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Northern City Line disruption 19.07.19
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bb21
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Please do take great care when using abbreviations as my first impression thought you meant Newcastle.
My understanding was multiple overheads tripping in the area and 5V57 also failed in response to the trippings.
My understanding was multiple overheads tripping in the area and 5V57 also failed in response to the trippings.
DarloRich
Veteran Member
mralexn
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This is the information on the national rail enquiries website at the moment.
Can you tell me more about the incident?
Old Street
At 09:30 this morning Great Northern received reports from a train driver of a possible defect to the track at Old Street. An empty train was sent to investigate this issue and the driver reported that part of the rail had a crack in it. At 12:15 specialist engineers from Network Rail advised they have made a temporary repair. Great Northern are now working to move trains which are trapped from Moorgate so the service can resume.
Finsbury Park
There is currently an ongoing issue with the overhead power lines and services are heavily disrupted through Finsbury Park whilst Network Rail operatives work to identify and resolve the issue.
Can you tell me more about the incident?
Old Street
At 09:30 this morning Great Northern received reports from a train driver of a possible defect to the track at Old Street. An empty train was sent to investigate this issue and the driver reported that part of the rail had a crack in it. At 12:15 specialist engineers from Network Rail advised they have made a temporary repair. Great Northern are now working to move trains which are trapped from Moorgate so the service can resume.
Finsbury Park
There is currently an ongoing issue with the overhead power lines and services are heavily disrupted through Finsbury Park whilst Network Rail operatives work to identify and resolve the issue.
Dren Ahmeti
Member
Everything has to be diverted into Kings Cross and run back out ECS to FPK when Moorgate’s shut.
All Class 2’s have been held back from Sussex + Hertford, as there wasn’t platform capacity with the Moorgate closure (which has since reopened afaik), as the 717’s are having visibility issues with reversing at Drayton Park.
There’s also an issue with OHL tripping on the Up Slow between Finsbury Park and Kings Cross.
CCF is not a pretty sight at the moment...
All Class 2’s have been held back from Sussex + Hertford, as there wasn’t platform capacity with the Moorgate closure (which has since reopened afaik), as the 717’s are having visibility issues with reversing at Drayton Park.
There’s also an issue with OHL tripping on the Up Slow between Finsbury Park and Kings Cross.
CCF is not a pretty sight at the moment...
Dr_Paul
Established Member
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Can any driver here say what it's like to go over a cracked or broken rail, what sort of sound or feeling there might be that indicates there's something wrong with the rail?
Dren Ahmeti
Member
The report by the driver of 2V39 said that they saw a “reflection in their headlights” when departing from Old Street, and 5E15 confirmed it.
Goes some way to explaining why LNER aren't affected - since they don't use the slows - but also why GN have had to pare back as much as they have. If it had just been the Moorgate branch closed they'd probably have been OK-ish as diverting to Kings Cross or terminating at Finsbury Park is their usual fall-back, but to have an OHLE problem as well is really unlucky.
Looks like carnage. I’m heading into London from Stevenage - 8 consecutive fast trains cancelled on Thameslink:
1647
1702
1717
1732
1747
1802
1817
1832
1710, 1740 and 1840 semi fast operating (1810 cancelled).
Thankfully LNER still running.
Not at all good. NRE saying broken rail and shortage of train crew...
1647
1702
1717
1732
1747
1802
1817
1832
1710, 1740 and 1840 semi fast operating (1810 cancelled).
Thankfully LNER still running.
Not at all good. NRE saying broken rail and shortage of train crew...
bb21
Emeritus Moderator
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Fasts are probably taken out as part of the service plan to release capacity on the line.
Dren Ahmeti
Member
GN are struggling from a lack of drivers today, which has been exacerbated by drivers being displaced due to this disruption, but Control’s doing a pretty good job with trying to fix it - balancing what they can.
Delay minutes are into the thousands now, which is usually an indicator of a serious issue!
I dread to think how bad things would be if control weren’t doing a good job...
