Railway Strategies Issue 115 Final Edition

RAILWAYS T R A T E G I E Szzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Issue 115 FINALF o r S E N I o r r A I L M A N A G E M E N T

New art commissioned for Tottenham Court

Road station extension

Winner of RICS Infrastructure

Photography competition announced

Battery powered train carries first passengers

Resilience planning

FOCUS ONInfrastructure

FOCUS ONPermanent Way

FOCUS ONStations

NEWS

Interview: FutureRailway’s

Marcus Mayers – building a strong innovation base P6

www.radiuscm.com

www.railwaystrategies.co.uk 1

ChairmanAndrew Schofield

Managing DirectorMike Tulloch

Editor Gay Sutton

[email protected]

Managing EditorLibbie Hammond

Editorial Designer

Jon Mee

Advertisement Designer

David Howard

Profile EditorLibbie Hammond

Advertisement SalesDave King

Head of Research

Philip Monument

Editorial ResearchersKeith Hope

Gavin WatsonTarj Kaur-D’Silva

Mark Cowles

AdministrationTracy Chynoweth

No part of this publication can be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means

(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or other) without prior written permission being obtained from the publisher.

While every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the editorial content, the publishers cannot be held responsible for

any errors or omissions. Views expressed by the contributors are not necessarily those of the editor or the publisher.

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Schofield Publishing Cringleford Business Centre,

Intwood Road, Cringleford, Norwich NR4 6AU

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Much has been written, over the Christmas and New Year period,

about the chaos of engineering overruns, line closures and what

the media has dubbed the lack of effective contingency planning.

Engineering has always been a profession of problem solving, and there

are times when with the best will in the world engineers will be unable to

achieve the expected result in the timescale expected. How to deal with the

consequences, however, can make a huge difference to the outcome, and to

public opinion. It’s good to see that the industry is to formally review the timing

of engineering works, to reduce the impact of overruns.

While the options for managing overruns may be limited, good

communication and customer care are absolutely essential. In this issue, we

look at customer relationships from several perspectives. Turn to

page 27 for a fascinating opinion piece from Amanda Clack of the Royal

Institute of Chartered Surveyors. She talks about the surprising but basic lack

of understanding of the term infrastructure among the general public.

How can rail improvements gain public support if their significance is not

fully understood?

Meanwhile, Sam Russell describes some of the ground breaking work

London Overground Rail Operations is doing with its local communities, and

the impact this is having on passengers and staff. Finally, Richard Parsons

explores some of the latest tools for engaging and communicating with the

passenger across a wide range of channels.

If you have any comments or opinions on this or any of the topics we cover

in the magazine, please do get in touch: [email protected]

From the Editorzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzHave your details changed? Are you reading someone else’s copy of Railway Strategies?Please email: [email protected] to amend your details or request a regular copy

Issue 115 ISSN 1467-0395

Railway Strategies by emailRailway Strategies is also now available by email as a digital magazine. This exciting development is intended to complement the printed magazine, which we will continue to publish and distribute to qualifying individuals, whilst also giving added value to our advertisers through a more widespread circulation. To secure your continued supply of Railway Strategies in either digital or hard copy format, please contact our subscriptions manager Iain Kidd ([email protected]).

Public opinion

Features

Profiles

Interview - Marcus Mayers 6A radical new freight bogie is being funded by FutureRailways. We hear how it could form the basis of an exciting new rail innovation hub Gay Sutton

The art of communicating 12How communicating through multiple channels can improve the efficiency and quality of rail servicesRichaRd PaRSonS

Challenging traditional thinking 13Three important changes that could fundamentally improve safety on the railwaysJaSon PeaRce

Giving safety the green light 14The role research, training and best practice can play in improving safetyMaRy claRke

Learning from the airlines 16Tempting the passenger with offerings in comfort and service they simply can’t refuseniGel lawSon

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vonRoll casting 38 Craig & Derricott 40 Semmco 43 Taylor Woodrow 46 Nexus 49 IDOM 55 ADComms 58 B&M McHugh 62 Stadler Rail 66 GB Railfreight (GBRf) 70 Keyline 73 Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) 77 Transport for London 81 FP McCann 86 Arriva TrainCare 92Bourne Steel 98

News

Focus on Stations Working with local communities 18

How London Overground Rail Operations works to be a good neighbour to the community – Sam RuSSell

Improving station accessibility 22Improving disabled access at railway stations, and the types

of handrail that are most cost effective – VeRnon BaRRy

Entering the jet age 24 The first station installation of a new jet thrust fan system

takes place at Birmingham New Street

Focus on InfrastructurePublic opinion is crucial 27

Resistance to infrastructure development was a problem even for Brunel. How we can we improve public opinion of

infrastructure investment? – amanda ClaCk

Configuring the future 28The mysteries behind the design, integration and

optimisation of modern mass transit networks – SiemenS

Sound: an infrastructure blind spot? 32Using sound creatively to improve comfort and behaviour on

the railways – GRaeme HaRRiSon

Mobility = greater resilience 34Mobile apps – a crucial tool for reducing the risk of

disruption this winter – CatHal mCGloin

Focus on Permanent way Gearing up for improvement 36

Intelligent electrical switchgear – delivering superior safety, reliability and performance – maRk BeSwiCk

Industry 4Infrastructure 10

Stations 21Rail Alliance 26

Appointments 31Conferences & Exhibitions 104

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36

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11 Cover story

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zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz NEWS I Opinion

l From Lord Berkeley, chairman of

the Rail Freight Group and a board

member of the European Rail Freight

Association. The opinions expressed

here are his own.

The latest draft of the 4th Railway

Package (RP) from the Latvian Presidency

makes depressing reading. It is a pale

version of what the Commission started

with, a blueprint to revitalise Europe’s

railways, to introduce competition and

efficiencies, better customer choice and

private investment.

Since then, Angela Merkel summoned

the then Commission President Barroso

to Berlin and told him to alter the 4th

RP to allow the German structure, full

of allegations of unfair subsidies and

competition issue, to continue. He capitulated and introduced

a second best solution of a ‘Chinese wall’ to prevent such

abuses. Now France, losing passenger and freight traffic at

an alarming rate because of poor service quality and higher

charges, is reintegrating track and train to further obstruct the

Commission, and is joining Germany in opposing any attempt

to introduce competition and bring some efficiencies into

Europe’s creaking railway system. According to a recent article

in les Echos, there will soon be little of a rail network left in

France apart from regional services around major cities and the

still loss making TGV lines.

Both DB and SNCF are also suffering from competition from

new long distance coach services, whose staff do not get

the benefits of SNCF drivers who retire at the age of 50 on a

pension of their final salary. France’s solution to Europe’s rail

problems is to try to get all rail workers across Europe to have

the same benefits as its own featherbedded ‘cheminots’; this

is indeed an odd way of beating the road or air competition.

Germany does not want competition for passenger services,

and refused to allow competitors to sell tickets in DB booking

offices or machines, and neither operator will consider selling

or leasing unused passenger trains to competitors.

Italy, in urgent need to finance its inefficient rail system, may

float part of it on the stock exchange but will this inefficient

monopoly provide the low risk dividends that investors will

expect without falling foul of state aid or competition law?

Does all this matter? Is it important for Europe to have a

thriving rail network capable of delivering faster, more reliable

and cheaper services to customers?

The Commission thought it did; that is why it developed the

4th Railway Package to try to break the monopolies of

the incumbents as well as introducing common standards

and interoperability. Germany and France are killing it, by

Is obstruction by Germany and France forcing a 5th Railway Package on Europe to bring its railways rather belatedly into the 21st Century?

4 www.railwaystrategies.co.uk

requiring the dilution of legislation on fair

competition, so that their monopolies can

be preserved in perpetuity. No sensible

investor will risk putting money into

services in competition with these and

other incumbents who obstruct, obfuscate,

deny fair access to the network, and try to

hide the unfair and secret subsidies that

they arrange with their paymasters

or owners.

Why don’t other member states object?

One might expect the UK to lead this, but

the UK Government’s uncertain approach

to Europe does not add to its credibility.

How many other member states are free

from German pressure on their budgets, or

French pressure on social issue?

So I fear that the Latvian Presidency will

be browbeaten into accepting whatever Germany and France

dictate, and the next Presidency, Luxembourg, sandwiched

geographically between Germany and France, is rather unlikely to

lead the campaign for liberalisation.

Will the European Parliament save the 4th RP? It is new, and

there are some strong supporters of liberalisation there. However,

it can be much easier to accept the story that all is fine with the

railway – and one can always go by road or air. MEPs should

remember that monopolies are self-perpetuating, provide bad

service and high costs to their governments, and lose more

and more money, but have unlimited resources for fighting off or

buying up any competition whilst at the same time having their

begging bowl out for more and more state subsidy.

Nobody gains from this, neither the passenger or freight

customer, not in the end the featherbedded workers who, in the

end, will lose their jobs, as the more efficient road or air transport

takes the business. It does not have to be like this but, at the

present rate of progress, it will be, to the serious detriment of

Europe’s’ business and quality of life.

If you don’t want such monopolies, then you need fair

and open competition, separation of infrastructure from train

operation, strong and comprehensive regulation, and the will

to make it all work fairly; that is the only way to encourage

investment that Europe’s railway so desperately needs.

With an increasing number of press articles predicting the

slow death of many railways, is the 4th Railway Package the last

train to a competitive market, now departing almost empty of

passengers, freight – and hope for the future!

Roll on the 5th Railway Package, supported by a strong

political will to bring the single market, competition and

investment to this rail sector which, with few exceptions, instead

of looking forward, clings to a starry-eyed version

of history!

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzNEWS I Industry

IN FACTh 5.8% The latest Passenger Rail Service

Satisfaction data to be published

by the ORR show that the rail

passenger complaint rate has

risen by 5.8% in comparison

with the same quarter last year.

Train service performance, which

includes punctuality, was the

leading cause of complaint.

28.3m record In the run up to Christmas, the

London Underground carried

over 28.346 million people in one

week. This broke the previous

record set during the 2012

London Olympic Games when

28.235m journeys were made.

Passenger numbers have risen

by a third in the last ten years.

38% at risk More than a third (38%) of travel

and transportation workers put

their health at risk by putting off

visiting the doctor, according to

a survey from the British Heart

Foundation.

39% said they had too much

work to do to take time off.

96.6% on time National Express train operator

c2c has been named the most

punctual train operator during

2014, according to Network Rail.

Across the year, 96.6% of c2c

trains arrived on time.

Meanwhile, the national average

was 89.6% punctuality.

Prototype battery-powered train carries its first passengers l The first battery-powered train to run on Britain’s rail network in more than half a century

has carried its first passengers. This marks an important milestone in the FutureRailway

project to demonstrate the viability of an eco-friendly Independently Powered Electric Multiple

Unit (IPEMU) for bridging the gaps between electrified parts of the network, and also running

on branch lines where it would be too expensive to install overhead electrification.

Successful retrofitting and trials were undertaken last year by Bombardier at test tracks in

Derby and Leicestershire. The modified Class 379 Electrostar battery-powered train is now

scheduled to run in weekday timetable service for five weeks between Harwich International

and Manningtree stations in Essex, operating as part of Abellio Greater Anglia’s fleet.

Network Rail Principal Engineer James Ambrose said: “After months of engineering and

testing, the train is running just as we would like it. We’ll be using this five-week period to

gather data on how it handles during passenger service – most travellers will recognise how

quiet and smooth the ride is compared to a diesel-powered train.”

Any future IPEMU would most likely be designed as a new train and not an adapted

unit, to minimise energy consumption, but this project will also provide useful

information for retrofit.

Partners working on the IPEMU project are: Network Rail, The Rail Executive arm of the

Department for Transport, FutureRailway, Abellio Greater Anglia and Bombardier.

Batteries Included - the

modified Class 379 Electrostar

carrying its first passengers

Hitachi training carriage arrives in the UK

Hitachi training carriage arrives in UK via the Port of Tynel A training carriage for the Hitachi Rail Europe plant in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, has arrived in the Port of Tyne where it will be

stored before being delivered to the plant.

The part assembled train carriage, which was built at Hitachi’s factory in Kasado, Japan, will become the plant’s training unit. Hitachi Rail Europe’s

manufacturing plant manager Darren Cumner said: “The arrival of the training carriage is a significant step for Hitachi Rail Europe’s plans to train our

manufacturing staff. Apprentices, technicians and engineers will use this train carriage to gain in-depth knowledge of how to build trains. Shipping this

carriage via the Port of Tyne is testament to our commitment to working with local partners and promoting a strong local supply chain.”



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T he UK rail industry has a proud history of innovation.

Although this has been through a period of stagnation, that

trend is being reversed. An essential element in this is the

FutureRailway initiative, a collaboration between Network

Rail and RSSB working with the rail industry and the supply chain to

accelerate research and development.

While it has been many years since bogie design and development

has flourished in the UK, a new knowledge-base of engineers and

facilities is being drawn together to test and develop a radical new

concept in bogie design – currently known as the radial freight bogie.

In the beginning.... Like so many radical new concepts, the radial bogie began life as an

idea that was batted around among engineers – people whose lives

revolve around problem solving. In many such situations, the enormous

costs and risks of developing an untried idea means it has very little

chance of progressing into a concept stage let alone through the

INTERVIEW I Marcus Mayers

A radical step?Marcus Mayers talks to

Gay sutton about progress in developing an innovative

new radial freight bogie, and the prospects for

building a strong bogie innovation hub in the uK

demonstration stage to a fully fledged marketable product. And this is

where FutureRailway plays a significant part in bridging this gap.

In February 2013, FutureRailway launched a new initiative called

the Radical Train Competition. “The idea behind this competition,”

explained Marcus Mayers, programme & portfolio manager,

FutureRailway, “was to ask suppliers to bring us any ideas that could

improve the quality of rolling stock or enhance the UK’s capability in

rolling stock.”

The radial freight bogie, a new idea in track friendly bogies, was just

one of 57 concepts to be proposed.

Moving forward

To progress these ideas to the point where winners could be chosen for

funding, FutureRailway organised a collaboration day, bringing together

those who would like to enter the competition with a wide range of

universities, entrepreneurs, SMEs and large companies who could

potentially partner with them to support and part finance that aim.


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Innovations are being sought to improve ticketing and gatelines

It was at the Leicester Space Centre that the freight bogie’s designers

linked up with Huddersfield University which has expertise in vehicle

dynamics and the wheel rail interface, and a forward thinking export,

sales and marketing organisation, Holdtrade UK.

“And this is where the radial freight bogie is distinct. Holdtrade UK

had a number of customers including South Africa’s Transnet who had

expressed a pain,” he continued. They were all experiencing similar

capacity and track damage issues, but there were no solutions for it in

the marketplace. “Holdtrade UK’s thinking was that if they could support

the development of a new solution to deliver more profitable freight

movement then they could sell it into the market.”

The radial freight bogie had the potential to fulfil that need, by reducing

damage to the track when carrying freight, and increasing the capacity

that could be carried per wagon. Not only could this work very well on the

lower quality heavy haul freight track in South Africa, it could have other

applications such as super heavy haul in Australia.

As a result of that event, the original design team formed a partnership

with Holdtrade UK and Transnet, along with Huddersfield University and

the project went on to became one of six to win funding and support

from FutureRailway. By the end of 2013, following a technical review that

indicated that the proposal could work, the complex contracts between

the partners had been thrashed out and signed.

Building the knowledge base

The first three months of 2014 were spent recruiting a full complement

of skills to build a strong design team based in Wales, a team that could

form the foundation for a bogie design hub for future innovation in the UK.

That time seems to have been well spent. The bogie design is currently at

Huddersfield University being iteratively modelled, tested and refined.

“A key lesson we’ve learned from this,” Marcus said, “is that innovation

projects can take longer to set up than traditional projects, due to the

risks and level of understanding.” The next step is to manufacture the

bogies here in the UK and begin non-destructive testing on them. Once

all parties are happy with the results, the bogies will be sent to South

Africa where they’ll be fitted to wagons built specifically for the project

by Transnet, and then tested on a 1067mm narrow gauge manganese

freight line, to an extent we simply could not achieve here in the UK.

“South Africa has the largest narrow gauge freight railway in the

world, stretching some 27,000 km,” Marcus said. “They have huge

manufacturing capability, and an approvals process that is simpler than

anything in Europe. The question they will be asking is: does the radial

freight bogie move more freight more efficiently than current bogies and

will it be financially worth buying?”

If the testing is successful, there will be a significant market for the

product in South Africa with Transnet, but there have already been some

tentative approaches from other African countries.

A radical idea?

So is the new freight bogie really a radical idea? For obvious reason,

Marcus could not describe the bogie in any great detail. It is still going

through the patent protection process. However he was able to say:

“We believe it’s a really excellent idea, one that is likely make a significant

difference in the world of freight. And if it’s successful in South Africa, then

the second or third iteration will be for standard gauge, and could make a

significant impact here in the UK. It’s a concept that could also be applied

to passenger vehicles in due course, but of course that market is very

different to the freight bogie market.”

Marcus Mayers, programme & portfolio

manager, FutureRailway


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Why promoting innovation is important

“This entire project will cost upwards of £1 million,” Marcus explained.

“If the original design team had had to finance this, the project would

never have got off the ground. Demonstrators are expensive, and there

are always significant risks involved.” However by sharing the costs

and risks, and ultimately sharing the benefits and rewards, there is a

much higher likelihood that innovation can be followed through

to market.

In this instance, FutureRailway is contributing 45 per cent towards

the total cost. Transnet will fund around 25 per cent of the cost, the

majority of which will go into constructing the wagon that will be fitted

with the new bogie and then testing it extensively on South Africa’s

heavy railways. The remaining contributions to the project will be made

by the design team and Holdtrade UK. Meanwhile, in line with EU

regulations, Huddersfield University will be able to recoup some

80 per cent of their expenses from partnership and fund the remaining

20 per cent of their costs themselves.

Benefits to each partner

Each of the project partners has signed up to an agreement that

defines the terms and conditions, deliverables and benefits. One of the

conditions is that the innovation must be delivered to the market. “So

we’re tying them to the yoke of commerciality,” Marcus said. Holdtrade

is currently building its business model for marketing the end product.

And as a company with no manufacturing base, it has two options

for marketing the product: selling the third party manufactured

bogies around the world, or selling interested companies the unique

constituent components and the licence to manufacture the bogies.

INTERVIEW I Marcus Mayers

“That’s where the money will be,” Marcus said. “And then the profits will

feed back into what will become a new bogie R&D business based

here in the UK.”

From FutureRailway’s perspective, the aim is to bring innovative

products to market. “We take IP very seriously, but we don’t want

to own it.” The ownership of the IP is defined in the initial contract,

and FutureRailway merely asks for a percentage royalty which is then

reinvested into further projects. The aim ultimately is to build a strong

R&D base here in the UK which can continue to innovate, delivering new

and exciting products to the rail network, and bringing financial rewards

to the economy. The bogie design team is just one element of that. “We

want to see innovators succeed as individuals and organisations, and go

on to spread their wings and do great things.”

Revelations...the innovation DNA

As an enabler to innovation, Marcus had some interesting observations

to make, and a plea for everyone to start questioning. “Innovation in the

rail market is only as good as the ideas people come to us with, and

ideas that people are willing to buy,” he commented. “We exist by the

good grace of the supply chain and the people who operate railways.

Without their engagement and involvement there is no place for a

FutureRailway in the railway industry.”

Looking at this project individually, it’s all too easy to think of innovation

as a one off idea. It’s not. “Innovation is about DNA. It’s about waking

up in the morning and thinking about what you do, asking is this really

the right way to do it, or is there a better way? Very often it’s identifying a

pain people don’t realise they have. That’s where this radial freight bogie

is a very good example. It’s a different type of thinking which I would

encourage people in the railway industry to adopt.” zz

A Transnet freight train in South Africa


www.hwilliams.co.uk

www.railimages.co.uk

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz NEWS I Infrastructure


l A stunning photograph of rail tracks, taken from The Shard, has won The Royal Institution

of Chartered Surveyors’ inaugural RICS Infrastructure Photography Competition. Launched to

champion the importance of major infrastructure projects to British society, the competition was won

by Rita Tesa with her photograph, Double Travel. The photo beat nearly 300 other submissions.

Of the winning image, associate director at WSP and chair of the judging panel, Roma Agrawal

FRICS, commented: “This photo is what infrastructure is all about - providing transport on top of a

busy city. We just loved the dynamic nature of this image, captured at the perfect time as the trains

pass each other.” See page 27 for comment on the competition.

The winning photograph, Double Travel

Rail image chosen to improve public perception of infrastructure

l Product Innovation Ltd has developed a

product that measures the movement of a

rail or sleeper in real time.

Network Rail were looking for a Void

Meter to fit in with their new Intelligent

Infrastructure system and approached

Product Innovation having seen an old

design on the company’s website. Once

alerted to this interest Product Innovation

reviewed the design and decided to

produce a completely new one using the

latest technology.

The new Void Meter was developed and

a prototype built before the first meeting

with Network Rail. They were impressed by

the design and ordered prototype samples,

the first of which was installed at Witham

in July 2014. Since then six more samples

have been supplied.

Peter Frank, the CEO of Product

Innovation says: “The new concept is

beautifully simple and uses modern

electronics in a way that was not possible

in the past. The sensing of position uses a

Hall Effect microchip that allows us to totally

encapsulate the electronics. We believe this

is a significant technological development

and have applied for patents.”

Smart sensor

Phase completel At 07:16 on Monday 15 December, Siemens

Rail Automation successfully completed Phase

Two of the Great Northern Great Eastern (GNGE)

programme, with the Auckley and Beech level

crossings being signed into use. This work

represented the final delivery stage of the GNGE

project for Siemens and the conclusion of the two

year programme.

Bringing a significant upgrade to this double-

tracked line, the GNGE programme is an integral

part of the East Coast Main Line (ECML) Capacity

Relief Project. The programme enables freight

trains to achieve the equivalent average journey

times using GNGE rather than the ECML, such

that it will become the primary daytime route for

freight traffic. By diverting traffic from the ECML

to GNGE, a significant number of paths can be

released for additional passenger services.

Rob Cairns, Siemens’ Delivery Director for the

Central East region, noted: “With 37 new level

crossings, the demolition of 25 signal boxes and

the renewal of seven interlockings, this has been

a technically complex and logistically challenging

programme.”

Twitter reveals the ‘most hated’ train providers l Railway companies have received hundreds of thousands of complaints for poor services

from long-suffering commuters, according to a new report developed by Commute London,

a group of data scientists.

The new report entitled Twitter Trains of Thought analysed 1,778,090 Twitter interactions

with 14 leading railway Twitter feeds throughout 2014.

The most talked about was First Great Western which received 265,201 tweets closely

followed by Virgin Trains at 257,254 and Greater Anglia with 241,038.

l There were 70,969 tweets directed at the 14 rail feeds using cancellation language,

an average of 5,069 per handle including words like ‘cancel’ ‘replacement’ and ‘bus

replacement’.

l 280,960 tweets used delay language including words like ‘delay’ ‘late’ ‘stuck’

l 62,352 tweets captured included overcrowding language such as ‘crowd’ ‘sardine’ and

‘no seat’

“Our analysis shows that the train companies need to make much better use of their Twitter

feeds if they wish to keep customers happy by listening and learning from criticism,”

said Daren Wood, director, Commute London.

Hong Kong’s new metro extension goes into operation l The extension to the MTR Island Line in Hong Kong was officially opened on 28 December

2014. Running for 3.3km westwards, the West Island

Line connects Sheung Wan station to the three newly-built stations of Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong

University (HKU) and Kennedy Town. It now takes only about seven minutes to travel the length of

the extension compared with the 30 minutes it used to take by bus.


Netw

ork

Rail

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l In December the Rail Delivery Group (RDG)

published a 10 point plan setting out how the

industry would make track and trains more

resilient to adverse weather conditions this

winter, and ensure passengers are better

informed during disruption.

Operators and Network Rail have learned a

considerable amount from the extreme weather

of last few years, and used this knowledge to

develop measures to improve the network’s

resilience to snow, ice and flooding, and to

improve customer care.

Trains:

l Fitting some trains with snow ploughs,

hot-air blowers, steam jets, brushes, scrapers

and jets for heated anti-freeze and compressed

air to de-ice tracks. Heated skirts for trains

running in colder parts of the country

l Thorough checks of standard train features,

including coupler heaters, door seal grease, fuel

tank heaters and horn heaters

Tracks:

l Empty trains will run through the night in

key areas as temperatures fall, to help keep

tracks clear. Freight proving trains will run in

the mornings following adverse conditions to

ensure routes are clear

l Network Rail has expanded its winter fleet

to include 14 snow ploughs, 10 snow and ice

treatment trains, two snow blowers,

25 locomotives fitted with mini snow ploughs

(10 more than last year) and 24 multi-purpose

vehicles (14 more than last year) with

de-icing capability

Winter weather on the railway

How the industry has increased resilience to bad weather this winter

l Anti-icing fluid and heating strips are used

on live conductor rails to stop ice building up.

