Weather disruption caused in 2014, and how to prevent it happening again - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[SandTEngineer]

Well here we go then (Dawlish 1855):

[CLPGMS]

This is now on the National Rail Enquiries website.

Monday 10 February

CrossCountry
^No CrossCountry services will run between Oxford and Didcot Parkway
^Replacement road transport will run between Oxford and Didcot Parkway
^Passengers may use Chiltern Railways, First Great Western and South West Trains services

First Great Western
First Great Western may be able to run a limited shuttle service between Oxford and Didcot Parkway. This will be confirmed overnight. If they are unable to, then a replacment bus service will run between Oxford and Didcot Parkway.

[bobm]

Now reports of flooding on one of the four tracks at Maidenhead.

[insider]

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) SERVICE SUMMARY FOR MONDAY 10/02/14

I wouldn't travel unless you absolutely have to in the West Country!!!!!! However Reading to Paddington could be a shambles as well....see below!!!

Dawlish Sea Wall
Area of sea wall washed out by storms during early February.
No trains can run between Exeter St Davids and Newton Abbot.
Replacement buses operating Exeter ^ Newton Abbot and Plymouth to Exeter / Bristol Parkway

Athelney
Track flooded and floodwater has damaged signalling equipment.
Line will reopen for Monday Morning, but with Temporary Block Working over a 12 mile stretch through the affected area which will extend journey times.
Some services will turn back at Castle Cary.

Fordgate
Track flooded, embankment damaged.
No trains operating between Bridgwater and Taunton.
Special shuttle service operates between Weston-SM and Taunton for local customers only.

Crewkerne
Embankment slip.
Line currently open, but 5mph speed restriction in place.


Hinksey
Flooding blocking all lines.
Line closed.
A limited bus service is in operation between Oxford and Didcot. Significantly extended journey times due to road closures.

Twyford - Maidenhead (as of 0200)

Flooding causing track circuit failures. Currently talking by 2 signals on Up Main and Down Relief & 1 signal on Up Relief and Down Main. This is current situation, however'

This area has got much worse throughout the evening, as water coming off fields, as railway is in cutting in affected area and water is not draining. At time of posting this the fire brigade have been requested to attend to try and assist in pumping water away. There is also a possibility of a the power being turned off to the signalling equipment as the water is reaching location cabinets trackside. If this happens multiple signals will be black on ground causing TBW^▸ (Temporary Block Working) to be introduced which will cause carnage to the service RDG^‡(resolve)-PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains).

Likely hood is that the Thames Valley service will be extremely poor in a few hours as coupled with the complete closure of Didcot - Oxford, peak services will be short formed (as many sets trapped at Oxford, as was planned closure from Saturday night to Monday Morning), and withdrawn.

[JayMac]

Line between Castle Cary and Cogload is due to reopen later this morning allowing through services to Exeter operating to an amended timetable.

From FGW^▸ (First Great Western):

FGW Timetable Plans for w/c Monday 10 February 2014

Following a drop in floodwater at Athelney the railway line between Exeter and London Paddington, via Newbury, is due to reopen on Monday 10 February.

The line between Taunton and Bridgwater however remains closed due to flooding, as does the line between Exeter and Newton Abbot due to the sea wall collapse at Dawlish. Flooding is also expected to affect rail services between Oxford and Didcot Parkway.

Limited services will start between London Paddington and Exeter in the late morning, with Exeter to London Paddington services starting at lunchtime.

Coaches will continue to offer direct services to Exeter St Davids and Plymouth from Bristol Parkway, connecting with South Wales trains from London, and with services from the Midlands and the North until the mainline reopens to Taunton. Journey times will continue to be significantly extended.

Elsewhere, due to flooding between Twyford and Maidenhead fewer trains are able to run on all lines. The same is true between Didcot and Oxford. Due to the flooding track circuits are Showing Occupied Whilst Clear (SOWC), so trains are having to be talked past signals at danger.

Across the entire network extra time should be allowed for all journeys.

Monday morning's commute is going to be interesting.

