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Trains now running normally between Exeter St Davids and Paignton
Following forecasted severe weather at Dawlish all lines are now open.
Train services between Exeter St Davids and Paignton are running normally.
Customer Advice
Train services will convey passengers between Bristol Temple Meads and Plymouth in both directions between 17:00 17/10/23 and 23:59 17/10/23. GWR & CrossCountry are operating with eased ticket restrictions. GWR tickets will be valid on CrossCountry services. CrossCountry tickets will be valid on GWR services.
Additional Information
Weather forecasts for the coastal railway line through Dawlish, combined with high tides, may lead to short-notice changes to trains. GWR anticipate that trains will run as normal. However, between 07:30 and 10:30, and 18:30 and 22:30 on Tuesday 17 October, we anticipate Amber and Red weather warnings through this area.

Trains now running normally between Exeter St Davids and Plymouth
Following forecasted severe weather at Dawlish all lines are now open.
Train services between Exeter St Davids and Plymouth are running normally.
Customer Advice
Train services will convey passengers between Bristol Temple Meads and Plymouth in both directions between 17:00 17/10/23 and 23:59 17/10/23. GWR & CrossCountry are operating with eased ticket restrictions. GWR tickets will be valid on CrossCountry services. CrossCountry tickets will be valid on GWR services.
Additional Information
Weather forecasts for the coastal railway line through Dawlish, combined with high tides, may lead to short-notice changes to trains. GWR anticipate that trains will run as normal. However, between 07:30 and 10:30, and 18:30 and 22:30 on Tuesday 17 October, we anticipate Amber and Red weather warnings through this area.

Title modified  1138

Babet

BBC Spotlight south west local news reporting no cross country trains between Exeter and Plymouth till midday Wednesday 18 October 2023.

One GWR IET spent much of the night at Dawlish while another is awaiting rescue at Newton Abbot.

Around 9pm 1C92 (18:03 Paddington to Penzance) came to a stand just west of Teignmouth after earlier being hit by a wave.  After a few minutes it was able to limp to Newton Abbot where it was terminated.  As of 7am the 9-car IET remains there.

Meanwhile a five car IET working 2C87 (18:00 Cardiff to Penzance) was held at Dawlish awaiting events.  Being high tide it was perhaps inevitable that it too would be struck by a wave as it sat there.  That led to a complete shutdown and sea water in the rear cab.  Passengers were transferred to a Castle set while the IET driver was taxied back to Exeter to pick up another IET to rescue his train and take it to Laira depot around 3am.

Was I dreaming when I read that the IETs were specified to be much less prone to the weather and tide conditions on the coastal section?  What about all those zillions of pounds on sea defence works?

What about the simple expedient of using reversible working and running trains only on the up line?   No idea why that wasn’t implemented last night.  It might not have solved the problem completely but would certainly have lessened it.

Cross Country had already withdrawn all their services. 

1C55 (0600 London Paddington - Plymouth) has sat down at Teignmouth due to being struck by a wave.

Currently (0945 18/10/2023) looking very angry on the Dawlish webcams.

(https://i.ibb.co/qRvWtVk/Screenshot-20231018-095348.png)

Well that has only covered part of the length of the sea wall.  I don't know where the trains were stopped, but it is probably (just due to the lengths improved as a proportion of the total length length affected) that it was a length that has not been improved.  Also remember that the current phase of works are to stop the cliff falling on the railway not the sea!

https://free.coastcams.com/dawlish/san-remo-cam/  

Significant waves topping over around every ten seconds.

Given how things grind to a halt nationwide with 'DO NOT TRAVEL' warnings whenever the weather turns bad, you have to question the decision makers at Dawlish in sending IET trains through there when there's a high probability they will either get stranded or have to limp to the next station and terminate.  They might then be out of action needing repairs once the storms have subsided.  

Definition of insanity.

1A77 (0835 Plymouth - Paddingtion) has failed at Exeter St Davids due to being hit by a wave.

Paignton - Exmouth services cut to 1 train per hour.

1C55 has nowhere to go due to failed IET at Newton Abbot blocking 1 platform, so will remain at Teignmouth UFN.

