Landslip between Banbury and Leamington Spa (31.01.2015)

[bussnapperwm]

Just had this text off Chiltern Railway

No trains between Banbury & Leamington Spa due to a landslide. A rail replacement service will be in place. See our website for full details

 

[dvboy]

Important Travel Information - 31 January 2015

Owing to a landslide no trains are running between Banbury and Leamington Spa. Chiltern Railways trains are operating between London Marylebone and Banbury; and between Leamington Spa and Birmingham Moor Street and Snow Hill.

Rail replacement buses are being organised to run between Banbury and Leamington Spa. Passengers travelling between London and the West Midlands are advised to use Virgin West Coast and London Midland services between London Euston and Birmingham New Street. Chiltern Railways tickets will be valid on this route.

There is currently no estimate for the restoration of services and it is likely that the line between Banbury and Leamington Spa will be blocked for the remainder of Saturday 31 January..

Please check our website for the latest information.

Thank you for your patience.

The above is an email I had from Chiltern. CrossCountry are also affected.

 

[alex17595]

Apparently a major landslide. XC were recommending travel via London when I was at Doncaster. I guess they are being diverted as the gaurds words were 'you will get there at least an hour before this train'

 

[D1009]

Apparently a major landslide. XC were recommending travel via London when I was at Doncaster. I guess they are being diverted as the gaurds words were 'you will get there at least an hour before this train'

I don't think XC train crew know any route to avoid Banbury to Leamington, so I imagine they're using replacement buses.

 

[The Planner]

Harbury or Knightcote I wonder.

 

[dvboy]

XC are using the hashtag #Harburylandslip on twitter.

 

[Boodiggy]

Harbury or Knightcote I wonder.

Harbury

 

[alex17595]

I don't think XC train crew know any route to avoid Banbury to Leamington, so I imagine they're using replacement buses.

I guess it was shortly after it happened and they were unaware of the severity. Or just badly worded.

 

[bussnapperwm]

Other sources have confirmed that engineers have looked at it and it's very likely to affect tomorrow's service too...

 

[tsr]

And maybe Monday's...

 

[Tirov]

Line closed until Monday because of a major landslip!

A landslip has occurred between Leamington Spa and Banbury which is causing disruption to journeys between Leamington Spa and Banbury. This is expected to continue until at least Monday 2 February.
Trains are unable to run between Leamington Spa and Banbury. A limited bus service is running between the stations.
A reduced service is running between Banbury and Oxford, buses are supplementing trains between the stations.
Journey times may be extended by up to 90 minutes.
Alternative travel options
Chiltern Railways and CrossCountry passengers may use each others services.
Chiltern Railways passengers may use the following on any reasonable routes:
First Great Western
London Midland
London Underground
Virgin Trains

CrossCountry passengers may use:
East Coast between London Kings Cross and Leeds / Newcastle.
First Great Western on any reasonable routes
London Midland between Birmingham and London Euston / Leamington Spa
London Underground on any reasonable routes
South West Trains on any reasonable routes
Virgin Trains on any reasonable routes

CrossCountry passenger travel advice:
Passengers travelling from Leamington Spa towards Oxford / Reading, and the South Coast are advised to travel via Virgin Trains from Birmingham New Street to London Euston then on to London Paddington / London Waterloo services to complete your journey.
Passengers from the South Coast travelling to Leamington Spa and onwards are advised to travel via South West Trains services into London Waterloo then cross to London Euston for Virgin Trains services to Birmingham.
Passengers from Reading and Oxford are advised to travel via First Great Western to London Paddington then cross to London Euston for Virgin Trains services to Birmingham, or travel via First Great Western to Bristol then CrossCountry services towards Birmingham and the north.

 

[dzug2]

That would explain the football fans who were trying to get to Birmingham on an Oxford Hereford train this evening. I thought that they had managed to get on the wrong train...

 

[HarleyDavidson]

Not like in the good old BR days when things got diverted quite easily, because everyone worked under the same company and had very similar traction & route competencies.

Now of course, it's completely different and fragmented, nobody does and that makes it virtually impossible to do. I've been on a ICXC service in the past and got slung up via Moreton in Marsh and into Birmingham, no fuss, no dramas and NO buses involved.

 

[route:oxford]

Not like in the good old BR days when things got diverted quite easily, because everyone worked under the same company and had very similar traction & route competencies.

Now of course, it's completely different and fragmented, nobody does and that makes it virtually impossible to do. I've been on a ICXC service in the past and got slung up via Moreton in Marsh and into Birmingham, no fuss, no dramas and NO buses involved.

It was probably a lot easier in the olden days when there were far fewer services on the tracks too.

It won't be long until there is a quicker diversionary route from coventry to Oxford.

 

[edwin_m]

Interesting Cross Country are not apparently directing anyone onto their own route via Bristol.

 

[TSR :D]

Interesting Cross Country are not apparently directing anyone onto their own route via Bristol.

