Rail Director February 2022 by RBD Media

February 2022

EXCLUSIVELY FOR RAIL INDUSTRY LEADERS February 2022

Chris Connelly A brave new world for rail freight Dominic Lund-Conlon Ensuring the railways are accessible to all Dr Richard Thomas and Professor Clive Roberts Assurance against ever-evolving cyber security threats Raj Sinha Bridging the skills gap – one colleague at a time

HELEN SAMUELS

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Introduction

Back to reality? A

warm welcome to the latest edition of Rail Director. 2022 is now in full flow and most importantly it feels like there is a real sense of light at the end of the tunnel from the coronavirus pandemic, with working conditions returning to a level of normality and train operators increasing their services due to an increase in passenger numbers. The rail industry has done an impeccable job throughout COVID, stepping up when most needed to keep goods and passengers moving, while at the same time working around the clock to ensure those using the railways were kept safe. As just one example, TransPennine Express recently revealed its cleaning teams have done 22 years’ worth of cleaning in the past 10 months. Incredible work. It is this kind of effort which leaves me proud and incredibly optimistic about the future of the railways. Passenger numbers will increase, albeit maybe not to pre-pandemic levels, and I am particularly excited about the future of rail freight. I am delighted to read of rail freight operators frequently increasing services. Earlier this month, GB Railfreight launched a new service for Brett Aggregates and, in January, Direct Rail Services and Tesco signed a new three-year deal to extend their partnership. It feels like a real turning point for rail freight and that the wider UK is taking note of the numerous benefits of switching moving their goods from road to rail. Just as the industry on the whole continues to make great progress, the same can be said about the Business Daily Group. We recently expanded our offering by launching FM Business Daily. Led by the experienced Cheryl Ellerington, it follows a similar format to Rail Business Daily, sending out

daily news, views and opinions from the facilities management industry, promoting businesses and showcasing work-winning opportunities. This month’s Rail Director magazine features an array of fascinating people and companies, all playing a vital role in ensuring the UK rail industry is one envied throughout the world. Among those is Chris Connelly, deputy CEO at Nuclear Transport Solutions, who talks about the important role Direct Rail Services (DRS) is playing for Tesco. Network Rail’s Elliot Murray and Darren McKenna also discuss the refurbishment of the Grade II listed Severn Bridge Junction Signal Box. Remarkably, the 117-year-old building still has its original 180 levers, of which 89 are still in use to signal about 280 trains every day. Alongside that, we have robots cleaning trains, the second birthday of SLC Operations, and Helen Samuels, the new Managing Director of the Eiffage, Kier, Ferrovial Construction and BAM Nuttall Joint Venture, talking about delivering the C2 and C3 sections of HS2 Phase One. I never tire of reading the remarkable stories in this magazine and am thankful to everyone who has contributed. I hope you enjoy reading this edition as much as I have. Please get in touch with the team if you’d like to feature in the March edition.

I am particularly excited about the future of rail freight

Best wishes

Da vid

David McLoughlin Chief Executive Business Daily Group (incorporating: RBD Publications and railbusinessdaily.com)

When you have finished reading this issue of Rail Director, please pass it to colleagues to enjoy or put it in your reception area.

Rail Director magazine is part of the Business Daily Group of companies, which includes the hugely popular railbusinessdaily.com. We deliver more than 70 stories a week to +50,000 rail industry professionals who now subscribe to our 7am daily newsletter. Please subscribe and encourage your colleagues and team members to do the same. It’s free and it’s easy: www.railbusinessdaily.com. This is the very best way to keep abreast of what is happening on Britain’s railways. There is a digital copy of Rail Director on our website.

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February 2022 | 3

Contents

Helen Samuels heads up the ‘ultimate in civil engineering’

Making the right signals

News

Ensuring the railways are accessible to passengers with disabilities

Back from the brink

EKFB Joint Venture delivering the C2 and C3 sections of HS2 Phase One appoints MD

Bridging the skills gap – one colleague at a time

Raj Sinha, Group Managing Director of SWGR, on the growth of the business and development of its people to build on delivery success

More than meets the eye

Dr Mustafa Suphi Erden and Nathan Western from the National Robotarium discuss the innovation t hey hope will help clean up trains

Building better transport networks

Kelly Rail’s new Managing Director Robert Burnside discusses almost two decades at the business, and reasons to be excited for the future

A brave new world for rail freight

Chris Connelly, Deputy CEO and Rail Director at Nuclear Transport Solutions, talks about a decade of working with Tesco and the trial of alternative fuels

Providing operational support and safety critical training

The design and delivery contract is part of an investment for the renewal of the signalling systems in the Cambridge area

Chiltern Railways launches HybridFLEX into passenger service

A 20-year-old diesel train has been fitted with a powerful battery meaning it uses 25 per cent less fuel, significantly cutting emissions and air pollution

Assurance against ever-evolving cyber security threats

ROSCO Rock Rail and the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Railway Research and Education form strategic partnership for defending rail’s cyber systems

Breaking the cycle: Helping prisoners find ways back into work

Rail Delivery Group’s Accessibility and Inclusion Manager Dominic Lund-Conlon discusses the importance of customer experience Llangollen Railway’s Finance Director Phil Freeth discusses his optimism for the future of the attraction

A master of urban dentistry

Cath Bellamy, MD of SLC Operations, talks about the first two years of the business and plans to double its workforce

Alstom wins major Network Rail contract

Network Rail’s Elliot Murray and Darren McKenna discuss the refurbishment of the Grade II listed Severn Bridge Junction Signal Box

Arcadis UK Stations Design Director Mike Gardner on grabbing the opportunity to craft relevant and meaningful train stations

UK to reach for London’s standards

The first ever trial of bio-coal in a full size, standard gauge locomotive has been described as ‘milestone’ for steam

Breaking waves – eight years since the Dawlish line was washed away

Investing in an inclusive culture in rail engineering

Rail Director takes a look at the huge amount of work that has taken place since severe storms battered the Devon coastline

EUR ING Toyin Davies on playing an important role to champion equality, diversity and inclusion

Director of Marketing Rachael Dean

Advertising Team Christian Wiles – chris@rbdpublications.com Freddie Neal – freddie@rbdpublications.com Elliot Gates – elliot@rbdpublications.com Amy Hudson – amy@rbdpublications.com Published by RBD Publications Ltd., Suite 37, Philpot House, Station Road, Rayleigh, Essex, SS6 7HH. Printed by Stephens & George

International News

From green shoots to strong roots – nine months of RBD Community

HS2’s new measures to enhance visibility of supply chain opportunities

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Eli Rees-King, Head of RBD Community, reflects on the journey so far in helping organisations to thrive

The high-speed rail project is providing more detail to help prospective tier two and three suppliers

Movers and Shakers

On track to decarbonisation: Reducing transport emissions

Launch of competition to find new home for Britain’s railways

Martin Tugwell, Chief Executive of Transport for the North, writes about the target of near-zero carbon emissions

Designer/Production Manager Chris Cassidy

Subscriptions Anthony Swindells

Network Rail’s Vince James talks about his passion of giving ex-offenders an opportunity to work on the railways

Editor Nigel Wordsworth nigel@rbdpublications.com Writers Danny Longhorn Dave Windass

Milestone reached for bio-coal use

Michael Gove has announced his Levelling Up White Paper, outlining how the government is aspiring to boost the UK’s capabilities

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The views expressed in the articles reflect the author’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher and editor. The published material, adverts, editorials and all other content is published in good faith.

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Infrastructure

Helen Samuels heads up the ‘ultimate in civil engineering’ EKFB Joint Venture delivering the C2 and C3 sections of HS2 Phase One appoints MD

ier’s Helen Samuels was promoted to the role of Managing Director of the Eiffage, Kier, Ferrovial Construction and BAM Nuttall (EKFB) Joint Venture in January. EKFB has been appointed by HS2 Ltd to deliver civil engineering works across an 80km section of the new high-speed rail link between Great Missenden and Southam. Its scope of the works includes 15 viaducts, 6.9km of green tunnels, 22km of road diversions, 81 bridges and around 30 million cubic metres of excavation. Helen, a Chartered Civil Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), was Technical Director within Kier’s construction business from 2021. Rising star Prior to this she held senior roles in the built environment, including as Engineering Director for Network Rail’s £6 billion per year capital programme, where she also led the 700-strong multi-discipline design team. She was Engineering Director at United Utilities, where she created a new technical authority for full asset lifecycle, has also held the role of Managing Director for Water Europe for CH2MHill (now part of Jacobs) and, before joining Kier, was CEO of Bibby Marine. Helen said: “I’m not new to senior leadership and I’m used to running very big teams and being very passionate about people but this is a particularly enormous project in terms of the scale. This is the ultimate in civil engineering and I’m a heavy infrastructure girl.

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February 2022 | 5

Infrastructure

“I have moved around quite a bit in terms of different sectors within heavy infrastructure, but this project presents the opportunity to do something never done before on a grand scale. I am a passionate engineer, proud ICE member and it really is very special. “It is very flattering to be invited to lead this JV and the honour of being associated in such a meaningful way on something that is the first of its kind – the biggest infrastructure project in Europe and one that will make a real difference to communities.” The work ahead Talking to Rail Director from her home office in Cheshire, Helen’s backdrop is currently the map of the world that hangs on her wall, although she will be exchanging this for one of the 80km route, which will enable her to visualise the scale of the work ahead. She said: “Naturally I’ll be out on site often to get under the skin of what we’re up to but when I’m here I want to be able to turn round and have a good look at the route. “The real challenge is the scale and the ramp-up of work that’s coming. For context, we delivered four million cubic metres of earth shift in the past 12 months, and over the next 12 months that will be 15 million, which has never been done before. “It is an eye-watering prospect when you consider the volume of work involved, getting it right and making sure all of our stakeholders are on board with us. So it is a massive logistical challenge, aside from the engineering which is complex as well. “I feel that my ability to bring a slightly different perspective to the leadership team will be immensely valuable. As everyone in rail is aware, there’s an enormous amount of work that needs to take place before shovels are in the ground, progressive assurance and getting the design right. Having led one of the Tier 1 design organisations gives me that different perspective and is where I feel I can really add value and contribute to making sure we always take the right approach, deliver the work in the right way and are always well prepared.” Visually, Helen said, work on the five sections merely looks like a big earth moving operation right now, although preparatory work for the many structures along the 80km is taking place, along with some piling operations. Importantly, a lot of time has been spent ensuring haulage roads are in the right condition to make sure that the most is made of the available weather windows. This preparation, together with good weather to date, has allowed excavation to take place earlier than planned. 6 | February 2022

It is a massive logistical challenge, aside from the engineering which is complex as well Helen added: “80km is a long stretch and the communities along the route are not necessarily those that will benefit from the high-speed rail link so we’re very sensitive to that. “Obviously during construction there is an economic benefit locally in terms of the need for accommodation, using local shops and our Elite induction programme is making sure that there is respect for communities when the workforce

interact with people, which is front and foremost. From STEM engagement with local schools to traffic management, we’re doing all we can to minimise disruption and add value.” Helen’s time at Network Rail involved moving into a new sector – previously, her roles were in water, flood risk and water utilities. But working on such a large capital programme was, she said, an “eye-watering opportunity” and the moment she understood how transferable her skills were. She explained: “Rail wasn’t familiar territory so it was ‘squeaky trouser’ time. Network Rail wanted an engineering director, away from full asset life cycle back to design and assurance, but the understanding I’d acquired of the asset life cycle was invaluable. I was able to understand the whole impact of design and construction on the operational railway, the risks, benefits and opportunities. I just came to the realisation that it’s all civil engineering.

HS2 Fact file HS2’s main works contractor EKFB will have excavated 15 million cubic metres of earth this year – half of the total it expects to excavate on its 80km section; This scale of earthworks has not been done in the UK before; E arthworks include cuttings and on EKFB’s route the biggest is two million cubic metres in the Buckinghamshire village of Turweston. The deepest cutting is 26 metres in Ladbroke, near Southam, Warwickshire; The earthworks season runs from March until the end of October; he total volume of earth that EKFB will excavate would fill about 350 Royal Albert Halls (30 T million cubic metres); utting the amount of concrete and steel needed to build the Wendover Dean viaduct in C Buckinghamshire will save 7,433 tonnes of carbon, which is the equivalent to 20,500 return flights from London to Edinburgh; he lighter-weight modular design of the project’s three Green Tunnels will cut the amount of T carbon embedded in each structure by 50 per cent.

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Infrastructure

“You have a linear asset, constructed in the Victorian age, governed by a fiveyear regulatory cycle, with huge impact on the environment, lineside neighbours and community. You realise that the values of good quality design, assurance, thinking about the whole asset life cycle, is not as different as you think it is. So many people told me at the time that I was part of the railway family now and that I’d never escape. So here I am, back again.” Clearly, Helen is a much sought-after leader but what is it that sets her apart as an MD? Helen said: “I tend to run quite a flat operating style. The phrase I use is that I expect everyone in my team to be better at doing their job than I would be at doing their job. I’ve come to where I’m at through a particular route and there are other people highly skilled in their areas. So I’m not piling on the pressure but there’s an expectation that I won’t get in their way, whether their work is design, communications, planning, cost consultancy. It’s all about giving the team a head of steam to get on and do their job and to be there to support, and coach when necessary, to keep an eye on things, intervene when necessary but mainly to empower this incredibly strong team to do their thing.

I expect everyone in my team to be better at doing their job than I would be at doing their job “Brunel is a personal hero of mine but, compared to the Victorian era, large construction challenges now are really very different. We really do care about our communities, the aesthetic impact, safety,

programme and cost, and if we’re all honest that wasn’t the case in the Victorian era, there was just a push to get it done. “Now, the complexities around stakeholder engagement, working hard to make sure what we do is done right, adds layers of complexity to project delivery. “Along these 80km there will be some beautiful viaducts and engineering but when we’re doing our cut and cover tunnels there will be very little to see afterwards as it will be landscaped to be invisible. As a civil engineer sometimes it’s difficult to say, ‘look what we achieved’ because often the hard work is hidden, as it should be.”

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February 2022 | 7

News

he Bill for the Crewe – Manchester extension of the HS2 network has been submitted to Parliament. It sets out legislation for the next phase of Britain’s new high-speed, zero carbon railway (known as the Phase 2b Western Leg), which will free up capacity on the congested West Coast main line and deliver significant connectivity, reliability and journey time benefits for passengers travelling between Scotland, the North, the Midlands and the South East. The Bill, called the ‘High Speed Rail (Crewe – Manchester) Bill’, seeks powers to construct and operate the Phase 2b Western Leg. Mark Thurston, CEO at HS2 Ltd, said: “HS2 has an integral role to play in levelling up and rebalancing Britain’s economy, and this extension of the network fuels that role by bringing the country’s economic centres in the North and Midlands closer together. “Construction of the first phase of HS2 is already supporting more than 20,000 jobs and spearheading investment and growth in major population centres along the route. This Bill is a vote of confidence in HS2’s ability to help towns and cities in the North realise their economic potential.” The 85km (52 mile) route includes new high-speed stations at Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly, and provides the critical infrastructure required for N or thern Powerhouse Rail and provision for new Metrolink routes, making Manchester the best-connected city outside of London. 8 | February 2022

he penultimate Elizabeth line station has now been transferred to Transport for London (TfL). Canary Wharf has passed from Crossrail to the transport body so it can be integrated into the operational network before the Elizabeth line opens in the first half of this year. It is the ninth out of 10 stations to go through this process. MTR Elizabeth line staff set to operate Canary Wharf will continue the process of familiarisation with the station, the procedures, facilities and systems. They are also taking part in trial operations which will run scenarios that might occur when the station is open. With trial operations having started on the central section of the line in November, the railway will enter its next stage with larger exercises involving staff and partner organisations soon. This is the final phase of the programme

Image: Camille Walala and Canary Wharf Group

Latest Elizabeth line station handed over to TfL

before the Elizabeth line opens for passenger services between Paddington and Abbey Wood in the first half of this year. Andy Byford, Transport for London’s Commissioner, said: “This station handover is another step forward before the railway opens in the first half of the year. “Canary Wharf is a thriving area

of the capital, not just for business but for those who live in the area and enjoy the retail and leisure activities. This iconic station, sitting below the shopping centre, will be part of the Crossrail place development – a destination in its own right. The Elizabeth line will provide new, much needed, direct transport links across London and beyond.”

GBRf trials battery-powered locomotive

B Railfreight (GBRf) has taken delivery of a Class 18 hybrid+ shunting locomotive. Its arrival is part of a three-month trial with Beacon Rail Leasing, marking the latest expansion of its growing fleet. The low-noise, zero-emissionsenabling locomotive was delivered to Whitemoor on 1 February, where it will undergo a series of tests to understand its capabilities and performance. Manufactured by Clayton Equipment Ltd, the Class 18 is powered by an onboard battery that provides emissions-free operation where charging facilities are available or through a regenerative braking system. When challenges

Image: GB Railfreight

HS2’s journey north accelerates as Bill extending route handed to Parliament

with range or operation occur, an efficient onboard Stage V-compliant engine can be utilised to increase the locomotive’s running time. David Golding, asset director, GB Railfreight, said: “The Class 18 hybrid+ shunting locomotive

has the power to play a key role in the decarbonisation of our future fleet. Going forward, it will offer a wide range of sustainable benefits capable of significantly reducing the environmental impact of our operations.” railbusinessdaily.com

I n sFue raat nu cr e

Advice for Railway Companies – monthly feature by Jobson James Rail – The Rail Broker

Have you been asked to provide a Performance Bond and need to consider the options available to you?

he requirement for bonds has become commonplace within the rail industry and there is often a necessity to have one in place before work can commence. Without one, you could be in breach of contract and not be paid for any work undertaken. Wherever possible, you should ensure you can obtain a bond before you commit to a contract. What are these bonds? Typically, the bonds require you to have a guarantee in place of 10 per cent of the contract value, which the employer or main contractor can call in. Why are you being asked for a bond? The contractor is making provision in the event of your insolvency

Fortunately, there is an alternative option – we can approach surety companies instead of using the bank and avoid tying up cash that the business may need in the future. We can also provide Network Rail Bonds, which may be required under a Basic Asset Protection Agreement (BAPA), and Advanced Payment Bonds. Dean Smith ACII Client Director, Aston Lark or breach of contract. With the economic outlook looking less certain, you may be asked to provide this for the first time even though you may have worked with the other party previously. Obtaining bonds from traditional sources can be difficult, time consuming and frequently ties up working capital with the bank.