The shambles of a train service west of Exeter provided during these FORECASTED unusually strong 40-45 mph winds coming from the East/ SE for about 24 hours and resultant waves pounding the sea wall, does make one realise if the £ zillions in the current works by NR and its armies of Contractors and Sub contractors had not been spent then there is no doubt significant damage would likely have ensued.
Nevertheless I don’t believe NR Media speak that these works will be suitable and robust for the coming 100 years.

Yet the new IET fleet and the XC Voyagers can still not reliably cope with ingress of sea water and what modifications have been done continue to be proved futile.

Arguably a contingency emergency service between Exeter and N.Abbot needs to be provided at and either side of High tides  in these exceptional storm conditions by what trains are currently deemed reliable …urrh the surviving Castle class HSTs and possibly some of the older local diesel units.
 

Steam excursion to Kingswear made it through ok.  ;D

IET on its way to rescue the stranded 1C55 at Teignmouth and take it to Plymouth. 

Rescue train 1Z99 failed blocking line in front of failed 1C55 at TGM.  Dawlish reversible working no longer possible.

What a performance

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/1Z99.jpg)

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/2Z99.jpg)


Any bets on a 3Z99?

At times like this - and they will become more frequent in future year - a diversion via Chudleigh or via Tavistock would come in handy.

They, mind, come with their own problems - from WikiPedia


And from the Museum of Dartmoor Life (https://www.dartmoorlife.org.uk/dartmoor-blizzard-1963/)

Block put on any service travelling south of Bristol or Westbury as no room kept to accept any more trains.

3rd rescue to be attempted.

The A38 dual carriageway does not flood at Chudleigh so it would be quite possible for a resilient Teign Valley line to be rebuilt alongside the road. Flooding near Teignbridge occurs because the defences fell into ruin years ago.
Route diversity was once one of the great strengths of the British railway system. At the moment, river levels are low and there is no snow, so two other former routes would have remained open.
https://www.teignrail.co.uk/whats-new.php#itcant

Oh yes there is

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/3Z99.jpg)

Best (or should it be worst?) update on internal systems today:

Rescue train 1 has been rescued.  Original failure still waiting for rescue train 3.

First down train from Exeter just gone through.

The railtour running from Kingswear to Woking passed through Dawlish 7 mins early. Only train that's stuck to it's schedule today! Sending it through has meant further delays for a couple of down services held at Dawlish Warren waiting to cross over to run on the up.

With several IET sets failing after being doused with seawater one has to wonder at the wisdom of continuing to send them through Dawlish. I believe this Albert Einstein quote is apposite:

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."

Where is the good old HST when you need it most? Oh, wait.....

Presumably, coupling issues, otherwise there might have been circumstances where during the time it was laid over at Kingswear it would have been a good idea to borrow its diesel to help with hauling failed things to where they needed to be.

Mark

Probably not for the '63 episode, but allegedly, given the geography, adverse conditions for the two lines often took turns - weather events would close one or the other, but less often both. Leading to the (apocryphal?) last use of the route via Okehampton after it had actually closed but still intact, when weather had closed the GWR route and someone made the enterprising decision to route a freight train from Plymouth via Okehampton.

Mark

(Edit to add a question mark to 'Apocryphal')

I think that this is one of the strongest arguments in favour of a reopened northern route. True, the northern line won't help Torbay if the seawall is closed but not only do the two lines serve different parts of Devon when both are operational (albeit both linking Plymouth & Exeter) but extreme weather conditions are less likely to affect both at the same time. 

Update: the lovely Cornwall Railway Society web site to the rescue: the one time use post closure did happen:

http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/latest-input--news--old-pictures-etc/tony-hill-looks-back-train-on-a-closed-line-tony-hill (http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/latest-input--news--old-pictures-etc/tony-hill-looks-back-train-on-a-closed-line-tony-hill)

Mark

Original failed train (1C55) is finally on the move.

Failed train from last night (given headcode 5H17 - work it out!) is still at Newton Abbot.

Looking at the cancellations and services altered because of this ‘severe weather’*, it’s embarrassing and quite frankly pathetic for a modern railway with modern rolling stock to be so badly affected.

