Carillion Rail brochure by Rail Magazine

Magazine

Published articles in 2016

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Collaborating to ensure world class delivery CarillionĂ&#x2022;s Crossrail team has brought together highly skilled and motivated people who, through collaboration, are delivering vital parts of this project which will help transform rail travel.

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Carillion has had a busy time through 2016 - elements of this were demonstrated via our series of articles in RAIL Magazine. The full scope of what we have achieved through the year can be summarised as: ■ Scotland & NE “MAFA” carrying out multidisciplinary work, including completing the station remodelling at Doncaster ■ Midland & NW “Panel” contract carrying out rail engineering work throughout the Midlands & NW; including preparing for Preston – Manchester Electrification and Bedford to Corby upgrade ■ Wales “MAFA” - multi-disciplinary work in Wales, including an upgrade of the Ebbw Vale Branchline ■ Western Renewals – bridge renewals in the West of England

■ East to West Rail Phase 1 – completing the Oxford – Bicester to London new rail route, opened in December ■ Crossrail West – significant remodelling of the mainline railway to the west of London, to accommodate the increased traffic when the “Elizabeth Line” opens. ■ Thameslink “Outer Areas” – improvements to the network both north and south of London to cope with the improved service and longer trains, largely completed in 2016 ■ Plain Line Track Renewal – throughout the NW as well as on the East Coast and Midland Mainlines ■ “National Electrification Programme” – electrification of the Shotts line in Scotland and the Bedford to Corby line (via Kettering) ■ Maintenance of the East London Line – another successful year maintaining this stretch of mainline railway.

The articles featured in this review were published over 2016, to fit with the magazine’s schedule. The articles cover important aspects of our work and describe the issues that are important to our success. These include safety, sustainability and collaboration; as well as describing projects such as Crossrail West and electrification in Scotland. These are genuine articles, written by RAIL’s skilled journalists, we are grateful for RAIL Magazine’s assistance in telling our story over the year.

SPECIAL REPORT

THE MAN WITH THE PLAN On the most congested section of the Crossrail route, meticulous planning and unfettered collaboration are key to success, says Carillion’s Crossrail West Director WAYNE BRIGDEN

’ve just worked five nights in a row. That’s why I look much older than I really am I’m actually only 21!” Carillion’s Crossrail West Director Wayne Brigden doesn’t shy away from getting stuck into every job with his staff - including on Bank Holiday possessions such as those at Easter, just before RAIL’s visit. Wayne Brigden oversees three large packages of work on the Crossrail project between Paddington and Heathrow on the new east-west London route, for which Carillion is the principal contractor for Network Rail. This involves a massive programme of works to transform the existing tracks, infrastructure, stations and signalling in preparation for the Elizabeth Line. “We certainly have the toughest patch,” Brigden tells RAIL at the company’s project offices in North Kensington. “Any delay to the Heathrow Express can have serious consequences. And this section is where the

HEx trains meet the Great Western Railway trains. I admit, it’s a challenging job - but an amazing one.” Brigden has worked on Crossrail since October 2013. Carillion’s civils team started early works on-site in 2012. The three contracts (see panel) are:

CV Wayne Brigden Wayne Brigden is Crossrail West Director for Carillion. After leaving school he began working on the railway and has spent the past 20 years working his way up from the grassroots. Says Brigden: “My brother-in-law asked me if I wanted to work with him as an apprentice, so that’s where I started. I went through in the re-laying gangs, then became supervisor, then production manager. After that I ran a track renewals depot

■ Old Oak Common to Paddington Approaches (OOCPA). ■ West Inner Track Infrastructure (WITI). ■ Stockley Main Civils. Each has its own dedicated project management and delivery teams and a project director, who reports to Brigden. It’s a busy time

at Smethwick in Birmingham, and moved into projects in 2007. I went on to a number of projects around London on delivery and project management. I got the chance to lead Crossrail as the project director on the WITI contract to start with, and then assumed overall responsibility. “Sometimes I look back and think ‘they let me loose with best part of £400 million! How did I get here?’ It’s fabulous. Whatever happens, I want to carry on building major projects.”

PROMOTION

CARILLION’S CROSSRAIL CONTRACTS Old Oak Common to Paddington Approaches (OOCPA) JUNE 2013-MARCH 2018 The OOCPA contract is made up of both Crossrail and Intercity Express Programme (IEP) works. Broadly speaking, this is overhead line equipment (OLE) work, track work and heavy and ancillary civils. Carillion works closely with signalling contractor Alstom on this section. All the OLE and track alterations required for Crossrail in this section are specified in this contract, including track turnouts at Westbourne Park (which go into the new tunnels) and building the new lines all the way into the new Old Oak Common depot. A huge amount of civil engineering has been required, with new embankments known as the East and West ramps, which facilitate the new lines from Paddington as they come out of Westbourne Park and into the depot. An array of minor civils work then takes place on top of the heavy works, such as under-track crossings for cable management, piling, and structure foundations for the overhead lines. About 110 Carillion staff work on this contract, under the direction of Project Director Ed Gardiner (see panel).

West Inner Track Infrastructure (WITI) RAIL photography: PAUL BIGLAND.

across the whole project, he says. “Between now and May, when the timetable changes for the summer timetable, we’ll be working at full stretch across the patch. After that we’ll do less work under possessions until September. But our busiest period will be between this September and next March, when we will be working flat-out. “This will be the busiest Christmas period yet for Crossrail.” Brigden elaborates: “The WITI team will be installing track and overhead lines onto the new flyover. Before that, in October, is the last piece of the jigsaw at Stockley [where a second flyover is being built].” These jobs take months of meticulous planning and Brigden’s team takes the task extremely seriously. “People don’t get to see just how much work is involved with project planning. In Christmas 2014, there was an overrun here and it made the headlines. What people didn’t see is how difficult that was for the

JUNE 2015-MAY 2017 WITI comprises some core key projects, plus additional work Carillion has been asked to do since the contract started.

The main works are at Acton, West Ealing, Southall and Stockley, with further OLE and track work at Ealing Broadway, Acton Main Line and Hayes & Harlington.

Stockley Main Civils 2012-OCTOBER 2016 The other core contract is Stockley Main Civils, which has been building the flyover into Heathrow. Brigden says this is, by far, the most challenging job he’s ever done because most of the works have had to be completed in an operational railway environment. In 2013-2014, Carillion built a new ramp, viaduct and flyover on the relief (northern) side of the railway, joining the relief lines to the airport lines. And during 2015-2016, the team has built what is known as the East flyover. It comprises a 150m box beam tunnel and 300m reinforced ramp that descends between the reliefs and the mains at Stockley. All this has been completed either in night-time possessions or midweek daytime working with the lines open; the entire job had to be done while only having one line blocked and one open. This work will be finished in October this year. Brigden says that’s when the final piece of the jigsaw will be put in place. He’s noticeably excited about this part of the job and keen to show off photographs of the enormous crane he’s just finished trialling. Brigden laughs: “Railwaymen always have photographs.” The crane will be used to lift 200 robust kerbs into position over the track, while the main lines are open beside them.

