Possible disruption 19th September?

[Sorcerer]

Although the TOCs all seem to be doing everything they can to suitably handle the extra footfall, the passenger count is going to be huge and with limited resources available, there will be problems somewhere. If it was at all possible, I'd reschedule my trip.

Luckily for me I have a seat reservation, and if possible on the day I will plan to upgrade to Standard Premium on Avanti, assuming of course they won't be cancelling my trains which are very early in the morning from Liverpool. That said, even assuming my train isn't cancelled, I'm banking on the seat reservation system working. The Elizabeth Line will be a nightmare though I'm sure, but I don't really expect anything less than chaos. I just hope that the mental preparation makes it easier to handle.

 

[Bald Rick]

Although the TOCs all seem to be doing everything they can to suitably handle the extra footfall, the passenger count is going to be huge and with limited resources available, there will be problems somewhere. If it was at all possible, I'd reschedule my trip.

Why do you think the passenger count will be huge? Almost all ‘usual’ reasons for travelling into London on the day will be absent, as will the passengers.

 

[Sorcerer]

Why do you think the passenger count will be huge? Almost all ‘usual’ reasons for travelling into London on the day will be absent, as will the passengers.

Possibly for the same reason I'm going or roughly similar reasons. I'm accompanying a friend who wants to pay their respects, and I imagine many others might have the same idea in mind regardless of potential disruption.

 

[NORTHERNSOUL]

Extra services planned starting on Wednesday, even potentially including some all night services on some yet to be announced routes

Queen Elizabeth II: Night trains planned for mourners headed to London

A limited service will run through the night on some routes so people can pay their respects to the Queen.

www.bbc.co.uk

Where can you see the details of the extra services ? there doesn't appear to be any overnight services that i can see in the Avanti timetables which is surely one of the companies that should be running these to allow people to arrive in the capital very early.

 

[leshuttle]

Where can you see the details of the extra services ? there doesn't appear to be any overnight services that i can see in the Avanti timetables which is surely one of the companies that should be running these to allow people to arrive in the capital very early.

There seem to be a couple of extra Southeastern trains - STP to Ashford and CHX to Tunbridge Wells through the night, albeit infrequent showing on National Rail

 

[Bald Rick]

Where can you see the details of the extra services ? there doesn't appear to be any overnight services that i can see in the Avanti timetables which is surely one of the companies that should be running these to allow people to arrive in the capital very early.

Avanti aren’t running any.

 

[DelayRepay]

Why do you think the passenger count will be huge? Almost all ‘usual’ reasons for travelling into London on the day will be absent, as will the passengers.

Would it be reasonable to think the passenger count will be similar to a normal working day prior to Covid when morning trains were crush-loaded with commuters?

I think the challenge will be more on TfL services - everyone will be heading to the Westminster area, rather than the various parts of London that commuters used to travel to.

TfL’s commissioner, Andy Byford, said: “I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that this is the biggest challenge TfL has ever faced – bigger even than the Olympics. We must rise to this challenge.”

From https://www.theguardian.com/busines...ourn-queen-funeral-south-western-southeastern

Avanti aren’t running any.

Hardly a surprise given they don't have the resources to even run the normal timetable.

 

[tel]

I booked up ages ago for a day on the 19th 313 bashing on the south coast, overnight in a Premier Inn at Portsmouth and a day on the 20th with a Waterside wonderer ticket. I'm still going Prem Inn are still open. The only hassle i can see is i'm booked on the 0726 from Norwich to Liv St then getting across London to Victoria to take up my Southern day save, getting from Liv St to Victoria even at 09.30 will be quite busy. Don't really want to sit watching a funeral even though it's the queen.

Tel

 

[E759]

I booked up ages ago for a day on the 19th 313 bashing on the south coast, overnight in a Premier Inn at Portsmouth and a day on the 20th with a Waterside wonderer ticket. I'm still going Prem Inn are still open. The only hassle i can see is i'm booked on the 0726 from Norwich to Liv St then getting across London to Victoria to take up my Southern day save, getting from Liv St to Victoria even at 09.30 will be quite busy. Don't really want to sit watching a funeral even though it's the queen.

Tel

Take an Uckfield (or Caterham&Tattenham Corner) Southern train from London Bridge to East Croydon then pick up a Southern coast service from there.

 

[JamesT]

Avanti aren’t running any.

The article claims they are:

Avanti West Coast, which is still running a dramatically reduced timetable amid a staff shortage, will put on some more train services this week to help people travel to the capital.
Services on Avanti's busiest route between Manchester and London are currently reduced to one per hour.
From Tuesday until Thursday, between 9.35am and 5.55pm there will be four further trains from Manchester to London Euston, and four extra trains north from London to Manchester between 12.40pm and 8.40pm.
On Friday, Avanti will be running three extra trains each way, between the same times.

