The Great Bear Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 The line between East Grinstead and Hurst Green is closed to repair a landslide between Dormans and East Grinstead with bus replacment service. https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/242588.aspx Closure until March has been mentioned? I thought there was a trailing crossover at Lingfield, could not trains be terminated there? I suppose there is not enough demand to warrant that or are there operational issues - is the crossover locally operated requiring staff? Plus it does appear to be too close to the down platform to cope with 12 car trains. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickham Green Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 Two for the price of one - they're still working on this slip nearby https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-regions/southern/tonbridge-to-redhill-line-closure Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmporiaSub Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 The crossover requires the use of a Mobile Operations Manager or similar. Consequently it ties them up in the event of an incident elsewhere. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium phil-b259 Posted February 13, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 13, 2020 (edited) 7 hours ago, The Great Bear said: The line between East Grinstead and Hurst Green is closed to repair a landslide between Dormans and East Grinstead with bus replacment service. https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/242588.aspx Closure until March has been mentioned? I thought there was a trailing crossover at Lingfield, could not trains be terminated there? I suppose there is not enough demand to warrant that or are there operational issues - is the crossover locally operated requiring staff? Plus it does appear to be too close to the down platform to cope with 12 car trains. The crossovers Lingfield is worked locally by a ground frame and lacks any signals. It’s there to allow engineering trains to change lines inside possessions. Such things were the norm during British Rail days (assuming the crossover wasn’t ripped out completely). These days NR is more enlightened and the crossovers at Billingshurs + Pullborough were upgraded during the Arun Valley resignalling (including the installation of wrong direction starting signals) so using them for turn backs is easily done by the signaller at Three Bridges. At Lingfield however, to use the crossover for ordinary services you need to do what NR are doing at Edenbridge to turn back services from Tonbridge - get a MOM to staff the ground frame and give verbal instructions to traincrew as necessary because there are no signals governing movements. This operation is pain in the backside - but due to the large volume of school children who use the Edenbridge to Tonbridge section, bus replacement on weekdays is not viable (but it is on weekends when the number of travellers are lower). Whether NR consider it necessary to put in place similar arrangements at Lingfield will thus depend on what the various stakeholders say - but it should be noted that tying up a MOM at Lingfield will have a knock on effect as far as incident response on the BML propper goes. (Edenbridge is covered by Kent based staff). Any Lingfield operation would need to be covered by the Redhill, Selhurst orThree Bridges MOMs.) Edited February 13, 2020 by phil-b259 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Bear Posted February 13, 2020 Author Share Posted February 13, 2020 (edited) 49 minutes ago, phil-b259 said: Whether NR consider it necessary to put in place similar arrangements at Lingfield will thus depend on what the various stakeholders say - but it should be noted that tying up a MOM at Lingfield will have a knock on effect as far as incident response on the BML propper Thanks, that's very informative info on the crossover and its background, Phil. I expect it not to be used then, it does sound like a faff and I doubt demand justifies. Whereas i think 6 years ago when there was the slip south of Oxted tunnel they turned trains at Woldhingham using a similar arrangement to that you describe but the demand for Woldingham-Sanderstead would justify that. Edited February 13, 2020 by The Great Bear Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Bear Posted February 13, 2020 Author Share Posted February 13, 2020 (edited) Maybe I spoke too soon. It appears Southern trains are going to run from tommorrow from Lingfield. https://twitter.com/NetworkRailSE/status/1227996254770167811 (And well done to the NR chap for explaining all this.) Edited February 13, 2020 by The Great Bear Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium phil-b259 Posted February 13, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 13, 2020 22 minutes ago, The Great Bear said: Maybe I spoke too soon. It appears Southern trains are going to run from tommorrow from Lingfield. https://twitter.com/NetworkRailSE/status/1227996254770167811 (And well done to the NR chap for explaining all this.) Hmm, I wonder who is covering ground frame duties. I will make enquiries.... As for the NR chap - he is the CEO of the new ‘Southern Region’ and while I don’t doubt his sincerity, at the end of the day his pay and the ability to hold onto that position are very much bound up with the ‘performance’ of the region. Keeping passengers on-side is thus very important to him - particularly as the region has had a pretty rough time of late and is missing all its performance targets. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickham Green Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 Couldn't be bothered reading all that twitter - but I guess reinstatement of trains at Lingfield is something to do with the geegees ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Bear Posted February 14, 2020 Author Share Posted February 14, 2020 3 minutes ago, Wickham Green said: Couldn't be bothered reading all that twitter - but I guess reinstatement of trains at Lingfield is something to do with the geegees ! Maybe but there is also some amount of schools traffic on the line a bit southbound to Lingfield Notre Dame but mostly northward to Oxted, Woldingham and Croydon. The contingency plans seemed to be working this morning, to the extent of having a Thameslink train starting at Oxted waiting to depart after the Victoria service from Lingfield had left. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickham Green Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 Thameslink train ? ...... no, I said geegees not cattle trucks ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmporiaSub Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 The number of passengers that use Lingfield far exceeds the total for Edenbridge to Tonbridge, and with East Grinstead having at least 3 times the number of passengers that Lingfield does, then I suspect GTR would have ‘requested’ trains operate to / from Lingfield, but no doubt with a proviso that if something goes wrong on the Brighton Mainline, then the NR MOM is taken away to cover. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium phil-b259 Posted February 14, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 14, 2020 Returning from a company medical at Victoria this afternoon I encountered a very confused chap questioning a newly employed member of station staff about the ‘East Grinstead train’. After his dismay at there being no such trains till March it turns out what he actually wanted was a train that stopped at Sandersted...... I advised him to check the departure board for the next Lingfield departure. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Bear Posted February 14, 2020 Author Share Posted February 14, 2020 Well after a hard day's work (more than they've seen in years I would guess), the points at Lingfield have apparently failed so trains terminating this evening at Hurst Green. Or maybe the folks working them are now unavailable...? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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