Bristol Parkway evacuated - 26 July 2012

[whole diary]

[LiskeardRich]

Westcountry news had a breaking report at the end of the 6 o'clock news that bristol parkway has been evacuated due to a security alert. They had no further info, but the news feed at the top here is looking rather full with lines around bristol

[Louis94]

Train involved was the 1528 Swansea to London Paddington. Passengers reported that a person joined the service at Newport placed some luggage on the train, and then alighted the service before departure.

[grahame]

http://www.itv.com/news/west/update/2012-07-26/trains-will-take-some-time-to-return-to-normal/?

First Great Western has confirmed trains are now operating at Bristol Parkway station after a security scare. It says 'it will take some time for our service to get fully back to normal.'

We have just been notified all trains stopped at Bristol Parkway are now on the move. One affected train had a couple of people travelling to the Olympic Football, this has been prioritised. They will arrive in time for kick off. Station now fully reopened and trains allowed to call, although it will take some time for our service to get fully back to normal.

[bobm]

Shows how wide ranging a problem can become - assume this was down to crew being displaced.

17:54 Swindon to Cheltenham Spa due 19:05
This train is being delayed at Swindon and is now expected to be 121 minutes late.
This train will be terminated at Gloucester at 20:50.
This train will no longer call at Cheltenham Spa.
This is due to a security alert.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Further details of the incident, for the record - from This is Bristol:

Rail passengers hit by 90-minute delay after alert

Hundreds of rail passengers were left stranded for up to an hour and a half after a security alert.

The Swansea to London Paddington service was evacuated at Bristol Parkway station shortly after 5pm yesterday, after a passenger raised suspicions about what police called an "unattended package".

More than 300 people are believed to have been on the train and all were told to leave, without taking their luggage.

The station was closed to other trains, although after some time services were allowed to pass through without stopping.

But some trains had to wait outside Parkway and by the time the all-clear was given, at 6.40pm, some passengers had been delayed by as much as 90 minutes.

Some trains were diverted to Temple Meads and Patchway, with shuttle buses brought in to transport passengers.

A British Transport Police spokeswoman said: "Officers were called to Bristol Parkway rail station and carried out an investigation into an unattended package onboard the 15.28 Swansea to London Paddington service."

Michael Searle, 54, of Stoke Gifford, was on a Virgin train travelling from Temple Meads that stopped between Filton Abbey Wood and Parkway. He said: "The air conditioning broke down and it was very, very uncomfortable. A young girl was taken ill and eventually we were allowed to reverse back to Filton Abbey Wood. I guess with the Olympics going on they don't want to take any chances."

[JayMac]

Someone taking the, 'if you see anything suspicious' announcements seriously it seems.

Despite the delays and inconvenience, always better to be safe than sorry.

[Ollie]

Michael Searle, 54, of Stoke Gifford, was on a Virgin train travelling from Temple Meads that stopped between Filton Abbey Wood and Parkway. He said: "The air conditioning broke down and it was very, very uncomfortable. A young girl was taken ill and eventually we were allowed to reverse back to Filton Abbey Wood. I guess with the Olympics going on they don't want to take any chances."

Poor Virgin getting bad press with it's dodgy aircon

[Chris from Nailsea]

The air conditioning broke down ...

Hmm.   How do you know whether it's working, or not? Is the smell worse when it is? 

[JayMac]

Poor Virgin getting bad press with it's dodgy aircon

More importantly, was Michael Searle, 54, of Stoke Gifford in some sort of Class 220/1 Voyager time machine? Virgin Trains ain't been near Bristol since 2007. 

It's only been five years. Surely the journos at the Bristol Evening Post* know what's what. Their offices are but a stone's throw from Temple Meads. 


*Yes I know it's officially just 'The Post' now. A renaming I don't like. Bl**dy Daily Mail and General Trust.

[eightf48544]

Good point bignose Mac but people my age still call it BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) or maybe after the first franchisee.

It's part of the absurbity of swapping names and liveries every time the franchisee changes.

i did see an idea that the names of the franchises would be fixed and and the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) would be just the operator. A bit like London buses where they are mostly Red with the Operators name on the side in relatively small lettering.