RailStaff August 2017

AUGUST 2017 | ISSUE 237

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CONTENTS AUGUST 2017 | ISSUE 237

SUMMER SHOCK FOR BIRDS ON A WIRE | 07 Local leaders have expressed fury at the government’s decision to pull the plug on electrification of South Wales and the Midlands.

PLAN TO HONOUR RAIL VCs | 08 A former Longsight Depot driver, Melvin Thorley, and friends plan to stage a major celebration to honour rail heroes.

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RAIL BACKS BIG LISTER | 12 Rail chiefs and staff are supporting the ‘Talk to Us’ campaign run by the Samaritans as the charity launched the Big Listen.

HS2 UNDER THE MICROSCOPE | 20 Making sense of all the latest HS2 news and updates.

LONDON'S SECRET RAIL | 26 Stewart Thorpe explored London’s hidden Mail Rail system as it prepared to open to the public.

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IARNRÓD ÉIREANN SETS OUT STALL | 30 30

Tim Casterton looks in detail at Iarnród Éireann’s response to the Irish Government’s ‘National Planning Framework’ (NPF) consultation.

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Staff

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A pirate's life for me

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Many of those who remember the 1960s - even if we weren’t there - will have been startled to see Jeremy Corbyn on stage at the Glastonbury Festival. With its local entrepreneurs, young people and musicians, it seemed an odd call for the leader of a party that attempted to ban rock and roll in 1967.

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Being in business, from railways to rock, is tough. Four jobs-worths from Tower Hamlets borough council fined Andre Spicer’s fiveyear-old daughter for selling lemonade from an unlicensed stand at the nearby Lovebox Festival. Being an entrepreneur has always been risky and the heavy hand of state control still flexes. What’s new?

August 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the banning of free radio by Harold Wilson’s Labour administration. Hard to recall the

1960s and the almost complete absence of pop on the radio. The BBC ran talks and cultural instruction. All young people had was Radio Luxembourg. Then in 1964 entrepreneurs started broadcasting from ships and towers. Positioned outside the three-mile limit the dozen pirate stations, funded by advertising, claimed to break no British law.

Wilson and his commissars couldn’t cope with this rude assertion of free speech anymore than the phobic-left can today. Boisterous broadcasters, some just teenagers, terrified the men in spymaster macs. Pirate ships were often creaky and ill equipped. Disc jockeys and sailors braved force eight gales, near capsizes and shipwreck. Masts collapsed, antennae blew away, yet the pirates never gave up. Going to such extraordinary lengths to bring music to their public added a sense of urgency to the songs they played. If rock and roll articulated sixties protest, then pirate radio became the saltwater vessels of its enraged truths.

After his speech at Glasto, teetotaller Corbyn was observed pulling pints for student fans prematurely celebrating his commitment to scrap tuition fees. In a memorable PR hiccup, the glasses were embossed with a local cider company’s brand, Thatcher’s Gold.

Entrepreneurial flair breaks out everywhere from railways to radio. Entrepreneurship is essential for success. Whether it’s cider or lemonade, let us raise a glass to those old ships as they set sail across the sunset of a fading generation. Let us also salute Miss Spicer in her commercial endeavours.

Bringing pop to your public was never easy but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. Long live rock and roll. andy@rail-media.com FACEBOOK.COM/RAILSTAFF | @RAILSTAFFUK | RAILSTAFF.UK

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RAILSTAFF AUGUST 2017

Queen St. takes the Vale ‘Mine’s a large one…make that a day return….’

Passengers using Glasgow Queen Street are being redirected to buy tickets at the former Vale Pub on Dundas Street.

ScotRail has taken over the legendary bar while the next phase of redevelopment at Queen Street pushes ahead this month. Scotland’s third busiest railway station needs to accommodate longer trains and many more passengers.

Glasgow Queen Street currently handles around 20 million passengers a year.

Numbers are set to soar to 28 million by 2030.

Distraught topers at the Vale will be relieved to know the railway lease is for three years only. Locals hope the Vale will return. The pub was originally called the Vale of Leven and was built in 1891.

The foundation stone was laid

by Angus Campbell, a Glasgow writer.

Rising star

Emma Clarke has topped the list of Women in Rail’s Top 20 Rising Stars of the UK Rail Industry 2017.

The assistant civil engineer with Atkins’ transport division first joined the railway whilst still a student at Leeds University.

Says Emma, ‘I am thrilled to have been recognised by my peers and the industry. I first came to Atkins as a student on summer placement after my third year at university. I returned

to Atkins on completion of my master’s and have had ample opportunity since then to work on a wide variety of rail projects – I’d recommend anyone consider a career in rail.’

An active STEM ambassador, Emma regularly takes part in outreach programmes with schools in York and supports initiatives such as Women in Engineering 2016 and Rail Week 2016.

Says Adeline Ginn of Women in Rail, ‘Emma is a worthy recipient of this award and her nomination clearly demonstrated that she is one to watch. She is on track to become a rail leader of tomorrow. Recognising the potential of women in rail is an important part of our work to ensure that the industry is appealing to an ever more diverse range of people.’

Kevin Cawkwell at Atkins congratulated the rising star.

‘Emma is highly deserving of this recognition, combining excellent technical skills and an eye for detail with the ability to inspire the best from the teams she works with.’

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Meet me in Machynlleth August marks the 10th anniversary of the opening of the new Machynlleth Train Care Facility in west Wales.

The depot looks after a fleet of Class 158 trains and replaced a Victorian-era shed and yard.

Machynlleth features rainwater harvesting systems and a wind turbine. The £3 million upgrade in 2007 saw the team of 10 more than treble in size to 33.

In the last two years alone, the number of annual journeys on the route has increased by 4,000.

Hard work by depot staff, train crews and colleagues at Network Rail has seen services maintain a consistent high score of 87.3 per cent on the Public Performance Measure.

While a depot has existed in the town for many years, previously it could only carry out basic refuelling and running repairs. Any major work had to be carried out at the Canton depot in Cardiff. Staff at Machynlleth are encouraged to skill up and gain qualifications. Some have gone on to be drivers.

Anthony Main, 44, joined ATW 12 years ago as a technician and is now a maintenance team leader. ‘With every team you bond and become a better more efficient team. For me this is one of the biggest changes.

Team working has made the job more enjoyable. The changes within the company have also meant staff travel to other depots at times and meet other maintenance teams, it has opened up the company in a positive way.’ Main points out that the upgraded depot makes a big contribution to the local economy. ‘Since the new depot was built…numerous families have benefited not just in Machynlleth but further a field, as some staff travel up to 45 mins to work. It has given people new skills, new opportunities and security to families in rural Wales, where jobs can be hard to find.’

‘It’s a great place to work and that’s been shown by the fact people tend to stay with us,’ says head of production, David Watts.

‘We’ve given as many staff as possible the chance to learn with NVQs, leadership courses and the chance to become team leaders.’

Leadership is a tradition in Machynlleth which was once the headquarters of Welsh hero Owen Glendower and his famous parliament. Owain Glyndwr led a rising against the English in the 15th century. After his defeat, he slipped away and was never caught. Legend has it he died peacefully in Herefordshire.

RAILSTAFF AUGUST 2017

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Summer shock for birds on a wire Local leaders have expressed fury at the government’s decision to pull the plug on electrification of South Wales and the Midlands.

Concerned at ever-escalating costs, plans to wire up the line between Cardiff and Swansea have been short circuited. In the Midlands wires will end at Kettering. The line north to Sheffield and Nottingham will not now be electrified. Similar plans to electrify the Oxenholme - Windermere branch in the Lake District have also been earthed.

An optimistic DfT stressed new bi-mode trains - capable of running on diesel engines as well as electric - would in fact improve services beyond Kettering and Cardiff.

With distressing chronology, the government a few days later announced diesel engines would be phased out by 2040.

This applies only to road vehicles. However, clean air campaigners believe full-throttle diesels are fated for the choker.

Back in London, Transport supremo Chris Grayling has moved to re-assure the industry that Crossrail 2 - the north-south London link will go ahead.

In a startling choice of terminology, Darren Caplan, chief executive of the Railway Industry Association, said, ‘Over recent weeks there have been growing concerns that Crossrail 2 would be quietly dropped. Today’s joint statement by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling and London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, offering their full throttle support to this vital infrastructure project, is excellent news for both London and the whole of the UK.’ North-south, sparks continue to fly as north country leaders and the Welsh accuse the Westminster government of London-centric transport priorities.

Says Loughborough MP Nicky Morgan, ‘It’s extremely disappointing news after such a long campaign with powerful agreement between all the parties and businesses here.

I’ve spoken to Chris Grayling about this and told him what I think. Again, the East Midlands is losing out because of cost overruns with other rail projects elsewhere. There are a lot of questions around these bi-mode trains that still need to be answered.’

Morgan, who is treasury select committee chairman added, ‘I never give up. The argument for electrification has not gone away.’

500 cups of tea Over 500 cups of tea and coffee and countless traybakes have been served at the Wee Train Café at New Cumnock Station since it opened in May. The café, which is largely staffed by 16-25-year-olds, has firmly established itself as a popular meeting place for locals and passengers alike. East Ayrshire Carers Centre oversees its operation.

Young volunteers gain hospitality and business skills.

Says ScotRail Alliance’s head of economic development, James Ledgerwood, ‘Making our stations community hubs rather than just somewhere to board a train is an important part of our ScotRail in the community work.

As well as providing opportunities to learn workplace skills for the young volunteers, the Wee Train Café is also a source of great locally produced refreshments. What could be better than that?’

Serving up success: (L - R) Fiona Pirrie, Joint Chief Executive Officer, East Ayrshire Carers Group, Anne Cameron, café manager, Stephen Cameron, volunteer, Dale McTaggart, volunteer.

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Plan to honour rail VCs

A former Longsight Depot driver, Melvin Thorley, and friends plan to stage a major celebration to honour rail heroes, among them Wilfred Wood who won the Victoria Cross in the First World War. The celebration will take place next year, marking the conclusion of hostilities - the Armistice effectively ended the war on 11 November 1918 - and will include the other six VC holders from the railway.

Says Melvin, ‘I have been approached by several people currently employed in a railway capacity to reform the ‘1992 Committee’, a group of people who organised the Longsight 150 Birthday celebrations. This time the aim would be to honour not only Wilfred Wood, a former Longsight footplateman, but also the other six railwaymen who won the Victoria Cross.’

Both Wilfred Wood and Ernest Sykes, who often worked the same train together, had express steam locomotives named after them which ran on the main line for 40 years from 1922 to 1962.

Adds Melvin, ‘My mates said it was funny at Longsight when Wilf Wood went to the window to ask about his engine. Sometimes there it was - ‘’his’’ engine, 5536. The locomotive was based at Longsight for many years. As spotters, we would see it nearly every day in the summer holidays over bridge 98A.’ Sadly, neither British Rail nor the train operating companies have returned their names to main line locomotives. The Longsight 1992 Committee hopes not only to re-name Private Wood and Private Sykes, but also to RAILSTAFF.UK | @RAILSTAFFUK | FACEBOOK.COM/RAILSTAFF

name locomotives after the other five for the first time. The seven would carry the names for the whole of 2018, the Armistice 100.

Enthusiasm for the naming and celebrating project is already high. At a recent retirement party for a Virgin West Coast driver several members of the old 1992 Committee discussed Armistice 100. Many of the drivers and rail staff present had travelled to the war graves in France. The general feeling was: If we can do this we should. Let’s get Wilf’s name back on a loco.

Also present at the party was Wilf Wood’s former fireman, now aged 90. Eddy Rowbotham, who turned 90 on 28 July, joined the railway in 1943. Mr Rowbotham fired on 45536 and reminded the company that Wilf

was possibly the only man in Great Britain to drive a locomotive with his name in brass on either side.

Says RailStaff editor Andy Milne, ‘Naming trains after seven rail heroes is an excellent idea and a good way for the rail industry to come together to mark the end of the First World War. Please support Melvin Thorley in this venture. We will be saluting the valour of these men in the pages of RailStaff.’ For more info contact andy@rail-media.com Railway Victoria Cross holders include: Jock Christie, Charles Robertson, John Meikle, Jacob Rivers, Thomas Norman Jackson, Ernest Sykes and Wilfred Wood.

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Diverse and inclusive move for TfL TfL has appointed Staynton Brown to the new position of director of diversity and inclusion. He joins TfL from his role as associate director – equalities at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust.

TfL says it is committed to tackling the skills challenge faced by the wider transport industry by developing more initiatives and apprenticeships.

In the transport sector, it aims to offer more opportunities to women and people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds.

Says Staynton Brown, ‘I am delighted to be joining TfL and cannot wait to utilise my previous experience to continue driving TfL forward. Building a more inclusive organisation that celebrates and values diversity will bring huge benefits to the workforce and our customers.’

Northern grace for Mace Mike Odling has been appointed head of rail for the North at Mace, the global construction giant.

Mike’s appointment follows that of Lisa Bowden, who joined Mace as associate director with responsibility for the North Infrastructure Strategy and Strategic Pursuits in January.

The move marks a closer focus on rail and infrastructure imperatives in the north of the country. Mace operates across the North from offices in Manchester, Cumbria, Hull and Leeds Mike Odling is a rail industry veteran and has worked on major projects across the UK for companies including SKM and Mott MacDonald. He joins Mace from Jacobs, where he has served as rail director since 2014.

His project experience includes Network Rail’s Northern Hub, and the devolution and transfer of Greater Manchester stations for Transport for Greater Manchester (TFGM).

Lisa Bowden leads business development for Mace’s infrastructure team in the North of England. She previously served as national sector director for higher education for Carillion Building, and before that was national strategic business development

director for GB Building.

Mace is expanding its infrastructure business in the North of England. Says Steve Gillingham, Mace’s director for the North, ‘In order to unlock growth in the Northern Powerhouse, we need to ensure that improvements in infrastructure are achieved across the North. Without good transport links, our great Northern cities will struggle to grow sustainably and attract investment and new jobs.

‘Mace has a great heritage in UK regional infrastructure development, and we’re keen to significantly expand our practice in the North. Mike and Lisa’s tremendous expertise and hardwon reputation for delivery make them the perfect team to help us do this.’

Mike Odling studied at Altrincham Grammar school and Liverpool Polytechnic where he read civil engineering. He has also studied at the Aston Business School. Mace employs over 5,000 people across five global hubs, with a turnover of £1.77 billion.

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High flyer for Linbrooke Former RAF man Anthony Thompson has joined Linbrooke Services Ltd as rail business development manager.

The move follows Linbrooke’s recent success securing projects and maintenance contract works with Great Western Railways, TransPennine Express and Arriva Rail North.

Anthony Thompson started his career in the Royal Air Force, serving 12 years, and has since worked in communications for over 20 years.

With knowledge and experience of various communications platforms, Thompson has been instrumental in developing 3G communications for remote railway stations as well as supporting the implementation of customer information systems.

He has worked on cable (copper and fibre) installation, networks, CCTV, control and command centre, Long Line Public Address, access control, Help Points, traffic signals, telephony and radio communications in several industries.

Focusing on the rail industry

over the last 10 years, Anthony has worked for Infotec Ltd, Optilan UK Ltd and KeTech, all of which have enabled him to gain an intimate understanding of stakeholder communications and requirements.

