Great Western Coffee Shop

Monday 3rd February 2014.

All lines blocked between Exeter St Davids and Newton Abbot - Update at 1530

The train service between Exeter St Davids and Newton Abbot has been suspended due to high seas and strong winds causing significant damage to the track along the Dawlish sea wall.  Network Rail have started to carry out the required repairs but we do not expect the affected lines to reopen until tomorrow at the earliest.

Road transport is operating between Exeter St Davids and Newton Abbot serving all stations.  In addition, limited road transport is operating direct between Plymouth and Taunton (non-stop). Ticket restrictions have been lifted for all First Great Western services from, to and within Devon and Cornwall until further notice.

From 1600 this afternoon we plan to introduce an hourly stopping service between Exeter St Davids and Dawlish Warren.

Trains cancelled until Wednesday as South Devon floods

(http://www.torquayheraldexpress.co.uk/images/localworld/ugc-images/276409/Article/images/20549321/5765288-large.jpg)
Flooding In Totnes

Train services between Exeter and Newton Abbot have been cancelled until Wednesday.

First Great Western has reported that major damage has been caused to parts of the track due to poor weather.

Bus replacement services are running instead. Train passengers can not however use Stagecoach buses.

A Stagecoach South West spokesman explained: "We have not currently had an approach from First Great Western with regards to accepting their train tickets on our bus services. Therefore anyone wishing to use our buses instead of the train will need to buy a ticket in order to travel."

Interesting internal comment about black being declared for the 'first time ever' on XC tyrell. I understand the PIDD colours but what is 'mouchel'?

DAWLISH SEAWALL -

UPDATE - MOUCHEL warning for Tuesday morning is GREEN however the evening 2100 - 2300 is BLACK (first time ever recorded) which coincides with very high spring tides and 70 mph SW winds.

If not then I can imagine some folk would have been somewhat annoyed having been told by FGW at Exeter and Newton Abbot to catch the Stagecoach service 2 where rail tickets were being allowed, only to get on the bus and find they had to buy a new ticket.

Due to the forecase high winds there will be blanket 50mph speed restriction on all lines (that are open) west of Exeter as well as the Barnstaple branch between 3 and 9pm today.

Just tried posting a train plan sent to Customer Panel members, but it exceeded the 20,000 character limit - sorry guys! (And after formatting it all too - grr)

Can it not be added to a post as an attachment? Either as a .pdf or .doc?

Dawlish railway repairs halted over safety fears


Repairs on a section of storm-damaged coastal railway line in Devon have been halted because of safety concerns.

Network Rail said it was pulling all repair staff away from working on the section of track at Dawlish. The infrastructure owner said up to 50m (165ft) of track was unsafe after supporting ballast was washed away this week, but it was stopping work because fresh storms were due to hit the coast. It said it hoped trains would run again by Friday at the earliest. The withdrawal of staff is as the result of the first black safety warning Network Rail has ever issued in the South West, it said.

The line at Dawlish, which passes along the town's sea wall, is vulnerable to high waves.

Julian Burnell, from Network Rail, estimated "hundreds of tonnes" of ballast had been dislodged from under tracks after they had "taken a real pounding from the sea". He added that the town's station had also been damaged by the weather.

Dawlish is between Exeter and Newton Abbot on the main railway line through the county. The section had already been closed off on Monday because of "poor weather conditions", train operator First Great Western said. The company had hoped services would resume on Wednesday, but this has now been delayed until Friday. It tweeted that replacement road transport was being used to ferry passengers between the two stations. Sleeper services between London Paddington and Penzance have also been cancelled until further notice. It and rival operator CrossCountry were currently accepting each others' tickets between Bristol and Penzance, it added.

The Met Office has issued a yellow alert for high winds in the South West until 23:00 GMT on Wednesday.

BBC have reported that part of the sea wall has been washed away - RailUK forum rumours it to be a 30-40ft stretch. Sounds like it could be well past Friday before trains are running again.

Strong winds and adverse weather conditions in the Devon & Cornwall areas overnight have caused severe disruption to both road and rail infrastructure. Train services on Wednesday morning between Newton Abbot and Penzance, including all branch lines, are likely to be severely disrupted until daylight inspections of all routes have been made. In addition, road conditions are likely to be hazardous and replacement road transport is not being operated. Passengers are advised NOT to attempt to travel on routes between Exeter St David's and Penzance during this morning until in has been confirmed that services have resumed.

NOW is it time to reconsider an alternative inland route?!

The damage looks pretty epic:
https://twitter.com/richardwestcott/status/430991304823427072/photo/1 (https://twitter.com/richardwestcott/status/430991304823427072/photo/1)

NOW is it time to reconsider an alternative inland route?!

I reckon there's at least a fortnight's repair work - with the proviso of no further storms (haha!)

That sea wall will need reinstating with piling before the track can be restored.

Been predicted for a few years now. How easy would it be to dust off the old inland route from Exeter to Newton Abbot, though I'm not sure if that would be susceptible to high speed running? Going via Okehampton would require two train reversals for Penzance - Paddington. But both of these would make electrification easier.

How about diverting some of the HS2 cash to preserve an existing line to an important part of the countryside?

I decided to return on 1C87 the 1448 ex PAD, and not bother waiting for the 1703 (and missed meeting thetrout - sorry).

BTW, 1C87 not booked to stop at Westbury, but ran through the station rather than the avoiding line - points failure again?? (see my earlier topic about Totnes - is it me?!)

Let us not be too hasty.
It might however be nearly time to consider appointing a commitee, to consider calling a meeting, to call for more studies.

Due to a recent severe weather conditions in the Devon & Cornwall area. We have had to make the decision to cancel the Night Riviera Sleeper services between London Paddington and Penzance/Penzance and London Paddington until Friday 28th February 2014.

If you are affected by this change to your journey, and have not been contacted by our dedicated team concerning your travel arrangements, please contact our Customer Services team on 03457
000125 for further information.

In Somerset, the line between Castle Cary and Cogload Junction is also closed due to flooding.

Large lake <> 'mere' speculation! 

Nice connection there...   ;D

Paul

Well here is the first view I have seen from the sea side of the actual breach: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=580867352007226&set=p.580867352007226&type=1

Looking ahead, the very real problem for FGW and Cross Country is what stock have they got trapped west of the sea wall and what effect will it have on the rest of the fleet which cannot access Laira depot for maintenance.  How much of their work can be done at FGW's other depots?

As I understand it most of the Cornish branchlines use stock based in Plymouth, Par or Penzance so should be relatively unaffected however the Paignton line uses stock from Exeter which is currently not an option.  Also I think Cornish DMU stock goes to Exeter for exams etc. from time to time.

As for HSTs and Voyagers there could possibly be too many the wrong side of the seawall which might impact on services "up country".

All in all I expect some midnight oil is being burned by the train planning teams.

State of play as it stands between Newton Abbot and Penzance:

The total amount of rolling stock in the area amounts to 10 units (mix of 1 and 2) coaches, 4 HSTs, 2 voyagers and 1 sleeper train.

FGW are trying to get a PLY - PNZ shuttle in place for tonight and will no doubt be trying to plan a timetable with what stock is available for the next 4-6 weeks.

Probably a wild guess but I can see the sleeper stock coming in handy....

With National (Quantitative Easing ?!) and EU funding (after all Cornwall has Objective One status) to re-instate Meldon to Tavistock/Bere Alston  with a Parkway station at Sourton to serve West Devon, North West Devon and mainly North Cornwall ..and as someone has already suggested  by extension of SWT Exeter/Waterloo service which is increasingly needing some fast limited stop trains - perhaps just Honiton, Axminster, Sherborne, Salisbury, & Basingstoke.
Perhaps in time Overhead Electrification ..no problems with sea, salt,sand & eyesore O/H coastal wires or limited clearance Marley Tunnels. 

Engineers working to shore up damaged railway at Dawlish as weekend storm approaches

Thursday 6 Feb 2014

Network Rail engineers are today starting work to try and prevent any further damage to the railway at Dawlish in Devon as another Atlantic storm system is forecast to hit the south-west of England on Saturday.

Around 80m of sea wall has been destroyed by high tides and stormy seas, causing a significant stretch of railway to collapse into the sea. The road adjacent to the railway and several houses have also been significantly damaged, along with damage at Dawlish station itself.

Network Rail has mobilised a range of specialist contractors, engineers and suppliers from across the country to help with the work needed at Dawlish and has also taken up the offer of discussions with the Ministry of Defence to see if there is any help which can be provided by armed forces personnel based in the south-west.

Initial estimates are that it will take at least six weeks to reopen the railway, but the immediate priority is to shore up the damaged section on Thursday and Friday using a concrete spraying machine which was until recently being used to refurbish Whiteball Tunnel in Somerset.

A period of calmer weather is predicted once the weekend^s storm system has passed, which will enable Network Rail and its partners to fully assess the damage and how long it will take to begin the task of rebuilding the railway.

Network Rail^s route managing director for the Western route, Patrick Hallgate, said: ^We absolutely understand the importance of the railway to the south west and will do everything we can to rebuild the railway at Dawlish as quickly and safely as we can.

^After a quieter night^s weather, we have been able to begin delivering machinery to our site compound with a view to protecting the exposed section of railway and the land behind it. We need to make sure we limit any further damage this weekend so that the significant repairs that are needed do not become greater still.

^We will continue working with the Government, Environment Agency, local authorities and other partners to explore ways of improving the railway^s resilience to extreme weather. The disruption to rail services in the south-west highlights the importance of that work and the need for all forms of transport to ensure that they are fit for the future.^

In addition, engineers are on site at a number of locations in the south west of England and are making repairs where the weather conditions permit. Services have resumed between Plymouth and Newton Abbot, but there will be no trains east of Newton Abbot to Exeter until the line is repaired at Dawlish.

Notes to editors

Further photos of the damage at Dawlish can be found here: bit.ly/LSxX2Q (http://bit.ly/LSxX2Q)

Timeline:
Tuesday, 4 February ^ Weather forecasts predict a major storm off the coast of Devon and Cornwall. Network Rail marine buoys predict ^black^ storm conditions, with six-metre waves. This is the first ^black^ conditions predicted since the system was installed in 2007.

