Elecrifying the Uk's railway network

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Electrifying the UK’s railway network How, why and when

Ee E R F 2-pag ion 3

cat i f i r t Elec pecial S

Network Rail’s plans

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What trains are needed

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EGIP profile

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Ready, willing and able E

lectrification is very much back on the agenda for the rail industry. Already, projects in the North West have been completed where electric trains are performing above and beyond the plan specification.

The North West Electrification Programme, which began with the introduction of electric First TransPennine Express services between Manchester Airport and Edinburgh/Glasgow, was followed in February by electric multiple units running between Manchester and Liverpool. Northern Rail has introduced electric trains between Manchester Victoria and Liverpool, and between Liverpool and Wigan from the start of the May timetable.

Eventually EMUs will operate across the vast majority of the North West, and across the Pennines too, as Network Rail plans to electrify the route via Huddersfield. Operators and campaigners want to see the entire north of England energised. While that is unlikely, a shortlist of proposals has been drawn up. The future of rail is starting to look very interesting.

Elsewhere, the Great Western Main Line (GWML) is also being electrified. Currently, EMUs run from London Paddington - but only to Heathrow Airport. From next year they will be able to serve Hayes and Harlington, and as the wiring spreads west, so too will the

services. By the end of 2015 the first Intercity Express Programme bi-mode Class 800 will have moved under its own power on the GWML between Reading and Didcot. This will be a momentous day for the route, which will eventually have electric trains running from Paddington to Oxford, Newbury, Bristol, Cardiff and Swansea. We can only hope that the overhead line equipment will one day be extended even further west.

The Midland Main Line and trans-Pennine routes are also scheduled to be wired, and work on those is already under way. The first MML OLE masts are being erected, and eventually electric trains will be able to run from St Pancras International, through Bedford, and on to Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield; eventually they’ll run to Leeds and Doncaster.

North of the Border where, for so long, there has been a ‘can-do’ attitude to rail, the Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP) has taken some big steps forward: blockades are planned and start of construction is imminent. This will enable the core Edinburgh to Glasgow via Falkirk route, so vital to the Scottish economy and workers, to be vastly improved.

Manufacturers of EMUs, such as Alstom, Bombardier, Construcciones y Auxiliar de

Ferrocarriles (CAF), Hitachi and Siemens are all developing new platforms ready for looks set to be a huge market for new trains.

On May 12, at the Railtex show in Birmingham, Office of Rail and Road Chairman Anna Walker talked about the future of rail. She said: “Innovation will not come from the regulator, but from companies here.

“There are real challenges in growth and capacity. We know there is a supply gap in signalling and electrification.

“We bring out the first consultation document for Control Period 6 next year. I hope it has got innovation so we can start debating and ask how regulation underpins innovation.

“We need to recognise that electrification is massive. We have not done this for a long time.

We are actively working with Network Rail to learn. And there is an enormous will to come together.

“Things are not where we want them to be, but we need to plan ahead for more than the next control period. You have to look five, ten, 15, 20 years ahead.

“I have confidence we can do it.”

Richard Clinnick RAIL Assistant Editor

Contents 04 Why electrification? The Network Rail perspective Network Rail has an electrification plan for the UK, and recognises there is a lot of catching up to do.

12 Focus on collaboration What Alstom, Babcock and Costain are bringing to the electrification programme.

16 High-wire act Colin Preston from SYSTRA explains how clever design is overcoming EGIP challenges.

18 Investing in skills How Carillion is tackling the acute shortage of relevant engineering skills in the rail industry.

20 Stopping the brain drain and plugging the gap How the National Skills Academy for Rail Engineers is recruiting a generation of railway engineers.

22 Northern wires: not ‘if’ but ‘when’ A rolling plan of electrification across the north could become reality.

26 Firms take stock of the market Gathering pace of electrification is attracting train manufacturers to the UK, but what is the market?

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Why electrification The Network Rail pe Network Rail has a plan for the electrification of many routes across the UK, after a gap of a quarter of a century.

And it recognises there is a lot of catching up to do.

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lectrification is a necessary part of the on-going development of the UK rail network. Benefits for passengers include better reliability and more seats, not to mention the sustainability case and the effect on regeneration.

But why is so much work on electrification being done now? Purely in terms of electrification, it is going to take 40 years to put the UK on a par with other European countries. Shouldn’t this work have started 20 years ago?

Regardless of the arguments over timing, Britain’s railway system is on the brink of a major transformation, with much of the main line network set to be electrified in the coming years. In 2009, the Labour government set out investment projects, such as the electrification of the Great Western Main Line (GWML), under the Secretary of State Andrew Adonis.

In July 2012, as part of its High Level Output Specification, the Government announced a further tranche of wiring schemes in England and Wales (among many other improvements and enhancements). These improvements included the Midland Main Line between Bedford and Sheffield - part of a £9 billion plan for rail investment (some of which had

already been committed) that is now covering the electrification of the entire GWML, from its current limit around Heathrow Airport Junction near Hayes and Harlington, as well as both routes to Bristol, Cardiff and Swansea.

After much political wrangling, a deal has now also been struck with the Welsh Government that will see the Cardiff Valley Lines electrified

The signs of electrification are beginning to become very obvious on the Great Western Main Line as seen in this view on May 1, with the Network Rail New Measurement Train comprised of HST powercars 43014 and 43062 seen near Burnham-on-Sea, working a Plymouth-London Paddington journey. KIM FULLBROOK.

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n? erspective by the end of Control Period 5.

The GWML scheme also includes wires to Newbury and to Oxford, where other electrification schemes continue on to Coventry and Nuneaton and across to Bedford as part of East-West Rail (via the currently closed Bicester-Oxford line).

The ‘Electric Spine’, which will effectively

link Yorkshire to the south coast, will cover the electrification of Reading to Basingstoke, where AC overhead wires will continue over the currently third-rail DC lines to Southampton.

That scheme could potentially act as a pilot for the future conversion of other former Southern Railway third rail lines to overhead wires.

One project already completed is Liverpool

Lime Street-Manchester Airport (which went live in March). The Blackpool-Preston/ Manchester line is on course for completion in 2016, as well as the line across the Pennines to Leeds.

In all, some 900 track miles of additional railway should be AC-electrified in England and Wales by 2019, with innovations such

Britain’s railway system is on the brink of a major transformation, with much of the main line network set to be electrified in the coming years

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as a ‘factory train’ helping to expedite the work. However, the trans-Pennine scheme may not now go ahead until Control Period 6.

Electrification in Scotland is a matter for the Scottish Government, as opposed to the Department for Transport in the rest of the UK, although the work will still be delivered

by Network Rail. The £742 million EdinburghGlasgow Improvement Programme will mean that the main line between Glasgow and Edinburgh (via Linlithgow and from Cumbernauld towards Glasgow) will be electrified. Completion is expected by 2016.

NR has clearly begun in earnest a major programme of electrification on key routes across the UK railway network - which will mean faster, greener, quieter and more reliable journeys for thousands of passengers. It is supported in this by the Government, which has committed to investing in a programme of electrification to transform the railway and provide Britain with a sustainable transport system built to the highest standard.

National Electrification Programme Director Saleem Mohammad is as knowledgeable and passionate about electrification as you might expect. Clearly he’s an advocate of electrification, yet he’s refreshingly realistic about the current electrification programme now under way.

Just over a year ago, Network Rail awarded the major framework contracts. Successful bidders included ABC, Balfour and Carillion.

These work specified in these contracts would enable the delivery of major electrification schemes on the Great Western Main Line, the

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The Independently Powered Electric Multiple Unit (IPEMU) project contributes to Network Rail’s commitment to reduce its environmental impact, improve sustainability and reduce the cost of running the railway by 20% over the next five years. It could ultimately lead to a fleet of battery-powered trains running on the network that are quieter and more efficient than DMUs. NR, Bombardier, Abellio Greater Anglia, FutureRailway and the Department for Transport Rail Executive (co-funding the project) have recognise the potential for IPEMUs to bridge gaps between electrified parts of the network and branch lines where overhead electrification would be too expensive. NETWORK RAIL.