He has worked with Network Rail, Northern Rail, ScotRail, ATOC and several other TOCs. Anthony is a keen sportsman and has played and managed several football teams, both at squadron and local level. As well as keeping fit, Anthony’s passion is scooters and he has owned a number of Lambrettas in his time. As well as riding scooters, he also enjoys writing articles and taking photos of scooters for a number of national specialist magazines.

Promotion for Ordsall Chord architect BDP has named Peter Jenkins as its new head of transport.

Peter, who was the architect director in BDP’s Manchester studio, will become head of transport for the entire practice.

Peter’s team in Manchester designed the Ordsall Chord - a new single-span network arch bridge in the city centre.

Founded in 1961 in Preston, BDP now has design studios all around the world. Its reach is expanding further, following a merger with Nippon Koei last year.

Says Peter, ‘I’m very proud to have been part of the team which has designed, developed and constructed the Ordsall Chord,

this massively significant project for Manchester and the north of England.

‘It’s a matter of great professional pride to take the leadership role for the rail sector in the practice and our work on the Ordsall Chord is opening up rail infrastructure opportunities for BDP Nippon Koei around the world.’

RAILSTAFF AUGUST 2017

Arup appoints UK and world leads

Wearmouth joins Parkeon Rail Team

Arup has made two new appointments in its international and UK rail businesses.

Public transport retailing systems provider Parkeon has appointed David Wearmouth as head of sales, UK Rail.

Anna Squire has been made global rail leader while Stefan Sanders will head the UK, Middle East and Africa (UKMEA) region.

Anna, who joined the company in 2006, is based in Sydney. Her CV includes roles on the Sydney Metro and Canberra Light Rail projects.

Says Anna, ‘Expanding cities and the need for sustainable methods of transportation means that we have seen a rise in the number of urban rail projects and we are well positioned to meet this growing demand by harnessing our global network of rail experts.’

Stefan’s career began at British Rail in 1989. He arrived at Arup in 2003 and has spent a substantial portion of his career supporting local government and train operators with procurement and railway reform.

David joins Parkeon from Conduent Parking & Public Safety Solutions, formerly Xerox International Transportation Group, where he was UK business development director.

Since entering the rail market in 2009, Parkeon has grown to become one of the UK’s most successful self-service retailing

Says Stefan, ‘Rail passenger numbers continue to grow year-on-year so increasing capacity, performance and efficiency across the rail network is now more critical than ever.

Whilst conventional upgrades to railways will continue to be vital, we also need to harness best practice in operational management and the latest technology to ensure existing and new infrastructure will serve the needs of the next generation.’

Stefan and Anna take over from Colin Stewart - Arup’s former global and UKMEA rail lead who is retiring after 40 years with the company.

Francis to retire After over 20 years with Porterbrook, Paul Francis is to retire from his position as chief executive.

A new chief executive has yet to be appointed. Says Paul Francis, ‘I have had a fantastic journey working for Porterbrook since 1996.

‘I have been blessed and privileged to work with some great people over the years in the rail industry. There have been many strong relationships forged and this has been very rewarding for me personally.

‘My view is the time is now right for someone with a new perspective and a new injection of energy to take the company forward in partnership with the shareholders.’

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suppliers.

In his spare time, David is a volunteer football coach with the Horndean Hawks Football Club.

Yes we KAM Aline Frantzen heads the new Manchester Metrolink operator, KeolisAmey Metrolink (KAM).

KAM replaces RATP Dev Ltd. Frantzen joins the business following 17 years with Yarra Trams, the light rail network in Melbourne, Australia, which is also operated by Keolis.

The new contract, to operate and maintain the system, will run for up to 10 years.

KAM plans to source a minimum of 40 per cent of supplier contracts in a 25 miles radius of Greater Manchester.

The new operation will create 300 new jobs including drivers and apprentices. Over 60 of those new jobs have already

started, following the successful recruitment of additional customer service representatives and travel safe officers, as well as more drivers.

2017 has already seen the completion of the Second City Crossing (2CC), a crucial piece in a £2 billion expansion programme that has trebled the size of the original network. Work has also started on a new extension through Trafford Park.

Aline Frantzen, from France, studied at the Ecole Superieur de Commerce at Rouen. She later read an MBA at La Trobe University in Melbourne and an advanced diploma in business management at the University of Ballarat in Australia.

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Rail backs Big Listen Rail chiefs and staff are supporting the ‘Talk to Us’ campaign run by the Samaritans as the charity launched the Big Listen at King’s Cross station.

Network Rail chief executive Mark Carne, Rail Delivery Group head Paul Plummer and Samaritans CEO Ruth Sutherland met up with Lions Barber Collective founder Tom Chapman at King’s Cross.

The trio took turns in the barber’s chair as stylist Tom demonstrated his listening skills.

Hairdressers and barbers spend hours listening to their clients and they have shown support for the Big Listen.

Celebrity hairdresser Verona White, who was also at King’s Cross, said, ‘Everyone needs someone to listen to them, and it is not always family. A good listener will let people talk and you can read them and be responsive without giving advice.’

Says Tom Chapman, who founded the Lions after he lost a friend to suicide and now trains barbers to listen to and support their clients, ‘We are stronger together and the more we can join up and get the message out about how crucial listening to each other is, the better.’

Paul Plummer, chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, affirmed industry commitment to the campaign. ‘Reducing suicide on Britain’s railway is something that can only be achieved through everyone on the network working together.

‘Passengers and the public can also help play a part in making the railway a safe and supportive place for people who are finding life tough. We’re proud to be welcoming Samaritans volunteers into our stations to celebrate their national awareness month.

Millions of people from all walks of life travel through our stations every day: challenging them to take the time to listen, and listen more effectively, is a positive message that we’re delighted to be helping Samaritans deliver.’

Samaritans is calling on everyone in the UK RAILSTAFF.UK | @RAILSTAFFUK | FACEBOOK.COM/RAILSTAFF

A Heritage Centre for Aberdour

to improve their listening skills as part of Talk to Us, its annual awareness raising campaign to prioritise suicide prevention.

Samaritans volunteers from 100 branches around the UK are holding events at 150 stations around the country between 22-24 July with support from British Transport Police officers. They will be giving away Samaritans SHUSH! Listening Tips • Show you care: focus just on the other person, make eye contact, put away your phone • Have patience: it may take time and several attempts before a person is ready to open up • Use open questions: that need more than a yes/no answer, & follow up e.g. ‘Tell me more’ • Say it back: to check you’ve understood, but don’t interrupt or offer a solution • Have courage: don’t be put off by a negative response and, most importantly, don’t be afraid to leave silence Says Ruth Sutherland, ‘Three times more people die by suicide than from road accidents.

Samaritans volunteers are trained to be good listeners, but this is a skill we can all learn.

Together we will save lives.’

Every six seconds, someone in the UK and Ireland contacts Samaritans, and every 90 minutes someone takes their own life.

Samaritans believe that listening is crucial to helping people find their way through their problems, and wants to encourage people to seek help early, rather than when they reach a crisis.

You can find out more at www.samaritans. org or on Facebook www.facebook.com/ samaritanscharity

A dramatic new Heritage Centre has opened at Aberdour’s award-winning railway station on the south Fife coast.

The centre will feature a timeline showing the history of Aberdour from its earliest beginnings in prehistory until the turn of the 21st century. The first of many planned exhibitions is ‘200 Years of Aberdour’s Sporting Heritage’.

Night at the opera Passengers on board a recent Caledonian Sleeper service enjoyed their own private opera between Aberdeen and London.

A miniature musical theatre piece entitled ‘Belongings’, commissioned by Scotland’s soundfestival and operatic company, Tête à Tête, took place in the Lounge Car. The piece, inspired by items of luggage carried by railway passengers, held its world premiere on Monday night exclusively for Caledonian Sleeper guests. ‘Belongings’ will be re-staged on the Caledonian Sleeper on the evening of 9 November followed by pop up performances in Deeside to coincide with soundfestival.

Buzz Off! ScotRail has been taken to task for installing a youth buzz transmitter at Hamilton Central.

The gadget emits a mosquito-like buzzing only audible by young people.

The move follows staff complaints of vandalism and violence by youths loitering at the South Lanarkshire station.

Scotland’s children’s commissioner Bruce Adamson says the device breaches human rights. Railway staff and the RMT are right behind the move.

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Queen’s Award

Civic dignitaries arrived at Bridgeway Consulting’s Nottingham headquarters last month for an official presentation of its Queen’s Award for Enterprise.

On July 25, managing director Pino De Rosa was joined by the Lord-Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire Sir John Peace, the Deputy Lord-Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire Richard Bullock, MP for Broxtowe Anna Soubry,

the Lord Mayor of Nottingham Michael Edwards, and councillor John Haynes at the ceremony.

As the local representative of Her Majesty the Queen, Sir John Peace, who is a former nonexecutive chairman of Burberry and former chairman of Experian, officially awarded Bridgeway with its award for sustainable development.

Bridgeway has worked on high-profile projects such as the Thameslink Programme, Crossrail and HS2, covering a multitude of services from track access, geomatics, site and ground investigations, infrastructure services and training to name just a few.

Earlier this year it also featured in the London Stock Exchange’s ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Britain 2017’ publication for the second time.

Victa Railfreight posts winning results Providing shunters and freight terminal drivers may not seem like the big time but it has helped boost the fortunes of Maidstone-based Victa Railfreight.

‘We work up and down the country providing shunters and terminal drivers for most of the freight operating companies,’ says Victa managing director Neil Sime. ‘Whereas previously a lot of our work was ad hoc this is increasingly becoming contracted, offering security to both parties.’

Victa’s turnover has grown to £4.67million and it now has over 100 employees - an increase on 2014 figures when turnover stood at £620,000 and the company

employed 20 people.

Neil went on, ‘We also provide rail operations staff to the Crossrail project to man the engineering construction trains, continuing our support of major construction projects as we have previously on HS1 and Heathrow Terminal 5.’

The growth in commerce and jobs emphasises the role of small businesses in the new rail industry.

Debbie Simmonds, Victa’s head of contracts and resources manager, delivered a spirited speech to the Rail Freight Group in which she revealed the new results. ‘These are positive times for Victa and we are moving forward in a safe, planned and sustainable manner,’ she said.

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Reading river concert for rail trainer Reading’s Aldworth Philharmonic Orchestra, lead

by GWR’s very own conductor, Andrew Taylor, staged a free public recital event at Reading station recently.

The Route to the River: Schumann at the Station concert saw performances of two Schumann symphonies, conducted in part by APO musical director Andrew Taylor, alongside the world premieres of two commissions by young composers - including one of the winners of the recent Reading Cultural Awards, Alice Knight.

Andrew works as a training manager.

GWR is supporting the Aldworth Philharmonic as part of this year’s Reading on Thames Festival and the Reading Fringe Festival.

Says Aldworth Philharmonic Orchestra’s Emily Bushby, ‘These

short pieces are inspired by the River Thames. By performing at the north end of the station transfer deck, we want to draw attention to how close the river is to Reading town centre ahead of the inaugural Reading on Thames Festival.’

Pirate radio for NYMR The North Yorkshire Moors Railway hosted an extra special 60s Fest in July this year.

A special Pirate Radio exhibition marked the 50th anniversary of the Wilson administration’s banning of the pirates.

Yorkshire’s own much-loved pirate station, Radio 270, had a special place in the display.

Radio 270 broadcast from a converted Dutch trawler, Oceaan Seven, anchored three miles off Scarborough - outside British territorial waters.

The exhibition tells the story of offshore radio and showcases

all of the stations. Chris Dannatt organised the exhibit and Geoff Pearson, a member of the Radio London team from 1964 to 1966, helped out.

Music from the 1960s featured across the railway during the weekend.

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A streetcar Land of milk named inspire and honey

Edinburgh Trams has turned a profit - two years earlier than anticipated.

The light rail system, owned by the city of Edinburgh, notched up a £252,000 pre-tax profit on its electrified, low-platform, balance sheet.

Says Edinburgh Trams managing director Lea Harrison, ‘We’re delighted with these results and they firmly reflect the growing popularity of the tram. Over the past year, we’ve seen patronage increase by 10 per cent and revenue rise by 12 per cent. These encouraging figures have been driven by our move to increase the frequency of trams combined with our ongoing commitment to exceptional service.’

Passenger satisfaction is at an astonishing 99 per cent. All this has been achieved in two years.

Says Lesley Macinnes, Transport Convener for the city council, ‘These are fantastic figures, demonstrating how popular trams have become. It’s especially welcome news so soon after the capital’s trams were nationally recognised for having the highest customer satisfaction rating of any public transport operator in the UK. Full credit to everyone at Edinburgh Trams for the sterling job they’re doing.’

The original business model for the tram network predicted the first positive returns would arrive in 2018 and forecasted a pretax loss of £170,000 for the year ending December 2016. The Scottish capital’s streetcar success story hosts over 5.6 million passenger journeys a year. The runaway success story of Edinburgh Trams should inspire further light rail developments.

To celebrate the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway’s 150th anniversary, Chesterfield’s Pomegranate Youth Theatre staged an onboard play: Milk and Honey.

The work, created by Derbyshire-based playwright Lynn Ludditt, began in the marquee at Wirksworth station and continued on the train.

Players from the Pomegranate Youth Theatre enthralled passengers and volunteers as they travelled up and down the train visiting people in their compartments. The play told the story of the line’s origins and early years, leading up to its closure to passengers in 1947.

The performance concluded at Duffield station where the story was brought bang up to date. Actors staged a dramatic reconstruction of the first eight volunteers setting about clearing the tracks back in 2000.

Says Neil Ferguson-Lee, vice chairman WyvernRail plc, ‘It was strange seeing one’s own story being acted out!’

On board CAMRA The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) hopes topers attending beer festivals this summer will take the train.

A rail round trip is regarded as the best way to guarantee a good day out at a beer festival.

Chappel Beer Festival 5-9 September is held in the East Anglian Railway museum.

Now 31 years old, the railway even runs a special service to the event.

Chappel & Wakes Colne station is on the branch line that runs from the main line junction at Marks Tey. Services are operated by Greater Anglia. Foam-blowers have over 460 beers to choose from.

At the heart of the railway, the Crewe Rail Ale Festival 8-10 September 2017

takes place at the Crewe Railway Heritage Centre. The festival includes mini train rides, railway displays, and access to vintage vehicles, diesel and electric locomotives and signal boxes. The heritage centre is just a hiccup from the main line station - with connections to all of Britain.

Further down the West Coast Main Line, the Concrete Pint Festival in Milton Keynes - at Wolverton - celebrates the area’s links to the railway. Wolverton developed as the first main stop from London back when trains had no toilets or buffets. Relieved passengers have long praised Wolverton and its personal needs breaks. Nowadays fast services mean even real ale aficionados have few reasons to worry on the way home.

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CrossCountry has teamed up with the Scouts Association to show young people how to stay safe on the railway.

Rail role for Scouts

The three-year partnership has two steps. Stage One undertakes to educate Scouts on rail safety.

Stage Two encourages Scout leaders to contact community rail partnerships and station adoption groups and arrange visits to local stations. Where possible Scout Packs will be encouraged to adopt their local station. The partnership aims to educate 150,000 young people within the next two years.

Says Chris Leech, business community manager, CrossCountry, ‘I am a true believer that young people have the loudest voices and arguably the biggest social network in society. Given the right information and a small amount of responsibility they can become great ambassadors.’

