Today's MAJOR failure (30/04/15)

[whole diary]

[ChrisB]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

Clapham Junction and Victoria rail 'chaos' after power cut

Thousands of rail passengers have been evacuated from trains after a power cut in south London left people stranded during rush hour for up to five hours.

The electrical problem struck between Wandsworth Common and Clapham Junction, resulting in trains in and out of Victoria station being suspended.

All Gatwick Express services were cancelled and passengers on Southern trains were badly affected.

Emergency services were eventually called to rescue commuters.

Passengers had to be evacuated after being held on trains for hours

London Fire Brigade helped 2,000 passengers off a stranded train in Battersea.

Spokesman Nic Myatt said: "We are using a short extension ladder to assist Network Rail and British Transport police in detraining approximately 2,000 people along the tracks and on to a rail replacement bus service."

Police and paramedics had to bring water on board some trains for passengers who had been stuck on non-moving trains without air conditioning for up to five hours.

A tweet from British Transport Police said: "More trains being evacuated. We're getting officers to trains still stalled where possible. Thank you for your patience."

Passengers spoke of nightmare conditions at Clapham Junction, while there were reports that a London-bound train that left Brighton at 06:56 BST was still outside Clapham at 12:00.

Some commuters were stranded for up to five hours

A spokesman for Southern Trains said: "The Brighton train is in the Coates Avenue area near Clapham Junction and we are getting it moved by a diesel engine to Wandsworth Common."

He said 900 people had been taken off another train which had been travelling between East Grinstead and Victoria.

"Those passengers are being taken off the train at Battersea Rise," he added. "I have no reports yet as to how they are."

Anna Roberts, who works in the Victoria area of London, was stuck on a London-bound train travelling from Brighton.

She said the situation was so bad police and paramedics had to bring water supplies on board which were passed around the carriage.

"With the power off it's like an oven in here," she added.

"Police have said it's too dangerous to walk down the track.

"They said they were bringing water but not enough for every one to have one bottle each. Eventually we got water in plastic containers."

Others train passengers struggled to get in and out of overcrowded stations.

Southern Trains had two of its four lines running again by lunchtime but said disruption was expected to last all day.

Platforms at Clapham Junction were crowded as people waited for trains

Another tweet from Thomas Michael Jules said: "Avoid Clapham Junction today people! Mayhem!!"

Earlier a fire near Clapham Junction caused hold-ups to services on London Overground.

A Network Rail spokesman said engineers were on site and trying to resume services as quickly as possible.

South West Trains services to and from Waterloo via Clapham Junction were unaffected.

Never rains, but it pours

[TaplowGreen]

Must have been a truly horrific experience on overcrowded, overheated peak time trains............however as we are constantly told by FGW^▸ (First Great Western) and other TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company), there is no maximum capacity on a train and this represents no risk to Health and Safety 

[IndustryInsider]

Get ready for this sort of event on a (hopefully) occasional basis once the GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) is fully electrified.  That being said, at least the sensible provision of at least two diesel engines on all IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) trains will mean that they shouldn't be totally stranded with air-con and lighting failures, though the Thames Valley EMUs^▸ (Electric Multiple Unit) will be prone to exactly that.

[TaplowGreen]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is the current contingency plan when this happens? Is it to rely on the Emergency services or could diesel locos be used to drag the stranded stock to the nearest station?

[Rhydgaled]

at least the sensible provision of at least two diesel engines on all IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) trains will mean that they shouldn't be totally stranded with air-con and lighting failures

At least two diesel engines? I thought the 9-car 'electric' sets would only have one diesel engine, but your point still stands.

I still remain to be convinced that the provision of a diesel engine on 'electric' sets is a good idea; nobody else has done it as far as I am aware (unlike the bi-mode concept for services which routinely run beyond the electrified network, which SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) have also adopted to some extent) and one hopes the emergency engine on our new trains will seldom be used, so is it worth the increased capital and day-to-day costs? And the emergency engine won't help the (potentially more likely) suituation of the power remaining functional and the train able to move but with the heating/air-con system itself failed (as 158s and 166s seem to be critised for). Private cars have a solution to lack of air-con, namely windows that open fully (not just a small section at the top). Can't we have something similar on trains (strictly staff-only-operable of course)? I know the class 800/801 may well one day be permitted to travel twice as fast as private cars on the motorway network, but other countries permit cars to go as fast as they like on limited sections of the road network.

[IndustryInsider]

I was under the impression that the 9-car trains will have two Diesel engines.  Happy to be corrected on that one though.

[stuving]

The explanation on National Rail is a bit different:

Incident created
    30/04/2015 08:20
Last updated
    30/04/2015 17:00
   
Description
    Problems with the conductor rail between Wandsworth Common and Clapham Junction have caused damage to a number of trains. Engineers are working to move the trains. Once they have moved repairs will be made to the damaged conductor rail and this may take up to 3 hours. Because of the severity of the problem, trains are likely to be disrupted until the end of the day.

    A reduced service is currently running from and to London Victoria and Gatwick Express services are currently suspended.

It started with trains on the Up Fast, so presumably that was where the track damage was.

Its relevance to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) post-electrification may be more than you think - the first train to not reach Viictoria (2A17) is explained as:

This service was cancelled between Clapham Junction and London Victoria due to an obstruction of the overhead line (I3).

Now that's philosophically difficult. You can understand "problems with the overhead line" if the problem is that there is none. But how can something that's not there be obstructed?

[a-driver]

Get ready for this sort of event on a (hopefully) occasional basis once the GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) is fully electrified.  That being said, at least the sensible provision of at least two diesel engines on all IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) trains will mean that they shouldn't be totally stranded with air-con and lighting failures, though the Thames Valley EMUs^▸ (Electric Multiple Unit) will be prone to exactly that.

