Trains delayed

Hotchilidog · Apr 30, 2015

Ernest said:
Front line staff all have as I did when I worked a Blackberry with all the up to date plans and individual train information, the problem is the lack of staff and frontline managers to make sure the information gets out

Sounds like the front line staff could worse than subscribe to this thread, as there does appear to be proper explanations on here. My thoughts go out to those having to deal with an irate and exhausted public today. I also look forward to Gatwick being fun when I get there tonight. I'll get home when I get home and be happy with that.

HawkTheSeagull · Apr 30, 2015

Hotchilidog said:
Sounds like the front line staff could worse than subscribe to this thread, as there does appear to be proper explanations on here. My thoughts go out to those having to deal with an irate and exhausted public today. I also look forward to Gatwick being fun when I get there tonight. I'll get home when I get home and be happy with that.

Frontline staff often have to fend for themselves with no info, by the time it comes out, its too late. Have seen lots of praise on Twitter for the staff who were evacuating trains, also the on-train staff who were also of course stranded as well.

Hotchilidog · Apr 30, 2015

HawkTheSeagull said:
Frontline staff often have to fend for themselves with no info, by the time it comes out, its too late. Have seen lots of praise on Twitter for the staff who were evacuating trains, also the on-train staff who were also of course stranded as well.

Those people deserve all the praise they get. They quite often have less info than passengers well armed with smartphones. I have nothing but admiration for them when times get tough.

Simgull · Apr 30, 2015

Just got on a fairly empty southbound train at Clapham junction. Seems some trains now running, can't understand why it was not rammed coming out of Victoria unless crowd control is holding people back?

Herr Tubthumper · Apr 30, 2015

Hotchilidog said:
Those people deserve all the praise they get. They quite often have less info than passengers well armed with smartphones. I have nothing but admiration for them when times get tough.

This. I remember getting caught up in the Xmas eve chaos a few years back. Had to get from Victoria to Craft Beer Brighton with no train running from Victoria to Brighton at all. It was my iPhone, NSC, especially [MENTION=38]Beach Hut[/MENTION] , and my brother who got me to the pub on time.

Scoffers · Apr 30, 2015

HawkTheSeagull said:
A faulty conductor rail knocked the shoegear (which picks up the power supply from the 3rd rail) off a train, which ended up being stuck. That in turn caused a major power failure which stalled trains on the same line. A couple were evacuated and 1 was hauled back to Wandsworth by a diesel locomotive.

Things took ages to sort as it wasnt quickly realised how severe the problem was, at first it was just 1 stranded train which could have been rescued easily, but the power was soon knocked out to the whole Clapham and Wandsworth area, making things 1 Million times worse. Therefore you had already stretched resources further stretched which resulted in people being stuck with no power, air con, toilets or water for around 5 hours in some cases - that is unacceptable.

Southern will no doubt be forking out millions for this.....which will all of course be paid out by Network Rail as their infrastructure caused all of this today.

For the evening rush, a queuing system is in place at Victoria with only 2 lines open between Battersea and Balham (the other 2 lines are shut for emergency works and blocked by stranded trains). Using Thameslink is the best option, mainly from St Pancras and Farringdon which would be less busy than London Bridge or Blackfriars.

VERY smart move - I followed your advice, Victoria was shafted, so went to St Pancras and got on an empty Thameslink train, skipped London Bridge and currently on the way to East Croydon

NSC wins!!!

Scoffers · Apr 30, 2015

Arrived at East Croydon, a lot of very flustered commuters. Not nice. At least trains appear to be moving

HawkTheSeagull · Apr 30, 2015

Scoffers said:
VERY smart move - I followed your advice, Victoria was shafted, so went to St Pancras and got on an empty Thameslink train, skipped London Bridge and currently on the way to East Croydon

NSC wins!!!

Its always the best thing during disruption and why Thameslink is incredibly useful, but using St Pancras or Farringdon is always a better choice than Blackfriars or London Bridge as you would almost certainly get a seat !!

Scoffers · Apr 30, 2015

Simgull said:
Just got on a fairly empty southbound train at Clapham junction. Seems some trains now running, can't understand why it was not rammed coming out of Victoria unless crowd control is holding people back?

I was at Victoria 10 minutes later and there were zero trains going south

Beach Hut · Apr 30, 2015

Left London and now arriving at Gatwick so see what runs from here

alfredmizen · Apr 30, 2015

HawkTheSeagull said:
Its always the best thing during disruption and why Thameslink is incredibly useful, but using St Pancras or Farringdon is always a better choice than Blackfriars or London Bridge as you would almost certainly get a seat !!

