Easter engineering works and subsequent ongoing disruption - April / May 2015

[whole diary]

[jane s]

OK so what was the problem this time then?

Ridiculous scenes at Ealing Broadway tonight where everyone was trying to cram onto the 18:23 (3 cars instead of the usual 6) because the 18:33 AND Heathrow Express were cancelled.

I was one of the lucky sardines, but many furious commuters were left behind - there was nothing else that the platform staff could do but make them stand away to let the doors close - there was simply no more room.

Stupid thing was that the train had almost emptied out after Hayes, because most of the people that did manage to get on had been going to there or Southall, while probably a lot of the people left behind on the platform had been wanting to go on to the stations further down the line.

This is just getting beyond a joke now.

[a-driver]

OK so what was the problem this time then?

Ridiculous scenes at Ealing Broadway tonight where everyone was trying to cram onto the 18:23 (3 cars instead of the usual 6) because the 18:33 AND Heathrow Express were cancelled.

I was one of the lucky sardines, but many furious commuters were left behind - there was nothing else that the platform staff could do but make them stand away to let the doors close - there was simply no more room.

Stupid thing was that the train had almost emptied out after Hayes, because most of the people that did manage to get on had been going to there or Southall, while probably a lot of the people left behind on the platform had been wanting to go on to the stations further down the line.

This is just getting beyond a joke now.

Track circuit failure just outside Didcot Parkway and also a points failure in the Acton area which meant they couldn't get a freight train off the mainline at Acton and into the freight yard and as a result, I think some of the London bound stoppers were routed onto the fast line to get around the freight train.  For that to work the service has to be thinned out so some services were cancelled or restarted from Reading.

[jane s]

Thanks. All very well to say "thinned out" but if you need the intermediate stations on a stopper then that means it's just tough luck basically!

Doesn't explain why they had the cheek to make the only train which did run short-formed WITHOUT POSTING THIS FACT ON JOURNEYCHECK! If I had known in advance I wouldn't have even bothered trying for it but just stayed late at work and hoped things would have improved later. (Mind you, I did that last time, and they didn't get better....!)

[Oxonhutch]

and also a points failure in the Acton area which meant they couldn't get a freight train off the mainline at Acton and into the freight yard and as a result, I think some of the London bound stoppers were routed onto the fast line to get around the freight train.

Why would the signallers leave a freight blocking the Up Relief at Acton? Couldn't they use some innovative thinking?  How about:
(1) continuing past Acton Yard and running it up the branch to Acton Wells - there is even a shunt signal on the up branch to set it back down into Acton Yard, or
(2) putting the freight in the carriage reception roads at Old Oak Common until it could be dealt with, or
(*) Anything to clear the Up Relief for several hours into the evening peak. [Come to think about it, there are three separate entrances into Acton Yard in the Up direction - surely one could be made to work?]
It appears on today's railway that once something fails, everyone is frightened to use some initiative in case the original fault (in this case Network Rail's failed point) becomes someone else's (i.e. TV signalman's) problem. A blame/compensation culture is stifling joined-up thinking.

[TaplowGreen]

...........and so it goes on.....what the hell happened over Easter or is this daily farce totally unrelated?


Cancellations to services between Ealing Broadway and Slough Due to signalling problems between Ealing Broadway and Slough all Reading bound main lines are blocked.
Impact:
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 mins. Disruption is expected until 10:15 15/04.

[a-driver]

...........and so it goes on.....what the hell happened over Easter or is this daily farce totally unrelated?


Cancellations to services between Ealing Broadway and Slough Due to signalling problems between Ealing Broadway and Slough all Reading bound main lines are blocked.
Impact:
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 mins. Disruption is expected until 10:15 15/04.

Points failure east of Slough at Dolphin Junction.

[BerkshireBugsy]

At the risk of causing a split topic can someone tell me if high speed lines such as HS1^▸ (High Speed line 1 - St Pancras to Channel Tunnel) suffer from signalling problems (I suspect not)?

It almost seems to be the only (totally impractical) long term solution would be to shut the railways down for a long period of time and replace it all with new signalling technology

A totally crazy option I know but apart from continually patching up the railways with the equivalent of Band Aid plasters I can't see this getting any better.

I'm normally a "glass half full" kind of guy

[a-driver]

and also a points failure in the Acton area which meant they couldn't get a freight train off the mainline at Acton and into the freight yard and as a result, I think some of the London bound stoppers were routed onto the fast line to get around the freight train.

Why would the signallers leave a freight blocking the Up Relief at Acton? Couldn't they use some innovative thinking?  How about:
(1) continuing past Acton Yard and running it up the branch to Acton Wells - there is even a shunt signal on the up branch to set it back down into Acton Yard, or
(2) putting the freight in the carriage reception roads at Old Oak Common until it could be dealt with, or
(*) Anything to clear the Up Relief for several hours into the evening peak. [Come to think about it, there are three separate entrances into Acton Yard in the Up direction - surely one could be made to work?]
It appears on today's railway that once something fails, everyone is frightened to use some initiative in case the original fault (in this case Network Rail's failed point) becomes someone else's (i.e. TV signalman's) problem. A blame/compensation culture is stifling joined-up thinking.

1.  You could only do that if there is authority in the rules to set/back or propel a train back into the yard from that location, and I don't think there is.  

2.  If the freight train fits in the carriage reception roads you would still need another loco and crew to haul it back to Acton and a reversal at Ealing Broadway which would block the relies for a while.   Also depends on how close to the driver is to his hours.  You wouldn't be allowed to stable a freight train in that location.

Other than the route to Acton Wells, there's only one entrance into the freight yard at Acton now.  One was removed over the Easter to allow construction of the dive under.