3.15pm ^ The line through Dawlish is closed to trains and staff withdrawn to safe locations.

Serious overtopping by waves is reported through the evening.

9pm onwards, damage reports received concerning both the railway and the adjoining land.

11pm-2.30am Inspections confirm extent of severe damage.

Wednesday, 5 February ^ Engineers on site at first light but unable to inspect the line due to contiuning storm conditions. Teams of engineers, contractors and suppliers mobilised and head to Dawlish. Work begins on site compound to store machinery to shore up damage, including spray-concrete equipment.

Looking ahead, the very real problem for FGW and Cross Country is what stock have they got trapped west of the sea wall and what effect will it have on the rest of the fleet which cannot access Laira depot for maintenance.  How much of their work can be done at FGW's other depots?

As I understand it most of the Cornish branchlines use stock based in Plymouth, Par or Penzance so should be relatively unaffected however the Paignton line uses stock from Exeter which is currently not an option.  Also I think Cornish DMU stock goes to Exeter for exams etc. from time to time.

As for HSTs and Voyagers there could possibly be too many the wrong side of the seawall which might impact on services "up country".

All in all I expect some midnight oil is being burned by the train planning teams.

I don't see any 'short-life' if the sea wall is rebuilt properly & defences also built properly.

But the council is going to have to accept that their beach there may well disappear.

As for an emergency repair, my first thought was to get some big concrete blocks and plonk them on the flat wall (path) in front of the ex-embankment. "Big" would mean big enough to stay put by their own weight - I'd guess about 20 tons or so. However, I can't find any mention of that as a standard technique, and it may not be possible to find a combination of crane size and crane siting that provides strong enough ground and adequate reach - the access road in front of the houses looks to narrow and likely to collapse. Still, I can't help feeling that there must be a method that starts with a phone call to Ainscoughs.

Mr McLoughlin promised MPs a "rigorous review" of alternative rail routes in south-west England in the wake of the storm that destroyed parts of the railway line in Dawlish, Devon.

But UKIP, which dismissed the extra spending as "far too little, far too late", called on the government to channel part of its foreign aid budget into helping those worst hit by the flooding.

It is urging the government to suspend payments from the ^11bn annual budget and divert them "on a month by month basis" to areas in most need of repairs to storm-damaged property, renewal of flood defences and restoration of transport links.

David Cameron, who is chairing a Cobra emergency committee, insisted: "We're not just talking, we're acting."

Asked whether visiting flood-hit Somerset would be more useful than talking in London, the prime minister said: "It was because of Cobra that we got extra pumps down to Somerset. It was because of Cobra that I forced through the extra ^100m of funding.

"It's because of Cobra that the army is available to help in Somerset. If there's anything that they can do to help, they will do."

And he added: "Believe me, I will be in Somerset before long, listening to people directly."

When I saw the cross-section of the existing wall at the break, I was struck by how insubstantial it is - more like a garden retaining wall than a proper seawall. You wonder how it has lasted so long, even with a lot a repair and maintenance each year.

As for an emergency repair, my first thought was to get some big concrete blocks and plonk them on the flat wall (path) in front of the ex-embankment. "Big" would mean big enough to stay put by their own weight - I'd guess about 20 tons or so. However, I can't find any mention of that as a standard technique, and it may not be possible to find a combination of crane size and crane siting that provides strong enough ground and adequate reach - the access road in front of the houses looks to narrow and likely to collapse. Still, I can't help feeling that there must be a method that starts with a phone call to Ainscoughs.

Seat reservations and all advance purchase tickets for journeys west of Taunton suspended until a revised timetable is drawn up.

FGW confirms 25% discount on walk-up fares for services affected by line closure

First Great Western has confirmed it will be offering discounted fares to customers travelling on its services affected by the closure of the railway at Dawlish.

Yesterday, Network Rail confirmed that the damage to the track will take at least six weeks to fix, and trains will not be able to run between Exeter and Plymouth during that time. Instead, First Great Western has ordered hundreds of buses to provide alternative transport between the two cities while the track is repaired.

Volunteers from other areas of the business, who have been supporting our efforts to keep customers moving in the area are expected to be joined by colleagues from other FirstGroup rail companies throughout the UK over the weekend.

A 25 per cent discount will apply to all walk-up fares - including Any time, Off-Peak, Super Off-Peak and weekly season tickets - for journeys that pass through the affected area, and will remain in place until the line reopens. The same discount will apply to monthly and annual season tickets on a pro-rata basis. Holders of these season tickets will be contacted directly with details of how this rebate will be applied.

Advance Purchase fares will also be reintroduced on the route for combined bus and rail fares from Wednesday next week. The company has been unable to offer Advance Purchase tickets ^ which are tied to specific trains - since Wednesday, as we were unable to guarantee which trains would be running.

First Great Western Managing Director, Mark Hopwood said: ^We recognise that this work will mean customers are inconvenienced, and journey times are likely to take longer than normal as we look at alternative ways of getting customers to where they need to go. We want our prices to reflect that.

^No-one should lose out because of this. FGW's promise is that anyone who has been unable to purchase an Advance Purchase ticket because they were removed from the system and paid more than they would have done normally, will be reimbursed the difference.

Chris Patten?.....seconded!

Meanwhile in Somerset, video of a HST attempting to get through the floods between Bridgwater and Taunton:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26084245

Hi, I have an annual parking pass for Newton Abbot station, and I've already booked my train travel for the next 10 weeks or so from NTA to PAD.  I've no desire to get bus transport from NTA to Exeter each week.  What are the chances of me being able to park in Exeter St Davids using my NTA pass whilst the disruption is ongoing?  I realise this is probably a matter for Apcoa rather than FGW, but I'd hope that they'd have put some sort of arrangement in place whilst the line is closed.  Any thoughts?

Hi, I have an annual parking pass for Newton Abbot station, and I've already booked my train travel for the next 10 weeks or so from NTA to PAD.  I've no desire to get bus transport from NTA to Exeter each week.  What are the chances of me being able to park in Exeter St Davids using my NTA pass whilst the disruption is ongoing?  I realise this is probably a matter for Apcoa rather than FGW, but I'd hope that they'd have put some sort of arrangement in place whilst the line is closed.  Any thoughts?

I'd post the enquiry on their Facebook page if you can - as the answer would be of interest to others.

If you have no Facebook account, I'd email customer services & ask. Can you post their reply here too please?

Well just for a little bit of light relief from all the gloom.  Found this on the NRE website as an alternative route between Penzance and London ::):

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bf1FAuHIYAABI4M.jpg:large)

Spayed concrete ??  that's a new operation to me ! :o

Its been used to line tunnels for over 30 years now. Indeed it was used on the work on Whiteball Tunnel

I wonder whether a breakwater from Langstone Rock to Coryton Cove would be feasible? You could then create a lagoon and marina for Dawlish.

Owing to a landslip between Exeter St Davids and Yeovil Pen Mill all lines are blocked.

Impact:
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or delayed at short notice. Disruption is expected until 23:55 08/02
.
Customer Advice:
The line is blocked at Crewkerne due to a landslip, this has now blocked the remaining route into the West of England. Customers travelling from the West of England towards London Paddington are advised to travel on replacement road transport from Exeter St David's to Bristol Parkway and change for a train service to London Paddington. Customers at London Paddington and Reading travelling towards the West of England are advised to travel to Bristol Parkway and change for road transport to Exeter St David's.

....and London Paddington to Exeter and Far West passengers trains are now being diverted to Bristol Parkway..... :o :(

From FGW's Journey Check:

Fallen trees are blocking the line between Salisbury and Tisbury and also between Salisbury and Warminster, because of this, trains between Salisbury and Yeovil Junction / Warminster may be delayed by up to 30 minutes.

Landslip causes further rail misery for South West travellers


The weather has caused more damage to the South West's rail network with a landslip on the Exeter to Waterloo line, Network Rail has reported.

It said the incident at Crewkerne in Somerset meant passengers could not get to Exeter by train.

In Dawlish, where waves destroyed the main railway line, shipping containers are being used as a breakwater.

Earlier coastguards warned of "phenomenal" waves of more than 45ft (14m) for the region.

Ben Bradshaw, the Labour MP for Exeter, tweeted: "Just got worse: Landslip shuts Waterloo line at Crewkerne - no trains at all in or out of the Westcountry. Nearest services Bristol & Yeovil."

Network Rail said it had spent the night spraying concrete onto the cliff and damaged sections of the track, which had connected Devon and Cornwall to the rest of the UK.

It added that the rubble-filled containers would be used to help temporarily protect the section and estimated it would cost ^10m to repair the line.

...continues

From the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-26096286):

Work underway at Dawlish, showing the scrapped rails and the first spray of concrete
Saturday 8 Feb 2014
(http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/imagelibrary/displaymedia.ashx?MediaDetailsID=7699&SizeID=4)

Spelling is not their strongest point. Earlier this week at the launch of the Northen (sic) Hub, they had to remove one of the large backdrop posters just as the press arrived.

And now there are reports on National Rail of flooding in the Twyford area causing 20 minute delays between Reading and Slough.

Important information about services to and from South West

PLEASE NOTE: We have announced details of discounted fares for journeys affected by the closure at Dawlish. Find out more here (http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/About-Us/Media-Centre/2014/February/FGW-confirms-25-discount-on-walk-up-fares-for-services-affected-by-Dawlish-line-closure).

Due to further severe weather and flooding Network Rail has informed us that all direct lines to the South West are closed until further notice.

Flooding at Athelney and between Taunton and Bridgwater means that all mainline routes to the south west from London are closed. The diversionary route via Yeovil is also closed at Crewkerne because of a landslip and is expected to remain shut for up to a week.

Services from London Paddington to Devon and Cornwall via Newbury cannot proceed beyond Castle Cary. Customers to Devon and Cornwall who would normally travel via Newbury and Exeter are generally advised to catch a South Wales service to Bristol Parkway where a rail replacement bus service will take them onwards.

Journey times will be significantly extended; by approximately 120 minutes to Exeter and 180 minutes to Plymouth.

