Severe weather forecast - South West Trains pre-cancel services on 18 January

[whole diary]

[MrC]

The only real problems were this morning when there wasn't any snow yet.

Except there was. In Dorset and the Portsmouth area there was heavy snow from 04:00 onwards and many London bound trains originate from or turn around there. The snow plans also removed most (if not all) attachments and splits which are a major contributor to delays in snow and ice conditions (plus improved pathing, spare staff and stock availability). All in all it looks like the right decision was made given the weather forecasts available on Thursday.

[TonyK]

As an aside I heard people were skiing down Park Street in Bristol.  Urban skiing, who'd have thought it although of course this feature of Bristol is that which makes rail transport provision a challenge.

And so they were, as the video in this article from the Bristol Post demonstrates. More Eddie the Eagle than Lance Armstrong, but shows adaptability.

[Brucey]

Some of the roads between Portsmouth and London were in quite a bad state this morning.  Not sure how the rails held together?

[paul7575]

It's annoying that Southern tried to run their services through Bookham today but SWT^▸ (South West Trains) who are the main provider didn't bother. My SWT journey from Waterloo to Leatherhead was pretty uneventful.

Isn't the aim of SWT's (or the 'Wessex route') snow plan that the route through Bookham gets sacrificed to allow the junctions at Leatherhead and Effingham Jn to be left set to their respective main through routes all day - because the points are the likeliest cause of problems due to compacted snow?

So if SWT are not running through Bookham for that reason, why are SN attempting it - you'd think that under NR^» (Network Rail - home page)'s overall control both TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) would be singing from the same song sheet?

Paul

[ellendune]

Some of the roads between Portsmouth and London were in quite a bad state this morning.  Not sure how the rails held together?

I am sure several large lumps of pre-stressed reinforced concrete together with a few Pandrol clips manage that quite well even with a bit of snow. NR^» (Network Rail - home page) and SWT^▸ (South West Trains) probably have other things to worry about keeping the trains going rather than that.  

.... I will get my coat.