On 18 September Network Rail published a letter from Dave Ward, Network Rail Route Director for the South East, apologising for the disruptions at London Bridge over the previous two weeks and explaining some of the problems.  Mysteriously his letter has had disappeared from the Network Rail website.  Why?

We have always had a soft spot for Dave Ward.  He has the experience of over 30 years in the British rail industry, starting by cleaning carriages; and in the past he has been willing to meet with us and take time to explain some of the real problems rather than giving vague generalities.

Although some people’s reaction to his letter of 18 September was negative – it was seen as PR spin – it seemed to us to have some merits, including that:

• it was written at all (for a lot of “bad days” we hear nothing from railway management)
• it admitted that the service had been unacceptable – “At Network Rail, we all recognise that this is not good enough” – and apologised.
• it showed that passengers have a right to know: “you deserve an explanation of what has happened and what we are doing to improve matters.”
• it gave some explanation of what had gone wrong – significant changes had been made, and although they had been tested they did not stand up to live running.
• it described specific actions which were being taken to prevent or mitigate a recurrence:
  • “additional teams of technicians in and around the London Bridge area to respond to any problems, so if they do happen they will be fixed more quickly.”
  • “we are .. reinforcing the signalling system on the lines used by Southeastern, to improve reliability for when the rebuilding of these lines starts next year.”

We’d like more of this sort of communication from senior railway managers – and Dave’s letter would have been an example on which others could build.

However in the last few days his letter has mysteriously disappeared from the Network Rail website.  It was at:-

• http://www.networkrail.co.uk/letter-from-dave-ward/ (which now gives the blank page opposite)
• http://www.networkrail.co.uk/open-letter-from-route-managing-director-(south-east-route).pdf (which now gives an error message, as at the top of this post)

We immediately asked Network Rail why the letter is no longer on the website.  They have still not replied.

Luckily we kept a copy.  Here is the letter in full:-

Open letter from Dave Ward, route managing director South East route

18 September 2014

London Bridge main line station has suffered several instances of poor reliability this month, leading to delays and disruption for passengers.

At Network Rail, we all recognise that this is not good enough and that you deserve an explanation of what has happened and what we are doing to improve matters.

The Thameslink Programme is gradually fixing many of the challenges confronting operations around London Bridge. Between now and 2018, the station, the tracks and the 40-year-old signalling system will be completely replaced and upgraded.

Imagine relying on the technology in a 40-year-old car to move more than 200,000 people a day and you can see what our engineers are trying to achieve and why the Thameslink Programme is so essential.

In the last week of August we made some significant changes, involving the replacement or amendment of thousands of cables and hundreds of electrical switches. Every change was tested thoroughly to confirm the safety and reliability of the system. However, since then there have been problems with the existing, older systems and some isolated incidents of components failing.

The signalling system, which controls the movement of trains and where they go, is designed to be fail-safe: meaning a problem affecting a signal automatically switches the signal to red, delaying trains.

Because of the high frequency of trains at London Bridge at peak times, any delays will very quickly spread across the network as congestion builds. For example, 151 trains pass through London Bridge between 8am and 9am on week days.

Following the work this coming Christmas and New Year, the signalling and track work at London Bridge will have been completed on the lines to platforms 9-15 offering much greater reliability.

We are also introducing additional teams of technicians in and around the London Bridge area to respond to any problems, so if they do happen they will be fixed more quickly.

Finally, we are in the process of reinforcing the signalling system on the lines used by Southeastern, to improve reliability for when the rebuilding of these lines starts next year.

In the meantime, please accept my apologies for the poor level of service you have endured at London Bridge this month. We are working hard to improve things and we are grateful for your patience.

Dave Ward
Route managing director
South East route

Update: On Friday 3 October the letter equally mysteriously reappeared on the Network Rail website at http://www.networkrail.co.uk/letter-from-dave-ward/.  (For the suspicious, the text is the same as the original.) The PDF version has not reappeared.  Network Rail have not responded to any of our messages about the deletion of the letter or offered any other explanation.

Update 2: On Tuesday 7 October we had a letter from Network Rail saying that the letter had been designed to self-destruct.  We’ve replied and said that the letter – and the promises in it – will be very relevant until 2018 at least.