Fifth day of rail disruption on west coast line
Sam Jones
The Guardian, Thursday 8 January 2009
Thousands of west coast passengers were held up yesterday after the revamped rail route had a fifth day of services to and from London Euston halted because of another power failure.
Network Rail blamed a series of "unfortunate incidents". The latest failure was near Wembley in north London on Tuesday evening, and forced Virgin Trains to halt services and take passengers from Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire to London by bus.
London Midland was unable to run any trains between London and Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire, while ScotRail had to divert sleeper services.
A spokesman for Network Rail described the disruptions as "very bad luck".
Yesterday Virgin was operating a much reduced service until the evening, as was London Midland; the line then shut down overnight, with replacement bus services from 9.30pm, with the aim of restoring rail services for the start of this morning.
However the spokesman advised all would-be passsengers to check with train operators or national rail inquiries before travelling. "Network Rail apologises to anyone whose journeys have been disrupted," he added.
The problems began on Friday when a light plane crashed near the line at Stafford, claiming three lives (see http://www.friendsoftherail.com/phpBB2/ ... =42&t=3654). Overhead cable problems at Watford in Hertfordshire led to delays and cancellations on Sunday and Monday. Just as this incident was fixed, there were two further overhead power failures, one north of Rugby and another at Bletchley in Buckinghamshire.
The spokesman said an inspection team would report within a week. "We've had an extraordinary list of unfortunate incidents," he said. "They are not related."
UK - Fifth day of rail disruption on west coast line
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Re: UK - Fifth day of rail disruption on west coast line
The saga continues with yet more delays.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7817411.stm
Was the rebuild of the route a case of more haste less speed?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7817411.stm
Was the rebuild of the route a case of more haste less speed?
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Re: UK - Fifth day of rail disruption on west coast line
Spotlight on Network Rail over track chaos
• Delays costing firms £50m hit west coast line for week
• Claims track not able to cope with extra traffic
Sam Jones and Dan Milmo
The Guardian, Friday 9 January 2009
Network Rail was under pressure yesterday to explain why the newly upgraded west coast main line has been beset by a week of problems that have brought chaos to tens of thousands of commuters and cost businesses an estimated £50m.
The latest overhead power failure, at Atherstone in Warwickshire, happened yesterday morning while engineers completed repairs on the failed power line in Wembley, north London, that brought London's Euston station to a near-standstill on Wednesday.
Overhead cable problems at Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, and Rugby, Warwickshire, hit services on Tuesday. On Sunday and Monday the line was affected by overhead cable problems at Watford.
A spokesman for Network Rail denied suggestions that the line's decade-long, £9bn overhaul, completed last month, had left the route susceptible to problems and that it could not cope with the increased traffic it was carrying.
He said the Watford incident had been caused by metal fatigue in a screw, the Bletchley problems by a snapped electrical wire, and the Wembley failure by an incorrectly installed glass-fibre rod.
"They are unrelated, different cases and have nothing to do with increased traffic or new timetables," he said. "However lame it may sound, it does look like a series of unrelated incidents."
The rail minister, Andrew Adonis, is known to have been watching the west coast upgrade closely. He is understood to have sought and received guarantees from Network Rail that there would be no problems on the revamped route.
Some rail industry insiders believe the latest infrastructure breakdowns will have tested his patience with Network Rail.
The Department for Transport would not say whether any emergency meetings had been held with Network Rail's management, but Adonis said yesterday: "Network Rail have assured me they are doing everything possible to get services back to normal, and I have emphasised the importance of this to them."
The shadow transport secretary, Theresa Villiers, said an investigation was needed to determine what had caused the delays: "If there is any truth in the claim that disruptions have been caused by rushed work by Network Rail, this would be a serious problem. Rail passengers need to be assured that the work Network Rail did well to complete by the December 2008 deadline has been done to the highest possible standard."
Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat transport spokesman, said the situation was "fast becoming a national embarrassment", while Anthony Smith, chief executive of the rail watchdog Passenger Focus, warned that it would be "very unwise" to proceed with the planned timetable expansion at the end of this month without assurances that the current problems could be fixed quickly.
The British Chambers of Commerce said that the delays of the last few days had cost businesses £50m.
The rail problems and the widespread freezing weather have conspired to make the new year return to work miserable for millions of commuters across the UK.
Motorists have been warned to take care today on the roads today. Paul Mott, a forecaster for MeteoGroup UK, said that the mercury was likely to plunge back to -6C (21.2F) in parts of the south overnight.
