Disruption to services - Storm Dudley & Storm Eunice

[LNW-GW Joint]

"No trains in Wales on Friday", says the BBC.
Nothing specific on the TfW site, just to expect disruption with an update to follow this pm.

Update now on TfW's site: all TfW trains cancelled on Friday 18 Feb.

Homepage | Transport for Wales

Transport for Wales | Buy Cheap Train Tickets and Check Train Times

pilot.tfw.wales

With Very high winds anticipated across the network, ALL TfW services will be withdrawn on Friday 18th February with NO replacement road transport being supplied.
Services on Saturday the 19th will be subject to disruption.
TFW advise that you check before travelling during the days following the storm.
Passengers with tickets for travel for Friday 18th, can travel on Thursday 17th, Saturday 19th, Sunday 20th and Monday 21st.

Avanti appear to be running one morning and one evening service Holyhead-Crewe.
GWR will not be running to/from Wales.
Nothing specific on XC services in Wales yet.

 

[MikeWM]

My desktop shows this too and its mph. Sunday is showing 74mph gusts so I suspect there's an issue somewhere.

It is on the first bit of land that a westerly wind going along the English Channel will hit. I'm guessing it is already one of the windier parts of the UK to begin with, but 115mph (yes, it is miles) is rather extreme!

 

[43055]

BBC reporting all trains will be cancelled in Wales tomorrow.

Storm Eunice: Wales schools shut and trains cancelled

Hundreds of schools will close and trains halted on Friday after the red warning for Storm Eunice.

www.bbc.co.uk

Many schools will shut and all trains in Wales will be cancelled on Friday as Storm Eunice is forecast to batter the country.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Quite honestly completely shutting up shop in genuine extremis like this is a lot more sensible than the “carry on until it falls over” approach generally adopted, and favoured upthread.

I'm normally against shutting down in less severe conditions, but this does seem like it'll be bad enough to effectively close the country down and so rather a once-in-many-years exception to the usual jokes about bins and garden furniture falling over.

I wonder will anything be done on the roads? Sticking a blanket 50 or even 40 on all the smart motorways would seem a good plan, and some bridges will likely end up closed.

 

[Sleepy]

Greater Anglia: Do not travel issued, 50 mph blanket speed restriction. Norwich - London reduced to hourly. Rural lines from Ipswich plus Sheringham line all 2 hourly. Norwich to Stansted Airport terminate at Cambridge. Southend Vic. and Stansted Express every 30 mins.

 

[bramling]

Part of the problem here is that we're likely to see very strong winds in places that haven't seen similar for some time. That ends up being significantly more disrputive/dangerous than the equivalent winds in places when they are a fairly frequent occurrence.

Yes and the south-easy is never quite as well prepared as other areas.

I went round the garden this morning and moved as much loose stuff as possible indoors, made sure the cars aren’t parked under trees, and double checked the house insurance is up to date. Beyond that it’s all down to nature really. I suppose the only other worthwhile preparation is having a few candles available just in case there’s a power cut.

Just on a GTR train into London now, all good at moment.

 

[ungreat]

Looking forward to my shift tomorrow...not.
PBO-SVG shuttles

 

[railphotoghw]

"No trains in Wales on Friday", says the BBC.
Nothing specific on the TfW site, just to expect disruption with an update to follow this pm.

Confirmed on the TfW website now.

 

[chris11256]

c2c are advising to check before travelling, with no details on restrictions or service alternations.

 

[muz379]

Quite honestly completely shutting up shop in genuine extremis like this is a lot more sensible than the “carry on until it falls over” approach generally adopted, and favoured upthread.

Quite , the industry has been subject to much criticism in the past for situations when passengers have become stranded on trains with no power for extended periods of time . But the reality is with extreme wind like this it becomes more likely that OLE will get damaged stranding trains with no power .The challenging weather conditions make it all the more difficult for on call staff to respond meaning you can easily see trains stranded for hours on end . Of course inability to source road transport also hampers efforts because theres no point evacuating them from a train if theres no onward transport .

 

[infobleep]

When I go to the National Rail Enquiries Web Site and click on the link to find out more about the storm disruption I get no information. I get a disruption page with no info.

Does anyone else get this?

I was trying to paste the links but it won't paste anything here. I don't even get a clipboard option. I'm using an Android phone

Maybe someone else can share links.

 

[bramling]

Quite , the industry has been subject to much criticism in the past for situations when passengers have become stranded on trains with no power for extended periods of time . But the reality is with extreme wind like this it becomes more likely that OLE will get damaged stranding trains with no power .The challenging weather conditions make it all the more difficult for on call staff to respond meaning you can easily see trains stranded for hours on end . Of course inability to source road transport also hampers efforts because theres no point evacuating them from a train if theres no onward transport .

