Balcombe Tunnel Flooded

[Blue Valkyrie]

Good news, you must owe me one then!

Indeed ! Just got to the real ale bar on Sheffield station and they have Dark Star Hophead. An omen, and the lucky pint has been served

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

Heavy rain expected across the South tonight which will screw services up from tonight until tomorrow morning. Check before you travel and be prepared to leave earlier.

East Midlands Trains ARE now running a service out of St Pancras and since they don't use the overhead power supply - are less likely to be affected by the disruption.

 

[worthingseagull123]

I was using it as an example, flooding, lightning strikes, animals on the line etc also count. Staff do give a shit, mainly because they are often stuck as well. They do do a thankless job at times where they just get abuse from commuters who they are trying to help - often frontline staff have barely any info to work with when they are confronted with hundreds of people wanting info immediately.

The line at Balcombe still has some water on it (hence the reduced service) and there is a speed restriction over it now. IT systems cant predict when or where flooding can occur (though some places are pretty obvious of course) especially when the ground is already soaking wet. With running an intensive service with tight turnarounds at final stations, delays get carried onto the next service, and the one after that, and after that etc - why trains get cancelled and terminated short.

Also, train companies only get 3p from every £1 of train fare as profit. The train companies dont deal with the infrastructure so wont invest in it, though Southern have new trains on the way so your 3p isnt just going into their bank account. Network Rail are the ones who need to sort the infrastructure out. Balcombe Tunnel needs an upgrade, but it will take months to sort with a full closure, even then - people will still moan.

People are fully justified in moaning. In 2014, the service is a shambles. I have still not had a train get me to work on time. 11 days now. Total delays are around 4 and a half hours.

We pay a lot of money for an inept service.

With Balcombe floods, if it floods regulalry, why not do something about it? I am no hydro engineer, but surely draining ditches could prevent flooding. Or is the flooding actually inside the tunnel?

Still we could actual build a second tunnel the then fix the first one. With additional bridge at the Balcombe Viaduct, we could have four tracks right down to Haywards Heath.

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

People are fully justified in moaning. In 2014, the service is a shambles. I have still not had a train get me to work on time. 11 days now. Total delays are around 4 and a half hours.

We pay a lot of money for an inept service.

With Balcombe floods, if it floods regulalry, why not do something about it? I am no hydro engineer, but surely draining ditches could prevent flooding. Or is the flooding actually inside the tunnel?

Still we could actual build a second tunnel the then fix the first one. With additional bridge at the Balcombe Viaduct, we could have four tracks right down to Haywards Heath.

Yes, as it is the companies fault that power companies are having problems, and that the weather is bad (it is of course their fault if they have no staff or if a train breaks down).

The flooding today was caused by heavy rain on already soaked ground - this also caused the A23 to flood. This can't be prevented. Building another tunnel would cost far too much and it would be much cheaper just to close it for 3/4 months to do the work and compensate passengers. Balcombe viaduct would also cost a very high amount to double - it wouldn't be justifiable.