Improved batteries, better messaging and a greater number of replacement buses are being laid on to ensure Merseyrail can cope with this winter's cold weather. During a cold snap in January as snow and ice appeared across Merseyside, services across the train network were completely suspended for a number of hours, leaving commuters stranded and trying to find other ways to get to work or around the region.
As part of the inquest into what went wrong, Vernon Everitt, Greater Manchester's transport commissioner, was asked by Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram to produce an independent assessment of the network and how issues could be fixed. With winter on the horizon, rail chiefs have given an update on how they are getting ready to deal with decreasing temperatures in the months ahead.
Bosses warned there would be "no quick fix" for a cold snap but a number of solutions were being implemented to "improve resilience of the network during bad weather." Mr Everitt made six findings and nine recommendations on how performance can be improved moving forward.
Jamie Ross, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) director of transport, said Mr Everitt's assessment prompted a response from the rail industry. Speaking at the LCRCA transport committee, he added: "It very much prompted the combined authority and rail industry colleagues to take a step back and rethink their approach to winter weather planning."
Simon Finnie, the combined authority's head of network performance, admitted there was "no quick fix" to address the issues Mr Everitt established in April but Mr Finnie added one option being considered was the use of trains overnight to keep the rails from icing over.
He added: "We should be treating the prospect of bad weather, in any season not just winter, as a potential major event and we will be stepping up our processes to ensure we can meet those challenges." Mr Finnie, who oversees the progress as per Mr Everitt's recommendations, said rail users were put at the heart of work being done.
He said: "Absolutely first and foremost this is about the customer. It's people that are impacted when services fail and we have to recognise it's the customer first and foremost.
"We can't remove the risk of bad weather having an impact on the way services operate but what we can do is learn from bad weather events and what we can do is build resilience and planning around bad weather when it happens to minimise the risk on the customer and minimise the risk to service and that's something through this process we're absolutely committed to do."
James McCaffrey, head of programmes for train manufacturer Stadler, said the company had been working "closely and proactively" with partners to prepare the vehicles for the colder weather, particularly for drivers who would find themselves in a "stressful and difficult situation." This included use of the shunt battery to rescue stranded trains without power for up to 200m.
This had previously been limited to depot use only but has now been amended to give greater options in the event of emergency. Mr McCaffrey said implementing the full recommendations "would take time" and work was underway to establish whether battery powered trains could be used as rescue trains for stranded units and retro-fitting of metal scrapers.
Neil Grabham, Merseyrail's managing director, said a process was in place for 72-hour messaging to customers when amber weather warnings were implemented. He said: "We've had it tested, we've had three severe weather events since we put that process into place, and I'm pleased to say that process had positive feedback."
Mr Grabham added how language had been simplified for rail users to understand the options available in the event of weather events. Contracts are also in place with the two major bus companies serving the wider city region to provide rail replacement should they be required.
He said: "We've now started to use those on a regular basis and we will continue to do so with that one caveat being that the roads have to be suitable for the buses to run on in order to be able to provide that regular rail replacement." Mr Grabham added how during January's failings, the number of buses required to serve passengers was calculated at more than 50 "so there was no way we'll ever be able to get that many buses out that quickly" but the provider had "significantly strengthened" the provision available.
