Northern issue DO NOT TRAVEL message (23/08)

[londonmidland]

Northern have issued a ‘do not travel’ warning for various routes today, due to multiple trees down on the line. This was caused by unseasonably strong winds overnight. See here on X/Twitter

Lots of delays and cancellations currently affecting the north western side of their network.

Due to severe weather some lines are blocked

Train services running across the whole Northern network will be cancelled, delayed or revised.

The following lines route of route are currently being disrupted by severe weather:

Carlisle - Barrow-in-Furness
Chester - Leeds
Stoke / Macclesfield - Manchester Piccadilly
Manchester Victoria - Wigan Wallgate
Clitheroe - Rochdale
Skipton - Leeds

Due to severe weather disrupting the railway customers are advised DO NOT TRAVEL at this time.

 

[Northerngirl]

They are so dramatic with these alerts, do not travel makes it sound like a nuclear apocalypse, when all it's going to be is a 2 hour delay

 

[1D54]

Surely better to issue these warnings than say nothing and have people turn up for trains only to see them delayed / cancelled.

Workington - Carlisle line was flooded but looks like some services are now running but others are cancelled.

Northern are adopting the correct approach.

 

[sandpiper]

This has been entirely foreseeable! Train-crews have been complaining about the state of the lineside foliage and tree growth for years, and every year it gets worse. Some trees are growing a such an angle that they are only going to fall on to the tracks. It doesn't take much for a tree to fall and block the tracks these days because they have been left to grow so close to the line.
Hitting even a small tree at high speed is a scary experience for a driver.

You say it might be only a "2 hour" delay but it will be considerably longer with multiple trees, (in full leaf), down and only a limited number of teams to clear it.

Network Rail have neglected to maintain the lineside for years, the lineside foliage effects all kinds of other things to like sighting of signals, signage, platforms, blocking of drainage leading to flooding etc......... and don't get me started on the forthcoming leaf-fall season........!!!

 

[pokemonsuper9]

Surely better to issue these warnings than say nothing and have people turn up for trains only to see them delayed / cancelled.

Northern are adopting the correct approach.

Definitely, I saw this forum thread start and then I checked my train times, then rushed to get a taxi so I can make an Avanti on time.

These forums are great for up-to-date info.

 

[D6130]

Calder Valley line currently blocked by multiple fallen trees and currently no trains running into or out of Halifax. One of our neighbours is travelling from Hebden Bridge to London this morning on an advance ticket. Anyone know if this will be valid on a later train from Leeds in the circumstances?

 

[yorksrob]

Looking at Traksy, Ilkley - Leeds services appear to be reversing via Shipley at the moment.

 

[furnessvale]

For most people, "Do not travel", means do not travel by RAIL. Instead they will travel by car, coach or bus. This further erodes rail's reputation for reliabilty, let alone waking people to the knowledge that you can travel anywhere on a bus for £2.

 

[Bayum]

They are so dramatic with these alerts, do not travel makes it sound like a nuclear apocalypse, when all it's going to be is a 2 hour delay

You happy to be stuck on a 150 for >2hrs not getting anywhere?

 

[thejuggler]

For most people, "Do not travel", means do not travel by RAIL. Instead they will travel by car, coach or bus. This further erodes rail's reputation for reliabilty, let alone waking people to the knowledge that you can travel anywhere on a bus for £2.

Looking at local newpaper sites don't travel at all may be wise at the moment in some areas. Trees down in lots of areas of West Yorkshire blocking main routes.

 

[ainsworth74]

Perhaps the message has changed but all I can see on Journey Check at the moment is:

Due to severe weather throughout the day, various train lines across the Northern network will be disrupted and may be delayed or amended / cancelled at short notice. Passengers are advised to avoid travelling if you can where possible due to major disruption, as you may be heavily delayed.

Which doesn't seem unreasonable advice?

I do think though that the industry as a whole, not just Northern, needs to get a bit better at this sort of thing. It does occasionally feel like we tip into "DO NOT TRAVEL" territory quite quickly when a more accurate message might well be: "There will be significant disruption today and your journey may be significantly delayed as a result. You may wish to defer your journey until either later today or until tomorrow, tickets valid today will be valid tomorrow to facilitate this".

 

[jamiearmley]

You happy to be stuck on a 150 for >2hrs not getting anywhere?

Rather a 150 than a 331 stranded in an electrical switch off with no power to the Aircon ... At least you can open windows on a 150 and still have power for the toilet.

 

[Howardh]

Trams in Manchester have been affected by falling trees too, so it's not just rail!

Manchester news reported around 7.20am all servicees suspended including to the airport. Some running now but advice is to check.

If rail Stoke to Manchester is affected, will Avanti divert all trains via Crewe?

 

[D6130]

Calder Valley now reopened via Brighouse....but Halifax-Bradford still appears to be blocked.

 

[scrapy]

Trams in Manchester have been affected by falling trees too, so it's not just rail!

If Stoke to Manchester is affected, will Avanti divert all trains via Crewe?

They can divert via Crewe but they usually cancel at least 1tph as not enough paths for the full service plus all the Cross-countrys to go via Crewe

 

[Sussex hammer]

Perhaps the message has changed but all I can see on Journey Check at the moment is:



Which doesn't seem unreasonable advice?

