Two trains collide near Salisbury - 31 Oct 21

[whole diary]

[grahame]

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

A railway line which has been closed for more than two weeks following a train crash has reopened.

Commuters and residents have faced major disruption since two trains collided on the approach to Fisherton Tunnel near Salisbury on 31 October.

Repairs and safety checks have now been completed, allowing a full service to resume on Tuesday morning.

Mayor of Salisbury Caroline Corbin said it was nice for everyone to get back to normality.

snip

Both trains derailed and travelled into the tunnel before coming to a standstill, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch said.

SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) driver Mr Tandy was praised by the operator for "acting impeccably" to keep passengers safe.

Managing director Claire Mann said Mr Tandy was being looked after very well in hospital and it was hoped he would make a full recovery.

She said: "We cant pre-empt what the investigation will conclude but the initial findings showed low rail adhesion, so the contact between the rail and the wheel was difficult on this day.

"So before reopening today there have been some extra water-jetting and leaf-busting trains that Network Rail have run to ensure that it's as safe as possible."

[TaplowGreen]

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

A railway line which has been closed for more than two weeks following a train crash has reopened.

Commuters and residents have faced major disruption since two trains collided on the approach to Fisherton Tunnel near Salisbury on 31 October.

Repairs and safety checks have now been completed, allowing a full service to resume on Tuesday morning.

Mayor of Salisbury Caroline Corbin said it was nice for everyone to get back to normality.

snip

Both trains derailed and travelled into the tunnel before coming to a standstill, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch said.

SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) driver Mr Tandy was praised by the operator for "acting impeccably" to keep passengers safe.

Managing director Claire Mann said Mr Tandy was being looked after very well in hospital and it was hoped he would make a full recovery.

She said: "We cant pre-empt what the investigation will conclude but the initial findings showed low rail adhesion, so the contact between the rail and the wheel was difficult on this day.

"So before reopening today there have been some extra water-jetting and leaf-busting trains that Network Rail have run to ensure that it's as safe as possible."

Good news re: reopening & the driver's recovery.  Final para does bring locking stable doors after horses have bolted somewhat to mind however.

[JayMac]

Unfortunately, things have fallen over in the Tunnel Junction area.

RED Incident: UPGRADED Red: Salisbury Tunnel Junction- T/C Failure RN
Salisbury SB^▸ (Signal Box) contacted control to advise that RN track circuit is currently SOWC and as a result has route locked the tunnel junction with the only moves being permissible at this stage to be trains on the Up Main towards Andover. Salisbury signaller to advise on a method of work once capabilities of the infrastructure have been explored.
Update 12:54-
Incident has been upgraded due to meeting the threshold for passenger impact.

Situation:
An intermittent fault is causing track circuit RN at Salisbury Tunnel Junction to flicker. The signaller will route trains and talk past respective signals. S&T^▸ (Signalling and Telegraph) are currently on site. However delays are having a high impact due to the location of the fault. We are currently talking past signals to allow trains to run through the area but this is causing severe delay, S&T, ARM to liaise and discuss a method of work, that will initiate a train service plan.

Customer Message:
Buses have been requested for
2 x SAL to BSK^▸ (Brake Standard Corridor (carriage)) to run all stations between
2 x SAL to SOU via Romsey running between.
2 SAL to ESL via Chandlers Ford running between.
Ticket acceptance requested on Xelabus X6/ X7 ESL-CFR
Disruption is expected till 15:00.

Oh dear.

[JayMac]

The scene from the A30 London Road at 1500 today:



And from Network Rail at 1545:

Update 15:45
Fault placed in order by S&T^▸ (Signalling and Telegraph) , normal working resumed. S&T will go in tonight in a possession to rectify

Fingers crossed the track circuit doesn't fail again.

[AMLAG]

With the line through Fisherton Tunnel reopened it did not take long for the often shambolic service to reappear, Thanks this time to a track circuit failure:-

1020 Waterloo to Exeter started from Salisbury 39 minutes late and terminated at Honiton 62 minutes late.
1120 Waterloo to Exeter terminated at Salisbury 67 minutes late.
1425 Exeter to Waterloo started from Honiton.
1220 Waterloo to Exeter reported 65 minutes late at Exmouth Junction.
1420 Waterloo to Exeter terminated at Salisbury.
1825 Exeter to Waterloo started from Salisbury.

So no service from Exeter between 1325 and 1625, shades of the last days of the S&D^▸ (Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway).

[JayMac]

And just to add to the Salisbury area woes today there has been a wrong side track circuit failure on the line through Platform 3 this evening.