How much does a bond cost? The cost of performance bonds varies from approximately 1.5 to around 7.5 per cent per annum. The range depends on the type of contract and the surety company’s acceptance criteria. We can provide an indication for tender purposes which you may be able to add to the overcost of the contract. Typically, the last two sets of accounts will need to be provided, should a formal quotation be required.

How long does it take to arrange a bond? The formal quotation can take around seven to 10 days to arrange. However, collating the documents to issue the formal bond will take longer. We recommend you commence as early in the process as possible. The surety team at Aston Lark, the parent company of Rail Specialist Insurance Broker Jobson James Rail, specialises in arranging bonds to meet with any of your contractual obligations. Dean Smith, Client Director, Aston Lark 07551 156810 dean.smith@astonlark.com

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February 2022 | 9

People

Bridging the skills gap – one colleague at a time Raj Sinha, Group Managing Director of SWGR, on the growth of the business and development of its people to build on delivery success

f the UK is to deliver the railway projects it needs to within the next 10 years, then more than 120,000 additional people are required to be trained and gain experience on the tracks. This report statistic1 holds great significance to SWGR, and forms part of the company’s strategy to play a major role in bridging that skills gap. In little over 18 months, the infrastructure support services provider has been through a digital renaissance to greatly improve its service and optimise its operations, while using the pandemic as an opportunity to diversify its colleagues’ abilities. “Multiskilling our colleagues has been essential in helping SWGR to provide a better service to its clients,” said Group Managing Director Raj Sinha. “We have provided these services over an unbroken history of more than 30 years, and we are acutely aware of the issues the industry has 10 | February 2022

Multiskilling our colleagues has been essential in helping SWGR to provide a better service to its clients in attracting new talent to consider a career in the industry. This industry is facing big strategic changes in terms of its operating model and societal challenges as a result of the pandemic have changed how people work and their thought process on considering other industries, such as logistics, for example. “This is why it is so essential that we afford as many opportunities as we can to to give everyone career progression and build on structured

succession planning to enable them all to achieve their career goals to the best of their abilities. We have the benefits of working with our training business to develop them all as quickly as possible to a National Skills Academy for Rail (NSAR)accredited standard. Improving wellbeing and job security Raj added: “Through this, we’ve been able to afford our colleagues better opportunities in both midweek and weekend work, which in turn helps their home lives, wellbeing, and job security.” To achieve this, the senior management team have been working hard throughout the past year and a half to shape the culture of SWGR, placing its people at the centre of everything it does, all while reinforcing the strong safety ethos and the company’s values it embeds in every single colleague through Safe Together – an initiative which embodies SWGR’s safety approach. railbusinessdaily.com

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People

These actions are paying dividends too. SWGR has successfully provided millions of work hours safely and a consistently high attendance rate. This way of working has built flexibility and diversity into the business, while providing an investment in people which is contributing to a safer and more experienced workforce. Raj said: “If we are truly going to bridge the skills gap and deliver the infrastructure projects needed across the country over the next 10 years, then all of us need to take responsibility, work together as a railway family and meet the challenge head on. “By not only building skills but reinforcing that with behavioural awareness and leadership skill development too, our teams are producing better results UK-wide. “It has contributed towards a happier workforce that is more safety-conscious and, behaviourally, they are committed to doing the right thing by our customers and our supply chain partners thanks to the experience and awareness we are able to provide them. “I am heartened by the support that we are receiving from client leaders and this is a testament to the collaboration within the railway family.” Nurturing the future Optimising its colleagues is just one piece of the skills gap puzzle – but the real success is through encouraging new talent to consider a career on the railways. Compared to other engineering opportunities in construction, civils, or even aerodynamics, rail has tended to be regarded as the ‘less attractive’ option. However, that stereotype is starting to change. A culmination of collective effort from companies across the UK, high-profile projects such as HS2 dominating the headlines, and rising social media stars such as Francis Bourgeois

12 | February 2022

All of us need to take responsibility, work together as a railway family and meet the challenge head on are contributing towards rail looking like a more attractive career option than ever before. SWGR itself has strategically partnered with colleges across the UK, central to the regions in which it works. In these partnerships, SWGR speaks to engineering students face-to-face and educates them on the opportunities, alongside providing them an opportunity to earn money

through weekend work – helping them to ‘try before they commit’ and gain valuable first-hand experience to help bolster their CVs. Bridging the skills gap Raj added: “We’ve seen a large amount of young people work with us on the railways as a direct result of these partnerships. As the industry’s workforce population ages, it is imperative that we take action now and ensure all that essential knowledge built up over the years is imparted into future generations. SWGR has brought in senior leaders who have immense experience in rail and are keen to impart their knowledge to the next generation of people working on railway infrastructure. “With that in mind, we have a limited amount of time to really make the most of that experience.

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People

“By introducing weekend working opportunities alongside their studies, we’re encouraging more people onto the tracks and boosting their experience long before they may have done previously. It’s a solution that has really made a difference in the communities we’re supporting across the UK, and we are continuing to develop more partnerships where possible to capture as many young prospects as we can. “If we can continue to make rail an attractive proposition to younger people, while making clear career progression visible

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It is imperative that we take action now and ensure all that essential knowledge built up over the years is imparted into future generations

“As an industry, we have a long way to go but, as a company, we know SWGR is making great strides to make sure we continue to resource safe, compliant and experienced colleagues. “I can not speak highly enough of key alliances and clients who are supporting us in this endeavour.” STATISTIC FROM: Back on Track: Gearing up to meet the increased demand for talent in the rail industry – RESEARCH COMPLETED BY CITY & GUILDS AND NSAR

with continuous training and development programmes, then we will make a significant dent in the skills gap.

February 2022 | 13

Te c h n o l o g y

More than meets the eye Dr Mustafa Suphi Erden and Nathan Western from the National Robotarium discuss the innovation they hope will help clean up trains

Dr Mustafa Suphi Erden

he importance of unmanned technologies has been thrust to the forefront during the spread of coronavirus, with robots a potential solution for helping to clean and disinfect trains and stations. With that in mind, scientists from the National Robotarium supported by Heriot-Watt University and the University of Edinburgh, have unveiled the design of a new train-cleaning robot to help existing cleaners. Collecting data It is the result of two years of research, with the team using more than 58,000 studio images of waste in a variety of conditions to help the cleaning robot identify waste more accurately, along with several smaller datasets of actual waste photographed in situ on trains, taken from the perspective of a cleaning robot. The studio images were designed to provide as much data as possible about the features of individual waste items, so each unique item was photographed at many different angles. In addition, waste items that can deform, such as newspapers or coffee cups, were represented in different states. Dr Mustafa Suphi Erden from the National Robotarium is leading the project. He explained: “Our research uses robotics and AI to help people to solve a wide range of challenges. 14 | February 2022

Nathan Western

With the daily pressure on rail services, it’s essential that trains are cleaned as fast and as efficiently as possible. “However, at present, this process is done entirely by hand, requiring a significant amount of time for the cleaning personnel to collect each waste item one-by-one from under and in between the seats.

deliver an ongoing service and freeing them up to focus on other hygiene tasks, including disinfecting surfaces like tables, cleaning the seats and removing dirt, fluid and food waste. “As well as being important for health, cleaning can also prevent train delays with discarded newspapers identified as a reason why train doors can fail to close.”

We’ve worked closely with rail operators to design a robot that can complement existing cleaning regimes

Serve the public trust Cleaning train carriages is an essential element of routine maintenance and has been under increasing scrutiny since the pandemic began to help maintain public confidence in rail travel. According to the Office of Rail and Road, in the UK 182 million rail passenger journeys were made in 2021-22 Q1 on national rail services despite ongoing restrictions. However, research into passenger attitudes has consistently shown that travellers want a higher standard of cleanliness on their railways. In the 2020 National Rail Passenger Survey of more than 50,000 UK rail passengers by TransportFocus, a quarter said they were dissatisfied with the levels of cleanliness inside trains. Nathan Western, a researcher from HeriotWatt University who worked on the robot project, said: “As we travel more, for work and pleasure, first impressions are as important as ever.

“Reaching underneath seats repeatedly over a long shift can lead to health problems. Also, cleaning staff regularly encounter hazardous and biological waste which poses a significant risk. “We’ve worked closely with rail operators to design a robot that can complement existing cleaning regimes, aiding human cleaners to

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“We work closely with rail service operators to make sure we are meeting their needs, and our work is always met with enthusiasm and interest. Staff working in vital areas such as cleaning, maintenance, and management have highlighted potential benefits in their work area. “These include reducing delays caused by waste stuck in doors and increasing use of our public transport services by making trains feel safer and more pleasant to travel in. From our perspective, we witness incredible developments in robotics every day, and it is exciting to see our industry partners use these to benefit the lives of so many.” Upgrading the design In interviews with rail service providers, the team obtained further information regarding operating conditions to help guide the design of the robot. The narrow under-seat area, which collects the most waste items, is extremely limited especially on older trains and this makes waste collection challenging for both humans and robots. Some spaces were measured at just 28cm tall, with entry points as small as 31cm. Dr Erden continued: “Our chosen design had to be able to work in a very constrained environment as well as travel between coaches and over uneven surfaces. “We also need a robot that can collect and store newspapers and cups – the most frequent and problematic waste items on trains – with grasping technology able to manage the geometry of coffee cups and newspapers in a confined space. “We believe this cleaning robot has the most potential for widespread adoption. It will benefit existing employees by supporting their roles and freeing them up to do less physically demanding and hazardous cleaning tasks while passengers will have reassurance that their carriage has been cleaned to a high standard. “We hope this will reassure travellers and result in increased customer numbers for rail operators.” The robot is being funded by rail research body RSSB. The robotics and AI research facility is part of the Data-Driven Innovation initiative and is supported by £21 million from the UK Government and £1.4 million from the Scottish Government through the £1.3 billion Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal, a 15-year investment programme jointly funded by both governments and regional partners. Luisa Moisio, Director of Research and Development, RSSB, said: “We’re delighted to be supporting this important research that is contributing towards a step change in working conditions for railway staff, and which will also give passengers added reassurance about the cleanliness of carriages. 16 | February 2022

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“Robotics is expected to be an important area of growth for the economy, and GB rail is taking the initiative, exploring how robots can be used to assist humans in dangerous, difficult, or dirty tasks.”

We believe this cleaning robot has the most potential for widespread adoption The research team will now focus on the production of a flexible navigation tool to guide the robot, and a waste detection algorithm. The research was supported with input from the Greater Anglia train presentation staff at London Liverpool Street station and the West Midlands train presentation staff at Euston station. Scotland’s Employment Minister Richard Lochhead said: “The COVID pandemic has shown how important good hygiene and cleanliness is in all our public spaces, and I’m sure that this new robot will improve working conditions for railway staff and the environment for passengers.

“The demand for skills will change as our businesses adapt and we build on our growing reputation for hi-tech industries, which is why ensuring Scotland has a skilled and productive workforce, both now and in future, is central to our economic ambitions as we adapt to technological change. “I’m pleased the Scottish Government is providing £1.4 million to support the Robotarium as we move towards a sustainable and innovative economic recovery.” The National Robotarium is a partnership between Heriot-Watt University and the University of Edinburgh which combines HeriotWatt’s engineering heritage and strengths in robotics for hazardous environments, manufacturing, healthcare, and human-robot interaction, with the University of Edinburgh’s expertise in space, construction, and humanoid robotics. Rise of the machines UK Government Minister for Scotland Iain Stewart said: “The pandemic has shown the importance of regular, thorough cleaning on board public transport. I am excited that these new robots could help make cleaning both quick and affordable, and so improve the wellbeing of travellers and staff. “The UK Government is investing £21 million in the National Robotarium to support its cutting-edge research into innovative solutions like this.” railbusinessdaily.com

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People

Building better transport networks Kelly Rail’s new Managing Director Robert Burnside discusses almost two decades at the business, and reasons to be excited for the future

obert Burnside is a man full of confidence and optimism settling into the job of Managing Director at Kelly Rail. It’s a role he took on in January as part of a significant restructure to further cement the company’s position as the partner of choice in delivering safe, innovative and efficient customerfocused solutions. This ethos has served the specialist in telecommunications, station information, surveillance systems, signalling, mechanical and electrical, lineside civils and electrification very well so far. Since the rail division of the business was set up in the early 2000s, it has carried out high-profile work for the likes of Network Rail, Transport for London, Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, and Balfour Beatty. Looking ahead Now having weathered the storm of the COVID pandemic – emerging relatively unscathed – Robert is excited about the future, particularly with the restructure, and in building on the platform that has led to the successes so far achieved. “It has been a challenging year for the business, but we’re not alone in that, and the staff have been fantastic in adapting to new working conditions to get the jobs done safely and efficiently,” he said. “Alongside the work with longstanding clients, we’ve also delivered for new clients and entered into some exciting multidisciplinary projects such as partnering on the delivery of a national Wi-Fi scheme at stations throughout the UK. Despite the difficulties, we left 2021 with a healthy balance sheet and I firmly believe 2022 is going to be a

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huge year for our business, with key appointments being made as we seek to expand our offering to the rail industry and our prestigious clients. “Everything we do centres on our passion to be seen as the preferred partner of choice to the UK rail industry by delivering safe, innovative and efficient customer-focused solutions. Our new structure and ambitious business strategy will help us achieve this. As part of its restructure, Kelly Rail is recruiting for a range of engineering and operative roles from the South of England up to Aberdeen to meet its ambitious project targets for 2022 and beyond. As well as Robert becoming managing director, the company has promoted a regional operations director for Northern clients, and a new regional operations director responsible for delivering existing projects in the South while

developing a comprehensive business strategy together, targeting new future business. A wealth of experience Robert, who has been at the business for nearly 19 years, said: “We’ve also promoted a number of project managers into more senior management roles. Between the four internal promotions of myself, the ops director and two project managers, we’ve got around 80 years’ combined experience at Kelly Group. “Now that we’ve implemented this new structure it makes us leaner, resulting in better value for the end user, while giving us more opportunities to expand. I’m very confident that it’s going to provide our clients with a more efficient service while being competitive within in the market.”

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People

The hard work is already under way. Kelly Rail was awarded a package of multi-disciplinary works on the £290 million Glasgow Subway modernisation project by Hitachi Rail in November 2021, with works commencing in December 2021. The overall project includes plans for driverless train operation and 15 new, updated stations. A wide skillset Kelly Rail’s project support consists of a variety of upgrades, including signalling, telecommunications, security and fire alarm systems and installation of copper, fibre, data, audio and RF cables. “We’re delighted to have been recently awarded the Glasgow Subway contract supporting Hitachi Rail,” said Robert. “We were successful as a result of our strength of presence in Scotland, and our extensive experience in projects such as the Highland Enhancement Programme, which involved a full array of civil engineering works, cabling and retail telecoms. “Supporting Hitachi and Strathclyde Partnership for Transport on this transformational scheme will provide a major economic boost to Glasgow and Scotland, linking other transport improvements, supporting driverless train innovations and unlocking real growth for the city. It’s extremely encouraging for us to be involved in such an exciting project. Providing job security for locally based labour and management while giving back to the local community is something I’m passionate about. We’re also planning to upskill new trainees and apprentices within our Glasgow training facility.” Kelly Rail is part of the Kelly Group, which has been at the forefront of the telecommunications industry for more than 35 years. Its very first installation was in New Addington, London, on 17 September 1985 for Corydon Cable. Working across several industries nationwide including telecommunications, rail, civils,

utilities, fleet, traffic management and energy, Kelly Group operates with more than 40 operational centres, 2,500+ vehicles, five national training centres and a workforce of circa 3,500 delivering a one-stop solution to meet the needs of its clients. Robert is keen to draw on the experience of all the divisions within the Group to ensure Kelly Rail flourishes. “My aims and ambitions are to be more diverse and to ensure that Kelly Rail adopts Kelly Group’s best practices, particularly from telecoms, and migrate them over to the Kelly Rail systems,” he said. “We have an excellent cross-functional culture within the Group – my fellow managing directors have been extremely supportive, which will increase our Kelly Rail efficiencies while ultimately benefiting the end customer.”

