Major Incident in Bath

[whole diary]

[Timmer]

Due to an explosion and fire at the building site of the new shopping centre in Bath, there is major disruption for passengers travelling to/from Bath at present with trains calling at Oldfield Park instead. The situation is developing but here is the latest from FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website:

Train services currently cannot call at Bath Spa until further notice due to a fire near the station. Train services are calling additionally at Oldfield Park for customers travelling to Bath. Due to Bath Spa area being unaccessable to road transport customers are required to walk between Oldfield Park and Bath Spa. A limited shuttle taxi service will operate between Oldfield Park railway station and Bath city centre for those unable to walk.

[Timmer]

Update from FGW^▸ (First Great Western):

Train services at Bath Spa have been disrupted due to a line-side fire.Short notice alterations and delays of up to 20 minutes may still occur.

Train services have resumed calling at Bath Spa. Customers are advised to use the rear entrance of the station.

[Graz]

That's really interesting, the first time I've heard of people being asked to walk from Oldfield park to Bath. Of course it would be no problem for people like me but there's bound to be lazy people around 

My train (1808 from Bath Spa- Great Malvern) raced through Bath Spa without stopping. No sign of the fire but there were plenty of people on the platform.

I'm surprised about what happened in Bath though, gas cannister explosions...

[Lee]

Article links.
http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/drama-rocks-city-centre/article-346925-detail/article.html

http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/SouthGate-MP-praises-999-services/article-347256-detail/article.html

http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/Southgate-Scheme-course/article-347218-detail/article.html

http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/flames-stretched-clouds/article-347169-detail/article.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/7632244.stm

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/uk_national_news/3697550.Large_blaze_hits_retail_development/

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/Latest-Blaze-Bath-city-centre-causes-chaos-commuters/article-347093-detail/article.html

The station was evacuated at 5.45pm but re-opened 20 minutes later.

Passengers who wanted to travel to Temple Meads in Bristol were only able to use one end of the platform.

First Great Western spokesman Dan Panes said that trains running in both directions stopped at Oldfield Park instead of Bath Spa for about half an hour.

Oldfield Park is about a 15-minute walk from Bath Spa.

By 6.30pm trains were stopping at both Bath Spa and Oldfield Park though passengers had to use the rear entrance to the Bath Spa station.

Anyone who had tickets to travel today but could not get to the station because of the road closures can use them on trains tomorrow.

[tramway]

It is now possible to appreciate the need for such a large exclusion zone around fires involving gas cylinders as it was reported that the remains of one ended up in the river, which was probably only few yards short of the tracks.

[Tim]

That's really interesting, the first time I've heard of people being asked to walk from Oldfield park to Bath. Of course it would be no problem for people like me but there's bound to be lazy people around 

My train (1808 from Bath Spa- Great Malvern) raced through Bath Spa without stopping. No sign of the fire but there were plenty of people on the platform.

I'm surprised about what happened in Bath though, gas cannister explosions...

There wasn't any immediate alternative to walking.  Even if FGW^▸ (First Great Western) had been able to organise taxis and buses, the roads round the station were closed.

[Tim]

It is now possible to appreciate the need for such a large exclusion zone around fires involving gas cylinders as it was reported that the remains of one ended up in the river, which was probably only few yards short of the tracks.

I agree!  The fire and explosions were on the roof of the building 3 or 4 storeys up.  To have reached the river, the  cylinder must have travelled oover a road and pedestrain shopping area.  If the story of a cylinder in the river turns out to be true (it was only reported in one Chronicle article) then lots of people had a very lucky escape.  A few yards shorter and the cylinder would have landed on the road, a few yards further (and a bit higher to reach the viaduct) and it would have landed on the railway.

The explosions shook my office a mile away

[tramway]

Over the new bus station apparently, a few degrees either way and it would have either been booking tickets in Bath Spa ticket office or being used as a paper weight on one of the Future publishing's writers desks. 

[Lee]

Developer Multi has restarted work on its ^360 million SouthGate site ahead of schedule after the fire (link below.)
http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/drama-rocks-city-centre/article-346925-detail/article.html

It was not expected to send workers back onto the city centre site until tomorrow but construction was under way again this morning.

The firm says initial indications suggest damage to a block of shops at the construction site is only "minor".

[Chris from Nailsea]

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) News video report, including spectacular footage of the flying gas cylinder, at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7634501.stm 

[Lee]

Bosses at Bath's ^360 million SouthGate development have confirmed progress on the project will not be affected by last week's fire (link below.)
http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/SouthGate-won-t-delay-project/article-364232-detail/article.html