RailStaff April 2013 by Rail Media

RailStaff

Winner. Rail Team of the Year.

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Issue 185 / April 2013

THE MOST POPULAR PUBLICATION IN THE UK RAIL INDUSTRY

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royal Backing For rail Dr. Daniel Woodland joins Lloyds register rail

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rail safety summit 2013 colin Wheeler reviews the rail safety summit presentations.

ÂŠ shutterstock.com

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As the rail industry prepared to mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of the Beeching report, members of the royal Family visited London underground to underline celebrations of its 150th year in operation. A busy easter weekend saw railway staff out in force at reading, on the London underground and on numerous upgrade projects across the network aimed at clawing back capacity lost under Beeching.

Andy ridout talks to Andy milne rail recruiters - getting the right person for the right position.

Continued on PAGe 4

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commeNt

RailStaff Contact us:

Publisher:

Paul O’Connor

Editor:

Andy Milne

Production and design:

Adam O’Connor

Senior Reporter:

Jonathan Webb

Writer:

Nigel Wordsworth

Track Safety:

Colin Wheeler

Pictures:

Colin Garratt

Advertising:

Asif Ahmed Craig Smith Danny Rowbotham Paul Curtis

Contact Email Addresses News: news@rail-media.com Pictures: pictures@rail-media.com Adverts: adverts@rail-media.com Subscriptions: pat@rail-media.com

Contact Details RailStaff Publications Ltd Ashby House, Bath Street, Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire, LE65 2HF. Tel: 01530 56 00 26 Web: www.railstaff.co.uk Email: hello@rail-media.com Printed by Pensord. RailStaff is published by RailStaff Publications Limited. A Rail Media Publication.

What better response to the 50th anniversary of the Beeching report than the news that the transport Benevolent Fund has signed up its 40,000th current member, Wayne Probert? Spring beckons after a long, cold, dark winter for the railway industry. A winter, that began with Dr. Beeching’s recommendations that a third of the nation’s railway and 2,000 stations be scrapped, reached its nadir with the planned privatisation of the industry by the John Major administration. Railways were set for managed decline. However, for the thousands of railway staff who kept the faith and invested careers in rail, this spring beckons warm and bright. Upgrades of the London Underground, High Speed 2, Thameslink and the electrification of the west herald a whole host of capacity enhancements, investment and growth. Tram lines and freight flows continue to boom. We now have the youngest railway fleet in Europe enabling staff to run complex timetables at Swiss levels of reliability. However, spare a thought for the good doctor who died in March 1985. Beeching was only doing the work of his political masters. The railways by the 1960s had few friends in the political class. Our rulers were enamoured of the motor car and eager to

A message of hope Beeching was only doing the work of his political masters

“Upgrades of the London Underground, HS2, Thameslink and the GW Electrification herald a whole host of capacity enhancements…”

contribute to the TBF or help a widow at Embankment station; staff who work in all weathers starting shifts in the small hours often far from home. This Easter it is worth reﬂecting on an industry that came back from the dead with a message of hope for the wider provinces of British industry and for a country eager to rise above the misguided defeatism of the past.

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promulgate a European-style autobahn system. Behind Beeching stood Earnest Marples, minister of transport, whose initial, M, is still used to denote multiple-carriage auto-routes. The real difference now is that the political class has embraced railways as part of the solution of Britain’s economic tribulations. The strength of the railway is its kind and conﬁdent staff - able to

sPecIAL Focus

stations Focus In may’s railstaff

changeover at New street

Gaining rail business advantage

stations are busy places. refurbishment and alterations are taking place right now across the network. railstaff brings you the latest news.

‘the ﬁrst half of the new concourse at Birmingham New street opens to passengers 28th April.

the rail Industry contractors’ Association is all set to help small and medium businesses get ahead.

If you want to contribute, get in touch now. Please contact Paul, tom or Danny on 01530 560026. www.railstaff.co.uk

Royal Visit to Baker Street London Underground’s chief operating officer, Howard Collins, presented a ‘Baby on Board’ badge to the Duchess of Cambridge, who is five months pregnant…

marking celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the opening of the London underground, the Queen and Prince Philip with the Duchess of cambridge visited Baker street station to check out new air-conditioned walk through trains and talk to railway staff. London Underground’s chief operating ofﬁcer, Howard Collins, presented a ‘Baby on Board’ badge to the Duchess who is ﬁve months pregnant. As part of the visit the royal party met a cross-section of stations, train and maintenance staff. As well as new trains they were shown the Metropolitan Railway Jubilee Carriage No 353, the oldest operational underground carriage in existence and used recently on a steam run to commemorate the 150th anniversary. The Queen unveiled a plaque naming a new train ‘Queen Elizabeth II.’ Says Mike Brown, managing director, London Rail, ‘Today’s visit was a huge privilege, helping us mark the 150th anniversary of London Underground as well as recognising some of the staff who work tirelessly to keep London moving.’ London Underground’s new S-Stock trains, which are being introduced to 40 per cent of the Tube network, are already serving the Metropolitan line and currently being rolled out on the Hammersmith & City line followed by the Circle and District line. The trains are built by Bombardier at Derby. www.railstaff.co.uk

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Passenger volumes soar Figures issued by the ofﬁce of rail regulation show passenger numbers pushing ahead despite capacity constraints and in hearty deﬁance of the recession. Record growth was achieved last year. According to ORR over 385 million passenger journeys took place on Great Britain’s railways between 1 October and 31 December 2012. This is 14 million

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more than for the same period last year. This is also the highest number of franchised passenger journeys in a third quarter since records began. The total number of kilometres travelled by rail passengers in the Q3 period was 14.6 billion kilometres, an increase of 2.8% compared to the same period last year.

Total franchised passenger revenue in Q3 2012-13 reached £1.96 billion, an 8.3% increase compared with the same period last year. This is the highest recorded level of revenue generated within any quarter. Nonfranchised passenger revenue rose to a record high of £12.7 million. This is a 16.1% increase compared to the same quarter last year.

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king’s cross station has seen a record-breaking jump in customer satisfaction in the year since the award-winning western concourse opened to the public, new research shows. Figures from Passenger Focus show King’s Cross station has risen from bottom to joint-second among Network Rail’s managed stations in the satisfaction table, with 94% of passengers satisﬁed compared with just 56% in spring 2011. King’s Cross is now just 1% behind its neighbour, St Pancras International. Says Anthony Smith, Passenger Focus chief executive, ‘Passengers tell us that station improvements make a big difference to their journey experience, and the revamped King’s Cross station has achieved a 33 percentage point increase in satisfaction in our most recent National Passenger Survey. Our message to industry is to ensure that any investment is targeted at things that passengers want.’

King’s Cross in satisfaction coup

Improvements include the opening of the western concourse, giving passengers three times more space with more shops and better facilities and the completion of the reglazing and renovation of the main train shed roofs.

Says Network Rail station manager Tom Caine, ‘Passengers now have the modern, spacious concourse they deserve and a facility capable of taking everything that’s thrown at it, as we saw during the Diamond

half time changeover at New street

Jubilee and the London Olympics and Paralympics. With the opening of the new King’s Cross Square in the autumn we’ll see a further big step forward with the station’s contribution to the regeneration of the whole area.’

Level crossings: the final frontier

the ﬁrst half of the new concourse at Birmingham New street station will open to passengers on sunday 28 April. Says Chris Montgomery, Network Rail’s New Street project director, ‘We’ve committed to keeping New Street open to passengers throughout the redevelopment and to date, we’ve been able to do most of our work behind the scenes. The half time switchover on 28 April will be the ﬁrst time passengers see real changes in how they use, and access New Street station. 6

‘By switching off the old station and opening the ﬁrst half of the new concourse next door, we can keep passengers moving through New Street while we continue rebuilding the existing half of the station and shopping centre above.’ When the new concourse and new entrances open the old station and all of its existing entrances will close to allow rebuilding work to continue on this side of the station. Over 1,000 construction staff are on site. When the ﬁrst half of the new concourse opens, it will be one and a half times bigger than the old concourse.

the european space Agency has awarded Berner and mattner a contract to perform a feasibility study, as part of esA’s Integrated Applications Promotion, into enhancing level crossing safety. An integrated system of improving safety by combining space assets such as telecommunications, earth observation and navigation with existing terrestrial assets will be used. The SafeRail study will determine if a space-based service is both technically feasible and economically viable. Technical challenges that have to be faced include determining the train’s position using relative measurements and by satellite navigation to redundant terrestrial and satellite communication and integrated trafﬁc information systems that can provide a driver with appropriate information. www.railstaff.co.uk

keyline boosts rail team

keyline’s National rail Division has expanded its sales and technical support team in a bid to meet record demand for civil engineering and specialist skills in the rail sector. Based at the company’s National Rail Ofﬁce in Canning Town, East

London, Matt Turner and Alex Winslow have both joined Keyline as National Sales Negotiators. Matt and Alex will be dealing with all rail-related activity and key competencies including technical advice, risk reduction, compliance management and business

steven Wharton joins Parsons Brinckerhoff Parsons Brinckerhoff has appointed steven Wharton to head up programme management at its expanding Northern rail management services team. Welcoming his new role, Steve Wharton says, ‘This is an exciting time for the rail industry with innovative solutions required to achieve value for money and I am delighted to be joining Parsons Brinckerhoff to help clients meet this challenge.’ Wharton joins the company from Mace, where he led the northern transportation team. He specialises in delivering multidisciplinary infrastructure schemes and has expert knowledge of change management, business planning, and programme and project management. His previous projects include

Birmingham Airport’s runway extension, London Underground SPAD mitigation schemes, Transport for Greater Manchester’s Altrincham Interchange, and Network Rail’s track renewals programme. Says Daniel Mayhew, Rail Management Services Operations Director, ‘We are delighted to welcome Steven to our group; he brings a wealth of project delivery, consultant and client experience to our team, which will provide real value to our customers.’ A chartered civil engineer, Wharton is a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and a Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) Practitioner. Parsons Brinckerhoff has approximately 14,000 employees in 150 ofﬁces around the world and is part of Balfour Beatty plc.

development. They will both play a key role developing and maintaining Keyline National Rail Division’s expanding customer base within the sector. Matt previously spent three years working within the rail sector for civil engineering and building materials supplier Burdens in Sittingbourne, Kent, and prior to this worked for a plumbing merchant. Meanwhile, Alex spent more than two years in a Sales Negotiator role for Burdens having joined the company from a building and timber merchant. Says Richard Wade, Rail Sector Manager at Keyline, ‘Our National Rail Ofﬁce provides a single point of contact to deliver high levels of service for all order, product and stock management, and technical service requirements. These further appointments mean we remain best placed to meet the precise needs of all MAFA, track work, civil engineering and building contractors, as well as rail organisations such as Network Rail and London Underground.’

Adrian ewer Goes Ahead Adrian ewer joins the board of Go-Ahead as a non-executive director with effect from 25th April 2013. Ewer is currently Chief Executive Ofﬁcer of John Laing plc, a post he has held since 2006. Adrian Ewer began his career in accountancy before joining John Laing plc in 1991. He became Group Finance Director in 1999. He has previously been a non-executive director of Severn River Crossing plc, UK Highways M40 (Holdings) Ltd, and Octagon Group Limited. He is also closely involved with the Prince’s Trust.

Norman Baker rocks Department for transport transport minister Norman Baker has admitted leading a double life as a rock and roll singer. Baker and his band, the Reform Club, have released a single called ‘Piccadilly Circus’ which he co-wrote. The 55 year old Lib Dem MP for Lewes says he relaxes by singing in the band. ‘Music has always been very important to me,’ says Baker. ‘That’s what I like to do when I go home and switch off the day job.’ www.railstaff.co.uk

PeoPLe NeWs

Brighter than the sun

Atoc’s chairman, tom smith, has been appointed as a nonexecutive director of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. Alongside his work at ATOC, Tom will advise NDA, the nondepartmental public body tasked with decommissioning and cleaning-up Britain’s civil nuclear legacy. He has extensive experience of major infrastructure

projects, complex commercial contracts and the interface between government and business, all of which will be valuable to the NDA. ‘Rail is a booming sector in which private companies work closely with regulators and government to improve services. I look forward to joining the Board of the NDA and putting the skills and experience gained from working in the rail sector to use in my new role,’ says Smith. Before taking up his role at ATOC, Tom Smith was Managing Director of Rail Development at Go-Ahead and prior to that he was Managing Director of Midland Expressway Limited (MEL) from 1997 to 2001 the M6 toll road. Tom has also worked in a variety of senior positions for Trafalgar House plc and spent his early career in the Diplomatic Service serving in London, Hong Kong and Beijing.

Woodland leaves LuL Lloyd’s register rail has appointed Dr. Daniel Woodland as Professional head of signalling for its uk rail services business. Daniel, who joins the team from London Underground, is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham. He has focused on signalling, CBTC and ERTMS systems throughout his 18 years in the industry. His experience encompasses engineering management; assurance and ‘Intelligent Client’ activities; system speciﬁcation and tender assessment; ATP system development (particularly operational, signalling and system design principles); system integration; training, development and education. Daniel will be based at Lloyd’s Register’s Fenchurch Street ofﬁces

in central London. He was educated at Loughborough University where he studied electronic and electrical engineering. He also has a PhD from Shefﬁeld University where he wrote his doctorate called Optimisation of Automatic Train Protection.

mike Prager joins Network rail consulting Network rail consulting has appointed mike Prager as finance and commercial director to help implement its international growth strategy. As finance and commercial director Mike will be responsible for the financial and commercial arrangements of Network Rail Consulting in overseas territories. As a key member of senior management, Mike will take the lead in project accounting, management reporting, internal control and financial reporting, cash-flow control, and finance regularity requirements in overseas operations. Mike has over 20 years of international experience working with major consultancy groups including Halcrow and MVA Consultancy (a subsidiary of Systra). Says Nigel Ash, managing director of Network Rail Consulting, ‘These are exciting times for Network Rail Consulting and we welcome Mike into the team. He will play a key part in the success of the consulting business as we develop our overseas operations.’

ATA is a specialist provider of white collar technical,engineering and commercial recruitment solutions to firms throughout the rail industry.

Ganymede Solutions has a long heritage of providing contingent labour to safety critical aspects of the rail industry.

