Rail Director July 2022 by RBD Media

July 2022

EXCLUSIVELY FOR RAIL INDUSTRY LEADERS July 2022

Sambit Banerjee and Professor Clive Roberts Putting Goole at the centre of the UK rail sector Toufic Machnouk Cutting edge digital signalling technology Gus Draper Heroic efforts of workers Daisy ChapmanChamberlain Ensuring our networks are safe, secure and open to all

RUPERT LOWN 23

Everyone home safe every day

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Introduction

Driving collaboration A

very warm welcome to the latest edition of Rail Director. It is a huge privilege to be writing the welcome note for the July edition on the eve of my first month as managing director of Rail Business Daily group (RBD). What an amazing time to be involved in the railways; an era of pride, passion, innovation, and change, all delivered with conviction and collaborative leadership. For the past five years, RBD has been the platform to help rail organisations and their owners showcase what they do best. I’m delighted to be carrying on that mission. What has been achieved shouldn’t be underestimated. Unlike others, our DNA came from UK rail. RBD was created by railway professionals, for railway professionals, and with that combination of collective knowledge alongside an enthusiasm to be a force for good, it has led to an acceleration within the sector that has exceeded all expectations. We are now proudly supporting some of the UK’s leading brands in developing their business growth and helping customers to achieve their objectives through advisory, marketing, media, community and recruitment services. The daily newsletter is landing in the inbox of more than 73,000 rail industry professionals, the website is forecast to receive 21.5 million page views this year, customers’ adverts are seeing 10.5 million impressions, and our magazines are landing with thousands of industry influencers and decision makers. With this success comes huge responsibility, with the organisation having already become a trusted partner to hundreds of companies by offering a range of services designed to support long-term success. RBD has become part of the fabric of the railway’s business life, but that is just the start for me as we gather pace towards the recalibration of the sector in a new postCOVID world.

I want RBD to be that extension of rail organisations, a critical friend who can be counted on when required, and as at my previous roles with the likes of RSSB, my badge of honour will be one of integrity and exceeding the expectations of those who put their trust in RBD to support their businesses. To fulfil our potential as a force of good I want to hear from the industry about how we can support you, using our huge audience, both with the immediate challenges but also longer term in the creation of Great British Railways. We are arguably the most powerful media business in rail and the opportunities are endless, but to grasp them we must work together. One thing that never ceases to amaze me are the people who make the railway the success it is. Even before joining RBD I always looked forward to the arrival of Rail Director to read about the individuals who are working so hard. They always have fascinating stories and insights that are both inspiring and a joy to read. This month’s magazine features a whole host of fantastic features, from Network Rail’s chief health, safety and wellbeing officer Rupert Lown, and Northern’s new head of train presentation Richard Holt, through to Gus Draper, who talks about Transport for London’s life savers. That is just a small teaser of what awaits you in the pages ahead. I hope you enjoy the latest edition and please do get in touch with how we can help you on the track to success. #GBR It’s all about the people!

RBD was created by railway professionals, for railway professionals

All the best.

C hri s

Chris Leech Group Managing Director Rail Business Daily

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

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July 2022 | 3

Contents

Everyone home safe every day

Network Rail’s chief health, safety and wellbeing officer Rupert Lown discusses the challenges in keeping people safe around the railway

News

Putting Goole at the centre of UK rail

GBR HQ shortlist announced

A real game changer for the industry

Six towns and cities remain in the competition to host the headquarters of Great British Railways Debra Williams and Simon Jones discuss the next steps for the Global Centre of Rail Excellence

Delivering train presentation in style

The high-speed rail project has provided more than £12 million in funding to community groups and organisations impacted by its construction

Thousands of TfL workers trained to provide a safe platform for customers

Gus Draper, London Underground’s safeguarding manager, discusses the life-saving suicide prevention training and heroic efforts of workers

Making stations destinations

A new station at the heart of Barking Riverside has opened this month

A mental health champion for the railway industry

TransPennine Express’s Victoria Snell has been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. She shares her story with Rail Director

Making rail travel more attractive is vital for a green recovery

Ensuring our networks are safe, secure and open to all

Transpennine Route Upgrade achieves its ‘biggest milestone’

David Ethell from the National Freight Safety Group explains more about a collaboration to tackle delays and safety risks for the country’s freight sector

Daisy Chapman-Chamberlain is back with her latest column. This month she looks at women’s safety

Network Rail has been given the go-ahead to transform train journeys in West Yorkshire as part of the TRU

Network Rail staff come to the aid of rail colleagues in Ukraine

Creating the next generation railway

Network Rail’s Toufic Machnouk on the government go-ahead for a £1 billion digital signalling investment on one of the UK’s busiest rail routes

The Big Rail Diversity Challenge 2022: A fun event with a serious message

Rail organisations took on a series of physical, mental, and skill-based sessions to put communication and teamwork skills to the test

Three peaks by rail

Assessing one of the first cable-stayed bridges in the world

International News

RSN2022

RBD Community

Movers and Shakers

£15 million investment in nine Restoring Your Railway schemes

Paul Bigland joins the team in their efforts to climb the highest mountains in England, Scotland and Wales to raise funds for Railway Children

Jason Hurst, partner in Grant Thornton UK LLP’s public services advisory team, considers what could be done to make stations real destinations contributing to local economies

Extension of London Overground

Allan Spence shares details of their 2,000km journey to deliver a convoy of vehicles with vital equipment

Richard Holt, Northern’s new head of train presentation, talks about the challenges of maintaining the highest standards to instil passenger confidence

HS2 hits funding milestone

Rail freight working together to improve safety and performance

Organisation evo-rail has launched its paper looking at the importance of a modal shift to rail in order to reach the UK’s net zero goals. Managing director Simon Holmes writes why improving Wi-Fi on board trains by delivering rail-5G is a significant factor

Arcadis technical director David Beever and Yeray Salva Lopez, principal structural engineer, write about their approach to the Lyne Railway bridge assessment work

Rail Director’s managing editor reports from the Rolling Stock Networking exhibition and conference, which took place in Derby earlier this month

The government has announced further funding to develop nine Restoring Your Railway schemes across England to reopen disused railway lines, services and stations.

Tel: 0800 046 7320 Sales: 020 7062 6599 Managing Editor Nigel Wordsworth nigel@rbdpublications.com Editor Danny Longhorn danny@railbusinessdaily.com Designer/Production Manager Chris Cassidy Production Editor James Jackaman Director of Marketing Rachael Dean Subscriptions Danielle Burwood Advertising Team Christian Wiles – chris@rbdpublications.com Freddie Neal – freddie@rbdpublications.com Amy Hudson – amy@rbdpublications.com Published by RBD Media 15 Mariner Court, Calder Park, Wakefield WF4 3FL Printed by Stephens & George © 2022 All rights reserved. Reproduction of the contents of this magazine in any manner whatsoever is prohibited without prior consent from the publisher. For subscription enquiries and to make sure you get your copy of RailDirector please ring 0800 046 7320 or email subscriptions@rbdpublications.com 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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Main c

People

Everyone home safe every day Network Rail’s chief health, safety and wellbeing officer Rupert Lown discusses the challenges in keeping people safe around the railway

“E

veryone home safe every day” – Network Rail’s safety slogan and a responsibility the organisation takes very seriously. It is a statement that rings particularly true to its chief health, safety and wellbeing officer Rupert Lown, the man whose role is centred on keeping people safe around the railway. “I joined Network Rail because of that safety vision and my passion is around that strapline which means what it says on the tin, that everybody does get home safe every day,” he said. “I see the accidents that do happen, and we are on a steadily improving journey at the moment, but we have had too many fatalities and we have way too many broken arms and broken legs, and that is unacceptable. “I want people to be arriving home in a better condition and our commitment should be that you get treated well and you go home safe; it is that simple and that is what my job is about.” Safety first The railway is a complex and dangerous industry, and in taking on such a crucial role, Rupert says his job starts in making sure people are not killed or seriously injured while working or using the railway. “Those are the starting points,” he said. “From there you look at all the other bits and pieces when it comes to health and wellbeing as there are a lot of things that we do that have the potential to impact people’s health.”

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July 2022 | 5

People

He gives examples of everything from the posture of sitting at a computer all day through to the dangers associated with working trackside and mental health issues. “My role is to set tones on what is acceptable and what is unacceptable and provide processes that are simple and which people want to follow,” he said. “At the same time, we are continuously looking to new technology to help people be safe, from IT systems or new kit used to change sleepers around or shift ballast. “This is constantly evolving and the challenge is looking at how to choose the right bit of kit at the right time and ensuring that people use it. The key to this is talking to the frontline, managers and supervisors, and finding out what works for them.” Rupert’s official title has recently slightly changed to also include wellbeing, following the move by Network Rail’s chief medical officer Dr Richard Peters. “It takes the wellbeing agenda back into the wider fold of health and safety and it is important to me to reflect the wellbeing part of the agenda, which is so critical to all of our staff, particularly at the moment,” Rupert explained. Rupert, who was appointed to his current role in October 2019 and will soon be marking a decade at Network Rail, said: “It has been an amazing journey. It started as head of health and safety in Kent while I was on secondment from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). “I joined Network Rail to be head of safety in what was the old LNE route working for Phil Verster, which was just fantastic. I was based in York covering the three LNE routes – East Midlands, LNE North and LNE South. “Then I was asked to be head of workforce safety for Network Rail in Milton Keynes so that was looking after the whole of the workforce safety remit for Network Rail plus all of the supply chain. I then went to Anglia to be safety director, before taking on my current role as chief wellbeing and safety officer. That spans 10 years and disappears in the drop of a hat. It has been hard work, but great fun and I’ve really enjoyed it.” The workforce Describing the role and challenges to Rail Director, Rupert splits the jobs into three priority areas: the workforce, the passengers and the public. Starting with the workforce, he is quick to mention the Safety Task Force and the work done by its head Nick Millington, who was brought in to tackle an issue that was resulting in around 70 near-miss events a year, with as many as 160 people reaching a place of safety less than 10 seconds before a train passed close by. 6 | July 2022

Rupert Lown working with colleagues from Network Rail and London Overground as part of a public awareness day for suicide prevention

We are continuously looking to new technology to help people be safe “That’s our biggest programme, because frankly track workers being killed is where we’ve seen the most significant numbers of deaths recently,” Rupert said. “Nick is making a massive difference to the safety of our workforce with near misses having gone down drastically and we’ve almost eliminated red zone working using a flag from a Victorian process so that is an amazing step forward. “We’ve brought in new technology such as semi-automatic train warning systems and our planning tool behind the scenes has also changed with a new system, Railhub, allowing people to plan better.” Network Rail has also introduced new tools and technology in response to several fatalities of Network Rail staff and its contractors while driving, including systems that alert people both visually and audibly if speed limits are being exceeded – it’s not to punish staff, it’s to help them drive safely.

Rupert also says a huge amount of work has been undertaken when it comes to medicals, which he describes as more enhanced and more inquisitive. “Our sight deteriorates, hearing deteriorates, your overall body deteriorates as we get older but we are able to stay fit and healthy if we know what to look for. It is about staying relatively fit,” he said. “Obesity and diabetes are big problems for us so how do we encourage people to adjust their lifestyles? “Our medicals are a bit more probative and with that we are getting better data and that data is personal to an individual worker and means being able to offer them better advice, which in turn is having a knock-on effect to improve mental health. “But this isn’t about preaching to people about their health, it is just about providing some good information, encouragement and tools if they want to use them.” Mental health Mental health is of particular concern in the rail industry, where recent ORR figures revealed the rate of suicide in the workforce is 1.6 times higher than the UK average, with 60 per cent of workers having experienced mental health issues. “It’s good to talk about mental wellbeing and if you’re prepared to talk about it that is probably 75 per cent of the issue, just acknowledging there are good days and bad days,” he said. railbusinessdaily.com

People

“We all struggle and we all have to work at maintaining good mental wellbeing, there’s days when you get quite a lot of pressure, equally there are days when you get no pressure and that’s not good either as some people struggle without having any goals, objectives. It is about striking the right balance. “Many of our routes will have mental health first aiders and mental health champions; they are people who will help all of our staff talk about those things and try to help to sort out the problems. Most of it is about line managers and staff having a good conversation and acknowledging there are days when life is pretty tough.” Monitoring and maintenance Priority number two is about keeping passengers safe, which brings together all the engineering and operational functions, including the maintenance of 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts, thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. He said: “There are multiple programmes across our engineering functions about how to keep the infrastructure well maintained and

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operating at a good level, and spotting faults before they happen; that is the nub of passenger safety in the main. “There is lots of intelligent infrastructure monitoring going in such as kit around the track, points and embankments, but areas of particular concern for passenger safety are probably a combination of embankments,

earthworks and objects on the line. “On the latter the objects tend to be trees and large animals getting in through fences. It’s essential to have a combination of good drainage, awareness of the lineside trees and which are diseased, dying, or need cutting back, and good fencing to keep cows, horses and sheep off the line.”

July 2022 | 7

People

There is also the modernisation of the 20 stations Network Rail manages, including Birmingham New Street, London Bridge and Reading. “You think of the millions of passengers who use those stations and we’ve got to ensure that slips, trips and falls don’t happen,” he said. “With that many people you are working on very slim margins in making sure people are getting on and leaving trains and stations safely. “There is an element of passengers taking personal responsibility, but our job is making sure platform surfaces are well maintained and they cater for the really hot weather, really soggy weather and the snow and ice.” Public safety campaigns The third area is people and specifically level crossings and public safety campaigns. There are 6,000 level crossings in Britain used by thousands of people. Unfortunately, people can still fail to understand the danger they might put themselves, and others in, when they stray incorrectly onto the rail network or cross the level crossing as the warning lights are flashing. “We still get too many incidents on level crossings,” Rupert said. “It is the only place where the public really interacts with the train system. We try our best to get good level crossings which are well maintained and encourage people to use them correctly. “We recognise there’s a balance between running a high frequency train service in some places and road users wanting to get to their destination, but I can’t emphasise enough the danger of level crossing misuse. “Most people don’t fully understand the consequences of trespassing, but what I would say is whether you would ever think about crossing a motorway on foot as a pedestrian?

8 | July 2022

Rupert Lown presenting colleagues with awards certificates for safety innovation

Our job is to make sure that the numbers of injuries continue to reduce “It is even more dangerous crossing a railway because you don’t hear the modern trains and very few people have experience of judging a moving train at 70mph or the electrical risks.”

Sticking with people and Network Rail recently launched its Brighter Journeys campaign, seeking to make people smile and encourage help-seeking behaviour. The joint campaign between the rail industry and mental health charity, Chasing the Stigma via the Hub of Hope, saw the outside brought into stations with bursts of colourful flowers in bloom greeting passengers. Rupert explained: “The aim of running this campaign was to bring happiness and cheer to passengers as they went about their daily lives, reminding them to take a pause and have a moment to connect with nature,” he said. It was also to help encourage those who wanted help and support to use the Hub of Hope (www. hubofhope.co.uk) where local services can be accessed.

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People

“It is one of several initiatives which also included partnering with Thomas & Friends for a special episode of the children’s programme to teach young people about rail safety and to encourage parents to talk with their children. “We spend a lot of money trying to reduce the impact of trespass and suicides and encouraging good behaviours around the railway, which I believe is helping overall in keeping people safe.” The future There is no doubting that Network Rail is heading in the right direction when it comes to its slogan of everyone home safe every day. The organisation is at the lowest level of fatality-weighted injuries that it’s ever had as a company, although Rupert is quick to add that any fatality is still unacceptable. ORR analysis released in May also found that Britain ranks first in Europe for the lowest ‘whole society’ safety risk. This combined the overall average number of fatalities and serious injuries across five risk categories for passenger, employee, level crossing user, trespasser and other risks. “We have to continue to work hard to prevent fatalities and prevent life-changing injuries,

among our workforce, passengers and the public,” said Rupert. “Our job is to make sure that the numbers of injuries continue to reduce. “It is encouraging that ORR has recently assessed the rail industry across Europe and that we are the safest system in Europe, but there are

areas for improvement and areas where we can continue to get better. “We can be really proud of what we are achieving and that is down to a lot of hard work by a lot of people across Network Rail and the train operators.”

