Scotland’s railway signal boxes still use Victorian technology

Victorian-era technology that would have been familiar to Charles Dickens is still in use across the Scottish rail network, it has emerged.

Metal lever systems, semaphore signals and bell codes — deployed on several single-track lines outside the central belt — remain so vital for spare parts that they cannot be donated to museums.

Signal boxes dating back 150 years will also be retained for the next two decades, according to Network Rail Scotland’s latest plans.

Lynsey Hunter, who runs signalling for Scotland’s railway, said the archaic technology was adequate for less popular routes and would only be replaced as part of wider upgrading.

However, she said that some junctions would always have mechanical signal boxes.

“To close a signal box is very expensive,” she