Summer weather and industrial relations boil over to affect train operations
Rail reliability nosedives due to strike action and extreme temperatures.
A STRONGPOINT of rail travel in the past has been that, while there may be periods of disruption, steps have been taken to enable essential journeys to be made.
Such a notion has evidently become a thing of the past, as now advice is increasingly given to avoid travel if possible, as no attempt will be made to provide any form of substitute service, both in response to industrial action and extreme weather.
Network Rail and the train operators will no doubt justify the decision made to suspend services on July 19 in view of the unprecedented heat, which exceeded 40°C (105°F) in some parts of the country, and brought widespread infrastructure failures and lineside fires.
Early morning effects
Service recovery varied considerably, with disruption to services the following day in some cases due to track inspections, which was seemingly done on foot rather than using the rule book provisions that allow a route proving train to be used to examine the line while being prepared to stop short of any obstruction. A big issue with the cancellation of early morning trains is that they are extensively used by traincrews to reach depots some way from where they live. In fact, many early morning services are provided for that purpose alone, so if they do not run then cancellations soon follow and passengers are advised there is a shortage of traincrew, which is factually incorrect. A question to ask is whether traincrew rostering has been made too complicated, with numerous changes en route in the belief that this maximises productivity. It only needs one link in this chain to break down and a complete out and home service is lost, such as a Thameslink working between Peterborough and Horsham. For this through route, it is noticeable that as soon as any disruption takes place, controllers abandon the idea of running through the central section and revert to uncomplicated traincrew working between Peterborough and King’s Cross, which brings an immediate reduction in cancellations. This is the planned procedure on Sundays, where no use is made of the Thameslink central section for these services. There are wide ranging issues to address in respect of accurate weather forecasting, design changes to system infrastructure, and communication with rail customers in an environment where the information needs to reach users who arrive at stations with the expectation that the train service will be available.
In the latter respect, an example of the type of issue that can occur happened when a passenger boarded a Caledonian Sleeper service at Glasgow late on July 19 having been told that the expectation was that the service would run as normal. However, he was woken up at 05.00 the next morning to be informed that the train was still
“A question to ask is whether traincrew rostering has been made too complicated”
at its starting point (although at least he received the on board breakfast service).
Risk to life
A concern identified by NR is the potential risk to life when power failures cause ventilation systems (including air conditioning) to fail, leaving passengers exposed to rising temperatures within rolling stock. A number of evacuations to the track took place on July 19, with passengers detraining on their own initiative because of unacceptable onboard conditions.
An event on May 26, 2011 may be recalled when passengers detrained from a Thameslink service that had broken down outside Kentish Town station due to a pantograph failure, which caused a loss of power that included the driver’s public address system. The crowded train was stationary for more than two hours and, with no information provided, passengers took matters into their own hands and walked on the track to the nearby station.
An inquiry by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch made recommendations that train operators should ensure that trains without on board power should be evacuated once the delay exceeds one hour. The proposed method is to draw up an alternative train alongside on an adjacent line and allow passengers to cross a board to the ‘rescue’ train. The practicality of this has to be questioned, as track layouts may often be unsuitable.
It is easy to understand why