Slippery rails, flooding, landslips and other issues - November 2016 (merged topic)

[whole diary]

[TonyK]

Certainly it would appear that raising the equipment cabinets reduced the closure time and cost of repairs so that when the floods waters had subsided it was just a case of repairing/relaying ballast that had been displaced.

That work was a relatively low cost solution, and it works!

[Tim]

Certainly it would appear that raising the equipment cabinets reduced the closure time and cost of repairs so that when the floods waters had subsided it was just a case of repairing/relaying ballast that had been displaced.

That work was a relatively low cost solution, and it works!

Proven, achievable and cost effective.  This is precisely the kind of thing NR^» (Network Rail - home page) should be rolling out nationwide.  But instead they are talking of things like "the digital railway".   

[TonyK]

Proven, achievable and cost effective.  This is precisely the kind of thing NR^» (Network Rail - home page) should be rolling out nationwide.  But instead they are talking of things like "the digital railway".   

Not that there is anything wrong with a "digital" railway, of course!

[ellendune]

Proven, achievable and cost effective.  This is precisely the kind of thing NR^» (Network Rail - home page) should be rolling out nationwide.  But instead they are talking of things like "the digital railway".   

Not that there is anything wrong with a "digital" railway, of course!

But the digital railway is a solution to a different problem - capacity and service recovery. So that cannot be compared.

[a-driver]

Proven, achievable and cost effective.  This is precisely the kind of thing NR^» (Network Rail - home page) should be rolling out nationwide.  But instead they are talking of things like "the digital railway".   

Not that there is anything wrong with a "digital" railway, of course!

But the digital railway is a solution to a different problem - capacity and service recovery. So that cannot be compared.

The "digital railway" is probably a lot cheaper than actually laying new track and physically expanding the network. Once the "digital railway" has been implemented and we out grow that what do we do next?  Money needs to be invested now in expanding the current network to make it fit for purpose for the next 20 years, not short term fixes.
You try and cram more trains onto the network you've got to cut down turn around times at terminus stations. The more trains you try and cram on the longer it will take to recover the service after any kind of failure.   

[Bmblbzzz]

I thought the digital railway meant giving passengers the finger...

 

[TaplowGreen]

I thought the digital railway meant giving passengers the finger...

 

............that's hardly new, it's been the attitude for decades!!! 

[ellendune]

Proven, achievable and cost effective.  This is precisely the kind of thing NR^» (Network Rail - home page) should be rolling out nationwide.  But instead they are talking of things like "the digital railway".   

Not that there is anything wrong with a "digital" railway, of course!

But the digital railway is a solution to a different problem - capacity and service recovery. So that cannot be compared.

The "digital railway" is probably a lot cheaper than actually laying new track and physically expanding the network. Once the "digital railway" has been implemented and we out grow that what do we do next?  Money needs to be invested now in expanding the current network to make it fit for purpose for the next 20 years, not short term fixes.
You try and cram more trains onto the network you've got to cut down turn around times at terminus stations. The more trains you try and cram on the longer it will take to recover the service after any kind of failure.   

Best of all do do both. 

Still the digital railway will not stop the track being washed away in the floods

[SandTEngineer]

Proven, achievable and cost effective.  This is precisely the kind of thing NR^» (Network Rail - home page) should be rolling out nationwide.  But instead they are talking of things like "the digital railway".   

Not that there is anything wrong with a "digital" railway, of course!

But the digital railway is a solution to a different problem - capacity and service recovery. So that cannot be compared.

The "digital railway" is probably a lot cheaper than actually laying new track and physically expanding the network. Once the "digital railway" has been implemented and we out grow that what do we do next?  Money needs to be invested now in expanding the current network to make it fit for purpose for the next 20 years, not short term fixes.
You try and cram more trains onto the network you've got to cut down turn around times at terminus stations. The more trains you try and cram on the longer it will take to recover the service after any kind of failure.   

Best of all do do both. 

Still the digital railway will not stop the track being washed away in the floods

Hmm.  Perhaphs NR could stick a digit in to plug the leak in the river exe........

[SandTEngineer]

Well it did last one day 

Delays to services between Plymouth and Newton Abbot Following a tree blocking the railway between Plymouth and Newton Abbot all lines towards Exeter St David's are now open.
Impact:
Train services running through these stations are returning to normal but some services may still be delayed by up to 15 minutes. Disruption is expected until 09:00 25/11.

[Tim]

Proven, achievable and cost effective.  This is precisely the kind of thing NR^» (Network Rail - home page) should be rolling out nationwide.  But instead they are talking of things like "the digital railway".   

Not that there is anything wrong with a "digital" railway, of course!

no it is fine where it is needed, but if you are going to roll something out nationwide, then weather resilience makes more sense (because the whole country gets weather) than the digital railway (because the capacity benefits that brings will not be needed everywhere and on some routes extra capacity could be provided by the traditional means of adding an extra carriage).   

[TaplowGreen]

.....deja vu?     http://m.plymouthherald.co.uk/trains-to-plymouth-cancelled-as-large-waves-hit-dawlish/story-29940904-detail/story.html

[Chris from Nailsea]

From that Plymouth Herald report:

A number of Crosscountry trains have broken down after being hit by heavy spray at Dawlish. Passengers can switch to Great Western Railway services which have, so far, not been affected.

There's the answer, then: don't try to use Voyagers through Dawlish. 

[PhilWakely]

From that Plymouth Herald report:

A number of Crosscountry trains have broken down after being hit by heavy spray at Dawlish. Passengers can switch to Great Western Railway services which have, so far, not been affected.

There's the answer, then: don't try to use Voyagers through Dawlish. 

What is the likelihood of the new GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) bi-modes surviving the Dawlish spray? I do not know whether it was a pure coincidence, but one of the recent late night test runs of the new train was cancelled on the same night that high winds coincided with a high tide at Dawlish.

[ellendune]

From that Plymouth Herald report:

A number of Crosscountry trains have broken down after being hit by heavy spray at Dawlish. Passengers can switch to Great Western Railway services which have, so far, not been affected.

There's the answer, then: don't try to use Voyagers through Dawlish. 

What is the likelihood of the new GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) bi-modes surviving the Dawlish spray? I do not know whether it was a pure coincidence, but one of the recent late night test runs of the new train was cancelled on the same night that high winds coincided with a high tide at Dawlish.

If they don't work in those conditions Hitachi are in breach of contract.  IIUC it is a specific contract requirement.