Tel: 0845 880 8115 www.ata-recruitment.co.uk

Tel: 0845 880 8104 www.ganymedesolutions.co.uk

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rAIL ALLIANce NeWs

Join the rail Alliance now rail Alliance membership starts from just £500 per year

log on to www.railalliance.co.uk email info@railalliance.co.uk or call 01789 720026.

spring conﬁdence

New members © ADAm o’coNNor

dBD communications & management consultancy Ltd (Formed in 2002 to support the RF & Microwave markets throughout Europe. Experienced in Military, Avionics and Commercial Communications, our aim is to supply both Product Requirements and Business Management Solutions in many Market ﬁelds) www.dbdcom.co.uk Precast Advanced track Ltd (PCAT) (PreCast Advanced Track - PCAT is a new concept in railway construction and challenges the traditional engineering method of supporting railway track on loose ballast by replacing unbound ballast with a low maintenance slab track) www.precastadvancedtrack.com stirling Lloyd Group plc (UK manufacturer of high

It seems that we are ahead of the weather in that spring is here and the dark days of Winter are behind us. Members are reporting that confidence is growing and that whilst work is not easy to find, there is plenty of activity to keep them busy. We hosted a seminar on electrification and hybrid power systems on behalf of Birmingham Science City recently. It was a very well attended seminar, with over 75 people booked in from 60 different companies and organisations. We had a rich seam of presenters with

Katie Ferrier from Network Rail leading the way, supported by Marcus Mayers from the Enabling Innovation Team and Professor Clive Roberts from the University of Birmingham. What was really clear from each of their presentations is that there is a great deal of opportunity waiting to be tapped. Behind the scenes we have been working closely with members to develop some speciﬁc Supply Chain Groupings (SCG), speciﬁcally Damon High at Ibeni will be our lead in Product Acceptance SCG, Neil Bates at Creactive is formative

in the Design SCG and Kevan Frost of Independent Glass is taking the lead with the Glazing Systems SCG. Our own Rob Hopkin is continuing to forge ahead with our BS11000 program. There is more to follow after Railtex, where our presence is the strongest ever. The Rail Alliance Hub is now collectively the size of the show’s networking area and the biggest single stand area in the hall! This year we have over 60 companies at the exhibition, our strongest showing ever… here’s looking forward to a great show!

rail Alliance events

sIFer 2013 26th-28th march Lille, France

metrorail 2013 9th-11th April madrid, spain

performance coatings for the protection of infrastructure and buildings. Established over 40 years ago with a single-minded commitment to developing new and more effective ways to extend the life of structures, Stirling Lloyd has become a global leader supplying to more than ﬁfty countries worldwide. Stirling Lloyd is a Joint Venture partner for PCAT referred to above) www.stirlinglloyd.com

railtex 2013 30th April - 2nd may earls court, London

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New viaduct for West Wales replacement of the Loughor Viaduct near swansea and the doubling of a 5.25-mile stretch of track through Gowerton will open up West Wales to more frequent train services. Now nearing completion the new line will remove the single track bottleneck on the busy Llanelli to Swansea line. The original Loughor Viaduct dates from 1852. The new viaduct replaces the old 220m timber trestle that carried the South Wales Mainline between Swansea and Llanelli. Says Welsh Transport Minister, Carl Sargeant, ‘These improvements are excellent news for the population of West Wales as they will provide the capacity for a more frequent and reliable service.’ The Welsh Government

contributed £25 million to the £48 million improvement project. During a 16-day line closure over Easter, engineers were hard at work redoubling the track and completing the new viaduct. Network Rail installed a new footbridge at Gowerton station in January. Works at the station will see the redundant east-bound platform brought back into use along with new lighting and signage. Duffryn level crossing will be upgraded to accommodate the additional line.

train named harold Wilson merseyrail has named one of its trains after erstwhile prime minister, harold Wilson. The naming was staged at Rock Ferry station. Wilson spent part of his life in the Wirral and attended the sixth form Wirral Grammar School for Boys in the 1930s. He met his future wife Mary, then a secretary at Lever Brothers, when he visited Port Sunlight Tennis Club. The couple had two children,

Giles and Robin. Giles later became a driver on South West Trains and remained a lifelong rail enthusiast. Harold Wilson went on to lead the Labour Party and served as prime minister between 1964-1970 and 1974 -1976. He is remembered for starting the Open University and abolishing capital punishment. Wilson also kept Britain out of the Vietnam War despite pressure from Washington.

crossrail celebrates Apprentices of the year

south thames college engineering student regina tumblepot is crossrail’s Apprentice of the year. At the award ceremony at the Houses of Parliament Regina, 26, from Folkestone in Kent, won two awards having earlier picked up the Trade Apprentice Award. She was nominated for her work at the new Whitechapel Crossrail station with contractor BBMV, a joint 12

venture of Balfour Beatty, ALPINE BeMo Tunnelling, Morgan Sindall and VINCI Construction. Co-workers paid tribute to Regina describing her as a phenomenal ﬁnd, a stand-out individual and an inspiration to all the apprentices. On winning the award Regina said, ‘I’m really proud to have won this award, especially when I see the quality of

the work that the other apprentices have done. ‘It’s really great to celebrate the success of apprentices and recognise our hard work. Being an apprentice has worked for me and I’m really glad that BBMV has helped me grow and learn on the job.’ Fellow South Thames College student, Ray Cantwell, was nominated for the Specialist Apprentice Award and was ‘highly commended’ for excellent performance. Ana Costa, 31, from Newham in east London was awarded Specialist Apprentice of the Year, for her work as an apprentice accountant. The Chairman’s Special Prize for Achievement went to Ray Stephenson, 18, a Construction Apprentice from southeast London who was praised for his exemplary attitude. Tom Lane from BBMV was recognised as Apprentice Champion for his work as a mentor to apprentices on the Liverpool Street and Whitechapel station tunnels projects. The BBMV

Joint Venture and T.G. Tunnelling Ltd were both praised for their commitment to apprentices. Says Crossrail Chairman Terry Morgan, ‘I would like to congratulate all of our winners for the huge contribution they have made to the delivery of the Crossrail project. Crossrail is not just about delivering a world-class new railway, it is about leaving a lasting skills legacy for the industry. The apprentices we have recognised today highlight the rewards of investing in highquality skills training, an area I feel passionately about having started my own career as an apprentice.’ There are now more than 150 apprentices working on the Crossrail project. Says Sarah Horrell, Vice Principal at South Thames College, ‘Regina has achieved so much, it’s great that her hard work has been recognised. BBMV and the other companies with which we work do a fantastic job in helping our apprentices contribute and learn on the job.’ www.railstaff.co.uk

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robo-ﬂock scares pigeons robotic falcons are being deployed at edinburgh Waverley to scare away pigeons from the new 34,000 square metre glass roof. Network Rail Scotland has ordered two of the solar powered replica Peregrine Falcons. The units, which cost around £3,450, are painted with authentic markings and are programmed to move heads and wings and squawk loudly, emitting genuine Peregrine Falcon calls, at regular intervals. Startled commuters were reassured to learn the Robo-Birds have been positioned on the

Boris Backs Busking

Boris Johnson helped out by strumming a guitar for X Factor ﬁnalist, misha B, at London Bridge station. The Mayor was helping promote a rail talent competition. The winner will receive a year-long busking license from London Underground.

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station roof at North Bridge. The birds are made by Scottish companies Robop and NPI Solutions. Cleaning bills for such a huge acreage of glass can be prohibitive and this solution saves time and money. The birds are already in use at other sites in Scotland and in London and New York. ‘Birds can cause a great deal of mess that can be expensive to clear and Robop is an example of a smart prevention measure that is also cost effective,’ says Kevin Priestley, of Irvine-based NPI Solutions.

two train drivers at First capital connect have been praised for their prompt action which averted a disaster at moorgate. Two large piling drills came through the tunnel wall of the Moorgate to Finsbury Park section of the Northern City Line. Shortly after 10.00 on 8th March the driver of the 10.02 Moorgate to Welwyn Garden City service with passengers on board saw muddy water pouring on to the roof of his train north of Old Street station and made a point of reporting it. All rail services were stopped. At 11.05 a Network Rail Mobile Operations Manager joined another driver on board a special empty train from Moorgate to investigate the problem. As the train approached the area at low speed, two large piling drills came through the skin of the tunnel. The train stopped in time but the driver was shaken. British Transport Police swooped on a construction site above the line. The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has been notiﬁed. Says FCC Managing Director Neal Lawson, ‘This is a serious incident that could have ended very differently had it not been for the vigilance and prompt reporting and actions of our drivers. ‘We carry two million people a year on the Northern City Line and whoever is responsible for this must be held to account.’

Drivers praised at moorgate

electrification for hull An ambitious plan to privately finance the electrification of around 70 miles of track between hull and selby is being pursued by First hull trains. The open-access operator is in talks with private sector investors, infrastructure firm Amey and Network Rail, and expects to start discussions soon with the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) and the Department for Transport (DfT) over plans to electrify the route from the city to Temple Hirst junction. The scheme is currently outside Network Rail’s own immediate electrification plans but could become an integral part of First Hull Trains ambitions to extend its current licence which expires in December 2016. The project is expected to cost between £60-80m. First Hull Trains employs more than 100 people, mainly from across the city and surrounding East Yorkshire. Says Richard Parry, the company’s interim

managing director (above), ‘This is a company founded in the city and one which is cherished and valued by the people of Hull and the surrounding area. The electriﬁcation plans are

still at the development stage but we are working closely with all key stakeholders to make our vision for the route a reality.’ First Hull Trains - a joint venture between FirstGroup with minority shareholders and Hull Trains founders Renaissance Trains - is looking to extend its licence by at least 10 years, with 20 years as the ultimate goal. The operator currently runs 90 services a week between Hull and London King’s Cross, stopping at Brough, Howden, Selby, Doncaster, Retford and Grantham. Electriﬁcation would allow First Hull Trains to replace its Class 180 diesel trains with new rolling stock which would improve reliability and reduce costs. Richard Parry added: “We are looking to secure the long term future of First Hull Trains for the staff and for the people and businesses in Hull and on the route. The licence runs out in less than four years which is a short time in our industry. We are working hard with all our partners to create a sustainable future for the business, our staff and our customers. Since we started in 2001 we have increased passenger numbers ten-fold, carrying almost 800,000 people in 2012.’

round one to high speed 2

legal hurdles and is pushing ahead.

to press ahead without delay in building a high speed railway from London to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. ‘HS2 is the most signiﬁcant infrastructure investment the UK has seen in modern times and a project the country cannot afford to do without. The judgement ensures that nothing now stands in the way of taking our plans to Parliament. We will now move forward as planned with the crucial business of getting the scheme ready for construction in 2017 and delivering enormous beneﬁts for the country.’ Mr Burns will be speaking at the rail engineer seminars on day one of the Railtex exhibition at Earls Court in London on 30th April.

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Despite a high proﬁle campaign to stop hs2 the project has cleared its

HS2 Ltd has opened a Birmingham ofﬁce to co-ordinate operations. In nine out of ten challenges the courts found for the scheme. The tenth concerned the way in which property compensation consultation had been carried out. In order to save time and public money and to limit the impact on residents affected, the Secretary of State has decided that instead of appealing this decision the government will rerun this consultation in line with the judge’s ﬁndings. Says Rail Minister, Simon Burns, ‘This is a major landmark victory for HS2 and the future of Britain. The judge has categorically given the green light for the government

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Diesel approval Wyre Forest District council has approved plans by the severn Valley railway to construct a diesel depot at kidderminster. The depot, which will have lifting jacks and a loco pit installed, will be able to house up to four locomotives at any one time and will be built near the turntable in Kidderminster yard. At present all restoration and maintenance work on the SVR’s large diesel ﬂeet has to be carried out in the open air. The shed will not only offer better facilities for working volunteers but allow longer working days in winter, when there are less hours of daylight. Two former sleeping carriages will be retained to provide accommodation for the railway’s volunteers.

Glaze and blaze for Newcastle An £8.6 million project to revamp Newcastle central station has been welcomed by local people. Its centrepiece will be the pedestrianisation and glazing of the station’s front portico, to create a dramatic new public space. Train operator East Coast unveiled plans that will enhance the historic original Victorian station design. The project will be run in partnership with Network Rail which owns the station building. Work starts in May and is expected to be completed in April next year. The project is being funded by the Department for Transport’s Station Commercial Project Facility Fund. East Coast is working with rail infrastructure provider Network Rail to deliver the improvements. Says East Coast Stations and Property Director, Tim Hedley-Jones, ‘Newcastle Central station is a key part of the history and future of both the city and the wider North East region. The improvements will accentuate the important heritage of the Grade One listed building, one of only six such stations in the UK, and act as a stunning new gateway to the city for visitors. ‘We believe the project will play a key role in the regeneration of the city centre and help to demonstrate that Newcastle and the North East are very much open for business.’

spring push

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the midland metro closed over easter enabling work to proceed on the £128 million project to extend the tram system. Engineers modified existing platforms to accommodate the £40 million fleet of new and bigger trams. The 20-strong fleet will start to go into service on the current route during 2014 and will enable Centro, the region’s transport authority, to increase the system’s frequency to 10 trams an hour throughout the day. All the new trams will be running by 2015 when an extension of the system through Birmingham city centre from Snow Hill Station to a rebuilt New Street Station opens. The city centre extension will run from Snow Hill Station, along Upper Bull Street, Corporation Street and Stephenson Street where it will stop outside New Street Station which is currently undergoing a £600 million rebuild, also due for completion in 2015. The new trams are being built by Spanish manufacturer CAF.

Newcastle Central station is one of only six Grade One listed railway stations in the UK. It is more than 160 years old. The station was designed by John Dobson for the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway Company, which subsequently became part of the North Eastern Railway. It was built in collaboration with Robert Stephenson, who was also responsible for the nearby High Level Bridge carrying road and rail trafﬁc across the Tyne. The station ofﬁcially opened in 1850, with Queen Victoria in attendance. The architects of the project are Ryder Architecture.

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the migration of skills By Lawrence Dobie, education and training Director at Vital services Group.

