Signal failures blight London-Reading journeys

Signal failures on the Great Western Main Line between London and Reading have been running at an average of almost one a day in recent months, according to figures released by Network Rail.

In March 2015 there were 36 failures (causing 6,189 delay minutes), with the trend over the past five years rising inexorably towards daily failures. The delays that result from the failures are also rising, although delay minutes per incident have remained constant over the five years.

RAIL understands that the problems centre on three areas: existing signalling from the 1990s around Acton and Southall; poor reliability of new axle counters around Slough; and various problems with new points laid in Moreton Cutting last Easter. The latter are not reflected in the figures released by NR because they only cover to March, whereas Easter fell in April. 

​For more on this story, read RAIL 778, published on July 8.
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