RailStaff June 2012 by Rail Media

RailStaff Issue 175 / June 2012

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Jubilee Joy at Railfest 2012

Jubilee Bonus for Samantha Hodder

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Angelica engineers rail success Vital Rail’s ﬁrst female apprentice urges other girls to join rail.

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Railfest 2012 added a stunning rail bonus to the exuberant celebrations of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Crowds flocked to the nine day railway festival at the National Railway Museum in York. Carol Vorderman launched proceedings by naming East Coast’s record breaking 91110, ‘Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.’

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Theresa Villiers backs rail training Getting more people, particularly women, into the rail industry.

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Track Renewals & Maintenance Stobart Rail recently completed a track renewals project for MRDL between Bury and Manchester Victoria consisting of a 674m skim dig renewal without Engineering Trains within a 51hr possession. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Stobart Rail successfully delivered the core works within a very demanding timeframe, both lead-in and delivery. Despite unforeseen circumstances affecting key aspects of their supply chain, they responded effectively by reworking their methodology just days before the core works began. Their level headed and proactive approach ensured

the track was handed back on time at operational line speed.â&#x20AC;? Clive Pennington Head of Engineering, MRDL Stobart Rail specialise in track off, track on bridge / viaduct replacement, strengthening, waterproofing works as well as minor and major track renewals.

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COMMENT

RailStaff Contact us:

Publisher:

Paul O’Connor

Editor:

Andy Milne

Production and design:

Adam O’Connor

Senior Reporter:

Jonathan Webb

Writer:

Nigel Wordsworth

Track Safety:

Colin Wheeler

Pictures:

Colin Garratt

Advertising:

Asif Ahmed Craig Smith Paul Curtis

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

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

In the middle of our street It is hard to imagine the pompous presidents of the world’s esteemed republics allowing Madness to play live on the roofs of their palaces. Harder still to connect the Royal Family with a grimy-ﬁnger, heavy engineering industry like railways - until you look a little closer and realise the inherent strengths both groups share. Railways depend on public approval and tax payer support for survival. Both have had to cope with politicians who often have no sense of history and only a faltering command of their ministerial brief. Similarly antirailists can be rude and abusive but sheer professionalism precludes rail staff answering back or telling them what they really think. Family is very important on the railway. Careers in railways pass down from one generation to the other. Often grandparents, sons, daughters and grandchildren are at work in the industry at the same time. Happily the railway depends on much of the

SPECIAL FOCUS

Health & Safety In July’s RailStaff The biggest asset of any company is its people. Their Health and Safety is therefore paramount. Find out what new Rail Health and Safety initiatives there are and keep in touch with Track Safety with our resident expert, Colin wheeler. Call Paul Curtis on 01530 56 00 26 or email pc@rail-media.com. www.railstaff.co.uk

Apprenticeships in the rail industry can be long and challenging but at least you know that once the time is served you will be doing a job of national importance Commonwealth for its professionals and is all the better for that. Apprenticeships in the rail industry can be long and challenging but at least you know that once the time is served you will be doing a job of national importance. More seriously the values Her Majesty the Queen has quietly espoused strike a deep resonance with most of her subjects. Religious faith is as central to the Queen as it is to many in the railway. Sticking by your partner and children whatever the trials and

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tribulations suffered is central. The Queen has taught us by example not to be phased or frightened by change. We remain stable and, in the main, prosperous. Best in silence to ignore the passing fads of fashion, management-speak and shallow emotionalism. To paraphrase Madness: How can it be she can say so much without words? The railway may be poor at talking itself up but it performs well and is making a growing contribution to the stability and prosperity of the realm. God save the Queen.

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Rail welcome

Rail recruitment

Railway staff played a lead role in carrying the Olympic Torch around Britain. FirstGroup’s Engineering Director, Clive Burrows, carried the Olympic Torch in Chippenham.

Employers are increasing the time they take to decide on who to hire. At the same time, top grade candidates are realising they have many advantages in an era of skill shortage. 3

Jubilee Joy at Railfest 2012

The National Railway Museum’s Railfest extravaganza formed a fitting railway bonus to the spectacular celebrations of Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee. An East Coast locomotive, 91110, was named ‘Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’ by TV star Carol Vorderman at the start of the nine-day celebration of Britain’s railways at the National Railway Museum in York. A Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster flew overhead as thousands joined the festivities. 91110, achieved a national speed record for electric trains at Stoke Bank, north of Peterborough, on 17 September 1989 - a record which stands to this day. A number of other record breakers were on display at Railfest 2012. The line up of over

50 locomotives included the fastest steam locomotive at 126mph, Mallard, the first locomotive recorded to reach 100mph, Flying Scotsman, and the fastest post-war speed record holder, Sir Nigel Gresley. Says Squadron Leader Ian Smith, Officer Commanding RAF BBMF and a former Red Arrows pilot, ‘Everyone associated with RAF BBMF is thrilled that Britain’s recordholding electric express locomotive has been named in honour of the Flight. ‘It will greatly help the RAF BBMF with one of its key messages: to recognise and commemorate the selfless acts of bravery of over 100,000 RAF airmen and airwomen who have defended our freedom over decades, many making the ultimate sacrifice.’

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NEWS

New jump for Gatwick Express

Gatwick Express, the non-stop rail-air link between central London and Gatwick Airport, has seen a 17% increase in passengers in the past year. The service continues to attract

air passengers away from road and other rail services. Says Alex Foulds, Development Director for Southern Railway which now runs the Gatwick Express, ‘Considering the context of a 6.9% rise in airport

passengers at Gatwick, these ﬁgures reveal the robust health of the Gatwick Express brand. We are seeing a rise in both leisure and business travellers from the UK and overseas.’

Gatwick Express staff jump for joy when celebrating the success of their service.

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NEWS

Surface works for Crossrail Network Rail has agreed to deliver Crossrail surface infrastructure work within the £2.3bn funding available. This will enable Crossrail services to operate out to Maidenhead, Heathrow, Abbey Wood and Shenﬁeld. Says Matthew White, Crossrail’s surface director, ‘To enable Crossrail services to operate, Network Rail will be undertaking a multi-billion upgrade of the rail network with major improvements planned for the Great Eastern and

Esk Valley bridge bonus

Great Western main lines including better stations, electriﬁcation, new and improved signalling and the integration of the new Crossrail tunnels with the existing railway.’ The work, to be undertaken by Network Rail for Crossrail, represents one of the largest commercial contracts in Network Rail’s ten-year history. The deal marks a further signiﬁcant milestone in the delivery of the Crossrail project. Says Simon Kirby, managing

director, Network Rail Infrastructure Projects, ‘Network Rail’s combined roles of operating and upgrading the existing railway mean that we are uniquely placed to deliver the above ground elements of this world-class project. ‘We’ve spent two years working with our customer, Crossrail Limited, to develop the exact scope of the work and are conﬁdent that we have the right plan, expertise and resources.’ Network Rail is responsible for the elements of the Crossrail

Chiltern’s cunning plan

The half term holiday saw staff from Network Rail completing work on four new bridges along the Esk Valley line. Engineers put in round the clock shifts to replace Danby, Duck, Thorneywaite and Carr End bridges on the line between Middlesbrough and Whitby. Says Phil Verster, route managing director for Network Rail, ‘This route is vital for hundreds of children who use the train to travel to school each day. After considerable discussion with Northern Rail it was clear these essential improvements needed to be scheduled for the school holidays in order to minimise disruption.’ The North Yorkshire Moors Railway ran additional services to Whitby during the bridge replacements. 6

project which are above ground and contained within the existing network. This includes modifications at 28 surface stations, provision of power for the new rolling stock including overhead lines, and the building of a new, larger flyover at Stockley in Hillingdon to enable Crossrail services to operate to Heathrow. Crossrail trains will travel from Maidenhead and Heathrow, through new rail tunnels below central London, to Shenfield and Abbey Wood.

