Showing posts with label Network Rail. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Network Rail. Show all posts

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Railway Children Special

There is a rather unusual railtour happening today down in my neck of the woods. Why unusual? Well it will be a train full of enthusiasts that will travel through Chiltern Railways depots, pass across unusual sets of points and will generally reach areas of track and infrastructure only usually ever seen by insiders.

It is hoped that the event will raise £10,000 - £12,500 for Railway Children with ticket sales, on board raffle and sales etc.

The train is being provided by Chiltern completely free of charge, the trains crews are donating their pay to The Railway Children and Network Rail are not charging for their work in planning and  running  the train etc. The whole day has been facilitated by the Branch Line Society.

Below is full detail of the Working Timetable for this unique, interesting and unusual trip. In Twitterland I occasionally use the hashtag "#traingeek". Well, looking at today's itinerary I think that today's trip possibly takes train enthusiasm to a new level. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I hope that a good day is had by all and that lots of money is raised for charity.

Tickets for this event have been sold in advance. If you don't have a special ticket, please do not attempt to board the train.

For operational reasons the timetable for today has been organised into  six different chunks. Hopefully live tracking will be available via the following links, which may act as a historical record just for a day or two.

The timetable data and Real Time Train data has all been extracted using the Real Time Trains web site.
  • 1Z21 (Starts from Maylebone at 1105)
  • 1Z65 (Starts from Gerrards Cross Siding at 1320)
  • 1Z66 (Starts from Aylesbury at 1500)
  • 1Z67 (Starts from Great Missenden at 1710)
  • 1Z68 (Starts from Aylesbury at 1733)
  • 1Z72 (Starts from Bicester North Turnback Siding at 1952)
 =======================================
Working Timetable Information for the Day
=======================================

1Z21 1105 London Marylebone to Gerrards Cross Siding
Operated by CH



STP schedule UID U50894, identity 1Z21

Runs SuO on 26/05/2013 only


TSC 25217004



Unadvertised Express



WTT Working Realtime

Location Arr Dep Dep Dly






London Marylebone formed from 2H19 from Bicester North 1105 1105 RT
Marylebone Up Tunnel Sdgs 1108 1115


London Marylebone 1118 1125 1121 -4
Neasden South Jn pass 1133 1129 -4
Wembley Gcj pass 1135


Wembley Lmd 1137 1227 1220 -7
Wembley Stadium pass 1229 1223 -6
Wembley Siding 1231 1238 1240 2
Wembley Stadium pass 1240 1242 2
Neasden South Jn pass 1242 1243 1
Neasden South Jn Sig Me525 1243 1250


Neasden South Jn pass 1251 1247 -4
Wembley Stadium pass 1253 1252 -1
Sudbury & Harrow Road pass 1254


Sudbury Hill Harrow pass 1254


Northolt Park pass 1255


Northolt Park Jn pass 1257 1256 -1
South Ruislip pass 1258 1256 -2
West Ruislip 1301 1302 1259 -3
Denham pass 1305


Denham Golf Club pass 1306


Gerrards Cross pass 1309 1306 -3
Gerrards Cross Siding 1311

-3






1Z65 1320 Gerrards Cross Siding to Aylesbury
STP schedule UID U50895, identity 1Z65

Runs SuO on 26/05/2013 only


TSC 25217004



Unadvertised Express









WTT Working Realtime

Location Arr Dep Dep Dly






Gerrards Cross Siding 1320 1320 RT
Gerrards Cross pass 1322 1322 RT
Denham Golf Club pass 1323


Denham pass 1324


West Ruislip 1328 1335 1336 1
Denham pass 1338


Denham Golf Club pass 1339


Gerrards Cross pass 1342 1342 RT
Seer Green pass 1344


Beaconsfield pass 1345


High Wycombe pass 1350 1349 -1
West Wycombe pass 1352


Saunderton pass 1355 1353 -2
Princes Risborough 1359 1400 1358 -2
Monks Risborough pass 1406


Little Kimble pass 1413 1410 -3
Aylesbury 1421

-2






1Z66 1500 Aylesbury to Great Missenden







STP schedule UID U50898, identity 1Z66

Runs SuO on 26/05/2013 only


TSC 25217004



Unadvertised Express


This train started from Aylesbury due to a decision by the train operating company (TR)

