On Friday 2nd October, CML received fifteen individual call outs as part of the Network Rail Adverse Weather Pre-emptive Visit Programme, with further call outs expected due to Storm Alex.
We provide two On Call teams each week, to cover the North and the South of the Eastern Region. With flooding forecasted in many areas it was clear these weren’t going to be enough. Luckily we work with some amazing people who agreed to help out!
In thirty six hours we covered all fifteen sites, stretching from Prudhoe near Newcastle all the way down to Kings Cross. The teams were out in the rain, travelling between sites and sending regular updates that we shared with the On-Call team at Network Rail to ensure the railway continued to run safely and effectively.
We also received a call out to Potters Bar Tunnel on Saturday morning, where a sewer pipe had become blocked with a fatberg which was flooding the tunnel. We attended the site with Thames Water and Network Rail, and with the help of one of Subscan’s jet vac tankers we were able to alleviate issues at the site and prevent further flooding.
Our teams worked above and beyond in order to ensure all sites were inspected swiftly and made safe. The interventions may have been small, but they made a big difference to train performance last weekend. CML appreciates it’s people like this who help make us the company we are. Thank you!

Clearing debris at Corby Pen Green

Drains over-flowing at Potters Bar