There is disruption on Island Line this afternoon (Friday) with trains unable to operate between Brading and Shanklin.
South Western Railway says that an axle counter failure at Brading means trains cannot continue down the line to Shanklin.
An axle counter is part of the signalling system and allows signallers to know when a section of track is clear. A faulty counter, or a train still within the section of track, will throw up a red light resulting in the line being blocked.
Disruption is expected to last until around 17:00 which will most likely mean difficulties for school children in getting home at the end of the school day.
This latest incident comes following months of issues on Island Line, from a lack of staff to technical hiccups and even flooding. The service is disrupted also due to works at Ryde Pier.
UPDATE – Services have resumed as of 14:45.
Oh dear it has caught floatingbridgeitis, the good old days when they used tokens to claim the track seems far more reliable than the present fiascos.
Your right but if you’ve one train working there shouldn’t be a problem
There is still token block signalling in areas where I drive (Yeovil Pen Mill), and in all honesty – that system breaks down a lot more than the axle counter system.
Shows that people still manage their day to day activities without the train, so scrap it.
I like choo chooo trains
Tarmac the lot, and run electric shuttle buses, for those who like living in the past, go to the excellent Havenstreet railway
Shanklin to Ryde return on the train £5.10. Same journey on the bus will cost £9.80
Yes but the bus runs
Island echos own twitter feed shows anything from 6 services a day cancelled by Southern vectis on a daily basis. So effectively you are incorrect
Where else other than the Isle of Wight would this be news worthy ?
Why don’t they make it a rickshaw track
The Island railway system is a joke.
Just have one train running back and forth between Shanklin and Brading, the other between Brading and the pier head. Through passengers can just change at Brading. No need for ‘axle counters’, ‘token block signalling’, signalling staff or passing loops. Simples.
It isn’t that simple. The regulations state that there must be accurate detection systems (axle counters or track circuits) and Signallers on duty for supervision.
The detection systems are interlocked with points and signals to prevent human error and accidents. What would happen if a train entered an occupied section or points shifted under a train?
Without such safeguards, the ORR would not be able to certify the route as ‘safe to operate’.
I wasn’t actually being serious, but it is that simple. If you completely segregate the two sections, and have just one train running on each, there is no need for any signalling, other than emergency braking at each end. A train could not enter an “occupied section”.
A person standing by the track at the start of a block with a mobile phone is an ‘accurate detector system’. It doesn’t have to be an axle counter. Hard to miss a thumping great train whistling past your nose!
Or, they could run a single train timetable until the counter is fixed rendering the block system temporarily unnecessary.
With only one train running it would have to collide with itself and the last time I looked, that sort of thing was frowned upon as being against the fundamental laws of physics.
Exactly my POINT train driver Rob.
Tarmac the track, get battery shuttle buses, and all these stupid, costly OTT rules, laws, health and safety and excessive staff would be cured.
As would the danger, the huge cost of keeping high voltage rails safe from innocents and idiots alike. All needs securing fencing, signage etc etc.
Tarmac and a few battery buses which could easily be driven by far more people would cure the ills, but the dim ‘want to see a train’, hence my advice to go the Havenstreet, a living museum where such inefficient transport needs to be in the modern age on the Island.
But, how many trains are actually in use on the line? I thought they ran once every hour so I’d assume there’s only one train in operation? I may be wrong, I don’t use the train.
And, even if they’re running two trains, really, how difficult is it to manage that without ‘axle counters’ or ‘track circuits’ etc?
What’s the problem, as things stand, with only running one train the whole length from Ryde to Shankin (if indeed they were actually running two previously)? I mean, it can’t collide with itself on the single track section of line, can it?
I heard it was down to those rogue hedgehogs and that red squirrel lot protesting down by Shanklin way that caused all this mess! They had glued themselves to the tracks and had banners and everything!!!!
This is going to have to stop!
Those poor school children who are going to have to relearn how to use their feet again and god forbid have to walk home from school! You never know the exercise might do them some good!
That aside we need to bring back crime watch and nature watch to keep an eye on these disruptive critters!!!
And don’t even get me started on those damn building beavers!!!
hehehe pithy but hilarious
Why not just scrap it ? If you cannot depend on it, get rid of.
How many trains on the line,two/three at most surely drivers Could phone the others and state where they are on the line, not like busy with fast trains, goods trains etc ,sure Haven street manage just fine. Instead of £26 should of left as was, those trains 80yrs old and alot more reliable than current service and was part of Island fun for tourists. Same as floaty mcfloati, nothing wrong with old. Seems same with new ferries as well and hover. That’s why I keep with the old and not change till breakes. My boiler 22yrs old and working strong,my car 25yrs old and good and also now gaining in value and this mobile 8yrs old and have only had to change battery!
Drivers phoning other drivers with their location wouldn’t be compliant with the RT8000 rules.
What happens if a driver makes an error?
What would happen if there is a radio coverage issue?
What would happen if a signal is passed at danger?
By law, train systems need detection and interlocking to guard against human error. AWS has been around since the 1950’s, TPWS since 1997 and the principle of interlocking signals, the 1920’s. It’s not new technology.
“Drivers could phone the others” this one statement depicts exactly how little you know about rail and more importantly, safety. It renders your input useless…