 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(March 2022) |
Doncaster PSB (Power Signal Box) is a signalling centre on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) railway in the United Kingdom, principally covering the line from London to Edinburgh but also encompassing other lines diverging and converging to the ECML. The signal box celebrated its 25th birthday in 2006.
On Sunday 8 July 1979, the first section of the control panel in the new signal box at Doncaster became operational, controlling the movement of all trains in the immediate area of Doncaster station. Not only was this a significant landmark in the progress of the whole resignalling and track rationalisation project, but it also represented a further major step forward in British Rail's drive towards the complete modernisation of the London – Edinburgh East Coast Main Line. The signal box was completed in 1981 and was officially opened on 8 December 1981. [1]
The Doncaster installation was the third major signal box to be commissioned on the East Coast Main Line, the previous two being King's Cross, completed in 1977 and Peterborough in 1973. Before the scheme's authorisation in 1974, train movement was controlled by a mixture of outdated semaphore and colour light signals operated from 52 signal boxes mainly containing mechanical lever frames, many dating from the 19th century.
Power signalling, however, was installed in two signal boxes, one at the north and the other at the south of Doncaster station. The work was planned and some equipment was on site before the Second World War but the installation was not commissioned until 1949. Searchlight colour light signals and electric point machines were controlled from switch panels. The interlocking equipment was unique being a sequence switch interlocking system manufactured by Standard Telephone Company using telephone switching techniques to the technical specification of the signal engineer of the then Southern Area of the London and North Eastern Railway. The sequence switches consisted of a rotary contact shaft which was rotated to a route position and proved a circuit through contact wipers. Each switch had a "home" position and eleven route positions. When a route was initiated, a clutch was engaged on the appropriate switch to rotate it into its correct position thus setting up the appropriate interlocking circuits through other switches and relays. The installations proved to be remarkably reliable, serving a very useful purpose but were eventually life expired.
In association with the resignalling scheme was a major programme of track improvements to enable trains to run at speeds of up to 125 mph. This was achieved by simplification and rationalisation of the track layout and realignment of curves at many places.
An early improvement was the adaptation of an existing railway bridge south of Doncaster to become a flyover enabling trains to and from the Lincoln Line to cross over the main line without conflicting with the mainline trains.
The largest alteration to the track layout was in the Doncaster area where the work was staged over an extensive period.
Marshgate Junction to the north of Doncaster station forms the junction of the lines from the station to the double track to Leeds, York (ECML) and Thorne (thence Hull, Scunthorpe and Grimsby). The new layout entailed considerable changes from the then existing layout and it was estimated that the junction remodelling would take nine months of weekend work. A decision was made to carry this out during five weeks' continuous work in the spring of 1979 when the operation of trains through the area was drastically reduced and the Leeds Line was closed for a period of time. Although there were some inevitable diversions and retiming of trains, disruption of services was kept to a minimum and the project was completed on schedule.
The previous Marshgate Junction allowed for a maximum speed of 60 mph on the Doncaster – York main lines with diverging speeds of 25 mph on the main lines to and from Leeds and Thorne. Other speeds were 15 mph. The remodelling of the layout in association with other improvements in the Doncaster station area allowed speeds of 105 mph through the Doncaster section of the East Coast Main Line route. The divergence to and from the Leeds Line allowed a maximum speed of 70 mph. Other improvements on the Doncaster PSB area included raising the maximum permissible speed at Retford from 80 to 115 mph and at Newark from 80 to 100 mph.
Design of the scheme was governed by the need to satisfy operating requirements of speed and headway. Besides employing what was then modern signal equipment, an associated comprehensive communication network was necessary to achieve reliability and efficiency.
Track rationalisation and resignalling proceeded side-by-side, starting in the Grantham area and working progressively northwards while at the same time the new Doncaster signalling centre was constructed on a site south of the station and on the east side of the main line.
Colour light signalling on the East Coast Main Line from London to Edinburgh was completed on 24 September 1978 and the achievement was marked by the ceremonial withdrawal of the last semaphore signal at Decoy, south of Doncaster.
