Great Western Coffee Shop

Journey by Journey => London to Didcot, Oxford and Banbury => Topic started by: ChrisB on January 31, 2015, 18:12:55



Title: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: ChrisB on January 31, 2015, 18:12:55
http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/infrastructure/single-view/view/siemens-starts-work-on-banbury-resignalling.html (http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/infrastructure/single-view/view/siemens-starts-work-on-banbury-resignalling.html)

I'm being told that the layout on those screens in the photo in this article is the finished layout of the project....does it look like Banbury? I'm not sure.....

HOWEVER.....the project has already caused problems....

Quote
Chiltern Railways (@chilternrailway)

31/01/2015 17:31

We are experiencing disruption between Leamington Spa and Banbury due to a landslip. Here's what that looks like: ow.ly/i/8sPpx

That link is this photo -

(http://static.ow.ly/photos/normal/8sPpx.jpg)

Landslip where they were working - note the barriers - ooops. No trains today between Leamington/Banbury. Unlikely tomorrow too....


Title: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: ChrisB on February 01, 2015, 07:23:59
No trains between Banbury/Leamington until at least Tuesday.

It's at the entrance to Harbury Tunnel, exactly the same place as a slip not a year ago. Not only does NR not do any preventative maintenance, seems they've stopped completing jobs properly too!


Title: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: paul7575 on February 01, 2015, 16:52:38
The photo that's just appeared on NR's website suggests that work was still in progress.  I'd suggest that they were actually doing preventative maintenance, and it wasn't complete:

http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/News-Releases/Media-statement-Harbury-tunnel-landslip-update-1-Feb-2263.aspx

Paul


Title: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: ellendune on February 01, 2015, 17:12:32
Is this another case of decades of BR's low cost low maintenance approach to earthworks coming home to roost?  NR certainly seems to be doing far more planned earthworks maintenance than I can recall ever in my lifetime.


Title: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: IndustryInsider on February 01, 2015, 17:15:27
Is this another case of decades of BR's low cost low maintenance approach to earthworks coming home to roost?  NR certainly seems to be doing far more planned earthworks maintenance than I can recall ever in my lifetime.

Changing weather patterns (milder but wetter winters) has been part of the problem according to NR.  The Banbury to Leamington section of railway has always had quite challenging geology to deal with - the area around Fenny Compton causing numerous flooding and stabilisation issues as well as the cutting and tunnel at Harbury.


Title: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: ChrisB on February 01, 2015, 17:41:42
The photo that's just appeared on NR's website suggests that work was still in progress.  I'd suggest that they were actually doing preventative maintenance, and it wasn't complete:

http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/News-Releases/Media-statement-Harbury-tunnel-landslip-update-1-Feb-2263.aspx

Since February last year?....why so long?

A week.....and that's just "to allow for an investigation to determine the scale of  the problem." Not fix it.


Title: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: ellendune on February 01, 2015, 19:30:21
The photo that's just appeared on NR's website suggests that work was still in progress.  I'd suggest that they were actually doing preventative maintenance, and it wasn't complete:

http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/News-Releases/Media-statement-Harbury-tunnel-landslip-update-1-Feb-2263.aspx

Since February last year?....why so long?

A week.....and that's just "to allow for an investigation to determine the scale of  the problem." Not fix it.

Soil mechanics is a difficult technology.  After fixing the immediate problem last February, they would have commissioned a detailed geotechnical survey before reviewing the options.  Getting it right takes time. 

Once you have a landslip you cannot just go digging around in case you make it worse.  IF you do make it worse you could endanger the people working to put it right. 


Title: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: ChrisB on February 01, 2015, 21:15:32
Or do nothing/not a lot & watch it slip again so 350,000 tons of soil threaten to take trains off the track?...hmmm


Title: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: ellendune on February 01, 2015, 21:57:40
Dig in the wrong place and you only bring more down.  The one thing we know about the ground beneath our feet is we don't know what is there. It always contains the unexpected.  A major earth slip (and this looks like a major slip from NR's photo) will therefore take time. 

When the GWR was built through Wiltshire the whole project was delayed for 18 months because they could not get the earthworks to stay up. The terminus was at Faringdon Road (later called Challow Station). Later they encountered the same problem on the Swindon end of the line to Gloucester. Part of the reason for the cost of the redoubling of the Swindon to Kemble line and the Chiltern line through Bicester was having to do a 50 year backlog of earthworks maintenance.   