• Delays costing firms £50m hit west coast line for week
• Claims track not able to cope with extra traffic
Sam Jones and Dan Milmo
The Guardian, Friday 9 January 2009
Network Rail was under pressure yesterday to explain why the newly upgraded west coast main line has been beset by a week of problems that have brought chaos to tens of thousands of commuters and cost businesses an estimated £50m.
The latest overhead power failure, at Atherstone in Warwickshire, happened yesterday morning while engineers completed repairs on the failed power line in Wembley, north London, that brought London's Euston station to a near-standstill on Wednesday.
Overhead cable problems at Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, and Rugby, Warwickshire, hit services on Tuesday. On Sunday and Monday the line was affected by overhead cable problems at Watford.
A spokesman for Network Rail denied suggestions that the line's decade-long, £9bn overhaul, completed last month, had left the route susceptible to problems and that it could not cope with the increased traffic it was carrying.
He said the Watford incident had been caused by metal fatigue in a screw, the Bletchley problems by a snapped electrical wire, and the Wembley failure by an incorrectly installed glass-fibre rod.
"They are unrelated, different cases and have nothing to do with increased traffic or new timetables," he said. "However lame it may sound, it does look like a series of unrelated incidents."
The rail minister, Andrew Adonis, is known to have been watching the west coast upgrade closely. He is understood to have sought and received guarantees from Network Rail that there would be no problems on the revamped route.
Some rail industry insiders believe the latest infrastructure breakdowns will have tested his patience with Network Rail.
The Department for Transport would not say whether any emergency meetings had been held with Network Rail's management, but Adonis said yesterday: "Network Rail have assured me they are doing everything possible to get services back to normal, and I have emphasised the importance of this to them."
The shadow transport secretary, Theresa Villiers, said an investigation was needed to determine what had caused the delays: "If there is any truth in the claim that disruptions have been caused by rushed work by Network Rail, this would be a serious problem. Rail passengers need to be assured that the work Network Rail did well to complete by the December 2008 deadline has been done to the highest possible standard."
Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat transport spokesman, said the situation was "fast becoming a national embarrassment", while Anthony Smith, chief executive of the rail watchdog Passenger Focus, warned that it would be "very unwise" to proceed with the planned timetable expansion at the end of this month without assurances that the current problems could be fixed quickly.
The British Chambers of Commerce said that the delays of the last few days had cost businesses £50m.
The rail problems and the widespread freezing weather have conspired to make the new year return to work miserable for millions of commuters across the UK.
Motorists have been warned to take care today on the roads today. Paul Mott, a forecaster for MeteoGroup UK, said that the mercury was likely to plunge back to -6C (21.2F) in parts of the south overnight.
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Re: UK - Fifth day of rail disruption on west coast line
Railways, not runways, should be our priority
Editorial
The Observer, Sunday 11 January 2009
It has been a terrible few weeks for those who use Britain's railways. Shutdowns on Boxing Day infuriated many passengers, then prices rose ahead of inflation and last week the new £9bn West Coast main line between London and Glasgow was struck by a series of power failures. This is hardly encouraging, especially when trains are the most environmentally sound method of travelling around Britain.
The West Coast line, unveiled in its upgraded state less than a month ago, is supposed to allow an extra 1,000 trains to run a week at a new top speed of 125mph. Instead of experiencing such luxury, thousands of cold and stranded commuters went nowhere.
Network Rail, in charge of the track, blames faulty overhead power lines. But Virgin Trains, which operates the London to Glasgow route, argues the underlying cause could be simpler to identify: Britain's aging rail network cannot cope with the demands being placed upon it.
Virgin has a point. Last year, there were more than 1.2 billion journeys on the railways, almost double that of 1992, two years before the privatisation of British Rail began. In the next five years passenger numbers countrywide are expected to increase by another fifth. All this takes place on a limited network. In the 1960s, after the controversial Beeching report, a quarter of Britain's railways were torn up. With 25% less track and such burgeoning passenger numbers, it's no surprise the system is beginning to fail. The operating companies say that on the current network they cannot do any more to make trains run on time.
Privately, Network Rail agrees that it's time to stop tinkering and make bold changes. Less than half the network is electrified, which means many passengers still rely on dirty, slower and less efficient diesel trains. Additional lines are required. Gordon Brown spoke in this newspaper of the need "to build tomorrow today". Here is his opportunity.