SUCCESSFUL COLLABORATION It’s clear from the way Brigden describes Carillion’s work that collaboration is of great importance to him. He provides a shining example of how this has worked in practice: “We did some work at Christmas that I’m really proud of. At Paddington’s Platform 14, we had a strongly collaborative approach with the LU track partnership, and also Morgan Sindall. “We carried out track alterations and constructed the new Platform 14. Track Partnership for LU renewed track on Platforms 15 and 16, and Morgan Sindall did a huge amount of work on the roof during the Christmas blockade. We fully integrated all that as one team. “We had a lot of interface where we

needed to be working in close proximity to each other and it was the first time that the Network Rail lines and the LU lines had been done at the same time. “LU couldn’t access their work with their trains because it’s an island platform, so they placed our trains on NR infrastructure and used them to take their spoil away and bring track materials in, and we used their trains to take our spoil away. “The amount of integration was superb. LU and NR proved they could work together to get the work done for the good of London. A collaborative approach, a mature management team a team that’s matured over the past few years at that – was the perfect recipe.”

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SPECIAL REPORT planning team to deal with. “Everybody on this job wants to be able to meet the deadlines. They’re not mercenaries who couldn’t care less about the impact on services and the public. The paying public is at the top of everyone’s agenda - without them there is no railway. We all understand the frustration of waiting for late-running trains.” What are the most important aspects of working on a project like Crossrail? Says Brigden: “Safety of the workforce, looking after the project’s ‘neighbours’ and, certainly, ensuring that passengers get where they need to go. “These projects are difficult. If we were working in a new greenfield environment, we wouldn’t need nearly as many people, and things would be very different. If Stockley had been for a new motorway in an empty field somewhere, it wouldn’t be so difficult. But we had to carry the work out at weekends, and at night in five-hour possessions.” Despite the heavy working restrictions, Brigden runs a tight ship and major problems are rare. What’s his technique? “The overarching factor in this job is collaboration. One of the reasons Carillion assigned me to this is my delivery focus. But also I’m seen as one of the more collaborative directors in the business.

‘A REWARDING CHALLENGE’ Ed Gardiner is Carillion’s project director for the Crossrail OOCPA contract, working under Brigden. He is one of three project directors for the contracts Brigden oversees. Says Gardiner: “A huge challenge we face is the limited track access to carry out any work. If we ever need to do anything over all the lines, such as putting overhead line portals up, we either get threehour time slots at the weekends or, if we need more than three hours, we have to do it

Hanwell Reading

Southall Hayes & Harlington

T1, 2, 3 Heathrow T4

Ealing Broadway Acton Main Line

West Ealing

N SURFACE LINE TUNNEL OLD OAK COMMON-PADDINGTON APPROACHES (OOCPA) WEST INNER TRACK INFRASTRUCTURE (WITI) STOCKLEY MAIN CIVILS

‘OOCPA ENGINEERING’

at Christmas. “As a consequence, we’re very focused on effective preparatory work so that we’re ready for those Christmas blockades. It’s extremely challenging – there are rocks and hard places on every site. Design is a constant challenge to make sure it meets all the requirements. But it’s extremely rewarding when you achieve your goal.” Gardiner has worked on the railway for 37 years, starting as a trainee track technician in Perth in 1979. He says he’s always been passionate about the rail industry and, like Brigden, is keen to work on HS2. Brigden has to have the last words: “He’s underselling himself. What he hasn’t told you is that he’s a wonderful engineer!”

Paddington

People don’t get to see just how much work is involved with project planning. WAYNE BRIGDEN, Crossrail West Director, Carillion

“All the businesses concerned have pulled together for a single goal because they know that Crossrail has to be a success. Nobody is obliged to collaborate – but everybody has chosen to do it because it’s the right thing to do.” Collaboration within Carillion is even deeper than the integration with other contractors - being a nationwide business, the different project teams work with each other at busy times. Says Brigden: “At a very early stage, when I identify what are our very busy periods, Carillion Rail as a whole comes together to support us. Over the Christmas period, many other senior guys from Carillion operations directors, project directors and construction staff - came here purely to help make sure Crossrail was a success. Not only do we integrate and collaborate at contract level, but it’s common practice throughout Carillion too; from the managing director down, everyone supports the successful completion of Crossrail.” How is that need for resources communicated to the rest of Carillion? “At the planning stage I go to a central Carillion resource forum and I present what resource we need to deliver the works. All the resources are shared nationally (both white collar and blue collar work). We also have Carillion Managed Plant to ensure we get all the plant resources we need.” Brigden has already distributed the full schedule for Christmas, and specified what possessions and access to the sites will be needed. Communicating those needs so far in advance is essential; at the end of the year Carillion teams will be extremely busy, not just on Crossrail, but at Doncaster station and in Northants. What are Carillion’s biggest achievements on this project so far? “How we managed Christmas 2015. We carried out 275,000 hours of work on Crossrail West and everybody went home safe. We’ve just completed 50,000 hours at Easter and, again, everybody went home safe.” Brigden beams with pride at this. “If you’ve delivered the work but somebody hasn’t gone home safe, you’ve

PROMOTION

MISSION CONTROL Preparation is the key to a successful project. Carillion uses a system on all its projects that ensures every aspect and every person is fully prepared for the task at hand. Mission Room is a sophisticated computer system that allows footage of an entire worksite to be uploaded and displayed across four connected screens. This allows everyone who will be involved on a possession job to familiarise themselves with the working environment. They can view all the access points to the site and identify the relevant safety-critical information with real-life visual references to avoid confusion. Carillion’s Mission Room guru, PC Site Manager Stuart Cooke, says:

failed. I absolutely love delivering completed work, but taking care of your workforce is a top priority.” He reels off more success stories: “From a delivery point of view the highlight is what we’ve built at Stockley - the flyover and east flyover… and the collaboration at Paddington - the Crossrail and London Underground work [see panel] …and the large amount of works we’ve done at Acton and West The majority of Carillion’s work at OOCPA is being done while the adjacent lines remain open, making it incredibly challenging but avoiding disruption to passengers and the rest of the railway.

“Since we started doing this, it’s made everything so much safer and clearer to everybody. We go through the entirety of a possession in this way. After it has all been explained, we go through the work. And then we can see the impact it will have on the site, highlight all of the safety alerts and any issues which might be relevant for that particular week. Those are subsequently distributed via email.” Brigden says Mission Room has really changed the profile of how Carillion manages briefings and pre-planning. If work needs to be re-planned because a possession ran late or work needs to change, it can first be simulated in the Mission Room environment to identify and predict any potential pitfalls.