WTT Working Realtime

Location Arr Dep Dep Dly






Aylesbury 1500


Aylesbury D.M.U. Depot 1505 1537


Aylesbury 1542 1542


Aylesbury (Sdgs 1-7) 1603 1610


Aylesbury 1613 1619


Aylesbury (Sdgs 1-7) 1622 1629


Aylesbury 1632 1633 1626 -7
Aylesbury North Loop 1637 1640 1639 -1
Aylesbury Sig Me302 1642 1649


Aylesbury 1652 1653 1650 -3
Stoke Mandeville pass 1657 1653 -4
Wendover pass 1659 1655 -4
Great Missenden 1704

-4






1Z67 1710 Great Missenden to Aylesbury

STP schedule UID U50899, identity 1Z67

Runs SuO on 26/05/2013 only


TSC 25217004



Unadvertised Express



WTT Working Realtime

Location Arr Dep Arr Dep Dly






Great Missenden 1710
No report
Wendover pass 1718 pass 1710 -8
Stoke Mandeville pass 1720 pass 1714 -6
Aylesbury 1723
1716
-7






1Z68 1733 Aylesbury to Bicester North Turnback Sg
STP schedule UID U50896, identity 1Z68

Runs SuO on 26/05/2013 only


TSC 25217004



Unadvertised Express



WTT Working Realtime

Location Arr Dep Arr Dep Dly






Aylesbury 1733
1734 1
Little Kimble pass 1742 pass 1742 RT
Monks Risborough pass 1745 No report
Princes Risborough pass 1748 pass 1747 -1
Saunderton pass 1752 pass 1751 -1
West Wycombe pass 1755 No report
High Wycombe 1759 1805 1758 1801 -4
West Wycombe pass 1808 No report
Saunderton pass 1811 pass 1806 -5
Princes Risborough 1815 1816 1809 1812 -4
Princes R'boro Ace 1818 1841 1814 1847 6
Princes Risborough 1843 1848 N/R 1847 -1
Princes Risborough Me666 1850 1855 No report
Princes Risborough 1857 1909 1852 1906 -3
Haddenham & Thame Parkway pass 1915 pass 1910 -5
Blackthorne pass 1923 No report
Bicester North 1927 1927 1923 1923 -4
Bicester Signal Me2034 1929 1934 No report
Bicester North 1936 1941 1928 N/R -8
Bicester North Turnback Sg 1943
1932
-11






1Z72 1952 Bicester North Turnback Sg to London Marylebone
STP schedule UID U50897, identity 1Z72

Runs SuO on 26/05/2013 only


TSC 25217004



Unadvertised Express



WTT Working Realtime

Location Arr Dep Arr Dep Dly






Bicester North Turnback Sg 1952
1952 RT
Bicester North 1954 1955 1954 1956 1
Blackthorne pass 1958 No report
Haddenham & Thame Parkway 2007 2008 2006 2008 RT
Princes Risborough pass 2014 pass 2013 -1
Saunderton pass 2017 pass 2015 -2
West Wycombe pass 2019 No report
High Wycombe 2022 2023 2019 2021 -2
Beaconsfield 2029 2030 2027 2028 -2
Seer Green pass 2032 No report
Gerrards Cross 2036 2037 2034 2035 -2
Denham Golf Club pass 2039 No report
Denham pass 2039 No report
West Ruislip pass 2042 pass 2039 -3
South Ruislip pass 2044 pass 2040 -4
Northolt Park Jn pass 2044 No report
Northolt Park pass 2045 No report
Sudbury Hill Harrow pass 2046 No report
Sudbury & Harrow Road pass 2047 No report
Wembley Stadium pass 2049 pass 2044 -5
Neasden South Jn pass 2051 pass 2045 -6
London Marylebone 2059
2052
-7

Edit: While the formating is particularly rubbish, I have now (22:50) edited the WTT above to show what actually happened during the day. All data is drawn from an automated system, hence why some places have no data.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

The Light Bulb

Near where to I live, there is a light bulb. It lights the road and path under a railway bridge.

The light bulb is dead. It is an ex light bulb. It is no more.

