Weather related disruption - Christmas 2013 and New Year 2014

[455driver]

They have been repairing Dawlish for 3 weeks now (and they are doing an amazing job) but the Somerset levels they are just starting on, so you can say that Dawlish was nearly twice as bad as it will take virtually twice as long to fix.

 

[YorkshireBear]

They have been repairing Dawlish for 3 weeks now (and they are doing an amazing job) but the Somerset levels they are just starting on, so you can say that Dawlish was nearly twice as bad as it will take virtually twice as long to fix.

Good point......

Still quite disruptive for flooding, never known it be that bad without a landslip involved.

 

[455driver]

These weather conditions are unprecedented, we have had heavy storms and we have had long storms but to get both as bad and as long as this is ridiculous.

What I find amusing (not the right word but you know what I mean) is despite all the storm damage and flooding, Cowley Bridge has been fine, okay it was closed as a precaution a couple of times but it never actually flooded.

 

[YorkshireBear]

These weather conditions are unprecedented, we have had heavy storms and we have had long storms but to get both as bad and as long as this is ridiculous.

What I find amusing (not the right word but you know what I mean) is despite all the storm damage and flooding, Cowley Bridge has been fine, okay it was closed as a precaution a couple of times but it never actually flooded.

That crossed my mind too, but i suppose Devon hasn't had too much river flooding its been coastal with the river flooding actually been in somerset.

 

[D1009]

Bridgwater - Taunton re-opening target date is now April 7th

Well if the target date has been put back by a month in the space of a week, I presume something more serious has been discovered, it shouldn't take a month to replace equipment and restore signalling over a plain track railway. A breach in the embankment requiring removal of the track, possibly?

 

[jnjkerbin]

Wadhurst - Battle was due to reopen today but it seems that there were some issues with waterlogged ground meaning the route could only be opened as far as Robertsbridge today with the rest opening on Wednesday. A fair bit of delay due to TSRs in force.

 

[Rich McLean]

Interesting.... so actually the disruption there is now as bad as Dawlish.... Is that full reopening? I was under the impression we may get some pilot working between now and then for a limited amount of services.

I wouldn't like to comment, I haven't heard anything
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Well if the target date has been put back by a month in the space of a week, I presume something more serious has been discovered, it shouldn't take a month to replace equipment and restore signalling over a plain track railway. A breach in the embankment requiring removal of the track, possibly?

The Embankment needs to dry out a bit, before anything can travel over it

 

[D1009]

Train manager on 1V54 today tells me Bridgwater to Cogload is reopening tomorrow, but with two sections of Temporary Block Working. Apparently 9 signal sections are affected. XC are running the previous reduced level of service, but via the direct route. Presumably FGW will be able to do something similar if 2 tph each way can be achieved. Can anyone verify this?

 

[AndyW33]

National Rail Enquiries is reporting:
"From Monday 10 March, in addition to the current bus and train services detailed above, a very limited train service will run between Taunton, Bridgwater, Highbridge & Burnham and Weston-super-Mare".
FGW says:
"Following extensive remedial work and testing by Network Rail, a very limited train service will be implemented between Bridgwater and Taunton from Monday 10th March. The existing pattern of train service revisions / replacement road transport that has applied to First Great Western services in the area for the past few weeks will continue to operate until such time as the route is fully operational."
Cross Country still show their trains as diverted.

 

[High Dyke]

Am I reading the signs right?
After driving through the giant pit, you are allowed to run at line speed again?

If you mean the blue sign to the left of the 'T' board then it's a milepost.

From c.1998, new reflectorised mileposts were installed along certain parts of the Great Western and Southern Zones. They are normally double-sided and placed edge-on to the track so that they face drivers

http://www.railsigns.co.uk/sect26page2/sect26page2.html

 

[MCR247]

I thought he was talking about the 'T' board which marks the end of a TSR doesn't it?

 

[HowardGWR]

This is what FGW shew on its website about disruption.

"Owing to flooding between Taunton and Bridgwater all lines are closed.
Impact:
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled at short notice. Disruption is expected until 23:59 31/03.
Customer Advice:
Owing to infrastructure damage following extensive flooding we are pleased to report that we are now able to operate train services between Taunton and Bridgwater once again."