Ealing so far. Oh, and handing back on time at Christmas and Easter, so there was no disruption, was a huge achievement.” Brigden isn’t afraid to laud his teams’ triumphs. And he confides in RAIL that he doesn’t think the industry celebrates its successes enough. With the success of Carillion’s work on Crossrail, what does Brigden want the company to move onto next? “For me the golden nugget will be if we get the chance to build High Speed 2’s Old Oak Common station. With our knowledge and experience, there’s a great chance that we may be working on that. It’s 140 miles away from my home, but it’d be worth it!” Finally, Brigden summarises his key drivers: safety, delivery and delighted clients, (which, he points out, includes the passengers). “Showing how Carillion can deliver large multi-discipline projects is a big thing for me. At Carillion we uphold the ideal of a perfect day, where all our employees have gone home safe, we have a delighted client and we make the necessary commercial position to allow us to do it again.”

SPECIAL REPORT

ROOT AND BRANCH COMMITMENT It’s not just lip service - Carillion’s RACHAEL RILEY is committed to proving the benefits of sustainability with measurable results and tangible, positive effects.

hile the profile of sustainability is steadily rising in the rail industry, many companies still see it as a secondary concern, or do not place enough emphasis on sustainable principles in the running of their business. Requirements made by Network Rail or government can only go so far in influencing behaviour. It takes real drive from individuals within a company to make a material impact and to set an agenda that encourages everyone to play their part. Nowhere is this idea being put into such good practice than within Carillion Rail. Its East Midlands division is working on Network Rail’s £2.7 billion programme to upgrade the Midland Main Line between St Pancras and Sheffield. Under Carillion’s five-year framework contract, the company is delivering line speed improvements, installation and reinstatement of twin

tracking, and upgrading and replacement of bridge structures. On such a big project, sustainable practices become even more important, and a team dedicated to promoting them has been established under the passionate leadership of Sustainability Manager Rachael Riley. “Sustainability is absolutely a core business process,” says Riley. “It is fundamental to being a successful business, and Carillion has understood that for a long time. It’s woven into a successful business portfolio and operational processes.” Riley heads a small team that includes an environment adviser, community relations adviser and an administrator. Carillion also has experts around the business who

specialise in particular fields, and when their advice or support is needed Carillion has the flexibility to allow them to come in, assist, and then move on to the next area needing their support. It is this kind of agility that means projects will always get the best support available. So what does sustainability mean for Carillion? “There are three enablers: senior management commitment, sustainable design and sustainable procurement. Those are the three big hitters for us. “I am an environment specialist, but sustainability is a much broader subject than that. The business benefits by being socially aware, not only responding to client

It’s beneficial to us to demonstrate that we’re a responsible business. RACHAEL RILEY, Sustainability Manager, Carillion

PROMOTION

SUSTAINABLE DESIGN PROCESS Where big projects are concerned, it has always been difficult to embed sustainability into the design process, meaning that any achievements are not always easy to prove. Often, sustainable design plans are written by sustainability specialists in isolation from the core design process, or are produced too late to make any difference. Carillion’s sustainability team is working closely with the lead designer on the MML project (Atkins) to develop practical processes for sustainable design that produce measurable success and tangible evidence to support it. A thorough design management process ensures that sustainability is considered right from the start of a design’s inception, through to completion. As part of the collaboration with Atkins, the team has developed a number of tools: ■■ Appropriate levels of competent resources. ■■ A sustainable design plan – setting

ATKINS.

requirements but the community too - and it’s beneficial to us to demonstrate that we’re a responsible business.” On the MML upgrade, Carillion is working closely with NR and other contractors to lead the programme’s sustainability strategy across a number of areas: sustainable procurement; employment, skills and training; and having a positive impact on biodiversity (we’ll come back to these later). Says Riley: “Myself and the other sustainability advisers at Carillion talk to people in other disciplines to find out where and what we need to influence. We also ask the people working on our contracts to provide us with case studies. Just one page of notes is so valuable for learning and sharing with colleagues.” By including sustainability in the initial thinking and planning stage on a project, better decisions are made in terms of sustainability. For example, Riley explains

out how sustainability considerations are integrated into the core design process. ■■ A sustainable design tracker - to record decisions, including workshop sessions with the client and design team. ■■ Material Use Plans (MUPs) - used to assess options for the top materials by volume against sustainability performance criteria, to inform design decisions. ■■ Use of Atkins’ rail industry carbon tool to feed into the MUP carbon criteria. There have already been plenty of positive results from this method of working. Recycled plastic cable troughing has been specified where possible - it’s 25% lighter than concrete troughing and it reduces the embodied carbon content by more than 90%. Where appropriate, pre-cast concrete elements have been specified, avoiding the need for in situ concrete placement, which has a much higher environmental impact.

PROTECTED SPECIES MITIGATION LICENSING Species such as great crested newts and badgers are protected by UK and European legislation, making mitigation on large rail projects a tricky issue. Where species are in a project area, it can have a significant impact, causing delays and increased costs. Carillion ecologists have led the way on an approach to protected species mitigation licensing that provides greater programme certainty and avoids potential costs of £20,000 per night. Natural England issued the first ever project-wide mitigation licences for protected species to the East Midlands team, removing the risk of delays during time-critical work such as gantry installation. The licence allows for great crested newts to be moved and badger setts to be disturbed outside the normally allowed timeframe. ■■ This project is covered in more detail in RAIL 798 (‘Coping with the foraging of species’).

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SPECIAL REPORT MMP stakeholder engagement workshop attended by Natural England, Wildlife Trusts, RSPB and Environment Agency in February. ATKINS.

that a contractor might be asked to specify the concrete for a project. So they will use the same product they’ve always used. But by applying sustainable principles at the design stage, more appropriate choices can be made in terms of environmental impact, or responsible sourcing. Collaboration with the designers and contractors involved in a project is a vital part of that. The creation of a sustainable future for the industry is a major priority in itself, and momentum is slowly increasing to ensure there is a workforce capable of supporting rail over the coming years. Once again, this is as much about individual commitment as it is about government policy. Says Riley: “We are facing a recruitment and retention challenge in the construction

industry, and particularly in rail. While Carillion is faring better than many, we are still feeling the effects of a transient workforce. It’s clear that diversity and inclusion is one way to address that. So we need to do something different, we can’t just be recruiting the same type of people, or we won’t be able to meet the industry’s needs. We have to be a fairer and more inclusive workplace.” Why is rail not currently a diverse industry? “We don’t know, but we’re learning. On the East Midlands, we’ve started trying to answer that question by taking a very local level diversity and inclusion survey. We’ve done that jointly with the other partners that we’re working with. We’ve had over 200 responses and the results

RE-USE OF MATERIALS

8,000kg

Electrification of the Midland Main Line will require more than 100 site accesses and compounds to be built, several of which will need to accommodate a few hundred workers from multiple contractors. The Wellingborough compound is designed to house 300 office staff and its construction required the levelling and compaction of a large area adjacent to the track. Using all-new material for this would have been expensive and unsustainable. Two projects were identified at Murphy’s Milton Ernest site and Carillion’s Peak Forest site in Luton, where there was sustainable material suitable for re-use in Wellingborough, and which would otherwise have been discarded.

