Trains to London Over XMas

[ditchy]

Not Sure if this is Fixtures and apologies if it is but not looking good
Rail passengers face post-Christmas misery

RAIL passengers face "aggravation and chaos" over Christmas, with no trains at all serving Redhill, Reigate, Merstham and Horley stations over a seven-day period.

Other stations, such as Oxted, Upper Warlingham and Hurst Green, could be inundated with passengers on diversions.

A combination of work on a new platform at Gatwick and improvements to the Brighton mainline means there will be no direct trains between Brighton and London Victoria between Boxing Day and January 1.

Southern Rail advises passengers travelling from Brighton to take a bus from Three Bridges to East Grinstead for a direct train to Victoria.

In addition, there will be no Gatwick Express service to London during the same period, with passengers also advised to take a bus to East Grinstead.

Brian Blackmole, 57, a regular commuter on the Oxted line, said: "There has been no notice about what the service is going to be like. It's a recipe for disaster. I'm predicting nothing but aggravation and chaos."

But a Southern Rail spokesman said there had been an extensive campaign to inform passengers of the disruption, including announcements and posters at train stations and online. He said an extra 130 staff were being brought in to work on trains and at the stations affected, and trains will run every half an hour to and from East Grinstead.

A spokesman for First Great Western – which runs trains from Reading to Gatwick via Dorking, Reigate and Redhill – said that line would also not operate during the same period.



Read more: http://www.surreymirror.co.uk/Rail-...o=email_newsletter_surreymirror#ixzz2npGuhfVP

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Think there was a thread about this. Major disruption to services. The scheduled end time for the work is 04:00 on the morning of Jan 2nd (yeah, right !). The chances of me getting to work during the first week of Jan are slim to zero, I would guess (and have already warned my boss).

 

[teaboy]

Not Sure if this is Fixtures and apologies if it is but not looking good
Rail passengers face post-Christmas misery

RAIL passengers face "aggravation and chaos" over Christmas, with no trains at all serving Redhill, Reigate, Merstham and Horley stations over a seven-day period.

Other stations, such as Oxted, Upper Warlingham and Hurst Green, could be inundated with passengers on diversions.

A combination of work on a new platform at Gatwick and improvements to the Brighton mainline means there will be no direct trains between Brighton and London Victoria between Boxing Day and January 1.

Southern Rail advises passengers travelling from Brighton to take a bus from Three Bridges to East Grinstead for a direct train to Victoria.

In addition, there will be no Gatwick Express service to London during the same period, with passengers also advised to take a bus to East Grinstead.

Brian Blackmole, 57, a regular commuter on the Oxted line, said: "There has been no notice about what the service is going to be like. It's a recipe for disaster. I'm predicting nothing but aggravation and chaos."

But a Southern Rail spokesman said there had been an extensive campaign to inform passengers of the disruption, including announcements and posters at train stations and online. He said an extra 130 staff were being brought in to work on trains and at the stations affected, and trains will run every half an hour to and from East Grinstead.

A spokesman for First Great Western – which runs trains from Reading to Gatwick via Dorking, Reigate and Redhill – said that line would also not operate during the same period.



Read more: http://www.surreymirror.co.uk/Rail-...o=email_newsletter_surreymirror#ixzz2npGuhfVP

By "No notice" does he mean "at least 1 weeks notice"? It's not uncommon for there to be rail works over the Christmas period - it's sensible as there are fewer users so fewer people are inconvenienced.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

By "No notice" does he mean "at least 1 weeks notice"? It's not uncommon for there to be rail works over the Christmas period - it's sensible as there are fewer users so fewer people are inconvenienced.

I didn't read that bit, but I've known about this work for probably 2 months, so would contest a claim of no notice.

 

[beorhthelm]

By "No notice" does he mean "at least 1 weeks notice"? It's not uncommon for there to be rail works over the Christmas period - it's sensible as there are fewer users so fewer people are inconvenienced.

by no notice he mean he hasnt noticed the adverts and announcments made for the past 6 weeks. at least thats how long they've been telling us about the work on the Brighton Mainline. i predict a good deal of inconvenience to those having to make their way in to London, but no chaos as half commuters will be on holibobs and half of those left will arrange work from home.

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

There has been notice of ALL the major work taking place for the last 3 months and plans were finalised and made public in October. Posters went up at Southern stations early last month warning of all the disruption and more recently e-mails have been sent to all those on the Southern database - yet people STILL claim they havent had any notice !!

Oxted, Upper Warlingham and Hurst Green wont be "inundated with extra passengers" either as the buses from Gatwick/Three Bridges are going to East Grinstead and wont effect the latter stations, additional trains are also running between East Grinstead and London to cope with the extra passengers. The normal trains might be busier though.

And yes, Southern are getting in extra staff (on temp contracts of course) but since they arent getting much training - dont hold much hope of getting any info from them - best check online.