 

[Watershed]

The article claims they are:

I think that article is referring to the extra services being run by LSL. So technically Mr Rick remains correct

 

[riceuten]

I wouldn't be surprised if there's some cancellations on the day due to traincrew making themselves unavailable for overtime. There's also a chance the sickness rate could be higher than average.

I wouldn't expect large scale alterations though.

You don't "[make yourselves] unavailable for overtime" - you choose to do it or not. This idea what staff should be forced to do overtime because a TOC can't be bothered to train/recruit staff needs to be knocked on the head once and for all.

 

[ComUtoR]

You don't "[make yourselves] unavailable for overtime" - you choose to do it or not. This idea what staff should be forced to do overtime because a TOC can't be bothered to train/recruit staff needs to be knocked on the head once and for all.

Depends on the agreements in place.

At my TOC, everyone in the agreement is considered available and can be booked at any time (depending on other agreements) You can go 'NA' and that means you are Not Available for rest day working on that day.

However, its good to see the blame cannon locked and loaded, ready to fire. I'll probably have "diarrhoea and vomiting" on that day. Not sure yet, I haven't decided.

 

[bramling]

Depends on the agreements in place.

At my TOC, everyone in the agreement is considered available and can be booked at any time (depending on other agreements) You can go 'NA' and that means you are Not Available for rest day working on that day.

However, its good to see the blame cannon locked and loaded, ready to fire. I'll probably have "diarrhoea and vomiting" on that day. Not sure yet, I haven't decided.

It’s all pretty poisonous really, but no one should forget what wise people on here repeatedly remind us all - transport providers like RDW because it avoids all the expenses associated with having a full establishment.

But it does mean there has to be a healthy co-operative working relationship with the staff, otherwise problems soon develop. The bull-in-china-shop DFT, along with certain individuals like apparently the AWC MD, don’t seem to appreciate this.

Having said all this, it’s merely a statement of reality to speculate that there may be some short-notice “sickness” (in inverted commas) on Monday. We all know sickness does mysteriously spike at times like bank holidays, major events, school holidays, good weather, and Monday will be ticking two of those boxes. This shouldnt be seen to be a controversial observation, as we all know it goes on.

 

[Bald Rick]

The article claims they are:

I was referring to overnight services, which is what the earlier poster was asking about.

 

[ComUtoR]

It’s all pretty poisonous really,

Some posters are already poised to play the blame game. If it goes wrong then it will be because of the lack of rest days or everyone going sick. Have you seen the whatsapp that has been forwarded around internally ?

But it does mean there has to be a healthy co-operative working relationship with the staff, otherwise problems soon develop. The bull-in-china-shop DFT,

Don't forget those Victorian working practices...

 

[C J Snarzell]

I am assuming given the press releases about businesses closing on Monday (even McDonald's are shutting their doors until 5pm), most towns and cities will feel like an Easter Sunday, so I don't anticipate extra passenger travel outside of London (like 'local' journeys in other parts of the country).

Most people I know have no intention of going to the capital - they are quite happy to watch the funeral from home. There will be those who have flocked to London already and those who are maybe going down at the weekend in preparation for Monday.

There are also those with children who don't necessarily have the convenience of just travelling to London. My brother's son is now off school on Monday, so he'll have to keep a 7 year old occupied all day with nowhere open.

Friends of my mum, who are eager to pay their respects in person are going down to stay with their daughter in North London on Saturday and coming home on Tuesday, but they are retired.

I generally think Monday will be busy everywhere in Central London, but there will be an air of silence and calm while the procession and funeral is taking place.

CJ

 

[Goldfish62]

Possibly for the same reason I'm going or roughly similar reasons. I'm accompanying a friend who wants to pay their respects, and I imagine many others might have the same idea in mind regardless of potential disruption.

I'll be going to London or Windsor, haven't decided yet.

We were told in another thread that there was no way anyone would be prepared to queue overnight for the lying-in-state, only elderly people would be interested in attending, and that those involved in Operation London Bridge obviously have no idea what they're doing.

 

[LowLevel]

The issue with Avanti, having accused their staff of taking unofficial action, is that if they suddenly start working again for this weekend, and then en masse stop again once the funeral is over, how do the staff know that they're not going to have the unofficial action card played against them again, no matter how much individuals may wish to help? Trust is gone.

At my TOC we've had a joint letter from the head of function and union reps asking us to be as flexible as possible to help over a busy weekend. Because we're not constantly flinging public shots at each other and relations are generally normal, as far as I can tell people are doing their best.

 

[greyman42]

Personally I think if people want to avoid being caught in disruption, which if that happens and they miss the funeral no doubt the Twitter team will sadly be in the firing line, then the day before on the Sunday would be much better to go to London.

