LNER disruption due to damaged pantographs - 16/04 - Any information on what's happened?

[ST156]

Does anyone know what was going on with LNER this morning? 4 sets all apparently with defects at King's Cross around 08:30? One of which appeared to be 1A46 which failed at Hatfield last night.

From what I could see several services have been cancelled due to a fault with the pantographs or overheads? Anyone got any further information on this?

 

[SPADTrap]

5 locos so far with chipped and damaged pans, no one knows where the damage occurred.

 

[tsr]

5 locos so far with chipped and damaged pans, no one knows where the damage occurred.

Stevenage to Peterborough is the suggestion so far, which is a bit vague...

 

[leedstraindude]

Six locos now.

 

[danpick]

Now declared a Black Status, currently 15 91s Out Of Service. 8 were OOS to start with this morning, with 6 caped with pantograph damage, and 91115 failed NNG with Wheel Slip Issues.

 

[Spartacus]

Curiously no GTR units affected yet, suggesting something between Huntingdon and Hitchin. How 1P17 is or isn't affected should narrow it down as that's FL apart from Huntingdon - St Neots.

 

[robbeech]

Curiously no GTR units affected yet, suggesting something between Huntingdon and Hitchin. How 1P17 is or isn't affected should narrow it down.

There have been some cancellations to their services but that could just be down to delays caused by other things.

 

[philjo]

There was a GN stopper affected by pantograph issues in the Hatfield Area last night on the down slow.
On Sunday there was a problem with the overhead wires blocking the lines in the Hornsey area which prevented a lot of GN stock leaving Hornsey depot in time for the Monday morning peak hour service.

 

[Spartacus]

1P17 appears affects, damage seems to be between St Neots and Hitchin on UF.

 

[Broken70]

I'm on 9J25 1024 Peterborough to Horsham and this is now running fast from Biggleswade to Finsbury Park due to the disruptions. LNER have plenty of cancellations mainly the Leeds services however 1S10 is also caped.

 

[tsr]

I'm on 9J25 1024 Peterborough to Horsham and this is now running fast from Biggleswade to Finsbury Park due to the disruptions. LNER have plenty of cancellations mainly the Leeds services however 1S10 is also caped.

Amendments to 9J25 aren't really very much to do with it. 9J16 (towards Peterborough) was delayed at St Pancras due to a coat stuck in an offside door*. The service then lost its path and had a tight turnaround at Peterborough. Therefore 9J25 is running fast from Biggleswade.

*something which also delayed a number of other TL and GN services

 

[malc-c]

As a general observation there seems to be a lot of issues between Peterborough and Kings Cross with OH cabling recently. The cost of damage to the trains, repairing the OH cabling, and refunds to customers etc must make the powers that be at Network Rail consider the cost of replacing the type of OH equipment with modern design to try and prevent this sort of thing

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

NRE has actually used the word "pantograph" is its explanation of the delay.
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/today.aspx

This incident seems to be affecting the LNER trains pantographs.
A pantograph is an apparatus mounted on the roof of an electric train and collects power through contact with an overhead line, similar to how the third rail works

I don't think the "third rail" reference was helpful.
Advice not to travel today, wide ticket acceptance on other routes.

 

[darloscott]

If the problem is between Peterborough & Stevenage then why is this only affecting the 91's and not 387's or 700's? Is it to do with the specific type of pantograph?

 

[Spartacus]

If the problem is between Peterborough & Stevenage then why is this only affecting the 91's and not 387's or 700's? Is it to do with the specific type of pantograph?

Their are 4 lines in most places, it seems to be a problem where LNER run FL and GTR run SL due to GTRs being unaffected apart from possibly the only GTR which runs FL between St Neots and Hitchin, which may be the only GTR affected. Affected or not, it seems that's probably the train that will give the best indication of where the damage is.

 

[Carntyne]

The damage on the pantos looks pretty bad. Weird it's affected so many at once.

Lots going on behind the scenes to try and sort it out though. Good luck to front line and the controllers trying to deal with it all.

 

[voyagerdude220]

"Network Rail advise that pantograph damage has also been discovered on a GTR set. Initial inspections of the overhead electric wires have revealed some damage on the Down Fast near East Road, Arlesey, with a detached dropper."

 

[ChiefPlanner]

The damage on the pantos looks pretty bad. Weird it's affected so many at once.

Lots going on behind the scenes to try and sort it out though. Good luck to front line and the controllers trying to deal with it all.

