gazthomas
Established Member
I doubt they have!
-
Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!
Cambrian Storm Damage / Conwy Valley Flooding 02/20
- Thread starter CambrianCoast
- Start date
- Status
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R
RailUK Forums
Track is responsibilty of NR
Bobdogs
On Moderation
Last time I was at Llandeilo PIS gave accurate delay information plus "This train comprises of one coach". (groan!).
gazthomas
Established Member
Indeed it is, as well as being a different gauge and not a tourist only railway
QueensCurve
Established Member
- Joined
- 22 Dec 2014
- Messages
- 1,913
Thank you for the reminder of those days. I actually drove to Barmouth in 1981 to see this for myself. Took my little brother who was 13 with me.
Yup, the timetabling is pretty awful. Zero coordination, I don't need to change from bus to train, it's one or the other for me but that's terrible too. Buses and trains that leave Llanrwst at the same time. Fare integration is another reason not to use the train. I long for the day when TFW lives up to the origins of its name and acts like a PTE and sorts this stuff out. I'm not holding my breath.
Llanigraham
On Moderation
Back to the Cambrian:
RRB's suspended this evening as Shrewsbury Station is now longer accessible by road, and the Police closing all road access into the centre.
RRB's suspended this evening as Shrewsbury Station is now longer accessible by road, and the Police closing all road access into the centre.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Still raining in those parts, or is it because of the delayed effect of the run-off from fields etc?
ChiefPlanner
Established Member
There is more rain expected for the Mid Wales area in the next 48 hours , and as said before , there is a time delay in getting the impacts downstream. Media is full of the rain impacts on the Severn and other key rivers.
Geographer by training , railwayman by experience (retired)
chris_in_salop
Member
- Joined
- 29 Sep 2010
- Messages
- 175
It often takes a day or two for the water that fell on the Welsh mountains to get down to Shrewsbury. By the time the flood peak gets to Shrewsbury, there's often blue skies, the birds are chirping, and it's all idyllic - apart from, of course, that the Severn is a raging torrent.
Just back from a walk around the centre of Shrewsbury, still only one route open leading out of the town, and the station is pretty much marooned. No local buses can reach the town centre. Local opinion is that it is the worst flooding we've seen since 2000, which in turn were the worst floods since the thaw in 1947.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Fair enough. I was in the Welsh mountains at the weekend (sort of) and there was no shortage of a little more than the usual Welsh mild drizzle!
Whistler40145
Established Member
Regarding the Conwy Valley line
I get the impression that it's taking longer each time the line gets washed out to bring it back to a serviceable condition.
Does Network Rail have the authority to withdraw from maintaining the line if it feels it's wasting money?
I get the impression that it's taking longer each time the line gets washed out to bring it back to a serviceable condition.
Does Network Rail have the authority to withdraw from maintaining the line if it feels it's wasting money?
Llanigraham
On Moderation
Exactly.
It is reckoned that a level increase here near the head of the Severn takes about 30 hours to get to Shrewsbury and another 36 to 48 hours to Worcester. It isn't helped if there is a lot of water coming down the Vrynwy.
An example of how much it has rained; Clywedog Dam released 4 mtrs of water last week; on Saturday that height was refilled!
Llanigraham
On Moderation
Well you must have been well north of here!
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
I was being a bit facetious, it was tipping it down and blowing a gale. I was in Snowdonia so yes, north of there.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
No (simple answer). Closures are not within its remit in that sense; it is not for Network Rail to decide if a line is worthwhile or not.
Does Network Rail have the Detail to say “this line cost X millions to maintain the last ten years” and would they be allowed to release that?
Baxenden Bank
Established Member
- Joined
- 23 Oct 2013
- Messages
- 4,017
Network Rail gets paid to maintain all routes in a 'steady state'. Enhancements are a separate pot. If the cost of maintaining a particular line (or indeed all lines) increases beyond the amount agreed, this will need to be built into the bid for the next five-year plan. This may or may not get agreed in which case the provider of funds (ultimately the government/s) will need to agree with Network Rail which areas of maintenance are to be reduced eg lower line speeds or cut entirely ie closed. The DfT in England, or the devolved administrations in Wales and Scotland would need to go through any closure procedures, paying to maintain the line in the interim.
I cannot imagine railway closures are anywhere on the political agenda, with Grant Shapps having a pot to re-open lines! Money will be found, from somewhere to keep the line open, but you might find line speeds on remote branches eg to Pembroke or Whitby get painfully slow to 'developing country' speeds and track conditions!
I guess the amounts spent in the past few years on the Blaenau and Pwllheli lines are large, in comparison with the planned expenditure and in comparison to the income from train operators. What proportion this is of the overall NR budget I don't know. There will also be routes where expenditure is below that planned, so a case of swings and roundabouts.
Baxenden Bank
Established Member
- Joined
- 23 Oct 2013
- Messages
- 4,017
They ought to have the numbers, I doubt they would release them to the public. It would take us back to Beeching style assessments of routes costs and their contribution to revenue. Not many people believed the numbers at the time eg passenger surveys being carried out on the coldest and wettest days on branch lines where, perhaps, the decision had already been taken.
In the Welsh mountains using a vehicle because you stated you didn't want to use a train in fear of being stranded. At the same time you were stuck in Lancaster because the railway stranded you and you had to book a Travelodge. Mix in a load of posts telling people things weren't that bad in several locations.
I'm no detective but I smell a rat.
I would suggest that the costs for Conwy wouldn’t need any fiddling of the passenger income (and passenger numbers are already public)
Weren't they two consecutive weekends ?
Possibly. And why i'm not a real detective. In which case I apologise.
Llanigraham
On Moderation
Line closures are not a simple economic matter, but also have to take into acount social matters as well.
Glenn1969
Established Member
National Rail website is saying the earliest possible reopening is Wednesday but more wind and rain are expected this week so I take it that will slip again
Unless they are going to reopen the power station or start carting all the slate waste out it really is time to knock it on the head and admit that a bus is a much better service.
We are always being told that foreign state run railways are better than ours - what would the French have done with this line?
We are always being told that foreign state run railways are better than ours - what would the French have done with this line?
There is a rumour that the power station might reopen
This BBC link suggests it might be the site for the first UK small modular reactor.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-wales-51460208
This BBC link suggests it might be the site for the first UK small modular reactor.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-wales-51460208
xc170
Member
- Joined
- 9 Feb 2008
- Messages
- 815
It was sarcasm.
Every time the Conwy valley is damaged, this forum is rife with comments suggesting the line should be closed, yet, if the Govt did decide that closure would be the best course of action this forum would be in uproar about it!
Would relaying the line using concrete based track with nice deep foundations on parts of the line more susceptible to damage worth looking at?
krus_aragon
Established Member
Possibly.
Bear in mind that any enhancements or preventative maintenance needs to come out of a different pot of money, and be specially authorised. All the work done last year was on rebuilding and strengthening the old portions of the trackbed that had been washed away then: the recently rebuilt parts held up fine. At the moment, the engineers can only replace, reinforce, or improve the bits of trackbed that get damaged; they can't pre-emptively replace any other bits, as it would be an enhancement, rather than maintenance.
It's a funny bureaucratic situation we're in...
- Status