• Services to Somerset, Devon and Cornwall via Bristol Temple Meads will terminate at Weston-super-Mare, with a very limited service extending to Bridgwater from Weston-super-Mare
• Rail replacement bus services will operate from Bridgwater to Taunton
• Trains will run between Penzance and Plymouth, and Newton Abbot, but with some service changes - passengers should check journey times carefully before travelling
• All Cornish branch lines will run as normal (subject to weather conditions)

Following substantial damage to the rail infrastructure at Dawlish, First Great Western is anticipating continued significant disruption to train services.

Network Rail has informed us that this damage will take at least six weeks to rectify ^ depending on the results of further inspection and any additional damage that may be caused by this weekend^s adverse weather. Normal train services will not be able to run between Exeter St Davids and Newton Abbot while this work takes place.

Direct coaches run:

• to and from Plymouth and Exeter St Davids
• to and from Exeter St Davids, Newton Abbot/Totnes
• to and from Plymouth and Bristol Parkway
• to and from Exeter St Davids and Bristol Parkway
• to and from Bridgwater and Taunton
• From Castle Cary to Taunton and Exeter St Davids from Monday onwards, linked into departures from Paddington between 1506 and 1945.

Coaches calling at intermediate stations run:

• to and from Exeter St Davids calling at Exeter St Thomas, Starcross, Dawlish Warren, Dawlish, Teignmouth and Newton Abbot

Night Riviera sleeper
The Night Riviera sleeper service is suspended until further notice.

Pullman Dining Service
The Pullman Dining services are suspended until further notice.

and ingenious to use redundant shipping containers filled with rocks  facing the sea.

Interesting that an empty HST ventured from Exeter St.Davids to Yeovil Pen Mill this morning:
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/O69847/2014/02/09/advanced

A return trip is also scheduled later:
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/O69848/2014/02/09/advanced

SWT now back to terminating at Salisbury due to loss of signalling at Gillingham!

  Watching with fascination the Kingskerswell By-pass being constructed, I sometimes wonder if a
  task of rebuilding a railway line is beyond the capability of Network Rail.
  The  '6-week-fix' will not cure a problem that we have debated every winter.
 
  Perhaps a professional civil engineering company should be employed.
  Someone with experience who can not only save the properties of the poor people
  who live alongside the line, but have the ability to maybe 'cure' the problem of a fragile
 railway environment.

http://www.itv.com/news/update/2014-02-09/shipping-containers-provide-flood-defence-at-dawlish/

Won't the waves just crash over the top - I assume they're only 6' containers?

The new containers are 9'....but I can't think many are yet redundant of that size.

Indeed, and the waves were a heck of a lot taller than that. If you stacked them, would the power behind the water not just knock 'em flat? If it can demolish a sea wall, stacked containers won't last long.

Local media reporting that as a result of flooding at Redbridge it is quite likely that Oxford may only have an hourly shuttle service to Didcot tomorrow.

Returning to the Exeter to Paddington services..... I notice the 'can they/can't they run services over the SR line' question appears to have been resolved and that FGW services will now run again all the way from Exeter to Paddington, but still over the SR route despite Whiteball being available again, using the same timetable as per the last three weeks.

quote from SWT website....
Monday 10 February
First Great Western services are currently diverted via our route between Yeovil Junction and Exeter St Davids. We have been advised that this will continue on Monday 10 February 2014.
To allow this to occur we will be operating an amended timetable......

FGW Timetable Plans for w/c Monday 10 February 2014

Following a drop in floodwater at Athelney the railway line between Exeter and London Paddington, via Newbury, is due to reopen on Monday 10 February.

The line between Taunton and Bridgwater however remains closed due to flooding, as does the line between Exeter and Newton Abbot due to the sea wall collapse at Dawlish. Flooding is also expected to affect rail services between Oxford and Didcot Parkway.

Limited services will start between London Paddington and Exeter in the late morning, with Exeter to London Paddington services starting at lunchtime.

Coaches will continue to offer direct services to Exeter St Davids and Plymouth from Bristol Parkway, connecting with South Wales trains from London, and with services from the Midlands and the North until the mainline reopens to Taunton. Journey times will continue to be significantly extended.

Well here we go then (Dawlish 1855):

Amongst many other cancellations is the 7.59 Maidenhead to Paddington. This is a little strange since this train only goes from Old Oak to Paddington, Paddington to Didcot Parkway and then back to Paddington again.. And the flooding is the other side of Didcot Parkway.. I know there is flooding around Twyford too so I am guessing that is the reason?

Mind you the NR site says it IS running and therefore is disagreeing with Realtime trains which says it's not so it's anyone's guess what really is running until I get to the station.

Oh well..  Let's see how long it takes to get to work today then and how much fun the journey is  ;D

Won't the waves just crash over the top - I assume they're only 6' containers?

Hi, I have an annual parking pass for Newton Abbot station, and I've already booked my train travel for the next 10 weeks or so from NTA to PAD.  I've no desire to get bus transport from NTA to Exeter each week.  What are the chances of me being able to park in Exeter St Davids using my NTA pass whilst the disruption is ongoing?  I realise this is probably a matter for Apcoa rather than FGW, but I'd hope that they'd have put some sort of arrangement in place whilst the line is closed.  Any thoughts?

I'm currently on the 0643 stopper from Twyford (0643 and 0654 fasts both cancelled). The train was held for a few minutes in the White Waltham area before proceeding slowly for about the length of one signal section. I couldn't see any sign of ground water (although it was very gloomy light) so I presume it's a track circuit issue as mentioned above. Just left Burnham 7 late.

Currently we are monitoring the situation at Maidenhead where the Thames is rising rapidly. Already some of the lineside signal cabinets are partially under water and if the situation worsens as we are expecting, we will be unable to run into Paddington at all.

^Water levels bring disruption to Thames Valley
^Lines to Exeter reopen
^Further landslips strike Sussex



Water levels in the River Thames are at their highest for many years and are bringing disruption to certain routes in the area.

Flooding in the Datchet area and several other locations mean trains are not able to run between Staines and Windsor & Eton Riverside stations. Water levels are expected to rise throughout the day and it is expected to be some time before we are able to re-open the railway line. A replacement bus service is in operation.

Meanwhile, the line from Oxford to Didcot is disrupted, but still running, with flooding at Hinksey. Network Rail engineers removed sensitive equipment from the line over the weekend, to allow for a swifter resolution when water levels drop.
Groundwater is also causing problems with equipment in the Maidenhead area, but trains are still able to run

Two of the three routes from Exeter to London - via Athelney and Crewkerne - have reopened following flooding and a landslip at the weekend, and trains are also able to run from Taunton to Exeter following the completion of engineering work at Whiteball Tunnel. The line through Bridgwater, linking Taunton to Bristol, remains closed with the flooding on the Somerset Levels.

Work to protect the damaged sea wall at Dawlish continues, with a temporary breakwater erected from rubble-filled shipping containers enabling the start of repairs to the main area of damage.

Sussex suffered a further landslip over the weekend near Stonegate adding to two slips that were already being repaired. Buses replace trains between Wadhurst and Battle until repairs can be made.

Does anyone know where the Maidenhead Ground Water is bubbling up? Presumme it's West of teh station in one of the cuttngs?

Nothing I've seen yet from SWT. They're probably trying to keep room for their displaced pax in the Windsor area....

Only services from Paddington are: Heathrow Connect. Heathrow Express and FGW services to Greenford.

Services that have already departed Paddington towards Reading will be delayed by up to 1 hour due to signal problems caused by flooding.

I feel the water levels are only going to get worse over night

The latest forecast for the Thames at Reading, including rain that's expected, is that it will not go higher than it is now. That's roughly where it was a month ago, and just below its 2003 peak.

The levels from Mapledurham to Sonning have not moved for 24 hours, either. Does that mean the level should peak soon downstream?

I have heard reports if some low loaders in Laira this morning. We're a couple of HSTs delivered as I noticed a couple more on the network. Probably a good thing too as one powercar caught fire today along with a coach on another set having a door window broken.

FGW staff at Maidenhead this morning did an excellent job of keeping people informed as best as they could even they were working from erratic information but the main thing they were communicating

Isn't the issue at White Waltham down to groundwater? I don't know if that's related to river levels.

In recognition of the disruption expected, and to allow customers to postpone their journeys until later in the week, ticket restrictions have been lifted across the FGW network until Friday.

Blowing your trumpet is all very well and good. But having meetings about getting work done is not always the best way to go about things. During those meetings who is doing the urgent work that needs to be done?

So, how do you decide what work you're going to do unless you have some meetings?  The alternative is that David Cameron (or somebody else) decides alone without the benefit of specialist advisors, on the basis of a knee jerk reaction, and it's of no benefit whatsoever. Which I suspect is what happened with the deployment of army resource last week, which on arrival, found that it wasn't able to help.

Thanks Ollie ;)

Although this is an interesting point from the article


With my emphasis in bold. From a layman passenger point of view; what does that actually mean? For example:

• I have a Super Off-Peak Ticket from Frome to London Paddington valid via NEWBURY - Can I use this on the 06:45 via Bath Spa?
• I have a First Advance booked on the 15:13 from Bath Spa - Southend Victoria - Can I use this on the 13:43 if I wanted to?
• I have an First Anytime Single from Bedminster - Brighton dated for the 10th February 2014. Can I use this for travel on the 13th February 2014 (After the 2 Day Grace)?
• I have a Standard Anytime Single from Reading to London Paddington - Can I sit in First Class free of excess?

I think the correct answers are:

• Yes - But an excess to the ANY PERMITTED Super Off-Peak Single may be charged

This is actually fine and no excess should be charged.

• Yes - Although taking a service at 06:43 when your booked train is 15:13 might be frowned upon

This is fine as far as we're concerned. Would need to take into account if journey included other operators though as the easement is only on our services.

• Yes - That's an expensive ticket at the best of times and FGW have advised changing plans if it can be helped; maybe change the date TODAY as the ^10 Admin Fees are currently being waived

We would suggest changing the date as part of the route is shared with another operator.

