Latest news with #railreplacement
BBC News
06-08-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
West Cumbria rail replacement bus disruption 'unacceptable'
Calls have been made to address "unacceptable" issues with a rail replacement service that has left passengers is running buses instead of trains between Workington and Sellafield in West Cumbria after a survey found issues with the tunnel floor at buses cannot run through Braystones and Nethertown, Northern said, leaving the villages without a service and other passengers complaining about missing and delayed MacAlister, Labour MP for Whitehaven and Workington, wrote to Northern asking it to address the issues quickly. A spokesperson for Northern and Network Rail apologised, saying: "We understand how frustrating this disruption is." MacAlister's letter said: "I have had reports of some buses not turning up, others severely delayed, some not stopping at scheduled stations, leaving people stranded."He added some drivers were allowing dogs, while others were not, causing confusion for said: "The confusion and disruption is unacceptable, especially as this is going to continue for most of the year." 'Urgent changes needed' Northern said it planned to run replacement buses between Sellafield and Workington until 10 11 August, the buses would run between the nuclear site and and Network Rail said: "From Monday, trains will run to Whitehaven on the northern side of the tunnel, and we are looking at the options available to be able to run trains to Corkickle on the other side."But MacAlister said he had been told by "experienced engineers" there was no reason for such a large railway closure and he wanted to see just the section between Whitehaven and Corkickle closed, with buses running between the stations. He asked the rail firm to give its "urgent attention" to implementing changes so that buses are only needed for the shorter route, meaning Braystones and Nethertown would no longer be "isolated".Network Rail carried out survey work last week, ahead of a planned three-week closure from 30 August to replace tracks and carry out drainage of the line had been affected by contaminated water flowing from abandoned mines through Bransty railway tunnel and discharging into the harbour at Whitehaven, causing the water to turn the survey engineers discovered further repairs to the tunnel floor were Rail said this would likely mean a delay to the planned work. Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
04-08-2025
- BBC News
Bristol: Rail disruption as train blocks line near Avonmouth
Dozens of trains have been cancelled after signalling issues led to a freight train blocking a line near Avonmouth. Disruption on the route between Bristol Temple Meads and Severn Beach is expected until at least 12:00 BST, with no service running between Clifton Down and Severn Beach. Rail replacement buses in the form of 16-seater minibuses have been put in place but these will not run to the train timetable due to the extended journey time by road, Great Western Railway said. Train tickets are also being accepted on a number of local bus services at no extra cost.
CBS News
06-07-2025
- CBS News
Pittsburgh Regional Transit to temporarily close portion of Red Line for rail replacement project
Pittsburgh Regional Transit will temporarily close a portion of the Red Line for almost two weeks starting Tuesday, July 8, as crews complete a rail replacement project near Dawn Station. The work is scheduled to continue through Saturday, July 19. Crews will work to replace tracks that have been in service since 1982, according to a media release from PRT. As a result, Red Line service will be suspended between Westfield Station and South Hills Junction throughout the project. A Red Line rail shuttle will operate inbound and outbound between Westfield and Overbrook Junction stations. Riders traveling inbound to Pittsburgh Riders traveling inbound to Downtown Pittsburgh between Overbrook Junction and Westfield stations are advised to take the outbound Red Line shuttle to Overbrook Junction, walk to Willow Station and board any Blue, Silver, or detoured Red Line train into the city. Riders traveling outbound from Pittsburgh to Castle Shannon, Mount Lebanon, Dormont or Beechview Riders should board any outbound Blue, Silver, or Red Line car from Pittsburgh, travel to Willow Station, walk to the inbound platform of Overbrook Junction and ride the inbound Red Line rail shuttle to your destination. Riders traveling outbound to South Hills destinations Riders should use the Red Line shuttle to Overbrook Junction, then board regular service. Dawn Avenue Stop closures The Dawn Avenue bus stop on the South Busway will be closed during the project. Additionally, the busway ramp from West Liberty Avenue and the stairway to Dawn Avenue will be closed. Due to space constraints, PRT says no temporary stop can be safely provided in this area. Riders are advised to seek alternate transportation options. Anyone with questions is asked to contact PRT's customer service channels. Representatives can be reached by phone at 412-442-2000, on X or via live chat on PRT's website.