Midland Main Line, and in the North West.

Mohammad’s team - the National Electrification Delivery Steering Group - sits at the top of a structure that is designed to make the most of electrification in the UK. The scale

of the work to electrify during Control Period 5 has not been without its challenges, with the various groups working to ensure that the industry’s supply chain is working as efficiently as it can. These new electrified railways must

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be fit for purpose, although not, as Mohammad reminds us, “at any cost”.

It’s Mohammad’s job to ensure that sufficient resources, qualified people and integrated planning are in place - crucial elements for what lies ahead (and indeed, what has already started).

“The last time we did this level of work was 25 years ago,” he says, referring to the East Coast Main Line electrification between London and Edinburgh, which was completed in 1991.

“Since then, we have lost staff. And the

We are moving into a different world where we can even predict the health status of the infrastructure - from the condition of the track to the overhead wiring itself plant got a bit rusty. Around £4bn is currently committed to electrification. Not only is that a significant step up, but HS2 is ramping up too,” says Mohammad. “We are relying on a number of resources. Regional programmes are using a lot of the same resources. The National Grid is also in quite a poor state.”

Mohammad and his colleagues must look at the national picture, and try to identify economies of scale wherever possible. With the need to essentially start again on a rolling programme of electrification, there is a need to ensure that lessons can be learnt from the current schemes - the knowledge must be

gained in readiness for the 2019-2024 period.

“We can’t predict what will happen in CP6” says Mohammad. “It’s about getting it right now, but also preparing for the future”.

The benefits of railway electrification haven’t always been widely recognised. After all, aside from one exception, the 1997-2010 Labour government did not sanction a single electrification scheme. While some civil servants at the Department for Transport may have been convinced that electrification is a good thing, it’s certainly not the case that ministers understood its value.

“There are a number of factors.

With Sharnbrook Road bridge at Souldrop, Bedfordshire raised in preparation for Midland Main Line electrification, 43043 heads an HST north with an EMT London St Pancras-Nottingham service on October 28 2014. The HST has just passed EMT 222010 with a Sheffield-London St Pancras service. FRASER PITHIE.

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Electrifcation Special Take a typical diesel train and replace it with a typical electric train. You get a 30-35% reduction in CO2 emissions” says Mohammad.

The industry’s preference is for modern passenger trains to have a traction package underneath the carriage - removing the need for an engine at the front allows for a 20% increase in passenger capacity. Electric traction packages allow for improved performance with faster acceleration and deceleration. On a typical commuter line - such as LondonPaddington-Swansea, this allows trains to not only reach their destinations more quickly, but also be turned around more speedily at each

There will still be a payback. In the Second World War, the development of a particular aircraft cost £1 million. People said it was a lot. It was the Spitfire. It helped to win the war for us

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end of the line. With the increased train paths available, more trains can run, and therefore capacity is increased.

The benefits to the wider economy are also felt. It’s possible that Britain’s power needs will not be met fully in the future, given the decline and gradual closure of the coal industry, and the delays in bringing new nuclear power on stream, let alone renewable energy. The National Grid may find itself struggling to meet demand.

The ‘smart grid’ puts more focus on power regeneration and using power more intelligently. When traction motors on electric trains run in reverse - i.e. when they are slowing down – they can generate energy, which can then be stored and used Reliveried and rebranded, Virgin Trains East Coast Driving Van Trailer 82219 heads the 1000 Edinburgh-London Kings Cross as it speeds south and passes Hougham, Lincolnshire on March 4 2015. FRASER PITHIE.

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Electrifcation on Britain’s railways Key Existing electrified network: Overhead Line Existing electrified network: Third rail Already committed for electrification Routes now planned for immediate electrification

Stirling Glasgow

Kilmarnock

Other routes under study

Edinburgh BerwickCarstairs upon-Tweed

Note: For clarity some lines/stations are omitted

Ayr

Newcastle Sunderland

Carlisle

N

Windermere

Barrow York Blackpool Preston Liverpool

Leeds

Bradford

Doncaster Manchester Chester Crewe

Sheffield Derby

Nottingham Kings Lynn

Shrewsbury

Leicester Peterborough

Norwich

Birmingham Coventry Worcester

Cambridge Ipswich Colchester

Bedford Oxford

Swansea

Felixstowe

LONDON

Cardiff

Southend

Swindon Bristol

Newbury

Reading

Ramsgate

Salisbury

Ashford

Southampton Exeter

Brighton

Hastings

Plymouth Penzance

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On May 1, Govia Thameslink Railway 377521 climbs into Farringdon station – where third rail (primarily used south of the River Thames) and overhead systems (primarily north of the river) meet. London and much of the south of England have benefited from electrification for decades now, and it is expected that another 10% of the network will be covered in the years to come. JACK BOSKETT.

towards the next journey.

“Likewise, by predicting our energy usage we can take any surplus energy and put it back into the National Grid”. The overall demands on the UK power network then starts to go down.

With fewer moving parts, electric trains are also more reliable and require less maintenance. Not only that, but electric trains are lighter and cause less wear to the track, helping the railway overall become more reliable.

Modern electric trains also have good fault-finding capabilities. “Newer trains can gather data about the health status of the infrastructure. We are moving into a different world where we can even predict the health status of the infrastructure - from the condition of the track to the overhead wiring itself.” Mohammad draws parallels with the aviation industry, which has engineers on standby ready to fix a fault when an aircraft lands.

But if the benefits of electrification are so clear, then why have we left it so long to install it? Mohammad is clear about the issues that

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has thrown up, but cannot say why decisionmakers did not agree earlier to the sort of schemes that are going ahead now.

“Having left such a gap we have a significant problem,” says Mohammad. “The Government signed up to a sustainability pledge. Electrification is part of that solution.”

So is this all purely to ensure the UK’s climate change obligations are met?

“There’s a strong business case, but it’s not at ‘any cost’ project. Ultimately, it is a political and economic decision. Do I know why it hasn’t happened for 25 years? No”.

But most European countries have significantly more electrified railway than Britain. It is the aim, with current planned schemes, to increase the proportion of electrified railways here from 40% to 50%. It’s unrealistic to expect all routes to be electrified, with a role being identified for independently powered EMUs which can run where there is no wiring. Other technologies may come into play to replace DMUs in the future, as well.

“Ultimately it is up to the Government to decide what is right for UK plc” says Mohammad.

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Pointing to China’s enthusiasm for electric railways, and its many hundreds of miles of high speed lines, Mohammad is a visionary for the potential of electrification to not only achieve the benefits outlined, but improve the world’s perception of the UK’s railways.

Diesel-powered trains are increasingly seen as unattractive to visitors, particularly those with which Britain might want to do business.

“We are very much in that global market now. Our infrastructure has to be equal to or better than the competition. We are in a very different world. It is an image thing”.

Mohammad goes on: “A lot of people have worked very hard to make the UK a great place. And it is a great place. London is a financial capital. And the regeneration we are seeing in our cities - London, Manchester, Birmingham - is transforming them”.

“The transport system has to step up to that mark”.

This is where the relative reliability of electrified railways comes into play. “People are less tolerant now of a train that is 10-15 minutes late”.

Mohammad is frank - Britain is off the pace.

In his view: “We should have done it four years

Now we are lagging behind. We have to look at ourselves from the global perspective.

Denmark is looking to electrify the entire country at 25kV. The French are looking at upgrading. The Germans want faster trains ago” he says.

But he does not deny or play down the cost overruns on the Great Western Main Line and Midland Main Line schemes for example - where electrification will come in at double the original price. He regrets those inflated costs, but nevertheless values the long-term approach, and backs it up with a look back at 20th century history.

“There will still be a payback. In the Second World War, the development of a particular aircraft cost £1 million. People said it was a lot.

It was the Spitfire. It helped to win the war for us”.

“Now we are lagging behind. We have to look at ourselves from the global perspective.

Denmark is looking to electrify the entire country at 25kV. The French are looking at

upgrading. The Germans want faster trains”.

