Quick thinking rail staff have been praised for routing a passenger train through sidings at Grove Park after a signal failure on the main line between London Canon Street and Orpington halted services.
Bemused commuters were told to close windows as the train eased slowly through the wash siding at 5 mph. The washing facilities were switched off says Southeastern spokesman, John Hay-Campbell, ‘We would not normally divert via the depot but it is better to keep the trains moving than not at all.’
However, some passengers moaned to the media about the diversion. One passenger on the train, a retired railwayman, was having none of it. ‘Can the railways ever win with south east commuters? Someone within the industry shows great initiative in bypassing a section of track where the signals had failed, by routing the train through an available sidetrack instead of leaving it on the mainline for an hour. And still they moan!’
