A critical insulation fault risk was identified on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) near York, and the core issue was a low resistance fault detected on Feeder 2 of the York South Feeder, posing a threat of power loss to key signalling systems.
This potential failure could have caused substantial operational and financial disruption, including major train delays and cascading effects across the national rail network. The key driver was to identify and eliminate insulation faults proactively to prevent unplanned outages and support uninterrupted signalling operations, and the total estimated financial risk if the failure occurred was between £400,000 and £1,050,000, including direct costs and reputational and strategic risks.
Bender UK had previously deployed advanced monitoring technology, including the RS4-T2 and Portable Bender EDS3090 insulation fault location system, within the Principal Supply Point (PSP) at York. The Bender UK engineers provided on-site technical support, real-time fault tracing, and diagnostics. The team worked closely with Network Rail to identify and address the fault, ensuring the integrity of the signalling system.
A number of tangible outcomes were highlighted during this work:
The failure identified was on a critical signalling feeder (Feeder 2 – York South Feeder) on the East Coast Main Line (ECML). The ECML is one of the UK’s most important rail corridors, carrying high-speed intercity services (LNER), freight services (essential for logistics supply chains), and commuter services (LNER, Lumo, Hull Trains, etc.).
If this feeder failed:
The total estimated financial risk if the failure occurred was between £400,000 and £1,050,000, taking into account Delay Repay Compensation, TOC (Train Operating Company) penalties, Freight service disruption, engineering / rectification costs (emergency response),reputational damage and stakeholder impact.
“Thanks again for your help last week. This could have resulted in a trip and the loss of signalling power. When we have these failures, the delay is significant, and the financial impact is huge. So, we are very fortunate to have found it and rectified it before it materialised into a failure”.
Products
RS4 Tier 2 comprises of RS4 Tier 3 with additional components
Portable insulation fault location systems for unearthed and earthed systems (IT and TN systems)
RS4 Tier 2 comprises of RS4 Tier 3 with additional components
Portable insulation fault location systems for unearthed and earthed systems (IT and TN systems)