Track Fault @ Bethnal Green 12/3/19

Seems to be "good service" currently so I presume this was this morning....

To be fair to the Service Controllers, it is not their sole decision as to what service status is shown nor when. That falls to the Service Manager in consultation with the LUCC (London Underground Control Centre). It is the LUCC which ultimately has control over the "rainbow" service status messages.

There's also politic's involved in the whole service status message saga; believe me, the Service Controllers themselves can never be blamed for what ends up being put out to the general public.

In terms of taking decisions to get trains moving during a failure scenario, I've personally been in the Central line controllers hot seat and its not a place I found easy or enjoyable. Things can back up on the Central line very quickly - for example you can easily get three trains stranded between Mile End and Stratford (plus a train in each of those platforms). That's capacity for well over 3,000 people on stalled trains across just two stations on the line.

It was policy at the time I was there that a passenger alarm on a train in zone one would instantly see trains held back to either Leytonstone or White City (depending on direction). To put that into some context, on the District line the initial hold for a passenger alarm is rarely more than four or five stations anywhere on the line.

Moving on to today's issue, a track failure or severe speed restriction is obviously going to impact on the train service, but taking out a load of trains isn't always the magic answer. If you take out too many you end up with not enough capacity to sustain the number of people waiting on platforms. It's a very delicate balancing act between running a safe but slow service or a fast but inadequate (and arguably unsafe) service.

You also have to squeeze in track access to fix the fault.

Would I have another go at being a controller? No thanks, not on your life!!

Depends on the time of day - you also have to factor in trains that need to be "stabled as booked" for maintenance purposes.......so if its after the morning peak and particular trains have been put on particular workings to get them to a specific location for targetted maintenance such as an exam that's due, brake block change, fleet modification work, etc, etc they'll need to run to that location if at all possible.

Then you've got drivers that might be on a finishing trip or due a meal break at a particular location. A driver on the eastbound finishing at their home location, say Hainault, won't appreciate being turned at Liverpool Street and sent west to avoid Bethnal Green. Equally a driver heading westbound and due a meal break at White City needs to be at White City for their next train after meal break as that's where they pick it up. They can't do that if you reverse them at Leytonstone to avoid running through Bethnal Green.

Obviously a wheel stop incident like a one under is what it is and if you can't physically run trains through a given area its simply game over and we all suffer the consequences, but if trains can run through under failure conditions, the above must be bourne in mind when deciding how to respond to the situation.

Sometimes something happens at a bad time of day and the timetable and/or drivers duties are not conducive to helping the situation. At other times something happens during a sweet spot when the timetable and/or drivers duties easily absorb the impact.

I'm not implying that you are impervious to the complexities of the railway - indeed I know you know them well - rather I'm attempting to put accross the complexities to the the wider forum readership.

Now there's a can or worms.

If I had a pound for everytime a station service update announcement seemes to conflict with what I know is really going on with the train service.....

Politics my friend. Politics

ST, what happened, and when, exactly?

I’ve looked at the Service Manager’s report - not much to take from it other than the issue was a confirmed kink in one of the running rails on the westbound road following a rough ride report by a driver. Mind you, it did take several passes with manager’s and the Emergency Response Unit travelling through on trains before it was fully confirmed.

Much like with train bourne defects, the driver reports it but others have to come along and confirm it before it actually becomes a real issue that needs sorting

Anyway, main point of this post is to advise that at one stage 20 trains were cancelled. So in relation to the question of service control’s apparent poor response to the incident........well the initial response whilst appearing to be initially slow was about awaiting confirmation that a problem did indeed exist as reported. They then cancelled quite a few trains to alleviate the pressure on the train service.

From where I’m sitting, with the benefit of a bit more info, I don’t think it was handled badly at all. Fact is a service affecting problem during the morning peak is always gonna pan out painfully, especially in a critical area midway along a given line.

I’ve been on LU for 18 years this year (wow! that’s flown by!) - communication has always been our biggest problem!

As for working with other railways and keeping customers updated before they arrive on LU turf, and indeed vice versa, good luck with that one.....

Does this incident once again make the case for TFL to kit out a suitable equivalent of Network Rail's flying banana?

OK it took ages for Network Rail to get it right, but now they seem to be able to scoot up and down lines at full speed whilst carrying out a comprehensive track state evaluation, and can identify the location of track faults in real time allowing timely and often far better prioritisation and deployment of limited track maintenance and repair resources.

Given the huge leap forward in this sort of remote sensing technology in recent years, I am not convinced a fix on fail approach is still the optimum risk management strategy.

OK it means spending money now, to eventually save money, but I am surprised that HSE are not putting significant pressure on all significant rail system operators to deploy this sort of technology. I really hope we do not need to wait until another Potters Bar finally provides the impetus?

Back when I used to work at Stratford we had evacuated the station for some reason (fire alert, security alert, one under, can't remember) when a First Great Eastern train arrived on Platform 9, opened its doors and a load of passengers got off.

As Colin says communication within LU is pretty bad but its even worse when other TOCs are involved.

The westbound platform is right up against the houses on Goodall Road, any fire exits would be through their back gardens and out the front door.

I was on the detrained unit at Leyton and i have to agree the situation at Leyton appeared extremely stressful for the Station staff. It took me 15 mins to walk from the 5th carriage along the crowded platform to the gateline.

On the westbound platform there is the back passage way on to Langthorne Road. I did wonder why that was not opened, as an alternative way out.



I have to agree with points made on poor communication of the service delay. Had there been Severe delays or Part suspension, I think many (myself included) would have avoided the line.

And what happens when Abellio quite rightly refuses to pay First Essex's invoice?

I say quite rightly because they're both private companies that have nothing to do with each other.

It's like saying you paid for a tin of baked beans in Tesco but they had none in stock. You got some instead from Asda and they then billed Tesco. Might seem like an extreme comparison but that's essentially what you're suggesting.

There's no arrangement in place between Abellio (or c2c for that matter) and bus companies in Essex to carry each others passengers - indeed most bus routes in Essex are single deck and run half hourly or hourly......the normal sheduled bus service cannot possibly match the capacity of a train and so could never reasonably be expected to pick up the slack during a suspension of service.

If a suspension is expected to last long enough, they will contract rail replacement buses and/or coaches specifically for the task. Otherwise it will be a case of "sorry, we can't provide the service. Up to you to find another way of getting to your destination".

I agree its not ideal. You might be able to reclaim the cost of your alternative transport but to be fair to the likes of Abellio, it's not their fault if someone chooses to commit suicide and bring the railway to a halt.

I saw four staff at the time i passed through. 2 on the westbound platform inside of the waiting room. 2 in the ticket hall on either side of the gateline.

That's not what the Greater Anglia website, or the barrier staff at Chelmsford say

In some situations we are able offer you a journey by bus, arranged by Greater Anglia or where you can use our tickets, instead of a train. This is depended on the amount of customers likely to use the buses, the amount of buses available and how busy it is on the roads.