We are all familiar with the concept of exporting goods from the uk, but what about exporting skills overseas? In recent years Britain has seen a dramatic increase in skilled and experienced engineers migrating abroad to facilitate the development of projects across the world. In turn this has given rise to companies overseas recruiting British engineers and trainers because of the severe skills shortage abroad. Skilled UK workers, some with more than 25 years experience, are making the move and taking with them their experience and knowledge to help with complex projects as well as teaching the local workforce the skills they need to deliver contracts now and in the future. The skills gap is most apparent in the Middle East and Australia. A signiﬁcant amount of money is being invested in major projects

there, and these countries are increasingly recognising the need for a skilled workforce and knowledge frameworks to ensure quality training is provided. In a recent report, the Saudi Arabian chairman of The Council of Engineers, Arch. Hamad N.A. AlShagawi, said there is a shortage of skilled and experienced local engineers in the country, which is hampering the growth and development of the local sector. Of the total 170,000 engineers in Saudi Arabia at present, 140,000 are nonlocals*. The country is now seeking to implement a number of Network Rail standards into its own developments. The Saudis have seen projects delivered successfully in the UK and want to replicate them. Many of our skilled engineers choose to work in Saudi Arabia as the beneﬁts can be great, yet they have to be prepared to work away

from family for long periods of time in remote conditions.

Persistent shortage From having a base in Melbourne, Australia, we know that there has been a persistent shortage of engineers across the country during the last decade. The government there responded to this by increasing the number of engineering places in universities, but due to the rapid development of new projects, we have seen a signiﬁcant increase of skilled workers migrating down under. Migration of skills works both ways and, equally, we need to learn from our counterparts in

Europe and harness the skills and expertise they have developed which have ultimately created a more streamlined and efﬁcient rail network than ours in the UK. The UK’s rail workforce is highly skilled, and the expertise of its engineers is in demand across the world. However, in order to meet the challenges and opportunities that investment in the UK’s rail infrastructure will bring, it’s imperative that we recognise that we also need to learn from other countries and embrace new techniques and skills that will position the UK’s network as a pioneer in the global rail industry.

New Chief Operating Officer

spanish help with oLe

Vital rail has appointed John march as chief operating officer. With several directorate positions within the wider construction and rail industries under his belt, March, who started working life as a graduate engineer with British Rail, joins the firm with a wealth of rail industry experience. He will be responsible for overseeing the firm’s numerous partnerships, including those with Transport for London (TfL) and Spanish overhead line electrification specialist, Electren (see article right). Says John Smith CEO of Vital Services Group, ‘John brings with him a vast amount of experience and his appointment comes at a key time for the business as Vital Rail is delivering more project work as a principal contractor. ‘As we move increasingly into project works, we will be looking at key partnership opportunities with our clients and supply chain to enable us to deliver a first-class

Vital services Group has signed a joint venture agreement with spanish overhead line electrification firm, electren. Their joint expertise will provide the rail industry with the skills, processes and standards to help facilitate the ambition to upgrade the UK’s rail network to 2019, including the planned £4bn investment in electrification. In addition, the joint venture will see Vital Skills Training working with Electren to transfer skills and knowledge between both companies. Following an intensive English speaking course, a group of Spanish overhead line engineers will be embarking on a training programme to ensure they are qualified to work in the UK rail industry, including personal track safety and overhead line electrification construction.

John March.

service in our chosen areas. Gary Hardaker, managing director of Vital Rail, will be working closely with John to support him in his new role.’ Says John, ‘Vital has a strong reputation in the rail sector and I am looking forward to working with the team to deliver a more diverse rail portfolio to enable the company to maximise the opportunities in this growing sector.’

Potential skills shortage Says Gary Hardaker, managing director, Vital Rail, ‘Whilst the recent

announcements around the future investment in the rail sector are to be welcomed, the UK faces a potential skills shortage which could impinge on the delivery of major contracts in the years ahead. ‘Our partnership with Electren is in direct response to this challenge and we see this joint venture as an innovative solution to ensuring that Vital is well placed to capitalise on the future opportunities across the rail industry.’ Electren is part of Vias, a corporate group that belongs to Dragados which is a company of the ACS group. Electren has worked on several major overhead line and electriﬁcation contracts across Europe. Lawrence Dobie, education and training director at Vital Skills Training said: ‘Vital Rail is proud to be at the forefront of this move to up-skill our workforce and ensure we have the required skills and expertise to deliver the plans to upgrade the UK’s rail infrastructure.’ www.railstaff.co.uk

trAINING... sponsored by Vital skills training

tresham college Link Vital skills training, part of the Vital services Group, and tresham college of Further and higher education in Northamptonshire have signed an agreement to provide a higher level qualiﬁcation in rail engineering. The NVQ Level 3 course will initially be offered to 16 apprentices who will receive practical training as well as classroom-based tuition. Vital’s education and training director Lawrence Dobie, Tresham’s managing director and deputy principal Rachel Kay and College principal and chief executive Stuart Wesselby signed the agreement at the college recently during National Apprenticeship Week 2013. Says Mr Dobie, ‘We’re delighted to have this opportunity to work with Tresham College, which already offers a strong grounding in rail engineering through its NVQ Level 2 courses. Our aim is to boost that offering by providing a higher level qualiﬁcation that will provide apprentices with a more in-depth experience.’

More specialised training Apprentices on the course will initially receive practical training at Vital’s Leicester base while still attending the college for classroom sessions. However, Vital is currently in talks with Corby Council to identify a permanent site in the town. The Level 3 qualiﬁcation will be the desired skill level required on the Midland Mainline, which runs through the area. Mr Dobie said that although the Level 3 programme would focus on track to begin with, this provision would be expanded once Vital established a permanent base in the area. This would also allow the delivery of more specialised training at Level 3 in signalling, electriﬁcation and telecommunications, all skills that will be in demand to support the development of the Midland mainline. Says Rachel Kay, Tresham’s managing director, ‘This is an

“We’re delighted to have this opportunity to work with Tresham College, which already offers a strong grounding in rail engineering…” LAWreNce DoBIe, eDucAtIoN AND trAINING DIrector, VItAL serVIces GrouP

ideal partnership for all concerned. Both parties are committed to providing opportunities for people from all backgrounds and giving them the support they need to achieve their career goals. ‘This new programme gives our students a chance not just to earn while they learn, but also to enter a vibrant industry where there is a huge demand for suitably qualiﬁed staff. We’re conﬁdent that this will be a long and successful partnership that will offer young people an exciting and viable career path.’ Vital and Tresham College are both members of the National Skills Academy in Rail Engineering (NSARE), which last year inspected Vital and made it one of six companies in the UK to achieve an outstanding grade. It was praised in particular for its commitment to diversity and equal opportunities. The rail apprenticeship programme is seen as just the start of Vital’s relationship with the area.

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Rob Friend and Colin Brooker.

Baby on board

labour after boarding the train at Borough Green. Fortunately one of the passengers was a midwife and was able to assist. A nurse on board helped and an off-duty policeman also helped the conductor evacuate the carriage. The baby was born within thirty minutes at around 19:40. Says Conductor Colin Brooker, ‘We had everyone we needed right there on the train. We were only missing a vicar to baptise the baby! I kept all the passengers on board informed about the delay and there was a big cheer when we announced the baby was born.’ Colin, a father of four added, ‘In all my 41 years working on the railway I’ve never experienced anything like this. It was amazing.’ The conductor and driver continued to work the rest of the evening shift which ended at one in the morning. Mother and child are doing well. Southeastern sent ﬂowers.

railway staff are stepping up efforts to look after young mums onboard after a baby was born on a commuter service last month.

Baby Phoebe arrived on a Southeastern London Victoria to Ashford International service. Commuters onboard the 18.18

First railway Pope

rail artist works at Wolverton

A railway worker’s son from Buenos Aires has succeeded to the head of the catholic church. Pope Francis 1 was born in December 1936, one of ﬁve children, the son of Argentinean railway worker Mario Bergoglio. Inspired by his parents the new pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, has maintained a life long affection for the simple life and public transport, eschewing private chauffer-driven cars. His father emigrated from the north of Italy in the 1930s to escape fascism. Mario Bergolio wed fellow Italian, Maria, in Buenos Aries. Railway connections die hard for the Pope. Parishioners in Barrio de Flores, a working class neighbourhood, say Father Jorge often returned to mass at St Joseph’s travelling there on the subway.

staff at railcare in Wolverton have presented Daniel smith, head of engineering at heathrow express with an original watercolour depicting the heathrow express fleet undergoing refurbishment at the famed works. The presentation was timed to commemorate the arrival of the first refurbished five-car unit at Old Oak Common Traincare Facility. The painting is the work of artist John Kitchen who works in the warehouse at Railcare. The first of a series of framed limited edition prints was also presented to Steve White, Service Director at Siemens. Phil Mitchell, Projects and Engineering Director at Railcare, handing over the painting to Heathrow Express, said, ‘The refurbished Class 332s are arguably the best looking trains in service in the UK and passengers are often mistaking the refurbished units for brand new rolling stock. ‘The Project has been technically ambitious and working in partnership with Heathrow Express, Siemens and Interfleet we have delivered a top quality product to the customer.’ Daniel Smith, Head of

departure were surprised to hear driver Rob Friend put a call out for any medical staff over the tannoy. The mother-to-be had gone into

Phil Mitchell (right) presents the watercolour to Dan Smith (left) and Steve White (centre).

Engineering at Heathrow Express, paid tribute to the hard work at Wolverton. ‘We are delighted to receive this painting in celebration of the partnership between our three companies. The refurbished ﬂeet is a testament to this, it looks incredible and Railcare certainly stepped up to the task of delivering a leading product for UK Rail,’ he said. A further four 5-car Class 332 units are to be refurbished at Railcare, with the last train due for completion in June this year.

“… working in partnership with Heathrow Express, Siemens and Interfleet, we have delivered a top quality product …” PhIL mItcheLL, eNGINeerING DIrector, rAILcAre.

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PeoPLe NeWs

ops role for tom Joyner London midland has appointed tom Joyner as its new operations and safety Director. Tom joins London Midland from Network Rail on April 15. He is currently Principal Operations Specialist at Network Rail and will replace Wallace Weatherill, who is taking up a new role as Operations Director, Rail Development at the Go-Ahead Group. The West Coast Main Line and Northampton loop is familiar to Tom Joyner who has worked at Silverlink Metro and Silverlink County. His 20 year experience includes stints at First Great Western and Stansted Express. Mr Joyner was educated at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, London Metropolitan University, and at the Cass Business School in London’s City University, where he gained a Masters in Business Administration. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Management, and of the Institution of Railway Operators. Tom Joyner, 40, has a wide range of

experience within the rail industry. Says Patrick Verwer, Managing Director of London Midland, ‘I’m delighted that Tom is joining our senior management team as Operations and Safety Director. He brings with him over 20 years of rail industry experience. ‘The depth of his knowledge of rail industry performance and operations will be invaluable in our continuing drive to improve performance and give our customers the reliable, consistent service they expect and deserve. I’d also like to thank Wallace for his valuable contribution to London Midland over the past three years.’

“The depth of his knowledge of rail industry performance and operations will be invaluable…” PAtrIck VerWer, mANAGING DIrector, LoNDoN mIDLAND

Award in hand Dave mullan (above), a conductor on Greater Anglia, has been given a ‘stepping up for Nature’ award, for his work with the rsPB. In addition to being a familiar face on Greater Anglia train services around Norfolk, Dave also volunteers at a local school, where he helps educate children about nature and wildlife. Through his work at North Walsham Primary School, Dave has helped to set up a ﬁeld study centre at the school,

complete with pond and nest boxes. Says Dennis Harris, Greater Anglia’s Conductor Manager, ‘I’d like to congratulate Dave on his RSPB award. Not only is he an indispensable member of our conductor team, but Dave also devotes a great deal of his own time to assisting the RSPB with their education work. We are delighted that his voluntary work has been recognised.’

harry Beck honoured the birthplace of harry Beck, designer of the iconic London underground linear map, has been honoured with a blue plaque. Harry Beck was born at 14 Wesley Road, Leyton, E10 in 1902. Beck started work for London Transport as an engineering draughtsman in the London Underground Signal Engineer’s office. In 1931 he produced his first design for a diagrammatic map. Beck was inspired by the linear station-tostation route diagrams used inside carriages, specific to the lines the trains operated on. Beck applied the idea of fixed line route portrayal to the whole map, straightening out what he called the ‘vermicelli’ of the capital’s tangled rail network. Says London Transport Museum Director, Sam Mullins, ‘Beck’s map was revolutionary in its simplicity. It has become a London icon and influenced the design of many Metro maps across the globe, as well as being the inspiration for many contemporary artists and designers. www.railstaff.co.uk

‘His work forms part of the overall design ethic of Transport for London and its predecessor organisations, and his original artwork for the London map and the Paris Metro are both on display in London Transport Museum’s Design for Travel gallery.’ From 1947 Beck taught the history and theory of type and design at the London School of

Printing. Beck was notably ahead of the game in producing a version of his London map showing all train services, underground and overground, as early as 1938. This was deemed too complex for publication. However nowadays an integrated diagrammatic map of this sort has become an essential aid to travel in London.

rail division to double as telent powers up

Ahead of railtex, 30 April to 2 may 2013, steve Pears (above), managing Director for telent rail, talks about the focus of telent‘s stand this year, and also telent’s future growth plans. Last year, the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics brought about a feelgood factor throughout the UK. telent contributed signiﬁcantly to this, supporting the London transportation infrastructure, enabling transport providers to meet the demands for travel throughout the summer of 2012 The uncertainty of the economy over the past few years and the impact on some of telent’s markets has led to telent making difﬁcult changes, which ultimately have made the company much stronger and now ready for growth. The net result of these changes is that telent is in a great position to take advantage of new opportunities in all of its markets, 20

particularly within the rail industry. The demand for telecommunication systems and services continues to grow and telent plans to build upon its success to date and forge ahead with new growth plans for the coming year.