On board announcements on Chiltern are being livened up in a bid to tickle jaundiced commuters. Blackadder star, Tony Robinson, has been coaching train crew in the new scripts, using his own experience at delivering mediaeval humour. Examples include: ‘I’d like to welcome passengers boarding this 7.33 from Birmingham Moor Street

to London Marylebone. If you’ve just bumped into someone who you barely know, you now have one hour and 30 minutes of awkward small talk. Good luck.’ And ‘We will shortly be passing through West Ruislip where we will be racing the Underground trains. Do please feel free to cheer for our driver.’ Tony Robinson played Baldric in the hit comedy series Blackadder.

“I’d like to welcome passengers boarding this 7.33 from Birmingham Moor Street to London Marylebone. If you’ve just bumped into someone who you barely know, you now have one hour and 30 minutes of awkward small talk. Good luck…”

www.railstaff.co.uk

Jubilee Bonus for Sam Hodder Richardson to chair Quattro

Samantha Hodder has been promoted to Group Corporate Affairs Director at the Go-Ahead Group. The Diamond Jubilee promotion for the one time Buckingham Palace press ofﬁcer will see Hodder overseeing all aspects of GoAhead’s communications organisation. Samantha joined Go-Ahead in November 2001. She has served as Head of Communications at Southern and Communications Director for the Group’s rail division. Before joining Go-Ahead she worked in communications at Buckingham Palace and the Department for Education and Employment. Samantha started her career as a local newspaper reporter. Her new role spans Go-Ahead’s bus and rail divisions and her responsibilities include external and internal communications, public affairs and sustainability. She is a graduate of Manchester University.

Adam Richardson is the new chairman of the Quattro Group.

Ladybank flower lady retires

Mr Richardson has over 20 years experience in the management of growth companies, both in the UK and USA. Following successful takeovers of BCL Plant in 2008 and Kent Sweepers in 2009, the Quattro Group is now looking for further acquisitions and to expand their current markets. With a proven history in venture capital and investment, Adam joins the Board to help the Group push forward plans for further expansion. ‘The Quattro Group is a company that’s specialised and grown strong in its core categories, while others have fallen. As the UK’s leading RRV plant hire company, the Quattro Group has the ability to strengthen its offer in rail, and grow into further related ﬁelds. It’s a tight, well run team, still owned and run by its founder, John Murphy. ‘It’s a unique company going from strength to strength’ said Adam.

“It’s a unique company going from strength to strength…” ADAM RiCHARDSON, CHAiRMAN, QuATTRO GROup

George Lynn steps down Majorie Ward, whose beautiful ﬂoral displays are a familiar sight in Fife, has retired after a 23 year career with ScotRail. Marjorie started at Ladybank station in 1989 and worked on trains and at Kirkcaldy, Edinburgh and Cupar before she returned to 8

Ladybank in 2006. She boosted her ﬂoral displays with speciality ﬂowers as well as cuttings from her own home. Majorie has been guardian of Ladybank station’s heritage, maintaining its antique pendulum clock, which dates to 1847, and

historic photos and records. Florist Kirsty Lorenz, who runs a studio in Ladybank, said, ‘Marjorie is one in a million and will be greatly missed.’

Chief Financial Ofﬁcer of Angel Trains, George Lynn, is stepping down after 18 years. Lynn helped found the company during railway privatisation and was involved procuring the Pendolino ﬂeet and the Desiros. Current Group Financial Controller Alan Lowe will take over as CFO. www.railstaff.co.uk

pEOpLE NEWS

Chaplin heads Trinity at Northern

Vital role for Pete Savage

Northern Rail has appointed three new directors.

Vital Skills Training has bolstered its Epping training centre by appointing ﬁve rail engineering tutors led by pete Savage (pictured). The team has been recruited to deliver apprenticeship training for a group of apprentices working on a project to maintain the six-mile Epping Ongar Railway heritage line. The appointments closely follow the opening of Vital’s London head ofﬁce at Kennington Park. With more than 50 years of combined experience in the rail industry, the team will be using expertise gained working for Network Rail and the railway to guide the apprentices through their rail engineering training. Says 50-year-old Pete Savage, from Doncaster, ‘Vital is a major player in the rail industry and I am delighted to have joined the company at such an important time.

‘When you consider that the average age of people working in the rail industry is 56, combined with the fact that the many rail infrastructure projects in the pipeline won’t be completed for many years, it is imperative that young people are equipped with the skills and disciplines needed to replace and ﬁll the industry’s skill gap. The rail industry offers a promising future and it feels good to be in a position to make a difference to so many young people’s lives.’

Alan Chaplin (pictured right) joins the business as Chief Operating Ofﬁcer. Jonathan Stewart is Commercial Director and Richard Allan becomes Area Director in the north-east. Alan has held senior posts at Veolia Transdev and the National Express Group. Prior to his appointment with Northern, Jonathan Stewart worked for Direx Solutions Ltd and has previously worked with First West and North Yorkshire. Stewart is a major in the Territorial Army. Says Ian Bevan, Managing Director, Northern Rail, ‘We’re thrilled to announce these recent additions to the Northern team. Alan, Jonathan and Richard are extremely valuable to us and bring with them a broad range of

experience, which will be key to us as we drive the business forward over the next two years.’

Delivery focus for Invensys Rail David Attmere and Mark Ferrer have been appointed Delivery Directors at invensys Rail. David will look after the new Wales, West and London Region. He has a 20 year rail industry experience and was most recently Senior Project Manager for the Reading Remodelling Project for Invensys. Mark heads up New Technology and ETCS looking after the delivery of the company’s Thameslink project activities, as well as for other ETCS projects. He has been Head of Engineering for Invensys Rail Northern Europe, as well as Acting Delivery Director for the company’s Midlands Region project portfolio. www.railstaff.co.uk

Says Invensys Rail’s VP Commercial, Will Wilson, ‘With a wealth of proven project management and engineering experience, I’m delighted that David and Mark are to take responsibility for these two important areas of our business.’