Emphasising the safety goal of the exercise Chris says, ‘This programme encourages young people to be responsible ambassadors for rail safety.’

Within two days of the launch of the partnership, Chris and colleagues were inundated with positive messages from

railway employees associated with the Scouting movement.

‘They endorse and celebrate our approach,’ says Chris.

As well as railway staff, BTP officers are right behind the scheme. Says PC Joe Turner, ‘This is really important because a lot of our work is making sure that people are safe on the railways. The kids are really enthusiastic. Getting to see the control room, going down and seeing the trains moving about and getting an explanation on how everything works means they definitely have a better awareness of their own safety and others.’

The scouting movement dates from the start of the last century.

A British army officer, Robert Baden-Powell, developed the idea for scouting, based on self reliance and woodcraft, whilst on reconnaissance missions in the hills of southern Africa during the Boer War. His book, ‘Scouting for Boys’ became a best seller. The motto, ‘Be Prepared’ has inspired generations of scouts. The British scout movement is thought to number over 452,000 young people.

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Cab ride for youngster An eight-year-old boy was given the trip of a lifetime when he became a train driver for the day.

James Heath, who lives in Norwich and attends Parkside School, enjoyed a ride in the cab on Greater Anglia’s 10.36 Norwich to Great Yarmouth service.

The youngster, who has autism, was able to assist driver Steve Goodrum. James was given a drivers’ rucksack, whistle, flag and name badge ahead of his journey.

Says James’ mum, Liz, ‘James loves all transport but trains are his favourite. His favourite journey is from Norwich to London Liverpool Street – last time we went there, we took James to the transport museum and he absolutely loved it. James was so excited when I told him he was going to ride in a cab. He has really enjoyed his day and

we would like to thank everyone who was involved.’

Says Alan Murphy, driver manager at Greater Anglia, ‘It’s the dream of so many little boys to become a train driver and I’m glad that Greater Anglia was able to make one boy’s dream come true.’

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Docklands Light Railway celebrates 30th anniversary

© Shutterstock.com

The Docklands Light Railway, which helped inspire the regeneration of London’s Docklands, celebrates its 30th anniversary this summer.

Opened by Her Majesty the Queen in summer 1987, the DLR initially began with just 11 single-carriage trains that served 15 stations.

Today, the entirely step-free railway carries 122 million passengers, up from 6.7 million in its first year, and encompasses 45 stations with 56 mainly three-carriage trains. DLR passengers will benefit from new trains in 2022, helping

boost capacity on the DLR by 30 per cent.

Meanwhile the ‘Destination DLR’ travel guide features 30 places that are all easily reached by the DLR from Royal Museums in Greenwich to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Local business people paid tribute to the DLR. Says Declan Collier, chief executive officer of London City Airport (LCY), ‘While London City Airport has a 30-year record of connecting business to Europe, in 2005 the DLR seamlessly connected the airport to London.

It transformed LCY’s passenger proposition, made us accessible to established and

emerging parts of the city, and now 61 per cent of our passengers use it to access our airport.

‘It’s fitting that the DLR and London City Airport both celebrate their 30th anniversary this year as they are two businesses that have played a crucial role in regenerating and better connecting East London, and we look forward to many more years of working together.’

When Elizabeth line services commence between central London, Shenfield and Abbey Wood in December 2018, the DLR will provide interchanges at Canary Wharf, West India Quay, Stratford and Custom House stations.

Our new Ballast Feeder System 40 and Railvac® OTM operating together increases S&C and Plain Line reballasting productivity together with all other track excavation and backfilling works.

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Dylan adopts station

A Welsh schoolboy has taken on a railway station.

Wales’ youngest station adopter, 10-year-old Dylan Allman, is sprucing up Pembrokeshire request stop, Clarbeston Road.

Dylan is helped by his father, Dr Chris Allman. The pair will be working closely with Arriva Trains Wales to ensure the station is looking its best.

Says the Cleddau Reach VC Primary School pupil, ‘It’s a great station with two platforms and regular trains passing through, so I hope people will be able to see how we are going to look after it, keep it clean and tidy, and

make it a nice place for people when they are catching trains.

I’m hoping I will have an official Arriva volunteer badge too – I can’t wait to wear that!’

The father and son, who live in nearby Llangwm, travel regularly by train down to Tenby and across to Swansea with their bikes. A member of the 1st Johnston Scout Group, Dylan is using his new rail role to help win his Scouting Community Impact Award.

Dylan and Chris hope to clear the bank and plant wildflowers in time for next spring to make the request stop an even more welcoming place to visit. ‘It’s brilliant to be working with Chris and Dylan and really nice to see a young person so passionate about the railway and local community,’ says Geraint Morgan, community affairs manager for Arriva Trains Wales. You have to be 16 or over to adopt a station, however those younger are very welcome alongside a consenting adult.

Spanish coup for South Wales Spanish train manufacturer CAF will start building trains at a new factory in South Wales.

Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles plans to create 300 jobs at the plant on the site of the old Llanwern Steel works south of Newport.

CAF’s British operation will be able to build a comprehensive range of different rolling stock, including diesel multiple units, electric multiple units, trams and high speed trains.

Says Richard Garner, CAF’s UK director, ‘The factory will have the flexibility to allow us to respond to the exacting demands of both existing and new customers by providing the most complete offering of any rolling stock provider operating in the UK.’ CAF, which this year celebrates its centenary, supplied trams for Edinburgh’s

light rail system and the Midland Metro. CAF currently has contracts to build some 300 trains and coaches in Britain.

CAF looked at more than 100 locations throughout the UK before choosing the Celtic Business Park, a 100-acre industrial development on the site of the Llanwern steelworks.

The location was chosen because of its links to roads, rail and ports. Best of all is the availability of local people with engineering skills.

Llanwern, means church on a marsh. Luckily for CAF the area was reclaimed from the sea by the Romans who built a sea wall and dug drainage ditches known locally as reens. Legend has it monks from Goldcliff Priory dug a large drainage ditch from Wentwood in the north to the Bristol Channel - known to this day as Monks Ditch.

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Solent students star in rail film project A team from Solent University has created a stunning series of 30 short films shot on the Watercress Line featuring the restoration of the steam locomotive ‘Canadian Pacific’.

The students created the films as part of their first-year ‘Video Production: craft and processes’ module. The course gives students a unique opportunity to film, edit and present movies.

For the restoration project it emerged as a powerful way of engaging young people in CanPac and engineering excellence at the railway. Several of the students have won awards at the university for their work.

Says Roy Hanney, course tutor, ‘Working with the Watercress Line has really challenged the students and provided a real-world environment for their production practice.

‘The partnership offered an unprecedented opportunity for our first year’s students to experience the ways in which working for a real client requires not just the ability to operate cameras and record sound, but to engage with people and deal with complex and sometimes messy situations. It also pushed them into researching the topics for their films and thinking about how best to communicate their messages to a real audience.’

Dauntsey undaunted The railway line between Chippenham and Swindon re-opened thanks to the efforts of 550 Network Rail engineers who put in more than 10,000 hours to complete the project at Dauntsey.

Track has been lowered under two listed bridges and new drainage installed. The £3.5 million drainage project will improve reliability and paves the way for a new fleet of Intercity Express Trains expected later this year.

Future Engineers This autumn, the National Railway Museum (NRM) is launching Future Engineers – an engaging programme of fun, family activities to reach and inspire the next generation of engineers.

The four-week programme, which is aimed at the public and schools, will run from 21 October to 15 November and will involve working closely with industry to create a STEM learning programme of free activities and events.

It is designed to connect visitors with contemporary rail industry professionals and expertise. From learning how to build railway tracks and tunnels, to the importance of iconic figures such as Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the museum says the events will give children and families an opportunity to see a new side of the railway industry.

NRM says, ’The UK has a well-documented shortage of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills. Engaging young people in even basic knowledge of STEM can open doors to almost any sector and provide employers with a more skilled workforce. At the National Railway Museum in York we are working with the rail industry

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through our flagship events to help make this happen.’

The first Future Engineers programme took place last year and reached more than 34,000 people across the country. Following this positive feedback, the programme is back for another year and aims to be bigger and better than ever.

There will be several opportunities for industry and STEM Ambassadors alike to explore exciting projects, share first-hand experiences and inspire visitors to consider a career in engineering without barriers. This includes through the informal setting of our ‘Engineering Hub’ (until 5 November) and the ‘Engineer Like Me’ gameshow.

The Engineering Hub is a relaxed, creative working space where engineers can take over and talk about who they are and what they do.

Visitors will be encouraged to ask questions, have conversations and leave with a deeper knowledge of the industry.

NRM is looking for companies or individuals to be part of this Hub and to play a part in developing the engineers of tomorrow. Volunteers will be asked to bring something interesting to share with visitors and take part in ‘Engineer Like Me’ - a 20-minute engineering-themed panel activity.

By supporting Future Engineers, businesses will demonstrate their commitment to community outreach as well as helping shape and inspire the next generation of talent.

Anyone interested in taking part or who would like to receive more information, please contact Leanne Roberts, public events coordinator, on leanne.roberts@nrm.org.uk 01904 685 724.

Opened in 1975, the NRM in York has the largest collection of railway locomotives and objects in the world which includes famous engineering icons from the record-breaking Mallard to the Shinkansen bullet train.

Part of the Science Museum Group, the museum is free to enter and attracts more than 700,000 visitors each year.

Future Engineers will be held between 21 October and 15 November.

Find out more on NRM’s website: www.nrm.org.uk

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HS2

UNDER THE

MARC JOHNSON LOOKS AT THE DETAIL BEHIND LAST MONTH'S HS2 ANNOUNCEMENTS

O

n a single day in July, more than 100 documents relating to HS2 were published on the Department for Transport’s website - not so surprising when you realise that parliament’s summer recess was looming.

Some of the papers were more extensive than others but it still amounted to something like 115 seperate items. This month, RailStaff is looking at some of the detail you may have missed in the flurry of high-speed announcements.

The majority were connected with Phase 2a and 2b, supporting the submission of the 2a hybrid bill and the formal announcement for the proposed route north of Birmingham. The documents included environmental impact assessments, engineering reports and commercial case policy papers.

Some interesting details emerged, including a breakdown of the bill for Phase 2a. The route between the West Midlands and Crewe is expected to cost a little less than £3.5 billion. There were also detailed engineering reports for both the Birmingham-Leeds and Crewe-Manchester legs of the route which showed the current working designs for the Toton and Leeds stations and the Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Airport stations.

Here’s what else we learned…

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PHASE 2B ROUTE - WHAT’S NEW?

The announcement last month crystallised the route for Phase 2a and 2b of HS2 but provided few surprises. It did, however, give a clearer picture of how Britain’s high-speed corridor will look when it opens in 2033.

On the same day as the Phase 2b preferred route was confirmed, HS2 deposited the hybrid bill to parliament for Phase 2a. The hybrid bill for Phase 2b will be submitted in 2019.

Of seven route refinements included in a consultation last year, six have been adopted.

The only proposed alteration not to be applied was in the East Midlands, where HS2 had considered rerouting the railway around the village of Measham instead of through it.

© HS2 Ltd

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© HS2 Ltd

MICROSCOPE Details of the six accepted changes are described below:

M18/Eastern route The most significant change to the Phase 2b route is around Derbyshire and South Yorkshire. HS2 had originally proposed running the eastern leg of Phase 2b between Sheffield and Rotherham, and building a station close to the Meadowhall shopping centre. It had later looked at the possibility of diverting HS2 trains through Sheffield.

Instead, the M18/Eastern route will take the line around the opposite side of Rotherham and construct a spur off HS2 at Stonebroom, which will allow high-speed trains to travel on the Midland main line through Chesterfield and into Sheffield city centre.

HS2 says this alignment will cost £858 million less to build - £1.2 billion when you factor in contingency. However, this option was based on the Midland main line (MML) being electrified between Clay Cross and Sheffield as part of the wider MML electrification programme - a project which is now not © HS2 Ltd going ahead, although that announcement did promise further investment to come to ensure Sheffield is HS2ready.

A consequence of this change to the route is the demolition of 16 homes on the Shimmer estate in Mexborough. Although HS2 says the M18/Eastern route will result in fewer demolitions overall - 51 compared to more than 100 expected with previous alignments, it has been the focus of media attention and again raised the issue of how HS2 deals with those impacted by the line’s construction.

The new alignment would also mean four Grade II listed properties would have to be demolished, compared to two on the Meadowhall route.

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Location of Western Leg Rolling Stock Depot Original proposals had included locating the rolling stock depot for the western leg (Birmingham to Crewe and Manchester) in Golborne near Wigan, but in 2016 another site north of Crewe was suggested that would have less of an impact on several important historical sites and the environment. HS2 said a site south of Crewe at Basford Sidings had been considered before the Crewe site was confirmed.

Middlewich-Northwich alignment This part of the route through Cheshire was highlighted because of concerns about the impact it could have on brining and gas storage operations in the area.

The route has now been moved west to avoid the Cheshire salt caverns and gas storage cavities and elevated by a series of raised embankments and viaducts.

Manchester Piccadilly approach The approach to Piccadilly had required a tunnel portal in West Gorton but the consultation identified that there would be issues with existing railway viaducts, its proximity to a school and a floodplain.

The amended route takes the line around the other side of Longsight depot and will move the portal up to 370 metres to the east.

East Midlands Airport tunnel The original route from 2013 notably included tunnelling beneath East Midlands Airport on the way to the East Midlands station in Toton. This has now been dropped in favour of taking the route east and around the airport, avoiding the complexities of tunnelling beneath an operating airport runway. The government has said it believes the ‘significant’ cost reductions outweigh the extra 55 seconds it will add to journey times.

Long Eaton viaduct HS2 has changed the line through Long Eaton from a ground level route to a high level route. As a result, the entire route through Long Eaton will be carried on a viaduct. The length of the original viaduct proposed for over the River Soar and River Trent will be extended to 4.7 kilometres, taking it though Long Eaton on the approach to the Toton station.

UNTANGLING CREWE’S POTENTIAL

© DfT/Crown Copyright

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HS2 believes Crewe station needs to undergo its first major overhaul since the 1980s to make the most of its ‘360-degree connectivity’ for HS2.

A public consultation is currently asking for views on the future of Crewe station, focussing specifically on what work needs to be done to best integrate HS2 services.

Specifically, the consultation talks about building 400-metre platforms that would allow HS2 services formed of two separate trains to split at Crewe and serve other locations. For example, a longer train from London Euston could split at Crewe with one train going to Liverpool and the other to Preston. It could also allow HS2 services to call at Stoke.

Research undertaken to inform the consultation shows that passenger numbers at Crewe grew from 3.9 million in 2014/15 to more than 4.2 million in 2015/16.

The document describes Crewe’s current layout as a constraint on the network. Few services terminate at Crewe yet the station has four bay platforms (2,7,8 and 10).

The consultation highlights two other things that would be needed to create a Crewe hub station. The current Phase 2a route allows for highspeed services from London to leave HS2 and serve Crewe, Runcorn and Liverpool, but having a junction north of Crewe station connecting the

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© DfT/Crown Copyright

Aerial view of East Midlands hub station. © DfT/Crown Copyright

East Midlands hub station layout diagram.

