Bobm reports this morning ...
Signalling has failed on the single line. Pilotman now travelling aboard each train between Trowbridge and Chippenham.
... and I just roll my eyes and think "not AGAIN" ... TransWilts seems to be running on signalling that might have been fit for purpose in the days when the only passenger trains were on summer saturdays - seaside trains via Oxford to Weymouth, and there was just a handful of freight trains each week. It needs to be made much more robust.
But then ... is the TransWilts alone in having signalling that keeps breaking down under the pressure of modern traffic? On no fewer than 4 occasions during my last week travelling around the North East, we have come to a halt at a red signal and then after a few minutes proceeded - passing it at danger. Not only do I notice that this happened so often (4 occasions during journeys on 44 trains), but also how quickly we moved on - suggesting that it's a pretty darned common occurrence.
For the record -
Two separate places on my Retford to Barnetby journey
On my York to Hull journey
On my Darlington to Bishop Auckland journeyNetwork Rail have, I think, suggested that much of their work in the next five years will be in catching up on a backlog of maintenance to make things more robust. Having seen 4 sets of signals passed at danger in a week, I can't help feeling much more sympathic to that need now.
In combination with issues that
GWR▸ are tackling and are getting on top of (but not there yet), I really look forward to better reliability of service ... yesterday, 3 cancelled at Melksham (4, but one was re-instated) ... today so far, 2 cancelled and it's not yet 10 a.m.
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