CO2 emissions saved from reduced transport of material.

£30,000

saved by avoiding purchasing all-new material.

2,600 tonnes £70,000 of inert waste diverted from landfill.

saved by re-using material and avoiding landfill.

are very much in line with the industry as a whole. For example, 5% of our East Midlands employees are women, whereas in the rest of the industry they represent 12%. The overall Carillion figure is better - more than one third are women. “We’re using the survey to figure out what the barriers might be. From that we’ll work out how to overcome them, and then implement ongoing monitoring. There are barriers that we know about around unsociable hours, such as possession working. Traditionally, people have been expected to work away from home. That’s common for civil engineering and other engineering disciplines. The drop-off of diversity begins at university, then after graduates are taken on, and then after formergraduate employees become established in their careers. There’s a gradual drop-off at each stage. It’s the same in every engineering industry, but there are particular challenges for rail.” Sustainability creates an impetus to voluntarily make positive changes, and that is one factor that makes it a worthy concept in a business context. By going beyond the requirements set out by government or clients, beneficial outcomes can be achieved for the environment and communities, that ultimately benefit the rail industry’s reputation and improve public perception. For Carillion, an example is biodiversity. Network Rail carried out a pilot scheme on the Thameslink programme to calculate permanent natural habitat loss and Carillion is now leading implementation of the ‘biodiversity net positive’ toolkit in the East Midlands. Using internal training and external stakeholder engagement workshops, the idea is to design projects that will mitigate habitat loss, leading to a net gain in biodiversity. “This is such an exciting new area,” says Riley. “We’ve made the impact of our work

PROMOTION

CARILLION’S SUSTAINABILITY 2020 STRATEGY Sustainability has been vital to Carillion’s people for the 16 years that it has been a public company. Its Sustainability 2020 Strategy was launched in 2011. It has made the following six positive outcomes in its drive to create a ‘Better Business, Better Society and Better Environment’: net positive contribution.

- Carillion’s services will help its customers work towards minimising carbon, with the aim of becoming the lowest carbon producers in their respective sectors. ■■ Protecting the environment Carillion will work with its customers and suppliers to be the leaders in reducing waste, managing use of water and raw materials, and protecting biodiversity wherever it operates. ■■ Supporting sustainable communities - Carillion’s leadership in creating employment and skills opportunities, coupled with its understanding of communities’ needs, will make a significant and

■■ Providing better prospects

for its people - The firm offers opportunities for continual learning and development, and ensures safe and healthy places to work. ■■ Leading the way in its sector Carillion is striving to be recognised as the benchmark for sustainability and innovation, in turn driving demand as the service provider of choice for its customers. ■■ Building successful business The aim is to increase shareholder value through its sector leadership and focus on profit contribution through sustainable efficiencies, value creation and waste elimination.

Here are just a few highlights from Carillion’s sustainable achievements: ■■ Business in the Community’s

■■ The Times Top 50 Employer

overall responsible Business of the Year in 2003. ■■ The only FTSE company to win the Building Public Trust Award for Sustainability Reporting three years in a row. ■■ All targets in Carillion’s annual sustainability report were independently verified by an auditor (Bureau Veritas). You can read the report at http://sustainability2015. carillionplc.com/index.html ■■ 58% of Carillion’s UK spend goes to local or small to medium-sized companies (SMEs).

for Women and Business in the Community’s 2015 Diversity Champion. ■■ Achieved a 31% carbon reduction since 2011 and a Carbon Disclosure Project ‘A-list leader’ in the global climate change index. ■■ Carillion people receive up to six days extra paid leave a year to volunteer in their communities. ■■ Last year they helped their 400th disadvantaged person get back to work, and provided their 1,000th work placement.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Alongside Network Rail, the Carillion East Midlands team is identifying ways that it can support local communities. During 2015 they raised £90,000 in time, materials and cash for community projects. They support Wildlife Trusts, Hospice UK, Food Banks and STEMNET (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Network), as well as projects to help women in engineering, students, graduates and apprentices. These kinds of initiatives are positive for the staff involved as well, and not just beneficial to the communities which receive help.

CARILLION.

transparent, and Carillion sees this as a great opportunity. “I’m not an ecologist, but the light bulb moment for me was when we calculated the impact of some of the projects we’re undertaking at the moment and we realised that we’re nearly halving the biodiversity of the rail corridor that we’re working in. And that’s an extremely bad thing for the environment. “At the moment there’s no legislation dictating to us to do anything about that. But as a responsible business, we feel the need to address it. Both Carillion and the industry as a whole have to address it for the longerterm good of the environment.” Riley is committed and determined, and she wants to be sure that Carillion’s corporate commitments are fulfilled on the East Midlands programme. “At a local level I’m trying to build an accurate picture of how far down that commitment spreads. We work hard to bring out examples of the good things we are actually doing. Carillion sustainability advisers work really closely with their procurement managers on all our contracts to find out if we’ve been asking all the right questions at the right stages.” Riley explains that engagement with the supply chain is key to this because Carillion can only meet its commitments if its suppliers have a similar mindset. “Through engagement with the supply chain we’re making sure we get a comprehensive understanding of where our risks are in material use - ethical sourcing, in other words.” Again, positive change is driven by Carillion harnessing the individual commitment and drive of its staff to ensure the best solutions ideas are shared through the rest of the organisation.

■■ Enabling low-carbon economies

O O Carillion Rail Working collaboratively to embed sustainability into project delivery Contact us at www.carillionplc.com

A to W sa st an be w

Our People, Our Values At Carillion our Values make a difference to the way we make tomorrow a better place. We care about our colleagues and we have one safety objective; we achieve together by building strong relationships with colleagues, clients, suppliers and partners; we improve by constantly identifying better ways of working and we deliver by getting the work done night after night, shift after shift.

Joy keen for the Carillio “T

his was the job that I always aspired to and wanted to do!” Perhaps the words of an astronaut? A film star? Or a Formula 1 driver? No, they’re actually the words of a railwayman. And such words are often spoken by people working on the railway. “It’s been in my blood since I started on rail as an apprentice, and I’ve spent the predominance of my time in rail since. It’s a great business to be in,” Andy Joy, Carillion Rail’s new managing director, tells RAIL on a visit to the contractor’s offices in the heart of Euston. Joy started on the railway in 1984, as a British Rail apprentice electrical fitter. “In Crewe, apprenticeships were still quite widely available. As a 16-year-old, I knew I didn’t want to go into further education, I wanted to go out and work. So I had a choice of what was Rolls-Royce, Crewe Works and MNEE (which was British Rail).” Why did rail win over all other options? “My dad worked on the railway. It came down to Rolls-Royce or the railway, and the thing that swung it for me in the end was that at Rolls-Royce you had to do 12 months before you could decide to specialise in electrics, whereas I could do electrics from the start on the railway. “That was it then - I was in the railway. And while I’ve moved around a little bit, the railway is where I’ve always wanted to be.” Working his way up through the industry, Joy joined Carillion 25 years ago (in 1991), at that point as part of GTRM (which Carillion acquired in 2001). Slightly embarrassed, he explains that he did leave for six months: “I went and did some electrical work with a mate, and then thought ‘this isn’t going to pay a mortgage’ and came back.” Two years ago Joy became national ops director, looking after all the project delivery operations, before finally being appointed to his dream job in January this year as managing director of rail. So, now that he’s taken the reins, what is Joy’s main focus? “Business development,” he replies confidently. “There has been a lot of change in the industry. We need to make sure that, as a business, we are in the best position to deliver on our clients’ requirements regardless of how the industry moves forward.”