Driving change Steve spoke about his plans to double telent’s rail division over the next ﬁve years, including the recruitment of up to 100 skilled employees within the next twelve months. ‘All of us at telent are innovators in driving change within the industry, which makes it an interesting place to work. We are always looking for good people, because bringing new people into the business helps us to drive growth, and this is the catalyst for our recruitment drive.’ telent is running a recruitment campaign to help meet demand for

existing and new projects throughout the rail network. The campaign will be ofﬁcially launched at Railtex 2013, Stand C21. To facilitate the growth plan telent has recently appointed two Account Managers, Keith Reddy and Ian Gale. Both have extensive Account Management experience; Keith in the Rail and Construction sectors, and Ian in the Rail and Telecommunications sectors.

Apprentice programme Over the past few years telent has seen tremendous success with its Apprentice Programme and it continues to grow year on year. The current programme is being expanded to cover a higher level of apprenticeship, with a wider range of skills including engineering, project management, commercial awareness, ﬁnance and health and safety. www.railstaff.co.uk

FeAture

“All of us at telent are innovators in driving change within the industry, which makes it an interesting place to work…” steVe PeArs, mANAGING DIrector, teLeNt rAIL

telent also operates a Graduate Training Programme that runs over a two to three year period. The Graduate will spend six months in different business areas gaining extensive experience in working practices and standards. The telent stand at Railtex places a major focus on MICA, (Monitor, Inform on, Control, Anything) a management system that is used to control systems in railway stations and large control rooms. In the run up to the Olympics telent developed the information display control aspects of MICA to enable station operators to have a greater control over status reporting and digitally displayed information. This provided both a new way to utilise existing signs, and the ability to manage and display multiple sources of travel information, enabling customers to be kept far better informed of the immediate status of the London transport www.railstaff.co.uk

network. telent has also worked together with one of its major rail maintenance customers to develop MICA to assist in the maintenance of their critical lift and escalator assets to increase availability and therefore drive signiﬁcant customer service improvement and reduced cost.

Remote condition monitoring At Railtex on Wednesday 1st May telent’s Alastair Norman, Head of Asset Condition Monitoring is hosting a seminar at 12.30 to talk about its Remote Condition Monitoring capabilities, which have grown at a rapid pace. The ﬁnal focus of the Railtex stand will be reafﬁrming telent’s status as the UK’s leading provider of rail communications maintenance and outlining its capabilities in integrated communications, including Customer Information and Public

Address Systems, CCTV, converged IP networking and Multiprotocol Label Switching networks.

Actively recruiting Speaking further on telent’s growth plans, Steve said, ‘This is an exciting time to work within the rail industry; helping in the success of the rail sector will be a memorable part of your career and working within telent will make it even more memorable.’ Applications for employment are handled through telent’s recruitment partner TSS. Currently telent is actively recruiting two Business Development Managers. Additionally we are looking for Project Managers, System Design Engineers and Project Engineers. All queries prior to Railtex should be directed to services@telent.com regarding the service offering and for recruitment to careers@telent.com

Long run for narrow gauge

the expanding global transport organisation behind the Paris metro, rAtP, has recruited elaine holt to lead attempts to enter the lucrative British rail franchise market. As UK Rail Franchise Director for RATP-Dev Elaine Holt will lead RATP’s bid to pre-qualify for London’s Crossrail operator concession. Before her stint last year with National Express, Elaine headed up government-owned Directly Operated Railways which took on East Coast. Elaine pioneered DOR remaining at the helm for 2 ½ years. Before that she was at FirstGroup tasked with winning the bid for the new Thameslink franchise and then became managing director. Renamed First Capital Connect she brought together two existing rail franchises, Thameslink and West Anglia Great Northern,

Volunteers at Leighton Buzzard’s narrow-gauge railway are celebrating the 45th year of operation this season. The railway opened to the public in 1968. The narrow gauge railway was originally used to carry sand. It will be 100 years old in six years time.

Elaine Holt has proved one of the most effective rail leaders in recent times.

contract from Stagecoach. Says François-Xavier Perin, Chief Executive RATP Dev, ‘Elaine is a respected professional in the UK transport sector with an outstanding track record in rail. Her background, skills and experience will be vital to RATP Dev and its ambitions for the UK and for RATP Dev as a whole.’ French-speaking Elaine Holt has proved one of the most effective rail leaders in recent times doing much to encourage women to push up to the top of the industry. She relaxes by running, doing yoga and riding horses.

to the National Railway Museum for two years from the National Railroad Museum in Wisconsin, USA and Exporail, the Canadian National Railway Museum in Montreal. On 3rd July 1938 Mallard became the world’s fastest steam locomotive, marking a pinnacle in British engineering design. The steam legend was recorded as reaching the awe-inspiring speed of 126mph on the East Coast Main Line, breaking the existing German record of 124 mph set in 1936.

No 4468 Mallard built at LNER’s Doncaster Works was chosen for the attempt on the world steam speed crown because it was the ﬁrst of the class to be ﬁtted with a double chimney. Due to the subsequent evolution of diesel traction and the outbreak of the second world war, Mallard’s record still stands as a marker in global history and to this day inspires a sense of national pride that a British steam locomotive is still recognised as the fastest in the world.

responsible for over 90m passenger journeys a year. Her career at FirstGroup spanned the last decade. She has a background in aviation and spent most of the 1990s working for Galileo and British Airways. She started her working life at the Midland Bank. The RATP Group, the acrostic means Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens, is already busy in the United Kingdom, running bus-companies London United and Bournemouth Transport Limited. Last year RATP bought the Manchester Metrolink

chemin de Fair

royal backing for mallard the Prince of Wales has agreed to become the patron of mallard 75, the National railway museum’s season of events marking 75 years since mallard broke the world steam speed record at stoke Bank near Grantham in 1938. The centrepiece of the celebrations will be the Great Gathering, a spectacular fortnightlong international family reunion in July. Mallard and her ﬁve surviving sister A4 Paciﬁc Class locomotives will be gathered together around the Great Hall turntable in the National Railway Museum in York - a sight never seen before. Two of the Doncaster-built locomotives, Dominion of Canada and Dwight D Eisenhower have been temporarily repatriated from North America to take part in the celebrations. The duo are on loan 22

The Prince of Wales has agreed to become the patron of Mallard 75, the National Railway Museum’s season of events marking 75 years since Mallard broke the world steam speed record at Stoke Bank near Grantham in 1938. www.railstaff.co.uk

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twos and Blues speed rail response

rail engineers and rapid response staff are now travelling to incidents in a dedicated police car compete with red and blue ﬂashing lights and two-tone siren. The emergency intervention unit has been commissioned and funded by the Network Rail and South West Trains Alliance in partnership with British Transport Police. The car is driven by experienced BTP ofﬁcers and is being used to respond to incidents on the Wessex route out of

London Waterloo and has already had a positive impact on disruption levels. Says Superintendent Jason Bunyard, from BTP’s London South area, ‘Passenger safety will be improved by using the new vehicle to get engineers and equipment to the scene of incidents and to get trains moving again as quickly as possible. Because we understand the frustration caused to passengers who are held up by incidents on the railway, our aim is to get

ellie names Javelin southeastern has named high speed Javelin train, 395023, after four-time Paralympic gold medallist, ellie simmonds. Ms Simmons stopped off at St Pancras International to see her train and talked with Southeastern staff and managing director, Charles Horton. Says Ellie Simmons, ‘It’s really exciting to see my name and signature on the side of a Javelin train. I’m told all the employees at Southeastern picked me to be named on the train, so I’d like to thank them all especially as it’s a huge honour.’

Choosing names for trains is down to the staff at southeastern. Says Charles Horton, managing director for Southeastern, ‘The London 2012 Games was a special event in our history and we at Southeastern are proud of the role the Javelin service played to make the Games transport plan a success. Our employees voted for the 12 Team GB Olympians and Paralympians to be named on the ﬂeet, and it’s a tremendous honour to present four-time Paralympic gold medallist, Ellie Simmonds with her newly named Javelin train.’

The emergency intervention unit has been commissioned and funded by the Network Rail and South West Trains Alliance in partnership with British Transport Police. an officer there as soon as possible in order to get stuck trains moving again quickly. ‘By getting the line moving sooner, there will also be fewer crowd safety issues in and around stations. Once at the scene, the officer driving the EIU vehicle will perform regular policing duties and work alongside colleagues to resolve any crime or safety issues and help get the network moving. This is an excellent opportunity for BTP officers to work with South West Trains and Network Rail colleagues, in a bid to keep the railway a safe place whilst operating to its best capacity.’ The vehicle has been modified to carry essential railway repair equipment and is police marked with Network Rail and South West Trains branding. It will be based at London Waterloo station and will cover the Wessex route as far as Epsom, Chessington South, Oxshott, Weybridge, Shepperton and Feltham.

tfL opens the door to innovative ideas

transport for London (tfL) has launched an online Innovation Portal. Says David Waboso, LU Capital Programmes Director, ‘The TfL Innovation Portal provides the platform to engage with staff, suppliers and innovators on the

www.railstaff.co.uk

technological challenges facing TfL, and will help harness and manage innovative solutions. ‘We saw last year during TfL’s massive staff engagement programme, Fit for London, that staff want to be engaged across the business to identify common needs and opportunities and collaboratively develop solutions for the whole business. We’ll ﬁnd those pioneering solutions by getting everyone involved, and refusing to accept that anyone has a monopoly on good ideas.’ Ideas submitted via the TfL Innovation Portal are reviewed by technical experts as well as against a number of criteria including business impact, innovation focus, TfL brand and ease of implementation. You can log on and submit ideas at www.tﬂ.gov.uk/innovation

Gaining rail business advantage in Britain expanding investment in the rail industry offers challenges and opportunities for rail businesses. The Rail Industry Contractors’ Association is all set to help small and medium businesses get ahead. Network Rail has recently announced its investment plans for the next Regulatory Control Period, 2014-2019 (CP5). The level of investment is huge and clearly demonstrates the importance of railways to the British economy. The Secretary of State for Transport has reinforced the importance of this role and stated that rail will be at the forefront of the Government’s transport policy. Railways will continue to make a signiﬁcant contribution to the twin goals of economic growth and carbon reduction.

Value for money Alongside this investment and support comes a demand for improved value for money, action to reduce costs and to signiﬁcantly 24

improve the affordability of the railway. Network Rail is undertaking cultural and structural change to meet this challenge. A major programme is well underway to devolve decision making and accountability to Route based operational business units. These business units will be accountable for rail operations, maintenance, asset management and for the delivery of small and medium size projects. A key objective for these units is that they interact with local suppliers wherever possible.

Difficult challenges This is an exciting time for the rail industry and a time of real opportunity for suppliers but with this comes some difﬁcult challenges for all small and medium sized companies; how to interpret the industry strategy in relation to your company skills; how to determine Network Rail’s

initiatives and requirements and how to actually get involved. This is where the Rail Industry Contractors’ Association (RICA) can make a vital contribution to your company’s success. RICA has the key objectives of supporting the interests of its members, building strong communication processes and working relationships with Network Rail and other signiﬁcant railway organisations and contributing to improvements to safety systems and performance.

Real success RICA can rightly claim real success in meeting these objectives. Led by Mick Martin, formerly a director at Network Rail, RICA has a membership elected board of directors with exceptional railway experience and background. RICA can provide signiﬁcant support to all companies whether already working in the industry or for those seeking to enter the sector.

The Rail Industry Contractors’ Association is all set to help small and medium businesses get ahead. Network Rail has recently announced its investment plans for the next Regulatory Control Period, 20142019 (CP5). The level of investment is huge and clearly demonstrates the importance of railways to the British economy.

www.railstaff.co.uk

FeAture

Actively involved

The guest speaker list from recent quarterly meetings is impressive and illustrates the position that RICA has gained in the industry. Speakers included Sir David Higgins, chief executive of Network Rail and Simon Kirby, infrastructure projects director at Network Rail. Additionally, we have had presentations from Network Rail directors and senior staff responsible for all of the railway engineering disciplines and updates from managers of most of the major projects.

Invaluable Our members consider these sessions invaluable in terms of understanding the forward needs and requirements of Network Rail and in giving real context to how they might position their business to best advantage.

Equally importantly, RICA is heavily involved in working with the key industry bodies on operational and safety issues. Our members are actively involved in all of the key developments that have a signiﬁcant impact on the way that we undertake operational activity. Collectively, our members have extensive knowledge and experience of railway operations and we always aim to offer the beneﬁt of our advice in the development stage of new systems and control processes.

Safer and more profitable Currently, RICA has representation on the project boards for Sentinel 2, Link up, OLE resourcing, Safety Enhancements, Rail Training Organisation development and commercial changes through the Commercial Directors Forum. Our direct involvement enables us to keep all member companies informed of coming changes and developments

It is widely recognised that having RICA involved in decision making through giving strong practical advice and guidance, has resulted in significant developments and improvements in our industry. Your choice is simple, find your own way through our complex and fast moving industry or join RICA and make the best of our first class experience, communication, contacts and working relationships. Don’t allow your organisation to miss out on the latest business opportunities. Join the organisation that is focussed on making things safer and more profitable for the SME community.

Can you afford NOT to come to the next RICA Forum? We hold QUARTERLY FORUMS to Network with, Listen to and Influence industry leaders. Recent guests have included:

The Rail Industry Contractors Association is the Trade Body representing SME suppliers to the Rail Industry.

DAVID HIGGINS

VICTORIA BISHOP

NIGEL JACQUES

EOIN O’NEIL

GIL HOWARTH

who told us of his plans for the new structure of Network Rail.

who came to discuss the best way for Network Rail to procure it’s contingent labour in the future and to advise the timetable for the forthcoming tender.

(Network Rail Project Manager) who explained the opportunities that will become available as the Northern Hub project gets under way.

who talked about Network Rail’s new Strategy for Track Delivery and how they planned to manage this in conjunction with the Regions going forward.

who brought us up to date about NSARE’s SKILLS PASSPORT initiative prior to its launch and gave us a picture of how the Rail Training landscape is likely to develop.

