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SNCF shutdown should be a wake-up call

The recent large scale shutdowns on French railways have been variously attributed to hostile action, terrorists, leftist agitators and Russians, but similar incidents have occurred by accident. A few years ago a small fire in an equipment cupboard shut down train services over a wide area around Gothenburg, and it took a fortnight to get things back to normal.

A couple of weeks ago there was the worldwide dislocation caused by an upgrade of Windows computer systems which went wrong. Similar large scale disruption to electronic systems can also be due to natural events such as solar storms. Total shutdown of tills in shops throughout Sweden are common, apparently because of a failures of the VAT central computer system.

Critical infrastructure such as transport, water supply, mains drainage, electricity and gas are all vulnerable. 

Until a few decades ago, the signals and points at Brighton were controlled from a signal box at the end of the platforms. If anything went wrong, the staff in charge could seen out of the window and fix it on the spot Then the signal box was closed and the control was moved to a signalling centre at Three Bridges, 25 miles away. When communication is lost, there is little that can be done by those on the ground.

This ought to be taken a as a wake-up call, but it won't be.


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