Severe weather Saturday 7th October, some ScotRail services suspended.

[12LDA28C]

It seems that a severe weather warning has prompted Network Rail to suspend all services north of Perth on the HML tomorrow, and the northbound sleeper 1S25 has been cancelled out of Euston as a result. WHL services also suspended. That will be Flying Scotsman's trip to Edinburgh scuppered, also the Midland Pullman HST to Fort William.

Must be a hell of a storm coming in.

 

[james_the_xv]

As much as 180mm is possible in worst affected areas, covering western areas of Scotland, including Stirling, Perth, and Lomond, as well as surrounding areas. For context, over one month’s rainfall is expected to fall in a 24-hour period.

Network Rail engineers will inspect the closed lines on Sunday morning for any damage and reopen them for customers as soon as possible.

I'd imagine this will be the new working practice post-Stonehaven. Disappointing for those directly affected of course but always right to fall on the side of caution and safety.

 

[Deepgreen]

I'd imagine this will be the new working practice post-Stonehaven. Disappointing for those directly affected of course but always right to fall on the side of caution and safety.

The question is; where does this all end? As the infrastructure becomes ever more subject to weather stresses, will we see shutdowns becoming more and more frequent and for lesser and lesser events? It's all very well saying 'better be safe', but that's a bottomless pit... It basically says, trains won't run so if you need to travel, use the hugely less safe roads. Shifting risk/blame/liability and increasing it in the process.

 

[james_the_xv]

The question is; where does this all end? As the infrastructure becomes ever more subject to weather stresses, will we see shutdowns becoming more and more frequent and for lesser and lesser events? It's all very well saying 'better be safe', but that's a bottomless pit... It basically says, trains won't run so if you need to travel, use the hugely less safe roads. Shifting risk/blame/liability and increasing it in the process.

Can NR be seen to trust the effectiveness of installed drainage solutions? It's all well and good solutions being designed to cope with x amount of rainfall per hour, but Stonehaven proved that mindset can't be relied on to run a safe railway. I'd imagine these large scale shutdowns of the network would continue until full inspection/renewal takes place, but it wouldn't surprise me if NR/ScotRail have decided that this becomes SOP in major adverse weather scenarios as it just shifts the liability as you say.

 

[snookertam]

Due to anticipated severe weather (heavy rain) tomorrow (Saturday), ScotRail have suspended all services on the West Highland Line, West of Dalmuir, and the Highland mainline for the entire day.

Not sure why they feel trains cannot run at all, it’s not like it rains a lot in Scotland already. Quite a severe move if you ask me.

 

[Unstoppable]

Due to anticipated severe weather (heavy rain) tomorrow (Saturday), ScotRail have suspended all services on the West Highland Line, West of Dalmuir, and the Highland mainline for the entire day.

Not sure why they feel trains cannot run at all, it’s not like it rains a lot in Scotland already. Quite a severe move if you ask me.

Embarrassing. I would be ashamed to wear a railway uniform

 

[d70g]

There's a huge amount of rainfall forecast from tonight until Sunday up here. Better to cancel now than have folk stranded on a train for hours.

 

[Morayshire]

Not only the West Highland and Highland main lines but they have also wiped out the Aberdeen to Glasgow/Edinburgh services tomorrow as well. Even though Aberdeen to Dundee looks to be outside the Amber area.

Post by Scotrail on Linkedin says they are expecting up to 180 mm rain in the worst areas overnight which is apparently the same as 1 months rainfall in 24 hours.

I would post the whole blurb but the Linkedin app wont let me!

 

[d70g]

Scotrail's statement, FYI. Edit: it's very wet up here already, and will only get worse.

ScotRail is warning customers that there will be significant disruption to services following an amber weather warning by the Met Office for heavy rain for parts of Scotland, with up to 180mm of rainfall forecast in many areas tomorrow (Saturday, 7 October), including the Highlands and central Scotland, and in the Glasgow, Perth, and Stirling areas.

 

[55002]

Avanti and TPE not running services to Scotland over weekend either

 

[SECR263]

Better protect the bottom line than run a service. BR may have had crap sandwiches (which I doubt) but at least they tried, come rain or snow.

 

[Huntergreed]

Avanti suspending all service north of Preston. Absolutely ludicrous.

 

[Unstoppable]

Better protect the bottom line than run a service. BR may have had crap sandwiches (which I doubt) but at least they tried, come rain or snow.

Amen

 

[Banham7]

LNER still intends to run via the diversionary route through Carlisle tomorrow, which begs the question if there is an electric train ban north of Carlisle, should Avanti & TPE not be running services as LNER will be using bi-modal trains.

 

[glenbogle]

Not only the West Highland and Highland main lines but they have also wiped out the Aberdeen to Glasgow/Edinburgh services tomorrow as well. Even though Aberdeen to Dundee looks to be outside the Amber area.

Post by Scotrail on Linkedin says they are expecting up to 180 mm rain in the worst areas overnight which is apparently the same as 1 months rainfall in 24 hours.

I would post the whole blurb but the Linkedin app wont let me!

Abd to Glq/Edb - normal running.

 

[richw]

Avanti suspending all service north of Preston. Absolutely ludicrous.

Are we still on overtime bans etc?

I’m wondering how much the weather is an excuse for lack of staff?

