Signalling & Services Between Paddington & Reading Not Fit For Purpose

[whole diary]

[grahame]

THe comments about prices going up but services not getting better....well, they will, as staff get annual pay rises which have to be paid for & I suspect are a very % of the total cost of running railways

There's a lot of elements.  I would love to see a current split ... of every ^100 paid for tickets  ... how much goes on
  * TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) Employee costs (wages, + NI)
  * Train Lease Charges
  * Train Maintenance
  * Fuel for the trains
  * Station maintenance
  * Offices and office supplies
  * Payments to other TOCs for delaying their trains (and how much is earned back through the delay system?)
  * Repayment to passengers as compensation
  * Buses and taxis to stand in when the train ain't there
  * ATOC^» (Association of Train Operating Companies See - here) and National Rail costs
  * Network Access Charges
  * Government franchise payments
  * Supporting HQ^▸ (Headquarters) company
  * Bidding for the next n years of franchise
  * Shareholder dividends
As trains get older and older, beyond original budgeted life, logic suggests that provision cost is lower and either leasing charges should drop, or someone's making more money.   And our trains are all diesel at the moment.  Hasn't the cost of oil dropped.  So wages aren't everything.

[SandTEngineer]

How much of the equipment has been replaced though?  Where it is controlled from has changed but what about trackside?

The only things that haven't been replaced are some signals (although most are now being updated to LED types) and some point operating machines.  All of the interlocking and associated trackside equipment has been replaced with modern electronic kit and TVSC^» (Thames Valley Signalling Centre - about) is of very up to date construction and has recently been enhanced.

The oldest stretch is Paddington to Stockley Bridge Junction (near Hayes) but this only dates from the mid-1990s so not that old in historic signalling terms and the technology is virtually the same as that recently installed in the Reading and Slough areas.

[ChrisB]

Cost of oil has dropped, but most companies will hedge their supplies, and I doubt the lower prices are featuring yet. Possibly once next year comes around, but this year's supply would have been hedged at the start of the year =- or even back last year.

[ChrisB]

How much of the equipment has been replaced though?  Where it is controlled from has changed but what about trackside?

The only things that haven't been replaced are some signals (although most are now being updated to LED types) and some point operating machines.  All of the interlocking and associated trackside equipment has been replaced with modern electronic kit and TVSC^» (Thames Valley Signalling Centre - about) is of very up to date construction and has recently been enhanced.

Only this year though?
That huge long failure around Slough that went for several days? That was this year - and caused by faulty chips, no?....Improvements this year aren't included in those figures in the report....

[SandTEngineer]

How much of the equipment has been replaced though?  Where it is controlled from has changed but what about trackside?

The only things that haven't been replaced are some signals (although most are now being updated to LED types) and some point operating machines.  All of the interlocking and associated trackside equipment has been replaced with modern electronic kit and TVSC^» (Thames Valley Signalling Centre - about) is of very up to date construction and has recently been enhanced.

Only this year though?
That huge long failure around Slough that went for several days? That was this year - and caused by faulty chips, no?....Improvements this year aren't included in those figures in the report....

Well the majority of the repeat failures I have been observing over the past few years have been in the inner London area of the patch.  I can only recall Reading failing once in that time.

[ellendune]

I have heard it said previously that Railtrack did the re-signalling from Paddington to Stockley Bridge on the cheap or at least badly and that was the reason for many of the problems.  Is this true and how many of the current signal failures are down to this section?

[SandTEngineer]

I have heard it said previously that Railtrack did the re-signalling from Paddington to Stockley Bridge on the cheap or at least badly and that was the reason for many of the problems.  Is this true and how many of the current signal failures are down to this section?

If I remember correctly it was designed by BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) before privatisation but installed and commissioned by Railtrack.

[Electric train]

I have heard it said previously that Railtrack did the re-signalling from Paddington to Stockley Bridge on the cheap or at least badly and that was the reason for many of the problems.  Is this true and how many of the current signal failures are down to this section?

Not quiet true, designed by BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) and like many things in BR in 1980 & 90's done to a budget, its easy to forget the signalling was done at the same time as the Padd remodelling early 90's so the kit is getting on for 30 years.  Although I believe the problems are more cabling based than equipment, there is a lot of extensive works going on in the Stockley Park area and other areas where cables are not "put to bed" there have also been some issues with the signalling power supplies.

The failures are frustrating but as S & T Engineer has mentioned Maintenance Staff have been paired down to the bone, rapid reaction is a van with a 56 mph speed limiter fitted and the teams may have to travel 20 miles to get to where the failure is

[stuving]

The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) have been covering this as new work, though I presume it's just another block of what was expected.

From Network Rail:

Network Rail awards contracts worth ^90m to increase capacity and improve reliability of railway between London and Reading

Wednesday 27 Apr 2016

• New signalling system and upgraded power supplies being installed on the railway west of London
• Rail upgrade is a crucial part of preparation for Elizabeth line services

Network Rail has awarded a contract for the final stage of the signalling system that will control trains between Reading and Paddington to Alstom and a separate contract for resilient power supplies to Amey.  The upgrades are crucial to the future operation of Elizabeth line services as well as the modernisation of the Great Western Main Line.