When I dropped in on the Dawlish webcam earlier, it was just in time to set a 150 followed by an HST negotiate this stretch of line with no issues whatsoever.

Thoughts with all those who had the misfortune travelling to/from the southwest today.

*Someone needs to tell the Met Office as there’s no severe weather warnings anywhere near the southwest today.

It was only the railway's definition of severe. :P

Wanted !
A main line route from Exeter to Plymouth for trains that don’t like salt water, sharp curves, steep gradients, threats of cliff falls and in places to be capable of 100 mph running.

Anyone know why, 24 hours later, the failed 1C92 is still at Newton Abbot.  The fact it was there all day today made a bad situation on the sea wall even worse as it reduced capacity at Newton Abbot which only has three platforms.

Took me a while. Apt indeed for the 5H17show in Devon today.

A meeting of old friends?

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/1C92x.png)

Interesting ride home from Lincolnshire tonight, with my booked ride from Paddington cancelled and all else in disarray. I'm home, I'll work out how I did it tomorrow.

Worst case scenario hereafter.
Bad weather (Easterly winds).
All trains cancelled between Exeter and Newton.
No road transport is available at short notice.

A cut off Southwest again but the track remains intact.

Charter a train (or trains?) from the Kingswear for that period and provide a shuttle service.

Oooooozz gonna pay for it!

Took me a while also but I like it.

Now been changed to 5C92.  Perhaps a sign it is finally going to be moved.

Some around like this today - the aftermath?

5C92 still at Newton.

Maybe just hoist it on to the platform and make a memorial to "The great storm of 2023".

Shortage of loco's/crew to move it?

Still ... 12:50 ... 19.10.2023.  I suspect it might not be a case of finding a driver.  Water in the works, perhaps?     I know it might not be the "done thing" but another class 37 arrived by rail at Paignton just a few days ago to run Kingswear trains - is there the possibility of them providing "Thunderbirds"?

Terrible journey yesterday from Liskeard to Exeter and back. Morning IET PZ-PAD got to Plymouth and terminated. All passengers transferred onto a 4 coach Castle, which ran to Exeter, with a delay outside Teignmouth due to a failed IET there. PAD passengers then transferred on to another IET at EXD. Meanwhile a Woking-Kingswear steam special hauled by Royal Scot ran though to Kigswear wihout any problem!
 
Return in the afternoon utter chaos. No trains between EXD and PLY between 1300 and 1630 due to another failed IET on down line at Teignmouth. Recovery loco sent and broke down on up line completely blocking the mainline. Platform 4 at EXD choked with hundreds of displaced passengers. I gave up and got a bus back to Plymouth! Not a good day. anther example of how useless the IETs are. At least a few Castles kept the show on the road ( a bit). Once they have gone what happens?

Surely even if the 'internal works' were completely waterlogged, it could be towed dead by a diesel?

Mildly embarrassing for Hitachi and GWR that.

Especially as the 802 series had uprated engine oomph to be able to cover the SouthWest banks and also (or were) modified to reduce the effect of sea spray along the sea wall.

It is resistant to sea spray, not huge waves!  Wasn’t that the definition of Dawlish proof.

Set will be dragged to Stoke Gifford shortly.  It was originally going to Laira but with no paths overnight due to possessions that’s not been possible. I imagine it will move overnight again due to slow speed and the fact it’ll need to block Newton Abbot to couple up another set.  I’m guessing Hitachi may not want a diesel loco involved. Cost. 

Or from the West Somerset Railway, and hitachi should pay as they made the  new trains have failed to cope with the conditions were known about at the design stage.

Not sure about that I thought someone posted the definition but I can't find it. They didn't look like big waves to me (viewed on the Coast Cams on YouTube), I've been on an HST which went through far worse conditions during a storm. On another, the driver moved the train on in between large waves stopping when they were going to hit the power car. I would be fascinated to know the exact means of how 'Dawlish proof' was tested i.e. the how they simulated the conditions. If they were tested for "stormy" conditions then how stormy? I'd also be interested to see what the DFT specified were the conditions that the trains had to continue working under.  I've seen testing done on other things that covers specific conditions very well, but outside of those conditions it's pot luck. Volkswagen and other manufacturers dieselgate spring to mind as more public examples. In testing did they include sand/pebbles (and other sea detritus in the mix of what they threw at the train or just mildly salty water? We can say this was a once a year storm etc. but they're becoming more frequent.

