Storm Babet disruption - Friday 20/10

[Saint66]

Currently at London Kings Cross - Great Northern are the only services departing.

No long distance services departing until at least 4pm, although LNER website now saying ‘until further notice’.

 

[mikeg]

Grand central have announced on twitter that they've thrown in the towel for today. No surprises therr

 

[TheSel]

Grand central have announced on twitter that they've thrown in the towel for today. No surprises therr

At least that'll soak up SOME of the water!

 

[Bantamzen]

I only just made it then. The guard on the delayed 1356 was unsure if we would be allowed to depart Leeds.

Yup you just got across the line, the 14:12 to Bradford FS hasn't moved and everything is canned.

 

[12LDA28C]

And with much of North Wales under a couple of feet of water 2D16 arrives into Blaenau Ffestiniog 1 early!! Has the Conwy Valley finally had enough work for it to survive some rain at last? I struggled to drive through Abergele , Deganwy and parts of Llandudno earlier so am shocked the valley has survived.

No chance. I was on a charter train last week that was booked to go to Blaenau but couldn't due to flooding. Ended up in Holyhead instead.

 

[Y Ddraig Coch]

No chance. I was on a charter train last week that was booked to go to Blaenau but couldn't due to flooding. Ended up in Holyhead instead.

Well its running today, and much of North Wales has ground to a halt ( roads and rail) , so something is working today to keep the Conwy Valley running.

 

[Leaguer]

Still on the 1141 from grantham to leeds. Not at newark yet and going at 5mph

 

[Saint66]

Photo from LNER’s twitter feed - https://x.com/lner/status/1715363251624538534?s=46&t=Kw8ic5hZeXFp0A3Ow9QNqA

Don’t think I’ll be getting to Leeds today…

 

[12LDA28C]

Well its running today, and much of North Wales has ground to a halt ( roads and rail) , so something is working today to keep the Conwy Valley running.

I heard mention of a pump at Llanrwst which is prone to failing - I assume that might have something to do with it. It appears said pump is working well today!

 

[DaveB10780]

From RTT, looks like 4S43 did indeed fail twice, at Oxenholme and again at Shap: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:H31646/2023-10-20/detailed

1S42 to Glasgow is on the move 182 late: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:L33853/2023-10-20/detailed

My partner's son is on 9S44 to Edinburgh which is behind it, currently 188 late: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:L34439/2023-10-20/detailed

My daughter is going to Edinburgh, made it to Carlisle and stuck for a while. TPE have very unhelpfully cancelled 2 through trains in a row as have Avanti. I just don't get why there can't be a way of getting a crew by car to the right spot for at least some of these trains. Total rubbish. To have a freight train breakdown twice especially on such a stressful day needs some serious investigation.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Grand central have announced on twitter that they've thrown in the towel for today. No surprises therr

As mentioned upthread they were the "last operator standing" at Mirfield earlier... though this may well have been down to a lack of situational awareness of that location!

 

[londonmidland]

Not sure if this just means London Kings Cross or all terminus stations their trains serve, however LNER have tweeted this:

#LNERUpdate Due to heavy rain flooding on the railway across the whole route, No LNER services will depart terminus until 16:00 at the earliest. Customers are advised to defer travel and a do NOT travel message has been put in place today.

 

[philjo]

Got through from Stevenage to Skipton earlier - the Aire was close to the top of the banks at Kirkstall when I passed on the 12:26 from Leeds.
I had intended to spend a few hours in York en route but due to the weather and my suspicion that Kirkstall would get blocked later I changed plans and changed to a Leeds service which was a few minutes behind us at Doncaster.
A lot of the fields on the approaches to Skipton are under water.

 

[Jimini]

The Birmingham <> Reading four carriage XC Voyagers are nicely rammed today with all those heading to the South West but can't get between Birmingham and Cheltenham due to the closure on that route! So many people being left behind at intermediate stations.

 

[chrissawer]

My daughter is going to Edinburgh, made it to Carlisle and stuck for a while. TPE have very unhelpfully cancelled 2 through trains in a row as have Avanti. I just don't get why there can't be a way of getting a crew by car to the right spot for at least some of these trains. Total rubbish. To have a freight train breakdown twice especially on such a stressful day needs some serious investigation.

There are quite a few more scheduled services this afternoon although it looks like there are now further delays en route "Due to a safety inspection of the overhead wires at Lockerbie" (JourneyCheck Avanti West Coast).

Some rail replacement buses are running, hope your daughter manages to get through in the end.

 

[GoneSouth]

My daughter is going to Edinburgh, made it to Carlisle and stuck for a while. TPE have very unhelpfully cancelled 2 through trains in a row as have Avanti. I just don't get why there can't be a way of getting a crew by car to the right spot for at least some of these trains. Total rubbish. To have a freight train breakdown twice especially on such a stressful day needs some serious investigation.

Total rubbish for passengers, yes. Total rubbish and stressful for staff trying their best in difficult and changing circumstances, also yes. Don’t be too harsh on them, if you think you’re having a sh**y day as a passenger, just think how sh**y their day must be, it’s actually their job to have a sh**y day!

