Warning over New Year rail misery (BBC News)
 

Rail passengers are facing longer journeys on New Year's Eve on one of the UK's busiest routes.

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I understand that the disrupption will cause havoc.Yes, NR should have given more notice, BUT the problem the engineers are going to be dealing with may have just been discovered,(the news page does'nt say what the work is),and is to avoid another Grayrigg or worse.

We are damned if we do and Damned if we don't the railways just can't win can we.

Les

The two great whipping boys of the 21st century.

The railways ... "The train was late."

The Post Office ... "The cheque was posted, they must have lost it."

Indeed, many times I've been driving my train (on time) and I've heard someone on a mobile phone in the carriage behind me telling their employers that they'll be late because the train is running late. Sometimes if it's not too busy I'll get on the PA and make an announcement to say that we're approaching x and we are running to time. ;)

Ha ha! Serves 'em right Foggy, I hope that their phones are expensive enough to pick up your PA!

This is the scope of work (taken from the Network Rail website)

Installing over 5000m of overhead line
Bringing into use 5300m of new track
Bringing into use 15 new sets of points
Installing two new sets of points
Bringing into use 18 new signals
Making 16 new track connections
Demolishing a mini-signal box
Removing 11 sections of overhead wire and moving a further 14
Removing four signalling gantries
Installing nine new signalling 'booster' cabinets
Building three new pieces of track

Network Rail requested the extra day because they had not been able to carry as much preparatory work as originally planned and they say the three day overrun is due to a lack of suitably skilled men.

I think Virgin Trains and the travelling public would have been more sympathetic if the work had been safety-related but it looks like it's just a poorly planned and inadequately resourced remodelling job.