Was the train that skipped stops a service due to stop or a fast that didn't have stops added? At WGC, signallers will sometimes fail to move trains from the fast to slow. Sometimes it's too late to issue paperwork at Stevenage.
We all saw the mess between May and July when it was a case of crossing fingers to see if a train would stop.
And you say nobody mentioned a failing 700, yet it was in the top text you quoted! Assuming it happened near the fatality, it clearly wasn't on the Hertford Loop so didn't block the only usable line like the LNER train did.
So the ECML is closed and four tracks gone for 3 or 4 hours. How would you have managed things?
Really? They managed "quite well" to run one train towards Peterborough in five hours!!!
Every other company has been able to run trains north from mid-morning, but GTR cancels virtually their entire service.
Don't make me laugh. GTR couldn't learn how to add 1 + 1.
Is that right -What happened to the priority regulation policy they were crowing about all over the place? The one Modern Railways jubilantly reported in it's usual comic fashion that anything 90 seconds late wouldn't be permitted thorough the core?I would say having priority is a rather significant reason.
Is that right -What happened to the priority regulation policy they were crowing about all over the place? The one Modern Railways jubilantly reported in it's usual comic fashion that anything 90 seconds late wouldn't be permitted thorough the core?
To add some balance I notice that this is conveniently not mentioned. Yes a LNER train broke down but so did a “impossible to fail” class 700
Source GTR. If you must throw stones at another operator make sure your own house is in order.
LNER, HT and GC seemed to manage. They may have priority on the paths but certainly did better than GTR in terms of keeping customers moving and informed.
The only plan was 313s along the loop. Other trains terminated at WGC and Alexandra Palace and turned.
Class 9 trains are indeed like class 1 but when disrupted it seems the priority was given to the IC operators by what you said happened. Did GTR organise that?
Aren't there just 3 or 4 class 9 trains per hour? A tiny number of overall services running in the morning peak.
The only plan was 313s along the loop. Other trains terminated at WGC and Alexandra Palace and turned.
Class 9 trains are indeed like class 1 but when disrupted it seems the priority was given to the IC operators by what you said happened. Did GTR organise that?
It was suppose to stop and the 700 at the top of the text if you read it is stated near the fatality. Not at Cufley. I know you defend GTR to the death but I know someone on the failed train at Cufley so whether you like or not a GTR managed train made things worse.
Anyway this is distracting from the thread. I will leave it here.
I’ve always thought it to be a lost opportunity. There are a number of logical extensions, some of which I’ve posted elsewhere.
My idea has always been for the line to be resignalled at higher capacity so that the same LO services as today could run, but with a stable increase in longer-distance services around those.
Always always always thought this service should be operated by ThamesLink and bumped up to 2tph between Clapham Junction and Watford Junction. Perhaps operated by 707s once they are freed up from their current duties at South Western Railway.
No, it seems 9S09 did come to a stand temporarily at Cuffley. I assume this is a different 700 then. Was a pan issue apparently.
I quoted 2 pieces of text. One from HWL which mentions the failed 700 near the incident. The 2nd from GTR mentioned a failed 700 on the loop. I interpreted this as 2 different failures of which the one on the loop caused the most disruption.The text you'd quoted yourself said a 700 near the fatality, hence why I assumed it had to be on the ECML. Now it's clear they were two separate incidents so you yourself were misleading.
And I asked about the WGC train. I gave a possible reason based on what was obviously guesswork without train times, head codes or actually being there.
Can you explain how you came by that maths?
As I can see the last train from St Pancras to Peterborough was the 11:45 St Pancras to Peterborough with the next service being the 14:45 St Pancras to Peterborough which is a 3 hour gap not a 5 hour gap.
With a normal service from St Pancras to Peterborough starting with the 16:15 St Pancras to Peterborough which was a 90 minute gap from the 14:45 St Pancras to Peterborough.
So I can't see how GTR managed to run just the one train in 5 hours...
Easier to step up trains at kings cross. As an example take the train I posted above. It arrived at Horsham 100 minutes late. How they come back from that is impossible you have two options.Between the 11.45 and 16.15 scheduled services, four and half hours, GTR ran one train to Peterborough.
By any measure that is an utter failure, particularly when other operators were running trains over the same route north.
As a side note, the issues on the GN side were exactly the same time as the issues at Gatwick. Both sides running on a two track railway at the same time. Some trains coming down were delayed by an hour due to going via the loop, they were then stacked up via Gatwick losing another half hour.see here for an example http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/G73017/2019/01/14/advanced
From what I heard the issue at cuffley was due to too many pans and power draw in that section.
We will never know who made what decisions. But my understanding of what should have happened north of the Thames was the Cambridge to London (stopping) service should have ran to WGC and terminated. This would provide a half hourly service between WGC and Cambridge. Passengers for London change at Stevenage. (Including us from WGC). Reality everything was diverted which probably caused the overload. If that was really the plan B it was credible. Why it was not implemented we will never know.
But you need to look at what the crew do, no good turning at WGC if the driver is needed at Finsbury park to run a 9Sxx back to Cambridge.
Between the 11.45 and 16.15 scheduled services, four and half hours, GTR ran one train to Peterborough.
By any measure that is an utter failure, particularly when other operators were running trains over the same route north.
I disagree because GTR managed to run the 14:45 which means that there was a 3 hour gap between the 11:45 and the 14:45 this meant that the delay clock restarted at 14:45.
Once this happened, it meant that the delay clock restarted with a 90 minute gap between the 14:45 and the 16:15 when a full service resumed.
Therefore your maths is out.
When Watton-at-Stone to Stevenage is bustituted, will the ability to run trains to Stevenage via the loop during disruption be retained?
However you try to spin it, cancelling 87.5% of your trains and only managing to run one out of eight over a four and a half hour period, when other operators were able to run effectively a full service is pretty pathetic.
How many services ran in the peak evening service? Cancellations during the day would be more acceptable if this resulted in peak services running.