Network Rail says a signal failure that has blighted services on the Portsmouth main line cannot be resolved for weeks.
The intermittent but daily problem delays a majority of Portsmouth services by setting three sets of signals to red at Rowlands Castle in Hampshire.
Signallers have to talk the driver of each train through the red signals, increasing journey times by around ten minutes.
Network Rail’s Wessex Region admitted to passengers: “This is incredibly annoying and disruptive, and is soaking up huge amounts of technician time.”
South Western Railway Chief Operating Officer Stuart Meek told RAIL: “It has been going on for weeks. Any failure that hits a location for that length of time is unacceptable for passengers.”
To read the full story, see RAIL 976.
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Güntürk Üstün - 10/02/2023 05:31
At last, it’s truly great to witness phase three and four of this huge resignalling project taking place. The current signalling system dates back to the early 1970s and during a long-term programme Network Rail has been modernising it to improve reliability across the Southern region. One should recall that Wessex route can sometimes be one of the worst affected in terms of signalling issues and completing this work will help prevent those incidents and will allow Network Rail to increase capacity for trains with fewer delays, improved safety and lower running costs. Dr. Güntürk Üstün