Great Western Coffee Shop

Apologies if this has already been posted, but I couldn't see it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cyx21eln9g5o (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cyx21eln9g5o)

https://www.southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey/planned-improvements/landslip-repairs-between-brookwood-and-woking (https://www.southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey/planned-improvements/landslip-repairs-between-brookwood-and-woking)

Don't know how far this is from the previous occurrence.

A rather large house above the cutting has had to major extensions and no additional drainage work, so the additional water run-off has nowhere else to go except down the bank beside the house, destabilising the bank.

The landslip issue now joined by an issue with a nearby 'Network Rail bridge' which has now closed the SW main line completely. Paul Clifton requesting further information...

Mark

The landslip site, streetview:


https://www.google.com/maps/@51.3099081,-0.5835175,3a,90y,101.25h,88.06t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sCp8Xoz4XpQ9G9_c5PRbfeA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!5m2!1e4!1e1?entry=ttu (https://www.google.com/maps/@51.3099081,-0.5835175,3a,90y,101.25h,88.06t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sCp8Xoz4XpQ9G9_c5PRbfeA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!5m2!1e4!1e1?entry=ttu)

Mark

Lidar data courtesy of the National Library of Scotland site indicates the ground conditions.

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.5&lat=51.31189&lon=-0.58183&layers=168&b=18

The BGS geology viewer is informative too. Unfortunately the site doesn't allow deep links to individual locations, so, a search for Woking and then the green stuff overlaying the yellow to the immediate west of the station. For good measure, the cutting's close to the base of the green stuff.

The green stuff is:

"Windlesham Formation - Sand, silt and clay. Sedimentary bedrock formed between 56 and 33.9 million years ago during the Palaeogene period."

https://geologyviewer.bgs.ac.uk/

Mark

Paul Clifton's now posted a photo of damage relating to the bridge (looks to be the footbridge towards Woking so a little way from the landslip). And looks to be something out-of-gauge travelled beneath the bridge and hit it.

https://twitter.com/PaulCliftonBBC/status/1731323153756962861/photo/1

Mark

(Edit: it's the footbridge in the opposite direction, through the St John's Road bridge and down the line from the landslip site). Crisp view of it in this cab video, at 4' 40" and it looks to have been hit by something travelling towards the work site, in the 'Up' direction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh_x2wbxirc

Oh my. So anyone trying to use the SW mainline from GWR land to get around there being no long distance trains to London Paddington has been well and truly stumped.

Well, not quite. The via Southampton option is still available as Weymouth to Waterloo trains are diverted via Havant and Guildford today due to planned engineering work, but only hourly. Past experience of travelling on this diverted and reduced service is that these trains are very busy, particularly on a Sunday afternoon/evening.

A friend of mine has just moved very close to Winchfield Station and yesterday travelled to Waterloo. She had a terrible journey back, with trains being delayed and cancelled at the last minute. "Took 2h to get to Fleet in absolutely stuffed, supposedly fast train". She took a taxi home as the next train for Winchfield was in another two hours.

I had sent her a text warning her of the problems, but I guess it was overlooked. She's had a very bad week.