Every day is a learning day, and we are certainly heading in the right direction, the outlook for this year is very good Collaboration is fundamental to the company’s safe and ‘right first time’ delivery ethos. An example of its commitment to that was the implementation of Rail Diary, a web-based management and reporting system that clients have access to during all phases of the projects it delivers, providing full transparency and real time reporting. “Our real time reporting system isn’t just helping from an efficiency point of view, but also from an environmental one, with it being paperless,” said Robert. “Recently we’ve been working on some exciting collaboration projects, one example is a result of being on the Network Rail Telecom framework. In 2020 we successfully delivered a forensic detection project in a bid to solve a big issue with batteries getting stolen within relocatable equipment buildings (REBs)

and just general vandalism of the facilities. “We partnered with a company called SmartWater to use a marking liquid that we applied to the batteries. We’ve just been awarded a similar project to go back and visit these REBs and install new smart locks, which will enable everybody to access these buildings with an application on their phone.” An environmental commitment At the heart of everything Kelly Rail does is ensuring a positive impact on society and the local communities it serves. As well as supporting multiple charitable organisations and assisting in youth employment, hard work is under way in reducing CO2 emissions and monitoring its waste. Kelly Group is working towards having all owned operational centres using 100 per cent renewable electricity, resulting in zero carbon emissions by mid-2022. The Group is also introducing electric vehicles within its national fleet, while installing EV charge points at all its operational centres. “Every day is a learning day, and we are certainly heading in the right direction, the outlook for this year is very good,” said Robert. “We’re starting to develop new relationships with new framework companies, our pipeline is increasing, and we are becoming more diverse in the opportunities that we’re exploring. “Passengers always come first, with this in mind we’re in the process of executing some very exciting trial proofs of concept projects that we’re planning to roll out at the end of CP6 and into CP7. For me, the long-term vision is to be our existing and new suppliers’ contractor of choice and for Kelly Rail to be strong in every region in the country, while giving back to the local communities we serve. “We’re planning increased investment in apprenticeship schemes and have a vision to work closely with universities and colleges, providing a platform and career opportunities within the rail industry.” TRANSFORMING

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February 2022 | 19

IFnedaut us tr rey S p o t l i g h t

Why Train Presentation matters and how digitisation can fix it mpro5’s Toby Hawkins considers the importance of Train Presentation and why innovation should be a crucial investment

rain Presentation (TP) may be traditionally thought of as unglamorous, but the Plan for Rail puts it at the front and centre of operations. But with the substantial returns that digitising TP can have, it is becoming increasingly important that Train Operating Companies (TOCs) invest in this ahead of rail reform. “Train Presentation has for many years been the unglamorous side of operations for TOCs and it’s fair to say that they often take the brunt of complaints,” said Toby Hawkins, Sales Director of ‘Software as a Service’ provider mpro5. “It’s actually an incredibly challenging role requiring speed, quick thinking and flexibility. The inherent problem with it is this: as soon as passengers get on the train and the TP teams get off, they have no control over the cleanliness of the carriages. And as we all know, trains that are being used frequently can get messy quickly. “But digitising these processes can massively increase productivity and it will give you invaluable insight that will allow you to really optimise your operations.” High workload TP encompasses all aspects of cleaning including seats, floors, touchpoints and brightwork, as well as making sure the bins are emptied and that the toilets are clean and hygienic. COVID has also made it necessary to disinfect all touchpoints regularly. “The challenge is that currently, it’s a black hole,” Toby continued. “You might have a briefing and some paperwork to fill out but as soon as that train goes into service it’s anyone’s guess what was really cleaned. “What this results in is a cycle of blame. Whether it’s failing a service quality audit or a passenger complaint, TP teams have no way of defending themselves – a ticked box doesn’t count as irrefutable evidence. “It’s unfair and in the long run not particularly constructive. TP teams feel undervalued and at the same time it becomes difficult to really make changes because you simply don’t have the insight and evidence that drives it.” 20 | February 2022

A TP team might have just a few minutes to achieve an acceptable turnaround clean. The number of people in a team or the amount of time a carriage is available can vary massively, which makes delivering a consistent result exceedingly difficult.

“Train Presentation teams now have the data to back their requests for more resources if the current situation is inadequate” To add to this, they might have passengers still on the train to manoeuvre around or they might Advertorial

get asked a question and have to stop working to help someone. They also frequently get asked to do odd jobs during daily cleans that do not directly relate to their role. Above and beyond Toby explained: “Whether it’s changing out all the seat covers or filling sandboxes in the winter, TP are often expected to go above and beyond when performing end of day cleans. This is of course a normal part of working, but the problem is they have such a limited amount of time to complete their tasks, that small things can affect the result. “It’s not as simple as saying each carriage takes x minutes to turn around. There’s so much more that goes into it, from preparing the correct equipment and having it to hand as well as briefings and the aforementioned extra jobs. “All these challenges lead me to the first and most important reason to digitise TP – irrefutable evidence, accountability and insight.” railbusinessdaily.com

I n d u s t r y S pFoetal ti g uh r et

Digitisation means taking analogue processes such as logbooks or checklists and creating digital counterparts that can be more detailed, and carried on employees’ smart phones in an app. The app will upload data automatically as processes are completed. “Having the evidence to back up the work your TP teams do is crucial. Employees scan a QR tag in the carriage they are working in, then they follow their apps through all the tasks they need to complete, taking pictures as they go,” Toby explained. “Once you start building this data out, on everything from tasks completed to unresolved issues, your TP is no longer like the Bermuda Triangle. We’ve found through our work with TOCs that other departments are starting to really listen and pay attention to their TP teams. “Not only is their hard work recognised by their colleagues, but you can start to improve the process with real data backing up your insights. You can isolate endemic issues such as a shortage of staff available for particular cleans due to resourcing issues or unreliable diagramming, or it could be that they were held up by having to replace posters. “TP teams now have the data to back their requests for more resources if the current situation is inadequate, whether it’s insufficient equipment or a lack of cleaners.” Improved efficiency A digital platform that manages work can also automate alerts. These can be set to trigger when certain conditions are met and are highly versatile – you can send an alert to a TP team if a certain KPI was missed on the last clean, or if the train was particularly busy.

“This is an invaluable advantage over paper,” Toby continued. “You can get advanced warning or notice to pay attention to a particular problem and it gives you time to react and adjust. “Why not send a warning to the next member of staff who scans on to a train that has recently failed its audit? Alerts can be very specific. It also gives your TP teams the ability to provide the evidence that the problem has been rectified.” This will become a crucial process for all TOCs when the Plan for Rail is implemented.

The primary mechanism for awarding profit will be meeting Service Quality Regime (SQR) targets and TP will be a key component of that. Delivering more Toby said: “This is why it’s so important to consider digitisation of your TP operations now, because if you do miss a target you are going to need to evidence that you are doing everything you can to rectify it. Being able to demonstrate your efforts to the Department for Transport will be critical. “A high standard of cleaning is now as much a safety issue as an aesthetic one in light of the pandemic. It is also critical to SQ and the passenger experience. When I speak to TP teams around the UK, the feeling is that they are increasingly pressured to deliver more. “In light of all this it begs the question, how can you not digitise? Can you afford to stick with paper with both incoming government mandates for digitisation and an increased demand for cleaner trains from passengers? “A piece of paper is simply not up to the task. You need detailed data that is both irrefutable evidence and that is structured well enough that ground teams and head office can make practical use of it in daily operations and to drive improvement.” For more information, visit www.mpro5.com

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February 2022 | 21

Freight

A brave new world for rail freight

Chris Connelly, Deputy CEO and Rail Director at Nuclear Transport Solutions, talks about a decade of working with Tesco and the trial of alternative fuels

he role of rail freight in moving goods around the UK is becoming increasingly important both from an environmental and a commercial point of view. Currently it is an industry carrying goods worth £30 billion per year, but that is increasing. Each freight train takes about 76 HGVs off the road, translating to 1.66 billion fewer HGV kilometres a year, which is helping to mitigate the effects of transport emissions on global warming as well as reducing congestion on the roads. Such is its importance that Tesco’s Chief Executive Ken Murphy credited the investment in the use of trains to distribute products with helping to keep its shelves stocked during the lorry driver crisis last year. In the past year alone, the retailer has increased the number of containers of produce transported by rail by nearly 50 per cent. Refrigerated service In recent months the retailer has shown its confidence in the sector by agreeing a threeyear extension with Direct Rail Services (DRS) and announced a partnership to launch its first refrigerated rail freight service in the UK. Chris Connelly, Rail Director of the freight operator, said: “The three-year extension is testament to the long-standing relationship we have with Tesco, built over the past 10 years, and we’re over the moon to get to the next phase of the deal and build on what we’re doing. “As Tesco’s business has evolved, its commitment to rail has increased and we’ve got to this point where we can put everything together and create something bigger and better in the three years ahead. “I’m pretty sure the introduction of the refrigerated unit train is the first time there’s been an entirely refrigerated unit service on the railway in the UK, which isn’t just fantastic news for DRS and Tesco, but also for the environment. This is an example of how rail can play an integral part in the race to net zero.” The refrigerated rail freight service involves the distribution of goods from Tilbury to Coatbridge twice a day, seven days a week. The 415-mile route uses the company’s Class 88 bi-mode electric locomotives which can run on electricity and produce zero exhaust and greenhouse gas emissions. 22 | February 2022

This service alone will take at least 17,000 containers off the road each year, saving Tesco 7.3 million road miles and nearly 9,000 tonnes of CO2e. “‘Lights on, shelves full’ was our strapline all the way through the pandemic,” said Chris. “We are the only operator in the UK licensed to carry nuclear material by rail so that side of the business was about ensuring we played our part in keeping the lights on and the reactors running.

‘Lights on, shelves full’ was our strapline all the way through the pandemic “The other important role has been with our supermarket colleagues in keeping the shelves full, because it was literally doing that on a daily basis showing our capabilities for offering justin-time delivery. The extension of the partnership with Tesco cements that alignment and allows us to look at more services, longer services and heavier services.”

The two organisations have also been working together to trial diesel fuel alternatives which eliminate up to 90 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions (CO2e), opening up the 62 per cent of the rail network that doesn’t benefit from overhead electricity to extremely low CO2 rail freight. A green alternative Last year, DRS launched its new green 68006 design, showcasing the environmental benefits of rail freight and how a diesel locomotive is able to significantly reduce its carbon emissions when using Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO). Supplied by Crown Oil, the secondgeneration, synthetic, advanced renewable diesel alternative is said to eliminate up to 90 per cent of the CO2e and significantly reduce nitrogen oxide, particulate matter and carbon monoxide emissions. “We’ve already seen that when you move things from road to rail you get that big step reduction in CO2 – the 76 per cent – but we want to take that further,” said Chris. “We’ve just finished a really successful HVO trial which has been on our Inverness service and we’re looking at the results, but that train never missed a beat during its trial period. railbusinessdaily.com

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Freight

“We’ve been really pleased with the operation of the Class 88 bi-mode trains which gives huge benefits from a CO2 perspective, but looking at new technology on fuels will enable us to use some of our existing traction such as 68 and 66 in a much more environmentally friendly way.” DRS was established in 1995 as a lynch pin supplier of transport and associated services to the nuclear industry and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). In April last year, DRS joined forces with NDA transport subsidiaries, International Nuclear Services and Pacific Nuclear Transport Ltd (PNTL), bringing together its transport expertise and capabilities into a single transport division – Nuclear Transport Solutions (NTS). Chris, who is also Deputy Chief Executive at NTS, said: “Bringing together our shipping and rail business enables a real breadth of capability in terms of the transport sector. We’ve got a shipping sector, rail sector and a solutions sector which looks at engineering and package design. “That for me has been a great stimulus for new ideas and our shareholder, NDA, has been incredibly supportive in bringing that together, not just in our core nuclear business, but helping in developing the business with the likes of Tesco. It has been a really interesting period of change, but it shows it is all in the right direction as it’s resulted in these kinds of outcomes.” In the spotlight It all adds to a real turning point in rail freight, which continues to gather momentum. For many years, professionals across the freight industry have spoken about a lack of awareness in both government and from the general public to freight transport and why it matters.

The circumstances of the past few years have definitely increased the profile of freight with Brexit lorry queues, HGV driver shortages, petrol crises and empty shelves among the stories regularly in the headlines.

We need to imagine a railway that attracts the next generation of customers for rail freight Freight use of the railways quickly recovered after an initial shock of the COVID pandemic and is on track to take a bigger share of traffic and revenues in the future. Chris said: “There is much more of a drive towards rail freight. The benefits in terms of the performance and the environmental and the resilience of the service offering is really in a completely different place to where it was a few years ago, and I think people are starting to sit up and take notice.

“A lot of people talk to me about road versus rail but for me I don’t think this is a competition. I see this really as rail doing what it’s really good at, which is big, long trunking flows, and then the road capability doing that hub and spoke really well with that last mile. “A lot of the new customers I speak to also say on the face of it rail seems quite a difficult and complex mode of transport to engage with, so we’ve done a lot of work in the past to dispel the myths and to make rail freight an easier access point.” As part of this, DRS has been designing train services to match customer requirements and also tried to make the terminology easier to understand for those without a background in the railways. “The railway industry is almost as bad as the nuclear industry for the number of acronyms,” said Chris. “For us it goes right from the start in the way we speak to our customers and the way we explain things. “It has been about trying to step into the customers’ shoes a little bit and understand what it feels like to be an outsider to the industry and engaging on a level that they understand. I believe what we have been doing has been making a difference, but I don’t think that journey is finished yet.” The future for freight Within the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail is a commitment to grow rail freight, with Great British Railways (GBR) introducing critical safeguards to ensure freight operators receive fair access to the network and a statutory duty to promote rail freight to secure economic, environmental and social benefits for the nation. To improve the freight customer experience, a national freight co-ordination team will be created within GBR to act as a single point of contact for freight operators and customers across the network.

24 | February 2022

railbusinessdaily.com

Freight

Chris said: “I’m really quite optimistic about GBR. Just having a target for rail freight growth will be absolutely fantastic, and incentives for more sustainable and more environmentally technology or fuel or whatever in terms of the solutions we give. “I’m also really supportive of some strategic investment in electrification, which will give freight a much better bang for its buck in terms of that investment in the bi-mode technology. “As we reimagine what the passenger network needs to look like post-pandemic, we also need to have the debate about the value of rail freight in comparison to some passenger services. In some cases, it might make better societal value giving over more access to rail freight to give us the ability to run longer, heavier services.” A vital link The rail freight market has been transformed over the past quarter of a century, from largely moving coal and steel to now playing a vital role in the transport of construction materials, containers and food supplies. Chris has experienced those changes first-hand and will soon be marking his 25th anniversary at DRS, having joined in 1997 as the Commercial and Business Development Director.

railbusinessdaily.com

He said: “I’ve really seen the industry transform and its customer base is greatly different to what it was when we first started, particularly with the emphasis on time and resilience. “Looking to the future we need to imagine a railway that attracts the next generation of customers for rail freight, the likes of Amazon. We need to ensure we have the right systems and the right offering as we look to transform the industry for the next 25 years. “We’ve seen great growth in the past 25 years and I’m proud that DRS has brought that

domestic intermodal growth to the market. But it’s now time to have a look at the future and continue to support the fast-moving consumer goods offering – that is the brave new world for the freight industry. “I’m always going to support anything that causes people to question the way things are done. That is something that has kept DRS fresh and it is thanks to our diverse workforce giving us those ideas and that kind of thinking alongside the enthusiasm to take the organisation to the next level.”

February 2022 | 25

People

Providing operational support and safety critical training Cath Bellamy, MD of SLC Operations, talks about the first two years of the business and plans to double its workforce

espite only being in its infancy, it has already been some journey for train operator and driver training specialist SLC Operations (SLCO). It was two years ago that Chiltern Railway’s stalwarts Cath Bellamy, Adrian Shooter and Ian Walters launched the business, with a vision to become a market leader in the provision of railway operational support and safety critical training. From a standing start, it has grown its clients’ base to include the likes of Transport for Wales, Transport for London, South Western Railway, Network Rail, Colas Rail and Balfour Beatty Rail. Last October it was also successful in achieving its passenger train operating licence. “I feel both exceptionally proud and genuinely quite amazed at what my team has put in place in two years, particularly given that when we started it was just me and one employee sharing some desk space,” said Managing Director Cath. “Fast forward two years and we’ve got 22 staff, including a dozen experienced train drivers, a training academy set up on a proper railway depot, a passenger operating licence, a non-passenger operating licence, and we are an approved train driver training and examination centre. “On top of that we’ve also been trading successfully with a client base I’m really proud of. If that’s what we can achieve in just two years, I can’t wait to see where we are in the next two.” As well as the birthday cake to celebrate the company’s second anniversary, Cath says the occasion is being marked with a £750,000 investment package. This will help to create more than 20 jobs, including the recruitment of drivers, who will all play a major part in the next stage of its development. This includes: F ive fully qualified depot drivers based in the London area; wo fully qualified main line drivers, also T based in the London/Greater London area; S even fully qualified main line drivers, initially supporting the West Midlands area. 26 | February 2022

There will also be opportunities for further development for the new recruits, with the five depot drivers and seven main line drivers being given the chance to train as main line drivers and fully qualified driver instructors respectively, all funded by SLCO.

We offer real tangible opportunities to develop yourself and with it receive the respective salary increases “Through COVID we’ve got the business on its feet and we are now in a position where over the next 12 months we’re going to be recruiting a minimum of 22 people, doubling us in size,” said Cath.

“The drivers we take on will have a great opportunity to develop their careers. Full-time drivers will have the opportunity to grow into driver instructors, depot-based drivers can join us and be trained up to main line standards, and later in the year we’re going to be announcing our first opportunity for apprentice train drivers. “Train drivers who have come to us like the variety of work and the fact we offer the opportunity to drive and be trained to drive anywhere in the UK and on a range of locomotives and units. We offer real tangible opportunities to develop yourself and with it receive the respective salary increases.” Sevice range Based at Kings Norton, Birmingham, SLCO offers services ranging from train driver and guard hire, operations training, instructor hire and rail vehicle introduction/acceptance including fault-free and mileage accumulation through to rolling stock collection and delivery. railbusinessdaily.com

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People

Within its first 12 months, the business was awarded its non-passenger operating licence and has since gone on to operate almost 2,000 trains. This has included helping clients with ad hoc rolling stock movements, delivering water-jetting services and helping introduce new/modified trains on to the network, including the mileage accumulation and fault-free running of Transport for Wales’ new diesel/battery hybrid and South Western Railways’ third rail type units. “Everyone involved with SLCO is a railway person having worked in various roles in the sector, so collectively we understand the many pieces of the jigsaw that make up a railway system and customers find that really refreshing,” said Cath. “We can add value and help crack problems and come up with new ideas and ultimately help to deliver solutions, not write reports or advise what should be done, but actually roll up our sleeves and do it with them or for them.” Making a contribution SLCO put its successful application for its passenger train operating licence to good use immediately, supporting VivaRail and Network Rail to run the UK’s first emissionfree, fully battery-powered main line passenger train at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow. The image of the train crossing the Forth Bridge has been shared worldwide. Cath said: “We are incredibly proud to have been involved, but there are lots of other things I consider as highlights at SLCO that might not be as glamorous. “I’m as proud driving our first train and every time I have conversations with railway companies who respect us, hire us and spend money with us.

28 | February 2022

We’ve also managed to create 22 jobs through COVID and knowing that that’s 22 families that are being supported by the activities of the business gives me a great feeling. “As a business we are making a contribution to individuals and the industry, generating growth, generating jobs, and it’s adding value to an industry that we all love.”

We have a business plan over the next two to five years that is equally ambitious The investment package is coming from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF) Maven Debt Finance, which has provided £500,000 growth funding, alongside a further £250,000 from an existing investor. Cath said: “We have been establishing the business, both from an operational and training perspective, with this investment helping us to actively develop our digital technologies and growing our driver hire and training provision. “With our new passenger licence, we can also start to engage with organisations and local authorities about their passenger service aspirations to ensure we offer the services needed. “We’ve demonstrated in the first two years that we achieved our promises to people who wanted to invest money in us and we have a business plan over the next two to five years that is equally ambitious – this funding will help us deliver that.”