PHASE ONE - WHO IS BUILDING WHAT AND WHEN? HS2 has awarded construction contracts worth £6.6 billion for the first phase of the high-speed line between London and Birmingham.

Four of the nine contractors and joint ventures which bid for the seven construction packages came away with something. Below is a breakdown of who won what: © HS2/Grimshaw Architects

West Coast main line (WCML) with HS2 would enable northbound highspeed connectivity from Crewe as well.

HS2 said it was also working with Network Rail to try to identify a ‘combined scheme’ at Crewe to deliver the signalling renewal work that would be required to simplify the track layout at the station.

Cost could prove to be the biggest hurdle for the Crewe hub approach.

Resignalling around Crewe may not be included in Network Rail’s CP6 plans and the hub proposals aren’t included in the £55.7 billion HS2 budget.

Councillor Rachel Bailey, leader of Cheshire East Council, said, ‘We welcome the hybrid bill for Phase 2a of HS2, from Birmingham to Crewe, being put before Parliament. This is a key milestone for this ‘once in a generation’ rail project, which will see a Crewe hub station opening in 2027.

‘This council also welcomes further recognition of the overwhelming case for a HS2 hub station in Crewe. We are pleased to see that the Department for Transport has launched a consultation on the Crewe HS2 hub station and related components.

‘The council will consider the consultation proposals in detail to ensure our consultation responses reflect the best possible outcomes for Cheshire East residents.’

Area South • Euston Tunnels and Approaches – SCS JV (Skanska Construction UK Ltd, Costain Ltd, STRABAG AG) • Northolt Tunnels – SCS JV (Skanska Construction UK Ltd, Costain Ltd, STRABAG AG)

Area Central • Chiltern Tunnels and Colne Valley Viaduct – Align JV (Bouygues Travaux Publics, VolkerFitzpatrick, Sir Robert McAlpine) • North Portal Chiltern Tunnels to Brackley – CEK JV (Carillion Construction Ltd, Eiffage Genie Civil SA, Kier Infrastructure and Overseas Ltd) • Brackley to South Portal of Long Itchington Wood Green Tunnel – CEK JV (Carillion Construction Ltd, Eiffage Genie Civil SA, Kier Infrastructure and Overseas Ltd)

Area North • Long Itchington Wood Green Tunnel to Delta Junction and Birmingham Spur – BBV JV (Balfour Beatty Group Ltd, VINCI Construction Grands Projets, VINCI Construction UK Ltd, VINCI Construction Terrassement) • Delta Junction to WCML Tie-In – BBV JV (Balfour Beatty Group Ltd, VINCI Construction Grands Projets, VINCI Construction UK Ltd, VINCI Construction Terrassement)

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Here’s what representatives of three of the winning consortia had to say: Align JV - Jérôme Furgé, project director of Align said, ‘With this award, Align has an extraordinary opportunity to collaborate with HS2 and some of the greatest civil engineering companies in the world. Using our extensive High-speed rail experience gained in France and elsewhere, we look forward to bringing the best of tried and tested innovations, along with the utmost iconic railway design, to the local communities along the HS2 route.’

CEK JV - Keith Cochrane, interim chief executive of Carillion, said, ‘We are delighted that our Joint Venture, CEK, has been selected to deliver two of the three Central contracts for HS2 Phase 1, the London to Birmingham section of the route, reflecting the strength of our Joint Venture. We look forward to working in close collaboration with HS2 to deliver this iconic project.’

BBV JV - Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty Group chief executive, said, ‘This is a generational

engineering project. HS2 will provide vital infrastructure not only to rebalance the economy, but also to fuel growth in skills, jobs and prosperity across the UK for the future. Balfour Beatty’s joint venture with VINCI has world-class capability in this area and our selection as preferred bidder for two sections is a major endorsement of our strength.’

The contracts awarded last month are design/build. Over the next 16 months detailed designs will be drawn up before the first spade hits the ground towards the end of next year.

Exactly how those works will be staggered will be decided during this design stage although HS2 has said it is likely that work will initially centre around key structures, such as tunnels, viaducts and stations.

It doesn’t mean, however, that everything will stand still for 16 months. Preliminary works, including geological surveys and demolitions around Euston, have already started and, in the autumn, archaeological investigations will get underway.

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SUPPLY CHAIN TAKES ON HS2-READY CHALLENGE The Phase One civils contract announcement was welcomed by the rail industry as a collective.

The Rail Industry Association (RIA) in particular was optimistic, saying the project provided ‘security across the sector’ and that the industry was excited about working with the public sector to deliver what is probably the UK’s biggest infrastructure scheme.

The scale of HS2 and the relatively short run up between now and the start of construction next year means the supply chain is having to mobilise and plan quickly to ensure it has the capacity to deliver the project.

Companies that provide temporary modular bridging are one example of the kind of early works and temporary works contractors that will now be needed to prepare the work sites along the London to Birmingham route.

Paul Hill, a director at Janson Bridging, believes a monumental collaborative effort is now needed to ensure companies like his meet the correct requirements and have the right resources to get involved, particularly where those companies also operate in other sectors.

Says Paul, ‘For us to do that we’re going to need early collaborative engagement and clearest possible understanding of the requirements, to help us look for innovative solutions and in order to justify what is likely to be significant investment in materials and people in order to help deliver the works.’

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REPORT BY STEWART THORPE

I

n 1927, Britain’s Royal Mail was thriving. The vital artery of British society was delivering four million letters a day. To keep on top of the continuous flow, a railway was built under the streets of London: Mail Rail.

Formally known as the Post Office Railway - but fondly referred to as Mail Rail following a 60th anniversary rebranding - the railway’s electric trains navigated a 6.5-mile network of narrow tunnels, which stretched from Whitechapel in east London to Paddington in the west, linking six Post Office sorting offices with Liverpool Street and Paddington stations.

Located 70ft below ground level, up to 220 engineers, cleaners and workers lugged bags of parcels back and forth from wagons to station platforms and kept the system running 22 hours a day, only leaving two for maintenance.

© Miles Willis

BEGINNINGS

© Royal Mail Group Ltd

© Royal Mail Group Ltd

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The idea of the underground line was first mooted in 1855.

With mail travelling as slow as 7mph in the capital’s congested streets by the 20th century, an alternative method was required.

Work began in 1914. The tunnels were dug by hand using the greathead shield method, where workers dug away in a huge drum-like shield, a technique that was used in the construction of many of the underground lines. Cast iron segments were then bolted together to form the tunnel lining.

Tunnelling was complete in 1917 but the onset of World War One saw the project paused as resources were reprioritised.

Not that the incomplete system didn’t play its part. Safe and underground, the tunnels were used to store art belonging to the National Portrait Gallery and the Tate Gallery and even the Rosetta Stone was housed in its walls during the war.

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LONDON'S Finally, on December 5, 1927, the 2ft gauge railway line opened. In total, three types of rolling stock ran on Mail Rail. The original fleet of 90 trains had to be replaced within three years because of excessive wear being caused to the track. New rolling stock was introduced in 1930, with each 27ft car able to carry four mail bag containers, which held an average of 15 bags of letters or six bags of parcels.

Replacement trains were trialled in the 1960s and a new fleet introduced in 1980.

Through declining use and closure of the above-ground offices, the system became uneconomical to operate and in 2003 it was closed for good.

Over time, as the activities of smaller sorting offices were absorbed by larger centres, the amount of mail being moved between offices fell. For example, the Mount Pleasant Mail Centre in Islington is now one of the largest sorting offices in the world and does the work of what four sorting offices would have previously completed.

SECRET NEW BEGINNINGS For years since, Mail Rail has remained abandoned, until now.

Despite being built for mail rather than man, the 90-year-old railway will be open for the public to ride in September, following the launch of the £26 million Postal Museum.

London’s latest tourist attraction will guide visitors through five centuries of Britain’s postal heritage with the little-known underground line promising to be the star attraction.

Stepping across the road from the museum and into the former engineering depot, tourists will be met with interactive displays, reading material and the main attraction: a ride on Mail Rail.

Once onboard, visitors are taken

RAIL on a 20-minute audio-visual tour as one of two miniature trains - one in the original Post Office Railway green and the other in the Mail Rail red - crawls through the tunnel’s passages, which are as narrow as 7ft.

In its heyday, Mail Rail trains travelled at speeds of up to 35mph but visitors will be treated to a leisurely pace of 4mph.

Also, unlike the originals, these trains are driver operated and built by Severn Lamb, which won a tender for two purpose-built, battery-powered trains in 2015.

© The Postal Museum

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© The Postal Museum

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AN UNDERGROUND MUSHROOM FARM But Mail Rail might not have been restored had alternative plans been brought to life. Drumming up ideas for how the deserted underground system - which starred in the 1991 Bruce Willis film Hudson Hawk - could be used, one suggestion was to turn the network into a mushroom farm and another to transform it into a cycle highway. For a number of reasons - the tunnel’s practical constraints for a start - neither idea got off the ground.

‘There’s always an interest that builds around something that's hidden, the idea that it’s something underground and abandoned, the intrigue of it,’ says the museum’s curator Chris Taft, the go-to expert on all things Mail Rail. ‘And also Mail Rail was never designed for the public to see as such. It was never secret but it wasn’t there for the public to come and look at. So many people have never seen it.’

© Stewart Thorpe/Rail Media

© Miles Willis

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Postal Museum director Adrian Steel adds, ‘We’re anticipating a very busy first month, with lots of fun activities planned for families.

Then, on Monday September 4, Mail Rail trains depart for the first time - a truly historic moment for London.

‘The museum itself opens up the chance for people to gain an insight into some of the quirky social history behind an incredible British invention - the post, whilst Mail Rail affords people a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to explore a slice of subterranean London previously hidden from the public view.’

Royal Mail is a different animal now to what it was in the early 20th century but its legacy as the ‘first social network’ will live on thanks to Mail Rail and the Postal Museum.

The Postal Museum opened to the public on July 28 in Phoenix Place, London. Mail Rail is scheduled to open on September 4. General admission to the Postal Museum and Mail Rail (including a voluntary donation) costs £16 for an adult and £8 for a child.

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IARNRÓD ÉIREANN

SETS OUT STALL IARNRÓD ÉIREANN (IÉ) RECENTLY RESPONDED TO THE IRISH GOVERNMENT’S ‘NATIONAL PLANNING FRAMEWORK’ (NPF) CONSULTATION IN RELATION TO THE FUTURE NATIONAL TRANSPORT NEEDS OF THE REPUBLIC, TIM CASTERTON REPORTS.

T

his in lay terms was the key opportunity for IÉ to set out its market stall to the government.

IE outlined the benefits of rail for passenger journeys, commuting and longer-distance business and leisure and also the carriage of freight.

The ability to reduce national carbon emissions through modal transfer from road is a key theme, with IÉ stating that a four-lane motorway has just one third the carrying capacity of a two-track commuter railway (noting also the difficulty in constructing new road capacity in urban areas).

Roads in Dublin are now amongst the worst congested in Europe - testimony that past policy failings have facilitated continued car dependency in Ireland. The NPF consultation is additional to the land transport policy review undertaken by the National Transport Authority (NTA) and the Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport’s (DTTaS) to assess future investment levels for rail within the Republic to 2040 and beyond.

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IÉ has developed a business vision which extends infrastructure and rolling stock investment to enable maximum contribution to the transport network by journey time improvements, better service frequencies on high-volume commuter and Intercity lines and better connectivity across Dublin. The IÉ response is not slow to point out that rail has the greatest potential for attracting motorists from cars - a principal objective in ‘Smarter Travel’.

RAIL FOR TOURISM IÉ expounded the key benefits of the railway in a national planning context with rail enjoying a high market share on routes between key economic centres, for example Westport-Dublin (40 per cent), Cork-Dublin (39 per cent), Sligo-Dublin (33 per cent) and Limerick-Dublin (26 per cent), the correct use of such data rather than misleadingly including areas where there are no rail services and road transport taking 100 per cent of the market.

Rail enables tourism, a key economic factor in Ireland, with around 260,000

© Shutterstock.com

overseas tourists and 770,000 domestic tourists using the rail network each year - this without a rail connection to Dublin Airport.

The luxury tourism market now uses rail with the Rail Tours Ireland ‘Emerald Isle Express’ launched in 2014 followed by Steam Dreams ‘Emerald Isle Explorer’ and the Belmond Grand Hibernian sleeper train introduced in 2016. Cruise liner passengers can now use dedicated trains from Cobh (near Cork) to get to Cork or Killarney.

ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS Other benefits of rail are also highlighted, such as social inclusion and accessibility for persons with disabilities (11 per cent of journeys made under Government free travel scheme), safety - IÉ having one of the best safety records in Europe (highlighting 1,300 road fatalities from 2010-16 cost the Republic over €2 billion), environmental and sustainable (IÉ’s 2020 emission reduction target already surpassed), almost 75 per cent less greenhouse gases per passenger km than road vehicles and freight using 15-25 per cent of the direct energy per tonne-kilometre than transport by road.

In the Greater Dublin Area, road congestion is estimated to cost up to €650 million per annum whilst services like the DART have alleviated the problem with over half a billion passenger journeys since opening in 1984.

Growth of a third in commuting with matching increases in road congestion are expected by 2041 and rail therefore needs to help alleviate this even more.

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of the DART Underground tunnel to link the ‘northern line’ with the Kildare line is a key factor and includes a number of new city centre stations. IÉ are currently engaging with the NTA to look at technical solutions that could reduce costs for the project.

DART – AIRPORT LINK

INTERCITY RAIL SERVICES The IÉ response highlights the need to address previous journey time advantages between cities that were eroded with recent motorway construction in the Republic, mostly completed by 2010. Recently some redress of this has taken place on the Dublin – Cork main line to increase the number of 100mph stretches and the 06:15 Cork to Dublin service now achieves a 2hr 15min schedule. More infrastructure investment on all major rail routes to allow more competitive journey times and increased train frequencies is crucial to allow rail to be a part of the sustainable and balanced national transport network.

Adequate funding for maintenance and renewal is vital for rail and further capacity works in the Dublin area is also required. The cross-border service from Dublin to Belfast, part of the European TEN-T Core network, requires infrastructure investment to raise

speeds to 100mph and service frequency to hourly as well as future electrification.

End-to-end journey time improvements are recommended as: Dublin – Belfast 1.5 hours, Dublin to Cork: two hours and Dublin to other provincial cities: less than two hours. This aim is to underpin the future viability of Intercity service operations and promote better regional and inter-regional transport attracting more tourism and discretionary rail travel giving environmental and economic benefits and savings.

DART – MORE ELECTRIFICATION Iarnród Éireann considers that the DART expansion programme should be the priority transport project for the greater Dublin area and that, once completed, it would benefit the network as a whole. Further electrification out to Drogheda, Maynooth and Hazelhatch would bring major environmental benefits and reduced emissions. The construction

IÉ considers that a DART link to Dublin Airport, where passenger numbers are hitting new records each year, is vital despite this not being included in the National Transport Authority (NTA) strategy for greater Dublin.

IÉ has identified an undeveloped alignment and has noted that it should be preserved to enable future connection from the airport to the DART and the Dublin – Belfast Enterprise service with a new junction at Clongriffin. This aim supports the EU White Paper – ‘Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area’ which sets as a key objective the connection of core EU airports to the TEN-T rail network which includes Belfast – Dublin – Cork in Ireland.