Heating strips in key locations have reduced

ice-related incidents by up to 80 per cent

l Flood defence systems are on standby,

including inflatable barriers to protect tracks

and vital equipment from flood water

l Heaters and NASA grade insulation have

been attached to critical points to prevent ice

l Protective covers have been added to

4,000 points and 2,500 points motors, to

keep snow out and prevent damage by ice

falling from trains

l Remote temperature monitoring is in place,

and a helicopter fitted with thermal imaging

cameras is on standby to identify points

heaters that are not working effectively

Stations and depots:

l Ensuring depots and stations have enough

salt, shovels and de-icer supplies

l Preparing specialist equipment such as hot

air blowers and steam jets at depots

Staff:

l In times of severe disruption, staff will be

based at strategic places to provide rail users

with information and advice, and ensure full

depot staffing, even where some staff are

unable to get to work

l Thousands of staff will patrol the network

round the clock in times of extreme weather,

clearing snow and ice from junctions

and tunnels

l When flood warnings are received from the

Environment Agency, staff and equipment will

be sent to at risk areas so preventative and

mitigation measures can be put in place

Information at stations:

l A multimillion pound project is underway to

display consistent information at stations, on

websites and on apps. Around a third of the

country’s stations are now connected to the

same single real time information feed

Early information about changes:

l Revised timetable information can now be

fed into customer information systems more

quickly. New timetables can be in place the

evening before enabling passengers to plan

their journeys for the following day

Utilising social media:

l Operators, Network Rail and NRE are

increasingly using social media to keep

passengers informed, including answering

real-time queries, publicising updated travel

plans and travel information, sharing images

of what has caused a delay, and showing

progress in efforts to get people moving again

Explaining delays:

l The industry has developed explanations

of common causes of delays, which are now

publicised at stations, on websites and social

media, especially during times of disruption

Information on compensation:

l Train companies are doing more to

remind delayed passengers how to

claim compensation including: more train

announcements; posters at stations with

smartphone barcodes; information on

platform screens; handing out claim forms

on delayed trains; tweeting links to claim

forms; making information more prominent on

websites during disruption; and sending email

reminders to passengers.

A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, representing operators and Network Rail, said: “While most parts of the country have not seen particularly severe weather this winter, there have been localised events such as freezing conditions in Scotland and issues with ice affecting the conductor rail in coastal areas. The preventative measures the industry had in place meant that disruption to passengers was minimised on the vast majority of these occasions. But we will continue to assess each weather related incident to look at how we can further improve our mitigation plans and actions. Providing passengers with accurate and timely information, particularly during disruption, remains a key focus for Network Rail and operators. More than half of all stations are now connected to the same single real time information feed, and in the coming months train companies will be publishing individual plans to improve customer communications.”

According to the Association of Train Operating

Companies (ATOC), there are a million more

trains and half a billion more passengers each

year compared to a decade ago. The ATOC’s

most recent data report from its LENNON database

showed over 140,000 more journeys were made in

the six months to September this year than during the

same period in 2013. The company forecasts that

by 2020, an additional 400 million journeys will be

made by rail.

And it’s not just the growth of passenger numbers

that has seen the railway industry experience such

consistent and significant growth – the freight industry

contributes £870 million to the UK economy alone and

supports an output of £5.9 billion.

Responding to growing demand is an exciting

challenge for the rail industry, but innovation is key.

Punctuality, performance, efficiency and safety – all

crucial deliverables – have to be reviewed alongside

capacity levels. A process that worked a year ago may

no longer be the most effective way to maintain quality

of service.

Making those vital improvements

Improving infrastructure is an important step – for

example Network Rail is spending an average of

£27 million a day on improving services to create

increased capacity to carry extra passengers. It hopes

that by 2018, 2,000 more carriages will be available,

generating almost a third more peak time places

into major cities and 20 per cent more commutes in

and out of London by the end of the decade. These

changes will allow passengers more flexibility with

travel times and reduce crowding in carriages, allowing

Network Rail to improve service levels.

Providing a good experience is crucial alongside

comfortable and convenient travel, but there are also

other elements to consider when reviewing ways to

engage and retain customers.

Whether it’s providing offers, live service information

or online surveys, drawing in passengers through

digital platforms can help to engage customers

and generate increased revenue. For instance, the

convenience of being able to book advanced train

tickets through online booking apps and websites

is an attractive prospect for passengers who may

be time poor. KPMG found discounted fares now

account for almost half of consumer sales, an

increase of 36 per cent since 2004.

Driving customers to websites is beneficial for

rail companies who use customer relationship

management (CRM) systems. This tool allows

companies to glean data from customers at every

stage of connection – from areas of the website they

have visited, to previous telephone conversations

with business representatives. For rail businesses,

this includes promoting offers – such as discounted

tickets – to regular customers to encourage further

travel and loyalty.

Where information gathering already works well The use of CRM systems can also improve safety

and efficiency for both staff and customers in the rail

industry. For example, there are some 6,500 level

crossings across Britain – many in rural areas on

private land where users must operate the

crossings themselves.

As a key safety measure, users must register

with Network Rail and contact them before using

crossings for the first time. The company has a vital

database of authorised users and must regularly

communicate with them by SMS, phone and email

in order to keep registered users informed of safety

issues, maintenance work and much more.

To manage this, developers at Experience Assist

have configured a sophisticated new CRM system

for Network Rail, allowing the company to keep

track of all of its outbound communications.

Similarly, Cross Country Trains has improved

business performance through the use of CRM.

Introducing new platforms such as the use of

tailored screens and automation for telephone

inbound enquiries has reduced staff overheads

by 25 per cent and helped to deliver a more

personalised service whilst increasing

capacity levels.

As the industry continues to develop and grow, it

is vital rail companies sustain customer engagement

and continue to improve health and safety efficiency

levels through the use of the most efficient and

collaborative tools available. zz

The art of communicating


Richard Parsons is commercial director at

Experience Assist

RICHARD PARSONS discusses how the efficiency and quality of rail services can be improved, and customer demand further increased, by communicating through multiple channels

Customer Relationship Management zzzzzzzzzzz


Since Mark Carne took over as Network Rail’s

CEO in February 2014, he’s not pulled any

punches where safety is concerned. Describing

the level of health and safety incidents among

staff and contractors over the last five years as

‘unacceptable’, he has sent a very clear message to

everyone within the rail sector.

The Government’s commitment to funding £38 billion

in rail over the next five years will bring inevitable health

and safety risks. While this is one of the most exciting

periods of growth in the UK’s rail infrastructure, the

industry needs a properly educated and disciplined

workforce to cope with the unprecedented demands

and pressures to deliver projects on time and

within budget.

Putting safety firstThe statistics do not make good reading: rail workforce

fatalities have risen consistently since 2010/11. Mark

Carne must be supported for his radical plans to ban

staff who aren’t directly employed by Network Rail from

holding safety managerial roles. It’s a strategy more

of the industry needs to follow and one we are driving

within our business.

Building strong relationships with our supply chain

and avoiding transient subcontractors, minimises

delivery and safety risk. Within our business model we

seek to ensure teams work closely together and build

a level of trust with one another. We have a very high

proportion of directly employed staff who in my view are

more engaged within the company culture and values.

That’s not to say there isn’t a significant challenge with

a policy like this: the industry is increasingly people

challenged, and typically has long gestation periods

between orders when it may be carrying a heavier

fixed employment cost.

Fundamental changes to the way the controller

of site safety (COSS) role will operate, supported by

massive training commitments from Network Rail must

be actively supported by everyone. 30,000 days of

delegate training completed this autumn by Network

Rail and briefings for 200 contractors, are a major step

in the right direction.

Network Rail has set a clear direction for safety on

the railways. The challenge facing contractors is how to

respond and act accordingly. Alongside Network Rail’s

initiatives, I believe there are three other areas where

rail contractors can focus efforts to actively support our

industry to achieve world-class levels of safety.

Challenging traditional thinking

The important trioFirstly, we need to recognise the impact that mental

health can have on people’s performance. Secondly,

we need to build more collaboration amongst

contractors to ensure that best safety practice is always

shared. Lastly, we need to embrace technology even

more to keep our people safe, especially lone workers.

In June 2014 the ORR published a paper on stress

in the rail industry, and this recognised that one in four

people in the UK are now affected by mental health

problems. The risks associated with unwell individuals

working in a high safety risk environment are significant.

The ORR’s proposed management approach is to be

applauded. The very fact that the problem has been

openly recognised marks a watershed in the industry.

Mental health issues in the workplace are real. As

all industries seek more businesses, we need to work

smarter and introduce the environment, systems

and methodologies that actively support individuals.

Culture within organisations usually cascades from the

boardroom, and contractors of every size must ensure

that occupational safety, including mental health safety,

is part of their DNA.

Sharing best practice is another big challenge for an

industry that has tended to operate in silos. That mind-

set simply has to change. Sectors such as the airlines

and defence have shown that collaboration delivers

significant benefit, including driving improved safety.

Network Rail are leading on collaboration, but the rest

of us must now adopt more open dialogue, sharing

health and safety best practice.

Finally, technology has a huge role to play in

making trackside working safer, dramatically cutting

down on paperwork and manual errors that can

lead to incidents.

IPS has adopted the use of iPads when working

on London Underground projects, streamlining safety

procedures and making arduous paper exercises far

more efficient. The use of this popular technology

means worker adoption has been high, which is

especially useful for lone workers operating

out of hours.

The ORR has taken a firm stance on recent health

and safety failures among contractors. And this robust

approach will quite rightly remain in place for some time

to come. We all have an important job to do to bring

the UK Rail industry to best in class, but putting

safety anywhere else but the top of the agenda just

won’t work. zz

JASON PEARCE, managing director of rail telecoms specialist Alan Dick Communications, believes contractors need to challenge their thinking

as part of the key role they have in improving rail safety

Jason Pearce

Health & Safetyzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zz


Britain’s railways are among the safest in the world.

Indeed, last month it was reported that a British

team will help China to develop a health and

safety culture after a series of fatal accidents.

However, a series of impending challenges look likely to

test our ability to maintain that enviable reputation.

The rise in passengers is putting huge pressure on

the network. Overall numbers rose by 5.7 per cent to

more than 1.5 billion passenger journeys in 2013-14.

Meanwhile, the Office of Rail Regulation’s (ORR) latest

safety report highlighted the challenges of managing

record passenger levels and called for better

infrastructure management. While Britain’s railways

continue to have one of the best safety records in Europe,

the report showed that workforce safety remains a

significant challenge.

The report outlined the growing trend in track workers

being injured. It reached its highest level in seven years,

with 79 workers suffering serious injuries and 1,641

reporting minor injuries. There were also three rail workers

deaths in the past year. An increase in the number of

signals passed at danger (SPADs) is another worry

for the industry.

A recent report by the Rail Standards and Safety Board

(RSSB) found that the number of SPADs rose by

17 per cent during 2013-14, with 293 reported incidents,

compared with 250 in 2012-13. At the end of the 2013-14

the estimated level of risk from SPADs was 73 per cent of

the September 2006 baseline, compared with 60 per cent

at the end of 2012-13.

The Office of Rail Regulation has approved more than

£250 million in funding to improve protection and warning

systems for track workers. But what can rail companies do

to improve health and safety?

Improving standards as rail travel risesLook into the future and Britain’s railways will become

busier and busier, with unprecedented growth expected in

both passenger numbers and freight. Network Rail plans to

spend £37.5 billion on running and expanding the railways

over the five years to 2019. If approved, this investment in

new infrastructure will make a real difference by boosting

capacity at pinch points on the network and providing

170,000 extra commuter seats at peak times by 2019.

Statistically, the risk of having more accidents is likely to

increase. Rail companies need to do more now to ensure

they can maintain and improve their health and safety

record to cope with this growth. One accident is one too

many, and one signal passed at danger is another disaster

waiting to happen. And incidents like this have the potential

MARY CLARKE examines how research, training and best practice can help rail companies keep their employees and customers safe in the face of growing

pressures on the network

Mary Clarke, CEO, Cognisco

Giving safety the green light

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Health & Safety


to cause crashes and derailments that could lead to

serious injuries and deaths. Human error is most

often the cause.

Helping change behaviour One of the things rail companies can do is spend more

on research into why human error occurs and adopt a

safety culture that minimises these risks. They should also

improve employee competency and ensure staff comply

with regulations at all times. It’s not as simple as just

holding a record of employee certificates and licences.

Managers need to be confident that their staff fully

understand their role and the latest safety procedures and

work within the expected safety guidelines.

Passing a red light is likely to be down to human error.

Rail companies need to understand why a driver made

the wrong decision – what made the driver make this

decision. It could be an error of judgement, a lack of

knowledge or a lapse in concentration. There is also the

chance that it was intentional – as can happen on the

roads when a driver takes a risk when the traffic lights are

changing. Maintaining a consistently competent workforce

is crucial to reducing exposure to risk.

All rail companies must have formal competency

management systems in place to maintain and assess

their workers’ skills. Such systems identify currently

qualified staff regardless of location and can rapidly build

and deploy new teams with the right skills and experience.

These systems also flag up forthcoming assessments

or licensing requirements. That is essential to ensure the

organisation is compliant with industry regulations.

Developing a health and safety cultureRail companies can also develop a health and

safety culture that all employees follow and respect.

Organisational culture not only drives how people behave,

but also their attitude towards taking risks. A driver

who thinks they have just enough time to get through

a red signal may reconsider if they understand the

consequences.

Companies must first identify why drivers may be taking

dangerous risks and then provide tailored training and

targeted intervention to educate drivers, and discourage

risky behaviour. Leaving things like this unchecked and

not clearly understanding the human behaviour behind the

statistics is unlikely to help reverse the trend of passing

signals at danger.

A critical part of creating the right culture at work lies in

being able to identify and document how people behave

in their roles, and their engagement and understanding of

the embedded processes. Managers need to understand

employees’ likely behaviour, current knowledge and

competence, understanding and confidence.

Every employee must be clear about what the company

expects from them – how they should behave at work,

how they should treat customers and the kind of actions

that are acceptable. Companies need to measure this

regularly to understand what employees are thinking and

how they are acting at work. By measuring people’s level of

understanding of their jobs, their likely behaviour in different

work scenarios and how confident they are in making

decisions, it will soon be clear if there are any gaps.

Using this knowledge, companies can offer more

targeted interventions to close the skills gaps and

help people to change for the better. It’s about offering

encouragement, setting out the right way to do things at

work and taking steps to ensure it happens.

New processes alone aren’t enough to improve safety,

however. Rail companies also need to know how well

employees understand the processes and if they will follow

them. Companies must have tools that will measure and

assess employee behaviour and risk. Without these tools,

it’s difficult to make lasting health and safety improvements.

The only way rail companies can improve their safety

record is to adopt a best practice approach to employee

assessment, invest in tools which provide transparency

and visibility around what individuals know and understand,

therefore ensuring staff are competent and unlikely to take

unnecessary health and safety risks. Taking these steps

will help Britain to meet the safety challenges posed by

the increasing popularity of its railways and pre-empt any

arising safety issues. zz

Safe practice in action

Historic light on go. Some of these lights are still operational on the network

Track workers 2013/14 l 3 rail fatalities l 79 major injuries – a seven year highl 1,641 minor injuriesl 17 per cent increase in SPADsl Risk of SPADs 73 per cent

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz


In October 2014, staff of airline Flybe were questioned

by police for leafleting at Exeter St David’s train station

in the South West. The airline had recently launched

a route to London City airport from Exeter and staff

were promoting this at the railway station. This small

scale spat exemplifies a wider issue. Where once air and

train travel were seen as complementary, they are now

also competitive. And shortly, with the development of

Crossrail, HS2 and the announcement of HS3, alongside

the growth in regional airports across the UK, this trend is

likely to continue.

The Airlines’ strength: monetising passengersAirlines have traditionally been very strong at monetising

the space in an aircraft. While the majority of the space is

allocated to economy travellers, airlines have been very

successful at upselling passengers, using the benefit of

extra space and enhanced facilities to significantly increase

the revenue that they can command from a customer.

Airlines have traditionally offered at least three classes of

travel – effectively branding the same product (travel from

A to B) with different values to attract different groups of

people. More recently many airlines have also bridged the

gap between economy class and business with Premium

or upgraded economy, offering additional choice to

customers and upselling the proposition.

This is something that the rail industry is poor at. Despite

the fact that airlines and railways are competing head

to head on an increasing number of journeys, railway

Learning from the airlines

operators have simply not embraced the concept of

offering incremental benefits for additional services on the

same journey.

First class: limited interestIn the rail industry the choice for passengers is first class or

standard class. Unsurprisingly, most passengers choose

the standard option. In a survey conducted by The Daily

Telegraph in 2013, only East Coast railways were prepared

to disclose the proportion of first class seats sold: an

average of 40 per cent.

This suggests that not only is the railway industry going

about the way in which it offers different seats ineffectively,

but that resources are being wasted at exactly the same

time as overcrowding is blighting standard class carriages.

To resolve this, railway operators need to rethink the

experiences that they are offering passengers.

A pathway to upgradeOne thing that the airline industry has done effectively

is to offer passengers simple ways to spend more. Very

broadly a premium economy flight costs around double an

economy flight. This, combined with loyalty points that can

be used for upgrades, enables airlines to make upgrading

to the next class affordable and a treat. Whilst train travel

takes a similar approach to the differential in cost, the

difference in experience is nothing like as marked as within

an airline.

If the railway industry is serious about improving its ability

to offer different experiences within the same journey it

The railways have a way to go if they are truly to compete with the air travel. NIGEL LAWSON reveals how the airlines have perfected the art of tempting the

passenger with offerings in comfort and service they can’t refuse

Nigel Lawson, director, Acumen Design Associate

Service zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

The Etihad Business Studio – with paired reclining seats and flexible privacy screens


would do well to consider how the airline industry

has achieved this.

First, by providing multiple classes, the airline industry

is able to encourage almost any passenger to look at the

next most expensive experience. Additionally, the airlines

make these experiences desirable. The airlines have taken

on board new developments in air travel experience. For

example, Acumen worked with BA in the mid-1990s on

the development of fully flat beds. Since then these have

been rolled out to more and more classes over time.

Thus an experience that used to be exclusive to first class

passengers is now commonly incorporated into business

class, driving achievable aspiration for passengers.

The challenge for rail operators is to achieve a similar

environment: one where there is a genuine reason to

upgrade and one that encourages people to take the

next step.

The next development for rail operators is to provide

modular carriage layouts for different classes of travel.

For example, there may be a first class layout for high net

worth individuals, a business class layout for those that

wish to get work done. Because, particularly in school

holidays, so many families travel, it makes sense to develop

family friendly carriages.

The key to this approach is flexibility. Airlines can add

additional business class rows in certain aircraft and the rail

industry needs to think along the same lines – having the

flexibility to change the configuration of a train quickly and

easily to suit different times of day and different audiences.

Smart use of spaceAirlines are incredibly savvy at using space in the most

efficient and effective way. They recognise that providing

people with more personal space and privacy on a journey

has value that can be monetised. Rail operators need to

become much more focused on this area. Simple changes,

such as clustering two reclining chairs together enable

passengers travelling together to enjoy a more private and

personal journey.

Flexible privacy screens enable passengers to control

their intimacy with others when the suites are shared by

strangers. By using techniques common in the airline

industry it is possible to generate more paying spaces on a

train yet also provide more personal space to

each passenger.

Creating an experienceAirlines recognise that, while their job is to safely transport

their passengers from one place to another, a large

number of small but important non essentials make up the

customer experience – from the quality of the coffee to

the ease of booking. Airlines work incredibly hard on these

experiences to build brand loyalty.

Despite an increasing number of long journeys taken

on railways, facilities are still generally quite limited in

advance of the journey and on-board. Staples of the airline

experience (such as reclining seating, at seat refreshments,

dedicated lounges, luggage storage and dining options) are

all limited, and more recent developments in air travel such

as dedicated check in and complimentary travel to and

from departure are non-existent. Rail operators are missing

opportunities to engage with their customers and deliver an

experience rather than a mundane journey.

Even supermarkets are embracing complimentary hot

drinks for loyalty programme customers – recognising that

anything that makes the experience of shopping more

pleasant will drive loyalty and engagement. Rail operators

need to be thinking in the same way – is there less value in

selling someone a £1.95 cup of coffee rather than giving it

away as part of the experience.

ConclusionRail operators could monetise their space far more

effectively by learning the lessons from the airline industry’s

cut throat competitive space. Rail operators need to give

passengers more choice – from family friendly carriages

to luxurious first class suites, through business lounges

and beyond. Designing carriages so that they can quickly

transform from one need to another is critical here. Details

matter: from the complimentary newspaper or coffee to fully

reclining seats, the airline industry knows the importance

of the experiential journey. Finally never forget the critical

non essentials: whilst an airline knows that success

constitutes everyone arriving in one piece, it never forgets

the importance of the experience in the sky. zz

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Below: Delta’s Cirrus on the 747 – illustrating how angled layout can provide both inherent privacy for outboard passengers and a social-yet-flexible arrangement across centre seats


T he London Overground links 21 of London’s

33 boroughs and provides an orbital service

around the capital, carrying over 455,000

passengers on a typical week day. However it is

the reach and variety of these community stakeholders that

makes engagement with them not only rewarding but also

particularly challenging.

LOROL’s response to this challenge has been to create a

community focused strategy that links up staff-led initiatives

and existing methods of engagement with our wider

corporate social responsibility agenda. This means that as an

organisation we have been able to make significant progress

in establishing long-term links with the communities that are

linked to and interested in the Overground.

Within LOROL, the overall responsibility for external

stakeholder engagement sits with the concession director.

But within this directorate, the specific role of stakeholder

& community manager enables the business to lead on

promoting and developing engagement with our community,

Working with local communities

something that includes LOROL’s direct neighbours, the

communities that use or live alongside railway operations,

and key groups in the communities we serve such as

schools and local societies.

A strategic view of community engagement As an organisation, we are moving towards creating a

strategic view of our impact on society and attempting

to define the benefit that we bring to our community

stakeholders.

Under our Concession Agreement with Transport for

London, we are contractually obligated to engage with our

community via a Passenger Group – with which we meet

every three or four months. Our Passenger Group brings

together individuals and rail user groups from across the

network to discuss the latest news about LOROL, with a

particular emphasis on forthcoming project work and

an acknowledgement and discussion about

performance issues.

Sam RuSSell, stakeholder & community manager at london Overground Rail Operations talks about the challenges, rewards and importance of

working closely with the railway’s local communities

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Stations

Acton Central, Overground in Bloom

The station garden at Norwood Junction


has certainly added value to the community. Whenever

we are working either on the platform planters or in the

forecourt, people stop to compliment us and say what a

difference it makes to their experience of the train station

and their journey, being greeted by such a cheery scene

as they pass through.”

And at Acton Central, the station team has partnered

with passengers and members of the community to

develop a lending library, a book swap system where

passengers can borrow books. This scheme has really

helped to strengthen links with passengers and is

complemented by other initiatives, such as the station

Christmas tree which local passengers have helped to

decorate, and this includes using their own decorations.

Our staff reaching out to communitiesAnother way that LOROL has been able to actively

develop its support for its community is through the

creation of the LOROL Charitable Donations Fund. This

initiative enables LOROL’s 1100 plus employees to apply

for a share of a fund that has recently been extended to

£10,000 to support their chosen cause or charity.

To receive a LOROL award from this fund, it is vital that

charities and good causes are nominated by employees

to demonstrate their personal connection or involvement.

Many of the awards over the last year have gone to local

groups and organisations, including hospices, theatre

groups, sports teams and children’s clubs with whom

staff have developed personal links. A key measure of

success for LOROL is the added value that our staff

bring to their community.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzHowever, as a business we have always striven to

do more. LOROL’s company vision is ‘Developing our

railway together, proudly connecting communities around

London’, and we are constantly seeking to identify, map

and engage with community and rail user groups, as well

establishing a pathway to other groups and individuals

who also have an interest in the work that we do.

We often identify these other groups through our

existing stakeholders, or through events at which LOROL

is represented. Once these links are established, we

provide these new groups with the opportunity to speak

to us about their needs, both informally and through

attendance at formal meetings.

A particularly successful approach is to then ask

these groups ‘who next?’. Asking this question helps to

achieve our ambition of widening our service by using

the expertise of these groups to engage at the next level

– that includes potential service users who would not

otherwise have considered travelling on our services and

who will not have heard from us before.

By increasing our body of stakeholders in this way, we

are able to gather even more enhanced and accurate

information via annual surveying, as well as valuable

informal feedback as we speak to people on a day to

day basis.

Establishing community linksThere are a number of specific initiatives across the

Overground network where LOROL has established

strong community links.

At Forest Hill, the Forest Hill Society has been

established by local residents to work in partnership with

the station on its garden and to organise a monthly food

market. Once every month the station car park is closed

and it becomes a produce market.

