Come on who nicked the signals???

Portsmouth rail misery continues

Rail passengers in Portsmouth face months of travel misery as bosses announce a £100m signalling project will not be completed this year.

 

The project has already overrun twice. Now the BBC has discovered that it will be after Christmas 2007 before the new signals are up and running.

 

Trains will be disrupted for most of the year as hand-pulled lever signals are brought back into service.

 

Network Rail directors have apologised to passengers in the Hampshire city.

 

Passengers had more than a month without trains at the start of this year before a limited service was introduced at the beginning of February.

 

Now, around half of South West Trains' services will be allowed to run but Southern trains will continue to rely on a replacement bus service.

 

I don't think the rail industry has ever seen anything like this

Paul Clifton, BBC South transport correspondent

 

It is likely the line between Fareham, Havant, Petersfield and Chichester will have to close again later this year, although rail chiefs will want to keep it open during the summer tourist season, according to BBC South's transport correspondent Paul Clifton.

 

He said: "I don't think the rail industry has ever seen anything like this. Some engineers and electricians move into Portsmouth and it takes a year to put right. It's beyond belief."

 

In a statement, Network Rail blamed the delay on "technical issues" that need resolving with Siemens, the company supplying the new signalling system.

 

David Pape, route director for Network Rail, said: "We apologise to passengers in the Portsmouth area for disruption and inconvenience this will cause.

 

"We are disappointed for all our customers, and we will be doing everything we can to finish this work... as soon as possible."

 

'Robust and reliable'

 

Christian Roth, managing director of Siemens Transportation Systems also apologised, adding: "Our efforts continue to be focused on the delivery of a robust and reliable railway for the future."

 

South West Trains (SWT), which is operating a reduced service of two trains an hour to Portsmouth Harbour, said it shared passengers' frustration and was "pressurising Network Rail to complete the work as quickly as it can".

 

Scheduled engineering work for 15 and 16 March has been cancelled but work on 17 and 18 March will go ahead.

 

Extra work will be carried out from 31 March to 2 April.

 

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/hampshire/6411711.stm

Delayed rail works cancel trains

The final stage in the long delayed re-signalling of the railway system near Portsmouth has begun.

 

Train services between Petersfield, Fareham, Chichester, Fratton and Portsmouth Harbour will be cancelled between Wednesday and next Monday.

 

The engineering works, which were due to completed in a few weeks, have taken nearly a year and Network Rail has been fined £2.4m for the delay.

 

Special timetables will be operating throughout the rest of the week.

 

The £100m signalling project has involved an overhaul of tracks and signals in the Hampshire city.

 

LINE CLOSURES

24 October: between Fratton and Portsmouth Harbour

24-28 October: between Petersfield, Chichester, Fareham and Portsmouth Harbour

25 October: overnight between Haslemere and Portsmouth Harbour

26 October: overnight between Swanwick/Eastleigh and Portsmouth Harbour

 

Passengers had more than a month without trains at the start of this year before a limited service was introduced at the beginning of February.

 

The track work was completed at the end of February but problems with the new equipment stalled the installation and testing of the signalling system.

 

Network Rail admitted the situation was frustrating for all.

 

Dave Pape, Network Rail's route director, said: "This is an important and complex project and we are sorry for the disruption experienced by passengers.

 

"However, completion of the final stage of the work will mean that passengers can receive the full benefits of this scheme."

 

James Blunt, South West Trains' operations director, said: "We realise that the extension of these engineering works has been massively inconvenient but this work will bring big benefits and will help towards delivering a better, more reliable train service."

 

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/hampshire/7059636.stm

 

And the work was supposed to been completed back in January, should be fun on Saturday when West Ham come to visit

Isn't living in Portsmouth misery enough??:P

Better than Southampton :P

 

I'm in a crap area for local news, BBC local news mainly focuses on items south of Winchester and the ITV news mainly focuses on Oxford.

Better than Southampton :P

 

 

Luckily for you, Angie isn't around at the moment!!:rolleyes:

I heard she has been put in defence for her beloved club

I heard she has been put in defence for her beloved club

 

Well you'd better run and hide, because she's coming over next week!!:rolleyes:

*Hides in Nuclear Bunker*

*Hides in Nuclear Bunker*

 

I'm afraid they're not Angie-proof!!;)

I heard she has been put in defence for her beloved club

Let's hope she has a stinker on Saturday teatime ;)

Dave I hope you don't believe that bull shit about "construction". No one wants to travel to Portsmuff and the chavs that live there need to fookin stay there, so this whole broke train thing is just a scam to keep the crap in. Cheaper than building a wall around the place.

 

And you best watch it because as everyone in Europe knows, any American call call for a military strike against any one we want and you won't even hear the bombers coming! :rolleyes:

If it's a plot to keep people inside the city, why are the roads and water-craft open?

Roads because all their houses have wheels but they can't afford the petrol to move them and water ways because how else are they going to find their next fishy date. :P