I’ve had a long distance journey cancelled today but the staff at the station were very apologetic and there’s absolutely nothing they can do if a line is under water. They had no idea when trains might get moving again so I gave up and went home.

Keep up the good work guys, some of us do appreciate it’s a tough day!

 

[Chris172]

North Warwick Line (Whitlocks End line) currently closed (since 7am) due to Spring Road flooded and Wood End is now a canal.

Olton has been reopened since half 2

 

[55002]

I’m up near Newark today, heavy rain all day, A1 flooded in the area in numerous places, it’s no wonder the ECML is suffering, so much run off and nowhere for it to go.

 

[Bletchleyite]

And with much of North Wales under a couple of feet of water 2D16 arrives into Blaenau Ffestiniog 1 early!! Has the Conwy Valley finally had enough work for it to survive some rain at last? I struggled to drive through Abergele , Deganwy and parts of Llandudno earlier so am shocked the valley has survived.

It may be that the water from the hills arrives and takes it out later, particularly if at high tide, but there hasn't thus far (I know I am jinxing it) been a flooding damage incident since all those boulders were dumped by the flood prone part of the line a few years back. A more likely risk might be a landslip further down as the cutting is steep in places.

 

[DaveB10780]

Total rubbish for passengers, yes. Total rubbish and stressful for staff trying their best in difficult and changing circumstances, also yes. Don’t be too harsh on them, if you think you’re having a sh**y day as a passenger, just think how sh**y their day must be, it’s actually their job to have a sh**y day!

I’ve had a long distance journey cancelled today but the staff at the station were very apologetic and there’s absolutely nothing they can do if a line is under water. They had no idea when trains might get moving again so I gave up and went home.

Keep up the good work guys, some of us do appreciate it’s a tough day!

You are correct however these were not flood issues but a broken down freight train (twice!!) that created the mayhem. Maybe there should be a procedure that allows a train to be created as well as stopped short in these circumstances.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I heard mention of a pump at Llanrwst which is prone to failing - I assume that might have something to do with it. It appears said pump is working well today!

The line has flooded in recent times, but the key is that those big rocks and the drainage work seem, thus far, to have stopped the almost annual washout and several month closures. Fingers crossed!

 

[Scotrail314209]

Trains to Neilston suspended because of a fallen tree at Whitecraigs. Our team at Whitecraigs have advised that it's not going to be a quick fix. As you can see in these pics, the fallen tree has caused significant damage to our overhead power lines - these carry electricity at 25,000 volts to power trains.

Our team at Whitecraigs have advised that it's not going to be a quick fix. As you can see in these pics, the fallen tree has caused significant damage to our overhead power lines - these carry electricity at 25,000 volts to power trains.
@ScotRail

https://twitter.com/NetworkRailSCOT/status/1715371195263074782

 

[josh-j]

Looks like there are several LNER services stuck just outside Doncaster that have been there a couple hours now? Is there an issue right by the station maybe, or just a better option for now than offloading passengers onto the station where they'll still be stuck?

Thoughts with all railway workers today, it must be a really difficult situation in a lot of places.

 

[Saint66]

Announcement at Kings Cross as I type - NO LNER departures for the rest of today.

 

[Taunton]

there’s absolutely nothing they can do if a line is under water.

Ah, just the millennial view ...

 

[yoyothehobo]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-67174117

A plane has skidded off the runway at Leeds Bradford, no injuries but just shows how rough the weather is around here

 

[londonmidland]

Avanti West Coast have now issued CSL2 CODE BLACK north of Preston (do not attempt to travel) due to multiple issues on the line.

 

[dk1]

To have a freight train breakdown twice especially on such a stressful day needs some serious investigation.

Freight trains break down all the time. It will simply be investigated in the normal way like every other.

 

[Smidster]

I have to say that the weather forecast for today was so bad so long ago that I would have been in favour of much more in the way of precaution to try and limit what we are seeing right now in England.

It seems pretty clear that from the levels of rainfall that were expected that there would be massive problems and that is exactly what has happened.

There is a difference between giving up immediately and realising that things are just not going to be workable - Now we have all these people stuck and a situation that is only going to get worse as the night progresses.

I am due to travel to London on Sunday for work on Monday...we will see what happens between now and then.

 

[LAX54]

My daughter is going to Edinburgh, made it to Carlisle and stuck for a while. TPE have very unhelpfully cancelled 2 through trains in a row as have Avanti. I just don't get why there can't be a way of getting a crew by car to the right spot for at least some of these trains. Total rubbish. To have a freight train breakdown twice especially on such a stressful day needs some serious investigation.

Well as many, many roads are closed not sure how you expect the crew to get anywhere.
If you need an investigation, best you have a word with him upstairs !
Its not like this was out of the blue, its been forecast for ages, and eveyone knew travelling anywhere may well ne impossible
At least you were not on the aircraft that skidded off the runway in the bad weather
A second red alert has been issued by the Met Office too now !