Dublin Airport was accounted Europe’s fastest-growing airport last year, handling 28 million passengers with growth expected to hit 40 million passengers in the relatively near future. The government currently favours the ‘Metro North’ scheme, a brand new standard gauge rail link between Dublin and the Airport, however IÉ considers the DART extension would complement the New Metro North proposal and significantly reduce road congestion on the approaches to the airport, particularly along the very congested M50 and its approach roads.

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RAIL FOR SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE REGIONS Rail to regional cities requires sustainable development within the rail network catchment areas to support existing and possible new stations. Several routes suffer presently from low population densities. In the Cork area, the local authorities are seeking new stations on the Cork to Mallow main line, these linked to local developments that would increase population density. IÉ supports this proposal. Galway requires additional track capacity between the city and Athenry to support enhancement for commuter services and, on the Galway to Limerick line, IÉ would wish to see the flooding issues in east Clare (Ennis area) addressed to warrant increased service frequencies.

The key message from IÉ to the NPF is that the targeted development of rail services along with other wider initiatives could support a critical mass of population and economic activities in the regional cities and counter balance the concentration of growth in the Dublin area.

FREIGHT TO BOOST EXPORTS The response touches briefly on freight highlighting that, despite generating less than a quarter of the emissions of road haulage and advantages

and develop the port into a multi-modal facility including the development of a rail-freight interface is expressed. The South Eastern coast line from Dublin serves Rosslare for passengers and there is also the currently out of use (but still intact) line to Waterford and the west. The two priorities would deliver great benefits to the regional and national economy and take some pressure off an increasingly congested Dublin.

in road decongestion, it is not supported in any way by state funding and operates on a purely commercial basis. The NPF looks towards ways of improving both the national carbon footprint and reducing road congestion.

There is a clear message in the response that the absence of state funding for capital investment to attract modal switches, new traffic will only be gained where there is a very strong commercial focus, this currently limiting it role to niche markets. Capital funding would be required to invest in both new terminals and rolling stock unless a third-party funded those elements. New rail freight business opportunities that could require investment and policy support include biomass, mineral ore and pulpwood amongst other traffics. Many of the Republic’s export comedies use rail including zinc ore, timber

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products, soft drinks and health supplies (this being the top export commodity with an annual value of $31 billion).

ROSSLARE EUROPORT – GATEWAY TO EUROPE IÉ owns and operates Rosslare Europort, situated in the south east of the country and the nearest port to the European mainland. The port is the second-largest seaport in Ireland for unitised road freight and is crucial for the economy and employment in the regional hinterland and the national economy. IÉ states the need to improve connectivity to the Port, noting that the direct link to mainland Europe will be more vital post Brexit.

A desire to deepen the port to accommodate modern larger high-capacity vessels

RAIL – KEY FOR IRELAND’S ECONOMY IÉ’s highlighting these proposals in its response isn’t just a shopping list for funding, but a list of proposals that will help the Irish economy develop and help meet environmental targets.

Relief of congestion in cities will keep business flowing and reduce CO2 emissions, new commuter services will get people in to work, improved Intercity will help boost the tourism market and better airport connectivity will boost Dublin International Airport.

More rail freight would assist manufacturing businesses and the economy with better links to Europe via the ports, however a fresh look at the benefits of modal-change funding for economy boosting businesses by the Government may be needed.

So clearly not just a wish list, but a list of proposals to lift the Republics economy.

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INVESTMENT I THERE’S AN EMERGING PICTURE OF WHAT THE NEXT FEW YEARS HAVE IN STORE FOR THE RAIL INDUSTRY.

T

hings have become more apparent over last month or so. Firstly, the government has announced a retreat from its electrification strategy, leaving schemes like the Midland Main Line and Cardiff-Swansea in an indefinite limbo. The Department for Transport also published its High Level Output Specification (HLOS) statement, which suggests the next control period may well be a time for consolidation, with a less ambitious catalogue of major enhancement projects than its predecessor.

However, it doesn’t mean that the rail boom of the past couple of years is already at an end. The first £6.6 billion of civils construction contracts for HS2 were awarded at the start of August. For all the opportunities HS2 offers - an estimated 7,000 supply chain contracts up for grabs - the project will clearly demand a lot of the industry. It will be central to the decisions many businesses make around investment in their own people and infrastructure over the next decade or so.

It is this investment in people that will matter most to readers of this magazine. A lot of the focus has been around what opportunities HS2 will present for graduates and school

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leavers, but it will also be career-changing for people who are already working in the industry.

HS2 will be one of the most advanced railways in the world, requiring engineering expertise that is currently in short supply.

Apprentice numbers are important but so too is the retention of the 30 somethings with valuable industry experience and the acknowledgement of long-serving employees, long-overlooked for promotion. The National College for High Speed Rail (NCHSR) already realises this and is tailoring its syllabus as such.

The RailStaff Awards nominations inbox is full of stories of individuals who have sought a change in career direction and grasped opportunities to retrain. There’s little doubt that over the next couple of years the number of nominees being recognised for their contribution to Britain’s high-speed rail programme will grow and grow.

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IN PEOPLE DOES SOMEONE DESERVE RECOGNITION IN YOUR ORGANISATION? There are 20 awards to be won at this year’s RailStaff Awards: • Apprentice of the Year • Depot Staff of the Year • Graduate of the Year • Infrastructure or Plant Person or Team of the Year • Lifetime Achievement Award • Marketing and Communications Person or Team of the Year • Outstanding Customer Service Award • Project Manager of the Year • Rail Engineer of the Year • Rail Manager of the Year • Rail Person of the Year • Rail Safety Person of the Year • Rail Team of the Year • RBF “Heart of Gold” Award for Charity • Recruiter/HR Person of the Year • Samaritans Lifesaver Award • Signalling & Telecommunications Person or Team of the Year • Station Staff of the Year • Train Driver of the Year • Trainer or Training Team of the Year

The nomination process is simple and information about all of the categories is available online. All you need to do is submit a few details about yourself and the person you want to nominate, as well as an explanation of why you think they deserve to win an award, on the RailStaff Awards website (www.railstaffawards. com/nominate). We also require contact details of a senior manager to confirm the nomination before we can post it on the website.

If you go to the website and nominate someone today you will be entered into a prize draw to win a pair of tickets to this year’s award’s evening on 7 October.

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Total team work

W

hen the Elizabeth line is completed in 2019 it will not just represent a great feat of 21st century engineering.

The route’s core has required the construction of a brand new underground railway and the above-ground sections out to Shenfield in the east and Reading in the west have needed careful modification. In both cases, expert contractors and resources have needed to work in collaboration to be

effective.

Total Rail Solutions (TRS) was one of those contractors, providing the plant services supporting the electrification works being delivered by Network Rail.

ISO9001, ISO14001 and OHSAS18001 certified, Total Rail Solutions is one of the UK’s leading providers of fully managed safety critical rail plant services and its logo is a common sight on possession sites. The company is also the sponsor of the Rail Team of the Year category at this year’s RailStaff Awards.

Working in tandem

Total Rail Solutions:

Proud category sponsor of The Rail Team of the Year at The RailStaff Awards 2017

Tel: 01962 711642 E-mail: info@totalrailsolutions.co.uk www.totalrailsolutions.co.uk

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Projects recently undertaken

by TRS demonstrate how a variety of stakeholders are often required to work in tandem to deliver critical infrastructure works.

TRS was contracted by Balfour Beatty and AMCO to help deliver two extremely high-profile enhancement projects on the Western route. TRS supported AMCO on the electrification of the Severn Tunnel last year and has been working with Balfour Beatty on the Crossrail works around Maidenhead. For both projects, experts from TRS were embedded in the project teams to ensure the right plant was deployed in the right places.

Says Paul Bateman, chief operating officer, TRS, ‘We are pleased to be involved again with the RailStaff Awards. We sponsored Rail Manager of the Year several years ago and this time we are pleased to be back sponsoring Rail Team of the Year.

‘Total Rail Solutions is all about teamwork, working hard with our partner companies to deliver high quality engineering using our extensive range of

plant and equipment. RailStaff Awards gives us the chance to nominate some of the teams we work with and also to pay tribute to those staff who put in that little bit extra on the job.’

Teams in all areas Tom O’Connor, from event organiser Rail Media, said the award is there to highlight the hard work of teams in all areas of rail businesses.

Says Tom, ‘The railway relies on teams of engineers to build it, teams of technicians to repair it as well as onboard and station teams to run it.

That’s not forgetting those in administrative, health and safety and recruitment departments.

Good team work shouldn’t be taken for granted. Very little would get done without it.

‘Most of those who are nominated for these awards don’t put in all the extra effort to receive recognition, but that doesn’t mean we, as an industry, shouldn’t make an extra effort to celebrate them for it.’

All the information about this year’s event can be found at www.railstaffawards.com

RAILSTAFF AUGUST 2017

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Management matters

P

roject managers are often the ones in the firing line but seldom do they get the recognition they deserve for a job well done.

A scheme that runs to time and to budget isn’t news, but when a project faces delays - often as a result of factors that are out of the team’s control - it is the project managers who have to front it out. Good news items go under the radar all the time in the mainstream press, fortunately there are trade titles who know the real story.

‘Project managers are the unsung heroes of the rail industry; working hard in the background to deliver against challenging, and often moving targets,’ said James Collinson, managing director of the Network Certification Body (NCB), sponsors of the Project Manager of the Year category at the RailStaff Awards 2017.

CHANGING RAILWAY LANDSCAPE NCB is an independent assessment and certification body for the railway industry, a fully accredited Notified Body (NoBo), Designated Body (DeBo) and Assessment Body (AB). Project managers play an increasingly important role within the company, providing oversight to the knowledgable engineering teams.

Working with you Network Certification Body (NCB) provides a system-wide approach to railway assurance and certification on infrastructure and vehicle projects, both in the UK and overseas.

Get in touch to discuss how we can help you Email: ncbenquiries@networkrail.co.uk

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Major infrastructure and rolling stock programmes that NCB is supporting include the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP), Wessex Capacity Improvement Programme and the introduction of the new Caledonian Sleeper fleet.

James went on to explain why project managers are at the centre of everything the industry does. ‘When their relentless pursuit for delivery is achieved, they move on to the next project and start all over again. Being able to reward these determined people, who are behind the changing railway landscape, is what this event is all about.’

DETERMINATION AND DEDICATION The RailStaff Awards ceremony is entering its 11th year this year.

The 2017 Project Manager of the Year award will be handed out at the Ricoh Arena on 7 October - the fourth time the event has been hosted in Coventry.

Stuart Gough, NCB’s head of sales and marketing, said the award helps to celebrate the often creative methods project managers use to meet targets and deadlines.

‘As an organisation that has introduced and grown our own project management function, we recognise the huge value a project manager brings to a business.

‘Project managers lead with determination and dedication to deliver the very best results for the project, making sure the outcomes are aligned to the clients’ expectations. This category is about recognising project managers who clearly display a broad range of techniques and skills to ensure projects are delivered on time and to budget, and often in complex situations.’

Time is running out to nominate a colleague for this year’s RailStaff Awards.

Visit www.railstaffawards.com/ nominate

RAILSTAFF AUGUST 2017

Our apprentices help us to design and innovate.

Result.

Collaborating on track Alliance schemes on a ten-year framework.

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TALKING SAVES LIVES Samaritans is proud to sponsor the Lifesaver award at this years’ RailStaff Awards 13,000 rail industry personnel and British Transport Police officers have been trained with the skills to help a person in need. These skills can encourage people to talk about their problems and help save lives.

For more info and to nominate a colleague  www.railstaffawards.com

AECOM proud sponsors of Apprentice of the Year at the Rail Staff Awards 2017 aecom.com

@aecom A registered charity

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P R O UD SPONSOR S O F TR AIN ER O R T R A INING TEAM O F THE Y EAR T he RailStaff Aw a r d s 2017 Our services include;

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This extensive knowledge and experience supports and maintains our customers’ assets across all phases of the project lifecycle.

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TBF is proud to sponsor the 2017 Station Staff of the Year award.

An unrivalled 3D information modelling program for overhead line electrification projects.

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RAILSPORT GAMES 2

LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY'S SPORTING FACILITIES ARE WORLD RENOWNED AND A POPULAR TRAINING BASE FOR MANY OF BRITAIN'S ELITE ATHLETES RAILSTAFF.UK | @RAILSTAFFUK | FACEBOOK.COM/RAILSTAFF

RAILSTAFF AUGUST 2017

2017 T

he RailSport Games returned to the East Midlands for the first time in 17 years to give staff from across the sector the chance to take home gold in their chosen sport.

Hundreds of challengers arrived at Loughborough University on 8 July to take part in the 24th annual RailSport Games. It is the first time the Games have been held in the East Midlands since 2000 when it was hosted in Nottingham.

Loughborough University’s sporting facilities are worldrenowned and a popular training base for many of Britain’s elite athletes.

Twelve sports were held throughout the two-day event, with organisations such as Irish Rail, Network Rail, Hitachi and East Midlands Trains among the winners.

Thanks to RailSport sponsors Keltbray, Amtrain, Samaritans, TXM Recruit, RSSB, TBF, Panasonic Business, Dr Zak's, Custom Clothing, Hitachi Rail, Network Rail, HS2 and One You.

IRISH RAIL DOES THE DOUBLE Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) returned to RailSport hoping to emulate their successful run to the 6-a-side title last year. The team proved to be a dominant force in the competition once again, coming away with both the 6-a-side and 5-a-side crowns in 2017.

Having beaten the GWR Allstars to successfully retain their title, Irish Rail went on to do the double, toppling last year’s runners up, Lucchini Unipart Rail, 5-3 to win the 5-a-side competition as well.

Last year’s 6-a-side final between Irish Rail and Keolis Amey Docklands ended 2-1 and it was just as close this time around, with Irish Rail again winning by a one-goal margin (4-3).

In the 5-a-side competition, Irish Rail made it to the final with wins over RSSB, TES, Arriva and Network Rail. The tense final was 2-2 at half time, but Irish Rail pulled away in the second half, scoring three unanswered goals to beat the same team that dismantled them 4-2 in the group stage.

Train driver Trevor Hall was part of the 18-strong Irish Rail squad that made the journey over from Dublin. The team set off on a ferry from Dublin Port bound for Holyhead, Wales, on the Friday morning before the competition began, then caught three different trains and a bus to get to Loughborough University’s campus.

Says Trevor, ‘It’s been good mixing with the lads, some of them I remember from last year and some of which are very good players.’

Irish Rail’s chief executive, David Franks, praised his colleagues, ‘The Irish teams were absolutely delighted to win both the under 35 and over 35 football tournaments, particularly the over 35s who successfully retained the title they won last year.

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‘The teams would like to congratulate Rail Media, the referees and everyone involved for organising a super tournament in Loughborough.

They will be back next year to defend both titles.’

Sixteen teams took part in this year’s football tournament.

A number of teams from the 2016 competition returned to better their result, including Northern Rail, whose teams were beaten semi-finalists in both the 5-a-side and 6-a-side competitions.

David Dawood, who works for Northern Rail at Deansgate station in Manchester, has been coming to RailSport for the last 15 years and has competed in both the 5-a-side and 6-a-side competitions. Since he’s been competing, his Northern Rail team have won the 5-a-side competition three times and the six-a-side competition once.

Northern Rail matched their semi-final appearance last year in the 6-a-side and David said he was confident the team would be back next year to try and go one better.

