Major landslide between Haddenham and Bicester update thread

[HWLad]

Hi all, I have had an interesting past couple of days travelling in the Chiltern Main Line from High Wycombe. I understand that yesterday (11/01) there was a landslip between Bicester and Haddenham & Thame Parkway which cancelled most trains to Oxford and halved the number going to the West Midlands. It meant that the final few services home from my late shift at work were all cancelled but Chiltern Railways control turned the final train from Stratford into an all-stations stopper which got me home eventually.

Today (12/01), there is also be a signal failure south of High Wycombe which seems to have stopped everything travelling south of the station. Currently on a service to High Wycombe to London via Princes Risborough and Aylesbury.

I suppose I am more curious than anything about what has been going on behind the scenes.

 

[fkofilee]

Mods Linked to - https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...d-bicester-update-thread.260940/#post-6582636

 

[Nova1]

Chiltern have now issued a do not travel between Marylebone and High Wycombe, they are warning that some services are still running but are incredibly busy.

It’s probably one for another thread but issuing a do not travel at 4:30pm on a Friday isn’t exactly helpful.

 

[Vanmanyo]

Yes that is pretty disastrous. It seems when things go wrong on the CML, they go pretty badly wrong

 

[Jimini]

Now advertised on the Chiltern website as completely closed Sunday and Monday between Bicester North and Haddenham & Thame P'wy:

DO NOT TRAVEL: repairs to the railway in the Bicester area on Sunday 14 and Monday 15 January

Chiltern Railways is advising customers not to travel on its services on Sunday 14 and Monday 15 January.

Due to recent heavy rainfall, a landslip occurred on Thursday 11 January on the Chiltern main line between Bicester North and Haddenham & Thame Parkway.

The line has been partially blocked, meaning that fewer services have been able to run on the one track available since the disruption began.

For Network Rail to undertake urgent repairs to the railway, the line between Bicester North and Haddenham & Thame Parkway will be fully closed on Sunday 14 January and Monday 15 January. This means that no trains will be able run through the area.

Trains will start/terminate at either Bicester North or Haddenham & Thame Parkway depending on direction of travel, with a limited replacement bus service in between these stations for local journeys. Due to this significant disruption, Chiltern is asking customers to not to travel on these days and seek alternative methods of transport.

Ticket acceptance is in place with Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, Great Western Railway, London Northwestern Railway and London Underground/Elizabeth Line via any reasonable route.

The current reduced timetable between London Marylebone and Birmingham Moor Street, and the cancellation of services between London Marylebone and Oxford, remains in place on Saturday 13 January. Customers should ensure they check their full journey before they travel.

Chiltern Railways sincerely apologies for the disruption this will cause customers, and wishes to stress that there is no alternative to making these urgent repairs across Sunday and Monday. Disruption will likely continue as the lines reopen at reduced speed on Tuesday 16 January. We will provide a further update for customers on Monday regarding the service on Tuesday 16 January.

If customers have an advance ticket booked with Chiltern, they will be entitled to a full, fee-free refund from the original retailer or the opportunity to rebook their journey.

 

[Vanmanyo]

I did suggest that perhaps the line would be closed. This is some major work though, units with you be all over the place too surely

 

[67018]

According to RealTime Trains, 1R58 1906 Marylebone-Moor Street ran as 10 cars this evening. Is this correct, and if so is it a first? - I didn't think the platforms could manage more than 9. Or is the data just messed up given the disruption?

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:G07731/2024-01-12/detailed#allox_id=0

 

[Watershed]

According to RealTime Trains, 1R58 1906 Marylebone-Moor Street ran as 10 cars this evening. Is this correct, and if so is it a first? - I didn't think the platforms could manage more than 9. Or is the data just messed up given the disruption?

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:G07731/2024-01-12/detailed#allox_id=0

Maximum formations anywhere are 9 coaches so likely an issue with an old allocation sticking around in the data.

 

[CyrusWuff]

Chiltern have now issued a do not travel between Marylebone and High Wycombe, they are warning that some services are still running but are incredibly busy.

It’s probably one for another thread but issuing a do not travel at 4:30pm on a Friday isn’t exactly helpful.

The context for that being a complete loss of signalling between West Ruislip and Gerrards Cross (not the first time that's happened either) with no estimate for a fix.

According to RTT, the 2307 Marylebone to Birmingham ran as a two car 165 and lost 26 minutes between West Ruislip and Gerrards Cross, and was 41 minutes late departing Solihull.

 

[Vanmanyo]

According to RTT, the 2307 Marylebone to Birmingham ran as a two car 165 and lost 26 minutes between West Ruislip and Gerrards Cross, and was 41 minutes late departing Solihull.

