In message , at 14:05:49 on
Fri, 21 Dec 2012, Graham Harrison
remarked:
The BBC seems to be trying to blame the fire at Westbourne Park (and
I'm beginning to wonder if that is actually where the fire is/was) for
all the chaos but I find that very difficult to believe.

It's an improvement on the earlier BBC News that ran with a top story
about the weather, and how it was affecting roads and trains "and now
over to our man in Bristol" who then described cancellations to
Paddington. And right at the end almost didn't mention - "Oh by the way,
nothing to do with flooding it was a fire".
--
Roland Perry

In article ,
(Graham Harrison) wrote:

"CJB" wrote in message

...
Does anyone know why ALL trains to / from Heathrow have been cancelled
without notice for TWO days?

Some reports say signal failure, others say cable theft, others say
points failure at Airport Junction, others say was a fire at Paddington.

What IS certain is that the severe disruption into / out of Paddington
has been going on since 11.00 Thursday morning, and are likely to
persist until 15.00 Friday afternoon.

As is typical for FGW / Heathrow NO MANAGEMENT WERE IN SIGHT on the
concourse at Paddington during the day nor during the evening rush-
hour on Thursday.

NO CONTINGENCY PLANS WERE IN PLACE to get airline pax to Heathrow to
make their flights. HEX staff at Paddington were telling pax to get
the Piccadilly Line to Heathrow - actually not that easy to do esp.
with luggage. And T4L were not accepting HEX or HConn tickets.

And the thousands who missed their flights from Heathrow likely also
found that they missed their onward flight connections, missed meeting
accommodation bookings, and are likely to miss spending Christmas with
their relatives / friends. And with the Christmas getaway now in full
swing thousands will find that rebooking flights is not an option
before the New Year.

Also most (all?) Intercity trains from Paddington to the West were
cancelled. Again rebooking is likely to be an issue since all
subsequent trains are likely to be fully booked. And trains are not
likely to be running again until later Friday afternoon.

What few trains that were running - mainly Intercitys - were not
stopping at local stations due to over-crowding or more likely not
having stop orders issued. So pax at local stations had to wait and
wait and wait until a train condescended to stop for them.

Wonderful chaos as usual. And FGW / Heathriw / NetworkRail management
doesn't give a damn.

I think (but can't be absolutely sure) that yesterday (Thursday 20th)
there was a "signal failure" in the Slough/Southall area. This was
followed by a further failure on the Heathrow branch. Today (Friday
21st) there has been a fire somewhere around Westbourne Park.

What I'm less clear about is what effect each one has had. I assume
the suspension of HeX and HC is due to the problems on the branch but
I can't help feeling that the removal of those trains has been a
benefit to the rest of the operation because, however many trains may
be suffering at least those 6 each way every hour are out of the way.
The original signal failure seems to have left only 2 lines
operational.

The BBC seems to be trying to blame the fire at Westbourne Park (and
I'm beginning to wonder if that is actually where the fire is/was)
for all the chaos but I find that very difficult to believe.

Isn't another problem that HEX and HC use the relief Lines and only the Main
are available so far?

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On Dec 21, 2:31*pm, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 14:05:49 on
Fri, 21 Dec 2012, Graham Harrison
remarked:

The BBC seems to be trying to blame the fire at Westbourne Park (and
I'm beginning to wonder if that is actually where the fire is/was) for
all the chaos but I find that very difficult to believe.

It's an improvement on the earlier BBC News that ran with a top story
about the weather, and how it was affecting roads and trains "and now
over to our man in Bristol" who then described cancellations to
Paddington. And right at the end almost didn't mention - "Oh by the way,
nothing to do with flooding it was a fire".
--
Roland Perry

Obviously this is the first sign of the 2012 Apocalypse. I'm pretty
sure this is a government plot to divert people's attention from the
rapidly approaching fireball, that will wipe out all life in a few
hours time. Alternately, it is the usual problem, our rail network
cannot cope with anything going wrong. We're lucky a snowflake hasn't
fallen on a hilltop in the Chilterns, the whole country would grind to
a halt.

Neill

On Dec 21, 12:03*pm, "Patrick O'Neill" wrote:
"CJB" wrote in message

...







Does anyone know why ALL trains to / from Heathrow have been cancelled
without notice for TWO days?

Some reports say signal failure, others say cable theft, others say
points failure at Airport Junction, others say was a fire at
Paddington.

What IS certain is that the severe disruption into / out of Paddington
has been going on since 11.00 Thursday morning, and are likely to
persist until 15.00 Friday afternoon.

