Entire 800/801/802 fleet stood down for safety checks

[Wolfie]

It’s very reasonable. It’s more than GWR are doing (subject to change I guess).
As of 0830 there was no deferred travel (but plenty of ticket acceptance). A colleague and his family had planned a trip to Cornwall and had bagged some cheap advances. They can’t be used on another day, they have to be refunded and new tickets bought, of course, there are no advances left so it would be another £130 or so. They’re going in the car now. hopefully gwr will see sense.

Now that is poor customer service. I suppose they must be concerned that services on another weekend might be swamped given social distancing etc but even so....

 

[yorksrob]

Ooh I did that from KX to Leeds once, probably more comfortable than sitting on stones like the 8xx. Bit noisy with all the windows open at full speed though

Ooh, I love a bit of a breeze - like doing the Hope Valley on a 156 !

 

[Phlip]

Which is quite reasonable - a trip planned for this weekend can be deferred to next weekend.

The last time I had to go to London on a Saturday it was to deliver a presentation at the University of Greenwich. How could I have deferred that to the following weekend?

Granted, due to the current restrictions it's unlikely anyone will be doing that, but your assumption that all travel is deferrable is untrue and unreasonable.

 

[Wolfie]

While it is probably good to discourage travel during major disruption, to insist upon reservations being maintained now is ridiculous. I do hope that this is not a foretaste of the post-covid future for LNER...

Given CV restrictions it was inevitable.

 

[Essexman]

I’ve got to go to the West Country this week. Just booked the sleeper.

 

[norbitonflyer]

Which is quite reasonable - a trip planned for this weekend can be deferred to next weekend.

Depends on the purpose of the trip - for example today is the last day of the football season, with many matches decisive in promotion/relegation issues. Or it could be a long-planned birthday celebration. Or you could be trying to get home from.

Just to make things interesting, Highways England have closed the M4 in the Slough/Maidenhead area for roadworks this weekend. (As they have nearly every weekend since at least October)

 

[westv]

Is this likely to take a while to sort out or is it just precautionary?

 

[24Grange]

Love it when the windows bang shut with the suction/slipstream, as you go through a tunnel and everybody jumps !

 

[robbeech]

The last time I had to go to London on a Saturday it was to deliver a presentation at the University of Greenwich. How could I have deferred that to the following weekend?

Granted, due to the current restrictions it's unlikely anyone will be doing that, but your assumption that all travel is deferrable is untrue and unreasonable.

Quite clearly there was zero assumption that ALL travel is deferrable. Just that some is and it’s one of many measures they’re taking to sort out the mess.

 

[Wolfie]

Depends on the purpose of the trip - for example today is the last day of the football season, with many matches decisive in promotion/relegation issues. Or it could be a long-planned birthday celebration. Or you could be trying to get home from.

Just to make things interesting, Highways England have closed the M4 in the Slough/Maidenhead area for roadworks this weekend. (As they have nearly every weekend since at least October)

I thought about football. Today is indeed the end of the Football League season (the Premier League runs until the end of this month) but as far as l know there are still no fans allowed (non-League may be different).

 

[Brissle Girl]

Just to make things interesting, Highways England have closed the M4 in the Slough/Maidenhead area for roadworks this weekend. (As they have nearly every weekend since at least October)

To make it less safe (despite all the protestations otherwise by the Highways Agency) by converting it into a not-so-smart motorway.

 

[C37]

How many recently retired MML HST sets and ECML 225 sets could be mobilised as cover?

 

[Socanxdis]

These trains weren't meant for the old victorian infrastructure.

 

[yorksrob]

Love it when the windows bang shut with the suction/slipstream, as you go through a tunnel and everybody jumps !

Absolutely - particularly if there's a train coming the other way !

 

[Ianno87]

Depends on the purpose of the trip - for example today is the last day of the football season, with many matches decisive in promotion/relegation issues. Or it could be a long-planned birthday celebration. Or you could be trying to get home from.

Just to make things interesting, Highways England have closed the M4 in the Slough/Maidenhead area for roadworks this weekend. (As they have nearly every weekend since at least October)

Unfortunately, LNER's timetable planning remit doesn't extend to shifting the football season. Offering ticket flexibility is the best thing they can do.

 

[Swimbar]

Presumably, prompted by national TV and radio coverage, 5 hours into the days disruption a statement has appeared on the front page of the LNER website giving an explanation that should have been posted in the first place.