If you think you can do better then just remember one cubic metre of soil weighs over 1.5 tons - get that on you and most people do not survive.  Unfortunately there are plenty of accident reports to prove it. 


Title: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: ChrisB on February 02, 2015, 06:53:21
It'll be interesting to see what happens on 14/15 & 21/22 Feb when the WCML is closed again at Watford...Chiltern route being the diversion. This won't be finished by the former dates....will they canx the WCML works? They're pretty major & will be part of the bigger, timtabled picture


Title: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: IndustryInsider on February 02, 2015, 09:09:34
Could the mods give consideration to splitting this topic as the land slip at Harbury has little connection with the resignalling of Banbury station?


Title: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: grahame on February 02, 2015, 09:41:17
Could the mods give consideration to splitting this topic as the land slip at Harbury has little connection with the resignalling of Banbury station?

Good idea.   I am on an intermittent connection until this evening, though, so will leave it up to another moderator as I don't want to drop the split halfway through.


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: Chris from Nailsea on February 02, 2015, 14:47:04
Topics now split, as suggested.  CfN.  ;)


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: Chris from Nailsea on February 02, 2015, 17:43:40
An update, from the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-31089634):

Quote
Landslip stops Chiltern Line trains at Harbury Tunnel

(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/80712000/jpg/_80712002_80709860.jpg)
The cutting is an "unusually steep embankment" originally intended to be built as a tunnel

Passengers are experiencing a third day of travel disruption after a major landslip closed a railway line between Banbury and Leamington Spa.

Chiltern Railways said no direct trains could run between London and the West Midlands for "at least a week".

The landslip occurred near Harbury Tunnel in Warwickshire on Saturday, the scene of a similar incident last year.

Engineers were not able to access the site because the land was still moving, Network Rail said.

A replacement bus service is running between Leamington and Banbury, adding about 90 minutes to journey times.

Chiltern Railways is also running revised services between London Marylebone and Banbury and between Leamington and Birmingham Moor Street.

Virgin Trains and London Midland are accepting Chiltern Railways tickets, the firm said.

Thomas Ableman, spokesman for Chiltern Railways, said the line would be open next Monday at the earliest, but advised anyone with travel plans for next week to prepare for the line remaining closed.

"At no point was there a risk, but in terms of timescale of opening the line there is now 300,000 tonnes of earth and rock which is very unstable and could fall on to the track at any time," he said.

Stabilisation work was carried out after a smaller landslide at the site on 14 February 2014.

(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/80733000/jpg/_80733026_photo.jpg)
Network Rail say the land is still moving and "extremely dangerous"

(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/80733000/jpg/_80733027_landslide1.jpg)
Network Rail say the cutting is "unusually deep" with steep sides

(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/80733000/jpg/_80733028_landslide3.jpg)
Network Rail said the embankment had been a problem since the track was laid

Dan Donovan, Network Rail spokesman, said engineers had been able to repair the damage over one weekend last February but this landslip was "much worse".

"The land is still moving, it is extremely dangerous. We can't begin carrying out detailed assessments at the site," he said.

Mr Ableman said the embankment had been a problem since the track was laid 150 years ago.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel's decision not to build a tunnel meant the cutting was unusually deep with steep sides, he said.

So there you have it: it's all Isambard Kingdom Brunel's fault.  :o ::) ;D


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: IndustryInsider on February 02, 2015, 17:59:38
Yes, it always seemed a strange decision to build it like they did.  Harbury Tunnel itself is very short at a mere 70 yards, with long stretches of cutting either side.  The location of this latest slip has often had work done on it over the years.


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: Worcester_Passenger on February 02, 2015, 18:19:58
I've always assumed that the tight curve on the Oxford - Worcester line at Aston Magna was down to a similar issue - that the original alignment suffered from the local geology / soil mechanics. I've never found any reference that explains when the line was moved. Can anyone enlighten me?