If anyone who's used LNER recently then they'll hopefully have the common sense to go to London on the Sunday!

That would involve finding accommodation for Sunday night which is practically impossible.

 

[trainophile]

I can't understand why they didn't have the funeral on the Sunday, but I suppose people would be deprived of a bank holiday.

 

[johntea]

Some interesting updates, extra night services predictably mainly focused around the M25 corridor...but also stationary 'welfare trains' - not quite sure how that will work out as I presume it won't take long for 300-400 seats to be filled up!

It does go on to mention a lot of station facilities will remain open around the clock over the weekend and Monday too

Transport bosses warn mourners of London queues

A million people are expected to head to London on Monday for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

www.bbc.co.uk

Queues are likely at Underground and London railway stations on Monday after the Queen's funeral, transport bosses have said.
Major London train stations will be open all night over the weekend and on Monday to accommodate the huge crowds expected to attend.
Hundreds of extra train services are being scheduled and some will run through the night.
Network Rail says, however, these will mainly serve stations within the M25.
Transport bosses are expecting particular pressure on London's transport system on Monday afternoon and evening.
This is the day of Queen Elizabeth II's state funeral after her passing at her Scottish estate in Balmoral.
London train stations including Victoria, Waterloo, Charing Cross and Euston will be open throughout the night across the Bank Holiday weekend.

Some stations will also have stationary "welfare trains" so people have somewhere to shelter all hours. Many shops, restaurants and toilets will remain open in train stations as well.
LNER, which is not running "night trains", has already announced an Azuma train will be stationed at London King's Cross station all night, with staff on-hand to assist.
Avanti is also putting on extra charter services this weekend to help ease congestion between Manchester and London. Four extra services a day will run on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

 

[Bald Rick]

but also stationary 'welfare trains' - not quite sure how that will work out as I presume it won't take long for 300-400 seats to be filled up!

They haven’t been so far this week - barely used.

 

[markymark2000]

From what is known, how likely is TFW Marshes to be affected? I don't know TFWs union agreements etc but I know they aren't really on strike and it seems that services are being covered generally with the exception of the Valleys or West Wales. Is that kind of in line with what will happen on Monday?

 

[XAM2175]

I can't understand why they didn't have the funeral on the Sunday, but I suppose people would be deprived of a bank holiday.

Sunday funerals are very unconventional in most Christian followings. Additionally, given the time of death, holding the funeral tomorrow as opposed to on Monday would have required changes to the subsequent events - such as omitting the lying at rest in Edinburgh entirely, or truncating the lying in state in London by 24 hours.

 

[railfan99]

There are no trains on the Elizabeth Line between Paddington and Heathrow Airport/Reading due to the overhead being faulty at Hayes and Harlington. What a day for this to happen!

Does this new line have turnbacks (i.e. crossovers) along the route, and if so, couldn't a partial service be operated and the overhead in the Hayes and Harlington sections extinguished?

 

[AlexNL]

Not just the Elizabeth line, GWR are affected as well. All lines are shut due to OLE damage near Hayes & Harlington (it's the old BR designs there, not the nuclear disaster proof OLE built further down the line).

This is expected to take the rest of the day.

 

[JamesT]

GWR were also tweeting about a person under a train between Reading and Newbury.

Even if they managed to run some sort of shuttle from Paddington to Hayes, where would the passengers go after that? Aren’t Paddington and Reading better places to divert people to alternative routes, e.g. via Waterloo?

 

[dk1]

GWR were also tweeting about a person under a train between Reading and Newbury.

Even if they managed to run some sort of shuttle from Paddington to Hayes, where would the passengers go after that? Aren’t Paddington and Reading better places to divert people to alternative routes, e.g. via Waterloo?

Yes, there would be no point trying to take that many passengers any further than Reading as would create further issues. Best to transfer there or abandon travel.

Initially it was showing the disruption lasting until at least 10:00. This has now changed to disruption until the end of the day.

 

[55002]

GWR were also tweeting about a person under a train between Reading and Newbury.

Even if they managed to run some sort of shuttle from Paddington to Hayes, where would the passengers go after that? Aren’t Paddington and Reading better places to divert people to alternative routes, e.g. via Waterloo?

4 am special from Plymouth been at Bedwyn for last 2 and half hours. 3am special from Penzance went via Chippenham so ”only” 80 mins late and terminating at Reading it appears. You’d be absolutely gutted if you on them

GWR were also tweeting about a person under a train between Reading and Newbury.

Even if they managed to run some sort of shuttle from Paddington to Hayes, where would the passengers go after that? Aren’t Paddington and Reading better places to divert people to alternative routes, e.g. via Waterloo?

Looks like power is completely off. 0627 from Paddington to Reading had only literally gone a few yards! Looks like trains will be evacuated that are close to Paddington