Rail union praises quick-thinking workers after power outage train mayhem in Lancashire
‘Quick thinking staff showed what an important role they play’
Rail union RMT has congratulated its members for the way they dealt with the recent power outages across the rail network.
An electricity supply failure at a communications centre on Thursday caused disruption to trains in the north west, including Preston and Blackpool. It saw hundreds of frustrated passengers packed Preston Station.
RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said that the quick-thinking actions of hundreds of members working under difficult circumstances, including a heatwave showed what an important role they play.
“The impact of 90-second power cut in an important operations centre in Manchester, covering a wide geographical area across the North West, without a working backup supply has clearly been devastating, forcing signalling and trains to stop and be rebooted with full working not restored for 10 hours.
“Obviously we cannot have thousands of passengers and trains stranded or the loss of critical safety systems as this increases risk for staff including assaults.
“We will work with Network Rail to scrutinise how railway infrastructure coped and what actions need to be taken in the future,” he said.
The outage affected signalling systems in Manchester on Thursday August 6, causing widespread disruption across the region, with delays and cancellations affecting services throughout the day.
Electricity North West said the power cut occurred at 1.41pm in the Harpurhey area of East Manchester, impacting more than 400 postcodes. One of those affected was the site of the Manchester Rail Operating Centre.