Great Western Coffee Shop

Network Rail said it was working on designs for the work needed to repair the railway, which would then give a clearer idea of timescales involved.

It added that a plan to provide journey options was set to be published "as soon as possible".

Is there any chance of running westbound trains on one of the eastbound lines?

Question is, is it signalled for bi-directional running?

Even keeping the up lines open will be a challange the network rail pictures show the signalling cables have fallen down the bank and are now stretched.

Salisbury services diverted to Basingstoke rather than Waterloo.

A major landslip in the Hook area has closed the lines between Woking and Basingstoke. Severe disruption is expected to continue until at least the end of service on Sunday 22 January.

Passengers are advised against all but essential travel on services which would usually pass through the area. This includes services between London and Basingstoke, Bournemouth, Southampton, Weymouth, Salisbury, and Exeter.

Trains will not be able to serve Hook, Winchfield or Fleet stations until further notice. Please do not attempt to travel to or from these stations by train as you will not be able to do so.

The wider South Western Railway network is operating as usual (such as suburban London services and those between London and Portsmouth via Guildford, Reading or Windsor), however these services may be busier than usual as a result of this incident.

Maybe even to Reading, as they were on Saturday with the Woking engineering works.

I believe that’s the plan yes.

Question is, is it signalled for bi-directional running? I’m not expert on signalling on the SWML, but as it’s a four track railway between London to Basingstoke, would there be the need for it?

I still haven’t worked out what’s happening at Farnborough to allow down trains to get to the up fast, is it a complicated shunt move, ie DS to DF reverse to UF?

Someone mentioned last night on UKRailforums that reversal would need to be involved.

GWR have tweeted that this is causing issues at... Pewsey.

https://twitter.com/GWRHelp/status/1616048137461989379

Mark

Due to the landslip on the SWR Network, Pewsey station is experiencing a higher than normal footfall.

Because of this, there is very limited parking at Pewsey station.

Please plan ahead and make alternative arrangements where possible.

Interestingly there is NOT ticket acceptance with GWR for SWR tickets on that route.   

Engineers working to repair a huge landslip at Hook in Hampshire will temporarily remodel undamaged
track to give passengers a better train service while long-term repairs continue.

The slip, on an embankment to the northeast of Hook station, has left only two tracks of the four-track railway passable by trains, with both tracks designed to be used by London-bound trains only.

Network Rail will close the railway, between Basingstoke and Woking, this weekend to allow engineers to reconfigure the track layout and bypass the landslip

Prompted by this and other landslips, RAIB▸ did a class report, available at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/547c8fc4e5274a428d000147/R082014_140402_Landslips.pdf (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/547c8fc4e5274a428d000147/R082014_140402_Landslips.pdf).

Silly me - that is already mirrored for members (and comes up in searches) at http://www.passenger.chat/140402_R082014_Landslips.pdf and was summarised in http://www.passenger.chat/13800 on 2nd April 2014

Hook landslip: here’s what @SW_Help *hopes* to run from tomorrow, subject to today’s big work being completed. It’s 5 trains an hour past the landslip on 2 of the 4 lines. Some way from full service (especially on West of England) but a huge step up from the last 8 days.

Paul Clifton (https://twitter.com/paulcliftonbbc/status/1617147946788601856?s=43&t=QFxDq9yoI4d8kPrtSgm89g) has just tweeted the following, with a link to a photo of SWR plans for services tomorrow. The photo is accessed by clicking on Paul's name above or by clicking here (https://twitter.com/PaulCliftonBBC/status/1617147946788601856/photo/1)

On my environmental task today, a "trees expert" responsible for many of the saplings that have been planted by volunteers on Reading verges, suggested that the landslip was caused by trees having been removed from the sides of the embankment. One might guess that the stumps had been treated, resulting in the decay of the roots and subsequent soil disturbance.

