Great Western Coffee Shop

Was becoming off topic in the FTFB thread so moved here.

I was also told that Gloucester would go to West Midlands signalling centre rather than Didcot.

Apparently they considered bidirectional signalling at Cheltenham but decided against. Apparently at Gloucester platform 1 is not long enough for the nine cars even, but it is possible to move signals back on platform 2 and 1.

I would like to see the reverse time improvements because it promotes more trains to call at Gloucester. I have also noticed decreased use of Platform 1 recently with only Great Malverns using the platform. Use of platform 3 more would be great but rail travel is more focused towards Cheltenham now. It’s used under 8 times a day which is unfortunate.

I did post in the F4T topic that there are some big NR boundary changes being planned that will put Gloucester and Cheltenham into the Midlands Territory.  TVSC is full and cannot accomodate any more territory without major building works (hence the talked about plan for Exeter Panel to become a ROC). I also think that NR are begining to realise that putting 'all your eggs in one basket' is asking for trouble if something serious was to happen.

Anyway, we need to wait and see once the CP6 plans are firmed up.

I Think the best and cheapest way to resignal Gloucester would be to convert the panel box into a ROC or small I.E.C.C. This would be more practical as the Horton Road crossing poses safety issues, with people as I was told by platform staff, jumping over barriers. So it needs a person high up in a building to oversee it. The work station in there could contain only 4 monitors and could be placed across the back wall. Then the panel would be ripped out and a nice desk housing all of the monitors for the crossings. I also can see that there is a large relay room underneath it which could house most of the control boxes and probably save on REB Cabinets.

Really not sure a person up in the box would make much difference!


But then all the old stuff would have to be ripped out before the new stuff can be installed.  That would be a very long blockade!

Platform 1, is used through the week but does not seem to be used on Saturdays.

Are you thinking then NR are wishing they had not built large signalling centres.

Yes.

Why, They are reliable and seem to work, the one TVSC As featured on Tv was a busy one. I suppose the signallers get fed when news comes from route control that someone is trying to comit suiside or trespassers.

According to the Strategic Plan published earlier this year, the CP6 resignalling schemes for Worcester, Gloucester and Cornwall have been deferred until CP7/8.

See page 65 of this document:  https://cdn.networkrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Western-Route-Strategic-Plan.pdf

If the original plan was to have the whole Western route covered by TVSC, how come it isn't large enough?

Sounds like bad planning.

I don't think it was the original plan to have all the Western Route controlled from there - by which I mean the plan when it was built - that is why it is only called the Thames Valley Signalling Centre.  Then the plan changed and I thought they were planning to extend the building - always a tricky thing when it is a live installation.  So I guess they have now realised that and have scaled back their aspirations to match the capacity of the building. 

I think there's a difference between what was initially planned - as in going to be done within the foreseeable and plannable future - and what was always intended as the final result. There are maps with the NR routes  (their management regions, one of which is "Western"), identified one to one with ROCs (excepting some historical anomalies). But the Western Route Plan of 2013 said:

That's signalling, but an ROC also holds the ECR (electric power), NR route, and TOC operations control functions. I suspect that these have ended up employing more people than was foreseen. And of course that "planned" may have assumed that if more space was needed 30 years later than some could be built.

And has someone wearing a "resilience" hat come along to NR's planners of control strategy and asked what the backup arrangements are - e.g. if a major fire puts an ROC out of action for months, how and to where will control of all functions be transferred to be operational the next day? That must be easier to do with more, smaller, control units, though obviously needs some spare capacity somewhere.

I remember a time when I was last at Weston-Super-Mare station, the platform staff hidey hole had a 'slave panel' in it at the entrance to said hidey hole which was in full view of the travelling public although not many of the travelling public ventured so far down the up platform to notice it, I wonder if its still there.

I understand it has been removed, as has a similar one at Newbury.

The latter is now in the care of the Swindon Panel Preservation Society (http://www.swindonpanel.org.uk/2015/04/17/newbury-emergency-panel-arrives-at-didcot-railway-centre/).

I Am assuming that route control in swindon would be a backup incase the worst happened to TVSC. They must have thought of that obviously.

When I last went to Weston-Super-Mare I had noticed it had gone, there were just desks where it stood. This was back in May 2012, that I visited.

What has happened in Gloucester right now, the trains are all new becoming very delayed with one stuck at barnwood.

From Cross Country Journey Check:

 Delays to services between Cheltenham Spa and Bristol Parkway
Due to a points failure between Cheltenham Spa and Bristol Parkway all Southbound lines are blocked.
Impact
Train services running through these stations may be delayed. Disruption is expected until 20:45 24/12.
Last Updated:24/12/2018 19:46