Eh, pardon?

 

[455driver]

There are a few trains running through, I wouldnt call it a service.

 

[jnjkerbin]

Network Rail have announced that as a result of the further movement near Battle, they have no estimate of how long the work will take on the Hastings line. It appears services are now running more or less normally on the rest of the line after the crewing problems at the beginning of last week.

 

[D1009]

There are a few trains running through, I wouldnt call it a service.

No, it's not much of a service. XC have paths for 7 trains each way via Westbury, but are now running these trains via Bridgwater on an unplanned basis. Southbound (apart from their first service of the day which provides a commuter service from Taunton to Exeter) they are leaving Taunton and Tiverton Parkway around 25 minutes earlier than the journey planners show. Northbound they have to spend about 10 minutes outside Bridgwater, in addition to the time they have lost through the temporary signalling, to follow the FGW Bridgwater to Cardiff service which they overtake at Weston. This puts them into Temple Meads at around the same time as if they have gone via Westbury, and then wait another 25 minutes for their normal paths to the North. The regular coach services Bristol Parkway to Exeter and Bristol Parkway to Plymouth are however still running, and this must be costing a lot of money.

In addition to the hourly FGW shuttles between Taunton and Exeter to make up for the trains that they and XC are not running, there's now an FGW unit every 2 hours between Taunton and Weston super Mare. According to RTT the hourly Taunton to Bridgwater buses are also still running, though replacement buses are obviously not monitored on line.

 

[infobleep]

I wouldn't want to rely on journey planners. Can they not be updated or is it such an intensive task that it has to be done over night?

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[Matt Taylor]

The Botley line reopens today, should've been from 0500 but that now appears to have changed to 0800, I'll give a report later as it looks like I'm working the first train over the affected area.

 

[user15681]

The Botley line reopens today, should've been from 0500 but that now appears to have changed to 0800, I'll give a report later as it looks like I'm working the first train over the affected area.

Just seen that on NRE actually. Good luck with it! Let's hope it doesn't do a Hastings and slip elsewhere just before reopening.

 

[Matt Taylor]

On my pnb now but I just worked 450545 through Botley and the amount of work that's been done is enormous, it's a real credit to NR. Was surprised to find that it's normal line speed too (notwithstanding the 50mph tsr that was already in place).

 

[swt_passenger]

On my pnb now but I just worked 450545 through Botley and the amount of work that's been done is enormous, it's a real credit to NR. Was surprised to find that it's normal line speed too (notwithstanding the 50mph tsr that was already in place).

There was quite a detailed story about the Botley work on South Today last night, might still be available on the inter web somewhere...

 

[D1009]

Looks as though there is a properly planned service through Bridgwater from tomorrow, with XC running an hourly service taking only 5 minutes longer than normal.

 

[Matt Taylor]

Now you can see what was done at Botley:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40172673@N03/sets/72157642384810385/

Unfortunately a points failure led to the closing again just two hours after if opened although I understand it's running again now.

 

[swt_passenger]

...Unfortunately a points failure led to the closing again just two hours after if opened although I understand it's running again now.

It seemed to be the fairly normal 'fault scenario' with one direction running normally. Today it was down trains diverted, but it was fixed fairly quickly, I was on the 1112 FGW service from Eastleigh which ran via Botley, the 1030 (ish) SWT having been diverted.

The scale of the works is certainly hinted at by the vast temporary works compound on the down side...

Would my trains have been travelling at normal speed through the site, there didn't seem any major restriction in place?

 

[Matt Taylor]

Yes, it was normal line speed apart from a 50mph temporary restriction that has been in place for a while.

 

[infobleep]

From the photos it looks as if to the left, there is space for another line which was removed in the past.

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[swt_passenger]

From the photos it looks as if to the left, there is space for another line which was removed in the past.

There was - it was singled in the early 70s. We had a thread attempting to explain the route's history back in November: http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=93125

 

[infobleep]

There was - it was singled in the early 70s. We had a thread attempting to explain the route's history back in November: http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=93125

Thanks for that. Interesting. Shame they can do much to reinstate any of if it.

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