[a-driver]

At the risk of causing a split topic can someone tell me if high speed lines such as HS1^▸ (High Speed line 1 - St Pancras to Channel Tunnel) suffer from signalling problems (I suspect not)?

It almost seems to be the only (totally impractical) long term solution would be to shut the railways down for a long period of time and replace it all with new signalling technology

A totally crazy option I know but apart from continually patching up the railways with the equivalent of Band Aid plasters I can't see this getting any better.

I'm normally a "glass half full" kind of guy

HS1 uses a totally different signalling system, TVM430 & KVB and is basically a form of in-cab signalling.

[BerkshireBugsy]

At the risk of causing a split topic can someone tell me if high speed lines such as HS1^▸ (High Speed line 1 - St Pancras to Channel Tunnel) suffer from signalling problems (I suspect not)?

It almost seems to be the only (totally impractical) long term solution would be to shut the railways down for a long period of time and replace it all with new signalling technology

A totally crazy option I know but apart from continually patching up the railways with the equivalent of Band Aid plasters I can't see this getting any better.

I'm normally a "glass half full" kind of guy

HS1 uses a totally different signalling system, TVM430 & KVB and is basically a form of in-cab signalling.

That's what I thought . How reliable is this system ? I may google it later but to a layman is it only suitable for high speed lines ?

[Jason]

Cancellations to services between Ealing Broadway and Slough Due to signalling problems between Ealing Broadway and Slough all Reading bound main lines are blocked.
Impact: Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 mins. Disruption is expected until 10:15 15/04.

Points failure east of Slough at Dolphin Junction.

I managed to lose 8 minutes between Hayes and Southall on a PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) bound HST^▸ (High Speed Train). Slow running through the heathrow junction area seems to be a daily thing now.

[ChrisB]

At the risk of causing a split topic can someone tell me if high speed lines such as HS1^▸ (High Speed line 1 - St Pancras to Channel Tunnel) suffer from signalling problems (I suspect not)?

It almost seems to be the only (totally impractical) long term solution would be to shut the railways down for a long period of time and replace it all with new signalling technology

A totally crazy option I know but apart from continually patching up the railways with the equivalent of Band Aid plasters I can't see this getting any better.

I'm normally a "glass half full" kind of guy

HS1 uses a totally different signalling system, TVM430 & KVB and is basically a form of in-cab signalling.

That's what I thought . How reliable is this system ? I may google it later but to a layman is it only suitable for high speed lines ?

Possibly not - but it'd takle longer to install than ERTMS^▸ (European Rail Traffic Management System.) which IS coming eventually

[W5tRailfinder]

and also a points failure in the Acton area which meant they couldn't get a freight train off the mainline at Acton and into the freight yard and as a result, I think some of the London bound stoppers were routed onto the fast line to get around the freight train.

Why would the signallers leave a freight blocking the Up Relief at Acton? Couldn't they use some innovative thinking?  How about:
(1) continuing past Acton Yard and running it up the branch to Acton Wells - there is even a shunt signal on the up branch to set it back down into Acton Yard, or
(2) putting the freight in the carriage reception roads at Old Oak Common until it could be dealt with, or
(*) Anything to clear the Up Relief for several hours into the evening peak. [Come to think about it, there are three separate entrances into Acton Yard in the Up direction - surely one could be made to work?]
It appears on today's railway that once something fails, everyone is frightened to use some initiative in case the original fault (in this case Network Rail's failed point) becomes someone else's (i.e. TV signalman's) problem. A blame/compensation culture is stifling joined-up thinking.

1.  You could only do that if there is authority in the rules to set/back or propel a train back into the yard from that location, and I don't think there is.  

2.  If the freight train fits in the carriage reception roads you would still need another loco and crew to haul it back to Acton and a reversal at Ealing Broadway which would block the relies for a while.   Also depends on how close to the driver is to his hours.  You wouldn't be allowed to stable a freight train in that location.

Other than the route to Acton Wells, there's only one entrance into the freight yard at Acton now.  One was removed over the Easter to allow construction of the dive under.

Attempted to discover what freight it was on RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website), could not find it.

If it was a heavy stone train, I doubt it could climb the slope from Acton East up to Acton Wells. If it could, they could always get a spare loco from the yard to draw it back.

If it had move forward to OOC^▸ (Old Oak Common (depot)) Reception line, the loco could have run round, then   when everything is OK run round the Greenford loop in order to approach from the west again.

I believe there is still some re-modelling work to be done at Acton West (entry to Acton Yard) in order to allow parallel moves into and out of the yard, this includes moving the existing Up Relief to Down Relief trailing crossover further east.

[DidcotPunter]

That's what I thought . How reliable is this system ? I may google it later but to a layman is it only suitable for high speed lines ?

TVM430 and earlier variants are used on all French high speed lines and the Channel Tunnel as well as HS1^▸ (High Speed line 1 - St Pancras to Channel Tunnel). It is extremely reliable. In all the Eurostar trips I've done since it started I've never known a delay due to signalling failure. KVB is used on the classic French lines and appears to perform a function similar to ATP^▸ (Automatic Train Protection) on the Great Western Main Line (happy to be corrected on this as I'm no expert!)

[ChrisB]

Back to Christmas, and the diversions - it would appear that NR^» (Network Rail - home page)/Crossrail are in the process of trying to obtain a 4day complete block between Paddington & east of Slough. HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) into Waterloo as before & Marylebone

Be interesting if they get it....

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) have just shared a presentation on Major Possessions 2015-2017. Once I've digested it, I'll post again with some details. There's a LOT of work to be done.