Weekend engineering works in the UK

"Tony" <th_1977@m> wrote in message
news:1163366765.390589.170530@b28g2000cwb. o...
>
> In the UK, we have of course had some catching up to do, after
> necessary upgrades were put off for years, but that still doesn't
> explain why our policy has for a long time been to operate a
> second-rate service at weekends, when in the rest of Europe trains
> appear to run quite smoothly.
>
> Tony
>
There have been a number of previous threads about this, and the basic
reasons are twofold. You have inferred one, the catching up. The second is
recent H&S decisions that have prevented work on one line of a pair, so
single line working is no longer a workable option.

Paul

Rich Mackin wrote:
> "Tony" <th_1977@m> wrote in message
> news:1163366765.390589.170530@b28g2000cwb. o...
> > My question is (and I'm not sure I have ever seen a full and clear
> > explanation for this), why do we have this problem when our European
> > neighbours appear not to?
>
> How about non-TGV SNCF? Extended line closures even when they're not needed!
> Don't be fooled into thinking that Europe is some sort of railway utopia!
>
> --
> Rich Mackin (rich-at-richmackin-co-uk)
> MSN: richmackin-at-hotmail-dot-com

In the case of Belgium and Germany lost of alternative routes and
emloying methods of working which allow adjacent running to be kept
open. OBB engineers from Austria are advising NR how to do the same
over here.

"Paul Scott" <notvalidpmscott@> wrote in message
news:k4mdnSXBONUnC8rYnZ2dnUVZ8s-dnZ2d@bt.com...
>
> "Tony" <th_1977@m> wrote in message
> news:1163366765.390589.170530@b28g2000cwb. o...
>>
>> In the UK, we have of course had some catching up to do, after
>> necessary upgrades were put off for years, but that still doesn't
>> explain why our policy has for a long time been to operate a
>> second-rate service at weekends, when in the rest of Europe trains
>> appear to run quite smoothly.
>>
>> Tony
>>
> There have been a number of previous threads about this, and the basic
> reasons are twofold. You have inferred one, the catching up. The second
> is recent H&S decisions that have prevented work on one line of a pair, so
> single line working is no longer a workable option.
>
> Paul

Can they still work on the 2 Slow or 2 Fast lines while trains run on the
other lines?

Or would that depend how nearby they are to the running lines?

"Paul Ebbens" <paulebbens@> wrote in message
news:45579b8f$0$8740$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader02.plus.net...
>

>> There have been a number of previous threads about this, and the basic
>> reasons are twofold. You have inferred one, the catching up. The second
>> is recent H&S decisions that have prevented work on one line of a pair,
>> so single line working is no longer a workable option.
>>
>> Paul
>
> Can they still work on the 2 Slow or 2 Fast lines while trains run on the
> other lines?
>
> Or would that depend how nearby they are to the running lines?

IIRC there would normally be a one line gap required between the work site
and the running pair, so no. However some of the new 4 track sections of
WCML are supposed to have a larger gap down the centre to allow for a
restricted timetable on two tracks.

Paul S

"Paul Scott" <notvalidpmscott@> wrote
>
> IIRC there would normally be a one line gap required between the work site
> and the running pair, so no. However some of the new 4 track sections of
> WCML are supposed to have a larger gap down the centre to allow for a
> restricted timetable on two tracks.
>
Tamworth - Armitage is going to have a sufficient gap between the Up and
Down Fast. It is also having these two lines reversibly signalled, so that
if, for example, the Down pair are blocked for engineering, down trains can
easily be diverted over the up fast, and up trains run over the up slow.

Peter

Paul Scott wrote:
> IIRC there would normally be a one line gap required between the work site
> and the running pair, so no. However some of the new 4 track sections of
> WCML are supposed to have a larger gap down the centre to allow for a
> restricted timetable on two tracks.

Is it not also true that in many cases the whole line will be shutdown
because it means you can employ 'cheaper' workers on, or near, a
non-live line?

Jonathan

On 13 Nov 2006 11:07:04 GMT, rvdborgt+@evonet.be (Rian van der Borgt)
wrote:

>On Mon, 13 Nov 2006 01:16:18 +0000, Ross wrote:
>>On 12 Nov 2006 13:26:05 -0800, Tony wrote in
>><1163366765.390589.170530@b28g2000cwb. ps.com>, seen in
>>uk.railway:
>>>I have often travelled at the weekend in Italy, France, Germany and
>>>Belgium, and my experience is that trains run to a similar schedule as
>>>they do on weekdays. Of course, there are fewer trains than on a
>>>weekday, but end-to-end journey times are just as fast.
>>
>>It wasn't last weekend in Belgium; all Brussels - Gent workings were
>>diverted (via Aalst, I think it was) adding 10-15 minutes to the
>>journey time.
>>
>>No information at the stations, merely a pattern of late running -
>
>There were supposed to be posters announcing the diversions.

I definitely saw one of these posters when I was in Belgium a couple
of weekends ago. That would have been on one of either Oostende,
Brugge, Gent St. Pieters or Brussel Zuid stations.

--
Regards

Mike

mikedotroebuckatgmxdotnet

"JP" <jonporter1052@> wrote in message
news:1163368489.122486.147390@h54g2000cwb. o...
>
> In the case of Belgium and Germany lost of alternative routes and
> emloying methods of working which allow adjacent running to be kept
> open. OBB engineers from Austria are advising NR how to do the same
> over here.

The reps from the country that replaced the Trisanna bridge with just an
overnight blockade!

--
Tim

Selective killfiling - because life's too short

Ross wrote:

> Oh, and no mention of the delay or apology for it on the trains
> themselves. Almost like dear old Blighty.

I don't know - a lot of UK PISes are quite good at showing delays.
Milton Keynes Central's shows them from one (1) minute up, which always
struck me as a bit silly.

Neil

On Mon, 13 Nov 2006, Peter Masson wrote:

> Most passengers wouldn't notice single line working if their train was
> running in the right direction, or bidi signalling was available. But where
> the wrong direction move has to start with a shunt over a trailing crossover
> they probably will notice.

The Leeds - York diversion route (often used by the dark o'clock services)
can catch people out, as it heads out of Leeds towards the west then onto
Castleford, Sherburn and finally to York, rather than leaving towards the
east for the normal route.

If you've seen the train come into the station, it's now heading back in
the direction you saw it come from.

It also takes around 40-45 mins, rather than the usual 25-30, which gets a
few people worried after half an hour and they've still not seen any signs
of approaching York.

One night when I used it, we also had a reversal somewhere (near
Castleford maybe?), which I guess was to reverse back over a crossing,
then forwards again on the 'wrong' line. It felt a bit like the driver had
missed his turning and had to back the train up :P

I think it took the best part of an hour to get home, but still preferable
to the bus they (occasionally) turn out.
--
Chris Johns