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Chaos at Eastbourne this afternoon (04/11)

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TrainGeekUK

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Looks like the rush hour services at Eastbourne are in disarray this evening due to a major signalling systems failure.

Walking through the station about ten minutes ago and it's a full house of cancelled services on the boards. No services Eastbourne - Hastings/Brighton and London services terminating at Polegate.

What would cause such a major meltdown of such signalling systems?
 
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tsr

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Failure of 3 signalling control modules at Three Bridges ROC. These basically control the interlocking of the signalling between Hampden Park and Eastbourne. Not a quick fix as replacement components are proving elusive.
 

TrainGeekUK

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Services still suspended into the late evening.... the buses are crammed along the south coast tonight...
 

AndrewE

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At least the WCML has avoided chaos for once.
but Shrewsbury hasn't:
A fault with the signalling system at Shrewsbury is causing disruption at this station. Trains may be cancelled or delayed by up to 15 minutes.

Disruption is expected until the end of the day.
Alternative travel advice:
West Midlands Railway
You may use your ticket on the following services:
  • London Northwestern Railway between Birmingham - Wolverhampton - Stafford - Crewe, to connect with Transport for Wales services to Shrewsbury
  • Transport for Wales between Shrewsbury - Crewe to connect with London Northwestern Railway services to/from Wolverhampton & Birmingham
  • Transport for Wales between Shrewsbury - Birmingham New Street. Please note Transport for Wales services are full and standing.
 

RichardKing

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Absolute chaos at Polegate, with limited buses being sourced and peak-time services from London starting to arrive. BTP are at the station.
 

RichardKing

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The train stuck in the down platform at Hampden Park (what was 2G35) has now departed, just under 5 hours late! Could be a sign of a fix.

EDIT: scratch that - the train is shunting from the down to up to head up to Brighton presumably. Still no trains via Eastbourne.
 

TrainGeekUK

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I'm guessing if this isn't resolved soon tomorrow morning could be awkward with trains all over the place in the wrong positions...
 

RichardKing

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I'm guessing if this isn't resolved soon tomorrow morning could be awkward with trains all over the place in the wrong positions...

Only one 4 377 at Eastbourne currently, so that could make for a very interesting morning peak if they can't get anymore units down tonight!
 
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If my train time app is correct and they've been stopping the shuttle at Pevensey Bay it must be the most frequent stopping service it's had for decades!
 

tsr

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Absolute chaos at Polegate, with limited buses being sourced and peak-time services from London starting to arrive. BTP are at the station.

In one way or another, GTR have used basically every rail replacement bus in their area over the last 10 days or so, and particularly the last 24 hours. It was pretty much impossible to source any more for this incident.

"Eggs in one basket"

No more than if the interlocking was renewed but kept local. And, in this case, having it located centrally was something which meant it was fixed more quickly, as replacement components were put on trains which were still running and transferred that way. Had the defective components been at Eastbourne, replacements would have been transported by road in the evening peak, and you’d be looking at a few hours of disruption yet.

Looks like the line is about to reopen.

The issue has been resolved for now, yes. Hopefully the system won’t do the same thing again.
 

Bald Rick

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"Eggs in one basket"

The nature of the failure is such that the same operational implications would have occurred regardless of where the interlocking is located. Indeed because control is centralised, response and fix time is much quicker.

No more than if the interlocking was renewed but kept local. And, in this case, having it located centrally was something which meant it was fixed more quickly, as replacement components were put on trains which were still running and transferred that way. Had the defective components been at Eastbourne, replacements would have been transported by road in the evening peak, and you’d be looking at a few hours of disruption yet.

Perfect answer 10/10 go to the top of the class.
 

Hophead

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There has also been a broken rail between Three Bridges and Gatwick effectively closing the up fast since midday.
 

RichardKing

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In one way or another, GTR have used basically every rail replacement bus in their area over the last 10 days or so, and particularly the last 24 hours. It was pretty much impossible to source any more for this incident.