RNZ News
24-06-2025
- RNZ News
Here are all the Auckland train disruptions this school holidays
Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi Aucklanders who take the train will face more disruption this upcoming school holidays. Several train services have been in and out of action while the city's new underground rail network the City Rail Link expected to open in late 2026 was under construction. For 16 days from Saturday 28 June to Sunday 13 July, coinciding with the school and University break, no trains would run between Puhinui and Pukekohe stations on the Southern Line. There would also be fewer train services on all lines except for the Onehunga Line during that time. The pedestrian crossing at Takaanini Station would be closed to pedestrians. On the last weekend of the school holidays, 12-13 July, trains from New Lynn to Swanson on the Western Line would be suspended. Kiwirail said the partial rail network closure was needed for them to replace old foundations under tracks and upgrade drainage. Auckland Transport said there would be rail replacement buses for the closed parts of the Southern Line, including an express service from Franklin. Commuters were encouraged to check AT's website and mobile app for all temporary disruptions to the train network affecting them.
Telegraph
25-05-2025
- Telegraph
I travelled on Britain's first renationalised train (and it took four times longer than usual)
'Rail Replacement Bus': three of the most depressing words in the English language. It's 5.08am, and rain is lashing at the prison-high walls of Woking station, a key commuter stop in the depths of Surrey, the steel shutters covering the entrance rattling but refusing to budge. It looks like a gloomy start for Britain's first nationalised rail service for 30 years. But then the sun comes out, the shutters lift and the train waiting on platform three is ready to leave. It's just deeply unfortunate for the Labour government that, on what should have been a rather momentous day in Labour's brave new world of rail renationalisation, over half of my journey to London is going to be replaced by a bus. Still, this hasn't thwarted the half a dozen hardy souls about to pile on board the 5.36am to Waterloo. For Rob Potter and his former colleague Steve, it's an excuse to crack open the Laphroaig single malt. 'Trains,' he says grandly, 'are the finest form of transport in the world.' Sadly, not many of the people he dealt with when he worked for South Western Railway as their customer services manager would have agreed. Rob Potter - a retired Rail worker who was in the Customer complaints department at South Western Railways toasts the re-nationalisation. Users of Tripadvisor, the travel website, have given the service so many one-star reviews it's hard to find anything positive about it. (Another passenger tells me about the time he saw another South Western Railway manager – not 60-year-old Potter, mercifully – sharing a box of Celebrations with passengers one Christmas, before being angrily mobbed for his troubles, such was the level of general discontent.) In fact, customer dissatisfaction is a major reason South Western Railway was replaced with a Government-run body when the franchise ran out at 1.59am on Sunday morning. Eventually, all the privatised rail companies will come back under government control. 'It's one promise Keir Starmer is keeping and should get credit for,' says Potter. But fellow passenger Guy Holmes, a member of Warwickshire County Cricket Club, is less optimistic. He's in a rush to get to the ground for his team's derby match against local rivals Worcestershire. His connection to Euston is crucial but complex. 'There are several permutations of the journey and other engineering work to contend with,' he tells me anxiously. Matthew Tam, a 27-year-old experimental physicist at University College London, is cut from a different cloth, however. He was first in the queue to board the train at Woking and is one of a smattering of train enthusiasts braving the tedious engineering works today. Last week he was filming a new tram in Liege and posts videos of his travels around Europe by bus and train on his YouTube channel. He says that when he isn't thinking about quantum computing, he thinks about the management, integration and optimisation of public transport networks. Remarkably, he finds that Britain's myriad small rail and bus companies adds a stimulating element of confusion that his former home in Hong Kong lacks. In what can only be described as a unique example of a 'glass half full' attitude, he thinks the uniformity, efficiency and punctuality of Hong Kong's public transport is 'boring'. 