Signaller regrading

[Sheridan]

Reading about TfW’s new Chester-Wrexham service got me wondering about signaller re-grading. As this means one extra train an hour in each direction, and the level crossing being down twice more an hour (when they shunt between platforms), would this be enough to trigger a higher grade for the signallers at Croes Newydd?

Similarly when the Wrexham-Bidston service increased, would this at least have led to a review of the grading?

My gut says that an increase from 1tph to 1.33tph on that line probably wouldn’t justify a higher grade, but the extra Chester service might do.

(Mods, if you think this is better in the ‘A Career as a Signaller’ or anywhere else, feel free to move it!)

Mod Note: Happy to keep it here as it is a specific query and a wider discussion around signaller roles.

 

[Lucy1501]

Generally speaking (in my limited discussion with local managers) regrading of boxes needs to be initiated at the local level by a mixture of signallers and local managers signing the request off.

There can be some apprehension due to the concern of being downgraded, e.g. if a box historically had a lot of traffic which has since diminished which might lead to going down a grade or two.

 

[cin88]

Service levels are only one aspect of what is considered when a re-grading request is made. Inter alia, changes in workload in general (line blockage requests, crossings of all kinds becoming busier/quieter etc), complexity of layout, volume of equipment and changes to methods of working all get taken into consideration.

To be honest, I doubt 1 or 2 trains an hour extra would be enough to get an increase in grade without significant extra evidence to support a claim.

Extra trains certainly wasn't enough the first time the residents of the box that I now get my grade from tried to get it upgraded, it took a determined relief signaller and quite a bit of extra evidence gathering to get it on the second attempt a couple of years later.

 

[tiptoptaff]

Are boxes graded based on the actual service level, or what the theoretical maximum is? Ie if you can add these trains without resignalling, is that already accounted for in the grading?

So in this example, an additional 1tph e/w is well within the capacity of the signalling the box controls, and so already accounted for when the grade was determined?

 

[cin88]

Actual service level is what is taken into account. One location on my patch prior to its most recent regrade, was assessed as having 83 trains per day according to it's 2005 regrading. It now has over 200 trains a day in the normal timetable, in addition to being a primary diversionary route for quite a few major destinations/interchanges. They got re-graded upwards this year, there were other factors at play but the service level did form the primary body of evidence for that particular box. From what I understand, it was a fairly open-shut case for the re-grading panel.