West of England main line disruption expected to last for rest of day - 13/1/15

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Western Gazette:

West of England main line disruption expected to last for rest of day - with only a 2-hourly service in operation



Passengers travelling between London Waterloo and Exeter St David's on the West of England main line are being warned that disruption is expected to last until the end of the day.

There is currently a 2-hourly service in operation.

A spokesman for South West Trains said: "Various signalling problems across the network between Salisbury and Exeter St. Davids are disrupting the service we provide to the West of England. At present we are only able to run a 2-hourly service between these stations in both directions.

"Our engineering team are working to rectify the faults at affected locations. As our teams identify and rectify the faults, a separate team is investigating the communication software which controls the signalling equipment.

"Passengers are advised to allow extra time for their journey and check before you travel.

"First Great Western services are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice.

"Local bus services are conveying passengers between Exeter St Davids and Honiton in both directions until further notice. Passengers may use Stagecoach bus routes 4 and 52b between Honiton and Exeter St Davids.

[PhilWakely]

Even the two-hourly service has been shelved as SWT^▸ (South West Trains) are reporting

"No Service between Salisbury and Exeter St Davids until close of service - Please do not travel tonight unless absolutely necessary.

Various signalling problems across the network between Salisbury and Exeter St. Davids are disrupted. Due to the complexity of the faults we need to suspend the train service for the rest of today."


On a lighter note, it is good to see that the Western Gazette has two things right connecting the picture to the article ...... the SWT 159 and the 'West of England main line'; just a pity it is the wrong West of England main line in the picture, which is taken at Cockwood between Starcross and Dawlish Warren"

[bobm]

70 taxis and 35 minibuses being used for replacement transport apparently.

[Chris from Nailsea]

On a lighter note, it is good to see that the Western Gazette has two things right connecting the picture to the article ...... the SWT^▸ (South West Trains) 159 and the 'West of England main line'; just a pity it is the wrong West of England main line in the picture, which is taken at Cockwood between Starcross and Dawlish Warren

You may very well think that was why I included that image in my quote: I couldn't possibly comment. 

[JayMac]

(updated for the 21st century)

Francis Joseph Underwood is alive and well. 

[TaplowGreen]

70 taxis and 35 minibuses being used for replacement transport apparently.

.............so it can be done!

[ChrisB]

......if you have that sort of contract in place, I think

[PhilWakely]

I am guessing that this must have been a faily extensive and serious signalling breakdown given that all trains were suspended and what appears to have been a test train run from Salisbury and Pinhoe and back in the early hours....

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/O63665/2015/01/14/advanced
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/O63668/2015/01/14/advanced

What I find more worrying is that the signalling west of Salisbury is barely a couple of years old having been extensively renewed recently - unless of course it was a 'man-made failure'


 

[TaplowGreen]

......if you have that sort of contract in place, I think

Then it's incumbent upon the likes of FGW^▸ (First Great Western) to get one in place, particularly when they are part of a group that operates...........buses, and particularly when reliability & service resilience is a joke.

And before the "well the fares will have to go up then" mantra starts, if the need arises from signal failures then the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) concerned can offset the cost via the compensation they get from NR^» (Network Rail - home page), of which only a small proportion is passed on to the customers.

[Super Guard]

70 taxis and 35 minibuses being used for replacement transport apparently.

.............so it can be done!

So (from your follow-up post), I get the impression you are comparing Salisbury to Exeter passenger levels and logistics to a Paddington/Reading peak?   

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) managed to have sufficient rail replacement when Dawlish was closed, so yes of course it can be done when passenger levels are appropriate.

I don't ever remember reading that SWT^▸ (South West Trains) offer a fleet of mini-buses and taxis when there is mass chaos out of Waterloo.

[Ollie]

......if you have that sort of contract in place, I think

Then it's incumbent upon the likes of FGW^▸ (First Great Western) to get one in place, particularly when they are part of a group that operates...........buses, and particularly when reliability & service resilience is a joke.

They do, but you need to remember that there isn't a fleet of taxis or buses on standby 24/7. It would be lovely to be able to just click your fingers and have a load of buses or taxis turn up during unplanned disruption.