Rail Express – September 2019

Behind the scenes

N

ETWORKRail’s National Operations Centre

is afascinating place, perhaps one that

few outsideofthe industry knowexists,

and this month our contributor PhilMarsh

waslucky enough to spend some time there

observing thework do ne tokeep services

run ning on time.

The NOC monitors the entirenetwork

around the clock,overseeing localroute control

and stepping in when major incidents occur.

Problems that affect passenger and freight

servicesrangefromsimpl etocomplicated,

serious to ridiculous–althougheven sombrero-

wearing drunks(as happened when Philwas

there) need to be taken seriouslywhen theyare

near to moving trains, whilefartoo often the

team hasto deal with the sad news ofasuicide

on railwaypropert y.

The NOC also deals with moreeveryday

aspects of operations–such as incorrectly

loadedwagons, orvehicles with wheel flatspots

–aswell as planningforextremeweather

or anticipating disruptions that large public

demonstrations might pose to services.

Perhaps lesswell known is itsrole in helping

struggling operationsgetbackontrack (no pun

intended). This has been done with mailservices

in therecent past, whileCaledonian Sleepers

arecurrentlyint he spotlight afteraserie sof

high-profilefailures. Inasimilarvein, the NOC

oversees charter train operations, which also

have the potential to affect regular services if

thingsgo wrong.

Based in MiltonKeynes,it is afascinating

aspect of ourrailwayoperations andwe thank

the teamforletting us seethem in action.

Past and future

LNER is one operator that knows howtocreate

abuzz, and the launch of its‘Azuma’trains has

been noexception.Forthe start of services

north ofYork,the companystaged anevent

that sawone of its Class 800 bi-modes seen

offfrom the cityby worldrecord-holding steam

locoMallardandmet on arrival at Darlington

byFlying Scotsman,arguablythe mostfamous

loco motiveint he world. Such linkswith theEast

Coast past areafittingwaytosee in its future.

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Paul

Bickerdyke

Rail Express

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