Overnight storms cause service disruption - 13/14 Jun 14

[whole diary]

[bobm]

Some pretty violent thunderstorms in Wiltshire and the Thames Valley overnight.

Some services were delayed through Swindon after some lightning strikes in the late evening.  That was quickly fixed.

However as the storms tracked east, signalling has been damaged in the Goring area and one platform at Reading has been affected.

So far two London to Bristol Temple Meads trains have been diverted via Newbury, missing the Swindon and Chippenham stops and a Cotswold line service is terminating short because of delays.

Also cancellations/alterations on the Reading to Oxford stopping services.

[ellendune]

Is that old 1960's signalling affected or new?

Which is more vulnerable to lightning? I was assuming that axle counters were less likely to be struck by lightning than track circuits. Does this make the new signalling more resilient?

[lordgoata]

The storm over Goring was insane, the lightning was going for almost 2 hours and the thunder was unbelievably loud. Car alarms were going of, the phones went down, the power was going on and off for about 30 minutes, it really was rather wild - certainly the best storm I have seen for a long, long time!

[JayMac]

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

Storms leave homes without power in Berkshire and Oxfordshire

Several buildings were struck by lightning causing fire to break out

Hundreds of homes are without power and train travel is disrupted after storms hit Berkshire and Oxfordshire.

Torrential rain, thunder and lightning swept across parts of both counties in the early hours.

Scottish and Southern Energy said lightning strikes to overhead cables had knocked out power supplies to 400 homes in Reading and 144 in Oxford.

Engineers were expected to restore power to all of the affected properties by 16:00 BST.

Royal Berkshire Fire & Rescue Service said it was called to about 50 storm-related incidents shortly after 01:00.

Crews dealt with two roof fires caused by lightning strikes in Wokingham which took about three hours to put out. A property in Calcot, Reading was also hit.

Firefighters rescued a number of drivers who broke down in floods.

In Oxfordshire, three buildings in Chilton, Goring and Oxford were set on fire by lightning strikes.

No-one is believed to have been injured.

The lightning strikes overnight caused disruption for trains between Didcot Parkway and Reading after the signalling equipment was damaged.