There are no signs of the company’s growth slowing down, driven by both its expertise and enthusiasm for change. Cath, who has been an employer of train drivers for two decades, is passionate about the quality of driver training keeping up with technology. The Rail Academy Last year SLCO launched a new 3D training product through its training division, The Rail Academy. Working with Creactive Design, they can now produce 3D and virtual reality training for any type of rolling stock, as well as create new or established operator training materials. Many operators are also able to refresh train drivers and operational staff on any traction, at any location and any time, without being restricted by simulator locations or visiting a train in service or on a depot. Cath said: “Train drivers perform one of the most critical roles in the rail industry, yet I don’t think we have been innovative enough to ensure that the quality of training provided for drivers or other safety critical roles has kept up with similar parallel industries across the world, so it is an opportunity for a business like us but also a necessity. “The plan for the months ahead is to continue to grow our operations. We are talking to a number of people who are very impressed with what we are doing, and they want us to be their key operators. “We are also talking to industry leaders in training who recognise that we can deliver for the industry training in practicable elements. Although classroom driver training and other training is relatively easy to deliver, practical hands-on training isn’t and we are one of the few organisations that is capable of doing that and is focused on doing that. “I see us having a really exciting future and I look forward to what the next two years brings.”

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Signalling

Alstom wins major Network Rail contract The design and delivery contract is part of a £194 million investment for the renewal of the signalling systems in the Cambridge area

lstom has signed a design and delivery contract worth £130 million as part of a programme of signalling systems renewals in Cambridge. The £194 million Cambridge resignalling project will see existing systems swapped out for state-of-the-art signalling technology in the hope of providing better reliability for passengers and reduced maintenance. It will also provide a platform ready for digital technologies such as the European Train Control System (ETCS). This £130 million contract awarded to Alstom is the biggest awarded by Network Rail under the Major Signalling Framework Agreement (MSFA) during the current five-year investment cycle.

pgrade of the signalling control equipment U at Cambridge power signal box with Alstom’s control systems and workstation pgrade of the signalling safety interlocking U equipment in the Cambridge area with a modern signalling technology using the Alstom Smart Lock 400GP Computer Based Interlocking (CBI) system pgrade of seven level crossings from half U barrier to full barrier to improve safety for all crossing users enewal of the telecommunications and R power supplies to support the new systems elocating control of signalling to R the Cambridge power signal box and decommissioning of three mechanical signal boxes. This signalling renewal project covers 125 miles of track, stretching from Meldreth and Elsenham to the south, through central Cambridge, up to Ely and Thurston to the east. 30 | February 2022

Image: Network Rail

System upgrade Alstom will be changing equipment that dates back to the 1980s. The contract includes the replacement of almost 700 items of life expired signalling equipment with a modern signalling system as well as the:

The project also enables the delivery of wider resignalling works within the Anglia region, including future integration with the proposed new Cambridge South station, as well as the potential future integration with East West Rail.

This project will provide a signalling system fit for a modern 21st century railway Design work has begun, with the work on the ground expected to be delivered during four key commissioning stages to minimise disruption of the operational railway. The final commissioning of the new signalling system is scheduled for winter 2024.

Ellie Burrows, Network Rail’s Route Director for Anglia, said: “Signalling systems are crucial to operate a safe and efficient railway for passengers, freight and everyone who uses or interacts with the railway. Future-proofing Ellie added: “This project will provide a signalling system fit for a modern 21st century railway in the Cambridge area, and working with Alstom we will improve the reliability and performance of the railway now, and for future passengers in the decades to come.” Jason Baldock, Alstom’s Managing Director, Digital and Integrated Solutions, said: “We are very excited to have been awarded the largest single contract to be awarded by Network Rail under the Major Signalling Framework Agreement during this control period, and a project that will deliver significant benefits to rail users in Cambridge and across the Anglia region.” railbusinessdaily.com

Te c h n o l o g y

Chiltern Railways launches HybridFLEX into passenger service A 20-year-old diesel train has been fitted with a powerful battery meaning it uses 25 per cent less fuel, significantly cutting emissions and air pollution

rain operator Chiltern Railways has launched Britain’s first 100mph capable battery-diesel hybrid train into passenger service HybridFLEX entered service between Aylesbury and London in February, significantly cutting CO2 emissions, saving fuel and reducing noise and air pollution. There are plans to bring the new type of train to the London to Oxford via Bicester Village route in the coming months. Sustainable railway Richard Allan, Chiltern Railway’s Managing Director, said: “Chiltern Railways is determined to operate a railway that is as sustainable and environmentally friendly as possible. “We have worked hard with our partners to fit a powerful battery power pack underneath a 20-year-old diesel train to make the train cleaner, quieter and quicker. We are really proud that this concept train is now carrying customers and look forward to assessing its performance in daily service.” Chiltern Railways, train owner Porterbrook and industrial technology company Rolls-Royce have worked together to convert the diesel train into one that now runs on both diesel and battery power. The train has been retrofitted with RollsRoyce mtu Hybrid Powerpack that pairs a diesel engine with an electric unit that can function both as a motor and as a generator. The battery system stores power that is recovered during braking. Warren East, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-

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HybridFLEX from left: Helen Simpson (Director of Engineering, Porterbrook), David Eaton (Director, Rolls-Royce Solutions), Bruce Phillips (Managing Director Rolls-Royce Solutions), Richard Allan (Managing Director Chiltern Railways), Lei Berners-Wu (Vice President Global Industrial Business at Rolls-Royce Power Systems)

Royce, said: “In this critical decade of climate action, the entry into service of the HybridFLEX train demonstrates what we can achieve through technological innovation and agile collaboration. This smart piece of engineering enables the acceleration of the UK Government ambition to remove all diesel-only trains from the network by 2040, making rail journeys quieter, cleaner and faster.” As well as quieter and quicker journeys, HybridFLEX results in a 25 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions. Nitrogen oxide and pollutants are also cut by 70 and 90 per cent respectively.

It also cuts fuel usage and reduces noise by up to 75 per cent in and around stations and urban areas. Mary Grant, CEO of Porterbrook, said: “The entry of our hybrid battery-diesel train HybridFLEX into passenger service is great news for Chiltern Railways and its customers. “It’s a significant first step in demonstrating how improvements to this fleet can reduce emissions and improve air quality both at stations and other locations across the network.” Getting greener Mary added: “HybridFLEX is part of Porterbrook’s growing portfolio of alternative traction systems designed to help deliver a more sustainable railway.” The concept train will be assessed in customer service to understand if there is an opportunity to convert more diesel trains to use this innovative hybrid technology in the future. The government’s Rail Minister Wendy Morton said: “Rail is getting even greener and Chiltern Railways’ launch of this cutting-edge hybrid train is another major leap forward. We are working across transport to hit net zero by 2050 and it is brilliant to see our railways rising to the challenge.” February 2022 | 31

Te c h n o l o g y

Assurance against ever-evolving cyber security threats ROSCO Rock Rail and the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Railway Research and Education form strategic partnership to set the agenda for defending rail’s cyber systems

s the railways become highly reliant on digital technologies, computer systems and wireless technologies, addressing railway rolling stock cyber security and the threat posed by cyber attacks and system and software vulnerabilities is of increasing importance. The University of Birmingham’s Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with leading rolling stock and transport company, Rock Rail, has now established a strategic partnership and teaching partnership to address specific cyber security challenges. The UK Rail Research and Innovation Network’s Centre of Excellence in Digital Systems, led and housed at BCRRE, offers worldleading expertise in railway cyber security and Internet of Things (IoT). BCRRE’s dedicated rail cyber security laboratories offer practical and flexible workspaces to develop and test solutions for ‘real world’ operational systems and develop new solutions from theoretical backgrounds into implementable solutions. Rock has invested £3 billion of funding from institutional investors into 1,576 new, stateof-the-art train vehicles. Along with software integrity and decarbonisation, it considers cyber security to be a key strategic area of focus for its business, both in delivering new rolling stock and in its asset management role. Adapting to new challenges The partnership aims to answer fundamental questions faced by the sector to manage the cyber security risk of today and into the future that is unique to rolling stock, and the sector as a whole. Given that Rock manages fleets built by Hitachi, Alstom, Stadler and Siemens and is developing strong relationships with other manufacturers, such as CAF, as well as exporting its leasing model to Germany, France and Australia, means that the partnership is a perfect combination of sector-leading expertise and real world application. Together, they will assess and develop solutions for cyber security issues that affect the whole of the railway, including signalling, rolling stock, and supply chain. 32 | February 2022

Clive Roberts and Richard Thomas

Dr Richard Thomas, Industrial Fellow in Data Integration and Cyber Security and Rail Cyber Security Technical Lead at BCRRE, said: “Rock is a challenger to traditional UK ROSCOs, every fleet they manage is digital and has a long design and operational lifespan. “Their approaches to digital risk has been

The threat is very much unseen, evolving, and involves changing technologies that we’re still learning about front and centre as part of the assurance of introducing these new fleets to the GB rail network.”

Professor Clive Roberts, Head of School of Engineering at the University of Birmingham, said: “Rock are an excellent partner in terms of their thinking and we are really keen to create a significant impact in this area as there is a lot to do in this space. Having a partner that is going to put things into place and practice around the work that we are doing is really important to us.” Richard added: “We’re looking at this being a three to five-year relationship in terms of benchmarking and trying to set the agenda for the sector. We will be really pushing our knowledge and trying to upskill the railway workforce, with the long-term view of using BCRRE and Rock’s strong relationships to reach and work with the supply chain.” Increased security BCRRE has been working on cyber security since 2014, originally looking at signalling to make UK and European rail networks more secure and previously delivering research funded by the National Cyber Security Centre and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to look at wider risks. railbusinessdaily.com

Te c h n o l o g y

The Department for Transport’s (DfT) guidance on rail cyber security, published back in 2016, aimed to support the rail industry in reducing its vulnerability to cyber attack and was followed by the Rail Delivery Group’s (RDG) 2017 advice on cyber security working practices from a rolling stock perspective. Both place the ball in the court of industry to provide solutions to cyber security challenges, adopt and comply with relevant standards, establish key principles of best practice and change workplace culture in order to deliver on the Rail Cyber Security Strategy and meet the EU’s Network and Information Security (NIS) Directive. Rising action In the past 10 years, the railway sector has been the target of adversaries, with incidents such as ransomware, data breaches, intrusions and malware being attempted against the railway systems within the EU. In January this year, a group of hackers known as Belarusian Cyber-Partisans claim they breached and encrypted servers belonging to the Belarusian Railway, an attack prompted by Russia using Belarusian

BCRRE Fact file BCRRE is Europe’s largest academicbased group delivering railway science and education. With more than 160 academics, researchers and professional support staff, BCRRE provides world-class research and thought leadership within railways, and offers an expanding portfolio of high-quality education programmes, including Rail and Rail Systems Level 6 and 7 degree apprenticeships. Railway’s rail transport network to move military units and equipment into the country.

However, the threat actors specifically avoided compromising safety-critical systems. Sometimes cyber security breaches are accidental, at other times malicious. Either way, ensuring that the railway system is robust and resilient to the threats posed is of high importance. Clive said: “The threat is very much unseen, evolving, and involves changing technologies that we’re still learning about. It’s worth saying that we’re not concerned about this from a safety point of view in the rail sector, it’s really denial of service issues.

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Te c h n o l o g y

“There have been a number of instances internationally where trains have been stopped due to cyber attacks, so while there’s been nothing significant in the UK to date, this is very much a real threat. “There are a number of parts to this story, from design and systems architecture and how we think about implementation, to maintenance and systems adaptation, where we make upgrades to rolling stock, and condition monitoring, which is all done against a backdrop of adversaries getting better at what they do. It’s different to standard safety, I believe, because the risks don’t change that much from when a piece of rolling stock is introduced to when it comes out of service. In this space there is an ongoing requirement to continually assess the current risks because they are changing all the time. Creating standards Clive added: “We can put standards around cyber security in place but the challenge is how you then adhere to those standards. There are things we can do about standards, structure and design that will give us confidence that we are doing the right thing in terms of the architecture of IT systems, and the verification and validation tools that enable suppliers and ROSCOs to have more assurance that they are doing the right thing. “We need to broaden, advise and support that activity from a cyber secure manner, taking into account what needs to take place, the tools and tasks, as well as that being a more dynamic activity because it is a moving world in terms of the threats.”

34 | February 2022

Examples of the impact of cyber attacks internationally include train services stopping completely, and passenger information services displaying incorrectly or completely failing. In Lodz, Poland, a teenager with a TV remote was able to switch the points on a tram system for no other reason than they could.

If you have a train from a fleet that’s been subject to attack are you then confident to continue operating the full fleet? Richard added: “There are some very determined threat actors, ranging from those with low technical knowledge and capability to those who are determined to cause disruption to a rail network because they realise its importance to a country’s economy. A delay due to points failures is significant enough but in a digital world it is an issue that brings a different dimension.” Clive added: “If you have a train from a fleet that’s been subject to attack are you then confident to continue operating the full fleet? There are some real issues about how you recover from such a disturbance because of the investigation you would need to do across the fleet and aboard the rolling stock.”

These are, however, worst-case scenarios. The work that BCRRE and Rock will achieve together is about ensuring that such cases do not materialise on the UK’s rail network. Richard said: “In terms of what we do in Birmingham, our work is predominantly around assurance, which is taking the set of standards that exist and asking, from a cyber security perspective, whether these standards are right. The work that we did looking at EU-wide signalling standards asked if we were putting in the right and necessary defences against an attacker in, say 2050 or 2060, because we need defences with longevity. “Now we are looking at the systems that make up the railway environment, the physical devices and components that are being used. ROSCOs, which ultimately have responsibility for these assets, are buying fleets from a very extensive supply chain. So they need to develop confidence themselves that these things are secure, or they know where potential issues are so that they can work with the supplier and industry to resolve them and set a direction of where they want to be. We’re defining what good looks like in terms of assets and standards from a holistic perspective and being one step ahead of the risks posed by cyber attacks.” Clive added: “This partnership will provide industry with the necessary tools to build up capability and maturity over time. We can’t eliminate the risk, but we need to have the right tools. We’re not only preparing the sector but building that culture so that everyone knows their part. It is about developing assurance and building confidence and knowing that what you have is secure while understanding the potential risk.”

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People

Breaking the cycle: Helping prisoners find ways back into work Network Rail’s Vince James talks about his passion of giving ex-offenders an opportunity to work on the railways

or the past decade Vincent James has made it his mission to help give prisoners a real shot at getting a job when they leave custody. His efforts haven’t gone unnoticed, with Network Rail’s Lead Industrial Relations Consultant awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) in the most recent Queen’s New Year Honours. In the past 10 years he’s visited dozens of prisons and is estimated to have spoken with 6,000 prisoners, talking about careers in the railways, encouraging their self-belief and giving them hope of achieving a better life on their release. Second chances “People deserve a second chance and I think it is in everyone’s interests to do more to help people in prison to change their lives and reduce the risk of re-offending,” said Vince, who has been working in the rail industry for more than three decades. “Everyone can contribute to society and I am passionate in playing a part in making a difference to someone’s life – it is a really powerful thing to do. “To be recognised for this work has been both a huge shock and an immense privilege. I genuinely thought it was a scam when I received the letter about the BEM and Googled the Cabinet Office address and called them up to check it was real.”

Everyone can contribute to society and I am passionate in playing a part in making a difference to someone’s life It all started when Vince was invited to Highpoint Prison in Suffolk to talk to prisoners about employment advice. He soon found

out that prisons were crying out for employers to come in and talk, offer CV assistance, and interview tips. “It snowballed from that first visit with more people asking me if I’d come and do the same thing at other prisons,” said Vince. “I developed a PowerPoint presentation and as time went by the talks looked more specifically at Network Rail and working on the railway.” It is a sad reality that some people who serve time in prison will go on to reoffend within months of being released.

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People

Employment has long been recognised as a pathway out of crime, providing an offender with a structured routine, independence, sense of purpose and an earning power. “I’ve been giving advice on what they needed to do to secure a role on the railway, including things like the zero tolerance to drugs and alcohol,” said Vince, who started out as a train cleaner and since gone on to hold roles within the operations and traffic departments of the UK railway. Ban the Box Vince added: “I also speak about the shift working and the rewards for working on the railway, because one of the things a lot of prisoners feel is that they won’t get the opportunity or a chance for a decent job. I wanted to highlight that crime doesn’t pay more and that working in the railway is a great opportunity with opportunities for advancement. “Not everyone is interested but many are, asking questions about what I’m saying. I’ve also had the chance to talk to some people on a oneto-one basis which has allowed me to focus on specific areas they might like to pursue and the steps they can take.” Vince’s work hasn’t come without its difficulties, none more so than when the law changed and everybody working on the railways had to have security clearance. He continued speaking to prisoners, but with little chance of ex-offenders being employed by the organisation, he approached Network Rail Chief Executive Officer Andrew Haines to challenge the new blanket policy. It took two years to persuade all the relevant bodies to agree to sign up to Ban the Box, which was officially implemented in October last year. It means the criminal convictions tick box has been removed from application forms, with candidates judged first and foremost on the basis of their skills and suitability for a role, with offences asked about later in the recruitment process.

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“The changes to the security clearance for all employees really irritated me because an ex-offender had almost zero chance of securing employment with Network Rail so there was no point in me going into prisons to say they’ve got no hope of getting a job unless they are serving a very short sentence,” said Vince.

I’ve spent a lot of time talking to prisoners now so I’d like to take it to the next level “With Andrew’s support we managed to get the policy changed, which means that if the candidate meets all the right criteria, they’ll get an interview and won’t have to mention the offence until they are offered a job. Network Rail’s amended recruitment policy means that ex-prisoners are eligible for employment following a successful independent risk assessment.” Vince has also been working with prisons on bespoke training programmes for prisoners – a project he hopes to resume properly when COVID-19 restrictions allow. He’s also been collaborating with PeoplePlus, one of the education providers working in prisons. “They’ve offered to do bespoke training for me so that we can try to do some direct recruitment, and if someone needs slightly better English or maths for a specific role, help can be provided to give them a better opportunity of securing a job,” he explained. “We are looking into direct recruitment for some of the roles in the railways that are harder to fill, such as operative roles and apprentice roles in some areas.

