Storm Henk travel disruption 02/01/24

[800301]

Blanket ESR on Wessex routes, for any trains that are actually able to move...

Same on the GEML of 50MPH

 

[dk1]

Most Greater Anglia routes now being affected, some severely. Looks like OHL damage between Ipswich & Stowmarket too.

 

[MarkWi72]

"Typical British weather" is being exacerbated by climate change. It has been for at least 10-15 years , with such storms becoming more and more frequent. The railways have had a rough couple of weeks as a result.

 

[dk1]

Tree on fire on top of 4E83 which is carrying dangerous goods. All services suspended north of Ipswich.

 

[150249]

I've been around Devon with my mates on the trains today. 802111 arrived into Plymouth on time and left Exeter 137 late. Many angry faces on board. I thought a full scale riot could break out any minute. People don't seem to understand that this wind and rain isn't brought on by the train staff.

The roof of the footbridge at Okehampton blew off onto the tracks and there was a tree down on the Barnstaple line. Two branches out of Exeter closed for most of the day. At one point, only the Exmouth to Paignton line was running.

 

[MP393]

Flooding at Yorton, Gobowen & Beeston Castle has meant that TfW has suspended services from Manchester - Shrewsbury, Chester - Shrewsbury & Crewe - Chester for the rest of the day now.

Heart of Wales closed due to flooding (after only reopening today, due to flooding)

All lines closed west of Carmarthen on the branches too

 

[MarkWi72]

More WCML disruption, although this was 15:43. Off Birmingham Live:

A spokesperson for Avanti West Coast said: "There are multiple incidents of flooding on our network. Between Birmingham International and Coventry, resulting in all our Midlands services being diverted. Between Crewe and Stafford, resulting in the line towards Stafford being blocked."

They added: "Services travelling via the Midlands are currently unable to call at Wolverhampton, Sandwell and Dudley, Birmingham New Street, Birmingham International and Coventry. Delays and cancellations are possible. Please check before you travel."

 

[WelshBluebird]

It will be typical British weather once you average it out over the course of the whole winter.

Except of course the effects of rainfall don't average out over the month. Given we've already had a wet December, any storm immediately following that is going to have a large impact due to the already waterlogged ground. The rest of the winter being dry makes no difference!

 

[Ashley Hill]

Video of the footbridge at Okehampton.

Okehampton

Most of the roof has ended up on the track.

That won’t be cheap to replace and such a shame given it lasted so long. I suppose it’ll end up like those footbridges that the railway removed the roofs of to save money.

 

[duffield]

All trains cancelled betwen Sheffield and Lincoln (flooding at Kiveton again?), daughter stuck at Meadowhall, have sent the Thunderbird car, will see if the roads are any better

Sounds like a job for Thunderbird 4.

 

[ScotGG]

Can people PLEASE not post links to god awful clickbait sites from Reach absolutely riddled with ads and pop ups if any alternative?

I just clicked one that wasn't marked as Reach and the site was so bad I hopefully havn't picked anything up from all the pop ups. They're utterly awful sites normally ending in Live eg EssexLive, DevonLive etc.

 

[InkyScrolls]

Can people PLEASE not post links to god awful clickbait sites from Reach absolutely riddled with ads and pop ups if any alternative?

Seconded!

Whether 'climate change' is to blame or not, this sort of weather is typical for the UK in winter. Rather than arguing over how long we've been experiencing these sorts of storms, time would be better spent in finding ways to improve the resilience of the railway to such weather events. Having the system fall apart every time a storm comes along does nothing to decrease reliance on cars.

 

[bahnause]

It will be typical British weather once you average it out over the course of the whole winter. For example, most reputable weather websites are predicting a dry spell of nearly two weeks once we get today's rain out of the way

Yes, and if you put one leg in 80-degree water and the other leg in ice water, you have the perfect temperature for a bath. But you wouldn't do that. The same is true for infrastructure, the average value is not really that relevant.
Also, a hotter climate means a wetter climate. Physics applies to everyone.

 

[apbj]

Seems to be taking an hour or so to clear Totnes on the GWML at the moment - the line is open but an announcement on board referred to the need for a "pilot" to take the train through the affected section. And then there's Paddington-Reading without power :/

 

[TPO]

It was flooding there 40 years ago when we lived a couple of miles from it.
Various attempts have been made to cure it, but the local geology seems to defeat all attempts.

Indeed, the most recent attempt I recall was to build a new lagoon to hold the flood water they pump out so it can be dispersed. Unfortunately, when you get day after day (week after week) of rain, it cannot cope.

[Slight digression. According to a local history book, the old GWR didn't really want to build the Badminton cut-off (i.e. the link from Wootton Bassett Jn to Stoke Gifford Jn via Chipping Sodbury, so that trains for south Wales didn't need to go MLN via Box). There's a story that after getting the Act of Parliament to enable it, they realised the cost was more than originally expected due to geology, so delayed building it for years..... until the original Vale of Glamorgan Railway joined forces with the Barry railway to propose a direct route to London via a Severn bridge...... the deal for withdrawing the proposal being that GWR finally build the Badminton Cutoff and allow access. This was in the days when Barry Docks was one of the main coal exporting ports in the world, so seems plausible.]

