suspended due to adverse weather

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.