I think all RTT allocations for Chiltern are wrong tbf. They suggested Chiltern ran a 10 car service as seen above, but this is not even possible on the CML.

The context for that being a complete loss of signalling between West Ruislip and Gerrards Cross (not the first time that's happened either) with no estimate for a fix.

Yep, and it's still not fixed now! Although services are getting through at reduced speeds. That's adding 30 minutes onto the journey. Then, the landslide is adding up to 60 minutes of delays, hence why every service is delayed heavily. The network is closed tomorrow and Monday (between Haddenham and Bicester). The thing that seems interesting is that they are saying they are only putting limited RRB's between the two stations. Suggests that Chiltern are going to run a heavily reduced timetable regardless. It also says the line will only reopen on 07:00 on Tuesday morning (if it finishes on time too); so I would expect another reduced timetable on Tuesday and Wednesday if Chiltern can't move the stock around to where they need it to be. It'll take a week or two to get everything to return to normal - probably be a few short forms etc.

 

[rob w]

A special timetable will be running on the London - High Wycombe - Banbury - Birmingham line all day on Saturday. Online journey planners have been updated.

A copy of the special timetable may be downloaded here.

 

[russellb]

A special timetable will be running on the London - High Wycombe - Banbury - Birmingham line all day on Saturday. Online journey planners have been updated.

A copy of the special timetable may be downloaded here.

Looks to me like that timetable is somewhat out of the window now today, branch line switch to PRR shuttle maybe.

 

[CyrusWuff]

The thing that seems interesting is that they are saying they are only putting limited RRB's between the two stations.

Given Kings Cross/Moorgate - Grantham/Letchworth is closed all weekend, that's going to take a large number of RRBs for starters, and securing more than a handful of PSVAR compliant vehicles and drivers at such short notice is going to be tricky anyway.

 

[Birmingham]

Chiltern is being a bit coy about ticket acceptance on Avanti today, caveating in replies to several passengers on Twitter with "if your service has been cancelled" and "if you already have a ticket".

They replied to one passenger who asked with:

If you service has been cancelled then yes, you can use your ticket on Avanti for alternative route.

When the passenger followed up that their Chiltern service had not been cancelled but was just late (passenger has deleted their reply since), Chiltern confirmed they could still use Avanti:

that's fine to take that service.

Seems a bit odd and unhelpful. Have Avanti told them that they don't want everyone just walking up today buying cheap flexible tickets via High Wycombe and then travelling on Avanti?

 

[CyrusWuff]

Seems a bit odd and unhelpful. Have Avanti told them that they don't want everyone just walking up today buying cheap flexible tickets via High Wycombe and then travelling on Avanti?

Looking at RTT, Avanti are only running 2tph between New Street and Euston for much of today, and just 1tph tomorrow, so it's entirely likely they've made acceptance conditional on tickets having been bought before the landslip occurred.

Chiltern did the same for GWR Advance tickets during the Nuneham Viaduct closure.

 

[CR165022]

I think all RTT allocations for Chiltern are wrong tbf. They suggested Chiltern ran a 10 car service as seen above, but this is not even possible on the CML.

Most were wrong yesterday but that 165 one was correct, saw it on railcam.

 

[Birmingham]

Most were wrong yesterday but that 165 one was correct, saw it on railcam.

2 car 165 is not uncommon on the last 23:07 Birmingham and loses stacks of time on the non-stop run from Marylebone to Bicester North on a good day.

 

[Vanmanyo]

Is that signal failure at WRU actually still going on? That's a 24 hour signal failure - wow

 

[CR165022]

Is that signal failure at WRU actually still going on? That's a 24 hour signal failure - wow

Yes, Chiltern has said that Network Rail is going to do some repairs overnight

 

[rob w]

Was on the 18:02 ex MYB to Birmingham. Was routed onto the slow at South Ruislip and then the mess started. The slow in front was sat outside West Ruislip for ages and by the time we got going we were almost 70 mins down. It seems that the section from West Ruislip to Beaconsfield was one block but when so it took ages for the train in front and then our one to clear it. annoyingly the 19:02 was the train behind and was only about 20 mons behind us at Banbury.

 

[30907]

Was on the 18:02 ex MYB to Birmingham. Was routed onto the slow at South Ruislip and then the mess started. The slow in front was sat outside West Ruislip for ages and by the time we got going we were almost 70 mins down. It seems that the section from West Ruislip to Beaconsfield was one block but when so it took ages for the train in front and then our one to clear it. annoyingly the 19:02 was the train behind and was only about 20 mins behind us at Banbury.

Perhaps because the 1837 slow was cancelled - RTT gives a train crew issue but I dare say it helped recover the service.

