Rochdale station - passengers locked out

[Par]

Arrived at Rochdale this morning at 0630 to catch the 0637 to Manchester Vic. Unable to access the station with the main entrance closed with the roller shutters down. No staff, no explanation and 0637 arrived and departed Without anyone able to board.

A dozen or more passengers waiting outside, with a few banging on the shutters until a few minutes later member of staff finally appeared on the other side saying the shutters couldn’t be opened and that everyone should walk the 5 minutes or so the the entrance on the opposite side of the station which was actually open.

Not sure what the issue was, but really poor from Northern that it took people rattling the shutters to get a response, surely they could have been a bit more proactive in the circumstances?

 

[30907]

Arrived at Rochdale this morning at 0630 to catch the 0637 to Manchester Vic. Unable to access the station with the main entrance closed with the roller shutters down. No staff, no explanation and 0637 arrived and departed Without anyone able to board.

A dozen or more passengers waiting outside, with a few banging on the shutters until a few minutes later member of staff finally appeared on the other side saying the shutters couldn’t be opened and that everyone should walk the 5 minutes or so the the entrance on the opposite side of the station which was actually open.

Not sure what the issue was, but really poor from Northern that it took people rattling the shutters to get a response, surely they could have been a bit more proactive in the circumstances?

I wonder if the member of staff was proactively trying to get the shutters to work - easy to think "just one more try..."?

 

[800001]

Arrived at Rochdale this morning at 0630 to catch the 0637 to Manchester Vic. Unable to access the station with the main entrance closed with the roller shutters down. No staff, no explanation and 0637 arrived and departed Without anyone able to board.

A dozen or more passengers waiting outside, with a few banging on the shutters until a few minutes later member of staff finally appeared on the other side saying the shutters couldn’t be opened and that everyone should walk the 5 minutes or so the the entrance on the opposite side of the station which was actually open.

Not sure what the issue was, but really poor from Northern that it took people rattling the shutters to get a response, surely they could have been a bit more proactive in the circumstances?

Most likely Member of staff dealing with the problem of trying to open station, doesn’t realise the time, by the time they have the train has gone, probably the train that made them aware of the time.
Mistakes, errors etc happen.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Arrived at Rochdale this morning at 0630 to catch the 0637 to Manchester Vic. Unable to access the station with the main entrance closed with the roller shutters down. No staff, no explanation and 0637 arrived and departed Without anyone able to board.

And the 0637 isn't even the first train of the day from Rochdale. Grounds for a successful 'Delay Repay' claim for anyone affected?

 

[skyhigh]

Not again......

 

[Geeves]

Power cut I believe, first had to get in the back of the station, then was dealing with train crew that were stuck outside, that had to cross the line to get access to their train. Then some additional back and forth with control. All sorted shortly after.

 

[voyagerdude220]

Looking on Realtime Trains, it seems as if a few earlier trains before the 06:37 failed to call at Rochdale, "due to a power cut" as Geeves states.

Not sure why the 06:37 was allowed to call if the problem with the entrance being closed hadn't been fixed by then, unless it was decided the problem shouldn't affect trains being able to call at Rochdale as normal.

 

[Dr Hoo]

I thought that we had established that staff were on duty and an alternative entrance was available by then.

The next step was presumably a sign saying ‘Please use alternative entrance via X during power cut, etc.’?

Doesn’t sound like much of a drama to me. Certainly not Northern’s or ‘the staff’ at fault.

 

[Deepgreen]

Most likely Member of staff dealing with the problem of trying to open station, doesn’t realise the time, by the time they have the train has gone, probably the train that made them aware of the time.
Mistakes, errors etc happen.

When working on the front line of the railway, 'realising the time' is essential, especially in such a time-critical activity as opening a station!

 

[800001]

When working on the front line of the railway, 'realising the time' is essential, especially in such a time-critical moment as opening a station for the first train!

Fully aware of that, you do not need to explain it to me.
It is easy for anyone to forfeit the time, even people working in time critical jobs. Everyone is human!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Doesn’t sound like much of a drama to me. Certainly not Northern’s or ‘the staff’ at fault.

How's it not Northern's fault? They "manage" Rochdale station, don't they? Whatever happened, or didn't, must be foreseeable?