 

[GusB]

Embarrassing. I would be ashamed to wear a railway uniform

The people wearing uniforms aren't likely to be making the decisions not to operate.

They would, however, be the ones who have to deal with the fallout from any disruption had companies decided to go ahead and run a service that ends up going horribly wrong, with passengers stranded all over the place.

 

[glenbogle]

Due to anticipated severe weather (heavy rain) tomorrow (Saturday), ScotRail have suspended all services on the West Highland Line, West of Dalmuir, and the Highland mainline for the entire day.

Not sure why they feel trains cannot run at all, it’s not like it rains a lot in Scotland already. Quite a severe move if you ask me.

It’s Network Rail (Scotland) have caused services to be suspended not the train companies.
We’ll close the West Highland Line, Highland Mainline (Perth-Inverness) and the lines to Balloch and Helensburgh west of Dalmuir on Saturday due to extreme rainfall. Month’s worth of rain (180mm) forecast to fall tomorrow

 

[d70g]

Avanti suspending all service north of Preston. Absolutely ludicrous.

Disagree.

The WCML from Carlisle to Carstairs runs though territory prone to flooding, if not the occasional bridge being swept away. The weather forecast for tomorrow is horrible, hence train operators being realistic. “Passengers stuck on a train” is worse than “Passengers told not to travel”.

 

[YorkshireBear]

With Carmont fresh in people's minds this is not a suprise.

The forecast does look particularly nasty for Scotland tommorow and the NW of England. With quite dry ground as well, I would expect a lot of flooding.

 

[Huntergreed]

Disagree.

The WCML from Carlisle to Carstairs runs though territory prone to flooding, if not the occasional bridge being swept away. The weather forecast for tomorrow is horrible, hence train operators being realistic. “Passengers stuck on a train” is worse than “Passengers told not to travel”.

It does indeed.

The WCML from Preston to Carlisle on the other hand, does not look to be facing overly terrible weather.

I accept that some of the trains booked to work north of Preston will have been down for Glasgow or Edinburgh crews and cannot be worked.

I do not accept that no trains can run between Preston and Carlisle. Some Preston crews will have been booked to work a number of these services. An hourly/two-hourly service in each direction is much better than completely cancelling the entire day’s service.

 

[Unstoppable]

Disagree.

The WCML from Carlisle to Carstairs runs though territory prone to flooding, if not the occasional bridge being swept away. The weather forecast for tomorrow is horrible, hence train operators being realistic. “Passengers stuck on a train” is worse than “Passengers told not to travel”.

At least the passengers know they tried if they actually do get stuck. It’s the thought that counts

 

[156421]

An hourly/two-hourly service in each direction is much better than completely cancelling the entire day’s service.

That would require basic effort to plan so is not possible any more

 

[Dave91131]

At least the passengers know they tried if they actually do get stuck. It’s the thought that counts

This is what will stick in minds of passengers, what they will perceive as a total lack of interest and effort from the railway.

A reduced service or a disrupted service, most people can accept when the weather is clearly severe.

But no service, at all, north of Preston as another poster has mentioned, totally unacceptable.

Well done railway, top marks for driving even more people and revenue away yet again.

Pathetic, inept, useless, incompetent, crap. Rip up the rails and put more tarmac down.

 

[philosopher]

Disagree.

The WCML from Carlisle to Carstairs runs though territory prone to flooding, if not the occasional bridge being swept away. The weather forecast for tomorrow is horrible, hence train operators being realistic. “Passengers stuck on a train” is worse than “Passengers told not to travel”.

I get cancelling north of Carlisle, given the weather forecast, but not north of Preston, given the weather forecast between Preston and Carlisle is for it be to be dry tomorrow and this area is not covered by any weather warning.

I suspect this for Avanti has more to due with it being operationally convenient to terminate trains at Preston, as they change crews there.

All this is going to do is result in yet more negative publicity for the railways. I can already see headlines such as ’trains cancelled because the weather is cloudy’.

 

[MadCommuter]

I imagine many unsuspecting passengers won't have heard of the plans and turn up anyway.

 

[d70g]

It does indeed.

The WCML from Preston to Carlisle on the other hand, does not look to be facing overly terrible weather.

I accept that some of the trains booked to work north of Preston will have been down for Glasgow or Edinburgh crews and cannot be worked.

I do not accept that no trains can run between Preston and Carlisle. Some Preston crews will have been booked to work a number of these services. An hourly/two-hourly service in each direction is much better than completely cancelling the entire day’s service.

I agree with this

 

[londonmidland]

One has to ask why this announcement was made so late in the day, as well as the decision itself by Network Rail made so last minute? Thousands of passengers are going to be turning up at stations tomorrow morning unaware that their train has been cancelled.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

It's a month's worth of rain expected in the space of six hours; in this instance it appears very wise to effect a shut down.

 

[4COR]

The rain forecast looks remarkable for tomorrow - a continued band of rain sitting over southern Scotland/northern England, whereas in the south, we're forecast highly unseasonably warm (hot!) temperatures. High pressure guiding the inbound low pressure over the north leaving fronts moving laterally across the affected area - while not in a position to say what will happen, I suspect there will be lots of issues around.

Preston Vs Carlisle almost certainly an operational decision though!