As is typical for FGW / Heathrow NO MANAGEMENT WERE IN SIGHT on the
concourse at Paddington during the day nor during the evening rush-
hour on Thursday.

NO CONTINGENCY PLANS WERE IN PLACE to get airline pax to Heathrow to
make their flights. HEX staff at Paddington were telling pax to get
the Piccadilly Line to Heathrow - actually not that easy to do esp.
with luggage. And T4L were not accepting HEX or HConn tickets.

And the thousands who missed their flights from Heathrow likely also
found that they missed their onward flight connections, missed meeting
accommodation bookings, and are likely to miss spending Christmas with
their relatives / friends. And with the Christmas getaway now in full
swing thousands will find that rebooking flights is not an option
before the New Year.

Also most (all?) Intercity trains from Paddington to the West were
cancelled. Again rebooking is likely to be an issue since all
subsequent trains are likely to be fully booked. And trains are not
likely to be running again until later Friday afternoon.

What few trains that were running - mainly Intercitys - were not
stopping at local stations due to over-crowding or more likely not
having stop orders issued. So pax at local stations had to wait and
wait and wait until a train condescended to stop for them.

Wonderful chaos as usual. And FGW / Heathriw */ NetworkRail management
doesn't give a damn.

The Acton Relay room has gone pop together with serious damage to lineside
cabinets.

The website at:

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/servic...ons/today.html

states:

====

Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect

Services are currently suspended. No replacement transport is in
place.

Passengers may travel between Central London and Heathrow Airport on
London Underground, but a new ticket will need to be purchased.

====

So stuff any pax who bought over-priced HEX or HConn tickets - 15
minutes of fame? Huh!! Par for the course from Heathrow Ltd (ex-BAA).

Why don't they suggest catching a FGW local to Hayes and then the 140
bus. Oh - there are any trains!!

PATHETIC.

CJB.

On Dec 21, 5:00*pm, CJB wrote:
On Dec 21, 12:03*pm, "Patrick O'Neill" wrote:









"CJB" wrote in message

....

Does anyone know why ALL trains to / from Heathrow have been cancelled
without notice for TWO days?

Some reports say signal failure, others say cable theft, others say
points failure at Airport Junction, others say was a fire at
Paddington.

What IS certain is that the severe disruption into / out of Paddington
has been going on since 11.00 Thursday morning, and are likely to
persist until 15.00 Friday afternoon.

As is typical for FGW / Heathrow NO MANAGEMENT WERE IN SIGHT on the
concourse at Paddington during the day nor during the evening rush-
hour on Thursday.

NO CONTINGENCY PLANS WERE IN PLACE to get airline pax to Heathrow to
make their flights. HEX staff at Paddington were telling pax to get
the Piccadilly Line to Heathrow - actually not that easy to do esp.
with luggage. And T4L were not accepting HEX or HConn tickets.

And the thousands who missed their flights from Heathrow likely also
found that they missed their onward flight connections, missed meeting
accommodation bookings, and are likely to miss spending Christmas with
their relatives / friends. And with the Christmas getaway now in full
swing thousands will find that rebooking flights is not an option
before the New Year.

Also most (all?) Intercity trains from Paddington to the West were
cancelled. Again rebooking is likely to be an issue since all
subsequent trains are likely to be fully booked. And trains are not
likely to be running again until later Friday afternoon.

What few trains that were running - mainly Intercitys - were not
stopping at local stations due to over-crowding or more likely not
having stop orders issued. So pax at local stations had to wait and
wait and wait until a train condescended to stop for them.

Wonderful chaos as usual. And FGW / Heathriw */ NetworkRail management
doesn't give a damn.

The Acton Relay room has gone pop together with serious damage to lineside
cabinets.

The website at:

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/servic...ons/today.html

states:

====

Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect

Services are currently suspended. No replacement transport is in
place.

Passengers may travel between Central London and Heathrow Airport on
London Underground, but a new ticket will need to be purchased.

====

So stuff any pax who bought over-priced HEX or HConn tickets - 15
minutes of fame? Huh!! Par for the course from Heathrow Ltd (ex-BAA).

Why don't they suggest catching a FGW local to Hayes and then the 140
bus. Oh - there are any trains!!

PATHETIC.

CJB.

Apparently the disruption will persist until 18.00 on Saturday. So
much for the big get-away.

But with the fires variously reported as being near Acton and
Westbourne Park and Hayes and Preston Park (Brighton) this is
increasingly looking like sabotage.