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: IndustryInsider on February 03, 2015, 12:25:36
Closure for several weeks is on the cards.  That will be a big blow for Chiltern, Cross Country and the intermodal operators!

http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/News-Releases/Harbury-Tunnel-landslip-to-close-railway-for-several-weeks-226b.aspx (http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/News-Releases/Harbury-Tunnel-landslip-to-close-railway-for-several-weeks-226b.aspx)


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: Steve Bray on February 03, 2015, 12:45:01
This is when a fully doubled Cotswold Line could have come into use. Are there any possibilities for Cross Country to divert services from Oxford to Birmingham via Worcester?


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: grahame on February 03, 2015, 14:32:00
This is when a fully doubled Cotswold Line could have come into use. Are there any possibilities for Cross Country to divert services from Oxford to Birmingham via Worcester?

With Swindon -> Kemble redoubled, Didcot to Birmingham via Swindon and Cheltenham Spa might be feasible.  And the line via Kemble was shown as a strategic line for freight diversions from Southampton to the Midlands and North in a recent government paper

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=15061.0


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: brompton rail on February 03, 2015, 15:25:45
This is when a fully doubled Cotswold Line could have come into use. Are there any possibilities for Cross Country to divert services from Oxford to Birmingham via Worcester?

I doubt that Voyagers are passed for the Cotswold Line, though they can and do run between Birmingham and Norton Junction at Worcester. HSTs are, of course cleared for the whole Oxford - Worcester - Birmingham route, though they are not permitted south of Basingstoke, and anyway don't run on XC's South Coast route ( only on route to the South West).

And then, there is the minor problem of route knowledge and paths! Ah for the days of BR.


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: ironstone11 on February 03, 2015, 17:27:15
An update, from the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-31089634):
Quote
Landslip stops Chiltern Line trains at Harbury Tunnel

So there you have it: it's all Isambard Kingdom Brunel's fault. 

Perhaps Brunel did consider a tunnel, but realising the difficult ground conditions for tunnelling, considered a cutting to be the least worse option.


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: stuving on February 03, 2015, 17:59:59
Perhaps Brunel did consider a tunnel, but realising the difficult ground conditions for tunnelling, considered a cutting to be the least worse option.

I found this picture on flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/andy_hoare/5148676678/), and in its caption:
Quote
The sides of the cutting became unstable, resulting in some minor landslips. Work took place at various stages in the 1990's to rectify the problem.

And more recently ... presumably last winter's thorough soaking has freed up some more slip planes, hence it needed to be re-rectified. Is there any quick fix to hold a bank in place while you fix it properly? I suspect not, and any intervention risks provoking a slip.

Harbury tunnel is very short indeed. So short you wonder why anyone (Brunel or not) bothered with it. Or was a longer tunnel being dug when it fell in, leaving a very deep and steep cutting?


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: ellendune on February 03, 2015, 19:46:35
And more recently ... presumably last winter's thorough soaking has freed up some more slip planes, hence it needed to be re-rectified. Is there any quick fix to hold a bank in place while you fix it properly? I suspect not, and any intervention risks provoking a slip.

You are correct there are no quick fixes with landslips.


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: stuving on February 03, 2015, 22:41:20
Harbury tunnel is very short indeed. So short you wonder why anyone (Brunel or not) bothered with it. Or was a longer tunnel being dug when it fell in, leaving a very deep and steep cutting?

Well, fancy that (http://www.search.windowsonwarwickshire.org.uk/engine/resource/default.asp?resource=7296):
Quote
Date: 1869

Description: Work in progress in excavation of railway cutting, Harbury. c.1869

[It is thought that this picture shows the quarry siding and limekiln construction. The cutting and railway was opened in 1852 after the origonal tunnel collapsed in 1849. Brunel was brought to the site to see if the project could be rescued after the disaster]


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: Chris from Nailsea on February 03, 2015, 23:20:02
... and not a single hi-viz orange outfit in sight, in that image: however did they manage?  :o ::) ;D


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: eightf48544 on February 03, 2015, 23:40:03
Lots of freights through Slough tonight!


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: stuving on February 04, 2015, 00:47:48
Quote
Date: 1869

Description: Work in progress in excavation of railway cutting, Harbury. c.1869

[It is thought that this picture shows the quarry siding and limekiln construction. The cutting and railway was opened in 1852 after the origonal tunnel collapsed in 1849. Brunel was brought to the site to see if the project could be rescued after the disaster]

The same picture, with a different story, plus others, appear on the Warwickshire Railways site (http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/harburycuttingtunnel.htm).


