Speed restriction at Royal Albert

[Deleted]

Here out on the Beckton line, a speed restriction of about 10 mp/h in both directions crept in a few months ago on the curve on the viaduct east of Royal Albert station, which seems to add about 1 minute to the running time each way.

Does anyone know the reason for this ? The much sharper curves west of Canning Town, and elsewhere, continue to be taken at a much higher speed.

[Chris M]

My first, completely uneducated, guess would be issues with the track or the viaduct.

[docklander]

I work in the large office building by Royal Albert station. The speed restriction seemed to start following an incident one afternoon when a bright flash and a bang came from a westbound train as it approached the station. Cue a couple of hours of the train being stuck mid-viaduct whilst several men in orange boiler suits walked up and down the track.

From what we could see, one of the panels that surround the 'skirt' of the train (an old-type train, btw) had fallen off, and either the train had run over it or it had shorted the track.

Perhaps the reason for the incident was speed, leading to the present restriction? Or maybe it did some damage to the track or power supply that has not yet been fully repaired?