Security alert at Blackpool North

[syorksdeano]

Blackpool North is currently evacuated due to a suspect package on or near the tracks.

Road closure right down to Ma Kelly's and expected to be at least 4 hours.

Anyone else got any other information? Maintenance worker left a bag or something?

Given the location where the alleged suspect device is, access must be from the train station

Blackpool North station evacuated due to suspicious package

The incident is ongoing at this time

www.lancs.live

Passengers at Blackpool station have been evacuated this morning (July 10) for safety reasons.

Northern has confirmed on social media that the train station in the seaside town has been evacuated. It has been confirmed that this is due to a suspicious package that was found.

Rail passengers have reported they are stuck on trains just outside of the station because of the incident. No timescale has been given about when the station will be back open.


Confirming the news on Twitter, a Northern spokesperson replied to a passenger and said: "A safety evacuation has taken place due to a suspicious package, sadly we do not have a timescale for this at present."

[

 

[sonic2009]

Looking at OpenTrainTimes there doesn't seem to be any passenger services stuck outside the station? Happy to be corrected

 

[Mcr Warrior]

In a situation like this, presume most services originally headed for Blackpool North will now be terminated short at Preston, but after how long might the decision be made to release any still "trapped" units stuck just outside Blackpool North one-by-one back towards say Kirkham & Wesham (or does the signalling on the line not allow that)?

Noted also the comment that @sonic2009 has just added.

 

[syorksdeano]

Northern have apparently managed to source some coaches which will depart from Dixon Road (corner of Funny Girls).

Shows how wide the cordon is I suppose

 

[D1537]

One train terminated at Layton, and one at Kirkham. Everything else was turned back at Preston.

 

[D6130]

Looks like the station is now open again....but quite a few departures are shown as being cancelled due to the incoming services having been terminated at Preston. (Source: Real Time Trains).

 

[Whistler40145]

Northern have apparently managed to source some coaches which will depart from Dixon Road (corner of Funny Girls).

Shows how wide the cordon is I suppose

Not a good situation to encounter during building work

One train terminated at Layton, and one at Kirkham. Everything else was turned back at Preston.

I can't remember during the remodelling of the track layout at Blackpool North if there's a crossover allowing access to the sidings to enable any ECS workings

 

[syorksdeano]

Looks like the station is now open again....but quite a few departures are shown as being cancelled due to the incoming services having been terminated at Preston. (Source: Real Time Trains).

It's definitely not reopen

 

[D6130]

It's definitely not reopen

Ah....OK. I must have misinterpreted RTT then.

 

[Efini92]

Not a good situation to encounter during building work


I can't remember during the remodelling of the track layout at Blackpool North if there's a crossover allowing access to the sidings to enable any ECS workings

You need to go into the station now to get onto the sidings.

 

[randyrippley]

Apparently Sainsburys has been evacuated

 

[syorksdeano]

Apparently Sainsburys has been evacuated

Due to a glass front apparently

 

[Blindtraveler]

This must surely have been something left behind by a maintenance, track or construction worker as as it's pretty impossible for passengers to escape the confines of the concourse and it's intricate system of tightly locked doors to cause such an incident or at least that was the case last time I was at Northwich was a while ago now and I understand there is major building work in progress

 

[Snow1964]

local media reported bomb squad arrived at 13:07, must have been from a fair distance if took nearly two hours, as station evacuation was reported to have been 11:22

Blackpool North station evacuated due to suspicious package

The incident is ongoing at this time

www.lancs.live

Passengers at Blackpool station have been evacuated this morning (July 10) for safety reasons.

Northern has confirmed on social media that the train station in the seaside town has been evacuated. It has been confirmed that this is due to a suspicious package that was found.

Rail passengers have reported they are stuck on trains just outside of the station because of the incident. No timescale has been given about when the station will be back open.

Confirming the news on Twitter, a Northern spokesperson replied to a passenger and said: "A safety evacuation has taken place due to a suspicious package, sadly we do not have a timescale for this at present."