VIDEO UPDATE: Network Rail announces date to reopen all four lines through Hook in Hampshire as major landslip repairs continue
[There is a video - it's just the man talking - and I haven't managed to extract a link to it to go here (it's using Wistia).]

Engineers working around the clock to repair a huge landslip at Hook in Hampshire aiming to reopen all four lines by Friday 24 February.

Following the landslip, it was only possible to run one train every 90 minutes between Basingstoke and Woking. A short time later, Network Rail took the unusual step of reconfiguring the track layout onto a stable section of the embankment to enable six trains an hour to run through the area.

Although this has provided an improved train service over the past few weeks whilst the embankment repairs continued, it means our engineers need to close the railway again once the embankment is repaired to reinstate the track layout to its original position.

Here's route director Mark Killick on where we are:

So, what does it mean for customers?

    Once the embankment repairs are completed, from the start of service on Monday 13 February, trains travelling towards Basingstoke can call at Hook again. Trains will continue to run at a reduced frequency.
    From Monday 13 February until Thursday 23 February, engineers will close the railway between Farnborough and Basingstoke early each night to restore the track layout, which means alterations to late night and early morning services.
    The last through services between London Waterloo station and Basingstoke (stopping), Portsmouth Harbour via Eastleigh, Salisbury and Weymouth will depart much earlier than usual.
    South Western Railway (SWR) are securing rail replacement buses to operate between Woking/Farnborough and Basingstoke after 10pm each evening.
    Services for Monday 13 to Friday 17 February will be updated in Journey Planners by the morning of Friday 10 February. Services from Saturday 18 to Friday 24 February are being finalised and will be updated as soon as possible.
    Customers are asked to check before they travel and allow extra time to complete their journeys.
    From Friday 24 February, all four lines will reopen, and the full timetable will be reinstated, however Network Rail engineers and SWR will work hard to reinstate some services sooner, if possible.

    Mark Killick, Network Rail’s Wessex route director, said: “We’d like to thank customers and residents living alongside the railway for their patience while we’ve carried out this major repair.

    “Fixing the landslip at Hook has been an incredibly tough and complicated job. I’m so sorry our customers will have to endure more disruption before we can reopen all four lines. Unfortunately, there is no perfect solution, but this approach is the least disruptive to our customers overall.

    “We’ve taken the difficult decision to carry out the track layout work over multiple nights because I recognise how important it is to provide a direct service to and from London and the south west, particularly as the Portsmouth Direct Line will be closed from the 11 to 19 of February as part of a multi-million-pound upgrade that has been planned for more than two years.

    “It’s crucial this work goes ahead because customers wouldn’t see the benefits soon enough and it would cost taxpayers a fortune to reschedule and cause more disruptive closures in the future.”

    Stuart Meek, South Western Railway’s chief operating officer, said: “The landslip at Hook has caused our customers significant disruption for more than three weeks now, so it is welcome news to hear we are a step closer to the embankment repairs being completed.

    “To give Network Rail the time they need to realign the tracks, whilst also considering the large amount of engineering work across the rest of our network, we will need to make some changes to our late night and early morning services.

    “We will confirm these alterations just as soon as we can. We’re very grateful for our customers’ continued patience through what has been a frustrating period of disruption.”

Incident created    24/02/2023 09:15
Last updated         24/02/2023 09:23
Route affected    Between Weybridge / Windsor & Eton Riverside / Reading and London Waterloo
     
    Due to a wartime bomb near the railway between Ashford and Staines all lines are currently closed. As a result, trains may be cancelled or delayed.

    Disruption is expected until 16:00.

    Due to a wartime bomb near the railway between Ashford and Staines all lines are currently closed. As a result, trains may be cancelled or delayed.

    Disruption is expected until 16:00.

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: “On Friday, February 24 at approximately 8.27am police were called to Redford Close, Feltham to reports of an unexploded device. Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) attended the scene and the device was deemed safe a short time later and removed. No further action was required.”