Mohammad regrets some of the changes that took place in the 1990s and 2000s – in particular breaking the continuity of a continuous programme of electrification of the network. “Privatisation took us on an interesting journey, but we lost something when we got rid of British Rail.”

“Electrification is an enabler. We have got to start growing, at a grass roots level, our engineering skills,” he says. “For the future, it will put us in a much better place”.

Have we got all the skillsets we need just now? “No. But we are trying to rebuild them.

We have lost a lot and we are going through a painful learning curve. The key to recovery is looking to the future. We cannot afford a 20-year lull.” ■

DB Schenker 67003 passes through South Moreton near Didcot on April 30, working a Bicester-Didcot train for the Ministry of Defence. Electrification masts are beginning to appear in the background. KIM FULLBROOK.

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Focus on collabora A

lstom, the global leader in transport infrastructure, power generation and transmission, has formed the joint venture ABC Electrification Ltd (ABC) with Babcock and Costain. All three companies are equal partners.

ABC is one of four suppliers appointed

by Network Rail (NR) to deliver a £2 billion electrification programme - electrifying more than 2,000 miles of Britain’s railways over the next seven years.

Two years ago, when ABC was set up, Alstom UK President Terence Watson said: “Being selected as one of the framework suppliers working with Network Rail is a really important win for ABC and for Alstom. The project is an opportunity to invest in training and development and attract newcomers to the sector.”

He added: “The delivery of this major programme of electrification is an essential part of the UK’s rail network and vital for the continuing growth of the UK economy.

Working in collaboration with NR means that we can invest in sustainable local supply chains and develop Britain’s rail industry as a strategic sector.”

It is ABC Electrification’s task to support Network Rail in meeting these challenges. It combines design, engineering and delivery expertise across all electrification activities, giving it total capability and the trust to deliver the most complex and demanding schemes.

“When we set up ABC, our approach to the UK market was to find the right partnerships, with a core focus on the engineering products as well as project delivery - and we’ve done

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What do Alstom, Babcock and Costain bring to the National Electrification Programme? How do they collaborate? PAUL PRENTICE spells out ABC.

that,” says Alstom Infrastructure Business Managing Director Jonathan Willcock.

Alstom, Babcock and Costain are shareholders in the company responsible for the West Coast Power Supply Upgrade, Walsall-Rugeley electrification, and the London Overground capacity improvement.

A number of projects are at what ABC calls the Early Contracts Involvement (ECI)phase, during which ABC agrees a target price with Network Rail before later submission to the Enhanced Cost Adjustment Mechanism (ECAM) process - ECAM is administered by the Office of Rail and Road, acting in its role as

the regulator, to ensure that public money is being spent effectively.

“The ECAM process means it’s in everyone’s interests to prove we’re providing value for money,” explains Willcock.

Project teams are based in what Willcock calls ‘integrated co-located offices’ in Newport (for Wales) and Rugby (for Central). There is also a base in Edinburgh for the EdinburghGlasgow Improvement Programme work (EGIP), where ABC is involved through a partnership with Morgan Sindall.

“It’s only Scotland where it’s slightly different,” says Willcock.

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ation - ABC

Alstom is the second biggest electrification provider worldwide in terms of market share.

Its Alstom Lecco operation in Italy means it can draw on best practice from around the world.

“We bring a fair bit of innovation with the wiring train which arrives later this year,” says Willcock. “It fits well with what Babcock brings - boots on ballast and plant.”

Value for money is demonstrated in how ABC differentiates itself from other contractors.

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Electrifcation Special “We work collaboratively in the ECI phase.

We submitted a number of rates. We have total transparency on our costs.”

ABC’s contract is estimated to be worth £900 million over an initial seven-year term, with an option to extend for a further three years.

Structurally, ABC is an incorporated equal share joint venture. It has been awarded two out of the six areas within the programme London North Western and the Wales and West region (including the Valley Lines).

ABC, whose chief executive is Alan Kay, is also providing High Output Plants and Piling Trains, and is looking at doing much of its engineering in house.

“We’ve pulled upon engineering resource, not just in Alstom, but also Babcock,” says Willcock, adding: “The fact that we’re engineering-led differentiates us from others in the market.”

Day-to-day, Willcock says that working with NR is very much an integrated effort: “NR plays a key role, but we rely on each other to deliver. The synergy with NR and ABC is vitally important. NR has to be part of the solution.”

In the Central Region, for example, ABC branded the integral delivery there the Central Power Electrification Team (CPET). And

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staff in CPET work as one team, viewing themselves as working for CPET alongside Network Rail.

Although corporately individual staff members work for ABC and come from any of Alstom, Babcock or Costain as ‘secondees’, their identity is absolutely to the small teams.

“You still have to administer the contract,” says Willcock.

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“The timescales are long-term. A lot of money has been invested in setting ABC up - a five to seven-year timeframe looks set to be extended further. We will invest a lot of money in it while there is a work bank to go at.”

Willcock looks back at the business plan from two years ago, and concludes: “We are not too far off what we thought we’d be.” ■

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Special Report

High-wire act The line between Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Queen Street is one of Scotland’s primary commuting routes, and the fastest link between the country’s two financial powerhouses.

The £742 million project to electrify it will involve many challenges. COLIN PRESTON explains how SYSTRA is conquering these hurdless by clever design in the first phase of the project

T

he Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP) will enable electric trains to run between the two cities from 2016.

The scheme delivers 150 single-track kilometres of new electrified railway, three redeveloped stations, one entirely new station, one new electric depot and platform extensions at four other stations. The electrics will also serve other destinations, such as Stirling, and despite the project being scaled back over the years, it is hoped that more locations will be electrified in the future. It is being funded by Transport Scotland, and delivered by Network Rail and its contractors.

SYSTRA Project Director Colin Preston explains the fi rst phase of the scheme, with which his company is involved: “The plan is that driver training will start in September 2016, and a full service will be in place by December 2016 or January 2017.”

SYSTRA is only involved in the electrification work. Major rebuilding work is needed at Queen Street, with platform lengthening and an additional platform required. SYSTRA is working on the overhead line equipment design for this, but is not involved in the civil side of the project.

Ultimately, all seven platforms at the station will be wired.

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One particular issue is the station’s roof.

Preston explains: “Under the barrel roof, the OLE must be supported with headspans which is at odds with the design range being used for the rest of the route. The roof has historic significance and is protected, so we can’t just hang equipment from it. Also, the works need to be carefully staged to allow the initial seven car platforms to eventually be extended to accommodate eight cars, which introduces complications with regards to anchoring the wires.

There is also the situation regarding the Buchanan Galleries extension above the station. This large shopping centre is being extended across the open space at the north end of the station. The station itself will be closed for 16 weeks, during which time all the work must be completed. Preston says: “We’re only involved with the design, so in advance of that we will need to have provided the plans for the portals and the wiring.”

The requirements, says Preston, are very specific. He told RAIL: “The design is co-ordinated with the platform extensions and track renewals. We are given data and information so we know where we can put the catenary. I refer to it as ‘the knitting’, because that’s what it looks like.”

The overhead line equipment (OLE) system being used by SYSTRA in its design

will be installed in Phase 2. This is a newer, more reliable system than what was used in previous years. Preston explains: “There are various types of OLE in use throughout the UK, but these can be quite heavy and contain a large number of individual components. To try and simplify, and to bring the OLE in line with European standards, Network Rail has developed two new ranges. Series One is for over 100mph and Series Two for up to 100mph. Series Two is being installed on this project.”

Preston continues: “The structures are about the same distance apart. But Series Two wire tension is slightly higher than that of traditional OLE. This means that the pantographs perform more efficiently.”

SYSTRA employs some highly specialised and knowledgeable people. Preston claims that they have an in-depth knowledge of the limited book. And they know where to fi nd things if they aren’t there: “My two lead engineers are guys who were involved with both Cumbernauld and Rutherglen electrification. They have very up-to-date experience of how to deal with Series Two, and how to make it work in the Scottish environment.”

From an outsider’s perspective, it would seem that Scottish electrification projects could start running relatively quickly, particularly in terms of the less visible groundwork elements. Preston thinks it will be the same with EGIP. He says: “There’s a lot of non-visible work going on just now.