Here, a key driver has been to position the station

firmly at the heart of the community and, according to

Quetta Kaye, chair of the Forest Hill Society’s environment

committee, it’s certainly achieving this objective: “The

gardening project at Forest Hill

A cheque for the Railway Children charity

Another Forest Hill initiative has been a music festival

The womens project at City Gateway

Furthermore, as part of our developing strategy, we are

looking to support local community schemes and events by

organising opportunities for staff, particularly those based at

Head Office, to spend some time assisting in

the community.

LOROL is also very supportive of staff who volunteer

outside of work, and policies are currently under

development to allow for some time to be set aside to allow

this volunteering to take place.

Creating a positive station environmentOf course, a key way that LOROL has been able to make a

positive impact on the communities it serves is by creating

a positive, safe, secure and welcoming station environment.

There is a rolling programme of works across the network to

improve and enhance stations. And according to the results

from Transport for London’s latest Customer Satisfaction

Survey – where LOROL scored 84 per cent – passengers

seem to agree.

A key initiative that ensures LOROL creates and maintains

a positive station environment is the annual Overground

in Bloom competition which encourages station teams to

develop floral displays and gardens, and helps to enhance

and showcase station environments.

At Norwood Junction, the station team, in partnership

with passengers and local residents, has created a garden

at the station. Funding for the project has been secured from

a number of sources including LOROL, Network Rail, the

British Transport Police and the local council and schools,

and groups take part in weekly gardening and planting

activities. In fact, the project has grown to become an

extremely positive link between a broad range of

community groups.

Norwood Junction resident, Alan Oakley, who designs

and manages the gardens at this station in partnership

with British Transport Police officers, said: “The garden

has clearly improved links between the BTP and the

local community. Primary school children have met the

police and learned about their role. It’s also been a great

opportunity to educate them about railway safety while

at the same time giving them the chance to sow seeds,

cultivate plants and study the various wildlife habitats

found in the garden, as well as paint murals for display on

the garden wall.”

Assessing the impact of our workAs our community work becomes more established,

it is important that we are able to demonstrate a clear

methodology behind the work that we do, and show a

measurable impact.

To achieve this, the LOROL Executive has developed a

very clear view on how society is defined within the context

of the service we provide. All community engagement

within LOROL is now expected to contribute to the

improvement of society through five key outcomes:

l Empowering our staff to benefit the wider community

l Encouraging economic growth

l Behaving and procuring in an ethical and

environmentally sound way

l Being a good neighbour to our local residents

l And working with industry colleagues to deliver a

popular, reliable and accessible train service

Each of these outcomes has a range of measures

attached, and individual directors within LOROL are

responsible for their success. This approach will enable

us to demonstrate our commitments and priorities now,

while also allowing us to review our progress against clear

criteria in the future.

The future for community engagement at LOROLLOROL has undergone a huge journey in the past seven

years. As passenger numbers and the Overground

network continue to grow, it is important we continue

to establish and formalise our community links. With a

framework in which to do this and a dedicated internal

resource to ensure that stakeholders and the wider

community can be reached, this is sure to continue and

drive levels of partnership and engagement. zz

Illustrating Ground Model prior to over water Ground Investigation


London Overground Rail Operations Limitedl In November 2007 LOROL was awarded a seven year concession to operate the London Overground networkl Today over 455,000 people travel on the Overground daily - a five-fold increase from November 2007l The concession has since been extended for another two-years to 2016l More recently LOROL was selected to operate the West Anglia inner suburban network operating out of Liverpool Street station from May 2015

Stations zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

The station garden at Norwood Junction


Exciting new art is commissioned for the Tottenham Court Road station extension l Turner Prize-winning artists Douglas Gordon and Richard Wright have been

commissioned to create large-scale artworks in the new Tottenham Court

Road Crossrail station.

Douglas Gordon’s commission will be installed in the station’s western ticket

hall in Dean Street, Soho. A series of three video screens will display images

of people to evoke the history, culture and character of Soho. These images

collectively form human compositions in a concept known as

Exquisite Corpse.

Richard Wright’s commission will see gold-leaf hand-gilded on the vast

ceiling above the eastern ticket hall, next to the existing Tottenham Court Road

London Underground station. It draws on the lightness and colour of the ticket

hall architecture and the rapidly improving public areas around the station. The

pattern, which echoes the tile patterns of historic underground stations, will

appear to change, fading in and out, depending on the light and viewpoint.

The commissions are lead-funded by Almacantar and the City of London

Corporation and co-funded by Derwent London. Both artists are from

Glasgow and their proposals were selected by the Crossrail Art Advisory

Board in consultation with Gagosian Gallery, station architects Hawkins/Brown

and the funders.

Liverpool Lime Street’s £2.4m platform improvement scheme is completed l Liverpool Lime Street station is fully operational

again follow a programme of platform improvements

undertaken by Murphy & Sons. The £2.4 million

project involved resurfacing platforms 1 to 5 with new

paving flags, and installing tactile warning flags and

platform edge copers to improve passenger safety and

modernise the overall platform environment.

The concourse linking the ends of platforms 1 to 6

was also reconstructed.

Solar powered power pods have been installed to

reduce the site’s carbon footprint and environmental

impact, while a new system of pre-sealing paving stones

was used to save time over the traditional drying and

grouting methods.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzNEWS I Stations

l Opened in 1863, Farringdon Station was

originally the eastern terminus of the world’s

first underground railway which ran to

Paddington Station four miles away. At one

time it was even dubbed Farringdon

30 Buckets because of the number of leaks

in the roof when it rained.

Today, the site is undergoing extensive

construction and refurbishment as it

prepares for the 2018 opening of the

£15 billion east-west Crossrail line. When

the line is running, Farringdon will be one

of the busiest underground stations in the

world, and London’s largest interchange

– linking, Crossrail, London Underground

services and Thameslink.

One of the challenges of the project

has been to preserve the original look of

the Grade II listed heritage station while

rainwater to the below ground drainage

systems if they were relined.

Commissioned to reline the roof supports

using a technique called cure in place pipe

(CIPP) Lanes identified the columns that

would form part of the new drainage system.

Working from a scaffold crash deck installed

high above the station, they installed a

specially designed hopper over the top of

each column being relined. A 12m-long liner,

impregnated with resin and 4mm thick to give

extra strength, was then be attached to the

hopper and inverted into the pillar.

The liner was inflated with water, pushing it

against the column while the resin was left

to cure, or harden. Each of the 12 pillars

now houses a tough, smooth, waterproof

inner wall which will extend the life of the roof

drainage system by 120 years.

updating and future proofing it.

The original station roof, still showing signs

of pollution damage caused by smoke and

steam from the original steam locomotives,

has been extensively refurbished. Engineers

were keen to continue using the Victorian

cast iron roof supports as rainwater

downpipes, to avoid having to install a

different system that might conflict with

heritage preservation requirements.

Putting theory into practiceInspection of the columns by a CCTV drain

camera team from Lanes showed the pipes

had no inner liner and had been corroded by

the millions of gallons of rainwater that had

flowed down them over 150 years. However,

they were still structurally sound, and could

continue do their job as downpipes carrying

Drain problem is solved at Farringdon’s heritage station

Downpipe columns before and after reliningThe heritage roof at Farringdon station showing the downpipe columns


Ensuring optimum safety for passengers at train

stations is extremely important. With over 11 million

people in Great Britain classed as disabled and

around a fifth of them reporting difficulties accessing

transport (ONS Opinions Survey 2011), the industry is

taking steps to improve accessibility at train stations. This

is supported by the Equality Act 2010 which states that

measures should be put in place to ‘not discriminate against

disabled people’, and the Building Regulations which

recommend an outside diameter tube size for handrail

installations of between 40mm and 45mm.

Recent years have seen the launch of several initiatives

aimed at improving access for disabled people. In 2006, the

Railways for All strategy was launched and the Access For

All funding is being utilised at 150 previously inaccessible

stations. £35 million per year of government funding has

been allocated through until 2015 to improve access at

main line stations with a further £100 million added to the

budget enabling the programme to extend to 2019 and

work be carried out on even more stations than

originally planned.

Safety is, of course, the foremost concern and a

correctly installed handrail provides optimum safety for all

passengers. There are a number of possible handrailing

solutions on the market which satisfy the requirements

outlined in the Equality Act 2010, Building Regulations Part

M and British Standard BS 8300.

The two main options available are fabricated systems and

Improving station accessibility

tubular structures, which are assembled using standard

tube and fittings. Notably, ease and speed of installation,

versatility and abiding to the Equality Act 2010 should

all figure and be assessed as part of the strategy and

specification process.

Fabricated structuresA big difference between the two options is that fabrication

involves a lot of preparation. Detailed site surveys are

required to enable construction drawings to be prepared.

VERNON BARRY takes a look at the handrail options for improving disabled access at train stations

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Vernon Barry is product manager at Kee Safety

The installations at Staines station, Middlesex

Stations


l Add-on components allow non-compliant systems

to be upgraded

l Fitted with KEE KOAT corrosion protected grub screws and

THREDKOAT recess protection

l Cost effective to install – no welding, threading or bolting

required

l A flexible system that can accommodate on site variations

Products in practice Kee Access® handrails have been installed in various

locations throughout the UK, including London Bridge,

Keighley in Yorkshire and Hayle station in Cornwall, to provide

access to either the station entrance or the platforms.

Staines railway station in Middlesex also benefitted from

the Kee Access range during installation of a new handrail

system. Helping to meet the necessary requirements, the new

system has been fitted alongside a new access ramp at the

entrance to ensure safe and easy access for all passengers

using the station.

Installation of the handrail system was part of a renovation

programme at the station, which also included an upgrade of

the ticket hall with wide automatic doors and step-free access

to both platforms. Working together with railway engineering

contractor GRAMM Interlink Rail, project architects BPR

and Southwest Trains, Kee Safety supplied over 100 metres

of safety handrailing alongside the newly installed ramp to

ensure improved station access for travellers of all ages

and abilities.

Safety remains the driver behind the specification of

handrailing and guardrailing. Given the requirements of The

Equality Act, all railway stations should aim to have a handrail

system installed from which children, the elderly, the disabled

and even able-bodied adults can benefit. The challenge is

how to meet these needs in a cost-effective way. zz

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzOnce this is completed, sections of the structure are

fabricated off-site, before being transported to location

and assembled by a skilled installer where further

welding is required.

On-site welding is also problematic. Cutting holes

breaches the metal’s anti-corrosion properties, which

are then further compromised by welding. Corrosion

properties can be restored by applying zinc rich paint,

however it is likely that this will merely protect the external

welded area, while the tube will remain unprotected

internally and will corrode over time. This is a major issue,

as the corrosion will not be evident until it is too late.

Any repair to a fabricated barrier installation involves

cutting out damaged sections and welding in a new one.

The new section will need to be prefabricated off-site,

again taking up a lot of unnecessary time.

Tubular StructuresIn comparison, installing barriers using fittings is much

more flexible. At the planning stage, all that is required

is a simple layout drawing showing where to place the

uprights. With fittings, there are more design options, as

they can easily accommodate changes in level or direction,

and meet virtually any design requirement.

When it comes to ease and speed of installation,

then handrails constructed using standard tubes and

fittings are proven to be less expensive than fabricated

structures. These structures are installed with a hex

tool and tube cutters, and are therefore easily assembled

without specialised workers or equipment, saving both

time and money. This eliminates the need for any special

work permits. No cutting, welding, threading or bolting is

required, speeding up the installation process drastically

and ensuring the integrity of all coatings is left intact.

These fittings are incredibly versatile and are an ideal

retrofit solution. With the range including an add-on offset

fitting, a new handrail can to be added onto an existing

structure of an appropriate size. With a tubular structure,

the challenges of retrofitting a project are kept to a

minimum, as once again, no special tools are needed. All

that is required is a hex tool and tube cutter, to amend the

end of the handrail and then install the add-on fitting to

extend the system.

These add-on components also allow a non-compliant

system to be upgraded and be in line with the regulations.

To satisfy the ‘not cold to the touch’ and visibility

requirements set out in BS 8200: 2005, these galvanised

fittings are available with the additional option of powder

coating in all RAL colours.

Features and benefits of tube and fitting structures:

l Conforms to the regulatory requirements of Building

Regulations Part M

l Made of galvanised cast iron to BS EN ISO 1461

l Combining 42.4mm handrail with 48.3mm uprights

ensures a rigid, sturdy installation

l Meets specified loadings up to 1500 N/m

l Colour coating ensures a ‘not cold to touch’ finish

Handrails installed at Hayle station in Cornwall


Over 140,000 passengers use Birmingham New

Street station every day, more than double the

number it was designed to accommodate when it

was built in the 1960s.

The £750 million Gateway Project will see the

redevelopment of Birmingham New Street station,

transforming the experience for passengers and improving

links to and through the city centre. It will create a

concourse with three and a half times more space for

passengers, more accessibility, with brighter and clearer

platforms, and a new station exterior.

Before the project started the station was dark,

unwelcoming and overcrowded with poor access for

passengers. The first section of the new station concourse

opened in April 2013 and now work on the old station is

nearing completion.

The challenges of smoke clearanceAs part of the project, engineers at NG Bailey were

commissioned to design and install the first jet thrust fan

Entering the jet age

system in a UK railway station for Network Rail. The

automatic, bespoke 98-jet thrust fan system is designed to

aid public escape in the case of a fire, acting as a smoke

clearance system, whilst improving air quality and assisting

firefighters. This application has never before been used in

a UK railway station, but is more commonly employed in

underground car parks to reduce CO2 fumes.

The automatic system reduces smoke density and

delivers greater control during the event of a fire than any

other type of ventilation used in a railway station.

It also performs as a manual smoke clearance once the

fire has been extinguished and provides greater control

of the airflow across the 12 platforms, which are largely

underground, with little ventilation.

The fans have been designed to operate in line with

wind direction and are fully integrated and automatic, in

line with the fire alarm via the Vesda aspiration system and

station call points.

The station staff can use the master control panel

located within the station control room to monitor and

The first station installation of a new jet thrust fan system is nearing completion at Birmingham New Street. Railway Strategies reveals the

challenges and aims of the project

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An artist’s impression of Birmingham New Street station redevelopment

Stations


process. This mock-up allowed NG Bailey to deliver safer and

more efficient working, to confirm programme constraints and

ensure it met Network Rail’s design criteria. Every night the

mechanical plant and fan assemblies were transported on an

engineering train, which consisted of open carriages.

The installation is part of a three-year project for NG Bailey

that is due to be completed in February 2015, when the final

three fans will be installed.

It has consisted of two key phases. Phase 1 focused

on pollution control and was completed August 2012. The

works started in March and had to be completed tested and

commission by June, to enable the existing system to be

stripped out and construction works to progress on the new

concourse, we also had the added challenge that the Olympic

embargo limited our installation opportunity.

For phase 2, NG Bailey continued the installation of the

remaining fans and also added fourteen VESDA (aspirated)

detection units wired directly to their respective platform fire

alarm panels. This section of work is due to be completed in

February 2015, with the opening for New Street station

and Grand Central Shopping centre planned for

September 2015. zz

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control the output of the impulse fans.

The system was developed through NG Bailey’s own

research and in-depth CFD modelling work. A detailed

CFD model was created, supported by velocity studies

modelling potential fire/heat and the smoke generated,

and presented to various statutory authorities for approval.

One of the main challenges was identifying the best way

to suspend the heavy fans from the 1950s concrete block

high above the tracks. Due to their age and construction,

it was paramount the team did not drill into the beams, so

instead they designed a bespoke clamp system.

InstallationGiven the limited amount of time the engineers have had

to install the fans, and the need to minimise the installation

costs on the project, the team carried out the majority

of its work (including assembly) offsite, at nearby

Bordesley sidings.

A life-size mock-up enabled the team to not only test its

approach beforehand, but to rehearse and fine-tune the The NG Bailey Impulse Fan

Advanced Building Composites Ltd Specialist supplier of structural access

chamber systems including duct access

chambers, drawpits, UTX chambers, cable

chambers, jointing chambers and valve/

hydrant and meter chambers.

Tel: 01952 670 087 Email: [email protected]: www.abc-uk.com

AT Source QX Ltd t/a Protect Hear Supplier of personally moulded earplugs

either vented with a 29SNR or solid with

a 31SNR. Approved by Network Rail

Health & Safety Department for use with

all equipment that triggers the 80dB(A)

activation level.

Tel: 01507 604 322 Email: [email protected]: www.protecthear.co.uk

CSX Transportation

Class 1 North American Rail Road

Company.

Tel: (001) 877 835 5279Web: www.csx.com

Fairways Business Services Ltd Consultancy with over 27 years’ expert

experience in the UK electricity supply

industry.

Tel: 07891 101 928 Email: [email protected]: www.fairwaysservicesltd.wix.com/electricalconsultant

Holemasters Demtech LtdReplacement of broken housings in

G44 & G47 sleepers, replacement of rail

baseplates Pandrol Vipa, replacement of

Vossloh broken screws. Diamond core

drilling, specialist demolition, screw piling,

repairs to brick structures, stitching and

concrete repairs.

Tel: 01253 892 890Web: www.holemasters.co.uk

Hyde Group Engineering Ltd Hyde Group is a leading engineering

service provider specialising in design and

manufacture solutions. Offering a complete

range of services from discrete work

packages to full turnkey solutions, Hyde

is trusted by the world’s most prestigious

OEMs and tier one suppliers across

multiple engineering sectors.

Tel: 08455 681 900Email: [email protected] Web: www.hydegroup.com

J P Forrest & Son Ltd J P Forrest & Son Ltd is a precision

engineering company specialising in the

manufacture of medium to heavy welded

steel fabrications, machining and assembly

to customer specific requirements of

equipment such as gear cases, housings,

mainframes and equipment bodies for a

diverse range of industries including mining,

steel making, offshore oil and gas, marine,

power generation and recycling.

Tel: 01909 472 031Email: [email protected]: www.jpforrest.com

LAE Vehicle Rental Ltd The largest independent UK owned

supplier of mobile welfare vans and units.

Tel: 01695 722 833Email: [email protected]: www.welfare2go.co.uk

Power Testing Ltd SME electrical engineering company with

over 40 years’ experience in installation,

test commissioning and maintenance of

electrical infrastructure operating nationally.

Tel: 01245 266 800Email: info@ powertesting.co.ukWeb: www.powertesting.co.uk

Recent new members of the Rail Alliance

www.railalliance.co.uk

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Rail Alliance


SCG Solutions Ltd

Part of the Tinsley Bridge Group of

Companies, SCG is a tier one systems

integration company specialising in safety

critical rail component manufacture and

complete packages of equipment for bogie

and carriage production.

Tel: 01142 211 111Email: [email protected]: www.scgsolutions.co.uk

SIC Ltd Leading manufacturer of cable assemblies,

control boxes and panel wiring. Over 50

years the company has helped to develop

over 14,000 product lines for a range of

applications into over 24 different sectors.

Tel: 01792 458 777Email: [email protected]: www.sicltd.com

University of Sheffield Department of Mechanical Engineering

provides railway research, wheel/rail

tribology, rail component design and

testing, modelling of wheel and rail damage,

condition monitoring, network modelling.

Tel: 01142 229 735Email: [email protected]: www.sheffield.ac.uk

Whitmore Rail Provider of rail lubricants. Full friction

management portfolio of products and

lubricants to cover gauge face lubrication,

check rail lubrication, top of rail friction

modification and wheel flange lubrication

for both mainline track and light rail track

including privately owned rail track.

Tel: (001) 972 771 1000Email: [email protected] Web: www.whitmores.com

For further information, please contact: The Rail Alliance Tel: 01789 720 026 Email: [email protected] Web: www.railalliance.co.uk

Infrastructure is vital to the global competitiveness

of any nation and forms a key component of

sustainable economic growth. Structures such as

bridges, tunnels, ports and airports play a huge

role in ensuring that British society functions well,

connecting people, businesses and locations.

These trends are particularly pertinent to the

country’s railway network. Since the concept of rail

travel was initiated here in the 19th century, there has

been a virtually non-stop programme to expand and

upgrade our railway system, which has revolutionised

transport potential for people in all corners of

mainland Britain.

Investment in the railways continues to be a big

priority. Two years ago, the Department for Transport

(DfT) announced a £9.4 billion package to introduce

electrification schemes in the Welsh valleys, a new link

to Heathrow airport, and a huge expansion project at

London Waterloo. Then, in March this year, a further

£38 billion was committed to – among other projects –

revamp four major city stations, introduce 850 miles

of electric track and to transform rail travel across

the north of England.

These measures will improve connectivity for people

from all walks of life. Yet how aware is the general

public on the significant role that rail travel, and wider

infrastructure, plays in their everyday lives?

Beginning with the basics

The term ‘infrastructure’ itself is perhaps quite an

intangible one; recent research from RICS shows that

over a third (36 per cent) of the people we spoke to

could not explain what the word means, and a further

70 per cent were unable to name any ‘infrastructure

projects’ in the towns or cities that they live in.

However, around half of those questioned recognised

the importance of infrastructure to society.

Frustratingly, announcements regarding investment

in infrastructure – and for railway projects in particular

– can be met with resistance, often when it comes to

compulsory purchase orders being issued to the public

for vital land, or the disruption that major works cause.

Recent examples include the outcry over plans for

High Speed 2, and even for plans for High Speed 3.

However, issues of this nature go back as far as

the great railway pioneer Brunel, who was met with

criticism from landowners, track owners and even a

parliamentary committee in his quest to build the

Great Western Railway.

Today, we celebrate Brunel and his iconic

construction projects – and rightly so. His

achievements are incredible and demonstrate that

when assessing the impact of new infrastructure, it is

important to look at the future benefits, weighed up

with the impacts on individuals and the environment,

in order to ensure the end results are sustainable and

advantageous to society.

So what can be done to address the issue? One

way we can help is by changing perceptions of

infrastructure among the general public to help them

access a more balanced view of it.

Achieving a balanced view

In order to do this, RICS recently launched

a nationwide photography competition. The

competition invites members of the public to submit

a photograph of a man-made physical structure

which benefits society in some way, including roads,

bridges, water supply systems, telecommunications

and energy generating facilities, such as power

stations or renewable sources of energy generation.

Already, we’ve had some fantastic entries which

creatively capture the iconic nature of infrastructure –

the Forth Rail Bridge in Scotland has been a particular

favourite. It’s great to see the imaginative way that

people observe the world around them.

While the competition has now closed, it’s

important that we use the photos that have been

submitted to continue to challenge and improve

perceptions of infrastructure. Our plan, once the

entries have been judged and finalists shortlisted, is

to open a public exhibition so many more people can

see the showcase.

This will then provide a platform to stimulate

conversation about why infrastructure should be held

in higher regard.

The railway sector has some outstanding structures

of which it should be very proud, but our mission is to

ensure that the rest of the country is proud of

them too.

The photographer who submits the winning image

in the RICS infrastructure photography competition

will be awarded £3,000 in vouchers towards camera

equipment, and image will feature in an exhibition in

London open to the public. zz

For more information visit:

www.rics.org/infrastructurephoto.

Public opinion is crucial


Amanda Clack

Bhavisha Mistry

If we, as a nation, are to embrace infrastructure improvement to achieve growth and prosperity, we have to improve the public perception of infrastructure, argues AMANDA CLACK, senior vice president at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)

Infrastructurezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zz


T oday’s passengers are no different from people

who rode on the earliest trains – they simply

want to travel from A to B, safely, reliably and

comfortably. The railway itself, however, has

changed dramatically, with multiple systems now working

automatically to set routes, regulate train movements and

make decisions about everything from passenger flow to

air conditioning.

On London Underground’s Victoria Line, for example,

the Siemens Train Supervision System predicts train

positions with a 20-minute look-ahead, several times a

second. This drives automatic train regulation algorithms

that modify train departure times and driving profiles,

which are then used by the onboard system to drive the

train automatically from station to station. It also generates

accurate information displays, giving passengers the

opportunity to alter their journeys if necessary.

With modern mass transit networks increasingly

functioning as a system of systems, Siemens explains

some of the complexities that go into their

design, integration and optimisation

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Infrastructure

Configuring the future


The challengesAs passenger numbers continue to rise, accurately

predicting and managing surges in demand is essential.

For example, at current annual growth rates of six to eight

per cent, the West Coast Mainline will be at full capacity

by the early 2020s. In recent years, technologies such as

Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) for metro

systems and European Rail Traffic Management System

(ERTMS) for mainline networks have allowed more trains

to operate at higher frequencies than was previously

possible, significantly boosting line capacity.

Both systems use radio to communicate with trackside

equipment, so trains are updated almost instantaneously

with information about how far they can safely go and at

what speed. London’s Victoria Line now timetables

34 trains per hour (TPH) at peak times, and new

suburban railways such as Thameslink and Crossrail

will have 24TPH timetables.