We're also getting additional thunderbird locos, probably extra 57s as they are already fitted with the necessary coupling equipment, to be based a various locations across the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) network.

[ChrisB]

You aren't expecting the diesel engine underneath the electric IEPs^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) to work the aircon, are you? It'll only just about move the 9car a few miles

[Electric train]

You aren't expecting the diesel engine underneath the electric IEPs^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) to work the aircon, are you? It'll only just about move the 9car a few miles

According to the presentation Hitachi gave at an IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) event 2 years ago for the "all electric" (the ones that do not normally operate bi-mode) the diesel engine will maintain the "hotel" services ie lighting and aircon in excess of the 6 hours specified by DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) also will be able to move the train at 30 mph

[TaplowGreen]

Finsbury Park, London Bridge, Paddington.........now this one, the litany of chaos continues.....and guess what? The NR^» (Network Rail - home page) spokesman said "lessons will be learned"..........again!

Just watched the report on the News having spoken to a pal who was on one of the trains, utter ineptitude, no organisation or plan put in place - people stranded on packed, overcrowded and overheated trains for 4 or 5 hours!

Can someone who works in the Rail Industry please attempt to explain why this pathetic response to the incident was the best that could be managed, and perhaps what is the contingency plan where such an (unusual but entirely predictable) incident occurs?

[chrisr_75]

You aren't expecting the diesel engine underneath the electric IEPs^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) to work the aircon, are you? It'll only just about move the 9car a few miles

According to the presentation Hitachi gave at an IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) event 2 years ago for the "all electric" (the ones that do not normally operate bi-mode) the diesel engine will maintain the "hotel" services ie lighting and aircon in excess of the 6 hours specified by DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) also will be able to move the train at 30 mph

I do wonder how reliable these engines (and generators) will actually be if they are only run under serious load conditions once in a blue moon - diesel engines generally like to be well used and any mechanical device tends not to respond to well to lack of use.

Perhaps there are arrangements in place for them to be fully utilised on a regular basis as part of their maintenance or for movements in and around depots?

[chrisr_75]

Finsbury Park, London Bridge, Paddington.........now this one, the litany of chaos continues.....and guess what? The NR^» (Network Rail - home page) spokesman said "lessons will be learned"..........again!

Just watched the report on the News having spoken to a pal who was on one of the trains, utter ineptitude, no organisation or plan put in place - people stranded on packed, overcrowded and overheated trains for 4 or 5 hours!

Can someone who works in the Rail Industry please attempt to explain why this pathetic response to the incident was the best that could be managed, and perhaps what is the contingency plan where such an (unusual but entirely predictable) incident occurs?

Just because lessons are learned doesn't mean you necessarily bother to implement those learnings in the form of improved processes & procedures!

It does seem pretty pathetic to leave it to the emergency services to both evacuate and attempt to ensure the welfare (water distribution) of those unfortunate passengers involved.It surely can't be beyond the realms of possibility that the power supply might fail at some point?!

Do the police/fire/ambulance services charge Network Rail & the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) for their time, in much the same way as they recoup their costs from your insurers if you are involved in a collision on the road requiring their involvement?

[Electric train]

Finsbury Park, London Bridge, Paddington.........now this one, the litany of chaos continues.....and guess what? The NR^» (Network Rail - home page) spokesman said "lessons will be learned"..........again!

Just watched the report on the News having spoken to a pal who was on one of the trains, utter ineptitude, no organisation or plan put in place - people stranded on packed, overcrowded and overheated trains for 4 or 5 hours!

Can someone who works in the Rail Industry please attempt to explain why this pathetic response to the incident was the best that could be managed, and perhaps what is the contingency plan where such an (unusual but entirely predictable) incident occurs?

Just because lessons are learned doesn't mean you necessarily bother to implement those learnings in the form of improved processes & procedures!

It does seem pretty pathetic to leave it to the emergency services to both evacuate and attempt to ensure the welfare (water distribution) of those unfortunate passengers involved.It surely can't be beyond the realms of possibility that the power supply might fail at some point?!

Do the police/fire/ambulance services charge Network Rail & the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) for their time, in much the same way as they recoup their costs from your insurers if you are involved in a collision on the road requiring their involvement?

Generally no the blue light services do not charge, basically because the number of turn outs is miniscule compared to RTA's.

NR will have had its team of MOMs^▸ (Mobile Operations Manager) (mobile operations managers) deployed, in London there are a number of these deployed with BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) who respond to incidents with blues and twos.  The MOMs take on the role of RIO^▸ (Rail Incident Officer) (Rail Incident Officer) and lease with the blue light incident officers all of whom form what is called Silver Command, this incident may have escalated to Gold Command which will be senior managers / officers being involved.

NR staff that can actually be deployed to respond to these type incidents is very small, many NR staff are just not trained to go out and about on the railway and certainly not in how to deal with incidents, the blue light services are specialists, the MOMs role is to make the railway safe, that is talk to the signaller and ECR to get all the confirmations it is safe and then the blue light services will set to work.   This all sounds like it takes a long time to set up well it doesn't typically the MOM can secure even a complex area in a matter of a few minuets.

Almost certainly the procedure of this panel   http://www.leslp.gov.uk/ will have been implemented, both TfL^» (Transport for London - about) and NR are asked to input into this panel.

 

[IndustryInsider]

You aren't expecting the diesel engine underneath the electric IEPs^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) to work the aircon, are you? It'll only just about move the 9car a few miles

Yes I am!