Fen line signalling north of Ely

[highwalker]

There have been a couple signalling failures on the line north of Ely in the last few months, apparently near Downham Market, including this morning. I don't think that the signalling (TCB) is that old by railway standards, so is there anything in particular which makes it susceptible to problems?

 

[trebor79]

There have been a couple signalling failures on the line north of Ely in the last few months, apparently near Downham Market, including this morning. I don't think that the signalling (TCB) is that old by railway standards, so is there anything in particular which makes it susceptible to problems?

Possibly cable theft? It's quite open and exposed country and there are some, ahem, particular groups of residents who engage in that sort of thing.

 

[Cross City]

Possibly cable theft? It's quite open and exposed country and there are some, ahem, particular groups of residents who engage in that sort of thing.

Damaged cabling, so no need for the discriminatory accusations about a certain ethnic group.

 

[MikeWM]

Must be pretty serious, as it seems the line to Kings Lynn is closed for the rest of the day. Possibly Norwich too? The line to Peterborough has reopened.

Full marks to GA for extending one-an-hour of its Liverpool Street - Cambridge North service to Ely while this is ongoing. That proved invaluable in getting me to the office this morning.

 

[Cross City]

Must be pretty serious, as it seems the line to Kings Lynn is closed for the rest of the day. Possibly Norwich too? The line to Peterborough has reopened.

Full marks to GA for extending one-an-hour of its Liverpool Street - Cambridge North service to Ely while this is ongoing. That proved invaluable in getting me to the office this morning.

Anglia are still running Norwich-Brandon too. East Mids have scrapped Nottingham-Norwich.

This happens semi-regularly at Ely, no idea why. Always at the North Junction.

 

[trebor79]

Anglia are still running Norwich-Brandon too. East Mids have scrapped Nottingham-Norwich.

This happens semi-regularly at Ely, no idea why. Always at the North Junction.

Presumably people keep "damaging" the cabling...

 

[Clarence Yard]

Or the cabling or cabinets or relay room are in poor condition and getting piecemeal repairs instead of a complete re-wire or renewal.

 

[dk1]

Presumably people keep "damaging" the cabling...

I’ve not known it this bad in a long while. Priority was given to freight trains for trains heading towards Peterborough which was the route reopened first. Unfortunately an operating incident hampered this further.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 26 Sep 2023 ==

All routes look set to reopen shortly. There seems to be nothing to suggest this is vandalism. Simply looks like signalling cable issues or possible rodent damage.

 

[800001]

Rodents have been confirmed as causing the damage, chewing cables. Greater Anglia have just tweeted.

 

[dk1]

Rodents have been confirmed as causing the damage, chewing cables. Greater Anglia have just tweeted.

Pesky buggers.

 

[800001]

Pesky buggers.

Well it will be one less to chew them tonight

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Well it will be one less to chew them tonight

Another advantage to retaining mechanical signalling