A STRONGPOINT of rail travel in the past has been that, while there may be periods of disruption, steps have been taken to enable essential journeys to be made.
Such a notion has evidently become a thing of the past, as now advice is increasingly given to avoid travel if possible, as no attempt will be made to provide any form of substitute service, both in response to industrial action and extreme weather.
Network Rail and the train operators will no doubt justify the decision made to suspend services on July 19 in view of the unprecedented heat, which exceeded 40°C (105°F) in some parts of the country, and brought widespread infrastructure failures and lineside fires.
Early morning effects
Service recovery varied considerably, with disruption to services the following
