Network railway owns and operates Britain’s rail infrastructure but now has come under scrutiny for glitches in operations consistent with the unpredictable weather. Dealing with weather-related hazards such as heat waves, lightning strikes and flooding by the railways left much to be desired.
According to the office of rail regulation weather-related delays attributable to Network Rail rose by 500,000 minutes, the equivalent of almost a year, in the 12 months to the end of March.
Minor snowfall in south-east England which caused “disproportionate problems” for the railways. Autumn delays with leaves on the line were accentuated with theft of copper cables; a growing problem because of rising copper prices.
ORR’s chief executive, Bill Emery indicated that some worrying signs with performance improvements come from the train operating companies, rather than Network Rail and an increase in the number of asset failures during the year.
Network Rail might even face a fine for a drop in weaknesses in the planning and execution of a re signaling project at Portsmouth, which it said, breached one of the conditions of its network license.
Delays always result in reduced passenger satisfaction. The industry must accept that it has to keep improving in real terms just to stand still in terms of passenger satisfaction.
Source: The Guardian
