Easter engineering works and subsequent ongoing disruption - April / May 2015

[whole diary]

[SandTEngineer]

If it was the solid state signalling then that technology dates from 1985 but has been further developed since then and its application on Thames Valley at the earliest dates from the mid 1990s.  I don't call that old. 

I have heard others saying that the 1990's installation was done on the cheap by RT.

I am beginning to believe that the fundamental problem is NR^» (Network Rail - home page) has lost all of its skilled and experienced staff and that is the basis of the, and its, problems.  Of course never admit that, so blame it on the equipment..........

Did NR loose them?  I heard it was RT decision not to do major signalling upgrades that caused many to leave.

Well I worked for BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) (from leaving school) then Railtrack then NR so I think I can fairly state that NR turned out to be the worst of the three.  Railtrack did a lot of successful signalling work despite one or two big c**k ups (one comes to mind - Woking Area Resignalling which overran by a week).  Paddington to Hayes was designed and mostly commissioned by BR prior to 1994 privatisation.  To the best of my knowledge it was not 'done on the cheap' or 'de-scoped' by Railtrack when it took over.

Most of the engineers that worked for Railtrack came from BR and decided to stay with the 'mother railway' at the time of privatisation so it was not a lack of skills.  The people I worked with then were still very dedicated (and I include myself in that category).  However, it was a different story with NR which turned out not to care about its staff (in my experience) and on cost cutting grounds simply let them go or in some cases redundancy was 'offered'.

[Chris from Nailsea]

I have 'liked' several previous posts on this topic - partly because I agree with them from my own (albeit relatively limited) railway experience, and partly because I can see some very similar parallels with my own financial services background. 

There has been something of a turmoil in the whole employment scene in the past ten years ... 

[ellendune]

Most of the engineers that worked for Railtrack came from BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) and decided to stay with the 'mother railway' at the time of privatisation so it was not a lack of skills.  The people I worked with then were still very dedicated (and I include myself in that category).  However, it was a different story with NR^» (Network Rail - home page) which turned out not to care about its staff (in my experience) and on cost cutting grounds simply let them go or in some cases redundancy was 'offered'.

RT was condemned for letting costs get out of hand. So NR was required to cut costs. What they should have done was to undo the structural problems that the RT privatisation had done. By this I mean that contractors were setting their own work plans and setting their own price with no control from RT.

From what you say it would appear that the pressure to cut costs asap was such that they went beyond this and just did the get rid of staff approach so beloved of politicians and the bankers. When will they learn that in most industries staff are the biggest asset and they must be valued!

[SandTEngineer]

There has been something of a turmoil in the whole employment scene in the past ten years ... 

I totally agree.  It took me 6 years of hard training and learning before I was allowed to 'go it alone' by BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)).  NR^» (Network Rail - home page) seems to think it can take youngsters off the street and train them and let them loose in 2-3 years.  As we all know its never that easy.  The railway environment is not like a factory floor when you have trains travelling around you at 125mph and you are making decisions of a safety critical nature that if you get it wrong could lead to a very serious injury or even loss of life.

[SandTEngineer]

RT was condemned for letting costs get out of hand. So NR^» (Network Rail - home page) was required to cut costs. What they should have done was to undo the structural problems that the RT privatisation had done. By this I mean that contractors were setting their own work plans and setting their own price with no control from RT.

Absolute tosh.  Railtrack controlled its costs very carefully and every project I worked on was scrutinised and controlled very carefully.  Contractors did not have a 'free hand'. It was only when Hatfield happened that it all went into meltdown as senior people in the organisation went into panic mode.......

[TaplowGreen]

Yet again......I would say "unbelieveable" - yet another problem however it's pretty much Business as usual now it would seem.......


Cancellations to services between Ealing Broadway and London Paddington Due to signalling problems between Ealing Broadway and London Paddington the London bound relief line is blocked.
Impact:
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 16:00 14/04.
Customer Advice:
London Underground are accepting First Great Western tickets between Paddington and Greenford. London Buses are accepting First Great Western tickets between Ealing and Greenford.

[BerkshireBugsy]

Yet again......I would say "unbelieveable" - yet another problem however it's pretty much Business as usual now it would seem.......


Cancellations to services between Ealing Broadway and London Paddington Due to signalling problems between Ealing Broadway and London Paddington the London bound relief line is blocked.
Impact:
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 16:00 14/04.
Customer Advice:
London Underground are accepting First Great Western tickets between Paddington and Greenford. London Buses are accepting First Great Western tickets between Ealing and Greenford.

I have to visit a number of different clients in London who also commute in using a variety of routes.Although I have no hard evidence to back it up it seems the pain we feel in FGW^▸ (First Great Western) land is not unique (and I'm certainly not blaming FGW for the signalling issues)

When I was returning home through Cardiff on Monday 13th April there was a points failure just west of the station which seemed to cause major delays. The effect on services was almost instantaneous but very profound

We are not alone - but I know that doesn't help

[a-driver]

Infrastructure faults hit services up and down the country, Virgin West Coast, London Midland and Greater Anglia seem to be hit heavily at the moment as well.

