Inquiry into causes of Greater Anglia cancellations
INVESTIGATIONS are under way into the cause of mass cancellations on the Greater Anglia rural network.
Services operated by Stadler
Class 755 bi-mode trains that began running from July have been cancelled, some at short notice, with GA telling passengers this is due to signalling issues.
RAIL understands that the trains are believed to be interfering with track circuits.
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has also confirmed it is looking into how a ‘755’ was a quarter of a second away from hitting a car on a level crossing near Norwich, after the barriers were raised when the train (running at 45mph) was
200 metres away. There were no injuries.
Since the incident, at 1953 on November 24, Network Rail has modified the settings at this and similar level crossings on the line to reduce the chance of a repeat occurrence.
Wheels on the new trains are being inspected and cleaned after every passenger trip, while NR has introduced temporary 20mph speed restrictions at all six level crossings on the NorwichSheringham line, as well as stationing staff at the crossings.
Network Rail Anglia Route Director Mark Budden said:
“The safety of all those who use the railway is our top priority and we take our responsibilities very seriously to ensure safety is maintained. In collaboration with our industry partners we are continuing to investigate what caused the incident at Norwich Road level crossing.
“As RAIB has noted, we have already taken measures to modify the crossing barrier equipment in order to prevent a similar incident occurring. We have also imposed a 20mph speed restriction across the six similar crossings on the Norwich-Sheringham line, to ensure the safety of train passengers and all those using the crossings.”
“We will continue to work closely with RAIB and consider any recommendations made once the investigation has been completed.”
Performance had already been poor (see table) before the train cancellations started on December 6. As this issue of RAIL went to press five days later, the cancellations were continuing.
A GA spokesman, on the first day of the mass cancellations, told RAIL: “At this stage the cause of the problem and whether it is linked to any previous issues is unknown. We apologise to customers affected by disruption today. We will assist Network Rail as much as we can in order to restore the normal rail service as quickly as possible.”
Three areas under investigation are the track and signalling, the autumn conditions, and the wheel/ track interface on the new trains.
In a joint statement, Budden and
Greater Anglia Managing Director Jamie Burles said: “Our engineers have been working round the clock to investigate why we are having problems with the track signalling system, which has led to us reducing the number of services we can run.
“We are examining every factor including components of the signalling system, the impact of leaf fall, and the interaction between the signalling system and passenger trains, old and new.
“We both fully appreciate that this situation is extremely frustrating for passengers and it is an absolute priority for us to get these problems resolved as soon as possible. We will provide a further update as soon we have more detail. We plan to restore normal services for our passengers as soon as we can. In the meantime, Greater Anglia is making sure that customers can still complete their journeys.”
NR has started running more railhead treatment trains across the region, including on Saturdays and operating two RHTTs across