Lightning Strike causes havoc between Reading and Wokingham tonight.

[whole diary]

[bigdaz]

From Journey check:

Line problem at Reading.
Train services are being disrupted due to lightning having damaged equipment at Reading. Engineers are working as fast as possible to restore services to normal. Short notice alterations and delays of up to 30 minutes can be expected.
Message Received :23/09/2010 18:50

[bigdaz]

Further update:

Line problem at Reading.
Train services are being disrupted due to lightning having damaged equipment at Reading. Engineers are working as fast as possible to restore services to normal. Short notice alterations, cancellations and delays of up to 60 minutes can be expected.
Southern and London Underground are accepting First Great Western customers via London Victoria for those travelling to Gatwick. South West Trains are accepting FGW^▸ (First Great Western) customers on all reasonable routes. Replacement road transport is in operation between Reading and Wokingham and between Wokingham and Gatwick

Also Basingstoke and Bournemouth cancelled which means signalling problems may be even more widespread!

[Chris from Nailsea]

Indeed! 

Line problem at Reading.

Train services are being disrupted due to lightning having damaged equipment at Reading. Engineers are working as fast as possible to restore services to normal. Short notice alterations, cancellations and delays of up to 60 minutes can be expected.

Southern and London Underground are accepting First Great Western customers via London Victoria for those travelling to Gatwick. South West Trains are accepting FGW^▸ (First Great Western) customers on all reasonable routes. Replacement road transport is in operation between Reading and Wokingham and between Wokingham and Gatwick.

Last Updated: 23/09/2010 19:40

Service incidents

18:34 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 19:55
This train has been cancelled. This is due to lightning having damaged equipment.
Last Updated: 23/09/2010 19:47

19:04 Reading to Shalford due 19:55
This train has been cancelled. This is due to lightning having damaged equipment.
Last Updated: 23/09/2010 19:49

19:34 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 20:50
This train has been cancelled. This is due to lightning having damaged equipment.
Last Updated: 23/09/2010 19:48

19:37 Reading to Basingstoke due 20:01
This train has been cancelled. This is due to lightning having damaged equipment.
Last Updated: 23/09/2010 19:49

20:02 Shalford to Reading due 20:55
This train has been cancelled. This is due to lightning having damaged equipment.
Last Updated: 23/09/2010 19:49

20:03 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 21:19
This train has been cancelled. This is due to lightning having damaged equipment.
Last Updated: 23/09/2010 19:48

20:07 Basingstoke to Reading due 20:30
This train has been cancelled. This is due to lightning having damaged equipment.
Last Updated: 23/09/2010 19:50

21:03 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 22:19
This train has been cancelled. This is due to lightning having damaged equipment.
Last Updated: 23/09/2010 19:48

[Jonathan H]

What suprised me this evening was that the recovery of the service was so poor.  The 1804 from Reading appears to have been the last Southern-bound train and then there was a Wokingham turnback at about 2050.  In the other direction, I caught the 1916 from Gatwick Airport (from Reigate) which ran normally to North Camp then waited about 25 minutes there and another 25 minutes at Blackwater to reach Wokingham at 2133.  It then appears to have taken 40 minutes to Reading.  The next one southbound appeared to be the 2234.

Waterloo trains appeared to be turned back at Wokingham but the 1920 from Waterloo was on the last signal at Wokingham for almost an hour.

Were the Basingstoke cancellations due to crew on the North Downs line being unable to pick up Basingstoke services or similarly due to the lightning?

Passengers were still being put on buses at Reading at 2220 when I arrived even though there was a Waterloo bound train (the 1950 from London Waterloo being the first through) in platform 4A.

Jonathan

[readytostart]

Also Basingstoke and Bournemouth cancelled which means signalling problems may be even more widespread!

If you're referring to the 1946 to Bournemouth it was running around 90 late on departure from New Street and was diverted NTC^▸ (New Track Construction) at Birmingham International, Coventry and Reading to regain some of it's lost time. 2046 was around 40 late, would've been 30 but Reading box decided to hold it for empties to the depot!

[Electric train]

The problem with railway in a thunder storm is the nice metallic objects laying the ground say.  The electrical impulse of a lightening strike which is tens of thousands of volts in magnitude to that of the signaling equipment and even traction substation equipment it can get literally fried.  In the DC^▸ (Direct Current) electrified area lightening strike often wipe out the supervisory control system used between the electrical control rooms and substations which can prevent the re-closing of circuit breakers, the high voltage distribution system also supplies power to the signaling, lightening can also damage rectifiers.

There are suppressors and spark gaps fitted but there have limited effect with a large lightening strike these will flash over