The signal box is a two-storey brick building, with the upper section clad in black ceramic tiles, the signal box complex houses the ground floor relay room, telecommunications room, standby generator room and also houses the maintenance team with offices and mess facilities. On the first floor is the signalling control room.
Dominating the control room is a 110 feet long illuminated signalling control panel, the wings of which are inclined towards the centre. On the near-vertical portion of the panel is depicted the track layout of the area controlled. Positioned on the layout to correspond with the location of all signals are push buttons which are used for operating points and clearing signals along the route selected for the passage of a train. Track circuits, which indicate the position of trains, are also shown on the diagram in distinctive colours.
Television monitor screens for two of the seven level crossings monitored by closed circuit television (CCTV) from Doncaster PSB, are inset into the panel itself (Kirton Lane & Rossington) and the other five are mounted on a separate desk console (Daw Lane, Arksey, and Moat Hills on the ECML; Bentley, and Dock Hills on the Leeds Line).
Also on hand in the signal control room are read-out units for the special line side equipment, located at 16 sites, which detect overheating in the axle boxes of vehicles on passing trains. If an abnormally high temperature is recorded, the equipment will indicate the exact position in the train of the overheated axle, and the signaller can have the train stopped and the vehicle examined.
A separate desk is set aside for East Coast's Doncaster station announcer and the equipment for operation train destination visual displays that are transmitted to the screens on platforms at Doncaster, Retford, Newark North Gate and Grantham.[ citation needed ]
Sometime in the future most of the signalling will be transferred to York Rail Operating Centre. [2] This is part of Network Rail's drive to introduce 12 national control centres with digital signalling. York Rail Operating Centre will control all of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, County Durham, Northumberland and the East Coast Main Line from Kings Cross to Berwick-Upon-Tweed. [3]
In 2002, GB Railfreight locomotive 66703 was named "Doncaster PSB 1981–2002", not only to celebrate the 21st birthday of this important signal box, but also to show the close working relationship between GBRf and Doncaster PSB.
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a 393-mile long (632 km) electrified railway between its southern terminus at London King's Cross station and Edinburgh Waverley via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broadly parallel to the A1 road. The main line acts as a 'spine' for several diverging branches, serving destinations such as Cambridge, Leeds, Hull, Sunderland and Lincoln, all with direct services to London. In addition, a few ECML services extend beyond Edinburgh to serve Glasgow Central, although the principal London-Glasgow route is the West Coast Main Line (WCML).
The Great Eastern Main Line is a 114.5-mile (184.3 km) major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and the East of England, including Shenfield, Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich and Norwich. Its numerous branches also connect the main line to Southminster, Braintree, Sudbury, Harwich and a number of coastal towns including Southend-on-Sea, Clacton-on-Sea, Walton-on-the-Naze and Lowestoft.
York railway station is on the East Coast Main Line serving the cathedral city of York, North Yorkshire, England. It is 188 miles 40 chains (303.4 km) north of London King's Cross and on the main line it is situated between Doncaster to the south and Thirsk to the north. As of June 2018, the station is operated by London North Eastern Railway.
The InterCity 225 is an electric high speed train in the United Kingdom, comprising a Class 91 electric locomotive, nine Mark 4 coaches and a Driving Van Trailer (DVT). The Class 91 locomotives were built by British Rail Engineering Limited's Crewe Works as a spin-off from the Advanced Passenger Train project, which was abandoned during the 1980s, whilst the coaches and DVT were constructed by Metro-Cammell in Birmingham and Breda in Italy, again borrowing heavily from the Advanced Passenger Train. The trains were designed to operate at up to 140 mph (225 km/h) in regular service, but are limited to 125 mph (200 km/h) principally due to a lack of cab signalling and the limitations of the current overhead line equipment. They were introduced into service between 1989 and 1991 for intercity services on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) from London King's Cross to Leeds, York and Edinburgh.
Carnforth is a railway station on the Bentham and Furness Lines, 6 miles (10 km) north of Lancaster, England, which serves the market town of Carnforth, Lancashire. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.
