Alarm going off in tunnel

[TUC]

When travelling between Halifax and Bradford this morning we were held up outside a tunnel. The guard advised that an alarm was going off inside the tunnel and that a train had been despatched from Bradford to investigate. However after a few minutes we started to move and the guard explained that the driver had been asked to proceed slowly through the tunnel and check the situation as we moved through.

Can anyone suggest:
a) what the alarm was likely to relate to
b) what our driver would have been checking for and:
c) what the (apparently then no longer required) train despatched from Bradford was likely to relate to?

 

[wensley]

When travelling between Halifax and Bradford this morning we were held up outside a tunnel. The guard advised that an alarm was going off inside the tunnel and that a train had been despatched from Bradford to investigate. However after a few minutes we started to move and the guard explained that the driver had been asked to proceed slowly through the tunnel and check the situation as we moved through.

Can anyone suggest:
a) what the alarm was likely to relate to
b) what our driver would have been checking for and:
c) what the (apparently then no longer required) train despatched from Bradford was likely to relate to?

Wyke Tunnel was the one affected. Alarm reported sounding (Down Line) at round about 0745hrs. Driver of 1B09 0611 Blackpool North - York was requested to examine from the affected line, as per the Rule Book, to ascertain the tunnel was fit for the passage of trains (be prepared to stop short of any obstruction etc. etc.). Normal process would be for the alarm to be reset by the Signaller, but this proved not to be possible, resulting in trains being cautioned for 20mph on the Down Line until around 1000hrs. The Up Line (Bradford Int - Halifax) was unaffected throughout.

Someone with the technical knowledge will give you exact spec. as to what tunnel alarms are designed to do, but I believe it relates to the physical state of the tunnel (?).

Not sure about the talk of a train from Bradford ... all the stuff I've seen states that 1B09 would examine from the Down (affected) Line.

 

[TUC]

When travelling between Halifax and Bradford this morning we were held up outside a tunnel. The guard advised that an alarm was going off inside the tunnel and that a train had been despatched from Bradford to investigate. However after a few minutes we started to move and the guard explained that the driver had been asked to proceed slowly through the tunnel and check the situation as we moved through.

Can anyone suggest:
a) what the alarm was likely to relate to
b) what our driver would have been checking for and:
c) what the (apparently then no longer required) train despatched from Bradford was likely to relate to?

Wyke Tunnel was the one affected. Alarm reported sounding (Down Line) at round about 0745hrs. Driver of 1B09 0611 Blackpool North - York was requested to examine from the affected line, as per the Rule Book, to ascertain the tunnel was fit for the passage of trains (be prepared to stop short of any obstruction etc. etc.). Normal process would be for the alarm to be reset by the Signaller, but this proved not to be possible, resulting in trains being cautioned for 20mph on the Down Line until around 1000hrs. The Up Line (Bradford Int - Halifax) was unaffected throughout.

Someone with the technical knowledge will give you exact spec. as to what tunnel alarms are designed to do, but I believe it relates to the physical state of the tunnel (?).

Not sure about the talk of a train from Bradford ... all the stuff I've seen states that 1B09 would examine from the Down (affected) Line.

Thanks.The 0611 Blackpool North-York was the train I wad on so that fits.

 

[tsr]

The only tunnel alarms I am familiar with are warning systems for the protection of track workers. Presumably if these fail safe and start to sound of their own accord, but no track workers are in the area, the line should be checked to see if somebody has tampered with the electronics or is otherwise trespassing. However, I can well believe there could be other systems in use to detect and provide alerts about flooding, tunnel wall displacement or something else which could affect the running of trains - but they do not seem to feature where I work.

 

[edwin_m]

Can't speak for Wyke tunnel, but there are certainly flooding alarms in some tunnels around the network.

 

[tsr]

Can't speak for Wyke tunnel, but there are certainly flooding alarms in some tunnels around the network.

As I thought. I think the Severn Tunnel is the most complex example of flooding prevention that most people know of, but no doubt there are quite a few others with various systems which include emergency alarms.

 

[Carlisle]

As I thought. I think the Severn Tunnel is the most complex example of flooding prevention that most people know of, but no doubt there are quite a few others with various systems which include emergency alarms.

In my BR days I recall reading in the operating notices about an alarm pull wire installed in Chipping Sodbury tunnel, preuumably for breakdowns,flooding etc before GSMR etc

 

[Welshman]

Wyke Tunnel was the one affected. Alarm reported sounding (Down Line) at round about 0745hrs. Driver of 1B09 0611 Blackpool North - York was requested to examine from the affected line, as per the Rule Book, to ascertain the tunnel was fit for the passage of trains (be prepared to stop short of any obstruction etc. etc.). Normal process would be for the alarm to be reset by the Signaller, but this proved not to be possible, resulting in trains being cautioned for 20mph on the Down Line until around 1000hrs. The Up Line (Bradford Int - Halifax) was unaffected throughout.

I'm surprised the Up line was not affected also.

Whatever the alarm - track workers on site, trespassers, defects in the fabric, etc - I would have thought services in both directions would be cautioned as anything on the down could easily obstruct the up line also.

 

[Flamingo]

In my BR days I recall reading in the operating notices about an alarm pull wire installed in Chipping Sodbury tunnel, preuumably for breakdowns,flooding etc before GSMR etc

Chipping Sodbury, Severn and Cockett tunnel all have manually operated alarm wires for alerting the signaller from inside the tunnel.

 

[NX]

Chipping Sodbury has had its alarms disabled.

Severn has been replaced from the brittle break wire to pull cord.

NX

 

[chrissawer]

Delays on the Calder Valley line again this morning due to an alarm going off in a tunnel between Halifax and Bradford requiring inspection - presumably Wyke tunnel again.

Hopefully this recurrence is an alarm fault which can be fixed, rather than a problem with the tunnel's fabric itself.

Does anyone know what the alarm in Wyke tunnel checks for? I've looked back through the thread but can't see a definitive answer.

 

[wensley]

Delays on the Calder Valley line again this morning due to an alarm going off in a tunnel between Halifax and Bradford requiring inspection - presumably Wyke tunnel again.

Hopefully this recurrence is an alarm fault which can be fixed, rather than a problem with the tunnel's fabric itself.

Does anyone know what the alarm in Wyke tunnel checks for? I've looked back through the thread but can't see a definitive answer.

Bowling Tunnel affected this morning.