The sea condition at Dawlish yesterday was not "huge waves". It was mostly sea spray blowing over the train. Exactly the sort of conditions I thought it was promised that the IETs could cope with. But clearly they can't.

Apparently on its way from Newton Abbot to Stoke Gifford at 15:15. 800007+802114 according to RTT.
Just passed Cowley Bridge Jn at 16:04.

Crews were reporting huge waves, Network Rail were reporting huge waves which is why they were accompanying trains over the seawall. The onboard CCTV footage shows the IETs being struck by waves.

They are certainly not designed to take wave strikes on the simple basis that the pantograph would be unlikely to withstand a direct hit. 

I guess it depends on your definition of huge waves. There is footage here from onboard a train heading into Dawlish.

https://www.newsflare.com/video/598286/disruptions-as-waves-whipped-up-by-storm-babet-crash-onto-train-tracks?origin=weather

Why then, if conditions were as bad as you contend, were GWR continuing to send IETs through Dawlish? Leading to several sets failing.

What?  You're suggesting drivers have the ability and judgement to make a 200 metre long train 'ride the waves'?  ::)


Answering on behalf of a-driver:  Because those in charge of making the decisions were making bad ones.

Ugh, but at least it's not green water that time.

Anyone else feeling sorry for that lift installation at Dawlish? Think someone suggested that it just *might* be a good idea to install it with its back to the prevailing weather but ooh nooooooh....

Mark

That’s a question for GWR.  I suspect most staff will be asking the same question.

You get a Blue warning for Spray, then Amber for potential level 1 where trains potentially need accompanying through the area and then the highest level which is RED for level 2 where the down main is closed, potential speed restrictions and inspections of infrastructure and structures are required.

Red warnings were issued for both Tuesday and Wednesday.  

CrossCountry had no hesitation in withdrawing services. As for being to dangerous, remember the Pacer unit that sustained several smashed windows?  

You only need a handful of rogue waves which is why some IETs made it through.

Well that's what he said he was doing and was the reason for the stop/start movement of the train. He might have been talking through his backside but it seemed plausible at the time. There were only the odd wave that was hitting the sea wall with some force and covering the track. It was these he was avoiding.
No surprise there then. ;)

He was 100% talking through his backside/joking/being sarcastic.  Perhaps a bit of all three.

Not having driven an HST as slowly as he did, at 125mph or any speed in between ;D I'll take your word for it.  We were stopping very frequently though.

Is it just GWR though?  Network Rail control the signalling and therefore the option to run reversible on the up line.  Can GWR insist on it?

Finally made it to bed at 1853, without further drama.

Network Rail will have staff on sight who will travel up and down on the trains when rough weather is expected. They would normally be the first port of call when it comes to closing the down main.
Other than that, if Network Rail receives reports from drivers via the signallers stating waves are crashing over, debris or potential that may give them cause to close the down main.
GWR Control would be unlikely to demand that course of action.

The subtext here appears to be a collective bout of 'get there-itis' among management, control and Network Rail. In this instance the only damage was to rolling stock. But 'get there-itis' can often lead to degraded safety. What if there had been a track defect caused by the waves? What if there had been another instance of smashed windows?

Continuing to send IETs through after one failure does appear to have been a little reckless, notwithstanding the known issues with the Hitachi product versus seawater. CrossCountry rightly stopped their Voyagers in the first instance. Different level of risk of damage from seawater perhaps, but seemingly more prudent. They now don't have five sets at Central Rivers TMD needing repair. GWRs actions will have knock on effects for days to come due to 'more trains than usual needing repairs'. Largely self inflicted.

In our fragmented railway system who does the buck stop with? Mark Hopwood? Giuseppe Marino? Michelle Handforth? The weather god of your choice?