Great Western Coffee Shop

Great Western main line signalling scheme to begin

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Network Rail said the upgrade was essential for the electrification of the line

A ^350m scheme to upgrade signalling on the Great Western main line is to begin later.

Network Rail said the improvements would benefit rail services through Bristol, Bath, Chippenham, Swindon, Didcot, Oxford and Newbury.

A spokesperson said the work was "essential" to prepare for expansion on the line and electrification.

The project has been paid for out of a Government settlement which had already been agreed.

Network Rail said the current system which controls the signals, known as interlocking, dates back to the 1960s.

A spokesperson said the project would effectively be a "brain transplant" with the old system being replaced by modern computers.

They said the four-year scheme, when finished, could "help cut delays on the line by 50%".

Patrick Hallgate, from Network Rail Western, said: "The line is running out of room with nearly 30m journeys and a growth rate of at least 5% each year.

"A robust and modernised signalling infrastructure is vital to cope with this burgeoning growth."

Last year the Government announced a ^5bn investment programme of rail electrification and intercity service improvements on the Great Western rail route.

Quote from the web link given by Oxman:

"These innovative signals have reliable LED powered lights, a lightweight structure requiring less foundation that can be lowered to the ground for safe, efficient maintenance."

Apparently what somebody forgot is that if you lower the post to the ground the signals become invisible to drivers. Therefore i,nstead of the technian working on the signal head in situ as they have done since the first signals, they now have to have a formal possessition to undertake the work!

I'm also not sure I like computer interlocking either: Points 8059B set from Line 3 to Up Main with SN109 at Red.

As for computer interlocking its used all over the country, the failure at Ladbroke Grove was largely down to human error yes other "systems" failed to prevent the accident it could be argued that with no driver and the use of a fully automatic system the collision would not have occurred

I think the above post was saying that had the points been set to for the Down Relief in the event of a SPAD then it could have reduced the scale of any collision.  The computer interlocking however did not do this.

The interlocking concerned was not a computer but a Solid State Interlocking. Solid State Interlockings (or computers) don't think for themselves.  It did what it was programmed to do. 

Will the work at Parson Street include resignalling the junction there, for a Portishead reopening?

seems the right time with the capital investment to say "what do we need to see us through 15 years"?

While foresightedness should be used when ever possible, 15 years is pushing it, if we look back 15 years ago the view was the railways were in terminal decline.  The real key is not to let the equipment, especially computer software, used on the railways get to the point it is not only obsolete but obsolescent which will make adding or altering things easier

Does this mean that Didcot needs re-doing already?

OTC