'Some of my friends don't really understand. Everything arrives on time and the trains don't break down,' he says. He sees the frequent breakdowns and service failures on the rail network as puzzles to be figured out (unlike regular passengers, who find them a pain in the proverbial). I've got until Surbiton, on the London/Surrey border, before the rail replacement bus section of the line kicks in. It doesn't take long to get there, but it's quite a feat that we've actually made it anywhere: the 455 electric locomotive pulling the eight carriages from Woking to Surbiton is, after more than 60 years in service, showing its age. Streaks of dirt mar its once cheery orange, blue and yellow livery. Inside, the plum-coloured plush on the seats is wearing thin. A new blue and silver livery has been unveiled to mark South Western Railway's transition back into public ownership, but the new trains are not all in service yet. 'The 455 is a reliable workhorse but it is in need of replacement,' says driver Richard Guy. After 13 minutes of views of suburban gardens through the slightly grimy windows, at 5.59am, it was all change. Further up the line, as the transport minister Heidi Alexander is preparing to pull out of Waterloo on a very short journey for the TV cameras –on a train with the brand-new silver and royal blue livery of Labour's flagship Great British Railways – we're decanted off the train at Surbiton to find the rail replacement bus to Clapham Junction. It's a bumpy double decker, and depressingly, it's going to take about an hour. Still, the bus is easy to find, and the service slowly fills up as people trickle off the train. Network Rail engineers in fluorescent orange overalls sit downstairs. They do not look sorry that their engineering work has disrupted the bank holiday timetable. Jithin Thomas, 27, goes further: 'I hope the administrative overhaul [the network co-ordinating more closely with the train operating companies] that's likely to happen will please passengers.' To be honest, though, it is unlikely that many commuters will notice any difference, at least at first. Just as privately owned South Western Railway has been replaced by publicly owned South Western Railway, the management structure and staff will stay the same – for now, it is just the ownership that has changed. But Thomas says profits will now go into improving the service instead of investors' bank accounts. One boring hour later, the bus arrives at Clapham Junction so that we can rejoin the tracks and catch the train into London. It's a long way from platform 15 (the closest platform to where our bus arrives) to platform three, but no one has to run – there's an interminable 26-minute wait before the connecting train leaves for Waterloo. Today Clapham Junction station, normally bustling even on a Sunday, is like the scene from the zombie movie 28 Days Later, where the hero emerges after being unconscious in hospital to find London's streets deserted. There were no zombies (apart from sleep deprived passengers), but several of our fellow train-then-rail-replacement-bus passengers give up on the last leg of the (second) train, and hunt down one of a number of other, regular buses that connect Clapham to Waterloo. Tam is also bored waiting for the Waterloo train, and says he might catch a regular bus instead. This is a big deal for him: he loves buses like he loves trains, just not quite as much. He points out the irony that the rail replacement bus is operated by FirstGroup, the same company that actually ran South Western Railway when it began 29 years ago. A rail replacement bus also replaced the train on the day that John Major's privatised rail network came into service in 1996. Clearly, old habits die hard. Still, the 26-minute wait at Clapham is over, and on we board again… and after 11 minutes, we finally arrive at our final stop. The 28 miles from Woking to Waterloo has taken two hours and 10 minutes, an average speed not much faster than the stagecoaches that would have carried passengers when Waterloo was given its name in 1848. Usually, the average length of a journey from Woking to London Waterloo, without engineering works, is 33 minutes. Today it has taken four times as long. From his eyrie above the concourse at Waterloo station, an eagle-eyed South Western Railway manager spots our cameras and comes dashing down to explain why the first renationalised train was a bus. He says it was a decision taken for the benefit of passengers who would normally have caught the 06:14, the first train on a Sunday morning. To avoid making them late getting to Waterloo and possibly missing a connection, they made the first train especially early to take into account the delays caused by engineering work. It is an elegantly plausible solution, but what about that 26-minute wait at Clapham Junction? It might take a quantum physicist to work it out – but he is already on a different bus.