Would your business benefit from hearing about what’s going on before everybody else and getting the chance to influence key decision makers before they finalise their strategies and it becomes harder to change their minds? For more information contact chair@ricaltd.com www.railstaff.co.uk

BtP honour Belgian driver A team from the British transport Police will be competing this september at the challenge mastronardi railway soccer tournament in Vienna. Founded in 2003 Challenge Mastronardi is an international railway seven-a-side tournament which commemorates Antonio Mastronardi, a Belgian train driver who died in a deliberate act of vandalism on the line in April, 2000. The challenge consists of 10 rail teams from around Europe. Earlier this year a group from BTP’s London North football team committee travelled to Prague to the Czech Railway’s 21st Railwayman’s Ball. As well as the ball, the committee attended a meeting to ﬁnalise arrangements for the Challenge Mastronardi tournament. Says London North team captain, PC Russ McPherson, ‘We have been very fortunate to build up such excellent relationships with international rail staff from abroad over the past few years. This has given the BTP LN football team opportunities to travel abroad and be welcomed into our new International Railway family. ‘The weekend in Prague was excellent and we presented the President of Czech Railways, Stanislav Trojan, with a British Transport Police plaque which the committee had personally engraved.’ Newly appointed president of Czech Railways, Stanislav Trojan, is looking forward to the Vienna get together. ‘Over the past few years, our excellent relationship with British Transport Police has grown and we consider the Challenge Mastronardi tournament fortunate to have a police football team involved. I can’t wait to see everyone again in September in Vienna,’ said Mr Trojan.

Arctic convoy veteran takes the train Worcester war veteran, eric carter, aged 92, has made it to Downing street with the help of First Great Western to receive his Arctic convoy medal. Eric Carter was among forty veterans of the World War II Arctic convoys to become the ﬁrst recipients of a new medal, last week. When approached by the war veteran’s family First Great Western was delighted to provide complimentary tickets for the pensioner and his son to travel to the award ceremony in London. Says Eric Carter, ‘For many years it felt like our efforts in the war had been forgotten about, so after 72 years it is wonderful to receive this recognition. Our trip to Downing Street was fantastic, a real red letter day, and one myself and my son Andy, who

Power surge for London underground

two new electricity substations will be built and ﬁve more refurbished by uk Power Networks services as part of London underground’s subsurface upgrade programme. Under the agreement UK Power Networks Services will forge ahead with a major upgrade of substations and cabling on the sub-surface railway. The project will progress an essential part of the programme being carried out on the 26

Metropolitan, Circle, Hammersmith & City and District lines. The power upgrade will serve the new train ﬂeet and signalling systems, all designed to increase capacity and improve journey times. The new and upgraded substations will answer the increased demand for power. UK Power Networks Services specialises in assured power supply networks. The new substations will be constructed at Vine Street in

Farringdon and at Triangle Sidings – set between the three stations of Earls Court, Gloucester Road and High Street Kensington. The ﬁve substations to be refurbished include Chiswick Park, Putney Bridge, Ravenscourt Park, Mansion House and Shepherd’s Bush. Says Gary Gregory, operations manager at UK Power Networks Services, ‘We are absolutely delighted to have been engaged by London Underground to undertake this upgrade work, a fundamental

ﬂew over from America to attend, will never forget. ‘Travelling First Class with First Great Western to and from the event really helped get the trip off to a ﬂying start and I’m grateful for the complimentary tickets which helped make this whole experience possible.’ The Arctic convoys, reportedly called the worst journey in the world by Winston Churchill, took supplies to Russia, allied to Britain, from 1941 to 1945. More than 3,000 men died while on the convoys. Presenting the medals, called the Arctic Star, prime minister, David Cameron said, ‘I can’t think of a prouder day that I have had in this job or a group of people I am more honoured to share it with. I am only sorry that it has taken 70 years to get to here and to say thank you.’

part of the London Underground upgrade programme. ‘It also further highlights UK Power Networks Services’ ability to undertake complex projects in difficult environments and constraints. Events last year, principally the Olympic Games, showed what a significant transport system London has and London Underground is a great part of that. We are proud to be able to continue to provide a firstclass service to the company and its passengers.’ UK Power Networks Services was involved in the construction of High Speed One and helped upgrade power supplies on the Southern with Network Rail. On the Thameslink project UK Power Networks Services built the Ludgate Cellars substation and was later responsible for upgrading the power system on the Victoria Line. It has also worked on the DLR Lewisham extension and the Croydon Tramlink. UK Power Networks Services won the Utility of the Year award and its Olympic delivery team won Team of the Year, at the Utility Industry Achievement Awards in December 2012. www.railstaff.co.uk

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manchester office for collins ceI collins engineers Ltd is opening a new office in manchester. The new office will be run by Gary Hastie, a career railwayman with 35 years experience in railways and the wider construction industry. Gary comes to Collins after 10 years with Network Rail and is undertaking the role of Contractor’s Responsible Engineer (CRE) in addition to his office management duties. Collins’ office in Manchester is currently providing engineering services as part of the Civil Examination Framework Agreement (CEFA) on Network Rail’s infrastructure. Under this agreement, engineers and technicians are providing rope access inspections, confined space

Examination of Network Rail’s Ashton Viaduct No.1.

entry and underwater examinations of railway bridges, culverts, retaining walls, and CCTV/radio masts. The ﬁrm’s core areas of expertise are structural engineering, transportation analysis, design of transportation systems and related structures, and underwater engineering. In underwater engineering Collins uses engineers as diving inspectors to evaluate underwater structures.

Underwater acoustic imaging Additional key services include

rope access examinations, reducing or eliminating the need for roadway closures and expensive traffic control and inspection vehicle costs; underwater acoustic imaging, providing the unique ability to show clients exactly what divers saw or felt below water, regardless of water clarity; confined space entry inspections; and bridge assessments. Collins was founded in Chicago in 1979 and has been operating in Ireland and the UK since 2001. The firm provides civil and structural

Gary Hastie.

engineering services to transportation infrastructure clients including railways, transportation departments, and waterfront facilities. The company is looking forward to expanding its UK operations with the goal of broadening its client list to include multiple infrastructure agencies.

Check out our latest vacancies on page 60.

record membership for tBF

Freight fund

Wayne Probert, a trackman with Network rail at crewe, has become the 40,000th member of the transport Benevolent Fund. Mr Probert signed up on 28th March. Says Chris Godbold, Director of the Fund, ‘We now have more than 2,000 members in Network Rail and I’m glad that our membership campaigns are leading to such growth throughout the transport industry. We expect to recruit several thousand more new members in 2013.’ TBF’s Patrons now include Professor Richard Parry-Jones, Chairman of Network Rail. The Transport Benevolent Fund has been going in various forms since 1923 when it was started by the predecessors of Transport for London. Coming in the Fund’s 90th anniversary year, the achievement is therefore of double signiﬁcance. Membership turnover - people leaving the service, passing away, etc - means that a great many

sarah Boam, office administrator for Freightliner in cardiff, nominated the Noah’s Ark children’s hospital charity to receive a £1000 donation because of the much needed service the hospital is providing for local children. The charity was launched in 2000 to fund the building of the first Children’s Hospital in Wales. Noah’s Ark raises money, making a real difference to the 100,000 vulnerable babies and children in Wales each year that need specialist and often life-saving treatment at the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital for Wales. Says Sarah Boam, ‘The work that the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital does is incredible, and the staff that work there are fantastic! Whilst there with my son three years ago, we were definitely made to feel as comfortable as possible under the circumstances and nothing was too much trouble for them, any time day or night.’

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Chris Godbold, Director of the Fund, Wayne Probert with his line manager, John Bird, and Gary Bailey, local organiser.

more than 40,000 railway staff have joined the Fund over the years. However at the time Wayne signed up he became the 40,000th active contributing member. TBF supports those who work in

the public transport industry in Great Britain when they are in need, hardship or distress. Almost anyone who works in the industry may join. TBF is a registered charity.

Leadership and Safety Culture

RAIL SAFETY SUMMIT 2013 SAFETY Colin Wheeler colin@rail-media.com

Transport for London over a hundred and twenty people were present when I opened this year’s rail safety summit. I then invited Transport for London’s Jill Collis (Director Health Safety and Environment) and Dr. Ian Gaskin (General Manager Health Safety and Environment) to conduct their opening session entitled, “A conversation on safety leadership.” They suggested that “rules and procedures are vital but not enough” before questioning the role of leaders in creating a safety culture, in what they described as “a conversation about leadership behaviours.” Jill began by asking a number of questions including; what do good leaders do, their characteristics, actions and personal style, what do they do when things go wrong? They then provided answers using recorded but unedited interviews with managers from across the Transport for London organisation, as part of their initiative to improve safety culture. The speakers reminded us that their initiative covers London’s buses, Docklands Light Railway as well as the Underground.

CIRAS Paul Russell from CIRAS (Conﬁdential Incident Reporting and Analysis System) commented

that it is 18 years since they were founded. They were set up as a result of Lord Cullen’s recommendations following his Inquiry into the Ladbroke Grove Accident. Lord Cullen said back then that he “hoped that in the longer term the culture of the industry would be such as to make conﬁdential reporting unnecessary.” He went on to comment that it might take a long time in coming! Paul emphasised that potential interference can get in the way of internal reporting. Mutual trust is needed between management and workforce, and employee ownership of safety is essential.

He said that heavy use of confidential reporting indicates a deficient safety culture and to stress the importance of workers being given credit for reporting rather than being criticised or even threatened for so doing. He suggested that “fixing the problem rather than fixing the people” must be the aim.

ISLG Richard Sharp chairs the Infrastructure Safety Liaison Group (ISLG). Founded in 1996 as a safety leadership forum it reviewed its remit in 2010. Apart from rail company members, stakeholders include

London Underground, the Ofﬁce of Rail Regulation (ORR) and trades unions with the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) who act as secretariat and provide facilitation for the 30 members.

Safety Strategy“seizing the agenda” Allan Spence was seconded from the ORR last year and has been developing Network Rail’s long term safety strategy. The objective is to “eliminate fatalities and serious injuries, reduce minor injuries and also eliminate repeat cause incidents.” He criticised the fact that the industry in 2013 still relies on the

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Iain Boardmand and Emma Head of Network Rail.

use of lookouts equipped with horns, whistles and ﬂags to warn of approaching trains. He emphasised the importance of just treatment, risk awareness, feeling able to report incidents, being included in decision making and feeling free to innovate. He focussed the Conference by referring to the track-workers hit by an RRV the previous week.

Safety and wellbeing 2012-2024 Emma Head is Network Rail’s Head of Workforce Safety. This strategy aims to, “Improve competence arrangements, reduce bureaucratic barriers and focus on creating a more broadly skilled workforce with the competence and skills to work safely.” My ﬁrst reaction was that the timescale is too long but she went on to say that the initial aim is for “a 50% reduction in repeat accidents in the next 12-months.” This is all part of their Workforce Safety 10 Point Plan, each point sponsored by an Executive Board Member. The commitment of Board Directors is to spend 25% of their time on safety. Together with the trades unions there is to be training for the top 400 leaders on roles and responsibilities, and a move away from prescription to doing things locally. The central team aim to involve 320 contractors and the current free-for-all multi-sponsorship www.railstaff.co.uk

arrangements are to be replaced by “contracts of sponsorship” involving a single primary sponsor for each individual. Maybe we will at last progress beyond payment via umbrella companies and multi-sponsored individuals with little knowledge of next week’s work, to reasonably paid individuals who gain a sense of involvement belonging to an organisation and contributing to its safety record?

having been proposed by Lord Cullen in his Ladbroke Grove Public Inquiry Report of 1999. Having written so often about their reports in RailStaff I had some concerns but he assured me that they read RailStaff and often discussed the views expressed. In response I commented that the feedback I receive to my “rants” continues to motivate me to write again each month!

intelligence to those with responsibility for safety.” That means all of us then. Good investigations should be “independent, accurate, proportional, timely, consistent and use traceable evidence.” His closing thought is one of the quotations of the day; “why not investigate an accident before it occurs - asking the question ‘what if’ - before the event?”

Investigate the accident before it occurs

Driving fatigue and classifying incidents

He answered three questions; why investigate, what does a good investigation look like, and what recurrent factors have been identiﬁed? In the last 7 years RAIB has deployed investigators on more than 350 occasions to incidents on mainlines, metros, trams and heritage railways. His presentation included many dramatic pictures. He suggested that “accident investigations shine a searchlight into the corners of the railway industry and provide valuable

Colin Dennis, RSSB began by highlighting growing concerns about road driving risks. He said that between 25% and 40% of fatal and serious road accidents happen during work related journeys, and fatigue is the major risk. He then told delegates about the “Incident Factor Classiﬁcation System” which they are introducing. Classiﬁcation factors will include types of human errors, and underlying factors such as procedures, competence and safety management.

IN STOTCK X DAY FOR NEIV RY DEL EW IDE N IO T NA

Life Saving Rules Iain Boardman landed the last session before lunch and spoke of the changing safety culture within Network Rail resulting from the introduction of their Life Saving Rules. These rules include contact with trains, taking responsibility and working with electricity, at height, with moving equipment and driving. The concerns over road accident injuries as people travel to and from work is clearly on Network Rail’s radar and perhaps with good reason.

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RAIB After the standard of lunch which regular Summit attendees at Loughborough have come to expect, Simon French, Deputy Chief Inspector of the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) had the unenviable task of beginning the afternoon session. The RAIB went live in 2005

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A survey has involved 74 organisations with an estimated 25,000 vehicles in their combined ﬂeets. Outputs will emerge in March 2014 and the industry will be asked to provide reports to RSSB for classiﬁcation preferably through SMIS.

Complacency – the hidden hazard Steve Diksa from Bridgeway Consulting suggested that complacency was as dangerous as machinery or chemicals, but more difﬁcult to spot. Few with track experience would disagree. The “it will never happen to me” syndrome is well known. As he said “Complacency does not discriminate who it chooses; young, old, experienced or inexperienced.” As in previous years this was a whacky presentation with a message accompanied by a selection of music and with a prize offered for identifying singers and performers!

Darren Selman, Crossrail Darren reminded delegates of the scale of Crossrail. His objective is to raise safety standards across all their sites. He spoke of steering all contractors in the same

direction to improve safety across many differing sites of work, when each one has their own initiatives. He described the Crossrail “Golden Rules” and “Gateway Programme” that provides recognition for those with a positive ‘safety improving’ approach. Everyone who works on the Project is provided with a booklet of “Crossrail Values” (Respect, Integrity, Collaboration, Inspiration and Safety) and a pocket sized pamphlet of the key elements of the “Golden Rules.” With me, two phrases struck home; “behaviour inﬂuences behaviour” and “the fundamental impact of peer pressure on safety culture!”

