London Banter - View Single Post - Massive Disruption at Paddington

Graham Harrison[_2_] · December 23rd 12, 08:20 AM posted to uk.railway,uk.transport.london

"Denis McMahon" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 22 Dec 2012 23:25:15 +0000, Graham Harrison wrote:

I'll be interested to see what they do around Exeter. Apparently the
reason why the line between Taunton and Exeter has been (is still?)
closed today is that some form of defense has been built to stop the
flood waters damaging the track but it means trains can't run.

I think it's the electronics in this hut that's the main concern:

http://goo.gl/maps/wC8m5

As I understand it from the fire service post on the web, the fire
service had 4 crews allocated for 3 hours to help protect signalling
equipment at the junction:

http://www.dsfire.gov.uk/news/newsde...entDetail.cfm?
IncidentID=22885&siteCategoryId=3&T1ID=26&T2ID=35

http://tinyurl.com/ck8zvzo

"Fire crews will be helping to protect the main Plymouth to London train
line at Cowley Bridge, Exeter, from the threat of disruption from
flooding during the early hours of Saturday morning.

The line was closed during a period of adverse weather at the end of last
month after the nearby river overflowed and led to the line being closed.

Following warnings today from the Met Office and Environment Agency, the
rail company has requested the assistance of fire crews to help prevent
floodwater from damaging signalling at the junction, which could lead to
the line closing again.

Four fire crews will construct barriers from around 12midnight to 3am on
Saturday morning to help divert water away from the Cowley Bridge
junction area.

The actions of the fire crews are designed to keep damage to a minimum to
help protect an important part of the south west’s transport
infrastructure."

It also looks as if they've laid some large tubes across the track north
of the bridge that the google link above refers to, I guess they're to
carry water pumped out from an area East of the A396 into the river,
presumably to stop it flowing across the road and perhaps washing out the
ballast. That looks like it could be the reason the lines have been
blocked, but that may be primarily to protect housing East of the A396
rather than the line - I guess they're expecting more water than the
existing culverts into the Exe can cope with - so that bit may be an EA /
LA rather than FRS activity.

http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk/VIDEO-...-travel-South-
West/story-17656490-detail/story.html

http://tinyurl.com/bvfufwt

--
Denis McMahon,

Reports this morning (Sunday 23/12) suggest the track has been inundated
again.