As well as increasing capacity on the railway, there is

also an urgent need to address the rising cost and the

environmental impact of using fossil fuel for powering rolling

stock. To future-proof its network, the UK rail industry is

investing £4 billion in a national electrification programme

over the next five years as James Goulding, a business

development manager at Siemens, explained: “Siemens

is a key member of the Rail Electrification Delivery Group

(REDG), and as such we are working closely with Network

Rail to overcome the challenges of electrification, such as

innovating unique designs in switchgear and overhead line

engineering that improve productivity.”

Managing expectationsLike access to running water, 24/7 power or any other

national infrastructure asset, the general public only really

notices the railway when something goes wrong. Of course,

even a service that combines a state of the art signalling

system and high-performance trains is vulnerable to delay if

someone gets their umbrella stuck in the train doors!

But, to a generation used to playing games and videos,

taking photos and sending emails, all wirelessly and reliably

on their mobile phone, the concept of a train not running

because of leaves on the line or a signalling failure is

difficult to comprehend.


Configuring the future

“Dozens of systems need to interact to ensure a smooth

journey for the passenger, but at the moment many aren’t

connected and don’t share information with each other,”

explained William Wilson, Siemens’ director sales and

commercial. “We are committed to making this happen

more efficiently in the future, so that we optimise the cost of

railway operation, reduce carbon impact, increase capacity

and make the passenger experience more comfortable.”

With the growing demand for a 24/7 railway, it is no

longer acceptable to close railways to upgrade signalling,

train control, telecommunications and line management

systems. Recent work on London Underground’s Victoria

Line proved that migration work to new systems can be

efficiently phased over time to ensure the railway keeps

running, with the help of detailed systems engineering,

flexible equipment and highly skilled staff.

“Our programme of upgrading brown field sites

requires manufacturing, designing, installing, testing and

commissioning (often at anti-social times such as bank

holidays, Christmas or Easter) – in such a way that the

transition is seamless for passengers travelling under the

control of the old system one week and under the new

system the next,” Mr Wilson said.

Towards an integrated systemAs if the complexity of moving millions of people daily

around the rail network was not challenging enough, the

underlying business model needs to be sustainable – in

every sense. The railway needs to make enough money to

cover costs of operation and investment over an extended

period of time, while at the same time optimising energy

usage and human and infrastructure resources, and

reducing environmental impact.

At MTR’s Kowloon Canton Railway in Hong Kong

and the Richmond Airport Line in Vancouver, Invensys

Rail integrated CCTV, lifts, escalators, ventilation,

power distribution and traction control systems in a

small number of multi-headed workstations, reducing

operational costs through more efficient use

of employees.

Train and station designs are also important factors.

The latest trains maximise space and passenger

movement along the length of the train. “Many trains

now integrate complex ethernet-based networks of

CCTV, passenger alarm, traction and braking systems,

air conditioning and ventilation control,” said Maurice

Carter, Siemens’ head of engineering operations. “There

are clearly benefits in moving towards full integration of

systems such as traction, automatic train protection and

automatic train operation in trains too.”

Good-quality communication with passengers will

become even more safety critical as more trains are

implemented to Grade of Automation 4 (that is, with

no employees on board, such as Line 1 of Paris Metro

and Singapore’s Downtown Line) and so require close

integration with CCTV systems.

In conclusion, William Wilson added: “We are

continuing to explore ways to design signalling and train

control systems, trains, traction and environmental control

systems that work effectively together as a whole. In

doing so, we are helping deliver reliable, safe, sustainable

and integrated systems that encourage people to travel

by train. This means passengers can relax and enjoy their

journey, not only in normal, everyday operation, but also

during the major upgrade projects needed to create a

railway for the twenty first century.” zz


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Anna Bradley to chair RSSB l Anna Bradley has

been appointed non-

industry, non-executive

director and chair-

designate for RSSB,

taking over from Paul

Thomas who retires from

the post in March 2015.

After a career in

regulation, policy and consumer advocacy

across sectors as diverse as legal services and

organic food Anna has extensive experience

as a non-executive director and chair in public,

private and not for profit organisations.

She is chair of Healthwatch England and a

member of the Care Quality Commission. Other

roles and experience include chairing Southern

Water Customer Challenge Group as well as

the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.

Anna said: “I am delighted to have been

asked to chair RSSB. I think RSSB has a

critical role to support the industry in delivering

more with less through the harnessing of

good practice and innovation, so ensuring that

consumers and citizens reap the benefits that a

vibrant rail sector can bring.”

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzNEWS I Appointments

New CEO for Thales Group

l Patrice Caine has

been elected chairman

and chief executive

officer of Thales.

He will oversee the

separation of these

two key roles, handing

over the position of

chairman to Henri

Proglio, and taking up the mantle of

CEO himself.

A graduate of the École Polytechnique

and the École des Mines de Paris, Patrice

began his career in 1992 with pharmaceutical

group Fournier before becoming adviser on

mergers, acquisitions and corporate strategy at

Charterhouse Bank in London.

From 1995 to 2002 he held a range of

positions including special adviser to the Prefect

of the Franche- Comté region of France, head of

the industrial development and energy division

at the French agency DRIRE, and technical

advisor to Laurent Fabius, then French Minister

for the economy, finance and industry,

He joined Thales Group in 2002 and occupied

various leadership positions before being

appointed senior executive vice-president, chief

operating officer and chief performance officer.

c2c reshapes commercial team

l National Express train operator c2c has

made two new appointments as it expands

for the new 15-year franchise.

Danielle Agius has joined c2c as head

of marketing, and will be focusing on

developing and implementing a new ‘digital

first’ approach to marketing, and growing

the off-peak market. She was previously the

customer experience manager at Stagecoach

Group, and worked within the Virgin Trains

marketing team before that.

Aaron White has been promoted to a new

position in the company as c2c’s first B2B

manager, and will be responsible for leading

the corporate sales and business partnerships

across South Essex and East London. Most

recently Aaron was responsible for managing

c2c’s in-house customer service team and

has worked for National Express for 10 years.

c2c interim commercial director Ruth

Harrison-Wood said: “We are completely

reshaping c2c’s commercial team to ensure

we are entirely focused on our customer and

business needs.”

RBF appoints interim CEO l Abi Smith, currently

executive director at

the 156-year old railway

charity RBF, has been

appointed to the post of

interim chief executive

officer (CEO) as the

organisation starts work on a programme

of modernisation of its structure and service

offering. She will be responsible for managing

the development of the change programme,

and then driving through the implementation

of those changes.

The modernisation programme will

incorporate the results of a review of services

and support, looking beyond financial aid in

the form of grants.

RBF incoming chairman Tim Shoveller

believes the changes are essential if the

charity is to be relevant to current and former

railway employees, and that Abi is the right

person to lead the charity to the next stage of

its development.

MD for new East Coast franchise

l David Horne

has been appointed

managing director

of Virgin Trains East

Coast which will

be responsible for

running rail services

on the East Coast

Mainline from

March this year. He

takes up the post in January, and will play a

leading role in the mobilisation and transition

arrangements for the new InterCity East Coast

franchise, a joint venture between Stagecoach

and Virgin that will run until 31 March 2023.

David, currently managing director of

Stagecoach-owned East Midlands Trains,

has more than 25 years’ experience in the rail

industry, having started his career in 1988 as

a ticket office clerk in Cornwall. He has held

senior positions within South West Trains

and Virgin Trains, and led the successful

Stagecoach bid for the East Midlands Trains

franchise in 2007, transforming it into the UK’s

most punctual long distance service over a

five year period.

Crossrail reappoints Terry Morgan

l Terry Morgan CBE

has been re-appointed

non-executive chairman

of Crossrail for a further

three years from 1 June

2015, and will be seeing

the project through to its

opening in 2018.

Before joining Crossrail

as chairman of the board in June 2009 Terry

enjoyed a distinguished career in industry. He

came to Crossrail from Tube Lines where he

was chief executive. Prior to that, was group

managing director, operations, of BAE Systems,

having previously occupied the roles of managing

director, royal ordnance division, and group HR

resources director. Before joining BAE, he was

managing director Land Rover.

Terry has an MSc in engineering production

& management, and is a fellow of the Royal

Academy of Engineering and the Institute

of Electrical Engineers. He is non-executive

chairman of the Manufacturing Technology

Centre and the National Skills Academy for

Railway Engineering.


W hen thinking of a train station or a railway

terminal, what is the first idea that pops into

your head? Chances are it’s an image rather

than a sound. It’s unsurprising really. While

many train stations are visually distinctive, most seem to

boast exactly the same soundscape – an unappealing,

noisy environment. Of course, the roar of a train’s

engines hardly helps matters, bringing with it a seemingly

uncontrollable din. I’d argue, however, that this merely

means more consideration is required in keeping control of

noise levels.

To some extent, this blindness (or deafness) to the

impact that sound has on us has become even more

serious in the modern day. Sound plays a significant,

though perhaps unconscious, role when we come to form

our perceptions of a place. It can induce stress, evoke

feelings of excitement, and even encourage us to relax

– and it seems odd that it is often nothing more than an

afterthought in too many building designs.

To give a little context, research from the World Health

Organisation has found that regular exposure to noise

levels of just 50dB is enough to increase blood pressure;

and at just 55dB leads to a higher risk of heart attacks.

The average noise level in a busy office can exceed 65dB

so it’s a safe bet that most train stations, which can serve

thousands of passengers on a daily basis, will be hitting

those noise levels.

Sound infrastructure has three key functions within a

railway station: primarily and most importantly, in ensuring

the safety of passengers. Secondly, systems are there

Sound: an infrastructure blind spot?to help inform and guide rail-users. Finally, well-being and

comfort; sound plays a crucial role in keeping travellers

calm and providing a sense of safety in what can be a

fairly stressful environment.

Staying safe in emergency situationsThe evacuation of any building brings its own set of

complications and difficulties, but in the case of a railway

terminal these issues can be magnified several fold. The

process is made more problematic by factors such as

the complexity of the site layout, the location of the site

(potentially being underground), and the sheer volume

of human traffic. Add to this a limited number of exits,

which are often kept small for security reasons, issues of

crowding, confusion due to unfamiliar settings, and it’s

understandable why terminal evacuations are considered

difficult at best and dangerous at worst.

The traditional ringing bell solution is completely unsuited

The quality of ambient and

public address sound at our

rail stations can significantly alter

the behaviour and experience

of passengers and staff. GRAEME

HARRISON explains

Passengers calmly boarding the Cardiff Central train at Paddington station

A busy day at Liverpool Street station



Sound: an infrastructure blind spot?

to the setting and more likely to incite anxiety and panic

than facilitate a safe or efficient exit. Understanding the

role of sound and how it’s used for communication, we’d

recommend a voice evacuation system (VES) that allows

the station manager to communicate the hazards or

concerns clearly, and unambiguously, providing succinct

directions on how occupants need to react.

VES can offer step-by-step instructions – which avoid

potential panic – ensuring that people have clear

directions on how to exit the building or facility via safe

and secure routes.

Previously, we commissioned research to explore the

public’s attitude to emergency evacuations and the findings

were significant. A substantial portion of respondents –

35 per cent – agreed that instructions delivered by an

audio voiceover system (instead of alarms or bells) would

make them feel calmer. The goal of anyone responsible for

evacuations is being able to both calm people down and

direct them away from danger.

Perhaps the main benefit of a more sophisticated audio

system is that it can provide real-time information to a

building’s occupants, guiding them along the safest exit

routes. For example, in the case of a railway evacuation,

passengers on one platform may need to use the west

exits, whilst passengers on alternative platforms may need

to be directed towards the east exits. In this instance it is

vital to have a system that provides zone management

capabilities. Such a system allows location-specific

information to be accurately communicated to people in

varying areas or zones throughout the train station.

Staying informedA full station evacuation is, thankfully, a rarity. A more

commonplace requirement of a railway terminal’s sound

infrastructure is to simply inform passengers of the latest

travel information – whether that is platform changes, train

delays, or even lost children.

However, this regular function can become a challenge

for station operators as many fail to invest in a sound

system that can communicate intelligibly with passengers.

Attempting to decipher the latest announcement is a

phenomenon I think we’ve all experienced.

Admittedly it is not an issue confined to railway stations.

Other public facilities – from bus and airport terminals to

supermarkets and shopping centres – seem to have their

public address announcements accompanied by squeaks,

buzzing, and a generous helping of static.

The only real solution comes from carefully measured

investment in sound infrastructure – not simply in buying

the lowest-priced equipment or turning the amps up

to their maximum levels – and by ensuring the chosen

technology works within your environment.

Keep calm and shopFinally, the innovative use of sound in transport facilities has

been shown not only to improve passenger behaviour but

has also been linked to an upsurge in retail sales.

A scheme trialled by Glasgow Airport, in which a generative

sound installation piped natural sounds into the departures

lounge to enable passengers to relax ahead of their flights,

recorded some additional, unexpected results.

As was expected, researchers found that travellers

who had consciously heard the generative soundscape

admitted to feeling more relaxed. Interestingly, passengers

who hadn’t noticed the soundscape also claimed to have

felt calmer in the airport environment. Most surprisingly,

retailers noticed a rise in sales during the trial, with some

periods seeing an increase in passenger spending

of 10 per cent.

The Glasgow case study is far from the only example

of how sound can have a powerful effect on the local

populace. On the other side of the world, in the town of

Lancaster, California, the local mayor installed a birdsong-

based soundscape along a portion of the downtown

area. Reported crime in this area dropped by 15 per cent.

Other organisations including the London Underground

have followed this lead and experienced similar gains

with several tube stations, including Brixton and Clapham

North, noting decreased levels of violence following the

introduction of classical music.

Everyday soundsSo how far does the potential stretch? It’s clear that taking

control of the sound infrastructure at train stations can have

a positive effect, avoiding the aggravation of uncontrolled

noise and offering tangible benefits such as avoiding panic,

calming passengers, and even bumping up retail sales.

What is exciting is that even minor improvements to the

sound design within a terminal building can bring about

real value for railway operators. With this in mind we must

begin to design soundscapes with the same care and

attention that is afforded to the visual aesthetics. zz

Graeme Harrison is executive vice president of marketing at Biamp Systems

The new concourse at King’s Cross station



Rail network executives are already implementing

plans to minimise weather-related disruption to

train services. The usual emergency response

teams are on standby to remove fallen trees and

debris, aided by a fleet of ‘leaf-busting’ trains and pumps

to drain flooded areas of track.

With millions of passengers travelling by train in the UK

each day, rail infrastructure bosses must frequently review

and refine their contingency plans. One strategy that they

have recently implemented is the rapid development of

bespoke, mission critical mobile applications to support

field workers during severe weather periods.

Flood warning appA good example of this was an Incident Flood Warning

app that was developed and deployed by a rail

infrastructure company in a matter of days to help

trackside engineers identify and respond to damage

caused by severe flooding that affected large areas of the

UK earlier this year.

While the existing emergency response teams are

adept at dealing with localised flooding, the storms

that battered the UK at the start of 2014 affected large

sections of track around the country.

With thousands of miles of track to maintain, it was

difficult for rail infrastructure management teams to

pinpoint each and every section of track that was affected

by flooding, subsidence, or debris blocking the route.

Field workers needed a way to quickly and accurately

report incidents so that repairs could be prioritised and

Mobility = greater resilience

maintenance teams dispatched in an efficient

and timely manner.

The decision was made to develop an app to enable

information on the status of the network to be gathered from

the field. The app had to be able to run on iPhones, iPads,

and iPad Minis, and support business processes through

integration with existing backend systems.

Using input from trackside engineers, two mobile apps

were built, tested, and pushed out to all field workers

within two days.

Fast track development In my work with several transportation organisations to

provide a cloud-based mobile application development

platform that integrates with existing backend systems,

‘lightweight’ mobile apps are the priority. Cloud-based mobile

application development platforms enable rapid development

of these nimble mobile apps that filter information so that only

relevant data is accessed by the app.

In the VDC Research report Travel, Transportation,

and Logistics Gear Up for Mobile App Enablement,

commissioned by FeedHenry, analyst Eric Klein reports that:

“An enterprise-grade mobile backend service enables devices

in the field to connect seamlessly with corporate systems and

employ the mobile-specific capabilities that enable new ways

of working. For example, using mobile apps to inspect and

verify transport equipment and infrastructure, information can

be fed back to a central database, transforming maintenance

processes and driving productivity improvements. Cloud

technologies can dramatically simplify security, storage, and

As winter brings the risk of disruption on the railways, CATHAL MCGLOIN, discusses the development of mobile apps to improve infrastructure resilience

Cathal McGloin is CEO of FeedHenry

Flooding in the Somerset Levels earlier this year



data syncing and support the use of built-in features such

as the camera and augmented reality.”

Using a cloud-based mobile application development

platform can speed development, and better enables a

two-way flow of information between field workers and

back office teams, without compromising the security of

corporate data stored in the backend systems. Because

only a small data set is accessed by the app, this reduces

the load on employees’ mobile devices which enables

batteries to last longer.

Using the Incident Flood Warning app developed on a

cloud-based mobile application development platform,

trackside engineers supplied live information on the status

of the network enabling the management team to allocate

engineering resources where they were needed most. The

app also enabled accurate network updates to be passed

on to the government, the media, and travelling public

affected by floods.

Supporting health and safetyIn addition to the Incident Flood Warning app, a Close

Call Health and Safety app was developed, which enables

trackside engineers to report on incidents and potential

risks by providing GPS coordinates, capturing images and

text descriptions, and then relaying these to central office.

Cloud-based mobile application platforms should enable

information to be stored when users are working offline, or

in areas of intermittent cellular coverage, such as tunnels.

Consulting the expertsThese apps are only two examples of how a cloud-based

mobile application development platform supports rapid

development of apps in response to changing travel

conditions. Field workers and operational staff were

originally consulted to get their ideas on how mobile

apps could transform their working day by redefining

data capture and on-the-job tasks. This is an important

stage in helping to develop a mobile strategy: consult and

engage your users at every step of the way. The railway

infrastructure organisation has 34,000 experts to call on

and more than 600 app ideas were submitted

by employees.

Once apps are rolled out, analysing and sharing user

feedback is a priority.

Not every app has been a success. However, the rapid

development process has enabled the organisation to take

an iterative approach by piloting apps in the field with small

groups of workers and actively tracking app usage and

employee feedback. The right mobile application platform

enables the organisation to gather detailed analytics

information, which is critical for revising app design or

withdrawing unsuccessful apps completely.

Future developmentsFollowing the successful deployment of the mobile

application platform, rail network bosses are continuing

to expand and enhance the use of mobile apps to other

mobile workers within the organisation. Augmented reality

applications are being assessed to enable employees to

gather more information about assets while they are out in

the field. This can help workers to access data on when

assets were last repaired, as well as specifications

and schematics.

Along with leaf busting trains and emergency response

crews, the use of mobile apps has improved the

management team’s visibility of the entire rail network

status, enabled them to respond quickly to weather events

and rapidly pilot employee ideas that improve safety and

productivity. Embracing the many aspects of mobile helps

to minimise disruption to the network, keeps trains running

and improves safety for passengers and employees.

In the VDC Research report, analyst, Eric Klein, stated

that the three most important metrics used by the

transportation sector to measure mobile app benefits

include: reduced operational costs; improved productivity,

and more accurate real time tracking. Klein concluded that

by adopting a mobile-first strategy, underpinned by an

open cloud platform, transport organisations can reduce

the time and effort required to develop nimble mobile apps

that run on a variety of devices and meet the immediate

and evolving needs of their employees and customers.

Adopting a mobile application platform that can support

the development of requested mobile apps within forty

eight hours has enabled this rail infrastructure organisation

to, quite literally, change with the weather. zz

www.feedhenry.com

The new concourse at King’s Cross station


Track welding

Trackside engineer working in the snow


As the UK’s railways enter their most extensive

phase of upgrades since the Victorian era,

it’s imperative that the new technology being

employed in these projects can withstand the

added pressures it will face in the future, and meet

demanding ever-changing safety guidelines.

One of the upgrades currently in progress is on the

London Underground, which operates around 3.5 million

journeys a day, serving a total of 270 stations.

A £2 million contract was available to R&B Switchgear

to design and manufacture of a series of LV and MV

switchboard panels for the SSR3B project on the District

Line.The MV switchboards are the first IEC61850 to be

installed into London Underground.

The project commenced in autumn 2013, and is being

constructed at a dedicated facility in Greater Manchester.

MARK BESWICK, examines some of the latest developments in switchgear

technology, such as those currently being implemented on the London

Underground, and how they can benefit the UK rail industry

Westminster, on the District Line

Gearing up for improvement

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Permanent WayTr

ansp

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rail freight is 75 per cent greener than road freight.

This is having an impact on the way switchgear

manufacturers are building to save space. With electrical

switchrooms taking up valuable space, there is always a

premium to be had by operators specifying main electrical

distribution switchboards that can reduce the size of

these areas.

Where size mattersNew compact modular, standardised LV boards are designed

to accommodate more features with less volume and weight,

with specially adapted characteristics such as space-saving

drawers which directly connected to the vertical busbar are

ideal for rail applications.

This is something that is increasingly important for

contractors and suppliers who will need to work with legacy

structures and existing infrastructure to upgrade systems

and must be taken into consideration when implementing

new technology.

It is vital for modern rail services to have electrical

switchboards that deliver superior safety, trusted reliability

and optimum performance.

Switchboards must also comply with a whole set of

requirements linked to increasingly sophisticated and

challenging applications and changing international

standards, while also offering increased productivity and rapid

return on investment.

By ensuring electrical equipment is built to these exacting

standards, operators have equipment which significantly

reduces the risk of supply loss and decreases maintenance

requirements while increasing reliability.

It should also deliver the highest possible level of safety

for people and installation, even in the most demanding

conditions and have built-in peak reliability both short and

long term, guaranteeing availability as well as delivering a

constantly superior level of performance with ease and speed

of use and maintenance.

As the UK’s entire rail network undergoes the biggest

investment since its inception, the upgrades will prove to

be a unique test for engineers, contractors and providers.

The upgrades on London Underground will need to

accommodate the rapid growth of passenger numbers

and deliver the same longevity and performance as the

previous systems. zz

Mark Beswick is managing director at R&B Switchgear Group

By incorporating low voltage, intelligent switchboards

which deliver superior safety, reliability and performance,

operators will be able to ensure safe operation, trusted

reliability and optimum performance.

The IEC61850 is a new communication protocol, which

was designed to provide a single protocol for a complete

substation and implement a common format to describe

the substation and facilitate object modelling of data

required in the substation.

The new standards will also define the basic services

required to transfer data using different communication

protocols and allow for interoperability between products

from different vendors.

The element of intelligenceIntelligent switchboards communicate their status in

real-time and automatically alert operational crew of an

overload or situation where power failure could occur if

not dealt with. Also, if a power failure does occur,

serious consideration should be given to incorporating a

facility to ‘hot swap’ out the circuit protection, allowing

rapid replacement without the need to switch off the

whole switchboard.

Being informed in real-time of the status of the

electrical network, means that any downtime required

for maintenance can be accurately scheduled to fit rail

timetables, something that is paramount for providers

and engineers.

An intelligent switchboard can also greatly reduce

energy costs by providing visibility for optimising loadings,

motor operation, trace problems, precise control, identify

trends and troubleshoot problems before they result in

a costly power loss. In addition to helping boost power

system reliability and productivity, intelligent electrical

switchgear can reduce peak energy consumption by

up to 50 per cent.

This is something which is high on the agenda of

Network Rail which has committed to reducing the carbon

intensity of its electricity supply by 14 per cent as well as

reducing total carbon emissions and investing in energy

efficient assets.

It’s not just rail passengers that will benefit from this

commitment, the electrification of lines to make train travel

cleaner is helping to remove lorries from the UK’s roads as

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Permanent Way

‘‘ In addition to helping boost power system reliability and productivity, intelligent electrical switchgear can reduce peak energy consumption by up to 50 per cent


employs approximately 450 employees in two foundries

located in Switzerland. With a superlative track record and

many years of experience it has grown into the position

of a market leader. It is by far, the biggest iron-casting

group in the country, and is equally well established in

main European markets, directly exporting 65 per cent

of its production. With a customer base, that includes

global players such as Stadler Rail, Alstom Transport,

Bombardier, Siemens and Voith, its components play a

vital role in most corners of the railway industry.

vonRoll casting has built up its competence in public

transport systems and specifically railways based on

a strategic decision. Danilo Fiato: “Railway transport is

of increasing importance in Europe and worldwide. It

replaces aviation in city trips of up to 600 kilometers and,

well managed, is the perfect land born transport system

in our container time. The new train technologies however

need new cast materials and new cast solutions. Our

zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzvonRoLL CASTInG

Excelling in the sector of complex, thin-walled

castings with many cores, the business is noted for

the superior quality and high precision in realising

its customer’s demands. The product range, which

includes machined and pre-assembled components, is all

from one source. “We offer solutions in modern cast iron

alloys, such as austempered ductile iron (ADI) and solid

solution strengthened ferritic ductile iron with an excellent

strength-toughness relation, similar to steel casting, which

is essential for permanent quality during the entire lifetime of

railway components,” says Danilo Fiato, CEO.