Hitachi principles Although Syd Scrace has worked in rail for almost as long as I have, his presentation included some ideas new to me. He is involved in the production and introduction of new rolling stock into UK. He used a number of memorable phrases, “a collaborative approach to safety; a no surprises culture; no blame and no safety compromises.” He went on to list four Hitachi principles that translate as neatness, orderliness, cleanness and cleanliness. He outlined the

“challenges” overcome by Hitachi when the Class 395 “Javelin” trains were introduced, before referring to the coming introduction of their Class 800 SET trains.

Questions, next year and one reader’s fatigue worries Throughout the day question and answer sessions were lively and as host there were no occasions when it fell to me to ask the ﬁrst question of any speaker. The content and quality of presentations this year hit an alltime high; but we will do even better next year so look out for the announcement of next year’s date and venue and get it in the diary! More than one speaker referred to road driving whilst fatigued. Coincidentally a reader describing himself as a “site access worker” wrote to me after reading last month’s RailStaff article: “I work all over the north of England. You reminded me how much sleep I and other people get if you work a Saturday night and a Sunday night - you might only get 5-6 hours sleep at the weekend. “If you work 12 hours each night plus 2 hours travelling (that’s 14) so when you get home you only get 6 before driving back for the following night. Is it safe to do this? How

The “it will never happen to me” syndrome is well known. Complacency does not discriminate who it chooses; young, old, experienced or inexperienced…

steVe DIksA, AssurANce serVIces DIrector, BrIDGeWAy coNsuLtING

without losing work? Sometimes they sort “digs” out if I am too far to get home but not all the time.” Colin Dennis of RSSB will be interested in this letter. I remember when the 12-hour shift and maximum 2 hours travelling principle was introduced. With commercial pressures to reduce costs I can empathise with this access worker’s employer, but surely he should not be working back to back 12 hour nightshifts with two hours each way driving between them. Is his an exceptional situation or do you experience it too?

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Bluebell joins rail network Clive Kessell reports saturday, 23rd march saw the Bluebell railway open its long awaited extension into east Grinstead. The celebrations took place in a snow storm as the first public train steamed southwards towards Sheffield Park. The new Bluebell station, slightly south of the recently re-built Southern station, has yet to be completed as a permanent booking office and platform shelters remain to be constructed. People scurried for cover as the snow descended. Not quite what the Bluebell planned but a festive spirit pervaded in spite of the freezing weather. Those lucky enough to have tickets for the first southbound train gained the warmth of the steam heated carriages once it had arrived as empty stock, with Terrier class Stepney and P class Bluebell at one end and E4 0-6-2T number 473 at the other. With the Bluebell Railway Band playing Congratulations, the train departed amidst much cheering and waving of flags. The event came 55 years after the final closure of the line in 1958. The East Grinstead–Lewes line had first closed in 1955 but an abnormality in the Act that www.railstaff.co.uk

allowed the line to be built, showed that closure had taken place illegally. BR had to reluctantly re-open the line with the minimum number of trains, finally getting the legal process sorted out three years later. Such notoriety attracted the attention of enthusiasts and the section from Sheffield Park to Horsted Keynes re-opened in 1960 as Britain’s first main line standard gauge preservation society. After consolidation, the Bluebell announced in the early 1980s its intention to build back to East Grinstead and reopening in stages to Kingscote was achieved by 1994. The last section however proved especially difficult as domestic

refuse was tipped into the deep Imberhorne cutting after the track had been lifted. With all the modern environmental controls, removing this waste has been a huge challenge in terms of raising the money (around £4M), getting the necessary approvals and understanding the civil engineering tasks.

Amazing reopening So began a fortnight of celebrations to mark this amazing reopening. The ﬁrst northbound train to arrive at East Grinstead was the ‘Grinsteade Pullman’ hauled by U Class 1638 with those on board enjoying a sumptuous breakfast in the luxury of restored

Pullman Cars. Next to arrive was 9F 92212 on loan from the Mid Hants Railway on a service train. An intensive train service was run every day in the two weeks preceding and after Easter. The station site at East Grinstead is somewhat cramped with only one platform and a run round loop being possible plus the end on connection to Network Rail. A 20 minute interval service demands slick operation to get a train turned round quickly and back to Kingscote, where it will pass the next train. On the 28th March, a rail tour arrived from Victoria hauled by a class 66 diesel with two electro-diesels at the rear. This was a thank you to GBRF for their co-operation in running spoil removal trains as the cutting was being dug out. Various trips to see local attractions and beauty spots during the two week period were arranged. Train passengers now get a birds eye view of East Grinstead as they travel over the magniﬁcent Imberhorne Viaduct. On Sunday, 7th April, a thanksgiving service was conducted in St Swithun’s Church with Bishop Alan Chesters from Blackburn giving the address and with the Bluebell Band giving partakers the chance to sing some rousing hymns, ﬁnishing with Sussex by the Sea.

Northern Ireland railways Europe’s untold Tim Casterton reports the success of Northern Ireland railways is one of europe’s best kept secrets. Skirting the edge of Europe, the popular and scenic railway has seen passenger numbers and receipts rising and new trains bolstering the ﬂeet. A new depot and a European business award testify to an expanded railway deserving sustained investment Translink, which runs Northern Ireland Railways, expects to achieve the best passenger numbers in the company’s history in the year ending March 2013. In the quarter year from July to September 2012 passenger numbers were up by 5.2% and amazingly, this despite the Coleraine-Londonderry line being closed for upgrade works for two of the three months. During the last quarter of 2012 the trend continued with the actual passenger numbers increasing by 7.1% over the same period of the preceding year. Mal McGreevy, General Manager of NIR said, ‘Making appropriate adjustments for passenger losses due to line closures, our underlying growth across the network is closer to 8%.’ 32

He went on to say, ‘Our ﬁnancial year April 2012 to March 2013 is on track to be our best ever for passenger numbers and I expect the trend to continue into 2013/14.’ To put this into context, it is a 70% passenger growth since 2002.

UK City of Culture The line closure of the Coleraine - Londonderry line was planned from 29 July 2012 with passenger services due to recommence 23 March 2013. Work on renewing ballast, new track, embankment stabilisation, bridge repairs, including the lifting of the bridge over the River Bann, and track replacement have progressed well. Driver retraining trains were set to operate again during February. Mal McGreevy told RailStaff that NIR, ‘Has been operating a bus substitution service but unfortunately has lost over 50% of normal passenger numbers on that section of track. We remain conﬁdent however that passengers will return when the line reopens and in fact should get a signiﬁcant boost from Londonderry’s UK City of Culture.’ The works currently being carried out on the infrastructure will

secure services for the next 30 years and will result in reduced future maintenance costs.

CAF Class 4000 trains New trains are being readily taken to heart by the travelling public. NIR’s new Class 4000 diesel multiple unit trains were built by CAF in Spain. This allowed all of the old Class 80 and Class 450 (Castle Class) trains to be withdrawn from service. These older trains were affectionately known as ‘Thumper Units’ due to the distinctive sound of the English Electric diesel engines that powered them. A couple of the older Class 80 trains have been retained in departmental service for seasonal railhead treatment duties. The new trains together with the Class 3000 trains which were brought into service a few years ago have allowed frequency and capacity increases in services. ‘We have followed that with the introduction of a new timetable from 6 January 2013 which sees a 70% increase in the number of trains from Belfast to Coleraine and a 30% increase in the number of trains operating between Belfast and Whitehead’ said Mal. There is

also an aspiration to eventually run an hourly service between Londonderry, Coleraine and Belfast.

New Adelaide depot Northern Ireland Transport Minister, Danny Kennedy, opened NIR’s new Adelaide Depot on 12 December. The new £28m state of the art depot was built on the site of the former Adelaide freight yard to maintain the 20 Class 4000 DMUs and brings 14 new skilled jobs to the area. These were delivered from March 2011 onwards and introduced into passenger service from September 2011. Facilities at the new depot include an engineering depot, a refuelling facility, train wash, stabling sidings, material storage site and staff accommodation. The hydraulic lifting jacks in the engineering depot are able to lift an entire 3-car train off its bogies without the need to uncouple the carriages. ‘Green’ environmental features included in the depot are grey water harvesting, water recycling systems, solar panels and modern energy efﬁcient lighting. The Transport Minister said that the depot was just one of the www.railstaff.co.uk

FeAture

success story components of the ‘New Trains Two’ programme in which the Department for Regional Development and the Executive had invested some £150m. The other components include the new trains and many platform extensions. To mark the historic occasion, the 90 guests were brought to the opening from Belfast Central station by the RPSI’s 133 year old steam locomotive No. 186.

“Translink, which runs Northern Ireland Railways, expects to achieve the best passenger numbers in the company’s history in the year ending March 2013.”

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UK Champion - NIR In November 2012 Northern Ireland Railways was selected as UK Champion in the European ‘Ruban d’Honneur’ Customer Focus category from a short list of 32 companies. NIR went forward in December for consideration for the award in London during December. In March 2013 the company will present its ‘Customer Focus’ submission to a judging panel in Dusseldorf with the hope and aim of being announced as overall category winner during April. Mal McGreevy said, ‘It’s a huge honour to be recognised at this level alongside well-known European companies such as Aer Lingus, The Cambridge Satchel Company, IKEA Retail, Kraft Foods www.railstaff.co.uk

(Bulgaria) and Volkswagon (Slovakia).’ The award was made for the revolution in the company’s customer service offering on rail services over the last decade.

Consultation paper Looking ahead, the Department for Regional Development in Northern Ireland has invited the public to respond to a consultation paper which sets out investment options for railways in the North until 2030. The priced options cover a wide spectrum from maintaining the current railway system right through to electriﬁcation and infrastructure enhancements.

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FeAture

The paper even looks at the economics of reopening lines in Counties Tyrone and Fermanagh that closed in the 1950s and 1960s. Another option includes building a new railway into County Donegal. The paper estimates that to maintain the current network to a high standard over the 20 year period between 2015/6 and 2034/5 will cost £620m. Package 2 in the paper provides modest capacity enhancements with the provision of new stations, park & ride facilities and additional rolling stock. This comes priced at £600m in addition to maintaining the current network. Package 3 looks at the removal of some of the current bottlenecks and includes the widening of the ‘Dargan Bridge’ to allow double track, the laying of a third line between Great Victoria Street station and Belfast Central station and further north, the doubling of track between Bleach Green and Ballymena. The electriﬁcation of the Cross-Border route to Dublin is examined in Package 4, however this would require the co-operation of Iarnród Éireann, the operator of services in the Irish Republic. At the present time, IÉ do not support this option so it is unlikely to happen.

Electrification The 5th Package requires considerable investment to gain longer term savings - the electrification of the whole of the NIR network between 2030 and 2035 at a cost of £350m. Routes such as the Bangor Line with its closely situated stations would gain most from this proposal with faster journey times, whilst all would benefit from more environmentally friendly energy supply. This option would need to be phased to coincide with the need to replace the current diesel fleet, the latest of which have only just been introduced. Belfast International Airport is sited adjacent 34

to the railway that runs between Knockmore Junction (Lisburn) and Antrim. This line at present has no regular train service, but is still maintained by NIR as a diversionary route and for driver training. The airport terminal is on the opposite side of the airport to the railway, so a short spur is included in the £50.5m cost of Package 6 as is the refurbishment and re-opening of the stations at Ballinderry, Crumlin and Glenavy. These three stations, having been re-opened in 1974 following a period of disuse, were closed again in 2003 after all Belfast to Antrim / Londonderry services were diverted to the shorter route via Whitehead / Bleach Green. Package 6 also suggests that the provision of a quality bus service to the airport is an alternative option.

Reinstatement of routes The biggest surprise in the consultation comes in Package 7. Here the possibility of reinstatement of the railway routes into counties Tyrone and Fermanagh are examined. These routes all radiate west from Portadown and include to Dungannon at a cost of £187m, Omagh at £473m and Enniskillen at £638m (although oddly Armagh is not included). These railway lines were all axed in the savage

cuts welded by the UTA in the 1950s and 1960s which left two of the six counties completely devoid of railways. The proposal notes that the option will require increased Government subvention and also that an alternative scheme could be quality express ‘Goldline’ bus routes. Quoted at a cost of £11m per mile (excluding stations, bridges and rolling stock), the price is possibly open to question as it appears more akin to that of ‘new railway’ rather than the refurbishment of a currently abandoned route. The paper notes that land would also require purchase as if this was unique to railways whereas this would of course be relevant to any form of land based linear transport.

County Donegal link Finally, Package 8 briefly mentions construction of a new railway into Donegal, but shoots it down almost in the same sentence! Much of the route in this area would be in the Republic of Ireland and Iarnród Éireann, having looked at the issues a couple of years back, concluded that it wasn’t economically viable to construct. The full consultation document can be found on the DRD website www.drdni.gov.uk and responses are required by 12 April 2013. Mal McGreevy appears to be justifiably proud of the achievements of Northern Ireland Railways with significant investment already bearing the fruits of increased passenger numbers. The future looks bright for Northern Ireland Railways. If any of the consultation packages over and above ‘Package 1’ are agreed for funding, the success of the network will continue to grow. Railway staff and rail users share Mal McGreevy’s optimism. Railways in Northern Ireland are a success story and derive serious and sustained investment. www.railstaff.co.uk

NeWs

In terms of a learning environment, obtaining a fixed and accessible location in the rail industry, can prove a difficult task. IT has unique delivery needs - requiring computers and internet access. East Coast and trusted ULRs, Jim Peters and Mick O’Shea, have been applauded for their continual support and assistance with premises and resources. Time is of the essence and once again this qualification presents a challenge which very few existing learning programmes have had to meet. On average learners have at least one ‘tutor led’ session every 3 weeks. In addition they are expected to complete 4 or 5 hours of tutor guided home-study. Generally, the tutor, Cheryl Duncan Radcliffe, attends an all day work-shop on a weekly basis and individual appointments are booked. Where practical, group sessions are delivered for subjects including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Photo imaging.