“I’m delighted that David and Mark are to take responsibility for these two important areas…”

WiLL WiLSON, Vp COMMERCiAL, iNVENSyS RAiL 9

RAiL ALLiANCE NEWS

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

Merry month of May The Rail Alliance is currently putting the ﬁnishing touches to the second half of its event programme for 2012/13. Look out for details in the July issue of RailStaff as we embark on visiting the regions, kindly hosted by various Rail Alliance members, as well as holding networking meetings at our ever popular central venue in Birmingham. May has been a busy month with

Premier Pits premier pits, based near Spalding, Lincolnshire, manufacture and install prefabricated steel vehicle maintenance pits. Pit manufacture, an idea originated by the current owner and managing director Mel Burrell over thirty years ago, started as an off-shoot from an existing effluent tank manufacturing business. Initially pit sales, prompted by the Fens’ high water table, remained local to Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. Now over 3500 maintenance workshops across the U.K, Ireland and internationally, have been transformed by Premier Pits. The company believes that the benefits already experienced by commercial vehicles can be experienced by the rail industry. These benefits include: • Considerably reduced installation times. Pits are installed in days rather than the weeks needed to

Rail Alliance management team attending the Westermo seminar at the National Railway Museum in York as well as staging a successful networking meeting at the Holiday Inn Coventry, supported by InterContinental Hotel Group, at which our keynote speaker Dr Mark Chattington of TRL presented on ‘Rail Vehicle Crashworthiness and Occupant Safety.’

install in-situ concrete pits. • Much tighter tolerances. Laser measuring systems are used in the factory and on site. • Lower pit maintenance costs. All pits are fully galvanised and can be easily cleaned. • Water tight. The welded construction ensures there is no water ingress. • Better working conditions for staff. The clean, well lit, water free conditions ensure a better working environment. Rail pits are certainly much longer and the weights involved much greater. However, the engineering and installation principles that apply to commercial vehicle pits can also be applied to train pits. The experience gained at Terminal 5, and the installation of tow-tug maintenance pits at other airports endorses this. In 2008 Premier Pits successfully installed two 54 metre pits for the maintenance of trains on the passenger transfer system. This project involved working to tight deadlines and within very conﬁned conditions, despite

We have also held another of our popular BS11000 Collaborative Business Relationship one-day Workshops. These workshops are currently offered free-of-charge to Rail Alliance members (£500+VAT to non-members). But this is about to change, as from September onwards they will attract a modest charge… so, as Fred Pontin used to say, ‘book early’ if you want to take advantage of the fact that the ﬁrst six BS11000 Familiarisation Workshops are free-of-charge to Rail Alliance members.

having to lower each pit through the terminal roof down to the track 20 metres below. Installation only took 5 days. The image of the pit has been transformed by Premier Pits. What started off as a simple prefabricated shell is now a sophisticated piece of garage equipment. Many added features have been introduced, including several signiﬁcant safety options. Prefabricated pits make a considerable contribution to enhancing the productivity of vehicle workshops - why not rail workshops?

iMechE 12th September London

New members Signature Ltd Signature’s sophisticated research, design and manufacturing facilities are able to provide first class sign systems and traffic management products. www.signatureltd.com Harrington Generators Int. Ltd HGI is the UK premier provider of generators bespoke or “standard” to the rail industry. HGI machines provide power on over 90% of Network Rail Infrastructure Monitoring and Maintenance vehicles www.HGIgenerators.com Rowe Hankins Ltd Rowe Hankins manufacture speed probes, earth-leakage detection units, current monitoring products and intelligent wheel flange lubrication. www.rowehankins.com Schenck Process Manufacturers of pneumatic and mechanical conveyors, weighing and monitoring equipment for the rail industry including sand filling pumping stations for sand box refilling. www.schenckprocess.co.uk WISKA UK Ltd Manufacturer of high quality cable glands, junction boxes and cable entry equipment including the unique COMBI enclosures and SPRINT cable gland system. www.wiska.co.uk JJ Engineering (Birmingham) Ltd Manufacturer of Metal Pressings and Assemblies. Encompassing all associated products and services including Robotic welded assemblies supported with Projection and Spot welding. www.jjeng.co.uk

Rail Alliance events introduction to BS11000 29th June | 19th July | 16th August Long Marston

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

innotrans 2012 18th-21st September Berlin, Germany

Barton Petroleum Supplier of fuels and lubricants nationwide through their distributor network. www.bartonpetroleum.co.uk www.railstaff.co.uk

NEWS

BTP announces crime drop Crime is down on Britain’s railways according to ﬁgures released by the British Transport police. Violent crime fell by 2.9%, robberies by 9.6% and vandalism by 21.6%. Theft also fell, with theft of passengers’ property down 10.4% and theft of railway property down 12.8%. BTP achieved all 11 of its national policing plan targets last year and 43 out of 47 local targets. National targets include reducing crime, disruption and anti-social behaviour whilst improving value for money. Says Chief Constable Andy Trotter, ‘If anyone wants to see the value of successful public services, they have only to look at us. BTP has a record of consistent

achievement over an extended period, whilst achieving ever greater value for money.’ Crime on the railways over the past ﬁve years has fallen by over 30%.

“This has been a very successful year for BTP and the rail industry…” ANDy TROTTER, CHiEF CONSTABLE, BTp

Disabled Swimmers Donation

Innotrans 2012

Balfour Beatty Rail has given the City of Cambridge Swimming Club Disability Squad a cheque for £1000. The Squad was founded in 2007 to provide a competitive outlet for children and adults with a range of disabilities. It is open to disabled swimmers aged nine and over and currently has 12 members who train for seven hours each week.

Balfour Beatty Rail has given the City of Cambridge Swimming Club Disability Squad a cheque for £1000…

www.railstaff.co.uk

The Rail Alliance is looking for companies trading in the rail sector that have NOT visited innotrans before, especially those with newly appointed Business Development Managers who may ﬁnd themselves having inherited or been given the rail sector as part of their portfolio. Innotrans, the largest rail show in the world, has a footfall of some 108,000+ visitors over the four days it is open and, with over 33 halls of equipment as well as an outdoor exhibition of hundreds of vehicles, it provides for a legitimate use of the word ‘awesome’ for once. If

you are new to the rail sector then it would make sense to plan a visit to Innotrans 2012 in Berlin during the period 18-21 September 2012. Why not include it as part of your CPD programme. Innotrans provides a tremendous opportunity to see what is out there in the public transport arena as well as being able to compare and contrast your own products and services with those from around the world. Over 45 different countries exhibit at Innotrans. To help defray some of the costs, you may also be able to get some support from United Kingdom

Trade and Investment using their Tradeshow Access Programme Support Scheme or their Market Visit Support Scheme in the form of a grant. The Rail Alliance will have boots on the ground during the four days and will be providing its Rail Advocate service. Essentially, Rail Alliance facilitators will work with you before the event assessing your needs and requirements and then will be in-situ during the event to meet you and give you a tailored map of where you need to be. The aim of the Rail Alliance is to be your extra pair of hands and to help you to save time.

Dalmarnock design win for Atkins Dalmarnock Station in Glasgow has been named Best proposed project at the Scottish Design Awards in Glasgow. A top team from Atkins has designed a radical upgrade of Dalmarnock Station, the primary transport hub for Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games in 2014. The station will be completely remodelled, with a replacement footbridge, platform upgrades, new ticket ofﬁce and step-free access, whilst creating a safer station environment with improved lighting and CCTV. Says Stan Doyle, Regional Director, Atkins, ‘We are thrilled to be involved with Dalmarnock’s emerging reconnection to the city through the transformation of the present rail station into an important piece of public architecture.’ The station will serve three key venues for the Commonwealth games including the new National Indoor Sports Arena, the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome and Celtic Park.