• No - You're welcome to pay the excess before boarding however

Correct.
[/list]

Now I would be particularly interested in the answers to all of those from the horses mouth. Because with such vague wording, I'm rather embarrassed to say that my brain cannot come to terms with what that actually means either. Although my guesswork above may be in the right direction.

I'm not trying to be awkward as I know that FGW has provided all that information in good faith. But providing information is one thing. Making sure the audience it's aimed at understands that information is quite another! :o :-X :-[ ;)

When I abandoned Maidenhead station at 07:00 the first shuttle to Padd had not arrived and was expected to be a 3 car unit.

  Overheard the following conversation at Totnes yesterday,  ''Is their something wrong with the Trains''.

The Oxford-Didcot shuttle used a 3-car unit yesterday (and again today).  With calls at Culham and Appleford suspended, I find it pretty pathetic that a 5 or 6-car service couldn't have been found.  A couple of the HSTs from the Cotswolds and some freight was all that was allowed to pass through the Hinksey flooding when the signals were working OK and there was just a 5mph restriction.  A much more comprehensive service could have been provided, such as a XC path per hour, or a second shuttle, or both, without it causing problems.

There appears to be a distinct lack of the old 'roll your sleeves up and get on with it' mentality.

If you don't like it. Drive.

That's all very well if you have that option.  Some of us don't.

  Overheard the following conversation at Totnes yesterday,  ''Is their something wrong with the Trains''.

Quite. So both pax & Company need to start making alternative plans. Climate change is coming & this will become a more regular occurrence. Disruption WILL happen. Make plans.

[

Comes down to damage. There's little point in getting too many units water-damaged & out of use for days/weeks awaiting repair. Things would be worse then than if the water level drops in 24/48 hours & a normal service resumes.

FGW committed three turbo sets to OXF-DID last time the floods came to that section _ I suspect the same this time. Any more & the damaged sets are out for ages being repaired.

I'm with the TOCs on this one. the flooding is not their fault. They don't see why they should get sets water damaged & therefore pay for repairs. Advice is not to travel - its unprecedented, and companies need to work around their employees being disrupted.

The water levels at Hinksey have dropped a little this morning, although they are expected to rise again later.


That's all very well if you have that option.  Some of us don't.

The Government should be leaning hard on London companies to accept travel hardship and getting them to be flexible / understanding with effected employees.

Sorry, but in instances like this, if it *truly* is a necessity, get a hotel.

Comes down to damage. There's little point in getting too many units water-damaged & out of use for days/weeks awaiting repair. Things would be worse then than if the water level drops in 24/48 hours & a normal service resumes.

FGW committed three turbo sets to OXF-DID last time the floods came to that section _ I suspect the same this time. Any more & the damaged sets are out for ages being repaired.

Sorry, but in instances like this, if it *truly* is a necessity, get a hotel.

But it isn't for the vast majority.

If you really can't get to work, companies have to accept. Or make adjustments to working hours temporarily. Most pax will take a day off for a heavy (or not so heavy) cold. This is different and much worse, in that we have to accept that transport is majorly disrupted, so either work around it, or make alternatives.

It isn't the fault of the transport companies and as I said above - do we want a fleet unable to run just while the water's causing a problem, or a whole fleet damaged & out of action for weeks until fixed. It's a no-brainer, frankly.


The Government should be leaning hard on London companies to accept travel hardship and getting them to be flexible / understanding with effected employees. Something they just aren't doing atm.

Ditto with those flooded out too.

A question for someone in the know.... signalling west of Exeter (up to and including Totnes, and the Paignton branch) is from Exeter Panel.  Images of the Dawlish breach show a 'spaghetti' of wires hence leading me to assume S&T all been cut.
How are signals & points being operated west of Exeter, up to where Plymouth takes over?

Who is going to pay for all these hotel rooms?

And who are you to judge whether it's necessary for someone to get to work? Do you draw the line at Doctors?  Engineers? Policemen? Firemen? Social workers? Cleaners?

"Most people will take a day off with a heavy cold" - presumably you have evidence for this or are you just speculating?

No-one is saying that its the fault of the transport companies but it doesn't mean that everyone is able to kick back and forget about work........I wonder how your Boss feels about it? (if you have one?)

..........in either case I doubt you've ever operated in a commercial environment judging by your comments which are breathtakingly naive at best, or as I've said perhaps just trolling?

And I am not convinced that slow speed operation in water just below the rail top would really cause damage.

7th February 2014
Cut-price rail travel for journeys in the Westcountry after recent storms
Rail users whose journeys are affected by the extensive storm damage to the railway line at Dawlish receive a welcome boost from train operator CrossCountry.

From Monday 10 February, any customer purchasing an Advance ticket for a journey with CrossCountry to or from any station west of Exeter, needs only buy a ticket to or from Exeter St Davids station. This would mean someone travelling from Penzance to Manchester could purchase an Advance ticket for as little as ^53 for their 350 mile journey.

Advance tickets are subject to availability so, as well as offering the full range of Advance fares, CrossCountry is increasing the number of these tickets on each of its trains. And for those who need to travel at the last minute, Advance tickets can even be purchased on the day of travel up to ten minutes before a train^s departure when purchased at www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk

These Advance tickets will be valid on all rail services west of Exeter for travel to or from Exeter St Davids station, including on any road replacement services around the area where rail travel is currently not possible.

CrossCountry^s Managing Director, Andy Cooper, said: ^We understand the difficult circumstances many people now find themselves in because of the impact of recent storms in the South West. Travel is a necessity for many and the unprecedented damage at Dawlish has left some customers feeling that rail journeys are not an option. We are determined to ensure that anyone wanting to travel to or from the South West is still able to do so, and can do at the cheapest price possible.

^CrossCountry are providing a simple travel solution for those affected by these dreadful storms, to reconnect with their colleagues, friend and families. People wanting to travel to and from West Devon and Cornwall for both business and leisure, need only buy a CrossCountry Advance ticket for Exeter St Davids station and travel for free for the part of their journey in the Westcountry.^

On Monday 3 February the exceptionally high tide and storms washed away parts of the sea wall carrying the main railway lines at Dawlish in Devon. Network Rail estimates repairs to the line could take six to eight weeks and special timetables for rail users will operate during this period. Full details of train times and connecting road transport through areas where trains are unable to operate are available from National Rail Enquiries at www.nationalrail.co.uk or by calling 08457 48 49 50.

If it's truly a "necessity" and the trains can't run - that is really the only alternative, or driving - otherwise it isn't a "necessity" (check the definition - lets not exaggerate)


The employer and employee together. We're in a different world where transport will grind to a halt coz of the weather and we need to engage different mindsets, the sooner the better.


 - I'm not going to answer that. I don't believe you truly think pax don't do this. I'm not saying I don't blame them for doing so though - just that it's not impossible to take a day or so off work without everything grinding to a halt.


Who said anything about forgetting work? - read back & I said firms need to think along the lines of remote working....(unless of course you have no utilities at home coz of the weather....) - but as I said, the few that are that hard done by surely can be excused by their firms.


Not at all. I can't believe everyone just thinks this is a complete one-off? It's happened twice this winter already, and all I see are heads in the sand.

With most services cancelled they can hardly pleed lack of rolling stock !
And I am not convinced that slow speed operation in water just below the rail top would really cause damage.

FGW were also saying the first time shuttles ran OXF-DID that there are electrics around the axles, and waves created going faster than 5mph washed water into them...thus damaging the train requiring repair.

Hence they won't run all their stock through the water.

As I said - which is better - a couple of days-ish like this, or a whole load of units out for weeks?

Whilst the weather has indeed been much worse than usual, I do not feel that the railway industry as a whole has come out of this very well.

I am well aware that that much of the problem is weather damage to infrastructure and is therefore a network rail problem and not a TOC problem.

It is only about a year since the last bout of "exceptional" flooding, and the rail industry needs to accept that this is rapidly becoming the "new normal"
Rail travel ought be encouraged for enviromental reasons, but this wont be easy with continual weather related closures.

Anyway I see that FGW/NR have obviously taken the comments on board as they appear to have introduced a half-hourly shuttle between Oxford and Didcot.

Frankly I think this is a load of hogwash. If a train can't withstand running through a few mm of water at 5mph for a very short distance then it isn't fit for purpose. Do they not get wet when it rains, or damp when left in sidings for the weekend or when they go through the carriage wash?

Yes, hogwash (was there a pun intended there?) as far as I can tell as well.  Let's be clear, the flooding at Hinksey yesterday was well below the railhead. 

The reason it didn't happen is more due to the overcautious nature of those that make the decisions than anything else.  An increase in the shuttle service to every 30 minutes is most welcome, though the staff on the ground and the poor passengers are quite right to feel very let down.

....one part of the Company plan may be ensuring that when replacement buses are advertised from Maidenhead as they were this morning would be to (a) ensure they turn up in at least something like sufficient quantities somewhere near the times they are needed and (b) ensure that the drivers aren't already up to their permissible driving hours......they failed in both of these this morning.

Maybe the TOCs could maintain a small fleet of coaches for these circumstances and other bustitutions rather than relying on ad hoc arrangements with third parties?

OK, I'll call you. Proof please. I saw that photo too - a snapshot of a millisecond across the whole day. What other proof have you got? My NR contact told me it rose in the morning....your contact?

Joyous update from the 17.30 to Super-mare... We've broken down 3 times prior to old oak common. Trouble with the passenger alarm system from what I can gather.

Full and standing too.

Realtimetrains isn't very good when trains have additional stops or are diverted en route. But it's much better than National Rail for finding out where a train is between stations, and whether it is moving. So, yes, I can see that it's currently stuck in the wet section around Maidenhead. Suspect it will be a good hour late by the time it gets past it.  Grr!

And now showing as cancelled beyond Bristol. Double Grr!

Funny, you can read a post and just know that Taplow Green is the author, without even looking.

Something to do with his rather chippy view of the world, that everything should run like clockwork for his personal convenience, and how he refuses to accept that 'events dear boy' sometimes just happen... ::)

Has the 1830 even made it past maidenhead - can't see any reports of it anywhere

Realtime trains says it is approaching Maidenhead now

As I understand it and my knowledge of engineering is not that detailed (I'm not an engineer), HSTs can't run through the water as the electric traction motors are suspended on the bogies thus making them susceptible to water damage. Turbos and Adelantes are mechanically driven with the engine and gearbox suspended in the body of the train, final drive to the axles being by mechanical propshaft therefore less susceptible to water damage.