My understanding is that the Alliance, consisting of Network Rail, Costain and Morgan Sindall, will start erecting steelwork soon. And that’s when it starts to become visible. Until now work has focused on driving the foundations into the ground, which the public might not have seen.

“The appearance of new masts will create some interest. The installation of the wiring will certainly attract a lot of attention.” More visible parts of the OLE will be erected in the latter part of this year.

In terms of OLE design, Preston says: “It’s essentially just one design for the route.

But there are some variations. There are reasonable tension lengths that are very straightforward. But with other shorter sections, which run from structure to structure, we are squeezing in the OLE

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within the boundaries of walls, in cuttings, on rock or near tunnels. Some sections pass next to a station or under a footbridge.”

Preston only joined the project in November 2014. He explains SYSTRA’s role: “The Alliance is Network Rail, Costain and Morgan Sindall. Below that there’s an unincorporated joint venture between Alstom, Babcock and Costain (ABC).

Costain and SYSTRA are doing the majority of the project management for the OLE, and some of the OLE civil work. This is different from the Morgan Sindall part, which involves other civil work, such as platforms and bridges. Babcock is doing the railway part of the OLE. Costain is currently doing foundation work in conjunction with that project. Babcock has been using a piling train and now they’re starting to pour the concrete foundations. I think they’ve probably carried out about 800 foundations so far. We believe there will be around 2,600 foundations in total.” Steelwork on EGIP was due to start as RAIL went to press.

The arrival of the wiring train will signal the end of the first phase of SYSTRA’s involvement. But that will only arrive after the foundations and steelworks have been completed. SYSTRA will then focus on the remaining works and the ‘tail-end’ activities, checking that work completed is what was planned.

Preston points out some of the challenges on the route. Apart from Queen Street station itself, there is a steep gradient in a tunnel near the station. It’s a busy part of the network. Millions of passengers rely on the line every year. The route also carries freight and the line can carry traffic at up to 100mph. “It’s also a 150-year-old railway which bends and twists,” adds Preston. “Some of the bridges on the route simply weren’t designed with electric trains in mind! “There are historically important viaducts, and they must be treated sympathetically. We’ve got to figure out the best way of installing catenary along those, and we’ve carried out a lot of work on that.

“There are three tunnels, including the Queen Street tunnel and Winchburgh.

In each of the tunnels we are just using conductor beam.” That, he says, is because it is easier to install and not so much room is needed. “And it’s a lot easier to maintain,” he adds. “There’s a lot of OLE ‘alchemy’ going on - we’re going to extremes in order to avoid issues. We’re doing this within the parameters of Series Two, which are quite tight. It is pushing us to think innovatively about the engineering solutions. In the main, it’s all relatively well processed, but there are many issues to overcome, especially when dealing with junctions, crossovers and tight spaces.”

We’re sometimes working up against perimeter walls. Working out how you put foundations in next to them - and then install the steelwork - requires clever engineering.

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Preston highlights that the line wasn’t designed to carry extra pieces of equipment: “We’re sometimes working up against perimeter walls. Working out how you put foundations in next to them - and then install the steelwork - requires clever engineering. Then we have lots of embankments and rock cuttings, which complicate matters further.”

There are, of course, other factors, such as possession limitations, which need to be considered. Preston says: “The Edinburgh to Glasgow line is the busiest line in Scotland.

But there haven’t really been any huge maintenance renewals, because that would mean taking the primary services out of the front line, you don’t do that, you don’t get 54 blocks on the line. It’s an old railway and it has had a lot of service.”

But now the pressure is on. Preston says: “Our role comes early in the whole process.

We do our stuff and then we’re out. The pressure is on the firms carrying out the construction. They’ve got to make an awful lot of pieces of this project work together. The stations, platforms, bridges, the electrification - all these pieces of the jigsaw have to fit together. We’re quite fortunate in that our piece of jigsaw is the first piece on the board, so everybody else has to fit round us.”

Preston summarises: “I was watching MasterChef last night, and one of the contestants had prepared a small dish that involved a very complicated recipe. It must have taken them about six hours to prepare.

And it was just like what we’re talking about here. This is a very small piece of railway in the big railway picture. But there’s so much going on!” ■ SYSTRA Special Report

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Investing in skills T

he announcement of the planned programme of rail electrification has brought to light an acute shortage of people with the relevant engineering skills in the rail industry.

Carillion Rail has established a joint venture to tender for and deliver the new programme of work in Control Period 5. The recruitment and training of staff, ahead of the start of the main programme, was key to the project’s success to ensure it had the required resources.

“We developed a clear set of initiatives for increasing our resource capability for the programme, one of which was to build bespoke OLE training spans utilising the nationally recognised Overhead Line Equipment Competency (OLEC) training modules developed under the Rail Electrification Delivery Progamme (REDP),” says Carillion Rail Head of Electrification Paul Storey.

To mitigate the skills shortage, Carillion established three regional overhead line training schools through which it has created a large pool of skilled staff who will deliver the work. All three of these training schools are all-weather indoor training facilities, based at Crewe, Coleshill and Shettleston.

The Crewe training school allows new trainees to experience the equipment and rigging while working in a safe, ground-based environment. Trainees then progress - literally - to a higher level at Coleshill, allowing them to experience working at height and in realistic conditions. Together, these centres will train 250 new linesmen each year.

Electrification contractors in other regions will also benefit from Carillion’s training centres, which will be opened to other contractors to train new linesmen or improve the skills and competencies of existing staff.

This will help all electrification contractors meet a common industry standard in creating a well-trained, permanent workforce and raise

industry competence levels generally.

Carillion also employs full-time OLE trainers and assessors who deliver nationally recognised OLEC training modules. As well as informing trainees about the entire OLE system, these modules train staff in specific construction and installation modules, such as erecting steelwork. Together, these modules provide Carillion staff with clear training and career progression, enabling the company to increase its skills and competencies in accordance with the requirements of the National Electrification Programme.

The company has also engaged in the Network Rail Conversion Engineer Training Programme. As part of this, it provided design placement and accreditation, as well as internal technical training centred on power distribution or overhead line disciplines. This enabled Carillion to employ new engineers from outside the industry and retrain them for the electrification sector, which, it claims, proved very successful on previous contracts, providing it with a supply of generally experienced new employees for the NEP. In addition, Carillion has developed a conversion course that will enable it to develop skilled workers from other industries into railway electrification personnel. An NVQ Level 2 qualification in Overhead Line Engineering is also currently being piloted.

Aimed at new entrants and existing staff, it is designed for those wish to boost their skillset

Carillion has invested significantly in the facilities - demonstrating a commitment to raising the level of competence in OLE infrastructure

The Coleshill ‘high level’ training school, where trainees can experience working at height. CARILLION RAIL.

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and achieve formal recognition for their training.

Another initiative currently being undertaken via REDP is a pilot scheme for OLEC 4 supervisory staff, which will provide leadership training and also real time scenario training specific to electrification.

Carillion is also creating job opportunities for people such as the long-term unemployed, the homeless and ex-offenders by offering them two-week placements across its contracts and supply chain, followed by a six-month period of job coaching by its employees. To achieve this, it is working with organisations such as Jobcentre Plus, The Prince’s Trust and the Business in the Community’s Business Action on Homelessness (BAOH) programme.

For some of these people, the placements will lead to permanent employment.

In order to ensure consistency and quality of training throughout, a ‘train the trainer’ event was held, with delegates from every major OLE contractor within the industry taking part. This was an opportunity to share knowledge and enable trainee instructors to deliver the training to their own employees.

The first cohort of apprentices started work in September 2013 and, to date, 36 new entrants are well in to their training programmes, with recruitment for the next 36 well under way.

Having the training span available to for the apprentices to practise on allowed Carillion to replicate site scenarios and give them as near to a real-life site experience as possible.

Trainees had constant access to Carillion’s OLE trainers when questions arose, or wanted to know more about certain scenarios or setups.