Flooding at Yorton, Gobowen & Beeston Castle has meant that TfW has suspended services from Manchester - Shrewsbury, Chester - Shrewsbury & Crewe - Chester for the rest of the day now.

Heart of Wales closed due to flooding (after only reopening today, due to flooding)

All lines closed west of Carmarthen on the branches too

It was very wet here in south Wales overnight, and the rain was falling onto already saturated ground. The Valleys have also been affected today, with flooding between Pontypridd and Merthyr/Aberdare (the Treherbert line is of course still under blockade for upgrade). Penarth-Rhymney was running to timetable, with trains running a shuttle pattern Cardiff-Rhoose (vice Bridgend) and out to Barry Island. The train planners basically rejigged the whole timetable. [This used to be done as a matter of course in the past when flooding closed the Merthyr and Aberdare lines in the "usual places" so I guess they have some pre-done schedules they can use].

It's times like this that any cut backs in Off Track a few years ago will be felt. Not just falling trees, but at this time of year, drainage ditches need constant clearing, (yesterday I noticed a lot of huge puddles where road drains had blocked- it's not just the railway). Traffic Wales also suggests that the A483 is closed due to flooding in the "usual place" at Builth Wells, and I'm quite surprised that the A483 at Pool Quay isn't also under water the way it was in 2000.

These things go in phases- typically in line with ENSO (En Nino Southern Oscillation). I wish people would stop falling back on the too-convenient excuse of climate change, and understand the consequences of a beancounter-led approach to maintenance. It's too easy to say "climate change" and not face the responsibility for making the wrong call by saving a few quid from cutting staff. There's a LOT that can be done to cope with any changing climatic conditions, but that needs a practical approach starting with enough people to maintain ALL of the infrastructure properly- including the "Cinderella" elements called Drains, Vegetation and suchlike.

TPO

 

[Wivenswold]

C2C still going strong, somehow. Tree incursion between Manningtree and Ipswich. GA slowly shutting down at the moment.

 

[43055]

The following from EMR website with them advising not to travel.

Flooding at Draycott has got worse so the line between Derby and Long Eaton is now blocked.
Also flooding around Market Harborough some services have gone via Melton but Intercity is now suspended.
Landslip east of Nottingham station meaning all routes east of Notts blocked.
Flooding at Meir Tunnel so no Derby - Crewe.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Worcester Park tree cleared; a few services running that way again.

 

[Purple Train]

Seems to be taking an hour or so to clear Totnes on the GWML at the moment - the line is open but an announcement on board referred to the need for a "pilot" to take the train through the affected section. And then there's Paddington-Reading without power :/

Paddington-Reading seems to be slowly returning to normal, albeit with major disruption. Ended up 91 late on 9R38 in the midst of the disruption.

 

[VP185]

Seems to be taking an hour or so to clear Totnes on the GWML at the moment - the line is open but an announcement on board referred to the need for a "pilot" to take the train through the affected section. And then there's Paddington-Reading without power :/

Only the down line is currently open. All Up services are having to crossover onto the down line and run wrong direction to Totnes. As its an unsignalled move a pilotman is needed to travel with every train through the section.

This is all because of high and fast flowing water under the line between Totnes and Ivybridge which needs a diver to examine. Quite why only one line is affected I don’t know!

 

[uww11x]

NR simply don't learn. The usual spots flooding and nearby jungles collapsing with trees.

 

[dk1]

C2C still going strong, somehow. Tree incursion between Manningtree and Ipswich. GA slowly shutting down at the moment.

Did you mean Ipswich & Stowmarket?

 

[PedroHav]

Everything at standstill and cancelled through Southampton, Fareham, Portsmouth and Havant. Looks like it until the end of the day .... Although Southern are running as far as Chichester and turning round there.

 

[Phil R]

Worcester Park tree cleared; a few services running that way again.

Indeed. 1739 ex Waterloo just at Clandon running about 30 down and still pretty cosy on board.

 

[londonmidland]

EMR have suspended all of their InterCity services for the rest of the day, due to flooding across various parts of the network.

There has also been a landslip east of Nottingham.

 

[Stew27005]

Latest SWR update

 

[James H]

I was passing Bournemouth station about an hour ago and thought it was a poor show that the station was simply closed and locked up with the lights off.

No access to shelter indoors, toilet etc.

 

[MarkWi72]

OLE resilience migt

Can people PLEASE not post links to god awful clickbait sites from Reach absolutely riddled with ads and pop ups if any alternative?

I just clicked one that wasn't marked as Reach and the site was so bad I hopefully havn't picked anything up from all the pop ups. They're utterly awful sites normally ending in Live eg EssexLive, DevonLive etc.

Apologies, I've now deleted that link.

 

[GB]

Did you mean Ipswich & Stowmarket?

Separate issue. Tree on the down line at Bentley AHB.

 

[Wivenswold]

Did you mean Ipswich & Stowmarket?

According to Signal Maps, there's an issue country side of Bentley crossing, though I see a Norwich service made it through to Ipswich.
Edit, thanks to GB for confirming problem.