Weather disruption Sunday 17th July and following few days

[MikeWM]

Because you have to get there and back and there is every possibility of things falling apart very quickly.

I was in the office (in Cambridge) on 25th July 2019, the day of the current record temperature (set in Cambridge ) Yes, I did get home (on a train), but as I recall there was significant disruption by the evening and I recall sitting on Cambridge station in high-30sC for quite a while waiting for one, as thunder rumbled around in the background.

I'll be working from home Monday-Tuesday next week - but I do have an aircon unit at home

I think this is another case where it would be better to just give up trying to run anything at all in most of England between say 1100 and 2000 on both Monday and Tuesday. As I said back when storm Eunice hit, I generally despair at the current attitude of more-or-less giving up at the slightest hint of severe weather, but like Eunice, this looks pretty certain now to be a extremely unusual and very severe event and it would be better to set expectations accordingly. If people get stuck on a train in over 40C heat in direct sun, and it seems inevitable that will happen somewhere, that is very quickly going to become a serious emergency.

 

[Bald Rick]

I understood you to say there is a procedure for setting the stress free temperature, and various reasons why it can end up being different to that target temperature. How common is it for them to immediately know the stress free temperature is not what they were aiming for, or to learn later? If they were a few workers down does that make it more likely to not meet the target, could they be sent back if their managers know it was not met?

ah, I see.

If you are stressing the rail, you invariably stress it to 27C. (There are a few exceptions, but not really worth explaining). As part of any rail installation, the SFT of the rail should be recorded. If the rail is being stressed and for some reason doesn’t reach 27C, then it will need correcting when there is sufficient time to do so Without unduly affecting services.

The various local factors I mentioned up thread affect the Critical Rail Temperature (CRT) which is a diferent concept to the SFT, albeit related to it.

 

[Bletchleyite]

There certainly needs to be a modified take on disruption. With a thinned service, if it looks like things are going to collapse all trains should be instructed to stop at a platform and release the doors, using local door if necessary, rather than letting them stack up on plain line. This was policy for a while on the WCML, e.g. I saw a Pendolino with doors released at Tring, but seems to have gone very quiet.

 

[Starmill]

I know that it has been hinted at above, but it's worth noting that the Met Office have now issued a red warning for a large part of England on Monday and Tuesday, which is the highest category.

 

[Horizon22]

We're at a unprecedented Red warning for the UK, with the potential for the highest EVER temperature reached. Obviously these events are becoming more likely due to climate change (as indeed are the severity of winter storms on the flipside), and I think on Monday & Tuesday especially it's inevitable there will be widespread delays and alterations simply because the threshold temperature is far beyond what the railway could cope with.

We also need to remember that passengers and indeed staff will need to take a lot of care in temperatures approaching 40C.

 

[martin2345uk]

Can’t wait to drive a class 66 on Monday and Tuesday. Not.

Still not even allowed to wear shorts.

 

[westv]

Can’t wait to drive a class 66 on Monday and Tuesday. Not.

Still not even allowed to wear shorts.

Would anybody know?

 

[philthetube]

Can’t wait to drive a class 66 on Monday and Tuesday. Not.

Still not even allowed to wear shorts.

Wear a skirt, sorted. assuming ladies are allowed to.

 

[jkkne]

Could they not maintain the normal frequency between Newcastle and Edinburgh? Not everywhere in the UK is going to be that hot

Newcastle is forecast to peak at 25c and Edinburgh at 27c, there seems little reason to reduce the service drastically between the North East of England and Scotland

 

[dk1]

Blanket 60mph across Greater Anglia Monday & Tuesday between 12:00-20:00 with only direct Liverpool St services being those from Norwich, Cambridge, Stansted & Southend. All others will operate as a shuttle connecting with these services. Regional routes to operate as normal as possible.

 

[JonathanH]

Same here, why sit at home in 35-40 degree heat when I can go into the office and have air conditioning.

A bit of a challenge if the high heat overloads the air conditioning units.

 

[martin2345uk]

Blanket 60mph across Greater Anglia Monday & Tuesday between 12:00-20:00 with only direct Liverpool St services being those from Norwich, Cambridge, Stansted & Southend. All others will operate as a shuttle connecting with these services. Regional routes to operate as normal as possible.

Where have you seen that..? I thought BESRs were now being posted on Network Rail's "ESR Database" site, but I can't see anything about Monday or Tuesday on there?

 

[TheBigD]

Can’t wait to drive a class 66 on Monday and Tuesday. Not.

Still not even allowed to wear shorts.

Mankini allowed?

