Landslip near entrance to Harbury Tunnel

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

Voyagers not passed for the Costwold line, just checked the traction route clearance certificate, unfortunately I can't find any public links to it so you'll have to take my word for it.

Network Rail's most recent Western Route Sectional Appendix route clearances (dated 6th December 2014) appear to say otherwise.
http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/sectional%20appendix/western%20sectional%20appendix.pdf#page=707

Screengrab extract:


Is there anything that takes precedence over this (not just staff route knowledge) to prevent Class 220/221s using the Cotswold Line? Spirit of enquiry only. Not to doubt you personally readytostart.

[Timmer]

Following on from ChrisB's observation about Watford engineering work later this month, it's been suspended.

Shame Network Rail backed down under pressure from the TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) and didn't do this work in one go last August as this work has gone on over public holidays for a long time and will continue to do so following this suspension.

[grahame]

http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2015-02-05/chiltern-railways-announce-extended-closure/?

Chiltern Railways announce extended closure

Chiltern Railways have announced that trains running between Leamington Spa and Banbury will continue to be disrupted following a landslide.

Since the landslide on Saturday 31 January, a replacement bus service has been running to allow commuters to travel despite the closure.

Customer plans for the extended period will include:

^ More trains running from Birmingham to Leamington Spa and Banbury to London with a replacement bus service

^ An extension of the ^step-straight-on^ replacement bus service to include buses direct from Warwick Parkway station to Banbury at peak times

^ Fast silver trains with Business Zone carriages running between Birmingham and Leamington Spa and between Banbury and London

^ Car parking facilities at Banbury and Warwick Parkway

^ A ^Banbury Fare Match^, meaning passengers travelling from West Midlands stations to London will pay the Banbury fare to London

^ Over 30,000 Advance tickets will be available every week between the West Midlands and London

The one thing missing from the article is an indication of how long an "extended period" might last.

[grahame]

The one thing missing from the article is an indication of how long an "extended period" might last.

Ah - that's in a second article

http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2015-02-05/emergency-measures-to-repair-harbury-tunnel-landslip/?

Emergency measures to repair Harbury Tunnel landslip

Chiltern Railways tonight announced a series of emergency measures to help passengers caught up in the Harbury Tunnel landslip.

A fleet of sixty coaches is being hired to speed up journeys, some fares will be reduced to compensate and more commuter services from Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire will run to Marylebone from Monday.

The landslip is expected to take several weeks to repair and is hitting all services from the south coast to The Midlands.

[readytostart]

Voyagers not passed for the Costwold line, just checked the traction route clearance certificate, unfortunately I can't find any public links to it so you'll have to take my word for it.

Network Rail's most recent Western Route Sectional Appendix route clearances (dated 6th December 2014) appear to say otherwise.
http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/sectional%20appendix/western%20sectional%20appendix.pdf#page=707

Screengrab extract:


Is there anything that takes precedence over this (not just staff route knowledge) to prevent Class 220/221s using the Cotswold Line? Spirit of enquiry only. Not to doubt you personally readytostart.

Quite right you are, was listed under 'other routes' in the certificate and had overlooked it. I blame being out of the area too long, that and early starts this week! ;o)

[Worcester_Passenger]

What's the subtle difference between classes 172/0 and 172/1, and the rest of class 172 that they are banned from Worcester?

[TaplowGreen]

The one thing missing from the article is an indication of how long an "extended period" might last.

Ah - that's in a second article

http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2015-02-05/emergency-measures-to-repair-harbury-tunnel-landslip/?

Emergency measures to repair Harbury Tunnel landslip

Chiltern Railways tonight announced a series of emergency measures to help passengers caught up in the Harbury Tunnel landslip.

A fleet of sixty coaches is being hired to speed up journeys, some fares will be reduced to compensate and more commuter services from Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire will run to Marylebone from Monday.

The landslip is expected to take several weeks to repair and is hitting all services from the south coast to The Midlands.

Fares reduced due to bustitution.....what a good idea! 

[Electric train]

What's the subtle difference between classes 172/0 and 172/1, and the rest of class 172 that they are banned from Worcester?

This may explain http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_172

[IndustryInsider]

Confirmation that the line will reopen by Easter:

http://www.networkrail.co.uk/HarburyLandslip/

[Chris from Nailsea]

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

Harbury Tunnel landslip 'not caused by tree removal'


The line has been closed between Leamington Spa and Banbury since the landslide

Network Rail has denied the removal of trees from a Warwickshire railway cutting may have contributed to a 350,000-tonne landslip.

A section of the Chiltern Mainline closed on 31 January after the landslip near the Harbury Tunnel.

Environmental campaigner and Guardian journalist George Monbiot has described tree work by Network Rail in 2010 as a "spectacular act of folly".

But the company said the work would not have had an impact.

In the comment piece on Wednesday, Monbiot said: "Trees on steep slopes often prevent landslides by binding the soil with their roots, anchoring it to the bedrock and reducing the amount of water it contains."

He added: "If you are going to take the drastic step of deforestation, you had better be damn sure that you're making the right decision. And if you scrape or plough a steep slope vertically, you should also be sure that you are not accelerating soil erosion and slumping."

But Network Rail said there was "no truth in claims that the landslip at Harbury was caused by a lack of vegetation on the cutting's slopes".

"The vegetation on the slope was destroyed during a previous landslip in 2007 and the depth of the recent failure in the cutting - which caused the landslip on 31 January - was far greater than any tree root would have been able to reach," it said. "We continue to repair the damage and have removed more than 200,000 tonnes of material so far."

The line has been closed between Leamington Spa and Banbury. About 130 passenger trains use the line each day, with major operators including Chiltern Railways and CrossCountry.

Network Rail said the line would reopen by 2 April. A smaller landslip happened at the same place in 2014.

[ray951]

the line between Banbury and Leamington Spa is going to reopen on Friday 13th March according to Network Rail.

http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/News-Releases/Railway-between-Leamington-Spa-and-Banbury-to-reopen-three-weeks-ahead-of-schedule-22ae.aspx

[Chris from Nailsea]

Indeed it did - from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Chiltern rail line reopens after 350,000 tonne landslip


Network Rail said about 350,000 tonnes of material had to be moved from the track

A section of railway closed by a 350,000 tonne landslip in January has reopened.

It was originally thought the stretch of the Chiltern Line between Leamington Spa in Warwickshire and Banbury in Oxfordshire would be out of action until Easter.

But the cutting was secured and made safe three weeks ahead of schedule.

The landslip happened at Harbury Tunnel on the route which runs from Birmingham to London Marylebone.

Network Rail said the cutting had been affected by landslides since it was built in the 1840s.

The route is used by 130 freight and passenger trains each day, and goods services resumed on 9 March.

[ChrisB]

This isn't specifically a Chiltern thread - also XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) too....I think it was ok on the board it was on?

[Richard Fairhurst]

The "Thames Valley via Oxford" board, subtitled "To Bicester, Banbury, and stations to Worcester", has become a little superfluous. Services to Worcester are of course better suited to the Cotswold Line board, those to Bicester to the Chiltern Railways board, those in the Thames Valley itself to the 'London to Didcot and Oxford' board. That pretty much just leaves the four threads a year about GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s Banbury stoppers.

For a thread like this - yes, it could be Chiltern, it could be XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)), it could be either. In any case Harbury certainly isn't in the Thames Valley... a drop of rain that falls in Harbury will eventually find its way to the sea via the Severn, not the Thames.

[grahame]

Once the threads have been redistributed to reflect current operations, we can take a look at what's gone where and tweak any board descriptions.  That's best done in the light of the experience of the moving, rather than speculatively.