Platfrom 4 at Norwich will be a pain, any train requiring to depart will mean nothing moving in the Station throat area, until move completed.
As soon as there is a certain degree of disruption, TfL seem to cancel all Gidea Park-starting services and cancel all London-bound trains at Manor Park, Forest Gate and Maryland, presumably sending everyone on buses to Stratford instead. Is that a fair assessment? This morning one service even cut out Chadwell Heath, Goodmayes and Seven Kings!
I was there, arrived on whatever train happened at 0758, 40 minutes later than planned after initially starting on the 0647 from Colchester Town (cancelled at Colchester).
The interior of that train was like the Central Line from Kelvedon, I had to get partially physical with people to get off it at Chelmsford. Not very nice at all. No one appeared got on that train at Chelmsford.
I do think that they should stop selling cups of red hot tea to people under those conditions as that is just a safety hazard. It also took 10 minutes to get off the platform, and all the gates were exit only with a huge crowd outside.
Nice to see that the ticket was retained in the gate, so I cannot claim anything.
And in some (non rail) industries, a good rule of thumb is 12 people with belongings weighs 1 ton, so if you get 120 in 1 carriage that's 10 tons more, so 120 tons heavier for 12 cars.
What was weird is that the train in question (1N11) was held at Kelvedon, for 15 minutes, I assumed at the time that single line working was in use and we were waiting for the line. However, after it started off and had cleared the crossovers a freight passed on the down line.
From the journey home ( and the attendant speed restriction), it appears the broken rail was in the vicinity of the bridge over Oak Rd.
How much inconvenience does it cause a London-bound commuter from Manor Park for example? Are the buses frequent enough, quick enough and quiet enough to accommodate all the people normally on the train?
Slight tangent. Will Maryland ever be closed through proximity to Stratford? Or at least removed from the peak timetable?Maryland - just walk to Stratford.
Slight tangent. Will Maryland ever be closed through proximity to Stratford? Or at least removed from the peak timetable?
Yes that Norwich set did pass first. I've since worked out that the freight was 4L60 and had sat between Witham and Kelvedon on the down for 2 HOURS (he must have "examined the line" and found theres no rail, and had to wait for it to be plated.)
The tea (and coffee) bit is an issue when people try and push as that lot did today. As I said, I had to get physical to get off. Having spent the best part of an hour standing on a packed train listening to some woman continuously spouting off about how she should have a seat as she has a season ticket did not help. I pay much more.
A 321 is 1438 bhp per power car (360 per motor), so on a 12 car you have 4318 bhp. Equivalent to a deltic and a 37 together, in power at the rail. I am not surprised it did not struggle (might have slipped though, they seem good at that), and nice DC motors with lots of torque too.
How much inconvenience does it cause a London-bound commuter from Manor Park for example? Are the buses frequent enough, quick enough and quiet enough to accommodate all the people normally on the train?
Slight tangent. Will Maryland ever be closed through proximity to Stratford? Or at least removed from the peak timetable?
Sadly not. There is a specific clause in the Crossrail Act requiring it to remain open.
When I lived there, I hated commuting from Chelmsford. Always loads too many people.Chelmsford 5 deep for the whole length of the 12 car platform just around 08.00 this morning. Even a 12 car 321 couldn't collect them all. No chance of boarding at Ingatestone. Now that is busy, wonder what the total weight of the train was.