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July 2022 | 9

News

he organisation responsible for light rail safety in the UK is all set to press ahead with its vital work thanks to continued government funding. The Department for Transport (DfT) has confirmed a £3.3 million package of support for the Light Rail Safety and Standards Board (LRSSB) that will help it to drive a wide range of projects over the next three years. Welcoming the new financial agreement, Carl Williams, LRSSB chief executive, commented: “This continued funding will enable us to accelerate our ambitious delivery programme in a number of key areas. “These include the further development of sector-wide approaches to risk management and accident reporting, enhancing stakeholder engagement, updating safety guidance and leading on research into new technologies.” Confirmation of the funding package, which will see the LRSSB receive approximately £1.1 million annually over the three years, marks another important milestone for the organisation. Earlier in 2022, a report by the Office of Rail and Road found that the LRSSB was adding value to light rail, supporting co ntinued improvem ents in managing safety while providing the guidance and tools required to improve the sector’s understanding of risk. The new funding is part of a wider £4.5 million package for light rail from the DfT that also includes support for UKTram – the sector’s representative body. 10 | July 2022

S2 Ltd has been granted planning permission by Birmingham City Council for two viaducts which will take the new high-speed railway into Curzon Street Station in the city centre. Curzon Viaduct No.3 and Lawley Middleway Viaduct are part of the Curzon Street Station Approach area, which is made up of four connected viaducts between Duddeston Junction Viaduct and Curzon Street Station in central Birmingham. The other viaducts are Curzon Street No.1 Viaduct (furthest from the station) and Curzon Street No.2 Viaduct, which is currently undergoing a planning application. A number of design refinements have resulted in a shorter construction programme and less concrete needed to build the viaduct, bringing positive environmental and community benefits.

Image: HS2

Planning permission granted for HS2 viaducts in Birmingham

The viaducts are being designed by a Design Joint Venture of Mott MacDonald and Systra and architects Weston Williamson + Partners, all working for HS2’s civils contractor Balfour Beatty VINCI joint venture. David Speight, client project director at HS2 Ltd, said: “We are very pleased that Birmingham City Council’s planning committee approved the plans for these viaducts. This decision represents

a significant approval for HS2 in Birmingham city centre and means we are on track to bring high-speed rail to the West Midlands, increasing capacity and connectivity across the UK. “In addition, our design refinements on the viaducts will bring a range of extra benefits, including reducing the construction time and materials, reducing the amount of carbon we need on the project.”

Consultation begins on Rail Ombudsman

he Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is asking the public to help shape the future of redress and dispute resolution for passengers. It has launched a consultation on the future Rail Ombudsman which will move into the ORR’s oversight, in line with the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail. Currently, responsibility lies with the Rail Delivery Group, and has done since 2018. ORR says its undertaking of the responsibility for the ombudsman will play a role in “reinforcing the scheme’s independence”. The consultation contains: P roposed licence modifications required as part of the ORR sponsorship process; and

Image: ORR

Light rail safety gets a government funding boost

P roposals for an operating model for the future Rail Ombudsman, which specifies the functions it will perform and to what standard, as well as the way it will be constituted, governed and held to account.

Feedback to ORR will inform the specification for a competitive tender process later in 2022 where it will identify a not-for-profit provider of the new model Rail Ombudsman. The winner of this tender is expected in early 2023. railbusinessdaily.com

I n sFue raat nu cr e

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

Subcontractor insurances A

rail i n f r a s t r u c tu r e contractor may not carry out all of the work on a particular contract itself but may subcontract packages out to bona fide subcontractors (BFSCs). Often, these BFSCs are chosen either because they possess skills that the main contractor does not have or for some other reason, such as geography (the site may be far away from the contractor’s base of operations) or a lack of resource at the time of the work. The contractor’s Employer Liability and Public/Products Liability (EL/PL) insurer will require a disclosure if BFSCs are used. Usually, the insurer will impose a BFSC condition – a requirement that the contractor must check to ensure that the BSFC has

Tim Smith, NEBOSH Cert Cii

(typically) EL with a £10 million limit for any one event and PL liability insurance with a £5 million limit or more. This is a condition of policy cover. If the BFSC’s actions cause injury or damage, and a subsequent investigation discovers that the subcontractor has either no insurance or inadequate insurance, then the main contractor may be found to be in breach of its own insurance

conditions, potentially prejudicing its own insurance coverage. This is therefore a serious matter – it is not enough just to check that the BFSC has some insurance, it must be the correct insurance. Critically, the contractor should check the description of insured activity on the BFSC’s EL/PL insurance to ensure that it extends widely enough to cover the work subcontracted to the BFSC. If it does not, then once again the contractor may be judged to be in breach of its insurance. If the contractor plans to use a design house or consultant, then it must check carefully whether the BFSC clause also mentions professional indemnity insurance. If any doubt exists as to whether the BFSC is properly insured or not, then the contractor ought to send details of the BFSC’s insurances

to its insurance broker for further investigation. Usually, an insurer will not deem the BFSC condition to apply to selfemployed persons who work for the contractor either directly or through a labour agency. Because of these complexities, many low-cost EL/PL schemes for contractors are not able to cater for rail work. Often, BFSCs seek guidance from Jobson James Rail, the market leader in this field that acts for more than 400 railway companies across the UK and overseas. Tim Smith, NEBOSH Cert Cii, Client Director at Jobson James Rail. Contact Tim on 07493 868305

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Innovation

Putting Goole at the centre of UK rail

Siemens Mobility’s Sambit Banerjee and University of Birmingham’s Professor Clive Roberts talk about the major projects in East Yorkshire to drive rail innovation activities and enterprise support rofessor Clive Roberts and Sambit Banerjee are both filled with an enormous sense of joy walking around the multi-million-pound Rail Accelerator and Innovation Solutions hub for Enterprise (RaisE) business centre in East Yorkshire. The centre in Goole, which was delivered by East Riding of Yorkshire Council and opened in May, is already proving a valuable space for research and development support for start-ups and SMEs in the UK rail industry. But it is just the start for this area, with the building described as the beating heart of a new rail village. “It fills me with great pride because I’ve been part of this journey at Goole from day one with Siemens and to get from where it was then to where we are today phenomenal progress has taken place,” said Sambit, managing director, rolling stock and customer services for Siemens Mobility. “This building will house a lot of innovation and a forward-looking view of the UK industry. But its impact will go beyond this country, we want to showcase our competence to the global train manufacturing world, with this project a very big statement towards that goal.” RaisE business centre, located within the Goole 36 Enterprise Zone, provides 3,200 square metres of commercial floor space made up of grade-A office and workshop accommodation. The space is available to let to small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) in any sector and is not exclusive to those involved in rail. Additional projects There will be a cluster of projects surrounding it such as Siemens Mobility’s £200 million train manufacturing, servicing and warehousing facility, Enterprise Zone site, Freeport development land opportunities and a low carbon district heat and steam network. Professor Roberts said: “I was in the meeting where we thought of this four years ago and it’s quite amazing that we’re now sitting in the building and it’s all set up and ready to go with what we identified there was a need for. “We knew the Siemens investment was coming to Goole, we knew there was going to be a factory, but what we knew was that in order to really make the most of the opportunity and investment we needed to ensure there were other things happening, and this is one part of that. 12 | July 2022

Sambit Banerjee and Professor Clive Roberts

Source images: East Riding of Yorkshire Council

This building will house a lot of innovation and a forward-looking view of the UK industry

“Some of them will know loads about rail but perhaps won’t know how to interface with the very techy things Siemens have. “Some will be organisations that are supplying other sectors but don’t know how to do that in rail, so we can act as that bridge and if we can’t do it, we certainly have friends who can do it, so we act as that conduit to do that. We want to bring companies together in this building as that cluster.”

“The aim of RaisE is really to try to get the supply chain around Siemens, get it match fit for Siemens, but not just for Siemens, for the area and for the overall capability.” Professor Roberts describes it as a facility for companies to come and get business support and sit in an environment where people are talking rail. University representatives will also be based there to help with that, do some of the engagement, and offer a soft approach as to how it can encourage the SMEs to engage with the wider sector. “What we know is that all SMEs have slightly different needs,” he said.

Phase two The collaboration between Siemens Mobility and the University of Birmingham is being carried out in phase two of the project – the creation of the Research and Innovation Centre of Excellence – which will be co-located alongside phase one, acting as the next step in railway research and innovation. The aim is to enable innovators and the research community to collaborate and develop new solutions that are verified and proven away from the operational railway at the centre developed between the University of Birmingham and Siemens Mobility. railbusinessdaily.com

Innovation

Building a ‘Rail Village’ In conjunction with the £200 million Siemens Mobility manufacturing facility under construction, this partnership between industry academia and the public sector aims to create a ‘Rail Village’ concept that will attract further added value activity from the wider supply chain.

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Image: East Riding of Yorkshire Council

Sambit said: “We want to create a space for people to think and make mistakes because if you don’t make mistakes you don’t innovate. What we encourage at Siemens is not to put pressure on succeeding first time, but to keep trying as it could be the third or fourth attempt that ends up being a game changer. “If you are in fear of making mistakes you will never innovate anything, anywhere in the world, and that’s Siemens’ philosophy and that is what we want to bring to Goole. “We really want some of the innovation that we will carry out at Siemens to come out of this building, this is like global-leading innovation in terms of whether we do battery technology, hydrogen technology, digitalisation, artificial intelligence or robotics. We want to make the whole value chain much more cost effective, better, and then we can showcase to the UK and further afield.” Professor Roberts, who is professor of railway systems and the head of the school of engineering, said: “Phase two is a real step change and that’s about enabling Siemens to be developing its research and development on site rather than manufacturing what they would normally manufacture. “That’s looking at how we turn the factory

into a sort of living lab so that the research we do can almost be in the lab in the morning and tested at night, we can tweak it, change it, take it back to lab and do that hand-in-hand partnership between us and Siemens. There is a real need to do that both on the assembly side, but also on the through life costs of railways and maintenance.

July 2022 | 13

Image: East Riding of Yorkshire Council

Innovation

This is going to be game changing for Goole but beyond that as well Although the RaisE building is open for business, the Research and Innovation Centre of Excellence is awaiting funding, which Professor Roberts is confident will come. Should things go to plan, the new building could be operating by the end of 2025. “This facility would obviously have importance in terms of just how we can accelerate innovation, something we’ve got much better at, but can still improve,” he said.

Sambit Banerjee, Andrew Percy MP, leader of East Riding of Yorkshire Council Councillor Jonathan Owen, and Professor Clive Roberts

14 | July 2022

Image: East Riding of Yorkshire Council

“The other point here is to focus particularly on certain research around automation, on extending that digital footprint of that supply chain work.” The vision is to also do a lot around education and skills in the RaisE building and the Research and Innovation Centre of Excellence. On the education side the aim is to create a problemsolving environment while the training is around ensuring job-ready competency. Professor Roberts said: “We’re interested in both; one side from the university and the other side from the National College of Advanced Transport and Infrastructure in Birmingham and Doncaster, where they are specifically set to deliver that more vocational education. “The beauty is that we can switch between those. People can come in on a more conventional academy A-level type route, then switch over so they can pick up the vocational skills, we don’t have set pathways.”

“We don’t really have a background or legacy of doing that acceleration of innovation; the railway has always been good at thinking of ideas, but we really need to put that stuff into action. “What we have been showing with our UK Rail Research and Innovation Network model is we can do that lab to product in 18 months in a much more accelerated timescale. “This new facility will give us much more capability to do that, but it will also have a huge impact on the region as these are high-end research jobs. This is going to be game changing for Goole but beyond that as well.” Connections worldwide Sambit concluded: “Goole is already on the global map, but it will get more visibility and more attention from engineering colleagues in Germany. “We are going to double up our strategy around components, logistics, warehousing in and around this place, so we need a lot of people to come and work with us. “In terms of phase two we are waiting with bated breath for the funding to come through and then the work will start. We have committed to our relationship with the University of Birmingham and that will be an innovation hub. “This is going to be an amazing place, with the RaisE facility just the start. I was joking saying we will need hotels here, big hotels, because there will be big delegations of people coming from all over the world to visit Goole. Already this is proving a great example of collaboration and how we can make a success out of it.” railbusinessdaily.com

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GBR HQ

GBR HQ shortlist announced Six towns and cities remain in the competition to host the headquarters of Great British Railways

ransport Secretary Grant Shapps has announced that Birmingham, Crewe, Derby, Doncaster, Newcastleupon-Tyne and York will compete for the honour of being crowned the home of Britain’s railways following a competition that drew applications from 42 towns and cities. The creation of Great British Railways (GBR) was announced as a major pillar of the WilliamsShapps Plan for Rail. GBR will aim to be a single guiding mind that ends the fragmentation of the rail industry and drives benefits and improvements across the network for passengers and freight customers. Back in February, the Department for Transport (DfT) confirmed that the new GBR HQ would be based outside of London and asked interested communities to put their names forward for selection. The public vote, which will play a crucial role in determining the chosen location, was officially opened this month. Members of the public can choose the town or city they think makes the best case for this prestigious honour online, with the final decision made by the Transport Secretary later this year. He said: “Our world-leading railways have served this country well for 200 years and this is a huge step in the reforms, which will shape our network for the next 200. “Great British Railways will create a truly sustainable, modern and fair railway network for passengers and freight customers. “I’m calling on people across the country to play a key part in this once-in-a-generation reform and vote for the new home of our railways.” Reaching targets Applications were measured against six key criteria: Alignment to levelling up objectives; Connected and easy to get to; Opportunities for GBR; Railway heritage and links to the network; Value for money; Public support.

16 | July 2022

1. Birmingham

2. Crewe

3. Derby 6 4 2

4. Doncaster

3 1

5. Newcastle-upon-Tyne

6. York

Great British Railways will create a truly sustainable, modern and fair railway network for passengers and freight customers

Leader of the GBR transition team Andrew Haines said: “A big congratulations to Birmingham, Crewe, Derby, Doncaster, Newcastle and York for reaching the final stage in the government’s competition to find the national HQ for Great British Railways. “Since the competition was launched it has been great to see the interest from towns and cities across Britain who believe GBR’s home should be with them. I am really looking forward to the next step and seeing which town or city has the honour of being the home for GBR. Good luck to the final six.” railbusinessdaily.com

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Innovation

A real game changer for the industry Debra Williams and Simon Jones discuss the next steps for the Global Centre of Rail Excellence

s a 200-year-old industry and one that is critical to meeting UK growth and decarbonisation commitments, we are seeing major investment in key infrastructure projects like Crossrail 2, HS2, South Wales Metro and the upgrade to the Transpennine Route, yet there is no fit-forpurpose dynamic test loop facility in the UK. In fact, there is no purpose-built high tonnage infrastructure test facility outside of the USA. That is soon to change with the Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE), a major infrastructure project that will provide stateof-the-art rolling stock testing, infrastructure testing and storage and maintenance for the UK and international rail industry. Importantly, it will put Wales and the UK at the very heart of 21st century sustainable transport innovation. Former managing director of Confused.com and Tesco Bank, Dr Debra Williams is the chair of GCRE. She is responsible for leading the growing team of highly experienced rail and infrastructure directors that now includes: F ormer Welsh Government economic infrastructure director Simon Jones as chief executive; F ormer Arriva Wales and Transport for Wales Rail Services finance director Samantha Hawkins as chief financial officer; hief technology officer Professor Andy C Doherty, who was previously at Network Rail;

Debra Williams and Simon Jones

eltic Energy’s Rob Thompson as director of C implementation; F ormer managing director of Unipart Rail for the UK and Europe Kelly Warburton and Lee Paxton of CrossCountry trains are the latest to join the team as chief commercial officer and rail operations director respectively. Debra said: “There is a clear strategic need for a major railway testing facility in the United Kingdom so our plans represent a real game changer for the industry. We’ll be delivering a modern and comprehensive rail testing and innovation facility; providing the capacity and capabilities for rigorous testing of rolling stock, infrastructure, and integrated systems from prototype to implementation.

