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SE Trins are a dister pt 2: We were only 3 hours from Maidstine E to Bearsted !
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Posted on 27/02/2010 at 13:34 by Ray Duff

 

Or: That's another fine landslide you've gotten us into SE Trains

Or: Pass the sickbag, oh you haven't got  those either!

OR; even -as per the song: 'We're caught in a landslide, no escape from reality, We're just poor passengers, will you let us go oh?  No, we haven't got  a ramp, No ,we' only got a spade.'..

SE Train Passengers subjected to 3 hours plus- stuck in a landslide between Maidstone East and Bearsted last evening (Fri 26th Feb)

I arrived at Maidstone East to catch the 17.57 to Ashford, after a seminar at Police HQ earlier, Train a few mins late, but got on.  The told by guard slight delay as there may be a 'small' landslide near Bearsted, waiting for the ok to go.   (About 60 in rear 4 coaches- 20 plus in front two)

1805:  We're underway, truddling through the tunnels and down the line until...  Grind to a halt.  Oh dear we've hit something- too dark to see properly.  Guard; We're just seeing if we can get past. A lurch forward, lotts of large sparks, lat again.  Well and truly stuck !

1825:  We have snt for an engineer to assess whether we can get going.  He's just left.... Paddock Wood !  Half an hours wait.

1900: He's arrived, and has ... a big torch !   (We're tyring to be light hearted about it, in front of four coaches- two coaches ahead of that bujt no through passage)  He's 'assessing the situ'....

1915: Up line train passes. People trying to keep families etc aware on their mobiles...

1930ish.  Oh they need to cut away a bit  of chicken wire, by the way the previous train has lurched to a halt at Lenham having ripped up the fence before hand- down line thus blocked. (Oh joy).  There's a pregnant women in front 2 coaches, needing water- none available.

1945: We're sending another train from Ashford to detrain us across to it- probably back to Maidstone east- apparently behind trains diverted or pax sent over to Maidstone West to go to Paddock Wood etc...

1955: Guard, **who's doing her level best it has to be said**, regains mobile signal but says,they are looking for the passenger ramp to get people across- currently cannot find it !  (One pax says- probably somewhere in the West Country)

2005: Nothing new, we're trying to be upbeat, a few jokes etc, but the mood in the rear 3 carraiges apparently rather 'ugly'.   One pax says, i've got a doughnut somewhere ) We're all getting rather hungry ...and thirsty too)

2010: Oh there's some more workmen coming to dig us out.

2015: Up line train passes.   Anyway, know how to contact International Rescue ?

2020: Powers off altogether, we're in the dark and it's getting cold in here anyway.( Snatch the doughnut quick says someone - one thin slice for about sixty people in the rear 4 coaches!)

2030Ish: let there be a light, they've arrived. Er ..with an arc light, a few torches and some large wire cutters.  Off the 3 dig, apparently there's more of the er.. 7 dwarves - or 'hundreds of them' says the guard-by the front 2 coaches digging.  (Community singing anyone ??)

2050: we're watching them, dig ,cut and a bit of chain sawing (but only a bit) There're looking up at the landslide- will more come down?- mud loos pretty sodden...

2100 etc:  More digging- can train get past?

2115:  Up train passes.

2120: Power-on again-  we love, then stop then move again,  Crawl into Bearsted.  Pax from London etc detrain.  What about the rest of us? (We're waiting for the signalman to say  -signals green anyway though)

2125 - Everybody off- on to coaches awaiting; no sign of course of any refreshments;  then clambering over the bridge- i'm damn tired already ...  Pile onto coaches.  First one goes- full. i'm on second one with a few others. TRain departs.  Coach driver says the trains been sent empty to Ashford so the line must have been cleared earlier !  (Coach driver says they've been mucked about anyway) .

2200: Arrive Ashford Intl:  No staff to meet us.  We are left to fend for ourselves as they hide in their cubby-holes, half hour on freezing platform (s) for trains to Folkestone, Hastings- one pax needed Eastbourne!- Canterbury about 2220.

2300: Arrive home- 5 hours after leaving Maidstoine East ( cold ,tired hungry, thirsty and 'rather' angry'.

-------

Why was this train let through in the first place ?

Why were SE Trains reliyng on the driver alone, with a lot of pax onboard, to assess the situation. (Fingers crossed it could get though?)

Why did an engineer, and later team, have to come from Paddock Wood to assess situ?