Building the span also gave Carillion the opportunity to look at developing one of its OLE team to become a trainer. Karl Saunders had worked a lot with the apprentices, and was offered the opportunity to study for his training qualifications and become an NSARE accredited trainer. Saunders had to balance his role as an OLE supervisor with his studies, but passed with flying colours and is now studying for his Level 4 NVQ through the University of Derby. “The investment in the OLE span has opened new doors for me – it would have been much harder to achieve these skills without it” says Saunders.

“After 14 years in the rail industry, mainly within OLE, I feel that I have built up a wealth of experience that I can now pass on to the people that we train” In addition, all of Carillion’s relevant staff have undertaken OLEC training, along with people in its supply chain, including material suppliers, design engineers and other construction contractors. All of this plays an integral part in the industry as it collaborates to develop skills in the railway sector in order to meet the challenges of CP5 and beyond. ■

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Plugging the skills g Besides politics and cost, one of the biggest challenges to achieving the railway of the future in the UK is training the engineers who will build it.

The National Skills Academy for Railway Engineering (NSARE) is leading the way in recruiting a new generation of railway engineers.

R

ail electrification projects require skilled people with specialised training. The UK is now on the brink of carrying out the biggest round of electrification projects seen in decades – but we just don’t have the skilled workforce. What is being done to close this gap?

As Saleem Mohammad points out (pages 4-11) the lack of electrification schemes in recent years means that the UK is behind the curve - not only in the number of track miles that are electrified, but also having the right people with the right skill set in the field of rail engineering.

Following two years of research and development, the National Skills Academy for Railway Engineering (NSARE) was established in November 2010, when Vince Cable, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills at the time, announced that the UK Government would support its business plan with a start-up grant of £2.7 million. The need for such an organisation is clear; the demand for railway engineering skills is growing (in terms of both quantity and quality) and there is competitive international demand for railway engineers - and professionals in particular. With further demand for engineers from other UK sectors such as telecoms, manufacturing,

construction, power and nuclear competing with the rail industry, something needed to be done to attract engineers to its field.

While it has been announced that the High Speed Rail College will operate at two sites (Doncaster and York) all of the other industries have established skills academies and major

initiatives to attract engineers of all levels. In response, the NSARE pan-industry Board of Directors, chaired by RSSB Chief Executive Chris Fenton, has set out to professionalise the workforce. It does not deliver training directly, but works with employers and stakeholders to understand their skills needs, and with

Network Rail engineers working on overhead line equipment. NETWORK RAIL.

We reckoned there was a gap of around 1,000 people in CP5

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gap for generations training providers to ensure they are delivering the right courses.

The NSARE has set out to improve the quality of training provision on offer and manages a unified training accreditation scheme to ensure that each employee receives high-quality training in the competencies that the employers specify.

Research undertaken during the development and approval of the NSARE identified the following specific needs faced by

the industry for the future: Recruitment of school leavers for training as apprentices, as a first step on a career path to becoming professional railway engineers.

Recruitment, training and development of graduates to become qualified engineers.

Incentives for and training of experienced engineers without degrees to also become professionally accredited engineers.

Up-skilling of the engineering workforce to a minimum of Level 2 [entry qualification],

Emphasis has been placed on getting new people into the industry - particularly young people

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including transient workers.

General up-skilling of the workforce in line with the technological and efficiency demands of the railway.

Training of the skilled workers of today to become the supervisors of tomorrow.

‘Conversion’ training of craftsmen and professionals from other sectors to become railway engineers.

Taking that into account, the role of the NSARE is to develop and implement a unified railway engineering skills strategy for the whole industry, ensuring that training capability and capacity meet the future needs of Britain’s railways. Its activities include forecasting skills requirements, the accreditation of training organisations, the standardisation of training course content, Business-to-Business services for employers and training companies, and promoting careers in the rail industry.

Elaine Clark, the head of NSARE’s Business Services, says that a potential skills shortage among the workforce needed to make electrification schemes happen was identified some years ago, with the report of a skills forecast published in 2013.

“At the time we reckoned there was a gap of around 1,000 people in CP5” says Clark.

And while it’s not NSARE’s responsibility to recruit those people, from lower-skilled linesmen to higher-skilled electrical engineers, the organisation does have a role in working with employers to ensure that they have the people they need.

“There’s still some way to go,” says Clark.

“We worked with the industry and employers and qualification awarding bodies.”

Clark says that some work has been done in encouraging people to change careers and attaining a nationally recognised certification.

“We also put in Level 2 and Level 3 apprenticeships – which cover basic linesmen to advanced technicians,” says Clark.

Emphasis has been placed on getting new people into the industry - particularly young people. The expectation - or hope - is that they’ll stay in the industry, providing a ready stream of qualified and experienced people for ongoing electrification schemes across Britain.

Clark claims that over 100 people have now gained Level 2 or Level 3 apprenticeships, meaning that progress has been made.

But Clark also recognises that there’s a problem: the industry is not taking a strategic enough view of the skills shortage (even though there is a widespread view that the industry recognises it).

“The only other strategic initiative I’m aware of is companies recruiting people from the armed forces for re-training,” says Clark.

“It’s not as co-ordinated as we would have liked. But the industry has responded in part.

There are good individual initiatives, but there is scope to do more collaboratively.” ■ Electrification Special

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Northern wires: no M

any rail lines in the North of England could be electrified if recommendations made in the Northern Electrification Task Force report, which was published in March, become a reality.

The report, which was commissioned

by Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin in December 2013, is intended to provide a basis for “a rolling plan for further electrification” that will set the agenda for the period after the current Control Period 5, which ends in March 2019.

The task force was set up to identify the priorities for electrifying the remaining rail routes in the North of England, as seen from a northern perspective. It is intended to act as a precursor to the preparation of detailed business cases and what it describes as ‘quantified justification’ - in other words putting a price on the individual schemes.

It is hoped that by establishing priorities for electrification, work can begin on routes that will bring the biggest economic impact to the North first.

The rolling programme of electrification proposed has, as its long-term aim, the electrification of virtually all the railway across the North of England, assuming that the programme meets the criteria for value for money and environmental objectives - in essence, creating a low-carbon economy.

The 32 lines covered by the Northern Rail and First TransPennine Express franchise areas currently without electrification have all been considered and prioritised, with the results having been grouped into three tiers. Tier One schemes are the most immediate priority, and touch on most of the North’s major cities.

“We have placed economic growth at the centre of our work,” says Andrew Jones, Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough. Since the report was published, he has been appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport.

“The Task Force agreed early on that the

A rolling plan for electrification of lines in the North of England is set to become a reality, now that routes have been prioritised according to need. PAUL PRENTICE reports.

economic benefits of electrification would be the dominant factor in our assessments. We have worked on the premise that all the lines of the North would be electrified, it is only a question of when,” says Jones in the foreword to the report.

He adds: “As a Task Force, we have been clear that investment in infrastructure is sorely needed across the North; that it would drive economic growth and improve the lives of northerners” says Jones, who adds that the recommendations in the report are aimed at “providing direction for where investment should go next”.

“We recognise that the modernisation of our national rail network is a task of generational scale requiring huge investment. But the job has started, and this report is intended to look years ahead, beyond one control period”.

Economic benefit was the most important factor when considering each of the lines for electrification, taking anything up to 50% of the total marks available.

This was followed by the Impact of Services (diesel train kilometres replaced per electrified kilometres), taking up to 30%, while rolling stock capacity and quality accounted for the other 20%. Each line assessed could get a total mark of 100%. The highest score was

We have placed economic growth at the centre of our work Andrew Jones, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport and MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Con)

the Calder Valley route at 84%, while the lowest scoring line was Skipton-LancasterMorecambe-Heysham at 7% (see table).

Tier One lines scored anything between 64-84%, while Tier Two lines attained 45-59% and Tier Three between seven and 38%. Of all the lines assessed, it is notable that the electrification of Selby-Hull could be achieved without any public finance at all, if current plans by First Hull Trains come to fruition and are approved by the Secretary of State.