You will at city Thameslink as well.

Gwylan · Apr 30, 2015

I thought everything would be OK to LB this evening but have just arrived back home after abandoning the attempt at Brighton. Was supposed to be seeing Merchant of Venice at the Globe but wasn't sure I'd get there on time and wasn't going to let Thameslink have my pound of flesh.

Will everything be sorted by tonight? Mrs Gwylan has to get an early train to London tomorrow

Scoffers · Apr 30, 2015

Gwylan said:
I thought everything would be OK to LB this evening but have just arrived back home after abandoning the attempt at Brighton. Was supposed to be seeing Merchant of Venice at the Globe but wasn't sure I'd get there on time and wasn't going to let Thameslink have my pound of flesh.

Will everything be sorted by tonight? Mrs Gwylan has to get an early train to London tomorrow

Current Update

Earlier electrical supply problems between Wandsworth Common and Clapham Junction caused major disruption to services into and out of London Victoria. Although Network Rail has repaired the damaged conductor rail, there is still a very limited service into and out of Victoria.
If you are able, please avoid Victoria and travel on different routes into and out of London. Southern tickets are valid on London Underground, London Bus, London Tramlink, South West Trains, Southeastern, and Thameslink services.

Services will be disrupted this evening with delays, cancellations and short notice alterations as trains and train crews will be out of place.
There will be a reduced service from Victoria to Brighton.
Gatwick Express services will run as normal, but will call additionally at Clapham Junction and East Croydon. Southern tickets will be valid on Gatwick Express services today.

So they say its fixed but there are still delays. I assume this is due to displaced trains and crew

Who knows, tomorrow presents a whole new opportunity to completely screw things up

beorhthelm · Apr 30, 2015

Gwylan said:
Will everything be sorted by tonight? Mrs Gwylan has to get an early train to London tomorrow

i'd aim to get the very first Thameslink.

CherryInHove · Apr 30, 2015

They've replied to a tweet saying that it is too early for them to comment on what the services will be like tomorrow, which probably means that they'll still be broken.

Gwylan · Apr 30, 2015

I didn't want to rely on information from the train companies' websites - they told me there were no delays between Brighton and LB this evening. I was hoping that someone on here would have more idea

Beach Hut · Apr 30, 2015

Waiting at Hove for a train to Shoreham which will be packed solid no doubt, grrrr

CherryInHove · Apr 30, 2015

[tweet]593856376113393664[/tweet]

theboybilly · May 1, 2015

It was embarrassing yesterday. I was meant to start at Victoria at 12.30 for my shift as a Gatwick Express driver but because nothing was moving from Shoreham or Brighton I rode up to Gatwick and then made my way to work via Blackfriars. I was a bit late but no GEXs were up and running so I had a full messroom of drivers to greet me on arrival. At about 4pm a call was put out for 5 drivers to go to various depots to bring out empty coaching stock to get the service up and running. Gatwick Express would just run to Gatwick (no Brighton through services) with extra stops at Clapham Jct and East Croydon to help clear platforms. But it was clear from the beginning there was a total lack of information as people kept asking me if I was going to Eastbourne at East Croydon (one gent even remained on the train at Gatwick until I informed him I was taking the train back to London - after an initial few swear words he was okay, most commuters are as they are used to it I'm afraid)

At the end of my shift there was more embarrassment as for one reason or another 2 consecutive GEXs were cancelled (punters having been left on the train on Platform 14 for half an hour with no information) and the 20.44 10-car service being replaced at the last minute (with passengers on board) with a 5-car on Platform 16 which left 20 minutes late. Instead of me getting home a little before 10 I got home at half past eleven. I'm not looking for sympathy, just showing the staff have to suffer this nonsense too. All the while nothing ever seems to have been learned. There will be a meeting somewhere in due course and the ' service recovery' will be discussed but I think the subject of what biscuits to have with their coffee will be more of a priority.

pasty · May 1, 2015

Gwylan said:
I didn't want to rely on information from the train companies' websites - they told me there were no delays between Brighton and LB this evening. I was hoping that someone on here would have more idea

The National Rail website was not much better yesterday. Fortunately I was wfh, but out of morbid curiosity, I checked the website to look at my usual 1814 from Victoria to Brighton. The "Live Departures From Victoria" page of the website showed its status as "On Time", yet the "Live Arrivals At Brighton" showed the same trains status as "Cancelled" How does that work then :shrug:

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