Tunnel collapses on to rail line

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/b...ts/4639671.stm

A tunnel has fallen on to a rail line after 20m of a supermarket car park collapsed in Buckinghamshire.

Two trains were travelling in opposite directions when the Tesco tunnel at Gerrards Cross collapsed. The train drivers reported the damage.

Network Rail said there were no reports of injuries. Minor roads have been closed in the area and services on the Chiltern Line have been suspended.

It is believed that trains may not be able to use the line for three days.

Network Rail has sent engineers to the site where Tesco are building a store.

'Earthquake' sounds

Eyewitness Brett Jackson told BBC News 24: "There is basically total mayhem at the moment.

"The police are trying to get everyone away. It still looks very unsafe. It looks like the rest could collapse any second.

"Apparently one of the trains missed it by minutes.

"I was parking my car when I heard what sounded like a clap of thunder - I thought it was an earthquake.

"I saw the tunnel falling on to the rail track."

He said the tunnel collapse happened at about 1915 BST on Thursday. It is thought that tons of rubble has fallen on to the track from the Tesco construction site.

Urgent investigation

A spokeswoman for Network Rail said: "A train driver reported a partial collapse in the Tesco Tunnel.

"Two trains in the vicinity were immediately stopped. Expert engineers are now at the scene."

She said trains were being terminated at High Wycombe and West Ruislip and a bus service was being operated.

A Tesco spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that a section of rail tunnel at our new Gerrards Cross site has collapsed.

"Thankfully we understand that no one has been hurt but rail services are obviously disrupted, for which we apologise.

"We have launched an urgent investigation with our engineer contractors and will work with the authorities to understand what happened and get rail services back to normal as soon as possible."

The store was in the "very early" stages of construction and was being built above the line.

The Health and Safety Executive will be involved in an investigation and British Transport Police said trains would be disrupted for up to three days.

The line carries services between London and Midlands.

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more info... (messages from several sources below)

The 320m-long tunnel was being specially constructed to allow the Tesco
store to be built above.

No trains were involved although the collapse was witnessed by the
driver of a train at Gerrards X Stn.

It is estimated that between 500 and 1,500 tonnes of rubble have fallen
onto the track - police say it will take "at least two days" to clear
the line!

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It's the first time anything like this has been attempted, apparently.
Don't be surprised if it's the last!
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This will please many people who did not really *want* a Tesco store
in the area (because there are already a lot of supermarkets in the area and
Tesco would abstract trade from the established town centre). But its not so
good for railway passengers - and it might result in future similar projects
being cancelled, which will result in a financial loss for Network rail.
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The railway line is in a deep cutting, and the idea was to create a tunnel where
none previously existed as then the land on top could be used for the new
superstore. (Tesco were so desperate to put a store into this locality and
could not find any other suitable unused land )

[Arpels]

gosh no pics sps?

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Originally Posted by Arpels

gosh no pics sps?

sorry, so far only on the BBC website.

This only happened a few hours ago!

Simon

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this might work - its from the BBC website


btw, since I started this thread the BBC story has been updated, and it will probably be further updated later during the night..

Simon

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Wow, the tunnel looks out of shape now.....

[Bitxofo]

Where is that?
Any maps, please??

Thx!

[nick_taylor]

Gerrards Cross is due north-west of London out from London Marylebone. Its a rich commuter town (500 £millionaires) which has been classed as the lease affordable town to move to in the UK if your a first time house buyer.

The line itself isn't very important, but still busy nonetheless. I think this was the first time that this sort of technology was used not only in the UK, but the world and obviously theres a few flaws with it!

[Arpels]

thanks sps, thanks good ther is no victims!!

[Frog]

http://freespace.virgin.net/guy.gorton/collapse.html pics of the tunnel

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Wow, thats pretty bad. Are they still going to build a building on top now??

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Originally Posted by sfgadv02

Wow, thats pretty bad. Are they still going to build a building on top now??

good question.

Tesco hope so.

Many local people hope not!

Apparently the local government originally refused planning permission for this store but the national government's planners over-ruled them.

I saw a TV news interview this evening and some local people were saying that they were so happy that the Tesco store has been delayed (and might yet not open) that they were thinking of opening a bottle of Champagne!!!!!

Recent reports suggest that it will take several weeks before the railway line is reopened - apart from clearing up the mess the various officials want to study exactly how and why this happened - both to make sure it does not happen again AND to make sure the rest of the structure is safe. No-one wants another collapse. Many rail travellers are going to suffer extended journey times as buses / coaches are being used to replace the trains.

The overall feeling I get from media reports is that first and foremost there has been a very big sense of relief that no-one was hurt - this was a *very* lucky escape - trains were approaching but a warning was given in time and they were all stopped.

btw, on Sunday I shall be travelling overseas for the best part of the week but will check up on things next weekend, after I've returned home.

----------------------------
for the record:

I'll be travelling around Germany looking at diesel trams & trains which travel on city streets, this is because as someone who has been heavily involved in promoting clean electric bus systems for where I live (London) and received rebuttal after rebuttal I have realised that maybe I need to look at things from a different angle.

(I see no reason why buses should not be as non-polluting as trams, especially on the busiest urban routes)

After all, there is some logic (even advantages) in using street based diesel powered trams & trains - such as lack of overhead wires, no problems with stray return currents and consequential reduced installation costs.. Especially here in Britain most transport experts seem to see these as "the primary" and most highly desireable features of bus systems - so why not for trams too?

OK diesel fumes may be harmful to human health and with a global shortage the cost of diesel fuel is soaring but judging by the present-day actions of bus operators and transport advocates - even "green groups" - here in Britain that seems to be of little consequence.

I realise that this tactic is tantamount to playing "devils advocate", but I have nothing to loose. Transport For London insist that a new bus rapid transit scheme which will serve my local town centre should use diesel buses, even though trolleybuses were originally proposed - and government air pollution surveys show that my local town centre suffers from exceptionally high air pollution - caused by diesel engine exhaust fumes. So, if we must have diesel buses then why cant the people of west London have diesel trams on their proposed new tramway? Or, to put it another way, why are the people of west London to be favoured with clean electric transports when we in east London are fobbed off with dirty diesels?

Simon

www.citytransport.info

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Originally Posted by Frog

http://freespace.virgin.net/guy.gorton/collapse.html pics of the tunnel

hey, wow! OK its a 2mb download but the pics are very dramatic!

Thanks for the info Frog

Simon