News Signalling to be centralised by Katie Silvester


Network Rail is to centralise all its signalling into just 14 regional signalling centres by 2030, with work beginning in Control Period 5 (2014-19). There are currently 800 signal boxes and centres. The cost of consolidation will be


The Derby Communications Centre, which opened in 2008


£1.1bn, but £250m will be saved each year once it has been completed. The plan will form the backbone


of Network Rail’s proposals for CP5, with more than 80 per cent of the network moved to the new centres by 2029. The majority of the work would be done in CP5 and CP6 under the proposals, which would


need to be approved by the Office of Rail Regulation. A spokesman for Network


Rail said: ‘Much of our existing equipment is old and inconsistent, it needs to be replaced. With better signalling and control technology we can reduce costs, reduce delays, deliver extra capacity and improve passenger information, helping to creating the 21st century railway Britain deserves.’


Countering anticipated protests


from traditionalists, he added: ‘This kind of activity has been going on for generations – it’s part of the ongoing evolution of the railway.’ In 1900 there were around 10,000


signal boxes, which dropped to just over 5,000 following the Beeching cuts. British Rail closed around 100 boxes a year. Network Rail would be closing around 50 a year under the new plans.


The new signalling centres will


see performance improve, Network Rail says, with far fewer reactionary delays, which account for 50 per cent of all disruption. Punctuality should improve by two per cent.


But signalling centralisation will


Worker death blots otherwise good year for rail safety n


A Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) report has given the railways a clean bill of health for the financial year 2010-2011. The figures show that there was just one


workforce fatality, where an infrastructure worker fell from height. The overall figure for fatal and non-fatal workforce injuries has decreased by 10 per cent compared to the previous year. No one was killed in train accidents and there


was a reduction in higher risk train accidents from 42 in 2009-10 to 18. But eight passengers died in separate incidents, all at stations.


There were 31 fatalities among members of Alstom fails in Eurostar challenge


Court action by Alstom challenging Eurostar’s tendering process has failed after a high court judge rejected the claims. Siemens’ Valaro platform won the £527m train order for Eurostar, but Alstom had claimed that the bidding contest was flawed. Alstom, which is headquartered in France, has built all of Eurostar’s trains until now.


the public, not including those due to suicide. Of the 31 deaths, 27 were trespassers and the remaining four were pedestrians at level crossings. Anson Jack, director of policy, research and


risk at RSSB said: ‘The rail industry’s primary safety objective is to avoid harm to people and property, and rail continues to be one of the safest forms of transport.’ ORR’s director of rail safety Ian Prosser added: ‘Great Britain’s railways are facing a period of change as the industry works to improve its efficiency in the light of Sir Roy McNulty’s value- for-money study – but we stress that safety must not be compromised. ‘We say again, improvements in safety and efficiency go hand-in-hand.’ The ORR’s National Trends Yearbook 2010-11


shows that 1,353 million franchised passenger journeys were made, a 7.6 per cent increase from the previous year. Nine out of 10 (90.9 per cent) of all trains were on time. The number of complaints per 100,000 passenger journeys decreased by 5.9 per cent compared to 2009-10, while the average increase in rail fares between January 2010 and January 2011 was 6.0 per cent.


mean large numbers of redundancies for signallers, according to figures from the RMT union, which is in talks with Network Rail about the plans. Today’s 6,000 signallers will be reduced to just 2,000 over the next 30 years, the union has warned. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that discussions were at an early stage, adding: ‘RMT wants to make it absolutely clear that we will not agree to anything that compromises the job security, safety or standards of living of our members. We are not opposed to new technology but we are clear that any changes that may arise should be accommodated through a shorter working week, additional annual leave and the right to retire at 55 on full pension entitlement.’ Existing signalling centres that will form part of the final 14 are: Derby, Gillingham, Cardiff, Saltley, Edinburgh and Ashford. Didcot and Glasgow will be retained, but upgraded. New centres will be built in Romford, Three Bridges, York, Manchester Rugby and Basingstoke.


n katie.silvester@railpro.co.uk Union merger talks


in progress Plans to merge the TSSA and RMT are afoot after the two unions agreed to formal talks. Initial discussions will focus on closer working – initially through a federation structure – with a view to moving towards a merger. The move is being billed as a merger of the rail industry’s two biggest unions in a bid to fight cuts expected in a potential railways white paper in the autumn. The plan is for the RMT and TSSA to set up a federation to campaign and ballot for action. Both unions agreed that the door will stay open for smaller, specialist transport unions – that may be thinking along similar lines – to join the discussions at a future date. TSSA general secretary Gerry Doherty


said: ‘The decision will hopefully be the start of a process designed to serve the interests of future generations of transport and travel trade workers. We owe an obligation to our children and our children’s children to leave better organisations that protect workers in the very uncertain future that they currently face.’ Speaking on behalf of the RMT, general


secretary Bob Crow said: ‘These talks will bring together two unions, each with over 100 years of specialising in the transport industry in the interests of workers.’


AUGUST 2011 PAGE 5


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