Fire at Vauxhall station

[Deepgreen]

Isn't Berrylands mostly wooden?

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Indeed.

 

[jon0844]

It's nice to see some on Twitter finding ways to blame SWT for the whole situation -_-

Any calls for a return to BR from this? I assume there must be.

 

[AndyPJG]

Isn't Berrylands mostly wooden?

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As is Hersham. (both built in the 1930s?)

 

[bb21]

If there isn't time to update the trains marked as delayed, how come their is time for other trains to be marked as cancelled?

Haven't you just answered your own question there?

They can only do as much as they have time for (hence some services showing as cancelled), as their priority is not on updating service cancellations in the system but trying to get as many services moving as possible.

While it will be nice to have all information 100% up-to-date, this is not always possible as updating such information is a part-manual job. If a train is merely showing as "Delayed" without an expected time, it is time to seek alternative travel arrangements, if at all possible.

 

[racklam]

It's nice to see some on Twitter finding ways to blame SWT for the whole situation -_-

I was on a very busy Reading line train at around 8am, and someone was loudly asking why, if SWT obviously knew about the fire and knew the train would be busy, they didn't send a train with 16 coaches instead of 8 :roll:

 

[talltim]

Just viewed your link. Do we have to view a profile of an individual and pictures of what i assume are his children?

Thank god i am not on twitter.

Why, are your children ugly?

 

[duncanp]

Any calls for a return to BR from this? I assume there must be.

Maybe some will claim that this wouldn't happen if we were in/out of the EU, or perhaps blame Mrs Thatcher.

It is never convenient when things like this happen, but the SWT website contains comprehensive information about what is and is not running.

Off peak ticket restrictions have also been lifted, and tickets for today can be used tomorrow if necessary.

 

[theageofthetra]

If someone swiped in with Oyster but gave up on the journey can they get a refund or travel for free tmmr?

 

[nlogax]

Some photos I took mid-morning. What a mess.

https://twitter.com/Quaristice/status/728154921602715649

 

[infobleep]

Haven't you just answered your own question there?

They can only do as much as they have time for (hence some services showing as cancelled), as their priority is not on updating service cancellations in the system but trying to get as many services moving as possible.

While it will be nice to have all information 100% up-to-date, this is not always possible as updating such information is a part-manual job. If a train is merely showing as "Delayed" without an expected time, it is time to seek alternative travel arrangements, if at all possible.

I realise they are busy but is their not a quick way of showing all trains delayed over a certain amount of time and block canceling them in one go. Admitly one train today was over an hour late leaving Guildford today.

There must be an easy way for staff to see all trains marked delayed. Also I'd have thought any delayed trains might clogged up their view of trains running as these would still be listed at the top.

Quite a few trains have been marked as cancelled though.

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[Siemens Staines]

As is Hersham. (both built in the 1930s?)

As is Winnersh Triangle built in the 1980s

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnersh_Triangle_railway_station

 

[talldave]

We'd better call Watchdog, they love a "Vauxhall goes up in flames" story .

 

[Taunton]

Have I missed something here or is this suggesting that rail grinding was underway and that sparks from it ignited the fire?

Presumably the railgrinder is sat on a siding somewhere now, in disgrace for burning down its own infrastructure.

Looking at the damage I would have thought that a couple of competent carpenters could have that woodwork cut out and replaced within 24 hours. Of course, the Risk Assessment will take 6 months to do first.

 

[YorkshireBear]

Presumably the railgrinder is sat on a siding somewhere now, in disgrace for burning down its own infrastructure.

Looking at the damage I would have thought that a couple of competent carpenters could have that woodwork cut out and replaced within 24 hours. Of course, the Risk Assessment will take 6 months to do first.

Fortunately it only destroyed the section of platform not in use.

 

[SWT_USER]

Frustrating that despite only showing trains that are confirmed to be running on the board at Waterloo we are now 6 minutes last departure time with no indication when we might leave. I will now probably miss my connection at Clapham.

... Now 12 minutes last departure time on a roasting 455 with still no information provided.

 

[SWT_USER]

Amateur hour at Waterloo and Clapham. No one with any idea which trains leaving in which order or to which destination.

 

[infobleep]

Amateur hour at Waterloo and Clapham. No one with any idea which trains leaving in which order or to which destination.

Well to echo what was said earlier, perhaps they are to busy trying to run trains in order to update the information on their running at stations.

I see many more trains are planned to run now and the Woking stoppers are no longer being extended to Guildford as a result.

Cancellations to services at Vauxhall

Due to a fire next to the track earlier today at Vauxhall some lines are blocked.