Also 2S51 the 1707 from Romsey to Salisbury had a slippy slide moment on the approach to Laverstock South Jcn. No SPAD^▸ (Signal Passed At Danger). Driver was able to contact signaller and have next signal (SY35) cleared as there was no conflicting traffic.

The area seems cursed at the moment.

[grahame]

And for today, from National Rail:

Slippery rails in the Salisbury area mean that South Western Railway services at the station will be disrupted today.

The following alterations will be in place:
Services between Exeter St Davids and London Waterloo will be reduced to one train per hour. Other services will terminate and restart at Salisbury.
Services between Salisbury and Romsey via Southampton Central will be cancelled.
Some services between London Waterloo and Poole / Weymouth will call additionally at Basingstoke and / or Swaythling.
 
Tickets will be accepted at no extra cost on the following services:
Great Western Railway between Salisbury and Southampton Central. These services will call additionally at Redbridge and Millbrook.
Great Western Railway between Exeter St. Davids and London Paddington
London Underground between London Paddington and London Waterloo
 
A replacement bus service has been requested to run between Salisbury, Dean, Mottisfont & Dunbridge, Romsey, Chandlers Ford and Eastleigh, but this is not yet confirmed.

[bradshaw]

Updated information

.  Train services running through this station may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.
What We're Doing About It:
We have been informed that there are poor railhead conditions (poor railhead adhesion) caused by external seasonal factors (leaf fall/heavy rain etc) in the Salisbury area. Trains take longer to accelerate and brake in these conditions and so will incur delays.
Until further notice, the following service alterations will take place
- Shuttle services are running between Salisbury and Exeter St Davids
- Shuttle services are running between Basingstoke and Yeovil Junction/Salisbury
- Services running between Salisbury and Romsey will be cancelled
- Some services between London Waterloo and Poole/Weymouth will call additionally at Basingstoke and/or Swaythling

[Timmer]

Surprised nothing is mentioned about this on GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) Journeycheck as it is affecting their services through Salisbury as well with the Brightons and additional services to/from Southampton starting and ending short.

[Mark A]

Paul Clifton the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) journalist covering transport, local evening news 16th November. 2nd item in.
Trigger Warning: the piece includes a still photo of the location from 1954 that some viewers may find upsetting.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0011pdl/south-today-evening-news-16112021

[grahame]

Surprised nothing is mentioned about this on GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) Journeycheck as it is affecting their services through Salisbury as well with the Brightons and additional services to/from Southampton starting and ending short.

Belated, it is there now:

Alterations to services between Salisbury and Romsey

Due to slippery rails between Salisbury and Romsey trains have to run at reduced speed on all lines.
Train services running through these stations may be delayed by up to 15 minutes or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Further Information

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.com/DelayRepay

Last Updated:17/11/2021 14:17

[Clan Line]

Trigger Warning: the piece includes a still photo of the location from 1954 that some viewers may find upsetting.

Those photos of Salisbury tunnel junction are totally representative of today's lineside vegetation compared to some years ago. I do a lot of photography, including railways, and it has become more and more difficult to find stretches of railway line that are not obscured by trees/bushes. I am not talking about going back to the 50s, I have photographs taken only a few years ago, of locations where I no longer visit as it is now totally impossible to see what is on the track at that point.  Example below.



Top photo taken 2009. Lower taken today. I have not attempted to take a photograph here for 5 years or more ! The tree, just visible, on the extreme left of each photo is the same tree. You can just make out bits of the metal fencing !

This could be a really difficult "where was I today" .........................any offers ?

[Bmblbzzz]

This could be a really difficult "where was I today" .........................any offers ?

Standing on a small molehill!

--------------

That hedge is on the field side of the fence, so presumably outside the control or responsibility of Network Rail. They'd be allowed to lop off branches on their side of the fence but to remove the hedge or prune it would, I presume, have to negotiate with the farmer.

[JayMac]

That hedgerow looks to me to be mostly rooted behind the fence. Encroaching onto the field.

[Bmblbzzz]

Looking at the photo again, I think you're right. It's so much encroached that it looks like it's in front of the fence. So in that case, sort it out NR^» (Network Rail - home page)! (But is a hedge at the bottom of an embankment necessarily a problem? Annoying for photographers, but I'd have thought in that position and that height, leaves are not going to be a problem, and it's at the bottom so less likely to lead to destabilisation. But I appreciate it's only an illustrative example and there are other places where vegetation does cause problems.)