There is a commonly heard 'waiting for the signal' if the train is held up, e.g. before a station. You can conflate that into thinking the signalling is the pro

There is a commonly heard 'waiting for the signal' if the train is held up, e.g. before a station. You can conflate that into thinking the signalling is the problem when it can be just doing its job. For example if the police have been called to a train and it is held in the station then the signal on the line will stay red and trains will be held up by the signal. 'Just waiting for the signal' is easy on the ears compared to 'the police have been called along with a team of paramedics to deal with a group of drunken crack-heads on the train currently at the station'. It is the same with 'signalling system failure', there can be good reasons why it has 'failed'. If someone has stolen the wiring or some rodents chewed through the insulation then has it 'failed'? If a train is in the wrong place for some reason then that still means a 'signalling system failure'. Even if this cause has been determined then passengers don't need to know the full details. There are other euphemisms used for when someone ends their life on the rails, normally you get told that the transport police are attending the scene.