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Vehicle hit by train & other incidents on FGW (22/05/2012)

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tsr

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I understand that a vehicle has recently been hit by a train in the Thatcham area. This has originally been reported to the public as both a person hit by a train and an obstruction on the line. I have no information about the severity of the incident, but I understand that several police and ambulance crews are attending. This sounds very unfortunate, and I hope nobody was injured or killed. EDIT: One person has sadly been confirmed deceased.

NRE says:
Buses replace trains between Reading and Newbury / Bedwyn until further notice
13:24 - 22/05/2012

Incident created
22/05/2012 13:13

Route affected
London Paddington, Reading, Theale, Thatcham, Newbury, Bedwyn & Westbury

Train operator affected
First Great Western

Description
An obstruction on the line is causing disruption at Thatcham.

Because of this, buses are replacing trains between Reading and Newbury / Bedwyn, with journey times extended by up to 30 minutes. This will continue until further notice.

This is in addition to the congestion caused by the earlier cable theft between Bristol TM and Taunton, as well as the sad incident in which a person was hit by a train in the Bristol Parkway area.

EDIT 2: The vehicle involved is believed to have been a motorcycle and the incident is thought to have occurred at Ufton Nervet crossing (again! :( ).
 
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TEW

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This is in addition to the congestion caused by the earlier cable theft between Bristol TM and Taunton, as well as the sad incident in which a person was hit by a train in the Bristol Parkway area.
Don't think it's a cable theft between Bristol and Taunton, it was a fire that damaged the signalling equipment. Not sure if the culprits had intended to steal the cables or not.
 

tsr

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Don't think it's a cable theft between Bristol and Taunton, it was a fire that damaged the signalling equipment. Not sure if the culprits had intended to steal the cables or not.

Sorry - you are indeed correct that the cables were not stolen, but I have heard FGW staff say the cause of that whole incident was an attempted theft that resulted in the damage you've mentioned.
 

TEW

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Yeh, sounds like it could well have been a cable theft gone wrong. Disruption is expected for the rest of the day while Network Rail repair the damaged equipment.
 

CC 72100

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Yeh, sounds like it could well have been a cable theft gone wrong. Disruption is expected for the rest of the day while Network Rail repair the damaged equipment.

Ah right. NRE/ FGW Twitter feed has been saying cable theft / vandalism all day. Not a good day all round on the FGW network :(
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
The collision at Ufton Nervet was indeed a man on a scooter which resulted in the death of the scooter rider http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-18159556

Sad to hear :cry: Wasn't that also the level crossing where a HST hit a stationary car, killing the driver who now has a power car named after him?

Edit: Yes it was. 6 others also died that evening.
 
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E16 Cyclist

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That Crossing must strike fear into drivers Hearts :(

RIP to the Motor Cyclist Killed there Today and Everyone in the Past.

Obviously can't comment on todays sad event but it wasn't the crossing at fault in 2004 it was the driver deliberately parking his car across the track, so if used properly theres no reason for it to strike fear
 

jopsuk

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Obviously can't comment on todays sad event but it wasn't the crossing at fault in 2004 it was the driver deliberately parking his car across the track, so if used properly theres no reason for it to strike fear

I think he meant train drivers. Known misuse blackspots must cause some buttock clenching on approach surely?
 

tsr

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Person hit between bristol parkway and swindon now just to help. Sad day.

Unfortunately, you are quite right, but it wasn't that recent - the incident you speak of occurred just after midday (unless another PHBT has occurred on exactly the same stretch of line).

On a more trivial (but nonetheless important) note, travelling conditions are completely rubbish on many routes today. There are problems (e.g. out of LBG on Southeastern) which NRE aren't even keeping up with properly, since FGW's problems have eaten into staff time quite considerably, as far as I can see. It's not a good day on the Tube or the motorway network either. Southern have had problems all afternoon, LOROL have been messed up by a signal failure, a person tried and failed to commit suicide at Wimbledon, and there are problems on many routes outside of the South too. Madness.
 

142094

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Someone was also hit in the Wakefield area last night, which impacted on some services this morning I believe.

