signal failure

On way guv'nor. Put simply, if there is a signal failure it will fail safe, [return to danger]. There are no back up signals. [unless some have been installed and I have been unaware for the past 5 years] With Automatic mode, you've got a target speed, red signal= zero as target speed.


And, I am SO glad I am missing all the fun...

Well you pretty much answered your own question there.

Signalling comes in many forms, whether it be light signals with trainstops, cab signalling, track circuit based ATO/ATP, or radio based ATO/ATP. It's all signalling. As far as I'm aware, most signal failures are caused by track circuit or relay failures.

Not really, because you still have the Coded Manual mode. [Drive train manually with the target Speed and ATP] It's usually the train borne ATO equipment that goes wrong....

As long as you still can get a target speed, you are fine.

When I worked on the Central, pre - Wood lane, it was rare to get any kind of signalling failure other than track/points problems. It was understood that this stuff was out in all weathers and lumping great trains ran all over it every couple of minutes. There were 13 signal boxes needing a roster of 65 Signal Operators.

When we opened Wood Lane, these failures remained at the same level as before - probably for the same reasons as before. These were augmented (maybe there's a better word) by the need to transmit signalling information back to the CC, code/decode it, interpret it into a readable format and comply with additional safety precautions (eg: sequence alarms). In effect, the complexity double and consequently, the failure rate doubled along with the fix times. We needed 36 highly paid people to operate Wood Lane, that may have changed since my time.

On reflection, I'm not sure we made the right decisions although it would have been regarded as luddite had we not aligned ourselves with what other railways were doing around the world at the time. I think we should have kept it simple and invested more time and effort into the skills of our people rather than trusting technology to make it all come together. I remember this being considered but there was a view that the militancy and power weilded by the TUs frightened people away from this option. The fear was - if you trained people into a highly skilled unit then they could hold you to ransome for any whimsical demand. One way or another, misguided management and trigger-happy TUs more or less decided upon the way Wood Lane was put together.