Colwall station - facilities, services, events and incidents (merged posts)

[whole diary]

[Worcester_Passenger]

The badgers are being blamed again.

Hmm ... what they say is "Network Rail said the hole emerged on Monday in Colwall next to one believed to have been caused by badgers." which doesn't actually blame the badgers.  If it did, it would be rather like taking you to court because your neighbour has been caught fiddling his taxes 

You're obviously better at reading the small print!   

Badgers R innocent OK.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Indeed! 

From news coverage of that previous incident back in June 2012, from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Railway hole caused by 'water build-up'

A hole which appeared by a Herefordshire railway line, causing services to be cancelled, was caused by a build-up of water, Network Rail said.

...

Network Rail said engineers were at the scene to look into where the surplus water had come from.

A theory the hole was caused by badgers was speculation, the spokesman said.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Malvern Gazette:

It^s the mighty hole that stopped trains


HOLE: This five-metre opening appeared at Colwall station after Monday^s floods.

A deep hole which appeared under the tracks of the Colwall railway station stopped train services for two days.

Appearing on Monday morning after a month^s worth of rainfall fell in just a day, it opened up just a few paces from where a similar hole had appeared at the end of June.

The more recent hole has now been repaired, but a speed limit has been put in place while the repair is monitored.

On Monday morning, London Midland was forced to suspend all its services while the hole was inspected, with trains having to terminate at Great Malvern rather than carry on through to Hereford.

The hole at Colwall, just one station along from Ledbury, was inspected by Network Rail engineers who dug out the ballast and traced the cause to a collapsed 250mm clay pipe.

In breaking, the pipe had been discharging water into the immediate area and washing away the ballast under the track causing a hole to form.

The hole had originally measured about half a metre but grew to five metres as engineers dug 2.5m to 3m down to locate the problem.

Repairs were made using concrete sleepers with drainage laid on top and the ballast and track had to be reinstated.

Train services restarted on Wednesday (26) morning with the first service, the 4.29am Hereford to Ledbury, arriving three minutes early at Ledbury.

Full services are expected to operate ^ though a 20mph speed restriction has been placed on the line, which normally operates at 70mph, while the repairs are monitored.

A hole had previously appeared on the track in June but National Rail spokesman John Baker said they were confident they had now resolved the problem, permanently.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Ledbury Reporter:

Train services disrupted through Malvern and Ledbury

UPDATE 4.38pm: It is understood that services are back to normal on the line.

Rail services through Malvern and Ledbury are being disrupted after a hole reappeared in the line at Colwall.

The hole, near the railway station, appeared following over 12 hours of heavy rain in the area.

A hole in the track first appeared at the end of June after heavy rain, but was repaired the following day.

It reappeared in the last week of September after a month's rain fell in seven days. It caused train services to be stopped for two days.

The hole has been blamed on a broken drainage pipe which caused the ballast to be washed away.

The London Midland website says today: "Train services running through these stations may be delayed or revised at short notice. An estimate for the resumption of normal services will be provided as soon as the problem has been fully assessed."

[Chris from Nailsea]

An update, from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Hereford to Malvern rail line is 'safe' despite disruptions by new hole appearing

A railway track has been called "safe" by Network Rail, despite a hole appearing underneath it.

Trains between Great Malvern and Hereford were disrupted for the third time in six months after a hole appeared under the track on Thursday.

John Baker of Network Rail said "further remedial work" will be carried out in the future, but trains are running now at normal line speed. He said the hole at Colwall, Malvern was due to a collapsed drainage pipe.

Mr Baker said: "Last night the problem wasn't as bad as it had been before, but it's in the same place. It's safe, unless it falls in again^ You can't predict these things."

He said that future work would be done overnight and possibly at weekends to save disrupting rail services.

A collapsed pipe caused a "very deep hole" at Colwall in September. In June heavy rain caused another hole there. On Thursday night, engineers carried out remedial work on the line where the ballast had gone and continued to assess the damage.

Network Rail is waiting for survey results to find out when further work can be carried out.

[SandTEngineer]

Hereford to Malvern rail line is 'safe' despite disruptions by new hole appearing

Mr Baker said: "Last night the problem wasn't as bad as it had been before, but it's in the same place. It's safe, unless it falls in again^ You can't predict these things."

Remind me not to travel on that line..............

[Chris from Nailsea]

Yes, I didn't like to draw attention to it, but that did strike me as a rather inappropriate comment from a Network Rail spokesman ... 

[grahame]

The neighbours are keeping an eye on the embankment, and will let Network Rail know if there's an issue.



Picture by "BadgerHero"  and reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

[TonyK]

I have friends in Malvern, and was about to visit. Where's the car key?

[Worcester_Passenger]

From JourneyCheck on Saturday 2012 November 10:

06:17 Hereford to London Paddington due 09:29
This train will be started from Colwall.
This train will no longer call at Hereford and Ledbury.
This is due to a train fault.
Additional Information:
Road transport will operate from Hereford & Ledbury direct to Worcester Shrub Hill.
Message Received :10/11/2012 05:33

Is this the first time that a train has started its journey at Colwall?

[chuffed]

It would appear that the black and white furry creatures who are reputed to inhabit the area have 'badgered' the operators to assist their attempts to become commuters.....

[Worcester_Passenger]

Given that FirstGroup grew out of the merger involving the old Badgerline bus company, perhaps this represents a return to their roots (or routes)?

[Chris from Nailsea]

Or perhaps the set answer isn't so black and white ... 

[grahame]

Amongst the rarer places that FGW^▸ (First Great Western) trains have started from / terminate at are ...

Worthing
Tiverton Parkway
Highbridge & Burnham
Bradford-on-Avon
Dawlish
Hanborough
Blackwater
Crediton
St Austell
Ledbury
Cholsey
Barnham

(That's part of my list of places I have had to add on to the cancellation report image data file).  It shows the planned places though ... trains terminate just about anywhere in an emergency - even Pilning.

First train starting at Colwall?   Well - the timetables have never been changed except in the very short / operation decision phase to start there to my knowledge.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Malvern Gazette:

More repairs needed for rail trouble spot

More repairs are likely on a troublesome railway line which has collapsed for the third time in six months.

In what is turning into a recurring nightmare for some rail passengers, there were fresh disruptions on the Worcester to Hereford line at Colwall station after a hole opened up in the rock ballast supporting the metal track sections.

The same problem held up rail services when it first occurred in June, and for a second time in September, as previously reported in your Malvern Gazette.

Then last Thursday another hole was reported by train drivers. Services were stopped, but after an inspection by Network Rail engineers services were allowed along the stretch but under a 50mph speed limit.

In September, Network Rail engineers dug out a section of the stone ballast to uncover what was on that occasion the culprit ^ a broken underground water pipe. Repairing the pipe at the time engineers said they were confident it was a ^permanent fix^ but the problem has now re-occurred.

In this latest appearance, heavy rainfall fell in the hours before the hole emerged.

A Network Rail spokesman said: ^There may have been a further collapse of the drainage pipe under the track at Colwall station. Engineers have surveyed the section and are doing further investigative work, which may need more work.

^The hope is any further work will be able to be carried out overnight and at the weekend. It^s an ongoing problem that^s not been solved ^ hopefully the work we now do will lead to a solution.^