Outreach learning programmes

King’s Cross class triumphs Chris Nutty of Aslef reports As anyone brave enough to attempt a distance learning programme will testify, providing a study course in the workplace, under a union learning banner, for train company staff is a challenge. However a team studying IT at King’s Cross has managed to achieve just that. The study of IT (Information Technology), whilst widely stated as a priority, presents a unique list of logistical issues which often prevent learning programmes from leaving ﬁrst base. Our ASLEF team at King’s Cross, we are proud to say, has scaled these ever familiar barriers and risen to the challenge: In these days of austerity cuts, education providers are continually insisting on larger

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cohorts of learners to ensure funding meets costs. This has impacted on existing programmes and prevented many new learning programmes from starting. King’s Cross, however, built their programme around collective teamwork inviting ULRs (Union Learning Representatives) from East Midlands Trains, East Coast Trains, Eurostar and London Overground to pool their colleagues into one learning programme. Chris Nutty of Aslef originally devised a similar programme with Skills for Life at St Pancras and subsequently led the co-ordination of the new project to include IT. It should be noted that the functional delivery of the IT is not stand-alone so learners wishing to study Maths and English are welcomed into the programme. With the advantage of the accessible location, learners from First Capital Connect and ICC have been added to the programme. Chris Street of Eurostar and Mick O’Shea of East Coast both achieved their full qualiﬁcation framework.

The commitment does not end with this timetable as three Functional Skills qualifications (English, Mathematics and IT) require completion within the overall 14 month framework. Fortunately, Stephenson College is familiar and experienced with rail industry shifts and therefore caters for learner’s needs as necessary. As well as tutor support, Stephenson’s employs a retention officer, Dawn Plummer, to help facilitate each learner’s programme. Stephenson College in Coalville, Leicestershire has partnered ASLEF in many learning projects over several years. Holders of both the Skills For Life and Apprenticeship quality awards, it specialises in outreach learning programmes. Chris Nutty and Shirley Handsley originally employed Mark Walker, the Stephenson College functional skills lecturer and unionlearn coordinator, for Skills for Life provision in Derby over 7 years ago and have since extended this to include Sheffield, Nottingham, Lincoln and London. Mark delivers the functional skills element on the King’s Cross project in support of the main IT lecturer, Cheryl Duncan Radcliffe. Of course the overall success, or failure, of any learning programme is down to one group of individuals: the learners. These individuals have completed around 14 months of this intensive and challenging qualification. They have all overcome the time commitment barriers to produce outstanding portfolios of IT work and succeed in their functional skills examinations. Therefore, whether interested in obtaining your own qualification, or just wishing to pick their brains on the extensive bank of IT operational knowledge they all now possess, let us raise a toast to the King’s Cross class of 2012/13.

Occupational

Health

how to Get the Best out of your occupational health medical reports.

Dr Steve Malleson of Express Medicals reports

occupational health provides services to employers in many areas ranging from pre-placement medical assessments, ongoing health surveillance and assessments in high-risk activities and advice on reports in areas of poor attendance and sickness absence – to name a few. It is the last category where a medical report is provided by occupational health to assist management in dealing with a case where a health concern has impacted on either capability performance or attendance that I am addressing in this short article. Over my years of practising Occupational Health (OH) the main complaints I have encountered from managers have been consistently in this last area of “management referrals” requiring an OH report. The recurrent complaints come into the following categories: • “OH only regurgitates word for word what the candidate is telling them.” • “They always take the side of the employee.”

• “They always sit on the fence and do not give us clear directions.” • “They do not answer the questions we asked or required.” • “They include inappropriate comments and advice.” As an occupational health physician I of course would defend myself by saying that we obviously must take a history from the individual and therefore in a sense we do report what we’re being told. However, especially when there is acrimony, I would always qualify any information that is a direct statement from the employee with such statements as “told me that – etc.” Also, so as there is no confusion I would add a statement to the effect “and although I cannot comment on the validity of the statement, this is clearly an area that should be addressed if an equitable solution is to be reached etc”. In this way the report should clearly state whether an opinion is subjective or objective. I would never see myself as being

simply “on the side of the employee” in the sense that I am not their advocate in the same way as their general practitioner. I would of course have a professional duty to ensure that I follow-up any referral and essential healthcare should I identify any undertreated medical problem although I would not get involved with their primary care which is outside the remit of Occupational Health. That is for the GP. Occupational Health reports should be completely impartial with the object of giving the commissioning employer an overview of how any medical aspects may have impacted on the individual’s occupational performance without disclosing any conﬁdential medical information. Occupational Health reports certainly should not include comments and advice outside the strict remit of analysing and assessing the occupational health situation on the information given and questions raised in the referral documentation. www.railstaff.co.uk

heALth NeWs

The value of clear and comprehensive management referral The criticism of giving poor advice and not delivering the information by answering the questions asked is often a fault of poor management referrals. They often lack any useful information and do not give the assessing Occupational Physician any direction. As they say “garbage in/garbage out.” A good management referral will give the background medical problems that are causing concern, why the individual is being referred to 0H, some speciﬁc questions that require answering and possibly an indication of why the employer requires this information. It is also sometimes helpful for the Occupational Physician to understand the tactics being employed by management within the strategy, within the internal policy for an employment problem and how the 0H assessment can contribute to this end.

Points to include in the 0H referral. Reports will differ as the circumstances will not all be the same. However, the following headings will always be considered by an occupational physician when composing their report to management and might also be valuable for managers when requesting specific areas to investigate and advise. They would come under the following headings: • Nature of underlying condition. (Without disclosing any specific confidential medical details – only on how it impacts on employment situation) • Whether there are any workrelated aspects to the medical condition. • Prognosis/duration of medical problem. • Whether there will be any longterm residual disability. • Capability of regular and efficient service in the future with or without full efficiency or ill effects. • Risk of deterioration of condition. • Likely return to work date. www.railstaff.co.uk

• Limitation, restrictions, modifications to duties either temporary or permanent with advice on any rehabilitation programme. • Suitability for alternative duties, timescales and whether surveillance is required after return to work. • Advice on whether the Equality Act 2010 may be applicable. Obviously this is only medical advice on a legal matter which would be decided by other legal agencies if contested. • The value of a negative answer. • Medicine in some aspects is very imprecise and two people with an identical condition may react totally differently in terms of their response to their illness and the occupational implications. Managers are sometimes disappointed that Occupational Health does not give very precise prognostic outlooks with the timescales. This should generally not be seen as a specific problem as the Manager having asked the question and not being given a very specific answer from 0H is then free to make a management decision based on the evidence available to them together with the operational business requirements and the manager’s

own assessment of the likely outcome. OH cannot always comment on what would be considered a reasonable period of absence as this will differ from company to company depending on such matters as their size, resources and services they deliver.

Summary I hope this short article will be useful to any manager who makes referrals to OH for members of staff where there is concern in areas of health and performance and will take these points into account when both referring individuals and interpreting the reports that are returned. I often say, without trying to be offensive, that the contract of employment for the individual is with their management (and not with Occupational Health) and therefore any employment decision is made by management. Hopefully, Occupational Health can assist by giving an expert, impartial overview of the medical situation with an understanding of the implications on their employment situation as far as possible. When this is not possible the

Occupational Health provides services to employers in many areas ranging from preplacement medical assessments, ongoing health surveillance and assessments in high-risk activities and advice on reports in areas of poor attendance and sickness absence…

report should clearly say so, thus allowing management to then move forward through their own procedures and processes having dealt with the situation fairly by asking the right questions. Dr Steve Malleson MFOM, a senior occupational health physician, is the Chief Medical Officer of Express Medicals Ltd. www.expressmedicals.co.uk or call 020 7500 6900.

Among the unsung heroes of the rail industry but right up alongside the drivers and directors, the new cleaner and coss, sits the railway recruiter. Getting the right person for the right job may sound simple but in an industry with a huge and growing demand for highly qualiﬁed staff it’s a challenge like no other. Staff turnover is high, particularly in the south east, and demand is increasing as the railways limber up for massive expansion. Andy Ridout, managing director of advance-TRS - one of the fastest growing rail recruitment companies in Britain - spoke to Andy Milne on his way to a weekend’s mountain biking in north Wales. We meet in an old coaching inn in Hereford, wood panelled and

redolent with that traditional smell of fried bacon and spilt beer. Andy Ridout, a ﬁt and lean looking forty year old, drinks tea, pots of it as do I for we share a guilty secret: Dehydration. Ridout is a runner - a serious long distance marathon runner currently training for one of the toughest triathlons yet devised. To get into the mindset of Ridout, I had been out running that morning as Andy swept smoothly up the M4 from his base in Guildford. Recruitment is becoming hugely important as the industry ﬂexes and expands. I ask him about the basics. ‘Recruitment is fundamentally about trying to match up candidates to companies. It’s matching a jigsaw puzzle. You’re matching individual skill sets to

what’s required. It is not only about qualiﬁcations but geographics and longer term aspirations,’ says Andy.

How did he get into rail recruitment? Ridout shrugs and pours out more tea. ‘I was a gym instructor in a track suit.’ Although happy as an instructor it’s a notoriously underpaid ﬁeld. ‘I was living at home, couldn’t afford to move out. One of the gym clients said, you know you have the gift of the gab, why not go into sales. Thing is I’m not into hard selling. The gym instructor’s job was rewarding. I was helping people get ﬁt - sometimes after an illness or an accident. I taught one woman in her 80s to swim.’ One day at the gym a

weightlifter said he was in the recruitment business. ‘I asked what that was.’ The answer was intriguing: Linking people with the next stage in their career development echoed the therapeutic gym training he was already involved in. The idea took a while and several thousand miles to germinate.

Round the world ‘I decided aged 23 to trade in my old car, jack in the job and head off round the world.’ Most people may consider such a move foolhardy. Andy Ridout set out up the M3 to Heathrow Airport with no such misgivings. ‘I never regretted a minute of it. I went to Hong Kong, New Zealand, Fiji, Australia and the United States.’ During that time he worked as a painter and decorator

signal success specialist railway recruitment company, advance-trs has won its bid to become one of three ﬁrst tier suppliers to signalling solutions. Says Andy Ridout, ‘This is an exceptional opportunity to partner with one of the leading signalling organisations here in the UK. I believe that winning ﬁrst tier status is testament to the hard work of everyone at advance-TRS. We have come a long way since we launched in 2011 and we have a great team.’ Signalling Solutions Limited (SSL) was formed by combining the complementary signalling resources and products of Alstom Transport Information Solutions UK and Balfour Beatty Rail Projects. Having successfully won three national signalling frameworks as well as a portfolio of further projects, Signalling Solutions, with advance-TRS, is set for a busy year ahead. 38

Andy Ridout www.railstaff.co.uk

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‘I struck lucky’ Early on Ridout spotted a huge opportunity in railways. ‘I struck lucky,’ he freely admits, ‘I thank my lucky stars that I ended up in rail recruitment.’ After 15 years in rail recruitment Andy Ridout went on to set up advance-TRS two

years ago. ‘At first I rented a desk in an office. Things started going quite well. I made a few placements and the office above where I worked came up for rent. We took a risk and a leap of faith and expanded. Right from the start I was very lucky with staff. Slowly but surely the placements came in and we expanded. My partner, Vicky Turner, has a degree in journalism, which has proved very helpful. She gave me a bit of a talking to and said you need to get your company name out there with advertising, web sites, social media and press releases. She took it all on and she’s done a phenomenal job.’ Setting up is tough and entrepreneurs work all hours. ‘It’s important to get on the supply list for major players. advance-TRS is

now on all of them. We just signed up with Signalling Solutions which is a massive opportunity for us.’

Success is down to experience. ‘I have 16 years experience of working in the rail sector. I know the business. I have placed people in a job ten years ago - people who have gone on to be project managers, project directors and even managing directors. So when they phone up to say I need a solid state interlocking design engineer to work on contract for 6 months in Birmingham they know I know what they’re talking about. They haven’t got to go into detail. They don’t have to spend 45 minutes trying to explain and when they get a CV from me they know it’s worth reading.

Fundamentally it’s about having the experience and understanding change.’ The rail industry is definitely changing he says. ‘Think Crossrail, Thameslink, HS2, electrification and increased investment nationally. There’s new confidence – and there’s going to be a lot of work in the rail sector for many years to come.’

Punishing exercise schedule Ridout works long hours and brackets the working day with a punishing exercise schedule. This September he is taking part in the Horseman Xtreme Triathlon, one of the most challenging triathlons in the world. The event takes place on Dartmoor. After a 3 mile lake swim comes a 116 mile road race followed by a marathon. Even for a one time

talks to Andy Milne www.railstaff.co.uk

in New Zealand, ran the High Sierras in California and swam off Bondi Beach. ‘It was great fun, the best thing I’ve ever done. I left a boy and came back a man…’ Travel broadens the mind illustrating as no amount of motivational speeches can, that life holds far more promise than most people ever dream of. Finding the right job, the right career move, can be the most important move you make. When he returned he decided to get a job in recruitment.

gym instructor it seems a tall task. ‘There’s quite a bit of lift in the course which is why it’s called an extreme event. Most triathlons are on the ﬂat.’

hs2 recruitment essential recent government success in facing off legal challenges to hs2 means the project is pushing ahead. The need for skilled railway engineers will become more acute. ‘Creating long term and reliable employment will not only save rail organisations themselves money on short-term contract hires, but will have a holistic benefit for the whole industry through the investment in staff training,’ says Andy Ridout. ‘Training will ensure that younger workers are given the opportunity to provide an in depth, knowledgeable service, comparable with that of the facility provided by their more experienced counterparts.’ Ridout is taking on more staff and expanding his business carefully ahead of burgeoning demand. ‘With an ageing workforce this kind of employee investment is imperative,’ he said. ‘The new railway and substantial government investment in Crossrail, Great Western electrification and better freight connections mean government and business confidence in the rail industry is booming. This will in turn inspire many rail companies to invest in permanent recruits.’ advance-TRS offers clients extensive training in candidate attraction, staff retention and maximum employee utilisation. If you feel your company could benefit from staff training or management training or if you simply wish to recruit with like-minded rail experts, then call advance-TRS on 01483 361 061 or visit their new website at www.advance-trs.com. 40

Life has its serious side. Ten years ago a friend contracted breast cancer and died. Andy decided to run the London Marathon to raise money for a cancer charity. ‘That was the start of it,’ says Andy who will be doing the Horseman to raise money for the Railway Children charity. ‘I then tried a mini-sprint triathlon and loved it. The idea of doing triathlons stemmed from that.’ He’s competed in the Barcelona Ironman and then set his sights on an Extreme Ironman.