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: Chris from Nailsea on February 04, 2015, 00:56:44
Many thanks for researching and posting that historic item, stuving.  :)

I note that, sadly, another story on that particular page relates to the death of a schoolmaster who threw himself in front of a train - in 1895.  :-X


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: readytostart on February 04, 2015, 21:46:26

I doubt that Voyagers are passed for the Cotswold Line, though they can and do run between Birmingham and Norton Junction at Worcester. HSTs are, of course cleared for the whole Oxford - Worcester - Birmingham route, though they are not permitted south of Basingstoke, and anyway don't run on XC's South Coast route ( only on route to the South West).

And then, there is the minor problem of route knowledge and paths! Ah for the days of BR.

Voyagers not passed for the Costwold line, just checked the traction route clearance certificate, unfortunately I can't find any public links to it so you'll have to take my word for it. To my knowledge only Bristol drivers sign the route from Didcot to Bristol / Gloucester via Swindon and a few Birmingham drivers Gloucester > Swindon > Bristol. Nowhere near enough to provide a robust service at short notice. Journey times along the route are generally only an hour longer utilising the buses between LMS and BAN, not too bad even in time of pre-planned engineering work.

One odd side effect is that Solihull is back (albeit temporarily) on the XC map as services running from Newcastle to Leamington every two hours are being given stop orders for SOL and Warwick Parkway - presumably vice Chiltern services to free up space at LMS.


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: Chris from Nailsea on February 04, 2015, 21:56:48
... unfortunately I can't find any public links to it so you'll have to take my word for it.

No problem with that, readytostart - thanks for your useful and informed comments.  ;)


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: JayMac on February 05, 2015, 02:44:48
Voyagers not passed for the Costwold line, just checked the traction route clearance certificate, unfortunately I can't find any public links to it so you'll have to take my word for it.

Network Rail's most recent Western Route Sectional Appendix route clearances (dated 6th December 2014) appear to say otherwise.
http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/sectional%20appendix/western%20sectional%20appendix.pdf#page=707

Screengrab extract:
(http://i598.photobucket.com/albums/tt68/bignosemac/ctsw_zpsykjsddqb.jpg)

Is there anything that takes precedence over this (not just staff route knowledge) to prevent Class 220/221s using the Cotswold Line? Spirit of enquiry only. Not to doubt you personally readytostart.


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: Timmer on February 05, 2015, 06:09:12
Following on from ChrisB's observation about Watford engineering work later this month, it's been suspended.

Shame Network Rail backed down under pressure from the TOCs and didn't do this work in one go last August as this work has gone on over public holidays for a long time and will continue to do so following this suspension.


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: grahame on February 06, 2015, 01:23:03
http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2015-02-05/chiltern-railways-announce-extended-closure/?

Quote
Chiltern Railways announce extended closure

Chiltern Railways have announced that trains running between Leamington Spa and Banbury will continue to be disrupted following a landslide.

Since the landslide on Saturday 31 January, a replacement bus service has been running to allow commuters to travel despite the closure.

Customer plans for the extended period will include:

^ More trains running from Birmingham to Leamington Spa and Banbury to London with a replacement bus service

^ An extension of the ^step-straight-on^ replacement bus service to include buses direct from Warwick Parkway station to Banbury at peak times

^ Fast silver trains with Business Zone carriages running between Birmingham and Leamington Spa and between Banbury and London

^ Car parking facilities at Banbury and Warwick Parkway

^ A ^Banbury Fare Match^, meaning passengers travelling from West Midlands stations to London will pay the Banbury fare to London

^ Over 30,000 Advance tickets will be available every week between the West Midlands and London

The one thing missing from the article is an indication of how long an "extended period" might last.



Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: grahame on February 06, 2015, 01:30:31
The one thing missing from the article is an indication of how long an "extended period" might last.

Ah - that's in a second article

http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2015-02-05/emergency-measures-to-repair-harbury-tunnel-landslip/?

Quote
Emergency measures to repair Harbury Tunnel landslip

Chiltern Railways tonight announced a series of emergency measures to help passengers caught up in the Harbury Tunnel landslip.

