'Train overshoots station' at Pewsey

[Parallel]

A train driver overshot a station by nearly a quarter of a mile after allegedly forgetting to stop, forcing passengers to take a 22-mile detour.

The Great Western Rail (GWR) train is believed to have had hundreds of commuters on board when it failed to stop at Pewsey, Wiltshire.

The driver was forced to continue to Westbury, the next station, which is more than 20 miles away, with commuters told the train could not reverse back to the platform.

Westbury station is more than 20 miles from Pewsey

Some passengers left at Pewsey alleged they had to wait more than two hours for the next service due to other delays.

Chris Evans, from Everleigh, was travelling home from London Paddington. The 33-year-old said: "I noticed the Pewsey sign shoot past and then noticed a smell like hot brakes.

"It was obvious the driver was trying to brake very hard. We eventually stopped more than 200 yards past the platform and we sat there for about ten minutes. Everyone was bewildered and looking at each other.

"The driver was obviously deciding what to do, but it would have been too dangerous to back up, so the train started up again and we carried on."

Others complained about the service on Twitter, including diver Sarah Barrow, who went to the Rio Olympics with Team GB:

Another wrote: "Ended up in #Westbury today when 16:03 forgot to stop at #Pewsey! Train went straight through station! #furious Refund?"

Half a dozen passengers due to get on the train when it halted at Pewsey had to wait two and a half hours for the next service to Westbury, they claimed.

They also alleged they were given little information from station staff over the incident at about 4pm on Friday.

Some commuters who had to travel back to Pewsey from Westbury paid for taxis, while a bus service is also believed to have been put on. GWR said it would reimburse taxi fares if customers produce receipts.

It is not clear whether t​hose left stranded at Pewsey who needed to keep urgent appointments and paid for cabs ​will be ​offered any compensation.

A GWR spokesman said: "We apologised to the group of customers involved and put on special transport from the next station to make sure they got to their original destination safely."

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...tion-after-driver-forgets-to-stop-sending-pa/

Shared this as it was discussed on BBC Radio 2 this morning.

Does the stopping distance imply that either the driver didn't realise the train was approaching Pewsey until it was too late, or that they assumed the train wasn't booked to call there, until they saw the passengers waiting at the platform to board (which was then too late)? I'm guessing the latter (Pewsey doesn't get a frequent service and isn't likely to have many people waiting on the platform for other trains)

It must be fairly easy to do seeing as Pewsey gets a fairly irregular service pattern, but still unfortunate for both the driver, and passengers/those on the platform.

 

[GlosRail]

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C41500/2016/10/14/advanced

 

[bb21]

If it were that train they were talking about then it did not overshoot anywhere near a quarter of a mile.

Torygraph making it up as they go along.

 

[D1009]

If it were that train they were talking about then it did not overshoot anywhere near a quarter of a mile.

Torygraph making it up as they go along.

Not sure RTT is very helpful in judging an incident like that. If that was the train, it's pretty clear it didn't stand for ten minutes.

 

[scott118]

There are rules for 'setting back' to an overrun station.

 

[GlosRail]

Even the report gives two distances. 1/4 mile and 200 yards.

I'm fairly sure that was the train last Friday. I heard about it on BBC Wiltshire on Tuesday when they were speaking to someone who was on board.

 

[Bald Rick]

Something similar happens, somewhere on the network, almost every day.

One assumes it made it into the Telegraph as the journalist (or a close friend of the journalist) was one of the passengers concerned.

 

[47271]

I couldn't believe the meal they were making of this on Jeremy Vine this morning. The outraged parties should have tried travelling to and from Lockerbie in the 1980s and 1990s and zipping by it at 100mph - now that's what I call a missed stop.

 

[marks87]

I couldn't believe the meal they were making of this on Jeremy Vine this morning. The outraged parties should have tried travelling to and from Lockerbie in the 1980s and 1990s and zipping by it at 100mph - now that's what I call a missed stop.

I was on a train about 10 years ago that went through Lockerbie when it was meant to stop. We came to a halt with the rear cab just past the platform.

On that occasion the driver was allowed to set back. Although I think he might have preferred not to, given that he had to make the "walk of shame" through the train after the guard had informed everyone what the problem was

How difficult is it to set back? If a train is still at least partly within a signalling section, and it's a relatively short distance back to the platform, what hurdles need to be overcome? If memory serves, we were stopped for about 15-20 minutes before "reversing".