“The UK does not possess anything approaching such a high-quality facility as that planned at GCRE. Both public and private sector organisations frequently use test facilities in Europe and the USA, supporting jobs and building competing expertise in other countries. With projects such as HS2, Crossrail2, Northern Powerhouse Rail and the transformation of the Cardiff Valley lines by Transport for Wales, together with the soon to be time-expired status of the majority of the UK’s signalling infrastructure (in itself an estimated £35 billion renewals programme from 2025), the need for safe and efficient testing to drive performance and costefficiency has never been greater. TRANSFORMING

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Innovation

“Led by Simon Jones as chief executive, we’re building the team that will deliver the premier rail research, testing and validation centre in Europe, providing complete and world-leading services for the whole rail industry. We’ll offer leading edge, end-to-end facilities to accelerate innovation in the rail sector, including highspeed train and infrastructure test circuits, associated technologies and communications.” A ‘one-stop shop’ Simon said: “GCRE will become the ‘one-stop shop’ for railway innovation, from research and development, through testing and verification, to applied innovation on mainline passenger and freight railways. “The facility will include two test loops, one being a 6.9km electrified high speed rolling stock track with a maximum speed of 177km/h, and the other a 4km 65km/h test track. Other facilities will include a dual-platform test environment, rolling stock storage and maintenance facilities, operations and control offices, staff accommodation, shunting staff facilities and connections to the nearby main line. “There will also be state-of-the-art IP secure testing environments; equipment, systems and communications development facilities. Education, training, visitor and conference facilities are all envisaged in the wider site. “As a team, we’re really excited to have the opportunity to lead the development of a UK digital railway industry by providing high quality and safe testing facilities for digital signalling, train control and asset management technologies. “Importantly, we will also deliver hightonnage endurance testing of railway infrastructure, particularly track and structures. Such a facility will enable infrastructure to be rapidly tested and verified and will be unique in Europe, potentially attracting customers from around the world.”

www.rmf.co.uk

The GCRE team – left to right (back) is Geraint Davies (vice Chair), Lee Paxton, Simon Jones, Rob Thompson then Debra Williams (Chair), Samantha Hawkins and Kelly Warburton (front)

There is a clear strategic need for a major railway testing facility in the United Kingdom As a £200 million infrastructure project, GCRE will transform the site of the former Nant Helen Opencast Mine and Onllwyn Washery at the head of the Dulais and Tawe Valleys in South Wales. It’s a site with a strong industrial heritage that is now being developed as a catalyst for the creation of a rail technology hub. Debra said: “The regeneration of the site gives us the opportunity to build on a legacy that can be continued by the local workforce. The benefits to the community are significant with a likely boost to GVA (Gross Value Added) of up to £90 million plus the creation of jobs. “We’ll be working with the industry and local education partners to support skills

development through high-quality employment with fair, secure and sustainable jobs. This will have a significant socio-economic impact locally and help to support economic growth – a key objective for our stakeholders in the Welsh and UK Governments and the local authorities of Powys and Neath and Port Talbot.” A win-win situation Debra added: “That’s also what is driving me personally – the chance to be part of a project that will showcase my hometown on a national and global scale with the potential to support wider investment and boost the economic regeneration of the area. It’s a win-win for local people and the global rail industry.” GCRE was established by the Welsh Government as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in 2021 with an initial commitment of £50 million. The UK Government is expected to confirm a further £10 million for research and development along with capital funding of £20 million. An investment prospectus to attract private funding for the project is also in development ready for launch in the autumn of 2022.

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July 2022 | 19

People

Delivering train presentation in style Richard Holt, Northern’s new head of train presentation, talks about the challenges of maintaining the highest standards to instil passenger confidence

Team working Richard is overseeing a team of more than 500 train presentation officers based at 44 locations across the train operating company’s network who prepare the fleet of 363 trains for service and keep them ‘spick and span’ during the day. “It is a little daunting when you stop and think about the amount of trains, but I’m supported by a really great team which is like a big community that work all manner of shifts to ensure the highest standards of cleanliness on board our trains,” said Richard. “The teams work on the trains through the day collecting litter and giving them a basic clean to keep them fresh, then overnight the majority of work takes place with the deep cleans. “First and foremost I need to ensure the people are in place to deliver the work, but as well as that there are a lot of touchpoints with the Department for Transport and also internal functions, such as service quality and our 20 | July 2022

engineering centres, to make sure that any faults our train presentation people pick up are fixed.” Richard was previously Northern’s performance implementation manager before his promotion, and has previously held senior roles with Hatmill, a logistics specialist; JD Williams, a clothing and footwear retailer; and Royal Mail. “I’m excited to be taking over as head of train presentation, an area that has been at the forefront through COVID and plays such an important role in giving customers the confidence to travel,” he said.

“It is very different to my previous role in many aspects, but it is also intrinsically linked to the world of performance. The performance role was about making sure the trains were running on time and weren’t cancelled, now it is about the train being what our customers expect and being presented for service on time. “What customers are telling us is that they want to feel safe and secure on trains and an important part of that is ensuring that trains feel clean, presentable, toilets are working, and that customers can look out of clean windows.”

Image: Jonny Walton

ever has the presentation of trains come under the microscope as much as in the past few years, with staff working tirelessly to ensure a safe and welcoming environment during the COVID pandemic. From managers and supervisors, through to facilitators, shift leaders and operatives, it has been a team effort by train operating companies in the UK working around the clock, seven days a week. At Northern, carriages have been cleaned roughly three times a day during the pandemic, equating to more than one million carriage cleans every year. For Richard Holt, the train operating company’s new head of train presentation, the standards have been set and taking over the role this month, his priority is to ensure the highest standards of cleanliness on board Northern trains. “The perception of the importance of train presentation has massively changed during the COVID pandemic and the teams at Northern were there throughout sanitising trains, which helped make people feel safe on trains,” he said. “The presence on the trains was phenomenal and they felt spotless. We’ve got to strive to maintain that, while addressing the environmental challenges with managing waste and looking to technology to make the trains and the service even better.”

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New horizons After several years spending a lot of time working away as a consultant in logistics for Hatmill, including six months in Romania (working at a site where 30 Class 56 were built in 1976), Richard fancied a change and with his past experience in the rail industry, the opportunity at Northern was too good to miss. “I’d done the best part of 20 years in warehouse and logistics and I wanted to do something in which I was grounded, part of a team, and part of something that felt truly intrinsically like a family,” he said. railbusinessdaily.com

We need to make sure we make the train presentation role attractive, getting the right people in who will stay “Two and a half weeks after I joined Northern COVID hit, so I spent the first six months working from home, but I’m really happy with what I’m doing. Northern is a great company to work for with some super people and it is amazing to be given this opportunity. “It has been fascinating to come into the industry and bring some of the learnings from my previous role. I did my Six Sigma Black Belt (agents of change within an organisation who lead project teams) so I have brought some of that

thinking into rail and that will continue into the role of train presentation. I’ve come in and will look at challenging some of the traditional approaches.” Among Richard’s passions are the environment, looking at ways the customers’ waste can be recycled, and also how innovation and technology can play a part to further improve the passenger experience. “We do a lot with social media and wouldn’t it be great if customers Tweeted about a problem, such as the toilets not to their expectations on the journey, and we had someone at the inbound station where the train is due to terminate with the necessary equipment to resolve that,” he said. “That would be really sharp and on the ball. It is that kind of snappiness that our customers expect so if they do send a message it isn’t ignored and it’s acted on promptly. “But overall I’m really excited what the future holds. After the train presentation team played such a vital role in maintaining services that were safe for workers to use, my job is to maintain those high standards to instil passenger confidence.”

Image: Jonny Walton

A challenge Richard anticipates in his new role is recruitment and retention – an issue faced by a lot of industries, but particularly in the railways. “It’s no secret that since Brexit the labour market has shrunk, certainly in my previous world of warehouse and logistics they were really feeling the pinch from the reduced labour pool,” he said. “We need to make sure we make the train presentation role attractive, getting the right people in who will stay and then talk to friends and family about how great the role is. It is more than just cleaning; they are key to making sure people choose and enjoy travelling on trains. “Train presentation can also be a great first step for people who want to get on at Northern and potentially move into conductor or TrainCare Centre roles. You are also joining the railway family.” The move to rail for Richard in February 2020 wasn’t as strange as you might think with his background in logistics. In fact, he describes it as almost going full circle to what was pending 30 years ago when he was 20. His dissertation for a logistics degree at Loughborough University was all about travel patterns and about choice of travel, and he even took a year out with British Rail working with Regional Railways North East. But graduation schemes didn’t fall into place for him in the railways, so instead he joined Royal Mail. “It was fascinating to do my dissertation on why people choose train versus car versus bus and it is still incredibly relevant. I think if I dusted off that piece of work a lot of the findings would still stand,” said Richard. “One of the key findings of that work was that train was seen as leisure or sometimes a treat, while the car was seen as a safer choice as you can control that whereas you can’t control whether or not a train will turn up. “We need to make train a choice that people can have confidence in and if trains are presentable, clean, feel safe and secure, then people are more likely to pick rail travel.”

Image: Jonny Walton

People

July 2022 | 21

HS2

HS2 hits funding milestone The high-speed rail project has provided more than £12 million in funding to community groups and organisations impacted by its construction

ore than 200 projects have been funded by HS2 through its Community and Environment Fund (CEF) and Business and Local Economy Fund (BLEF). Funding in excess of £12 million has been provided to community groups and organisations impacted by the construction of HS2 since 2017. To date, 205 organisations have received an average grant of £58,000 to fund projects that leave a lasting positive legacy for the local community, including new skills training programmes, community facility refurbishments, and establishing new natural environments. Working together HS2 Minister Andrew Stephenson said: “At its core, HS2 is about bringing communities together across the UK and projects such as CEF and BLEF are absolutely vital to achieving this. “Hitting 200 projects is an extraordinary milestone and testament to the work being done to ensure communities living alongside HS2’s line-of-route have access to worthwhile investments for local projects that will leave a lasting positive legacy.” Some of the key flagship projects of the scheme have already been completed and are currently in use. To celebrate the funding, HS2 Ltd visited the Paccar Scouts site in Buckinghamshire to see funding schemes in action. 22 | July 2022

Originally awarded funding in September 2020, the campsite is situated on the ridge between Chalfont St Peter and the River Colne, close to the entrance of HS2’s longest tunnel, which is currently under construction by HS2’s main works contractor Align JV. Greater opportunities The Paccar Scouts group has used the funds to build a new state-of-the-art climbing facility that will serve 60,000 young people from across Buckinghamshire and West London each year. The eight-metre tall climbing tower was designed and hand-carved by Bendcrete, a family-run company from Manchester. Bendcrete is also creating an underground adventure caving facility for young people to discover the joys of potholing and caving. Julie King, HS2 Ltd’s community engagement director, said: “The new Paccar Scouts climbing facilities are an excellent example of how communities impacted by HS2 construction can also receive important investment as a result of HS2. “The 200-plus projects already in receipt of funding are just the beginning of our efforts to ensure HS2 leaves a positive legacy for line-ofroute communities.” In Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, 63 projects have already successfully received more

than £3.6 million of CEF and BLEF funding since applications opened in 2017. Previously funded projects included organisations offering employability and tourism support, sports facilities for young people, health and wellbeing activities, heritage facilities and wildlife regeneration projects. Giving back to communities Cathy Elliott, independent chair of the HS2 Funds, said: “I am delighted that we have reached the milestone of our 200th awarded project since launching in 2017. We have aimed over the past five years to give back to communities and invest in the widest variety of small to large-scale projects which support local communities now and in the future. “It is always a pleasure to see worthwhile local causes receive awards from HS2’s CEF and BLEF programmes, especially the variety of community facilities we have supported, including the positive work of the Paccar Scouts group.” HS2’s community and business funds are administered by independent community charity Groundwork. CEF and BLEF funding is available to community groups and organisations for public benefit and business partnerships impacted by the construction of the London to Birmingham and Birmingham to Crewe phases of the HS2 construction project. railbusinessdaily.com

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People

Thousands of TfL workers trained to provide a safe platform for customers Gus Draper, London Underground’s safeguarding manager, discusses the life-saving suicide prevention training and heroic efforts of workers

STEPS model Gus added: “It is an amazing compact training course, taking you through signs and symptoms to look out for, the techniques to have that conversation and the operational process to ensure we keep that person safe and ourselves safe.” “It follows a model we call STEPS, which is a mnemonic for how we approach someone we think could be struggling. “S stands for Spot, T to Talk, E to Encourage away from danger, P to Pass on the information and S to get the person to Safety.” Now, 6,000 workers from all areas of Transport for London (TfL) have completed the voluntary training course, including 91 per cent of frontline staff. Such has been its success that staff interventions have doubled between 2017 and 2021 (230 in 2017 to 463 in 2021) and the number of suicides on the London Underground network are down by nearly half in five years. “The biggest thing for me, apart from the number of interventions, has been the cultural change around the topic,” said Gus. “Even the way we talk about mental health now is far more empathetic, far more humanity based, and the narrative is one about kindness. 24 | July 2022

Image: TfL

hey are numbers that will shock everyone, even London Underground’s safeguarding manager. L ondon Underground staff have saved 2,300 lives since they started measuring interventions back in 2018. “It is a staggering number,” said Gus Draper. “There were more than 500 interventions in the last financial year, which is an average of 1.5 per day. The success is largely down to the training as our workers want to help and now know what to look out for, and are much more confident in approaching people who are struggling.” The training London Underground’s safeguarding manager is referring to is its Suicide Prevention Programme. It is a two-hour course, which can now be completed online, created with Gateway Training and Consultancy and delivered by mental health practitioners.

I was at a station last month where we met a worker who saved two different lives in the same shift “Rather than being an operational incident it is more people-focused. The training course has been great in bringing that to life for people. It is also giving people the confidence to feel that they can play a part to help someone vulnerable.

“The success is down to our workers wanting to help. This training course isn’t compulsory, so it is amazing that 91 per cent of our frontline staff have done the training. I never thought we’d get that high; the target was 50 per cent.” “There has been a lot of hard work that’s gone on in the past four years and although we’ve always done stuff around suicides on the London Underground, we’ve never had such a focus on it as we do now.” Badge of honour It’s important to Gus to celebrate those who do save a life. Anyone carrying out an intervention receives a TfL roundel pin badge, which is in the shape of a heart with a heart rate monitor going through it with ‘lifesaver’ written on it. They also receive a hand-signed letter from the chief operating officer in recognition of their efforts. railbusinessdaily.com

People

Saving lives Gus added: “I was at a station last month where we met a worker who saved two different lives in the same shift. In an eight-hour period he intervened not once but twice. He had done the training the week before. “Although the training is designed around station staff and a station environment, we’ve encouraged anybody in the business to attend because we are all on platforms and station environments at some point or another. People from head office and cleaning staff have attended and we’ve had members from the London Fire Brigade and British Transport Police on the course.

Image: TfL

“We are keen to celebrate successes when someone helps to save a life, rather than focus on when we sadly haven’t been able to,” he said. They are also keen to share those stories about people who have put the training into action. In one example, there was a worker who did the training at 9am to 11am, went back to work and saved someone’s life at 12pm. “An hour after the training course he put what he had just learnt into practice,” he said. “We like to make a big point telling stories like that to encourage others.”

“Quite a few of our staff who don’t work in stations have put the training course into practice and helped save a life.” Despite the success, Gus is well aware that one suicide on the London Underground is one too many, so along with the rest of team he is looking at other initiatives that can be used to keep everybody safe.

“The prevention initiatives are always evolving and I’m attending regional, national and even international suicide prevention forums where we hear about new ideas,” he said. “We’re always looking to try new initiatives and we recently launched vulnerable customer grab bags, which are available at all stations on the network.

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July 2022 | 25

People

We’re looking to see if we can apply the suicide prevention model to other forms of vulnerability “I hope this continues with more awareness and more education on suicide prevention but also the wider safeguarding issues too.

“We’ve also got a safeguarding intervention scheme, recognising early intervention for anyone in distress. This will hopefully prevent further crisis intervention at a later date. “We can and are playing a part in mental health awareness with loads of posters in our stations that we helped facilitate. We are pushing the mental health agenda as much as we can as we have billions of people going through our stations every year. “We’ve got a wonderful opportunity to help share that positive, proactive messaging which I hope is helping. I love that my job gets to do that and gets to help push that message of being an organisation that cares about its customers.”

Image: TfL

Helping more people The work is also going beyond the suicide prevention initiatives, which has been recognised in the team’s name changing from suicide prevention team to the safeguarding team. “We’re looking to see if we can apply the suicide prevention model to other forms of vulnerability, such as homelessness, unwanted sexual behaviour and children travelling on the network. “There are new training courses being rolled out, including one supporting people at risk and one on unwanted sexual behaviour. We’re trying to share best practice that we’ve achieved so far and seeing how it can benefit other areas.” Gus joined TfL as a graduate management trainee in September 2015, going on to be an advisor to the London Underground managing director’s office, area manager, and latterly safeguarding manager, which he started in April last year. “I’ve absolutely loved it at TfL and I’m really proud of what the team has achieved, particularly in the last year,” he said. “The statistics are good, but what is particularly pleasing is the culture change. People are talking about it more, asking for advice and spreading more awareness about suicide prevention.