Its goals are reflected in the quality of the products that

come out of its foundries, the precision of the ancillary

services provided and the care it takes of its customers’

needs. The services on offer range from consultation, via

the manufacture and full processing of cast components,

to meeting logistical deadlines. The business has an

industrial history of more than 200 years, and today

vonRoll casting is one of the most modern and innovative foundry groups in Europe, providing custom-made castings for its clients

Keep rolling…


Engineering Centre has built up specific know how in

high safety parts and their production, especially in co-

operation with energy supply and transport industries.

According to our experiences and as a result of the

discussions with our clients, we see that material

properties like high fracture toughness and fatigue

strength are of decisive importance for the quality,

reliability, safety and economic operation of new train and

railway systems.”

One of the great strengths of vonRoll casting is

its symbiotic approach to a project, encouraging

participation from customers’ designers. Jointly it

progresses the development of highly complex cast

components, which has proved successful in resolving

even the most exceptional requirements. In the last five

years, vonRoll casting has invested more than 35 million

euros in its production and engineering capacities.

Danilo Fiato: “It is our strategy to further develop our

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzztechnological skills, including 3D-printing, engineering

and production. We see interesting new applications and

opportunities for both our customers and ourselves and

we are convinced that these massively above-average

investments, which have been paid out the cash flow

of our group, are the base for innovation and technical

leadership.”

The expertise within the Engineering Centre is available

to customers for all their metallic material casting

requirements. Engineers and designers use modern 3D

CAD and finite element programs to help find the ideal

design solution for all operational demands. Involving the

customer in this important developmental and creative

solution-finding phase has enabled the business to produce

already the prototypes at the highest standards and to start

the production in the shortest delays possible. “Our clients

appreciate the time winning effect of their co-operation

with vonRoll casting,” points out Danilo Fiato. And he

continues: “Our success is due to this specific approach

of engineered casting and material technology combined

with our experience.” Combining the inter-disciplinary skills

of its engineers in the Engineering Centre, as well as in the

production department, and a focus on the business and

development processes of its customers is an approach

it refers to as ‘Simultaneous Engineering’. “Besides the

knowhow, our Engineering Centre plays a very important

role as a development and innovation engine. We simulate

mould filling and solidification, and become more and more

a development partner for our customers. By applying the

finite element method we can find the best solution for our

customers’ cast components,” he explains.

Additionally, the business has played an important role in

the industry, investing in new materials and their application.

The materials range from cast iron with nodular graphite,

and cast iron with lamellar graphite, to special alloys such

as SiMo, Ni-Resist and austempered ductile iron.

vonRoll casting: “One of our strengths is the development

of customised iron casting materials. As an example, we

are able to develop the iron material to fulfill and guarantee

the properties needed in the customers’ applications –

beyond existing iron material standards. This highlights the

vonRoll’s values - technological leadership, reliability and

success orientation.”

As the business looks ahead to its strategic position

over the coming years, Danilo Fiato concludes with a

brief insight into its own growth potential: “Our focus is

on complex solutions in cast iron and 3D technologies. In

this area we will strengthen our position in the European

market, but also develop new markets such as Canada, the

US and Russia. We are optimistic that the expected internal

growth rate of five per cent per annum will be achieved.

Furthermore, we are also open for acquisitions, however

it is important to note that growth is not a value per se.

We want to remain independent from bank financing and

it is crucial to also build up enough qualified management

capacities.” zz

www.vonroll-casting.ch


the company believes working closely with clients is key

to designing and developing components and solutions

for issues such as obsolescence which has become

increasingly more problematic in the industry. Indeed,

although the lifetimes associated with components

used in the rail industry can reach up to three decades,

the expected level of performance over this time

period can only be achieved if products are supported

by maintenance programmes and the availability of

replacement parts. Furthermore, the rail industry faces the

specific challenge of having both old and ultra modern

rolling stock and infrastructure in operation. Because

these can’t be dealt with in the same way companies

must identify all parts potentially affected by obsolescence

and evaluate the various means of replacement.

“Throughout 2014 we have been increasingly

overhauling and upgrading equipment,” confirms Jon.

“We regularly work with Unipart Rail who supply the whole

zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzCraig & DerriCott

W ith a history of operating in the UK rail industry

dating back over 60 years, Craig & Derricott

has developed a strong reputation as a

manufacturer and supplier of switch gear.

Predominantly involved within the rolling stock sector, the

company has worked with blue chip organisations such

as Bombardier, Hitachi and Alstom on new build and

refurbishment projects as well as the design of

new components.

Previously featured in Railway Strategies in March

2014, business development manager Jon Beaumont

discussed the company’s activities. “We offer a wide range

of very bespoke equipment from the overhaul and new

construction of drum switch un-couplers to master controls,

power break controllers, cab isolation switches and driver

key switches. We provide switchgear equipment rated from

milliamps right up to 4000 amps.”

Focused on providing high quality bespoke products,

Component supplier to both rolling stock and infrastructure sectors within the rail industry Craig & Derricott continues with its drive to introduce its

innovative LED tubes into the refurbishment market

Switched onRail approved LED tubes


zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

LED Downlighters

Complementing these strengths is the company’s full

understanding of market requirements gained through

open communication with manufacturers of trains and

refurbishment organisations such as Rail Services,

Bombardier and Alstom. Additionally, the innovative firm has

developed close relationships with ROSCOs and operators

as a way to further generate business.

rail industry. We are undertaking a significant programme

with them to support the management of obsolete

products and equipment upgrading. Furthermore,

we provide overhaul services on equipment we

have previously manufactured such as drum switch

un-couplers, master controllers and power break

controllers. We bid on contracts too but really

anything that comes up in a C6 and a C4 is of interest

to us. We are also in the process of overhauling door

opening pushbuttons - another project to overcome

obsolescence and to meet PRM TSI.”

Having engaged in a programme of investment and

growth over recent years, Craig & Derricott has further

enhanced its services and boosted its reputation for

engineering expertise, customer service and proven

product quality. As part of its on-going growth program

Craig & Derricott has signed a contract in July 2014

with Milan based Studio Professionale di Ingegneria

Industriale (SPII), a leading component supplier and

system integrator for the railway industry and increased

its focus on significantly upgrading its product base.

To make this aim a reality, the company has continued

to build its R&D department complete with engineers

using CAD and 3D modelling specifically for rail projects.

www.kmf.co.uk


A prime example of Craig & Derricott’s ability to

respond to market demand is its solution for the

refurbishment sector following the government’s decision

to make T12 fluorescent lighting obsolete. With T8 tubes

due to follow suit the company came up with LED tubes

- a new product that can replace existing fluorescent

tubes using existing fittings with minimal wiring changes.

The product is not only on the market having successfuliy

completed extensive complex trials and met all

specifications but is also in the process of being fitted for

the first time in a major contract with Bombardier.

zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzCraig & DerriCott

Uncouplers

Hitachi back wall panel

Train door actuator

Since it was awarded the £30 million two-

year contract to undertake the enhancement and

maintenance of Eversholt Rail’s fleet of Class 365 trains

in November 2013, Eversholt Rail Group has chosen

Craig & Derricott to replace the fluorescent lighting on

the entire fleet with its state-of-the-art LED tube lights.

“The first vehicle should be completed this week and

we will also be supplying the door pushbuttons on this

project,” says Jon. On top of this game changing project,

the company is also working with Bombardier on the £1

billion Crossrail contract and Hitachi with their on-going

IEP project which involves Hitachi Rail Europe

providing new electric and bi-mode trains on

both the Great Western Main Line and the East

Coast Main Line.

Moving forward the future looks positive

for Craig & Derricott as it continues

providing high quality solutions to some of

the major railway projects in the UK and

as Jon concludes: “Although we do a lot

of refurbishment there is a lot of new build

activity at the moment; you have Bombardier

working on Crossrail and Hitachi working on

IEP with whom we are doing a great deal of

work currently. The test vehicle is nearly ready

on the East Coast Main Line and more vehicles

will be following in 2015 and we are working on

designs for the Great Western Main Line. We also

see potential for growth into Europe following Hitachi’s

recent expansion into this area.” zz

www.craigandderricott.co.uk

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz semmco


customer requirements. Although we produce a standard

range of equipment, each bespoke solution complements

the differing profiles of trains, and also the restrictions

within a depot,” says Stuart McOnie, managing director.

The rail sector continues to promote an exciting

environment for business, with investment from all

channels. Through hard work, Semmco has grown its

position, educating its audience to the benefits of its

offering, as Stuart points out: “It has taken a long time

for people to accept our product, which as a customised

option comes at a premium, but the quality, reliability and

The train at platform one…Semmco is the UK manufacturer of access platforms, building innovative

concepts that tackle head on the challenges of reaching new heights in the construction and maintenance of a modern sector

The company began operations in 1993, based

in Woking, itself a hub attracting engineering

expertise. Employing a workforce of 25, across

sales, design and production, the business

specialises in the manufacture of access and ground

support equipment for the railway and aviation sectors.

Semmco’s position in the access market, utilising a

lightweight aluminium construction, was affirmed with the

introduction of working at height regulations, which opened

up numerous opportunities within the railway sector. “Most

of our products have and continue to be evolved through

Side access platform


Above: Portable roof access platform

Above left: Side access/ Driver access platform

Left: Fixed steel gantry

Below: Front access Platform

Facing page: Pit Board


companies and large businesses such as Bombardier and

Arriva Trains, the range of its clients reflects the bespoke

nature of its service capabilities. “R&D is a big driver within

our company and we spend well into a six figure sum each

year on developing that aspect. We are well respected

within the industry for delivering innovative and smart

solutions, driven to design products with consideration to

multi-function and manoeuvrability, whilst remaining safe,

strong, reliable and importantly aesthetically smart,”

says Stuart.

Class 378 train at Norwood Junction on the East London Line, South stations

safe access it provides for working on and around trains is

becoming more recognised. Across the sector in the last

18 months we have experienced growth of nearly 40 per

cent.” This is a statistic reiterated by business development

manager Andrew Walling: “Our offering and the benefits

compared to competitors products are well understood,

and we have brought in new customers as well as grown

with our existing customer base.”

From operators such as First Group, East Midlands

Trains, C2C and Hitachi, through to depot construction

Royal Berks Hospital - General Fire stopping


zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz SEMMCO zz

Product choice ranges from standard side access

platforms, through to bespoke nose docking replacement

duct, front access platforms and bespoke roof access

platforms. The aluminium profile of each design, unique to

Semmco, is a bolted and plated slotted system that allows

for high strength mechanical joints without the requirement

of welding. “This eliminates the problems that customers

have been experiencing with weld fractures and high

maintenance required on competitors equipment. “Our

R&D capability allows us to stress and load test throughout

the design stage. Each of our platforms has its own CE

certificate, and the completely aluminium product boasts

long life qualities. Whilst our platforms may have side

access capability, they may also be used for front access

on a vehicle,” highlights Andrew as the business introduces

more solutions to the market such as variable height

platforms, which reduce the number of platforms required

by the customer. “Although the initial outlay for

the client may be greater, the long term advantages are

clear,” he adds.

Not only has Semmco brought to the market the variable

height, front access platform, which allows for doing all

the front end access work on the vehicle, but has also

introduced the portable roof access model, providing

increased safety for the operator. A third product, offered

in the UK is the Peco, a manual access platform, which is

both height adjustable and manoeuvrable. The one-man

operation, removes the requirement for special training as

a result of it not being a powered unit. First ScotRail Ltd, a

long-standing customer has benefitted from simple access

platforms to large boxing ring roof access platforms. “We

have also been working on construction projects with

VolkerFitzpatrick, where we have been highlighted as one

of the potential suppliers of access platforms for the new

Hitachi depots. We are winning quite a bit of work with

our portable access platforms, roof access and bespoke

design capabilities,” says Andrew. As new rolling stock is

brought in over the coming years in line with new franchise

agreements, it opens up opportunities for Semmco to

supply new equipment to existing and potentially

new customers.

To keep up with the growing demand, the workforce

also must inevitably grow and the company is actively

addressing this in manufacturing and design, as well as

expansion of aftersales, service and total care packages,

as Stuart expands: “Internal training ingrains the basic

principles of engineering, assembly and welding, opening

a deeper understanding of the theoretical knowledge as

well as developing the practical experience.” Looking

forward, Stuart provides an insight into the strategy

that has proved its success and will continue to do so:

“We run a one, three and a five-year plan, and we have

achieved most of the objectives that we set ourselves

for this year. We are now in the process of reviewing

our objectives for next year, targeting close working

relationships with the operators and depot designers.

Through offering an expertise in access solutions in

and around the depot we have the capabilities to save

everybody money, designing and delivering solutions

that are right first time.” zz

www.semmco.com

http://www.dynamicpackaging.co.uk/


L ast featured in Railway Strategies in July 2014,

TW has spent the subsequent eight months

working on several high profile rail projects, and

recently won a £33m contract with Network Rail

as Fred Garner, Sector Director – rail, explained: “This

project is called ‘Filton Four Tracks’ and it involves an

increase in rail capacity from two tracks to four between

Dr Day’s Junction to Filton Abbey Wood Station in Bristol.

This three-year contract includes the replacement or

enhancement of 17 structures along the 15km route,

including four bridge reconstructions for electrification

clearance and the refurbishment of two stations.”

Already on site for investigations and surveying, the

project will benefit from TW’s experience in six different

Crossrail schemes, as Fred highlighted: “We have already

completed a project at Liverpool Street where in October

2014 we handed over a new substation that powers

Liverpool Street’s London Underground (LU) station.

Then in mid-January we handed over the Connaught

Tunnel Project, and we finished that four months ahead of

schedule, which was a significant milestone.”

In 2015 TW expects to complete the Victoria Dock

zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzTAYLOR WOODROW

Having joined the VINCI group in 2008, Taylor Woodrow

(TW) has not only developed a stellar reputation within the

civil engineering field, but is now taking the lead on an increasing number of projects throughout

the rail industry

Sharing success

Nottingham Station south concourse façade Nottingham Station south concourse interior

Nottingham Station – Carrington Street façadeLiverpool Street station – new substation north elevation


other VINCI group companies, particularly with their

experience of building the Tours to Bordeaux High Speed

Line in France.’’

Whitechapel project Fred mentioned was also

runner up in the Most Considerate Site category at the

Considerate Constructors’ Scheme National Awards

2014, and this ties into TW’s dedication to not just the

local community, but also the wider environment and

sustainability as a whole. “We are now planning our annual

Sustainability Days, which we hold in April every year,”

said Fred. “These are used to reflect on how we have

done in the previous year and formulate the plan for the

current year. By sustainability we mean safety, respect for

environment and economic sustainability, and this event

gives us a chance to bring the three aspects together in

Portal project, and it is working on the Crossrail Old Oak

Common Depot for Bombardier. “We are also upgrading

the stations between Paddington and Maidenhead, on

the Crossrail West Project, for Network Rail,” added Fred.

“Finally, we are involved in one of the most complex jobs

we have at the moment, which is Whitechapel station

for Crossrail. We are building a station 30 metres below

ground around an existing London Overground and LU

station, in a very densely populated area, which makes it

a real challenge.”

This last project is being undertaken as part of a

joint venture with Balfour Beatty and Morgan Sindall.

“We do deliver a fair amount of work through joint

ventures,” agreed Fred, “and we look for partners with

complimentary skills so that we can deliver good value

and the right solution for the client.

“On our two major LU jobs, Tottenham Court Road

and Victoria, we are joint venturing with BAM Nuttall and

that has worked very well. In fact, we have just had a

major achievement at Tottenham Court Road, where we

have opened the new Northern Line ticket hall, after four

years of work.

“We are looking to build on those joint venture

relationships going forward, and using expertise from

zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzTAYLOR WOODROW

Bachy Soletanche Bachy Soletanche are one of the U.K.’s leading geotechnical specialists with a reputation for delivering high quality, cost effective, sustainable, and innovative designed geotechnical foundations solutions to budget, on programme, in a safe and efficient manner. As a multi-disciplined Geotechnical contractor, we offer a wide range of grouting techniques, restricted access mini-piling, ground anchors, environmental barriers, vibro ground improvement, CFA piling, large diameter rotary piling, and diaphragm walls.

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one place.”

Reviewing lean projects will be included in this

event, and one issue is the design of the Crossrail

West projects. “Design is one issue that is at the top of

the agenda for us, as we really want to see the scope

absolutely nailed down before we go into a design

process,” said Fred. “On more than one project we have

seen wasted effort when aspects have to be redesigned

that probably weren’t captured properly in the first place.

I think that stakeholder management sounds obvious but

still has a major part to play in that.”

Another aspect of sustainability is what Fred refers

to as TW’s work on ‘the nation’s heritage’: “We have to

make sure that what we are working on is preserved,

protected and built into new schemes for the future if

that’s suitable,” he said. “We won a National Rail Heritage

Award for our work on King’s Cross, and we followed

that up with another one this year, for the Nottingham

Hub project. Interestingly this isn’t all about Victorian

engineering, for example, at Tottenham Court Road we

are restoring some of the Eduardo Paolozzi tiling, which

is from the 1970s and 1980s.”

The final area that is also covered by TW’s

sustainability umbrella is safety. “The company

recognises the priority that Mark Carne at Network Rail

is placing on safety and his message ‘that good safety is

good business’. We want to make sure we are aligned

with that, as it is a vision that we share,” noted Fred.

As TW moves forward into 2015, it already has a

number of significant projects underway as well as some

on its radar. But in order to be able to deliver all this, the

company is keen to recruit and retain the best talent.

“One way we are addressing this is through an initiative

that recognises the value that women have in the

business,” noted Fred. “We have established an internal

support organisation called Women in Taylor Woodrow,

and 12 of our most senior female members of staff

have just participated in a Women In Leadership training

course. We are also organising a lecture at the Institution

of Civil Engineers in May, on the theme of inspiring

women to get into construction. In engineering and

construction the workforce is made up of only about six

per cent of women, and we see bringing more women

into the business as a significant opportunity to help us

prepare for the future.” zz

www.taylorwoodrow.com

zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzTAYLOR WOODROW

Whitechapel Durward St shaft – temp works

TCR Central Line – Paolozzi tiling to be retained and refurbished

TCR new station entrance

Whitechapel East Stair shaft abutment demolition


zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Nexus is the trading name of the Tyne and Wear

Passenger Transport Executive (PTE), a public

body that plans and provides local public

transport in and around the cities of Newcastle

and Sunderland, along with the districts of Gateshead,

North Tyneside and South Tyneside. Unusually among the

six PTEs in England, Nexus directly owns and manages the

local light rail network, the Tyne and Wear Metro. Opened

in stages from 1980, Metro is the busiest light rail system in

the UK outside London, with 38 million passenger journeys

a year. The network of 78km has 60 stations and is served

by more than 450 train services a day.

Metro passengers make up just under a quarter of all

public transport journeys in Tyne and Wear. Nexus sets the

service specification and fares on behalf of the seven local

councils which make up the new North East Combined

Authority (formed in 2014). Trains services and station

management is provided on behalf of Nexus by operating

concessionaire DB Regio Tyne and Wear Ltd, who

secured a seven to nine year contract to operate Metro

in April 2010.

The last Director General (DG) of Nexus, Bernard

Garner, retired in December 2014 and Tobyn Hughes took

the position of Managing Director Transport Operations

for the North East Combined Authority, which also

incorporates the role of DG. He explained that as well as

leading Nexus, the MD has a wider remit to forge greater

integration in the delivery of transport services across

the Combined Authority area. “This is an exciting time to

take on such a role because, away from Metro, we are

embarked on the creation of a Quality Contracts Scheme

to transform the way bus services are provided,” he noted.

“The North East would be the first area to do this, bringing

the benefits of integrated transport similar to that seen in

London and many cities in other countries. We are also

delivering the North East Smart Ticketing Initiative to roll-

out smart travel across a huge geographic area.”

The Smart Ticketing Initiative Tobyn referred to is

part of phase one of the £389m ‘Metro: all change’

modernisation programme. Phase two, which

complements and overlaps with phase one, is now

underway and as Tobyn explained, the majority of the

Cinderella story

Nexus’ £389 million

regeneration programme

is designed to radically

improve public transportation in

the North East

NEXUS

Tobyn Hughes


Wear Ltd through Wabtec in Doncaster, which

will be complete in the summer of 2015. The

£30m refurbishment brings the fleet up to modern RVAR

standards – in fact the early Metrocars were the first rail

vehicles in the country to attain this – and deals with

serious corrosion. It extends the life of the original fleet

into the 2020s, by which time they will be more than

40 years old, while Nexus plans for the procurement

of a new fleet.

“Our big priority for the next few years is creating a

business case for the new train fleet,” Tobyn added. “It’s

clear from the work we’ve done that the heritage and

future of Metro is as a sub-regional light rail system, most

closely related to the continental ‘S-Bahn’ model, rather

than as a tramway as seen in other British cities. This has

important implications as we model the size and capacity

of a future fleet but also its power source – could we,

for example, introduce a fleet at the present 1,500v DC

voltage but with the potential to run on 25,000v AC and

so extend into new parts of the region’s Network Rail

infrastructure? On a network as busy as Metro which is

already offering a very high frequency we need to be very

confident about the dimensions of the fleet we set out to

zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzNEXUS

investment in this phase is in infrastructure including

track and track beds, overhead line, structures, cabling,

communications and train management systems.

“While Metro itself opened only 35 years ago, it uses

infrastructure dating back to the birth of the railways

– in fact our oldest alignment was surveyed by Robert

Stephenson himself!” he highlighted. “Much of the track

we are replacing is around 50 years old and the beds

and drainage beneath it up to three times that age. The

investment we’re making now will serve North East England

for many decades to come.

“We have delivered 25km of new track and trackbeds

and the same distance of renewed cable and ducting

routes, and overhauled and strengthened more than

20 bridges and tunnels and several thousand metres of

embankment. There is also scope to bring older stations

up to modern standards of accessibility, including the

installation of tactile surfaces, double-height handrails,

bench seating and improved wayfinding and passenger

information. In addition we will by Spring have replaced

19 escalators most of which were life-expired and almost

impossible to source parts for, and six passenger lifts.”

This programme also includes a refurbishment of the train

fleet, delivered on behalf of Nexus by DB Regio Tyne and

Balfour Beatty Rail As part of the ‘Metro: all change’ regeneration programme, Balfour Beatty Rail has recently been awarded a contract to undertake switches and crossings (S&C) renewals at two sites on the network at St James and Regent Centre. Core renewals will take place during 52 hour weekend block closures to limit disruption to passengers. At Regents Centre works include the delivery of an entire renewal to include replacement of geotextile, sleepers and track, together with two crossovers and two sets of points and associated drainage. While the works at St James include an S&C renewal together with associated signalling and telecoms works.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

www.bbrail.co.uk


zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzprocure for the four decades ahead, and there is detailed

analysis and modelling going into that work now.”

All of these improvements are designed to not only

create a better service for passengers but also have a

wider effect on the community, as Tobyn highlighted:

“Metro is fundamental to the local economy and social

life of the region,” he said. “Metro keeps about 15 million

car journeys a year off the region’s roads and contributes

some 10,000 daily visits to Newcastle city centre which

would otherwise not happen, whether that be for work,

education or leisure. Our modernisation programme is

worth £2.5bn to the region’s economy compared to the

consequences of letting Metro decline and fail, when

calculated as a benefit-cost ratio. This is fundamental to

our business case for on-going investment in the network.

“We can quantify the benefits of modernisation in more

direct ways, as the many projects that make up the whole

programme have secured and created hundreds of jobs

in rail engineering and construction. These are jobs with

contractors and extend right through the supply chain

but also within Nexus itself. We have set up an internal

‘capital delivery’ team of 60 staff which competes to

deliver projects within the programme, and we have had

the confidence to take on 30 apprentices over three years

Story Contracting Story Contracting are proud to be supporting Nexus as they deliver their exciting investment plans for the modernisation of the Metro. From our base in the North East we are working closely with Nexus providing on-track plant solutions across their network and delivering track renewals schemes that will greatly enhance the passenger experience. Our comprehensive design and build capability brings innovative solutions, underpinned by collaborative working relationships that add real value for all of our clients.

www.storycontracting.com


zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz NEXUS

knowing they have good prospects of a career with us.

“It’s also important to demonstrate the benefits

in terms of reliability – the last five years have seen

us replace 25km of track and vastly increase the

proportion of the network where rails are fully stressed

and laid on modern concrete sleepers and good

ballast; we have seen payback through a decrease in

rail misalignments and cracks as a result.