Carillion Rail Managing Director ANDY JOY tells STEFANIE BROWNE what his plans and priorities are for the company Carillion Rail is delivering a number of large schemes between now and the end of Control Period 5 (CP5, 2014-2019), including contracts on Crossrail West, framework agreements in the Midlands, Scotland, North East and Wales, and National Electrification Programme work as part of a Carillion Powerlines joint venture. Joy is keen to emphasise that delivering the work the business is currently committed to is the number one priority, but with one eye still on picking up new business. “We have to be aware of the challenges that we and Network Rail have as an industry - safety, quality and value for money - and respond accordingly,” he says. Many of these contracts, including on Crossrail, are multi-disciplinary, so include functions such as overhead line work, track work and civils. These are the kinds of jobs Joy believes the contractor is best at, and what he wants more of. “What we’d really like is multi-disciplinary schemes. Not just a signalling project or an electrification project, or just a track scheme, but one where all of them need to be interfaced together - bringing them together as a programme of work and managing those interfaces.” Carillion is already tendering for HS2 packages of work as part of the Carillion Eiffage Kier (CEK) joint venture, although HS2 as a project actually falls under the infrastructure part of Carillion’s business, rather than rail specifically. Joy explains: “The rationale behind that is not wishing to distract from our day-today business, because my focus is absolutely delivering for Network Rail as a key client, but Carillion as a whole absolutely has aspirations to be a key delivery partner for HS2. We’re currently tendering for civils works and are waiting for stations and systems work.” With Network Rail contracts constituting such a key focus for Joy, is the prospect of the Digital Railway something he’s excited by? Does he think it will happen? “The Digital Railway is clearly very high on Mark Carne’s ‘to do’ list. Will it happen? I think it will. Will it

Andy Joy, Managing Director, Carillion Rail

STEFANIE BROWNE.

As an industry we tend to focus on the negatives that happen and forget the huge amount of good work that goes on.

look exactly like the picture that people paint now? I think things like this tend to evolve as technology develops. It will find its natural state of what the Digital Railway looks like, and we absolutely want to be a part of that.” But Joy doesn’t want anyone to think that the ‘big ticket’ items are all that matters - the day job is his primary priority. “The thing I always take a lot of pride in is some of the smaller stuff that just goes on week in, week out. Every weekend our staff are out, committed to delivering work safely and handing back on time.” What kind of work is this? “Certainly the plain line work - since we’ve taken that on, it has an excellent delivery record and there has been minimal impact on the infrastructure. Sometimes it’s those schemes that are not necessarily in the shop window that actually get overlooked a bit, because the amount of planning and the detail that goes into it, the commitment from staff from top to bottom - to make that happen, is equally as impressive. “So sometimes I’m a bit reticent to pull out individual big schemes to champion because for every person in a team that’s their big project, that’s their achievement, whether it’s a small bridge reconstruction, or a piece of track renewal or a reconfigured set of points, or some minor adjustments to infrastructure. But the dedication that goes into making that happen - the planning, executing it correctly and handing it back into operation is really

Feature Interview

illion ‘spirit’ to flourish

what we’re about. And sometimes the fact that you don’t hear anything is the real positive, because as an industry we tend to focus on the negatives that happen and forget the huge amount of good work that goes on.” Delivery of projects is clearly what ‘floats Joy’s boat’ - knowing that work has been delivered on time and to a high standard, with a happy client at the end (and happy passengers). He cites the huge programme of work that took place on Crossrail West in Christmas 2015 as an achievement of which he’s particularly proud. “Christmas was a massive achievement. Crossrail had a huge portfolio of work, but the delivery team that executed it was massively supported by the wider business. We had people from all round our business who committed to work Christmas or parts of it to make sure the project happened, and to me that demonstrated the strength and depth of our ability to draw resource in to support the ultimate objective for us as a business and for the client. That was a real high point. And we delivered it, handed it back on time. And we had no injuries as well.” Carillion Rail is part of the Carillion Infrastructure business, which includes civil engineering, highways and nuclear. Because rail is only one of its many disciplines, and the

rail portfolio itself is extensive, directors on a particular project such as Crossrail may draw on the resources of other teams in particularly busy times… and equally assist others at quieter times. Says Joy: “It was that spirit of people, because every year there’s almost an expectation that people give up their Christmas to come and work. And it’s not just the guys and girls that come and deliver it, it’s the families that they’re not with who make that commitment as well. We recognise that.” It is only possible to achieve these schemes because of that ‘spirit’ from staff. So how are such good people encouraged to join Carillion? “Recruitment is key to us. We do the traditional thing with advertising and LinkedIn, the normal media, but a lot of our recruitment comes through word of mouth and people seeing what we do. “We have a real cross-section of people, from the ones at my end that have been in rail for a long time to people who have come from other industries that get the rail bug. You tend to find people who come into rail tend to stick in it, because it gets under your skin. It’s not until you’re in it that you realise…” (Joy grins) “…it does become a bit addictive.” We’re back to that passion for the railway. Why is that?

Electrification at Old Oak Common as part of the Crossrail West Christmas 2015 programme. CARILLION.

“You could argue that with a building, you see it go up, you stand back and it’s there until somebody comes and knocks it down. And some of the things we construct in rail are not necessarily that different when you walk away. It might be a bit of shiny new ballast or a bit of new track layout. “I also think some of it is because rail can be quite intrusive on your life. Because a lot of the work takes place at weekends and in the night, there’s almost that bond that people feel. You feel part of not just the Carillion rail family, but rail in general.” But what makes that feeling different to one you might have working on building construction? “I think it’s the level of planning involved, because the margin of error is very small on the railway. If something doesn’t turn up on a railway site and you’re going into a possession, that’s it, you could lose all that work. “Whereas maybe on a building site, if it turned up the next day, there are other activities that could go on. It might cause a sequencing issue, but it’s not like on the railway where once you’ve dug a hole and

The £39 million Rutherglen to Coatbridge Electrification project, of which £28m was Carillion’s element, was delivered ahead of schedule to allow rolling stock to be cascaded onto the Borders Railway. The first services were operating just 15 months after the start of work. CARILLION.

