The Devils Kitchen wonders why he is so badly inconvenienced during engineering works on the railway.
This is firstly because there was a replacement bus service between Edinburgh and Newcastle, because of engineering works. Why? I mean, don’t we have more than one track? We are hardly talking about a wee branch line between to one-horse fucking hamlets, here; so why the fuck were all the tracks shut? Are we this fucking incapable now?
There is a short answer and a long answer. The short answer, unfortunately, is that Network Rail, like many companies in the UK today suffers that malaise known as the it’selfansafetyinnit syndrome.
Now the long answer as to why. Just prior to privatisation, British Rail managed to get the annual tally of trackworker fatalities down to zero for a couple of years running. This was an admirable achievement and one the industry wishes fervently to repeat. No company wants to kill its employees and the regular fatalities are inexcusable.
The problem facing the industry is how to achieve this. Back when I was a signaller, engineering works involved one or more lines being closed to traffic while the rest remained open. This meant that we could operate single line working (pdf) – a railway version of the temporary traffic light on the roads. However, aware of the need to make the railway as safe a working environment as possible for trackworkers, the industry came up with the concept of green zone working. A green zone is one where there are no trains operating. This, wherever possible, is the norm for trackwork.
When work is carried out, a process of risk assessment takes place starting from the most safe; no trains at all; to the least safe; trains running normally. Also, when planning major works an engineering possession is granted according to the rules of the route;
Rules regulating the location, number, timing and duration of the possession of parts of the network that Network Rail requires to carry out maintenance, renewals and repairs.
Closing all lines means that the only trains that may be moving are engineering trains. If the engineers don’t need trains, then they have created the safest possible environment; a green zone. This minimises the risk as far as possible of track workers being struck and killed by passing trains. Not least, because the linespeed within a possession is that much lower and trains are under the direct control of the engineers. Also, to maximise the amount of work they can do at any one time, Network Rail minimise their costs by grabbing as much as possible for the time they have available. The other cost they can minimise by closing all lines is that associated with the paraphernalia of trackworker protection from passing trains; fences, warning systems etc. Also, not setting up single line working avoids employing handsignallers and pilotmen.
The monumental fuck-up that was our rail privatisation created a monster. Massively risk averse due to a spate of fatalities combined with heavy handed witch-hunts in their wake and the contractual constraints placed upon it by the government, Network Rail finds itself in the position of closing all lines because it can kill two birds with one stone. It minimises its exposure to risk and reduces its costs.
That DK suffered as a consequence is unfortunate (and having suffered similarly, I sympathise), but blaming the Network Rail management team is picking the wrong target. Blame the Secretary of State for Transport, blame the HMRI, blame the ORR – then, if they change their policies and the Network Rail management team still manages to make a fuck-up of it, blame them.