“Highlighting the roles and opportunities in the railway is already working with ex-offenders with several thriving in the industry. We just need to ensure that we have the systems in place that employment can be secured within six months of release. If they can get employment, they can get accommodation, if they can get accommodation and a sense of routine, there’s a real fighting chance they will stay on the straight and narrow.” Vince is looking to further pursue his work in the prisons and has recently applied to the Independent Monitoring Boards for a voluntary role which would see him monitor day-to-day life in prison to ensure that prisoners and detainees are treated fairly and humanely. Inspiring people “I’ve spent a lot of time talking to prisoners now so I’d like to take it to the next level and I’m also trying to set up a bit of a network within Network Rail to encourage other people to talk in prisons about employment and the rail industry,” he said. “I’d urge others in the rail industry to do the same because if you can inspire these people and give them a chance that they didn’t think they’d have, they will be loyal to you and to the rail industry and it will put them on the right path. Prisons are genuinely crying out for employers to speak about employment and help with interview skills and CV writing. “It’s incredibly rewarding to be able to help someone and it’s actually helping the industry and society as a whole if you can inspire prisoners to work towards employment when they are released.” Anyone wanting more information about speaking in prisons can contact Vince at vince.james@networkrail.co.uk

February 2022 | 37

IFnedaut us tr rey S p o t l i g h t

Providing a platform for ex-offenders in the rail industry Martin Dunne, Director of Elite Project Services, discusses their range of training courses that are helping ex-offenders to build a life after prison with a career on the railways

lite Project Services is incredibly proud of its strong commitment to social corporate responsibility, providing essential training and support for offenders both in and out of custody. Established in 2018, the company is a premium service provider of access planning, safety critical staff, training and personnel services for the rail and construction industries. Its founding principles in giving ex-offenders a second chance are rooted in first-hand experience of Chief Executive and Founder Martin Dunne. Between the ages of 16 and 37 he found himself in prison on several occasions, and it was while serving time at a Category D institution that Martin took control of his future and very quickly gained a Personal Track Safety (PTS) qualification. On release, he began working with many different rail companies before creating his own company, Elite Project Services, driven by a passion to support rail recruitment and service needs, while at the same time giving ex-offenders an opportunity to turn their lives around. “I care about each and every candidate for the collective good of our industry, and I’ve got a number of people working for me whose lives have changed all thanks to the opportunities we have created and been able to provide,” Martin said. “Organisations working in the rail industry need more staff. There is a steady stream of people coming out of prison every day, all of whom are looking to find reputable work with a future. If more organisations can come on board, there is a massive opportunity for us all to get this programme right.”

“I’ve got a number of people working for me whose lives have changed all thanks to the opportunities we have created and been able to provide”

employment to D-Category prisoners on London Underground. We also have 35 currently in training who are due to gain their qualifications shortly, and we have many more due to be released within the next six months. Candidates who pass the PTS course and receive their sentinel card can then begin work with us directly if they are based in the South, or if they are from further afield, we can link them to employers local to them.”

Martin added: “We’re currently running rail training courses in nine prisons and working with three prisons’ support with CSCS and to date, we have 39 ex-offenders qualified in PTS and working on the railway either directly with us or with one of our rail partners. “We also have a serving prisoner in open conditions as part of our admin team and are expanding our work with open establishments both internally in our team and also in providing

Changing lives On completion of the course, the company offers training in the community to successful candidates that it is not able to deliver in custody, such as drug and alcohol tests and industry standard medical assessment, access to Network Rail’s e-learning two-day PTS course and the issuing of a sentinel card. Martin said: “We pride ourselves on providing a comprehensive, direct and realistic provision, delivered in a way that aligns with the expectations of members of the public. “Our training isn’t just changing the lives of ex-offenders, but also transforming the railways for the better by ensuring we have the staff needed to be upskilled for vital projects. “Prison Governors are now crying out for actual employers to come and tell them what they need to get offenders job-ready.”

Improving skills The prison training provider and Network Rail RISQS-approved employer delivers awareness training to people in custody in PTS, London Underground and small tools. Within the same course it delivers accredited first aid, fire awareness and manual handling qualifications. Its face-to-face course is two to five weeks, depending on the request of the establishment, and there’s also an in-cell version created due to COVID-19. 38 | February 2022

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On track to decarbonisation: Reducing transport emissions

Martin Tugwell, Chief Executive of Transport for the North, writes about the target of near-zero carbon emissions from surface transport by 2045

ur Transport Decarbonisation Strategy is the first of its kind for the UK. It sets an ambitious, and achievable, target for the North of England of near-zero emissions from surface transport by 2045. This goal and accompanying action plan are grounded in evidence gathered from across our region, giving Transport for the North (TfN) and our partners confidence that we can deliver our aspirations. Enabling active travel and moving to greater use of zero emission vehicles are key aims, but only part of the picture. Our strategy also outlines the importance of expanding, enhancing and electrifying our rail network – through upgrades and new lines. This targeted investment will reduce emissions and ensure our rail network forms the backbone of a sustainable, multimodal transport system that gets us from A to B, enables growth, reduces the environmental impact of our movements, and reduces inequalities. How we developed our strategy The use of TfN’s extensive suite of evidence and data, underpinned by our Analytical Framework alongside our Northern Carbon Modelling tool (NoCarb)1, and our awardwinning Future Travel Scenarios2 enabled us to understand for the first time the extent of the North’s decarbonisation challenge. Our approach, together with our tools, are shared with our partners so they can be used to aid the implementation of our strategy.

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Road transport, including freight, accounts for about 95 per cent of surface transport emissions in our region It takes a systems approach, looking at transport ‘in the round’ to ensure our region

does all it can to lead the way in tackling climate change, while enabling our people and businesses to move about. Systems thinking is increasingly essential given the extent to which the future of transport services is increasingly shaped by the availability of power, and/or ubiquitous digital connectivity. The role of rail Road transport, including freight, accounts for about 95 per cent of surface transport emissions in our region. Operational rail emissions make up just about three per cent. That makes decarbonising roads the obvious target for the biggest gains, however our Strategic Transport Plan emphasises the need to encourage a shift in travel choice, making it critical that we focus on ensuring that an expanded rail network is decarbonised. Fundamentally, we must have a reliable and efficient rail network that meets how our residents and freight need to get around, with capacity to meet current and future demand, if we are to get more people and goods off our roads. railbusinessdaily.com

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We must look to the future when tackling carbon emissions, and that requires taking actions now that set us on the right path as quickly as possible. Our four Future Travel Scenarios explore how trends in society, the economy and national policy could influence the level and distribution of travel demand in the future3. If we are to achieve our goal of near zero by 2045, we must increase rail usage whichever broad scenario unfolds. Across all potential future scenarios, a rise in rail demand from 2018 to 2050 is targeted. Even under ‘business as usual’ we need to plan and deliver improvements that will enable an 83 per cent increase in rail use. In parallel, we need to plan and deliver measures that will result in mileage reductions – our analysis identifies the need to aim for a 10 per cent to 14 per cent reduction for cars and 11 per cent to 15 per cent reduction for HGV mileage (relative to the baseline in any given year). While some of this will come from the continued acceleration of trends such as homeworking and freight efficiency, we must deliver modal shift. Enabling individuals to choose differently, making it attractive and possible to swap from cars to public transport or active travel, needs to be a focus for our work moving forward. Decarbonising passenger rail Put simply, our public transport system needs to be better. It needs increased capacity, more reliability, and clearer, more affordable ticket options. In recent months, living within the COVID-19 pandemic, the North has seen a solid rebound in rail travel, significantly greater than the national average. The resilience of our rail network demonstrates its importance for our 15 million residents in getting to work, school, university and leisure destinations.

Put simply, our public transport system needs to be better. It needs increased capacity, more reliability, and clearer, more affordable ticket options Recent figures from Northern and TransPennine Express show the leisure sector has led the charge, with weekends often at preCOVID levels of travel, and sometimes above. A more financially resilient ‘seven days a week’ rail system, with fewer travel peaks and able to

better serve rural tourism areas, has the potential to deliver on inclusivity and decarbonisation agendas and support the shift in demand. Improved intercity rail links, often used for commuting, have the potential to remove a stubborn and significant segment of our current car emissions. And yet our ability to realise the potential for further growth in rail is too often constrained by the limitations of our infrastructure. This is why the TfN Board’s long-term proposal for Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) focuses on improving the connectivity between and across the towns and cities of the North. Investing in additional capacity to improve network efficiency and reliability is essential if we are to offer people with options they can bank on. Setting out an ambitious and affordable longterm investment plan for our rail network will give confidence to investors to use our stations as a catalyst for sustainable economic growth, further encouraging different travel choices to be made. Decarbonising rail freight We know that rail freight is one of the most carbon-efficient ways of moving goods over long distances, something that the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) recognises. Our Freight and Logistics Strategy, due to be finalised this spring, makes this clear. More than a third of goods enter through Northern ports, and a quarter of GB freight starts or ends in the North, so getting containers off ships and straight on to rail is so important for our region and the rest of the country.

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Innovation

This is a critical challenge at a critical time. We’ve seen a strong recovery in the demand for freight paths – the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated clearly how our society is dependent on the way the freight and logistics sector keeps everything moving – and we need to invest in the ability of our rail network to accommodate further growth in rail freight, whether in the shape of gauge clearance for containers, the provision of additional capacity, or the electrification of existing routes. East-west movement of freight is notoriously challenging, and that’s where the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) comes in. Currently the TRU corridor carries minimal freight as it lacks the gauge capability to carry intermodal containers, so they have no option but to use our strategic road network. The IRP’s investment in TRU is to be welcomed, but we must be clear; it has to go further than what the plan sets out. We need the complementary investment across the wider network and sector too, to support rail freight movements from docks to warehouses; from manufacturers to markets; and from suppliers to our shops and homes. The demand for freight services is only going to increase, and the strain on our Victorian, two-track rail network will continue, acting as a constraint on growth. It is why the TfN Board’s full NPR proposal, with new lines and stations, aligned to HS2 in full; with TRU as a fully committed project, and additional infrastructure enhancements for the existing network, represents the truly transformational vision needed to bring to realisation the true economic potential of the North.

reminding us that it is possible to alter our attitudes and behaviours, and to do so at pace. We must use what we have learned during the pandemic to build more accessible, and more affordable ways to get around that support economic, environmental and societal goals for individuals, businesses and communities. Our Transport Decarbonisation Strategy identifies four priority activities: rail electrification; improving public transport; developing a Zero Emission Vehicle charging infrastructure framework; and developing a regional route map for transport

decarbonisation. It establishes the need, the goal, and the action plan, while our Strategic Transport Plan sets the policy framework and our Investment Programme highlights the projects we need committed funding for. The time to act is now, and we must be looking to the future as we do it. 1

t ransportforthenorth.com/wp-content/uploads/AnnexB-NoCarb-Development-Report-TfNDec21.pdf transportforthenorth.com/future-travel-scenarios

Key national policy changes up to summer 2021 are incorporated.

What next? It’s clear that rail has a vital role to play within a multimodal transport network that enables economic growth. Planning for and delivering extra resilience and capacity is essential if our region’s people and businesses are to realise their potential and we are to reach our nearzero carbon goal. While the IRP as published is a move in the right direction, our work shows that it will simply not deliver the step change in capacity needed that will enable a sustained shift towards rail for both passengers and freight. Our Board Members remain committed to our preferred NPR network, and continue to support the growth outcomes that it, along with HS2 in full and other vital investment such as TRU and Manchester central corridor enhancements, will achieve. The past two years have brought about many changes, including in the way we travel, 42 | February 2022

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I n d u s t r y S pFoetal ti g uh r et

Decarbonising rail in the North Sambit Banerjee, Managing Director, Rolling Stock & Customer Services – Siemens Mobility Limited, says electrified rail and self-powered trains are essential if the North is to meet its climate targets

ransport for the North (TfN) has a decarbonisation strategy aimed at accelerating towards a zero-carbon transport network by 2045. The approach being taken is the right one – looking at decarbonising the railway as a whole system, and deciding on the best solution for each area, including trains, track and signalling, and the latest innovations. The decarbonisation plan is ambitious. Is it do-able? The answer is yes – but only if government and the transport industry work collaboratively and quickly. We know that electrification programmes take time, and the cycle for getting new trains on the network is about five to seven years, so the time to act is now. At Siemens Mobility, our analysis shows that to meet the decarbonisation targets we have to increase electrification rates to 300+ miles per year, and introduce hybrid trains. Using data produced by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) and Network Rail, we calculated that the current railway electrification proposals could take until 2060 and beyond to complete. This would mean leaving diesel trains on the network for more than 10 years after the UK’s legislative net zero date. Long-term commitment We believe that a commitment to electrifying a minimum of 300 miles of the rail network every year until 2050 is necessary. This would provide full or discontinuously electrified routes to enable the introduction of new electric trains. To supplement this, new self-powered trains using alternative power sources, such as hydrogen or battery, must be introduced to help replace current ageing diesel and diesel bi-mode fleets.

TfN’s plans already include greener trains, and it is making great progress on electrification with programmes like the Transpennine Route Upgrade programme, which Siemens Mobility is also supporting on. Using a combination of new electric infrastructure and new, green self-powered trains on routes – such as the Cross-Country route, Norwich to Liverpool, non-electrified Northern routes, and the TransPennine route over to Hull – would remove diesel fleets, clean up the air in stations and support the government’s plan to achieve 78 per cent of its net zero obligations by 2035. This is an area where Siemens Mobility has expertise. We’ve signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Siemens Energy to develop an end-to-end hydrogen for rail system – including the refuelling and supply of hydrogen. We have completed a battery train trial in Austria, have more battery trains on order for East Brandenburg in Germany, and two hydrogen projects in development with Deutsche Bahn and Bayerische Regiobahn in Germany.

Siemens Mobility self-powered train

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The North has a proud rail history, and there is so much potential for it to be at the centre of decarbonisation technology development to drive the Northern economy. I am particularly excited about the new rail village that Siemens Mobility is building at Goole, which will create up to 700 direct jobs and up to 1,700 supply chain opportunities. This development, which will open next year, will be so much more than just a train manufacturing factory. We will have our rail service businesses, warehousing, and a supplier park. We’re building an innovation hub called RaisE with East Riding of Yorkshire Council and University of Birmingham for SMEs to co-locate with us and innovate, and we will have a research and development facility open to the whole rail industry to work on decarbonisation technologies like hydrogen, battery and digitalisation. We chose Goole because of the excellent local skill base, transport connectivity, links to local training facilities and universities. Goole will be the Centre of Excellence for Rail in the UK, and beyond. Passengers are the priority Our number one focus for decarbonisation is the passenger. We know we have to make it easy for people to make greener travel choices, from the first mile to the last. An enhanced passenger experience, where people have the information they need to book their whole journey at their fingertips and feel safe and well looked after, is key. This is what we called MaaS or Mobility-AsA-Service where passengers can plan and book their entire journey through different modes of transport on one app, on one ticket, and even get live updates about their journey. This technology is working well in Copenhagen, and we could bring this to the UK. Funding support is required from government to support the efforts of levelling up through improved transport services, simpler fares and integrated ticketing, and for investment into MaaS technologies and powers provided for transport operators to take part. We need to go further and faster to green the railway AND encourage more people to use it. It’s important we don’t delay meeting climate targets for us and the next generation – and the North can lead in driving rail decarbonisation. February 2022 | 43

Signalling

Making the right signals Network Rail’s Elliot Murray and Darren McKenna discuss the refurbishment of the Grade II listed Severn Bridge Junction Signal Box

Network Rail’s Elliot Murray

he Buckingham Palace of the signal box world. That’s how Network Rail’s Elliot Murray describes Shrewsbury’s Severn Bridge Junction Signal Box, the world’s largest working mechanical signal box. The 118-year-old Grade II listed building has just undergone its biggest refurbishment in more than a decade and Elliot was scheme project manager. “Severn Bridge is such an iconic structure and when you see it in operation it is incredible,” said Elliot, who was in charge of delivering the recent work. “It is vitally important that heritage like this is preserved. “It was an enjoyable experience – one of my favourite jobs to date. It is one of those in which I’ll go past on a train and say to my son ‘I refurbished that’.” Edwardian technology The three-storey building is located on a little island surrounded by a sea of railway tracks. Inside it still has its original 180 levers, all dating from 1904. Network Rail’s current signallers use 89 of those levers to signal about 280 trains every day. 44 | February 2022

I’m a structural engineer and I know my calculations and how things stand up, but this Edwardian computer blows my mind Darren McKenna, asset engineer at Network Rail Wales and Borders, worked on the refurbishment from start to finish. “We’ve got a team of locking fitters and I don’t know how they do what they do or how they understand this Edwardian computer and how they maintain it,” he said. “I’m a structural engineer and I know my calculations and how things stand up, but this Edwardian computer blows my mind.” Elliot added: “They’re all tapping Morse code, you see them running around and it is all sequenced, so you can’t pull some levers without pulling others. It is an art and I was mesmerised just seeing the signallers in action.”

Although Darren and Elliot might not be able to operate it, the future of the building has been secured thanks to their efforts in the completion of its £250,000 refurbishment. Sensitive upgrade Network Rail worked with contractor MPH Construction on the installation of doubleglazed windows, new timber cladding, repairs to the external walkway gantry and a full exterior paint job – including the ‘Shrewsbury’ signs that greets passengers travelling to and from the town by train. “Because of the listing of the structure it was very important to maintain the Edwardian method of fixing and preserving it,” said Darren. “The project was initially just glazing, but with an extensive scaffold system around the signal box it gave us a tactile view that we wouldn’t normally get and uncovered more work that needed doing. Cladding and painting was required, and the gantry was wonky so we needed to do some structural strengthening – and that was something that we needed to act on quickly. railbusinessdaily.com

Signalling

“It is lovely to work on these buildings, but it is a balancing act as we’re working on a listed building that has to be treated as an operational building and I think we got the balance spot on, preserving as much as we could.” It is an opinion shared by the judges of the National Railway Heritage Awards (NRHA), who awarded the project the National Rail Heritage Signalling Award at a ceremony in December. The NRHA awards prizes in recognition of restoration and the re-use of parts of railwaybuilt heritage since 1979, and is the only awards body dedicated to rewarding and encouraging best practice in the restoration and maintenance of Britain’s railway heritage. Elliot said: “It has been a real privilege to receive the award and it is recognition to everyone who worked tirelessly at every stage of the refurbishment. “It has been really good to work with the asset engineers, the Railway Heritage Trust, and the contractors, and we all worked really well together.” Collaboration and teamwork Elliot added: “The contractors have been fantastic when undertaking the works. MPH Construction went over and above the original scope and even refurbished the Shrewsbury signs.” Darren said: “This project was a fantastic example of how important teamwork and collaboration is on the railway and the dedication by all involved in this restoration is evident when you see the completed work. “I’d particularly like to thank Local Operations Manager Phil Lucas, a signaller who was a massive help in getting the scheme across the line. He gave us safe access to look at the signal box and was a great help with his vast knowledge.