For there comes a point when passengers refuse to pay for bad service, and many will reach it with the latest rise in fares. Rail companies already sense the coming decline in numbers. As Observer Business reports today, the big operators are to ask Geoff Hoon, the transport minister, to let them reduce services as passenger growth declines. What may be a wise tactic during the slump is not a strategy for the future. And passengers will return only if there is a better rail network.
A decision should be made about what sort of railway network we want and who should pay for it. Not passengers, who have little tolerance for further fare rises.
Travelling by rail in Germany, Switzerland and Holland is more pleasant and cheaper than in Britain because those countries offer far greater levels of public subsidy. Given the dire state of the government's finances, it would be unwise simply to throw money at this problem. Yet, at a time when public money for the railways is diminishing, subsidies for drivers and air passengers remain in place. Duty on car fuel has been frozen while aviation fuel is not taxed at all. Since rail travel is demonstrably better, both socially and environmentally, this makes no sense.
This week we expect to hear that a third runway at Heathrow has been given the go ahead. The Observer has argued against the expansion, but if that battle is lost, Gordon Brown must transfer the subsidies enjoyed by motorists and air passengers to the rail network.
The Tories' plan for a direct 180mph rail link between London and Scotland is a good one. While it would cost at least £15bn to build, it should draw passengers off domestic flights, an increasingly reprehensible way to travel.
The prime minister spoke of the need to make environmental investments in response to the economic downturn. A new high-speed rail link, built before the new runway at Heathrow is completed, would be a good start.
Editorial
The Observer, Sunday 11 January 2009
It has been a terrible few weeks for those who use Britain's railways. Shutdowns on Boxing Day infuriated many passengers, then prices rose ahead of inflation and last week the new £9bn West Coast main line between London and Glasgow was struck by a series of power failures. This is hardly encouraging, especially when trains are the most environmentally sound method of travelling around Britain.
The West Coast line, unveiled in its upgraded state less than a month ago, is supposed to allow an extra 1,000 trains to run a week at a new top speed of 125mph. Instead of experiencing such luxury, thousands of cold and stranded commuters went nowhere.
Network Rail, in charge of the track, blames faulty overhead power lines. But Virgin Trains, which operates the London to Glasgow route, argues the underlying cause could be simpler to identify: Britain's aging rail network cannot cope with the demands being placed upon it.
Virgin has a point. Last year, there were more than 1.2 billion journeys on the railways, almost double that of 1992, two years before the privatisation of British Rail began. In the next five years passenger numbers countrywide are expected to increase by another fifth. All this takes place on a limited network. In the 1960s, after the controversial Beeching report, a quarter of Britain's railways were torn up. With 25% less track and such burgeoning passenger numbers, it's no surprise the system is beginning to fail. The operating companies say that on the current network they cannot do any more to make trains run on time.
Privately, Network Rail agrees that it's time to stop tinkering and make bold changes. Less than half the network is electrified, which means many passengers still rely on dirty, slower and less efficient diesel trains. Additional lines are required. Gordon Brown spoke in this newspaper of the need "to build tomorrow today". Here is his opportunity.
For there comes a point when passengers refuse to pay for bad service, and many will reach it with the latest rise in fares. Rail companies already sense the coming decline in numbers. As Observer Business reports today, the big operators are to ask Geoff Hoon, the transport minister, to let them reduce services as passenger growth declines. What may be a wise tactic during the slump is not a strategy for the future. And passengers will return only if there is a better rail network.
A decision should be made about what sort of railway network we want and who should pay for it. Not passengers, who have little tolerance for further fare rises.
Travelling by rail in Germany, Switzerland and Holland is more pleasant and cheaper than in Britain because those countries offer far greater levels of public subsidy. Given the dire state of the government's finances, it would be unwise simply to throw money at this problem. Yet, at a time when public money for the railways is diminishing, subsidies for drivers and air passengers remain in place. Duty on car fuel has been frozen while aviation fuel is not taxed at all. Since rail travel is demonstrably better, both socially and environmentally, this makes no sense.
This week we expect to hear that a third runway at Heathrow has been given the go ahead. The Observer has argued against the expansion, but if that battle is lost, Gordon Brown must transfer the subsidies enjoyed by motorists and air passengers to the rail network.
The Tories' plan for a direct 180mph rail link between London and Scotland is a good one. While it would cost at least £15bn to build, it should draw passengers off domestic flights, an increasingly reprehensible way to travel.
The prime minister spoke of the need to make environmental investments in response to the economic downturn. A new high-speed rail link, built before the new runway at Heathrow is completed, would be a good start.