Interesting. Could it because their services are so busy that they're unable to handle any more passengers?

 

[johnnychips]

Interesting Cross Country are not apparently directing anyone onto their own route via Bristol.

Read the bottom of post 11.

 

[sprinterguy]

Does anybody know if Chiltern have enough stock north of the slip to operate their full service between Birmingham and Leamington Spa?

Looking to make use of the 2-hourly Lapworth service tomorrow.

 

[dzug2]

Interesting Cross Country are not apparently directing anyone onto their own route via Bristol.

They are now - how long that information has been on their site - pass

 

[Cherry_Picker]

I presume this is in the same location as the one last year one, the place where there has been a slack on for a year and where there has been a huge amount of bank work taking place in recent months? There must be some serious forces of nature at play because lord knows the railway have tried to hold it back.

 

[PermitToTravel]

The 16:45 Bournemouth to Piccadilly was cancelled between Banbury and Leamington Spa, but ran either side of the closure (the latter part keeping to time!)

Would this have been a second set, or is there an alternative non-passenger route?

 

[The Planner]

A second set that was probably a southbound that was turned back. There is no way around it (unless the Beeching conspiracists come out with Kineton to Stratford should have been kept open for the 60 years until this sort of thing happens)

 

[PermitToTravel]

Makes sense, thanks

 

[syorksdeano]

This popped up on my Twitter earlier

http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/News-Releases/Media-statement-Harbury-tunnel-landslip-2262.aspx?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

At around 3pm today, there was a landslip in the Harbury area between Leamington Spa and Banbury affecting both train lines and the tunnel.
Engineers are currently on site assessing the situation and attempting to fix the problem - services in the area are expected to be affected tomorrow (Sunday 1 February) and there is a reasonable possibility they will be affected on Monday (2/2).

Customers using Chiltern Railway and Crosscountry services are asked to check the National Rail website before they travel for any service modifications www.nationalrail.co.uk

Services between Manchester and Bournemouth and Newcastle, Reading and Southampton are currently being disrupted. There is a bus replacement service operating between Leamington Spa and Banbury and a revised service is in effect between Banbury and Marylebone, Birmingham and Leamington Spa, and Stratford upon Avon and Leamington Spa.

 

[jimm]

Not like in the good old BR days when things got diverted quite easily, because everyone worked under the same company and had very similar traction & route competencies.

Now of course, it's completely different and fragmented, nobody does and that makes it virtually impossible to do. I've been on a ICXC service in the past and got slung up via Moreton in Marsh and into Birmingham, no fuss, no dramas and NO buses involved.

I assume you're referring back to the early 1990s on the Cotswold Line when the trains involved were timetabled diversions on summer weekends, which were a lot easier to accommodate on a route that had a far sketchier service - on Sundays in particular - between London, Worcester and Hereford than it does now.

I don't think a 22x has ever ventured west of Wolvercot junction to see if it would hit anything and Thames Trains and FGW have built up the line's regular weekend services since the 1990s, so trying to accommodate many extra trains without further redoubling is pretty difficult, never mind short-notice emergency diversions.

As pointed out above, East West will provide an alternative for XC between Oxford and the West Midlands in a few years' time, so no one is going to spend money on the Cotswold Line just in case.

Plus there is already planned engineering work north of Oxford today that is closing the Cotswold Line as far as Hanborough, as well as the route to Banbury.

Some pictures of 47/8s in action on XC diversions in the 90s
http://www.hondawanderer.com/47805_Chilson_1992.htm
http://www.hondawanderer.com/47818_Chilson_1994.htm
http://www.hondawanderer.com/47847_Ascott-under-Wychwood_1995.htm

 

[edwin_m]

Read the bottom of post 11.

Sorry folks, I missed that one!

 

[Cherry_Picker]

https://www.facebook.com/chilternrailway

Some photos up on Chiltern's Facebook page. It is on the up road near the tunnel, there have been problems in that location for years. It was closed with flooding a couple of Christmases ago and there has been a 50mph slack on the up for nearly 12 months because of the slip last year. You can see the existing works have been washed away in the latest pictures.

This is the area on a map, the tunnel is very short (shorter than most trains which pass through it) as it's only for a road to go over the the line but the bank is a lot steeper than the photo implies. Dunno how much water is coming in from the farmland above but it must be a lot. I wonder if it's time to go back to the drawing board on this one and come up with a more complete drainage solution?

 

[RPM]

I'm not sure it was wise of Chiltern to release those pictures. The average passenger is going to see an apparently clear pair of tracks and wonder why on earth the line is closed.

 

[najaB]

I'm not sure it was wise of Chiltern to release those pictures. The average passenger...

I despair if the the average passenger can't understand that a landslip a couple of metres away from the line needs to be made safe.

 

[PermitToTravel]

I'm not sure it was wise of Chiltern to release those pictures. The average passenger is going to see an apparently clear pair of tracks and wonder why on earth the line is closed.

Didn't want to say it lest I be mistaken for such a passenger!