 

[syorksdeano]

local media reported bomb squad arrived at 13:07, must have been from a fair distance if took nearly two hours, as station evacuation was reported to have been 11:22

Blackpool North station evacuated due to suspicious package

The incident is ongoing at this time

www.lancs.live

Came from Chester. Apparently the robot is out

 

[43066]

This must surely have been something left behind by a maintenance, track or construction worker as as it's pretty impossible for passengers to escape the confines of the concourse and it's intricate system of tightly locked doors to cause such an incident or at least that was the case last time I was at Northwich was a while ago now and I understand there is major building work in progress

The presence of the bomb squad suggests this is the “real deal”? It’ll be somewhat embarrassing otherwise…

 

[Whistler40145]

You need to go into the station now to get onto the sidings.

If a service was terminated at Layton, how would it be able to change lines without entering Blackpool North if the station had been evacuated?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

If a service was terminated at Layton, how would it be able to change lines without entering Blackpool North if the station had been evacuated?

Authorisation for wrong line working back towards Kirkham and Wesham?

 

[Efini92]

If a service was terminated at Layton, how would it be able to change lines without entering Blackpool North if the station had been evacuated?

Before it was resignalled a wrong direction move towards poulton, now it would have to be all the way to kirkham north junction.

 

[Whistler40145]

Before it was resignalled a wrong direction move towards poulton, now it would have to be all the way to kirkham north junction.

Of course, Kirkham & Wesham is the nearest crossover now

 

[syorksdeano]

Station reopened after controlled explosion

 

[Surreytraveller]

The presence of the bomb squad suggests this is the “real deal”? It’ll be somewhat embarrassing otherwise…

Not necessarily

 

[syorksdeano]

Not necessarily

Apparently a controlled explosion was carried out close to platform 5

 

[ComUtoR]

Authorisation for wrong line working back towards Kirkham and Wesham?

Is there a difference between 'wrong line working' and a 'wrong direction move' ?

The former gets mentioned often but I've never really heard of it. The latter is pretty standard.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Is there a difference between 'wrong line working' and a 'wrong direction move' ?

The former gets mentioned often but I've never really heard of it. The latter is pretty standard.

I'll defer on that one. Probably best for a rules-trained forum member to succinctly / correctly explain.

Noted that there's about nine miles of double track inbound to Blackpool North (this after departing Kirkham and Wesham station / Kirkham North Junction) where I don't believe there are any crossover points.

 

[Whistler40145]

I'll defer on that one. Probably best for a rules-trained forum member to succinctly / correctly explain.

Noted that there's about nine miles of double track inbound to Blackpool North (this after departing Kirkham and Wesham station / Kirkham North Junction) where I don't believe there are any crossover points.

I think the nearest crossover would be at Kirkham and Wesham station

 

[Anonymous10]

The presence of the bomb squad suggests this is the “real deal”? It’ll be somewhat embarrassing otherwise…

any package believed to be of a explosive nature results in the bomb squad same if of chemical nature we once found a piece of ww2 ordinance in the museum i work for that required the bomb squad

 

[endofthetunnel]

Is there a difference between 'wrong line working' and a 'wrong direction move' ?

The former gets mentioned often but I've never really heard of it. The latter is pretty standard.

A wrong direction movement (WDM) as you say, pretty standard, and an official current term. The authority for a train to travel in the wrong direction, given by a signaller to a driver. This could be just once for one train, or for many trains (one by one) as a response to an incident.

An expansion of a WDM is ‘working in the wrong direction’ which is just a WDM but between signal boxes, so the signallers need to agree how it’s done and there are specific rules for this. But again, it’s done per train to deal with whatever is happening, and isn’t something that would normally be ‘planned’.

‘Wrong line working’ is I think a forum term, not used in current rail operations, but trying to imply single line working being used - where a full system of people/forms etc is setup to allow all trains to run on one line (therefore half will go ‘wrong line’) when a prolonged situation occurs but train movements need to continue.

 

[fulmar]

Is there a difference between 'wrong line working' and a 'wrong direction move' ?

The former gets mentioned often but I've never really heard of it. The latter is pretty standard.

'Wrong line working' isn't any sort of official railway term as far as I know. Whereas 'Wrong direction move' is. 'Wrong direction move(ment)' describes any movement for which a signal is not provided.

 

[ComUtoR]

Cheers.