[Worcester_Passenger]

Well here we go then (Dawlish 1855):

Excellent! Many thanks for finding that one.

[johoare]

Amongst many other cancellations is the 7.59 Maidenhead to Paddington. This is a little strange since this train only goes from Old Oak to Paddington, Paddington to Didcot Parkway and then back to Paddington again.. And the flooding is the other side of Didcot Parkway.. I know there is flooding around Twyford too so I am guessing that is the reason?

Mind you the NR^» (Network Rail - home page) site says it IS running and therefore is disagreeing with Realtime trains which says it's not so it's anyone's guess what really is running until I get to the station.

Oh well..  Let's see how long it takes to get to work today then and how much fun the journey is 

[johoare]

Amongst many other cancellations is the 7.59 Maidenhead to Paddington. This is a little strange since this train only goes from Old Oak to Paddington, Paddington to Didcot Parkway and then back to Paddington again.. And the flooding is the other side of Didcot Parkway.. I know there is flooding around Twyford too so I am guessing that is the reason?

Mind you the NR^» (Network Rail - home page) site says it IS running and therefore is disagreeing with Realtime trains which says it's not so it's anyone's guess what really is running until I get to the station.

Oh well..  Let's see how long it takes to get to work today then and how much fun the journey is 

..and having posted that, Realtime trains has decided that this train is going to run after all and is now in agreement with NR and journeycheck.. Hope reality is the same

[BBM]

I'm currently on the 0643 stopper from Twyford (0643 and 0654 fasts both cancelled). The train was held for a few minutes in the White Waltham area before proceeding slowly for about the length of one signal section. I couldn't see any sign of ground water (although it was very gloomy light) so I presume it's a track circuit issue as mentioned above. Just left Burnham 7 late.

[bobm]

Just to add: No SWT^▸ (South West Trains) services between Windsor & Eton Riverside and Staines due to flooding at Datchet. Passengers being sent to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) services from Windsor & Eton Central to Slough and Paddington.

[broadgage]

Won't the waves just crash over the top - I assume they're only 6' containers?

As others post, the containers are almost certainly larger than that, but yes I would still expect that waves will crash over them.
This still gives useful protection since a fair bit of the force of the water is expended.
Conditions on the landward side of the containers will be at least a bit sheltered and much less liable to continued errosion and furthur damage.

[bobm]

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) have lifted all ticket restrictions for the day across all their trains.

Off Peak/Super Off Peak valid on all trains.
Advance Tickets no longer tied to specific trains.

[BBM]

Looking at Real Time Trains, it would seem that in the past 30 minutes or so trains on the UM between Twyford and Maidenhead have been delayed by about 40 minutes and now everything is running via the UR.

[Pb_devon]

Post #205:
"As others post, the containers are almost certainly larger than that, but yes I would still expect that waves will crash over them.
This still gives useful protection since a fair bit of the force of the water is expended.
Conditions on the landward side of the containers will be at least a bit sheltered and much less liable to continued errosion and furthur damage."

There was some footage on the regional news last night, and the NR^» (Network Rail - home page) team was getting spray on them even though they were behind the containers.  They appeared to soldier on however, so well done to them.

[warrej]

Hi, I have an annual parking pass for Newton Abbot station, and I've already booked my train travel for the next 10 weeks or so from NTA^» (Newton Abbott - next trains) to PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains).  I've no desire to get bus transport from NTA to Exeter each week.  What are the chances of me being able to park in Exeter St Davids using my NTA pass whilst the disruption is ongoing?  I realise this is probably a matter for Apcoa rather than FGW^▸ (First Great Western), but I'd hope that they'd have put some sort of arrangement in place whilst the line is closed.  Any thoughts?

As an update, I rang Apcoa parking this morning and they were completely unhelpful.  They said if I wanted to park at Exeter I would have to buy a new ticket.  I can get a refund on my Newton Abbot ticket, but as they only refund whole months, and charge a ^40 fee for the privilege, there is no point doing so until my current month ends (4/3).   Hopefully by then I'll have a better idea of how long the Dawlish repairs will take, and know if it is worth cancelling my pass