Better access for Waterloo Bottlenecks have been removed and more escalators installed as part of a £10m improvement project at Waterloo. Passengers and staff will be able to use four new escalators connected to a 220-metre long balcony running almost the full width of the station. This new access route between Waterloo and Waterloo East, used by a combined 300,000 passengers a

day forms part of a wider plan to provide more space for passengers at concourse level. Work at the station, which started in April 2011, has already seen the removal of a number of retail units from the main concourse, further helping to relieve congestion for people using the station. Says Tim Shoveller, managing director of the Network Rail and South West Trains alliance, ‘Waterloo is the busiest station in Britain with more than 90m passengers a year. As the number of people using the station continues to rise, we need a radical solution to provide the space and facilities that passengers need. The new balcony will help ease congestion and improve the journeys of millions of people each year.’ The scheme is also creating 20,000 sq ft of new retail space at ﬁrst ﬂoor level, accessed by the balcony.

Summer statue on tour

East Coast has put up a statue of Olympic athlete, Jonathan Edwards, at King’s Cross. The life-sized sculpture was made entirely from used train parts by sculptor Ptolemy Elrington. Says Jonathan Edwards, ‘The sculpture is very striking and really took me aback when I ﬁrst saw it. It’s incredible to think it was possible to create such a structure from old bits of train, but it has been crafted brilliantly. I am honoured that East Coast has commissioned the piece.’ The sculpture will be exhibited at main stations along the East Coast main line this summer. www.railstaff.co.uk

STATiONS

Olympic win for Slough Jeanette Chippington, gold medal winning paralympian, joined local leaders and staff from First Great Western and Network Rail to celebrate Slough Railway Station’s multimillion pound upgrade. Improvements to the Grade II listed station include new lifts and footbridge, revamped waiting rooms and ticket hall, better toilets and a redesigned station forecourt. Says Transport Minister Norman Baker, ‘With the Olympics only two months away, I’m pleased these major access improvements at Slough Station are being unveiled today. The Coalition Government wants everyone to enjoy the Olympics while providing a legacy of better transport for generations to come. This local scheme will remove barriers to work and leisure travel for disabled passengers. ‘Nationally, we’ve invested £6.5bn upgrading transport links

for the Games to improve services and boost economic development. This is also a great example of key organisations - including Slough Borough Council, First Great Western, Network Rail and my department - working together effectively locally to improve facilities and meet community needs.”

New station opens at Wootton The isle of Wight Steam Railway has formally opened its new station building and an extended platform at Wootton. Parish council leader, Ken Morris conducted the ceremony supported by the builders Bob and Ollie Mackett, local leaders and railway volunteers.

The Isle of Wight Steam Railway operates a ﬁve mile section of the former Ryde to Newport Railway. The railway plans to install original wooden post signals which will enable two trains to use Wootton at the same time. A new siding with a loading bay will be built to house goods wagons.

1905

“With the olympics only two months away, I’m pleased these improvements at Slough Station are being unveiled today…”

2012

NORMAN BAKER, TRANSpORT MiNiSTER

New station for Middlesbrough

James Cook university Hospital in Middlesbrough looks like getting its own railway station as part of a £4.5 million pound plan to boost rail use on Teesside. Mark Hopwood, Patrick Hallgate and James Swindlehurst join Jeanette Chippington.

www.railstaff.co.uk

12 other local stations will be revamped. Says local enterprise leader, Stephen Catchpole of Tees Valley Unlimited, ‘This is excellent news for Tees Valley. The £4.5

million funding from the Local Sustainable Transport Fund helps facilitate the major and long standing aspiration of (having) a railway station at James Cook University Hospital. This also enables considerable development across 11 Tees Valley stations already in use – all essential in this ﬁrst phase of the Tees Valley Metro Scheme.’ Stations in the scheme include Allens West, Billingham, Gypsy Lane, Longbeck, Marske, Marton, Nunthorpe, Redcar Central, Redcar East, South Bank and Stockton.

STATiONS

Future of Sustainable Design (Left to right) Gavin McMurray, Alan Thompson, Graham Tomlinson, Stuart Croucher, Tim Bellenger and Thorbjorn Bengtsson.

The conference threw new light on the reasons behind Britain’s success at developing new and old railway stations… David Biggs, director of property at Network Rail, delighted delegates at the Future of Sustainable Design conference with details of retail outlets on stations out performing recession-struck high street shops. ‘It’s retail on the way, not in the way,’ says Biggs. For several years now Network Rail Property has been hard at work unlocking the commercial potential of the industry’s railway stations. People like to shop as they travel to and from work and the huge footfall at stations is generating great business opportunities.

Property values rise Importantly railway stations are now seen as generators of net wealth, health and jobs. Develop the station and see property values rise and local economics ﬂourish.

The secret is community involvement and a sense of ownership best illustrated by the Junction Health Centre project, under the arches at Clapham Junction Station. The new heath centre was opened last year by local MP Jane Ellison and is proving a great success. The new health centre is still owned by Network Rail. Continuing the theme of community responsibly, Crossrail is paying particular attention to the areas contiguous to new stations. Stuart Croucher of Crossrail described how new stations on Crossrail will enhance the urban area they served. Croucher genially described the thinking of what he calls the men in ﬂowery shirts and how they came up with stunning plans for Farringdon Station. The historic station is being given a massive upgrade to preserve its heritage and

provide space for new Thameslink and Crossrail services that will make it one of London’s newest transport hubs.

Access for All Programme Geoff Hobbs of TfL stressed London’s reliance on railways, never better illustrated than in this the year of the London Olympics. Stations are being deep cleaned, refurbished and improved under the Access for All Programme. Feras Alshaker of Southern and Paul Beaty-Pownall of BPR Architects Ltd stressed the need to work with the community, asking local people what else they want for their local stations. The conference threw new light on the reasons behind Britain’s success at developing new and old railway stations. What is becoming increasingly clear is the importance of a transport hub as much more than simply a departure and arrival matrix.

Great commercial value Often situated in town and city centres, at the heart of the communities they serve, railway stations represent great commercial value as well as an opportunity to display the social responsibility and community involvement for which the railway industry is already famed. The Future of Sustainable Design was held at the Excel Centre in London and organised by Murray Media.

(Left to right) Malcolm Prentice, CEO Garrandale joins Gavin McMurray and Jon Bentley of television’s The Gadget Show, to present the FOSD Awards.

www.railstaff.co.uk

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FM 11022

Seaside special celebrates Thameslink

Big hearted railway staff at First Capital Connect helped organise a seaside special in celebration of the end of weekend and night time engineering work on the Thameslink project. The bucket and spade special took children from Bedford, Luton and London to Brighton by rail. Many of the children had not been on a train before. In Brighton the

Home Derby award Railway staff and supporters have been congratulating the Derby Telegraph, which has won two awards – largely as a result of its part in the ﬁght to build the Thameslink ﬂeet at Litchurch Lane. The daily newspaper won Campaigning Newspaper of the Year for its Bombardier campaign and Steve Hall was named as Editor of the Year.

youngsters took part in events laid on by the Brighton Fringe which FCC is sponsoring and enjoyed a ﬁne day of sunshine on the beach and pier. The Fringe also provided onboard children’s entertainers – including a clown, face painters and a magician. For 3½ years the Bedford-Brighton, Wimbledon and Sutton route has been closed every

night and almost every weekend across central London for Thameslink Programme upgrade work. MPs Richard Fuller, Gavin Shuker and Simon Hughes waved off the group and Rail Minister Norman Baker greeted the party at Brighton station (pictured above). Says Norman Baker, ‘The Thameslink Programme has already delivered

some good improvements: longer 12-carriage trains, vastly improved stations in central London, and a signalling system in preparation for the future 24 trains-per-hour service that will double capacity across central London. ‘First Capital Connect’s free train trip to the seaside is a great way to celebrate this achievement and the end of an important phase of cross-London engineering work.’ Railway staff volunteered to help out with the train. Says FCC Managing Director Neal Lawson, ‘We were delighted to be able to give so many people – almost 500 – a free trip to the seaside. Staff manning the train gave their time free of charge and we were grateful for Network Rail’s support.’