“The ticketing and gating programme, substantially

completed in 2013, has led to a decline in fraud and

consequent increase in revenue, alongside overall

passenger growth of around seven per cent in the last

year. Metro has always been something of a Cinderella

network surviving on a very low cost base among

UK railways, but it is now in a healthy position to look

to the future.”

The entire Metro: all change programme has of

course featured innovation and new technology, not

all of which will be obvious to passengers but will

be quietly working behind the scenes to improve

information flow and recovery from disruptions. For

example, Kapsch is delivering a new digital radio

communication system, which is moving to delivery

through 2015. “This is a really important project for

which Kapsch was chosen following an international

procurement process,” noted Tobyn. “Because Metro

is such a busy system we need the highest quality

communications between trains and the Metro

Control Centre or the IECC York centre, which covers

movements on Network Rail infrastructure through

Sunderland.”

Nexus has a local transport remit stretching much

wider than rail, but with the Metro, Tobyn highlighted

the key priorities for the coming year as the continued

Kapsch CarrierCom Kapsch CarrierCom offers Nexus state-of-the art technology components, a cost-effective pricing model, and the ability to deliver the radio network as an end-to-end, turnkey solution. The new communications system will provide full coverage of the network in the entire area of Metro operation. TETRA signals are more secure and harder to intercept, which will help Nexus prevent eavesdropping. The system will maximize service availability and the quality of voice communications will improve exceptionally,” says Leindecker (VP Public Transport Kapsch CarrierCom).

https://www.kapsch.net/

successful and efficient delivery of modernisation

projects, and the development of a business case for

the essential new Metro fleet. Nexus will also be leading

on national rail issues for the new North East Combined

Authority, which is among the partners in Rail North

exploring the potential for devolution of the Northern

Rail franchise with the Department for Transport. “We

see significant benefits from devolution, an idea which

has inspired and brought together local authorities from

Northumberland through Tyne and Wear and the Tees

Valley to North Yorkshire in forming a single rail strategy

for this huge region,” said Tobyn. “The current structure

of local passenger services invites the concept of a

North East Business Unit at arms’ length from the wider

franchise, which better serves the unique needs of this

region, where people are making often much longer

journeys by local trains on older and sometimes sub-

standard trains, when compared to conurbations along

the M62 corridor.”

He concluded: “The programmes Nexus is now

embarked upon will shape local transport in North

East England for many years to come – securing

and improving bus routes by making better use of

the profits they make to provide a genuine public

service, completing the introduction of smart ticketing

and moving forward into contactless payments, and

modernising Metro. But of course Metro works best at

the heart of an integrated transport environment and

what we are seeking to do is integrate the way people

buy travel as well as the modes they use.” zz

www.nexus.org.uk


http://www.plassertheurer.com/en/home/index.html


zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz IDOM

global

Founded in 1957, IDOM operates as a leading

multidisciplinary group that provides engineering,

architecture and consulting services. Today the

company boasts more than 2500 professionals at

work across 34 offices spread over 16 countries across

five continents. Furthermore the business is employee

owned and as such values and strongly encourages

the personal development of its employees. Indeed

IDOM nurtures strong relationships with its team, which

it considers to be its principle asset in the service of its

clients. It is the philosophy of IDOM that its customers

are its absolute priority and “raison d’être” and it is for

this reason the continued technological development,

introduction of new quality systems and diversification of

activities are the tools that the company relies on to deliver

the best solution to it clients’ needs.

In over 50 years of operation, IDOM has grown to serve

a broad base of clients and industries. Its infrastructure

division has developed a particular focus on urban

transportation systems and is today present in over

120 countries. Within the UK, IDOM currently manages

six offices that provide a local base of operations and

intermediary between national and international projects,

Javier Quintana as Director of IDOM’s Architectural

discipline

A

With offices all over the globe, IDOM

represents a significant multidisciplinary

provider of engineering,

architecture and consulting services


design until test and commissioning. At this point IDOM

is involved in the design and construction of railway lines

in Chile, Mexico, Spain, Colombia, among others. During

2013 the company also began work on a new metro

network for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in collaboration with its

client the ArRiyadh Development Authority (ADA). The

metro system will comprise six lines covering 180 km with

75 stations and is projected to take five years to complete.

IDOM is in the consortium led by Salini-Impregilo as

designers, which were awarded with the Line 3.

“We cover all the different disciplines such as civil

works, track and railway systems and architecture. Our

figures are over 1000 km of high speed lines designed,

37 km of high speed tunnels, 25 km of high speed

viaducts, seven high speed intermodal stations and on

site supervision contracts of over 300 km,” says electrical

engineer IDOM railway and electrification systems, Carlos

Azuaga. “In regards to electrification systems our expertise

extends from DC systems for metro, tramways and

conventional rail to AC systems in 25kV AC with or without

ATF for high speed railway lines.”

Within the UK, IDOM is also part of a £3 million

partnership funded by the government to research a

more effective design and application of overhead power

lines. “This is a competition that is being funded as part

of a Future Railway competition managed by RSSB, and

in partnership with Network Rail and the Department

for Transport,” Carlos explains. “The scope of it is to

develop innovative solutions regarding the OLE or Civils

to accommodate the new OLE equipment necessary

for the National Electrification Programme and avoid the

bridge reconstruction on dozens of them. The current

issue facing the network is that the British railway lines

were the first ones in the world to be built, and due to

this the majority of the structures and bridges on the line

are historical and listed bridges that were not conceived

zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzIDOM

Division in the UK: “IDOM first opened an office in the UK in

2001, with the primary focus on expanding our Architectural

Division. Having established ourselves in the UK, we were

focused on providing a link to our network of Spanish

clients who were expanding themselves also into the UK

market. These included clients such as the Embassy of

Spain, Spanish Tourist Board, Celsa and Silken Hotels. We

also worked in collaborations with some of the prominent

UK architects who were developing projects in Spain. Years

later IDOM had the chance to build lager and more complex

projects such as the T2A and T3IB in Heathrow Airport and

other British clients. From the UK IDOM is also operating

with Anglo-Saxon markets.

“IDOM has been involved in the railway sector since the

90’s and the railway division in the UK works with a UK-

based team scattered throughout the different offices in

the country, with professionals with specific expertise and

knowledge of the UK rail industry and with the continued

support of railway staff from the different offices that IDOM

has worldwide.”

IDOM has a wide expertise in the Railway Sector

worldwide, delivering multi-disciplinary projects covering

the whole lifecycle of them, from feasibility and detailed


to accommodate the new electrical equipment. This

is even more the case with the 25kV AC electrification

system, which requires big electrical clearances. IDOM is

one of the nine companies awarded in this competition,

and we are designing and developing an OLE innovative

solution which will gain clearance avoiding the bridge

reconstruction and keeping intact the historical and listed

bridges along the British railway line.”

Furthermore IDOM was a finalist and highly

commended in the RIBA international design ideas

competition for Aesthetic Overhead Line Structures

related to HS2. “IDOM led a consortium with British

heritage consultant Alan Baxter Associates and Spanish

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

SUGREMIN SUGREMIN is a state-of-the-art railway catenary structures manufacturer. SUGREMIN has supplied its products to development projects across the globe. SUGREMIN goes beyond high quality and competitive pricing; SUGREMIN has a special focus on research and design enhancement to maximise client satisfaction and ensure projects are delivered on time and on quality. Over the years, IDOM and SUGREMIN have partnered to provide the best and most competitive designs.

manufacturer SEMI,” Carlos reveals. “IDOM’s proposal

called the ‘Needle System’ is designed to minimise

visual intrusion in environmentally sensitive areas and

to complement contemporary cutting-edge design of

new HS2 stations. Needle System combines an elegant,

slender asymmetric profile with practical, economical

and robust detailing. Conceived as a ‘kit of parts’ it uses

a generic mast design in 20mm & 30mm steel gauge

variants that can be configured respectively for twin-

track configurations as a simple cantilever but also for

use with multi-track gantry configurations.” zz

www.idom.com

www.sugremin.com


A DComms began its life as part of the AlanDick

Group, with the Communications division

being formed following Core Communication

Services’ purchase of the AlanDick Rail

Business in December 2011. The company continued

to operate from its purpose-built integration and logistics

centre in Scunthorpe, and brought together a new

management team with over 50 years of RF and fixed

telecommunications experience. All staff and systems

were transferred as part of the purchase.

Over the course of its history, ADComms

has developed a strong presence within the rail

communications market, refining its expertise across a

series of high profile projects spearheaded by managing

director Jason Pearce. This has included the design of a

zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzADCOMMS

Incorporating vast experience in mobile

communication technology, ADComms

is a privately owned company, specialising

in end-to-end telecoms-based services

Real-time developments

Mike Hewitt

Jason Pearce


digital workforce with improved information availability via

ORBIS for the engineering workforce.”

ADComms is taking a leading role in transitioning the

UK’s legacy network infrastructure. Indeed, Mike was

appointed as its head of next generation networks to

bring in over 30 years of experience within the telecoms

sector. “My remit is to build a strong optical and IP (internet

protocol) deployment capability while continuing to forecast

industry transitions and identifying what those challenges

are going to be to ensure we stay ahead of the curve.”

Mike is already hard at work within ADComms across

the company’s Telefonica project on the implementation of

FTNx. This allows a huge assortment of equipment to be

inter-connected using IP, and as Mike explained, within the

new leaky feeder infrastructure to support the installation

of GSM-R on Network Rail’s Merseyrail Sub-Surface

railway upgrade, which played a key role in supporting

Network Rail’s nationwide GSM-R roll-out programme.

Today, the company is heavily focused on the

digitisation of the rail network within the UK and

throughout Europe. Network Rail’s CEO Mark Carne is

spearheading a significant drive on digitisation, which will

see ADComms working in collaboration to bring Network

Rail’s FTNx into operation throughout 2015.

“Network Rail’s new FTNx network is the world-class

optical and internet protocol (IP) backbone that it has

recently spent around £50 million on building as part of its

overall strategy of rail digitisation,” explained Mike Hewitt,

head of next generation networks at ADComms. “This

is part of a ten to 15 year programme for the digitisation

of the UK rail network, which will include the upgrade

of the signalling infrastructure to European Train Control

System (ETCS) to increase capacity of the network to

meet increasing demand for journeys, while also improving

reliability.

“In addition, the FTNx core network will support the

digital passenger (e-ticketing, improved information

availability and broadband connectivity on trains) and the

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

SpliceGroup Europe Actively involved in the Rail Sector for over 20 years, SpliceGroup Europe Ltd has manufactured and supplied fibre termination products. Our focus during the last 10 years has been on the fixed telecom Network (FTN) and the provision of GSMR. Our range of robust, tried and tested products are used extensively throughout the National network and as part of our on-going product development programme, SpliceGroup continue to work closely with Network Rail and their strategic partners in providing, product accepted fibre connectivity solutions within a fast changing environment

www.bowenprojects.co.uk

www.splicegroup.com


rail environment, it has been realised that a world-class

optical backbone has been built and can now be

more fully utilised.

“ADComms is supporting Telefonica with deploying

Cisco and Infinera equipment across the rail network,”

said Mike. “In our capacity, we have enabled the

OEM installation teams to operate safely in the rail

environment and access the node locations. We’re now

working through that final handover process to ensure

the quality of the field deployments meets Network

Rail’s expectations, guaranteeing that the network is

fully functional and meets specification through fault

clearance and service validation.

“We are going to be connecting a significant amount

of devices across the network as Network Rail goes

down the digitisation path of making information more

available,” he added. “This ranges from areas such as

Wi-Fi on trains to the wider asset management system.”

Digitisation will bring with it a number of benefits,

which will both enhance the travel experience for

commuters as well as improving rail operators’ ability to

manage an efficient service. “As passengers, we expect

our mobile devices everywhere. We want them to work


on trains and the solution to this will likely centre around

Wi-Fi,” Mike noted.

“Demand for information to devices will be more than

we can currently get on traditional mobile networks.

Passengers also now use a number of devices that don’t

have 4G connectivity, such as laptops, tablets and media

players, and which are dependent on Wi-Fi connections.

We will also aim to get real-time information on the trains

so that more journey information can be relayed to the

customer.

“From a rail management perspective, when we look

at the network and the ability to get more real-time

information to staff in the field, they will be using internet-

enabled devices - this will mean they can get more of

the right information where they need it. So there are

direct benefits for workers being able to work smarter

and safer.

Central Crane Hire Hull Central Crane Hire Hull Ltd is a leading crane hire and logistic company that supply the construction industry. The company has recently started to supply Hiab vehicles to the rail network industry.The company specialise in short notice out of hours delivery’s to all over the United Kingdom supplying materials to assist our client with the installation of new communication equipment

http://www.centralcranehirehull.co.uk/


zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ADCOMMS

“As we move forward into an operational comms

network, there will be a modern network carrying all

the safety critical services, and supporting that we

start getting into the ‘internet of things’ which means

there will be devices across the network gathering

what everyone is talking about - ‘Big Data’. That data

is going to be used to analyse conditions and predict

events and ideally be able to get more information

remotely, which saves having engineers out trackside in

a dangerous environment.”

Given the company’s focus on next generation

technology and the way it has positioned itself to

ensure can offer the IP and optical skills that are going

to be needed in the rail environment, it is no surprise

that ADComms is spending a proportion of time

making sure its engineers are ready: “We foresee there

is going to be significant growth in the network with

the digital transition and the need to add new devices

to the network, so we are bringing our engineers up to

speed,” Mike confirmed.

“A lot of IP and optical engineers come from an

enterprise and carrier environment and need to learn

what it is like to work within the rail environment, with

which they are unfamiliar. So for us the big priority and

emphasis is on training and skills to supply the rail

industry with the expertise it needs.”

ADComms is also preparing to meet additional

challenges. “With the discussions circulating around

High Speed 2, there is a big skills shortage forecast.

We are looking towards meeting this additionally.

We have to pay attention to the ‘whole business as

usual’ network while ensuring our migration to new

technologies is simulataneously supported.

“This is underpinned by a series of ongoing projects

and the migration of legacy services onto new

networks. It’s clear there is a significant challenge for

the industry to have the right skills available and that is

where a lot of our focus is going to be.”

With a demonstrated capability within the rail

communications market and a growing knowledge

base, ADComms’ role is clearly an expanding one

within the industry.

Mike concluded: “Our aim is to continue to develop

a very strong skills based organisation to support the

UK communications industry both across rail, carrier

and enterprise space. ADComms is on track to remain

a vital link in the implementation of digitisation across

the UK.” zz

ADComms www.alandickcomms.com

Haze Batteries Haze Batteries UK Ltd, have a long, well established relationship with Alan Dick Ltd and wish them every success now and in the future.

http://hazebatteryuk.com/


zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzB. & M. McHugH

Engineering excellence

B & M McHugh’s operational flexibility and multi-tasking capabilities mean it can undertake a variety

of works in the railway-engineering sector

Founded as a registered private company by

Bernard McHugh in 1967, B & M McHugh Limited

has grown and evolved into a respected player in

the railmarket, with operations in civil engineering,

building, mechanical and electrical and environmental

sectors including reactive maintenance. The company

provides cost effective, value for money, customer-focused

solutions for both minor and major projects.

Indeed, customer focus

has always been a central

foundation on which the

success of B & M McHugh

has been built, and across

the business it provides

a guarantee of complete

dedication to clients’ requirements. Thanks

to the experience within the company, the organisation

can bring to bear a reservoir of appreciation and

understanding to the specifications of each project,

thereby delivering customer satisfaction and on-time

completion. The dedication to market knowledge has

been instilled in the staff since the company was born

– founder Bernard McHugh had previously spent many

years gaining hands-on experience in tunnel and civil

engineering construction.

Now able to draw on over 45 years of experience in the

rail sector, B & M McHugh’s pedigree began with minor

works on railway owned infrastructure for British Rail. “We

now regard ourselves as an established, hands-on civil

engineering railway contractor,” confirmed John Collins,

commercial director at B & M McHugh. “We specialise in

maintenance, repair and reconstruction of the supporting

structure on which the railway is built and include platform

reconstruction and extensions, fencing, tunnel linings,

bridge repairs, culvert works and tree and vegetation

management.”

While these projects started with British Rail, as the

industry changed so did B & M McHugh, and now

Network Rail is a major client. The management team

and staff are extremely focused on maintaining the level of

commitment, safety and quality of work that Network Rail

has come to expect. As a result, in 2015 the company is

delivering contracts that focus on structure maintenance

and repair (bridges, retaining walls, viaducts earthworks

and the like) for Network Rail; station regeneration

and building maintenance for Network Rail and Train Tram in Geneva

Spandrel repairsSpandrel repairs

Bridge repair and coating

Spandrel repairs


zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz& Safety Plan, that takes into account areas such as

the effect of tidal movements, road closures and traffic

management .

B & M McHugh also undertakes the monitoring

and refurbishment of earthworks and other support

structures, the installation of HV cables and troughing and

the construction of under track crossings, access walking

routes and refurbishment of level crossings.

These examples perfectly illustrate B & M McHugh’s

flexibility and multitasking capabilities, as John was keen

Operating Companies which encompass environmental

and safety works. “We have 20 plus years of experience

working with Network Rail,” added John. “Our area

of expertise in structures made us a key player in the

bridge refurbishment programme under Network Rail’s

Control Period 4, and as result of our experience in these

structure we worked alongside Network Rail through

early contractor involvement and partnership. We were

able to utilise valuable lessons learned from the past

and applied these lessons to design which meant we

delivered in excess of £22m in painting of metal bridges,

spandrel repairs and scour protection installation. These

activities were carried out in and around a live railway

and over water where strict adherence to Network Rail’s

safety standards allowed us to maintain our impressive

safety record.”

These projects above, are multifaceted and include

such diverse areas as site surveys to identify the extent

and scope of work, the provision of detailed design,

programmes, the creation of manpower histograms and

cashflows, along with the determination of possession

and isolation requirements.

B & M McHugh is able to establish and complete the

design, and formulate a method statement and Health

Spandrel repairs

Coombes Forestry Ltd Coombes enjoy playing an active and supporting role in our partnership with B&M McHugh.Clearing tunnel portals, working off the side of a Viaduct or clearing access to drainage culverts, Coombes Civils Engineering & Coombes Rail Divisions provide both the plant, technical skill and the rail capability to assist B&M McHugh in their project delivery.Coombes Environmental Division provide Phase I Habitat Surveys and will appoint a Watching Brief to oversee and deal with any Ecological issues on site.

http://coombesuk.com/


zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzB. & M. McHugH

to emphasise: “Each client has different requirements,

and we can undertake multi-function works as required

by each different project,” he said. “We have a long-

term labour force with a lot of expertise and knowledge,

and the company is small enough to be flexible, yet big

enough to cope with important, time-critical projects.”

He continued: “We are also gaining experience

in reactive maintenance, such as the recent works

we undertook for C2C on Basildon Station.” As a

testimonial attributed to a Network Rail engineer and

listed on its website highlights, B & M McHugh can react

extremely quickly and provide a high quality resolution Before

Before After

After

Painting columns at Liverpool Street after completion

Painting columns at

Liverpool Street after

completion

www.serioussecurity.co.uk

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzto a problem. It states: ‘I would like to express Network

Rail’s thanks in the professional way you and your team

dealt with the emergency call out yesterday. Due to

B & M McHugh’s quick responses a possible serious

situation was made safe and managed within the hour.’

Currently working across Kent, Sussex, Wessex and

the Anglia region, 95 per cent of the business’ order

book consists of rail works, and John foresees that

over the next five years the company will further build

on its relationships with Network Rail and the train

operating companies. “We offer practical solutions

and our clients know they can trust us to deliver our

contracts,” he said. “Our pride and professionalism is

founded on a proven ability, holding and maintaining

systems in place that ensure our staff are capable,

competent, organised and resourced to deliver quality,

safety and environmental management in all projects

carried out. We are proud to continue to provide

the same degree of commitment to safety, quality,

professionalism and pride as when the company

started out in 1967.” zz www.mchughltd.co.uk

Before

Before

After

After


Medway River Maidstone Project -– nominated for, United Kingdom Rail Industry Association (UKRIA) Award


zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzStadler rail

High speed train for Swiss Federal Railway SBB

Freedom of movement Stadler Rail Group is a system supplier of

customer-specific solutions for rail vehicle construction

T he company has locations in Switzerland,

Germany, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic,

Italy, Austria, Belarus, Algeria, the Netherlands

and in the US, and across these sites it employs

around 6000 people, of which 3000 are based in

Switzerland.

Since being established by Ernst Stadler in 1942,

Stadler Rail has created an enviable reputation in the rail

sector. In order to maintain its leading position, the Group

has formulated a strategy that focuses on the regional,

suburban and intercity service market segments, the

light regional express railway service, and streetcars, and

it intends to remain the global number one in the rack

railway vehicle market. In order to further cement a solid

foundation Stadler Rail has positioned itself as a supplier

that complements global rail vehicle builders such as

Alstom, Bombardier, and Siemens, and its status as an

independent company is

an important basic strategic value that

clients appreciate.

This business approach will also assist Stadler to

operate in a railway vehicle industry that is in a dynamic,

highly complex restructuring phase. Companies active in

this industry are being acquired, merged or strategically

repositioned, or even disappearing from the marketplace.

In such an economic environment, it is crucial for a

medium-sized group of companies to ensure that its

strategy matches its human and financial resources.

Over the past few years, Stadler has met this goal, even

achieving exceptional development despite the negative

trend prevailing in the industry.

By focusing on market needs, Stadler was able to

foresee what investments in facilities would enable it

to offer an expanded range of services. Over the past

few years, the company has closed the last existing

production gaps by selectively

expanding into the areas of electrical

engineering and bogie (truck) construction.

This means the business is now able to offer complete

vehicle concepts, and it can offer customised solutions

to railway companies on the basis of modular concepts,

which are tailored to their specific needs.

The best-known vehicle series from Stadler Rail Group

are the articulated multiple-unit train GTW, the Regio-

Shuttle RS1, the FLIRT and the double-decker multiple-

unit train KISS in the railway segment, and the Variobahn

and the Tango in the tram segment. The Metro is another

addition for the commuter rail market. Furthermore,

Stadler Rail manufactures metre-gauge trains, passenger Tram in Geneva


zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Moscow, Stadler had handed over another first – this time

the first unit of a FLIRT intercity train, for Hong-Kong based

private operator MTR Express for operation in Sweden.

This contract was a particular highlight for the business

as it managed to produce the train in record time, within

carriages and locomotives and is the world’s leading

manufacturer of rack-and-pinion rail vehicles.

One of the company’s most recent contracts was for

the KISS train variant – in November 2014, it successfully

shipped to Moscow the first unit of the 25 double-

decker KISS trains ordered by Russian railway operator

Aeroexpress. The contract includes the supply of 25

double-decker KISS trains consisting of 118 coaches, out

of which 16 units will be four-car and nine will be six-car

vehicles. The Stadler factory in Altenrhein, Switzerland, is

producing the first four units, while the remaining 21 are

being manufactured in a new Stadler factory, which has

been recently constructed on the outskirts of

Minsk in Belarus.

The trains are designed to cope with the specific

Russian climate, which can range from -50 degrees

Celsius to +40 degrees Celsius. The trains have a speed

of 160 km/h and have comfortable, bright interiors in two

classes (business and economy). The carriages are made

from lightweight aluminium, which makes the vehicles

much lighter than the traditional steel carriages. The

reduced weight means that the train operator can make

significant energy savings on everyday services.

Just a month before the KISS train was delivered to

Freedom of movement

One of the FLIRT trains in Helsinki

www.traktionssysteme.at


zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzStadler rail

only one year, which is exceptionally fast in the railway

industry. The first FLIRT of the five-carriage fleet is

expected to start commercial operation in March 2015

on the Gothenburg-Stockholm route. The top speed of

these trains is 200 km/h, and they have been specifically

designed to fulfil the strict requirements of extreme

climatic conditions.

In fact, one particular FLIRT model does offer a range

of benefits to operators that provide services in severe

winter conditions. The pedigree of these trains can be

traced back to a contract in 2006, with Finnish company

Junakalusto Oy, when the model was developed to fulfil

the requirements of severe winters. These were also the

first broad-gauge vehicles manufactured by Stadler. All

Stadler trains now intended for Moscow and Norway are

essentially based on the innovations that were included

on that first Helsinki FLIRT train.

Such was the success of the 2006 contract with

Junakalusto Oy – the first 32 trains have been operating

successfully for many years now – that in October 2014

Glas Trösch AG Rail Glas Trösch AG Rail is proud to be supplier in cabin glazing for Stadler Rail AG. Besides outstanding quality and reliability, product innovation plays a significant role for our company. Thanks to our company-owned developmental team, motivated staff and state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, Glas Trösch AG Rail counts as one of the most competent suppliers worldwide in the field of high-end windscreens and cabin glazing for the most important train manufacturers.

The first KISS for Aeroexpress

www.glastroesch.com/rail


zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzTram in Basel

Intercity train for Austrian Westbahn Vienna- Salzburg

the company ordered another 34 FLIRT trains in a

contract worth EUR 200 million, exercising the second

option of the contract. Delivery of the first option of nine

further FLIRT trains was achieved in November 2014.