Sammy Hudson of Jacobs Engineering was part of a six-man 5-a-side team from Birmingham. He said, ‘We all love football, so we want to be here to play but also to take part in events like this and represent Jacobs. It’s nice to be involved. It’s been very good fun so far - and hot! For us it’s our first one, but I think we will do it again.’

Andrew Midgley, managing director of TXM Recruit - a sponsor of this year’s event entered a 5-a-side team for the first time this year. He said, ‘This event’s good for team building, getting some of the guys together at the weekend, but also to come and enjoy it and see some of our customers in a social environment.

‘We’re looking to do a little bit more in terms of sponsorship of events and engaging with customers - and also the lads love their football so it’s a good opportunity to get them together.’

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TENNIS AND NETBALL MAKE WELCOME RETURN Several sports made a triumphant return to the RailSport Games in 2017.

Among them was netball, which organisers hope will experience a resurgence among the rail industry community following this year’s tournament.

The competition was won by East Midlands Trains (EMT), which also entered teams in the football and rounders competitions.

‘Our netball team came together for the first time on the day of the games so we are extremely proud to have taken the gold medal,’ said Lisa Angus, head of major projects at EMT. ‘The games were played with a great competitive spirit and we had fun along the way, so thank you to all the teams that took part, especially Unipart Rail who kindly swapped a fixture with us.

‘We really enjoyed the games, and will return again next year.’

The tennis competition may not have been played on the immaculate grass courts of SW19, but it did have Loughborough’s impressive indoor tennis centre. It was the first time tennis has been included in the RailSport Games lineup since 2005.

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Network Rail’s Nick Sandham won gold in the mixed singles event, beating Eleanor Page in the final, before losing out to Eleanor and her partner Alan Wilkinson to take silver in the doubles alongside partner Gill Westwood.

With tennis back in the Games, there could be an opportunity

for Great Britain to put together a team for the 2019 USIC tennis championships, having fielded competitors for the previous championships in Nuremberg in 2015.

‘I knew it was a great venue and one of the best tennis venues in the UK,’ said Nick, who has been playing tennis since he was 10 years old.

Based in York, Nick is head of communications for the London North Eastern and East Midlands route. The evening before RailSport, Nick had been talking to the media about the £200 million remodelling of Derby station.

In between matches, Nick talked about what he enjoys about his role off the court. ‘The opportunity for us to tell people about the story of improving the railway is massive,’ said Nick.

Around the corner from the tennis centre, the badminton singles was won by Olly Chalk from Chiltern Railways, with Network Rail’s Dan Bourne and Shuren Suthanthiran finishing in second and third, respectively. The doubles title was won by Dan Bourne and Shuren Suthanthiran with Thales’ Malcolm Leadbeater and Dean Carmichael (who was replaced

by Olly Chalk part way through due to injury) taking silver and Tarmac’s Paven Prakesh and Giani Modha the bronze.

RAILSTAFF AUGUST 2017

PUSHED TO THE LIMIT Hundreds ran themselves ragged under the blazing sun over the two-day event, but PRB Consulting’s David Greenwell ran further than any of the weekend’s competitors.

Starting with the half marathon

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at 10am, David returned in time for the start of the 5km course and later completed the 10km course on his own.

‘I wanted to set myself a challenge,’ said the technical head of rail compliance, who raised £400 for Macmillan Cancer Support in the process.

‘I saw an advert months ago for the Games and I wanted to do all three, but I talked myself out. Then I went to Railtex and saw Lianne [Rail Media’s head of events], asked if I could do all three and that was it.’

David, 54, said he has never completed an official marathon but has previously conquered the 100km (62 mile) London 2 Brighton Challenge.

A keen runner who travels the country with work, David crossed the finish line in third place in the half marathon, second place in the 5k and - unsurprisingly - was at the back of the pack in the 10k.

Overall, dozens of runners laced up their trainers to take in the sights and sounds of Loughborough’s 440-acre campus across the various distances.

Congratulations go to David Morris and Fleur Cox, who finished the half marathon in first place in their respective genders.

Also to Peter Mallison and Sarah Gill, who came first in the 10km, and to Sam Bacon and Tara Watson in the 5km.

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PEDAL TO THE METAL Cycling events proved to be a big draw for competitors signing up to this year’s championships.

Three different length routes were available in the cycling sportive event: 65km, 100km and 160km.

David Nicholl from Thales clocked the fastest time on the short course, completing the route in just under two hours and 26 minutes.

The fastest overall time in the standard sportive (100km) was recorded by Chris Mollison from Keltbray who completed the course in just over three hours and 45 minutes, averaging a speed of 26.64 km/h.

The fastest time over the epic distance was clocked by Tom Corbett at just over six hours and two minutes, followed by Kevin Norman from Abellio Greater Anglia and Dave Meredith from East Midlands Trains.

The RailSport triathlon included a 400m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run - half the distance of an Olympic triathlon. Sam Bacon came first in the men’s side, with Sarah Tomlinson coming top of the time sheet on the women’s.

The match, which was sponsored by Panasonic Business, was organised to show solidarity for colleagues caught up in the Manchester and London terror attacks, and to raise money for the British Red Cross Solidarity Fund.

Detective Sergeant Jason Schweiger from the BTP came up with the idea of putting on an exhibition match after receiving messages of support directed towards the BTP officer who was badly injured during the London Bridge attacks. At the time it was reported that he was a big rugby fan.

SCRUMMAGING IN SOLIDARITY A charity exhibition match at the end of the first day’s competition contested between a combined BTP and Metropolitan Police (Met) team and the Railway Barbarians helped raise more than £3,000 to support victims of terror.

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The police team included officers from both BTP and the Met while the Railway Barbarians was a combined squad made up of players from the Railway RFC and the Celtic Rail Barbarians.

BTP has had its own rugby union team since the early 80s and meets to play fixtures several times a year. In recent years, the Railway RFC and Celtic Rail Barbarians have played against one another to raise money for various good causes, but this was the first time they had played together.

One of the men who helped set the match up was Network Rail’s Adrian Suter. For Adrian, who was the duty station manager at London Bridge during the terror attacks in June, the day was an opportunity to put a positive focus on what had been a difficult couple of months.

‘It was terrifying,’ said Adrian.

‘Life-changing experience.

Something you’d never want to go through again. One of the most harrowing things I’ve had to go through.’

Celtic Rail Barbarians’ Stewart Ekstrom-Gabb explained why the solidarity and respect shown in rugby was an appropriate way to

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The match itself was won by the BTP/Met, 22-17. With five minutes to go, the score was locked at 17-17. The deadlock was broken by the BTP/Met captain Sam Powell who scored a try in the last play of the match. A guard of honour was performed as the teams left the pitch.

Stewart said the end result was inconsequential. ‘As long as we are able to raise some money to help those less fortunate than ourselves then it’s been a success.’

To donate to the Red Cross Solidarity Fund visit: www.redcross.org.uk/

A VERY BRITISH COMPETITION

The chess tournament was won

by Network Rail’s Will Taylor, who won all five of his games.

show support to those affected by the events in London and Manchester. ‘It’s what rugby is all about,’ he said. ‘You can all take the pitch irrespective of ability.’

Three quintessentially British RailSport events - cricket, rounders and darts - were all back for RailSport 2017.

The rounders winners medals were collected by RailSport newcomers Hitachi, while Sunday’s cricket competition was edged by Rail Media.

Across the campus, the darts singles tournament was won by Merseyrail’s David Hughes, who went on to team up with Gareth Webbe to win in the doubles.

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conference exhibition conference conference KEY EVENTS conference techexhibition exhibition

CONFERENCE

conference exhibition conference conference

conference tech exhibition tech tech press conference EXHIBITION exhibition

exhibition exhibition tech press conference pressTECHNICAL conference techconference press tech tech press conference press conference

VISIT

press conference PRESS CONFERENCE press conference network

network network NETWORK network awaards network network

awaardsnetwork awaards AWARDS awaards awaards dinner network awaards

RAIL SAFETY SUMMIT LONDON, 13TH SEPTEMBER 2017

dinner dinner dinner conference DINNER dinner awaards awaards dinner

exhibition free TOdinner FREE ATTEND dinner tech

free

free free free free

press conference

EVENTS

free

conference

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

exhibition tech

free network awaards

press conference

conference

dinner

RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE NETWORKING network

EXPO FERROVIARIA

3rd-5th OCTOBER, Milan, Italy press conference

RFEM - ANNUAL CONFERENCE

7th SEPTEMBER, York

www.expoferroviaria.com.eng

19th OCTOBER, Derby

awaards

dinner

exhibition tech

RAIL VEHICLES AND conference conference ENHANCEMENTS exhibition exhibition tech

RAIL SAFETY SUMMIT 13th SEPTEMBER, London

network dinner RFEM ANNUAL GOLF conference DAY

annual-charity-golf-day/

exhibition tech

ENTRY TALENT dinner SUMMIT FOR APPRENTICES AND free GRADUATES conference exhibition

RAILSTAFF AWARDS

press conference

http://www.midlandsrail.co.uk/events network

ICRE 2017: 19TH dinner INTERNATIONAL free CONFERENCE ON RAILWAY conference ENGINEERING exhibition awaards

25th-26th SEPTEMBER,tech London press conference

www.waset.org/conference

tech

dinner

26th-29th SEPTEMBER, Poland press conference free

www.trakofair.com network awaards dinner free

free

INNORAIL 2017 press exhibition conference tech

awaards free

dinner

conference conference exhibition

WORLD RAIL FESTIVAL

dinner conference

exhibition tech tech press conference press conference

10-12th October, Sweden press conference

14th - 15th NOVEMBER, Amsterdam

https://www.elmia.se/en/nordicrail/

www.terrapinn.com/conference/railnetwork awaards

ICE BIM 2017 13th October London, UK

free exhibition free tech

awaards dinner dinner

festival/index.stm

awaards dinner

conference conference exhibition

tech exhibition tech press conference press conference

network

www.ice-conferences.com/ network awaards ice-bim-2017

network

network

awaards dinner dinner

free

free

GUIDE TO UPCOMING EVENTS IN THE RAIL INDUSTRY THE NEXT FEW MONTHS, AT A GLANCE

free

INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY conference exhibition SUMMIT conference exhibition tech tech 15th - 17th NOVEMBER, Kuala press conference press conference Lumpar, Malaysia conference

network

www.irits.org network awaards

exhibition tech

awaards dinnerpress conference dinner

RAIL INFRASTRUCUTRE free free NETWORKING network awaards

23rd NOVEMBER, Derby

dinner

www.rinevents.co.uk/ free

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free

NOVEMBER

dinner

NORDIC RAIL 2017

31st OCTOBER, Derby

halloween-networking-event-2017/

awaards network

www.innorail2017.hu/en/ awaards

awaards HALLOWEEN NETWORKING dinner network free EVENT - RFEM

www.midlandsrail.co.uk/events/rfem-

10th - 12th October press conference network Budapest, Hungary

For-Exhibitors/exhibit/

network conference awaards exhibition

free

exhibition

tech

dinner

dinner

conference tech

press conferenceexhibition

network press conference

awaards dinner

conference www.railstaffawards.com

tech 14th SEPTEMBER, Nottingham

tech 21st OCTOBER, Birmingham conference

awaards

network awaards

7th October, Ricoh, Coventry

free

HOW TO SUBMITtechA conference WINNING BID press conferenceexhibition network www.bm-int.com

network

awaards

TRAKO 2017

tech

press conference

network

dinner

exhibition

conference

free

www.midlandsrail.co.uk/events/rfempress conference

press conference

free awaards

conference

exhibition

6th OCTOBER, Nottingham free

www.railsummits.com

network

www.railwaybenefitfund.org.uk

awaards

dinner

14th SEPTEMBER,techLondon

dinner

20th OCTOBER, Glasgow

www.rve-expo.co.uk

awaards

tech

awaards

RBF ANNUAL DINNER

press conference

network

exhibition

press conference

free

5th OCTOBER, Derby press conference

RAIL SUSTAINABILITY SUMMIT conference exhibition

conference

annual-conference-2017/ network

dinner

tech

www.railsummits.com

tech

www.midlandsrail.co.uk/events/rfem-

awaards

free

exhibition

press conference

network

http://www.rinevents.co.uk/

conference free

free free

Keltbray race with RailSport A team of 12 from Keltbray Aspire, Keltbray Rail and KML Occupational Health (OH) took part in this year’s RailSport Games.

The team completed the 65-kilometre cycling sportive event.

Says Mark Newns, KML’s health and wellbeing manager, ‘We had a fantastic day, and it was great to see the sun on the day with the temperatures up around 27 degrees, which, combined with the

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hilly nature of the course - I had no idea Leicestershire was such a hilly county made the going tough.

‘However, the well-stocked feed stations, well-designed route through beautiful countryside and great company made this sportive memorable and a great achievement for all taking part.’

Keltbray Group is a specialist business offering engineering, construction, demolition, decommissioning, remediation, rail, environmental services and reinforced concrete frame solutions.

The company is a key player in developing and maintaining Britain’s built environment. Within the infrastructure sector, Keltbray provides overhead line electrification design and build, from consultancy to delivery.

Keltbray has a track record of successfully delivering complex projects in overhead line construction, piling and foundations, and high voltage power supplies on all of the UK’s major electrification programmes.

KML OH, which is RISQS accredited, was established in 2014 and is part owned by Keltbray. KML OH works across multiple industries and business sectors. The company is a registered and approved Network Rail supplier for medical assessments, and alcohol and drug screening.

PROUD TO SUPPORT THE RAILSPORT GAMES 2017 Keltbray plays a key role in maintaining and developing Britain’s infrastructure and is an award-winning provider of rail overhead line electrification design and build. Our people work to accredited and award-winning standards, and are helping to develop and upgrade some of the UK’s greatest railways.

We believe their health and wellbeing is critical to our success, and have developed a holistic approach that integrates training and occupational health to promote good mental and physical fitness.

The results speak for themselves!

INNOVATION IN ENGINEERING

St Andrew’s House Portsmouth Road Esher, Surrey KT10 9TA T 020 7643 1000 F 020 7643 1001 E enquiries@keltbray.com www.keltbray.com

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ORR ANNUAL REPORT BY COLIN WHEELER

REPORT 2016/17 ONE OF THE SAFEST RAILWAYS IN EUROPE, BUT FIVE PROSECUTIONS, 17 ENFORCEMENT NOTICES, 115 RAIB RECOMMENDATIONS AND A WATER MAIN THAT HAD BEEN FORGOTTEN!

T

he Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has now published its annual report for 2016-17. In his Foreword their Chairman Stephen Glaister refers to their periodic review of Network Rail. He also lists their six strategic objectives but nowadays these also refer to roads as well as railways. Whilst reminding readers that ours is “one of the safest railways in Europe” he also comments that one of his objectives is for “a safer railway”.

Inspectors spend half their time in an office!

The report claims that they have met one of their service delivery standards by reporting progress on 100% of Railway Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) recommendations within the year; and that their Inspectors “spent 51% of their time in the field (against a 50% target).”

With the availability and flexibility of recording systems I suggest that for the future a higher “in the field” target now needs to be set for the future! A review is underway on the “handling of RAIB recommendations and

JOANNA WHITTINGTON ORR CHIEF EXECUTIVE & ACCOUNTING OFFICER

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mandatory investigations” and the ORR is also working with the Department for Transport on “improving the regulatory regime around level crossings”.

