BOLTON’S rail system has been in chaos for two weeks following timetable changes in mid-May and a number of public figures have blamed the issues on delays to electrification work.

Electrification refers to the method of preparing the rail lines for electrical trains, which are more environmentally friendly and can be made longer and faster than a lot of the current diesel-powered stock.

The initial schedule for this work would have seen the vast majority of it completed before the timetable changes came into place but delays meant that train operator Northern was unable to fully prepare for the new services it was meant to introduce.

This is one of a number of reasons that Bolton passengers have had so much trouble in recent weeks, although Northern’s services were already experiencing problems before the changes.

A key reason for the delays to electrification was the installation of stanchions to hold wiring above the track and power the trains, a process that has created a lot of problems.

These stanchions are held in place by piling, a method which involves driving long heavy metal posts deep into the ground.

Andrew Morgan is a senior sponsor for Network Rail, an arms-length government body which is responsible for the electrification work. When I met him at one of the railway work sites, he explained: “Probably the biggest issue we’ve had is the ground conditions. What we have found, is that in a huge number of instances, ground conditions have not been as anticipated.

“It could be hidden obstructions or anything that stops us from building. In one particularly stretch there’s a lot of old mine works. Some are on charts but many of them are not.

“We have to be really careful around the type of things we put into the ground. We don’t want to cause subsidence or problems in five, 10 or 20 years time.”

He went on to explain that, while the organisation had planned some leeway into its programme, the sheer number of problems that had come up had pushed work back significantly.

He also said time constraints on the project had been very limiting to work. There are relatively few areas where workers can get to the track and construction can only be completed overnight when trains are not running.

However, due to this lack of access and the five miles per hour speed limit imposed on equipment running along the track, it can take a long time for workers and machines to reach areas of the railway to complete work.

This means that, when things go wrong, the engineers can find it difficult to finish jobs in the allocated times.

Consistent delays have caused Britain’s transport secretary, Chris Grayling, to lash out at Network Rail as a reason for the recent poor quality train services.

In a letter to Greater Manchester MPs last week, he said: “The industry has collectively failed the passengers it serves. A combination of delayed Network Rail infrastructure works and reduced planning time meant that the new timetable was finalised much too late to permit adequate logistical planning for the timetable changes.

“Network Rail’s failure to deliver the electrification to Bolton and Preston in time for the new timetable had already caused severe operational planning issues, as the introduction of new electric trains has had to wait, leaving a shortage of trains to cover the increased number of services originally planned for the timetable change.”

At the moment, around 188 of the stanchion masts are left to be erected, from 1519 in total, the work is now expected to be completed in September or October of this year, with testing then finished in time for the next timetable change in December.

However, electrification has not been the only issue which has caused problems for Bolton’s commuters.

In fact, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has pointed to Northern’s ongoing dispute with union ASLEF over driver working hours, which has led to a shortage.

He said: “This is where I hold them (Northern) responsible. In my view, they knew there were going to be problems with the new timetable and they knew they had this dispute with their drivers.

“They should have sorted it out. They shouldn’t have gone into this period of the new timetable without some agreement in place to provide driver cover.”

Bolton North East MP David Crausby has secured a debate on the issue, to be held in Parliament on June 6.

However, despite the explanations and the reasons, it is still not clear to Bolton’s passengers when the train services will begin to improve.

In the last statement from Northern, made in conjunction with Network Rail and beleaguered South Eastern operator GTR, the company claimed it would still take some time to solve the problems.

They said: “Network Rail, Northern and GTR are urgently working on comprehensive plans to reduce disruption and give passengers the greatest possible certainty of train services, so they can better plan ahead.

“Unfortunately, it will take some time to deliver significant improvements to services, but we will keep passengers up to date on all changes we make.”