Importantly, the current timetable was used for the ranking work (which would not take into account the future benefits of faster and better accelerating electric trains) - meaning that the full potential of post-electrification benefits have not been taken into account.

In total, the report envisages some 950 single track kilometres being electrified (or 590 single track miles). The Task Force envisages some £10 million of funding would be required to outline business cases for the Tier One schemes. This work would be undertaken in conjunction with the rail industry’s long-term planning process.

The Task Force’s report also complements the Northern Transport Strategy, which has five key objectives. Firstly, it aims for a “dramatic speeding up of rail journey times between the six city centres” of Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool, Newcastle, Leeds and Bradford. This would be based on what would be achievable with contemporary intercity standards. In addition, it calls for “equivalent accessibility with direct rail access to the North’s strategic international airport (Manchester)”.

Finally, the strategy calls for an “increase in commuting capacity for each of the cities set at the Network Rail ‘high’ scenario level” anything between 100-150%”.

Lines assessed for future electrification Tier One: Recommended for implementation in Control Period 6 (April 2019-March 2024) Leeds-Bradford-Halifax/Manchester/Preston/Brighouse (Calder Valley) Liverpool-Warrington Central-Manchester Southport/Kirkby-Salford Crescent Chester-Knutsford-Stockport Northallerton-Middlesborough Leeds-Harrogate-York Selby-Hull Sheffield (Meadowhall)-Barnsley-Leeds/Castleford and connections Bolton-Clitheroe Sheffield-Doncaster/Wakefield Westgate (Dearne Valley)

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Tier Two: Recommended for implementation after 2024 Manchester-Sheffield (Hope Valley)-Manchester south east local services York-Scarborough Bishop Auckland/DarlingtonSaltburn and Sunderland Barnsley-Penistone-Huddersfield Sheffield-Retford-Lincoln Chester-Crewe Colne-Burnley & KikhamBlackpool South Knottingley-Goole

Tier Three: Other lines Barrow-Carnforth Hull-Scarborough Pontefract-Church Fenton Ormskirk-Preston Carlisle-Newcastle Skipton-Settle-Carlisle Barton-on-Humber Cumbrian Coast Doncaster-Gilberdyke Cleethorpes-Thorne Middlesborough-Whitby (Esk Valley) Skipton-Lancaster-MorecambeHeysham

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ot ‘if’ but ‘when’ A Class 144 Pacer unit crosses Crimple Viaduct, Harrogate, as the 1454 Leeds-York on September 28 2008. This line is in ‘Tier 1’ of electrification schemes identified by the Task Force. KEITH DUNGATE.

While the Task Force has operated independently, it has drawn heavily upon the Rail North Long Term Strategy.

A completely separate document, it has a not dissimilar vision for the rail service that is needed to support the aspirations for the economy of the North of England over the next 20 years. It seeks to be a major input to these industry plans as they are worked out in the region.

While it also supports sustainable economic growth and the enhancement of service

quality, it wants to improve the appeal of rail by encouraging more rail use, reducing environmental impacts and carbon emissions.

Improving efficiency and reducing the cost per passenger is also one of its goals.

The strategy also calls for more freight to be carried on rail; an objective that the rail freight companies could help meet by replacing diesel locomotives with electric, once they are sure in the knowledge that the electrified routes (particularly to and from the ports) will exist.

The Tier One and Tier Two schemes are at

the very earliest stages of scrutiny.

But as time goes on, the benefits of electrification for all of these lines will become much clearer, whether they are skewed in favour of passengers or freight. Could some Tier Three schemes be brought forward?

Circumstances of any of these lines are subject to change as the economy’s needs demand different things of rail services.

“I don’t think this work will falter,” says Jones. “This report was compiled with more than one Control Period in mind”. ■

It is hoped that by establishing priorities for electrification, work can begin on routes that will bring the biggest economic impact to the North first.

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Electrification appr engineers for the fu N

etwork Rail’s award-winning engineering apprenticeship programme trains around 200 people a year in electrification, as well as track, signalling, telecommunications and plant – and has just marked its 10th anniversary.

The scheme for maintenance technicians, which has been running since 2005, combines technical training with personal development to produce the leaders of the future. It offers hundreds of young people the chance to learn and develop skills for a career that looks after three million people a day and is vital to the economy and prosperity of the United Kingdom.

Apprentices spend the first year of the course at HMS Sultan in Gosport – Europe’s largest engineering training facility. As well as learning and living alongside the Royal Navy, they get to share state-of-the-art recreation and sports facilities including a gym, swimming pool, squash courts, extensive playing fields, outdoor tennis courts, water sports and organised activities. From the very first day, there are also lots of team-building

Network Rail’s apprenticeships develop the electrification engineers of the future, as PAUL PRENTICE discovers.

and social events.

In years two and three, apprentices get vital practical experience working out of their chosen depot across the country working with experienced teams helping run the network every day. They return to Gosport each term for further training.

Many girls believe engineering is a job for boys, according to a survey of 12 to 17-yearolds published by Network Rail (NR).

Engineering is second only to the construction industry in struggling to overcome the gender divide, the survey found.

Some 39% of girls say certain jobs are more suited to boys. Of those, 40% cited engineering, with 58% naming building and construction. Finance was rated the third most ‘male’ job (29%).

The findings of the poll of 500 schoolaged girls will underline concerns among employers that they are missing talent because of entrenched attitudes by both sexes. NR is

placing itself at the forefront of efforts to attract more women employees, with chief executive Mark Carne pledging a “war on the macho culture of the rail industry”.

NR Director of Diversity and Inclusion Loraine Martins says: “It’s no secret that the engineering sector in particular is male dominated and trouble attracting talented women into its sector, and organisations like ours are making a concerted effort to change that.

“This research shows that even girls aged 12 are sensitive to stereotypes, and are ruling themselves out of particular jobs. We must put as much energy into tackling bias whilst girls are still in education as we do into overcoming gender bias issues in the workplace.”

Network Rail has a 14% female workforce and has pledged to increase this with a threepronged approach to drive change within the organisation which includes: ■ Plans to attract more female graduates so

Network Rail Chief Executive Mark Carne (centre) with ten apprentices from the NR apprenticeship scheme over the last ten years. NETWORK RAIL.

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rentices: uture

From left to right: young engineers Natalie Burton, Andy Wheeler, Andy Fox, and Vicki Fox. NETWORK RAIL.

that 30% of the intake are female by 2019 ■ A strategy to retain more women by tackling deep rooted cultural issues and making the workplace more transparent and welcoming ■ A strategy to support the career development of women already at NR in achieving senior level positions – with Chief Executive Mark Carne setting a target that 20% of its talent pool of future leaders will be female by 2019.

This research explored the attitudes schoolaged girls have about their career, and what influences them in their choice. It found that 65% of those surveyed already had a good idea of what sort of job they want to do, despite half of them being aged 13 or under. This suggests many have already ruled out of a career in engineering as they either think those kinds of roles are better suited to boys, or that they as a female ‘couldn’t do that sort of job’. More than half - 56% - also admitted if they knew more

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about a particular career path they’d be more inclined to pursue a job in that area. Parents and teachers were cited as having the biggest influence on school age girls’ career choices.

NR Interim Director of Safety, Technical and Engineering Jane Simpson has firsthand experience of gender bias which she also became aware of whilst she was still at school: “If my school career adviser had her way, I would have become a nursery nurse or teacher,” she says. Instead Simpson joined the engineering industry as an apprentice aged 16 and now manages a 500+ strong team of mostly male engineers and technicians.

Simpson adds: “Now, I see myself as just another member of the team, but it wasn’t always that way. When I became the first female overhead line engineer on the railway in the 1990s, male colleagues were alarmed to say the least, and I experienced some really sexist attitudes. However, I’m really glad I went through it as I’m using that experience to help redesign our graduate recruitment strategy and replace unattractive images of men on track

with messages and imagery that appeal to both sexes.”

In an additional commitment to encourage more women to consider and pursue a career in engineering, Network Rail has signed up to the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Ten Step Plan, and is supporting a number of university technical colleges across the country in attracting more women to engineering and technical degrees.

