Derailed freight train at Gloucester causing severe disruption - 15 October 2013

[whole diary]

[ReWind]

4M36  Cardiff Wentloog - Daventry has derailed on the Up through at Gloucester Station.  All lines around the station are currently blocked.  The avoiding lines are still available.

Description of the incident;

"20:24 Gloucester signaller called to advise he has multiple track circuit failures in Gloucester Station and West End. He is unable to give any further updates at the moment as he is putting out an emergency call o the surrounding trains. 20:25 Block put on with Bristol PSB^▸ (Power Signal Box) and Midland TRC for all traffic booked to pass through Gloucester. 20:27 Gloucester signaller has now advised he thinks 4M36 may have derailed in the station. TRC has been asked to put a block on both ends of the station. 20:30 Block put on with Cardiff TRC 20:30 ISC has left messages for on call S&T^▸ (Signalling and Telegraph). P-Way have also been contacted, they are calling back with an ETA. 20:31 UM118, RC, RD (Keynes Xing) RE^▸ (Religious Education) (Over LC^▸ (Level Crossing)) RF RG (at 735 points) RH RK RL RN RP. All on the up. Driver is examinging train. 20:37 MC appointed ARM 20:35."

This will no doubt overflow into tomorrow mornings start up at Gloucester with displaced stock etc.

[bobm]

Apparently one wagon is resting against London Road bridge.

[JayMac]

Apparently the rear wagon lost its container and rear wheelset some 1 mile to the rear of where the train came to a halt.

1 mile of track has been damaged and structures are being checked.

RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) are on site.

[bobm]

Standby road replacement buses have been ordered for the morning for both Gloucester and Cheltenham Spa.

[JayMac]

According to Network Rail, following the damage caused to infrastructure, the line between Gloucester and Lydney is likely to remain closed for up to a week.

CrossCountry services between Nottingham and Cardiff are being terminated/started at Gloucester. Passengers for South Wales are being told to travel with CrossCountry to Bristol Parkway and change onto FGW^▸ (First Great Western) services there. Reverse applies for journeys from South Wales to Cheltenham Spa and beyond.

Arriva Trains Wales services between Maesteg/Cardiff and Cheltenham Spa are terminating/starting at Lydney. Replacement road transport, running hourly, will operate between Lydney and Cheltenham Spa calling at Gloucester.

First Great Western services calling at Gloucester continue to operate, although they may be subject to delay/alteration due to reduced capacity at Gloucester station.

Arriva Trains Wales and First Great Western are accepting CrossCountry tickets via any reasonable route until further notice.

Freight that would normally travel via Lydney is being diverted through the Severn Tunnel.

Let's hope there are no problems in the tunnel over the next few days.

[bobm]

This might have a knock on effect with other planned engineering work this weekend as London to South Wales services are due to operate via Gloucester.

[ellendune]

That's going to be an awful lot of delay minutes. Is that all going to be charged to the organisation responsible for the derailment when that is known?

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Gloucestershire to Wales line closed after derailment


The train derailed while travelling close to London Road in Gloucester

A railway line between Gloucestershire and Wales is likely to be closed for four days following a derailment.

A freight train carrying containers came off the tracks west of Gloucester station at 20:30 BST on Tuesday.

An empty container came off the wagon and "remains on the railway infrastructure". Nobody was injured.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch said it was sending a team to the scene to determine how it happened.

The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers)) said the derailment was "deeply worrying".

"[It] suggests that the policy of cutting maintenance jobs and casualising key works out to private agencies and contractors is coming back to haunt transport services with a vengeance," the union said.

Network Rail said the RMT's view on the cause was "speculation".

Direct Rail Services, which was running the service, said recovery operations had begun to move the front of the train to a safe position.

The derailment caused debris to fall on a nearby road, British Transport Police said.

The police helicopter was called to help with the search for the container, which was found later.

The National Police Air Service tweeted it "certainly isn't something we look for on a regular basis".

Network Rail said the derailment was likely to cause problems until the weekend.

A spokesman said passengers heading towards Wales should travel to Bristol Parkway and change there.

Trains running towards Bristol and London are unaffected by the derailment.

[LiskeardRich]

How did it lose a container so badly it needed a police helicopter to search for it? Its not like its a small object that will get lost in the overgrowth!

[ChrisB]

Coz the train continued some distance before coming to a halt in the dark.

[JayMac]

It appears that the location of the container that made a break for freedom was somewhat fortuitous, coming to rest at a point where the infrastructure was able to, er, contain it. And seeing the logo on the side you could say, because of that, that "Every Little Helps." 

And Rentagob Crow should put a sock in it. It's the RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch)'s job to find the cause and make recommendations, not his.

[eightf48544]

This might have a knock on effect with other planned engineering work this weekend as London to South Wales services are due to operate via Gloucester.

Interesting i'm due to go through Gloucester to/from Cardiff Saturday might be interesting.

[ChrisB]

Suspended until Monday, according to National Rail Enquiries (NRE^‡(resolve) - is that in the Glossaty? :-))

[phile]

Weekend Engineering Work cancelled so South Wales trains will go via Severn Tunnel

[chuffed]

A sensible move otherwise they might have had HST^▸ (High Speed Train) diversions up to Birmingham/ Shrewsbury and down the Heart of Wales line to Swansea !