looking at traksy seems a passenger train is trapped between Preston & Lancaster, as well as a freight train

 

[55002]

Few trains leaving Euston now, to Preston and Liverpool

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 31 Oct 2021 ==

An avanti has just passed me near leighton buzzard heading north. Looked like a voyager. Loaded but not vastly so

Birmingham bound that one

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 31 Oct 2021 ==

Looking at traksy seems a passenger train is trapped between Preston & Lancaster, as well as a freight train

According to railcam that train, 1901 Windermere to Manchester airport was evacuated due to flooding but is on move now

 

[DarloRich]

Birmingham bound that one

That avanti is the only train north or south i have seen moving

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

"Code black" meaning what exactly? All Avanti services immediately suspended, do not travel and come back tomorrow?

I think it's a way of mobilising maximum response to an incident.
I seem to remember it was used during the Rugby blockade incident during WCRM, to get the wires back up as soon as possible.
Looks like the WCML is in bad shape after all the incidents and needs to recover quickly.

 

[55002]

That avanti is the only train north or south i have seen moving

There’s a Preston one on way up to you followed closely by Liverpool one. Only other avanti I can see moving is a Lancaster to Glasgow at Carlisle, and an Edinburgh to Birmingham which is being held/cancelled at Oxenholme..and Euston to Manchester via Northampton

 

[londonmidland]

"Code black" meaning what exactly? All Avanti services immediately suspended, do not travel and come back tomorrow?

Pretty much, yes.

Network Rail are warning passengers to expect delays for early morning services out of Euston tomorrow. See more below.

 

[brad465]

Lord Zac Goldsmith is reported to be among those stranded as a result of the disruption as he tries to get to COP26.

 

[liamf656]

I was working around midday from St Pancras to Sheffield. Ticket acceptance from both Avanti AND East Coast wasn't helped at all by the wires coming down at Kettering, making it a hat trick. 10 car Meridian was completely wedged full of people wanting to go to Sheffield, Doncaster, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, York, Scotland and everywhere in between! I felt sorry for those wanting anywhere near Leeds as Crosscountry then started to cancel services due to flooding at Ambergate (North of Derby)

 

[Dave91131]

A few observations of some of today's chaos as I made my way, much more slowly than intended, from Peterborough to Peterborough via Leicester, Toton, Sheffield and Doncaster:

Got to Peterborough station around 1130, LNER Azumas occupying several platforms with a Lumo 803 stood on the up fast through road. Platform staff telling passengers nothing would be moving north for quite some time due to overhead wire issues between Peterborough and Grantham. Walked over to platform 7 for the first Birmingham of the day which arrived on time, albeit full and standing on departure.

Journey time to Oakham of over 90 minutes due to having to stop multiple times so (according to the guard) the driver could clear debris from the track, and a maximum speed of around 20mph as far as Manton from where normal line speed was resumed. Passengers at all 3 of Stamford, Oakham and Melton Mowbray left behind due to the overcrowding. Arrived Leicester about 80 late, having also discovered by then that the train would terminate at Nuneaton.

Fairly uneventful run from Leicester to Sheffield via Toton, most EMR Intercity services I saw were double 222's but still had many standees. Upon arrival at Sheffield the train I had arrived on formed the 1552 back to London as booked, and departed ahead of the 1452 which, due to awaiting crew I believe, departed over an hour late just behind it and very overcrowded. One thing I thought odd was, despite the chaos the ECML was in, EMR were advising London passengers to travel via Doncaster due to an issue at or near Kettering.

Made it to Doncaster at 1640 just before the stampede of mid to late morning LNER departures from London finally began to arrive. First was 91119 around 4 hours late on the 1103 King's Cross to Leeds, which was diverted to York due to issues on the Leeds line. Next was 801208 on an Edinburgh service, which for some reason took several minutes to open its doors leading to much shouting and frustration from passengers both onboard and trying to board. A pair of 5-car units then arrived on another Edinburgh meaning they'll be out of position for the start of service on Monday, then a fairly packed 801229 arrived on the 1003 King's Cross to Edinburgh which terminated in platform 8. I caught the tail end of an announcement advising this would form an additional back to London at 1736, so abandoned the chaos on platforms 1 and 3 and had the rear 3 coaches to myself back to Peterborough.

Above is just a snapshot of a few bits I witnessed - not to mention the issues out of Waterloo, Marylebone, Paddington and of course the terrible accident near Salisbury tonight.

All in all a very bad day indeed, and another hammer blow for the railway which, despite many of the circumstances being outwith its control, will doubtless have lost many more to their cars and the motorways moving forward.

 

[CyrusWuff]

"Code black" meaning what exactly? All Avanti services immediately suspended, do not travel and come back tomorrow?

More accurately "CSL2 - Black" status. My TOC's definition (which is probably much the same as others) is "DO NOT TRAVEL - We cannot provide ANY service or the service is severely disrupted with delays in excess of 2 hours".