Loraine Martins concludes: “We know our industry is perceived as being pretty macho and that men have a better chance of succeeding than women. If this is the general consensus among adults, then it’s hardly surprising that these attitudes appear to have rubbed off on younger generations.

“We cannot afford to be complacent and must keep challenging ourselves, setting ambitious targets to increase the proportion of women in our workforce and working with more education institutions to tackle the problem sooner and with the urgency it deserves.” ■ Electrification Special

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Firms take stock of I

t is not just infrastructure firms that must know the inside track on electrification; train manufacturers need to know what is happening, too.

The current situation is tricky. There is widespread belief that the only market is in overhead line electrification (OLE), which surely means that there is only demand for electric multiple units (EMUs). But in February, the Rail Safety Standards Board (RSSB) Director of Innovation David Clark made the following point: “Only 60% of the network makes a business case for electrification. That means 40% needs an alternative.

“Sixty six per cent of DMUs are more than 20 years old. They need to be replaced or we need to think of something different.”

The situation gets more complicated: Network Rail is at something of a crossroads, and this interferes with OLE projects and, consequently, orders for trains.

Costs are being assessed, and a comprehensive spending review is to be carried out this summer. Nobody really knows

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It’s a volatile and precarious environment, fraught with technical and economic challenges. But the gathering pace of electrification is attracting foreign train manufacturers to eye up the UK market - even if that means they must proceed with caution

what the results will be. And there is always the possibility that schemes could be scaled back, delayed or even axed.

Speaking at Railtex on May 13, Bombardier Head of Sales Rolling Stock UK Chris Parker said: “It is pleasing as a manufacturer to see the emphasis that the Department for Transport (DfT) has placed recently on new rolling stock, rather than cascades. The UK is an opportunity. We still monitor emerging technology, such as Independently Powered Electric Multiple Units (IPEMUs) but most new rolling stock is EMU. There are no plans for diesel multiple units, but you never know.”

If there is a market, he reckons it would be

for between 100 and 200 vehicles. But he compares that to the need for, potentially, thousands of new EMU vehicles.

To back this up, he highlights studies from the Long Term Passenger Rolling Stock Strategy for the Rail Industry, which talks of the need for thousands of new vehicles, nearly all of which would be electric.

Alstom Managing Director Urban & Services, Alstom Transport UK Piers Wood shares this opinion. Also speaking on May 13, he said: “We need to get back into the rolling stock market. It is like a clean slate for us. We have overcome past problems and we are now a very capable and reliable performer.

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f the market “The next thing is to win something, and the problem is that there is almost too much.”

However, he warns, the Comprehensive Spending Review needs to be carefully monitored.

New manufacturers are preparing to enter the market. Hitachi started in 2007, when the first Class 395 Javelins arrived in the UK, and the firm has since won deals to supply AT200 EMUs to ScotRail, as well as the high-profile Intercity Express Programme (IEP) trains. That is set to be followed by the AT300 order for at least 29 trains for First Great Western (FGW), which will also be bi-mode trains. This means that OLE can be extended westwards, and trains capable of using it would already be in place.

But other manufacturers also have designs

on the UK. Polish manufacturer Pesa (Pojazdy Szynowe Pesa Bydgoszcz) attended the Railtex exhibition on May 12-14 to showcase its products.

At the same event, Siemens launched its Desiro Verve, which is capable of speeds up to 125mph, and is very much aimed at the pending electrification of the Midland Main Line and trans-Pennine routes, as well as stock replacement orders for, perhaps, Abellio Greater Anglia and other deals in Scotland.

Then there is Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF), which is currently working with Serco to supply Mk 5 carriages for the Caledonian Sleeper franchise. It has developed trains it believes would be of interest to UK operators.

Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles

The big win could be the ability to traverse ‘gaps’, such as travelling from east to west across a line that is not electrified

(CAF) Business Development Director Richard Garner said on April 28: “We constantly hear people talk about the long-term pipeline of work, and we see it a little different.

“The franchising process throws up all these questions every time. ‘Should we refurbish?’

‘Can we re-traction?’ ‘As a movement of rolling stock from one franchise to the other, it’s about growing business, increased revenues, passenger numbers, do I need a new rolling stock for that?

“So every single time you get to this, and that’s pretty much the train operating company standard of 20 questions to ask somebody, and we need to respond to that market, the dynamics of that market.

“I think over the next ten years there’s every reason why suppliers will continue to operate in the UK. And again some of this takes you back to the franchising process, it creates different opportunities. There’ll be phases.

And that’s because you can see that there’s a requirement for a large number of vehicles in a few years. So the UK market’s going to be

The first bi-mode Class 800 started main line testing overnight on May 12/13 between Peterborough and Tallington.

Just before midnight on May 12, 800001 stands at Peterborough. JON BENTON.

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The Long Term Passenger Rolling Stock Strategy for the Rail Industry is compiled by the Rolling Stock Strategy Steering Group. It includes analysis of future rolling stock needs by the original three rolling stock leasing companies (Angel Trains, Eversholt Rail Group and Porterbrook Leasing) and the Rail Delivery Group, which represent passenger and freight train operators and Network Rail. Latest figures exclude the very large numbers of new trains which will be built for London Underground in the coming years, the smaller quantities for international high speed services to and from London, and for light rail routes.

But the most recent report, published in March, is consistent with the Government’s recent announcement about rolling stock requirements for the North of England.

The report includes projections for the quantities of new rolling stock that will be needed in the next five years that have been revised upwards because of the growth in passenger numbers.

These projections also reflect recent announcements regarding new trains, some of which have been announced, and some for which deals have not been concluded. These include: ■ c2c (no confirmed deal).

Only 60% of the network makes a business case for electrification ■ Thameslink (1,140 vehicles being built by Siemens for which the first arrives in August).

■ ScotRail (for which 234 vehicles are being built by Hitachi for delivery from 2017).

■ Caledonian Sleeper (75 carriages to be delivered from 2017).

■ South West Trains (150 Class 707 vehicles built by Siemens, for which construction begins in June).

■ Transport for London for the London overground (including 39 trains for the West Anglia Inners, for which no deals have been confirmed).

The strategy highlights the many customer benefits of electrification, including increased fleet reliability, improved train punctuality, better acceleration to shorten journey times, greater train capacity and reduced noise, vibration and emissions. It takes into account Government commitments, in principle, to continue to electrify the rail network (a commitment, it must be said, that was made before the May 7 General Election).

Bombardier Electrostar 379013 was fitted with battery technology for trials. The Class 379, part of the Abellio Greater Anglia fleet, worked for several weeks on the Harwich branch. Network Rail and Bombardier believe there could be a market for Independently Powered Electric Multiple Units. On February 9, the ‘379’ stands at Harwich International. RICHARD CLINNICK.

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Taking into account the Government’s commitment in principle to continue the electrification of the network, the strategy forecasts the following: ■ Based on forecasts of future passenger demand, an increase in the size of the fleet of between 52% and 99% will be required over the next 30 years.

■ The proportion of vehicles using electric traction will rise from 69% today to 92-95% in 30 years’ time ■ Between 13,000 and 19,000 new electric vehicles will be required over the period, with an average of between eight and 12 needing to be delivered every week. This is in contrast to four per week in the five years to April 2014. Around 3,350 new electric vehicles will be needed by April 2019, with orders already placed for 90% of this total. A further 428 vehicles for Crossrail, the Intercity Express Programme (IEP) and Essex Thameside have already been committed for delivery after this date.

This requirement for new electric vehicles is front-loaded. Updated analysis of fleet sizes in Control Period 5 (CP5) and CP6 indicates that 1,109 new EMU vehicles are now committed for delivery in CP5 (for England, Wales and Scotland and including TfL’s rail concessions), in addition to 2,240 vehicles for the Thameslink, Crossrail and IEP projects.

This makes a total of 3,349 new vehicles to be delivered in CP5. Orders have already been placed for 3,019, or 90% of these. This is

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Large train orders have been specified by the Department for Transport, although future orders should, largely, be led by operators. On April 2, 700101 stands at Wildenrath, Germany, undergoing testing.

