⚠️ We'd like to say how sorry we are for the continued disruption to @SW_Help customers between Yeovil Junction/Crewkerne and Exeter due to a signalling problem which means we've been unable to signal trains in a 35-mile section of railway.
Signals and points failure - Network Rail
How problems with signals and points cause delays – and what we’re doing to prevent themHow we’re reducing signalling failures.
How problems with signals and points cause delays – and what we’re doing to prevent them. How we’re reducing signalling failures.
www.networkrail.co.uk
The railway is divided into sections where only 1 train can be. The system knows if a train's there thanks to two forms of tech, track circuits and axle counters. Axle counters spot changes in magnetic fields when a train wheel passes by to literally count the wheels on a train.
Despite lots of testing on the axle counter system since it failed on Sunday morning, including replacing multiple components and calling in experts from the manufacturers, we've been unable to find the cause of the fault. So we need to reset the system which can take a few hours
To do this we can't have trains running nearby which would impact the service we're currently able to run to Yeovil, so we're going to wait until later tonight to perform a full system reset, although our technical experts can't guarantee it will fix the issue.
Therefore, tomorrow we will continue running trains to and from Yeovil, and plan to run a reduced shuttle service between Yeovil and Exeter serving all stations. But journeys will take much longer as they will have to be talked past signals and run at reduced speeds.
If the system reset works as we hope, then we will be able to reintroduce a normal train service gradually throughout the day. However, we'd recommend you keep checking with @SW_Help for the latest travel advice just in case.
Once again, we're incredibly sorry for how long this is taking to fix. We'll do everything we can to understand the root cause of the failure as it's one we haven't experienced anywhere before, and it has happened on technology which is usually very reliable.
We hope this rather long and technical explanation gives customers some insight into the problem. We understand how frustrating it will be for customers and local communities to be without a train service, but rest assured we're doing everything we can to get things moving again.
To note: we’re sorry to say the Tweet about shuttle trains to Exeter has turned out to not be possible - although we and @SW_Help would have very much liked to, it can’t be done. That’s partly down to logistics and also the need to test the system without any trains. Apologies.
