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Network Rail to be probed over Christmas chaos

Network Rail officials are to be probed by the Transport Select Committee after over-running engineering works at King’s Cross and Paddington over Christmas left thousands of commuters stranded, and the rail operator facing a potential multi-million pound fine. 

The hearing date has been pushed back by a week from 7 January to 14 January, following “representations” from Network Rail. Committee chair Louise Ellman MP said: “This will allow my Committee to hold an evidence session informed by the work that Mark Carne has commissioned from Dr Francis Paonessa (Network Rail’s infrastructure projects director).” 

Dr Paonessa’s report on the sequence of events and decision making that led to the problems experienced at King’s Cross and Paddington will be completed on 9 January. 

“In responding to our questions I expect Network Rail to explain what went wrong and account for what happened,” said Ellman. 

“It is vital that the rail industry delivers a safe, high quality and efficient service to passengers. It is also vital that the public has confidence in the industry. Passengers deserve a detailed explanation of the causes of disruption, the steps that need to be taken to prevent recurrence and the lessons that need to be learned.” 

Christmas chaos 

On Boxing Day, East Coast Trains confirmed that there would be no train services in or out of London King’s Cross, one of the country’s busiest terminals, on Saturday 27 December because of over-running Network Rail engineering works north of the station. 

Network Rail had been carrying out Thameslink upgrade works to install OLE for the ECML close to King’s Cross. It has been alleged that part of the problem lay in the failure of sub-contracted engineering drivers to turn up to work. 

The operator advised passengers due to travel from King's Cross on the Saturday to start or finish their journey at Finsbury Park in north London, with at least one change of train. However, this station was closed temporarily because of overcrowding. 

King's Cross station reopened on 28 December following the completion of late-running improvement work north of the station. But the delays continued, with a signalling fault outside King’s Cross delaying trains by 40 minutes. 

Robin Gisby, Network Rail’s outgoing managing director of network operations, said: “I would like to sincerely apologise for the upset and upheaval passengers suffered yesterday as our engineers struggled to complete an essential improvement project that had been months in planning.” 

In addition to the problems at King’s Cross, people hoping to travel from Reading to London Paddington over the weekend faced delays and cancellations after engineering work, once again, overran. 

First Great Western advised Paddington passengers to use alternative routes with South West Trains and Chiltern Trains and offered refunds to travellers who chose not to travel on Saturday. In fact, most services into Paddington during the period were being stopped at Reading. 

Investigation 

Following the over-runs, the Office of Rail Regulation said it would open a formal probe into why the maintenance work had not been completed in time, as well as the quality of information provided to passengers and any compensation owed. 

“Network Rail, working with the rest of the industry, must learn lessons and prevent problems like this happening again,” said an ORR spokesman. 

“ORR is investigating over-running works. We will also be reviewing the standard of passenger information during disruptions – with a focus on whether passengers have been adequately informed to make alternative arrangements to their journeys or claim compensation.”

Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said he will be asking Network Rail for an explanation as thousands of passengers faced disruption due to overrunning engineering works. 

He said the situation on the railways over the weekend had been “totally unacceptable”. 

“Passengers must be able to trust that vital engineering works on the rail network will be completed on time. Passengers deserve no less,” he added. 

From a passenger perspective, Anthony Smith, chief executive of the independent watchdog Passenger Focus, said that there will be thousands of passengers left angry and frustrated by the weekend’s events. 

“We have heard and seen passengers standing for hours on trains, locked outside stations and left to find out what to do by themselves,” he said. “Passengers booked tickets and made travel plans based on the promises made the industry. That trust has been broken.” 

He added that every passenger affected by the problems at the weekend should claim compensation. 

Ahead of the upcoming transport committee hearing, Mark Carne, Network Rail’s CEO, said: “Following the problems experienced at King’s Cross and Paddington over Christmas, I have instructed Dr Francis Paonessa, who is the Network Rail infrastructure projects director, to provide a report into the sequence of events and associated decision making that led to the problems experienced and to advise any immediate steps that we need to take to increase the robustness of our works delivery capability. I expect the report by the end of next week and I intend to publish the findings.” 

He added that the events over the Christmas period highlighted the “unacceptable impact on the travelling public when plans go wrong”. 

“I therefore propose that there should also be a broader, industry-wide review, into the timing of our major works programmes and the passenger contingency arrangements for such works,” he added. 

Carne has confirmed that he will not take his bonus following the outcry over the major rail disruption over the Christmas period. 

(Images: c. Stefan Rousseau)

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