The report also refers to the publication of revised guidance on “electrical clearances to standing surfaces for Overhead Line Equipment”; and there is a reference to working with both the Health and Safety Executive and the Environment Agency to provide input to High Speed 2.

Enforcement notices and prosecutions During the year they reported back to the RAIB on 115 of their recommendations. Of these 42 have been implemented, 30 are described as “still ongoing”, another 32 as “progressing”.

Nine are recorded as “having an insufficient response”. Two more have been addressed by “another public body”. In total 17 enforcement notices were issued, one was a prohibition whilst the other 16 were improvement notices.

Five prosecutions were concluded. These involved West Coast Railways for passing a signal at danger at Wootton Basset Junction Wiltshire; Network Rail for insufficient progress against two improvement notices on

Colin Wheeler.

the management of electrical cabinets; Network Rail fatality at Gipsy Lane Crossing, Needham Market, Suffolk; London Underground employee falling from a tower scaffold whilst cleaning a former lift shaft and suffering a number of injuries; and Network Rail train striking a track worker performing maintenance work near Redhill in Surreymultiple serious and life changing injuries.

In addition [and as a result of an ORR investigation] the Scottish Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal carried out a prosecution following an electric shock accident at Ardrossan South Beach.

Joanna Whittington – “more to do” The role of the ORR is to “protect the interests of the users of the networks and their funders including the health and safety of those whom interact with, or work on the railway”. Their Chief Executive and Accounting officer Joanna Whittington reminds us of this in her Foreword.

She was appointed in February 2017 and commented that “there is more for ORR to do in evolving its regulation to support a successful rail industry”.

She highlights the Croydon tram fatal accident as “the most serious we have seen in many years” and adds that “ORR investigators are investigating alongside counterparts from the RAIB and British Transport Police”.

Also recorded is the completion

by ORR of an initial review of their regulatory and policy framework following the Croydon accident?

Funding 2019-24 and route devolution!

She claims that good progress has been made on the funding of Network Rail for the coming Control Period 2019-2024, noting particularly their “devolution of responsibility to Route businesses with an overarching network system operator”!

ORR has already created “virtual route teams” so that they will be able to engage with Network Rail’s new routes. During the year the ORR published

new and revised risk chapters on health and safety management systems, staff competence and human failure, track, civil engineering assets, workforce safety, leadership and culture.

They also reviewed safety guidance, and removed “several hundred pages of redundant material”. But they also published revised guidance on developing and maintaining staff competence including RIDDOR reporting and a new policy on electrical clearances.

Barrow-upon-Soar bridge collapse The RAIB report on this structural failure was issued as I completed last month’s article.

This bridge (Grove Lane) carries the road over four tracks of the Midland Mainline. It was built as a two track overbridge in 1840 but was later extended over the four tracks.

At 2350 on August 1st last year a contractor had reached a depth of 1.4 metres whilst core sampling

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into the footpath. This was being done following unexplained footpath subsidence. Soon afterwards the parapet began to move away from the footpath and the wall then fell away taking with it a section of footpath, fill, a length of cast iron water main and the contractor’s coring rig!

The five workers got clear in time and noone was injured, but two of the four tracks (line speed 110 mph for HST’s) were blocked and a third (line speed 65 mph) was covered by debris.

The partially collapsed bridge at Barrow upon Soar.

Bridge Examiners responsibilities The RAIB report surmises that since a vertical crack ran close to the water main it may well have been slowly leaking. They concluded from their investigations that the coring itself disturbed the 80 year old water main causing it to fracture and this led to the collapse.

RAIB’s recommendations relate to the competence of both Network Rail staff and their contractors, the availability of information and the potential risks posed by buried services. The report notes the responsibility of bridge examiners to report on evidence of underground services and “any changes since the previous inspection”.

Water emptied away and the parapet began to…

On the night a trial hole was hand dug before the metre long sampling barrel and casing were hammered in until the leading end was a metre below ground level. A sample of about 200 mm was then withdrawn and work continued for a second metre long sample to be taken.

The barrel then ran into something hard and went no further. As was their usual practice the Core Rig operator then made two or three more blows to clear the obstruction. Witnesses then saw water rise and overflow the casing into the trial hole. This water quickly emptied away and the core casing sank into the ground under its own weight! Within less than a minute the parapet wall began to move!

Emergency call made to all trains At 2353 the Site Supervisor made his emergency call to the Signaller asking for all lines to be blocked. The Signaller’s emergency group call to all trains in the area was made.

The nearest train was a GB Freight locomotive hauling a single wagon on the Down Slow travelling at 60 mph which was brought to a stand within 500 metres of the bridge. It took until 0155 am before the water main was isolated.

By this time more soil and fill had washed down onto the tracks. Estimates indicate that 310 cubic metres of water were lost and 57 cubic metres of masonry and fill weighing around 100 tonnes had fallen onto the tracks.

Remedial works began the following day when the slow lines were re-opened at line speed with the fast lines restricted to 20 mph until August 18th. Road vehicles were kept off the bridge until March 27th this year.

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No drawings, no maintenance history and examination regime relaxed!

The Midland Railway used blue engineering brickwork when they built the original two-span arch bridge in 1840. It was extended in 1868 with red brickwork being used and became a four track overbridge. Astonishingly the RAIB report says that “no original construction drawings of the bridge were found during the investigation” and “the maintenance history of the bridge is largely unknown as few records have been retained”!

Prior to 2005 it was subject to the usual six yearly detailed examination and annual visual examination regime. However after the introduction by Network Rail of “a risk based approach to bridge examinations” [based upon a numeric scoring system detailed in their Handbook for the Examination of Structures] the interval between detailed examinations was doubled to once every twelve years!

Nonetheless in 2008 six monthly additional examinations began to monitor cracks in the structure for further movement.

understood the risk to the bridge structure and to the open railway beneath from the coring works”. I am incredulous that it is possible for such statements to be made!

Personal responsibility and accountability During my working career as a railway civil engineer I spent a couple of decades when I was responsible for the examination and repairing of bridges and structures. Specific training was provided to supplement our knowledge as Chartered Engineers and on appointment personal accountability was emphasised.

Consequently it made sense to spend time with Examiners and their Managers discussing their concerns. I recall asking each one to take me to all the structures they examined that kept them awake at night. I also recall discovering buried failing arches, river arches failing under a station, new bulges in tunnel walls and services in the opposite pavements to those shown on drawings.

Footpath sinking in 2009

Local knowledge

The sinking footpath was reported in a 2009 examination report and in January 2012 this was again reported by a concerned member of the public. By then there was a gap of 30 mm between the parapet and the footpath which had sunk by 100 mm. The four inch diameter water main beneath carried water at a pressure estimated to be around 7 bar in a cast iron pipe of between 70 and 80 years of age.

In March 2015 a trial hole was excavated down to the string course of the bridge, but this did not reveal the water main. Further public concerns were expressed to Network Rail in July 2015. These, together with a bridge examiners report on the leaning wall led to the coring attempt a year later.

Yet more came to light from local knowledge, sometimes from retired former staff members. I had the benefit of earlier drawings, sometimes signed original ones that had been amended to record details of repairs and strengthening works.

Where are they now? Utilities companies do keep comprehensive records of their services.

They are not always as accurate as they should be, but remain a good starting point. Ignoring them in future surely should not be an option?

Perhaps less time spent in the office devising scoring systems and more time on site is called for?

In the past examiners were often time served tradespeople whose experiences as bricklayers, steel fitters etc. had given them practical appreciation of how structures worked.

Their depth of detailed local knowledge and experience made it possible for them to raise concerns whenever unexpected structural changes began to occur. Our records were on paper and included hand sketches of faults that rarely looked as professional as a computer generated report but….!

They neither knew nor understood Three statements quoted in the RAIB report I find especially pertinent. Firstly it says that Network Rail’s Asset Engineer “did not know there were buried services in the bridge”; secondly “Network Rail’s database of structures does not include such information” and thirdly “neither Network Rail, nor CML (their contractor)

13th September 2017 – LONDON SUMMIT PROGRAMME 08.00 Registration, Refreshments and Exhibition

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

09.00 Welcome from our Host - Colin Wheeler

13.15 Managing Safety and Complacency on 4LM - Sarah Tack, Head Of Safety For The Ground Transportation In The UK, Thales

09.05 Keynote - Paul Maynard MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Rail, Accessibility and HS2 09.25 Keynote - Francis Paonessa, Managing Director Infrastructure Projects, Network Rail 09.45 Q&A with Keynote Speakers SAFETY CULTURE AND PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY 09.55 Bridging the Behavioural Gap: A Psychological Approach To Rail Safety - Stuart Webster-Spriggs, Director, VolkerRail 10.15 Repeated Causality Events: Why are we Making the Same Mistakes? - Ian Prosser, Chief Inspector of Railways and Director, Railway Safety, Office of Rail and Road (ORR) 10.35 Developing a Safety Culture - Mandy Geal, Founder, Learning Partners 10.55 Implementing Occupational Health And Training The Staff Of The Future - Emma Head, Corporate Health & Safety Director, HS2 11.15 Q & A With Panel 11.25 Refreshments / Exhibition TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS 11.45 Using Technology to Improve Safety and Reduce Costs - Lex Van Der Poel, Director, Dual Inventive 12.05 High Output Track Renewals, Infrastructure Projects - David Underwood, Project Manager, Network Rail

13.35 A Brand New Railway: What Methods are being used to Train Staff - Martin Brown, Director, Health and Safety, Crossrail 13.55 Application of Investigation Techniques to Manage Risk - Simon French, Chief Inspector, RAIB 14.15 The True Cost of an Incident and what Lessons we Learn - Pino de Rosa, Managing Director, Bridgeway Consulting 14.35 Q & A With Panel 14.45 Refreshments / Exhibition FUTURE OF SAFETY 15.05 A New Way of Looking at Stressful Situations in the Work Place - Mark Wingfield, Speaker and Trainer, MAX Training 15.25 The Digital Railway: Improving Track Safety Without Lineside Signals, Joint Presentation - Pat McFadden, STE Development Director, Network Rail and Tom Lee, Director of Standards, RSSB 15.45 How to be an Effective Health and Safety Leader - Jane Hopkins, Senior Psychologist, Health & Safety Laboratory 16.05 Q&A With Panel 16.15 Wrap Up and Thanks

12.20 Freight Wagon Maintenance and Loading - James Collinson, Managing Director, NCB 12.35 Q & A With Panel 12.45 Lunch / Exhibition

Purchase your tickets now at www.railsummits.com

54

COMPANY FOCUS

RAILSTAFF AUGUST 2017

T

he stirring beauty of the Welsh valleys can appear to mask the challenging mix of social issues faced by the region’s former mining towns and villages.

Following the decline of heavy industry, the South Wales Valleys have had to confront high levels of unemployment and poverty.

Better commuter rail links between Cardiff and the Valleys is seen as one way of boosting employment in the region. If the jobs don’t exist in the Valleys then create better infrastructure to get the workforce into the economic centres.

This is one of the arguments underpinning plans for a South Wales metro system.

Proposals supported by the Welsh Government back the opening of new routes and increased service frequencies to rural communities.

Delivering the infrastructure needed for the Metro will also require fresh engineering skills - some of which will be homegrown thanks to new partnerships between the rail industry and training providers.

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Coleg y Cymoedd Coleg y Cymoedd was formed in 2013 following the merger of College Ystrad Mynach and Coleg Morgannwg. It is one of the country’s principle further and higher education providers and is split across four campuses in the Valleys: Rhondda, Nantgarw, Ystrad Mynach and Aberdare, where a brand new campus is due to open.

The site in Nantgarw is home to the college’s £3.3 million rail engineering facility, which opened in 2015. In July, training provider Intertrain and resource supplier Ganymede Solutions held an ‘On Track for Success’ celebration event at the college to welcome the first group of rail infrastructure apprentices to come through their new joint scheme.

Ganymede and Intertrain received around 80

RAILSTAFF AUGUST 2017

COMPANY FOCUS

55

APPRENTICE VALUE

IN THE VALLEYS

ON TRACK FOR SUCCESS - HOW INTERTRAIN, GANYMEDE AND COLEG Y CYMOEDD ARE PARTNERING IN SOUTH WALES TO MEET THE INDUSTRY'S DEMAND FOR SKILLS

applications from talented young people who live in the surrounding area hoping to join the apprenticeship programme.

‘The college has given us the opportunity to set up the apprentice programme which has been successfully run in the North,’ said Garry Taylor, associate director at Intertrain, which has its headquarters in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, and is supported by 12 training centres throughout the UK. Through a comprehensive selection process, a final group of 13 apprentices was eventually chosen. On the day, the group were three weeks into their 12-month course. The event served as a chance to highlight the opportunities that lie ahead and demonstrate some of the skills that they had learned since the start of the programme.

Says Garry, ‘We’re all here today, fundamentally, to celebrate the success of the apprentices that we see behind us. And it’s a new venture, a new celebration between three partners.’

Intertrain was set up in 2003. The company initially operated out of the managing director’s living room and has grown to become one of the largest railway training providers in the UK. Intertrain began offering apprenticeships in 2011 and has now trained around 1,000 apprentices - some of which have gone on to hold senior positions in the industry. ‘The system works but we have to have the buy in,’ said Garry.

The apprentices will divide their time between the college and being on site. They will be deployed by Ganymede, which has several contracts in the region and is the

primary supplier of contingent labour to the LNE, Wales, Western and Wessex routes, in small teams to worksites around the country. They will help Network Rail deliver on its extensive maintenance activities in Wales, which in an average year involves the renewal of around 70 kilometres of plain line, as well as all the other necessary maintenance and repair works.

David Stanbury, Network Rail’s route programme director in Wales - someone else who began his career as an apprentice - and Jan Barrett, route C&P manager Wales at Network Rail, described the kinds of projects the apprentices would be working on during their apprenticeship. To demonstrate the

variety of work, their presentation referenced the large-scale renewal carried out on the grade II listed Cynghordy Viaduct earlier this year.

‘For me, investment in apprentices is investment in our business future,’ said David.

He went on describe the rail industry as a ‘fabulous family to work for’ and a positive environment for apprentices. ’They feel as if they can make an impact in the company.’

Benchmark for the future Earlier in the year, the Welsh Government announced it would be increasing its funding pot for apprenticeships from £96 million to £111.5 million for 2017/18 in order to tackle

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56

COMPANY FOCUS

RAILSTAFF AUGUST 2017

L-R: Neil Robertson, Matthew Tucker, Garry Taylor, Vikki Howells, David Stanbury, Jan Barrett, Stuart Fraser and two of the apprentices.

skills shortages in key sectors. Vikki Howells, Assembly Member for the Cynon Valley, explained how the government wanted to increase the number of 18 and 19-year-old apprentices and get more learners to pursue qualifications at Level 4 and above.

‘You’re going to be the benchmark for the others,’ said Stuart Fraser, account director at Ganymede, talking about his hopes of expanding the programme to run more frequently in the future.

Stuart described Ganymede’s rapid growth since he joined the company eight years ago.

From having a team of around 35 operatives in 2009, Ganymede now has around a thousand skilled operatives on its books.