you’ve got the ballast out, you’re at the point of no return.” Joy explains that today’s railway is also very different to the old stereotypical image of men with shovels. The industry has developed into one with innovative technology and companies covering a whole range of disciplines. “For new people who are looking to come into the industry, there are huge opportunities to build a career. The only limiting factor is the individual - just how far they want to go, what they want to do. We’ve spent quite a bit of time with young engineers and graduates, and taken on a lot of apprentices in the signalling and overhead line disciplines.” Joy says Carillion has had a lot of success with giving young people summer placements, which give them a taste for rail and encourage them to return when they finish their studies. A new initiative within the business has also been designed to encourage women into the industry (SNOWE – Support Network for Operational Women in Engineering). This was initially launched in a non-rail part of Carillion, but has now been taken up by the rail division. It looks at not just how to encourage women from STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) backgrounds to join rail, but also how to attract girls at school and university. Joy says there’s “no silver bullet” to attracting good people: “It’s a competitive market out there. It’s about demonstrating to the individual that Carillion Rail is a great place to work. We explain that you can come to rail, develop a career and, if it’s the right thing for you, move into a different sector of Carillion, try something else, and then come back again. There are a few people who have done that, and we encourage it if it’s the right thing for their career development. With us being such a big business, we have the ability to facilitate that.” For Joy, it’s not about ‘attracting and retaining’ good people, it’s about ‘retaining and attracting’ them. That distinction is very important to him. “We don’t own massive bits of fancy plant and factories or anything like that- we are about the delivery of projects, and that needs the very best people. It’s our people that set us apart as a business - we are a multi-discipline

STEFANIE BROWNE.

business. We pride ourselves on being able to take a very complex project and being able to deliver it pretty much in-house because we have all the disciplines. The only thing

You tend to find people who come into rail tend to stick in it, because it gets under your skin. It’s not until you’re in it that you realise… it does become a bit addictive.

Andy Joy, Managing Director, Carillion Rail

that stops us is maybe capacity at peak times. But we can only do that because of the great people that work for us. You can have all the systems in the world, but people make the difference.” So it all appears pretty rosy in the Carillion Rail garden. But plenty of people in the industry are not feeling so positive, following the result of the EU Referendum. Does this concern Joy? “I don’t think anybody really truly understands what is going to happen, what the consequences are, what the impact will be. All we can do as a business is continue to deliver what we’re committed to deliver. “You could model, remodel and hypothesise

Feature Interview

from now until doomsday. The only guarantee is that it will probably be wrong, whatever you guess. The wider business is obviously reviewing constantly, but for us it’s very much about delivering the here and now. Our teams are very focused on delivering on our CP5 commitments, and then we obviously have an eye on what develops. Hopefully we’re sufficiently agile to respond and react as required.” Of course, any slowdown in the economy could have wider impacts for the Carillion business. But so far there has been commitment from government that infrastructure spend will continue. “We’ve got a ‘here and now’ job to do. We’ve

got order books and commitments to deliver, and that’s what we have to do. “If we’re to build a Britain that has a successful, growing economy, you need the infrastructure to support that. As an infrastructure provider, I think the marketplace will still be there. It might have a few blips and a few humps to go over, but if you look back in history we’ve had those times

You can have all the systems in the world, but people make the difference.

anyway. It’s still a positive outlook really.” Joy makes one last point about the areas on which he intends to focus. Nicola Shaw’s report into The future shape and financing of Network Rail (released in March) reiterated the importance of people working in the industry needing to get closer to the customer. Joy says Carillion is keen to explore ways to do that, and is keen to help drive the industry towards this. “We exist ultimately for the fare paying passenger or for people paying to put freight on the railway, because that’s the person who puts the revenue in the box. That’s why we’re here. The closer and the more we understand what’s important to them, the better.” R

SPECIAL REPORT

SAFE AND SOUND

Safety is at the top of everybody’s agenda at Carillion, which is taking a sincere, holistic approach to ensuring the wellbeing of its workforce - both on-site or on the way home

orking night shifts in remote locations is an unavoidable reality for much of the railway workforce. While it is preferable to deploy staff who don’t have far to travel to a possession, the skilled and technical nature of rail work means this isn’t always possible, and staff might be working a long way from home on a long shift. No matter how much some might enjoy the challenge, or how fit people are, this intensive working takes its toll on workers. One of the hazards peripheral to the job itself is the increased risk of accidents, due to fatigue, on the drive home. And crashes related to driver fatigue are 50% more likely to result in death or serious injury because they tend to be high-speed impacts, where a driver has fallen asleep and fails to brake at all. With an extensive workforce driving around the UK roads in up to 500 vehicles, Carillion decided it wanted to reduce the risk to its workforce of falling foul of fatigue. Sponsored Through aby series of reviews of its existing

practices, the contractor has developed a new coordinated driver and vehicle management process to reduce fatigue levels, improve driver behaviours and monitor more closely both fleet and drivers. The process is now working so well that it has been rolled out across all Carillion’s rail projects. The idea is that each individual worker’s planned travel time, shift duration and work roster is measured. This provides a weekly ongoing fatigue risk index score that will highlight to the allocating team if any changes need to be made to the worker’s weekly roster. This might include reducing working hours, changing rest days or switching from night shifts to day shifts. If someone’s total working shift, including travel to and from the location, could possibly exceed 14 hours, then action is taken. Possible changes could be a shift reduction or a hotel booking for a worker to allow sufficient rest before driving home. Naturally, switching the shift with another suitable worker who lives close to the worksite is still the preferable option.

This approach has been instrumental in improving the way Carillion manages its drivers and in lowering their fatigue levels. But the company wants to go further. It is also testing a system of enhanced vehicle tracking fobs, front and rear facing on-board car cameras, combined with a driver improvement and reward scheme to promote positive driving behaviour. Carillion’s rail business is also now working with the Work Related Road Risk working group to promote best practice in fatigue management across the rest of the Carillion Group. However, road safety is just one small aspect of the overall safety message within Carillion. The importance of workforce safety is a message that consistently comes across when speaking with Carillion staff. RAIL met Crossrail West Director Wayne Brigden earlier this year (RAIL 801) and he was quite emphatic about one thing: safety of the workforce is his top priority. As in the rest of the business, his team uses a system called

Mission Room that enables everyone working on a site to visualise the whole location before they even set foot on it. Said Brigden: “When we’re briefing the work, we can give the staff a virtual tour of the entire site. Without the need for going onto the track, they’ll be able to see any potential hazards or safety issues before they’re there, and plan accordingly.” It allows everyone to see where it is safe for them to work and where it isn’t. This system is used to brief teams across all contractors working on a project, so that the benefits can be shared with other contractors, as well as Carillion staff. “Everyone gets a briefing, everyone gets home safe,” said Brigden. Last issue (RAIL 807), Carillion’s new Rail Managing Director Andy Joy spoke about the key areas he is focusing on in his new role. Safety has been at the top of his agenda: “We’ve just launched our rail safety culture programme. As an industry, we invest a huge amount of effort and energy in improving the health and safety of our workforce. On reflection with the team, we recognised that although we have good performance, it could be even better.” Joy has just finished leading 14 sessions, with a total of just over 1,450 staff, whether they be agency staff or direct employees, to personally convey Carillion’s message about safety. The aim is to eradicate all worker injury and align everyone to Network Rail’s philosophy that everybody should go home safe every day. Said Joy: “We’ve put a huge amount of effort into driving that cultural change. We’re really pushing the message that while you’re at work, the rail industry is your extended family, so it’s personalising the safety and health

PROMOTION

Facing page, left: Romford OLE Renewals. ALL PHOTOS: CARILLION.

