Commuters beware... London Bridge

[Ernest]

1723 to Eastbourne
1742 to Littlehampton

Starting at East Croydon

 

[Ernest]

1657 to Littlehampton starting at East Croydon

LB to Horsham stoppers diverted to/from Victoria

 

[Hamilton]

Unfortunately a big hole has appeared under the tracks and has spread thus leaving only one line available , one of the up lines

That doesn't sound like something that will be fixed in the morning?

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

That doesn't sound like something that will be fixed in the morning?

According to Twitter, Network Rail are estimating a 6PM fix. Sounds a bit far-fetched if its a "large hole". Surely its got to be properly checked so maybe, i dont know, a train doesnt fall through ? Then it actually needs fixing.

 

[Simster]

Unfortunately a big hole has appeared under the tracks and has spread thus leaving only one line available , one of the up lines

What is more likely:

a) a big hole has just appeared and spread over the course of the day, meaning that most lines on one of the busiest and most expensive commuter routes in Europe is rendered unusable for hours.
or
b) a hole has been there for months, but because of a combination of there being no profit to shareholders in fixing it and train jobsworths not sufficiently bothered about their customers (or "repairs" being outside the job description) has led to a situation where a small problem becomes a big one and once again, the customer suffers.


The only time this was ever likely to be fixed properly are the three days immediately after another outrageous price hike has been announced, as in my experience, these are the only days we can almost guarantee a reliable service.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Headed straight for Vic, all sems normal here. Sitting on 17:17, due to leave in 2. Fingers crossed.

 

[Hamilton]

Headed straight for Vic, all sems normal here. Sitting on 17:17, due to leave in 2. Fingers crossed.

So? Have you left? I'm intrigued.

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

What is more likely:

a) a big hole has just appeared and spread over the course of the day, meaning that most lines on one of the busiest and most expensive commuter routes in Europe is rendered unusable for hours.
or
b) a hole has been there for months, but because of a combination of there being no profit to shareholders in fixing it and train jobsworths not sufficiently bothered about their customers (or "repairs" being outside the job description) has led to a situation where a small problem becomes a big one and once again, the customer suffers.


The only time this was ever likely to be fixed properly are the three days immediately after another outrageous price hike has been announced, as in my experience, these are the only days we can almost guarantee a reliable service.

Holes dont appear from nowhere, probably aging infrastructure which has eroded over time and finally given way, lucky it wasnt a total failure of the bridge where the whole appeared, could have been a major incident otherwise. This seriously needs investigating.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

So? Have you left? I'm intrigued.

Yup, on the dot, no prob. People standing, but I would imagine that's normal for this train.

Getting a bit busy now we're. at E Croydon

 

[Hamilton]

Yup, on the dot, no prob. People standing, but I would imagine that's normal for this train.

Getting a bit busy now we're. at E Croydon

Good stuff. Fingers crossed that no holes appear between Croydon and Brighton (although I know where I'd like a hole to appear).

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

Yup, on the dot, no prob. People standing, but I would imagine that's normal for this train.

Getting a bit busy now we're. at E Croydon

Always gets busy there - seems like normal from Victoria. Had it been at Croydon where the incident happened.....

 

[Cosmic Joker]

What is more likely:

a) a big hole has just appeared and spread over the course of the day, meaning that most lines on one of the busiest and most expensive commuter routes in Europe is rendered unusable for hours.
or
b) a hole has been there for months, but because of a combination of there being no profit to shareholders in fixing it and train jobsworths not sufficiently bothered about their customers (or "repairs" being outside the job description) has led to a situation where a small problem becomes a big one and once again, the customer suffers.


The only time this was ever likely to be fixed properly are the three days immediately after another outrageous price hike has been announced, as in my experience, these are the only days we can almost guarantee a reliable service.

Whist noticing your cycnicism I'd say a) is quite likely as it does also happen with roads. Usual sequence of events is:
Underground water pipe springs a leak, no-one notices
Leak gets bigger, water flow starts to create cavity a short distance underground, no-one notices
Cavity gets bigger and top begins to approach surface, there might be some flex in the ground conditions but no-one really notices
Top of cavity gives way and falls in, often in heavy rain, hole forms which looks small at first
More material falls into cavity, Hole widens to width of underground cavity, major problems result.
Pipes have to be fixed before filling in the hole does any good.

I don't know if that is anything like what happened here, but I've seen it on roads so seems quite plausible

 

[Arthur]

How big is this ****ing hole if it's taken out 3 lines?

Do you know what it's soooo ****ing unbelievable I reckon it might be true which is why Southern haven't said it's a big hole and were going down the signal failure route earlier.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Always gets busy there - seems like normal from Victoria. Had it been at Croydon where the incident happened.....

... As in the last incident 3 weeks ago. Standstill south of Croydon for hours. Still I got £7 back, so that was worth the 5 hour journey.

 

[Ernest]

Lines now reopened

 

[Cosmic Joker]

OK I've now seen from elsewhere that this is hole in a brick arch near Bricklayers Arms rather than in the ground so my theory from my last post isn't how this one happened. Seems that questions have to be asked about bridge inspection and maintenance regime. I would suspect that this is the bridge over Bolina Road next to the New Den, as the line does split into two different viaducts in this area each carrying three lines.

 

[Brovion]

Whist noticing your cycnicism I'd say a) is quite likely as it does also happen with roads. Usual sequence of events is:
Underground water pipe springs a leak, no-one notices
Leak gets bigger, water flow starts to create cavity a short distance underground, no-one notices
Cavity gets bigger and top begins to approach surface, there might be some flex in the ground conditions but no-one really notices
Top of cavity gives way and falls in, often in heavy rain, hole forms which looks small at first
More material falls into cavity, Hole widens to width of underground cavity, major problems result.
Pipes have to be fixed before filling in the hole does any good.

I don't know if that is anything like what happened here, but I've seen it on roads so seems quite plausible

With a road though you can pick an alternative route. And if that is busy (which happens), then at least you're in relative comfort and aren't crammed in worse than cattle with barely enough room for your lungs to expand and contact.

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

With a road though you can pick an alternative route. And if that is busy (which happens), then at least you're in relative comfort and aren't crammed in worse than cattle with barely enough room for your lungs to expand and contact.

You can pick an alternative route here if you arent stubborn, its called going to Victoria or Elephant and Castle or Blackfriars. It isnt the ONLY way home and you arent being forced via London Bridge.

 

[Buzzer]

If you get the Brighton to Bedford train that avoids London Bridge and goes via Elephant & Castle as Hawk has said. Just got home from that and the line was clear.

 

[Hamilton]

You can pick an alternative route here if you arent stubborn, its called going to Victoria or Elephant and Castle or Blackfriars. It isnt the ONLY way home and you arent being forced via London Bridge.

Are you a commuter Hawk?