Not just GWR...

[whole diary]

[stuving]

We are often told by the railway industry that these major closures are planned far in advance and cant therefore be altered, presuming that this is true, why was almost no warning given by GTR of this closure.

There are going to be exceptional closures for emergency works at short notice.  It feels at times though that short notice closures or effective closures (no trains running) have become anything but exceptional.

Depends where the engineering works are. If they are following up the temporary repairs put in place at Streatham (I think it was) that stopped trains to Victoria, then it was not planned months in advance. 

The main line closure is Three Bridges to Brighton, hence a long bus journey, and I think it was listed on Southern's web site in May (when the problems with the Gatwick-Redhill buses were news). The March EAS lists it as Commissioning, Resignalling, and Maintenance. So no, it's not new - is there any evidence it wasn't easy to find out about if you actually needed to know?

What does seem to be missing from the advance information is a real alternative to the Journey planner. That's a good start if only one train interests you, and what they list for works by date then fills in the "how bad would it be" details. But for works that spread over many days/weekends, that doesn't help you with "I'd like to go to Brighton at least one weekend this summer - which day would be best?"

And how would you actually use this information, in practice, other than (as they do suggest too) not travelling at all?

Travelling to Brighton to / from stations between Three Bridges and London?

    A limited train service will operate in both directions between Brighton and London Victoria via Littlehampton with journey times extended by 60 minutes, taking 2 hours 15 minutes between London and Brighton.
    Customers travelling between London and Brighton are advised to use these services rather than the replacement buses.
    These trains will only operate once an hour and space will be extremely limited. Not everyone will be able to board these services.

As it happens there is another long-planned possession at Streatham Common, but it's only on the line (Streatham Spurs) from Tulse Hill, so not likely to be useful.

[old original]

Old Severn bridge closed due to staff sickness....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-45069260

[grahame]

Old Severn bridge closed due to staff sickness....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-45069260

A financial decision hidden in a cloak of safety, perhaps?

"If we haven't got staff members in crucial roles on the toll plaza it is not safe for our team or the drivers so we have taken the decision to close the tolls.

and

It remains open in the eastbound direction, which is not controlled by tolls.

If the toll booths had simply been left open, news would have spread and those in the know would have taken to using the old bridge not the new, reducing the fare take on the new bridge.  Couldn't risk that, could we?  Better send the drivers who would normally use the old bridge via the new, so their money can be collected anyway!

[Timmer]

Old Severn bridge closed due to staff sickness....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-45069260

A somewhat opportunistic smug tweet earlier from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway):
The M48 Severn Crossing is closed but GWR services from Bristol Parkway to Wales are running a good service.

Okay, let’s see how you do tomorrow on services between South Wales and London and how many are cancelled due to shortage of crew.

I doubt those who were due to travel on the Pembroke Coast Express from Pembrokeshire to London this morning would describe it as ‘a good service’.

[broadgage]

Those whom live in glass houses - -

The reliability of GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) services is far behind that of the bridge crossing.
Weekends=staff shortages
Weekdays=short trains
 
Moderately bad weather, during which roads and airlines work normally, throws the railway into chaos.

[grahame]

Is what has happened on the Oxenholme to Windermere line unprecedented? In effect, what has happened there is that due to being unable to cope with planned timetable changes, the entire service has been removed for 2 weeks, and no trains will run at all. While bustitution for a week due to line maintenance isn't unusual, complete closure for a fortnight due to inability to cope with planned changes must be unique.

I though the striking thing about the removal of that service is that it barely needs a timetable at all. Even if the through trains pose a problem of some kind, once the branch has been given a train for the day it can just chug up and down without even the signallers worrying about where it is. It saves one (small) train and a crew, that's all.

Exactly. And the other striking point is that the roads that the bustitutes will have to use are notoriously congested. I have used the Lakes bus between Kendal and Windermere a few times, and getting in and out of Kendal is a nightmare. It often loses half an hour from the timing it is supposed to be keeping to.

Read Christian Wolmar on "How to mess up a branch line"

'This is the story of how to mess up a branch line’ said Alan Noble of the Lakes Line Rail User Group. Except he did not use the word ‘mess’. The Lakes Line branch that runs ten miles from Oxenholme to Windermere is one of those survivors of Beeching which has prospered and become an integral part of the rail network.

[long article]

The potential of the line is huge and local businesses see it restored to its previous reliability and then to see it improve. Tourism keeps the local economy going and public transport is a key component of many people’s experience of the area. The line, though, will take a bit of time to recover as the commuters, unable to rely on the train service, have now disappeared. They will only come back if the performance improves back to the level of service offered by TPE^▸ (Trans Pennine Express). David Grime concludes: ‘All we want is a reliable service, and then more capacity as clearly the line will not be able to cope with the expected growth. It is not too much to ask.’

My bolding. The GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) area is in for its big timetable change this December.  Be aware and we must be very careful to have learned from the northern experience.  It is no good concentrating on getting more and faster expresses London to Bristol and London to Plymouth if you're left having to jam in the local commuter services between as best you can, irrespective of work start and finish times and the maintenance of connections on which traffic has grown.  Further posts from me on that topic over the next few days.

[TonyK]

There's a very good argument in that article.

It also strikes me that Tokyo must be fairly quiet these days, what with all the tourists in the Lakes, Venice, Bath and London, to name but a few. That could be a boon - time will tell.