Without light, the path under the bridge is pitch black at night. I mean dark, really dark - you could bump into somebody walking in the opposite direction.
  • A neighbour (who originally arranged to have the light installed, and arranged the funding), says that the railway company agreed to maintain the upkeep of the light. He asked me to report the fact that the light had died, to the railway company.
  • The local manager at the railway company declined to fix the light, saying they have no recollection of the agreement to fix it.
  • I then telephoned the Network Rail Help Line. They tell me that as the bridge is a road bridge, the light is likely to be the responsibility of the 'Highways Authority'.
  • I dig further and establish that the District Council maintain very few lights, but that the most likely authority will be the County Council.
  • I speak to the County Council. A very helpful lady zooms in on her map and tells me that they have no lights, for which they are responsible, in our area.
  • We live in the middle of nowhere.
  • The nice lady tells me, with some conviction, that the light will be the responsibility of the local Parish Council. She even provides me with a telephone number for the Parish Clerk.
  • I leave a message for the Parish Clerk, outlining the problem.
  • I then see a senior manager from the local railway company (the actual person who allegedly agreed to maintain the light, some years ago). He re-affirms that there is no corporate memory of the agreement and again declines to help.
  • A conversation then follows with the Parish Clerk, who confirms that the Parish is not a 'Lighting Authority' and maintains no lights whatsoever. He follows it up with an email.
  • I then write to our County Councillor seeking guidance, for I know not what to do next.
  • The neighbour who original told me that the light is broken, then tells me that the light is definitely wired in to the electrics at the nearby station and, indeed, is controlled by the same timer that controls all the lights on the station platforms.
  • We go to look at the light and somebody decides to buy an appropriate light bulb from "Light-Bulbs-R-Us" or similar, and repair the light.
Is this a sign of the 'Big Society'?

I know who I think should repair the light. Any thoughts?

Sunday, December 11, 2011

New Platform Allocations for Marylebone from 12 December 2011

The new Chiltern Railways timetable started today. This means that some trains will have had their allocated platform slots changed at Marylebone.

The table below shows the current planned departure platforms from London Marylebone, for the normal weekday afternoon / evening peak timetable.

A big thank you to Tom Cairns and his web based Timetables App via whom I sourced the Network Rail data. He is a very clever chap.

I cannot stress strongy enough that these platforms are not guaranteed, and are all subject to change at short notice!

You have been warned.


London Marylebone between 1600 and 1859 weekdays from 12th December 2011



Dep Departs to Platform
1600 Gerrards Cross 1
1607 Birmingham Snow Hill 3
1610 Bicester North 2
1613 High Wycombe 4
1626 Aylesbury 2
1630 Birmingham Snow Hill 4
1633 Bicester North 6
1636 High Wycombe 5
1640 Gerrards Cross 1
1643 Aylesbury Vale Parkway 5
1646 Birmingham Moor Street 3
1649 Banbury 2
1653 Aylesbury 3
1656 High Wycombe 4
1707 Kidderminster 1
1710 Stratford-upon-avon 2
1713 Aylesbury 6
1716 Aylesbury Vale Parkway 5
1719 High Wycombe 2
1723 West Ruislip 5
1727 Aylesbury 4
1737 Birmingham Snow Hill 3
1740 Bicester North 3
1743 Princes Risborough 2
1746 Aylesbury Vale Parkway 4
1750 High Wycombe 3
1756 Gerrards Cross 5
1759 Aylesbury 6
1807 Kidderminster 2
1810 Stourbridge Junction 5
1813 Banbury 3
1816 Bicester North 1
1819 Aylesbury Vale Parkway 6
1822 Aylesbury 4
1825 High Wycombe 6
1829 West Ruislip 4
1833 Aylesbury 2
1840 Birmingham Snow Hill 3
1844 Leamington Spa 2
1847 High Wycombe 5
1850 Aylesbury 4
1853 Bicester North 6
1856 Aylesbury 3
1859 High Wycombe 6

E&OE

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Today is a Yellow Day

Actually, in this part of rural Buckinghamshire, it is really rather a nice day. As dusk approaches the sky is a clear blue and the ground is dry. All a marked contrast to the weather up in Birmingham this morning, where it was grey, misty, damp and cold.

Yellow Day?

