Signalling changes as York IECC closes

Within the projects Network Rail delivered over Christmas was one that attracted little attention, but showed just how far signalling has come over the last few decades.

NR closed York Integrated Electronic Control Centre (IECC) - one of British Rail’s first major control centres to use solid state interlocking (SSI), which BR had developed and first used at Leamington Spa in 1986.

York IECC opened in 1989 as part of a wider scheme to simplify and electrify the East Coast Main Line. By the time it closed, the ECML formed only a small part of its operation with its signallers controlling trains as far afield as Skipton thanks to its takeover of the areas once controlled by Leeds and other (smaller) expansions.

Control shifted from the IECC to York Rail Operating Centre (ROC). It sits only yards away in the vee of Holgate Junction. ROC signallers now control a swathe of tracks across Yorkshire, with recent additions including Selby-Hull and the Calder Valley line through Halifax and Hebden Bridge.

When York IECC opened, it was inconceivable that passengers should be able to track the progress of trains on a computer and screen small enough to slip into a pocket. But smartphones and Network Rail’s data feeds do just that today through a variety of websites.

This meant the farewell messages that the IECC’s signallers fed into its systems to be displayed in track berths (where train descriptions show) were visible to a wider audience. The screengrab shows the messages they displayed in Leeds, as displayed by Traksy’s website late on Christmas Eve.