Transport Central

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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It will come as little surprise to those of us who use the railways on a regular basis that the government is not really interested in improving the network beyond what exists today. While the government continues to consider railway investment as ‘subsidy’ and ‘cost’ there is little hope of this ever changing in times of such great need.

There are to be no rail reopenings considered except at local authority level for the next seven years, the electrification decision has been postponed again, there will be no decision on a new north-south high speed line until 2012 at the earliest, and there is little forward thinking and guidance from the Department for Transport in these matters. It, therefore, comes, also, as no surprise that ‘investment’ in roads is talked about quite a lot.

The Times ran a very interesting article detailing this phenomenum: the road network is growing fifteen times faster than the railway network. According to The Times, “In five of the past eleven years, no track was added to the domestic rail network, and in the peak years for rail growth, in 2001 and 2002, the network grew by only six miles a year.” Reopenings have happened in Wales and Scotland, however. The Highways Agency has 40 new projects in the planning stages and the only seriously considered railway project is Crossrail which only benefits London and the surrounding area.

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Today was a rather uneventful day compared with the weekend disaster for the West Coast Mainline which is now back in operation again after Network Rail carried out emergency engineering works between Preston and Carlisle to make whatever repairs were necessary and to clean things up. Other events today were:

• Fatality at Harlow Mill which is situated between Broxbourne and Bishops Stortford (TOC: National Express East Anglia)
• Person hit by a train at Walthamstow Central which is situated between London Liverpool Street and Chingford (TOC: National Express East Anglia)
• Signalling issues affecting the area between Gainsborough Lea Road and Lincoln Central (TOC: East Midlands Trains, Northern Rail)
• Emergency services had to deal with an incident at Blackburn (TOC: Northern Rail)
• Over-running engineering work between Rugby and Northampton (TOC:  London Midland, Virgin Trains)
• Signalling issues in the area between Kettering and Leicester (TOC: East Midlands Trains)

Coming soon to this website will be features detailing each of the franchises and how they have been doing recently. Watch this space!

Today has not been a good day for travellers on the railway network today with the West Coast Mainline effectively shut down in two major areas resulting in train crews and trains being out of place nationally.

The cause of the incidents at Shap between Preston and Carlisle and Hemel Hempstead between Rugby and London were both down to freight containers being blown off freight trains. Network Rail expect the line between Preston and Carlisle to be shut until Monday morning. The screenshot below is just a short snapshot of the train situation today with trains late up to two hours and more and cancelled.

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Today’s network issues facing passengers and other customers today:

• Signalling problems in the Hayes & Harlington area affecting routes in and out of London Paddington (TOC: First Great Western, Heathrow Connect, Heathrow Express)
• Signalling problems at Tamworth (TOC: Virgin Trains)
• There was a bridge struck by a road vehicle at Reigate situated between Guildford and Redhill (TOC: First Great Western, Southern)

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A round-up of today’s railway issues affecting your journeys:

• A problem with a level crossing at Kents Bank situated between Barrow-in-Furness and Lancaster (TOC: First Transpennine Express, Northern Rail)
• Signalling problems at Hunts Cross (TOC: First Transpennine Express, Merseyrail, Northern Rail)
• Trepass incident at Durham situated between Newcastle and Darlington (TOC: CrossCountry, First Transpennine Express, National Express East Coast, Northern Rail)
• Broken down train in the Slateford area (TOC: CrossCountry, First ScotRail, National Express East Coast, Virgin Trains)

A round-up of the issues that blighted our railway network today:

• Problem with a level crossing at Hungerford situated between Reading and Westbury (TOC: First Great Western)
• Broken down train between Birmingham Snow Hill and Birmingham Moor Street (TOC: Chiltern Railways, London Midland)
•  Safety checks in the Seven Sisters area (TOC: National Express East Anglia)

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There were a number of issues on the national rail network today:

• Fatality at Hilsea situated between Havant and Portsmouth Habour (TOC: First Great Western, South West Trains, Southern)
• Person hit by a train at Southall situated between London Paddington and Reading (TOC: First Great Western, Heathrow Connect, Heathrow Express)
• Fatality at Swaythling situated between Eastleigh and Southampton Central (TOC: CrossCountry, South West Trains)

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A quick roundup of the issues facing the railway network today:

• Signalling problems between Lancaster and Carlisle (TOC: First Transpennine Express, Virgin Trains)
• Signalling problems between Cardiff Central and Newport (TOC: Arriva Trains Wales, CrossCountry, First Great Western)
• Emergency engineering works between Preston and Lancaster (TOC: First Transpennine Express, Northern Rail, Virgin Trains)
• Emergency engineering works between Evesham and Moreton-in-Marsh (TOC: First Great Western) Read more »

A roundup of the issues facing the rail network today:

• Signalling problems in the Birmingham Moor Street area (TOC: Chiltern Railways, London Midland)
• Signalling problems in the Walsall area (TOC: London Midland)
• Signalling problems between Portsmouth Harbour and Fratton (TOC: First Great Western, South West Trains, Southern) – again!

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