That refers to the leaf falls expected on the railways and indicates that specialist track treatment trains may be expected out and about today.

The Network Rail waterjet train should currently be at Marylebone... If it is, then it will be leaving (or should that be leafing?) for South Ruislip in about 20 minutes (16:15). It should be at South Ruslip just after 16.30 where it will reverse back towards Greenford, will head under the Central Line down towards Ealing, past Ealing Broadway (just after 5.00pm) before heading off to bed in the Willesden area.

Unless you are in the immediate area, not much excitement there.

Chiltern Railways do also run their own Sandite train. It was trowelling around early this morning, but was tucked up back in bed in Aylesbury before most sensible people were even aware that it was Saturday.

Thank you TC for the info. To be clear - it could be that none of the above happens, but given that there are more fresh leaves on the ground now than on any other day, it should.

Here's a really ropey video of the waterjet train passing down the Metropolitan Line late last Sunday afternoon.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

The Storage of Gas Cylinders

There has been much comment recently regarding the storage of gas cylinders near public transport infrastructure.

Much of this has of course been as a result of a major fire at a scrap-yard in North London earlier this month. The particular scrap-yard is under the M1 Motorway and was so severe that the road had to be closed for several days.

Initially the major problem was that there were Acetylene cylinders thought to be involved with the incident. The London Fire Brigade doesn't like these particular types of gas cylinder as they can become exceedingly unstable and dangerous if involved in a fire. It subsequently transpired that the real issue was that the fire was so serious that the concrete structure holding the motorway up was seriously damaged. This took some serious engineering to repair enough to enable the motorway to be opened.

My local train station, which is in rural Buckinghamshire, has had lots of Network Rail engineers in attendance over the weekend. Actually, so far as I can tell, they were sub-contractors employed by Bam Nuttall. They worked hard for four days with their engineering work (though most of their work is not visible to mere mortals), and they made a fairly good attempt at clearing after themselves.
They've left just one thing. I don't think it's acetylene, but it is quite literally plonked in the middle of the car park. I wonder if it's been forgotten? I wonder if I should tell Chiltern Railways? I wonder if they'll be interested?

Sunday, April 25, 2010

High Speed 2

First things first.

I live in the beautiful Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, to the North West of London. Designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and part of the Green Belt, supposedly safeguarded land.

I like where I live, and moved here for some very specific reasons which include peace & quiet, natural beauty and an abundance of Flora and Fauna. I particularly like the fact that I live in an area that packs in an unbelievable number of Red Kites.

Recently the current government announced its plans for 'High Speed 2', a high speed train line to link London with Birmingham and eventually cities further North. The preferred route will head through West London before diving into a tunnel just before the M25, traveling underground for several miles before emerging to desecrate the landscape somewhere in the Great Missenden area. The line would then continue through the AONB towards Aylesbury and then on towards Birmingham.

The total width of the line and associated workings will be approximately 25 metres wide - the same as the length of a typical municipal swimming pool.

This afternoon I traveled on a Chiltern Railways train from Aylesbury to Amersham - the stretch of line between Wendover, Great Missenden and Amersham passes through some fantastic scenery. The thought of that countryside being forever blighted by a 25 metre wide concrete scar, with electric pylons and express trains passing through every two and a half minutes is not something that fills me with glee. Many people feel the same.

As the proposed route is the preferred choice of the existing Labour government, it is natural that their manifesto has the most specific detail on the proposals. Explicitly it says:

Rebuilding our transport infrastructure

Britain needs to invest in modern, high-capacity and low-carbon transport infrastructure. At the heart of our growth plan is the commitment to a new high-speed rail line, linking North and South. Built in stages, the initial line will link London to Birmingham, Manchester, the East Midlands, Sheffield and Leeds, and then to the North and Scotland. By running through-trains from day one, cities including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle and Liverpool will also be part of the initial network. Journey times will be slashed – those from the West Midlands to London will be as little as 31 minutes. We will consult fully on legislation to take forward our high-speed rail plans within the next Parliament.

I am not overly keen on the proposed route tearing up and through, as it will, a relatively nice part of the South East of our Green and Pleasant Land. I will admit to breathing a sigh of relief that none of the three preferred routes in the HS2 Report cut through or near the valley where I live. Call me a nimby if you like.

