Signal problem is green light for rail hold-up

Jan 7 2009 by Kenny Smith, Rutherglen Reformer

A SIGNALLING problem in Rutherglen caused delays on the railways throughout Britain for commuters returning to work on Monday.

The local fault affected not only trains travelling out to the rest of Lanarkshire and into Glasgow, but for commuters who were heading to England on Virgin Trains, who provide services to England on the West Coast main line.

A spokesman for Network Rail said: “There’s a been a signalling problem affecting services through the Glasgow Central low level to various points in Lanarkshire, to Hamilton and Motherwell, and to Dalmuir going the other way, as well as Whifflet on the high level.

“It was caused by a signalling fault that occurred before services started on Monday morning

“It was fixed in the evening by our engineers, who had been on site since first thing in the morning.

“As well as the local services, it affected the Birmingham service from Virgin, and there was also a problem down south with an overhead line on the London route.

“As a result, there was an impact on the Virgin services, and did cause a significant level of delay and disruption, but it’s something that’s now been addressed.”

As a result, Scotland’s main train operator has told Network Rail its performance is "simply not good enough" after the signalling problems.

The dressing down from First ScotRail followed a fault on the line caused by operations being transferred to a new signalling centre, with trains on several lines into the city being hit by the problems at Rutherglen.

Steve Montgomery, First ScotRail's operations and safety director, said: "We are disappointed that our customers are again facing disruption.

“It is simply not good enough for our customers. We have asked Network Rail some hard questions and for an update on when the issues will be resolved."

The rebuke comes a year after the train operator criticised the rail firm for over-running engineering work at a key junction between Glasgow and Paisley.

Network Rail’s David Simpson, route director for Scotland, said: "We apologise to passengers who have encountered crowded trains and delayed or cancelled services as a result."

Delays: Trains to Glasgow, Lanarkshire and the south were disrupted on Monday because of a signalling problem in Rutherglen.