Image: TfL

“They are like mental health first aid kits so if somebody is suspected to be struggling, we’ve got resources to give them – leaflets, flyers, stress balls, all that kind of stuff. “We’re also exploring what role technological advances can play. There’s nothing set in stone, but we’re looking at what can be done with things such as CCTV cameras to build on our suicide prevention work.”

26 | July 2022

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Infrastructure

Making stations destinations

Jason Hurst, partner in Grant Thornton UK LLP’s public services advisory team, considers what could be done to make stations real destinations contributing to local economies

ith more than 2,500 stations serving passengers across the UK, there is a real mixture, from major stations run by Network Rail to those of more varying sizes run by the train operators. Each is important – whether from the significant footfall created by passengers or from providing vital links to local communities. But the value they can offer is generally underestimated and they are often simply seen as an access point to the rail network. Under the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail, it is envisaged that station management will fall under Great British Railways (GBR), with a focus that combines the stations and also the land and assets. The plan recognises that, through improving stations, opportunities exist to better unlock housing and local economic growth with a greater emphasis on capturing value, and also creating place and social value. Catalyst for regeneration Good rail links and stations can provide a catalyst for regeneration and development. You don’t have to look far to see what successful station development can do for a local area. For example, the development of Kings Cross station has changed the area around it significantly for the better, creating a hub of economic activity, and the development of Wolverhampton station is a critical part of a wider redevelopment programme for the city. These development models have been most successful when the public sector has been able to work in partnership with the private, to embed delivery models and funding solutions that seek to share risk and create value. This cross-sector view has enabled innovative approaches to stations both in terms of usage (as a community site and/or interchange) and as a development opportunity leveraging the value of the land and air space. This innovative thinking is an integral part of the approach of the new High Speed 2 station developments, such as Euston. For these models to succeed, both short and long-term objectives need to be considered, to both incentivise the delivery partners in the ‘here and now’ and also enable the public sector to obtain value in the longer term. This can be achieved through mechanisms such as land value capture and delivering value to the public sector where it has underwritten demand or market risk in the early stages of the investment phase. 28 | July 2022

Enabling development on and around stations can enhance the locations they serve and help integrate them into the very fabric of society. But these solutions can take years to truly settle, especially in areas outside of major conurbations such as London or Manchester. Reflecting local needs An increasing shift to digital ticketing, and the need for convenience, provides an opportunity to look at the use of station buildings and the land around them.

Good rail links and stations can provide a catalyst for regeneration and development However, for stations to add value to the local economy and benefit those close to them, GBR will need to understand the nuances of the local geography, the demographic it serves, and the choices people make.

There are many sources of data that exist that can help to inform any decisions being made, but these are disparate. Harnessing and understanding local knowledge and insight, for example: typical commuting times, local amenities (or lack of them) and the demographic served, will be critical to ensuring the right decisions are being made to enhance stations as a ‘place’. It will also help to support decisions around inward investment, create a bespoke suite of indicators to support the creation of investment plans, and provide a robust evidence base to underpin local authority economic development strategies. By better understanding the potential use case and value each station can bring to the community, it will be easier to capture value from the railway and surrounding areas, and likely help to encourage private sector investment. Ultimately, this will help make stations destinations in their own right. Grant Thornton’s public services advisory team has significant experience in providing support to local decision makers with geographic/demographic insight through its Place Analytics platform, which brings large quantities of relevant data together in one place, along with expertise in land value capture and innovative asset solutions. railbusinessdaily.com

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Stations

Extension of London Overground A new station at the heart of Barking Riverside has opened this month arking Riverside Extension is opening this month, marking the first extension of the London Overground since 2015. The 4.5km stretch of railway connects the new development of Barking Riverside to Barking town centre in seven minutes. The new station at Barking Riverside is fully step-free, bringing the total across the London Overground network to more than 60 stations. Seb Dance, deputy mayor for Transport for London (TfL), said: “Hot on the heels of the opening of the Elizabeth line, this is more excellent news for east London. “This new station will help to pave the way for up to 10,000 new homes in Barking Riverside, thousands of which will be genuinely affordable and will ensure residents have the high-quality transport links they need. I am particularly pleased that this station is fully step-free and is opening much earlier than planned. “Despite the lack of long-term funding from government for TfL, the mayor is still absolutely focused on building a better London – and this development is a key part of that.”

Hot on the heels of the opening of the Elizabeth line, this is more excellent news for east London “Residents will be able to benefit from a modern and spacious new station, which will be well connected with other local transport links including local buses and River Bus services.” TfL has been able to open Barking Riverside station ahead of the previously scheduled autumn completion date as a result of good progress in driver training, support from Network Rail and in applying the finishing touches to the station.

Image: TfL

Greater connectivity The route will operate with four trains per hour, providing Barking Riverside with connections to the District and Hammersmith & City lines into central London and C2C trains at Barking. Stuart Harvey, chief capital officer at TfL, said: “The opening of Barking Riverside station, months earlier than anticipated, is another boost for the capital, following the successful reopening of Bank station and launch of the transformational Elizabeth line. “This extension will effectively deliver on two key priorities as London recovers from the pandemic of providing accessible, sustainable travel to much needed housing for Londoners.

Image: TfL

30 | July 2022

Like all railways, the Overground relies on planned closures to carry out crucial maintenance. Network Rail, which is responsible infrastructure maintenance on the Gospel Oak to Barking Riverside route, is carrying out essential engineering work on a section of track that requires the whole line to be closed on Saturday 23 July and Sunday 24 July. Matthew Carpen, managing director of Barking Riverside Limited, said: “The early launch of this Overground service is due to the brilliant partnership we have had with TfL and the contractor Morgan Sindall Infrastructure VolkerFitzpatrick. “We worked through COVID and so the opening is the signal to help reconnect residents and visitors of this area to London. Following the successful launch of the new River Bus service, this vital piece of infrastructure will be a major component in the range of transport options for commuters and leisure visitors alike, making Barking Riverside an exciting destination for Londoners, as well as a well-connected home for our community.” A UK-wide project Delivered by Morgan Sindall Infrastructure and VolkerFitzpatrick (MSVF) joint venture on behalf of TfL, the project’s supply chain partners have supported 39 apprenticeships and businesses of all sizes with skills and job creation seen across the whole country. This includes steelwork from Scotland and the east of England, precast concrete from the north west and Northern Ireland, and innovative slab track from the East Midlands, and trains built in Derby. railbusinessdaily.com

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People

A mental health champion for the railway industry TransPennine Express’s Victoria Snell has been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. She shares her story with Rail Director

he 18th of December 2017 is a date etched in Victoria Snell’s memory, even tattooed on her arm should she ever forget it. TransPennine Express’s (TPE) customer relations manager says it was the day she took back control of her life; the day she had her leg amputated. For six years she battled a broken leg which wouldn’t heal despite several different surgeries. It was after the fifth unsuccessful attempt that she made the decision to have her leg amputated, which had a significant impact on her own mental health. Throughout the struggles she has spoken openly about her disability and her experience living with continued phantom pain from her amputated leg, post-traumatic 32 | July 2022

The amputation was on 18 December 2017, and I reflect on it as a great day as it feels like the moment I took control back stress disorder, depression and anxiety. Victoria’s bravery has led to her being described as an inspiration to her colleagues at

TPE so much so that she’s recently been awarded a prestigious British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to mental health and wellbeing. “It’s really humbling to be recognised and I’m still shocked because for me I’m just doing what I think is the right thing to do – be honest and open and talk about things particularly when you’re struggling – which is hopefully encouraging others to do the same,” she said. “I’ve always had anxieties and issues like that growing up, but started being more open about it when I began having issues with my leg and particularly since I had my leg amputated. The latter was a very polarising moment in my life because everything changed, nothing was ever going to be the same again. railbusinessdaily.com

People

“I started being a little kinder to myself. I started to see that I walk with a prosthetic leg and that changes how I live in the world and my mental health also changes how I live in the world, and one is no less important than the other.”

“The date I broke my leg, 19 August, is tough for me as that was when everything changed. It still haunts me that the last thing I did before my life changed forever was go to the cinema to see Glee: The Concert Movie.

Life-changing moment For Victoria everything changed 11 years ago when she was walking down a street and her leg broke. It turned out she had problems in her leg that she didn’t know about, which for the first 20 years in her life had caused her no issues. Throughout her 20s she had several surgeries, trying everything from bone grafts to wearing a Taylor spatial frame for 18 months to try to save her leg, but nothing helped it heal. “The last surgery involved replacing metal plates in my leg and I decided that if that didn’t work then I was done and I’d have my leg amputated,” she said. “It’s a decision I don’t regret as I tried everything and although life isn’t easy now, it is easier than it was when I had my real leg. “The amputation was on 18 December 2017, and I reflect on it as a great day as it feels like the moment I took control back, so I don’t have anything but positive associations with that date.

It is part of human nature to try to protect each other and the best way you can do that is by being honest “Having the prosthetic leg has improved my life and made it easier, but it was still a difficult decision and one that I still find myself processing to this day.” Victoria is very open about what she has been through and passionate about breaking down boundaries when it comes to amputation and mental health awareness, taking time out to participate in numerous panels, talks, presentation and interviews to share her own advice and experience.

Her openness and caring nature is also driven by the loss of a friend who took his own life several months before Victoria’s amputation. “We had no idea he was struggling; he was the life of the party, always laughing and joking, and it left me questioning how I didn’t know he was struggling,” she said. “I decided at that moment that I never wanted to not know how someone I cared about was feeling. That and the amputation really highlighted the importance for me that we needed to be more honest with each other. Reaching out Victoria added: “It is part of human nature to try to protect each other and the best way you can do that is by being honest. Life is hard for everyone and once you start to recognise that and if you feel a little less alone, you can help other people feel a little less alone.” It is an ethos that Victoria has taken with her while working at TPE in a role which sees her work with the contact centre and deal with high-level complaints. She first joined the rail industry nine years ago in the contact centre on what was initially an eight-week temporary job and has worked her way up to customer relations manager.

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People

“I am more honest about how I’m feeling and will talk openly about the fact that I take medication for my mental health,” she said. “You wouldn’t shy away from taking a painkiller for a headache so why should you shy away from taking medication for your mental health if it helps you? “Now I’m up to point where I won’t shut up about my mental health. I’m always asking people how they are and tell people how I’m feeling. “It needs to become a natural part of the conversation and not just ‘how are you?’ ‘I’m fine’ without really thinking about it. “There have been lots of improvements. In the past people feared that admitting they suffered from depression would ruin their careers. Mental health affects everything from your productivity to your entire life. “I do think it is an issue, particularly in the railways where it is heavily weighted in the effect on your mental health because of issues like working hours, fatalities and trespasses; things that we see across the industry on a daily basis. “We see the impact of mental health and what that will drive people to do if they don’t see a way out of it or get the support they need.” Take 10 Together In 2019 Victoria, who is a mental health first aider, helped lead an internal TPE campaign called Take 10 Together, which encouraged staff whether frontline or office-based to start a 10-minute conversation about mental health with a colleague, friend, or family member. It came after it was revealed that 57 per cent of UK employees say they have experienced mental health issues at work but less than half of that group felt confident to open up about it. “Talking to someone is the simplest thing in the world and a conversation is the first step, saying how you feel,” she said. “There’s lot of stuff going on at TPE with Take 10 Together bringing that conversation to the forefront over a drink. “If I ask someone how they are doing and they say fine, I ask them again. Particularly now after the pandemic, in which some people spent a lot of time isolated, it is vital that we talk. Who knows what the long-term effect on our mental health will be? “A few of us are also mental health first aiders all over the TPE network, from head office, training centres and depots. We are very clear that we’re not trained professionals, but we have been given training to have those conversations and point people in the right direction.” 34 | July 2022

Mental health affects everything from your productivity to your entire life Victoria’s recognition comes shortly after her colleague Rich Holliday also received an BEM at the start of this year for services to mental health. The learning and development manager regularly gives up his time to provide life-saving support for Samaritans, and has been a strong advocate in raising awareness about suicide prevention on the railway.

He also helps lead TPE’s annual apprenticeship programme, where individuals are given the opportunity to take part in the Duke of Edinburgh scheme, and during the COVID-19 pandemic introduced ‘Zoom elevenses’ calls that anyone could dial into. ‘An inspiration for many’ Commenting on Victoria’s recognition, Matthew Golton, managing director at TransPennine Express, said: “I am so pleased to see our inspirational TPE colleague Victoria recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. “Mental health is incredibly important, and Victoria has worked tirelessly to raise awareness in this area, all while living with her own mental health challenges and continuing rehabilitation following her surgery. “Her honesty and openness in this area has helped others and she is an inspiration for many.” railbusinessdaily.com

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Innovation

Making rail travel more attractive is vital for a green recovery

here is a long and proud history in UK railways. From the age of steam through to the opening of the new Crossrail, Elizabeth line, railways are an integral part of our culture and our transport infrastructure. Although there was a period of time where the railways were considered to be in decline, and indeed privatisation was originally designed to manage that decline, thankfully it has become clear that the railways are a vital part of our lowcarbon transport future. Behaviour change However, maximising the potential of the railways to meet net zero targets requires more ambition and vision than our railways have had for many decades. Transport remains the single biggest source of UK CO2 emissions, accounting for roughly a third of our greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, road transport poses a significant challenge as it produces 67 per cent of the sector’s total emissions. If transport emissions are left unchecked, the UK will not meet its net zero target by 2050. Indeed, the independent Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has said that delivering net zero emissions across the UK by 2050 will require reducing surface transport emissions to near zero . Yet despite rising costs and the UK’s 2021 Transport Decarbonisation Plan, which states that it places a “heavy emphasis on modal shift”, we are all far too dependent on our vehicles for so much of what we consider essential.

36 | July 2022

Maximising the potential of the railways to meet net zero targets requires more ambition and vision than our railways have had for many decades While rail is regarded by many experts as a solution to the UK’s modal shift conundrum,

creating behaviour change is vital if we are to achieve modal shift on the scale needed. As a recent report on modal shift notes, all too often, these alternative low or zero carbon proposals are perceived by consumers as being less convenient, inflexible, and offering less personal space when compared to private transport choices such as cars. Also added into the mix is the social status symbol cars play in Western culture and society. Zero carbon targets However, it does not need to be that way, especially if the zero carbon option is objectively more attractive.

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Innovation

Independent research shows us time and again that the only way to achieve a sustainable modal shift to rail is if it is seen to be the most attractive form of transport – thereby empowering people to make a positive choice. Investing in the passenger experience helps to transform rail from being perceived as a ‘derived demand’ and into a pleasurable experience in its own right. Specialist telecoms company evo-rail, part of FirstGroup, has launched its most recent report, rail-5G and Sustainable Transport. Opinion research by Ipsos suggests that one of the easiest ways the rail sector can encourage a modal shift is by improving internet connectivity on trains. Data in our report shows that a clear majority (64 per cent) of young people in the UK, aged between 16-35, would be more likely to consider taking the train than other, more carbonintensive, mode of transports (such as by plane or car) if there was fast, reliable on-board Wi-Fi provided by the train company. If policymakers want to place rail at the heart of the country’s long-term sustainable transport plans, then an emphasis needs to be placed on delivering an improved experience for passengers.

Making rail a stress-free, relaxing and attractive part of the commuting or leisure experience is vital. Digital connectivity – whether to make video calls from the train as they would in the office, finish work online, order refreshments to your seat, distract the children with online games or stream your favourite box set – plays a vital role in selecting rail travel over other, less sustainable options. Being connected is a key element in helping to deliver the modal shift that is at the heart of the UK’s sustainable transport plans.

Benefits of rail travel It is timely Great British Railways will set the ambition and direction of UK railways to deliver against these environmental challenges. If we want to achieve a net zero future, the UK must invest in our railways so that train travel Mattei provides technically advanced Rotary Vane Compressor solu becomes the mode of choice. That investment must not just focus on onboard and infrastructure applications, precisely matching the nee in the UK and throughout the Global rail market. incremental improvements, which are unlikely to see the scale of modal shift required, but By offering reliable, efficient and durable products, Mattei is helping seek to make the passenger experience one future success of the Rail industry, together with making an importa which can rival the convenience and flexibility in providing lower cost of ownership, utilising well proven and establ of road travel.