Anyone with more detailed knowledge care to comment.

Has the 1830 even made it past maidenhead - can't see any reports of it anywhere

I kind of feel that Twyford (and Henley Branch) passengers have fallen down an FGW black hole today.

There are electrical components hung from the bogies of the Turbos and Adelantes even though they have mechanical transmission. The aerial(s) for the AWS/TPWS are bogie-mounted as is the track circuit exciting loop (can't remember the correct name at the moment but it is the device to ensure that track circuits register the presence of the vehicle even in the presence of rail head or wheel contamination). There are also the connections to the axle end pick ups for the wheel slide protection. The HST certainly has the WSP connections, but IIRC, the AWS/TPWS receivers are hung from the body, but are still close to the rails. It doesn't have the track circuit exciter because it's big enough and ugly enough not to need it.

All of these things are proof against water spray, but I wouldn't be so sure about immersion.

Looks like by the time the 1730 to WSM gets to Bristol the 1830 to WSM will have caught it up.

However rather worse PR concerns the fact that today there is nothing in or out of Paddington (either fast or slow) which is calling at Twyford. Presumably the idea is that Twyford-Paddington passengers are meant to go via Reading? If that's the case then why not put up that advice on the FGW website? I kind of feel that Twyford (and Henley Branch) passengers have fallen down an FGW black hole today.

Again, the main concern when running trains through floodwater is the wheel bearings though.

That may well be the case, but I repeat, the levels of water at Hinksey were so low yesterday that I doubt even the wheelflange would have got wet.  And the chance of the air tank purge valve dumping as a train passes through the flood and that then disturbing water to contaminate the train in a meaningful way is so small as to not compute I would say.

The inconsistency is staggering though.  Flood water as high, if not higher, was at Moreton-In-Marsh and near Kingham over Christmas and there were no speed restrictions or amended working caused as a direct result of those locations.  What makes them different?

Finally, surely all these freight trains that have passed through Hinksey unaffected (observing the 5mph limit of course) would suffer the same wheel bearing problems?  Why have they not been vastly curtailed/diverted?  I saw more of them than passenger trains yesterday...  ::)

Thank you a-driver. Is that why Adelante brakes are always squealing? Always wonder if they're going to stop.

Plus, the flooding at Hinksey I think involve points, which may be another reason for the lower speed limit???  I don't know if they have been clipped and scotched though or wether that would even make a difference!

Plus, the flooding at Hinksey I think involve points, which may be another reason for the lower speed limit???  I don't know if they have been clipped and scotched though or wether that would even make a difference!

Thanks a-driver.. I kind of hoped that might be the case.. The lack of official communication is getting a bit frustrating.. I'll get up early tomorrow to see if I need to..erm.. get up early  ;D

I am still getting texts each day telling me the sleepers are cancelled.  Yet I don't get ones telling me the 08:27 from Swindon is only running as far as Bristol.  It is all a bit disjointed.

What should be the destination of the 0827 from Swindon?  I always thought that one terminated at Bristol!!

Penzance. It's the 0730 from Paddington.

Probably more appropriate for the 'Other Ways to Travel' board, but it seems that SWT ran an additional service non-stop from Reading to Waterloo at 0754 this morning. (Real Time Trains shows actual departure time of 0803 with arrival at WAT at 0915, still a 72-minute journey though.)

07:54 Reading to London Waterloo due 09:18
An additional train service has been planned to operate as shown 12/02/14 07:54 Reading to London Waterloo due 09:18.
This is due to flooding.
Last Updated :11/02/2014 17:46

To address ChrisB points about getting your employer to understand why you can't travel by train, drive instead, staying in a hotel, etc.

I'm effectively self employed,

Back to talk of disruption.

Discounted (by 25%) walk-up fares for journeys through Dawlish, on flows priced by First Great Western, are now available online through FGWs booking engine. Sadly, longer distance journeys priced by other operators are not subject to the discount.

Cause of the Maidenhead problem

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BgL4XejCcAAwOfG.jpg)

Following the problems at Cowley Bridge there were plans to put a lot of the location cabinets on stilts.

I noticed the other day that while some have been raised there are still a lot on the approach to Exeter St Davids where the new stilts have been erected but the actual cabinets have not yet been raised.

Perhaps the idea of raising cabinets will now be explored elsewhere.

As we only had to stop once between Twyford and Maidenhead to be talked past a signal I can't help but feel that more trains could be run if there was a bit more of a will.

Cause of the Maidenhead problem

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BgL4XejCcAAwOfG.jpg)

Out of interest the section being worked as one block spans the boundary between the TVSC at Didcot and Slough panel.  Does that make for more complications?

Looks like there maybe a new Twyford information issue today. Both FGW and Live Departure Boards are showing stoppers from Paddington for Oxford calling at Twyford leaving at 27 & 57 minutes past the hour.

However Real Time Trains is showing an hourly stopper for Reading leaving at 12 minutes past the hour with nothing else stopping at Twyford - the 27 & 57 departures don't appear to exist there.

Checking Real Time Trains backwards this morning, the only down departures at Twyford do indeed appear to have been the xx.12 departures from PAD. FGW & LDB show the xx.27 & xx.57 departures to have been allegedly all stuck at PAD and the xx.12 ones to have terminated at Maidenhead.

Can somebody in this so-called information age please just sort all this out?  >:(

Presumably, they'd then need to be twice as high/big?

Tree on Slough to Windsor Branch.....

Service suspended pending staff arrival

Info @ 1350

We know that weather events like this are rare (or not depending on your viewpoint)
but really the cabinets which have been posted here, should be higher up on stilts, then the electric cables are less likely to be damaged, apart from if the Wind is strong then you may have a problem. Lets hope Network Rail can now spend a little more money on upgrading this equipment so that this is less problems in future. I know it cant be completely resolved but sorting the basics out can help out a lot - Just saying

There's also talk now of this being Groundwater flooding, rather than Thames overflow - which means it'll go on a lot longer than a few days. And it'll top up quicker than awaiting water to come down river from Upper Thames every time another storm comes over.

The borehole data is frightening.

Paddington to Exeter Services now also further disrupted....

Athelney is reported to be flooded again...

1106 dep from Pad diverted via Yeovil

1206 dep from Pad diverted from Westbury to Bristol TM and terminate

Whilst driving eastbound on the M4 between Maidenhead and Slough at around 10 this morning (instead of getting the train into London today as originally planned!), I passed an FGW Mk3 coach on a low-loader.

I guess part of an HST being moved by road from west of Dawlish?

I saw a power car between junctions 16 and 15 at Swindon last night. Presumably they are off-loaded at Old Oak Common? Interesting there isn't a closer depot (making it a shorter journey) to take them to - can those in the know comment?

I saw a power car between junctions 16 and 15 at Swindon last night. Presumably they are off-loaded at Old Oak Common? Interesting there isn't a closer depot (making it a shorter journey) to take them to - can those in the know comment?

Indeed. XC advances are available on services connecting into/out of the SW until 15 mins before departure, and the travel west of Exeter is free. That's better than FGW offer.

12/02/2014 10:42

UK floods: 'Unspent' ^60m may be used on rail repairs

The BBC reports that up to ^60m not spent by the Department of Transport this year could be used to help repair the rail network battered by the recent storms.
The BBC understands the Treasury could allow the department to keep the "underspend" in its annual budgets.

David Cameron has said "money is no object" in helping flood-affected communities get back on their feet.

But Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has said there will be no "blank cheque" for repairs.

Mr McLoughlin said Network Rail was already spending ^38bn on maintaining and enhancing the rail network over the next five years and the money had to be spent in the "right way".

But he would not comment on whether any new money would be put at his disposal.

The prime minister has chaired the government's latest emergency meeting on the floods, with Chancellor George Osborne among ministers attending.

The flooding crisis is likely to dominate Prime Minister's Questions at 12:00 GMT.

There are still 16 severe flood warnings - meaning a danger to life - in the south-east and south-west of England.

On Monday, David Cameron announced a package of support for homeowners, businesses and farms affected by the floods - the details of which are likely to be fleshed out in the coming days.

The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson said the PM had used a "big phrase" to demonstrate his commitment to do whatever was necessary to help those affected but, in reality, there did not seem to be a "big cheque".

Mr McLoughlin told BBC Radio 4's Today that his department would have to look firstly at what was needed to repair the damage to the rail network and then to make it more resilient for the future.

Asked whether ^60m would be made available, he said: "There is a lot of money going into the railways, each day and each week. What now has to be asked is are we doing the right kind of resilience for today's problems.

"We need to make sure we are spending the money in the right and correct way."

It was fair to assume, he added, that the storms of the past two months were "not a one-off" and the UK would have to prepare itself for future periods of extreme weather.

On the issue funding, he told ITV's Daybreak: "I don't think it's a blank cheque. I think what the prime minister was making very clear is that we are going to use every resource of the government and money is not the issue while we are in this relief job, in the first instance, of trying to bring relief to those communities that are affected."

'Tough choice'
 The 2007 floods in the north of England cost business ^740m while the Commons energy and climate change committee has suggested ^500m would need to be spent to make the UK's flood defences ready for future floods.

The UK Independence Party has called on the prime minister to give more details of where the money will come from, saying that the sums needed could run to hundreds of millions of pounds.

It has called for money to be temporarily taken from the foreign aid budget to deal with the immediate challenges - a proposal rejected by the prime minister.

"It is all very well for the prime minister to say that whatever money is needed will be spent," the party's communications director Patrick O'Flynn said.

"But unless he is also willing to take a tough choice about where to switch resources from then we must assume he plans to sink the nation even further into debt by borrowing it."

Courtesy www.bbc.co.uk/news

there are closer depots (Bristol for example)  but OOC is almost straight off the end of the M4 so perhaps an easier journey.  