Impact:
Train services running through this station may be cancelled, delayed by up to 70 mins or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Customer Advice:
Following the fire at Vauxhall earlier today which affected trains, 4 of the 8 lines are still closed and we will be running a limited service this evening. Vauxhall station is partially closed to enable our engineers to work on repairing the damage, so they can be re-opened.
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Your are strongly advised to check before you travel with us during the evening peak as we will be running a limited service into and out of London Waterloo and around the network. Please continue to use alternative transport where available.
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Our stations will be busier than normal and we may implement queuing systems at short notice. We will have a clearer understanding on travel details for tomorrow, Friday 6 May from 20:00 this evening.
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Tickets valid for travel today (05 May 2016) will now also be valid for travel tomorrow (06 May 2016), off peak ticket restrictions are lifted today and you will be able to travel on the first available train service.
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We are very sorry for the disruption to your journey today.
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Please see below for the following revised train service which we aim to be fully in place by 15:30, please continue to check before you travel as we may deviate slightly from the train plan below at some locations where we have trains and crew available to run a service.
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If you are travelling from London Waterloo you will may need to travel to Clapham Junction for some services:
-London Waterloo to Salisbury and Exeter st Davids will run as booked in both directions
-London Waterloo to Alton services will run as booked in both directions
-London Waterloo to Reading will start and terminate at Clapham Junction
-London Waterloo to Reading additional peak trains are cancelled.
-London Waterloo to Weybridge will start and terminate at Clapham Junction.
-London Waterloo to Windsor & Eton Riverside will not run in both directions.
-A train shuttle is running between Staines and Windsor in both directions.
-London Waterloo to London Waterloo via Hounslow & Twickenham will not run.
-London Waterloo to London Waterloo via Twickenham & Hounslow will not run.
-London Waterloo to London Waterloo via Kingston & Richmond will terminate at Clapham Junction
-London Waterloo to London Waterloo via Richmond & Kingston will start at Clapham Junction
-London Waterloo to Portsmouth stations via Guildford will run as booked in both directions
-London Waterloo to Haslemere services will as booked in both directions
-London Waterloo and Portsmouth Harbour via Basingstoke will run as booked in both directions
-Basingstoke and London Waterloo, Alton and London Waterloo stopping services will run as booked in both directions
-London Waterloo to Poole and Weymouth services will call at Clapham Junction, Woking and Basingstoke and from 1600 will run as booked in both directions.
-London Waterloo and Woking stopping services will run as booked in both directions
-London Waterloo to Chessington South will run as booked.
-London Waterloo to Dorking will run as booked in both directions
-London Waterloo to Guildford stopping services will run as booked in both directions
-London Waterloo to Shepperton will run as booked in both directions
-London Waterloo to Shepperton via Richmond are cancelled
-London Waterloo to Hampton Court will be cancelled.
-A train shuttle service will run between Hampton Court and Surbiton
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You may use your tickets on Great Western Railway via any reasonable route, Southern Railway between Dorking/Epsom/Clapham Junction and London Victoria, London Buses on all reasonable routes, London Underground, Overground and Tramlink on all reasonable routes, Govia Thameslink services, Cross Country services on all reasonable routes.
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You may also use your tickets on Stagecoach buses 46, 70, 71 and 72 in the Guildford area and on Stagecoach bus Gold 1 between Aldershot and Farnborough.
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Replacement buses are running in the following places until the end of the day:
Replacement buses will replace the through trains between Farnham and Alton.
Replacement buses will replace trains between Shepperton and Teddington.
Replacement buses replace trains between Staines and Reading.

Additional Information:
If you would like to make a comment or give us some feedback about your experience with us today, please email us at [email protected], 0345 6000 650 (option 4) or fill in the contact us webform http://po.st/ContactSWT
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Have you been delayed by over an hour? Please see here for information about compensation - http://po.st/SWTCompensation
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For more information about lineside fires and what we're doing to reduce them, please see Delays Explained here: http://www.networkrail.co.uk/timetables-and-travel/delays-explained/lineside-fires/
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Further Information :
An update will follow within the next 1 hour.


Please see below for bus links:
Bus links for Sunbury, Hampton and Fulwell - http://po.st/SWTShepperton
Bus links for Staines, Hounslow and Richmond - http://po.st/SWTFeltham
Bus links for Kingston, Epsom, Chessington and Claygate - http://po.st/l880Ib
Bus links for Clapham Junction, Wandworth Town and Putney - http://po.st/cEeXAn
Bus links for Clapham Junction, Wimbledon and London Waterloo - http://po.st/cRgA3Z
Bus links for Thames Ditton and Hampton Court - http://po.st/SKIrKQ
Bus links for Earlsfield - http://po.st/LolMtb
Bus links for London Waterloo - http://po.st/WaterlooBus
Bus links for Queenstown road - http://po.st/QTRBus
Bus links for Wimbledon - http://po.st/WimbledonBus
Bus links for Raynes Park - http://po.st/RAYBus
Bus links for New Malden - http://po.st/NEMBus
Bus links for Berrylands - http://po.st/KRsvzN
Bus links for Surbiton - http://po.st/1BM7Q7


Message Received :05/05/2016 16:47

http://m.journeycheck.com/southwest...=&savedRoute=false&incidentsType=LINE_PROBLEM

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[cjmillsnun]

Far too many parallels with the Kings Cross fire for my liking. Wooden structure packed with years of passengers litter, oil and grease and a ready supply of ignition sources. I know this isn't the busiest platform in London but that could have been a lot worse if the station was full of passengers. Hopefully this will spark (no pun intended) NR into clearing up the litter (some of which is left by their own contractors) from high risk areas such as this.