 

[dk1]

Where have you seen that..? I thought BESRs were now being posted on Network Rail's "ESR Database" site, but I can't see anything about Monday or Tuesday on there?

Internal email mate.

 

[martin2345uk]

Internal email mate.

Ah sorry I realise you said Greater Anglia, rather than Anglia Route which is what I took it as.

 

[dk1]

Ah sorry I realise you said Greater Anglia, rather than Anglia Route which is what I took it as.

No worries. It's a reduced service to on those routes out of Liverpool St too which I forgot to mention.

 

[TrainGeekUK]

Service Updates

Check for service cancellations, engineering works and other possible disruptions on your Southern route.

www.southernrailway.com

GTR have advised against non essential travel. Gatwick Express has gone Monday and Tuesday.

 

[SuperLuke2334]

TfW have released their statement advising against non essential travel.

Transport for Wales issue travel advice for extreme heat

Transport for Wales (TfW) and Network Rail are asking customers to check before they travel on public transport with hot weather likely to cause disruption and affect travelling conditions.

news.tfw.wales

 

[James H]

Major reductions to Thameslink services - no Sutton trains at all.

Canal Tunnel closed - no Thameslink via Finsbury Park.

 

[Suraggu]

Chiltern Railways have now updated advice advising customers not to travel.

 

[TrainGeekUK]

I would imagine that potentially Wednesday could be disrupted too given the threat of storms and a thundery breakdown of this heat.
I can’t see a full service happening.

 

[43055]

Details are showing on EMR's and Cross Country website for Monday/Tuesday:

EMR:
1ph London to Sheffield
1ph London to Nottingham
1ph Kettering to Corby shuttle

Regional as normal as possible.

Cross Country:
1ph Birmingham - Leicester with two hourly to Stanstead
1ph Birmingham - Nottingham
1ph Manchester - Reading dropping to two hourly from 1100
1ph Bristol - Leeds dropping to two hourly from 1100
limited services to Plymouth and between Newcastle and Edinburgh. No mention of services to Cardiff, Bournemouth and between Leeds and Newcastle.

 

[66701GBRF]

Ah sorry I realise you said Greater Anglia, rather than Anglia Route which is what I took it as.

About 4 or 5 years ago there was a blanket ban to freight on the Anglia route between 1200-0800 for two days due to very hot temperatures. Given next week is even hotter I would be surprised if that didn't happen again.

 

[dk1]

About 4 or 5 years ago there was a blanket ban to freight on the Anglia route between 1200-0800 for two days due to very hot temperatures. Given next week is even hotter I would be surprised if that didn't happen again.

Did you mean to put 1800?

 

[66701GBRF]

Sorry no that was meant to be 2000.

 

[dk1]

Sorry no that was meant to be 2000.

 

[DorkingMain]

What restrictions are typically imposed?

In Victoria, Australia, usually between 1200 and 2000 only on days when the forecast maximum is 36 degrees or above, trains that normally operate at up to 160kmh (V/Line VLocity railcars: you might call these 'units') and locomotive -hauled trains (a declining number) that usually have a top speed of 115kmh are all restricted to 90kmh (obviously, some curves and line sections such as in Melbourne's suburbs can be lower irrespective of temperature).

It also operates by region: rarely is the whole state affected on the same day. Government-owned operator V/Line publishes 'heat timetables':

Extreme heat timetables

On hot days, some V/Line timetables change. Get extreme heat timetables here.

www.vline.com.au

To answer the point about claimed 'climate change', the worldwide climate has been altering naturally for thousands of years, and will continue to do so. Weather bureaus (including in my country) have altered historic data to make their leftist, alarmist claims look better. Our national newspaper 'The Australian' ran a series of articles on this fraud.

The climate altering naturally in cycles is based on orbital forcing, follows a very fixed pattern, is nothing to do with the current (and on a environmental timescale very rapid) change in climate.

I appreciate this is going massively off-topic but it is a point that needs to be made.

 

[XAM2175]

The climate altering naturally in cycles is based on orbital forcing, follows a very fixed pattern, is nothing to do with the current (and on a environmental timescale very rapid) change in climate.

I appreciate this is going massively off-topic but it is a point that needs to be made.

No, it's an entirely valid rebuttal.

 

[martin2345uk]

About 4 or 5 years ago there was a blanket ban to freight on the Anglia route between 1200-0800 for two days due to very hot temperatures. Given next week is even hotter I would be surprised if that didn't happen again.

Such a ban would be most welcome

 

[66701GBRF]

Such a ban would be most welcome

Lol I was just thinking the same thing as I typed it!