'Signalman is stuck in the toilet': Excuse for delayed train revealed after frustrated passengers were held up for an hour
- The worker had dashed from his post to the nearby Victorian outhouse to answer a call of nature
- But the embarrassed signalman had to be freed by colleagues when the lock became stuck
- His cries for help were eventually heard coming from the brick toilet at the manned signal box at Henwick, St Johns, Worcester
Leaves on the line, the wrong kind of snow... passengers know all the usual reasons for train delays.
Now theres a new one signalman stuck in the toilet.
The hapless controller had dashed from his Victorian signal box to its outside toilet but was trapped inside when the lock jammed.
Meanwhile, passengers on the 15.13 Hereford to London service were forced to sit waiting because their train couldnt proceed without a green light from the box at Henwick, near Worcester.
Eventually the driver unable to make radio contact with the signalman walked to the box where he heard cries for help.
Unable to free the man, he called in an operations manager and the door was forced open with a crowbar.
The Hereford to London train was delayed for more than an hour.
Publicly, rail bosses said the delay was caused by signalling problems.
The inconvenient truth was flushed out via a rail enthusiasts internet forum after one user posted the incident log online.
It reads: Western Route Incident, Signaller issue at Henwick, update 16:35. All trains stopped at Henwick (Worcester Foregate Street) due to loss of contact with the Signaller at Henwick LC. Driver of 1P65 is walking to the signal box to investigate. Update: Local Operations Manager is on site and the signaller is stuck in the toilet...
A Network Rail spokesman apologised for the disruption.
He said: 'Much of the railway is still controlled from Victorian signal boxes, which often have outside loos.
'Our plans to modernise the railway will see control moved to state-of-the-art regional control centres, where unfortunate incidents such as this simply wouldnt be an issue.
'We apologise to anyone whose journey was delayed or disrupted.'
A number of website users took the opportunity to make cracks at the signalmans expense.
One user, called
tsr said: 'Where are the relief staff when you need em...?'
Harbon1 added: 'Too busy filling in the signalmans log.'