Is This Really Signal Failure?
Trains through Watford Junction are not running this morning, supposedly because of a signal failure, according to this report. Here’s a snippet.
A spokesman for Network Rail said they were trying to identify the reason for the failure but ruled out cable theft.
But are Network Rail just being politically correct. When I was in York last Saturday, the taxi drivers had it that all of the cable theft was down to a particular group of people.
There is certainly a lot of failures and theft going on. And it’s not just on the railways, as this report from Selby shows.
The other thing that was interesting from the Watford Junction failure report in the Manchester Evening News, was the headline.
Commuter misery as signalling fault causes cancellation of Manchester to London trains
Surely they weren’t refering to those that commute from Manchester to London. It’s an awful long way.
The Anonymous Widower 
There are several types of commuters who use the Manchester to London trains. Some of then are commuting part of the way, perhaps working in somewhere like Stafford, or living in Stafford (or Stockport) and commuting into Manchester. Plus some will get on at somewhere like Stafford and get off at perhaps Birmingham.
There are people who do actually commute into London from Manchester, some will do it weekly, going on Monday and returning on Friday, some will do it daily for a short time, perhaps a couple of months of so, if they want to remain with their family.
Then there are those whose office base is in the centre of London, but they work from home a lot of the time. A few years ago when we were sorting out an elderly relatives home, some stuff went into storage. I was surprised to find the many big companies take storage units, and use them as dropping off and collection point for distant staff – especially sales staff who may have large displays. The stuff is delivered by lorry or van, and the out of date stuff taken away, and the various employees go and pick up the new kit, and return the previous – at a time to suit them.
Comment by liz | June 15, 2011 |