Curiosity about "The Rail Authority"

[enginedin]

I've read this thread, but still slightly confused.

All the signs near me say:

```
[...]
the Rail Authority on
0141 335 3399
This bridge is owned by Network Rail
[Network rail logo]
```
The last comment in the thread (https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/who-is-the-rail-authority.164236/post-3455206) implies that the Rail Authority is a generic term so that signs don't need to be updated if/when Network Rail is renamed / restructured - but given the signs state ownership the signs will need to be updated anyway (surely?), so does The Rail Authority have some different specific meaning?

 

[stuu]

I've read this thread, but still slightly confused.

All the signs near me say:

```
[...]
the Rail Authority on
0141 335 3399
This bridge is owned by Network Rail
[Network rail logo]
```
The last comment in the thread (https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/who-is-the-rail-authority.164236/post-3455206) implies that the Rail Authority is a generic term so that signs don't need to be updated if/when Network Rail is renamed / restructured - but given the signs state ownership the signs will need to be updated anyway (surely?), so does The Rail Authority have some different specific meaning?

No, the previous posts are correct

 

[enginedin]

No, the previous posts are correct

Sorry, I didn't mean to say they weren't correct - but the way that my brain interpreted them seemed slightly contradictory

 

[starlight73]

If you imagine it as if rail authority doesn’t have capitals - so it’s the authority that manages the railway which is network rail

and then it just has Very Legally Official And Correct Capital Letters

 

[JordR]

It's probably more important that the body to contact is referred to by a generic name than some ancillary text about who owns the bridge, but I agree you would think it would make more sense to refer to both by the generic name!

 

[edwin_m]

If and when Network Rail changes its name or logo, the notice will be out of date, but the part that matters for safety will still be valid assuming they keep the phone number.

 

[Darandio]

If and when Network Rail changes its name or logo, the notice will be out of date, but the part that matters for safety will still be valid assuming they keep the phone number.

Indeed, there are still loads of Railtrack signs out there to this day.

 

[Annetts key]

Plenty of people still call the railway "British Rail" anyway...

 

[JKF]

Indeed, there are still loads of Railtrack signs out there to this day.

Well into this century there were still signs around the network warning you that if you trespassed you’d be fined forty shillings by order of the king, so they have form for not updating such notices promptly…

 

[JordR]

Any sign with a geographic phone number on it will have to be from 1995 at the oldest I think, every area code in the country has been changed since then.

 

[Cantab26]

does The Rail Authority have some different specific meaning?

The ‘rail authority’ may not be the same as the ‘bridge authority’ - it is the former that needs to be informed in the first instance in order to protect trains where appropriate.

 

[JordR]

The ‘rail authority’ may not be the same as the ‘bridge authority’ - it is the former that needs to be informed in the first instance in order to protect trains where appropriate.

I think in practice the numbers are currently provided by Network Rail and connect to the relevant signaller or signalling centre? The logic being that they will be able to protect trains quicker than a call to 999?

 

[Horizon22]

I think in practice the numbers are currently provided by Network Rail and connect to the relevant signaller or signalling centre? The logic being that they will be able to protect trains quicker than a call to 999?

Either signalling centre / signaller or the relevant Network Rail ROC, yes.

 

[Falcon1200]

I think in practice the numbers are currently provided by Network Rail and connect to the relevant signaller or signalling centre? The logic being that they will be able to protect trains quicker than a call to 999

The number in Post #1 rings as an Emergency Line, and therefore activates a siren, in Network Rail Scotland Control, and is therefore answered immediately, regardless of workload.
(I answered it myself far too many times.....)