CARILLION’S ONE ROAD TO SAFETY This charter underpins Carillions commitment on work-related road risk. The intention is to reduce instances of road traffic offences and collisions, while providing information to all employees on safe driving behaviours.

Carillion is committed to:

PEOPLE

BEHAVIOUR

VEHICLES

Providing driver training to all commercial, company car and trade drivers

Having defined standards on journey times, speeding, seat belt use, mobile phone use, drug and alcohol use

Ensuring all vehicles used by Carillion are of a high safety specification

Educating drivers on Carillion’s standards Ensuring all drivers who drive on company business have a Carillion Permit to drive Ensuring all drivers are fit to drive

The use and regular monitoring of telematics in commercial vehicles Reporting on progress through a suite of driving Key Performance Indicator (KPIs).

Ensuring vehicles are suited to the purpose for which they are being used Ensuring all vehicles supplied by Carillion are maintained to a roadworthy condition

Ensuring all drivers do not exceed the legal limits placed on drivers’ hours

Carillion expects employees to:

Attend training sessions and embrace safe driving practices

Adopt safe driving behaviours

Together:

Embrace a safe driving culture

Continually strive to improve Maintain a safe and Carillion’s driving behaviours roadworthy fleet with the objective of reducing road accidents

message. And it’s no more complicated than that. “Carillion isn’t doing this for some sort of commercial advantage - we’re doing it because it’s the best thing for us all as individuals and as a business. It is simply the right thing to do. We’re reaffirming that people should have the confidence to challenge decisions

While you’re at work, the rail industry is your extended family. ANDY JOY, Carillion Managing Director, Rail

Regularly check and maintain the vehicle they are driving on company business to ensure that it remains roadworthy

and ask questions - even stop work, if they perceive risk or danger. As this is a new role, I felt that it was important to first reinforce those messages, and make it clear that they are also supported by the rest of the senior leadership team.” Joy’s message is very clearly around individuals having input into creating a safe working environment. “Everyone is a safety leader. Pay grade is irrelevant, it doesn’t matter where you sit within the business, we all have a personal responsibility and accountability to look after ourselves and each other.”

SPECIAL REPORT

A SEASON OF GOODWILL Over Christmas 2015, Carillion managed to carry out a programme of work that Santa Claus himself would be hard-pressed to match. STEFANIE BROWNE finds out how it was done.

ost people spend Christmas eating far too much turkey, followed by watching reruns of classic movies, slumped in an armchair and surrounded by family. But for many railway men and women, the festive season is busier than at any other time of year. Bank holidays mean fewer commuters, less disruption, and a better opportunity to get the big jobs done that would otherwise cause far too much nuisance to the travelling public. Christmas 2015 was no different. A Network Rail team, with Carillion as principal contractor, took on a gargantuan task for Crossrail West (and a multitude of other packages) over a ten-day period from the evening of December 24 2015 to the morning of January 4 2016. The holiday period allowed for services to be suspended on the Great Western Main Line for the ten-day blockade to allow critical works to be carried out across three separate workstreams: ■ Main line re-modelling for the Crossrail programme and the new Intercity Express Programme (IEP) rolling stock.

stations and signalling for Crossrail, Europe’s largest construction project. As principal contractor for Network Rail on Crossrail West, Carillion was in charge of coordinating the other parties. Usually, contractors are only incentivised to deliver their own work safely and efficiently, but on such a comprehensive scheme in a congested area, this was not going to be enough. True collaboration between all the teams was the only way to ensure successful delivery. Carillion implemented a teamwork structure based on mutual trust that integrated all safety systems and allowed continuous communication between individuals at all levels Clients: Network Rail, Crossrail and London throughout the blockade, leading to Underground the project team adopting the motto: Principal Contractor: Carillion Rail ‘We are all part of the same team and Blockade nominated contractors and every contribution matters.’ stakeholders: Signalling Solutions (now called Integration between all parties Alstom) & Amey Signalling (signalling design was key. The Carillion senior and installation); Vinci (stations, platforms and management team worked with bridges); Balfour Beatty (LU track); Morgan Network Rail’s project delivery team Sindall (Paddington station roof); and Great and contractors to make sure that Western Railway and Heathrow Express (key everyone understood the schedule stakeholders) and required milestones. Before

■ Refurbishing the train shed roof at Paddington. ■ Carrying out track renewal work on the Hammersmith & City Line at Paddington station. With three-quarters of the 100km Elizabeth Line’s route running above ground through outer London, Berkshire and Essex, Network Rail is responsible for delivering a massive programme of works to transform the existing railway tracks, infrastructure,

THE COLLABORATIVE TEAM

PROMOTION

WHAT WAS INCLUDED IN THE TEN-DAY POSSESSION? ■ Reconstruction of Paddington platforms, and work on Paddington station roof. ■ London Underground track renewal. ■ Reconstructing platforms at Hayes, Harlington and Southall, and a new footbridge installation at Ealing Broadway.

commitments, pulling in the same direction to achieve the completion of works within a minutely planned ‘just in time’ programme, with sharing of best practice from team solutions, and creative resource allocation such as sharing plant between worksites during idle periods.” The project has created a far more efficient way of making decisions on these types of projects, with the idea that the best-placed person in each team should be the one to make decisions, regardless of their parent organisation. Following successful completion of the project, on January 6, Network Rail Managing Director of Infrastructure Projects Francis Paonessa wrote to Carillion to congratulate the team involved on the achievement: “I am proud to say that due to the meticulous planning, focus on contingency and close collaboration with you, we successfully handed back all works safely and on time…

HEADLINE NUMBERS Hayes and Harlington platform works.

the blockade, team-building workshops were held, which featured audio and visual demonstrations of the delivery timetable and safety requirements. And to make sure that real-time progress information was fed back to Project Management throughout the blockade, each core team reported in to what is known as the Gold Control Room (where Project Management is based) every six hours. They would provide updates on how work was going against the plan, any resource issues, and also safety issue reporting and resolution. Carillion’s view is: “Everyone naturally became motivated to achieve the team’s

3,000 railway men and women 275,000 man hours 14,750 metres of OLE wires installed 6,689 tonnes of ballast 1,384 metres of new track

■ Remodelling of infrastructure from Heathrow to Paddington. ■ Installation of switches and crossings and points at West Ealing and Acton. ■ Working on Stockley Flyover. ■ Coordinating with the Thames Valley Signalling Centre.