You've got to wonder how poor performance has to get nationally from Network Rail that the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) get involved, and when I mean get involved, I mean do more than levelling a pointless fine against them.  They could start by taking their heads out of the balance sheets and start listening to those that know better.

[BerkshireBugsy]

You've got to wonder how poor performance has to get nationally from Network Rail that the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) get involved, and when I mean get involved, I mean do more than levelling a pointless fine against them.  They could start by taking their heads out of the balance sheets and start listening to those that know better.

Well said that man.

[NickB]

Delays expected until 18:00 now.

This is a daily issue for the Thames Valley now and it is soooo tedious.  I say 'now' but we had an ever growing thread on TV signal delays elsewhere.  Perhaps this needs to be moved there.

Shocking.  And no compensation to the actual commuters with season tickets either.

[SandTEngineer]

Yet again......I would say "unbelieveable" - yet another problem however it's pretty much Business as usual now it would seem.......
Cancellations to services between Ealing Broadway and London Paddington Due to signalling problems between Ealing Broadway and London Paddington the London bound relief line is blocked.
Impact:
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 16:00 14/04.
Customer Advice:
London Underground are accepting First Great Western tickets between Paddington and Greenford. London Buses are accepting First Great Western tickets between Ealing and Greenford.

Perhaps its time for the government to call back some of the retired engineers

[Electric train]

Yet again......I would say "unbelieveable" - yet another problem however it's pretty much Business as usual now it would seem.......
Cancellations to services between Ealing Broadway and London Paddington Due to signalling problems between Ealing Broadway and London Paddington the London bound relief line is blocked.
Impact:
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 16:00 14/04.
Customer Advice:
London Underground are accepting First Great Western tickets between Paddington and Greenford. London Buses are accepting First Great Western tickets between Ealing and Greenford.

Perhaps its time for the government to call back some of the retired engineers

Great idea then us current long serving engineer can retire 

Part of the issue is the numbers of experienced engineers, also the current 'elf n safety rules make it difficult to get out and about on a live railway and do anything meaningful and then there is the demand by the customers customer to run trains later at night and earlier in the morning oh and they also want to travel at the weekends ................

Which all means less people to do more work in less time over a much wider geographical area.

[bobm]

This is a daily issue for the Thames Valley now and it is soooo tedious. 

While understanding the frustration of those passengers caught up in it, which I largely am able to avoid, I do feel for the engineers on the ground trying to fix it on a daily basis.  Working on safety critical equipment with the eyes of the world (well those in FGW^▸ (First Great Western) land) bearing down on them cannot be easy.  I am sure they are fed up as anyone.  I am not railway but I meet enough frontline staff who are and almost without exception they care about the job and the service they are supposed to provide and get annoyed when they cannot do it through no direct fault of their own.

[BerkshireBugsy]

While understanding the frustration of those passengers caught up in it, which I largely am able to avoid, I do feel for the engineers on the ground trying to fix it on a daily basis.  Working on safety critical equipment with the eyes of the world (well those in FGW^▸ (First Great Western) land) bearing down on them cannot be easy.  I am sure they are fed up as anyone.  I am not railway but I meet enough frontline staff who are and almost without exception they care about the job and the service they are supposed to provide and get annoyed when they cannot do it through no direct fault of their own.

I couldn't agree more bobm. As a customer, though, I feel disheartened by the fact that the improvements offered by new stations, trains and OLE^▸ (Overhead Line Equipment, more often "OHLE") will still be brought down by what appear to endless signalling problems.

[TaplowGreen]

This is a daily issue for the Thames Valley now and it is soooo tedious. 

While understanding the frustration of those passengers caught up in it, which I largely am able to avoid, I do feel for the engineers on the ground trying to fix it on a daily basis.  Working on safety critical equipment with the eyes of the world (well those in FGW^▸ (First Great Western) land) bearing down on them cannot be easy.  I am sure they are fed up as anyone.  I am not railway but I meet enough frontline staff who are and almost without exception they care about the job and the service they are supposed to provide and get annoyed when they cannot do it through no direct fault of their own.

Be thankful that you're able to avoid it....I empathise with the guys on the ground but at the end of the day they are doing their job - no-one is criticising them as individuals.

Sympathy really needs to be reserved for the fare paying customers paying thousands of ^ for a "service" that is not worthy of the word - we had virtually no service over Easter and ever since it has fallen over on a daily basis - if not signals then broken down trains as yesterday - this is affecting peoples jobs and lives......if this is "Building a Greater West" then God help us.

Windsor and Henley services knackered now it seems.