Another Day, Another Infrastructure Fault on the Great Eastern Mainline

I'm pretty sure we're getting used to it now, daily faults with trains and infrastructure on the AGA network.

This morning we have problems with signal equipment at Stowmarket causing delays of up to 60 minutes (if you believe the AGA tweets). Yesterday morning, we had a fault with a broken down freight train at Ingatestone and problems with signalling equipment at Shenfield.

That is the week after the massively over running engineering work Network Rail (NR) were doing over the bank holiday weekend. They do engineering work over a bank holiday weekend because they have an extra day to do it and they still couldn't get it done on time. Of course this isn't the first time engineering work has over run, it happens on a regular basis, although this time, it led to bosses from AGA to meet up with bosses from NR, which itself led to a generic apology (if that's what you want to call it) from AGA's MD Jamie Burles, an apology which I posted to my blog last week.

Of course NR aren't entirely to blame for causing delays, although they have a good stab at it. Between their constantly failing signals, overhead power cables, points and track equipment, there are also train faults from AGA and the freight trains that run on the network. AGA has multiple train faults on a daily basis and often short forms trains or cancels trains accordingly. The Liverpool Street (LST) - Norwich (NRW) Intercity trains, which are usually run by ageing Class 90 locomotives coupled to ageing Mark III carriages and Mark III Driving Van Trailers (DVTs) at the other end, quite often fail and are completely replaced by an 8 carriage Class 321 train that is substituted in. Class 321 trains, which are just as old and just as unreliable as AGA's Intercity trains but also lack luxuries such as Air Con, on board food service and a much reduced First Class section.

As for the freight trains braking down, AGA and NR wouldn't be directly responsible, but would both benefit from financial compensation from the Freight Train Operating Company (FOC) concerned, GBRf, DB Schenker (formerly EWS) and Frieghtliner all run trains up and down the Great Eastern Mainline. With the mainline past Shenfield only made up of two lines with occasional loops a broken down train can cause a lot of havoc. It would be good to point out that broken down freight trains happen far less often than AGA's trains break down, but when they do, they always cause havoc on the line and take ages to move.

All these issues need drastic looking at and as quickly as possible. Something that the DfT, AGA and NR, along with the FOCs need to work together to sort out.