From a passenger point of view, it essentially means give up and try again tomorrow as we can't guarantee the provision of either trains or rail replacement services. In SWR's case re: today's incident, they're flat out saying "Arrange your own taxi, get a receipt and send us a photo along with proof of your rail ticket and we'll refund it".

 

[Springs Branch]

Lord Zac Goldsmith is reported to be among those stranded as a result of the disruption as he tries to get to COP26.

Lucky the Queen is staying home on doctors' orders and 1X01 to Glasgow isn't one of the trains held up in the disruption.

 

[800001]

A few observations of some of today's chaos as I made my way, much more slowly than intended, from Peterborough to Peterborough via Leicester, Toton, Sheffield and Doncaster:

Got to Peterborough station around 1130, LNER Azumas occupying several platforms with a Lumo 803 stood on the up fast through road. Platform staff telling passengers nothing would be moving north for quite some time due to overhead wire issues between Peterborough and Grantham. Walked over to platform 7 for the first Birmingham of the day which arrived on time, albeit full and standing on departure.

Journey time to Oakham of over 90 minutes due to having to stop multiple times so (according to the guard) the driver could clear debris from the track, and a maximum speed of around 20mph as far as Manton from where normal line speed was resumed. Passengers at all 3 of Stamford, Oakham and Melton Mowbray left behind due to the overcrowding. Arrived Leicester about 80 late, having also discovered by then that the train would terminate at Nuneaton.

Fairly uneventful run from Leicester to Sheffield via Toton, most EMR Intercity services I saw were double 222's but still had many standees. Upon arrival at Sheffield the train I had arrived on formed the 1552 back to London as booked, and departed ahead of the 1452 which, due to awaiting crew I believe, departed over an hour late just behind it and very overcrowded. One thing I thought odd was, despite the chaos the ECML was in, EMR were advising London passengers to travel via Doncaster due to an issue at or near Kettering.

Made it to Doncaster at 1640 just before the stampede of mid to late morning LNER departures from London finally began to arrive. First was 91119 around 4 hours late on the 1103 King's Cross to Leeds, which was diverted to York due to issues on the Leeds line. Next was 801208 on an Edinburgh service, which for some reason took several minutes to open its doors leading to much shouting and frustration from passengers both onboard and trying to board. A pair of 5-car units then arrived on another Edinburgh meaning they'll be out of position for the start of service on Monday, then a fairly packed 801229 arrived on the 1003 King's Cross to Edinburgh which terminated in platform 8. I caught the tail end of an announcement advising this would form an additional back to London at 1736, so abandoned the chaos on platforms 1 and 3 and had the rear 3 coaches to myself back to Peterborough.

Above is just a snapshot of a few bits I witnessed - not to mention the issues out of Waterloo, Marylebone, Paddington and of course the terrible accident near Salisbury tonight.

All in all a very bad day indeed, and another hammer blow for the railway which, despite many of the circumstances being outwith its control, will doubtless have lost many more to their cars and the motorways moving forward.

The 2 x 5 cars out of place, finished ay Heaton, are planned to work 3Y11 to Peterborough, then 1Y11 Peterborough to Kings Cross, where they switch back to diagram.
Lner recovered quite good for today with 1S00 cancelled, 1E01 starts Newcastle, 1A12 starts Doncaster, 1E13 starts Edinburgh. 1Y11 starts Peterborough. All due to crew being over hours from yesterday.

 

[JKF]

At least down here in the West Country we‘ve had a wet and windy week, so ground will be saturated leading to flooding or weakening of tree roots. There was disruption on Saturday (30/10) too following a very heavy downpour early in the morning, with flooding at Flax Bourton (between Bristol and Yatton) leading to single line working for a couple of hours, down trains held at Temple Meads for a good hour or so and cancellation or truncated services from Weston (one service started from Bristol).

 

[philthetube]

Is there no contingency to have some buses running in situations like this? For the whole of the WCML to be screwed it's not enough to say just get a hotel.

Tomorrow will be a nightmare as well.

Think, if you were at home watching match of the day would you come out in this weather to drive a bus.

 

[The North Briton]

The 2 x 5 cars out of place, finished ay Heaton, are planned to work 3Y11 to Peterborough, then 1Y11 Peterborough to Kings Cross, where they switch back to diagram.
Lner recovered quite good for today with 1S00 cancelled, 1E01 starts Newcastle, 1A12 starts Doncaster, 1E13 starts Edinburgh. 1Y11 starts Peterborough. All due to crew being over hours from yesterday.

Their customer communication channels are blaming ‘a shortage of traincrew’ for today’s alterations, whereas surely the reason should go back to the root cause: ‘severe weather yesterday’ would fit the bill.
Also no passenger advice for those travelling from Inverness..?