Porth County victory Aspiring young footballers from across Rhondda Cynon Taff have been fighting for a place in the grand final of the No Messin’ Railway Safety Cup. The five-a-side tournament, organised by British Transport Police (BTP), Network Rail and Arriva Trains Wales, saw teams from 10 comprehensive schools take to the pitch. Overall winners of the regional heat, which took place at the University of Glamorgan playing fields, Trefforest, were Porth County, who defeated Gartholwg in the final. The grand final takes place on Tuesday, 19 June. Says PCSO Matt Grieve, who helped organise the Rhondda Cynon Taff tournament, ‘It was a fantastic day. The weather was excellent and the standard of football equally good. All the pupils thoroughly enjoyed themselves on the pitch and also asked some really pertinent questions during the safety

presentation. The feedback from teachers throughout the day was extremely positive.’ The aim of the event is to promote alternative activities for

youngsters to discourage them from trespassing on the railway.

Pictured with winners Porth County is PCSO Matt Grieve. www.railstaff.co.uk

NEWS

Pendolino plus

Ilkeston debut for Bridgezone

Bridgezone Ltd has opened a new operational base in ilkeston, Derbyshire. Thousands of extra seats will be available this summer to cope with a huge increase in demand for travel on Virgin pendolino trains between Glasgow Central and London Euston.

Three extra trains with at least 439 seats per train will operate every weekday in each direction between the cities on key dates in July, August and September in addition to the normal 13 each way.

Says Associate Director Paul Capener, ‘We are very pleased to be moving into this new facility which we have taken with growth in mind. With the increase in storage space and a well equipped ofﬁce for our engineers to undertake their report

writing, assessment and design work, we are positioning ourselves well for future development of our business in the Midlands.’ Bridgezone employs engineers with expertise in difﬁcult access examinations using diving, rope access and conﬁned space methods as well as modern technology such as sonar.

High Speed 1 in trailer test

A moving international rail freight motorway comes a step nearer this summer. Europorte ran a trial lorry trailer service from Antwerp to Barking www.railstaff.co.uk

via the Channel Tunnel and High Speed One on May 21-22. The piggyback train consisted of a pair of Ewals Cargo Care megatrailers, conveying Vauxhall car parts,

mounted on a Sdggmiss twosection pocket wagon. Europorte Channel, Eurotunnel’s railfreight subsidiary, plans to start regular services between Antwerp and Barking later this year. Ewals also conﬁrmed it would like to switch to rail as an alternative to current ferry operations. The new service carries complete trailers, including

wheels, ﬂatbeds and container loads. Starting its journey at the Combinant terminal in Antwerp, the train travelled to Calais via Lille. At Fréthun a Europorte Channel Class 92 loco took over for the run to Barking. A pair of class 31 diesels provided power for the ﬁnal mile between the HS1 exchange sidings and the John G Russell intermodal terminal.

Chaddesden

Freight Fear

Challenge plans for a new rail maintenance centre in Derby have been submitted by Network Rail. The new depot will bring together up to 400 maintenance staff from existing ofﬁces and depots across the east midlands. Says Martin Frobisher (pictured below), route managing director, ‘This maintenance depot is central to our plans to help sustain a modern, reliable railway in the east midlands. ‘By bringing our frontline teams into a single location we can better plan and resource the maintenance of the railway. It will also allow more focused, rapid and ﬂexible response to incidents. The site of the new depot sits alongside the 70-acre Chaddesden triangle which has been earmarked for development.’

“The rail freight sector has been growing successfully in recent years, and customer and investor confidence is strong…” TONy BERKELEy, CHAiRMAN, RAiL FREiGHT GROup The Rail Freight Group is urging the Ofﬁce of Rail Regulation to think again about proposals for higher freight charges. Rail freight remains one of the best success stories of railway privatisation. Says Tony Berkeley, RFG Chairman, ‘The rail freight sector has been growing successfully in recent years, and customer and investor conﬁdence is strong. These proposals risk

destabilising this, and turning customers back to road, with its simple and straightforward pricing structure….ORR needs to look for different ways of achieving its objectives that are less damaging to rail freight operators and their customers.’ Proposals include levying an additional charge on operators moving power station coal, iron ore and spent nuclear fuel, which

could amount to an additional £60m year. ORR’s proposals also include making the charges different for each geographic area, as well as for each locomotive and wagon type, and introducing scarcity or capacity charges.

Read all about it

Merseytravel is launching a book club to encourage people to read on their daily journeys to and from work. Says Dr Josie Billington of the 18

University of Liverpool, ‘We know there are many beneﬁts to reading regularly, even if it is just small amounts. Reading isn’t just about literacy, it is also crucial for our sense of wellbeing and our ability to understand our own lives. ‘There’s something about

reading, especially reading literature, which makes people feel good. It’s at once stimulating, enjoyable and relaxing, giving us the capacity to think about the world, offering us practical guidance and opening up our imaginations.’

The campaign will also be encouraging people to join Merseytravel’s virtual book club on Twitter @mtbookclub, and everyone who does will be automatically entered into a free monthly prize draw to win a Kindle. www.railstaff.co.uk

NEWS

Blaydon Races

Bear necessities for Jubilee passengers using London paddington’s ﬁrst class lounge on June 1st were treated to a high tea of champagne and cake as part of First Great Western’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

Former England and Newcastle united striker Alan Shearer joined ‘Queen of the Blaydon Races’ Sheila Shorrick-Dodds and managing director Karen Boswell to name East Coast’s 91115 ‘Blaydon Races’ in honour of the song’s 150th anniversary. The Geordie Ridley song commemorates a famous horse race held from 1861 in Blaydon, near Gateshead. Says Alan Shearer, ‘Blaydon Races is a much-loved North East anthem, best-known through its associations with Newcastle United football club, whose fans have made it their own. From my own playing days at St James’s Park I know how inspiring the sound of over 50,000 Geordie voices singing Blaydon Races is. It’s the ultimate signature

tune of the Tyne, and now its name will be seen throughout the East Coast Main Line.’ Tyneside band the Longsands sang the song at Newcastle Central. Says East Coast Managing Director Karen Boswell, ‘We are delighted to name an East Coast train in honour of the 150th anniversary of such an iconic anthem, which for thousands of North East people is the song of their home.’ East Coast is also staging a competition – describe what the Blaydon Races means to you in 25 words and win a ‘Blaydon Races’ nameplate plus commemorative badges and complimentary First Class return travel for four between any two stations served directly by East Coast trains.

