NETWORK Rail has set up a special team led by its West Coast director Jo Kaye to investigate the cause of three failures of the overhead line equipment which brought chaos to the West Coast main line on 4, 5 and 6 January.

Initial investigations have shown the three incidents to have been unrelated and, with the newest of the components involved installed in mid-2006, not caused by ‘rushed completion of the west Coast project’ as has been claimed in some reports.

The investigation so far says incorrect installation is possibly to blame for some of the failures.

Also ruled out were increased traffic and speeds on the route – 125 mph linespeeds south of Rugby have been in operation since 2004 - and extreme weather factors.

As well as reconfirming these initial conclusions, the investigation team will examine train pantograph interaction with the overhead wire in more detail to ensure that nothing is overlooked.

Early results of the investigation were released by Network Rail as politicians called for an urgent investigation into the disruption which left Euston station closed for some hours and thousands of passengers facing disrupted journeys and cancelled trains.

Network Rail said that on 4 January at Watford Junction, a 20-year-old screw assembly with a 30-year plus life expectancy suffered a rare failure and allowed a current return wire fixed to the side of the gantries to fall, damaging overhead wire tensioning mechanism.

As a result, the wires sagged and became entangled with a Pendolino pantograph, bringing all services to a halt.

Teams worked throughout the night to repair the extensive damage, but Monday morning peak trains had to terminate at Milton Keynes with bus links to Watford Junction.

On the following day at Bletchley, a five-year-old cable coupling joint snapped, causing the catenary tensioning wire, which keeps the contact wire at the correct height for train pantographs, to sag, and again, all trains had to be stopped.

The only known failure of such a joint was attributed to an installation error, and the failed component has been sent for specialist testing to establish cause of the failure.

And on 6 January at North Wembley a 10 feet long insulated fibreglass rod providing a neutral section in the copper alloy contact wire snapped, allowing a train pantograph to impart a greater than normal impact load and cause failure of the wire. It came apart because it had been installed incorrectly more than two years ago.

Euston station had to be closed to all trains, Virgin Trains again terminating at Milton Keynes and London Midland services also severely disrupted.

Failures of the overhead line equipment were compounded by discovery of a cracked rail at Coventry on 6 January. Trains were diverted away from Coventry and Birmingham International until the rail was clamped in the normal way. It was welded overnight for permanent repair.

The disruptive incidents came in the wake of a light aircraft crash on Friday 2 January which damaged overhead lines and stopped train services through Colwich in Staffordshire for an entire weekend.

Virgin Trains said: “We share our customers’ frustrations at the problems they have suffered.”

Meanwhile, politicians have gone on the attack over the latest disruption to services on the West Coast main line, and demanded urgent investigations into the problems.
 
Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Norman Baker said he understood that natural events do happen, but Network Rail had to build more resilience into the network.

“The chaos that has been caused by the repeated disruption to this line is unacceptable and is fast becoming a national embarrassment.
 
“After the years of disruption and the massive sums spent, passengers are entitled to a fast, fully-functioning railway, not a lottery.
 
“The Office of Rail Regulation must investigate the problems and make sure urgent action is taken to ensure they are fixed as soon as possible.
 
“Network Rail must also be made more accountable and must be made subject to the Freedom of Information Act.”
 
Louise Ellman, the chairwoman of the Commons Transport Select Committee, said Network Rail’s failures on line were unacceptable.
 
She said: “This is the third consecutive time that Network Rail has let passengers down at the beginning of the year.
 
“Network Rail must conduct an urgent investigation into the reasons for this massive breakdown and take action to restore confidence in the rail system in which so much public money has been invested.”
 
Fellow Labour MP Eric Martlew, who is on the Select Committee and formed and chairs the all-party parliamentary group on the West Coast main line, asked why passengers yet again faced disruption.
 
He said: “Whether the maintenance is right to whether the equipment is robust enough needs to be investigated.
 
“We have had Pendolinos going much faster than they normally do and being worked much harder than they ever have been, doing many more journeys. Somewhere in that combination is the answer to the problem. We have spent £10 billion of public money on this line.”

Shadow Conservative transport secretary Theresa Villiers said if there was any truth in the claim that disruption had been caused by rushed work by Network Rail, it would be a serious problem.
 
Meanwhile, the national rail watchdog has warned the industry to tread very carefully before further expansion of the timetable on the West Coast Main Line.
 
Anthony Smith, Passenger Focus chief executive said: “The last few days have seen completely unacceptable performance.

“Billions of pounds have been spent upgrading the line. New trains have been bought. Endless assurances have been given that the track work is nearly finished and passengers could rely on the new improved timetable.

“Yet as ticket prices have gone up the overhead wires have come down.

“Passengers will want urgent assurances that this series of problems can be quickly fixed. Without these assurances it would be very unwise to proceed with the final stage of the timetable expansion at the end of the month. Yet again, passengers are being asked to be patient.

“In the meantime, passengers must complain and send a clear message to the industry – you cannot treat us like this and we want our money back.”