Snow Service Changes 25/02/18 onwards.

[LAX54]

That will be adding more fuel to the fire of the anti-Thameslink mob. . I am north of the river. All working well. We had the reduced service yesterday.

Personally I think had we run today, at least until about 1100, the same type of service that was planned for yesterday, the end result would or may have been better.

 

[Bromley boy]

We've just come to a stand on the fasts north of Thirsk as 185130 has lost its horn function. Can't see that helping matters

If both tones have failed the rule book requires 20mph max...

 

[matacaster]

In view of East and West Coast problems, is Settle-Carlisle being used for diversions, or at least passengers being offered the chance to continue their journey south from Carlisle?

 

[rg177]

If both tones have failed the rule book requires 20mph max...

Yeah was half expecting us to limp into Thirsk to try and sort the issue out but after ten minutes we've just taken off at full speed so driver must have given it a kick and fixed it...

 

[FQTV]

1F65 0910 Transpennine Express Newcastle to Liverpool Lime Street reportedly standing south of Longlands Junction (Northallerton) as the driver has 'lost his horn'.

Snow morning glory, then.

Edit: just beaten, I see. In the English sense.

 

[rg177]

1F65 0910 Transpennine Express Newcastle to Liverpool Lime Street reportedly standing south of Longlands Junction (Northallerton) as the driver has 'lost his horn'.

Snow morning glory, then.

I'm on board that service and it's been resolved.

 

[FQTV]

Yeah was half expecting us to limp into Thirsk to try and sort the issue out but after ten minutes we've just taken off at full speed so driver must have given it a kick and fixed it...

That was toot suite.

I'll get my coat.

 

[Strathclyder]

There's a train that's been stuck at Cambuslang since around 7 this morning.

2L03 (0633 Larkhall to Milngavie) was stuck there for the better part of 2 1/2 hours; scheduled to call at 0656, actual arrival at 0709 (not too bad a delay considering the awful conditions), left at 0938!

 

[SGS]

Things looking up at Newcastle, services from the North appear to be moving, the 0526 Stirling-Kings Cross has entered the platform, after two hours hanging around on the bridge over the Coast Road.

 

[rg177]

0

Things looking up at Newcastle, services from the North appear to be moving, the 0526 Stirling-Kings Cross has entered the platform, after two hours hanging around on the bridge over the Coast Road.

0606 Edinburgh to Plymouth limping in behind- though set to terminate due to faulty rear Power Car.

 

[Class 466]

Southeastern will be running an emergency Key Route Strategy timetable tomorrow.

 

[fusionblue]

In SET Metro land, multiple signal failures screwed up everything on all three routes to Dartford, then there's a power supply issue blocking Cannon Street platforms 1-3 then it spread to Charing Cross then SET gave up entirely and have suspended all Dartford/Hayes Kent services until the afternoon.

 

[bramling]

That will be adding more fuel to the fire of the anti-Thameslink mob. . I am north of the river. All working well. We had the reduced service yesterday.

Yep. Overhead wires are better than third rail, so let’s take two such networks north of the river and tie them to two third-rail networks. Entirely predictable results.

 

[cf111]

Waiting for the 1036 from Edinburgh to Inverness on platform 15 at Waverley at the moment. No further info other than "delayed". I may be wrong but I think the stock that forms this service was due to terminate here from Inverness at 1011, that train was cancelled at Perth.

 

[furnessvale]

Yep. Overhead wires are better than third rail, so let’s take two such networks north of the river and tie them to two third-rail networks. Entirely predictable results.

I would have thought a set of crossovers and a robust standby plan for such eventualities would have been a must.

 

[Antman]

No they’ll just switch to moaning about how Canada, Switzerland (insert irrelevant arctic circle/alpine country) etc. can cope so why can’t the U.K.

It annoys me when people make such stupid comparisons, obviously those countries have sufficient snow to justify investing in the necessary equipment.

 

[tsr]

Yep. Overhead wires are better than third rail, so let’s take two such networks north of the river and tie them to two third-rail networks. Entirely predictable results.