The point about response staff is well made. If a train gets stuck, who response and how do they get there? And what if they can’t get to work themselves? There’s only so much in the way of mitigations that can be drawn up.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Quite , the industry has been subject to much criticism in the past for situations when passengers have become stranded on trains with no power for extended periods of time . But the reality is with extreme wind like this it becomes more likely that OLE will get damaged stranding trains with no power .The challenging weather conditions make it all the more difficult for on call staff to respond meaning you can easily see trains stranded for hours on end . Of course inability to source road transport also hampers efforts because theres no point evacuating them from a train if theres no onward transport .

This raises a point - one reason Avanti may need to be more cautious than GWR or LNER is that the former use mostly EMUs, whereas the latter two have either some or all of their fleet able to run on diesel. Obviously if the wires are down you can't drive a DMU past them any more you can an EMU, but the diesel engines would allow trains to return to stations (wrong line and on-sight if necessary, subject to due procedure) and evacuate within a vaguely reasonable timeframe. This of course still strands people, but they aren't stuck on board at least.

Even if the train is the one entangled, as this sort of thing doesn't tend to cause damage to wheels etc it would probably be possible to move it a little quicker (once the knitting and bent pantograph were removed) than if a loco had to be arranged to move it.

 

[infobleep]

Quite , the industry has been subject to much criticism in the past for situations when passengers have become stranded on trains with no power for extended periods of time . But the reality is with extreme wind like this it becomes more likely that OLE will get damaged stranding trains with no power .The challenging weather conditions make it all the more difficult for on call staff to respond meaning you can easily see trains stranded for hours on end . Of course inability to source road transport also hampers efforts because theres no point evacuating them from a train if theres no onward transport .

Of course staff also will get stuck for hours and what if they get caught short. No laughing matter if you are in that position.

 

[SCDR_WMR]

LNWR just put out Comms stating NR imposed 50mph blanket across entire network.

Looks like a similar setup to Avanti regarding service levels;
Euston - Northampton 2ph
New St - Northampton 1ph
Crewe - Lime St 1ph

No Shrewsbury
No Euston - Crewe (via Trent)
No Euston - Tring
No Bedford Line
Non Euston - Milton Keynes

Plus buses available for stranded unit relief only

 

[muz379]

This raises a point - one reason Avanti may need to be more cautious than GWR or LNER is that the former use mostly EMUs, whereas the latter two have either some or all of their fleet able to run on diesel. Obviously if the wires are down you can't drive a DMU past them any more you can an EMU, but the diesel engines would allow trains to return to stations (wrong line and on-sight if necessary, subject to due procedure) and evacuate within a vaguely reasonable timeframe. This of course still strands people, but they aren't stuck on board at least.

Even if the train is the one entangled, as this sort of thing doesn't tend to cause damage to wheels etc it would probably be possible to move it a little quicker (once the knitting and bent pantograph were removed) than if a loco had to be arranged to move it.

Granted , even if a DMU is completely stranded and cannot return to a station you can keep engines running which will provide heating , lighting and power for things like toilets / GSMR equipment , it at least keeps conditions on board relatively comfortable . EMU batteries only last so long once there is no power , even emergency lighting and power for the GSMR equipment has a limit .

That being said , even if you could return to a station and keep the lights/heating on with a DMU you might still find trains stranded overnight at stations if its impossible to recruit road transport causing crew issues and longer term disruption as units are out of place/need fuelling . Ive noticed even without extreme weather atm its sometimes hours before road transport is set up owing to difficulties sourcing it . I cannot see there being a long line of bus/coach companies prepared to put their vehicles out on the roads at short notice with extreme weather warnings in place .

 

[infobleep]

If I click on a link to the storms on the below National Rail Enquiries web page it takes me to a page with no info:

National Rail Enquiries - Official source for UK train times and timetables

m.nationalrail.co.uk

The link is: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/290133.aspx

But on my mobile, it takes me to:
However, when I click on it, it takes me to:

https://m.nationalrail.co.uk/pj//disruption/details/D61635B9FAE8416085F1B6BA61967E98

Not sure why. I previously attempted to report this to National Rail Enquiries regarding different disruptions but either they couldn't reproduce the issue or doesn't understand me.

Would be useful to k ow if peoples experience this. It doesn't occur with all links to severe disruption though.

 

[Carlisle]

Just on a GTR train into London now, all good at moment.

Nice to hear, & in stark contrast to the virtual standstill on the Northern half of the WCML

 

[Saint66]

Journey planners for Thameslink North of the Core tomorrow are showing no services at all at the moment.

