The era of telephones at signals is coming to an end, the RSSB has announced.
They were originally provided so that train crews could communicate with the nearest signal box without walking down the line, but they are now being replaced by GSM-R cab radios or specialist portable devices.
Former Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines had criticised a recent RSSB decision to require signal telephones on the newly-rebuilt Levenmouth line in Scotland.
Last year, he told Railnews: ‘Signal post telephones were installed on the Levenmouth line. Why? Because the RSSB Committee wouldn’t allow us to replace these despite GSMR cab communications, which we have had for 20 years or so. Cab Secure Radio is 30 years old. How many times would those telephones be used? I suggest they would never be used but they were insisted on by a committee of a majority of train operators.’ (RN345)
However, the RSSB has now decided that it is time to ‘phase out outdated technology’ in favour of ‘safer, more efficient alternatives’.
Network Rail has asked not to install signal post telephones during re-signalling works, starting with its Fife project.
The RSSB said ‘the decision follows clear evidence that signal post telephones offer limited safety benefit. Most are rarely used and represent a significant and ongoing cost to the industry’.
Network Rail currently maintains around 32,000 telephones at an estimated cost of £22.5 million a year, and major resignalling schemes add further expense through design, cabling and associated infrastructure.
The independent chair of the Industry Leadership Group Professor Clive Roberts said: ‘Signal post telephones were designed for a very different railway. The evidence is clear that they are no longer the most effective or proportionate way to provide secondary communication. This decision gives the industry clarity and leadership, allowing modern alternatives to be adopted while maintaining safety and reducing avoidable cost.’
Network Rail’s group safety and engineering director Martin Frobisher added: ‘The recent decision about signal post telephones improves safety and saves money. In this age of modern mobile telecommunications, it makes no sense whatsoever for a train driver to climb down from the cab and to use an old-fashioned telephone phone handset in a box on the lineside.’
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