Make www.lner.co.uk your home for booking train travel.

Need train tickets? Book quickly and easily direct with LNER. Save 47% on LNER Advance tickets, and travel with confidence from start to finish!

www.lner.co.uk

'DUE TO ONGOING PRECAUTIONARY SAFETY CHECKS, WE ARE ADVISING PEOPLE NOT TO TRAVEL TODAY'​

 

[Megafuss]

If I were Mr Horne, I would be embarrassed at the rudeness and arrogance of my social media staff and be making an immediate call to the control room manager to tell my staff to stop sending such ridiculous messages. It’s not exactly as if it’s a secret; it was the top story on the BBC 9am radio news and other Tocs that run these trains have been much more forthcoming with information.

Nothing they've posted is factually incorrect. Just because this forum seems to think it is entitled to know the ins and outs of everything doesn't mean it should.

 

[westv]

How many recently retired MML HST sets and ECML 225 sets could be mobilised as cover?

A bit like the home guard for the railways.

 

[Essexman]

9.48 Pad to Swansea is running. I assume trains are being gradually returned to service after checking but wonder how long it will take to do them all.

 

[43096]

How many recently retired MML HST sets and ECML 225 sets could be mobilised as cover?

None of the HSTs. Only 225 sets possibly available would be those still on LNER’s books but stood down temporarily - but even they may well need exams before return to service.

 

[Jamesrob637]

EMR are putting 9 and 10 cars instead of 5 on some services todsy.

 

[Royston Vasey]

Presumably, prompted by national TV and radio coverage, 5 hours into the days disruption a statement has appeared on the front page of the LNER website giving an explanation that should have been posted in the first place.

Make www.lner.co.uk your home for booking train travel.

Need train tickets? Book quickly and easily direct with LNER. Save 47% on LNER Advance tickets, and travel with confidence from start to finish!

www.lner.co.uk

'DUE TO ONGOING PRECAUTIONARY SAFETY CHECKS, WE ARE ADVISING PEOPLE NOT TO TRAVEL TODAY'​

"More trains than usual needing repairs at the same time" on the recent cancellations. Factual if vague!

 

[MotCO]

I know it's early doors, but any idea for a resumption of the units, need the PAD - CFD / SWA route for an interview at Carmarthen with TFW on Thursday!

Time to book a cheapie Flexibus ticket as a standby option?

 

[Gaz55]

I'm not sure how much of the slack Grand Central can reasonably take up, they are running a reduced timetable and trains are operating at a fraction of capacity.

 

[Snow1964]

9.48 Pad to Swansea is running. I assume trains are being gradually returned to service after checking but wonder how long it will take to do them all.

It is fairly quick to do a visual inspection, is it broken and hanging off, or visibly cracked.

Rather slower if you intend to ultrasonic weld scans to pick up a minute hairline flaw

 

[Darandio]

Depends on the purpose of the trip - for example today is the last day of the football season, with many matches decisive in promotion/relegation issues.

Matches where no fans can attend, that would be a pretty pointless trip.

 

[GB]

Last time I looked about an hour ago 21 LNER units had been inspected and passed fit for travel.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Safety checks are safety checks and have to be done irrespective of the travel impact caused but when there is an event that has UK wide impact i would expect someone like Chris Heaton-Harris or Grant Shapps to make sure there is an acknowledgement of the severity of the inconvenience being caused and ensure that how its happened is understood and published as well as reviewing how the industry manages such events.

When National Grid had a major outage a few years ago the then Secretary of State for BEIS (department responsible for electricity supplies) Andréa Leadsom came on the media and advised National Grid were doing a report for OFGEM to review. So here Agility Trains aka Hitachi need to do likewise for ORR to review and TOCs need to scrutinised as to have they have managed the situation. This isn't for today but should be teed up next week.

 

[Mojo]

Nothing they've posted is factually incorrect. Just because this forum seems to think it is entitled to know the ins and outs of everything doesn't mean it should.

Nobody said they were being incorrect, they just weren't giving adequate information out, leading to the perverse situation whereby the national media were giving out more information than the company. The reality is, LNER Twitter have been downright rude and evasive, with some of their responses to customers wanting to know more information.

"This forum" is not an entity in its own right and exists solely because of our contributors and readers, all of whom have different interests and views.

 

[Three-Nine]

Harsh. That will have been planned well upfront...

I should probably have put a smiley on that, I wasn't being serious.