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Impact of Storm "Christoph" (January 2021)

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geoffk

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Nothing appears to be running between Rochdale and Halifax. Huddersfield - Bradford still running. I expect it will be the usual problems at Walsden, where the Walsden Water flows under the line just south of Winterbutlee Tunnel. Time for Network Rail, the Environment Agency and Calderdale Council to come up with a robust solution which doesn't involve putting everyone on to buses. The only mitigating factor is that there are few travelling at the moment. Requests to put the Summit West crossover, currently operated by a ground frame, on to Preston panel have repeatedly been made to NR over the years This would allow trains to get as far as Littleborough. Anyone know where the flooding is further towards Sowerby Bridge?
 
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ValleyLines142

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Gloucester to Newport is shut at the moment. Had to travel via Filton Abbey Wood to get to Cardiff for work this morning (surprisingly the Severn Tunnel is normal, usually that's the first to go down the pan when the bad weather arrives!). Delayed by over an hour but thankfully allowed extra time anyway. Sods law though, my last day in Cardiff for work (as I've moved to Gloucester) and on that day it all goes Pete Tong!!
 

unlevel42

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Sheffield/Rotherham:
Speed restrictions between Dore and Stockport
All tramtrain services cancelled and trains not calling at Rotherham Central showing *LB* on Traksy
Meadowhall Drive flood barrier is up(uses former railway embankment) and nearby covid test centre closed.
 
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Fokx

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Both Calder Valley and Greenfield lines are now blocked due to flooding

No service between Huddersfield/Leeds and Manchester via either line
 

driver9000

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Delays north of Preston due to flooding around Barton & Broughton loop. Passing multiple signals at danger and 5mph through the section.
 

Bald Rick

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Yesterday's disruption sounded quite serious - was it Storm Christophe related or something else ?

There have been issues with the signalling power south of Harpenden for a while; I think the wet weather exacerbated the issue.
 

unlevel42

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Anything at Dawlish which is usually the first to be affected?
There are Yellow warnings currently in place for wind in Cornwall and Devon
The more serious concern are the Amber warnings flooding for the Lancashire, southern Pennines, Peak and lower Trent
 

Lloyds siding

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On Merseyrail: no trains between Hall Road and Southport because of flooding round Formby. RRB in operation.
Services between Hooton and Chester suspended because of 'high water levels'.
 

73001

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On Merseyrail: no trains between Hall Road and Southport because of flooding round Formby. RRB in operation.
Services between Hooton and Chester suspended because of 'high water levels'.
The RRB on the Chester line is reported to be trapped in floodwater. Delays and cancellations between Southport and Wigan... it frequently floods around Parbold on this line.
 

HSTEd

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If weather does get more extreme I have to question the practicality and desirability of trying to sustain services on large parts of the network.
 

peters

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Northern seem to have suspended services on the Mid-Cheshire line as both the 16:41 Manchester to Chester and 17:02 Chester to Manchester are showing as cancelled - 2 hours until the next service, if they run due to their reduced COVID timetables!

I'm not sure where the problem is but I doubt they'll be any replacement buses as London Road in Northwich is flooded. (The railway line can't be flooded there as it runs on a viaduct over London Road and the River Weaver.)
 

CW2

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From RailCam:
Job stitched up at Weaver Jn. 70019 failed on 6H51 Hardendale - Tunstead a couple of hours ago - don't know whether it is storm related or not. Unfortunately it couldn't make it to Acton Bridge , and failed on the 2-track section. The up line is blocked, and has been for some time, with trains queueing. 0Z99 assistant loco en route from Crewe, shown at Hartford (but this may be incorrect as the signalling diagrams don't cope well with wrong-direction moves).

Meanwhile Crewe - Chester is also closed, so services are running via Middlewich / CLC.

EDIT WCML blocked at Hartford, flooding. That's why the 0Z99 assisting loco was delayed.
 

jfowkes

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NR posted this about a landslip at Newington in Kent:


Text of tweets:

We're sorry to say that despite working through the night, the landslip at #Newington has defeated our best efforts and we won't be able to get the railway open again today. The rain has kept up and continues to soak the spoil, which slips as fast as we can cart it away. /1

We're bringing more equipment to site now,on top of the digger you can see here working overnight, to reach further back into the slip and remove the soil that keeps sliding towards the railway. /2

The good news is this is what geotechnical engineers call a "transitional failure" which is effectively the failed top layer of soil surfing downhill on the lower layer. That means once we cart the spoil away and put a row of ballast bags in place to protect the line... /3

