Black Bridge, Nuneham: southern abutment failure

[whole diary]

[ray951]

This thread has been extracted and regrouped from several others including
http://www.passenger.chat/14689 - Infrastructure problems in Thames Valley causing disruption elsewhere - ongoing, since Oct 2014
once the severity of the isse became apparent

The bridge over the Thames between Culham and Radley now appears to have a temporary speed limit of 5mph. This is adding about 4 minutes to each journey.

Hopefully that won't be lowered to 0mph before the work has finished.

Edit to add introductory paragraph - grahame

[ray951]

Seems like I spoke to soon as the bridge at Culham has now been closed.

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are saying for rest of the day (3rd April), but I would like to know if that is realistic and is it really going to be longer?

Passengers from Didcot to Oxford asked to catch local buses.

[IndustryInsider]

Could be weeks apparently!

[grahame]

Could be weeks apparently!

Oops!

Advice on Cross Country from National Rail:

Urgent repairs to a bridge between Reading and Oxford means all lines are blocked. As a result of this, trains running between these stations may be cancelled, delayed or suspended. 
Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Customer Advice:

CrossCountry
To assist with your journey, you may use your ticket on the following at no extra cost:
Avanti West Coast via any reasonable route
Chiltern Railways via any reasonable route
London Underground via any reasonable route
London Northwestern Railway via any reasonable route
South Western Railway between Bournemouth and London Waterloo

Interesting that no cross-availability on GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) ... So if I have a Bounemouth to Oxford advanced ticket (are there such things?  I must travel Bournemouth to Southampton on an XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) train, but I can then use SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) to Waterloo, tube to Marylebone, and Chiltern to Oxford.   Not allowed to use XC from Bournemouth as far as they are running and the GWR to Didcot and bus to Oxford.

[nickswift99]

Due to urgent repairs to a bridge between Didcot Parkway and Oxford all lines are closed.
Impact:
Train services running through these stations will be cancelled or suspended between Didcot Parkway and Oxford. All stations between Didcot Parkway and Oxford will not be served. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

There appears to be an attempt to get RRB^▸ (Rail Replacement Bus) going. Cross Country Trains look like they're being turned at Reading and Birmingham.

[IndustryInsider]

Half term means buses are easier to get hold of thankfully!  As mentioned on another thread it could be a closure of a couple of weeks.

[grahame]

Their is major freight through there too ...  diversion via Greenford, or via Cheltenham, or something else??

[ray951]

Could be weeks apparently!

Oops!

Advice on Cross Country from National Rail:

Urgent repairs to a bridge between Reading and Oxford means all lines are blocked. As a result of this, trains running between these stations may be cancelled, delayed or suspended. 
Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Customer Advice:

CrossCountry
To assist with your journey, you may use your ticket on the following at no extra cost:
Avanti West Coast via any reasonable route
Chiltern Railways via any reasonable route
London Underground via any reasonable route
London Northwestern Railway via any reasonable route
South Western Railway between Bournemouth and London Waterloo

Interesting that no cross-availability on GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) ... So if I have a Bounemouth to Oxford advanced ticket (are there such things?  I must travel Bournemouth to Southampton on an XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) train, but I can then use SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) to Waterloo, tube to Marylebone, and Chiltern to Oxford.   Not allowed to use XC from Bournemouth as far as they are running and the GWR to Didcot and bus to Oxford.

Could that be because they are hoping to run Bournemouth to Didcot, like they were on Sunday? Although looks like only Bournemouth to Reading at the moment.

Even if they didn't run to Didcot, I would be tempted to catch XC to Reading then bus to Oxford, especially as the extra cost would only be £2. Going via London would be mad.

[ReWind]

Their is major freight through there too ...  diversion via Greenford, or via Cheltenham, or something else??

Container traffic to/from Southampton (which makes up a large portion of freight traffic over the route in question) is being diverted via Reading, Acton Wells and the WCML^▸ (West Coast Main Line) to its onward destination.

Colas are sending their traffic via Bristol and Bromsgrove.  Not sure about DB^» (Deutsche Bahn - German State Railway - about) yet.

Other traffic such as Stone traffic to/from Oxford Parkway and car traffic to/from Morris Cowley will cease for the immediate future.

This is all short term, quick fix stuff.  No doubt a more concrete plan will emerge once more details about the situation and longevity come clear.

[paul7575]

No doubt a more concrete plan will emerge once more details about the situation and longevity come clear.

I expect a “more concrete plan” might be a big part of the fix for the Thames abutments too…

[ray951]

Local press now suggesting that it will be closed for at least 3 weeks for temporary repairs.

[BBM]

From the 'Oxford Clarion' on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/OxfordClarion/status/1642904141495169024

The Oxford–Didcot railway line is likely to be closed for up to three weeks due to the failure of Nuneham Viaduct over the Thames. The speed limit was reduced to 20mph in January, 5mph last week, then closed entirely today, with the line said to be “sinking” into the ground.

One of the brick arches is understood to have undergone severe subsidence, causing a dip in the track. Monitoring equipment, installed recently, showed today that the line is no longer safe. All GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) and CrossCountry services between Oxford and Didcot/Reading have been cancelled.

Tickets are valid on Chiltern services from Oxford to London Marylebone, on Thames Travel X2/X32 buses, and on the Stagecoach S6 to Swindon. A reopening date has not been announced but mid/late April is being suggested informally. Full repairs are expected to take months.

[paul7575]

From the 'Oxford Clarion' on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/OxfordClarion/status/1642904141495169024

The Oxford–Didcot railway line is likely to be closed for up to three weeks due to the failure of Nuneham Viaduct over the Thames. The speed limit was reduced to 20mph in January, 5mph last week, then closed entirely today, with the line said to be “sinking” into the ground.

One of the brick arches is understood to have undergone severe subsidence, causing a dip in the track. Monitoring equipment, installed recently, showed today that the line is no longer safe. All GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) and CrossCountry services between Oxford and Didcot/Reading have been cancelled.

Tickets are valid on Chiltern services from Oxford to London Marylebone, on Thames Travel X2/X32 buses, and on the Stagecoach S6 to Swindon. A reopening date has not been announced but mid/late April is being suggested informally. Full repairs are expected to take months.

I’m assuming “one of the brick arches” either means one of the land abutments or the river pier, I think there are only 3 in total?   The river pier is an arch structure along the line of the river, but I haven’t seen a view of anywhere else.  So presumably if it’s the river pier timescales will be more significant?

Paul

[Mark A]

Colas are sending their traffic via Bristol and Bromsgrove.  Not sure about DB^» (Deutsche Bahn - German State Railway - about) yet.

Freight + the Lickey incline in the present day: what does that involve please, anyone?

Mark

[Richard Fairhurst]

I'm guessing it's the abutments on the southern side of the bridge - that's where the NR^» (Network Rail - home page) work team seemed to be when I passed that way last week. But I may be wrong.