The Conservative Party's election manifesto states:
We will begin work immediately on a high speed rail line connecting London and Heathrow with Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, with construction beginning in 2015, as the first step towards our vision of a national network joining up cities across England, Scotland and Wales. Stage two will deliver two new lines bringing the North East, Scotland and Wales into our high speed rail network.

What worries me about this is the directly stated intention to connect HS2 to Heathrow Airport. The reason this causes me concern is the lack of specifics on the stated route that such a line would follow - one possibility is that from being a reasonably content but unhappy nimby, I would become an "Oh my God you've got to knock my house down" nimby. That is not a good position to be in. A level of ambiguity and uncertainty that leads me to dislike a Conservative manifesto pledge.

The Liberal Democrats' transport policy is exceedingly wishy washy on HS2 simply stating:

Only the Liberal Democrats have costed plans to put the passenger first, with plans for a rail renaissance, reopening closed railway lines and new stations and building a High Speed Network to cut journey times to Scotland and the north of England.

So, I have previously been open about my political leanings. I need to cast a vote inside of two weeks. What difference will my single vote make in the context of a relatively safe-seat parliamentary constituency?

I know which political party I believe will be best for the country. I know which party's view is least worst for me on HS2. I know which is potentially the worst for me, and I know which one says nothing to help me form any opinion.

Conundrum, conundrum.

Monday, January 12, 2009

More problems for the West Coast Main Line

There are no trains between Oxenholme Lake District and Carlisle until further notice. This is due to flooding.

Quite a lot of people will be affected by this temporary closure - it effectively blocks the West Coast Main Line for people going to Glasgow and also affects passengers of Transpennine Express.

For up to date information, please visit Network Rail's website (this blog should not be used for up-to-date travel information). This clickable image above was updated at 6.36 this morning, but it is an image and not a live link.

I suspect that the management at Virgin Trains will be particularly frustrated with this latest problem. However the truth is that if you want to drive trains through one of the wettest places in the country, you will occasionally encounter water.

Later: I've got home to note that train services between Oxenholme Lake District and Carlisle resumed at lunchtime. On this occasion UFN was precisely that, and not for too long.

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Falling down around our ears

Anyone with a modicum of interest in public transport in the UK cannot have failed to have noticed the string of problems that have affected the West Coast Main Line over the last few days.

Problems have included:

Now, the first of these incidents was obviously a tragic accident, but the rest do seem to call into question the nature of engineering work and/ or maintenance of the West Coast Main Line infrastructure.

According to reports, Network Rail have set up a major enquiry into the events of this week. That is good to note - in my line of work a Post Incident Review would be instigated for events that would have a far smaller operational or financial cost.

I do not know what staff turnover is like within either Network Rail or its subcontractors, but I do wonder whether the person who has trained people how to tie up the power cables actually knows how to do it?

Monday, December 08, 2008

Is the competition hotting up?

Over a large number of weekends this year, mainly due to engineering works in the Rugby area, Virgin Trains have been running hourly trains from London Euston to Coventry and Birmingham International, diverted up the Chiltern Railways route through rural Buckinghamshire.

According to a Network Rail press release put out today, the engineering work is now complete. Starting from next weekend the number of trains using the West Coast Main Line will increase dramatically, with journey times seeing significant reductions.

This is of course good news for travelers who will see a significant increase in seat capacity between London, Birmingham and stations north.

Hitherto, Chiltern Railways have offered the best value (ie cheapest) easily available fare between London and Birmingham at £5 each way (obviously, subject to restrictions).

In tonight's evening papers were Virgin Trains adverts offering tickets from the same price between London Euston and Birmingham, supposedly from next Sunday which is when the new timetable starts.

What a fantastic way for Virgin to thank Chiltern for their co-operation during the weekends of the Rugby blockade (see press release of 12 June 2008).

I do admire Chiltern Railways, but I've just checked with Virgin and it is possible to get a weekday mid-morning booking next month, from Euston for the promised £5 and the journey is scheduled to be as quick as 1hr 22 min.

Chiltern would appear to have some stiff competition!