Great Western disruption by flooding at Maidenhead is "much more serious" than sea wall collapse at Dawlish, warns @fgw

Great Western disruption at Maidenhead "could continue for weeks" says rail expert. Network Rail: "it's not not a short term fix"

Not so - works both ways as long as you pass through Exeter....

Err.. I know. My example was a XC Advance between Truro and Newton Abbot. XC Advances wholly west of Exeter are the usual prices. And nothing given if you are buying walk up tickets, for journeys through the affected area, on flows priced by CrossCountry.

So when is it safe for me to book a train back to the West Country??

So when is it safe for me to book a train back to the West Country?? Ultimately it's got to be done at some point very soon! ;D

May/June?  :P ;) ;D

May/June?  :P ;) ;D

In all seriousness, I saw the Sky News Bulletin at London Liverpool Street yesterday evening which suggested this god awful weather and flooding could continue until May at the earliest.

In all seriousness, I saw the Sky News Bulletin...

Rail resilience projects
 
The Department for Transport (DfT) will provide ^31million to fund 10 rail resilience projects in the South West to improve resilience to flooding, including works at Cowley Bridge in Exeter.

Network Rail will undertake work at the following locations:
^Cowley Bridge Junction
^Chipping Sodbury
^Hinksey
^Whiteball Tunnel South
^Athley ^ Cogload
^Hele Bradninch
^Flax Bourton
^Patchway up Tunnel
^earthworks strengthening at Honiton and Crewkerne
 
Network Rail will also install rainfall, river flow and groundwater monitoring around Cowley Bridge Junction and Chipping Sodbury.

Hmmm, let's hope that suggestion is slightly more accurate than the nonsense sprouted in the Daily Express (and others) last Autumn saying we were all set for the coldest and snowiest winter in modern times!

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/442873/Coldest-winter-in-modern-times-on-way-with-snow-forecast-for-Britain-starting-next-week (http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/442873/Coldest-winter-in-modern-times-on-way-with-snow-forecast-for-Britain-starting-next-week)

For the people of Somerset and other areas I sincerely hope both forecasts are wrong!

Think that's all you need to say on that one, really. Wouldn't trust anything they put out!

One or two forecasts on the BBC are saying that the next storm, due Friday, may be the last big one (and even then nothing anywhere near what we've had today), before we return to a more normal winter/spring weather pattern. They're not promising it, but they're just saying that the signs are hopeful.

FGW MD, Mark Hopwood, speaking on BBC South Today (available on BBC iPlayer (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03tw9h2/South_Today_12_02_2014/) until 1830 tomorrow 13/02/2014) earlier this evening was taking a very cautious tone regarding getting the lines through Maidenhead back to capacity.

He said, "...we face a very major challenge running the railway without this signalling available."

Hi, I have an annual parking pass for Newton Abbot station, and I've already booked my train travel for the next 10 weeks or so from NTA to PAD.  I've no desire to get bus transport from NTA to Exeter each week.  What are the chances of me being able to park in Exeter St Davids using my NTA pass whilst the disruption is ongoing?  I realise this is probably a matter for Apcoa rather than FGW, but I'd hope that they'd have put some sort of arrangement in place whilst the line is closed.  Any thoughts?

Not sure if this was spotted or not, but the following link says you can use your pass for Tiverton Parkway and Taunton Car Parks... other options available depending what car park pass you have.

http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/contents/travel-advice/car-parking

Maidenhead to Paddington service is halfhourly today. The slow trains look to have been withdrawn and we're looking at c7.24, 7.54 etc.

Cold and sad.

I appreciate the difficult situation, but Realtime Trains is currently showing no trains at all stopping at Langley or Iver in the morning.  I'm not sure what people who want those stations are supposed to do ??? .  I would quite like to use the train tomorrow but I know what I will actually be doing due to the lack of information - getting in the car...

Not sure if this was spotted or not, but the following link says you can use your pass for Tiverton Parkway and Taunton Car Parks... other options available depending what car park pass you have.

http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/contents/travel-advice/car-parking

Looks like it's getting worse.. The 6.20 from Weston-Super-Mare to Paddington has lost half hour between Ruscombe and Maidenhead on Realtime trains..

I'm on the 0643 stopper from Twyford again but it left nearly 30 late today. Progress through the affected area was slower today. I was on the UR but I could only see signal numbers on the UM. We stopped alongside UM28 for a few minutes then proceeded at walking pace past UM27A to alongside UM27B where we were held again. We then proceeded slowly again to alongside UM26 where normal progress resumed. What was noticeable to me was not so much the depth of the water but the length of the area affected, probably a good two miles.

I have an advance ticket for travel tomorrow from Paddington to Exeter. Does the lifting of ticket restrictions mean that I could use that ticket today?  With the bad weather forecast for tomorrow I am considering travelling back early

Any customer holding a valid ticket for travel on today or any date up to and including Sunday 16th February may choose to use that ticket on any of these dates (at any time of day) without additional charge. This also applies to those customers who may have held over their journey from Monday 10th, Tuesday 11th or Wednesday 12th February.

This note issued to staff would seem to suggest you can

Like the way the power car's tail lamps are still lit.

Issued: 12th February 2014 @ 1750

FGW Ticket Restrictions from 12th to 16th February

Customer Travel Advice for Thursday 13th February Disruption in the Maidenhead, Dawlish and Bridgwater-Taunton areas continue to have a significant impact on service provision.
We are strongly advising customers not to travel unless absolutely necessary, and to consider alternative routes. If a customer chooses to travel they should be advised that services will be subject to delay and are likely to be extremely crowded.

Ticket Restrictions In light of the above travel advice: we have a number of ticket easements in place, with some additional ones from today. For travel wholly with First Great Western, we continue to have no time restrictions in place from Tuesday 11th February to Friday 14th February for both Walk-Up and Advance fares.

This easement also applies to the time restrictions on the application of Railcard discounts where travel is wholly with First Great Western. To clarify, Rover and Ranger products are excluded from these easements.

Any customer holding a valid ticket for travel on today or any date up to and including Sunday 16th February may choose to use that ticket on any of these dates (at any time of day) without additional charge. This also applies to those customers who may have held over their journey from Monday 10th, Tuesday 11th or Wednesday 12th February.

Owing to the flooding at Fordgate, and therefore bus replacements between Taunton and Weston Super Mare, many customers may wish to travel via Bristol between Exeter and the Weston Super Mare / Yatton area. FGW price some tickets routed ^Direct^ between Exeter area and Weston Super Mare / Yatton area, which offer a saving over the Via Bristol fares for the same journeys. While there are bus replacements between Taunton and Weston Super Mare, please allow customers to travel with First Great Western via Bristol Temple Meads with these tickets routed ^Direct^.

Full refunds (no penalty) will apply to any customer holding a ticket for travel on Wednesday 12th February ^ including Advance tickets ^ where the customer chooses not to travel. Please offer instant refunds where possible or where not possible please direct customers to FGW Customer Relations.

Mutual Ticket Acceptance
Mutual ticket acceptance is in place with SWT, Chiltern Railways, Virgin and London Midland into London as well as SWT and Cross Country elsewhere on the network.

Advance Purchase tickets
In order to manage customers with Advance Purchase tickets the following applies:
Any customers with Advance Purchase tickets for travel with us that no longer wish to travel because of service cancellations can have their ticket refunded. These refunds can be paid (where funds allow) instantly at Ticket Offices.

Customers with Advance Purchase tickets valid for travel with us on Tuesday may use them on any service for the rest of this week (up to and including Friday).
Other customers with Advance Purchase tickets for travel with us dated from Monday 10th to Sunday 16th February have been permitted an extension that allows them to use their tickets on a choice of the next few days, so tickets dated for travel on Monday 10th to Sunday 16th February are also valid for travel on any one date up to and including Sunday 16th February.

Refund Policy
Full refunds (without penalty) will be available to any customer whose chooses not to travel with us on any journey in the near future. This arrangement shall apply for tickets already purchased for travel between now and 31st March 2014. This applies to all ticket types, including normally non-refundable ^Advance^ tickets.

Future Reservations Seat reservations, and therefore Advance fares, are still temporarily unavailable for many First Great Western services which serve the West of England via Newbury. FGW HSS services between London Paddington and Exeter St David's (and reverse) have today re-opened for reservations on Thursday 13th, Friday 14th, Sunday 16th, and Tuesday 18th up until Friday 21st February. We are anticipating the re-opening tomorrow of the same services due to run on Saturday 15th and Monday 17th. At present, our West of England services due to run via Newbury on or after Saturday 22nd February are still temporarily unavailable.

Does this mean that tomorrow I can buy an off peak railcard and still travel on a peak train from Maidenhead?(My monthly season ticket ran out yesterday)..

Are they temporarily redeployed in Customer Service or similar roles, or is it just a case of waiting around for a train that they can drive?

Here's a question that we've been discussing in the office today and I'm hoping someone on here can answer...........in times such as these with only 20% or so of trains running, what do all the "spare" train drivers do?

Are they temporarily redeployed in Customer Service or similar roles, or is it just a case of waiting around for a train that they can drive?

Thanks

Mr McLoughlin told MPs it was "important we ensure the [transport] network is resilient to threats of this nature in future"

Disruption caused by the storm-stricken Dawlish line along the Devon coast continues but Mr McLoughlin said trains were expected to start running again around 18 March

And BBC Weather's John Hammond warned the incoming storm from the Atlantic on Friday will be "every bit as intense, if not more" than Wednesday's.

You seriously think that the union would allow them to do the former?  ;D :D ::)

They can volunteer, in their own time however. It's not the driver's fault they can't do their job, so the latter is likely.

Summary of additional stops in HST's.

1C20 1530 Paddington to Weston; calls additionally at Maidenhead
1C22 1630 Paddington to Weston; calls additionally at Maidenhead
1C24 1730 Paddington to Weston; calls additionally at Maidenhead
1C26 1830 Paddington to Weston; calls additionally at Maidenhead
1C28 1930 Paddington to Weston; calls additionally at Maidenhead.