In which case, there needs to be much better communication between GTR and bus companies such as Stagecoach. The Southern social media team were claiming that Stagecoach were accepting tickets, whilst there were many reports (including my first-hand experience) of the drivers not being aware of this ticket acceptance and, as such, charging full fare. I'm aware that this is a Stagecoach issue, but it simply isn't good enough. If GTR are to claim that ticket acceptance is in place, they must make sure that this is 100% accurate.
 

hwl

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In which case, there needs to be much better communication between GTR and bus companies such as Stagecoach. The Southern social media team were claiming that Stagecoach were accepting tickets, whilst there were many reports (including my first-hand experience) of the drivers not being aware of this ticket acceptance and, as such, charging full fare. I'm aware that this is a Stagecoach issue, but it simply isn't good enough. If GTR are to claim that ticket acceptance is in place, they must make sure that this is 100% accurate.
How do the bus companies advise their drivers that ticket acceptance is in place?
Ticket acceptance may have been arranged with Stagecoach but if they can't get the message out that is hardly GTR's fault...
 

Robertj21a

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In which case, there needs to be much better communication between GTR and bus companies such as Stagecoach. The Southern social media team were claiming that Stagecoach were accepting tickets, whilst there were many reports (including my first-hand experience) of the drivers not being aware of this ticket acceptance and, as such, charging full fare. I'm aware that this is a Stagecoach issue, but it simply isn't good enough. If GTR are to claim that ticket acceptance is in place, they must make sure that this is 100% accurate.

Quite agree. There's also no reason at all for Stagecoach (or any other bus operator) to accept train passengers on their buses without further payment. If, as you say, GTR are claiming it's been agreed then it can only become effective once the bus drivers are notified.
 

Steddenm

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How do the bus companies advise their drivers that ticket acceptance is in place?
Ticket acceptance may have been arranged with Stagecoach but if they can't get the message out that is hardly GTR's fault...

Most bus companies there days have radios or smartphones that they can send a message to drivers through. I know Brighton & Hove do. Not sure about Stagecoach South Coast.
 

hwl

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Most bus companies there days have radios or smartphones that they can send a message to drivers through. I know Brighton & Hove do. Not sure about Stagecoach South Coast.
Which relies on a driver reading a message or listening to radio / being in range.
 

AndrewE

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Which is outside GTR control...
but public transport will only be successful if it works, and if one party doesn't bother to deliver then they both fail.

Which relies on a driver reading a message or listening to radio / being in range.
Isn't it up to the bus company to choose their communications and motivate their staff so that it all works in their part of the country? That's what small locally-focussed business units are supposed to excel at, after all....
 

David57

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When I was with Stagecoach a couple of years ago, the ticket machines on all the individual depots buses could be sent a text message that was quite easy to see on the screen when issuing tickets........
 

Robertj21a

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Which is outside GTR control...

Yes, of course it must be. That doesn't alter the fact that it can only become effective once the bus drivers are notified. From the train passenger's point of view he might expect a seamless transfer, but there's no guarantee of it when you are dealing with different companies, possibly with different priorities.
 

Snow1964

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Which is outside GTR control...

But there is a difference between GTR telling people it has been agreed, and currently in process of notifying the individual bus drivers

More a failure of communicating correct message, until confirmed notification received.
Can't really assume a text or whatsapp message will be read whilst driving, that is just stupidity by GTR
 

nickswift99

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But there is a difference between GTR telling people it has been agreed, and currently in process of notifying the individual bus drivers

More a failure of communicating correct message, until confirmed notification received.
Can't really assume a text or whatsapp message will be read whilst driving, that is just stupidity by GTR

Bus drivers don't need to read a message while driving. They just need to look at a device when stopped at a railway station bus stop where a passenger is claiming that ticket acceptance is in place. This should take seconds and for most occasions, would likely only need to be done once.
 
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