To add an extra sparkle to the event, FGW arranged for the specially reliveried Diamond Jubilee HST power car to be stabled outside the lounge, prior to it working a service to Oxford. Paddington is famous as the place where the Brown family found Paddington bear. The hapless illegal

immigrant arrived there having stowed away on a lifeboat from Peru. The bear’s real name is Pastuso and he, like the Queen, has two birthdays. The ﬁrst on 25th June, followed by a second on 25th December. A bronze statue of Paddington Bear can be found on the station.

First Great Western’s project manager for sales and marketing Polly Robertson serves champagne to a passenger in Paddington’s first class lounge.

Angelica engineers rail success Angelica Momodu, 18, Vital Rail’s ﬁrst female apprentice, is urging other girls to take up rail engineering. ‘i’m really enjoying my apprenticeship and it doesn’t bother me that i’m the only girl in my group.’ Most of my friends are male and it’s all good fun,’ says Angelica who started with Vital last December. Angelica, employed by Vital Rail, is completing her Apprenticeship in Rail Engineering at Epping Ongar, where the group is working on a project to maintain a six-mile heritage railway site. Vital Skills Training set an ambitious target to recruit and train 270 rail apprentices in 2012 and is already a third of the way there with 88 apprentices working www.railstaff.co.uk

on projects across the country. Rob Clarke, apprentice trainer at Vital Skills Training said, ‘The rail sector consists of a much older workforce and this group of young apprentices is like a new lease of life that will secure the skills and knowledge needed to support the many infrastructure projects that are planned for the future.’

“I’m really enjoying my apprenticeship and it doesn’t bother me that I’m the only girl…” ANGELiCA MOMODu 19

Railway Memorial “We want this to be a place where people can come and reflect in quiet solitude, and pay their respects…” SAM REED, BRiTiSH TRANSpORT pENSiONERS FEDERATiON A memorial to railway workers has been unveiled in Staffordshire. The memorial, topped with a Class 8F steam engine carved in black granite, marks the courage of railway people down the years, many of whom gave their lives in service of the industry. Sam Reed, of the British Transport Pensioners Federation said, ‘A national memorial to the memory of rail workers is long overdue. Whilst many lives have been lost in times of conﬂict over

the years, this memorial recognises much more than that. It is also to the memory of those killed in the construction of the railway, those who have lost their lives subsequently in tragic accidents and moreover to all those who have worked to provide the railway we enjoy today and for those who will take the industry forward in the future.’ The memorial, at the National Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire, was unveiled by Sir Bob Reid, former chairman of

British Rail, accompanied by Ian Dudson, Lord-Lieutenant of Staffordshire. ‘We want this to be a place where people can come and reﬂect in quiet solitude, and pay their respects whether it be to loved ones, friends or simply the unsung heroes from across the industry,’ said Sam Reed. The plinth depicts men and women at work on the railways and also carries the coats of arms of the Great Western Railway Company, London North Eastern

Silver service for Chiltern The ﬁrst of Chiltern’s refurbished Mark iii stock trains, hauled by a class 67, has entered service. The new trains - there will be 20 coaches available by December will augment the London Marylebone-Birmingham Moor Street services. The new style silver trains have power operated sliding plug doors and spacious entrance vestibules to speed passengers on and off the train. The upgrade work is being undertaken by Wabtec Rail Ltd of Doncaster.

Railway, London, Midland & Scottish and the Southern Railway and the Lion Wheel of the British Transport Commission and the double arrow national railway symbol. The memorial is situated just off the Arboretum’s Millennium Way, in sight of the Birmingham to Derby railway line.

Prescott backs Beverley Line Lord prescott has joined campaigners working to reopen the Beverley-york railway line. Says campaign chairman, George McManus, ‘I’m delighted that Lord Prescott has agreed to help out. As a long-term member his support will be really important in moving our campaign onto the next stage.’ Despite being well-used the line closed in November 1965. www.railstaff.co.uk

NEWS

Crossrail spoil takes wing The ﬁrst trainload of earth and spoil from Crossrail’s tunnels has left west London and been delivered to Northﬂeet in Kent.

to access Heathrow Airport. New exterior livery has been added and new high intensity LED head and tail lights ﬁtted. The service uses Class 332 electric multiple units made by CAF/Siemens. Heathrow Express is wholly owned by BAA.

The 492 tonnes of earth was moved in a 13 wagon train from Crossrail’s Westbourne Park site. Over the next six weeks, two trains a week will run a return journey between Crossrail’s tunnel entrance near Paddington and Northﬂeet. Later in the summer the trains will increase in size to 27 wagons and run three times a day. At the peak of tunnelling up to ﬁve freight trains a day will operate from Westbourne Park carrying a total of 7,000 tonnes of earth. The

training facilities will allow us to deliver a modern, efﬁcient railway while at the same time maintaining York’s position as a proud rail city. ‘The centres will retain jobs in the city and, over time, see all of our rail operations for the LNE route consolidated on this site.

The operating centre is the largest of just 14 proposed centres across Britain and will bring the expertise and technology we need to operate the route into a single location. Meanwhile the investment in modern training facilities will make sure our rail employees

New look Heathrow Express has relaunched its prestigious ﬂeet with a smarter look and one plus one seating inside. Heathrow Express, with its multi-lingual staff and top performance statistics, remains one of the best and fastest ways

ﬁrst shipload of earth will be delivered to Wallasea Island (pictured below) in Essex later this summer and used to build a bird sanctuary.

Green light for York Ops Centre City authorities in york have agreed Network Rail’s plan to build a new rail operating centre and workforce development school close to york station. Says Phil Verster, Route Managing Director, ‘This decision is great news for York and the railway. These operating and

www.railstaff.co.uk

remain among the best in the world.’ The land identiﬁed for development is known as the engineer’s triangle and lies between York station and Holgate bridge.

NEWS

Rail Welcome for Olympic Torch “To be involved in such an important and historic event was an honour and a privilege…” CLiVE BuRROWS, ENGiNEERiNG DiRECTOR, FiRSTGROup

Railway staff played a lead role in carrying the Olympic Torch around Britain. FirstGroup’s Engineering Director, Clive Burrows, carried the Olympic Torch in Chippenham, Wiltshire. ‘To be involved in such an important and historic event was an honour and a privilege. The occasion was magniﬁcent and one that I will

savour and reﬂect upon with pride for the rest of my life,’ says noted charity fund raiser, Clive. ‘I ﬁnd working with charities exceptionally enjoyable and rewarding.’ The torch travelled along the Severn Valley Railway and was carried on the train from Bewdley to Kidderminster by 43-year-old Christopher Stokes from

Kidderminster. Station manager for Staines and Windsor, Frank Roberts, who has worked for South West Trains for ﬁve years carried the torch at his home town of Swanage in Dorset. A former soldier and keen fundraiser, Frank Roberts has raised £100,000 for charity over the years. Mortlake station clerical ofﬁcer

Daniel Opoku, SWT, ran with the torch at Erith. The ﬂame travelled in a miner’s lantern on the Snowdon Mountain Railway and was carried to the summit by Sir Chris Bonnington.