Both contracts have been awarded under existing Network Rail framework agreements which allow suppliers to invest in the skills and resources needed to deliver large projects efficiently. A ^79m contract with Alstom is for the final stage of the full re-signalling of the Great Western Main Line between Reading and Paddington in the west of London. The contract covers the design, manufacture, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of a state-of-the-art train control system. The signalling work, which is already well underway, will allow Transport for London^s Elizabeth line trains to operate on that section of the railway along with other services on the Great Western Main Line.

The ^11m contract awarded to Amey for signalling power works between Paddington and Hayes & Harlington includes replacement of obsolete power supplies and crucially, fully resilient new supplies for the signalling equipment. This enables the system to be automatically supplied from separate supplies in the event of a power failure anywhere between two points. This drastically reduces train delays whilst maximising reliability for trains on the approach to and from Paddington.

The planned upgrade of the signalling on the Great Western Main Line is being carried out by Network Rail as part of the Railway Upgrade Plan and is also a key enhancement required by Crossrail. Network Rail is a key partner in delivering the Crossrail project and is responsible for the design, development and delivery of the parts of the route that are on the existing rail network.

Matthew Steele, Crossrail Programme Director at Network Rail, said: ^This is a vital step in the delivery of a bigger, better, more reliable railway for London and the South East. By ensuring the new trains can run seamlessly amongst existing rail services and by building in resilience at the outset, we increase the capacity and reliability of the railway meaning that passengers benefit from quicker and easier journeys they can depend upon. To deliver this work in the safest and most efficient way possible, we need to make the most of the huge potential within our supply chain so we look forward to continuing our close collaboration with Alstom and Amey in the delivery of these crucial elements of the Great Western Main Line upgrade and our preparation for Elizabeth line services.^

Crossrail will be known as the Elizabeth line from December 2018 when services start running through central London. The full route will open in 2019. Brand new trains will allow passengers in west London and Berkshire to travel right through central London and all the way out to Essex, reducing journey times and making it quicker and easier for people to get to a range of destinations across London and the South East.

Power fed independently from two sources is good for reliability. Even better would be to keep the whole signalling installation - cables, boxes, comms to Didcot, as well as power - separate and well apart for the two two-track halves of the railway. Have they done that too? Not from what I've seen.

[BerkshireBugsy]

I suspect that I am going to get flamed for this but here goes anyway! I'm going to focus on the delays which occur towards the eastern end of the Reading to Paddington stretch only because that is fairly local to me.

I know there were periods when the delays due to signalling problems can be frustrating and trying. I agree 100% it's not life threatening but I think if I had to travel and suffer these delays on a frequent basis it would do my head in.

But for a moment lets take the effect on passengers out of the equation for the moment and ask what the long term answer is from a technical perspective? Shut down the railway, rip out the whole lot and replace it with brand new equipment? I suspect that isn't a weekend job I would like to hear from anyone on here that has some quick fix answers to these problems.

I do hear about signalling delays even when I am not travelling but I don't post about them - I will leave others to do that.

I totally understand that there are customers on here that have a bad experience of travelling by train in our region to start with. I'm mainly thinking of overcrowded trains here and accept that adding delays into the mix is a recipe for dissatisfaction but - to misquote something someone once said to me it is easier to be critical than correct;

So having had a moan about moaning my question is "does anyone have a good idea as to how this can be fixed?"

So my level headed posting today was done from the comfort of my own home knowing I do not have to battle with any form of public transport today. My opinion could well change in the next month or so when I have to start commuting from Thatcham to London on a daily basis!

To those members of this forum who either work on infrastructure for a TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) I may not like the experience I get from rail travel from time to time but I appreciate your hard work.

In closing what some may see as this pointless ramble I would like to add that I  appreciate those who work to ensure our safety on the rail network. My rail journey often takes me past Ufton Nervet where a number of people lost their lives over a decade ago. I as I pass the memorial near the crossing I often think "there but for the grace of God..." (not that I'm a religious person!).

I guess what I could have said when I started this post is "come on members, give these guys a break"

I'll get my coat..

[ellendune]

So is the signalling contract replacing the (1990's) signalling between Paddington and Hayes and Harlington as well (presumably the area that previously came under Slough New), or is it replacing the older signalling from there to Ruscombe that previously came under Slough Panel?

[SandTEngineer]

Its only enhancing the existing signalling not replacing it completely.  The interlocking data is being rewritten to iron out some of the things that didn't quite work as originally expected and to eliminate some of the post Ladbroke Grove deficiencies.  Its also about adding the two additional depot approach tracks between Westborne Park and the new Crossrail depot at Old Oak Common and simplifying the connections to the existing GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) and Heathrow Express depots.  The new Crossrail Old Oak Common depot signalling is a separate contract with Atkins and interfaces at Mitre Bridge.

Interesting to note that when complete there will be four separate depots at Old Oak Common; GWR, Heathrow Express, Crossrail and IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) and that three of them get wiped out when HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) comes along

[ChrisB]

I thought IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) was at North Pole depot?

[SandTEngineer]

I thought IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) was at North Pole depot?

Yes, but I still count that as Old Oak Common (its only on the otherside of the fence of the GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line)). Modified my post a little bit as the IEP depot will hopefully not be affected.

[ellendune]

Interesting to note that when complete there will be four separate depots at Old Oak Common; GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), Heathrow Express, Crossrail and IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) and that three of them get wiped out when HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) comes along

Which one will remain after HS2?  Crossrail or North Pole?