1W07 1722 Paddington to Hereford, calls additionally at Slough
1W08 1822 Paddington to Hereford, calls additionally at Slough
1W09 1922 Paddington to Hereford, calls Slough

1B51 1545 London Paddington to Swansea; calls additionally at Twyford
1B59 1645 London Paddington to Swansea, calls additionally at Twyford
1B69 1745 London Paddington to Swansea, calls additionally at Twyford
1B79 1845 London Paddington to Swansea, calls additionally at Twyford
1C96 1945 Paddington to Exeter; calls additionally at Twyford.

1C86 1506 Paddington to Exeter St Davids; calls additionally at Slough and Maidenhead
1C87 1606 Paddington to Exeter St Davids; calls additionally at Slough and Maidenhead
1C89 1703 Paddington to Exeter St Davids; calls additionally at Slough, Maidenhead,
Hungerford, Pewsey, Westbury and Castle Cary.
1C92 1803 Paddington to Exeter; calls additionally at Slough, Maidenhead, Newbury,
Hungerford, Bedwyn and Pewsey
1C95 1903 Paddington to Exeter; calls additionally at Slough and Maidenhead

1A87 1458 Exeter to Paddington; calls additionally at Slough
1A89 1600 Exeter to Paddington; calls additionally at Slough
1A91 1700 Exeter to Paddington; calls additionally at Slough
1A92 1800 Exeter to Paddington; calls additionally at Slough

1A22 1500 Bristol TM to Paddington; calls additionally at Twyford and Maidenhead.
1A24 1600 Bristol TM to Paddington; calls additionally at Twyford and Maidenhead.
1A26 1700 Bristol TM to Paddington; calls additionally at Twyford and Maidenhead.
1A28 1800 Bristol TM to Paddington; calls additionally at Twyford and Maidenhead.

Blimey - I thought demarcation disputes went out with British Leyland!!!  :D

I did see a red light in middle of the track on the down main this morning and a red flag in the middle of the up main. Technology heh?!
In both cases a man with a orange high vis was giving orders to drivers.
Cheers.

It's not really practical for drivers to do customer service facing duties in times of disruption. I'll explain why.

1. Drivers being in the same place (i.e. the messroom) means that when the AOM needs to give a driver a train to drive all they have to do is step out of their office and call them over. The driver can be given relevant information about the train and can then make their way to their train. If the driver was on the concourse, then they'd have to be summoned over the PA, but the downside of that is that getting an announcement out takes probably half a minute from requesting it and of course the driver has to be able to hear it. If they are listening to a passenger they might miss it. Then they would have to go to the AOMs office without being stopped by any passengers and then collect their train diagram, and then walk to their train.

2. 'Hidden 18' as it is known regulates when drivers must have breaks and how long they can continuously be working for. This means that whatever time is spent on the concourse then the amount of time they can then spend driving is correspondingly reduced.

3. Drivers aren't issued with BlackBerrys/PDAs etc... so have no meaningful way of looking up live information to answer queries that passengers may have. They have no knowledge of things like ticketing arrangements. So they probably wouldn't be much use anyway.

Also, I imagine that being on the platform is a stressful experience for the staff there. Train companies regularly expect their drivers to be in a calm state of mind at work. This is because there is strong evidence from the RSSB that stressed drivers are more likely to make mistakes.

I think the point that is being made is that a train plan at the moment has a lot fewer trains that require a lot fewer drivers. The drivers not rostered *for the whole turn* can easily be assigned elsewhere as they won't be needed for driving.

PDAs etc can always be loaned. They will be to other staff volunteering. And 2 doesn't apply if not driving. voila!

Thanks Insider. It'll be good to see if it happens as per that plan tonight. Last night the 19.30 ended up being cancelled and the 19.48 to Hereford I think (it's usually Worcester Shrub hill) ran even tho it was showing as cancelled on NR site.. Makes it more fun I guess  ::)

Here's a question that we've been discussing in the office today and I'm hoping someone on here can answer...........in times such as these with only 20% or so of trains running, what do all the "spare" train drivers do?

Are they temporarily redeployed in Customer Service or similar roles, or is it just a case of waiting around for a train that they can drive?

Thanks

There's just been a report on BBC South Today about the Maidenhead issue saying that signals would be 'removed' as a short-term solution, but as the Environment Agency reckon it'll take 2 months for the waters to subside then NR would have to completely close the line for some time to replace the signalling equipment. Mark Hopwood was then interviewed - he confirmed that after this weekend there would be 'one long signalling section' to allow trains to run faster but he wouldn't comment on the line closure possibility, indeed he seemed to me to be suggesting that it might be doubtful it would have to happen.

That would allow trains to run safely, protected by signals each side of those out of use, but the long signal sections would limit the frequeny of the service.

Attached to this post is the full train plan, for services affected by problems at Maidenhead, for Friday 14th February.

Inner Thames Valley stopping services.
This service pattern has been changed from previous days to try and better cater for
customer demand and make use of an additional train path made available by use of the
relief lines.
All services MUST be formed 5 cars minimum.

I've just passed through the affected area again and to my eyes there seemed to be less water than there was yesterday - was I seeing things or is that indeed the case?

I've just passed through the affected area again and to my eyes there seemed to be less water than there was yesterday - was I seeing things or is that indeed the case?

I went through this morning about 0700 (heading towards Reading) and if anything I thought the water looked a little more widespread in the affected area - nothing on the tracks but certainly in the area of the signal cupboards.

I went through this morning about 0700 (heading towards Reading) and if anything I thought the water looked a little more widespread in the affected area - nothing on the tracks but certainly in the area of the signal cupboards.

Problem is it's groundwater which is if anything less easy to deal with - chances are as fast as you pump it, more will bubble up as the ground is saturated - that said there was no sign of anyone doing anything nearby, and the diesel pump I noticed yesterday seems to have disappeared.

Still plenty of saturated sandbags around doing nothing useful - that said, 0654 from Taplow-Reading was bang on time with 6 coaches and got into Reading only about 10 mins late so no complaints there.

Attached to this post is the full train plan, for services affected by problems at Maidenhead, for Friday 14th February.

Here's a question that we've been discussing in the office today and I'm hoping someone on here can answer...........in times such as these with only 20% or so of trains running, what do all the "spare" train drivers do?

Are they temporarily redeployed in Customer Service or similar roles, or is it just a case of waiting around for a train that they can drive?

Thanks

The Newton Abbot bound line is now closed by flooding at Hemerdon between Plymouth and Ivybridge.  Line still open in the other direction.

Also a blanket 50mph speed limit for all services west of Taunton until tomorrow morning due to high winds.

At the moment that is a brave gamble to decide that. I'm not aware of any drivers that have done absolutely no driving at all during a turn in recent days.

Chris, do you know something about Hidden 18 that the rest of the industry does not then? Any time "working" counts towards a drivers hours, be that driving or some other task. If a driver spent four hours on the concourse they are clearly not then going to be able to spend six hours driving as well.

Paul Clifton (@PaulCliftonBBC)

13/02/2014 21:23
Engineers considering closing Great Western entirely at Maidenhead to repair flood damage. Tomorrow 1 in 5 trains will run, speed limit 5mph

13/02/2014 21:24
First Great Western running 1 in 5 trains through flood damage Maidenhead on Fri. Next week hope to double it to 2 in 5. @FGW

There's a lineslip north of Banbury now too. Not (yet) on the tracks....but threatening & NR have closed the lines until full inspection.

There's just been a report on BBC South Today about the Maidenhead issue saying that signals would be 'removed' as a short-term solution, but as the Environment Agency reckon it'll take 2 months for the waters to subside then NR would have to completely close the line for some time to replace the signalling equipment. Mark Hopwood was then interviewed - he confirmed that after this weekend there would be 'one long signalling section' to allow trains to run faster but he wouldn't comment on the line closure possibility, indeed he seemed to me to be suggesting that it might be doubtful it would have to happen.

To clarify, Rover and Ranger products are excluded from these ticket/time easements.

CrossCountry have confirmed they will accept FGW GroupSave on their services between Penzance and Newton Abbot ONLY.  This will continue until further notice, whilst Dawlish is closed

IF Network Rail do decide to completely close the line for two weeks then FGW could use the Reading works diversions via Banbury for Bristol/South Wales services and WoE services into Waterloo. I admit not easy to do during normal weekday running competing for track space with Chiltern and SWT but neither will busing thousands of passengers between Reading and Paddington.

The total closure of the GWML I would suggest will not happen, there would have to be a major increase in threat, the wrath of the Home Sec and all the other local MP's including Dave from West Oxfordshire would know no bounds not to mention that of the passengers.

More likely are early shut downs in the evening and a late starts in the morning and weekends to allow Network Rail to move assets, some of the track has already been raise according to insider.

What may happen is the re-signalling to Thames Valley Regional Control Centre and abolition of Slough PSB might get accelerated or even just extending the Didcot area East pasted the affected area, even this will take several months

We're stuck between Westbury and Castle Cary on an Exeter bound service, the train has hit a tree.

The wind is rocking the carriage a bit.

I wish I hadn't just missed the earlier Exeter service at Slough..

Good luck for the rest of your journey. Are there many people on board?

It is reported there are around 200 people on the train (the 18:03 from Paddington).

I think you may have blinked and missed Castle Cary, as the tree was reported to be half a mile west of the station rather than the Westbury side.  Having called at Castle Cary the train wasn't hopefully going too fast but has sustained some damage.

Well Cornwall is certainly windy but there's very little rain, so hope your onward road journey is fine. In take it there are refreshments available?

Good news. Hope your lift doesn't have to wait too long

.......and on the same Cornwall Railway Society site this ongoing diary of events at Dawlish: http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/a-dawlish-diary.html

I wonder how those containers are standing up to the storm tonight.  Its the worse winds down in the Far West since the 1987 storm (and I thought that was bad enough) :o :'(

Early reports on another website state that the temporary sea defences of shipping containers at Dawlish have been breached. Can not give a source but will presumably soon be confirmed or denied on publicly available news sources.

Update: All our services are currently running, for the latest real-time service updates please follow @nxupdates on Twitter. We've also added extra services in the South West to help with the rail disruption.