Some years back - the entire 34 x 321 fleet working out of Euston got damaged pan carbons - to the extent that the whole fleet was knackered and had to be augmented by a range of drafted in units from elsewhere - diesel - until they found the root cause , an upturned clip on the OLE near Camden , it took some finding but easily resolved. In 2014 , a good % of the FCC fleet got damaged pans in the Hornsey / Bounds Green area. These things happen ....regrettably.

 

[Ianno87]

Currently stuck on an Ely-King's Cross fast just south of Finsbury Park, with two LNER sets on the Up Fast in front. King's Cross is out of platforms!

Thameslink passengers have the added reslience of the Thameslink core today to accept train; the Slows are seeming to be kept clear for this purpose.

 

[tsr]

As ChiefPlanner says - these things happen. Doesn't just happen on OHLE networks either. Something similar happened with 377s losing shoegear about a year and a half ago. Virtually every MOM doing cab rides; extra crew drafted in to act as extra pairs of eyes; shoes being counted at turnaround locations; and so on. I think eventually it was found to be a dip in the third rail near Barnham.

 

[Megafuss]

Feel for the LNER twitter/customer facing teams, they seem to be indulging in some gallows humor though as indicated by this response to an armchair expert (well, I laughed anyway)
https://twitter.com/LNER/status/1118100776499519488?s=09

 

[ChiefPlanner]

As ChiefPlanner says - these things happen. Doesn't just happen on OHLE networks either. Something similar happened with 377s losing shoegear about a year and a half ago. Virtually every MOM doing cab rides; extra crew drafted in to act as extra pairs of eyes; shoes being counted at turnaround locations; and so on. I think eventually it was found to be a dip in the third rail near Barnham.

When I ran the DC services from Euston - we had the entire 6 313 circuits damaged at Stonebridge one afternoon - however the poor Bakerloo line had about 15 sets damaged. All knocked off one side due to a con rail out of gauge. There was a pile of knocked off shoes in the area.....

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Feel for the LNER twitter/customer facing teams, they seem to be indulging in some gallows humor though as indicated by this response to an armchair expert (well, I laughed anyway)
https://twitter.com/LNER/status/1118100776499519488?s=09

Quite - about 400+ route miles and numerous tracks , depots , sidings. Must be a Daily Mail outraged reader.

 

[Ianno87]

King's Cross Thunderbird out to the rescue too (the other end had double 'Elephant style' 91s off the end of the ramps)

 

[Ianno87]

Feel for the LNER twitter/customer facing teams, they seem to be indulging in some gallows humor though as indicated by this response to an armchair expert (well, I laughed anyway)
https://twitter.com/LNER/status/1118100776499519488?s=09

Quite - about 400+ route miles and numerous tracks , depots , sidings. Must be a Daily Mail outraged reader.

Another one I saw was:
"You should put Network Rail to task!"
"What makes you think we haven't?"

Some great replies!

 

[Bayum]

So I’m in London, and have been since yesterday. The advice is not to travel. Clearly there are going to be lots of service OOU, particularly due to the number of 91s being damaged.

What do I do? If I get another hotel, will it be covered by LNER? Delay repay?

 

[Spartacus]

"Network Rail advise that pantograph damage has also been discovered on a GTR set. Initial inspections of the overhead electric wires have revealed some damage on the Down Fast near East Road, Arlesey, with a detached dropper."

Seems to be old damage, and unlikely to be the cause, but it does seem to be the right sort of area so it, or something very close, may be it.

 

[Spartacus]

So I’m in London, and have been since yesterday. The advice is not to travel. Clearly there are going to be lots of service OOU, particularly due to the number of 91s being damaged.

What do I do? If I get another hotel, will it be covered by LNER? Delay repay?

MML to Sheffield then onwards to, presumably, Leeds.

 

[Bayum]

MML to Sheffield then onwards to, presumably, Leeds.

Will they allow that if people have been told not to travel today? It isn’t the end of the world if I have to stay down in London another day, I’m just not certain what I should be doing!

 

[Spartacus]

Will they allow that if people have been told not to travel today? It isn’t the end of the world if I have to stay down in London another day, I’m just not certain what I should be doing!

From the horse's mouth, aka, LNER website:

Alternative travel advice for LNER customers:

LNER customers may use their tickets on:

• CrossCountry between Newcastle and Leeds and also between Doncaster and Sheffield
• East Midlands Trains services between London St Pancras International and Sheffield
• Grand Central on the 11:27 service from London Kings Cross to York
• Great Northern and Thameslink between London Kings Cross and Peterborough
• Hull Trains via any reasonable route
• Northern services between Sheffield and Doncaster / Leeds
• TransPennine Express between Newcastle / Leeds and Manchester Piccadilly
• Virgin Trains via any reasonable route