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Safety

Rail freight working together to improve safety and performance David Ethell from the National Freight Safety Group explains more about a collaboration to tackle delays and safety risks for the country’s freight sector

here are thousands of rail freight wagons in the UK and hundreds of freight train services delivering vital goods throughout the UK and beyond daily, with the vast majority arriving safely and without issue. However, when things do go wrong, the impact can be devastating. The derailment of a freight train in Llangennech in 2020 saw 350,000 litres of diesel spill and caused a fire which could be seen from miles around. The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) found it occurred because one set of wheels on the third wagon in the train stopped rotating after the wheelset had become locked, probably because of a defect in the braking system. It is these kinds of incidents and a genuine passion among the industry to do even better that is driving forward the Condition of Freight Vehicles on the Network (CFVN) programme. “The FOCs have been working with industry colleagues to continually reduce risks associated with rail freight on the network for some time. Incidents such as Llangennech are very rare but remind us that there is still work to be done,” said David Ethell, independent project manager for the National Freight Safety Group (NFSG), which is overseeing the CFVN programme. Working together Network Rail has joined with key industry partners to launch the initiative, which will aim to address the safety risks and lead to continued

38 | July 2022

high level service delivery performance in a first for rail freight in Britain, funded by its £20 million Freight Safety Improvement Portfolio (FSIP). It has led to processes being developed for train preparation, wagon maintenance and the important role human factors play in performing safety-critical tasks to reduce risk and improve performance across the network.

David said: “It is only when you take a step back and look at the detail of the UK rail freight industry that its colossal size and complexity can be fully appreciated. “There are 15,000 vehicles, eight freight companies, wagon owners and leasers and then you have the stakeholders either side of that with between 600 to 800 freight trains running every day – 200,000 a year.

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Safety

“Our failure rate is pretty damn good, but as an industry we are always striving for better to reduce the risk of any failures, so that is why we are collaborating and looking closely at improvements that we can make.” Data analysis by Network Rail, freight operators and the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) has shown that most delays on the freight network are due to wagon defects. This includes various brake faults, wheel faults, decoupling and door faults. If undetected, these defects have the potential to cause safety risks and delays to all traffic. From planes to trains David, who was an engineer in the Royal Air Force for 26 years before joining rail freight more than 12 years ago, said: “This is a sectorwide project looking at learning and sharing good practice from across all the freight operating companies in Britain to build a better understanding of the factors impacting this risk. “We are very good at what we do and doing it safely, this project is about building a culture of continuous improvement. The aim is to find where improvements can be made so we can introduce one common industry standard for the safe preparation of freight trains and vehicles. “The maintenance of freight wagons to prescribed standards and the safe preparation of trains by qualified and competent staff are fundamental requirements of operating a safe freight railway.” David, who first joined the NFSG while head of safety operations for DB Cargo UK, says key to the programme’s success is organisations and their individuals sharing professional knowledge to understand the challenges faced by the teams. “A lot of people wouldn’t find it very comfortable for someone to come in and say ‘we’re going to look at how you do your job’, but in the past few years there has been a cultural change.

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It is only when you take a step back and look at the detail of the UK rail freight industry that its colossal size and complexity can be fully appreciated “Organisations are becoming more mature to addressing freight safety and risk by working collaboratively through NFSG in their discussions and the sharing of safety information and good practice,” he said. “This isn’t about criticising, this is about promoting and developing the industry. The message I want to get across is that we do care and recognise the key roles our colleagues have in the safe operation and delivery of freight trains.

“We are looking to standardise the training to support them better to do the work, looking at the facilities the kit, the tools, the mindset and the wellbeing.” Key safety factors Despite more than a dozen years working in rail freight, David says the work on the CFVN has been a real eye opener, particularly the amount of work carried out by those on the ground, with some workers walking more than 50 miles a week while working. The stats were found while looking into rail freight incidents to look for any recurring themes to investigate further. It has led to the identification of three key pillars: train preparation and loading, wagon condition and human factors. “We do have good systems in place, but this is about lifting it higher to the next bar now and levelling up everybody to work together and be honest from a safety point of view so that we can improve,” David said.

July 2022 | 39

Safety

“I’m not coming to this from a commercial background, but from engineering and safety systems. I think there’s a realisation looking at models from other sectors such as nuclear, construction and aviation where collaboration improves safety. “It is about those central people who are on the frontline such as those who prepare freight trains and maintain the wagons. There is a long way to go, but there is some good collaboration from a lot of different organisations that puts us in a good safety starting position. “The amount of tonnage rail freight is delivering across the UK is phenomenal, with different freight companies and end users seeing the potential of the industry and coming onboard. “In terms of the NFSG, we are engaging with the wagon owners more frequently, including the leasers and the builders, which is giving us the full picture with that type of collaboration. It has been a journey these last three or four years, but we are hearing more from the people on the ground and the industry is being more open in sharing good practice.” Risk reduction initiatives The CFVN programme was launched at DB Cargo’s Margam freight yard in May – one of the company’s busiest sites where on average around 40 freight trains arrive and depart the yard each day. David said: “There are two key strategic areas – firstly to identify and quantify the risk of emerging trends of those 15,000 vehicles on the network and introduce initial risk reduction initiatives on areas where we might be seeing certain failures occurring, but then to put some long-term mitigation plans together.

40 | July 2022

“The second is to standardise and embed those long-term mitigations into the companies’ SMS systems, that is where you’ve really got to get into the detail and standardise those systems and processes that formulate our SMS and then the integration with Network Rail on the network to keep freight moving safely.”

It is such an exciting future for rail freight and I hope the message is getting out there to younger people to aspire to work in the industry CFVN is the one of several initiatives as part of Network Rail’s FSIP. In May, it was announced that 30,000 radio frequency identification (RFID) tags were being fitted to both sides of freight locomotives and wagons.

When the tagged train passes a reader on the side of the track – at one of 27 sites – information regarding each wheelset is captured and sent to engineers via cloud-based technology to see if any maintenance work is needed. Looking ahead David added: “It is such an exciting future for rail freight and I hope the message is getting out there to younger people to aspire to work in the industry. From an engineering and operational point of view, it is a fascinating time with all the technological changes that are coming in with the systems and wagons, the train control and management systems on the backdrop as well as the operational side of things. “I’m pleased to be a part of it and although challenging, it is very rewarding, and I hope the work we do as part of CFVN will provide a platform for rail freight to continue to shine. This project will probably change in its structure going forwards, but we will continue to work with stakeholders and the specialists in the industry to improve our processes together.”

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Just the Ticket

Ensuring our networks are safe, secure and open to all Daisy Chapman-Chamberlain, rail knowledge transfer manager at Innovate UK KTN, is back with her latest column. This month she looks at women’s safety on the railways

he issue of women’s safety when using rail is an ongoing, urgent challenge for the United Kingdom (and beyond). British Transport Police (BTP) statistics (Nov 2021) show that reports of sexual harassment and sexual offences on public transport have increased by 63 per cent compared with prepandemic figures (the BTP ascribe this to more confident increased reporting and awareness). UN Women UK found that 97 per cent of women in the UK aged 18 to 24 have been sexually harassed, with a further 96 per cent not reporting harassment because of the belief that it ‘would not change anything’. YouGov (2020) reported that 55 per cent of female Londoners have been sexually harassed on public transport in London. Beyond the UK, sexual harassment and violence on transport is a major issue. In France, for example, more women than men feel unsafe while using public transport. According to the 2017 survey ‘Victimisation and feeling of insecurity in Île-de-France’ by the Institute of Planning and Development of the Île-de-France Region, “transit and train stations account for 39 per cent of sexual assaults against women. The fear of being assaulted or robbed goes as far as restraining oneself from using public transport.” The scale of the problem There are three key potential impacts on rail that are most central if women choose to use rail less; firstly, more women using alternative methods of transport (particularly cars) reduces the likelihood of meeting the UK’s net zero by 2050 target and impacts future potential modal shift growth. Secondly, fewer women using the network reducing revenue at a time (following the pandemic) where revenue and customer recovery is key; and thirdly the impact on the economy of fewer women potentially travelling for work, leisure and beyond. Another impact of women feeling unsafe on rail environments is the potential this may have on the future workforce – research by City & Guilds and the National Skills Academy for Rail (NSAR) (2020) predicted future skill shortages, with up to 120,000 additional people required in the rail sector by 2030, meaning workers of all genders 42 | July 2022

and identities will be needed, and also within this, the need for better diverse representation in rail to ensure that services accurately reflect the needs of the people they serve. Of course, the ultimate and most significant impact is on the safety and confidence of women and girls.

The safety of women and girls on our networks is vital in ensuring equal and fair access Access to public transport is a basic human right and essential for social, work, health, and education reasons; the safety of women and girls on our networks is vital in ensuring equal and fair access.

There are multiple intervention areas that can be looked at to make rail safer – in the built environment, good lighting is a key need. A study from Monash University (Melbourne, Australia) found that women feel most safe in places with consistent and layered lighting, and ARUP found that the colour of the lighting is significant, with young women viewing places with warmer colour temperatures as safer. Staff presence An open layout of stations (for example, transparent shelters) and the presence of staff are also among most important factors in reducing sexual harassment. Staff presence in particular significantly increases feelings of safety for women (Ouali et al, 2020). Staffing on trains and in stations is one of the best crime deterrents; the report by the Sunday Times (June 2022) that plans had been drawn up to close or ‘repurpose’ 980 ticket offices is part of a worrying trend of cost-cutting suggestions to remove staff from stations and trains, without consideration to the impact of this on the safety of women, and indeed on those disabled people and older people who require assistance. railbusinessdaily.com

Just the Ticket

On rolling stock, inclusion in design ranges from lighting to enabling lines of sight, and from easily visible help points, to toilet access points which are visible from seating to reduce the chance of assault in a cubicle. Other considerations include those from the Campaign for Family Friendly Trains, which campaigns for trains to be more accessible and suitable for families, thereby making travel easier for women with children. This includes reversible pram spaces, family-friendly toilet designs and changing spaces, and step-free access. Better reporting systems, as well as knowledge of how to report/awareness of reporting options, are also crucial. Police reform and law change is a key part of this, as women’s trust in the police is currently low for many, according to the End Violence Against Women Commission, which found that 47 per cent of women (2021) trust the police less since the murder of Sarah Everard. This impacts the ability to collect accurate figures, affecting public trust, and reducing the opportunities to tackle issues of women’s safety. Creating a new mindset Education is essential for travellers on how to report, awareness of crime, self-defence and travel planning skills, but also in education for younger people around misogyny, consent and beyond. Within this, community engagement and outreach are necessary elements of preventing and reducing harassment, including the excellent work undertaken by Community Rail partnerships and groups across the country. Education is crucial across any intervention; without awareness of schemes, understanding of crime, and education for the next generation focused on reducing crime, no scheme can truly be successful. This can include education in the environment, online, via social media and more. In awareness, innovations such as Visible Platform are vital – a platform which invites and gathers all (present or past) reports of harassment on public transport to not only fully understand the scale of the sexual harassment issue, but also to present a national index of harassment on public transport. They then aim to lobby government to introduce measures to deter incidents from happening and raise awareness of this issue. More data is absolutely needed to fully understand the scale of the problem as well as enable change. According to the ‘Women in European transport with a focus on Research and Innovation’ 2019 report, “more data about women-specific travel characteristics and lack of interest in the transport sector is needed. Targeted R&I research should collect data in a comparable manner across the EU and internationally.” railbusinessdaily.com

On reporting, the BTP has recently made an excellent step with the new Railway Guardian app, which helps with reporting crime and provides information on what to do if people see sexual harassment on trains or at stations. It links to their new information campaign #SpeakUpInterrupt, which encourages bystanders to safely step in to check on and assist victims of harassment. Improved technology For interventions in technology, mobile phone coverage and connectivity is vital so the use of reporting apps and text/call lines are central. Better and smarter CCTV can also play a key role in improving safety, as well as help points and again, staff presence. Interventions which border both education and technological solution include Digital Transportation Safety Cards from SINGE Network, which provide clearly illustrated tips and techniques to

empower users with physical safety for the most common situations faced by women in mobility. They can be integrated into existing apps and platforms and send data in real time to staff who can monitor hot spots for user frequency and improve passenger safety through targeted resources. Improving safety There are multiple interventions and innovations, as outlined above, which can begin to improve safety on rail for women and girls. Crucially, we need a cohesive and concentrated industry focus across rail on this, as well as funding and staffing, in order to ensure our networks are safe, secure and open to all. et in touch with Daisy ChapmanG Chamberlain, rail lead at Innovate UK KTN, to discuss.

Daisy Chapman-Chamberlain is the rail knowledge transfer manager at Innovate UK KTN, connecting ideas, people and communities to respond to challenges and drive positive change through innovation. Find out more at https://ktn-uk.org. You can contact Daisy at daisy.chamberlain@ktn-uk.org Innovate UK is the UK’s innovation agency, a non-departmental government body with a mission to drive sustainable economic growth through business-led innovation, by investing in innovation and giving innovative businesses access to support. Find out more at www.gov.uk by searching for Innovate UK. If you have a great idea to help the railway industry, please keep an eye on opportunities from Innovate UK.

July 2022 | 43

Infrastructure

Transpennine Route Upgrade achieves its ‘biggest milestone’ Network Rail has been given the go-ahead to transform train journeys in West Yorkshire as part of the TRU

From left: Hannah Lomas Principal Programme Sponsor and Neil Holm, Transpennine Route Upgrade Director at Huddersfield Station

multi-billion-pound rail upgrade in West Yorkshire has now been given the green light, bringing a faster, greener, better-connected railway one step closer for passengers in the North of England. It’s the biggest milestone the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) has ever achieved. Network Rail has got the go-ahead to completely transform train journeys between Huddersfield and Westtown (Dewsbury) as part of the TRU. The scheme will see twice as many tracks installed, major renovations at Huddersfield, Deighton, Mirfield and Ravensthorpe stations, and the track layout reimagined. As well as supporting rapid economic growth in the North of England, these major improvements will ultimately deliver more frequent, faster trains along a cleaner, greener, more reliable railway between York and Manchester. The Transport and Works Act Order (required for any project that involves building new sections of railway outside of the existing boundaries) has been approved by the 44 | July 2022

Secretary of State for Transport in June – six months earlier than planned, kickstarting progress on the ambitious plans and designs. It is one of the biggest applications ever made by Network Rail.

The upgrade will not only improve connectivity for the communities that we serve, but also boost the economies of the towns and cities along the Transpennine route Neil Holm, TRU director for Network Rail, said: “This is a massive success for the Transpennine Route Upgrade. It brings us another step closer to delivering faster, more frequent trains, and a greener, more reliable railway for passengers.

“Work on this part of the route is essential for unlocking wider benefits for passengers travelling between York and Manchester via Leeds and Huddersfield. It’ll allow us to run more trains along the route, giving passengers a much better chance of finding a seat and enjoying their journey. “I’d like to thank everybody who has shown support and provided feedback on our plans throughout the planning process. Now we have this approval, we can progress our ambitious plans and designs and continue to work with communities on what’s to come.” The changes include: ouble the number of tracks (from two to D four), making way for more frequent, faster trains; U pgraded stations at Huddersfield, Deighton, Mirfield and a new station at Ravensthorpe, providing an easier to use, more accessible railway for all; A flyover near Ravensthorpe, which will separate the lines running to/from Wakefield with those to/from Leeds to help reduce congestion. railbusinessdaily.com

Infrastructure

Transport Minister Andrew Stephenson said: “Last year we committed a recordbreaking £96 billion to transform the railway, bringing communities together and boosting local economies in the North and Midlands through Northern Powerhouse Rail and the TRU. “We will continue to deliver on our promise of more frequent, faster and greener travel for passengers.” Supercharged connectivity The approval was granted following three years of planning and public consultation, considering the views of residents, rail users and other stakeholders. A public inquiry was held in November and December 2021. Chris Nutton, major projects director for TransPennine Express, said: “This announcement is a massive step forward towards delivering a railway fit for the 21st century across the North of England, which will provide real benefits for people who use our services and travel between some of our country’s biggest cities. “The upgrade will not only improve

connectivity for the communities that we serve, but also boost the economies of the towns and cities along the Transpennine route, providing greener, faster and more reliable services across the Pennines.” Tony Baxter, regional director (East) at Northern Trains, said: “This is a significant milestone and a huge vote of confidence for the ambitious plans which will benefit Northern customers, not just along the

Transpennine route, but across the entire Northern network. “This work is the key to unlocking the huge potential for our trains and stations to better serve our communities. With faster, more frequent trains and more accessible, easier to use facilities at stations, our customers will benefit from supercharged connectivity between towns and cities across the Pennines and beyond.”

