Methinks if Thames Water don't cough it could get very messy as the sum involved will be so high that no private company would unless advised by their lawyers that they have no chance of defending the case.
It won't be that much.
Methinks if Thames Water don't cough it could get very messy as the sum involved will be so high that no private company would unless advised by their lawyers that they have no chance of defending the case.
Presumably then that applies to anyone (and applied to lorry drivers insurers in that precedent)
This would presumably also mean that NR would have do demonstrate negligence by Thames Water which might not be that easy.
I have been impressed with Thameslink staff - they've really upped their game since the disruption before Christmas. Like many people I've been delayed every night this week, and had to stand on overcrowded, slow trains. But the staff along the way have been nothing but helpful and positive. At St Albans tonight the RPIs were handing out Delay Repay forms at the barrier - not something I've seen before.
I was a bit surprised at the tone of the joint Network Rail/Thameslink press release. It is clear that Thameslink are very, very frustrated with the situation.
I wonder if Thameslink are frustrated by the blank pages and lack of timetables for the Sevenoaks route.
The timetable being used for Sevenoaks is the same saturday timetable that's been in place for a while. So how SET/TL say "it's not available yet" is bizarre to say the least.
It's not really bizarre to see Thameslink waiting until the last possible minute to give out the information!
I can understand that but if the information is not available at the same time, that should be communicated out to people. It shouldn't be a case of SET saying Thameslink deal with it and Thameslink saying SET deal with it.Waiting for the night turn Control staff to work out what was required / available. SET are contracted to do this at the moment, so whilst the plan can be similar to previous editions, it's robustness will depend on what resources there are available on the day.
Are both "companies" not just branches of the same owner, Govia?Perhaps both companies are frustrated at the other at each other for the other not dealing with it. I. E. Thameslink want SET to deal with it and SET want Thameslink to deal with it.
Network Rail sends Thames Water 'multi-million pound bill'
Network Rail has issued Thames Water with a "multi-million pound bill" after leaks and a burst water main led to more than 1,000 trains being cancelled.
The St Pancras to Farringdon track was closed at 21:00 GMT on Wednesday with no trains "until at least the end of service" on Thursday.
Since cancellations started on Friday, services have been delayed by a total of 133 hours.
Thames Water said a lack of maintenance by Network Rail was behind the problem......
Tom Edwards, BBC London Transport Correspondent: This has now descended into tit-for-tat corporate wrangling over whose fault the disruption is and whose responsibility the flooded tunnel was. Network Rail's bullish approach on Wednesday - when they said they'd be presenting a million pound bill to Thames Water - has badly backfired.
It's horrendously embarrassing that the problem on Wednesday seems to be down to their own maintenance and, even worse, it was highlighted years ago.
Yes they are but operationally they are not. So they could still each be frustrated. To be fair my tongue is firmly in my cheek. It just seems odd that each one wants people to ask the other. Wouldn't staff find being asked the same question frustrating when they feel the other should be giving out the information?Are both "companies" not just branches of the same owner, Govia?
No; the water main carries clean water to businesses and homes. The rivers are routed through the waste pipes/sewers.
But, the Thameslink line pretty much follows the Fleet.
http://cdn.londonist.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Fleetrivermap.jpg is the best map I could find.
Stop me when you recognise the names - one of the sources is in Hampsted, then it runs through Kentish Town, St Pancras, Kings Cross, Farringdon, and flows into the Thames at Blackfriars...
If you're familiar with that area, Farringdon Road is essentially the valley the Fleet ran through - which is why you get such a height difference to have the Holborn Viaduct (not far from the north exit of City Thameslink) going over Farringdon Road.
http://www.londonslostrivers.com/river-fleet.html has a good amount of detail including...
and http://www.londoncanals.uk/rivers/flt02.html kinda contradicts that - but some interesting stuff for railways enthusiasts...
http://www.londoncanals.uk/rivers/flt01.html also contains some good pictures. The description mentions it veers east at cowcross and farringdon road (so basically, it used to flow through where the station is now...)
Surprised there aren't more updates from today.
Some horror stories about delays out there - my journey in wasn't too bad, but the queue to get into the underground was crazy. Going home, it was set to be awful. Given the snow, I suspected it would be bad so left v. early and got a train from St P at 4. Even then passengers weren't allowed down to platforms until train had arrived, and the train I was on changed from all stations to fast and back to all stations before it left 10 mins late (and without the all stations passengers because they had already got off....
Was on the same train. Poor driver must of been getting all kinds of conflicting info.
Agree with above. This weeks really taken it out of me. I've had to go to so many different places & be there at specific times it's been a nightmare. Even my sleep is affected as I'm waking up wondering if things are ok, checking online, thinking of alternative routes which I really could do without. It's a complete pain in the nuts.
Got an even busier week from Monday. I'm praying this crap is resolved by then.
So we've been given an update on what happened. I didn't try relaying it all to the passengers but sure it will all be out in due course in the official manner. But to summarise:
1) a water main burst (Thames Water fault?)
2) the drainage for the tunnel was blocked (Network Rail fault?)
3) the valve which allows the water to drain from its collection drain (the one in the photo with the debris in it) through to the pumping station had been closed by LUL, I'm not sure when (LUL fault?)
Anyway, it sounds like were running a full service tomorrow - subject to the snow causing issues..:
Question worth asking is, what blocked the drain, and how did it happen? Was it perchance blocked by lots of debris which was washed down by the torrent from the water main? Or not?
2W79 Bedford to Three Bridges has just passed through Clerkenwell Tunnel no.1 southbound at 23:58. Core now reopened.