Chess match special Franks heads USIC A team from Railsport GB put on a brave and sustained ﬁght at the uSiC Chess Championships in the holiday resort of Albena in Bulgaria last month. Railsport GB ﬁnished a creditable 14th out of seventeen teams. Hosts, Bulgaria, which included a number of grand masters in its team, took the title by the narrowest of margins, 77pts to India’s 76½. Russia was 3rd with 66pts and Kazakhstan 5th with 62 pts. Great Britain in 14th place scored 33½ pts. Congratulations to all in Railsport GB’s team: • Graham Bolt, Network Rail • Peter Eldridge, South West Trains • Trevor Jones, SWT (retired) • Alan Giles, Virgin Trains • Nicholas Mahoney, DB Schenker 22

Rail (UK) • Mike Broad, Network Rail • Barry Kocan, South West Trains • Dennis Thompson, Serco Docklands.

David Franks, Chairman of Railsport GB, is the new president of uSiC. David was unanimously elected by the twenty four members of the USIC Congress held in Rome earlier in May. A keen supporter of USIC, David has been a member of Railsport’s Angling Team for more than 20 years. He follows in the footsteps of Paul Watkinson, Group Personnel Director British Railways Board, who was President of USIC from 1992 to 1994. USIC stand for Union Sportive Internationale des Cheminots – literally Railstaff international sporting union. The 2012 Railsport Games will take place in Stanley Park, Blackpool, on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th June. Rail sports contestants are concluding their training for the Olympic curtain

raiser. Sports include 10k and 5k Foot Races, Football, Cricket, Badminton, Chess, Darts, Golf, Netball, Rounders, Table Tennis, Tenpin Bowling and Volleyball. www.railstaff.co.uk

RAiLSTAFF AWARDS

It’s time to say a great big thank you Getting the job done ahead of schedule is a pre-requisite of modern business. Project managers routinely use the phrase, ‘delivered on budget and on time.’ The old saying, ‘No time like the present’ contrasts well with the laconic American put down: ‘You’re a day late and dollar short.’ Prevarication, putting things off, can be as crippling to business as it is to private life. ‘I wish I had done that while I still had time,’ is a constant reproach at weddings, sports days and funerals. ‘I should have asked her to dance.’ ‘Should have phoned, told him how much I cared…’ Too often it’s too late.

Never been easier Life is busier now than ever. However, new technology means it has never been easier to nominate a friend or colleague for the RailStaff Awards.

The original telecoms satellite, Early Bird, made it possible to talk to people on the other side of the Atlantic and pioneered a new era of quick and easy communications. Yet it remains all too easy to put off making that call, sharing that meal or going to that sports day. Talk to almost anybody over 50 and they’ll tell you it’s just phenomenal how fast life chases by. High performing entrepreneurs almost always say the hardest part of growing the business is the children’s birthdays missed, the late nights in the office when you knew they were waiting for that bed time story you never finished. Forgotten wedding anniversaries, friendships overlooked, family quarrels never resolved before death and the absence of friends after a lifetime working together is hard to take. These milestones assume a huge significance once you pass them.

Showing you care Too often we are just too tired to do anything objective about the passage of time. And yet time can be cheated, not by days or minutes perhaps but by simple actions. Showing you care takes a few minutes and a little effort. Writing out a nomination for the RailStaff Awards is simple and quick but its effects last a lot longer. It is there as a permanent thank you. Don’t hang about until

it is too late. Make your nominations online now at www.railstaffawards.com. Also make sure of your place at the RailStaff Awards 2012 by booking tickets and tables now under our Earlybird discount system. Early Bird might have been a satellite but don’t leave your booking - or nominations - up in the air. Act now and save money. For more details visit www.railstaffawards.com

Writing out a nomination for the RailStaff Awards is simple and quick but its effects last a lot longer. It is there as a permanent thank you. Don’t hang about until it is too late.

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RAiLSTAFF AWARDS

Bridgeway Consulting – Leading by example Bridgeway Consulting Ltd is supporting the Rail Safety person of the year at the RailStaff Awards 2012. With safety at the forefront of all operations, Bridgeway Consulting has always aimed to provide a safe, effective and professional service to its clients. A proactive approach is underpinned by a detailed directorled management process that utilises a number of methods to ensure safety is always a priority. With extensive engineering expertise Bridgeway Consulting provides a dynamic and innovative service, and is equipped to undertake small or large tasks efﬁciently, professionally and most important of all, safely. This approach continues to provide Bridgeway Consulting’s clients with peace of mind when they engage with them on key projects. Bridgeway Consulting supports a

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proactive and positive safety and behaviour culture within the rail industry and believes that the Railstaff Awards - Rail Safety Person of the Year category is important for the industry as it rewards those who lead by example. Says Steve Diksa, Assurance Services Director, ‘Developing a culture in which the workforce prioritises safety can be difﬁcult but it is nonetheless still achievable. The Railstaff Awards rewards those who stand up and encourage good practice in the rail industry and we are delighted to support this as well.’ Bridgeway Consulting’s diverse portfolio of services enables their clients to use them for all their project needs in a one stop shop manner. Some of their key services include:

Pino De Rosa - Bridgeway Consulting’s managing director, says, ‘Our range of services highlights our diversity and also our ability to provide a managed service to our client. Our belief is that we will be able to offer both cost and time savings to Network Rail and their suppliers as they continue to ﬁnd ways to deliver better value for money.’ Key points to remember about Bridgeway Consulting:

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Network Rail isNetwork proud Rail to sponsor is proud the RailStaff awards 2012 to sponsor the RailStaff Awards 2011 It’s the hard work of individuals and teams within our industry that’s helping us build a It’s your hard work – the individuals and teams within our better railway for Britain. From pioneering industry – that’s helping us build a better railway for Britain. investment and development projects, to From pioneering investment and development projects,services innovations that make everyday to innovations faster, that make everyday services faster, smarter in smarter and safer, we believe and safer, we believe in recognising the excellence that’s recognising the excellence that’s enabling enabling the transformation of our network.

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RAiLSTAFF AWARDS

FirstGroup sponsors Lifetime Achievement FirstGroup is the proud sponsor of the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s RailStaff Awards. The company is Britain’s largest rail operator carrying more than 290 million passengers per annum. It operates First Great Western, First Capital Connect, First TransPennine Express, First ScotRail, First Hull Trains and London Tramlink. It runs regional and commuter services, open access and light rail operations as well as high speed inter-city trains and overnight sleepers – everything from local branch line stopping services to long distance express trains. The company has pre-qualiﬁed for the Inter City West Coast, Great Western, Thameslink and Essex Thameside franchises. FirstGroup is also one of Britain’s biggest bus operators running more than one in ﬁve of all local

bus services. In North America it is the largest provider of student transportation with some 57,000 yellow school buses and operates the iconic Greyhound coach services. Vernon Barker, Head of FirstGroup’s Rail Division, said: “We are delighted to be sponsors of an award recognising the people who have invested so much of their own lives to delivering excellence in the rail industry.” He continued: “At FirstGroup, we have the pleasure of working with excellent colleagues who recognise the strength of putting our customers at the centre of everything we do. As I visit depots, stations and HQ’s across our operating companies, every day I am reminded of the fantastic job my colleagues do. I am constantly overwhelmed by the dedication and commitment displayed and the willingness to go that extra mile.