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July 2022 | 45

Ukraine

Network Rail staff come to the aid of rail colleagues in Ukraine Allan Spence shares details of the journey which saw them travel 2,000km in three days to deliver a convoy of vehicles with vital equipment

etwork Rail staff have rallied to support rail colleagues in Ukraine by delivering a convoy of vehicles loaded with equipment needed to help keep the country’s railway operational during the Russian invasion. Ever since Russia’s occupation began on 24 February, Ukraine has relied on its railway to move people away from heavy fighting, to transport humanitarian aid across the country, and take refugees to safety. Focus on the Ukrainian railway is further increasing as a possible means of exporting grain that can’t now be shipped through Black Sea ports. Those left behind have come to rely on the railway to continue their daily life as best they can, however the Russians have continually attacked the railway, causing widespread damage. Ukrainian Railways (UZ) requested help from the international railway community via the International Union of Railways (UIC) citing the need for equipment and spares to help keep the railway running. Working with its supply chain, Network Rail answered the call and donated four vehicles carrying items including generators, drills, jacks and cutting equipment. They were delivered by five Network Rail staff on 16 May who had travelled through six countries and covered 1,242 miles (2,000km) in three days. Polish Railways (PKP) managed the final part of the journey, which took the equipment into Ukraine. Request for help Allan Spence, Network Rail director of regulator liaison, told Rail Director that the equipment donated had been requested by UZ. “We didn’t hesitate when the request for help came through. We often talk about the railway family here in Britain, but the family has international connections too. Anyone who has watched the news over the last few months has been moved by what they’ve seen and that spurred us into action.” He required five drivers in case of mishap, who took breaks every two hours on the long journey to manage fatigue. They took turns as navigator to ensure they reached the correct destination and stayed together as a convoy. 46 | July 2022

Allan Spence (left) with the team

Network Rail received plenty of help including complimentary travel through the Channel Tunnel, radios loaned by High Motive and help getting back from PKP. The donated equipment included kit from Network Rail contractors.

Anyone who has watched the news over the last few months has been moved by what they’ve seen and that spurred us into action Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps said it was inspiring that Network Rail had used its knowledge and expertise to keep the Ukrainian railways moving.

“Our fantastic transport network continues to demonstrate huge amounts of support and generosity to those fleeting Putin’s brutal invasion,” he added. Surplus stock “Some tools came from Network Rail regional depots while other parts were donated by people in the supply chain. This is not solely Network Rail,” Allan explained. Allan also emphasised that the donation of this equipment didn’t deprive maintenance teams in Britain: “It was very much stuff recognised as surplus for us or which came in from the contractor base.” The vehicles were taken to a depot near the Polish-Ukrainian border. He said: “I took the decision that I couldn’t ask Network Rail employees to go into a war zone. “There have been people killed in cruise missile strikes over on the western boundary of Ukraine. railbusinessdaily.com

Ukraine

“The Ukrainians have a very good relationship with Polish Railways and there is an aid operation running within Poland to get stuff flowing across the border, so we agreed to take the vehicles close to the border and from there the Ukrainians would take them across into their country.” Equipment handover The destination in Poland changed while the convoy was driving across Europe, but that was for convenience for the Ukrainians and Polish teams rather than Network Rail. Allan explained: “At one stage we were destined to be about five miles from the border, but it was a little bit further away when we eventually got to their preferred drop point.” Allan handed over the equipment and vehicles to the PKP side of the operation. He was in regular contact with the Ukrainian coordinating aid delivery into the war-torn country but they never met. The vehicles and equipment donated were towards the end of their life, with the road vehicles being retrieved from an auction yard before being dispatched to Ukraine. They had been written down as life-expired vehicles, but nevertheless they were hand-picked by the team and serviced before being loaded to capacity with equipment. How did Allan end up leading this project? He explained that Peter Gibbons, Network Rail’s Chief security officer, was the main lead for planning the mission and they worked closely together in the technical authority. “I was very willing to go and drive, and so I coordinated the drivers,” he said. “Four came from the technical authority and one came from another part of the business. It was literally just asking for volunteers of which I happen to be one of the first to step forward. “The driving team had a really diverse background: safety, an engineer, security and

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Convoy departing Romford, Essex

industrial relations. But it was a much larger team across that Network Rail that helped get everything together.” The right documents The Department for Transport (DfT) was also instrumental and incredibly helpful. “There were some really positive things such as DfT’s help with all the customs documentation that really smoothed our path,” he added. “One of my biggest hurdles was making sure we could get into the EU when we arrived in France. The worst thing would have been to find we didn’t have the right customs documents and having to abort the job, but the DfT help eliminated that risk. “As a public body, Network Rail needed all the right permissions for allocating the cost of the operation in government accounts. In railway terms it wasn’t a huge sum, about £35,000.” The government policy about overseas aid meant the mission needed clearance by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Allan told Rail Director that as soon as permission was received from the Foreign Office on the Wednesday, the team assembled and left from Romford for Poland first thing on the Friday. “We’ve learned a lot about the steps we need in place and how best to make a mission successful,” he said. “Network Rail is already looking to see what else can be done. “We’re not setting a number but Ukraine still needs help and if there’s things that we can do that fall within our ability and financial permissions, we will.” When undertaking repairs, the Ukrainians have the option of cannibalising parts of damaged equipment as would happen normally. However, Allan says there may be capability in the UK that can further help them during the conflict, or afterwards during the recovery immediately after the war. “We are looking at heavier kit options,” he said. Allan adds that the gesture may be small, but it was what the Ukrainians asked for. “They have expressed gratitude and have been putting the vehicles to good use,” he said.

July 2022 | 47

Infrastructure

Creating the next generation railway Network Rail’s Toufic Machnouk on the government go-ahead for a £1 billion digital signalling investment on one of the UK’s busiest rail routes

pivotal moment for a ground-breaking programme that will transform the capability and resilience of the East Coast main line (ECML) and be a key enabler for the wider network. That is how Toufic Machnouk, Network Rail’s director, industry partnership for digital railway, described the government announcement of more than £1 billion in digital signalling investment on the ECML. The funding will be used to replace outdated technology on our Victorian infrastructure with cutting edge digital signalling technology across the entire southern section of the line – from London’s King’s Cross to Stoke Tunnels, just south of Grantham. “We’ve built this plan with the industry bottom up - operators, suppliers and Network Rail - for several years now so I’m delighted to have got the government’s approval for our full business case and now I see this year as the year we ramp up delivery,” said Toufic, who is leading the industry partnership for a digital railway. “It has been really challenging to figure out how best to do digital signalling, or European Train Control System (ETCS), given it touches so much of how we operate the railway and requires many of the organisations on the railway to integrate together in a way that they haven’t before. But the opportunities of it are profound and they allow us to fundamentally improve the capability of the railway for a better cost, investing in skills and offering a better railway for passengers and freight users that is fit for the 21st century.” A busy route One third of the nation’s population live within 20 minutes of a station on the ECML and, together, produce more than 40 per cent of the UK’s GDP, making it one of the busiest rail routes, while also playing a vital role in the prosperity of the nation’s economy. The aim of the project is to deliver safer, more reliable and more resilient services on the ECML with the new technology leading to fewer delays, while at the same creating around 5,000 jobs. Over its lifetime, the ETCS will be 42 per cent cheaper than the current system. It will also help the government towards its net zero goal by decreasing carbon emissions by 55,000 tonnes – the equivalent of more than 65,000 one-way flights from London to New York. 48 | July 2022

The funding announced last month is relevant to ECML (South) area, approximately 100 miles of railway of mixed traffic, which corresponds to tens of operating organisations including every freight operator, on track machinery, heritage and passenger operators.

We’ve built this plan with the industry bottom up - operators, suppliers and Network Rail – for several years now “What underpins the difference that unlocks all this potential is the fact that we have a system today, the classical conventional system, which has evolved really from the inception of the railway and not fundamentally changed in terms of how it works,” Toufic said.

“It’s evolved from mechanical, electromechanical to electronic, but it relies on the driver looking out the window and being protected by the train detection that short circuits or detects the train and reverts the signal behind that to red and therefore a sequence of yellows and greens or yellows and double yellows and greens. “That underpins the whole system. Now the natural reality of that is it’s intermittent, it’s fixed into the infrastructure, the signal may turn up every mile or so, it has limited information, the driver has to look out of the window and to sight a signal in variable conditions.” Outdated technology Toufic added: “When you are building modern conventional signalling, a big challenge of taking systems designed for the 1970s and 1980s and bringing them into the 21st century to make them as safe as possible is that positioning signals for optimum sighting is challenging and all the limitations that come fixed into the infrastructure for the worst-case scenarios, in some cases creating a more constrained railway than it was. railbusinessdaily.com

Infrastructure

Strategic view Having the new in-cab technology will create a more responsive, more resilient railway and, for passengers, one that can recover quicker should journeys not go to plan. The system will also constantly monitor the train’s speed. Toufic, who has been at Network Rail for nearly 16 years and been in his current role since June last year, said: “Having ETCS on the East Coast does a lot for that railway, but it is fundamentally part of a strategic view for the network because it unlocks many other parts of the network and enables investment in other areas.

Image: Network Rail

“In-cab signalling moves the communication into the cab and it is designed around the train and the train’s capabilities and you give the driver the view in the cab with continuous communication, continuous speech supervision and roughly 32km planning area that is no longer affected by climatic conditions.” The funding will be used to remove outdated lineside signalling (1,600 signalling equivalent units) that will be replaced with ETCS, which brings signalling into train drivers’ cabs and provides them with real-time, continuous information throughout their journey.

“It is a really important network catalyst. Something like 70 per cent of the investment is non-exclusive to the geography, meaning you are fitting trains, you’re training drivers, you’re building capability with the industry and knowledge and that goes beyond that geography.

“It is also a catalyst in that it is demonstrating how to do something like this of this scale and complexity. “It is the first time that we have had to solve that challenge and take that on and there is a lot more to go through and learn and develop in the coming years as we do that.

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July 2022 | 49

Infrastructure

“The third dimension is that in trying to solve the challenge of how you deploy digital signalling at this scale we have had to tackle how the industry works together and in tackling that to build a credible plan and model. It has become a role model and is building an experience of how the industry would work better together under Great British Railways (GBR). “It is bringing the industry and suppliers together in a unique way. We have created a usercentric business change focused programme, new commercial models and an industry partnership approach. Those three areas are central parts of what the announcement is about. “We have brought the supplier in much deeper and much earlier than before building the plan, leading on the technical requirements, leading on the integration and there to deliver the solution with the operating environment, not as is done traditionally with some in-house design to build whatever we think is best without their input. “This has had an incredible effect on the programme’s ability to work at speed to come up with the best solution in the operating community to work through trade-offs and to build reliable plans by suppliers that we understand much better. It will help us to continue to navigate the complexity and evolve the programme as it is delivered.” Intensive testing In May, this year, an important milestone in the programme was marked when the testing of the new digital signalling on the Northern City line commenced, with the running of the first Great Northern train between Finsbury Park and Moorgate under the new system The testing was carried out with a Great Northern Class 717 train as part of an ongoing intensive period of testing to ensure that the train fleet, already fitted with the necessary technology, works well with the new digital signalling infrastructure. Toufic said: “Over the last few months a number of our key deliveries have started to come together, most notably the Northern City line which has gone from nothing to commissioning in under two years. “We specifically did not pursue this as an infrastructure scheme as was previously developed and waited until we mobilised the industry partnership to then work with Govia Thameslink Railway, the operator, the Network Rail route and supplier, Siemens, to come up with best plan for delivering that. “That’s been profound to be able to deliver not just the traditional signalling upgrade, which would have been an achievement in under two years with tricky legacy assets, but doing that with a new technical system with track train integration. 50 | July 2022

“Also, the world’s first heritage pathfinder has been exciting and interesting. It’s a technically challenging enterprise to bring digital technology onto legacy and mechanical vehicles, but we’re quite excited about this and have created a special team around that.” Looking to the track ahead and Toufic has outlined the key milestones: S tart migration to ETCS operation on Northern City line in early 2023, with this completed by early 2024. omplete the infrastructure upgrade C for Welwyn to Hitchin in early 2024 with sufficient trains ready to start migration by the end of 2024. S tart migration to ETCS operation over Welwyn to Hitchin in early 2025, with this completed by early 2027. omplete roll out of ETCS railway on ECML C (South) by late 2029. “2025 is a particularly symbolic moment for us in the industry as it will be the bicentenary of the first public railway in 1825 (Stockton and

Darlington Railway) and a moment we will be celebrating,” Toufic said. “We really want this to be a year where we can look at the past and be excited about the pioneers of the past, but also look at where we are today as an industry with GBR coming into place with this migrating a major intercity railway to ETCS in-cab signalling, which is a huge moment for the industry. “I want us to take that as a point of inspiration about what we can be as people of this industry today and pioneers of our generation and in that inspiring hopefully the future generation and the rest of the industry.” The East Coast Digital Programme announcement follows more than £350 million of prior investment to start retrofitment of rail vehicles and to mobilse the industry partnership and business change activities, with more than 80 per cent of passenger rolling stock on the ECML (South) now fitted with ETCS. Network Rail says it will prioritise the request for a further investment of £427 million as part of the next Control Period settlement, bringing the overall investment to just under £2 billion. railbusinessdaily.com

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

Funding options for driving growth and innovation Mike Price, Owner & Managing Director of MPA, explores funding options for transport organisations

timulating economic activity and driving long-term productivity through investment in our transport infrastructure is a core pillar in the UK government’s Plan for Growth. However, it’s also recognised that significant amount of private investment will be needed for the rail sector to deliver its part in that plan. With that in mind, MPA looks at three funding options for transport businesses – whether seeking more government aid or looking at ways to stimulate private financing. Grants Grants are an excellent way of getting funding into your business. However, the grants landscape is complex and ever changing, and they’re notoriously tricky to obtain. The average application success rate is around one in 10. That being said, if you have a ‘gamechanging’ idea at an early stage, they’re still a very viable option and there are multiple types of grants available from different government bodies like Innovate UK. Before embarking on applying for a government grant, you do need to bear in mind that they’re usually match funded, so you’ll need the equivalent amount of your own funds before you can draw down this type of government aid. It’s also important to weigh up the net benefit that receiving a grant will bring before applying; projects that have grant income against them likely won’t qualify for the most generous rate of research and development tax relief (though you may still be able to claim), for example. We’ve seen a simple £5,000 administrative support grant destroy £250,000 of R&D tax relief! Planning here is key.

As EIS/SEIS is designed to reduce reliance on government funding through encouraging private investment, there is also additional relief available should the company fail within three years. An additional 40 per cent or so of the investment amount could be reclaimed through tax relief for higher rate taxpayers in such an instance, meaning the investor would only pay 10 per cent tax all told. To set up a typical EIS/SEIS arrangement, a tax practitioner would be needed to help design a scheme and get HMRC approval, and a lawyer should be bought in to help ensure Articles are compliant and that a shareholder’s agreement is in place.

EIS/SEIS Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) is a way for individuals to obtain shares in a tax efficient way. When investing in an EIS or SEIS (Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme) registered business, an individual will receive 30 per cent of their investment back in the form of tax relief. Significant investment in an EIS-registered business is really only attractive to individuals with a large annual tax bill (in excess of £75,000), while SEIS is a junior scheme for smaller investors.

Angel investment The rate of return a typical angel investor requires will likely make this the most expensive option mentioned here. Angels can often seek a large equity stake that reflects their perceived risk; a paid directorship, which allows them to exert some control; and for their investment given some priority, whether that’s through preference shares, first cut of dividends, or maybe a restriction on founder cash until they’ve been paid.

