Media centre

Tuesday 11 Feb 2014

Network Update: Midday

Region & Route:

National

Passengers are being advised not to travel out of Paddington today unless absolutely necessary as flooding along the Thames Valley has caused severe problems for running trains through the Maidenhead area

Continued rising water levels in the Thames valley has flooded out the signalling equipment in the Maidenhead area (at Waltham). Overnight Network Rail engineers, assisted by the fire brigade and army, helped to protect some vulnerable equipment but groundwater flooding has meant that services have had to be cut back as trains are only able to pass through the area using hand signallers. This means that only about four trains an hour are able to pass through at slow speed rather than the normal 12, at high speed.

Work continues at Dawlish to re-establish the connection between Cornwall and Devon with the Great Western mainline to Exeter. A temporary sea-wall has been build using sand and stone filled shipping containers and scaffolding is now being erected to start work on the rebuild, which will take at least six weeks.

Elsewhere flooding at Hinksey means that there is currently no direct service to Oxford but a train shuttle is in operation between Oxford and Didcot.

Elsewhere the Uckfield and East Grinstead branches in Sussex are closed as a result of a landslip at Oxted. Engineers are on site assessing the damage. The line from Tunbridge Wells to Hastings remains closed owing to several landslips on the line. The Windsor & Eton Riverside branch line from Staines remains shut as a result of flooding from the Thames.