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“The Railway Heritage Trust also kindly paid a sizeable contribution to the costs for the restoration so thanks to its Executive Director Andy Savage.”

We were pulling windows out in the winter which isn’t ideal, and we had to paint all the windows internally The project didn’t come without its problems. Working on a fully operational signal box is difficult enough but add to that the weather and a global pandemic, and the refurbishment became even more challenging.

“The biggest issue on this job was that we delivered it at the beginning of a COVID lockdown in November 2020,” said Elliot. “We got the windows in before Christmas when we started to go into lockdown and logistically it was tricky at times. “We were pulling windows out in the winter which isn’t ideal, and we had to paint all the windows internally, so it was ensuring we were maintaining the two-metre social distancing while doing that. There was some work we had to delay because of the COVID restrictions, but we couldn’t interrupt the signallers because if they had to isolate due to COVID we would have had a big problem as there are only a few people who can manage this box.” Delicate repairs Another issue to overcome was the not so sturdy gantry, but it was an issue rectified with a modern-day solution that was sympathetic to its Edwardian appearance. “The gantry was leaning away from the building and on further examination we could see how the brackets were working,” said Darren. “Of the four bolts, the two bottom bolts were fine, but the two top bolts were secured through the building using the skirting board to take the load back to the studs. After years of walking on the gantry the skirting board had started to go and the gantry had started to go with it. We couldn’t take it down as it is such a heavy structure, so with the scaffold system in place we were able to find ways of adapting it to support the gantry. “We were able to do some strengthening works on each bracket which involved installing a new mild steel angle system all the way around the inside of the signal box up to the face of the skirting board and put new bolts in and then anchor it all back so it came back into line as much as it could.” February 2022 | 45

Signalling

Despite the challenges it was a project Darren and Elliot both thoroughly enjoyed and learned a lot from. The box originally opened in 1904, after London & North Western Railway and Great Western Railway worked together to build five lines converging at Shrewsbury. Old stories Darren said: “The strength in that building isn’t so much the brickwork, it’s the steel frame within its core that holds all of the equipment together. I was told the steel frame goes onto steel piles that go 15-20 metres into the ground, the engineering that went into it back in the day is unbelievable.” Elliot added: “The signallers were saying that it sways in the wind and you can slightly feel it moving. It was interesting hearing stories from people who work in it. They said that before the work had been completed, they used to shove newspaper into the window to make it warmer inside. Thanks to the work it is a completely different environment and warmer.” Prior to the recent work, the building still had its original single-glazed windows. The use of the paper to get rid of draughts wasn’t

46 | February 2022

a new thing either, with workers carrying out the refurbishment finding some paper in the windows from 1963.

I was told the steel frame goes onto steel piles that go 15-20 metres into the ground Darren said: “We got the agreement to have double glazing put in and that was actually fed from a much smaller signal box that we did in Anglesey at the same time called Valley Signal Box. Even up until quite recently, double glazing has been a no-go on these kinds of buildings because it is so far away from the original fabric of what would have been put into the building when it was constructed. “But technology has advanced, and glazing is much slimmer than it used to be, so now we can

actually have double glazing in signal boxes and we’ve got Valley Signal box to thank because a lot of the agreements and research came from that.” Engineers worked for more than 300 days to restore the exterior of the box. As it is Grade II listed, a conservation officer needed to pre-approve all plans to ensure the building maintained its listed status. Funding contributions The Railway Heritage Trust – funded by Network Rail – contributed £50,000 to the new windows. The trust had previously contributed about £100,000 to the station’s canopies in 2018-2019. Andy Savage, Executive Director of the Railway Heritage Trust, praised the care given to repairing the box, and particularly the walkways around it. He said: “Network Rail has put metal plates behind the internal skirting board so the load from the walkway on the bolts is now spread by the plates. It’s a really clever and well done piece of work that doesn’t destroy the original heritage but gives the structural safety for staff on the walkways that is absolutely needed.”

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Achieve efficiency and growth with SALUS asset tracking Astute explains more about its new asset tracking platform SALUS

igital transformation is helping the rail industry to improve efficiency, productivity, and growth, as well as tackling some of the biggest challenges like infrastructure efficiency, energy management, and natural resource reduction. Within the digital transformation toolbox, rail and network operators are increasingly turning to asset tracking techniques, with projections suggesting the global rail asset management market will be worth £10.5 billion by 2025. Asset management solutions can help rail operators, infrastructure managers, and freight services to optimise performance, lower failure rates, and reduce delays, creating a more cost effective, reliable, and punctual service that helps to elevate the rail industry. The solutions further help reduce operational costs of infrastructure assets, such as signals, electrification systems, rail tracks, and rolling stock. SALUS – The asset tracking solution from Astute Electronics Existing asset tracking solutions are failing to deliver key market drivers: cost, power, accuracy, and flexibility, especially in indoor environments. SALUS is a technologically ground-breaking solution suitable for any industry where it’s imperative to monitor equipment, devices – even people – across a wide area to understand their behaviour. What is SALUS? SALUS stands for Serviceable Asset Location & Utilisation System, which in everyday terms means it can track and report on the location, status, and condition of assets both indoors

and outdoors on the same network. Since its radio signals pass quickly and securely across great distances, there’s the possibility to track assets across very large sites covering different depots, tracks and buildings infrastructure. How does the technology work? SALUS monitors the location of devices (tags) in a radio network defined by fixed positioning beacons (anchors). When each tag moves through the radio network, its distance to each anchor is measured. By triangulating measurements from three anchors, it is possible to determine the tag location in space. All the devices are robust and use low power, replaceable or rechargeable batteries (which can last up to three years), requiring very little maintenance or installation overheads. Measurable efficiency benefits for the rail industry Asset tracking can play a vital role in rail management to drive informed decisions which deliver significant operational and productivity benefits, from condition

monitoring and energy management studies to freight tracking and asset security. Tracking of inventory is one of the most important parts of the rail industry. Inventory may include engines, cars, bogies, welding stations, and lifting gear. When inventory is not available in stock, in good condition or is difficult to locate, it results in decreased productivity, business loss, and a failure to deliver on time. Railway industry assets come in all sizes, which adds to the complexity. SALUS can then be customised to a customer’s specific requirement to track and report on the assets and equipment held within their enterprise. Rail maintenance is also crucially important. A train runs fast, carries a huge weight, and has thousands of moving parts. It requires a lot of energy, hence it needs frequent maintenance. Over-maintenance not only wastes money but can also decrease the lifespan of an asset, and under-maintenance can prompt diminished efficiency. SALUS asset tracking can help rail operators make predictive maintenance decisions when assets show the very early signs of underperformance. We know that for the rail industry, identifying and locating assets that require planned preventative maintenance is the most important activity, with the possibility that any errors could lead to tragic events and even loss of life. Asset tracking provides a systematic approach for the management of rail assets, helping to drive towards best practice and compliance. Visit www.astutegroup.com/solutions/ asset-tracking/

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People

Ensuring the railways are accessible to passengers with disabilities Rail Delivery Group’s Accessibility and Inclusion Manager Dominic Lund-Conlon discusses the importance of customer experience

here are 13.4 million disabled people in the UK who want easy access to travel and to do so with choice and dignity, and without additional cost and stress. Great progress has been made in making the railways accessible to all, but a huge amount of work is still to be done. The Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail highlighted that two-thirds of disabled passengers report at least one problem when travelling by rail, and also that only around 20 per cent of stations have step-free access to all platforms. But it was never going to be a quick fix in solving all the issues, and Dominic Lund-Conlon, Rail Delivery Group’s (RDG) Accessibility and Inclusion Manager, says the industry can be very proud of what has been achieved and that he is full of optimism for the future. “First impressions mean a lot and we need to ensure that when customers arrive at a station they feel safe and their journey will be completed in a way that won’t have a negative impact on their day,” he said. 48 | February 2022

“I think the whole industry should be proud of the changes that have been achieved in recent years, and equally they should be fired up about how we can keep doing more.

I think the whole industry should be proud of the changes that have been achieved in recent years “We’ve heard stories of poor customer experience and we’ve used those as a springboard to raise the profile of accessibility in the industry and look now at how high up it is on the agenda. The volume is very loud at all

levels of the industry and we can use that to keep taking forward customer improvements. “We’ve got a long way to go by our own admission, but we should be excited about the opportunities in the future, particularly with the upcoming whole industry strategic plan as part of the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail.” A positive impact Dominic is well known for making a huge impact on many people’s ability to get around and was recently named in the Shaw Trust’s Disability Power 100. As Accessibility and Inclusion Manager at RDG he works with local authorities, rail companies and disabled customers, making sure there is joined up thinking on transport accessibility. He has already helped thousands of people, driven by a passion to ensure public transport is accessible in every sense of the word. His work sees him directly influence key elements of policy at the Department for Transport and in local authorities. railbusinessdaily.com

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People

“Overall most customers are quite satisfied, but there is still a way to go to keep building on that satisfaction and addressing any issues being highlighted,” he said. “The differences between customers who are disabled and non-disabled are small, but the issues can be quite different in many areas, although one area in which they are in complete alignment is around customer information. “I am very much a glass half full kind of person but in customer information I think we have to do more. Ensuring better customer information will benefit all customers.” Inclusive Transport Strategy A major step in improving accessibility started in July 2018 with the publishing of the Inclusive Transport Strategy (ITS). The overall aims are to create a transport system that offers equal access for disabled passengers by 2030, with assistance if physical infrastructure remains a barrier. ITS covers all modes of transport and includes more than 90 individual commitments, including awareness of passenger rights and enforcement, better staff training, improved information, and inclusive physical infrastructure.

“Accessibility is that purple thread for every single part of the rail industry – from safety to customer feedback,” Dominic said. “What is vital at the minute is ensuring customers feel safe travelling on trains, particularly during the pandemic.

The differences between customers who are disabled and non-disabled are small, but the issues can be quite different in many areas “The railway is already doing a lot to support that, from face covering requirements, increased cleaning regimes and just the general reassurance messages about what is being done. “Longer term I would point to Great British Railways (GBR) because that will lead how the industry continues to evolve and change.

“From an RDG point of view it is very much about keeping the customer at the forefront of everything we are doing.” Voice of experience A particular area Dominic wants to continue to build on is the importance of decisions and ideas around accessibility coming from those with lived experience. It is something already well under way with train operating companies, with each train operator having their own accessibility panel and undertaking assessments to ensure a great experience for the customer. He said: “The voice of the customer is very important and having those customer panels dedicated to accessibility allows issues to be solved in partnership with that the people who will be affected. “An important part of the William-Shapps Plan for Rail is looking at a more strategic national approach for GBR. The critical piece here is regular engagement with those who’ve lived in experience. A theme going through everything that RDG is doing at the minute is regular engagement with people with lived experience, which is enabling us to solve any barriers in an independent, dignified way.

Promoting a world of opportunity accessible to all. Goss Consultancy Ltd (GCL) are working across the Rail Industry to hardwire access and inclusion into project management and delivery. Our services include: • • • • • • • • • • •

Access and Inclusive Design Appraisals Access and Inclusive Design Training Access and Inclusion Project Management Support Access and Inclusion Strategy Reviews Access Audits/Reviews Digital Accessibility Reviews Diversity/Equality Impact Assessment Training and Development Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Audits/Reviews Inclusive Customer Service Training Policy/Practice Development Stakeholder Engagement

We are supporting the transport sector to future-proof the Rail Industry, for all.

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Get in touch, email us at: info@gossconsultancy.com or call on: 01442 877117 J93665 GCL Railway Magazine Ad.indd 1

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February 2022 | 49

“When things don’t work out, we work together to come up with a plan and lessons are learned. “There’s an awful lot of work going on and it has been one of the biggest areas of workstream growth in the industry. An example is the huge amount of work carried out by Craig Alexander and Maxine Myers at Northern with their panel to build the company’s reputation. The impact has been astronomical, and it’s been tremendous to see how they’ve turned around that relationship with their customers.” New charter Last month, the government announced it was working with disability charity Scope to deliver a new Disabled Persons Passenger Charter. It sets out disabled passengers’ rights regarding rail, bus, coach, taxi and private hire use and will give guidance on what to do if things do not go as expected. Dominic said it is something the rail industry is already looking into, with members already with accessible travel policies in place, which are a form of charter to customers. “We’ve made great strides in the past couple of years in delivering training to all members of staff on the ground and frontline, the six-hour booking notice to request assistance will be reduced to two this year and we’ve also got the passenger assistant mobile app,” he said, giving a few examples of successful changes. “We will look at the Disabled Persons Passenger Charter to see how we can play our part to really set the standards for other transport industries. “Let’s keep challenging ourselves and looking at how we can make the railway even more accessible.”

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Dominic spoke at the first RBD Community networking event in Manchester.

When things don’t work out, we work together to come up with a plan and lessons are learned One thing evident throughout the conversation with Dominic is the excitement of GBR and its potential to transform the customer experience. The new public body will own the infrastructure, receive the fare revenue, run

Image: www.matthewnichol.com

People

and plan the network and set most fares and timetables. “The long-term strategy is there in the plan and with it the energy to create proper meaningful changes and not just the quick wins, it is everything from the start to finish of the customer journey,” he said. Priority developments Dominic added: “If I was to be asked about what the strategy’s priorities should be, I would say that firstly we need to continue to evolve our culture. “The second would be around infrastructure, from step-free access, but also in creating a welcoming environment for all, including Changing Places. “The third one is evolving passenger assist tools that we offer to customers. We are doing more in this space and we are seeing the value they offer, but we also need to integrate that with other areas because not every customer uses passenger assist. It needs to be dovetailed into the whole customer offer. “But there is a lot of good happening. Personally, the railways have enabled me to do so much in my life and it is great to be part of the industry and hear all the other good stories coming out of it. “A lot has been achieved. It is a team effort, we are one railway family and I think the whole industry should be proud of the changes we’ve made and equally excited about doing more and making it even better for everyone. “There’s so much to come, we just need to ensure accessibility stays high up on the agenda and keep building on our diversity and the quality of inclusion for all of our customers.” railbusinessdaily.com

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nform by L.B. Foster is an innovative suite of hardware and software applications that is providing up-to-the-minute disruption information to millions of passengers at some of the country’s busiest transport hubs, including King’s Cross, London Euston, Leeds and Birmingham New Street stations. Inform’s range of mobile, wireless totems and wall-mounted screens deliver real-time journey information via L.B. Foster’s unique Inform Media suite of software applications, including British Sign Language (BSL), Wayfinding and Darwin feeds. Birmingham New Street station has 17 Inform totems and eight fixed screens located throughout the station concourse. These have helped to enhance the passenger experience across the whole journey. Shakeel Mohammed, Shift Station Manager, said: “In the past we had large queues in the atriums during travel disruption because passengers were waiting to speak to our customer service team, but now we use the totems to deliver real-time travel information.” Breaking new ground In a UK rail first, Network Rail has partnered with L.B. Foster to launch in-screen BSL interpreters on 20 fixed and mobile Inform digital customer information displays at London Euston station. BSL is the preferred language of more than 87,000 deaf people in the UK. L.B. Foster teamed up with Clarion UK, a leading provider

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of BSL interpreters, to develop a library of generic video content that is available for call-off as required by Network Rail, using L.B. Foster’s Inform Media Content Management System. In addition, unique video content, such as disruption messages or service updates, can be made live within an hour of an event. Graham Kett, Technical Manager at L.B. Foster, explained: “As a project team, we have developed a sophisticated digital passenger information display that features content created specifically for our deaf community. We are able to respond quickly to operating conditions and upload tailored BSL content to complement on screen messaging. “L.B. Foster has a long history of working successfully with Network Rail, including customer information systems for the London Olympics.

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Our Inform range of mobile totems and fixed screens, powered by L.B. Foster’s Inform Media operating system, now features prominently across the UK rail network, providing passengers with timely travel information updates, as well as wayfinding and route details.” L.B. Foster engineers continue to enhance the functionality of the Inform totems, with a new interactive Wayfinder app soon to be launched, as well as multi-language capabilities. Find out more about L.B. Foster’s Inform range of hardware and software solutions; register to attend ‘Welcome to the Future of Digital Customer Information’ breakfast seminar on 24 March at The Railway Industry Association. Scan the QR code for more information. Visit www.lbfoster.eu for more details

February 2022 | 51

Heritage

Back from the brink

Llangollen Railway’s Finance Director Phil Freeth discusses his optimism for the future of the attraction here is more than a little cause for celebration for everyone involved in the Llangollen Railway ahead of the 2022 season. Less than a year ago there were fears the primarily steam-hauled heritage railway line through the Dee Valley could cease to exist. It was only last March that Llangollen Railway PLC announced it wasn’t legally able to continue trading with debts of around £350,000 and contractual dispute liabilities of approximately £250,000. However, fast forward to the present and the railway hasn’t just survived, but Llangollen Railway Trust Ltd’s Finance Director Phil Freeth has described it as being in a “healthy financial state”. Bleak times “It was largely a case of firefighting. There were numerous fires all burning very ferociously and all demanding lots of time, but after things were looking pretty bleak last year, thanks to a lot of support and the hard work of our amazing team of staff and volunteers, the railway continues this year,” he said. “Looking back, COVID didn’t help with the cancellation of the Santa Specials in 2020 leading to around £100,000 in ticket refunds, but the PLC’s financial struggles weren’t purely because of the pandemic. We discovered the timbers on the Dee Bridge track bed were rotten, which obviously happened over time, so we couldn’t run over Dee Bridge anyway. That was difficult for the PLC in its financial state at the time as the Santa Specials make such a significant contribution to the profit of the railway. Without the benefit of that, and with all the other difficulties of the trading arm, that was the death knell and hence the administration.”

