Snow Disruption 5/1/25-6/1/25

[Intercity_225]

Fitters (from Nottingham) on site dealing with air leak before movement takes place.

5Z99 has just disappeared from the map so the coupling may be happening now.

 

[Sleepy]

5Z99 has just disappeared from the map so the coupling may be happening now.

Yes repairs now complete and attachment taking place.

 

[muz379]

Please can someone explain why trains can't run if there's literally only a couple of inches of snow?
Is there a technical reason, or is it simply lack of staff?

Snow in and of itself doesn't stop the job unless its 8 inches above the top of the railhead . That being said a couple of inches on lower ground doesn't mean more snow hasn't fallen on higher ground/exposed area and drifting snow can very quickly reach 8 inches .

Snow can also cause other issues , points without heaters particularly mechanical ones can be overcome by a lot less snow/ice than 8 inches . Even points with heaters can be ovecome if there is heavy snow fall or the heating fails . Staff responding to this are also hampered because of the road conditions then .

Snow also means staff are also impacted getting to work .

 

[JGurney]

Why was the extension to Saltburn so short lived?

See discussion following this post: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/december-2024-timetable-change.271917/#post-6886761

 

[Intercity_225]

Yes repairs now complete and attachment taking place.

Only took 5 hours!

 

[jamesst]

maybe they need to develop a shoe-mounted mini snowplough? Even if the front bogie hasn't got shoes (as they learned with the old units) then fit a dummy shoe or insulated plastic wheel on the bogie in front of the first shoe to support or carry the scraper?

Every bogie aside from the middle one now has a shoe on the 777s with 4 on each side compared to 2 on the 50x stock.

 

[Intercity_225]

The broken down 158 is finally on the move almost 330 minutes late..

 

[Spaceflower]

See discussion following this post: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/december-2024-timetable-change.271917/#post-6886761

Thanks.

 

[357]

A few folk may have been doing so as well

I'm glad someone got the joke!

 

[startingaparty]

Northern advising customers on X they "have no information at this time" on whether trains will be running tomorrow.

 

[Krokodil]

Please can someone explain why trains can't run if there's literally only a couple of inches of snow?
Is there a technical reason, or is it simply lack of staff?

Frozen points and fallen trees were two issues I saw today.

 

[RHolmes]

Why was the extension to Saltburn so short lived?

4 trains a day still serve Saltburn

It saves utilising 2x 185’s which are used to increase capacity on the South Route.

An additional 185 would have been saved if the Leeds to Huddersfield fully transferred to Northern as was planned

 

[MikeWM]

Only took 5 hours!

Thanks for the updates! Assuming RTT is correct, that means there was a 6-hour gap in services from Ely to Peterborough (1115 last one to get through, first one after the breakdown was the delayed 1653, leaving Ely at 1720. Ugh - glad I wasn't trying to travel today.

NRE is *still* saying the (now-cleared) disruption was between Ely and Norwich. Not terribly helpful.

 

[Intercity_225]

Thanks for the updates! Assuming RTT is correct, that means there was a 6-hour gap in services from Ely to Peterborough (1115 last one to get through, first one after the breakdown was the delayed 1653, leaving Ely at 1720. Ugh - glad I wasn't trying to travel today.

NRE is *still* saying the (now-cleared) disruption was between Ely and Norwich. Not terribly helpful.

No problem! And I agree that NRE have been rubbish at showing information today.

 

[dangie]

What bothers me, if…. and I mean if, we should have a bad winter, cold, snow & ice, if the current weather is anything to go by the country would literally come to a halt. Winter comes every year. It doesn’t suddenly appear at random.

This might irk some, but have we really gone soft? Is snow & ice something to be afraid of? Don’t go out! Don’t travel! Stay indoors! Have we reached the stage where some use weather conditions as a reason not to go into work? In many cases you can get to work. You may arrive late, but in many cases you can get there somehow.

This is a railway forum but this post isn’t specifically targeted at the rail industry. In all industries and businesses there are employees who will get to work no matter what, and others who won’t.