Training is essential ‘I do a 10 mile run to work, vary it with a cycle ride and go for a swim.’ This sounds like an exhausting start to a working day. Not so. ‘I see deer, foxes, badgers, and rabbits. The wildlife early in the morning has to be seen to be believed.’ The great advantage of running is its comparative silence, enabling the runner to get quite close to animals. ‘I know where to look for them and where the deer tend to graze at 6 in the morning. Running through the ﬁelds, not a car in sight, dew on the grass and the

sun rising is just perfect.’ Far from tiring him out Ridout arrives at the office, ‘punching the air with adrenalin.’ The Horseman Triathlon down in Dartmoor takes place in one of the most beautiful parts of Britain. Dartmoor is the biggest and wildest area of open country in southern England. Steven Spielberg filmed part of ‘War Horse’ on Dartmoor, bewitched by the open moorland with its huge stone tors and herds of wild ponies. To prepare, Ridout is taking part in various events every other weekend. These include the Reading Half Marathon, cycling there first and the Windsor Triathlon. In April he will be competing - with a difference - in the London Marathon. ‘The London Marathon for me is about doing it, completing it. I will have cycled 116 miles beforehand that morning,’ says Andy, whose favourite sport is swimming. ‘I love swimming. Trouble is it’s the worst event to be good at as it only lasts a short time.’ The main challenge of the triathlon is an ability to switch from one transport mode to www.railstaff.co.uk

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another. How do you prepare for this? ‘The race is now, through the spring and summer and on till September. On the day itself you do everything you’ve been doing for the last year.

You have to do brick sessions That is do a run and as soon as you ﬁnish do a swim or a cycle ride. So I’d cycle home from work and then go out for a ten mile run. In the mornings I cycle and then go to the lake and swim before cycling on to work.’

Andy swims at the Quays at Mytchett. ‘It’s a lake with a water ski club. They can’t start till ten; so between 6 and 9 we can use it with a marshal there.’ Donning a wet suit he slips into the water as the sun is rising. It is still very cold. ‘Getting there at six I can see swans gliding across the still lake, the sun is just coming up. There’s nothing better.’

‘I don’t have a coach but I read the magazines and the web. I have mates who do it and there are local tri-clubs but I do most of it on my own. I have to be ﬂexible because I’m away in London or elsewhere presenting.’ ‘When you work under pressure it is quite good to go out on your own. I ﬁnd it’s a good time for thinking, for straightening things out.’

All this exercise must need fuelling ‘When you exercise as I do, you can’t eat enough. I had an Italian grandmother so I love pasta. I live off porridge and I can microwave this at work. It’s a slow release energy food and really helpful.’ What about alcohol? ‘I like a beer with mates but it doesn’t work. No, I don’t really drink much at all.’ The schedule makes huge inroads on time available for any sort of personal life. Andy lives with girl friend Vicky Tuner who runs PR and marketing as well as their home, with considerable skill and patience. ‘Can I say a big thanks to my team. I couldn’t do this without them and a special thanks to Vicky - she is very special.’ Ridout may work and train hard but he can show a girl a good time, nipping off to France for a weeks skiing over Easter with Vicky and their children. Will he be training? ‘I’m not saying until I’ve got her safely on the plane…’ Check out Andy Ridout’s page at uk.virginmoneygiving.com/AndyRidout

The Horseman Xtreme Triathlon Speak to Andy and the Advance-TRS team on Stand G106 at Railtex 2013.

Continuing the tradition of the world’s toughest and most spectacular long distance triathlon races such as the Norseman and Celtman. This epic event will take place for the first time on the 14th September 2013 against the stunning backdrop of Dartmoor National Park. Dartmoor is famous for a special breed of wild horse that roams the moor known as the Dartmoor Pony. These animals have long

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since been adopted as the symbol for the National Park. Because of the extreme weather conditions experienced on the moors, the Dartmoor Pony has evolved to be particularly hardy with excellent stamina. They make excellent work horses and were once used extensively by miners and farmers throughout the region. It seems only fitting that an extreme endurance event taking place on the moor should be named with these unique animals in mind.

A Tough Challenge in an Inspiring Location • Swim 3.8KM lake swim • Bike 180KM road bike with 3700 metres of climbing • Run 42KM mixed terrain run Total distance 226KM

NeWs

Stobart Rail schools campaign

over a three week period, stobart rail successfully ran three day long depot visits for two local schools. On each occasion the schools were welcomed by members of the Depot Visits Team, shown into the executive board room and given a presentation on the history and background of the Stobart Group and its subsidiary companies. They were then invited to take a small test on the presentation - all questions were answered correctly. The children were then taken up to Longtown where Stobart Rail does its practical training.

Everyone enjoyed a practical hands on day on site. This included a small drainage challenge â&#x20AC;&#x201C; working out how to place two drainage pipes using either laser or traditional technology. Then under the watchful eye of an instructor children were given the chance to sit behind the controls of a 13 tonne excavator. At lunch, a time lapse video played showing the different types of work Stobart Rail delivers. After lunch the schools party went across to the rail training area where a Road Rail Liebherr vehicle

was waiting. Sitting in the back the children went for a ride up and down the test track with the instructor explaining what the machine was used for and what was involved in operating these complex machines. At the other end of the test track a Neotec SkyRailer MEWP (Mobile Elevated Work Platform) was waiting with an operator. Each of the students was kitted up with a harness, clipped in to the basket and taken skyward. Only the teachers backed out of this challenge. For the last part of the day it was back into the classroom for a brief introduction to the track components required to build a common crossing and set of rail switches. Finally it was outside again to brave the icy weather and identify the components on the training track. By this time the day was nearly over. Students were given small gift bags before they went home, hopefully contemplating a future in railways or civil engineering. Overall the day was a great success and gave some 40 year 11 students an insight into the type of work that is done in both rail engineering and construction engineering. www.railstaff.co.uk

Play your part in railway history Here at the National Railway Museum we are very proud to be recognised as the world’s leading railway museum and the most visited museum outside London with over 800,000 visitors each year. Our visitors come from all over the world because they are fascinated by our collections and the story they represent. As a national charity, we rely on the support of people young and old to preserve and care for our collections now and for the generations to come. One way of supporting our work is to leave a gift to the National Railway Museum in your Will. A legacy gift of any size really does make a huge difference to our work and the future of the Museum. As a Railway Magazine reader, we know that you care as much about our railway heritage as we do, so if and when the time is right for you to include a legacy in your Will, please remember us. The National Railway Museum Development Team • Leeman Road • York • YO26 4XJ • 01904 686 285

NeWs

Young Railway Professionals celebrate success

Charles-Albert Giral, CEO of Colas Rail; Lucy McAuliffe, YRP Award Winner.

“There are great opportunities for women and young people in today’s railways and this industry is a great place to be….” Lucy mcAuLIFFe, youNG rAILWAy ProFessIoNAL AWArD WINNer 44

the young railway Professionals celebrated their fourth annual Black tie Dinner with the presentation of the ﬁrst ever young railway Professional of the year award. Terry Morgan, Chairman of Crossrail encouraged Young Railway Professionals as he talked about his experiences as a young apprentice working in the rail industry. Newly-elected YRP Chairman, Martyn Chymera, spoke of the YRP’s ambitious plans for the coming year. Lucy McAuliffe of Network Rail won the award. Tim Whitcher of CAPBROWN Consulting and Shaunie O’Neill of London Underground, winner of the 2011 Newcomer of the Year at the RailStaff Awards, were both shortlisted. Lucy works for Network Rail High Speed and heads the 150 strong high energy team that runs St

Pancras, Ebbsﬂeet and Stratford stations. Lucy is also an assessor for Network Rail’s Track and Train graduate programme. Judges commended her for her passion for improving customer service and team work on the front line. Says Lucy, ‘There are great opportunities for women and young people in today’s railways and this industry is a great place to be. I’d like to thank everybody who put me forward for this and the team I work with.’ The award was presented by Charles-Albert Giral, CEO of Colas Rail which sponsors the Young Railway Professional of the Year award. The award is designed to celebrate young professionals at the start of their journey through the rail industry and competition is ﬁerce. Martyn Chymera, Chairman of the Young Railway Professionals congratulated Lucy on her award, saying: ‘Judging the award was not

an easy task - so many high achievers from every corner of the industry were nominated and the quality of the nominations was outstanding. However, Lucy’s achievements really stood out, and her level of commitment and dedication to the railway industry was truly exceptional.’ The event itself was sponsored by CPC Project Services and brings together young professionals who are making their mark on the industry. The Railway Children charity also took the stage to discuss their upcoming Big Breakfast event. Guests all dug deep to support the YRP Three Peaks Challenge team in its ﬁrst fundraising attempt in aid of the Railway Children. For more information about the Young Railway Professionals, or the Young Railway Professional of the Year Award, visit www.youngrailwayprofessionals.org www.railstaff.co.uk

SIR WILLIAM MCALPINE INVITES ENTRIES FOR THE FIRST (AND PROBABLY ONLY)

FAWLEY HILL STEAM AND VINTAGE WEEKEND Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th May 2013 The event will celebrate the Centenary of Fawley’s resident Hudswell Clarke 060 Saddle Tank Engine No 31.

This will be a celebration of all forms of transport: from BICYCLES to PLANES and MACHINERY: from HORSE-DRAWN PLOUGHS to PLOUGHING ENGINES to JCB’S

She has worked for Sir William’s family all her life and for the past 48 years has been happily pulling wagon loads of visitors up the steepest standard gauge gradient in the world at Fawley Hill.

and, being Fawley Hill, (animal sanctuary) there will be ANIMALS too.

CHARITIES

ATTEND

At the simplest level: we envisage charities hosting hospitality areas - to which they will sell tickets: to include entry of course. Obviously they can do more than this if they wish. This works well and gives everyone a slice of the cake.

If you are interested in attending, please email estate@fawleyhill.co.uk ANY COMPANY WISHING TO SPONSOR ANY PART OF THE EVENT IS URGED TO CONTACT FAWLEY HILL.

FAWLEY HILL

Fawley Hill, Fawley, Henley-on-Thames, RG9 6JA | 01491 571373 | estate@fawleyhill.com

NeWs

county mayo cure for freight

Tim Casterton reports

monday 4th march was a big day for Iarnród Éireann and Port of Waterford when DFDs Logistics re-launched a container train reconnecting county mayo with rotterdam and the rest of europe. DFDS operates the sea route from Rotterdam to Waterford helping Ireland move containers to and from mainland Europe. The new train service will extend the route. Says Gert Jakobsen, Vice President, Communications at DFDS Logistics, ‘This is about extending our network. It takes our service to our customers. It’s what they need from us.’ During the launch, Michael Connolly, DFDS Sales Manager Ireland ( Intermodal ) told guests that it was the DFDS aim to provide a strong service through Waterford and this will be achieved by working with partners, the Port

of Waterford and Iarnród Éireann. ‘We talked to our customers and they wanted a Tuesday evening service from Waterford and we have achieved this,’ he said referring to the 11:05 service from Ballina which connects with the evening sailing for the Netherlands. The Ballina rail service is particularly essential to the anchor company that trunks exports through Waterford to Europe and also brings in materials through the port. Michael went on to say that things were different now from the boom days of the ‘Celtic Tiger’ and that development and growth of the route would be built up over time with DFDS Logistics ‘doing it a little better everyday’. The trains will annually remove 3000 truck journeys from the roads and save 981 tonnes of CO2

emissions. Port of Waterford has remained committed to rail over the years and retained the rail connection into Bellview and the huge gantry cranes for loading containers. CEO Stan McIlvenny was delighted that services have recommenced. ‘The port is committed to DFDS and Irish Rail. Our close working relationship will lead to bigger and better things,’ said Stan. Staff at Iarnród Éireann are keen to drive up rail freight trafﬁc in Ireland. Iarnród Éireann’s General Manager Freight, Finbar O’Reilly reiterated to those present: ‘Railfreight in Ireland is open for business.’ This message was echoed by the new CEO of Iarnród Éireann, David Franks who had told RailStaff that he is really keen to try and grow the company’s freight business. www.railstaff.co.uk

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technical seminars at railtex 2013 the rail engineer, railstaff’s sister publication, is once again organising and presenting a programme of technical seminars at railtex. commencing with the Grand opening of the exhibition at 10:30 on the first day, a total of twenty-four sessions will be held over the three days. Three keynote speeches will be made by key industry figures. The first day will see the Minister of State for Transport, Rt Hon Simon Burns MP, take the stand as he addresses some of the big issues facing the industry. Much has been spoken of in the national press about the need to increase performance and capacity, and the Minister will take time to outline the Government’s ideas on how to do this. On the second day, it will be the turn of Network Rail chairman Richard Parry-Jones who will look forward to the challenges of CP5 and the opportunities that it brings for both the company and the industry. He will stress that, to enable Network Rail to hit its targets, the pace of

signalling system throughout the 310km of SSR railway and major power upgrades. In addition, twenty exhibitors will present their latest developments to the Railtex audience. A mixture of high-tech engineering, novel solutions to problems and sophisticated software will be explained over the three days as visitors to the show will have the opportunity to hear from the actual developers of tomorrow’s innovations. It should all make for a fascinating three days at the UK’s premier railway industry event.

Tuesday 30 April Opening Ceremony Rt Hon Simon Burns MP, Minister of State for Transport Stephen Brooks, Chairman, Mack Brooks Exhibitions Jeremy Candfield, Director General, RIA The Scope of EMC Assurance in Rail Chris Marshman, Development Director, York EMC Services

Wednesday 1 May Keynote Speech - Network Rail - CP5 Richard Parry-Jones CBE, Chairman, Network Rail

Thursday 2 May Keynote Speech - Crossrail: The Railway is Coming Andrew Wolstenholme OBE, Chief Executive Officer, Crossrail

Safety Relevant Human Machine Interface with Vital Data Indication and Safe Data Entry Dr. Karl-Heinz Schomaker, Head of Key Account Management, Deuta Werke GmbH

Improving the Environmental Performance of Rolling Stock Jon Seddon, Director - Marketing and Strategy, Bombardier Transportation