The new trains will include insulation that is increased

by 50 per cent and windows that are triple-glazed.

A heat recovery system has been added to the tried

and tested air-conditioning system used in many

FLIRTs. The warm air extracted from the passenger

compartment is used to preheat the cold, fresh air

that is sucked in. This results in a substantial energy

saving. At the same time, heaters have been fitted in

the door areas in order to keep the temperature inside

as constant as possible when passengers embark

and disembark. The train can achieve speeds of 160

kilometres per hour and will initially be operated using

the Finnish EBICAB train control system, although an

upgrade to the European Train Control System (ETCS)

at a later date is possible.

Peter Spuhler, CEO and owner of Stadler Rail

Group, was very proud of this specific vehicle order:

“It gives me immense pleasure that the 1000th FLIRT

train will travel in Helsinki, because from now on this

customer will be operating 75 Stadler trains. The fact

that this option has been exercised is evidence that the

customer is very happy with the trains that have been

in everyday use for five years now. We are proud of

our broad-gauge FLIRT with its excellent resistance to

severe winters.

This vehicle is a perfect example of how innovative

Stadler can be.” zz www.stadlerrail.com

www.bode-kassel.com


zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzGB RailfReiGht

Freight clubEntering the industry at the turn of the century, GB Railfreight (GBRf) has quickly accelerated to claim a

12 per cent share of the UK rail freight market, holding a position

as the third biggest operator in the sector

In 2014 the business invested in a further 21 ‘class

66’ locomotives, with the model having proved itself

over the last two decades across the UK market.

Manufactured in the US by Electro-Motive Diesel, the

equipment has a strong reputation for its robustness. “The

locomotives are reliable, powerful, and good value for

money, with a relatively simple design, albeit very clever

when it comes to the electronics. With just a 12 month

lead time, delivery of these locomotives was a timely

success, allowing us to be able to carry out the work that

we were contracted to do,” says John Smith, managing

director, adding: “In January 2015 we commenced a

contract with Aggregate Industries, operating from two

major quarries in the Leicestershire area, sources in South

Wales and on the Dorset coast, and playing a major role

in the importation of stone to Angerstein Wharf.”

Five years ago, Europorte, the rail freight subsidiary of

Groupe Eurotunnel, acquired the business. Since then

GBRf has developed competencies to run on HS1 and

through the Channel Tunnel to Calais where it exchanges

freight with its French counterpart. “This development was

one thread of the original business plan and an aspect

that has proved very important. The tunnel is as bigger

economic link to mainland Europe as anything in the

UK, and we see the necessity to demonstrate its role as Tram in Geneva


zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

positive without rail freight.”

Split into markets, the rail freight sector can be

roughly broken down into intermodal transport, bulk

materials (such as aggregates, biomass and coal) and

rail infrastructure and services. “The market is different

a strategic generator of UK GDP, via both imports and

exports,” explains John, as the conversation moves to a

more political nature.

Rumours within the industry of potentially scrapping

the influential Rail Development Group have naturally

instigated a sense of unease. “The market is seeking

stability and consistency, so the impending election

raises a number of concerns. History has proven that

the appointment of a new transport minister or secretary

of state tends to bring a change in direction, so it is

important to have a clear policy as to where rail is going

and how that fits into the UK logistics plan, and then to

support that throughout, no matter what government,”

says John.

The political importance of a transition of freight

from road to rail has been made clear, both in terms of

economy and environment. For this to be successful it is

vital that all parties involved have a clear understanding

as to what that entails, as John highlights: “Implicitly you

deal with the economy, manipulating it and encouraging

growth in the particular area. We need to make sure

that the role we play is understood. London is not built

without rail freight, electricity is not generated without

rail freight, and GDP on imports and exports will not be

Strethill-crossing

www.gbrailfreight.com


zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzGB RailfReiGht

across the board, which raises two issues with how the

government currently defines its passion for wanting to

get cargo off the road and onto rail. One problem is the

tendency to simply consider containers, and ignore the

likes of eight-wheeled aggregate lorries that attempt to

meander through city centres, or the car carriers on the

road,” points out John.

Intermodal is very constrained in terms of current

infrastructure and with many competitors controlling

terminals and the capacity, the infrastructure as it stands

is almost at full stretch. “Intermodal trains tend to follow

big main lines, whereas coal trains deviate to lines

extending into areas such as the middle of Yorkshire.

One of the easiest methods to strategic planning for the

future is to establish and tag the key corridors, such as

the F2N, running between Felixstowe and Nuneaton.

Relating to the fifth biggest port in Europe, and the

first biggest port container wise in the UK, the route

targets the transport of cargo to the main distribution

centres. Investment into these links must be thoroughly

considered to ensure any restrictions in the links are

overcome.

“Other areas such as Immingham, Liverpool, Hull,

Tyne and Tees, are also strategically important, and

92032 with new greenergy at Otford Junction

whilst they currently deal in coal, in time they will deal

in other commodities, so their connections should not

be allowed to diminish. There is a real need to raise

awareness, particularly among the changing politicians

as to why rail freight is important. Considering actual

freight requirements and ensuring money is spent in a

way that allows for freight growth as well as passenger

growth is essential,” explains John. Encouraging the

success of rail freight, through aiding economics in a

similar way that road hauliers receive subsidy through

low road taxing, must be considered. It is important to

be certain there is the capacity within the rail industry to

deal with the demand, making appropriate changes to

facilitate the migration in the way that the government

has described.

“For the future, we will continue to grow and diversify

as well, similar in the way that we already have, with

rail operations and the steel works, looking at terminal

operation and terminal construction, and where else

we can invest capital in systems, in parallel with organic

growth. There is a point where railways are uneconomic

and it is how the government adjusts towards that, and

we do need the market to grow as well,”

concludes John. zz


zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

T he rail industry has focused on two core areas of

development throughout the UK, to help improve

the efficiency and safety of the rail industry:

Building better stations and improving the railway

infrastructure. No stranger to awards, as part of the Travis

Perkins Group, Keyline has picked up numerous innovative

commendations and is the only builders merchant provider

to the rail industry to have achieved the gold standard of

the Freight Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS), and

regularly delivers to Crossrail, TfL and Network Rail sites.

Anticipating an upsurge of work in Scotland, Keyline

recently established a new office in Glasgow, dedicated to

supporting customers working on all Scottish rail contracts

including major improvement schemes currently underway.

“There are a number of significant rail projects coming up

in Scotland over the next year, particularly the Edinburgh

Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP),” confirmed

Richard Wade, UK rail sector manager. The comprehensive

package of improvements to Scotland’s railway sees

£650m of investment into modernisation and upgrades to

key junctions and infrastructure.

Previously all Keyline rail activity was centralised at the

company’s office in Northfleet, Kent. The new Keyline Rail

office in Glasgow will enable the business to offer localised

market knowledge, which will significantly enhance

customer service for rail sector customers in Scotland.

“Many of our rail customers in Scotland reported to us

that they felt Keyline’s service would be improved with

the addition of a Scottish Keyline rail office. This office will

deal with all rail contractors and projects in the region,

providing a full spectrum of services ranging from technical

support to out-of-hours possession work assistance,”

explains Richard. With the growth of rail work and Keyline’s

commitment to excellent customer service, the move is

forecasted to be a very positive step. Sean Kerr has been

appointed to head up Keyline’s Scottish Rail Office and the

company is confident this division will offer valuable support

to clients.

“The rail industry is a round-the-clock, year-round

operation, and within that wide scope we have two main

elements – planned and unplanned works.” Keyline’s fleet

is large and diverse enough to cater for all its clients needs,

co-ordinating relationships with a number of suppliers to

Right on timeOffering a range of products specifically designed for the rail market, Keyline is a

RISQS (formerly known as Achilles Link-up) approved supplier, complying with the most

stringent of industry standards

KEYLINE


Wessex route contract, which will be ongoing for the

next three years. We have also secured an exclusivity

agreement for the supply of Concrete Canvas® (CC)

products to the industry.” Concrete Canvas is part of a

revolutionary new class of construction materials called

Geosynthetic Cementitious Composite Mats (GCCM). It

is a flexible, concrete impregnated fabric that hardens on

zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzKEYLINE

provide a service that covers

everything from sourcing

bulk supplies and multi-drop

timed deliveries to finding

product alternatives that

save time and money and

scheduling site call offs.

The large branch network

means stock can be

sourced when it’s needed. “For

customers requiring delivery with advanced notice,

it is straightforward to schedule in, but of course there is

that element of unplanned work that could result from any

number of unpredictable factors. For such situations we

offer to our customers a single point telephone number that

they are able to call any time day or night. Once the work

location has been identified, we are able to open up any one

of our 35 depots that are ready for emergencies around the

country to support the clients’ needs,” says Richard.

With the company’s exclusive authorisation to deliver

ground breaking new technologies, such as the G-Tech

composite coper to key partners from right across the rail

industry and the upcoming CP5 projects, Keyline is set to

grow from strength to strength. “We will be supplying the

patented Network Rail specified G-Tech composite on the

TERRAM and Keyline – a trusted partnership TERRAM, a PGI brand, has a long established trusted partnership with Keyline, the leading provider of civil engineering and specialist products to the rail industry. For many years TERRAM branded products have been distributed by Keyline into the rail industry delivering solutions to meet market demands, placing focus on product quality and service. Always aware of customer requirements, Keyline fully appreciate that on time, in-full deliveries are of paramount importance in the rail industry. PGI support the supply chain department at Keyline to ensure all orders for TERRAM products are regularly delivered in such a manner and to the correct location. TERRAM’s specialty geosynthetic product portfolio is the most comprehensive and cost-effective on the market. Renowned for its technical expertise and high quality products, the TERRAM product portfolio includes PADS approved geosynthetics for trackbed, erosion control, ballast and embankment reinforcing applications.

www.polypipe.com/civils/info/rail

TERRAM enhances track performanceTERRAM’s PW1, PW2, PW9 and PW4-LA products, alongside the brand’s flagship product range Hydrotex, are designed to enhance track performance, significantly extend design life, reduce overall material costs and minimise the time required to renew a specific length of track.

The use of geosynthetics to reduce or replace traditional layers is now an accepted part of trackbed construction around the world and industry leader TERRAM has developed some of the most innovative geosynthetic products on the market.

A geosynthetic provides one of four functions when used in trackbed construction; separation to maintain the integrity of the adjacent soil types, filtration to prevent leaching of soil particles, drainage to allow the free passage of water, and reinforcement to provide additional strength.

TERRAM PW1 is compact, easy to transport and can be rapidly laid ready for placement of the ballast. The ability of the product to act as a filter over the design life is proven in numerous projects globally. Localised excavations along 8 to 10 year old installations have revealed TERRAM PW1 to be in good condition and visual inspection showed that it would continue to do the job for years to come.

TERRAM PW2 and PW9 are robust trackbed separators designed for where the sub-grade soils are good, but contain angular stone. This angular stone could damage a standard geotextile, so a robust geotextile that protects the separation function of the geotextile is needed. Manufactured using HDPE geonet sandwiched between two layers of TERRAM PW1, TERRAM PW2 provides the necessary robustness when used with large angular soil particles.

TERRAM PW9 is a mechanically entangled robust separator/filter manufactured from high tenacity UV stabilised virgin polypropylene fibres that provides long-term durability in all soil types and protects from angular stone damage.

TERRAM PW4-LA is a composite of TERRAM PW1 and a geogrid, which speeds up the installation time when both reinforcement and a filter/separator are needed. TERRAM PW4-LA provides a genuine alternative to increasing ballast depth or chemical stabilisation by improving ballast performance and making it more consistent, allowing higher speeds to be achieved.

TERRAM’s flagship rail product, Hydrotex, provides an innovative permanent way solution for trackbed stability, mitigating the issue of clay pumping. Many thousands of metres of Hydrotex have been installed in rail applications across the world, which has saved users and the environment from costly excavation work.

TERRAM Hydrotex sandwiches together a micro-porous filter at the centre of two robust layers of geotextile to protect it from potential damage. The real benefit of Hydrotex is that it reduces the depth of excavation that would be required with a sand blanket. The result is a decrease in the amount of spoil being taken away for landfill, a reduction in the vehicles needed to deliver materials, and a decrease in valuable possession time.

With over 45 years unrivalled expertise and experience in the geosynthetics industry, TERRAM’s innovative products continue to revolutionise and improve the rail industry. For more information, visit www.terram.com or contact the sales team on +44 (0)1621 874200

www.terram.com


hydration to form a thin, durable, water proof and fire

resistant concrete layer. Essentially, it’s concrete on a roll.

Suitable to a wide range of applications within the

civil construction sector it is primarily used for rapid

ditch lining, slope protection and stabilisation, bund

lining, concrete remediation, gabion reinforcement,

weed suppression and culvert lining amongst many

more. Keyline is the exclusive distributor of CC into the

rail sector and benefits from a high demand of regular

users that includes Network Rail, Highways Agency,

Environment Agency, Natural Resource Wales, local

councils and authorities, large utility companies, and

petrochemical operators.

“In one way or another we tend to be involved in most

contracts and projects across the industry, and have

supplied material to projects ranging from small scale day

works to huge developments such as London Bridge.

As we move ahead, the topic of supply is increasingly

heating up. CP5 began in 2014 and is scheduled to end

in 2019. In year one of CP5 we anticipated that about 20

per cent of the work would be done, but in reality there

is a backlog of work, and as a result we expect a rush of

work over the next four years,” explains Richard.

The industry as a whole therefore faces the task of

being able to deliver a significant amount of work, which

zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzKEYLINE

Network Rail is expecting to be completed. Commenting,

Richard points out: “Fortunately from a Keyline

perspective we have access to a huge supply chain and

fleet of vehicles so we are confident in our abilities but

the whole industry needs to be able to react as well. As

market leader in our field we are not going to make huge

leaps of growth like those we have seen in the past, but

we are going to be growing in line and supporting the

market organically, as well as pursuing other options.”

As the business gears towards showcasing its

competencies at Railtex 2015, new markets also hold

a place on its agenda, as Richard concludes: “Export

to foreign construction markets such as Poland and

the Middle East holds a great deal of potential. With

that expansion in mind we will be exploring options at

the Middle East Rail Expo in 2015. The non-UK market

is certainly big enough for future expansion, and it is

noticeable that UK companies are held in high esteem

in the foreign rail markets. Countries such as in the

Middle East, where there is little rail infrastructure, and a

huge growth plan are seeking companies that have that

experience.” zz

www.keyline.co.ukKeyline National Rail Office:0844 892 2677

www.spcm.co.uk


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O perating in the UK for more than four decades,

Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) is a leading

integrator of payment and information technology

and services for intelligent travel solutions. CTS

is a division of Cubic Corporation, which is also a global

leader in defence training and mission support. Its solutions

enable travellers to choose the smartest and easiest way

to travel and pay for their journeys. At the same time it is

helping transportation authorities and agencies to manage

demand across the entire transportation network – all in

real-time.

As John Hill, the managing director of CTS Europe

explains, the company’s offering has particularly changed

and evolved over the past five to six years: “Cubic is a

world leading revenue collection specialist for the transport

industry,” he adds. “What we are seeing as a long-term

trend is that our customers aren’t just looking to procure a

system, they are looking to receive a service. As a result,

more of our ‘products’ are becoming back office systems,

designed to handle the increasing amounts of data being

created by today’s modern technologies.”

Says Hill: “We are also increasingly acting as a systems

integrator for customers and it means we take best-of-

breed products and integrate them to create the best

solution. There are many benefits associated with this

approach. If we are going to be operating these systems

on their behalf, it is clearly in our own best interest to make

sure we design a reliable, efficient to operate system. As

a result of this change, over 60 per cent of our revenue is

now generated from services.”

Martin Howell, director worldwide marketing

communications, adds further background on the

company’s evolution: “We started out as a ticketing

and ticket machine company and I think that we’re still

regarded as that in some quarters because our solutions

are used all over the world and in 90 per cent of the UK

gating market,” he says.

“However, it became clear that people now expect

to find the innovations they see in the rest of their lives

happening in their transport experience as well. They want

to use their mobile devices to buy their transport ticketing

or pay for their travel the same way they pay for their Tesco

An integrated futureCubic Transportation Systems (CTS) recognises that efficient

mobility is a key driver for economic growth, and its products and services are evolving to meet the needs of the digital age

CubiC TransporTaTion sysTems

The iconic Oyster is the world’s largest and most

complex multi-modal smart card system for

public transport

Above: Contactless payment technology was

first introduced on London buses in December 2012

and it is now available across the whole London

transport network

John Hill

Martin Howell

Creditcall Ltd Cubic and Creditcall develop P2PE payment system

for TOC ticket offices

Bristol-based card payment gateway, Creditcall,

and Cubic Transportation Systems have just launched

a new ticket office payment solution at stations

across London.

Cubic approached Creditcall about this project in

2013, with a requirement for robust card payment

services that could support multiple PINpads from a

single ticket office PC, provide offline capability, and

incorporate Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE). There

also had to be the ability to change PINpads in future

if required, without major upheaval.

Creditcall responded with ChipDNA – a software

development toolkit (SDK) that allowed Cubic to

integrate ultra-high reliability card payment with

existing ticketing infrastructure, yet which supports

multiple PINpads and, crucially, P2PE that has been

validated to Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards.

Warwick Mullan, Programme Manager at Cubic

explains, “Cubic’s commercial and development

teams developed a close working relationship with

Creditcall as we refined the specific requirements for

the project, and we really appreciated their flexible

‘can do’ attitude.” He added, “Creditcall’s expertise

in all areas of card payment is second to none, and

working with them has been a real pleasure.”

The upgrade, incorporating the Ingenico iPP350

PINpad, will be deployed to several Train Operating

Companies over the coming months – the first

90 sites have already been registered.


done by providing both operators and travellers predictive,

actionable intelligence that will make their journey faster

and more reliable.

As part of making the vision a reality, CTS made some

strategic acquisitions including ITMS, a company that

provides intelligent road traffic management solutions,

as well as NextBus in the US, which provides real time

passenger information systems for buses. Howell adds:

“Ten years ago it would be unheard of for CTS to be

involved in these areas, but our hard work has now started

to come to fruition with the advent of the ground-breaking

contactless bank card payment solution in London, which

has been an absolutely extraordinary success.”

As one of the architects of this system, Hill expands on

what was involved: “London and Chicago are our flagship

installations and in both cases we have implemented

account-based ticketing systems by using contactless

payment methods. It’s really been tremendously successful,

with the pick-up in London surpassing even the wildest and

most optimistic expectations.

shop or their music. We also foresaw our customers would

need ways in which they could manage their costs more

effectively and find more efficient ways of serving travellers.

For that reason four years ago we created a vision called

‘NextCity’,” says Howell.

NextCity enables people to manage how they travel –

whether by train, bus, taxi, private vehicle or bike. This is

zz zzzzzzzzzzzCubiC TransporTaTion sysTems

Right: Cubic’s highly skilled staff

ensure smooth installations and efficient system

maintenance

www.fieldservicemanagement.co.uk

www.creditcall.com


“It really boils down to convenience for the person

travelling. The idea is that as long as a traveller has a

debit or credit card they are good to travel and critically,

they know they are going to get the best value. That has

been an essential part of Oyster in London, that best

value promise, and this is carried over into contactless

as well.”

The mechanics are as simple as swiping a card at a

gate and the buses, trains and any of the modes that are

covered by Oyster in London will support contactless as

well. TfL’s perspective is every customer that uses the

contactless method is one less customer that needs to

be serviced in terms of a top up or ticket. This means

shorter queues at ticket offices and vending machines

and therefore greater efficiency for the operator.

Howell adds: “I believe this convenience is a critical

factor. Furthermore, the contactless chip might well

migrate from the user’s bank card to the mobile phone

and in the future phones could become the centre of

people’s travel experience, whether in hand or

connected to their car.”

To predict future trends such as those discussed

by Howell and Hill CTS invests in significant amounts

of research and development. A result of this is a new

division called Urban Insights (UI) which was set up in

2013 in Washington, DC.

“UI was established in recognition of the importance

of data for our business and for the industry we serve,”

says Howell. “Its mission is to gather data from a huge

variety of inputs, including ticket, smartcards and phone

movements, which, when added together, produces a

vast amount of information about what is going on across

a city. By using this data, we can start to produce what

we call ‘predictive analytics’. This looks at the data and

identifies times when similar events have happened and

what were the consequences of those events. Once a

pattern is established and it is repeated you can take

action before the congestion even occurs, therefore you

are able to provide information to operators and travellers

before they even knew they need it.”

This for example, can be tied into corporate incentive/

reward programmes for travellers who are actively

involved, who choose to accept alerts and adapt their

travel behaviour if notified.

Howell believes the Facebook generation is more than

willing to share a small amount of personal data with

their transport operator or city authority in return for the

benefits of knowing when and how to travel to achieve

their optimum blend of comfort, convenience and cost.

Cubic’s vision for the future of urban transportation

sounds fascinating and going forward, Howell predicts

even further integration, which will benefit passengers,

cities and operators. The company is also involved in

several exciting new projects in Europe and the Middle

East, through which it will enhance its understanding of

the uses of data and technology.

“We are very excited about a contract that we recently

signed with Irish Rail to provide a national ticketing,

reservation and distribution system,” says Hill. “That is a

new market and new customer and it is based around

our ability to create a road map for Irish Rail as the

starting point of the integrated future that Martin refers to.

We are very much looking forward to delivering on it,”

Hill concludes. zz

www.cubic.com

zz zzzzzzzzzzzCubiC TransporTaTion sysTems

Right: Cubic is responsible for installing

and maintaining gatelines across the London

network. Works are often carried out overnight

to avoid disruptions to customers and minimise

downtime


zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

L ike its stations, no two customers are the same,

and it was noted early that it was vital to make sure

both its stations and staff have the right facilities,

tools and training to deal with every situation. In

charge of upgrading the infrastructure across some of

London’s major stations, Ralph Freeston, head of the

stations capacity programme oversaw the part opening

of the much-anticipated new look Tottenham Court Road

station on 12th January 2015. Benefitting from more then

£1bn of investment towards a new Crossrail station as

well as the Tube station upgrade, demand at the station is

expected to increase by at least 30 per cent by 2018.

With a new, larger ticket hall, additional escalators, new

strategically located entrances, better lighting and new

CCTV cameras, 150,000 passengers each day will benefit

from both a well-presented station, as well as numerous

safety and accessibility improvements. Typical of the style

of upgrades across all stations, the work programme

was drawn up following an extensive modeling exercise

in 2011, which evaluated congestion on the underground

network. “We have got six projects currently in contract,

Opening the gates

Faced with an ever-increasing population and visitor flow to its

capital, Transport for London (TfL) is undertaking major infrastructure

upgrades and customer service realignments

TRANSPORT FOR LONDON


developer. As they seek to increase throughput of the

shopping facilities, the station too will become busier

and ultimately need improvement. Such a working

arrangement can have very successful outcomes with the

developer often applying a positive pressure to complete,”

he continues.

The improvement programme as a whole concentrates

on a number of areas, as Bruno Carr, Fit for the Future

Stations Co-ordinating Sponsor highlights: “Improving

reliability, increasing capacity, extending the network and

transforming customer service are the four priorities of

London Underground and they are always at the forefront

of our activities.” Representing the customer service

improvements, he continues: “The programme rolls out a

very different model of customer service at stations across

London Underground. Our target is to ensure that the

staff are more visible and available in the ticket halls, ready

to provide valued assistance to customers.”

The ticket windows of yesteryear no longer represent

a valued service, with only three per cent of journeys

originating from purchased, over-the-counter tickets.

In fact, as technology has moved on, the trend has

zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzTRANSPORT FOR LONDON

in which my team and I work closely with our sponsor Alan

Thompson, responsible for both the congestion analysis

and prioritisation of sites,” explains Ralph.

Beyond improving congestion loads at particular

sites, projects may also be driven by opportunities that

see developers looking to improve their own business

opportunity. “One such project is at Elephant & Castle,

where we are working closely with a retail complex

Artist’s impression of the new north ticket hall at Victoria

LU staff at the opening of the new Tottenham Court Road station


included a complete rearrangement of the main ticket hall,

providing step free access down to the Victoria line, as well

as unrestricted flow to the main escalators to ensure the

station remains uncongested.

Under the scheme, the first works contracted out

completely transformed with self-service ticketing

machines, Oyster cards, and contactless payments the

source of the ever-growing business. “Since contactless

payments launched across the TfL network, there have

been over 49.7 million journeys made using this method,

which represents 13 per cent of pay as you go ticketing,”

points out Ben Graham, Fit for the Future Stations PMO

Manager.

The advance in technology also sees the introduction

of handheld mobile devices for all station personnel so

that they are able to provide better customer information.