I agree - the closure of the GWML would cause utter chaos, the M4 has been even more horrendous over the last few days, it would never be allowed.......would it?  :o

The line isnt closing.  Network Rail will temporarily remove the defective signals and this Sunday they will make the affected sections one long 50 mph section.  This reduces the capacity of the route but will allow 40% of the timetable to run.  Trains will therefore not have to stop at Red signals and get instructions from the signaller.  This is a new system of working called 'Extended Temporary Block Working'
It will take 8 weeks t completely repair the signalling system.

Sometimes, I think that FGW Journey Check can be misleading due to the manner of posting incidents.      Today, as an example, it states that trains may be cancelled or delayed between Plymouth and Penzance and carrying on into the detail reports that the route is closed (or similar wording).    This is just an one example as it occurs all the time.   So, if a line is closed, how can a train be delayed if there aren't any. 

Early reports on another website state that the temporary sea defences of shipping containers at Dawlish have been breached. Can not give a source but will presumably soon be confirmed or denied on publicly available news sources.

Engineers are due to inspect homes in Dawlish that were evacuated on Friday night when massive waves crashed over a temporary breakwater.

The breakwater - made from containers - was put in place after serious storm damage last week.

Julian Burnell from Network Rail said the tops of the breakwater containers at Dawlish had been "peeled back like banana skins" and some looked like they had been "beaten with a gigantic hammer".

However, liquid concrete sprayed on to the damaged cliff wall appeared to have "held" and a scaffolding bridge erected for repair engineers' access did not appear to have been affected.

"Obviously we have to inspect these things, but fingers crossed, things are looking relatively good," Mr Burnell told BBC News.

I think next week I might try travelling earlier and go for one of the stopping services..

Looks like the sea wall at Dawlish has been breached even further :'(.......http://www.siteeyelive.com/monitor/bbcdawlish/camputerb86.jpg

...and hey there is now a Lobstervision camera there https://www.lobstervision.tv/home
Login: dawlish
Password: dawlish

You can see the new breach in the wall if you zoom in.  Some of the containers look extremely bent and battered  :o :o :o

Just been browsing Real Time Trains and I see that today's 0820 Swansea-Paddington took TWO HOURS and 23 minutes to get from Twyford to Maidenhead - anyone know what happened? It's just arrived at PAD 198 minutes late.

Completely off topic but just touching on what Electric Train has said.

Take my favourite ::) train, the 23:20 Bristol Temple Meads - Frome. Once the train terminates at Frome, It runs Empty Coaching Stock back to Westbury to be cleaned etc.

Now assuming I am the only passenger on this service (not that uncommon) the train runs to Frome. So that's often a 3+ Carriage Train (sometimes 7 or 8), 1 Driver and 1 Guard just to take thetrout back to Frome ;D :o

Now lets assume everyone has gotten off at or before Westbury and the train is now empty... What happens? FGW run the empty train to Frome, terminate it and conclude with the empty coaching stock manoeuvre back to Westbury >:( ::)

Why? Because if the service is terminated at Westbury, that's classed as a Cancellation in the eyes of Network Rail and FGW get invoiced for the cancellation of the service... ::)

So what about the waste of fuel, wear on the tracks/points, wear and tear on the trains themselves etc etc...

I wonder how many other niche services like this exist just to save on the cancellation fees instead of using common sense and saving fuel, wear & tear on the track and trains... ::) :-\ :-X

I was bored (okay very bored) and came across this old piece of legislation which I am wondering would apply to this case at Dawlish???

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/5-6/55/section/14

As of 21:50 last night.

NORMAL WORKING on both up & down main lines (apart from a 60mph EROS on DM)

Talking by 2 signals on both up & down relief lines.

From the FGW site:

"We anticipate running a significantly improved service from Monday"  ;D

I guess it could not be significantly worse than last week .......................... or can it  ;D

According to Real Time Trains it looks like everything including stoppers are being routed via the UM & DM this morning,

According to Real Time Trains it looks like everything including stoppers are being routed via the UM & DM this morning, indeed the 1019 Reading - Paddington appears to have actually GAINED 3 minutes between Twyford and Maidenhead. Hopefully this means that work on the Relief lines is currently taking place and indeed it'll look much better for tomorrow morning.

Having said that though, I'm prepared to bet that my usual 0654 from Twyford (the 0620 from Didcot Parkway) won't turn up because of the ongoing flooding issues at Radley - is there any news on the situation there? (though if at least there are some reliable alternative services tomorrow morning at TWY it won't be all bad news for me by any means.)

First Great Western site now says (against London to Reading)

"Following work on signalling and track in the Maidenhead area over the weekend, we anticipate being able to run a near-normal train service into and out of London Paddington from Monday 17 February."

First Great Western and Network Rail plan to restore the majority of services into and out of London Paddington from Monday 17 February.
 
Network Rail's engineering and maintenance teams have been working tirelessly to try and solve the problems caused by the flooding at Maidenhead that had crippled the normal signalling system reducing service to just 20% of normal capacity. Through a series of innovative engineering solutions, from start of service on Monday, in excess of 75% of normal services will be running.
 
First Great Western is planning to run a near normal service on high speed routes into and out of London on Monday with the exception of the route closures at Dawlish, and between Bridgwater and Taunton. Buses will run on those routes that are closed.
 
Local services will also be running between Reading and London on Monday, although because of the flooding affecting signalling equipment near Maidenhead, there will be a small number of trains that we won't be able to run.
 
Mark Hopwood, First Great Western's managing director, said: "This is great news for our passengers, who have faced a very difficult period of travel. We are finalising a new amended timetable, which we will publish through our online systems later today. To help customers who postponed journeys last week, ticket restrictions remain lifted until Monday. Customers are strongly advised to check our website before setting off in the morning."
 
Patrick Hallgate, Network Rail's route managing director, said: "My team have worked night and day to try and improve the situation for passengers using this route. Our signalling equipment is under several feet of floodwater but with some innovative thinking a temporary system has been put in place that should see us through the next few weeks until the water recedes.
 
"We continue to work on further fixes that may further improve capacity through this section next week."
 
Robin Gisby, Network Rail's managing director of operations added: "Passengers have been tremendously understanding during a period of extraordinary weather that has had a major impact on rail services in some areas.
 
"Services are returning to normal, but for some, especially in the far west where parts of the railway have been destroyed, it will be a number of weeks yet until we are able to offer the level and standard of service people have rightly come to expect."

Empty train tests storm-damaged Cornwall rail line

(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/73020000/jpg/_73020864_73020863.jpg)
An empty train has been testing the main line after an aerial survey revealed "multiple" fallen trees and some flooding

An slow-moving empty train is testing the main railway line in Cornwall in the hope services can resume later.

The line between Plymouth and west Cornwall has been closed since Friday when several parts of the track were flooded or damaged by fallen trees in stormy weather.

Many branch lines were also affected, but most reopened on Saturday. First Great Western (FGW) said a bus replacement service will continue to operate between St Erth and Penzance.

FGW spokeswoman Jane Jones said an aerial survey on Saturday revealed "multiple" felled trees on the line which had to be removed. "Yesterday Network Rail had a helicopter that flew across the whole route identifying where there was debris on the line," she told BBC News. "Throughout the day and overnight we've removed all the trees and all the debris and we've not got a train which left Plymouth earlier this morning that's travelling at 30mph. It'll run the whole length of the track, just to make sure everything is absolutely safe, then later this afternoon we should be able to start running services."

I see on Real Times Trains that despite engineering work between Bristol and Trowbridge there are XC services booked to run through Bath due to flooding in the Bridgwater area. Can anyone confirm this is the case? If they are running through Bath then surely FGW can run a normal timetable today instead of buses.

15:54 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 17:57
This train will be diverted between Bristol Temple Meads and Swindon.
This train will call additionally at Bath Spa and Chippenham.
This is due to an unusually large passenger flow.

According to Real Time Trains it looks like everything including stoppers are being routed via the UM & DM this morning, indeed the 1019 Reading - Paddington appears to have actually GAINED 3 minutes between Twyford and Maidenhead. Hopefully this means that work on the Relief lines is currently taking place and indeed it'll look much better for tomorrow morning.

Having said that though, I'm prepared to bet that my usual 0654 from Twyford (the 0620 from Didcot Parkway) won't turn up because of the ongoing flooding issues at Radley - is there any news on the situation there? (though if at least there are some reliable alternative services tomorrow morning at TWY it won't be all bad news for me by any means.)

The CIS System and today's service

Please be advised that the CIS system is showing last weeks amended time table. FGW are running a normal service in the LTV area with only a few cancellations. Paddington to Cardiff in both directions services are running as normal. Paddington to Cheltenham services are running as normal (with the exception of 1G02 06:57 Swindon to Cheltenham and 1L36 08:31 Cheltenham to Pad). Oxford/ Banbury to Paddington services in both directions are running as normal. Paddington to Bedwyn in both directions are running as normal.

There's an internal message to staff which says the following:


That might also explain why Journey Planners are also currently bearing no resemblance to reality.

then appears to arrive cook ham at 06:43 but get delayed by over 4 hours before arriving at Marlow after 11:30

The ham will be beautifully tender having been slow cooked for so long  ;D   ... sorry James, I couldn't resist!

There's an internal message to staff which says the following:


That might also explain why Journey Planners are also currently bearing no resemblance to reality.

The answer to the sea wall problems are to widen the A303, according to this article in the WMN:

http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Flooding-crisis-A303-upgrade-fast-tracked/story-20639647-detail/story.html

So we have the money, we just don't want to spend it on the railway. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

To any intelligent observer the case to reinstate, or preferably rebuild on another route, the railway seems obvious and one would hope that will be pursued as quickly as possible. I don't see the same disdain for the railways as under Thatcher so one hopes that the road lobby brigade won't take over the political asylum.
Also, railways are far more environmentally friendly than road travel  - and with one hopes increasing electrification - will continue to be so. Of course, electrifying a restored sea wall route doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Also, widening the A303 doesn't solve the problem of people from the Midlands or the likes of Oxfordshire/Buckinghamshire coming to the south west via the M5 and Bristol.

....really can't see another route being constructed especially with all the money already being wasted on HS2.....I don't see the Okehampton/Tavistock option being a runner anyway, it would surely cut off the "English Riviera"?