‘This has been achieved by building on our great reputation for delivering on our promises to where we have become a go-to company in the industry for any workforce solution,’ said Stuart, who also stressed the company’s strong safety culture - one of its core values is ‘safety first, safety always’ - which is embedded into the apprenticeship programme.

Having also joined the industry as a trackman in the mid-1990s, Stuart had a few words of advice for the new starters. ‘I started back in 1994 and to this day I am frequently asking questions, I’m still learning,’ said Stuart.

‘If you don’t ask, you’re never going to fully understand the purpose of what you’re doing or more importantly get to where you want to be in your career. It’s the old adage, “you get out what you put in”. So, stay focussed, stay committed and enjoy your futures and more importantly always strive to be the best that you can be.’

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Garry also described how things had changed since he joined the industry in 1999.

At that time, he received a two-day course, which he had to pay for himself, and was sent out on track almost immediately. He went on to do a civil engineering degree and later discovered his passion for training.

‘Nothing is out of reach,’ said Garry. ‘You will make a career for life, something you can be proud of.’

That sentiment was echoed by the chief executive of the National Skills Academy for Rail (NSAR), Neil Robertson. One of NSAR’s functions has been to shape the new Trailblazer apprenticeship standards in rail and the organisation is also actively involved in the attraction and placement of new apprentices. Neil described how many of the industry’s senior decision makers started their careers as apprentices. ‘You are in jobs that will be well paid,’ he said, addressing the group. ‘You’ve made a good choice.’

Collaboration Coleg y Cymoedd’s smart, modern campus is a stark contrast to the mining heritage of the surrounding community in Nantgarw. The college is actually located on the Nantgarw colliery site, which closed in the mid-1980s.

Much of the celebration event focussed on the opportunities that are available to current railway apprentices. However, Matthew Tucker, director of business services at Coleg y Cymoedd, again stressed the benefit of the programme to the surrounding area.

Matthew believes the apprenticeship programme offers an opportunity to pursue a career with excellent earning potential and progression pathways. ‘They want to work in the sector,’ he said, acknowledging that the apprenticeship programmes wouldn’t be possible without the support of industry partners. ‘We can’t do this without collaboration.’

14/09/17

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12:15 Lunch / Networking / Exhibition THE WAY FORWARD 13:15 HS2: Laura Russell, Sustainability Manager, HS2 13:30 CROSSRAIL 2: Nick Giesler, Consents and Environment Manager, Crossrail 2 13:45 NORTHERN HUB: James Howles, Rail Sector Director, Baker Hicks 14:00 Panel discussion and Q&A 14:25 Coffee / Networking / Exhibition LEARNING FROM OTHER INDUSTRIES

WHAT’S NEEDED NOW?

14:45 OTHER SECTORS: Robert Spencer, Director, Sustainability, AECOM

10:50 SDSG: Anthony Perret, Head of Sustainable Development, RSSB

15:00 OTHER APPROACHES: Sarah Borien, Social Impact Manager, Network Rail

11:05 OPERATOR: Jase Brooker, Head of Environment, Govia Thameslink Railway

15:15 OTHER COUNTRIES: Willy Bontinck, Chairman of the Environment Energy and Sustainability Platform, UIC (Intenatinal Union of Railways) (TBC)

11:20 Eversholt speaker (TBC) 11:35 INFRASTRUCTURE: Rebecca Harris, E nvironment Management Systems Manager, Network Rail

15:30 Panel discussion and Q&A 15:55 Wrap-up and Thanks

11:50 Panel discussion and Q&A

Call 01530 816 456 or visit the website at www.railsummits.com

Sustainability S us sttainability Summit S ummit

58

YOUNG RAIL PROFESSIONALS

RAILSTAFF AUGUST 2017

S L A N IO S S E F O R P L I YOUNG RA Y D A E R U O ARE Y ?

K E E W IL A FOR R

R

ail Week 2017 takes place from Monday 9 October to Sunday 15 October with the aim of bringing the rail industry in all its guises closer to schools, teachers, career advisors and students. The dedicated week of activity will help address the skills shortage in rail-related roles and inspire a generation of young people through a series of events, visits and talks.

Last year, more than 70 companies and organisations joined together and delivered over 150 events across the country for the first ever Rail Week. We want to make Rail Week 2017 even bigger and better. And now we need your help ensuring there are plenty of events taking place. Why get involved?

• Attracting talented and ambitious young people into rail is essential to meet the rail demands of the future.

• By working together as an industry we will create greater awareness among students, parents and teachers about the opportunities and great careers in rail.

• Rail Week will help challenge people’s perception of what it is to work in rail by showcasing the many different people, skills and roles in the industry which keeps passengers moving and allows us to deliver some of the most ambitious infrastructure projects around.

• Rail Week will help improve the public perception of rail by delivering an engaging coordinated campaign which shows the best of rail and the people who work in the industry.

GET PLANNING YOUR EVENT The Rail Week website contains guidelines for the types of events you could organise and tips to help you prepare your event. This includes information about signage and branding and other logistical advice for putting together site visits and talks. Once you have your event planned you can upload it to the website.

Many companies have their own outreach scheme to help promote careers in engineering and rail. Rail Week is the perfect way to get more schools, colleges and universities to know about your company and engage with them. If you need any further advice about hosting events please email hello@railweek.com

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Annual leaders conference On 21 July, Young Rail Professionals held its second annual Leadership Conference at Network Rail’s Westwood Training Facility near Coventry.

The day was another success for the volunteer-run organisation with over 30 YRP committee members from across the country in attendance.

The session was organised following last year’s successful debut Leadership Conference, also at Westwood, at which YRP’s committee members and some of the organisation’s most active volunteers were brought together to discuss the achievements and successes of YRP so far; what can be improved; and how YRP can continue to develop the next generation of rail industry talent effectively in the coming years.

The conference also saw external trainers from Catalyst Consulting and Talent & Potential provide workshops on Lean Six Sigma and how young people in the industry can take steps to ensure their career is future-proofed in an ever-evolving economy.

Young Rail Professionals’ networking and development manager, Paul Ruane, said of the Leadership Conference, ‘It’s been really great to take part in our Leadership Conference again for a second year running and see all of our committee members from across the country together under one roof.

‘YRP is a fantastic organisation, however, if we want to continue to be successful at delivering our objectives of promoting, developing and inspiring the next generation of rail industry talent then it’s very important that we take these opportunities to get our volunteers together to discuss what we do well and how we can be more effective in the future.’

You can find out more about Young Rail Professionals, how to get involved and see upcoming events at: www.youngrailpro.com.

RAILSTAFF AUGUST 2017

YOUNG RAIL PROFESSIONALS

59

YOUNG RAIL

PROFESSIONALS

Get involved in Rail Week

Get involved in Rail Week Networking & Development

WHO ARE WE? Young Rail Professionals are a professional network of young people from across the rail industry, from engineers, to operators, lawyers, marketing, HR, and commercial. Our mission is to promote, inspire and develop the next generation of railway talent.

Broaden your wider industry awareness and meet new people at inspiring Seminars, Workshops and Networking events

Railway Ambassadors

WHY JOIN? We are free to join. Simply register on our website and membership will allow you to: • Attend our free evening seminars • Learn about upcoming workshops and conferences • Join our community of likeminded professionals • Become an ambassador for the rail industry.

Inspire the next generation by helping to promote the rail industry in Schools, Colleges and Unis

youngrailpro.com

/youngrailwaypro

@youngrailpro

/young-railway-professionals

Rail Week aims to inspire young people to choose rail car of events, visits and talks. By working together we can bri Rail Week aims to inspire young people to choose rail careers, through and attract talented and ambitious young people into the a week of events, visits and talks. By working together we can bridge the love. skills gap and attract talented and ambitious young people into the sector that we all love.

The week is a great way we can showcase the diverse ran

roles in the passengers moving and a The week is a great way we can showcase theindustry diversewhich range keep of people and some of themoving most ambitious roles in the industry which keep passengers and allowsinfrastructure us to deliver projects aroun some of the most ambitious infrastructure projects around.

Now is the time to commit to getting involved!

Now is the time to commit to getting involved!

We need you to: We need you to: • Host tours of your depots, factories, control centres, sta • Givecontrol publiccentres, lecturesstations, and seminars • Host tours of your depots, factories, etc… about your incredible • Volunteer your staff to promote • Give public lectures and seminars about your incredible projects rail in schools as Rail W

• Volunteer your staff to promoteRail rail Week in schools as Rail Weekyou Ambassadors can be whatever want it to be. If you have a Rail Week can be whatever you about want itit!to be. If you have a great idea shout about it!

www.railweek.com

www.railweek.com

@railweek @railweek

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60

TRAINING

RAILSTAFF AUGUST 2017

ORION

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way People

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62

CAREERS

RAILSTAFF AUGUST 2017

Contractor’s Engineering Manager – CEM The CEM would be responsible for managing and directing all engineering governance and assurance across a complex and challenging scope of multidisciplinary civil and rail works. The role will cover design and engineering development as well as on site construction delivery. An Engineering Manager should be confident, self-motivated and a strong team player, who would have acquired adequate knowledge and experience in practicing the following Network Rail Standards:

• • • •

NR/L2/INI/02009 (Engineering Management of Projects).

NR/L3/CIV/003 (Engineering Assurance of Design & Construction).

And other relevant standards as referenced in the above two.

CDM 2015.

REQUIRED SKILLS

• • •

Day to day management of all project level engineering activities, including assessment of permanent and temporary works design, works requirements and the appointment of suitable resource to satisfactorily complete those works.

Manage delivery of guidance and service support to contribute a clear view for delivering design management and engineering.

Provide operational, strategic and contractual advice and service to bid preparation and project management when associated with design management and engineering.

Location: New Eltham | London

• • • •

Salary: £50k-80k pa

Selection and appointment of Contractor’s Responsible Engineers (CRE’s).

Review of all Designs to ensure coordination between design disciplines.

Final review and acceptance of all AFC documents.

Responsible for ensuring that all changes in client / company standards are captured, reviewed and briefed.

THE CANDIDATE To be considered for the above post, ideally the candidate should have the following:

• • • •

HND, B.Eng, M.Eng or equivalent degree in civil engineering.

5 years minimum experience in a rail civil environment.

Previously acted as a Network Rail approved CEM or a member of ICE with CEng Status would be advantageous.

Ability and desire to work under pressure to meet business objectives, without compromising Safety and Compliance.

BENEFITS

•

£50k-80k pa depending on experience and qualifications with benefits package including a vehicle.

CALL 0208 859 7706 OR EMAIL MAGGIE.CORNER@MCHUGHLTD.CO.UK

www.trsstaffing.com

0845 463 5952

Global Scale. Local Focus.

– Exciting career opportunities to work on HS2 Projects – Environmental Manager

Contracts and Procurement Manager

Birmingham £320 per day – Inside IR35

Birmingham £400 per day – Inside IR35

Value Engineer

Engagement Advisor

Birmingham, Manchester £250 - £320 per day – Inside IR35

Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester Station enhancement background required £220 per day – Inside IR35

Senior Transport Assessment Manager

Route Engineer

Birmingham £400 per day – Inside IR35

Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds £320 per day– Inside IR35

Offering Specialist Resourcing and Head Hunting capabilities to the Rail market BIM Co-ordinator

Birmingham, York, Reading | Contract – £35-£40 an hour

Associate/Senior Quantity Surveyor

London | Permanent – £50,000-£60,000 per year

Principal/Senior OLE Design Engineer

Midlands, Birmingham | Contract/Permanent – £500 per day or £65,000 per year

Junior OLE Design Engineer

NR/HE Integration Manager

Environment Interfaces Advisor

York | Permanent – £30,000 per year

Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester £320 per day – Inside IR35

Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester £220 per day – Inside IR35

Lead Telecoms Project Engineer

TRS Staffing Solutions are international engineering recruitment specialists.

We recruit for major national and international projects for leading national rail organisations, main contractors and consultancies.

Please email your CV to jonathan.miles@trsstaffing.com or if you’d prefer to discuss any roles call +44 (0)20 7419 5800 RAILSTAFF.UK | @RAILSTAFFUK | FACEBOOK.COM/RAILSTAFF

Midlands | Permanent – £55,000 per year

Telecoms Team Lead /Principal Telecoms Design Engineer

London, Birmingham, Manchester | Contract/Permanent – £425 per day or £68,000 per year

careers@suitablecandidates.com | www.suitablecandidates.com

RAILSTAFF AUGUST 2017

Contracts Manager or Senior Project Manager

63

Benefits: £45k-65k pa depending on experience and qualifications with package including vehicle

DESIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

REQUIRED SKILLS

• • • •

CAREERS

Client Management

In order to meet the job requirements the individual will also have a proven ability to:

Project Delivery and Line Management

•

Business Unit Management and Operations Management

• • • • • •

People Management

THE CANDIDATE It is envisaged that the successful candidate will ideally be educated to HNC level and able to demonstrate true leadership skills and proven experience of working for a recognised Contractor on Civils Minor Works and Civil engineering schemes within the UK Rail sector.

You will be able to work to tight deadlines within a pressurised and technically challenging rail environment, be able to manage and deliver customer expectations and possess a proven track record in delivering projects on time and within budget whilst also developing and progressing your team.

You will have experience of Minor Works and have previously worked on civil engineering projects that should have included Station upgrades including, Access Walkways, together with Bridge and Structures repairs and refurbishment, Foundations and Support Structures and Earthworks.

• • •

Oversee frameworks, projects and personnel (preferably within the UK rail business) To recruit and manage varying levels of staff Manage and develop a team of technical staff Successfully deliver technically complex projects on time and to budget Develop business plans and successfully deliver against them Manage the profit and loss of the area To communicate and work at all levels within organisations from Board level to support staff Expertise in identifying and implementing business process structures and improve business operations and delivery Create and deliver excellent presentations and written documents Have an understanding of safety, reliability and other risks that could affect the business

CALL 0208 859 7706 OR EMAIL MAGGIE.CORNER@MCHUGHLTD.CO.UK

ADVANCE-TRS RAIL RECRUITMENT SPECIALISTS Quantity Surveyor Essex • £350 per day Job Ref: 4078

Project Manager

Birmingham • £45-55,000 pa Job Ref: 4043

A great opportunity to join a highly successful global provider of telecommunications systems. You will be providing commercial management/quantity surveying support on a large rail project. Must be degree qualified ideally with telecoms/M&E experience.

An exciting opportunity for a Project Manager to deliver an Ecology Mitigation Programme (EMP). Will have day-to-day management responsibility for the EMP, from designing and programming works to ensuring delivery on the ground.

HSQE Manager

Risk and Value Manager

One of the UK’s largest communications and utilities service providers seeks an HSQE Manager to join its growing team to be part of its continuing success. The role is integral to the development and success of their London Underground contracts.

An exciting opportunity for an experienced Risk & Value Manager to join a fantastic rail infrastructure company. You will be conducting risk management activities for the East or West Midlands region at their Derby-based offices.

London • £40,000 - £50,000 pa Job Ref: 4071

Derby • £350-400 per day Job Ref: 4037

Interested?

Are you interested in any of the advertised roles?

Simply send an email with the job reference number and your CV to:

consultants@advance-trs.com or call us, quoting the job reference number on:

+44 (0)1483 361 061

Looking for something else?

We have a number of exciting live vacancies on our website, simply visit:

www.advance-trs.com Or follow us on Twitter for the latest jobs and industry news:

@RailwayJobs

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