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A safety net when all else fails

40738 Trains rattling and shaking at Hartlebury station

August 2009 in Network Rail and Suppliers

tagged Infrastructure Equipment West Midlands Central

A reporter is concerned about the state of the tracks at Hartlebury station - in particular a set of points just outside the station, towards Droitwich Spa. Not many trains stop at Hartlebury station, so trains will often run over these points at 60 mph, at which time the train will shake and rattle quite severely.

The reporter is concerned that if infirm passengers are walking in the train when this happens they could easily be thrown off balance and injured. Also, the reporter is concerned that the tracks and the points might not be in a condition to support trains going over at such speeds and that there is a potential for a derailment.

This has been happening for a few years, but the shaking seems to have been getting worse over the past couple of months. The reporter seeks reassurance from Network Rail that the rails and points are safe and in a good condition.

Would Network Rail investigate this piece of track to ensure that they are capable of handling trains going over them at high speeds?

Response from Network Rail

Network Rail thanks the reporter for making their concerns known to us.

Regarding the points in the area mentioned, contained below are the details of our Maintenance regime and findings from an on site inspection on the 29th May 2009.

  1. The track is patrolled weekly.
  2. The track is inspected by a manager every three months.
  3. The track recording train runs over and records data every three months.

The data gathered from the above has shown that the track quality is satisfactory, we also do not have any rail defects in that area.

A manager inspected the area on the 29th May 2009 after we received the reporter‟s concerns. The manager reported back that there were no major track issues in the area concerned.

We are planning to carry out major work to the points in November this year to maintain the track quality, and these points will be removed in 2012 as part of a re-signalling scheme.

In summary the track in this area is well within maintenance standards.