Power Grid failure in Central London. No power. Very little tube. All
major stations in central London closed. People stuck on trains in the
dark.
So what happened to the back-up station in Greenwich? And legal
requirement to have back-up power that was talked about in posts when it
was discussed here after New York power failure?
I feel sorry for the commuters. I mean its bad enough the **** service
(Ken Livingstone has confirmed the service is **** before anyone
comments) but to be stuck on a tunnel deep underground in the dark. Im
glad I don't work in Central London and get the bus to work.
Anyone know what time it happened? And was it a gradual thing or did
everything stop at once?

--
CJG

In article , CJG NEWSGROUP@ne
wsgroup.no.spam.thanks writes
So what happened to the back-up station in Greenwich? And legal requirement to
have back-up power that was talked about in posts when it was discussed here
after New York power failure?

Spooky, isn't it?
--
"It used to be that what a writer did was type a bit and then stare out of the
window a bit, type a bit, stare out of the window a bit. Networked computers
make these two activities converge, because now the thing you type on and the
window you stare out of are the same thing" - Douglas Adams 28/1/99.

On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 15:15:44 -0400, Roland Perry
wrote:

In article , CJG NEWSGROUP@ne
wsgroup.no.spam.thanks writes
So what happened to the back-up station in Greenwich? And legal requirement to
have back-up power that was talked about in posts when it was discussed here
after New York power failure?

Spooky, isn't it?

I was going into town this evening... got the bus to KX, and got off
to scenes of chaos. Walked back - not an empty square centimetre on
any of the busses - and KX Thameslink was telling everyone who wanted
to go north to go to Kentish Town. Anyone wanting to go south was
going to be disappointed.

The hivis at the tube entrance said that there was no service anywhere
on the Underground, and that they had no idea whether anything would
be running again tonight.

Not very impressive!

R

"Rupert Goodwins" wrote in
message ...
On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 15:15:44 -0400, Roland Perry
wrote:

In article , CJG NEWSGROUP@ne
wsgroup.no.spam.thanks writes
So what happened to the back-up station in Greenwich? And legal
requirement to
have back-up power that was talked about in posts when it was discussed
here
after New York power failure?

Spooky, isn't it?

I was going into town this evening... got the bus to KX, and got off
to scenes of chaos. Walked back - not an empty square centimetre on
any of the busses - and KX Thameslink was telling everyone who wanted
to go north to go to Kentish Town. Anyone wanting to go south was
going to be disappointed.

The hivis at the tube entrance said that there was no service anywhere
on the Underground, and that they had no idea whether anything would
be running again tonight.

Not very impressive!

R

And the website gave NO details at all, showing 'no problems' on the tube
network map.

In article , Rupert Goodwins
writes
On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 15:15:44 -0400, Roland Perry
wrote:

In article , CJG NEWSGROUP@ne
wsgroup.no.spam.thanks writes
So what happened to the back-up station in Greenwich? And legal
requirement to
have back-up power that was talked about in posts when it was discussed here
after New York power failure?

Spooky, isn't it?

I was going into town this evening... got the bus to KX, and got off
to scenes of chaos. Walked back - not an empty square centimetre on
any of the busses - and KX Thameslink was telling everyone who wanted
to go north to go to Kentish Town. Anyone wanting to go south was
going to be disappointed.

The hivis at the tube entrance said that there was no service anywhere
on the Underground, and that they had no idea whether anything would
be running again tonight.

Not very impressive!

R

And no fault of LUL. National Grid failed and LU buy there power via it.
The back up came on line and they were able to shunt some trains but the
supply isn't sufficient to run a full service on.

Or any service for that matter.
--
Andrew
Electronic communications can be altered and therefore the integrity of this
communication can not be guaranteed.
Views expressed in this communication are those of the author and not
associations or companies I am involved with.

CJG wrote:
Power Grid failure in Central London. No power. Very little tube. All
major stations in central London closed. People stuck on trains in the
dark.
So what happened to the back-up station in Greenwich? And legal
requirement to have back-up power that was talked about in posts when
it was discussed here after New York power failure?

Good question! LU's press release "Farewell Lots Road, the future is with
the Grid" on 21 Oct 2002 said "in the event of National Grid failure, Lots
Road's smaller sister station at Greenwich, equipped with quick start gas
turbines, will be used for emergency power, and SPL [Seeboard Powerlink,
LU's power supply contractor] has installed battery lighting at all stations
to provide emergency lighting." This suggests that the purpose of the
emergency supplies is just to enable the network to be quickly and safely
evacuated before the station batteries run down.

Does anyone know if trains were evacuated between stations, or did Greenwich
kick in as planned to provide enough power to move trains into stations?

--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

Orienteer wrote:
And the website gave NO details at all, showing 'no problems' on the
tube network map.

I noticed that. The PC that runs it probably had no power!!!

"Richard J." wrote in
:


Does anyone know if trains were evacuated between stations, or did
Greenwich kick in as planned to provide enough power to move trains
into stations?

I was on a Victoria line train that pulled out of Victoria, got about half
way into the tunnel and braked suddenly. Waited ten minutes and eventually
told to evacuate via part of train still in station. The announcement said
something about a power surge. And then about controller telling him not
to move.

CJG wrote:
comments) but to be stuck on a tunnel deep underground in the dark. Im

They won't have been in the dark at all. Plenty of emergency lighting in the
trains and on platforms, every third tube or so. It just goes a bit dim.

It is amazing how little light the human eye actually needs to see. Just one
solitary 60w light bulb per carriage and I bet you'd still see well enough
to wander around.

CJG wrote:

Anyone know what time it happened? And was it a gradual thing or did
everything stop at once?

It happened at about 6.25-6.30.

I was walking down St Swithin's Lane towards Cannon Street when the
lights went out in an office building on my left.

Got to Cannon St, noticed streetlights were off (they had been on, it
was quite dark) and McD's sign wasn't lit. Thought "power cut, wonder
how localised".

Crossed road and approached Cannon Street station. All but emergency
lights off in arcade. Went up into station, gates open, emergency
lighting only. Train lights on, so traction current presumably ok?
Staff saying no signals, no trains anywhere.

Walked over London Bridge and down to the Elephant, by which time the
power was back on. Must have been about 6.50-7.00. Got a 453 and then
a 436 to Lewisham, then walked.

--
James Farrar |
London SE 13 |