Why couldn't they find the passenger transfer ramp? (Where is it anyway?)

Why, no refreshments offered at Bearsted,

Why, was train allowed to go to Ashford, while we had to go by coach ?

Why no one at Ashford to assist with onward travel ?

---------------

(OBVIOUS ANSWER: to all of the above...  Oh it'll cost us money, it's not efficient or cost-effective et al, so you lot will have to make do with feeble excuses, unmeant apologies, loads a PR and spin, cold, tired etc, while we laugh all the way to the bank...)

Sat: Still tired, but i'm going to watch Himalyan Steam Railways on BBC 4 tonight- they, at least know what they're doing....!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 
Posted on 01/03/2010 at 14:05 by Ray Duff

 

Firstly, apologies for the typos- I was rushing and still angry Sat.

An extra question I have put to the company via a complaint is :When are they going to survey and shore up the mudslide bank properly so as to ensure passengers safety?  

It's also been sent to Passenger Focus group and to friends etc.

(I don't expect a reply from SE T very soon -and not much by way of what they say,  even if they admit they were wrong, I don't expect they'll do much about it...)

I've long said all our trains should be regrouped into a national body under social enterprise model- with much better public access to managers (at regular meetings) .

Posted on 20/04/2010 at 14:33 by Ray Duff
Dear Mr Duff.    Thank you for your letter of 01 March.
 (Reply rec: 5 April)

I would like to start by apologising for the fact that you have not had a response from us before now. We are usually able to respond to all correspondence withing ten working days, but we have been extremely busy over the last couple of months.  THis has meant that we have not been able to respond as quickly as we would normally be the case.

I am sorry for the severe disruption to the 17.57 Maidstone East to Ashford Intl service (which is the 16.58 departure from LOndon Victoria) on the evening of Friday 26 February.  I can appreciate how frustrating this must have been.  The disruption was caused by a landslide that blocked the line between Maidstone and Bearsted. We first became aware of what happened at 17.5 but the full extent of the problem was not known until your train had reached the affected area. Every attempt was made to re-open the line, but it was not possible to do so until 23.08. Needless to say, this caused prolonged and widespread disruption to services.

In relation to your specific points you have raised, I can advise that:

* At 17.55 we were notified about debris on the line by a passing train, but it was not until 18.14, when your train had arrived in the area, that we found it was necesary to close the line. We received reports at that time of damage to a train that had passed through the area.  We later discovered that this was likely to have been caused by a chain-link fence that had been displaced by the landslide (when the driver of your train inspected the area around the train at 1900)

* At 18.14, as soon as we became aware of the situation, we aranged for Network Rail to attend to assess the extent of the landslaide. We also arranged for a team of track crew to attend to the landslide.  However, they were both delayed in heavy traffic on route. More crew were needed to be sent with cutting gear, but we did not know this until the engineer arrived.

* We decisded not to evacuate your train at 19.09, as it was over half a mile to the nearest access point where we could send a bus. Also, we could not risk taking another train into the area until the tracks were made safe.

I can assure you that we do have procedures in place for dealing with such incidents. However safety must always come first, and we will not knowingly put passengers safety at risk. Risk assessments must be made at every stage, and while this does slow down the procedure, it ensures that our passengers are not put in danger.

We have since held a number od de-briefing sessions, both with our company and between ouselves and Network Rail (who own and maintain the railway infrastructure), in order to get a clearer picture of our operational response and the way in which we communicated details of the disruption. You have raised a number of concerns about this, and, for our part, we know that we will need to do more to make sure that passengers are looked after better should a similar incident occur.

Once again, I am sorry for the frustrating and disappointing journey that you and many other passengers had to endure on that evening.

Yours sincerely.   David Eustace.  Customer Services Officer, Southeastern.
--------------------

Well. firstly, the delay in reply is due to all the snowbound disruption complaints.    Otherwise the questions I posed haven't really been andwered. Some not at all.  Why was the train let through in the first place without a check- leaving it to the driver?  Why was the nearest N-R crew many miles away at Paddock Wood?   The timings they give do not quite square with what happended -see below.  Where was/is the pax tranfer ramp to detrain pax in these situs?   Up line trains were passing so a train could have been brought alongside.   What remdial action has been taken- a chain link fence is clearly totally inadequate on this stretch=- a steep muddy bank- given the likelyhood of more & heavier rain in the future- Summer or Winter).

Personally, i'm not surprised the RMT wants to strike re safety issues and NetworkRail's plans.
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