A fleet of sixty coaches is being hired to speed up journeys, some fares will be reduced to compensate and more commuter services from Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire will run to Marylebone from Monday.

The landslip is expected to take several weeks to repair and is hitting all services from the south coast to The Midlands.


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: readytostart on February 06, 2015, 05:28:45
Voyagers not passed for the Costwold line, just checked the traction route clearance certificate, unfortunately I can't find any public links to it so you'll have to take my word for it.

Network Rail's most recent Western Route Sectional Appendix route clearances (dated 6th December 2014) appear to say otherwise.
http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/sectional%20appendix/western%20sectional%20appendix.pdf#page=707

Screengrab extract:
(http://i598.photobucket.com/albums/tt68/bignosemac/ctsw_zpsykjsddqb.jpg)

Is there anything that takes precedence over this (not just staff route knowledge) to prevent Class 220/221s using the Cotswold Line? Spirit of enquiry only. Not to doubt you personally readytostart.

Quite right you are, was listed under 'other routes' in the certificate and had overlooked it. I blame being out of the area too long, that and early starts this week! ;o)


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: Worcester_Passenger on February 06, 2015, 10:33:36
What's the subtle difference between classes 172/0 and 172/1, and the rest of class 172 that they are banned from Worcester?


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: TaplowGreen on February 06, 2015, 11:01:05
The one thing missing from the article is an indication of how long an "extended period" might last.

Ah - that's in a second article

http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2015-02-05/emergency-measures-to-repair-harbury-tunnel-landslip/?

Quote
Emergency measures to repair Harbury Tunnel landslip

Chiltern Railways tonight announced a series of emergency measures to help passengers caught up in the Harbury Tunnel landslip.

A fleet of sixty coaches is being hired to speed up journeys, some fares will be reduced to compensate and more commuter services from Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire will run to Marylebone from Monday.

The landslip is expected to take several weeks to repair and is hitting all services from the south coast to The Midlands.


Fares reduced due to bustitution.....what a good idea!  :)


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: Electric train on February 06, 2015, 19:43:42
What's the subtle difference between classes 172/0 and 172/1, and the rest of class 172 that they are banned from Worcester?

This may explain http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_172


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: IndustryInsider on February 23, 2015, 10:51:57
Confirmation that the line will reopen by Easter:

http://www.networkrail.co.uk/HarburyLandslip/ (http://www.networkrail.co.uk/HarburyLandslip/)


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: Chris from Nailsea on February 26, 2015, 19:46:48
From the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-31637067):

Quote
Harbury Tunnel landslip 'not caused by tree removal'

(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/81058000/jpg/_81058017_landslide3.jpg)
The line has been closed between Leamington Spa and Banbury since the landslide

Network Rail has denied the removal of trees from a Warwickshire railway cutting may have contributed to a 350,000-tonne landslip.

A section of the Chiltern Mainline closed on 31 January after the landslip near the Harbury Tunnel.

Environmental campaigner and Guardian journalist George Monbiot has described tree work by Network Rail in 2010 as a "spectacular act of folly".

But the company said the work would not have had an impact.

In the comment piece on Wednesday, Monbiot said: "Trees on steep slopes often prevent landslides by binding the soil with their roots, anchoring it to the bedrock and reducing the amount of water it contains."

He added: "If you are going to take the drastic step of deforestation, you had better be damn sure that you're making the right decision. And if you scrape or plough a steep slope vertically, you should also be sure that you are not accelerating soil erosion and slumping."

But Network Rail said there was "no truth in claims that the landslip at Harbury was caused by a lack of vegetation on the cutting's slopes".

"The vegetation on the slope was destroyed during a previous landslip in 2007 and the depth of the recent failure in the cutting - which caused the landslip on 31 January - was far greater than any tree root would have been able to reach," it said. "We continue to repair the damage and have removed more than 200,000 tonnes of material so far."

The line has been closed between Leamington Spa and Banbury. About 130 passenger trains use the line each day, with major operators including Chiltern Railways and CrossCountry.

Network Rail said the line would reopen by 2 April. A smaller landslip happened at the same place in 2014.