Siemens is building 1,140 Class 700 vehicles for Govia Thameslink Railway. RICHARD CLINNICK.

compared with the total of 1,055 new vehicles delivered in CP4. The CP5 total could rise further as new franchises are let.

Richard Brown, chairman of the Rolling Stock Strategy Steering Group, said: “Demand for rail travel is set to continue to

grow. Meeting this demand with the most suitable and cost-efficient rolling stock is vital to maximising the railway’s benefits for passengers, as well as the economy, local communities and the environment. This updated rolling stock strategy sets out future

potential demand and identifies challenges and opportunities.

“The rail industry is committed to working with Government to ensure that a whole-life, whole-system approach to rolling stock is adopted. This will maximise both value for

Timeline of key activities relating to London and south east franchises

Source: Long Term Passenger Rolling Stock Strategy for the Rail Industry

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Electrifcation Special money and benefits for rail customers.”

It states that rolling stock procurement should, in most cases, be market-based and franchise-led. “By putting train operators and fleet owners at the centre of planning and delivering rolling stock, better value for money can be achieved, as will be the case for the new and additional rolling stock to be procured for the North of England.”

Wood, speaking about the need for testing of new trains, says that things are beginning to change regarding performance, but notices that there are certain trends regarding deliveries: “The UK has always been given a ridiculous lead time to deliver trains. Where there is a long lead time it tends to be where DfT has led the project. The commuter market tends to be much tighter.”

Bombardier’s Parker says: “As a supplier, the trickiest thing is the different emerging strategies for every operator. We believe it is a bigger concern for the financiers. It’s not necessarily tricky to deal with. In the early days of a bid you can get diverging strategies emerging and we can offer three versions of the same platform for three different operators.

We then need to keep track.”

NR Principal Engineer James Ambrose said of the IPEMU back in February: “There’s a desire for more electrification, but it is not viable to electrify the entire railway - is there

There is an enormous will to work together.

Things are not how we want them to be, but we need to plan ahead for more than the current control period, or the next one another answer?” He elaborates on this point: “Low bridges, etc, are very expensive to wire due to the infrastructure. Trains may be able to coast, but a train could ‘sit down’ [fail]. Long distance Independent Power could help, but the big win could be the ability to traverse ‘gaps’, such as travelling from east to west across a line that is not electrified.” Parker says of the possibility of IPEMU: “Let’s say electrification will always have gaps. These will be small pockets and there will be pockets that will always need DMUs. But if the pocket is perhaps 10% or more of the route then use IPEMU.” Ambrose believes that there are plenty of benefits to the project. “There is reduced rolling stock costs, reduced electrification costs and it’ll be far better than relying on fossil fuel for power.”

Network Rail is due to issue a strategy document, which has been delayed since late March, regarding electrification. At the February 9 event to launch the IPEMU it was made clear that IPEMU would feature in that.

Categorisation of rolling stock types

Source: Long Term Passenger Rolling Stock Strategy for the Rail Industry

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Electrification Special

Ambrose says: “It will consider the conversion of DC to AC power - and also IP fleets.”

Per Allmer, Head of Western Europe, Middle East and the Africa region at Bombardier Transportation says: “The IPEMU demonstrates what battery technology can offer the rail industry. Following extensive design and testing work, the train has now successfully begun a trial passenger service, to prove the viability of the concept. It’s a technology we can incorporate onto future new-build trains, such as our Aventra platform, and retro-fit into existing modern rail vehicles, adding value to existing fleets.”

Additionally, the strategy includes updated fleet size forecasts to show the ‘Electric and Bi-mode’ fleet totals increasing by between 1,900 and 2,500 over the course of CP6 in the three scenarios. This compares with an increase of between 2,500 and 3,100 over the course of CP5, it claims.

It is not possible, it states, to predict how many older electric vehicles and electricallyhauled vehicles will be permanently retired during these control periods, and also how many EMUs, which may temporarily be offlease at the end of 2019, may move back into operational use during CP6.

Nevertheless, it appears highly likely on the basis of the assumptions contained in this analysis that the total number of new vehicles required to be delivered in CP6 will be lower than in CP5.

The rolling stock strategy states: “The total net increase in fleet size is forecast to be lower in Control Period 6 (2019-2024) than in CP5 (2014-2019), following completion of the very large orders for the Thameslink, Crossrail and IEP projects. Britain’s rail industry and its suppliers have several times experienced large fluctuations of demand for new vehicles and other equipment, and it is important that this is avoided so far as possible in future if the confidence of investors and the supply chain is to be increased.

“This would be helped by early Government commitment to a specific programme of electrification for CP6.” Next year, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) will issue its draft conclusions for the next control period.

It wants innovation, but stresses that the industry must lead that, not the regulator.

ORR Chairman Anna Walker said on May 12: “We need to recognise electrification is massive. We have not done this for a long time. We are actively working with Network Rail to learn. We need to turn the problems into positives. We need to define the costs, the planning and the delivery.

“I can say there is an enormous will to work together. Things are not how we want them to be, but we need to plan ahead for more than the current control period, or the next one. You have to look five, ten, 15, 20 years ahead. I have confidence we can do that.”

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On February 24, Northern Rail 319365 stands at Liverpool South Parkway with a driver training trip from Crewe. Class 319/3s are being cascaded north to operate on newly electrified routes. RICHARD CLINNICK.

Back to the strategy, which claims: “Electrification will, in many cases, permit longer trains, and will enable diesel trains to be transferred to non-electrified routes, where growth has been constrained by a lack of sufficient vehicles.

“The modelling of electrification and growth demonstrates a reduction in rolling stock unit costs of more than 30% in all scenarios. The strategy emphasises the resulting benefits to passengers, including improvements to punctuality and reliability.”

Walker spoke more than two months after the strategy was published. The strategy states that the present total national Network Rail track mileage is 19,336 single track miles (excluding depots and sidings). Of this, 8,008 track miles (41.4%) are electrified and 11,312 track miles (58.6%) are non-electrified. It states that 64 track miles of new electrification were completed in 2013/2014, in the North West of England and in Scotland.

It adds that in the whole of CP4 (2009-2014) new electrification was added to 204 track miles. Following the completion of around 1,850 track miles of electrification currently authorised, more than half of the national track miles (51%) will be electrified.

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Although the Department for Transport cannot yet commit to a rolling programme of electrification beyond CP5, the direction of Government policy is to continue such a programme into CP6 and beyond. Views were sought by the DfT on this in response to the 2012 High Level Output Specification (HLOS).

Transport Scotland’s CP5 HLOS already contains a specific objective of a rolling programme of electrification amounting to approximately 60 single track miles per annum, following the completion of the EdinburghGlasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP) electrification.

In an age of austerity, value for money is key.

The strategy states: “Rolling stock-related costs per vehicle mile can be reduced in real terms as a result of these changes because the costs of leasing, maintenance and energy for new electric vehicles are substantially lower than the costs for comparable new diesel vehicles; also the costs of older electric vehicles are significantly less than for comparable older diesel vehicles.

“The presently committed programme of electrification will take the proportion of track mileage that is electrified from 41% to 51%. The Low, Medium and High scenarios

in this rolling stock strategy (RSS), based on some initial ranking, illustrate the potential to increase this figure to 62%, 71% or 77% in subsequent years.”

But there is also a warning: “Future energy costs and the relative costs of diesel fuel and electricity are very difficult to forecast.

Electricity costs are currently rising to help pay for lower carbon sources, while diesel fuel costs have fallen sharply.

“This factor, if it continued in the medium to long term, would have some impact on the business case for some electrification projects, but would not undermine the key conclusions of this RSS.” It also points out: “Investor and supply chain confidence would be enhanced, and costs potentially reduced if funders could make early commitments to a future electrification programme beyond CP5. Ministerial and departmental commitment to a specific and significant programme of electrification in CP6 would greatly help Network Rail and the suppliers of electrification.”

It seems the industry agrees OLE is the future. Funding and planning look set to be the key issues. And much more debate on the subject is inevitable. ■ Electrification Special

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