Train meltdown that hit more than a dozen networks traced to base where staff are at their desks just two days a week

A FAULT at a Network Rail base where staff are at their desks just two days a week triggered a meltdown on more than a dozen train networks yesterday morning.

Hundreds of packed services were axed at the last minute when the GSM-R system, used by train drivers to talk to signallers, suddenly stopped working after failed overnight maintenance.

Investigators are still probing the exact cause of the national glitch, which took six hours to fix, although a Russian cyber attack was quickly ruled out.

On some of the 14 networks affected, including Thameslink and South Western Railway, the botch job meant drivers could not talk to signallers.

Radios should automatically connect them but drivers had to enter manual codes to sign in. SWR said its crews had to reset the system multiple times before trains could move at all, creating a huge backlog of services across the South.

Others caught in the carnage included passengers on London’s Elizabeth Line heading to and from Heathrow Airport.

The GSM-R (Global System for Mobile Communications-Railway) network is a digital radio network that works in areas where analogue radio signals are poor.

It was installed across Britain between 2007 and 2014 for £1.86billion, including building 2,500 new masts.

But it was brought to a crashing halt when a tiny network card, a piece of computer hardware installed overnight during repair work, failed. It was fixed by 1pm after a replacement was put in.

Network Rail was last night urged to “seriously reconsider” its policy of allowing radio engineers to work from home.

Former transport minister Sir John Hayes told The Sun: “There are some roles where home working can be made to work, but where hands-on skills are required and urgent response is a key part of the role, it’s very hard to reconcile that with working out of the office.”

Documents seen by The Sun showed GSM-R experts at the Stoke-on-Trent site, where the problem began, are told they can spend just two days a week in the office.

In one job ad for a £45,000-a-year role, the railway board told applicants that “flexible/hybrid working” was an “excellent benefit” of the job.

Network Rail sources insisted staff working on Thursday night’s hardware update were all on-site in Stoke.

Last year, a national air traffic control meltdown which stranded 700,000 passengers worsened as a critical staff member was working from home.

A report found an on-call expert could not log in out of the office, sparking 2,000 cancellations.