 

[800001]

What bothers me, if…. and I mean if, we should have a bad winter, cold, snow & ice, if the current weather is anything to go by the country would literally come to a halt. Winter comes every year. It doesn’t suddenly appear at random.

This might irk some, but have we really gone soft? Is snow & ice something to be afraid of? Don’t go out! Don’t travel! Stay indoors! Have we reached the stage where some use weather conditions as a reason not to go into work? In many cases you can get to work. You may arrive late, but in many cases you can get there somehow.

This is a railway forum but this post isn’t specifically targeted at the rail industry. In all industries and businesses there are employees who will get to work no matter what, and others who won’t.

I think road wise, over 50% of people have no idea how to drive in the snow!
It’s amazing watching people struggling to get out of my street today, wheels spinning all over, the car sliding etc! Instead of starting to move as they should do in 2nd gear.
DPD delivery driver got stuck, put his snow mats down behind his front wheels, yet was rear drive!

On the ECML, LNER have actually done ok today, normally since Azumas came in, the slightest snow and the fleet drops like flies

 

[gabrielhj07]

What bothers me, if…. and I mean if, we should have a bad winter, cold, snow & ice, if the current weather is anything to go by the country would literally come to a halt. Winter comes every year. It doesn’t suddenly appear at random.

This might irk some, but have we really gone soft? Is snow & ice something to be afraid of? Don’t go out! Don’t travel! Stay indoors! Have we reached the stage where some use weather conditions as a reason not to go into work? In many cases you can get to work. You may arrive late, but in many cases you can get there somehow.

This is a railway forum but this post isn’t specifically targeted at the rail industry. In all industries and businesses there are employees who will get to work no matter what, and others who won’t.

Couldn’t agree more. I don’t have traction control, anti-lock brakes, or power steering and I somehow made it.

 

[muz379]

Have we reached the stage where some use weather conditions as a reason not to go into work? In many cases you can get to work. You may arrive late, but in many cases you can get there somehow.

This is a railway forum but this post isn’t specifically targeted at the rail industry. In all industries and businesses there are employees who will get to work no matter what, and others who won’t.

Cancellations can still be caused by people getting into work late if someone is say 30 mins late then it might make better sense to cancel their first trip so that the rest of their diagram runs on time . Don't forget often traincrew with their extreme shifts will be out particularly early so might be the first cars on uncleared roads, personally I have never not gone in , but I have been delayed a few times by road conditions both times I was on an early pre 5am book on. And just like any job , people live in remote areas that do see road closures during snow . On the network rail side some signalboxes are in remote areas .

It is also worth bearing in mind that other jobs shutting down can also have a knock on effect , for instance if a school closes and you don't have alternative childcare then you might be unable to come in . Railway staff don't exist in a vacuum

 

[RailAleFan]

I'm sure many of us on here remember being a kid in the 70's and 80's and school was open if the heating worked and the caretaker could clear a path from the road to a way in!

 

[jammmmmsssssss]

The broken down 158 is finally on the move almost 330 minutes late..

EMR's 158s have broken down three times on the GA network in the last few months now I think. 755s literally never break down

 

[Darandio]

EMR's 158s have broken down three times on the GA network in the last few months now I think. 755s literally never break down

30+ year old trains break down more than nearly new trains. Groundbreaking news.

 

[dangie]

Cancellations can still be caused by people getting into work late if someone is say 30 mins late then it might make better sense to cancel their first trip so that the rest of their diagram runs on time .

Yes I appreciate that.

Don't forget often traincrew with their extreme shifts will be out particularly early so might be the first cars on uncleared roads, personally I have never not gone in , but I have been delayed a few times by road conditions both times I was on an early pre 5am book on.

I worked for 40 years in the power industry working a 3 shift system. I don't ever remember anyone not managing to get into work. Driving on uncleared empty roads is often better than driving on hard packed snow/ice with other road users. Also having a job which was always covered, meant the night shift man couldn't go home until the day shift man arrived. Believe me, that was really an incentive to get there. You wouldn't be popular if you didn't..!!

