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Network Rail Kent and Sussex Profile picture
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8 Jan, 4 tweets, 2 min read
⚠️ We're really sorry for the disruption around #WaterlooEast and @NetworkRailCHX this morning, affecting @Se_Railway passengers. In the early hours of this morning we found a broken rail - a dramatic one as you can see - on one of 4 tracks in the area. /1
Here's the line we've blocked, through platform B. Our signallers are routing trains through the open lines and others are being diverted to Victoria this morning while we fix the problem... /2
We've plated over the break on each side (this picture is before we did the job!) which will allow trains to run over the break slowly. We'll come back in after hours to weld a new section of rail in and the line should open soon. Many thanks for your patience this morning.
... we should add that the reason the break looks so dramatic is that it's very cold this morning, so the rails are wanting to shrink. As it's cracked, both sides have been pulled apart as the rail has snapped back to its natural state. In hot weather the opposite would happen!

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More from @NetworkRailSE

Network Rail Kent and Sussex Profile picture
7 Jan
⚠️ We're really sorry that @Se_Railway passengers in #Lewisham have had a disrupted morning after an electrical fault caused a train to lose power near #TannersHill. This picture shows the problem clearly. ⬇️ /1
Traction power supply cables are attached to the live rail using metal bolts called lugs. In this instance something has caused an arc to start and it's burned through the lug and cut the power to the line. A train was approaching at the time and it was stranded as a result. /2
This screenshot shows the location when the train (called 2U56) was trapped on the line between #Lewisham and #Nunhead. We worked with @Se_Railway to rescue passengers using a side-to-side evacuation bridge between trains, and they were taken back to Lewisham. /3
Read 5 tweets
Network Rail Kent and Sussex Profile picture
24 Nov 20
Sorry to say we've had a problem between #Robertsbridge + #Battle on @Se_Railway's #Hastings line all morning - and it is likely to continue for the rest of the day. The issue is a cable fault around Mountfield (pictured) 1/
The cable is 37-core - which means 37 individual strands - and the fault is affecting 2 level crossings, 4 signals and 7 train detection circuits in the area below. It's a 600metre length cable and we have a team of 7 on site trying to narrow down the failure. /2
Our cables on this route are hidden in troughs so the team is walking the line looking for obvious external damage. It may not be obvious - it could be inside the sheathing - so they are also testing each "core" to see which ones are misbehaving. /3
Read 5 tweets
Network Rail Kent and Sussex Profile picture
11 Nov 20
⚠️ There's some big changes to @Se_Railway services through #Chislehurst tonight and tomorrow morning, affecting trains to #Sevenoaks, #Tonbridge and further afield. The reason is emergency engineering work related to this pink rail - read on... /1
The rail is dyed pink so the crack you can see on the left can be seen more clearly - and it's the crack that's causing the disruption. It's part of a crossing, that allows trains to cross from one track to another, and the crack means trains can only pass over it at 5mph. /2
This shows the crack seen through a handheld scanner and you can see from the scale of it that we can't leave this in place for long and still run a normal service, so tonight our team from Orpington Delivery Unit is coming in to cut the section out and replace it. /3
Read 7 tweets
Network Rail Kent and Sussex Profile picture
2 Nov 20
It was great for us, @CostainGroup, @Gatwick_Airport + @GatwickExpress to welcome @HenrySmithUK to #Gatwick today, to see how we're building for a brighter future with @transportgovuk . Read more about the £150m development here ⬇️ /1
networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/construct… Image
This blue sky will be filled with a new overhead concourse, stretching across platforms 7-5, and platforms 5-6 (currently out of use) will be rebuilt much wider, with new escalators and lifts to make travelling through Gatwick's station much easier for everyone. /2 Image
This former escalator from platforms 5+6 is no more, and the footbridge is also set for demolition - a tough task with trains running on the Brighton Main Line underneath! /3 Image
Read 5 tweets
Network Rail Kent and Sussex Profile picture
27 Oct 20
A few people have asked why the "new" platform 7 at Gatwick isn't level with the doors on the train in the pic and why we couldn't just build it higher. It's a sensible question and to save everyone getting a slightly different answer, here's why... /1
Very few mixed-use (freight and passenger) railways anywhere in the world have true level access to trains. As the owner of a legacy system dating back to the 1830s we're often in the position of having to make the most of a bad hand and our platforms heights are no different. /2
Over time we've alighted on a standard platform height of 915mm across the UK, with some room for variation. That standard is what all train providers work towards so all their stock (freight and passenger) will run past platforms without scraping them or worse. /3
Read 13 tweets
Network Rail Kent and Sussex Profile picture
24 Aug 20
UPDATE: You'll have seen plenty of coverage of this picture today and yesterday, showing the derailed train at #Tonbridge. Here's a brief overview of where we are and what we are doing, also why @Se_Railway are affected even though it's not their train... /1
This picture shows clearly the cables cut when the low-speed derailment happened yesterday, in sidings off the line to Redhill. The cut cables mean those sidings are completely "dead" and trains can't move. That includes @Se_Railway trains, which are trapped without power. /2
Our colleagues @Se_Railway are running as many trains as they can on the Tonbridge/Charing Cross services but there will be some cancellations as some of those trains are usually formed of stock trapped in the sidings today. Please check with them for travel details /3
Read 9 tweets

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