Great Western Coffee Shop

Lots of trains like this this morning:


Guessing that there may be sheet ice at Blackwater?

Customer Advice
Due to an accumulation of ice and snow at the station access points and on the station platforms, it is currently not possible to provide a safe means of access / egress for customers at Blackwater station. Train services will therefore no longer call there and replacement road transport will operate between Blackwater and adjacent stations.
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South Western Railway are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice. Arrangements have been made for Great Western Railway rail tickets to be accepted for these journeys. Tickets will be accepted between Reading and Camberley.

I noticed that several trains were cancelled from stopping at Sandhurst late yesterday evening due to ice on the steep footpaths that go up to the platforms. However, they do appear to be stopping there today.

All rather contradictory - SWR have a vague catch-all warning on NRE departure boards about:

They do seem to be running OK, at least to Reading.

GWR have a message that comes up on NRE for each NDL train, saying:

But the trains are running to time, with just that missing Blackwater call. Blackwater's CIS is just saying:

I've just seen something I don't recall before - a North Downs Line service running at 6-car length. Obviously at this time of a Sunday night it's not because of passenger numbers ... though I can't see how they ended up with one 166 too many at Gatwick.
(1V65 2017 Gatwick-Reading arr 2135)

Surely one of those trains must have been locked out of service. How many stations can take a train longer than 3 carriages?

It was announced as 6 coaches (which is how I spotted it on Tiger), and they were all lit up - but I didn't feel moved to go to the station and try the doors. As it was a fast(er) service, it didn't stop at any anything less than a two-horse town, but that does still involve Reigate (Down), Dorking Deepdene, and Blackwater that are all still (I think) 4-car platforms. So yes, it must be easier not to use one unit at all - though at that time of a Sunday it's hardly an issue.

Yes, one unit would have been locked up.  Still, 4-car trains on the North Downs should be with us soon, as long as the Class 319 into Class 769 conversion doesn't falter further!

Sorry, came to this thread late. I live in Blackwater. The snowfall in the immediate area around the station was far heavier than even a couple of miles away: 12cm of snow.

Unsurprisingly it took a while for the approaches and platforms to be cleared. If memory serves, Guildford-bound trains were permitted to call from mid-afternoon, but Reading-bounds services didn't begin calling until a couple of hours later.