It is also worth bearing in mind that other jobs shutting down can also have a knock on effect , for instance if a school closes and you don't have alternative childcare then you might be unable to come in . Railway staff don't exist in a vacuum

I do have sympathy with parents of children when the school suddenly announces it's closed. However as rail travellers, users would be annoyed that you couldn't get to where you wanted to go because a child was off school. In this day & age it's a disgrace we can't handle a bit of seasonal weather.

 

[Bevan Price]

I'm sure many of us on here remember being a kid in the 70's and 80's and school was open if the heating worked and the caretaker could clear a path from the road to a way in!

Some of us had to go to school even if the heating was not working. We were told to wear our outer clothing (e.g. "mac") indoors.

 

[Krokodil]

30+ year old trains break down more than nearly new trains. Groundbreaking news.

You'd like to think so, but that's not the universal experience. Some new fleets are very prone to faults.

 

[Spartacus]

Are you saying the hourly RRBs aren't now running? Should be departing xx40 from Wakefield Kirkgate.

Apart from that, anyone got any other ideas?

TPE really got me annoyed with their services and the RRBs earlier. Fair enough, expected disruption, we'd 7 inches of snow at home, but when they started running trains again all the RRBs were immediately withdrawn. That meant anyone in the central area, mostly the "smaller" shacks in West Yorkshire got left with about a 2 hour gap in service, in my case over that. Went for a 16:10 RRB to change at Kirkgate and eventually ended up on a 1727 train as the RRBs were immediately taken off, along with a few others who'd been waiting around for a long time.

 

[Iskra]

I think road wise, over 50% of people have no idea how to drive in the snow!
It’s amazing watching people struggling to get out of my street today, wheels spinning all over, the car sliding etc! Instead of starting to move as they should do in 2nd gear.
DPD delivery driver got stuck, put his snow mats down behind his front wheels, yet was rear drive!

On the ECML, LNER have actually done ok today,

What bothers me, if…. and I mean if, we should have a bad winter, cold, snow & ice, if the current weather is anything to go by the country would literally come to a halt. Winter comes every year. It doesn’t suddenly appear at random.

This might irk some, but have we really gone soft? Is snow & ice something to be afraid of? Don’t go out! Don’t travel! Stay indoors! Have we reached the stage where some use weather conditions as a reason not to go into work? In many cases you can get to work. You may arrive late, but in many cases you can get there somehow.

This is a railway forum but this post isn’t specifically targeted at the rail industry. In all industries and businesses there are employees who will get to work no matter what, and others who won’t.

normally since Azumas came in, the slightest snow and the fleet drops like flies

It’s easy to say this, but yesterday’s snow (in Sheffield at least) was quite ‘wet’ so extremely slippy and harder than normal to drive or gain any traction on. It’s easy to preach, but colder temperatures can lead to drier, more powdery snow that compacts rather than just slides so is easier to gain traction on.

Yes, it was ‘the wrong kind of snow…’

Edit: also, just to point out- it’s bad again on the roads in Sheffield this morning so there could be further disruption. I’ve only just made it in to work and less experienced or confident drivers may not do.

 

[LowLevel]

Meanwhile in the Midlands we've now got flooding to contend with. Not at all pleasant!

 

[Carntyne]

The important thing for the railway is not stopping the job as the snow starts to fall, if you can keep things moving during the initial stages it tends to be alright.

If a train sits down, or a set of points fail during heavy snow, it can collapse the place.

 

[eastwestdivide]

Flooding reported at Rotherham C this morning on journeycheck etc, and RTT showing FLUD n the signal berths there, as well as STOP around the Tinsley area.

 

[LowLevel]

Long Eaton to Derby, Nottingham to Grantham and Leicester to Peterborough all shut, combination of flood water and in the latter case day turn signallers unable to get to work around flooding.