GTR have operated this franchise for almost FIVE years. They were short of drivers on day 1 and claim they’ve been operating the largest driver recruitment programme in railway history. Given this I don’t understand how after all this time they are still short of drivers.
GTR have operated this franchise for almost FIVE years. They were short of drivers on day 1 and claim they’ve been operating the largest driver recruitment programme in railway history. Given this I don’t understand how after all this time they are still short of drivers.
Dren Ahmeti
Member
Control do a fantastic job, for lack of credit they’re given...
If you actually read what I said, you’d understand why they’ve had issues today, and not just blaming GTR for it.
GTR Inners were suspended because the queue of trains on the Up Slow was stretching signal-to-signal back to the Ally Pally (Alexandra Palace) flyover.
Which would you rather?
Services cancelled and drivers taking their PNB’s or upwards of 10,000 passengers trapped on trains when they are reported failures due to the OHL tripping, and units failing due to that.
I get incidents happen, sometimes causing major disruption. I don’t doubt control do a good job in very difficult circumstances. I am grateful for that.
As a passenger what is annoying is the shortage of drivers which has been used regularly as a resin for cancellations for five years. That is what I find hard to understand.
As a passenger what is annoying is the shortage of drivers which has been used regularly as a resin for cancellations for five years. That is what I find hard to understand.
jagardner1984
Member
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Isn't the problem that the network is now run so intensively, that when disruption hits, you quickly run out of people as they are stuck in the wrong place, have worked too long and need a break, a relief has been missed and redeployed elsewhere, literally hundreds of reasons ...
In a period of disruption at my work the other day, its amazing how quickly all the spares have been deployed to various places, and control room are ringing round to find out who can go where now.
If the public want to pay the fares associated with having a large number of staff literally drinking tea awaiting a problem, I am sure TOCs and unions will be happy to oblige ....
In a period of disruption at my work the other day, its amazing how quickly all the spares have been deployed to various places, and control room are ringing round to find out who can go where now.
If the public want to pay the fares associated with having a large number of staff literally drinking tea awaiting a problem, I am sure TOCs and unions will be happy to oblige ....
This is true however GTR told us there was a shortage of train crew. If it was train crew in the wrong position then that's different and they wouldn't normally call out shortage of train crew as an additional reason.
We've had to put up with shortage of train crew as a reason for cancellation for five years....
bramling
Veteran Member
Another ShambolicSaturday/ with the departure board for Hitchin showing eight cancellations in the next two hours alone.
Did GTR not say they had sufficient drivers to run this timetable?
I've not travelled into London today but I will be travelling tomorrow. Sundays are usually worse than Saturdays when it comes to shortage of drivers so it doesn't bode well....
bramling
Veteran Member
Good luck. I will be driving in tomorrow. Fortunately today I had made arrangements to have car transport home, so my up journey in was a one-way trip. The train I was planning to take was cancelled (despite having been shewn as running when I walked out my front door just 7 minutes earlier), but I was able to take another train with no major hassle. The downside was I ended up on a 700 which wasn’t the original plan. ;-(
HamworthyGoods
Established Member
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Not being able to reverse at Drayton Park seems a bit cras. Relying on King’s Cross for both NCL and TL core diversions in times of disruption seems ambitious!
The 717s really have been appalling specified in terms of signal sighting! Order first, check sighting second...,
Dren Ahmeti
Member
2059 points at Drayton Park are signed out of use in reverse, until an indeterminate point (haha!) in the future, so that hampers any reversal moves at Drayton Park too.
To be fair my trains in and out of London today weren’t cancelled and ran to time.
Fair play to GTR, I submitted my delay repay claim when I got home on Friday evening, had an email this afternoon (Sunday) saying it had been approved and queued for payment. If only LNER could be as quick....
"Do you have enough drivers?" is one of the FAQs on their website. I'd say that if that's a question you're being asked frequently, the answer to it is obvious, and not the one they give.
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