Storms Eunice, Franklin, Gladys from 18/2/2022

[whole diary]

[Trowres]

There seem to be a small number of workings shown as running in passenger service - these are shown in the "other train service updates" section of journeycheck.com/greatwesternrailway.

For example, there was an 18:40 Chippenham - Bristol TM^‡(resolve) (on RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) it's shown as "pathed as electric multiple unit" 

As I write, there is a 22:00 Swindon - Temple Meads shown on Journeycheck (although RTT shows it as 21:57 !). It is 1Z74 and is signalled out of P3.

[grahame]

07:41 this (Saturday 19th) morning:

Cancellations to services on all routes

Due to severe weather:
Train services running across the whole Great Western Railway network will be cancelled. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Customer Advice
Work continues to clear debris from the tracks, and move trains and staff to where they need to be to safely run our planned timetable.
-
However, the extent of the work and the fact that hundreds of miles of track needs to be safety checked, means that train services will continue to be significantly disrupted today, Saturday 19 February.
-
We continue to advise customers not to travel at this time.
-
No trains will operate on the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) network until at least 10:00 - with the majority of services not returning until the afternoon.
-
Services in Devon and Cornwall have been particularly affected and will not run until at least 13:00.
-
We're sorry for the continued disruption to our services. Our teams are working hard to get trains running safely again as soon as possible.
-
Please check the latest situation before attempting to travel.
-
Ticket easements:
-
Tickets dated for travelon Saturday 19 February will be valid for travel later on Saturday 19, Sunday 20 or Monday 21 February.
-
Customers are strongly advised to delay their journey until later in the day or considertravelling on Sunday or Monday instead.
-

[grahame]

Actually NOT as bad as GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) made out ... first train called at Melksham this morning at 08:05 (the 08:00 running just five minutes late), so "No trains will operate on the GWR network until at least 10:00" is a bit OTT^▸ (Open Train Times website). But advice to check ahead for the rest of the day  in 100% sensible.

[Robin Summerhill]

Bit of a turn up for the book Graham

The only trains running through Chippenham until at least Mid morning are the Transwilts services 

[TaplowGreen]

Spoke to a pal this morning who is a radiotherapy technician at a London hospital, he travelled to work early yesterday on the trains that were running and later found out that everything had ground to a halt.

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) wouldn't help him with a taxi and had nothing else to offer, he considered the Tube to Heathrow but no joy there and nothing Waterloo to Reading.

Was looking like a hotel but then recalled a bus that runs from Kensington to Slough, and managed to get it, although it was a tortuous journey home.

Notwithstanding any churlish comments about those like my friend who found themselves stranded being the authors of their own misfortune, I'd like to thank those essential workers like him who made the effort for doing so, and ensuring that urgent medical procedures and the like were able to go ahead.

Hopefully this will only be a once in a decade/decades event.

I've had a single roofing tile slip a bit but that seems to be the extent of the damage inflicted on me by Eunice (so far!), I hope everyone else has come through unscathed.

[broadgage]

Spoke to a pal this morning who is a radiotherapy technician at a London hospital, he travelled to work early yesterday on the trains that were running and later found out that everything had ground to a halt.

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) wouldn't help him with a taxi and had nothing else to offer, he considered the Tube to Heathrow but no joy there and nothing Waterloo to Reading.

Was looking like a hotel but then recalled a bus that runs from Kensington to Slough, and managed to get it, although it was a tortuous journey home.

Notwithstanding any churlish comments about those like my friend who found themselves stranded being the authors of their own misfortune, I'd like to thank those essential workers like him who made the effort for doing so, and ensuring that urgent medical procedures and the like were able to go ahead.

Hopefully this will only be a once in a decade/decades event.

I've had a single roofing tile slip a bit but that seems to be the extent of the damage inflicted on me by Eunice (so far!), I hope everyone else has come through unscathed.

This experience, does in my view support my earlier remarks about the considerable importance of providing local trains to and within urban areas, in order that essential workers may get to work, and home again. My earlier remark mentioned doctors specifically, but could reasonably be understood to include "and other healthcare workers"

[IndustryInsider]

IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion) it was clearly the correct decision to suspend services yesterday afternoon during a storm of such a rare intensity.  There were just too many risks, borne out by the clips shared earlier in this thread and elsewhere online.  The death toll so far seems mercifully low thankfully.

