Crewkerne station

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

From Somerset Live:

A car crash sent blocks of stone falling onto the Waterloo to Exeter railway line in Somerset earlier.

Pictures of the damage show rubble on the track in front of a train at Crewkerne Station.

Another image shows a damaged car at the base of an embankment near the station entrance.

Several emergency service vehicles are pictured nearby.

Emergency services say they were called to the railway bridge in Misterton at around 8.30am on Monday morning (August 14). One person was taken to hospital in Yeovil.

The railway line and road above it were both closed following the crash. Both have since re-opened.

Robin Heyd-Smith, a Misterton parish councillor, saw the aftermath. He said: “From what I could see the car was travelling towards Crewkerne and appears to have struck the stone wall of the railway bridge. It looks like it then bounced off, crashing through the fence on the other side, before going down the embankment and into the car park at the station.”

South Western Ambulance Service attended the incident. A spokesman said: “We received the call at 8.38am to reports of a road traffic collision. There was one male casualty with an arm and leg injury. We attended with one rapid response vehicle and one ambulance. The casualty was taken to Yeovil District Hospital.”

An Avon and Somerset Constabulary spokeswoman said: “Initial reports suggest a car had rolled over. Debris may have fallen onto the tracks below. There is a closure on either side of the bridge to stop people going over it. British Transport Police are dealing with the incident.”

When contacted, a spokesman for British Transport Police said he was unsure whether they would be investigating as the incident had taken place on the railway bridge. He said: “It may be Network Rail or the local force that investigates. Or we may investigate.”

The damage caused to the bridge at Crewkerne train station.

Network Rail confirmed on Twitter this afternoon that services would be delayed for some time.

It said: "Disruption between Yeovil Junction and Exeter St Davids expected until 6pm."

Confirming that lines had re-opened, a spokesman for South West Trains said at 2pm on Monday: "Lines between Yeovil and Exeter have now reopened. Trains are now going through, but delays expected while service restarts."

Oops!

Oh, I love the equivocation from the BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) "You investigate. No, you investigate. Okay we'll investigate."

[bradshaw]

SWT^▸ (South West Trains) reported that an Exeter service (1L09) was stopped at Crewkerne, the one photographed? (Although RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) has this terminated at Yeovil) This was turned back as the 1Z32 in place of the 1L32 which was held at Axminster. Although most turned back at Yeovil one more, 1L21, was turned back at Crewkerne forming the 1L44.

[bradshaw]

The problem of limited parking might be eased if this offer is taken up
Source - Friends of Crewkerne station website

20 New Car Park Spaces
20 New Car Park spaces at Crewkerne Station
Stuff2Store are offering storage and car parking space between the station and Bradfords - the Bradfords' Maintenance area that was recently sold off.
Car parking is for a minimum of one week, for £20, which compares reasonably with SWR^» (South Western Railway - about)'s prices of £4.70 per day, and £2 per day at the weekend.
If we can persuade 20 people who wish to park all week, to park in Stuff2Store, that would release 20 paces for the mid-week when it's usually full 

[grahame]

We wanted to update you on emergency works taking place between Axminster and Crewkerne on 23rd January 2022.

Over the last week Network Rail teams have been monitoring the railway near to the River Axe bridge in Crewkerne and have begun to detect a deterioration in the condition of the lineside. As a result the teams will stabilise the bridge this weekend, allowing us to keep trains running safely and reliably on this part of our network.

Unfortunately we will need to put in place an short emergency closure of the railway all day on Sunday 23 January, before continuing with the work overnight for the next three weeks when no trains are running.
   
A video interview with Mark Killick, Network Rail Wessex’s Route Director, about the urgent need for the works can be found on this
Tweet:  https://twitter.com/NetworkRailWssx/status/1484167919617687561

We’re really sorry for the disruption this short notice work will cause to our customers and are grateful for their patience over the weekend. Buses will replace trains in the area on Sunday 23 January and passengers should check before they travel at https://www.southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey/planned-improvements/january-2022-works

[JayMac]

I did wonder why we crawled through that area last night on my journey toward Exeter.