The closure of all ticket windows is expected to be

implemented at a rate of up to six per week with a

completion date of the end of 2015, at which point self

service machines will be used for all ticket transactions

in stations, with assistance available from staff, or

alternatively via online and telephone sales, contactless

card payments or purchases at shops and newsagents.

“There are several Underground stations that have

been working with this model for some time, such as

Cannon Street, Wood Lane, Temple, and Roding Valley,

as well as recently upgraded stations such as Tottenham

Court Road and Vauxhall,” says Bruno. As one of the

smaller schemes, the infrastructure works at Vauxhall has

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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were Victoria, Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street.

“As our first stations, we were able to learn many

lessons that we have been able to take forward to

future stations,” explains Ralph, continuing: “Once the

contracts had been let, it became noticeable that had

we had more in-depth discussion with our constructors

from the outset, it would have been possible to achieve

both better flow of people, as well as some cost savings.

We were able to implement the approach on the Bank

project, and the change in direction has definitely worked

well, using the industry to help produce an accurate and

beneficial design.”

zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzTRANSPORT FOR LONDON

With the inclusion of civil works and tunneling and

major M&E works including escalators and lifts, the

projects require co-ordination of several disciplines,

but also a great deal of effort to be concentrated on

neighbours of the site, as well as minimising disruption

to the public. “It is important to keep people informed

with what is going on, so we hold monthly community

liaison panels where all parties are able to discuss the

schemes and potential disruption. London is growing

exponentially, and the station designs are vital for the

future of the network. There is a really strong future

with these programmes, particularly as the public are


A view of the new Central line interchange tunnel being constructed at Tottenham Court Road

An artist’s impression of the new Cardinal Place entrance at Victoria, which is currently being constructed

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

demanding better facilities, and we already have a

further five sites at tender stage,” highlights Ralph.

Feedback from customers for works so far,

particularly with a focus on customer service, has

already been very positive, highlighting the visibility

and approachability of staff ‘on-the-floor’. From a staff

perspective too the changes have been positive, as

Bruno points out: “Several staff members have already

reported that it is much easier to interact with the

customer without the glass divide between them, and

the technology is really making a difference to the level

of service and information that they are able to provide

to visitors to the city and users of the station.”

Whilst each of the four drives under the ‘future’

banner are delivered as stand-alone programmes,

in essence they are very much integrated as one,

with a close alignment and understanding of each

element. “Looking forward to the future years, the

four priorities that were set for the strategy of London

Underground will remain the same. This year is only

the start of the journey that will continue many more,”

concludes Bruno. zz

www.tfl.gov.ukwww.fitforthefuture.tfl.gov.uk

Exterior of the new Tottenham Court Road station

A bird’s eye view of the station upgrade work at

Tottenham Court Road, taken in January 2013


solutions its range is the largest available to the rail sector.

The quality and reliability of FP McCann products

and services are the foundation of its success, and

by constantly developing and improving its solutions it

continuously builds on that position. “Over the last 12

months we have made a number of strategic acquisitions

that have enabled us to increase our market share

substantially, as well as growing our manufacturing

capacity,” begins Stuart Carson, national sales manager

for tunnelling, rail and power. In a series of four

acquisitions ranging from manufacturing plants of modular

platforms to leaders of pre-cast concrete products, the

business has successfully increased sales and stock

profile, as well as bringing new products to the market.

“These developments have led to us receiving some of

our biggest orders to date, such as the refurbishment of

London Bridge Station with Costain,” he highlights.

Through a geographical presence that incorporates

nine manufacturing sites across the UK, the entire

rail industry is able to benefit from the innovative and

intelligent approach of the business and its products.

“We maintain a continuous dialogue with the market and

zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzFP Mccann

FP McCann has a long history of meeting its clients’

needs, having secured and completed a portfolio of

award winning projects in the UK and Ireland. Unlike

a standard manufacturer, the business manages

projects from conception to completion and handover by

providing facilities and general management throughout the

build programme. Recognised as the UK’s market leader in

the manufacture, supply and delivery of precast concrete

The combined commitment of developing through

acquisitions and organic growth has firmly positioned

FP McCann as a key solutions provider, capable of serving the

rail industry at home and abroad

evidenceConcrete

FP McCann precast concrete shafts


landmark scheme to be involved with, and delivering this

on time and to programme whilst co-ordinating the design

team, contractors and engineers is a huge feat. Taking

the leading role through using new technology, the weight

of such a demanding project has been significantly lifted.

Through the use of building information modelling (BIM),

in-situ concrete foundations and platform finishes can be

designed on a series of standard unit types, which can be

adapted across the entire station, minimising the number

of different moulds required. “This is the first time we have

been involved in BIM in terms of the design,” says Andy.

Incorporating the latest technology is an ever-growing

aspect of the business and has helped in eliminating the

complications once seen in projects where a spectrum of

services seek to use similar passages. Shedding some

light on the finer aspects Andy says: “BIM has helped no

end in detecting clashes within other services that are

tying in with the pre-cast, and the model will very much

be something that we will move forward with. This gives

the client the potential to incorporate all elements of the

project into one model highlighting any issues that could

arise, and also ensures we can pinpoint exactly where to

manufacture holes and service ducts. We are embracing

this keeps us tuned in to the industry’s needs. From

this we are able to develop products that really make a

difference, such as the dual platform coper,” points out

Stuart. The one piece unit, which consists of a standard

coper unit combined with contrasting colour tactile

section, saves installation time and avoids the problems

associated with joining coping and tactile units; such as

trip hazards and freeze/thaw exposure, and ultimately

reduced life costs. “Our range extends far beyond the

mainstream too, developing products such as the ‘lid

lock’, enhancing the cable protection range to eliminate

cable theft,” adds Andy Cooper, general manager.

Whilst the majority of FP McCann’s work is within the

envelope of the UK, its ambition to provide the finest

products to the market has been recognised further

afield, securing contracts to supply platform components

and copings in a prestigious supply deal to the Middle

East on a light railway system in Qatar. The business

is supplying Network Rail approved platform copers to

two sub-contract construction companies working on

different sections of the rail system.

The London Bridge refurbishment project was another


FP McCann pre-cast concrete easi-base 1200

FP McCann precast concrete solutions railway oversail block

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www.cblsupplies.co.uk

www.telfordfabs.co.uk


zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz FP Mccann

new technology, and the shift towards this improved

method of working as a solutions provider.”

The business has adopted a system that is so well

engineered at the early stages, that on site installation

has been simplified. Not only does this save time and

cost on installation, but more importantly, facilitates

the opportunity for clients and contractors to see the

product in ‘working’ condition at an early stage, as

Andy discusses: “The client can actually come and

look at the product even before it leaves the factory,

which is a huge advantage, particularly in prestigious

works such as London Bridge. From the contractors

point of view it promotes a quick and safe

installation, checking that it fits together even before

it arrives on site.”

A surge in project demand has inevitably led to

the development, not just in technology, but of its

workforce too, as Stuarts highlights: “We regularly take

on apprentices and provide training for new employees.

We see the importance in developing and supporting

the local community and talk with the colleges and

universities, offering internships in some regions,

and this is something we are looking to draught out

nationwide.” Functioning as a self-contained business,

the design, manufacture and final product are all

key aspects of its overall vision, but so too is supply.

Taking note from the joint venture agreements in place

between clients and contractors alike, FP McCann

has explored the potential of its own joint venture

agreement with a distributor, which will promote the

capabilities of both companies coming together to

serve the rail industry. “We expect to make a formal

announcement before the end of 2014,”

indicates Andy.

Through a combination of contractual arrangements

and the organic development of its interests, the

expectations of a 25 per cent expansion rate appear

well calculated. “We are only just scratching the

surface in terms promoting the method of working as

a solutions provider. We have achieved record sales

FP McCann precast concrete rail troughs platform coping - London Bridge

Dual Platform coping

Platform coping

this year, and predict the same as more contractors

switch over to this process, driven by health and safety,

speed of installation and quality of product. Pre-cast

concrete interests make up the majority of the turnover

and though acquisition, organic growth and investment

we will continue to cement our position in the rail

sector,” concludes Andy. zz

www.fpmccann.co.uk


zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzFP Mccann

www.hickmanandlove.co.uk

www.tybro.co.uk


www.coote.co.uk

www.vip-polymers.com

www.simply-precast.co.uk

http://www.euroacc.co.uk/


moving forward: “We were acquired by Arriva in 2008,

so this is by no means a new acquisition, however the

rebrand reinforces the position of the company within

the wider Arriva family. It also means we can take greater

advantage of synergies and be more demonstrable about

Founded in 1993, the company has grown into a well-

reputed quality overhaul and maintenance services

provider, and has continually expanding its range of

skills and services offered to ensure its capabilities in

meeting the demands of the rail industry.

In 2008, the company was acquired by its current

owner Arriva plc, within which the company operates

as an independent stand-alone business. In 2014 the

integration process was completed with a strategic rebrand

to Arriva TrainCare (ATC). Although Arriva TrainCare was

enjoying success under its previous name, the company

felt a rebrand would prove beneficial for both existing and

potential customers to understand its purpose and vision

Keen to further integrate itself within the wider Arriva group, leading independent train maintenance company London & North Western Railway Co. Ltd (LNWR) undertook a strategic rebrand in 2014

On a roll

zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzArrivA TrAinCAre

WG Specialist Coatings WG Specialist Coatings offer paint solutions to the rail industry with both works and on-site capability including site/project set up, working closely to meet customer standards and requirements. Our commitment ensures full supplier support, approval and warranty from all coating suppliers in respect to preparation, painting and livery requirements, ensuring a successful and ongoing working partnership with Arriva Traincare.

www.wgtanker.com


what being part of the Arriva DB Group can bring to us

as a business,” explains business enablement manager,

Russell Fletcher.

Today the business operates from five strategically

placed depots nationwide, located at Crewe, Bristol,

Eastleigh, Cambridge, and Tyne Yard, near Newcastle,

with over 200 dedicated and highly experienced

employees and possessing combined workshop facilities

with space for more than 70 vehicles.

The main services offered by ATC are comprised of

quality overhaul, maintenance and servicing options for

passenger rolling stock, locomotives, freight wagons and

on-track plant.

“Servicing and light maintenance activities are carried

out round the clock at our five locations, all of which

boast extensive servicing, train presentation and fuelling

facilities. Approximately 180 vehicles per night are

serviced for key passenger service customers such

as Bombardier, Siemens, Arriva Trains Wales and East

Midlands Trains. Additionally, a tandem ground wheel

lathe at Crewe depot provides our capability to undertake

wheel re-profiling, whilst freight vehicle maintenance

is also undertaken at several of our depots,” explains

Russell.

“We also undertake heavy maintenance and

refurbishment work on a wide range of passenger

vehicles, and this market segment has been identified as

one of the areas for strategic growth within the business.

zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzArrivA TrAinCAre

Your partner of choice for rail refurbishment and re-livery

AkzoNobel Autocoat BT offers a complete lead

and chromate free coatings system together with

the guarantee of excellent properties and brilliant

appearance. VOC compliant and fully approved to UK

fire regulations for surface rail, the Autocoat BT system is

ideally suited to rail refurbishment and re-livery.

Sustainable coatings solutions from the rail refurbishment industry’s partner of choice: AkzoNobel.

Sustainable rail refurbishment coatings from AkzoNobel Autocoat BT

http://www.sikkenscv.net/Products/Pages/autocoatbt.aspx

Cameron Forecourt Cameron Forecourt are the UK’s largest “Commercial Fuelling Solutions” specialist and are pleased to supply Arriva Train Care with the following: l WEB Based Fuel Management Systemsl Commercial fuel pumps l PPG2 compliant fuel tanks lTank Gauging & Environmental Monitoring Systems l Project management & complete installation services l Nationwide field support WEB based Fuel Management and Veeder-Root Tank Gauge systems are designed to provide Professional Fuel Control and when linked together provide ultimate security via email message alerts for fuel misuse or theft.

These activities are presently undertaken at our Crewe

and Bristol depots and are likely to be expanded to other

locations in the future. The strategic spread of depots across

the UK means that ATC can offer our customers greater and

more readily available options in terms of fleet locations, while

providing the company with an excellent base of potential

future growth and diversification opportunities.”

No stranger to working with leading train operating

companies (TOCs), rolling stock leasing companies

(ROSCOs) and train manufacturers on these ambitious

projects, the company has recently commenced work on

two new major contracts at its Bristol and Crewe depots;

the former of which involves a C4 exam and the installation

of new Auxiliary Power Units on 24 Mark 3 coaching stock

vehicles.

“This project is being undertaken on behalf of Chiltern

Railways and is progressing well, having completed

around 25 per cent of the fleet to date,” confirms Russell.

“Meanwhile, in Crewe, we commenced a contract working

with Porterbrook, undertaking a C6 overhaul, full external

repaint and interior modifications to a fleet of 74 Class 170

‘Turbostar’ vehicles.

“Additionally, during 2014 we also completed a

comprehensive internal and external refurbishment project

zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzArrivA TrAinCAre


www.cameronforecourt.co.uk

at Crewe that returned four Mark 3 coaches back into

passenger service for Arriva Train Wales that had previously

been in storage for a number of years, and completing a

busy year for our Heavy Maintenance operations, our team at

Bristol completed a classified repair program for Angel Trains

on Class 142 vehicles that saw every unit completed on time

over the duration of the 12 month programme.”

With the upcoming Persons of Reduced Mobility Technical

Specification for Interoperability (PRM TSI) regulations across

all transport modes, including heavy and light rail, coming

into force in 2020, Russell anticipates further growth for Arriva

TrainCare over the upcoming five years: “With regard to the

PRM TSI Legislation, there are a lot of rail vehicles operating

on the railway today that were built prior to this legislation

being introduced and therefore a significant amount of vehicle

modification work needs to be done between now and 2020,

across the industry in general, in ensuring these vehicles

are fit for continued service after the introduction of this

legislation.

“In addition to this, we see the market as also very

buoyant, with significant activity taking place in both heavy

maintenance and interior refresh projects. As such, we are

well placed to add to our order book during 2015, and we

continue to seek new opportunities and customers. We

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz


expect the next five years to be a very busy time and for

customers to be looking for value added solutions from their

key suppliers. We are very focused on making sure that

we play a major part in helping our customers deliver and

we believe that the company’s collaborative, solutions led

approach will allow us to provide this,” he concludes. zz

www.arrivatc.com

www.churchillservices.com


zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzBourne Steel

Comprehensive capability Formed in 1946, Bourne

Steel sits amongst the top five fabrication companies in the UK


with a variety of partners. As part of the project, the

work consisted of off-site production at the company’s

yard, promoting many benefits, as Nick Hatton,

managing director explains: “Bourne took on the total

design responsibility for the modular canopy solution,

thus reducing design co-ordination risk to our client.”

The development of a fully integrated design saw

collaborative working between Bourne Off-Site Solutions

and Lakesmere, with integration of M&E containment,

dramatically reducing the requirement of site input

from its client. “By working together collaboratively we

successfully carried out the off-site manufacture, and

Employing over 250 people, its engineering

excellence drives forward the business,

supported by both an exceptional management

skill and an extremely accomplished,

comprehensive workshop. The business holds a firm

belief in the correlation between the quality of the

relationship between its own project team, customers,

and suppliers, and the quality of the service and products

that it is able to deliver.

Highlighting its commitment to developing strong

relationships, the business recently completed the

renovation of Reading Station, on which it worked closely



installation of some of the largest roof modules in the

UK at the Farringdon Station Thameslink development,

which was also instrumental in us winning the 2012,

Construction News Specialist Award for steel.

“Through a combination of investment and detailed

attention to design for manufacture, we established

a production line process, which gives us certainty of

output, and engineering excellence and quality,” says

Nick Hatton. Having developed an off-site production

line it was able to carry out the manufacturing of canopy

cassettes at its assembly facility in Poole. The production

line was designed to accommodate the various size

modules, which ranged from 5m to 17m wide. Once

Joseph Ash Galvanizing – Providing First Class Galvanizing Services to the Bourne Group Since 1999 Joseph Ash Galvanizing has been proud to provide steel finishing services to the Bourne Group – one of the top five steel fabrication companies in the UK. As their preferred galvanizing supplier, we have supported the Bourne Group by galvanizing steel frames and other associated steelwork for a variety of important construction projects such as Bristol Parkway railway station, The Cube in Birmingham, and a new train station in Reading.Joseph Ash Galvanizing looks forward to continuing a great relationship with the Bourne Group for many more years to come.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Bourne Steel

www.josephash.co.uk


the cladding was fitted to the units all joints between

the modules were checked to ensure a right first time

installation on site, before knitting together the ‘zip up’

components to reduce the installation time on site.

Furthermore, this process provided opportunity to

integrate M&E containment and possible plug and play

electrical installation within the modules.

“Ultimately this minimised the degree of on-site

co-ordination to be delivered by Costain/Hochtief

between steel and cladding contractors,” says Nick,

adding: “More importantly, it removed the dependence

upon the civils activities, requiring only the column

foundations to be installed to allow installation of the

canopy support columns and subsequent canopy

installation.” A substantial overall saving in the project

programme and greater certainty of on-time project

delivery, together with a snag free high quality product

was achieved using this method. Constructing off-site

also opens opportunity to provide a prototype unit

for inspection and development by all parties. Brian

Fisher, project director for the Reading area station

redevelopment provides a valuable client perspective

on the project: “When Bourne and Lakesmere came

to us with a collaborative and innovative approach, we

absolutely knew that this was the right thing for this

project. There is no doubt that the pre-fabrication and

the offsite manufacture of the roof modules at Bourne’s

yard in Poole, improved the quality of the product and

absolutely improved the installation.”

“Another benefit that comes from manufacturing the

majority of the construction in-house is that it opens

up an opportunity for the client to visit and inspect the

canopy modules throughout the assembly process,


heavily reducing programme risk with opportunity

for advanced sign off,” highlights Nick. Evidence has

proved that a reduced number of site operatives and

installation man-hours leads to a reduced health and

safety risk. “We are certified to BS 18001 for our

Health and Safety Management Systems as well as

holding green credentials in high regard, and as such

we hold BS14001 certification for our environmental

management,” he adds. As a result of this method of

production and installation, the business successfully

converted several hundred thousand possession hours

into day time factory hours, providing higher rates of

output, a better quality of work and a happier workforce.

“Most importantly, this method reduces the risk to the

travelling public,” adds Brian.

In February 2015 the business won the ‘Outstanding

Project Award’ for medium sized projects between £3m

and £20m for its work on the Reading Station canopies

project. Recognition of the company’s innovative

approach for its work on Farringdon Station also saw it

shortlisted for the award in 2014 in the UK Rail Industry

Awards. The scope of the improvement project saw

the business install a train shed roof, comprising of fully

clad modules 28m x 4m x 4m high, and an integrated


zz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzBourne Steel

www.hi-techsurfacetreatment.co.uk

http://www.valeprotective.co.uk/



ticket hall for the Thameslink Programme. The structural

steel frame with elements encased in concrete off-site,

and nine fully fitted out roof lights, assembled at its yard,

were delivered and installed over three nights. A second

feat of engineering on the project was seen with a 34m

long fully fitted out over track crossing that was delivered

during a single-track possession.

Commenting on significant projects for the future,

Nick recalls how the previous projects, such as its works

at London Bridge Station have been responsible for

its future path: “Temporary canopies were installed to

existing above-ground platforms. The success of the

work we undertook on the site has followed on to us

securing a contract for the new staff accommodation

block, some of which are in the London Bridge Arches,

and east and west retail units located in the main

concourse. We have also been awarded a contract

with BFK (Bam Ferrovial Keir JV), for the next phase at

Farringdon Station for Crossrail, developing the new east

and west ticket halls.”

Having gained its principle contractor licence with

Network Rail, Bourne is now able to tender directly with

Network Rail on projects, further lining itself for a fast

moving future. As rail integrates itself fully into the ‘digital’

age, Bourne Steel has been embracing the drive for fully

integrated BIM models across all its projects. “This has

seen us receive the 2009 Telka BIM Awards for Strata

Tower, and later the 2013 Tekla BIM Award for Reading

Station, by public vote,” says Nick. Utilising its broad and

far-reaching expertise, the company looks ahead with

ambition to meet the challenges of any project. zz

www.bournegroup.eu

www.poundfield.com

Forthcoming Conferences and Exhibitions This listing represents a selection of the events about which we have been notified. It is strongly recommended that direct contact should be made with the individual

organiser responsible for each event before booking places or making travel and accommodation reservations. Cancellations and other last-minute alterations are liable to occur. The editor and publishers of RAILWAY STRATEGIES are not responsible for any loss or inconvenience suffered by readers in connection with this guide to events.


24 MarchIntroduction to rolling stockProvides a basic understanding of the role of traction and rolling stock within the context of railway systems as a whole

25 MarchTraction and brakingPrinciples of traction and braking for railway engineers

26 March Train communication and auxiliary systemsNew and existing systems in use on today’s rolling stock fleet

14 AprilFleet maintenance - IntroductionImprove your processes and fleet maintenance processes

A listing of courses currently available from the IMechE (Unless stated otherwise, all courses are in London)

Institute of Mechanical Engineers Training Courses Technical training for the railway industry

9-11 MarchMetrorail Europe 2015Olympia, LondonOrganiser: TerrapinnTel: 0207 092 1125Email: [email protected]: www.terrapinn.com/conference/metrorail

17-18 MarchMiddle East RailDubai International Convention and Exhibition CentreOrganiser: TerrapinnTel: +971 4440 2500Email: [email protected]: www.terrapinn.com/exhibition/ middle-east-rail

17-19 March Rail-Tech 2015UtrechtOrganiser: Europoint Conferences & ExhibitionsTel: +31 (0)30 698 1800Email: [email protected]: www.rail-tech.com

18 March The Future of Rail Signalling: Transition to ERTMSStephenson Harwood, LondonOrganiser: Waterfront Conference CompanyTel: 0207 067 1597Email: [email protected]: www.waterfrontconferencecompany.com/conferences/rail/events/rail-signalling-ertms

24-26 MarchIntermodal Asia 2015Shanghai World Expo CentreOrganiser: Informa ExhibitionsTel: 02075 519 309Web: www.intermodal-asia.com/ 25 MarchReleasing Capacity on the UK Rail NetworkDentons, LondonOrganiser: Waterfront Conference CompanyTel: 0207 067 1597Email: [email protected]: www.waterfrontconferencecompany.com

31 March to 1 AprilAsiaPacificRail 2015Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition CentreOrganiser: TerrapinnTel: (65) 6322 2720Email: [email protected]: www.terrapinn.com/exhibition/ asia-pacific-rail

14-16 AprilWorld Travel Catering & Onboard Services EXPOHamburg Messe, GermanyOrganiser: Reed ExhibitionsTel: 0208 910 7132Email: [email protected]: www.worldtravelcateringexpo.co

12-14 MayRailtex 2015NEC, BirminghamOrganiser: Mack Brooks ExhibitionsTel: 01727 814 400Email: [email protected] Web: www.railtex.co.uk

3 June23rd Annual Rail Freight Group ConferenceStephenson Harwood, LondonOrganiser: Waterfront Conference CompanyTel: 0207 067 1597Email: [email protected]: www.waterfrontconferencecompany.com

15-17 JulyRailNewcastle ConferenceNewcastle upon TyneOrganiser: NewRailTel: 01912 083 976Email: www.newrail.org/educationWeb: conferences.ncl.ac.uk/railnewcastleconference

For more information, please contact Lucy O’Sullivan, learning and development co-ordinator: Tel: +44 (0)20 7304 6907 Email: [email protected]: www.imeche.org/learning/courses/railway

15 AprilFleet maintenance - AdvancedUnderstand the issues affecting rail vehicle performance and cost of maintenance

16 AprilTrain structural integrityStructural integrity, fire and crashworthiness systems found on today’s rail fleets

12 MayTrain control and safety systemsLearn of the systems used on UK fleets that provide safety and train operational control

13 MayVehicle acceptance and approvalsIntroduction to acceptance procedures which apply across the rail network

Date: 14 MayVehicle dynamics and vehicle track interactionUnderstand the dynamics of railway vehicles to improve safety, comfort and asset life

Date: 18-22 MayIntroduction to railway signalling technologiesAn overview of railway control systems, subsystems and technologies used on UK main line and metro railways

Downloadable brochure is available at: www.imeche.org/learning-and-development/courses/railway

zzzzzzzzzzzzz NEWS I Conferences & Exhibitions

www.knorr-bremse.co.uk

www.zonegreen.co.uk

EditorGay Sutton

[email protected]

Sales ManagerJoe Woolsgrove

[email protected]

www.railwaystrategies.co.uk

RAILWAYS T R A T E G I E Szzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

FOR SENIOR RAIL MANAGEMENT

Schofield Publishing10 Cringleford Business Centre

Intwood Road Cringleford Norwich NR4 6AU

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Railway Strategies Issue 115 Final Edition

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Transcript of Railway Strategies Issue 115 Final Edition