Monday, January 01, 2007

A New Year and An Inauspicious Start to it by Network Rail

After a stormy night across the British Isles, a fantastic New Year's firework display from London (seen on the box) and a pleasant evening with friends in Abbots Langley, Network Rail have decided to scotch the best efforts of the Silverlink and Southern train operating companies at offering a good train service today, by offering a major signal failure just south of Watford Junction by way of a New Year gift. Thank you Network Rail.

I am not going to carry this on for the year, but... time lost so far in 2007 due to train delays... 60 minutes. As the song goes; "It can only get better."

Happy New Year!


Signalling problem between London Euston and Watford Junction


Time Reported: 12:18
Route Affected: London Euston - Watford Junction - Milton Keynes Central - Northampton/Rugby - Birmingham New Street/Manchester Piccadilly/Liverpool Lime Street
TOC/s Affected: Silverlink, Virgin Trains
Description: Train services between London Euston and Watford Junction are being disrupted due to a signalling problem.

Alterations and delays to services can be expected.

There is currently no estimate for a normal service to resume.
Updates:
14:35 Train services are suspended again between London Euston and Watford Junction in both directions. Alterations and delays of up to 90 minutes can be expected.
Silverlink County are running two trains per hour between Hemel Hempstead and Northampton in both directions, departing Hemel Hempstead at xx:06 and xx:36, departing Northampton at xx:02 and xx:32. Silverlink County tickets are being accepted on the London Underground between London and Watford, also on Midland Mainline services between London and Wellingborough, on First Capital Connect services between London and Bedford, and on Chiltern Railways services.
Virgin Trains services are making additional calls at Tring for Silverlink County passengers travelling to/from Watford Junction.
Virgin Trains are terminating services at Watford Junction. Passengers can complete their journey to London using Silverlink Metro services. Midland Mainline are accepting Virgin Trains tickets.
14:58 Southern services between Clapham Junction and Watford Junction are now starting from/terminating at Wembley Central. Passengers can use Silverlink Metro services between Wembley Central and Watford Junction.

18:34 Train services are able to operate normally again between London Euston and Watford Junction. But residual alterations and delays of up to 90 minutes are still likely for the next 2-3 hours.
Time reported cleared: 20:29

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

When Does Four Plus Two Become Three and a Half?

It was only after chatting about this with a former station announcer earlier this evening, that I remembered that I had forgotten to blog a recent incident.

I have previously mentioned that Marylebone Station now has six platforms rather than four, as was previously the case. Yomping is optional to Platforms 4, 5 & 6.

One day last week while travelling in to London during the rush hour, we sat in the tunnels outside Marylebone for 25 minutes with not so much as a by-your-leave. An explanation was given as 'congestion at Marylebone'. Strange- that shouldn't happen with an extra 50% platform capacity.

No trains went past us, leaving the station.

When we eventually arrived at the terminus, there were two empty platforms, we pulled into an otherwise empty (third) platform and a train immediately left, totally vacating another platform.

So, within one minute of arriving there were two long full platforms, one (with our train in) half full and three empty platforms. Hardly congested.

Clearly the 'A-Team' were not on duty that morning at the Network Rail Signalling Centre. Probably nothing to do with Chiltern Railways.

I am only a passenger so clearly have no knowldge on how a railway is run, but it did seem daft that we were delayed for 25 minutes for no real reason.

Oh- And my maths may be out!

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Watford Junction - New Year's Day Timetable Rant

See if you can fathom this one out:

New Year's Day, lunchtime.
Silverlink County operating hourly stopping services southbound from Northampton. ALL terminate (contrary to published New Year's Day Timetable), arriving at Watford Junction at xx.26

Silverlink Metro operating hourly stopping services southbound from Watford Junction departing at xx.22

Southern operating hourly service southbound services from Watford Junction departing at xx.22, first stop Harrow & Wealdstone then Kensington Olympia.

What sort of idiot makes up these timetables? I was of course aiming for Harrow & Wealdstone. In the end Virgin Trains agreed to accept southbound to Euston- so with 95% of the passengers having been herded outside to catch a 'Fast Coach' to Euston, a small number of us lucky cattle were able to get on a big fancy red train resulting in me going the long way round, probably quicker than any other means. Oh- and the screens weren't showing any Virgin Trains going south, because they are only timetabled to drop off.

What exactly is it that Network Rail do? Grrrrrr...