Basically, that article is a load of shite and they havent researched properly !!

 

[Tricky Dicky]

There has been notice of ALL the major work taking place for the last 3 months and plans were finalised and made public in October. Posters went up at Southern stations early last month warning of all the disruption and more recently e-mails have been sent to all those on the Southern database - yet people STILL claim they havent had any notice !!

Oxted, Upper Warlingham and Hurst Green wont be "inundated with extra passengers" either as the buses from Gatwick/Three Bridges are going to East Grinstead and wont effect the latter stations, additional trains are also running between East Grinstead and London to cope with the extra passengers. The normal trains might be busier though.

And yes, Southern are getting in extra staff (on temp contracts of course) but since they arent getting much training - dont hold much hope of getting any info from them - best check online.

Basically, that article is a load of shite and they havent researched properly !!

What are the chances of the work being completed on time ? Is it impossible to say ?

 

[LU7 RED]

New Years day is a bit of a bugger for us Bmth exiles coming from London direction. Shame our match at the AMEX wasn't a bog standard saturday.

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

What are the chances of the work being completed on time ? Is it impossible to say ?

Depends on who is doing the work and what the weather is like.

Work at Victoria will be completed before New Year and Gatwick shouldnt be too much of an issue either. The junction replacement at Purley is the biggest risk by far as it is a huge job to do. If working in London, id take Thursday the 2nd off too - just in case.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Depends on who is doing the work and what the weather is like.

Work at Victoria will be completed before New Year and Gatwick shouldnt be too much of an issue either. The junction replacement at Purley is the biggest risk by far as it is a huge job to do. If working in London, id take Thursday the 2nd off too - just in case.

My boss has been warned. From previous experience, I feel I'll be lucky if I get back in on Mon the 6th, but we'll see.

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

My boss has been warned. From previous experience, I feel I'll be lucky if I get back in on Mon the 6th, but we'll see.

6th should be fine, take everything off up until then. With any big engineering task, theres always a risk of an overrun. Strong winds are forecasted over Xmas too, which isnt going to help the work - put it that way.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Strong winds are forecasted over Xmas too, which isnt going to help the work - put it that way.

too many Brussel sprouts !

 

[Napper]

How's it going ? On schedule ?

 

[Brovion]

Well I've bought a car. After nearly four years without one I've finally admitted defeat and I now accept that living on the edge of Brighton (Fiveways) and having a reasonably busy life and commitments outside of the Brighton area I cannot afford to waste any more time waiting for buses or trains or sitting impotently in them whilst they pootle along in their own sweet time. That is before you add the fact that the buses stop at the first snowflake and the entire southern rail network grinds to a halt every time a signal fails. I'm not even going to mention the current weather disruptions.

 

[horshamite]

Speaking as one of those recruited on a temporary contract to help out with the 'Christmas Blockade' as it is known, I can assure you all that you will indeed be getting a lot of relevant information from us. Given the added disruptions caused by the weather (floods, landslips etc) the train situation can change day by day and even hour by hour. The information on the internet will be as accurate as it can be when posted but experience has already shown that it can quickly be out of date as things 'evolve' (landslip, floods etc again). You will be getting information 'from the horses mouth' when travelling. The key is to get yourself as informed as you can be (internet journey planner) and to allow plenty of extra time to complete your journey compared to usual travelling times.

(If my boss reads this it will either get me promoted or sacked!)

ps I chose the 4am to 12 shift so I could make the Bournemouth match

 

[Durlston]

On my way back from Salisbury/Barnet and seeing Edgar Davids sent off for the third time this season. Quick change at Southampton with the train going to Three Bridges. Will be easier changing at Worthing I reckon with the limited London trains.

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

How's it going ? On schedule ?

Slight delay as of yesterday afternoon. Work to repair the landslides on the Redhill and Quarry Lines is also going well and should be sorted by next Thursday.

 

[Napper]

Slight delay as of yesterday afternoon. Work to repair the landslides on the Redhill and Quarry Lines is also going well and should be sorted by next Thursday.

Does this impact on the planned east grinstead to Lon bridge service first thing mon and tue do you know ? Nre says it is ok ?

 

[Danny-Boy]

Depends on who is doing the work and what the weather is like.

Work at Victoria will be completed before New Year and Gatwick shouldnt be too much of an issue either. The junction replacement at Purley is the biggest risk by far as it is a huge job to do. If working in London, id take Thursday the 2nd off too - just in case.

It took me 5 hours Purley to Seaford today by bus. All for free mind. Did consider if I could get on a rail replacement bus at Redhill..

 

[Danny-Boy]

On my way back from Salisbury/Barnet and seeing Edgar Davids sent off for the third time this season. Quick change at Southampton with the train going to Three Bridges. Will be easier changing at Worthing I reckon with the limited London trains.

What is it with Davids? He seems to have a short fuse. Does he still wear that facemask?