Storm Ciara -Sunday 9th Feb.

[whole diary]

[old original]

Among a lot of alterations XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) are not running anything south of Bristol...
Never used to happen in my day.....

[a-driver]

Among a lot of alterations XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) are not running anything south of Bristol...
Never used to happen in my day.....

But in your day they probably never had blanket speed restrictions, allowed trees to grow lineside and, should a train have hit a tree, the most damage it would have sustained would have been a scratch!!   

[CyclingSid]

Cancellations and disruption to Isle of Wight ferries expected. Gosport ferry expected to run as normal. Hayling ferry cancelled Sunday and Monday.

[grahame]

Among a lot of alterations XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) are not running anything south of Bristol...
Never used to happen in my day.....

Pretty well a "blueOut" on GW^▸ (Great Western) too - map at the top of these pages a sea of blue!

London - Bristol houry
London - Swansea hourly

London - South West terminates at Plymouth and "amended"
London - Hereford terminates at Worcester and "amended"

London - Bedwyn becomes Reading - Bedwyn shuttle
London - Cheltenham Spa becomes Swindon - Cheltenham Spa shuttle

Speed restrictions, risk of trees and debris blown onto lines.

Where trains are cancelled, road replacement may NOT be available

Tickets valid by any reasonable route, on many First and Stagecoach buses, and tomorrow too.

Cancellations to services on all routes
Due to high winds fewer trains are able to run on all lines.
Train services running across the whole Great Western Railway network may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.
Customer Advice
CrossCountry, London Underground, South Western Railway, Southern Railway, Transport For Wales and West Midlands Railway are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice. Arrangements have been made for Great Western Railway rail tickets to be accepted for these journeys.
First Bus routes 43, X43: Worcester (Crowngate Bus Station) - Malvern Link (Station) - Great Malvern (Church Street), First Bus routes 44, X44: Worcester (Crowngate Bus Station) - Great Malvern (Station) - Malvern Link (Station), First Bus route X1: Weston-Super-Mare - Weston Milton - Worle - Nailsea & Backwell (Crossroads) - Bristol (Bus Station Bay 9), First Bus routes X8: Bristol (Bus Station Bay 11) - Nailsea & Backwell (Station), First Bus routes X9: Bristol (Bus Station Bay 11) - Nailsea, Stagecoach bus routes 94, 94X, 94U: Gloucester (Market Parade) - Cheltenham (Promenade), Stagecoach bus route 51: Swindon (Bus Station) - Cheltenham (Promenade), Stagecoach bus route 10: Gloucester (Clarence Street) - Cheltenham (Promenade), Stagecoach bus route 61: Stroud (Merrywalks) - Stonehouse (Elgin Mall), Stagecoach bus route 63: Gloucester (Bus Station) - Stroud (Merrywalks), Stagecoach bus route 64: Gloucester (Bus Station) - Stonehouse (Elgin Mall) - Stroud (Merrywalks), Stagecoach bus route 66: Cheltenham (Promenade) - Stroud (Merrywalks) - Stonehouse, Stagecoach bus routes 97, 98: Gloucester (Bus Station) - Cheltenham (Promenade), First Bus route X2: Weston-Super-Mare - Weston Milton - Worle - Yatton - Nailsea & Backwell (Crossroads) - Bristol (Bus Station), First Bus route X5: Weston-Super-Mare (Oxford Street) - Weston Milton (The Borough Arms) - Worle (New Bristol Road) and First Bus route X7: Weston-Super-Mare - Weston Milton - Worle (Locking Castle) - Yatton - Nailsea (Link Rd) Bristol (Bus Sta) are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice. Arrangements have been made for Great Western Railway rail tickets to be accepted for these journeys. If you wish to use local buses as an alternative means of transport and the local bus is not accepting Great Western Railway tickets, please keep the bus ticket and send it, together with your rail ticket, to us for a refund. Ticket acceptance will remain in place until further notice.
Additional Information
Advice
In anticipation of significant high winds on Sunday 09th February, we expect to run a reduced train service and you are advised to check before you travel.
The current forecast suggests high winds of 60-70mph and heavy rain in some areas. To make sure as many trains are safely able to run as possible, speed restrictions will be in place on lines in the South West and the Thames Valley. We expect to reduce the number of long-distance services that we will be able to operate, and where trains do run, journeys are expected to take longer and be very busy.