I can't remember a year like it for the number or frequency of disruptions.
 

tsr

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Someone was also hit in the Wakefield area last night, which impacted on some services this morning I believe.

I can't remember a year like it for the number or frequency of disruptions.

Roll on the Diamond Jubilee, the Olympics, the Paralympics - and, of course, everyone's summer holidays...

Suicides and other fatalities will sadly always happen, and crimes will also always be committed (e.g. cable theft), but a number of other major incidents today have probably been avoidable.
 

142094

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Suicides and other fatalities will sadly always happen, and crimes will also always be committed (e.g. cable theft), but a number of other major incidents today have probably been avoidable.

I caught a story last week about the increased numbers of suicides, and there is supposed to be some sort of working group being set up to see what can be done.
 

tsr

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I caught a story last week about the increased numbers of suicides, and there is supposed to be some sort of working group being set up to see what can be done.

Well, we've discussed it several times on this forum, as you have probably seen, but without too many realistic solutions being thought up. Let's hope that any working group can make a difference - I'm not sure how.
 

bailey65

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Signal failure seems to be the biggest cause of disruption these days on network rail maybe as more advanced systems gradually get installed this will get less.
There doesn't seem to be many points failures any more it looks like NR have got on top of this problem.
People on the track,misuse of level crossings and cable theft are out of NR's control but apart from exceptional days like today i think network running is getting a lot better.
 

Greenback

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Signal failure seems to be the biggest cause of disruption these days on network rail maybe as more advanced systems gradually get installed this will get less.

My fear is that it will get worse. As signalling centres control larger and larger areas, so it seems to me as someone with very little knowledge of signalling, that problems seem to be more common.
 

elementalpat

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Blimey... Seems every major London termini has been affected in some way tonight.

KGX and Liverpool Street (somehow!) are scott free thus far.
 

Schnellzug

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Does it happen in other countries like this? If it doesn't, why doesn't it?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
My fear is that it will get worse. As signalling centres control larger and larger areas, so it seems to me as someone with very little knowledge of signalling, that problems seem to be more common.

Exactly. Surely having someone on the spot is the way forward, not centralising everything so that if one thing goes wrong, everything has to wait four hours while they send a Rapid Reponse Squad 100 miles. In the old days, if the points failed, they had staff on the spot to work them by hand. Decentralise things, get things working reliably first, not indulge yourselves spending billions on vast, grandiose projects because it's Modern and Advanced and it'll save four minutes on a journey from London to Glasgow or whatever. newtwork rail have their priorities completely the wrong way round, but i suppose that's typical of Britain under the kind of government we have, where vast, glamorous prestige projects are the only thing any kind of authority is interested in, and not the nuts of bolts of trying to get things running reliably.
 
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Pumbaa

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Someone was also hit in the Wakefield area last night, which impacted on some services this morning I believe.

I can't remember a year like it for the number or frequency of disruptions.

Or perhaps communication is better so now we are aware of the disruptions far more readily?
 

Eagle

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Or perhaps communication is better so now we are aware of the disruptions far more readily?

Indeed this would seem to be the case. Now with people subscribing to service updates on Twitter and bookmarking the NRE website and such, disruptions around the country are suddenly noticed by far more people.
 

ushawk

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Signalling problems and Overhead Line problems are causing 60 minute delays in and out of Euston too.

To be fair, this is the first rubbish day for a while.
 

island

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Blimey... Seems every major London termini has been affected in some way tonight.

KGX and Liverpool Street (somehow!) are scott free thus far.

Southeastern was in an absolute mess due to a signal failure and broken-down train at [stn]LEW[/stn].
 

87015

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Signalling problems and Overhead Line problems are causing 60 minute delays in and out of Euston too.

All trains been told not to go above notch 3!!

Also good to see at least a couple of heat related speed restrictions appearing today...
 

tsr

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Other than the cable fire/attempted theft at Nailsea & Blackwell between Bristol TM and Taunton, the following delays are now affecting FGW:

- Delays of up to 30 minutes through Cheltenham due to a signalling problem (started 1946hrs); ATW also affected
- Delays of up to 30 minutes through Pontyclun due to a problem at a level crossing (started 1756hrs); ATW and XC also affected
 
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