ECML Wires Down 02.09.20

[Hadders]

Surprised no-one's mentioned this yet but the OHLE came down in the Biggleswade area this afternoon, with all lines blocked. As well as no trains between King's Cross and Peterborough no trains were running to Cambridge either.

No trains expected to run between London and Peterborough for the rest of the today with disruption also expected tomorrow morning. Services to cambridge have now resumed but heavily delayed.

I was caught up in this earlier, I arrived at King's Cross to find nothing running, I made a quick decision to pop to Moorgate where thankfully the inner-suburban services were still running. Not much social distancing was possible on the train I travelled on but it was good to see the new platform 5 at Stevenage getting a proper workout with large passenger numbers.

Anyone else caught up in the disruption or knows what's going on?

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Badly needs an electrified diversionary route

 

[Ianno87]

Badly needs an electrified diversionary route

Plenty of bi-modes heading via Cambridge at present (the Highland Chieftan for one earlier).

 

[Huntergreed]

Was absolute chaos at King’s Cross earlier when I passed through at roughly 17:30. Every train on the board showing “cancelled”, let’s hope they fix it soon, this could be a very expensive one indeed

 

[GRALISTAIR]

A likely future candidate for conversion from Headspan to portal?

 

[55002]

The only train to leave Kings Cross since 1400 Edinburgh (3 hours plus late currently) has been the 1830 which has gone via Cambridge. Only the 0755 from Inverness and 1230 from Edinburgh got diverted via Cambridge

 

[Philip Phlopp]

A likely future candidate for conversion from Headspan to portal?

Depends on the root cause, but moving to mechanically independent registration is of course always a good thing.

 

[Ianno87]

The only train to leave Kings Cross since 1400 Edinburgh (3 hours plus late currently) has been the 1830 which has gone via Cambridge. Only the 0755 from Inverness and 1230 from Edinburgh got diverted via Cambridge

Potentially a route knowledge issue as much as a traction issue.

Not much point wiring diversions if signing them is few and far between...

 

[Whistler40145]

The OHLE has always had problems on this section of the ECML

 

[BJames]

Always seems quite troublesome on this stretch indeed.

I see Thameslink have been trying to just run a service between Peterborough and St Neots.

 

[55002]

Potentially a route knowledge issue as much as a traction issue.

Not much point wiring diversions if signing them is few and far between...

yep route knowledge, crews out of hours etc...

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Potentially a route knowledge issue as much as a traction issue.

Not much point wiring diversions if signing them is few and far between...

I don't want to go OT but if Cambridge- Peterborough was sparked up it would be valuable for incidents like this and part of F2N/West Midlands for freight too.

The OHLE has always had problems on this section of the ECML

Always seems quite troublesome on this stretch indeed.
I see Thameslink have been trying to just run a service between Peterborough and St Neots.

As I said upthread, it should be considered a higher priority for conversion to portals then.

 

[Saint66]

Must be one of the worst dewirements on the ECML in a little while in terms of the lines being totally blocked for quite a few hours at this point.

A tad blurry image of the damage has been shared by David Horne - https://twitter.com/DavidHorne/status/1301199526141755392?s=20

 

[Failed Unit]

Anyone know why Hitchin - Cambridge was also shut for a long period? Is it on the same electrical section when the current tripped?

 

[Philip Phlopp]

Must be one of the worst dewirements on the ECML in a little while in terms of the lines being totally blocked for quite a few hours at this point.

A tad blurry image of the damage has been shared by David Horne - https://twitter.com/DavidHorne/status/1301199526141755392?s=20

Is that Biggleswade MPTSC or one of the adjacent TSCs which has been damaged ?

 

[Expression357]

Anyone know why Hitchin - Cambridge was also shut for a long period? Is it on the same electrical section when the current tripped?

The emergency isolation took out a large section; took until 1745 for the OHL gang to shorten the isolation due to access issues via a farmers field. Once the isolation was shortened, the route off towards Cambridge was available.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

The emergency isolation took out a large section; took until 1745 for the OHL gang to shorten the isolation due to access issues via a farmers field. Once the isolation was shortened, the route off towards Cambridge was available.

Thanks for that explanation.

 

[BostonGeorge]

I made it as far as Biggleswade. Never gotten off there in my life. Waited on the train for over an hour, decided to take a walk, found a lovely cafe, relaxed for an hour, returned to the station to find chaos unfolding and was offered either a replacement bus to King’s Cross or a taxi home to Peterborough. Gleefully accepted the taxi home, happily called work and said it ain’t happening today and got home quite rapidly. All in all a decent day! I guess I was one of the lucky ones.

 

[59CosG95]

Is that Biggleswade MPTSC or one of the adjacent TSCs which has been damaged ?

It looks like one of the across-track feeder jumpers for Biggleswade MPTSC, but a quick check on a cab ride video shows that the feeder for the structure in question was for the insulated overlap on the Down Fast - the Up Fast got dewired, so no need to replace the jumper.

 

[frediculous]

I arrived at Finsbury Park about 3pm to find nothing but the ex-Moorgates heading north. Ours went as far as Watton-on-Stone before emptying out as P5 at Stevenage was occupied by a train presumably driverless

 

[crablab]

Is there a thread for wiring Ely -> Peterborough?

 

[clockend]

Not seen this anywhere else, but live disruption map for GTR here https://www.southernrailway.com/travel-information/plan-your-journey/service-status-map

 

[Philip Phlopp]

It looks like one of the across-track feeder jumpers for Biggleswade MPTSC, but a quick check on a cab ride video shows that the feeder for the structure in question was for the insulated overlap on the Down Fast - the Up Fast got dewired, so no need to replace the jumper.

That is a spot of less than terrible news then.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I gather it was 91 101 which got tangled up in the wires?

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Is there a thread for wiring Ely -> Peterborough?

No but could be started in speculation threads. It would be part of F2N

 

[Saint66]

Lines were handed back earlier this morning.

 

[Hadders]

Still huge issues in this morning’s peak. Between 07:00 and 07:59

Between 07:00 and 07:59:

07:02 to Brighton ran
07:02 to Moorgate ran
07:10 to Kings Cross ran
07:17 to Horsham cancelled
07:21 to Kings Cross cancelled
07:32 to Brighton ran
07:32 to Moorgate ran
07:40 to Kings Cross ran
07:47 to Horsham cancelled
07:51 to Kings Cross cancelled

Only 2 of the 6 fast trains operated.

 

[westv]

The OHLE has always had problems on this section of the ECML

On the subject of wires I was surprised when there didn't seem to be any mention of speed restrictions during the record breaking temperatures in August,

 

[Whistler40145]

Quite surprising as higher temperatures would lead to sagging wires

On the subject of wires I was surprised when there didn't seem to be any mention of speed restrictions during the record breaking temperatures in August,

 

[Philip Phlopp]

Quite surprising as higher temperatures would lead to sagging wires

Not when the auto-tensioning is working correctly...

...the Mk.3 ECML catenary, for its significant number of failings (and failures) isn't like the old GEML compound catenary with its fixed termination, (semi) fixed tension system. It can cope with a reasonable window of temperatures as long as the tail wire pulleys and counter-weights aren't seized solid...