 

[Starmill]

I'm normally against shutting down in less severe conditions, but this does seem like it'll be bad enough to effectively close the country down and so rather a once-in-many-years exception to the usual jokes about bins and garden furniture falling over.

I wonder will anything be done on the roads? Sticking a blanket 50 or even 40 on all the smart motorways would seem a good plan, and some bridges will likely end up closed.

Genuinely exceptional compared to pre-industrial averages from the last couple of thousand years, yes absolutely it does seem that way doesn't it. However, genuinely exceptional and rare in future years I'd say is much less clear.

 

[glasgowniteowl]

OLE down in the Beattock area due to a fallen tree. All lines blocked.

Avanti 9m54 currently stranded with no power, nearly 2hr30 now with several hundred passengers on board just north of beattock

 

[cambsy]

Red Weather warnings for South Wales, North Devon Coasts, anything along the Bristol Channel really, looks like batten down the hatches as these Red areas will take a major battering tomorrow, not surprised that GWR will not operate to South Wales tomorrow, and even in Amber areas, gusts of 80mph possbile, I can easily see no trains running West of Exeter, as Dawlish Sea wall will be battered heavily tomorrow, particularly if wind blowing waves on to the sea wall, Dawlish Sea cam could be fun to watch, not surprised NR imposing 50mph restrictions, or saying do not travel, anyone working on railways out in this storm tomorrow keep safe.

 

[infobleep]

Great Western Railway and South Western Railway pages on National Rail Enquiries are currently not advising people not to travel but most other TOCs are. Now the GWR one is from 11:47 this morning, so might be out of date considering the red warning issued might have been after this but the SWR one is from 13:42.

So is it going to be just about OK to travel with either of these companies, some disruption expected or have they just not stated the seriousness of it as strongly as the others have and one shouldn't travel if at all possible?

GWR disruption info

Find details of current incidents | National Rail

A portal into UK rail travel, including information on ticket purchase and promotions, train times and delays, and more.

www.nationalrail.co.uk

SWR disruption info

Find details of current incidents | National Rail

A portal into UK rail travel, including information on ticket purchase and promotions, train times and delays, and more.

www.nationalrail.co.uk

 

[stuart100100]

Merseyrail advising not to travel tomorrow and expect services to be disrupted after midday

Strong winds are forecast on Friday 18 February and we expect disruption to our services from midday. Passengers are advised not to travel unless necessary and to prepare alternative transport for the afternoon if services can no longer run, as it is unlikely rail replacement buses will be able to operate.

 

[bramling]

Journey planners for Thameslink North of the Core tomorrow are showing no services at all at the moment.

GTR have services in for the GN side.

1tph Kings Lynn-Cambridge
2tph Peterborough-Stevenage
1tph Cambridge-King's Cross stopping
1tph Cambridge-King's Cross semi-fast
2tph Welwyn Garden City-Moorgate
2tph Stevenage-Moorgate via Hertford North

One would hope the Cambridge fast service at least will be 12 cars, but some of these are shown as using King's Cross platform 9 which can only take 8 cars, so this could suggest they won't be 12s. Certainly last time we had this emergency service 700/0s were turning up.

 

[172007]

LNWR just put out Comms stating NR imposed 50mph blanket across entire network.

Looks like a similar setup to Avanti regarding service levels;
Euston - Northampton 2ph
New St - Northampton 1ph
Crewe - Lime St 1ph

No Shrewsbury
No Euston - Crewe (via Trent)
No Euston - Tring
No Bedford Line
Non Euston - Milton Keynes

Plus buses available for stranded unit relief only

Plus New Street to Hereford to terminate at Ledbury and the New St to Shrewsbury's are cancelled. Suspect that has something to do with trains not running in Wales tomorrow.

 

[SCDR_WMR]

Plus New Street to Hereford to terminate at Ledbury and the New St to Shrewsbury's are cancelled. Suspect that has something to do with trains not running in Wales tomorrow.

Yeah I listed no Shrewsbury, but missed the Hereford terminating at Ledbury.

There will be a lot of spare train crew up at my depot that's for sure, just hope they aren't needed

 

[philosopher]

It is on the first bit of land that a westerly wind going along the English Channel will hit. I'm guessing it is already one of the windier parts of the UK to begin with, but 115mph (yes, it is miles) is rather extreme!

Freshwater is very close to The Needles, which frequently records the highest wind gust speeds in the UK.

 

[Benjaminmorgan]

Will the Peterborough to Stevenage service operated by class 387s?

 

[Master29]

It's red over north Cornwall from 0700 to 1200.