Merseyrail points failure leaves hundreds of commuters stranded at rush hour

Feb 25 2010 Chester Chronicle

A POINTS failure left hundreds of commuters stranded on platforms across Merseyrail’s Wirral line yesterday morning leaving some hours late for work and others missing onward connections.

Rush hour trains were delayed and cancelled and faced further problems down the line after Network Rail, which operates and maintains the train line, reported a signal failing, locking the points at Birkenhead Central station.

Spokesman Rudi Boersma of Merseyrail said: “The points locked because it’s a fail-safe mechanism meaning no train could get past in either direction.

“The trains couldn’t go any further than Rock Ferry and turned around to go back.”

At about 8am Network Rail workers were able to operate the locked points manually, allowing some trains through.

“The signals were controlled from where the signals’ site, creating delays of up to 15 minutes,” added Mr Boersma.

“We are working on various ways of improving our a communication lines and giving staff more ownership, we are very sorry if people were inconvenienced.”