 

[Bill EWS]

It was quarter of a mile when I was a driver so don't expect that will have changed much, if at all. Once you go past that distance it is usually a matter of continuing on to the next station stop. Under some circumstances you can reverse back but it would depend on how far you had gone past the last signal as there is a possibility that it could have gone to a yellow aspect, which would be nasty. Feel sorry for the poor driver as it is easy enough to do with a station such a Pewsey that has so few trains stopping there. I did this once at West Ruislip due to working a train the day before that was'nt booked to stop there but the train I worked the next day around the same time wasn't. In the peak hours the service from Marylebone to High Wycombe and Banbury was very extensive with trains continually running close together, with varying station stops and it was easy to get them mixed up in your mind. Obviously I got my fingers wrapped and it was very embarrassing walking past my passengers and at all the other stops a few passengers made nasty comments as they passed my cab.

 

[the sniper]

Did they really have a segment on the Jeremy Vine show dedicated to this? Or did this just get mentioned as part of a wider subject matter?

I haven't listened to that show for a few years (thank goodness for BBC 6 Music!), but it seems incredible that they could get a discussion out of such an unremarkable event.

 

[CyrusWuff]

Looking on RTT, only two xx:06 departures from Paddington stop at Pewsey on a weekday, those being the 0706 and 1506, which doesn't really excuse the Driver, but it's almost certain it would be a factor in the overrun.

 

[bb21]

Not sure RTT is very helpful in judging an incident like that. If that was the train, it's pretty clear it didn't stand for ten minutes.

Errrm, why would I have used RTT as the source when I can get reliable facts of the case at any time?

 

[09065]

Around this way; seasonal working instructions state if it is an overshoot due to low adhesion then setting back is prohibited.

For all we know....

 

[scott118]

How difficult is it to set back?

If your train overruns a platform, it can only return to the platform if all of the following apply.

• The overrun is no more than 400 metres (440 yards) beyond the platform.
• You have received permission from the signaller.
• The movement does not need to pass over an automatic half-barrier crossing (AHBC), unless the crossing is being locally operated.

You must tell the guard when permission has been given for the train to return to the platform.
If the train has to pass over a level crossing, you must make sure that the crossing is clear.

 

[infobleep]

So why did it take so long to reach Radio 2 and The Telegraph?

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

 

[47271]

Did they really have a segment on the Jeremy Vine show dedicated to this? Or did this just get mentioned as part of a wider subject matter?

I haven't listened to that show for a few years (thank goodness for BBC 6 Music!), but it seems incredible that they could get a discussion out of such an unremarkable event.

They went on about it for 20 minutes or so. He interviewed someone on board who wanted to get off but ended up in Westbury, someone on the platform who wanted to go to Westbury but didn't, and someone from Modern Railways. There may have been someone from GWR as well but luckily someone distracted me and I stopped listening. They all sounded like they were struggling to be too bothered.

It's a terrible programme anyway, but this plumbed a new low for it.

 

[70014IronDuke]

I couldn't believe the meal they were making of this on Jeremy Vine this morning. .... p.

I didn't have access to the show, but you make a very good point.

Word from my media sources has it that this story pushed out news on a) How Emmerdale farm will recover emotionally upset viewers b) Wayne Rooney's thoughts on a new tattoo c) The clash of colours in Kim Kardashian's latest bikini design.

It's time Mr Vine got a grip on the news that really matters, and thought about the bigger picture out there.

 

[jimm]

So why did it take so long to reach Radio 2 and The Telegraph?

Glosrail says above it was discussed on BBC Radio Wiltshire on Tuesday, the Telegraph presumably picked up on that report, resulting in their story on Thursday and the Jeremy Vine show's producer read the Telegraph and thought it would make a taking point on Friday...

To those who say overshoots happen all the time or that it was an unremarkable event, when you put it in the context of 20,000+ passenger services operating each day, overshoots are vanishingly rare - a tribute to the expertise of drivers, especially at this time of the year - hence why the BBC and Telegraph took an interest.

The people covering the story may never have heard of a train overshooting a station - the chances are they will never do another story about a train overrunning for the rest of their careers. It was an unusual event, hence them taking an interest.

In 40+ years, taking in countless rail journeys in the UK and a fair few abroad, I have been on just one train that overshot a platform - and that was on a very damp autumn morning on a downhill gradient, where the conditions defeated the driver's best efforts to stop in the right place. Of course, I could just have been lucky and all of you have been on train after train that overshot stations - but somehow I doubt it.

 

[ExRes]

I didn't have access to the show, but you make a very good point.

Word from my media sources has it that this story pushed out news on a) How Emmerdale farm will recover emotionally upset viewers b) Wayne Rooney's thoughts on a new tattoo c) The clash of colours in Kim Kardashian's latest bikini design.

