Great Western Coffee Shop

Swansea/Cardiff - London/Bristol services were heavily disrupted this morning after the 08:45 London Paddington - Swansea  struck a large metal sheet inside the Severn Tunnel which caused the HST to be stuck in the tunnel for over an hour.

Some services were run via run via Gloucester or terminated at Newport/Bristol Parkway.

Some More Information :

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2012/02/15/train-collides-with-large-metal-sheet-in-severn-tunnel-leaving-passengers-trapped-for-several-hours-91466-30337296/

It just goes to show how useful the line to Gloucester is, maybe that should be a candidate for electrifcation especially with the number of trains which run via there

Second time in a week that services have been diverted via Gloucester. From observation the single track section was causing additional delays of up to 20 minutes, though fortunately that particular problem is set to be addressed in the enxt couple of years.

D^ vu:

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=9884.msg102938#msg102938

What is it with metal sheets and the Severn Tunnel?


Of course, it it wasn't for those river barges full of petroleum that collided with the Severn Railway Bridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severn_Railway_Bridge) one foggy night in October 1960 we may still have a shorter diversionary route.

Something else that should possibly be looked at is signalling/crossovers at Bristol Parkway. At the moment if a diversion is put in place following closure of the tunnel, trains from London have to travel to Filton Abbey Wood for reversal. That is if they haven't already been diverted via Stroud from Swindon. Reinstatement of the east curve at Westerleigh would help as well.

Seems the unit on:  2C71, 10:00 CDF-TAU also struck an object in the tunnel and suffered some damage but managed to limp to the loop at Piling

Well look like the culprit for loosing the metal sheet has been found:

Seems that 6V81 which passed through the Tunnel on tuesday morning had a slightly overloaded wagon towards the rear of the train.

How does one go about placing a large metal sheet in a rail tunnel?

Pray tell, what was 6V81 carrying? And who, officially, has concluded that one of the wagons was 'slightly overloaded'?

6V81 is scrap metal to Cardiff TC I believe.

Thanks, d_m, and just for completeness, what is Cardiff TC?  ;)

Cardiff Tidal Terminal Complex, according to http://deaves47.users.btopenworld.com/CRS/CRSc.htm

Thanks again d_m!  ;)

I preume that "slightly overloaded" means "slightly out of gauge"?

they havent mentioned it. reports say cctv showed it falling off an overloaded carriage, wouldnt want to be the person responsible for checking the load/ loading of that train

The sort of 'carriage' normally known as an open freight wagon, I presume?

Paul