Posted 17th February 2022 | 4 Comments
Trains still disrupted, and more bad weather is coming
Engineers are out in force on railways in several parts of Britain after Storm Dudley caused damage and disruption overnight. Many train services in Scotland are not expected to restart until after 10.00 this morning, and there are also problems in the north of England and west midlands. Some platforms are closed at Wolverhampton after the station roof was damaged by wind, and fallen trees have interrupted train services between Manchester Airport and Wilmslow, and between Shipley and Skipton. More bad weather is expected soon, because another storm is approaching the British Isles. Storm Eunice is expected to be at its worst in central, southern and south west England tomorrow.
Reader Comments:
Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.
Hugh Gillies-Smith, South Milford
Steve, neither Mr Pearce or myself said they were to quote you "good old days'.
Incidently Clapham was nothing to do with the weather. My comment and Mr Pierce's comments are solely to do with the weather.
Steve, Milton Keynes
Regardong previous posts, I wouldn't look back at "the good old days" without taking your rose-tinted specs off. The 1980s was liberally peppered with safety incidents, poor working practices, and 80+ deaths, 35 in the Clapham rail disaster alone. We now have 1 of the safest railways in Europe. We should not have to compromise the safety of those on the railway, whether that be as a workplace or whether you're a travelling passenger.
Hugh Gillies-Smith, South Milford
Bring back British Rail and their predessors where trains ran until they were forceably stopped and then a rescue train/loco sent out. No belief in a crystal ball in those days of dubious reliability; they just got on with the job of running the trains.
Tony Pearce, Reading
I remember the great storm of 1987 which was a violent cyclone that occurred on the night of 15–16 October, with hurricane-force winds causing 20 casualties in the UK. I turned up at Tilehurst Station to watch a tree fall across the line at the Paddington end. When our DMU turned up, the Driver said not to worry because he thought he could push the Tree out of the way with his Buffers. At slow speed that is what happened and we continued without any time loss. He wouldn't, and couldn't, do that today.