we couldn’t have delivered this without you.” And Crossrail West Project Director Darren Coleman said: “We worked in excess of 275,000 man hours on Crossrail West. No other blockade has delivered as much as we have this Christmas. Well done and thank you!” The collaboration on the project was what made it different to other projects of its kind in the past, and it was the factor that enabled on-time delivery. There was no ‘us’ and ‘them’ - communication was seamless. Carillion’s Crossrail West Director Wayne Brigden is extremely proud of what was achieved at Christmas. He said: “We took a real collaborative approach with the LU track partnership and also Morgan Sindall. Basically, we made track alterations and a new Platform 14 (at Paddington). “Track partnership for LU re-laid Platforms 15 and 16, and Morgan Sindall did a huge amount of work on the roof during the Christmas blockade. And we fully integrated that as one team. We had a lot of interface, where we needed to be working in close proximity to each other, and it was the first time that the NR lines and the LU lines had been done at the same time. They used NR trains to do their work and we used LU trains to do our work. There was a huge amount of integration.” On this project, who you worked for was irrelevant, achieving the end goal efficiently, and with as little disruption as possible, was at the forefront of everyone’s mind. ■ Old Oak Common electrification works.

They used NR trains to do their work and we used LU trains to do our work. There was a huge amount of integration. WAYNE BRIGDEN, Crossrail West Director, Carillion

SPECIAL REPORT

THE RACE FOR SCOTTISH SUCCESS Up against a tight deadline, Carillion delivered electrification of the Whifflet Line on time, on budget and with its trademark flair for innovation and high principles. STEFANIE BROWNE finds out how it was achieved

mbitious plans to electrify a number of key routes in Scotland are part of a strategy to provide significant economic, social and environmental benefits for future generations. While several parts of the scheme will stretch into 2019 and beyond, portions of the work are already complete and delivering benefits to the Scottish network. One of those was delivered rather earlier than anticipated… In May 2013, Scottish Ministers announced that electrification of the Whifflet Line (Rutherglen-Coatbridge) would be commissioned sooner and delivered ahead of schedule. Originally planned for completion in 2018/19, the new deadline would be in 2016. With a value of £28 million, the project linked the West Coast Main Line in the Rutherglen area with the Scottish Central Line in the Coatbridge area, involving design and installation of 26 single-track kilometres of 25kV overhead line equipment. Aptly named the RACE project, it really did become a race to the finish line for principal contractor Carillion.

Despite the accelerated timescale, the benefits from the scheme were not compromised and the project has had a transformational effect on this part of Scotland. Electric passenger trains running over the Whifflet Line can now utilise the Argyle Line, giving passengers access to new service destinations. There is now a Sunday service, giving passengers greater freedom and flexibility. ScotRail has also benefited from improved network resilience, with a diversionary route for West Coast Main Line traffic, which has already come in handy for Caledonian Sleeper services during WCML blockades. “The RaCE Project was a ‘fast tracked’

scheme which also took on-board the issues of Interoperability, Common Safety Method(CSM) and compliant installation of OLE to the Electricity at Work Act, the first electrification scheme in the UK to do so using Series 2 equipment,” says Carillion Engineering Services Director Andy Stocks. “This meant that the whole team of Network Rail, Carillion and Designer staff had to work together to achieve the correct technical and compliant outcome. This was achieved and is a credit to all those involved.”

The RACE project has set the benchmark for efficient delivery of electrification schemes. Andy Stocks, Engineering Services Director, Carillion

Final installation and registration on the RACE project. CARILLION.

And the upgrades go beyond network improvements. Because of the option for freight customers to serve terminals west of Glasgow via an electrified route, the economic possibilities for the region are significant. And this will only improve, once the Grangemouth branch has been

PROMOTION

Project timeline

Key successes

Start: September 2013 Phase 1 commissioned: September 2014 Phase 2 commissioned: April 2015 Overall completion: March 2016

■ Intense delivery programme: The main section of the route was completed within just 12 months, allowing driver training and rolling stock commissioning in time for the first passengers 15 months after the start of electrification. ■ Delivery achievements: An intensive and accelerated project was delivered on time, safely, and to budget. ■ Benefits: The work has achieved what was envisaged, with a new range of destinations provided for communities along the line, a Sunday service now operating, more capacity at Glasgow Central High Level station, much improved network resilience, and new routes for freight operators to benefit economic development in the region. ■ Local delivery: Carillion and the design team were all Scottish-based, with a locally sourced supply chain. ■ Skills improvement: New entrants to the rail industry were employed and locally trained, creating an enhanced future resource for the extensive planned electrification investment in the UK rail industry. ■ Sustainability: Redundant equipment was sourced from around the UK and reused on the project. Innovative equipment was used to achieve a variety of sustainable benefits and a reduction in future maintenance requirements.

electrified as part of the Edinburgh-Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP). It has also been a very Scottish project, delivered by the Scots, for the Scots. Most of the people involved in RACE permanently lived in Scotland’s Central Belt - the most densely populated area - which also kept people movement costs to a minimum. Local plant hire companies were used to strengthen the supply chain, and some suppliers were given assistance to gain accreditation in the rail industry, opening up more opportunities for the future. At the design stage of the project, Hyder Consulting and Siemens were involved, both working from their Glasgow offices. The project even provides wider benefits beyond Scotland. Skills gained by people new to the industry during the RACE project have qualified them to work on other projects around the UK. All this training was completed using the recently developed OLEC electrification qualifications and Carillion’s depot at Shettleston, which is close to the RACE sites. It is important to Carillion in all its projects that the work is sustainable, and RACE was no exception. The project complied with all the required environmental constraints, while Carillion went the extra mile by volunteering innovative solutions during the course of its work. Key to this principled approach was the reuse of equipment recovered from other projects on the network. For example, two track section cabins due to be decommissioned in Glasgow were recovered and reused; 12 redundant booster transformers were relocated from Rugby; and a harmonic damper that counteracts interferences in the OLE supply pattern,

Final installation and registration on the RACE project. The final view from Carmyle station. CARILLION.

caused by Pendolinos, was moved from Bourne End (allowing the line to be used as a diversionary route for Pendolinos). The work itself included several innovations to enhance the long-term environmental benefits, as well as making the construction aspect easier and reducing the maintenance required. All the hard work paid off in a short space of time. It has enabled electric haulage of existing passenger services, provided more seats on trains, new destinations for communities along the route, the opportunity to divert passenger and empty stock, and allowed freight operators to switch to electric operation. All-in-all, it’s a better, more efficient and more flexible railway as a result. Says Stocks : “The RACE project has set the benchmark for efficient delivery of electrification schemes, including the upgrades required to the railway infrastructure associated with electrifying an existing railway line. The rest of the UK railway industry, in an era when the affordability of electrification is being questioned, would do well to take time to learn why RACE was a success.” ■

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We Deliver Carillion has recently successfully electrified two lines in Scotland: Springburn to Cumbernauld, as part of EGIP, as well as Rutherglen and Coatbridge. Contact us at www.carillionplc.com

FP_RAIL_3037742id2553632.pgs 18.10.2016 10:58