Posted 10th February 2009 | No Comments

More bad weather hits train services

Virgin Pendolino (Wolves-Euston) at Canley battling against the weather.

FLOODING, landslips, high winds and fallen trees have replaced snow and ice as the causes of train delays and cancellations today (10 February).

Overnight heavy rain in southern and central England  — turning to snow farther north — has led to a range of problems for rail travellers as far north as Scotland, where ScotRail trains are unable to run between Bathgate and Livingston North because of flooding.

North west of London, at Northolt, flooding is causing delays up to 40 minutes for Chiltern and Wrexham & Shropshire services.

A fallen tree on the line between Nutfield and Redhill means buses are replacing Southern trains between Tonbridge and Redhill with journey-time delays of up to 30 minutes.

Southeastern services have been hit by a landslip in the Meopham area and journeys may be delayed by up to 60 minutes. Trains from London Victoria are being diverted between London and Rochester via Dartford. Trains towards London Victoria are not being diverted but passengers can still expect a delay.

c2c services via Tilbury Town are also being delayed by up to 40 minutes — because of a broken-down train.

On the First Great Western route to the West Country via Westbury there are delays of up to an hour because of flooding in the Pewsey area of Wiltshire.  There is also flooding between Taunton and Exeter St David’s.

Farther south, South West Trains and CrossCountry services are also facing delays up to 60 minutes because of flooding at New Milton.  CrossCountry services are not operating between Southampton and Bournemouth, and SWT is running a shuttle train service between Bournemouth and Weymouth. 

On the Isle of Wight, flooding has closed the Island Line between Ryde Pier Head and Ryde St Johns Road.  Trains are replaced by taxis.

On the East Coast Main Line, flooding at Potters Bar has caused signalling problems, with delays of about 30 minutes.  Altered train services are:

First Capital Connect
A reduced timetable will operate between Peterborough and London Kings Cross and between Cambridge and London Kings Cross
Trains are unable to call at Watton-at-Stone. A replacement bus will run between Hertford North, Watton-at-Stone and Hertford North

National Express East Coast, Grand Central and Hull Trains

Journeys may be delayed by up to 20 minutes

Ticket AcceptanceNational Express East Coast and First Capital Connect are accepting each others’ passengers between Peterborough, Stevenage and London Kings Cross.
Passengers may travel on the London Underground on all reasonable routes
Passengers may travel on National Express East Anglia services between Hertford East and London Liverpool Street and between Enfield Town and London Liverpool Street

On the West Coast Main Line, once again Virgin Trains has a restricted service on all routes to and from London Euston, and with delays by up to 30 minutes, “because of expected bad weather.”

The following Virgin trains will not run:
03 minutes past each hour from London Euston to Birmingham New Street
50 minutes past each hour from Birmingham New Street to London Euston
20 minutes past each hour from London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly
15 minutes past each hour from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston, but the 1915, 2015 and 2115 will run

The following Virgin trains will make additional stops:
23 minutes past each hour from London Euston to Wolverhampton will call additionally at Rugby
45 minutes past each hour from Wolverhampton to London Euston will call additionally at Rugby
00 minutes past each hour from London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly will call additionally at Milton Keynes Central
35 minutes past each hour from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston will call additionally at Milton Keynes Central