 

[Dr Hoo]

How's it not Northern's fault? They "manage" Rochdale station, don't they? Whatever happened, or didn't, must be foreseeable?

I'm not sure that I'd regard a random power cut as 'foreseeable'. Do you get up an hour early every morning in case your house is experiencing a power cut (no heating, light on winter mornings, electric shower or breakfast that you might be used to) or the car won't start, or that your route to work is blocked by an incident, flooding or whatever?

Fully aware of that, you do not need to explain it to me.
It is easy for anyone to forfeit the time, even people working in time critical jobs. Everyone is human!

This was brought home to me in my very first supervisory job. I was booked on a Monday morning, after a weekend shutdown on the line, with heavy snow already falling on the Sunday evening. Prudently (I thought) I got up very early and after de-icing my car and driving very gingerly to work arrived an hour early.

First problem - wages grade staff with keys unable to get to work because of snow. Premises still locked. Forced an entry. (Did make sure that I had my own keys later.)
Second problem - office flooded by burst pipe. Glad I had brought my toolbox and managed to turn water off.
Third problem - nearby signaller frantically buzzes me on the circuit phone to say that they have dropped a light engine on the deck having hand signalled it back over some points that were still 'standing off' because of snow. For the very first time 'in anger', grabbed single line working forms, pilotman's arm band and so on and headed to relevant (different) signalbox to institute Single Line Working. First train already 'standing' awaiting developments.
Fourth problem - said signalbox unstaffed as signaller unable to get into work because of the snow. Praise be that an 'old school' Relief Signaller immediately turned up on own initiative despite being booked on a late turn because they had realised that there may be problems that morning.
Fifth problem - because signalbox had been switched out over the weekend all the signals were frozen 'off' even after the levers were returned in the frame. Grab coal hammer walk along the wire runs hammering the pulleys and proceed to climb the signal posts, including distants in the snow get the arms back to danger. Having done this proceeded to institute Single Line Working as both Responsible Officer and pilotman. Spend rest of shift as pilotman until the breakdown vans had been out and re-railed the light engine. Get back to office, write up Mishap Report for the derailment, write up report on the Single Line working, attach the properly signed and cancelled forms and send off despatch bag to Area Manager.

The following day; still very wintry. Arrive at work to relieve the night turn. Pick up Monday evening's despatch bag from the Area Manager to find memo asking for my further report regarding the 'Delay to institution of Single Line Working'!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I'm not sure that I'd regard a random power cut as 'foreseeable'.

On any given morning, perhaps no. But a power outage at a fairly busy station at some random time over the course of a working year is entirely foreseeable, and one might therefore expect there to be an appropriate contingency plan in place. "Fail to plan, and plan to fail", and all that!. Not as if the outage had just happened.

 

[Dr Hoo]

On any given morning, perhaps no. But a power outage at a fairly busy station at some random time over the course of a working year is entirely foreseeable, and one might therefore expect there to be an appropriate contingency plan in place. "Fail to plan, and plan to fail", and all that!. Not as if the outage had just happened.

Do you have local knowledge of when the power cut began and how long it lasted then? Was it widely known, such that Control would have called out response staff with angle grinders or whatever?

Obviously the relevance of the power cut to the entrance not opening was that it occurred when no local staff were on duty. Most power cuts would happen when the shutter was already open.

I suppose that the staff member could have just stood outside the locked entrance advising customers that the station was closed indefinitely whilst cancellations mounted because of stranded train crew. I still feel that pressing on with remedial arrangements was the best priority.

I’m still interested in how much contingency time you personally allow when getting up to go to work…

 

[sprunt]

I suppose that the staff member could have just stood outside the locked entrance advising customers that the station was closed indefinitely whilst cancellations mounted because of stranded train crew. I still feel that pressing on with remedial arrangements was the best priority.

I’m still interested in how much contingency time you personally allow when getting up to go to work…

It's irrelevant how much contingency any individual allows in the morning because they aren't a vital part of the national infrastructure whose failure has knock on effects costing potentially millions of pounds. It's an absurdly false equivalence.

Nice to see the sarcasm you attach to the idea of letting people know what's going on being a worthwhile thing to do as well.