[grahame]

I've had a single roofing tile slip a bit but that seems to be the extent of the damage inflicted on me by Eunice (so far!), I hope everyone else has come through unscathed.

Slightly embarrassed here - every storm has a silver lining.   Only a few twigs down and everything else tied down ahead of time.   However, the weather was so awful that Lulu and Lightning wanted to get back in having popped out to answer the call of nature in the garden, and it seems that nervous Lightning forgot (and has forgotten this morning, too) that he does not like to pass people at the door as he comes inside.   Should make it much easier to close the door in future.

[old original]

St Ives started at 07.30. Falmouth started 10.15

[Robin Summerhill]

This experience, does in my view support my earlier remarks about the considerable importance of providing local trains to and within urban areas, in order that essential workers may get to work, and home again. My earlier remark mentioned doctors specifically, but could reasonably be understood to include "and other healthcare workers"

You do of course realise that 387s, and indeed anything else, finds it veey difficult to step over a fallen tree.

And I wouldn't like to be the magaer that sent his staff out into that lot with chain saws, although they might be a little help to cut up the second tree that fell, this time on them. Would you do the sending out or the job itself?

Sometimes things aren't that straightforward...

[johnneyw]

I tip my hat to the commercial jet pilots making landings today in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom). There's some great videos on YouTube and social media, particularly from Heathrow. Pilots certainly earning their money today.

Minor claim to fame.....wasn't today, but the Captain of this plane is my cousin, he decided to go around again and  took over control from the pilot.

https://youtu.be/Z7JKt0jwuXc

That would have spilt my in flight gin and tonic!  
There was an article that I watched yesterday about the Big Jet TV YouTube channel.  
The chap who runs it has a roof mounted TV camera and tripod arrangement on his commercial van from where he films and comments on the planes landing from his vantage point near the runway.
He's had an interesting few days.

[eightonedee]

Out of interest - does anyone know whether the (apparently) over-engineered OHL^▸ (Over-Head Line) on the GW^▸ (Great Western) Main Line all stayed in place during the storm, damage by falling trees or other structures excepted?

[Surrey 455]

Still no services on SWR^» (South Western Railway - about).

https://www.southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey

Storm Eunice Severe Disruption
Last updated at 12:20

What's going on
Due to severe weather all lines are blocked. Train services running across the whole South Western Railway network may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

What we're doing about it

Winds of over 90 miles per hour have caused over 40 fallen trees to block routes across our network, and our patrol teams are continuing to find and remove trees on key lines this morning.

While we are working hard to run as many services as we safely can, we strongly advise you not to travel on our network until further notice. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that we’re able to get you to where you need to be, as replacement services will not be available on certain routes.

We're sorry for the disruption that this is causing, and thank you for your patience as we deal with the severe impact of Storm Eunice and work to restore services as soon as possible.

 

Tickets for travel today will be accepted on Sunday 20th and Monday 21st February. If you are travelling on an advanced ticket on Sunday 20th and Monday 21st February, please try to travel at a similar time to your original booking. Please note engineering works are also taking place on the South Western Railway network this weekend and a number of replacement buses are in operation. You can find further information on this here: www.southwesternrailway.com/engineering

[JayMac]

Still no services on SWR^» (South Western Railway - about).

There have been some trains between Axminster and Basingstoke/Waterloo since first thing.

[Electric train]

Out of interest - does anyone know whether the (apparently) over-engineered OHL^▸ (Over-Head Line) on the GW^▸ (Great Western) Main Line all stayed in place during the storm, damage by falling trees or other structures excepted?

The structures being affected by high winds is rare, although TTC (twin track cantilever) suffer from high win loading, the wire even on the GW can get blown out of gauge in high winds.  The biggest risk to OLE^▸ (Overhead Line Equipment, more often "OHLE") is objects carried in high winds, plastic sheeting etc, that get caught up in the wires