For those South Africans who think you have a monopoly of signal problems, here are a few snippets from the "Track Record" section of
Railway Magazine, February 2009, p71.
There was chaos during the morning peak on November 13 due to rat (sic) gnawing through a signal cable at Ilford.
Vandalism to signal cables between Marks Tey and Colchester on December 10 caused severe delays and cancellations to many trains between London and Colchester.
Services between Bradford Interchange and Leeds were disrupted on the morning of December 1 due to vandalism of signal cables at Bramley, Leeds.
Services between Huddersfield and Leeds had to be diverted via Healey Mills and Wakefield Kirkgate on November 15 due to overnight signal vandalism at Cottingley, Leeds.
And now for something completely different...
Class 158 No. 158827 came to a halt approaching Lydney while working the 07.45 Cheltenham Spa-Maesteg on November 11, due to a flock of swans on the line. Network Rail staff rescued the swans with minimum disruption to services.
