The tail-end of Hurricane Gonzalo caused commuter rush hour problems in South West London this morning as hundreds of commuters faced travel delays caused by ‘slippery rails’.
Some services were disrupted while others ran slow due to speed restrictions being put in place on the Wimbledon line.
South West Trains tweeted they were experiencing poor rail adhesion across parts of the network and then had to explain to frustrated passengers what the problem actually was.
A company spokesman tweeted: “We are experiencing poor rail adhesion across parts of our network this morning. This is delaying some trains by up to 10 minutes.”
This was quickly followed up with an explanation after the account was inundated with bemused commuters wanting clarification as to what it meant.
@SW_Trains care to explain poor rail adhesion, sounds like you’ve made it up as your commuters are tired of the same ole excuses #delays
— Kat Beasley (@KatBeaumont25) October 21, 2014
A good day for train companies wheeling out the jargon, then having to spend more Twitter time explaining themselves. Poor Rail Adhesion?
— Clive Andrews (@CliveAndrews) October 21, 2014
A company spokesman replied: “The earlier Poor Rail Adhesion tweet meant some trains have had trouble accelerating as the wheels slip when applying power.”
The earlier Poor Rail Adhesion tweet meant some trains have had trouble accelerating as the wheels slip when applying power. — South West Trains (@SW_Trains) October 21, 2014
Picture courtesy of Hectate1, with thanks
