'It's the end of an era': Final trains directed from Peterborough's signal box pass through city this weekend

It’s the “end of an era” as the last trains directed from Peterborough’s Power Signal Box pass through the city this bank holiday weekend.

Signallers have directed trains from the box near Peterborough railway station for more than 50 years, but that all ends with the dawn of a new digital system.

Operations manager Gavin Radford, who began working in the box in 2018 as a signaller, said that “it’s going to be emotional watching the last train come into the power box for the very last time”.

“The Peterborough Signal Box has been my home for the last five years,” he said. “It’s where I learnt my trade. It does feel like the end of an era for this type of signalling.”

How signalling currently works in the region is that Gavin and his team set routes for trains from Biggleswade to Grantham from the signalling box, ensuring that they’re a safe distance apart from each other and that they’re directed to the correct stations.

They do this using a panel, pictured, that dates back to 1972. The new panel will be digital, although it’ll still be operated by people.

“The best way to describe it is if you have a manual car, it’s like moving to automatic,” Gavin said. “It’s just a different style of signalling.”

But digital signalling is still around two years away.

Completion of the £1bn East Coast Digital Programme (ECDP) is expected in summer 2025.

In the meantime, signalling in and around Peterborough will be re-routed through York’s centralised rail operating centre.

The new system, also known as the European train control system, will bring signalling onto a screen in the train’s cab, giving drivers real-time updates and information.

“Passengers are frustrated when we say, for example, lightning has taken out the signalling system, but that all disappears with this new technology,” Sarah Hewlett, who’s working on the programme with Network Rail, explained.

It’ll also mean fewer delays, fewer signalling failures and greener operations, she added, with the new system also expected to have fewer faults that are easier to fix when they arise.

Asked how confident she is that the new system will be ready in two years’ time, Sarah said: “That’s exactly the timescale that we’re working to. The one thing I would say is that this is the first time we’ve done this in the UK.

“This is the first time we’ve taken a railway where you’ve got freight trains and passenger trains on it and put this technology onto that. There will always be an element of risk associated with that but we’re confident with the timescale.”

While the ECDP is funded by the Government, it represents “the industry coming together” for a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”, Sarah says, with multiple train providers and freight networks involved.

Gavin is also looking forward to better outcomes for passengers and says that his team all have new jobs, some of them in York, as well as new training opportunities because of the changes.

But it’ll also mean goodbye.

“There’s always been a family atmosphere working in the power box,” he said “We know each other on a personal level. In all the 50 years, people have always referred to this as being a happy place to work.”