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They also invest in people and teams first, and products second, so are a good option if you have a stream of products or services in your development pipeline. Although potentially expensive, if you can find the right angel – someone who has passion, knowledge and connections – they can accelerate your business at a much faster rate. There are a number of angel networks across the UK who can help connect you with the right person. The innovation cycle Grants are often most successfully won by ideas at an early stage, while seeking investment through EIS/SEIS and angel investors is usually sought for scaling up, but these are just a few of the funding options out there. Whatever stage you’re at, developing an innovation funding cycle that maximises all the funding options available will naturally push you to the stage of growth, allowing you to evolve as quickly as the rail sector itself. Experts like MPA can help you find the right investment route, at the right time. Get in touch with our transport network specialists to discuss funding your next big idea. Visit mpa.co.uk/ for more details. railbusinessdaily.com

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Big Rail Diversity Challenge

The Big Rail Diversity Challenge 2022: A fun event with a serious message Rail organisations took on a series of physical, mental, and skill-based sessions to put communication and teamwork skills to the test

ompanies representing the UK’s rail industry came together at Newark Showground last month to participate in the seventh annual Big Rail Diversity Challenge. First held in 2016, The Big Rail Diversity Challenge has truly captured the hearts and minds of the industry, demonstrating the passion, support and enthusiasm for the brilliant work that Women in Rail undertakes. Growing by staggering 80 per cent since its launch, The Big Rail Diversity Challenge has become a staple in the industry’s event calendar, with many key industry stakeholders supporting year on year. Getting the message across As one of charity Women in Rail’s annual flagship events, The Big Rail Diversity Challenge is the only team-based rail event showcasing the diversity the UK railway industry is seeking to achieve. The challenges are designed to promote the message that diverse teams work better together, with companies taking part in a series of physical, mental and skill-based sessions, including Catwalk Challenge, The Great Diversity Bake Off, Human Table Football, River Rescue, the Mighty Quiz and Diversity Dance Off. Designed to put communication and teamwork skills to the test, the challenges are developed to ensure that everyone has a role to play.

The event provides a unique opportunity to foster teamwork and collaboration in a fun and interesting way Christine Fernandes, chair of Women in Rail and business development lead for CAF, said: “The Big Rail Diversity Challenge is not just another rail event. It is a fantastic initiative that actively promotes and strengthens the awareness of diversity and inclusion within the rail industry.

“The event provides a unique opportunity to foster teamwork and collaboration in a fun and interesting way, ensuring that our message and aim to promote more equality and diversity across the sector far outlasts the day and continues back into the workplace.” Key support The event is supported by many key industry bodies, organisations and charities. The British Transport Police returned for a third year to deliver the Look Beyond the Obvious challenge – designed to support a cross-industry campaign that encourages officers and rail staff to use their professional curiosity in order to safeguard people they may encounter on the rail network.

All about people

people working in public transport...people like you! Financial and medical benefits, a wide range of complementary and alternative therapies, bereavement grants and welfare advice available in times of need, hardship and distress. less than

20p a day

£1.25 a week covers you, your live-in partner and dependent children. 0300 333 2000 | help@tbf.org.uk | www.tbf.org.uk Transport Benevolent Fund CIO, known as TBF, is a registered charity in England and Wales, 1160901, and Scotland, SC047016.

54 | July 2022

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Big Rail Diversity Challenge

The Railway Benefit Fund had participants supporting one another through the toughest of times, blindfolded and carrying ‘beans’ through an inflatable obstacle course as part of their Bring on the Beans challenge, while the Railway Children charity had teams constructing a one-person shelter using basic materials that could be available to a child living on the streets. After a tiring day of code breaking, Broadway routines, and countless inflatables, awards were presented, with special thanks to the event’s headline sponsor Egis and challenge sponsor BTTC. The Best Team Name Award went to SCS Railways for ‘Euston We Have a Problem’, presented by Mat Baine, managing director of Egis and trustee of the board of Women in Rail. The British Transport Police Look Beyond the Obvious Award, judged and presented by PC Rob Newman, was won by ‘Challenge 2 Change’ from C2C. For creating the best shelter and showing the best team work on the Railway Children Shelter Building Challenge, Katie Mason, event manager for Railway Children, presented the Shelter Building Award to ‘CRSA Crusaders’ from Central Rail Systems Alliance. The Railway Benefit Fund’s Bring on the Beans Award was presented to ‘Alstom Super Stars’ of Alstom. Teamwork The Most Collaborative Teamwork Award was judged on the team performance across two of the event’s favourite challenges – It’s a Knockout and Walk the Plank. The winner was ‘Sells like Team Spirit’ from AEGIS for displaying outstanding teamwork and motivational support. This award was presented by chair of Women in Rail and business development lead for CAF, Christine Nimble ad 185 x 65.qxp_Layout 1 10/06/2022 Fernandes.

Finally, the most coveted trophy of the day, The Team of the Year Award, for achieving the highest overall score with an impressive 246 out of a possible 260, went to ‘Alstom Super Stars’. The 2022 winner’s trophy was presented by Mat Baine, managing director of Egis and trustee of the board of Women in Rail. On the day, there was also a charity tuck shop and a hamper raffle which helped raise more than £700 for the Women in Rail charity. The official images from the event are

available to view on The Big Rail Diversity Challenge website: www.bigraildiversity.co.uk A big thank you to all the teams attending. If your company would like to join The Big Rail Diversity Challenge 2023 please contact Nimble Media to secure your place or visit www.bigraildiversity.co.uk for more details. Add 21 June 2023 to your diary and we hope to see you at #BigRail2023!

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July 2022 | 55

Three Peaks Challenge

Three peaks by rail Paul Bigland joins the team behind the scenes who keep the trekkers well fed in their efforts to climb the highest mountains in England, Scotland and Wales to raise funds for Railway Children

The team in Crewe station

he annual Railway Children’s Three Peaks Challenge by Rail returned to its usual June slot, but despite being post-pandemic, it still wasn’t without its challenges. A pending national rail strike, the train being diverted from its normal route due to engineering work and road closures in Cumbria all affected logistics. Then there’s the weather, which is the least predictable of all. This event’s not called a challenge for nothing – and that’s before teams climb a single mountain. This year the Railway Children ran train number 19, which started from Crewe station on Thursday 9 June using engines and 11 coaches supplied by Locomotives Services Ltd. Platform 12 becomes a hive of activity as the charity’s staff, volunteers and guides from Global Challenge assemble, register, collect their event T-shirts and wait for the train to arrive. This year, 35 teams totaling 132 people took part, representing companies from across the rail industry. When the train arrives volunteers quickly stock the train with the provisions needed for the trip (much of which is donated), and teams dump their kit in their allotted carriages before everyone assembles for a team photograph. 56 | July 2022

This year the train was double headed to Bangor by a pair of Class 47s with the added adornment of two special Three Peaks and Railway Children headboards. The weather gods smiled as we made our way to Chester and along the North Wales coast, allowing glorious views across the Dee estuary en route to Bangor.

This year, 35 teams totaling 132 people took part, representing companies from across the rail industry Meanwhile, the onboard crew led by chef Ian Joesbury were busy in the two buffet cars. They prepared an evening meal of pies donated by Chatwins of Nantwich, which were served with pasta and coleslaw to fuel the teams for their first climb.

Arriving at Bangor at 8.49pm, the crew dished out snacks to participants before they boarded the buses to take them to the foot of Snowdon. The whole operation was completed in six minutes. After that the train departed for Holyhead. On arrival at the Welsh port a complex shunt had to take place to run the locomotives around. The onboard crew kept busy unloading rubbish after cleaning the train. Then it was time to eat before grabbing a couple of hours’ sleep. The first step At 3.50am the train left to return to Bangor where it arrived at 4.18am. Soon after, the first coaches full of weary walkers arrived. Conditions on Snowdon had been dry, but with gusting winds, which made walking difficult. Twenty-two minutes later we were on the move, but two people had picked up injuries and didn’t make it back in time. One of the train team stayed behind to escort them to Ravenglass by service train using ‘emergency’ rail tickets provided by the Rail Delivery Group. railbusinessdaily.com

Three Peaks Challenge

While the teams slept the onboard crew were busy making fresh sandwiches and preparing packed lunches for climbers to take with them onto the mountain. In the tiny kitchens Ian Joesbury and Alison BurtonCampbell (both Three Peaks veterans) made preparations for breakfast. At Preston a nine-minute stopover allowed DHL to deliver hundreds of bacon rolls, which where heated up on board. Food service began shortly afterwards once aisles had been cleared of bodies and belongings. It’s not easy serving food on such a packed train but the onboard team are old hands and soon had everyone fed and watered. The next leg Day two dawned bright along the Cumbrian coast, much to people’s delight as many team members had never experienced the trip before. By 8.46am we arrived at Ravenglass where the crew provisioned the walkers once more before they began their trip on ‘lil ratty’ – the Ravenglass and Eskdale railway (R&ER) – to Dalegarth where the next leg of the challenge began in the form of a five mile, cross-country hike, climbing 999ft up to Eskdale Moor before descending 723ft to Wasdale Head and the starting point of the climb up Scafell Pike. Despite sun at low level the top of Scafell Peak was shrouded in heavy cloud and the wind roared in off the Cumbrian Coast and across Wast Water. Despite this, most teams made it up to the top and back in good order. Due to road closures a fleet of minibuses rather than our usual coaches ferried teams back to Ravenglass where the R&ER laid on baked potatoes and chilli for the evening meal, which was much appreciated after such a strenuous day.

Topping up on supplies at Ravenglass

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On the way to Ravenglass

The weather forecast was for high winds and rain – hardly the conditions you want for climbing the UK’s tallest and least forgiving mountain Afterwards people had a couple of hours to relax in the local pubs or take up the kind offer of Di Chase, a local resident who for many years now has let teams take a shower at her home free of charge. Thankfully (unlike 2021) we had no issues with the train this year. After dropping us off the stock ran to Sellafield before running round the engines to work back to Barrow Carriage sidings, where it was stabled to

allow it to be cleaned and serviced. It returned promptly (this time with the locos top and tail) at 7.38pm to carry us all to the final challenge – Ben Nevis. Yet again we were treated to wonderful weather as we made our way along the Cumbrian coast to Carlisle. After reaching the West Coast main line (WCML) and with the night drawing in, the day’s exertions (and a few drinks) had taken its toll on the teams. The train became very quiet. The word among the crew was Ben Nevis was going to be very challenging. The weather forecast was for high winds and rain – hardly the conditions you want for climbing the UK’s tallest and least forgiving mountain. While we rested, the train ploughed on through the night up the WCML to Glasgow before thundering through the low-level station (which must have startled a few unwary passengers) and on to the West Highland line to Fort William. Unbeknown to us, we made good time. Putting their foot down When the train was woken at the normal ungodly hour, Tim Brawn, one of the rail ops liaison volunteers, informed us we were running 45 minutes early. Normally, this would be a cause for celebration, but one look at the weather outside changed our minds. The forecast had been spot on. After breakfast, when the train pulled into Fort William the wind was howling and the rain beat on the sides of the coaches. Global Challenge had taken stock and decided it was far too dangerous to allow individual teams to climb all of Ben Nevis. Instead, groups of 12 were allocated a guide who would escort them as far as Red Burn, where they turned back. July 2022 | 57

Three Peaks Challenge

It was a real disappointment, but safety is paramount as anyone in the rail industry knows. No one argued with the decision. Sadly, the wind and rain meant there was no way we could set up a finish line to get pictures of the teams. Instead, we loaded everyone back on the bus just as soon as they descended and took them back into Fort William to get out of the rain and into the warmth of the town’s cafés, which were just opening for the day. Our train was stabled in Inverlochy Yard and wouldn’t return to the station until 12pm so the Fort Bill shops, cafes and pubs enjoyed an unexpected boost while we waited. A walk to remember Thankfully, the weather cleared before we walked back to the station and began the celebrations proper. Despite the problems on Nevis the teams had a lot to celebrate. They’d raised more than £175,000 to help the Railway Children in its mission. The onboard crew served up another excellent meal while Stefan Rose from headline sponsor Porterbrook joined us to give out medals to those who’d taken part as well as award trophies such as the one won by top fundraiser GHD, who’d raised a magnificent £8,346! The party mood lasted most of the trip as we were unable to stop at Motherwell to connect with an Avanti service to London because engineering work meant the train was pathed via the Glasgow City Union lines and GSW via Dumfries to Carlisle. The bright side? The on-train bar (ably managed by master of the spreadsheets, Mark Thomas) took a record amount of money!

Volunteers at Carlisle station

They’d raised more than £175,000 to help the Railway Children in its mission There was another, final presentation in the staff coach. RC staff member Lindsay Gardner, who’d worked on all 19 trains, was retiring and this was her final trip. Lindsay was presented with her very own personalised

headboard. One of the remarkable things about the Three Peaks by Rail is the number of people who give up their time to help and return year after. Next year will be the 20th Three Peaks by Rail train and plans are afoot to make it a special event. Some teams have already signed up to return, but there’s always room for new faces. Would you like to be part of the anniversary – and raise much needed funds for the Railway Children? Come and join what promises to be a grand challenge. Contact Three Peaks Challenge by Rail (railwaychildren.org.uk)

Walking to Scafell

58 | July 2022

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Total visibility for a safer railway The trio behind Track Tracker explain more about system they have created and self-funded to make the rail industry a safer place for all to work

nthony James, Clive Edwards and Chris Truelove are all driven to ensure people working on the railways are kept safer. It isn’t an easy task, the sector is one that exposes workers to high voltage electricity, moving plant vehicles, trains, unsociable working hours and adverse weather conditions. Their answer is the Track Tracker system, which has already caught the eye of Network Rail. It has been designed and built by those working on the railway and gives principal contractors and the asset owners total visibility on their work sites. More importantly, it warns workers when they enter areas of danger. Home safe every day It was born out of Anthony’s experience of working trackside, and his frustration at hearing fellow workers injured and sadly even killed. Unable to sit back and do nothing, he began his journey to ensure his colleagues were arriving home safe every day. “We are a group of track workers who have come together to make the railway industry a safer place for all to work in,” said Anthony, the company’s managing director. “It is a solution based on issues the industry is faced with on a regular basis and has been designed and built by the workforce. “We are expected to be on our A game 100 per cent of the time and this is just not possible or realistic due to the pressures of the industry,

The Track Tracker personal device keeping the track workers safe if they leave their safe working or isolation limits

60 | July 2022

long working hours, lengthy travel times to site and fatigue. “The PCs and asset owners need to provide a greater level of duty of care to the workforce and accept that human errors will continue to happen no matter what courses or assessments our workforce have received. “The Track Tracker system is here to give the track worker that tap on the shoulder should they unknowingly make a wrong turn while on site. “We are not trying to replace the current paper-based system of work processes; Track Tracker is an add-on which gives the PC/asset owner total visibility of their sites resulting in greater control and a greater duty of care.” It was while acting as responsible manager that Anthony started to explore what could be done to ensure workers were kept visible and safe. After receiving calls from his Safe Worker Leader (SWL) who was on site in Manchester as to the whereabouts of his staff while he was at home in Liverpool, he thought “if you don’t know Advertorial

if they are still on track how do I? I’m 30 miles away from site”. This led to the creation of Track Tracker, which ensures greater control, zero irregularities, and a greater duty of care to workers, bringing the risk of trackside incidents to staff and equipment to a new level of as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP). “Without Track Tracker it is a case of turn up on site, sign in with your SWL, a detailed briefing and then you leave the compound and go onto the track and you are on your own,” he said. “You need to be very knowledgeable about the part of the network you are on, have a good understanding of your access points, what roads are open and closed, which parts of the isolation are isolated and which are live. “The aim of this system is to give total visibility of your site – where work parties and machines are, have marker boards been placed correctly, is overhead isolation going to plan – all of which provides a greater duty of care to those frontline track workers.” railbusinessdaily.com

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

The software operates on a multi-constellation satellite service that provides pinpoint accuracy on the Track Tracker web-based platform when determining the real time location of your teams, machines, plant, engineering supervisor marker boards and isolation equipment. It was while researching for potential technology and partners that Anthony came across Chris Truelove, who is an expert in tracking technology. Chris said: “I was keen to jump onboard as there is an opportunity to use modern technology rather than writing on whiteboards to not only save people’s lives, but to make the working system a lot easier and efficient. “There are so many avenues to Track Tracker. It protects the workers and also the asset, such as if a trolley has been left on track or if overhead cables have been left isolated. Financially it can save a contractor a lot of money by giving them visibility of all their assets and knowing when it is safe to turn the power on, or if anything has been forgotten knowing exactly where the issue is.” Safety area At the heart of the system is geofencing technology, which uses GPS signals to determine when a worker walks outside safe working limits, at which point they will be sent an alert consisting of a message, vibration, flashing light and warning sound. The system is proving revolutionary for railway possessions and isolations. The nominated person watching Track Tracker can monitor the status of the isolation process, such as to confirm when the earths are in place and when they have been removed at the end of each shift.

