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Post by stapler on Sept 26, 2015 17:27:40 GMT
Today (Sat 26th pm), there was complete chaos at Leytonstone following an incident variously describes as signal failure or track circuit failure at Oxford Circus.
Very few (c 1 per 15 min) trains were getting through EB. The usual Leytonstone-Epping shuttle was/had been apparently in operation. Travelled on an EB Leytonstone terminator, absolutely rammed at Stratford (where there were no announcements). Train was terminated on plat 2 and returned PDQ to West Ruislip, without WB passengers being so informed save by the describer. Train arrives on the WB from Epping in Plat 3. Much speculation among bemused EB passengers on plats 1 and 2 (some of whom has been waiting an hour) that it is a Loughton train. Doors are closed. Train moves off WB and sits in the centre road. Tannoy that the next Epping train is 19 minutes off near Holborn.
Another train arrives and terminates at Plat 2. About 500 people for the WB decanted and left with no info. I spot the plat 2 describer says Epping and hare down the stairs again. About 400 other people are told 3 minutes later and make the same sprint, only faster. Train proceeds EB and stops outside Woodford, whilst a Loop train is allowed ahead into Woodford platform (thus delaying passengers for the Loop probably another 40 mins). Driver announces train will terminate at Loughton but that an onward train for Epping will be across the platform. It wasn't. Loughton station crowded with the dispossessed wanting to go both EB and WB.
I know a problem in the pipe is very difficult to solve, but badly done, LU!
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Post by superteacher on Sept 26, 2015 17:52:29 GMT
Nothing unusual here. The information and communication from Wood Lane is shocking. They sit in their nice control room and let the station staff deal with irate passengers. As for letting the Hainault train come out of 21 road before the Epping, well, that's just poor.
I appreciate the need to try to keep a service running when there are disruptions, but it's not much use if they don't tell the station staff and passengers what's going on. Wood Lane has the ability to make announcements to all Central line stations. Why is this facility never used? It was in the early days, but they must now think that the pointless, patronising and not to mention inaccurate automatic announcements are sufficient.
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Post by spsmiler on Sept 26, 2015 20:34:19 GMT
How happy I am that I did not venture out today!
The situation at Stratford platform 6 is compounded by the train describer being invisible to those punters waiting near the front of the train.
Simon
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Post by stapler on Sept 27, 2015 8:02:15 GMT
Waht actually was the problem yesterday?
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Post by Dstock7080 on Sept 27, 2015 9:36:12 GMT
Waht actually was the problem yesterday? 13.55 Signal equipment failure Bond Street EB, damage to cable casing; shuttle services implemented Loughton-Epping, Hainault-Woodford. All clear at 18.55. Evening services arranged: 5 trains West Ruislip - North Acton 14 trains Ealing Broadway - Hainault 4 trains Leytonstone - Epping 1 train Hainault - Woodford. |
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Post by stapler on Sept 27, 2015 9:47:20 GMT
14tph on the Hainault branch but only 4 to Epping? That seems absurd!
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Post by superteacher on Sept 27, 2015 10:02:27 GMT
14tph on the Hainault branch but only 4 to Epping? That seems absurd! That's not trains per hour. It's the number of trains which were running each service. |
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Post by stapler on Sept 27, 2015 10:47:14 GMT
Ah, misunderstood. In the hour I was hanging about, only 4 trains came through EB beyond Leytonstone. And only 1 to the Epping line!
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Post by jimini on Sept 27, 2015 12:41:33 GMT
It was a tale of two journeys for me. Arrived at South Woodford on the WB around 1830 and had a 15-minute wait for a Leytonstone terminator. Upon arrival at Leytonstone there was a White City train gleefully sailing out of the adjacent platform with about five people on board. Another 15-minute wait, and then a White City train rolled in and collected us all off the island platform. Total journey time to Liverpool Street of ~ 50 minutes. Got a TfL rail service from Liverpool Street to Stratford after the rugby which departed two mins after I got there, and upon arrival at Stratford there was a South Woodford terminator just pulling into the EB platform alongside  . Journey time of ~18 minutes. All a case of pot luck when there are problems I guess! Did seem a bit odd on the way into town to not hold the EB train to White City at Leytonstone when the Leytonstone terminator was no more than five seconds off making the connection. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2015 17:49:14 GMT
I've moved the discussion about the finer details of the layout at Woodford to its own thread here - it was getting a little odd talking about Woodford in a thread entitled "Chaos at Leytonstone"! 
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2015 17:54:14 GMT
Train arrives on the WB from Epping in Plat 3. Much speculation among bemused EB passengers on plats 1 and 2 (some of whom has been waiting an hour) that it is a Loughton train. Doors are closed. Train moves off WB and sits in the centre road. Tannoy that the next Epping train is 19 minutes off near Holborn. Am I right to think you meant platform 1? (Platform 3 is the eastbound platform towards Hainault and Epping, platform 1 is the half of the island platform that's normally used by trains from Hainault.) In any case, the one that moved off westbound and sat in the centre road may have been doing a mainline shunt and would have eventually made its way into platform 3 and off up to Hainault (most likely, or possibly Epping). This is, of course, the only way back to Hainault from Leytonstone westbound. That would basically explain it, although I agree something along the lines of "this train is out of service" would have been very welcome and, in fact, if my theory is right, the train should have been tipped out properly. Do you know whether it continued off to Leyton (in which case, I'm as baffled as you are), or was it still sat on the westbound main when you left? |
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Post by stapler on Sept 28, 2015 18:30:51 GMT
Sorry - did mean plat 1.
WB train was still on the WB main south of the station when I got away. Must have sat there a good 20mins by then.
It was tipped out, from the rear.
My suspicion was that it had been on the Epping (or Loughton) to Leytonstone shuttle and the driver had run out of hours (but then why not run it back to Loughton (11 mins away) asap?)
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2015 18:43:37 GMT
That's alright, I get platform numbers bottom about face all the time ... My suspicion was that it had been on the Epping (or Loughton) to Leytonstone shuttle and the driver had run out of hours (but then why not run it back to Loughton (11 mins away) asap?) Hmmm, I wonder. If the driver was out of hours, putting it on the mainline would be a strange choice, since there's basically no way for the driver to get off the train once it's parked on the mainline, so if s/he was out of hours, either they'd have been notching up overtime sat on the mainline without actually doing anything useful, or somebody else would have had to drive it there, in which case they could have driven it somewhere in passenger service... I, personally, would be more inclined to think it was heading back to Hainault, although that does rather raise the question of why fart about doing the mainline shunt when that train could have gone back to Epping like the rest of them, with the one that was 19 minutes away at Holborn going to Hainault. The reason for that may well be hours after all, especially if the driver who parked it on the mainline was based at Hainault and due to go home? Of course, it's really not possible to offer much more than best guesses about the whys and wherefores! |
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. Journey time of ~18 minutes.