... we should be able to reopen it safely, and then come back later in the year to get a permanent fix in place. Some of the other slips we've seen in Kent in the past few years have been much deeper failures, which take longer to fix. /4
 

bengley

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Network Rail have revoked the authority to run passenger services on the London North Western North route for the rest of the day, anything running will only be to position it for service tomorrow
 

PG

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If weather does get more extreme I have to question the practicality and desirability of trying to sustain services on large parts of the network.
Reluctantly I have to agree. The resources required to defeat nature are disproportionate and so I think we should accept that there are going to be times when we need to delay our desire to travel whenever we wish.
 

Bletchleyite

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Reluctantly I have to agree. The resources required to defeat nature are disproportionate and so I think we should accept that there are going to be times when we need to delay our desire to travel whenever we wish.

Ah, I thought he was suggesting that we should close vast swathes of the network entirely, not just on this sort of day. My misunderstanding.
 

PHILIPE

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From RailCam:
Job stitched up at Weaver Jn. 70019 failed on 6H51 Hardendale - Tunstead a couple of hours ago - don't know whether it is storm related or not. Unfortunately it couldn't make it to Acton Bridge , and failed on the 2-track section. The up line is blocked, and has been for some time, with trains queueing. 0Z99 assistant loco en route from Crewe, shown at Hartford (but this may be incorrect as the signalling diagrams don't cope well with wrong-direction moves).

Meanwhile Crewe - Chester is also closed, so services are running via Middlewich / CLC.

EDIT WCML blocked at Hartford, flooding. That's why the 0Z99 assisting loco was delayed.

TFW 1I18 1148 Holyhead to Birmingham International was diverted from Chester via Crewe and Stafford due to flooding at Gobowen. I can't get a Chester departure time from RTT as it went off scheduled but I imagine it would have been 14xx. Anyway as I write now (1838) it still hasn't reached Crewe having just beaten the closure of the route.

UPDATE:- Now crept into Crewe and terminated
 
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Tomnick

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Part of the problem here is that, ahem, ‘certain TOCs’ have restrictions about running through floodwater over and above the requirements of the rule book.
Out of curiosity, who wears the extra delay minutes caused by TOC-specific instructions over and above the Rule Book requirements? Is there any prospect of such restrictions being challenged by other parties?
 

HSTEd

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Ah, I thought he was suggesting that we should close vast swathes of the network entirely, not just on this sort of day. My misunderstanding.

Reading the post again I see that there is scope to interpret it either way - is my glass half full and yours' half empty :E

Well I suppose the comment can be interpreted both ways!

There are many options available, I do wonder if we totted up how much it would cost to rebuild lines like Bleanau Ffestiniog for the next hundred years whether or not we could justify some very dramatic engineering to secure the line's future.
Is it better to patch it up over and over and over again, or build something orders of magnitude more expensive that will avoid that - assuming closure is politically untenable?
 

Bald Rick

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I do wonder if we totted up how much it would cost to rebuild lines like Bleanau Ffestiniog for the next hundred years whether or not we could justify some very dramatic engineering to secure the line's future.
Is it better to patch it up over and over and over again, or build something orders of magnitude more expensive that will avoid that - assuming closure is politically untenable?

A bus isn’t that dramatic in engineering terms.

Out of curiosity, who wears the extra delay minutes caused by TOC-specific instructions over and above the Rule Book requirements? Is there any prospect of such restrictions being challenged by other parties?

Good question. Reasonably sure it will land with the TOC.
 

HSTEd

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A bus isn’t that dramatic in engineering terms.

If it was politically tenable to replace the railway with a bus then it would already have happened. I think we have to chalk "replace with a bus" up as as untenable as closure.
 

Bald Rick

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If it was politically tenable to replace the railway with a bus then it would already have happened.

What is politically acceptable, or not, in the world of taxpayer funded transport is undergoing something of a seismic change...
 

Domh245

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Additionally, unless the Conwy valley has been being washed away for decades, it's one thing to argue bus replacement of an otherwise functional railway, and another to argue bus replacement for a line that is increasingly failing to cope
 

HSTEd

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Additionally, unless the Conwy valley has been being washed away for decades, it's one thing to argue bus replacement of an otherwise functional railway, and another to argue bus replacement for a line that is increasingly failing to cope

The really ironic thing is you could build a cablecar/reversible aerial tramway serving all stations and it would still beat the railway!
 
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