{"id":155353,"date":"2024-12-06T20:05:18","date_gmt":"2024-12-06T10:05:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=58369"},"modified":"2024-12-06T20:05:18","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T10:05:18","slug":"comms-failure-wipes-out-british-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=155353","title":{"rendered":"Comms failure wipes out British network"},"content":{"rendered":"

A major communications failure has paralysed much of the British railway network, leading to freight delays and commuter cancellations. Fears over digital interference are at an all-time high, prompting concerns over cyber security. Meanwhile, train drivers across Britain were puzzled by the silence on their cab comms. Signallers felt as bereft as mission controllers with all their screens showing \u201cLOS\u201d – Loss of Signal. Hamilton to Hounslow, we have a problem. This morning, the wireless comms system that puts signallers in touch with drivers, just wasn\u2019t. That\u2019s no joke and it\u2019s left the British rail network in meltdown.<\/strong>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

From ScotRail to South Eastern, early morning commuters arrived at stations to the dismay of an entire departure board turned red – just like the signals down the line. In a system which (rightly) defaults to safety first, the first thing that happens in a communications failure is a revert to red. That\u2019s what happened this morning on lines from Scotland to the south of England.<\/p>\n

Short-notice cancellations<\/h2>\n

\u201cServices across the National Rail network may be subject to delays this morning,\u201d said an early morning statement from an undoubtedly bleary-eyed spokesperson for the network, who said commuters would feel the worst effects. \u201cTrains on some routes across the network are having to start their journeys and may also be subject to short-notice cancellations.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Image: Unsplash. \u00a9 Denny M\u00fcller<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Already, conspiracy theorists have been making obvious, and not so obvious, connections. Ironically, connections are the thing the railways are not making right now. However, with the official cyber-security level in the UK currently at \u2018panic-stricken\u2019, thoughts of foreign actors are never far from the headlines. It was only yesterday, say some, that a major Russian-backed multi-national, multi-billion pound money laundering network – based in London – was shattered by law enforcement authorities. Could this be revenge? Not likely, say the more level-headed observers.<\/p>\n

Stand by for Storm Darragh<\/h2>\n

For anyone who still thinks that \u2018signals\u2019 are the way that signallers communicate with drivers, it\u2019s time to think again. The real communication tool out there on the network is GSMR. The \u201cGlobal Systems for Mobile communications – Railways\u201d puts the signaller in the cab with the driver. Except this morning – it didn\u2019t. That, to the dismay of about a million and a half commuters (so far) has been the cybernetic fly in the digital ointment. “There is a fault with the onboard “GSMR” radio system that allows communication between train drivers and signal operators,\u201d explained National Rail Enquiries<\/a>.\u201dThis issue is currently being investigated and will be updated as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Wind damage from 2020. Image: \u00a9 Network Rail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finding the departure boards universally showing \u2018delayed\u2019 is the sort of daytime nightmare that only a terrible winter storm usually evokes. Well, the bad news is \u2026 that\u2019s on the way too. Storm Darragh is about to hit the UK later this afternoon, with winds up to 90mph (144kph). By the time that biblical rain shower hits mainland Britain, the railway will still be recovering from the plague of blown away wireless communications.<\/p>\n

Digital down, storm coming, now \u201cWhen Trees Attack\u201d<\/h2>\n

One cynical comedian (who beat this correspondent to the drop) suggested that the comms collapse was undoubtedly down to Network Rail running out of fax paper. A somewhat unkind but excusable manifestation of gallows humour, in the face of network-wide delays and cancellations until at least midday. We\u2019re fully expecting that deadline to pass without resolution.<\/p>\n

The last thing needed on a day like this is a tree to fall and block a main line. So, it will come as no surprise to find that a tree has fallen and blocked the main line between Leeds and Sheffield – at Wakefield. That\u2019s disrupting (British railways code for \u201ccompletely shattering\u201d) services on that section of the Midland Main Line, which is busy with mixed traffic – from CrossCountry passenger services to vital freight, including intermodal traffic to Wakefield, Leeds and Sheffield<\/a>. It never rains but it pours – and today, it\u2019s about to pour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A major communications failure has paralysed much of the British railway network, leading to freight delays and commuter cancellations. Fears over digital interference are at\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":34474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14676,14677,14536,78,47,2403,14678,48,85,6512],"tags":[12634],"class_list":["post-155353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-system-for-mobile-communications-railways","category-gsmr","category-national-rail-enquiries","category-rail-freight","category-rail-news","category-scotrail","category-storm-darragh","category-technology","category-uk","category-wakefield","tag-railfreight"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=155353"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":156220,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155353\/revisions\/156220"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=155353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=155353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=155353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}