 

[Vanmanyo]

Pictures from today's work:

https://twitter.com/chilternrailway/status/1746604346006032571

 

[30907]

Pictures from today's work:

https://twitter.com/chilternrailway/status/1746604346006032571

Thanks

 

[paok]

More photos from CML Network Rail here: https://x.com/NetworkRailCML/status/1746637005457334681?s=20

Complete mess this morning as the emergency timetable wasn't uploaded properly to online planners which were showing original data. Also CIS screens at stations showing normal timetabled trains which obviously didn't turn up.

 

[rob w]

More photos from CML Network Rail here: https://x.com/NetworkRailCML/status/1746637005457334681?s=20

Complete mess this morning as the emergency timetable wasn't uploaded properly to online planners which were showing original data. Also CIS screens at stations showing normal timetabled trains which obviously didn't turn up.

is it a complicated job to action such things?

 

[Vanmanyo]

is it a complicated job to action such things?

Probably not as it's done pretty regularly for strikes etc. Clearly someone didn't update the system correctly or something. Obviously a huge a mess

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

All pretty unfortunate but you have to give NR and its supply chain credit for the rapidity with which they can mobilise repairs for all these slippages. Thats a hefty excavator they've managed to get on site which has plenty of oomfph to drive the sheet piles in quickly compared to an RRV.

 

[jhy44]

After being caught on a delayed Lapworth - Marylebone train on Thursday eve due to this, the return tonight was even worse.

Went from Paddington and changed at Reading and Leamington as Chiltern’s updated journey planner recommended. Connection at Reading almost missed due to a late running GWR train, sprinted like a madman along with a dozen other people and just caught it. Got off at Leamington and waited for the 16:06 Leamington to Moor Street Chiltern local along with many other people. It simply didn’t arrive. No announcement, disappeared from the board. After 15 mins we gave up and walked into the main station to try and find some staff to ask what was going on to be told ‘those trains aren’t running today due to the emergency timetable’. Well why on earth was it not removed from the timetable like the other cancelled chiltern trains then? Why was no announcement made to the visible group of people waiting?

Then a chiltern staff member told me the train was on platform 4 waiting (it was clearly a purple and orange WMR train which was the Nuneaton train), then he told me to get the Bicester - Birmingham train instead (which didn’t stop at Lapworth…). Then he told me I’d need a taxi as there would be no Leamington to Lapworth trains today (at this point I realised that he was a moron who knew nothing so was reluctant to believe this statement either).

After he went into the office to ‘order me my taxi’, his voice boomed over the announcement that the next train would now make additional stops at Lapworth and Hatton. The 25 or so school children who travelled from Warwick to Lapworth were I’m sure equally as glad about my intervention.

But this begs the question; if Chiltern had indeed cancelled all of the Leamington - Birmingham locals and thus devoided Hatton and Lapworth of service; why weren’t those trains taken out of the timetable and the additional stops on the Bicester trains put in at last night for the duration of today? Why did it take me to point this out to staff at 16:15 for someone to realise that this needed doing?

I appreciate that unforeseen line blockages are a headache and will cause disruption, but someone at Chiltern seems to have completely dropped the ball on this one not realising this, and the fact that their own station staff don’t appear to know the calling patterns nor even the colour of their own trains is pretty shocking.

 

[Horizon22]

Probably not as it's done pretty regularly for strikes etc. Clearly someone didn't update the system correctly or something. Obviously a huge a mess

Yes but that is implemented with a full train plan by a planning department with a timetable file sent to Network Rail. Over a weekend there may not have planners to arrange this (normally Monday - Friday workers) which means it’s likely controllers had to do this and then work through the original timetable manually whilst also adding new trains. This can only be done reliably from the early morning of the relevant day.

It is then possible with a clear list to sort everything for the rest of the day, if the team hasn’t been overwhelmed with continuously trying to firefight the current days issues. Over the weekend is always more difficult due to resource availability.

 

[Birmingham]

Then a chiltern staff member told me the train was on platform 4 waiting (it was clearly a purple and orange WMR train which was the Nuneaton train), then he told me to get the Bicester - Birmingham train instead (which didn’t stop at Lapworth…). Then he told me I’d need a taxi as there would be no Leamington to Lapworth trains today (at this point I realised that he was a moron who knew nothing so was reluctant to believe this statement either).

After he went into the office to ‘order me my taxi’, his voice boomed over the announcement that the next train would now make additional stops at Lapworth and Hatton. The 25 or so school children who travelled from Warwick to Lapworth were I’m sure equally as glad about my intervention.

So the “moron who knew nothing” was prepared to order you a taxi and managed to get additional stops added to the train.