Transport Central

A number of issues affected the network today:

• There were overruning engineering works between Oxted and Uckfield / East Grinstead (TOC: Southern)
• There were signalling issues between Nottingham and Worksop (TOC: East Midland Trains)
• There was a security alert at Moorgate (TOC: First Capital Connect)

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National Rail Enquiries will be keeping an up to date summary of routes affected by the line closures on their website. It is very advisable to check this website before travelling over the Easter period Friday to Monday inclusive. The Association of Train Operating Companies has offered a useful summary of the situation:

• “The West Coast Main Line will be closed from Good Friday to Easter Monday between Coventry, Rugby and Northampton and from London Euston on Easter Saturday until Easter Monday. No intercity services will operate from London Euston from Good Friday.  Local train services will operate between London Euston and Northampton only on Good Friday.  Local services will be replaced by buses at other times. Chiltern Railways will accept all valid Virgin and London Midland tickets on London Marylebone to Birmingham services.”
• “The East Coast Main Line from 2pm on Easter Saturday to 2pm on Easter Sunday, when services between London King’s Cross, the North East of England and Scotland will be diverted via Leeds due to work between Doncaster and York.”

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UPDATE: This action has been suspended pending further discussions. 

South West Trains are facing industrial action in the form of strikes due to Aslef members voting to reject a 4.5% pay increase. The strike action is planned for four days: 31 March, 1 April, 2 April and 3 April. South West Trains say they have met with the union informally today in an effort to avoid the action.

The company is planning to run a limited service and use replacement bus services for other services where possible. In a statement on its website the company’s Managing Director, Stewart Palmer, said:

“We regret the significant disruption this will cause to our passengers and we reassure them that we will do everything we can to avoid this strike taking place However if they do go ahead we will pull out all the stops to run as many trains and buses as we can.

“We are very disappointed that ASLEF has taken this decision as we believe that this is a very good offer in the current economic climate.”

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London Midland has gotten off to a relatively good start with a big rise in punctuality over the previous two periods (85% to a shave off 90%) which is something not seen that much under the previous operator. One can see that to be true when travelling on London Midland’s services as they seem to operate without issues and certainly good things are being said about them in the press.

London Midland is in the process of refurbishing its older trains at the moment with the first trains being rolled out on their West Midlands services (picture from londonmidland.com) over the next six months at the rate of one a week:

These are fairly standard three-car trains and will receive new seat covers, interiors and facilities for people with sight problems. These have also been ‘deep cleaned’ so they should be looking nice inside very soon too. Some of the carriages are receiving “intelligent sensors” to assist with the counting of passengers and identify overcrowding so something can be done about it. This sounds quite interesting and it will be good to know how well this works.

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There are a number of issues affecting the network today:

• There are signalling problems affecting the Redbridge area near to Southampton Central (TOC: CrossCountry, First Great Western, South West Trains)
• There has been a fatality between Leeds and Wakefield Westgate (TOC: CrossCountry, East Midlands Trains, National Express East Coast, Northern Rail)
• There has been a broken down train between Oxted and Uckfield (TOC: Southern)

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Here’s a quick summary of today’s railway incidents:

• There was a fatality at Harrow & Wealdstone which is situated between London Euston and Watford Junction (TOC: London Midland, London Overground, Southern, Virgin Trains)
• There were two separate events of signalling issues at Llansamlet which is situated between Bridgend and Swansea (TOC: Arriva Trains Wales, First Great Western)
•  There was a fatality at Tile Hill which is situated between Coventry and Birmingham New Street (TOC: CrossCountry, London Midland, Virgin Trains)

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RAIL 587 reports that Deutsche Bahn (DB) and EWS, which is owned by Deutsche Bahn since last year, have launched container freight traffic from Duisburg to Manchester using the Channel Tunnel.

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There were a number of issues affecting the railway network on 12 March 2008.

• There were overhead line issues between Doncaster and York (TOC: CrossCountry, Grand Central, Hull Trains, National Express East Coast). This is still on-going and there are no through services between the North East and Scotland. National Rail Enquiries are advising passengers to delay non-essential journeys until Friday when tickets will still be valid.
• There was a tree on the line between Chester and Hooton (TOC: Merseyrail)
• There was a broken down train at Bootle Oriel Road situated between Liverpool Central and Southport (TOC: Merseyrail)

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Due to the severe weather conditions, Virgin Trains have cancelled a large number of services in the morning today. You are advised to check alternative routes if possible or try to squeeze on those few trains still remaining if you must travel today.

The following services are cancelled:

• London Euston to Birmingham New Street: 07:08, 8:10, 9:10, 10:10, 11:10, 12:10
• Birmingham New Street to London Euston: 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, 14:00
• London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly: 07:35, 08:35, 9:35, 9:38, 10:35, 11:35
• Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston: 08:15, 09:15, 10:15, 11:15, 12:15, 13:15, 14:05, 14:15

The following services are expected to suffer problems:

• London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street: unaffected, delays of up to 60 minutes
• Liverpool Lime Street to London Euston: unaffected, delays of up to 60 minutes
• London Euston to Scotland routes: unaffected but heavy delays expected
• London Euston to and from Holyhead: route unaffected

East Midlands Trains’ customers are advised to check the announcement on the TOC’s website.

This is due to speed restrictions in force between 9:00 and 14:00 for the following Train Operating Companies: East Midlands Trains, First Capital Connect, First Transpennine Express, Grand Central, London Midland, Virgin Trains.

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Here’s a roundup of the issues that affected the railway network today:

• Broken down train in the Egham area (TOC: South West Trains)
• Severe weather affecting various services (TOC: All)
• Broken down train at Pilning (TOC: CrossCountry, First Great Western)

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