suspended due to adverse weather

Sky News showed helicopter footage of the Chesham Shuttle "powering" its way through the snow fall.

Just to add - I'd think the A stock got a pretty thorough test early in life in 1963!

Hopefully that's just because train 2 of the fleet wasn't designated as a de icing train and not because of some masive oversight and none will be de icers.

Would have thought it might have been sensible to have put whatever de icing gear is planned into this train to enable it to be tested through this winter, by next winter I'd guess a good number of trains will have been built and if it don't work...!

Yes it would have been a good opportunity to see how the equipment would work in the worst possible conditions. Another chance missed!

Whilst hoping not to cause a thread drift, I'm feeling the need to pick you up on your comments there MetControl....

Climate change (which is a natural occurrence BTW), means we can expect to see more extremes in our weather - so yes we'll get warmer summers, but also colder winters.

Global warming is something else, being peddled by those that seem to think we can alter climate change by changing the way do things - they use fad's like "carbon footprint" to convince us it's possible.

I really should start a new thread on this as I could go on and on talking about it all day long!...

I remember the winter of 1963 as well, the family had just moved to the Wirral, near Liverpool. It was so cold that the sea, near the house, had an ice edge to it. We were also impressed, being wussy Southerners, to see the Northern Lights flashing in the evening sky, I was sat at the window by my parents to watch them.

We were about 1/2 mile from the 3rd rail electric line from Liverpool Central across the Wirral, it was very cold and icy (more so than this week), but someone in the family should have realised that all that flashing reflected in the low clouds and travelling slowly east to west, or vice versa, happened about once every 10 minutes

Platform staff are scored on making the "move inside the cars" message. No matter how obvious it may be, if a mystery shopper is on the platform and certain elements aren't heard, the staff member gets downscored. This means we also have the crazy scenario where staff will say "use the full length of the platform" to an empty platform, and "move right down inside" an empty train.

Yes, I saw that yesterday as well. Around Moor Park the snow was up to (and in places around) the conductor rails on the fast lines, and they had lots of patches of snow and ice on top. Where they didn't, a thin layer of rust could be seen. It looks like only the Chiltern trains have been using the fast line, which makes sense - only the conductor rails on the local lines need to be kept clear, and with all trains using them the chances of getting coated in snow are reduced. Is this a standard practice during weather like this, or an operational decision taken by those in the know?

I was wondering if all the engineering work was still going ahead because of the snow - obviously the line closures can't be changed.

I went to London yesterday and the Met was running very well. The fast lines looked very icey, but the plus side was there was 10tph running on the lines so they were kept clear.

Good luck today boys.

Perhaps on a 4-track section to minimise the problems if it comes to grief?

Why?! Is this the same person who decides that we should be told there's a good service every 30 seconds? Doesn't someone use a bit of common sense and realise there's no point in asking people to use the full length of the platform when nobody is there?

The problem is that common sense can't be measured. If it can't be measured, there's no point in doing it as it won't improve someone's performance figures.

Well during the daytime Saturday service I would be inclined to go along with that - BUT - Sundays and evenings the Chilterns run every hour, and even with a change at Northwood it would still be quicker than waiting, and people also want to go to Moor Park.

Not all of the closures have been for track replacement. A lot of signalling work has also taken place as part of the general upgrade of the line ready for S-stock etc. This weekend, the actual track replacement is in the Baker Street/Edgware Road area, which is protected from the elements as it's within the tunnel. The rest of the shutdown was in relation to signalling works.

Chiltern was running a half-hourly service today on it's Aylesbury-Marylebone route. The running and timing of Chilterns is actually initially their decision. As far as I can recall from a previous discussion with a manager, if a section of their normal route is to be shut for engineering works, they will be informed of the closure plan, and will tailor their service to what they wish to run. This is then taken into account and the final timetable drafted to tie everything in with our services.

Providing a half-decent service from Amersham, coinciding with the "clockface" departures many people will expect, and then timetabling it into the Chiltern connections at Harrow (and keeping in mind the signalling/layout restraints) it is not always possible to provide quick, simple and smooth connections from ex-Amersham to Chiltern trains.

As for this weekend, and running only to Northwood, this is weather related. The main lines are shut to our trains. The service was planned to be reversed at Harrow. Without the use of Harrow Platform 2, this would have meant trying to fit the Amersham service in with the Watford service that reversing at Harrow. Both services would be fighting to use platform 5, the siding and then platform 4.

To withdraw the service would have meant only a half-hour Chiltern service serving stations north of Moor Park. At least by running to Northwood, the Amersham Met service can be kept running, and passengers can then connect into trains to Harrow.

Cancelling engineering work is normally out of the question. The planning begins months in advance, and despite it looking like we just shut the line and start work, the cost of cancelling such projects is immense. For some projects, to cancel them could mean that project falling behind by many months or even years - or maybe never happening at all.

It's not ideal. Even I had no better alternative than walking from Kings Cross to Baker Street (don't even mention buses). But even with the weather and the engineering works, we're still doing much better than many other operators in the country.