3802 drawing in to Carrog station

With the fires not burning so ferociously now, we are now in the process of formulating strategic plans and business plans But similar to the determination of those whose dedication and enthusiasm led to the opening of the line in 1975, people rallied around to ensure the railway survived. The intellectual property and some essential sundry assets were purchased by Llangollen Railway Trust Limited

Image: George Jones

from the administrators for an undisclosed amount. It was a deal that didn’t include any of the PLC’s rolling stock, such as the coaches which were auctioned off, but obtaining the right to use the railway line was the first important step towards recovery, with train services resuming in July 2021. Reducing overheads Phil added: “The first thing to do was to close down the principal problem area, which was contract engineering,” said the retired corporate bank manager. “We got rid of all the external work that had come in and we were helped considerably by the administrators who made all the employees redundant on day one, which took away a huge amount of overheads.

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52 | February 2022

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“The railway would have been closed anyway because of the pandemic so we were able to gradually pick up the pieces and do all the contract renegotiations with, for example, the various utility suppliers. We also got considerable donations from members, supporters and the general public, plus grant monies, which led to us having a sound financial base from day 30/40.” There was a huge outpouring of support for the railway during the pandemic, including two rounds of Cultural Recovery Fund grants from the Welsh Government to the Trust, totalling more than £290,000 to help with running services and restarting operations. Local MP Simon Baynes and Welsh Assembly Member Mark Isherwood have visited, as have other Welsh Government representatives and local councillors. Phil says their support has been most welcome and much appreciated. “One key point regarding the reopening was the confidence in receiving the Phase Two Cultural Recovery Fund grant of approximately £140,000,” Phil said. “That was specifically to cover reopening costs and rehiring for a period of about four months. In outcome, rehiring was much delayed, but the grant gave us the confidence of financial security in the event that ticket sales did not hit forecast. As it happened, tickets sales were around 10 per cent ahead of forecast which, postlockdown, was very reassuring. “We also got a £40,000 business rates relief support grant from Denbighshire County Council which made a massive difference as well, and much generosity from members, supporters and the general public totalling around £170,000.” Extended services With the immediate future of the railway secure, attention is now firmly on the 2022 season and the opening of Corwen Station – which will see services extended from the current route of Llangollen to Carrog.

www.rmf.co.uk

Image: Peter Neve

Heritage

The former Weston Rhyn signal box being craned on to a new, two-storey base

“With the fires not burning so ferociously now, we are now in the process of formulating strategic plans and business plans,” said Phil. “The initial priorities were maintaining the current infrastructure and keeping the railway open. It will then be about developing and understanding that feedback and looking to including aspects of that into the longer-term plans. There is of course Corwen Station which is progressing and we’re hoping it will open this year, but it won’t be opening fully complete. There’s still a lot of work to do on ballasting, tamping, lineside structures being raised to an appropriate level, and the platform building will have to be sufficiently complete to allow customers onto the platform.” Despite the challenges ahead, the railway has entered 2022 in a different place to 12 months ago. Phil says the accounts for the year ending December will show a significant bank balance on the right side. “That is the way we intend to continue to do it,” he said. “It has helped that we haven’t had the level of overheads with the main costs being utilities and consumables. But apart from that the ticket income has been straight to the bottom line effectively as we have been relying on railcar and diesel traction, which is so much cheaper.

“We have been very grateful to those groups, in particular the Railcar Group which has carried most of the load.” Inspiring future volunteers It is the topic of volunteers on which Phil ends the interview, talking of an admiration of their efforts and how important all the volunteers will be in the future. “My interests in getting involved are the local strategic importance of the railway to the town of Llangollen and tourism in North Wales,” he said. “The volunteers and the loss of heritage skills are critical to the future of the railway. We’ve got to find a way of attracting a larger number of volunteers including the younger generation. “Without the volunteers the future of the railway is in doubt, there is no question at all. The railway cannot sustain itself on the huge numbers of paid employees which would be needed without the volunteers. I think it’s fair to say we are more heavily dependent on them than we have ever been.” For more details about the railway or to get involved, visit llangollen-railway.co.uk

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February 2022 | 53

Design

A master of urban dentistry

Arcadis UK Stations Design Director Mike Gardner on grabbing the opportunity to craft relevant and meaningful train stations

Lansingerland-Zoetermeer 54 | February 2022

the footprint and scale right at the beginning. I refer to it as urban dentistry. As Leeds Civic Architect and a true ambassador of urban integration and masterplanning John Thorp has asked previously, how do you actually work in a place and get the station to solve issues within the town or city?

“The global reach of Arcadis is really powerful in terms of bringing those experiences to different clients in different regions, not just in the visioning of what a station should be but its delivery,” said Mike. “I’m passionate about stations and getting

A new mindset Mike added: “We’ve traditionally had the view that this is the station, this is the car park, this is the high street, but now we need to blend all of that into an integrated proposition. I feel strongly about the need to blur the boundaries between the station and the surrounding environment and integrating a station and its setting. “My view is to take a people-centred approach to design solutions and to look at a station as being part of the urban environment and urban context, the central and defining role it can play in terms of a town, city or village.

Image: Arcadis

rain stations, design and engineering consultancy Arcadis acknowledge, are complex environments with rigorous engineering requirements and standards. First and foremost, however, they are places for people and need to be designed to give all members of the public equal access to and enjoyment of the connectivity and networks they link. The business’ global reach – it has more than 28,000 people in over 70 countries – allows Arcadis to bring lessons learned elsewhere in the world to UK rail. All of this is on the mind of Mike Gardner who, since April 2021, has been Arcadis’ UK Stations Design Director. Mike joined the business from Atkins and brings more than 25 years of experience in designing and delivering multi-modal transport hubs, transit orientated development, commercial development, urban regeneration and station masterplanning.

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Design

“If we create stations that are good for people, that are inclusive and accessible, that inspire and enrich life, then we create destinations, places that people want to go to. A station has to be relevant and meaningful within its context. That’s an important aspect to ensure we create a venue for interaction, provide a unique destination, and provide a series of domains rather than just one rail environment. “There is a growing influence of travel choice – a shift from ‘must’ use, to ‘lust’ use – and with choice comes greater competition. Stations must compete and their success will be judged on how they add to the travel experience, how they attract customers – and then they will make us all shift to sustainable travel. Logic and beauty Mike added: “A station has to look beautiful, elegant, be simple to navigate and find your way through. It has to be logically laid out, have the right range of facilities that are in the right place. It should also be obvious that it should be easy to work out how to get to the trains but, while stations are being transformed and it is not just about getting on and off a train, that very important function remains but is often forgotten.”

This approach can be evidenced by taking a look at the £1 billion redevelopment of London Bridge, which saw Arcadis working as Lead Design Organisation in a 50:50 Joint Venture with WSP to make it fit for the 21st century and the 52 million passengers that use it, the £44 million award-winning redevelopment of Manchester Victoria, along with Cambridge South, Beaulieu and HS2 Curzon Street.

I feel strongly about the need to blur the boundaries between the station and the surrounding environment and integrating a station and its setting Likewise, on the continent, Arcadis has transformed stations in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Eindhoven, Driebergen and Mike’s personal ‘favourite station’ Lansingerland-Zoetermeer.

In Amsterdam, Arcadis put in new Metro lines under this major transport hub while keeping the station operational and maintaining its renowned customer experience. Station integration Mike added: “These are excellent examples of what good stations should look and feel like. Driebergen is a really good example of the first mile, last mile approach, and considers how we can create a station that really integrates with walking and cycling. “The experience we acquired on Amsterdam is now being applied across the UK and internationally. We have excellent hands-on experience of delivering really ambitious station solutions and London Bridge is a brilliant example of what new integrated solutions, along with commercial development, can and should be.” Keeping stations operational is vital but perhaps even more complex for UK rail with its ageing Victorian estate. Considering the construction sequence is not only important when it comes minimising the disruption of train services but also ensuring that passengers don’t turn their backs on rail before a station’s redevelopment is complete.

Engineers on a mission

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February 2022 | 55

Design

“The bulldozers can come in, work can start and then there is a realisation that careful thinking didn’t go into the sequence of construction,” explained Mike. “All of those people who were using rail then start to use buses or go back to the comfort of their cars rather than endure two years of inconvenience. Then you need a lot of enticement to get people back on trains. There’s no need to work in that way, we need to think very carefully about deliverability, the sequence and affordability.” Improving accessibility Another highly important consideration is genuine accessibility for all rail users. Mike said: “There is a whole bandwidth of impairments that change how people use a station. We have to change the principles of station design, fundamentally, and as designers and engineers we need to think more broadly about the spectrum of impairments and how people use and navigate a station. If we’re are solely reliant on wayfinding through signage we have a problem. I feel that good architecture itself should provide the fundamental wayfinding and if we get that right most people can understand what is logically and simply laid out. “That’s the first part cracked, then you can use signage to facilitate different routes. Technology will also transform how people interact with stations and journey planning.” While the Plan for Rail and the arrival of Great British Railways promise an end to

a fragmented rail system, Mike is aware of a challenge to his work posed by the new landscape for station investment. “Just as some creases in the industry are getting ironed out, the people who will want to invest in stations, the involvement of local and combined authorities and private investors, mean that the landscape will get wider.

We have to change the principles of station design “There will be a lot of different stakeholders who don’t necessarily have a railway language but do know that effective, meaningful and considered station adaptation and redevelopments can transform an economy, attract investment and positively shift us towards sustainable travel,” he added. “Station advocacy will be really important going forward to galvanise stakeholders in a single, shared vision so that everyone is using the same language to drive up ambition. “We shouldn’t be afraid of using powerful language around what a station should be, not just talking about journey time improvement,

capacity and the old mechanics. It has to be about economic growth, recovery and what the new future should be. “Let’s look at decarbonising stations, let’s look at the technology we can put in place that improves the experience, and talking about customers not passengers.” Multi-modal hubs Mike added: “We have an opportunity now to change the value matrix of stations, to get people talking about human-centred stations, stations that are good for people and that give people the facility for travel. “We need to create scaleable stations, stations that can adapt and grow. Less bespoke for the here and now and flexible for the future so that their owners and operators can adapt and change a station as society’s expectations change. “We really do have to grab this moment to create multi-modal hubs so that people can have a travel experience and end-to-end journey on public transport. “We have to do more across our station estate to make that more uniform as an experience so that people can use active travel and public transport for a genuine long-term sustainable travel purpose. The station has the power to be this connected node. “We want to be a driving force in this transformation, generating a holistic peoplecentred approach to designing and delivering great stations founded on our core design principle of improving quality of life.”

London Bridge Station 56 | February 2022

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Heritage

Milestone reached for bio-coal use The first ever trial of bio-coal in a full size, standard gauge locomotive has been described as ‘milestone’ for steam he Chief Executive of the Heritage Railway Association (HRA) has described a bio-coal trial at Keighley and Worth Valley Railway (KWVR) as “so important” as the industry looks for alternative fuels. The HRA said the urgency behind the trials of alternative fuels has “only increased in recent weeks after it became clear that the last source of UK-mined steam coal would no longer be supplying the heritage sector”. The organisation said there are now significant concerns that heritage rail could experience a coal shortage within months. The requirements of heritage steam coal are very different to most other users. Factors like burn rate and the amount of ash produced are critical to success, but it is also important that fuel does not produce excessive smoke or damage to fireboxes and firebars. Steve Oates, Chief Executive of the HRA, said: ““Even though this is just an initial trial, it is a significant milestone in the history of steam locomotives in the UK. “Heritage steam is a small and very responsible user of high quality, low emissions coal, but it’s clear that huge challenges are ahead for the fuel we depend on. That’s why trials like this to find alternatives are so important.” The trials, featuring British Railways Standard ‘2MT’ 2-6-0 No. 78022, pitted a trial batch of Homefire Ecoal developed by CPL Industries Ltd for use in steam locomotives against the steeply graded, five-mile line in West Yorkshire in February. They were the first on standard gauge locomotives with this new generation of fuels and the third in the series. The previous two trials were run in June and November last year at the Bure Valley Railway and gave sufficient confidence to progress onto standard gauge. Working together The trials are a collaboration between the HRA, member railways, CPL Industries Ltd, and the Advanced Steam Traction Trust. The aim is to find an alternative to traditional steam coal. To closely replicate normal working conditions, a full operating day timetable was followed. The trial also used a rake of five carriages, the same that No. 78022 would be expected to haul using traditional coal. 58 | February 2022

Keighley and Worth Valley Railway based Standard ‘2MT’ No. 78022 during the bio-coal trials.

Noel Hartley from the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, who acted as fireman on the day of the trials, said: “It’s been really interesting to try it out, it’s very different to what we’d normally use. It’s a completely different technique, you’ve got make sure you get it really hot to start with. “I think in time, it could be made really useful for heritage railway use.”

It is a significant milestone in the history of steam locomotives in the UK The Homefire Ecoal blend has been carefully changed following the last steam railway trials, which took place in November 2021 at the 15in gauge Bure Valley Railway. The main aim of the KWVR trials was to prove the concept in a standard gauge locomotive, but also to further refine the composition of the fuel. Homefire Ecoal is produced at CPL’s UK plant and this was a unique formula featuring up to 20 per cent biomass and manufactured using the company’s hot cured process to provide greater strength and durability. The larger, specially shaped hexagonal ovoid is designed to sit on both narrow gauge and standard gauge locomotive firebars just like

Image: Keighley & Worth Valley Railway.

traditional coal and is classified as smokeless, emitting up to 80 per cent less particulate matter (smoke) than traditional coal. A new beginning Julian Martin, Sales Director from CPL Industries Ltd, said: “This is the first trial of our latest Homefire Ecoal product, designed for standard and narrow gauge locomotives. Previous trials at Bure Valley Railway and other railways have given us a great insight into what the driver needs to optimise the performance of the boiler, and it’s encouraging that a large number of steam engine users are already using Homefire Ecoal instead of traditional coal or other steam coals. “The availability of coal for steam engines is already proving challenging and prices continue to increase. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like this will ease in the near future as price and availability remain incredibly volatile. “However, we are confident that we can produce a range of smokeless ovoids that meet the needs of all the steam engine users, which will be consistent in quality and performance and at the same time will be affordable and environmentally better to burn.” With a 200psi boiler and a grate area of more than 17sq ft, 1954-built No. 78022 is by far the biggest steam locomotive yet to be trialled with bio-coal. The KWVR’s gradients of up to 1-in-58 also mean that locomotives need to perform well to keep to time. railbusinessdaily.com

Government

UK to reach for London’s standards

Michael Gove has announced his Levelling Up White Paper, outlining how the government is aspiring to boost the UK’s capabilities

he UK Government has set 12 missions which it says will drive real change to people’s lives by spreading opportunity and reversing geographical inequalities. Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove unveiled the government’s Levelling Up White Paper in February, setting out a complete ‘system change’ aiming to transform the UK by spreading opportunity and prosperity to all parts of the UK. As part of this, the Secretary of State says there will be an aspiration that public transport outside London comes close to the same standard as the capital by 2030. Transport will also be helped by “improved services, simpler fares and integrated ticketing”. He said: “For decades, too many communities have been overlooked and undervalued. As some areas have flourished, others have been left in a cycle of decline.

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happen overnight, but our 12 new national levelling up missions will drive real change in towns and cities across the UK, so that where you live will no longer determine how far you can go.”

The UK has been like a jet firing on only one engine. “Levelling Up and this White Paper is about ending this historic injustice and calling time on the postcode lottery. “This will not be an easy task, and it won’t

The right approach Reacting to the White Paper, Laura Shoaf, Chair of the Urban Transport Group, and Chief Executive at West Midlands Combined Authority, said: “Devolving more powers over transport is the right approach as mayors, leaders and local transport authorities are far better placed to make the right calls than command and control from Whitehall. “However, we need to see this translated into action, including on the devolution of more powers over local rail networks, over bus funding, as well as less micro-management of our capital investment programmes.”

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February 2022 | 59

Infrastructure

Breaking waves – eight years since the Dawlish line was washed away Rail Director takes a look at the huge amount of work that has taken place since severe storms battered the Devon coastline

Construction of the second section of new sea wall in Dawlish progressing well

hese images show the impact of a devastating storm that struck the south Devon coastline at Dawlish, cutting off the online railway line to the south west. It was eight years ago in February that the ferocious storm ripped the sea wall and ground from beneath the railway line. Unbelievably the track reopened just eight weeks after the storm damage, thanks to what the then Prime Minister David Cameron described as “a Herculean effort” whereby a team of 300 Network Rail engineers worked day and night to rebuild the track and restore the railway. A mighty transformation A new sea wall was built, 25,000 tonnes of collapsed cliff evacuated and repairs made to dozens of sites along the three-mile stretch of coastal railway. However, this was just a shortterm solution – fast forward to the present and the area has undergone a mighty transformation. Work is well under way on an £80 million project to protect the vital rail artery for the next 100 years, with construction on the first section of a new, bigger sea wall completed in July 2020. 60 | February 2022

It runs for 360 metres along Marine Parade south west of Dawlish station. Construction of the 415-metre second section – stretching from Coastguard breakwater east of Dawlish station to Colonnade breakwater – began in November 2020.