The green shaded area is a geofence which encompasses your safe working and isolation limits, if the track leaves their geofence (as in the pic) they will receive an instant automatic alert warning them of them they are standing on an open road or about to come into contact with a live section of OLE.

“I’ve been working in the railway for more than 35 years now and Track Tracker brings something completely new” It then creates an alert on the dashboard warning that a working party is about to leave limits of the isolation and provides an audible warning. It also displays Engineer’s Line References (ELRs) and mileages on the web-based platform, which can 100 per cent confirm the exact position when setting up protection/ marker boards.

The system was put to good use by Buckingham Group Contracting during the Leeds Station Capacity project – a multi-millionpound expansion of the railway station. Zero irregularities Clive Edwards, who has led on Track Tracker’s business management since joining in 2018, said: “Buckingham was the first company to go live with it and for two years on that project there were zero irregularities on their work sites because they had total visibility of where everyone was. “It was a great achievement and for Track Tracker it was successful from an operational point of view and also a good shop window as to what it can do to the railway. “I’ve been working in the railway for more than 35 years now and Track Tracker brings something completely new, providing greater visibility of what is going on and potential issues. It has created another dimension that has never been there before. “There is a really exciting future for the system and one that will keep workers in the rail industry more visible and safer with it.” The Track Tracker team would like to thank the following Network Rail staff for belief in the Track Tracker in its early days: I an Mahoney (TRU principal construction manager) S tephen Thompson (TRU senior construction manager) ndy Martin (TRU senior programme A manager).

The Track Tracker system provides total visibility of your worksite, it shows where work parties and machines are and if marker boards have been placed correctly

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For more information, call 0151 659 1187, visit: track-tracker.co.uk, or email: info@track-tracker.co.uk

July 2022 | 61

Innovation

Assessing one of the first cable-stayed bridges in the world Arcadis technical director David Beever and Yeray Salva Lopez, principal structural engineer, write about their approach to the Lyne Railway bridge assessment work

yne Underbridge is a half through, high skew (62°), two-span (2x54.87m) continuous cable stayed, post-tensioned concrete structure carrying two rail tracks of the Cherstey Loop (VWW line) spanning over the M25 motorway between Chertsey and Virginia Water Stations (Surrey). At time of construction (late 1970s), it was one of the first cable-stayed railway bridges in the world, and the first in west Europe. Structure Configuration The substructures comprise 2No. piers of ellipsed octagon cross section which are accommodated within the motorway central reservation. The abutments are placed as to give the minimum possible skew span length providing the required clearances. The two central columns are supported on separate foundation pads (11mx11mx3m) founded approximately five metres below the motorway level and the abutments similarly founded on slabs, approximately two to three metres higher. The superstructure is supported on pot bearings longitudinally and transversely fixed at the piers, and longitudinally free and transversely fixed (north side only) at the abutments, being the bridge fixed point at the piers skew section and both bridge ends free to move longitudinally. The post-tensioning system running through the edge beams consists of 8No. BBRV L121

62 | July 2022

Yeray Salva Lopez and David Beever

standard cables (119No. 7mm diameter wires each), continuous from end to end and over the pier sections, which were simultaneously stressed from both ends and grouted within corrugated metal ducts. The post-tensioning equivalent forces at the time of stressing were close to the mean dead loading, almost removing the pressure between the formwork and the structure soffit (take-off) prior to the stressing of the cable stays. Each edge beam is additionally posttensioned by 8No. cable stays arranged in pairs, anchored individually so that they can be replaced. Each of the cable stay comprises 79No. individual 7mm diameter. wires contained

within high density polyethylene sheathing. The stressing of the cables was undertaken from the top of the towers, followed by grouting operations from the lower ends. The two reinforced concrete 22m high towers are cantilevered from the edge beams above the piers, and each one supports four pairs of cable stays, anchored at the third span points on the upper surfaces of the edge beams. The lateral stability of the towers is provided exclusively by the flexural stiffness of the slab mobilised by the edge beams’ torsional stiffness. Structure Survey and Inspection The Lyne Bridge is classified as a major structure, and as such it requires a specific management strategy for inspection and maintenance, which shall be reviewed and amended as necessary following an assessment, evaluation or when works are proposed and completed. As part of this asset management strategy, Arcadis was commissioned to develop the structural special investigation scoping and specification, and a subsequent level one assessment which was CATIII checked by an independent organisation. The scoping and specification set out the requirements for the principal and special inspection to determine the existing condition and allow for adequate assessment assumptions and subsequent recommendations. railbusinessdaily.com

Innovation

This covered a full touching distance survey, cover meter, half cell potential, linear polarisation and carbonation depth surveys, chloride determination of concrete samples, concrete compressive strength and Schmidt hammer testing, intrusive post-tensioned tendons inspection, non-intrusive cable stay inspection (magnetic flux testing) and cable stay load determination using frequency analysis, undertaken by specialist contractors. Analysis approach For the assessment, the superstructure was analysed using a combined 3D beam + shell element model to replicate the edge girders, trimmer beams and pylons by means of beam elements, and the in-between slab by means of shells elements. Every pair of cable stays were simplified as a straight equivalent member allowing for axial stiffness only, ignoring the catenary effect. In order to reproduce a realistic behaviour, the boundary conditions described above together with equivalent horizontal springs representing the pier stiffness were defined, and a linear elastic material time dependent analysis performed. An approximate staging was defined to incorporate the time dependent effects and to

Rendered analysis model

determine the proportion of dead load taken by the cable stays due to the internal structural hyperstatism. The post-tensioning tendons were included within the model, and both initial and vv time dependent ww losses accounted (CEP-FIB model) to determine the post-tensioning primary (isostatic) effects and secondary (hyperstatic) effects. Although the proportion of imposed deformations by creep and shrinkage generating secondary effects was not trivial to assess, these were considered due to the high hyperstatic degree of the structure, but accounting for a partial dissipation during the deck construction.

Additional modal analysis to determine the natural frequencies and buckling analysis to derive approximate equivalent buckling lengths for the pylon in both principal directions were also performed. An assessment of this scale presented a number of unusual features that are usually beyond the scope of a level one assessment. However, given its classification as a major structure due to the size, and design and construction complexity, these were included in the analysis as they were relevant for a realistic determination of the global assessment effects.

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July 2022 | 63

International News

iemens Mobility has been commissioned by Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn (NEB) to deliver seven two-car Mireo Plus H trains for the Heidekrautbahn network (RB27) in the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region. Equipped with a fuel cell drive system and a lithium-ion battery, this second-generation hydrogen train provides completely CO₂ emission-free mobility. Michael Peter, CEO Siemens Mobility, said: “Today, traveling by train is by far the most climatefriendly way to travel. We are especially proud that our first order for a fleet of hydrogenpowered trains will also enable emission-free rail transport on non-electrified routes. “Our Mireo Plus H is a next-

Image: Siemens

Siemens Mobility provides first hydrogen-powered trains for Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region S

generation hydrogen train that combines innovation with sustainability. Thanks to its long range, faster acceleration, and state-of-the-art technologies, it will set new standards in zero emission passenger transport.” The Mireo Plus H is a modern, second-generation hydrogen train featuring a hydrogen-powered

traction system with 1.7MW of traction power providing up to 1.1m/s2 acceleration and a top speed of 160km/h. In addition, the train has the lowest lifecycle costs on the market and can be refuelled in just 15 minutes. The Mireo’s energy-saving and environmentally friendly design is based on its self-supporting,

welded and integral lightweight aluminum construction. The train’s improved aerodynamics together with its energy-efficient components and intelligent electrical system management also help reduce emissions and the use of resources. Detlef B rö cke r, C EO Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn (NEB), said: “With Siemens Mobility, Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn has an experienced and reliable partner at its side. The highly innovative hydrogen-powered trains are not only environmentally friendly, but also provide modern equipment and features tailored to the needs of our passengers.” The order placed with Siemens Mobility also includes a 10-year service and spare parts contract (TSSSA) up to 2034.

Etihad Rail and CAF sign deal to supply passenger trains

tihad Rail, the developer and operator of the UAE National Rail Network, and CAF have signed an agreement for the design, manufacture, supply, and maintenance of passenger trains for the UAE National Rail Network. The contract was signed by His Excellency Shadi Malak, CEO of Etihad Rail, and Josu Imaz, CEO

rolling stock of CAF at Sakamkam in Fujairah. Under the terms of the agreement, CAF will manufacture, supply, and provide maintenance for passenger trains as per the European standards. Each train will have a seating capacity of more than 400 passengers, and will run up to 200km/h, which is currently the highest operating speed for

diesel-powered passenger trains. The trains, which will offer a variety of seating segments, will serve as a major addition to the public transport system in the UAE. His Excellency Shadi Malak said: “The agreement comes as part of Etihad Rail’s efforts to develop passenger transport services. It reflects the company’s continuous commitment to

developing the UAE’s national and strategic project according to the highest standards, criteria, and schedules.” The passenger trains will be equipped with the latest cuttingedge technologies that suit the topography and climate of the UAE, which is key for ensuring high performance, efficiency, and reliability. LI M

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International News

HyperloopTT is one step closer to reality itachi Rail and HyperloopTT have achieved an important milestone towards the commercial running of the innovative system – that will be able to run at speeds of up to 1,200km/h – with the completion of proof of concept for a cloudbased ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System) signalling system for HyperloopTT’s capsules. Working from Hitachi Rail’s site in Naples, Italy, the partnership has successfully created a digital simulator that allows for the integrated testing of the traffic management, the signalling and some of the physical safety requirements of the hyperloop system – and is now developing an interface with HTT’s simulators for functional integration.

Image: Hitachi

By replacing the capabilities of complex physical equipment with cloud-based software, the solution offers greater reliability, greater flexibility in deployment, cuts maintenance costs and is more sustainable. The simulator can also help to make HyperloopTT more efficient by automating

repetitive tasks and detecting and managing potential disruptions, instead of reacting to events as they occur. The partnership is based on the system on ERTMS and ETCS L2 (European Train Control System Level 2) signalling technology to simulate the regulation and control

of capsules moving at very high speeds. ERTMS has the benefit of being used and recognised internationally, making it highly interoperable, thereby allowing HyperloopTT systems to operate safely across the world without the need to create new standards. Andres De Leon, CEO of HyperloopTT, said: “Hitachi Rail’s experience in installing, maintaining, and monitoring traffic management systems in the rail industry is second to none. “We’re delighted to have collaborated with them on this cutting-edge simulation of ERTMS and ECTS systems on our hyperloop which takes us one step closer to achieving our goal of creating the world’s fastest, most efficient, and most affordable endto-end transportation solution.”

Go-Ahead reaches new agreement with Norwegian Government he Go-Ahead Group has said that, after months of discussions, a new agreement has been reached between the Norwegian Railway Directorate and Go-Ahead Norway A/S, regarding the structure of its rail contract. The original contract began in December 2019, and the revenue risk associated with changes in passenger demand rested with Go-Ahead. During the COVID-19

Image: GoAhead

pandemic, the rail operator says the Norwegian Government provided

financial support to rail operators, preventing material losses.

Now, a new amended contract takes effect from this month. It will run for the duration of the original contract, until December 2027, with a two-year extension option until December 2029. Christian Schreyer, group chief executive, The Go-Ahead Group, said: “We’re pleased to have reached an agreement with the Norwegian Government which puts our rail contract onto a satisfactory footing.” LI M

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July 2022 | 65

RSN

Rolling stock industry descends on Derby for RSN2022 Rail Director’s managing editor, Nigel Wordsworth, reports from the Rolling Stock Networking exhibition and conference, which took place in Derby earlier this month

ince its launch in 2018, ‘RSN’ has grown to feature more than 145 exhibitors, all from the railway’s rolling stock and depot supply chain, and hundreds of interested delegates descended on the Derby Arena velodrome on a glorious summer’s day. The mayor of Derby opened the exhibition, wishing exhibitors a successful event, and the visitors streamed in. Companies small and large were there, showing off everything from washers to electrical connectors to carpets and flooring to complete train cabs. Indeed, the structure of a cab graced the entrance to Derby Arena, courtesy of Greenbank Group, while Datum Advanced Composites displayed a generic cab moulding, that would normally be fitted to Greenbank’s frame. Most of the parts needed to build a train were on show in Derby. From small fasteners such as NordLock’s washers and Southco’s latches to windscreen wipers (B Hepworth & Co) and even the windscreens themselves (Dellner). Companies looking for a single source for products to enhance their trains were seen speaking with On Train, specialists in the maintenance and installation of DC Airco heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment and Infodev EDI passenger information systems.

66 | July 2022

Intangibles were on ‘display’ too. Several experts were on hand from specialist insurance broker Jobson James, advising existing and potential clients how to make sure they are covered for the particular risks that are inherent in the rail industry. In addition, there were assurance services from RISAS (Rail Industry Supplier Assurance Scheme from RSSB) and Achilles, ways to digitalise documents from Semcon, engineering solutions from Jones Nuttall and recruitment

services from RBD Rail Recruiter. In short, there was something for everyone. i-conference Running alongside the main exhibition, on the balcony overlooking all of the stands, the i-conference attracted a great deal of attention, with delegates often finding there was standing room only if they wanted to hear the industry’s leading experts.

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RSN

The i-conference – organised by Rail Business Daily and named after its theme of ‘Inspiring rail people by inspiring rail people’ – commenced with a presentation by Tony Howard, the Rail Safety and Standards Board’s director of assurance, who explained what RIOSQS (the Railway Industry Supplier Qualification Scheme) and RISAS (Railway Industry Supplier Approval Scheme) are all about and how they can help suppliers to gain business. Paul Harwood, the programme director for industry with the Great British Railways Transition Team, covered an introduction to the GBRTT and its recent activity and how GBR will be a strong commercial partner in the future. He also considered how the rolling stock market could change in the future and the opportunities and challenges those changes could present. A joint presentation on HS2’s new trains followed. Maria Griffin from the Alstom Hitachi joint venture and Bernie Rowell of HS2 explained the scope of the new high-speed line’s rolling stock plans and its overall vision. Siemens Mobility’s head of business development Graeme Clark talked both his career in rail and about Siemens’ plans for the near future, including building London Underground

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trains in Lincolnshire, the development of battery and hydrogen propulsion systems and even export work for the Goole production facility. Returning partly to the topic of Great British Railways and the future, Neil Ovenden introduced the new Rail Partners – an offshoot of the Rail Delivery Group – that will act as a trade association for train operators. Finally, in this digital age, Tim Robinson, founder of Doddle and DigiRail, gave a

fascinating insight into how the retail market had first been overwhelmed by the digital capabilities of companies such as Amazon but had then bounced back, with some of the traditional highstreet retailers now equally advanced in their digital approach. It was a useful and informative day, and no doubt most of the exhibitors and delegates will all be back for Rolling Stock Networking 2023 on 6 July next year.

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July 2022 | 67

RBD Community

Bringing the rail community together RBD Community’s Eli Rees-King writes about a recent visit to Rail Live and the industry collaborating

hen there are blue skies and blazing sunshine, you know it must be time for Rail Live. What is sometimes referred to as the ‘Glastonbury of Rail’, we were delighted to attend this year’s Rail Live. Rail Live always offers the RBD Community team a fantastic opportunity to get out and catch up with members and reconnect with our industry friends – and not only that, being able to introduce members to other members is another virtue of being at the show. The great thing about this event is that you get to see the technologies and products in action, which brings real context to their application and the benefits offered to the rail industry. Innovation, collaboration and sustainability continue to be the driving themes, and it makes us feel very proud to be representing a community that fully embraces these core values to promote business growth and success.

We will be announcing our autumn events programme in the next edition of Rail Director and look forward to welcoming our new and existing members along to join us for high quality

networking as well as the sharing of information and best practice. To find out more about the RBD Community and how to join, contact eli@railbusinessdaily.com

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