The South Wales Main Line, originally known as the London, Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway or simply as the Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway, is a branch of the Great Western Main Line in Great Britain. It diverges from the core London-Bristol line at Royal Wootton Bassett beyond Swindon, first calling at Bristol Parkway, after which the line continues through the Severn Tunnel into South Wales.
Lincoln railway station serves the city of Lincoln in Lincolnshire, England. The station is owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Railway. East Midlands Railway provides the majority of services from the station, with other services being provided by Northern and London North Eastern Railway.
Thirsk railway station is on the East Coast Main Line and serves the town of Thirsk, North Yorkshire, England. It is 210 miles 56 chains (339.1 km) down the line from London King's Cross and is situated between York to the south and Northallerton to the north. Its three-letter station code is THI.
The Peterborough–Lincoln line is a railway line linking Peterborough and Lincoln Central, via Sleaford and Spalding. Between Lincoln and Spalding, the line follows the route of the former Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway.
Bridlington railway station serves the seaside town of Bridlington in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is located on the Yorkshire Coast Line and is operated by Northern who provide all passenger train services.
The Sheffield District Rail Rationalisation Plan was a series of linked railway civil engineering projects, station and line closures and train route changes that took place in and around Sheffield, South Yorkshire. The majority of these changes took place in the 1960s and early 1970s, however the plan, by now much modified in the face of rapidly dwindling freight traffic, was not fully realised until the 1980s.
The Askern branch line is a railway line which runs in North, South and West Yorkshire in England. The stretch of track runs from Shaftholme Junction north of Doncaster, via Askern, Norton and Womersley to Knottingley, where it joins the Pontefract Line.
The InterCity 250 was an electric railway project undertaken by British Rail in the late 1980s. The InterCity 250 train would have consisted of a Class 93 electric locomotive, nine Mark 5 coaches and a Mark 5 Driving Van Trailer operating in a push-pull formation. The British Rail project was cancelled in July 1992.
Bare Lane is a railway station on the Morecambe Branch Line, which runs between Lancaster and Heysham Port. The station, situated 2+1⁄2 miles (4 km) west of Lancaster, serves the suburb of Bare in Morecambe, Lancashire. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.
The East Coast Main Line Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS), published by Network Rail in February 2008, was the seventh RUS.
The Selby Diversion is a mainline railway in the United Kingdom, built as a new part of the East Coast Main Line (ECML) to avoid an area of potential subsidence over the newly discovered Selby Coalfield.
York Integrated Electronic Control Centre was a major signalling control centre on the East Coast Main Line railway between London and Edinburgh. The centre also contained the electrical control centre for the line and the LNE regional control office of Network Rail. Its responsibility for signalling across Yorkshire was transferred to York Rail Operating Centre in December 2018.
The European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) is an initiative backed by the European Union to enhance cross-border interoperability and the procurement of signalling equipment by creating a single Europe-wide standard for train control and command systems.
York Rail Operating Centre is a Rail operating centre (ROC) located at the south western end of York railway station in York, England. The site is one of twelve that will control all signalling across the mainland of the United Kingdom. It was opened in stages from 2014 onwards, with responsibility for signalling becoming active in January 2015. The York ROC accepted the role of its predecessor, the adjacent York Integrated Electronic Control Centre (IECC), in December 2018.
The infrastructure of the East Coast Main Line consists of the tunnels, viaducts and bridges on the East Coast Main Line as well as the line-side monitoring equipment. The line is mainly quadruple track from London to Stoke Tunnel, south of Grantham, with two double track sections: one between Digswell Jn & Woolmer Green Jn, where the line passes over the Digswell Viaduct, Welwyn North station and the two Welwyn tunnels; and one between Fletton Junction and Holme Junction, south of Holme Fen. The route between Holme Junction and Huntingdon is mostly triple track, with the exception of a southbound loop between Conington and Woodwalton. North of Grantham the line is double track except for quadruple-track sections at Retford, around Doncaster, between Colton Junction, Thirsk and Northallerton, and Newcastle.