West Midlands Railway warns of train travel disruption due to nationwide fault

Storm Darragh[1] is on the way with travel and weather experts warning of disruption as a yellow weather warning is issued for the West Midlands from 3pm today and over the weekend. Strong winds are likely to lead to some disruption and damage the Met Office[2] has warned. It said: There is likely to be longer journey times or cancellations as road, rail, air and ferry services are affected."

Ahead of the yellow weather warning this morning, at around 7.30am, West Midlands Railway[3] has alerted passengers to a nationwide fault with the communication systems used between train drivers and signallers. The train operator has warned: "This may cause delays to services. We are sorry for any disruption this has caused your journey today".

You can check any delays to your planned trips here: National Rail[4] Train information website National Rail Enquiries also warned of issues for passenes today it said trains "across the network" are having to start their journeys later because of the failure of the onboard GSM-R system, and "may be subject to cancellations or alterations". South Western Railway is among the operators to cancel some services.

It said in a message to passengers: "We have been informed of a national issue with communication systems affecting service this morning. "This means that trains may be delayed before they start their journey. "This is because it is preventing our train drivers from contacting the respective signalling centre this morning and a reset is having to be performed before the train can start its journey."

Elizabeth line trains serving Reading and Heathrow airport are affected. ScotRail passengers are being permitted to travel via "any reasonable route" because of the issue. The failure with the GSM-R system "is currently being investigated", National Rail Enquiries said.

GSM-R is designed to enable driver and signallers to communicate digitally at all times, including while trains are in areas such as tunnels and deep cuttings where previous analogue systems did not work.

It was rolled out to increase safety and reduce costs by replacing the patchwork of inefficient legacy systems which were expensive to maintain.

References

1. ^ Storm Darragh (expressandstar.com)
2. ^ Met Office (weather.metoffice.gov.uk)
3. ^ West Midlands Railway (www.westmidlandsrailway.co.uk)
4. ^ National Rail (www.nationalrail.co.uk)