[bradshaw]

NR^» (Network Rail - home page), via Twitter, have shown a photograph of the signal base left after a car hit the signal this morning. It is affecting London bound trains but clearly,  secondarily, also those going to Exeter.

https://twitter.com/networkrailwssx/status/1518855453257654272?s=21&t=iXGI98rQ3Kd3zSQ7UXzQPw

[grahame]

NR^» (Network Rail - home page), via Twitter, have shown a photograph of the signal base left after a car hit the signal this morning. It is affecting London bound trains but clearly,  secondarily, also those going to Exeter.

https://twitter.com/networkrailwssx/status/1518855453257654272?s=21&t=iXGI98rQ3Kd3zSQ7UXzQPw

It says ...

Thanks to @SW_Help passengers on the West of England line for their patience today - London bound trains are being delayed by around 10-15 minutes at #Crewkerne after this signal (there was one here) was demolished by a car that left the road.

Perhaps it's being churlish to suggest that LONDON trains are the important ones to SWR^» (South Western Railway - about)  ... just feels that way sometimes!

[JayMac]

The signal post was hit by a vehicle involved in a police pursuit that went down an embankment. Signal post ended up fouling the line and was hit by an ECS^▸ (Empty Coaching Stock) SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) train. Could have been much worse if vehicle had fouled the line. The vehicle is around 2m from the track.

[bradshaw]

I am trying to work out which one it was. Was it the up repeater for the level crossing?

[stuving]

Pity whoever has to pick a reason code for the cancellations here (and presumably delays too, though we don't see their codes). For some reason the list of options, long though it may be, doesn't quite cover what happened here.

The train that struck the felled signal, 5L65, wasn't cancelled, but it was over three hours late.

The service train following it, 1L92, was cancelled at Axminster "due to an obstruction on the line (XO^▸ (Crossover. Pair of points that connects two parallel rail lines. Crossovers can be either facing or trailing dependent on direction of travel))". The full text for this is XO: External trees, building or structures encroaching or falling onto Network Rail network infrastructure (not due to weather or vandalism) also including aircraft and airport safety or operational related incidents.
I guess it went back to Exeter, and that is what RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) shows as 1L92 travelling backwards in time.

The next train due was much later, 5L20 is ECS^▸ (Empty Coaching Stock) to Honiton to start service. It was cancelled "due to a problem on a road (XN)." That kind of misses the point, doesn't it? If the problem was on a road it wouldn't be a problem. In this case the full text is a better fit - XN: Road or Crossing related incidents including cars on the line, level crossing misuse and emergency services being prioritised over rail services (NOT bridge strikes).

[JayMac]

I am trying to work out which one it was. Was it the up repeater for the level crossing?

Source I've read says it was a distant signal on the Chard side of Crewkerne Tunnel.

[JayMac]

The train that struck the felled signal, 5L65, wasn't cancelled, but it was over three hours late.

5L95 (159004) continued its journey, at reduced speed, to Yeovil Carriage Sidings arriving 202 minutes late. It than ran to Salisbury DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) depot at 0422.

[Timmer]

Tunnel closed until at least Thursday, possibly the weekend:

Cancellations to services between Exeter St Davids and Yeovil Junction

Due to a landslip between Exeter St Davids and Yeovil Junction all lines are blocked.

What's Going On:
Train services running through these stations will be cancelled. Disruption is expected until the end of the day on 06/12/23.

What We're Doing About It:
The recent heavy rain and flooding is causing earth to move above the Crewkerne Tunnel and the line is closed to all services on safety grounds.

Engineers will conduct a further daylight assessment of the site on Tuesday and the tunnel will definitely be closed until at least Thursday 7th December.

In addition to this, heavy flooding of local roads is affecting the replacement bus services running between Salisbury and Yeovil Junction.

With further rain forecast in the next 48 hours there is potential that no services will run until the weekend.

Please do not attempt to travel between Salisbury and Exeter on Tuesday 5 or Wednesday 6 December.

[bradshaw]

NR^» (Network Rail - home page) Wessex have provided this thread on Twitter this morning.

https://x.com/networkrailwssx/status/1731811726230766047?s=61&t=VlafMC5gF9tidw36b1Y8JQ

[JayMac]

No Rail Replacement Buses between Salisbury and Yeovil again today due to local roads flooding.