Also parallels with the Bradford stadium fire as well.

Could've been very nasty. Thankfully it's just disruption and no one is hurt.

 

[jopsuk]

Presumably this was built in wood to be lightweight over the the road bridge? some careful thought about the replacement then and a full risk assessment of the other platforms.

 

[infobleep]

Presumably this was built in wood to be lightweight over the the road bridge? some careful thought about the replacement then and a full risk assessment of the other platforms.

U would be surprised if the platforms hadn't already had risk assessments, given the more stringent health and safety these days.

Of course grandfather rights would exist.

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[broadgage]

Far too many parallels with the Kings Cross fire for my liking. Wooden structure packed with years of passengers litter, oil and grease and a ready supply of ignition sources. I know this isn't the busiest platform in London but that could have been a lot worse if the station was full of passengers. Hopefully this will spark (no pun intended) NR into clearing up the litter (some of which is left by their own contractors) from high risk areas such as this.

The apparent failure to clear away flammable rubbish is certainly cause for concern.
However I doubt that any lives would have been lost even if this had occurred at a much busier time. Only a small part of the platform was involved, and persons could easily move to the other end well away from the fire.
No chance of significant heat or smoke build up out in the open air.
And if all else fails, there is always evacuation on to the track, after stopping trains and cutting off traction current, this can be done quickly in an emergency.
Not like a fire underground with very rapid build up of heat and smoke, and limited escape possibilities.

I suspect however that the damaged part of the platform will NOT be re built in timber, to avoid any recurrence.
A lightweight steel structure with a non slip surface might be used. Concrete is unlikely due to the weight as this part is on a bridge.

 

[AndyNLondon]

Some more photos of the fire & damage, from the London Fire Brigade:

https://twitter.com/LondonFire/status/728163602926985216

https://twitter.com/LondonFire/status/728112186996838401

 

[YorkshireBear]

Platform out of us the fact that the fire didnt spread to the useable part suggests a change in construction. Also any comparrison to Kings cross is a bit off the mark. No circumstances would lead to the trench effect. And very few would allow a flashover to take place here. A very different set of circumstances to any other fire mentioned above.

As the platform was not used it may not get rebuilt at all....

 

[cjmillsnun]

Platform out of us the fact that the fire didnt spread to the useable part suggests a change in construction. Also any comparrison to Kings cross is a bit off the mark. No circumstances would lead to the trench effect. And very few would allow a flashover to take place here. A very different set of circumstances to any other fire mentioned above.

As the platform was not used it may not get rebuilt at all....

No it still parallels with Bradford

 

[jopsuk]

U would be surprised if the platforms hadn't already had risk assessments, given the more stringent health and safety these days.

Of course grandfather rights would exist.

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Risk assessments should never be set in stone. The incident raises questions that I really hope are being answered:
1. What is the likelihood of this happening to other platforms at this station and at others?
2. What can be done to reduce the risk in the short term? Eg detritus removal
3. What can be done to reduce the risk in the long term? eg rebuilding to prevent detritus build up and from less flammable materials

 

[YorkshireBear]

No it still parallels with Bradford

I disagree. Considering the fire was lit for 3-4 hours and only the non passenger part of the station was on fire I do not think their are parralels unless we are going to compare any rubbish ignitinf incident with Bradford.

 

[infobleep]

I disagree. Considering the fire was lit for 3-4 hours and only the non passenger part of the station was on fire I do not think their are parralels unless we are going to compare any rubbish ignitinf incident with Bradford.

Given they were still able to run trains whilst the fire was on going or at least smoldering, it can't have been life threateningly serious.

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[Ploughman]

Platforms don't need to be old to be wooden.
Many of the Leeds area PTE stations are made of Timber built in the 1980's.


Don't bother listing them as they are quite common.

 

[Kite159]

If the part which burnt down was beyond the passenger area (top picture posted in post 52 seems to suggest it was beyond the "passengers must not pass this point" with spiky device, would it be rebuilt?

 

[Deepgreen]

Regarding the further slightly oblique references to a rail grinder - is anyone able to confirm that this was the cause?

To address a few points - yes, the wooden section was such because it was over the bridge, partly to reduce weight and also to absorb any slight flexing. At least one other island platform at the station has a similar section. I suspect it may also be removed, or any cavities where debris might accumulate be filled in. There are similar wooden sections of platforms over bridges elsewhere (as opposed to complete wooden structures). It may be considered necessary to replace the wood with alternative lightweight materials along the lines of the extensions recently installed at so many stations. Of course, if they are redundant for passenger use they may simply be removed.

The safety risk was very low because of the very small section involved, the open situation, the fact that the section is out-of-bounds to passengers anyway and the huge remaining platform area available for any passengers to occupy.

The operation of rail grinders near potentially-flammable items (including dry vegetation perhaps) may be subject to review, IF it is confirmed that this was the cause.