I do think though that the industry as a whole, not just Northern, needs to get a bit better at this sort of thing. It does occasionally feel like we tip into "DO NOT TRAVEL" territory quite quickly when a more accurate message might well be: "There will be significant disruption today and your journey may be significantly delayed as a result. You may wish to defer your journey until either later today or until tomorrow, tickets valid today will be valid tomorrow to facilitate this".

100% on the last bit. Says so much. The weather is a bit wild today and may affect your journey.

On saying nothing, is really a stupid, IMO. The amount of pelters the TOC's would get if a train was delayed or cancelled.

 

[Howardh]

They can divert via Crewe but they usually cancel at least 1tph as not enough paths for the full service plus all the Cross-countrys to go via Crewe

Just looked at Avanti website and they reckon all trains about to leave Euston are running normally. Is that the reality?

 

[Andyh82]

Calder Valley now reopened via Brighouse....but Halifax-Bradford still appears to be blocked.

Doesn’t look to be the case, both 09:52 and 10:52 from Brighouse to Manchester are both shown as cancelled

 

[43066]

Perhaps the message has changed but all I can see on Journey Check at the moment is:



Which doesn't seem unreasonable advice?

I do think though that the industry as a whole, not just Northern, needs to get a bit better at this sort of thing. It does occasionally feel like we tip into "DO NOT TRAVEL" territory quite quickly when a more accurate message might well be: "There will be significant disruption today and your journey may be significantly delayed as a result. You may wish to defer your journey until either later today or until tomorrow, tickets valid today will be valid tomorrow to facilitate this".

Unless I’ve missed something they don’t actually say “DO NOT TRAVEL” anywhere. The (sensible) advice for today is as you note above.

 

[DarloRich]

Northern have issued a ‘do not travel’ warning for various routes today, due to multiple trees down on the line. This was caused by unseasonably strong winds overnight. See here on X/Twitter

Lots of delays and cancellations currently affecting the north western side of their network.

The link doesn't say what you claim it does!

I am in the NE today and it is quite windy. It seems sensible to warn people they may be delayed

 

[Banham7]

Lincoln-Sheffield has now re-opened following a fallen tree in the Kiveton Park area for the past couple of hours.

 

[londonmidland]

The link doesn't say what you claim it does!

The messages are within a thread within the tweet. If you scroll down, you can see that they’ve posted more underneath. The link provided was the start of the thread. The message containing such wording can be found here.

 

[Statto]

There is a Northern train at Poynton that's been stuck their since 06.30, no trains serving Macclesfield, trains are being cancelled or diverted via Crewe at the moment.

 

[alistairlees]

Also the "DO NOT TRAVEL" message is on National Rail:

 

[D6130]

Doesn’t look to be the case, both 09:52 and 10:52 from Brighouse to Manchester are both shown as cancelled

According to Realtime Trains, 2I08, 08 52 to Wigan departed Brighouse at 09 37, then terminated at Hebden Bridge. Meanwhile, Down trains - such as 1J04, 07 57 Manchester Victoria-Leeds (running an hour late) and 1Z18, the turned-round short 08 22 Burnley Manchester Road-Leeds - have diverted via Brighouse. Even once all the fallen trees have been removed, further heavy delays and cancellations are inevitable due to units and crews being out of position and service recovery alterations.

 

[trainophile]

I’m on a delayed 0815 Scarborough to York which has turned into the 10:02 Scarborough to Sheffield but terminating at Hull, which suits me fine.

Just checked my onward connections Hull-Leeds-ManVic-Wigan Wallgate for after midday and they are all showing running as normal.

Is it safe to rely on NRE to know that this is probably correct?

 

[D6130]

Is it safe to rely on NRE to know that this is probably correct?

I would be inclined to check with Real Time Trains as your journey progresses.

 

[londonmidland]

Just checked my onward connections Hull-Leeds-ManVic-Wigan Wallgate for after midday and they are all showing running as normal.

Is it safe to rely on NRE to know that this is probably correct?

I’d advise checking closer to the time for any booked connections. Delays and cancellations can creep in at short notice. Particularly during severe disruption.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

I’m on a delayed 0815 Scarborough to York which has turned into the 10:02 Scarborough to Sheffield but terminating at Hull, which suits me fine.

Just checked my onward connections Hull-Leeds-ManVic-Wigan Wallgate for after midday and they are all showing running as normal.

Is it safe to rely on NRE to know that this is probably correct?

The Wigan services have had quite a bit of disruption this morning, I'd certainly keep an eye on RTT as well as a Dawin system (e.g. NRE, journeycheck etc..)

 

[185]

Overuse of the OMGZ DO NOT TRAVEL nonsense by some, especially Northern needs to be reigned in - that is reserved for the most serious disruptions, plague, volcano and asteroid strike. For one to three hour closures such as fallen trees on the rails (not OLE), the maximum should be EXPECT DELAYS or SERVICE TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED - nothing more. In two of the areas mentioned, upon checking, trains have ran right through just 2-3 hours after the DO NOT TRAVEL was issued.