UK: The Rail Safety & Standards Board’s Industry Leadership Group has agreed to Network Rail’s request to stop the provision of signal post telephones during resignalling works, starting with a project in Fife.
RSSB said the decision was based on evidence that signal post telephones offer limited safety benefit, most are rarely used and they represent a significant and ongoing cost to the industry. Its analysis showed that signal post telephones have a poor safety profile as secondary communication provision compared to alternative methods. Better solutions are the provision of portable devices to drivers or a second SIM card that allows onboard GSM-R radios to ‘roam’ onto an alternative network.
Network Rail currently maintains around 32 000 telephones across the network. This comes at an estimated cost of £22·5m a year, with major resignalling schemes adding further expense through design, cabling and associated infrastructure.
The decision could mean train operators need to upgrade other voice communication systems and, if required, the Cost Attribution Committee will address financial compensation using existing industry mechanisms.
Fixed lineside telephones may still be provided at strategic locations if there is an identified need.
’Signal post telephones were designed for a very different railway’, said Professor Clive Roberts, Independent Chair of the Industry Leadership Group, on April 10. ‘The evidence is clear that they are no longer the most effective or proportionate way to provide secondary communication. This decision gives the industry clarity and leadership, allowing modern alternatives to be adopted while maintaining safety and reducing avoidable cost.’