It's time Mr Vine got a grip on the news that really matters, and thought about the bigger picture out there.

Vine couldn't get a grip on anything, as shown in his turning Eggheads into a CBeebies production with his juvenile 'sense of humour' and lack of intelligence

This type of 'news' is a negative result of social media, give everybody their opportunity for five minutes of 'fame' and this is exactly what you will get

 

[185]

The overshoot was certainly not 1/4mile - it's my guess that as the line has a minor downhill (1:100) that it's morelikely leaf fall from the large crops of broadleaf trees at Clench could be a factor - not ruling out the fact that people do brake too late or fail to call. Welcome to October again.

 

[mervyn72]

I was on a Swanline service made of 2 x class 153 that failed to stop at Pyle. We only went past by about 10 meters. The driver claimed that only one of the 153's brakes worked. After getting permission we set back into Pyle where the two units were uncoupled the recoupled and we made it to Swansea with no further problems, just 25 late

 

[Failed Unit]

I remember once a sprinter overshooting Market Rasen, reversed and carried on. I wonder if anyone ever knew apart from the passengers. I would have remained in the same signalling section so the signaller would and didn't take much longer than if a wheelchair had disembarked. Is suspect now the black boxes may have resulted a please explain.

 

[JoeGJ1984]

I wonder if a station has no signal at the end of the platform if the driver could/would set back into the platform. Theoretically he would not need the signaller's permission as the train is the only train in the block from the previous signal.

 

[D1009]

I wonder if a station has no signal at the end of the platform if the driver could/would set back into the platform. Theoretically he would not need the signaller's permission as the train is the only train in the block from the previous signal.

I can certainly remember doing this on a very wet day on the Central Wales line when we overshot one of the request stops because the joining passenger was sheltering until the train entered the platform.

 

[mirodo]

So why did it take so long to reach Radio 2 and The Telegraph?

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

It overshot and had to reverse back from Radio 3.

 

[TUC]

Whatever the actual length of the overshoot, it's a pity that none of the comments above acknowledge the disruption for the passengers. Yes the Vine show might have overplayed the issue, but the comments above seem largely to take the attitude 'it happens occasionally. Tough luck'. Yes it does happen sometimes but a customer service-facing response would reflect more concern about the correct solutions for the customers as the starting point.

 

[rebmcr]

I wonder if a station has no signal at the end of the platform if the driver could/would set back into the platform. Theoretically he would not need the signaller's permission as the train is the only train in the block from the previous signal.

That is not correct, it still goes against the rulebook.

 

[Tomnick]

I wonder if a station has no signal at the end of the platform if the driver could/would set back into the platform. Theoretically he would not need the signaller's permission as the train is the only train in the block from the previous signal.

It might come back into the overlap beyond the previous signal, if that's not far in rear of the platform. At best, it could put the signal in rear of that back to danger in the face of an approaching train - at worst, it could have two trains moving towards each other, one with far less than the standard overlap beyond its next signal and the train returning to the platform, and the other with no defined limit to which its movement is authorised. Definitely best avoided!

 

[the sniper]

They went on about it for 20 minutes or so. He interviewed someone on board who wanted to get off but ended up in Westbury, someone on the platform who wanted to go to Westbury but didn't, and someone from Modern Railways. There may have been someone from GWR as well but luckily someone distracted me and I stopped listening. They all sounded like they were struggling to be too bothered.

It's a terrible programme anyway, but this plumbed a new low for it.

Incredible. Thanks.

To those who say overshoots happen all the time or that it was an unremarkable event, when you put it in the context of 20,000+ passenger services operating each day, overshoots are vanishingly rare - a tribute to the expertise of drivers, especially at this time of the year - hence why the BBC and Telegraph took an interest.

The people covering the story may never have heard of a train overshooting a station - the chances are they will never do another story about a train overrunning for the rest of their careers. It was an unusual event, hence them taking an interest.

They are relatively rare and certainly noteworthy if you're involved, but worthy of discussion on a national radio station...?! It's the kind of thing that you'd mention when you get home as a thing that happened during your day, but I doubt most people involved would have had anywhere near a 20 minutes conversation to anyone about it. To fill 20 minutes of a national radio show with millions of listeners with this discussion seems inconceivable, given that they could talk about any subject in the world!

If that bloke still comes on to talk about his allotment he should start worrying, they might replace him with some railway middle management type, bringing to the nation all the latest TPWS Overspeeds, Wrong routing by signallers and possession overruns... Fascinating entertainment!