The third rail has actually been coping admirably this morning - I can’t recall reliability quite like it in these weather conditions. One of the only notable third rail issues currently ongoing (at Cookspond Viaduct, near Dormans station) is probably not weather-related, and the built-in backup of third rail power feeding equipment means the trains can mostly still run.

In terms of weather, it’s been the case that level crossings, points and indeed train doors have all been the worst affected by the ice and snow. This has occurred both north and south of the Thames, pretty much in equal measure, including on other networks as well.

However, Southeastern, Southern, GX and Thameslink have also had to contend with a number of broken down trains, some of which have had failures which probably didn’t get helped by the low temperatures, but also may well not have been explicitly caused by them. The irony is that today’s most disruptive breakdowns have included a number of engineering and railhead treatment trains, which have probably had a combined worse impact on the service than if they hadn’t run at all. I’ve mentioned the train at Herne Hill, which has caused absolute chaos, but special mention also goes to the MPV near Wye which decided to have a disintegrating brake valve at a random level crossing, the rescue train not being properly prepared, and the combined train then issuing a strong burning smell.

I would have thought a set of crossovers and a robust standby plan for such eventualities would have been a must.

Oh, Thameslink has more than just “a set of crossovers”. Way more. But when you have trains stuck across junctions in south London, with only a comparatively small number of drivers currently being able to divert away, it quickly becomes bonkers!

 

[rg177]

Skegness line out of action east of Boston after the 1115 Skegness to Nottingham manages to leave. Seems signallers can't get into work and the points are already causing a lot of grief.

Cancellations west of Exeter on XC for later today too due to expected high tide and Dawlish being Dawlish.

 

[cuccir]

The Met Office has upgraded its weather warning in the Central Belt to a red one, its highest level. Red warnings are rare beasts - there's many a year without them.

Nothing is running out of Glasgow at the moment. No WCML north of Carlisle.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Southeastern will be running an emergency Key Route Strategy timetable tomorrow.

What does this mean for us lay people? Thanks

 

[gavin]

Red alert issued for southern Scotland (Central, Tayside & Fife, SW Scotland, Lothian Borders, Strathclyde)

Between 15:00 Wed 28th and 10:00 Thu 1st
Heavy snow showers and drifting of lying snow in the strong easterly winds will become more widespread across the area later on Wednesday afternoon, through the evening and overnight into Thursday. Roads will become blocked by deep snow, with many stranded vehicles and passengers. Long delays and cancellations on bus, rail and air travel are expected. Some communities could become cut off for several days. Long interruptions to power supplies and other services.
Chief Forecaster's assessment
Snow showers already affecting the area will become heavier and more prolonged later on Wednesday afternoon and at times through the evening and overnight period, with 5 cm of snow falling within an hour in some places and lying snow reaching 20-30 cm and possibly 40 cm in a few places by mid morning on Thursday. Strong easterly winds will lead to significant drifting of lying snow.

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/warnings#?date=2018-02-28

 

[theageofthetra]

The third rail has actually been coping admirably this morning - I can’t recall reliability quite like it in these weather conditions. One of the only notable third rail issues currently ongoing (at Cookspond Viaduct, near Dormans station) is probably not weather-related, and the built-in backup of third rail power feeding equipment means the trains can mostly still run.

In terms of weather, it’s been the case that level crossings, points and indeed train doors have all been the worst affected by the ice and snow. This has occurred both north and south of the Thames, pretty much in equal measure, including on other networks as well.

However, Southeastern, Southern, GX and Thameslink have also had to contend with a number of broken down trains, some of which have had failures which probably didn’t get helped by the low temperatures, but also may well not have been explicitly caused by them. The irony is that today’s most disruptive breakdowns have included a number of engineering and railhead treatment trains, which have probably had a combined worse impact on the service than if they hadn’t run at all. I’ve mentioned the train at Herne Hill, which has caused absolute chaos, but special mention also goes to the MPV near Wye which decided to have a disintegrating brake valve at a random level crossing, the rescue train not being properly prepared, and the combined train then issuing a strong burning smell.