CJB.

CJB wrote:

Passengers may travel between Central London and Heathrow Airport on
London Underground, but a new ticket will need to be purchased.

The latter part is a disgrace, unless easy-to-obtain-from-abroad refunds
are being given on the much higher HEx fare. If they are, this makes
sense.

Neil
--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK. Put first name before the at to reply.

CJB wrote:

But with the fires variously reported as being near Acton and
Westbourne Park and Hayes and Preston Park (Brighton) this is
increasingly looking like sabotage.

I assume no group has claimed responsibility?

Neil
--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK. Put first name before the at to reply.

wrote in message
...
In article ,
(Graham Harrison) wrote:

"CJB" wrote in message

...
Does anyone know why ALL trains to / from Heathrow have been cancelled
without notice for TWO days?

Some reports say signal failure, others say cable theft, others say
points failure at Airport Junction, others say was a fire at
Paddington.

What IS certain is that the severe disruption into / out of Paddington
has been going on since 11.00 Thursday morning, and are likely to
persist until 15.00 Friday afternoon.

As is typical for FGW / Heathrow NO MANAGEMENT WERE IN SIGHT on the
concourse at Paddington during the day nor during the evening rush-
hour on Thursday.

NO CONTINGENCY PLANS WERE IN PLACE to get airline pax to Heathrow to
make their flights. HEX staff at Paddington were telling pax to get
the Piccadilly Line to Heathrow - actually not that easy to do esp.
with luggage. And T4L were not accepting HEX or HConn tickets.

And the thousands who missed their flights from Heathrow likely also
found that they missed their onward flight connections, missed meeting
accommodation bookings, and are likely to miss spending Christmas with
their relatives / friends. And with the Christmas getaway now in full
swing thousands will find that rebooking flights is not an option
before the New Year.

Also most (all?) Intercity trains from Paddington to the West were
cancelled. Again rebooking is likely to be an issue since all
subsequent trains are likely to be fully booked. And trains are not
likely to be running again until later Friday afternoon.

What few trains that were running - mainly Intercitys - were not
stopping at local stations due to over-crowding or more likely not
having stop orders issued. So pax at local stations had to wait and
wait and wait until a train condescended to stop for them.

Wonderful chaos as usual. And FGW / Heathriw / NetworkRail management
doesn't give a damn.

I think (but can't be absolutely sure) that yesterday (Thursday 20th)
there was a "signal failure" in the Slough/Southall area. This was
followed by a further failure on the Heathrow branch. Today (Friday
21st) there has been a fire somewhere around Westbourne Park.

What I'm less clear about is what effect each one has had. I assume
the suspension of HeX and HC is due to the problems on the branch but
I can't help feeling that the removal of those trains has been a
benefit to the rest of the operation because, however many trains may
be suffering at least those 6 each way every hour are out of the way.
The original signal failure seems to have left only 2 lines
operational.

The BBC seems to be trying to blame the fire at Westbourne Park (and
I'm beginning to wonder if that is actually where the fire is/was)
for all the chaos but I find that very difficult to believe.

Isn't another problem that HEX and HC use the relief Lines and only the
Main
are available so far?

--
Colin Rosenstiel

HEX use the main and HC the relief. One of the problems with Airport
Junction is that it was built to serve the main lines and trying to get HC
to the relief lines means running up trains on the down line flyover so
while the slip from the down main sees the 4 HEX/hour the up slip/flyover
sees 4 up HEX, 2 up HC and 2 down HC/hour.

On 21 Dec 2012 17:11:06 GMT, Neil Williams
wrote:

CJB wrote:

But with the fires variously reported as being near Acton and
Westbourne Park and Hayes and Preston Park (Brighton) this is
increasingly looking like sabotage.

I assume no group has claimed responsibility?

You suspect the Tooting Popular Front ?

In article , wrote:
On Fri, 21 Dec 2012 13:41:05 -0000
"Patrick O'Neill" wrote:
"D7666" wrote in message
...

The Acton Relay room has gone pop together with serious damage to
lineside
cabinets.- Hide quoted text -


Ditto AIUI at Preston Park, fire damaged signmals cabinet and traction
eqpt.

--
Nick

Yes looks worse down there.

What the hell happened? A power surge or sabotage?

The end of the world fizzled out ?

Nick
--
"The Internet, a sort of ersatz counterfeit of real life"
-- Janet Street-Porter, BBC2, 19th March 1996