Cornish mainline and branch line delays - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[Andy]

First time I had ever been through St. Austell at speed!!

There are some who'd argue that "at speed" is the best way to go through St Austell. 

[Chris from Nailsea]

Oh, hold on just for a moment: there is an excellent brewery there! 

[GBM]

Cornwall being hit by vehicle shortage again today.
Falmouth and Newquay branches service reduced.
St Ives trains reduced to 2 car.
Newquay -
11:08 Newquay to London Paddington due 16:29
11:08 Newquay to London Paddington due 16:29 will call additionally at Ivybridge.
It has been delayed at Plymouth and is now 46 minutes late.
This is due to a fault occurring when detaching a part of this train.
Will be formed of 5 coaches instead of 10.
Left Paddington as 10 cars. 5 detached at Plymouth, with remaining 5 to/from Newquay.
By the looks of it, only 5 will continue to Paddington.

[TaplowGreen]

11:03 London Paddington to Newquay due 15:51

11:03 London Paddington to Newquay due 15:51 will be terminated at Plymouth.

It will no longer call at Liskeard, Bodmin Parkway, Par and Newquay.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.


Cornish branches generally getting clobbered too due to crew shortage.

Newquay short run AGAIN!

......getting closer......but shorter!

11:08 Newquay to London Paddington due 16:29
11:08 Newquay to London Paddington due 16:29 will be terminated at Reading.

It will no longer call at London Paddington but will call additionally at Ivybridge.
It has been delayed at Plymouth and is now 46 minutes late.

This is due to a fault occurring when attaching a part of this train.
Will be formed of 5 coaches instead of 10.

[TaplowGreen]

Oh dear - again.

14:52 Newquay to London Paddington due 20:23

14:52 Newquay to London Paddington due 20:23 will be started from Plymouth.
It will no longer call at Newquay, Par, Liskeard and Saltash.

This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[TaplowGreen]

...............and again (x2)

09:03 London Paddington to Newquay due 14:27

09:03 London Paddington to Newquay due 14:27 will be terminated at Plymouth.
It will no longer call at Liskeard, Bodmin Parkway, Lostwithiel, Par and Newquay.

This is due to a fault on this train.

14:52 Newquay to London Paddington due 20:23

14:52 Newquay to London Paddington due 20:23 will be started from Plymouth.
It will no longer call at Newquay, Par, Liskeard and Saltash.

This is due to a fault on this train.

[GBM]

Due to a road vehicle blocking the railway between St Erth and St Ives the line is blocked.
Train services running to and from these stations have been suspended. Disruption is expected until 14:30 03/07.
Customer Advice
-
We are sorry for the disruption to your journey today.
-
What has happened?
-
A car has fallen onto the track in the Carbis Bay area.

And.
Cancellations to services between Plymouth and Penzance
Due to a fault with the signalling system between St Germans and Liskeard the line towards Penzance is disrupted. Disruption is expected until 12:15 03/07.
Train services between Plymouth and Penzance may be cancelled or delayed.
Customer Advice
-
We are sorry for the disruption to your journey today.
-
What has happened?
-
There is a problem with the signalling between St Germans and Liskeard. Trains are having to stop at the affected signals so that the Driver can speak to the Signaller to confirm if the track ahead is clear.

And.
10:16 Par to Newquay due 11:06
10:16 Par to Newquay due 11:06 has been cancelled.
This is due to a fire next to the track.

Apart from those...........

[Mark A]

Hmm. Carbis Bay Station's car park's a candidate for that, and the vehicle would also need to cross the station platform.

Mark

[John D]

This photo on BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) News is more baffling

appears to be a chain link / mesh fence adjacent to a track with gate across it, which is still standing, then a demolished green metal palisade fence.

So unless the car entered from left of the picture, it appears to have jumped one fence, but knocked over second fence (and why 2 parallel fences unless prone to be damaged)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgd0g9y7yqo

[Mark A]

Google Streetview has the location from April this year and no sign then of the chain link fence - it might have been put in today as part of the work to make the line safe for use. It appears the vehicle driver has come up the hill from the beach, overcooked the turn  on to the bridge, probably more or less become airborne so no steering, dived under the palisade fence (though you'd expect the vehicle to be more scrawped) and... ended up foul of the track. A couple of photos from one Craig Munday on Facebook.

Mark

https://www.facebook.com/groups/384010423010289/user/683839768/

[plymothian]

Google Streetview has the location from April this year and no sign then of the chain link fence - it might have been put in today as part of the work to make the line safe for use.

This is correct. The temporary fence was erected by Network Rail; the car was eventually removed by a road-rail vehicle

View from a different angle

[Mark A]

Significant. Google Streetview from 2024 shows damage to the fence at a similar position: there's possibly a recipe here: vehicle driver heads uphill too fast, overcooks the bend, becomes airborne at least enough to lose adhesion/steering and... lo!

Off-topic: there was a length of rail carrying one of those diamond bridge signs (the sign itself long missing). The post itself was present in 2015 but gone by 2024.

Mark

[TaplowGreen]

14:52 Newquay to London Paddington due 20:23
14:52 Newquay to London Paddington due 20:23 was terminated at Exeter St Davids.

It will no longer call at Tiverton Parkway, Taunton, Castle Cary, Westbury, Pewsey, Newbury, Reading and London Paddington.

This is due to a fire next to the track.

[FarWestJohn]

Big gap in trains from PNZ this afternoon. 1515 and 1552 cancelled and next train 1615 had to make extra stops.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Did it stop at Camborne?