Oh, Thameslink has more than just “a set of crossovers”. Way more. But when you have trains stuck across junctions in south London, with only a comparatively small number of drivers currently being able to divert away, it quickly becomes bonkers!

The idiocy of an entire link not signing the Catford loop laid bare again.

 

[Bromley boy]

What does this mean for us lay people? Thanks

Hopefully more robust/targeted than today. The entire SE network is on its knees at the moment.

 

[tsr]

The idiocy of an entire link not signing the Catford loop laid bare again.

Some of the worst-affected routes from the Herne Hill incident were to/from Sutton/Wimbledon and Brighton. The only decent use of the Catford Loop might have been to shove stock around in circles until stuff reopened - but no good for diverting passengers!

 

[theageofthetra]

The third rail has actually been coping admirably this morning - I can’t recall reliability quite like it in these weather conditions. One of the only notable third rail issues currently ongoing (at Cookspond Viaduct, near Dormans station) is probably not weather-related, and the built-in backup of third rail power feeding equipment means the trains can mostly still run.

In terms of weather, it’s been the case that level crossings, points and indeed train doors have all been the worst affected by the ice and snow. This has occurred both north and south of the Thames, pretty much in equal measure, including on other networks as well.

However, Southeastern, Southern, GX and Thameslink have also had to contend with a number of broken down trains, some of which have had failures which probably didn’t get helped by the low temperatures, but also may well not have been explicitly caused by them. The irony is that today’s most disruptive breakdowns have included a number of engineering and railhead treatment trains, which have probably had a combined worse impact on the service than if they hadn’t run at all. I’ve mentioned the train at Herne Hill, which has caused absolute chaos, but special mention also goes to the MPV near Wye which decided to have a disintegrating brake valve at a random level crossing, the rescue train not being properly prepared, and the combined train then issuing a strong burning smell.



Oh, Thameslink has more than just “a set of crossovers”. Way more. But when you have trains stuck across junctions in south London, with only a comparatively small number of drivers currently being able to divert away, it quickly becomes bonkers!

Hopefully more robust/targeted than today. The entire SE network is on its knees at the moment.

What does this mean for us lay people? Thanks

The published timetable is ripped up basically. What was exceptional last night were the temperatures when that snow fell. It was -6 in Bromley/Lewisham when I booked off and the very heavy snow fell about an hour later after 2am. Haven't seen a temp that low in London before, though normal in Sevenoaks where I used to live.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

The published timetable is ripped up basically.

Ha good one, and hardly surprising

I work in southeast London and have staff who live (mainly) in north and east London and rely on TFL or the tube - and then SE to get to work. I'm sending them off early today so that they can get home. Sounds like tomorrow is gonna be more fun than today so probably can expect no staff to turn up

 

[Class 466]

Hopefully more robust/targeted than today. The entire SE network is on its knees at the moment.

Most routes will be open with a much reduced service. Maximum formations with 12 cars across HS, Mainline & Metro.

 

[tsr]

-11C recorded in my area overnight, with -9C ish in my back garden, which is not terribly exposed or elevated. (The lowest I’ve ever recorded was -17C, about 6 or 7 years ago, but that was truly exceptional.) This is near a large-ish urban area South of London.

Yet even though the air temperature and dewpoint are still notably sub-zero, the snow is rapidly melting away from even unheated areas exposed to sun, and has been since pretty much the exact moment of sunrise (effects also visible on my home weather station’s graphs).

The point being that if this wasn’t early spring, the effects of sunlight would be far less potent and the icing probably much worse.

 

[Bromley boy]

The published timetable is ripped up basically. What was exceptional last night were the temperatures when that snow fell. It was -6 in Bromley/Lewisham when I booked off and the very heavy snow fell about an hour later after 2am. Haven't seen a temp that low in London before, though normal in Sevenoaks where I used to live.

That explains why it seems worse further in to London!

 

[furnessvale]

It annoys me when people make such stupid comparisons, obviously those countries have sufficient snow to justify investing in the necessary equipment.

To be fair, they allow for multiple metres of snow. The UK seems to be flummoxed by multiple millimetres, every year!