Rail disruption caused by the storms

Graham · Post by **Graham** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 10:41 pm

Major disruptions today caused by the recent storms:

(from the National Rail site)
Summary
Broken down trains at Dawlish, between Exeter St Davids and Newton Abbot

Time reported
18:05

TOC(s) affected
South West Trains, Virgin Trains, Wessex Trains, First Great Western, Arriva Trains Wales

Route affected
All services to from and via Dawlish

Description
Trains services are currently being disrupted due to several broken down trains at Dawlish. Short notice alterations, cancellations and major delays can be expected

Updates

19:05
13:46 Penzance to London Paddington due 18:52 this service has been delayed at Dawlish for over an hour and will be used to take passengers from the broken down train. Delays of up to 3 hours can be expected

20:02
Road replacement has been arranged however only a limited number of coaches are being provided due to driver and crew shortages. It is advised that any wishing to travel this evening does not do so. Normal service is not expected to resume until midday on the 28 October 2004

This was because of the storms in the south west today, a Voyager was delayed over 3 hours...ouch! I was at Bristol when I saw this and was partly caught up in it today...and coupled with Penzance station being closed and trouble between Cheltenham and Worcester it was not a good day for rail travel in Bristol today

Anyone else get caught up in this?

Post by **James** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 3:03 am

I think that Voyager was the service I had intended to catch, the 17:51 from Taunton to Bristol (Plymouth to York service)? Due in at 1829, when I came back to Temple Meads AFTER my concert it still hadn't arrived. It turned up FOUR AND A HALF HOURS LATE! According to one of the station staff it had run into the floodwater at Dawlish and been trapped there as they didn't have any idea how to get it out...guess they don't have compatible couplings or single engines to help out nowadays

Must have been fun for the passengers watching the waves break over their heads

I was saved by a Wessex service that had come into Taunton from the Bristol direction...no floods there

It was pretty stressful waiting before that though, I was at the station for hours, and every time I looked at the information screens they'd added another 40 mins to each journey and I'm not exaggerating! After a while they cancelled one, 4 others were indefinitely delayed, and the rest were over an hour late and getting worse!

I already don't like the Voyagers, so I felt an evil kind of satisfaction to learn the the Virgin train had become trapped because it's underframe-mounted low-slung engines had simply drowned, whereas the HSTs were happilly powering their way through the flood

The Voyager never made it to York, the service was terminated at Birmingham New Street!

Edit: I forgot something...whilst waiting at Taunton, a train of wagons carrying long sections of rail hurtled through, heading south...had the track been washed away again?

Post by **madhattie** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 11:35 am

I wasn't stuck in it myself, but it reminded me of one the best rail journeys I ever made back in my spotting days.

A friend and myself decided to take a trip to Newton Abbot (for no other reason than we'd not been there) and boarded our train at Temple Meads. To our amazement the traction for the journey turned out to be two class 50s, so we got ourselves into the coach right next to the locos. This was in the days of MK1 corridor stock and we had a compartment to ourselves.

The drivers for the day were obviously enthusiasts and they drove those two fifties hard.

When we got to Dawlish the weather was really bad. The waves were crashing right over the top of the train and down the other side, and the coaches were swaying around quite viciously. It didn't seem to deter the drivers though, they just seemed to drive the engines ever harder and the combined racket from the locos, the sea and the wind was awesome. We felt like we were on a rollercoaster ride and our fingers turned white from gripping our seats so hard. Our laughter could probably be heard in the guards compartment at the other end of the train.

My friend and myself departed the train a Newton Abbot with great big grins on our faces, it had been one hell of a ride.

I wonder if anyone will ever enthuse about a Voyager the same way...

Post by **James** » Sun Oct 31, 2004 12:02 am

That can't be good...

Graham · Post by **Graham** » Sun Oct 31, 2004 9:13 pm

James wrote:Edit: I forgot something...whilst waiting at Taunton, a train of wagons carrying long sections of rail hurtled through, heading south...had the track been washed away again?

Yep! On National Rail's site, they later reported that there were "multiple track and points faliures" at Penzance. I'm pretty sure this was why you saw this.

When we got to Dawlish the weather was really bad. The waves were crashing right over the top of the train and down the other side...

This reminds me, did anyone see the photo of the poor Voyager on the track near the Dawlish coast in the Western Daily press? It was stuck there while being lashed by waves. Glad I wasn't on there! Also, apparently, sections of the track along the coast were completely submerged in water.

By the way, this from the disruptions page really makes me laugh:

Road replacement has been arranged however only a limited number of coaches are being provided due to driver and crew shortages. It is advised that any wishing to travel this evening does not do so.

Driver and crew shortages on replacement buses?! I'm REALLY glad I wasn't travelling there then!

Post by **James** » Sun Oct 31, 2004 9:49 pm

Graham wrote: This reminds me, did anyone see the photo of the poor Voyager on the track near the Dawlish coast in the Western Daily press? It was stuck there while being lashed by waves. Glad I wasn't on there!

For three hours remember! Did you save the pic? Any chance of posting it on here? If not can you tell me which issue it was in...I might be able to track down a copy..