Cornish mainline and branch line delays - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Is this line worked by a single line staff/token, with the attached key being used to unlock the ground frame? - not a lot to go wrong.

Key broken in the lock?

[John D]

Journeycheck aside, would it be good if Network Rail put out a deep dive explaining the issue, the approach, and the horizon for a long term fix that will improve resilience.

Elf 'n Safety, mate.....can't risk anything these days. Bad Press & mammoth fines from ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road, formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about).

Yes ORR have created a system where inconveniencing passengers ticks more boxes than waiting for every diver to finish their holidays.

No wonder other countries think UK^▸ (United Kingdom) has lost the plot

[AMLAG]

It’s getting close to the time ( many will say way past it) that a Senior NR^» (Network Rail - home page) Manager, possibly their non Swindon based Director for Devon and Cornwall, was grilled by MPs^▸ (Member of Parliament, or Mile Post (a method of measuring the railway in miles and chains from a starting point - usually London), depending on context) / the Media  on  the far too many occasions train services on all lines in the South West continue to be subject to far too regular cancellation and disruption; mainly due NR infrastructure failings.

Trains last ran on the Looe Bch on Tuesday 2 Dec but only til 1045, due a combination of planned line closure due NR Tree cutting Contractors activities ( miraculously allowed by ‘over powerful’ Natural England bearing in mind hibernating Doormice ) and high spring tides / rain/ flooding.
“Train services will be cancelled. Disruption is expected until the end of the day on 04/01/26”; we now learn due lack of availability of diving contractors..why are none ‘on call’ ?

[ChrisB]

Other countries, as should we - have divers on standby over the holiday periods

[grahame]

Journeycheck aside, would it be good if Network Rail put out a deep dive explaining the issue, the approach, and the horizon for a long term fix that will improve resilience.

Elf 'n Safety, mate.....can't risk anything these days. Bad Press & mammoth fines from ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road, formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about).

Yes ORR have created a system where inconveniencing passengers ticks more boxes than waiting for every diver to finish their holidays.

No wonder other countries think UK^▸ (United Kingdom) has lost the plot

I can't help feeling that if it was the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) mainline bridge at Maidenhead that needed specialist divers to check it out, they would be found / available within 12 hours, and there would not be a 12 day wait for them.

But I'm in total agreement that bridge safety is important ... on the date of the Tay Bridge collapse, with a reminder in another post of Glanrhyd, of the concerns on the Didcot to Oxford line, and the recent collapse of the repurposed railway bridge across the Spey.

[bobm]

Due to a fault with the signalling system between Bere Alston and Gunnislake the line is closed.
Train services running to and from these stations have been revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

This problem first appeared yesterday, with the 12:24 from Plymouth terminating at Bere Alston, although RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) refers to the reason as "points failure".

Is this line worked by a single line staff/token, with the attached key being used to unlock the ground frame? - not a lot to go wrong.

There is a staff used to operate the line at Bere Alston.  It seems the mechanism had got out of alignment and the end of the staff would not go deep enough into the aperture to effect a release of the lock.

[Trowres]

Thanks Bobm for the explanation, which I assume comes from inside sources.

What happened to the last two services from Plymouth, which don't seem to have proceeded further than St Budeaux?

[TaplowGreen]

......and again today....

Alterations to services between Bere Alston and Gunnislake
Due to a fault with the signalling system between Bere Alston and Gunnislake the line is closed.
Train services running to and from these stations have been revised. Calstock and Gunnislake will not be served. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

[GBM]

Really!
Alterations to services between Bere Alston and Gunnislake
Due to a fault with the signalling system between Bere Alston and Gunnislake the line is closed.
Train services running to and from these stations have been revised. Calstock and Gunnislake will not be served. Disruption is expected until 23:59 30/12.

[GBM]

08:16 Par to Newquay due 09:03
08:16 Par to Newquay due 09:03 will be cancelled.
This is due to a points failure.

(Also points failure West of Newton Abbot, but that's a different forum placement)

[GBM]

08:16 Par to Newquay due 09:03
08:16 Par to Newquay due 09:03 has been cancelled.
This is due to a points failure.

Also

Alterations to services between Liskeard and Looe
Due to flooding between Liskeard and Looe the line is closed.
Train services running to and from these stations have been suspended. Disruption is expected until the end of the day on 07/01/26

[REVUpminster]

First train to from Newquay cancelled today. Second train is a 4 car 150. Falmouth only a hourly service.

Only 12 150s on the Devon and Cornwall branches and that's with Looe and St Ives closed. The others seem to be on the mainline covering the old HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)).

[GBM]

Newquay and Looe branches suffering today with first services cancellations.
Spare units sent from Exeter St Davids Prem Tran
(Premier something?)!

With all the spare 175's at Laira, surely a few of those could have been pressed into service.

Still a few 5 car IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan))'s doing the Penzance - Paddington runs - disgraceful.

The treasury have a lot to answer to (but not accountable to the public it seems).

The chaos at Bath yesterday seems to have caught GW^» (Great Western - used as an abbreviation for the area / lines under the Great Western franchise, as opposed to FGW which includes "First", the company operating them too. For tickets - about) Control napping; and unable to cope?

[Bob_Blakey]

.....Spare units sent from Exeter St Davids Prem Tran
(Premier something?)!.....

From t'internet:
In the 1980s/90s the siding adjacent to platform 6 at Exeter St Davids and the old goods shed was established as a small railfreight terminal ...
and
Exeter St Davids Premier Transport is an active railway location code and historical freight site located at the Exeter St Davids railway station complex. It functions as an operational timing point (TIPLOC: EXETDPT) used by rail network tracking systems to monitor empty coaching stock (ECS^▸ (Empty Coaching Stock)) movements, train stabling, and cancellations between the platforms and the Exeter Traction Maintenance Depot (TMD^▸ (Traction Maintenance Depot))
and
Premier Transport (a Bristol firm) had a depot at Exeter and handled the unloading of Guinness at St Davids.....

Obviously the actual siding disappeared when the new TMD was built. I remember it well - in it's later years it was commonly used to stable Tampers and suchlike.

[TaplowGreen]

Newquay and Looe branches suffering today with first services cancellations.
Spare units sent from Exeter St Davids Prem Tran
(Premier something?)!

With all the spare 175's at Laira, surely a few of those could have been pressed into service.

Still a few 5 car IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan))'s doing the Penzance - Paddington runs - disgraceful.

The treasury have a lot to answer to (but not accountable to the public it seems).

The chaos at Bath yesterday seems to have caught GW^» (Great Western - used as an abbreviation for the area / lines under the Great Western franchise, as opposed to FGW which includes "First", the company operating them too. For tickets - about) Control napping; and unable to cope?

.......and yet still "spare" IETs to launch new routes it would seem?