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: ray951 on March 04, 2015, 10:34:54
the line between Banbury and Leamington Spa is going to reopen on Friday 13th March according to Network Rail.

http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/News-Releases/Railway-between-Leamington-Spa-and-Banbury-to-reopen-three-weeks-ahead-of-schedule-22ae.aspx (http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/News-Releases/Railway-between-Leamington-Spa-and-Banbury-to-reopen-three-weeks-ahead-of-schedule-22ae.aspx)


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: Chris from Nailsea on March 13, 2015, 23:22:00
Indeed it did - from the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-31858537):

Quote
Chiltern rail line reopens after 350,000 tonne landslip

(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/80712000/jpg/_80712002_80709860.jpg)
Network Rail said about 350,000 tonnes of material had to be moved from the track

A section of railway closed by a 350,000 tonne landslip in January has reopened.

It was originally thought the stretch of the Chiltern Line between Leamington Spa in Warwickshire and Banbury in Oxfordshire would be out of action until Easter.

But the cutting was secured and made safe three weeks ahead of schedule.

The landslip happened at Harbury Tunnel on the route which runs from Birmingham to London Marylebone.

Network Rail said the cutting had been affected by landslides since it was built in the 1840s.

The route is used by 130 freight and passenger trains each day, and goods services resumed on 9 March.


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: ChrisB on June 08, 2016, 13:55:29
This isn't specifically a Chiltern thread - also XC too....I think it was ok on the board it was on?


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: Richard Fairhurst on June 08, 2016, 14:06:59
The "Thames Valley via Oxford" board, subtitled "To Bicester, Banbury, and stations to Worcester", has become a little superfluous. Services to Worcester are of course better suited to the Cotswold Line board, those to Bicester to the Chiltern Railways board, those in the Thames Valley itself to the 'London to Didcot and Oxford' board. That pretty much just leaves the four threads a year about GWR's Banbury stoppers.

For a thread like this - yes, it could be Chiltern, it could be XC, it could be either. In any case Harbury certainly isn't in the Thames Valley... a drop of rain that falls in Harbury will eventually find its way to the sea via the Severn, not the Thames. :)


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: grahame on June 08, 2016, 14:47:06
Once the threads have been redistributed to reflect current operations, we can take a look at what's gone where and tweak any board descriptions.  That's best done in the light of the experience of the moving, rather than speculatively.


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: Chris from Nailsea on June 18, 2016, 20:15:07
Could the mods give consideration to splitting this topic as the land slip at Harbury has little connection with the resignalling of Banbury station?

This isn't specifically a Chiltern thread - also XC too....I think it was ok on the board it was on?

Once the threads have been redistributed to reflect current operations, we can take a look at what's gone where and tweak any board descriptions.  That's best done in the light of the experience of the moving, rather than speculatively.

With my thanks for your patience, gentlemen, I have now moved this topic back to its original, geographically correct, location on the Coffee Shop forum - that is, north of Banbury.  :)


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: Adelante_CCT on June 18, 2016, 21:26:36
Quote
I have now moved this topic back to its original, geographically correct, location on the Coffee Shop forum - that is, north of Banbury.  :)

'north of Banbury' in the London to Banbury section?   geographically correct? Hmmm  :o    sorry just drifted into pedant mode ;D

Seriously though as has been previously mentioned, many thanks to you and others who keep this forum going all in your spare time, I and I'm sure many others are very grateful to the efforts you guys put in.  :)


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: Chris from Nailsea on June 18, 2016, 21:48:11
Yes, to be fair, it's outside our area, so it's difficult to decide just where to put this topic.  ::)

That's why I quoted the various previous comments - showing that there isn't really a definitive answer as to where I should put the bluddy topic.  :-X


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: Bmblbzzz on August 16, 2016, 18:51:47
I pass above this cutting a few times each year on the B4452 Harbury to Long Itchington road and it's been interesting to see the work progressing. Next time should be September, I guess it'll be finished. I might remember to think about getting a photo!


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: Chris from Nailsea on August 16, 2016, 22:04:53
Please do, Bmblbzz!  ;) :D ;D


Title: Re: Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel
Post by: Bmblbzzz on August 17, 2016, 18:08:18
I always stop to have a look  :D but I never have a camera with me and my phone is awful at taking photos. However, I've just got a new phone with a much better camera, so hopefully this time I will.



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