Trespass incidents

[whole diary]

[Surrey 455]

There seems to have been a lot of "trespass" incidents over the last week. Why is this happening so much?

Today:

⚠️*UPDATE 14/09* Following trespassers on the railway in the Surbiton area, all lines have reopened. Trains running through this station may still be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 22:00 today.

https://twitter.com/SW_Help/status/1172907946759659521

Yesterday:

⚠️*UPDATE 13/09* Following trespass on the railway between Richmond and Clapham Junction all lines have now reopened. Services running through these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 21:00.

https://twitter.com/SW_Help/status/1172552491956940805

Thursday:

⚠️  *UPDATE 12/09* All lines have reopened in the Woking area following an earlier trespass incident. Trains running through this station may be cancelled, delayed by up to 45 minutes or revised. Disruption is expected until 17:00 -

https://twitter.com/SW_Help/status/1172105274490064896

Saturday:

⚠️ *UPDATE 07/09* Following trespass on the railway at Earlsfield all lines have now reopened. Train services running through this station may still be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 03:00

https://twitter.com/SW_Help/status/1170118000533483520

Other disruption over the course of the week includes incidents involving the emergency services and train faults. It's not been a good week for SWR^» (South Western Railway - about).
Incidentally I have seen over the last week or two, people wearing silver high vis vests saying something like "Trespass and Welfare Officer" at Raynes Park and other stations.

[TaplowGreen]

Is the Flying Scotsman out & about? 

[Surrey 455]

Is the Flying Scotsman out & about? 

Shhh. Don't let BNM hear you say that. 

[CyclingSid]

They were still catching up from the delays at about 17:00 at Southampton. Imagine what it will be like on GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) when Paddington is running at capacity.

[grahame]

They were still catching up from the delays at about 17:00 at Southampton. Imagine what it will be like on GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) when Paddington is running at capacity.

Stepping aside from the particular (trespass) incident to the more general case, as you are doing, one does wonder how much planning is based on an "everything is right" scenario.  One in which no trains are broken down, there are enough staff for operational duties, the axle counter at Thingley is working, the weather is neither too hot nor too cold, passengers are not being taken ill on trains, and no-one who shouldn't be is on the tracks for any reason.  One in which the signals are working, the knitting is properly in place, and no pigeons are exploding to bring down key stones in bridges.

Problem is ... even if each of the things I have mentioned is a rare abnormality, they compound to make a situation where there's always likely to be something wrong somewhere in the franchise.   And that's where good recovery plans come into place.

I would suggest if the every-30-minute Oxford or Bristol service from Paddington is over 15 minutes late, it might be better to can the following one rather that have a knock on for many hours.   Thinking back to recent time trains graphs (but I don't have a copy with me today) it's amazing how long it takes for a problem to drop out of the system and occasionally being "cruel" to people for half an hour is being kind to everyone looking to travel for the following 3 or 4 hours.   Buses already "drop back" in this way, and I think they do it on the tube too.

[bradshaw]

SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) seem to do that on the Exeter service. Since the frequency from Salisbury is half-hourly, if the up service from Exeter is significantly late it will be terminated at Salisbury and passengers go forward the Salisbury-Waterloo service.

They do, however, often run a VSTP Salisbury-Waterloo in the cancelled services path, in both up and down directions.

Likewise, if the down service from Waterloo is running late, it will be cancelled from Salisbury, with passengers catching the next service. They will also run a VSTP Salisbury to Exeter service in its path

[Surrey 455]

VSTP?

Can't find that on the Acronyms/Abbreviations page 

[Bmblbzzz]

Must be a very special sort of brandy: Very Superior Train Pale. Only available in the first-class buffet car. 

[Western Pathfinder]

Very short term plan. VSTP.

[eightonedee]

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Re: Trespass incidents
« Reply #4 on: Today at 02:14:42 pm »
Reply with quoteQuote
Quote from: CyclingSid on Today at 08:44:39 am
They were still catching up from the delays at about 17:00 at Southampton. Imagine what it will be like on GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) when Paddington is running at capacity.

Stepping aside from the particular (trespass) incident to the more general case, as you are doing, one does wonder how much planning is based on an "everything is right" scenario.  One in which no trains are broken down, there are enough staff for operational duties, the axle counter at Thingley is working, the weather is neither too hot nor too cold, passengers are not being taken ill on trains, and no-one who shouldn't be is on the tracks for any reason.  One in which the signals are working, the knitting is properly in place, and no pigeons are exploding to bring down key stones in bridges.

Problem is ... even if each of the things I have mentioned is a rare abnormality, they compound to make a situation where there's always likely to be something wrong somewhere in the franchise.   And that's where good recovery plans come into place.

I would suggest if the every-30-minute Oxford or Bristol service from Paddington is over 15 minutes late, it might be better to can the following one rather that have a knock on for many hours.   Thinking back to recent time trains graphs (but I don't have a copy with me today) it's amazing how long it takes for a problem to drop out of the system and occasionally being "cruel" to people for half an hour is being kind to everyone looking to travel for the following 3 or 4 hours.   Buses already "drop back" in this way, and I think they do it on the tube too.

In my experience this is what happens "on the hoof" at Reading with the stopping trains to Didcot and Oxford. Unannounced on Journey Check or the station signs, a train will arrive late with one behind not so late, and suddenly the first will be terminated/changed to non-stop to Didcot or stopped to be sent back to Paddington, the passengers (usually fed up after a delayed journey turfed off and told to wait for the next train. However, sometimes this happens before one of our larger irregular gaps, or where the next following train has already been cancelled to the ire of those affected. I supposed we should be grateful we are not on the Trans Wilts where a missing train could be hours of delay, but if you delayed getting back to your dinner and loved ones you don't feel grateful.