Once complete this new, bigger sea wall will play a central role in protecting the town and this key railway route “This is a really significant project not just for Network Rail but for Dawlish and the entire South West peninsula,” said Julie Gregory, Network Rail’s senior sponsor. “Once complete this new, bigger sea wall will play a central role in protecting the town and this key railway route to the south

west from rising sea levels and extreme weather for generations to come and, we hope, prevent the events of 2014 ever happening again.” Work on the second section is progressing well with Network Rail’s contractors BAM Nuttall having successfully installed all 143 concrete wall panels and curved wave returns on top of the panels that form the stretch of wall between the station building and Coastguard breakwater. A positive impact The innovative design of the wall panels and curved wave returns, coupled with the increase height of the wall, is having a noticeably positive impact keeping the tracks flood-free and train services running on this iconic stretch of railway. The promenade along the second section is starting to take shape and the steps down to the beach at Coastguard breakwater have been completed, with Coastguard’s footbridge expected to reopen in February. Yan Sayles, BAM Nuttall Project Manager, said: “Dawlish has been a job like no other. The location of the railway, sandwiched between the sea and the town, has made delivering the work incredibly challenging but enormously rewarding. railbusinessdaily.com

Infrastructure

“It has pushed us to the limits of our knowledge and required us to develop new techniques and materials that have never been used in other rail projects before.” Among that includes the use of an innovative eight-legged, self-contained walking jack-up barge, known as a ‘Wavewalker’, which is the only one of its kind in Europe, and is able to operate across high tidal ranges. It was used by BAM Nuttall to safely access the sea face of the railway embankment along Marine Parade and helped deliver the piling at the sea wall. Dawlish – aerial view of the damage

Incredible progress Wendy Morton, Minister of State in the Department for Transport, said: “The progress being made on Dawlish’s sea wall is incredible. As extreme weather events become more common, we must do all we can to protect our transport network. Investing in our railways is essential to levelling up the country and ensuring local economies can flourish.” It is anticipated that the promenade along the second section and between the first and second sections of sea wall will be completed and open to the public this summer, which will mean people will be able to walk between Dawlish and Dawlish Warren along the entire length of new sea wall. Councillor Jonathan Drean, Chair of the Peninsula Rail Task Force, said: “The resilience and reliability of the main line at Dawlish remains the top priority of the Peninsula Rail Task Force and it is heartening to see the tremendous progress being made along the sea wall. Completion of this programme of works is essential to increasing business confidence, attracting inward investment and supporting communities, tourism and economic growth right through the South West to south Devon, Plymouth and Cornwall.” The overall £80 million Department for Transport-funded project – which will also see improvements made to Dawlish station, including an accessible station footbridge with lifts – will be completed in 2023, protecting the railway and town from rising sea levels and extreme weather for future generations. Councillor Val Mawhood, Mayor of Dawlish, said: “The great storm of 2014 is now a major part of Dawlish history and something that will be spoken about for generations to come. This awful event showed just how vital this section of the rail network is for the whole of the South West and I welcome the progress which has been made on the new sea wall. This is already having a positive impact on the town and will ensure that history isn’t repeated.” railbusinessdaily.com

The new sea wall is transforming the Dawlish coastline

February 2022 | 61

People

Investing in an inclusive culture in rail engineering EUR ING Toyin Davies has worked on the delivery of major rail engineering projects such as Eurotunnel, Arlanda rail link, Victoria line upgrade and HS2. Now she is playing an important role to champion equality, diversity and inclusion

oyin Davies is not easily fazed. During the past two decades she has supported railway clients in numerous roles from the build of new railways and introduction of new trains, through to station design, and the development and implementation of standards and regulations to improve safety. Now she is playing an important role working with industry to help build a more inclusive railway. Toyin is part of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Charter Working Group, a diverse team of 11 people pulled together by Women in Rail (WR) and the Railway Industry Association (RIA), to champion EDI in the UK rail industry. The EDI charter has been signed by more than 180 signatories covering organisations of all sizes and disciplines across the rail industry, who share the same commitment for change. Each month Rail Director has spoken with a different member of the Working Group about their involvement, aims and aspirations for the creation of a more balanced and higher performing sector, with Toyin this month explaining why it so important to be involved. “I have enjoyed working in rail, it has offered me so many opportunities and working with the industry on the EDI Charter is an opportunity to give something back,” she said. “Everyone has a role to play in ensuring we continue to build a diverse and inclusive culture for our railway and be the change we wish to see in the world.” The EDI Charter involves several key commitments, including appointing a member of the senior leadership team as an EDI champion, agreeing an action plan, providing opportunities for training and education of employees, and supporting the progression of diverse individuals into senior roles. Leading by example For Toyin, her passion is centred on helping people thrive when it comes to engineering and ensuring that they have the same opportunities that she’s had or even better. “I was delighted and grateful to see so many organisations signing up to the EDI Charter; it shows the extensive support from the industry and the recognition for greater diversity in rail,” she said. 62 | February 2022

“Despite some good progress made in EDI, there are two areas of improvement that spring to mind and it would mean a lot to me to see companies make this happen in 2022. “The first is EDI leadership through action – this is about the creation of a truly diverse senior management team, leading by example, top down, to ensure successful embedding of the EDI Charter within their organisations, in order to create an inclusive workforce. “The second is recruiting more women like me in engineering into senior management positions. Today, I know of only two.”

Everyone has a role to play in ensuring we continue to build a diverse and inclusive culture for our railway She added: “Although I worked with so many truly amazing colleagues, what I missed is working alongside or seeing people like myself in my area of industry. “In the early years I was often the only female engineer; two decades later it is great to see a few more women in rail engineering.

“However, we are still in very low numbers at circa four per cent (latest Women in Rail data) and it is still rare to see women of my ethnic minority, particularly at senior management level. A change here would be most welcome. “Once created, ensuring the sustainability of the diverse and inclusive workforce is important. What I have learned over the years from colleagues, customers, staff and working on projects is that it really makes a difference when staff members feel valued and respected, know their talents matter and that they have the support they need to deliver their jobs. “Being able to bring their best selves to work every day promotes staff wellbeing, ensures staff retention and creates high performing teams driven to succeed, even in challenging circumstances. This positively impacts overall business performance and, furthermore, a good representation of our society in business is important for our customers and stakeholders to see people like themselves.” Role models Toyin says it is important that there are role models who can prove essential in sustaining a diverse workforce. “People make places, and seeing people like themselves in the workplace and at senior management level makes them feel that they will be accepted and can aspire to do as well as their role models, and that they can have opportunities of career progression in the organisation,” she added. “To achieve a truly diverse senior management team it will be important to ensure that diversity and inclusivity statistics apply to all levels of an organisation, in particular senior management positions. I understand the latter is not the case in some organisations. “Providing training and mentorship for existing talent in your organisation, to enable them to move from middle management to senior management, could be a good way forward for some organisations. railbusinessdaily.com

People

“It is important organisations do not ignore diversity issues. In 2022, let engineering opportunities be open to all who aspire to work in the profession, both experienced engineers or those who seek training and are willing to develop the required skills. “Let’s see more visibility of women recruited in the field of engineering at senior management level this year.” Overcoming the glass ceiling During the interview, Toyin recalls a work colleague saying that she could never make director level, even though she was capable of doing the job, simply because there was no one who looked like her at that level in the organisation. “I started my career as a rolling stock technician, testing and commissioning trains and today I work at director level in engineering, with great people, where I am valued and respected,” she said. “The journey was sometimes challenging but I overcame the barriers that slowed me down and they did not stop my career progression into senior management, which was made possible by gaining my professional qualifications

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through my work experience. The effort put in and perseverance was worth it.”

It is important organisations do not ignore diversity issues Toyin says she has many people to thank, including those who gave her excellent career opportunities, and in particular her dad who inspires her and is a great role model in engineering. She said: “For those who feel they may never overcome the glass ceiling in their career,

find what you enjoy doing and are good at, stay focused on your goals, build your skillset and when you have gained sufficient work experience, get Chartered (CEng, Chartered Engineer status). “Surround yourself with positive people who inspire you and get a mentor if you need one – Women in Rail and Railway Industry Association have a rail mentorship programme should you require one.” As part of her work with the Working Group, a new WR and RIA EDI newsletter was launched in December 2021, designed to share the industry vision and initiatives to create a more balanced and higher performing diverse workforce. Toyin is speaking with a diverse group of senior leaders in rail, who share their experiences on breaking down barriers, which will feature in upcoming EDI Charter newsletters.

Visit womeninrail.org/mentoring/ for more details about the mentor programme. This month also saw the launch of Coffee Roulette, an opportunity for signatories of the EDI Charter to meet, listen and chat with new people across the community on moving inclusivity in the industry forward. Email info@edicharter.co.uk for more details or to find out more about signing up to the charter.

February 2022 | 63

IFnetaetrunraet i o n a l N e w s

CAF and Iberdrola commit to green hydrogen train

AF and Iberdrola have concluded a framework agreement with the main focus being global promotion of green hydrogen, emission-free rail transport. The CAF Group (Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles) has partnered with Iberdrola to promote the use of green hydrogen in the railway sector and for passenger transport. The agreement was signed between Iosu Ibarbia, CAF’s Technology Manager, and Millán García-Tola, the Green Hydrogen Manager of the utility company. Millán-García Tola, Iberdrola’s Global Director for Green Hydrogen, said: “This partnership further bolsters Iberdrola’s commitment to decarbonising transport that is hardly electrifiable. “By partnering with CAF, a leading player in sustainable transport, we intend to continue providing solutions that will serve as a catalyst for the transition to zero-emission transport. “Both companies complement each other perfectly, and together we will be able to deliver comprehensive solutions for transport electrification, a sector that contributes to a third of EU greenhouse gas emissions.”

Stadler wins largest contract in its history

tadler has been awarded the largest contract in the company’s history, with an order of up to 504 tram-trains, worth up to €4 billion. It has been awarded through an international tender which has been held jointly by six transport companies from Germany and Austria as part of the VDV TramTrain project. As well as vehicle production, it also includes maintenance for up to 32 years. Part of the framework is a fixed order of 246 CITYLINK vehicles, worth in the region of €1.7 billion. There is also an option for 258 more. The fixed contract will see the trains produced for the consortium — Verkehrsbetriebe Karlsruhe (VBK), Albtal-VerkehrsGesellschaft (AVG), Saarbahn

Netz, Schiene Oberösterreich, the State of Salzburg and Zwe ck ve r b a n d Re g i o n a lStadtbahn Neckar-Alb – over the next 10 years. The first four will be delivered to Saarbahn in 2024. Peter Spuhler, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Stadler, said: “We are proud to have won this

international tender with our proven vehicle concept. The construction of a tram-train requires experience, and this particular tender also necessitates the ability to combine individual solutions with standard products. Stadler has always been at home in both areas and is a pioneer in the industry.”

Hitachi Rail awarded Saudi Arabia metro contract

itachi Rail has signed a €72.5 million contract with Princess Nourah Bint Abdul Rahman University to operate and maintain the autonomous metro system in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the next three years. The university is the largest female university in the world and is able to host 60,000 students that can travel within the huge campus area with the autonomous train. The electric-powered trains

provide a sustainable low carbon alternative to travelling by car. The rail network consists of four elevated lines spanning 11.5km that connects 14 stations. The 22 twocarriage automated metro trains have a capacity of 110 passengers and can travel to a maximum speed of 60km/h. Edoardo La Ficara, Executive Officer, Operation Service and Maintenance Division at Hitachi Rail, said: “We are proud to be confirmed as operator and

maintainer of the Princess Nourah University automated metro. This award is an important further milestone that consolidates our presence in the Middle East, one of the Operation, Service and Maintenance Division target markets. “We’re happy to be able to contribute with our customers to the development of mobility in the countries in which we operate, in terms of growth and sustainable systems.”

Our websites win you work Built in SEO to increase visibility 50 years of rail industry experience Quality, value and creativity guaranteed

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I n t e r n a t i o nFael aNt u ew r es

Siemens to supply 50 hybrid locos to DB Cargo and the DB Bahnbau Group iemens Mobility is set to supply DB Cargo AG and DB Bahnbaugruppe GmbH with a total order of 50 locomotives. The trains are Vectron Dual Mode models, with bespoke adaptations for the DB services, and they can be operated either with diesel or electricity. The order has been made as part of a framework agreement established in September 2020. Albrecht Neumann, Chief Executive Officer Rolling Stock at Siemens Mobility, said: “Our Vectron Dual Mode locomotive is supporting DB in the climatefriendly conversion of their fleet. “On electrified sections of their

Image: Siemens Mobility

routes, the Vectron Dual Mode will operate in a purely electric mode, and on non-electrified sections it can switch to conventional operation and eliminate the need to change locomotives.

“This will reduce CO2 emissions, lower maintenance costs, and help DB implement more sustainable supply chains.” With this order, the DB Cargo fleet will grow to 146 Vectron Dual Mode

locomotives, and the DB Bahnbau Group will receive four locomotives of this type for the first time. Delivery will begin in 2026, and the vehicles will be built at the Siemens Mobility plant in Munich-Allach. The reason for the dual mode is that, although the main rail lines are electrified, Siemens said the last mile can usually only be traversed using internal combustion technology. So far, Siemens Mobility has sold 195 Vectron Dual Mode locos to 18 customers. Based on the Vectron platform, the vehicle is designed to operate on a 15-kV AC voltage system and is equipped with a PZB train control system.

Knorr-Bremse expands brake disc production at Berlin plant norr-Bremse has added nine large machining centres for the manufacture of brake discs for train braking systems at its Berlin plant. The commissioning on the ninth centre last month concludes a programme of investment in manufacturing technology that was launched in 2019. Dr Nicholas Lange, Chairman of the management board of KnorrBremse Rail Vehicle Systems, said:

Image: Knorr-Bremse

“Making this forward-looking, broad-based investment puts us in

a position to significantly increase our brake disc production capacity,

boost our productivity, and thus manufacture competitively with best-cost countries. “The substantially increased output will also enable us to reliably meet rising demand as a dependable partner to our customers. Our investment decision strengthens our manufacturing resources in Berlin and will help sustain and develop fast, safe, efficient mobility on the rail network.”

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February 2022 | 65

RBD Community

From green shoots to strong roots – nine months of RBD Community Eli Rees-King, Head of RBD Community, reflects on the journey so far in helping organisations to thrive

his time last year, the RBD Community existed as a tiny seed with the early signs of green shoots developing as the idea began to take form. In a matter of months, since its official launch in June 2021 and with careful nurturing, the RBD Community is thriving and going from strength to strength as it continues to grow. The RBD Community has experienced phenomenal growth in a short space of time. Organisations that join the RBD Community share one common goal – to grow their business in rail. With this mission at the heart of every activity undertaken by the RBD Community, its members stand to gain many benefits. “We are passionate about helping organisations grow their business in rail as well as supporting companies that are new to rail,” said Head of RBD Community Eli Rees-King. “It might be the name of the organisation that we recognise as the member, but it is people who we build relationships with. Their drive and energy in wanting to make a difference is infectious, and this is why we are so incredibly proud to be playing our part in supporting the industry.” Growing businesses The RBD Community, which has offices at Rail Business Daily’s HQ in Wakefield, has recently expanded into a new office based in the UKRRIN building at the University of Birmingham, Birmingham Centre for Rail Research (BCRRE). The new base serves as a central hub offering practical access for members and also allows the team to easily visit member sites and facilities in other areas of the UK. The first RBD Community event to be confirmed for 2022 will take place on 3 May at the University of Birmingham in one of its hi-tech modern conference facilities. Eli added: “We are delighted to confirm that Nick Millington, Head of the Safety Taskforce at Network Rail and also President of the Permanent Way Institute (PWI), and Tim Gray, Managing Director at Hitachi Information Control Systems Europe Ltd, and Ali Chegini, 66 | February 2022

RSSB Director, System Safety & Health have both been confirmed as speakers at our Rail Infrastructure and Safety event in May.

“Our Accessibility and Stations event last December set a very high benchmark for us. Striving for excellence is a constant driver for everything we do, and it is what our members expect and deserve.” Details about the next event can be found on the RBD Community website. There will also be

an online event open to everyone on Tuesday 15 March to give members and those organisations interested in joining an opportunity to find out more about what RBD Community does and the benefits available. Pivotally placed Delegates will also get to hear about the collaborative events taking place in 2022 between the University of Birmingham and the RBD Community, as well as valuable insights into the current landscape and opportunities going forward for supply chain involved in rolling stock and infrastructure. Eli concluded: “Working in an industry that is going through such a historic shift in the way it operates and how it is delivered means that we are pivotally placed to play a significant role in helping organisations navigate their way in this unchartered landscape.” To find out more about the RBD Community go to : www.railbusinessdaily.com/rbd-community/

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HS2

HS2’s new measures to enhance visibility of supply chain opportunities The high-speed rail project is providing more detail to help prospective Tier Two and Three suppliers

Darren James

S2 is making it easier for the supply chain to see how they can get involved in the project. It comes after independent research commissioned by the Rail Supply Group (RSG) found that improving work pipeline visibility was the number one priority for UK rail businesses. Business as usual As a mark of its commitment, HS2 signed up to RSG’s Work Pipeline Visibility Charter and is now making the technical specifications for all its rail systems packages publicly available. Darren James, RSG’s Work Pipeline Visibility Charter champion and Chief Executive Officer at Keltbray, said: “By sharing work pipelines, organisations throughout the supply chain can plan and deliver with far more confidence. And our evidence suggests it will improve supply chain productivity significantly. By signing this important government-backed charter, HS2 joins Network Rail as a key client signatory. This is a big step towards making work pipeline visibility ‘business as usual’, creating a far more collaborative working environment for us all.” The signing of the charter means that potential Tier Two and Three suppliers can access the same level of technical information as tier one businesses bidding for HS2’s key railway 68 | February 2022

Kate Jennings

systems contracts – which have an estimated value of more than £3 billion and cover track, overhead line, mechanical and electrical, telecoms, power and signalling. Robin Lapish, Senior Supply Chain Manager at HS2, said: “We’re acting on feedback to provide UK businesses with a heads up on the opportunities that will soon filter down from HS2’s

By signing this important governmentbacked charter, HS2 joins Network Rail as a key client signatory multi-billion-pound rail systems contracts. This enhanced transparency puts smaller businesses in a strong position, allowing them to engage directly with our main contractors and gear up for the vast programme of work that’s on the horizon.” Kate Jennings, Railway Industry Association Director, and High Speed Rail Group Board Director, said: “We are really pleased to see HS2 Ltd improving the visibility of upcoming work for rail businesses.

“The greater visibility rail suppliers have, whether multi-nationals or SMEs, the better they are able to plan and invest in the teams and capabilities needed to deliver complex projects, such as on HS2, ultimately allowing them to deliver even more jobs and investment across the UK.” Greater visibility Kate added: “Given the importance and the scale of the project, greater visibility of supply chain opportunities will be vital to ensuring it is delivered as efficiently as possible too. “The industry looks forward to continuing to support HS2, a truly transformational project that will help spur an economic recovery while improving connectivity for people across the UK.” HS2 has already published its rolling stock train technical specification to enable component manufacturers and suppliers to understand HS2’s requirements fully and consider their product offerings. HS2 expects to begin awarding its core railway systems contracts from the end of this year. For more details visit : www.hs2.org.uk/supplychain/technical-documents/

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