Trains on a busy Surrey commuter line were delayed by a sizeable puddle of boiling mud on Monday (January 16).
A video uploaded on Twitter showed how the liquid muck turned into steam when it came into contact with the electric rail. At 750 volts, this functions as an immersion heater.
South Western trains travelling via Chertsey were consequently delayed at Addlestone in Surrey. The rail operator Network Rail said that before the track could be cleared, the mud had to stop flowing.
“This is what’s causing the disruption to @SW_Help customers on the route via Chertsey. It’s liquified mud that’s flowed onto the live rail and turning to steam. Once the mud has stopped flowing we will work on getting it cleared.” Network Rail tweeted.
There was another major rail disruption on Monday after a big landslip left a track hanging in mid-air near Hook in Hampshire. On the embankment to the north-east of Hook station on the London to Basingstoke line, a 44-metre landslide occurred.
London to Basingstoke trains were cancelled as a result.
Many people on Twitter expressed their frustration and anger at the delay it had caused passengers.
One user said: “Didn’t fancy prior notifying passengers boarding at Ashford that the train would be terminating at VirgWaters?! Just as well my daughter didn’t have a college exam to sit this morning. New week, same s*** , for such reasonable fares.”
Another person simply tweeted: “I do not like this.”
A third person said: “Looks like cutting on maintenance is going to be difficult to justify. This makes two operational incidents caused by poor(ly maintained) drainage in the Wessex Region alone.”
While some people were annoyed about the incident, others were simply stunned.
One person tweeted: “What a strange-looking phenomena, never seen anything like that before. Electrified steamy mud. Weird.”
Another person agreed saying “Never seen that before.”