Trains between Bristol Temple Meads and London Paddington
One train per hour will be running on the route between Bristol Temple Meads and London Paddington in both directions.
Trains between Swansea, Cardiff and London Paddington
One train per hour will be running on the route between Swansea and London Paddington in both directions.
Trains between Penzance and London Paddington
An amended timetable will be in place between Penzance and Plymouth. Trains between London Paddington and Penzance will start / terminate at Plymouth.
Trains between London Paddington and Bedwyn
An amended timetable will be in place with trains operating between Bedwyn and Reading. Connections will be available from Reading to London Paddington.
Trains between London Paddington and Great Malvern / Hereford
Trains will start / terminate at Worcester Foregate Street. Passengers are advised to travel to Worcester Foregate Street for onward travel to London Paddington. Replacement road transport may not be available as road conditions may not be safe to be used as an alternative.
Trains between London Paddington and Cheltenham Spa
An amended timetable will be in place where trains will operate between Cheltenham Spa and Swindon. Connections will be available from Swindon for onward travel.
All Other Routes - Delays and alterations can be expected to train services throughout Sunday 09th February, due to the possibility of debris or trees being blown on to the line. There are no planned changes to the timetabled service at present, however, please Check Before You Travel.
Replacement road transport - Where we are unable to run a train service because of the weather, we may also be unable to use taxis or buses. Road conditions may not be safe for road transport to be used as an alternative and we advise you not to travel on these routes.

Ticket advice
Can I travel on an alternative day?
If you hold a ticket for Sunday 09th February and would like to travel on Monday 10th February, your ticket(s) will be valid.
If you still intend to travel on Sunday 09th February, your ticket will not be restricted, and you may complete your journey on any service.
Further Information
An update will follow within the next 2 hours.
If you hold a valid single, return, or weekly ticket, you will be able to claim compensation for delays of 15 minutes or more. Please keep your ticket and visit GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway).com/DelayRepay
Last Updated:09/02/2020 05:47

[TaplowGreen]

Blimey......haven't seen a map that blue on a Sunday since BBQ season, or at the very least after a GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) staff leaving do! 🙂

[didcotdean]

Despite the weather the disused Didcot Power Station chimney was still demolished at 7:30-ish.

[Oxonhutch]

Despite the weather the disused Didcot Power Station chimney was still demolished at 7:30-ish.

And 7 miles away, it still made the windows rattle!

[Marlburian]

Here in Tilehurst it just seems to be a  windy day with steady rain - though I walked the ten minutes to the newsagents in the lightest of drizzles.

Having heard and seen all the doom & gloom about Ciara, I was fearing for the latest in a series of damaged fence panels and wondering if another branch would come off the poplars (one did last autumn) that are swaying elegantly but not ominously at the bottom of my garden.

Perhaps I'm speaking too soon ...

[Marlburian]

Great Western Railway says: "Due to a tree blocking the railway between Basingstoke and Reading all lines are blocked. Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised. All stations between Reading and Basingstoke will not be served. Disruption is expected until 11:30 09/02."

and "Passengers on the line between Ascot and Virginia Water are warned of a “precarious tree” that could fall at any minute. It’s very likely this will affect journey time". 

[eightf48544]

Open Train times shows tree blocking Down Main at Maidenehad and Up Main and Relief blocked just before Langley.

Paddington is full but Heathrow Express and Connect and Hayes stoppers seem to be running.

Not sure how accurate Open Train times at times of purtibation

[Timmer]

Nothing moving at Paddington. Ciara has done for services in and out of Paddington for now. Well done to GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)/NR^» (Network Rail - home page) for attempting some sort of service this morning but it was only going to be a matter of time before this storm caused services to be stopped.

[broadgage]

Despite the weather the disused Didcot Power Station chimney was still demolished at 7:30-ish.

Wet or windy weather is often preferred for blowing up redundant structures. Dust clouds from such demolitions can be a problem. Wet weather helps to settle the dust and minimises nuisance. Windy weather disperses the dust and spreads it very thinly over a wider area.
High winds are not favoured for the preparations, but are fine for the actual detonation.

[TaplowGreen]

Nothing moving at Paddington. Ciara has done for services in and out of Paddington for now. Well done to GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)/NR^» (Network Rail - home page) for attempting some sort of service this morning but it was only going to be a matter of time before this storm caused services to be stopped.

Lots of this type of message on the GWR Twiitter feed, seems to be a number of trains stuck outside Paddington for some time;

@GWRHelp no information and 2 children who need a toilet. All power gone means it’s now getting very cold too. Now nearly 2 hours stopped. Understand it may take time to fix the power however why is there no plan to get people off the train? We’re 5mins walk from Ealing Broadway.

[IndustryInsider]

Can't see any GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) trains stuck - looks like TfL^» (Transport for London - about) Rail ones.  Most of which have no toilets of course!

[Timmer]

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) have just tweeted:

Despite some lines re-opening, one of the affected electric trains is still unable to move after having broken down between #Reading and #LondonPaddington. All lines between the two stations are now expected to be closed for the remainder of the day.