Guest 977- Registered: 27 Jun 2013
- Posts: 1,031
The same thing happened on a bigger scale to the line at Dawlish a couple of years ago - it left west Devon and Cornwall isolated with long diversions so repairs became a priority and happened very quickly.
Against the same thing happening here so quickly are the alternative routes put in place immediately, with a bus service connection over a relatively short distance and the HS2 being rerouted to Canterbury and Ramsgate. That in itself brings into focus the government commitment to the route and what the short or long term loss of it will have on Dover's recovery - with many developments like Western Heights being promoted with the speed of the connection to London.
None of this is being helped by the focus in the media rightly at present being on the far worse events in the north.
Ross Miller
- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,707
the high speed trains that serviced Dover will NOT all be rerouted, only those that went via Dover to Ramsgate will now be run via Canterbury, all others will terminate at Folkestone Central....
"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
While loving someone deeply gives you courage" - Laozi
Karlos- Location: Dover
- Registered: 1 Oct 2012
- Posts: 2,560
There will be free parking at Folkestone Weat, so currently that will be the best option (if you can drive).
Guest 1266- Registered: 8 May 2014
- Posts: 381
They need to start routing services from Dover through the Minster junction via Canterbury West otherwise this will quickly become an economic disaster to the whole district. DDC should have pushed for improvements (speed and resilience) on this stretch of track a long time ago rather than focusing on removing the Folkestone West stop.
Jack of Hearts
Ross Miller- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,707
That will be of minimal benefit to Dovorians as it will take longer than the bus interchange to Folkestone.
Yes it potentially benefits those from Deal & Sandwich.
"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
While loving someone deeply gives you courage" - Laozi
Karlos- Location: Dover
- Registered: 1 Oct 2012
- Posts: 2,560
There were dozens of men at work there today, so hopefully the work will get done to re-open the line.
Guest 1266- Registered: 8 May 2014
- Posts: 381
I think when they used that route for the Open it was about 85 mins from St Pancras to Dover. I would prefer a slightly longer route than getting off at Folkestone waiting for a bus connection and then a long bus ride to Dover especially if they are using the dreaded 40mph A20.
Jack of Hearts
Guest 1395- Registered: 5 Nov 2014
- Posts: 463
Fixing the railway is relatively easy - it's fixing the sea wall that is the big problem. With more gales forecast on Wednesday, there may be yet more damage. I wonder if they will try the same protection as at Dawlish - old shipping containers filled with concrete as a breakwater.
Lew Finnis
Guest 1385- Registered: 27 Oct 2014
- Posts: 322
Ross Miller- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,707
Which is fine Jack unless you are doing it every day, plus they are likely to stop all services at Martin Mill, Walmer, Deal & Sandwich adding to the overall journey time by a minimum of 15 minutes - so now it is looking like 100 minutes via Minster...
I get that my fellow commuters and I are screwed whichever route we choose to take and are looking at an extra 1 hour plus travel time per day. Perhaps I can bill Southeastern/Network Rail for my time? That would be about 35% of my season ticket renewal.
"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
While loving someone deeply gives you courage" - Laozi
Guest 1266- Registered: 8 May 2014
- Posts: 381
In theory they could run direct to Sandwich without stopping and remove Walmer and Martin Mill. Southeastern have indicated season ticket holders may be offered compensation but I agree, East Kent is screwed.
Jack of Hearts
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
As already said this is a potentially huge blow to the local economy as well as adding to the working day for commuters. Charlie has now warned on social media the damage is worse than first thought and it will be a few weeks before a likely date is given for the restoration of the service. All work to be done is reliant on the weather and tides so surely re-routing is a better alternative than a train replacement bus?
Judith Roberts- Registered: 15 May 2012
- Posts: 637
East Midlands trains run fast trains without stopping to each of several stations. One might have its first stop at Wellingborough another at Kettering and another at Market Harborough.So each station has one direct service an hour. 55 minutes to Market Harborough (around the same distance from London as Dover) as well as a slower hourly service which stops. Southeastern could do something similar to keep journey times down.
Guest 977- Registered: 27 Jun 2013
- Posts: 1,031
I think they used to do that on the Charing Cross route in the 70s - alternative trains didn't stop between Waterloo and Ashford.
Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
In the 70s I used to drive to Faversham from Canterbury to catch the 0747 which ran non-stop to Cannon St, arriving 0845. Coming home the 1800, stopping only at Rainham and Sittingbourne, arriving Faversham 1900.
If I were commuting from Dover now I think I would take the Victoria service via Faversham and change onto the HS service which uses the same track until Chatham.
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
Going off at a tangent adding Walmer and Martin Mill to the stops on the high speed train seemed to defeat the object. Walmer is so close to Deal and I doubt many board at Martin Mill, maybe someone has the figures. I would have thought that the people who lived in those two places would not have expected to be added to the fast train.
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,894
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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Guest 1266- Registered: 8 May 2014
- Posts: 381
The HS service from Faversham is very slow and not really worth the extra money. They don't get the benefit of HS1 from Ashford. Another tangent, maybe fixing the coastal track damage should also include increasing the line speed and changing the tunneling to allow 12 carriages to be used like they do on Thanet services.
Jack of Hearts
Ross Miller- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,707
The thing with 12 or 6 car HSTs through Shakespeare Tunnel is a safety issue - due to the narrowness of the tunnels each set of 6 coaches needs to have a safety rated member of staff to guide passengers off the train and to safety, The mainline services can run 12 cars with a single conductor as they are connecting carriages and people can disembark from the front or back of the train which is inherently safer. When they upgraded the tunnel a few years ago they lowered the track bed and shifted the track alignment as much as they could to allow a safe route down the side of the high speed trains, unfortunately there is nothing more they can do without completely re-boring/rebuilding the tunnel which to be honest is not going to happen
"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
While loving someone deeply gives you courage" - Laozi
Karlos- Location: Dover
- Registered: 1 Oct 2012
- Posts: 2,560
I'm pretty sure 12 carriage trains use the line now? 12 carriage 375's (classic services) definitely do, I was on one last week.
£57:00 a day per space. £2,565 a day. £17,955 a week £71,820 a month. They are looking at at least 3 months so that,s £215,460. I am in the wrong game here? 