Recognising Ian, Chris and Grace for going above and beyond to effectively respond to a time-sensitive out-of-hours issue.
SSI interlocking is a computer based set of rules which prevents signallers setting a route that could cause a crash.
On Sunday, 11th September last year, an early morning failure in the Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) at Peterborough caused the SSI interlocking to power down. As a result of this failure, there were no active signals and trains were stopped from running. As Peterborough is a very important junction, trains from Cross Country, East Midlands Railway, Grand Central, LNER, Lumo and Hull Trains were all unable to run through this area, effectively crippling the route.
Later that morning Network Rail reached out to Park Signalling’s Ian Allison to ask if we could help. Ian quickly contacted his colleagues Grace Nodes and Chris Johnson to help with resolving this issue. Ian and the team suggested that Network Rail relocate one of our technician terminals from Tyneside to be fitted to Peterborough. This was quickly actioned.
In the meantime the Park Signalling team looked into the specific issue and advised Network Rail to replace some modules in the SSI. This was successful and they were able to bring the signalling back online around four o’clock that afternoon.
Despite Park Signalling not having a support contract with Network Rail for this work, Ian, Grace and Chris were determined to offer their help. They immediately responded and using their specialist knowledge were able to resolve a difficult issue for Network Rail. It was even Chris’s birthday!
For their quick and helpful support in a time-sensitive situation on a Sunday morning, we are delighted to announce that Ian, Grace and Chris have been awarded the Mark in Action Award, recognising those who live up to Unipart Group‘s ideals in outstanding customer service!