“I hear of Station colleagues turning up to work four hours early so they can shovel snow from the platform before the morning peak; engineers performing miracles to make our trains more sustainable; customer facing staff going to extraordinary lengths to satisfy our customers; and all colleagues working harder than ever before to make the railways as safe as possible. “The railway, for many of us in the industry, is a way of life. Unlike most other sectors it is not

uncommon to ﬁnd colleagues with 30, 40 and 50 years service. There are thousands of people, including many at First, who have served the rail industry faithfully over many years.” Vernon concluded: “The Lifetime Achievement Award reﬂects the passion and commitment of those men and women who have dedicated their careers and lives to manning our trains, selling tickets, operating signals and building and maintaining trains and track. They are the real heroes of the industry.”

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RAiLSTAFF AWARDS

TBF backs Station Staff of the Year The Transport Benevolent Fund is backing the Station Staff of the year Award at this year’s RailStaff Awards. Says Tom O’Connor, managing director of the Rail Media Group, which is organising the RailStaff Awards, ‘For most passengers their ﬁrst point of contact with the railway is through rail staff at stations. Often overlooked at a busy terminus or commuter stations they are the heroes quietly helping passengers on their way. ‘Station staff make great ambassadors for the industry and we owe them a tremendous debt. It is a special privilege to have as a sponsor, the Transport Benevolent Fund, which has done so much down the years to help railway people and their dependants. ‘The RailStaff Awards is about the people who deliver the railways. The TBF is a charity which has been there for many years helping the same people and their families.’ The Transport Benevolent Fund (TBF) is a registered charity and offers a wide range of beneﬁts including health, legal advice, convalescence and cash help to its members and their dependants. The TBF is run by

Trustees who understand the industry and the needs of staff. TBF is here to support those who work in the public transport industry when they are in need, hardship or distress. Almost anyone who works in the industry may join TBF. If you are a member of the TBF, you may choose to continue your membership in retirement. It is not possible to join once you have retired. Contributions to the TBF are £1 a week. Please contact TBF for more details. When you die your family will normally continue to be treated as dependants in accordance with the TBF rules. Says Chris Godbold, Director of the Fund, ‘Many of our members have been involved in, or started their career at, a railway station. TBF exists to help all people in the railway industry. We are pleased to be involved in the RailStaff Awards and to help celebrate the achievements of ordinary men and women who make this such a great industry.’ The Transport Benevolent Fund was originally established to help families of London public transport workers serving in the First World War. A permanent trust was

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NEWS

Good Samaritans win award The partnership was launched in Janary 2010 with the aim of reducing the number of suicides on the railways by 20 per cent by 2015… A charity partnership set up by the Samaritans and Network Rail has itself won an award. The Samaritans/Network Rail Partnership won the Charity Partnership Award in London at the Business Charity Awards 2012 for its work in suicide prevention on the railways. The award is made for the best partnership

between a company and a charity in sectors other than ﬁnancial, professional, retail or leisure. Samaritans approached Network Rail with a potential partnership deal: in return for becoming a partner, the charity would use its knowledge of suicide prevention to address this particular problem on

the railways. The partnership was launched in January 2010 with the aim of reducing the number of suicides on the railways by 20 per cent by 2015. Network Rail has committed to investing £1m a year in the ﬁrst three years of the partnership. The money will be spent in a variety of ways, including training staff to

Adonis blasts HS2 delay Former transport secretary, Andrew Adonis, has called for immediate action on High Speed Two, which was given the go ahead in January. The project was not included in the recent Queen’s Speech. Says Lord Adonis, ‘If infrastructure projects are going to happen they need someone who is going to drive them forward, and that simply isn’t present. There has been endless dither and delay… There should have been a Bill for HS2 in the Queen’s Speech.’

“If infrastructure projects are going to happen they need someone to drive them forward…”

deal with potential suicides and developing a call-out service that involves Samaritans volunteers visiting stations to offer support to vulnerable people and staff. The partnership has launched a new category at this year’s RailStaff Awards. The Network Rail/Samaritans Partnership is supporting the Lifesaver Award and nominations are open now.

West Somerset Guard celebrates phil Weaver, a volunteer guard on the West Somerset Railway, has been celebrating 30 years on the railway. Mr Weaver, who runs a nearby campsite and is a noted community leader in Porlock, says he enjoys his job. Passengers range from the Duke of Edinburgh to ﬁlm stars like Ana Friel. Part of the movie, ‘The Land Girls’ was ﬁlmed on the line. ‘I don’t know where the last 30 years have gone! I have had some really good times,’ says Phil, 53.

LORD ANDREW ADONiS www.railstaff.co.uk

“somewhere I could go and do real engineering” Peter Jackson talks to Richard McClean, managing director of DB Regio Tyne and Wear Richard McClean runs two very different rail operations. undaunted he applies the same sporting leadership principles to the Tyne and Wear Metro as he does to Grand Central. McClean knew his days of coxing eight women rowers on the River Thames were over when he found his backside wouldn’t ﬁt in the cox’s seat of their new boat. Says Richard, ‘I said: Girls, there comes a time when you need a younger man.’ That was about 15 years ago. McClean, now 48, is managing director of DB Regio Tyne and Wear, which operates the Tyne and Wear Metro system on behalf of Passenger Transport Executive Nexus, and of Grand Central, the Arriva company which operates an intercity service between Sunderland, Bradford and London. Grand Central anticipates carrying one million passenger journeys a year and employs more than 120 staff. The Tyne and Wear Metro serves 40 million passengers a year and employs 510 people. It remains McClean’s main focus taking up the majority of his time.

An affable Ulsterman We meet in his ofﬁces in a red brick mock Georgian building squeezed between two sets of tracks in the Metro’s depot at 32

Regents Park in north Newcastle. McClean, an affable Ulsterman, who retains only the faintest of Belfast burrs, has done some of the most challenging jobs on the UK’s railways. His most important leadership lessons were learnt coxing rowing eights. ‘It’s probably the best management training that I’ve ever done. You’re in an extraordinary position; first of all you are literally in the driving seat and you’re the only person who can see what’s going on. ‘So you are setting the strategy and steering the course and you’ve got to communicate all of that to eight people, only one of whom can actually see you and using only your voice and you have eight people who have got to work absolutely together. You’ve got to find a way of communicating to them that takes them on to a level of physical exertion that they didn’t think they could do.’ He took up coxing in Cambridge where he went in 1983 to read Engineering, sponsored by British Rail, under its engineering management trainee scheme.‘It was the most fantastic structured development programme for young engineers, balancing practical shop floor experience in the main works in Derby with the academic stuff in term time.’

“...somewhere I could go and do real engineering...” It was his passion for engineering that steered him towards a railway career. ‘For me, it was a development opportunity. It was somewhere I could go and do real engineering and do it in an environment where there were people. I was never going to be interested in a drawing ofﬁce or a factory. There’s something so absolutely real about railways. ‘There are very few other activities, from an engineering point of view, where you take your customers and you actually put them on the production line. Most engineers are able to shufﬂe their less successful outputs away into a back shed and the customer never knows about them. For us, our production line is in the public eye and our customers experience all of our problems very directly and that gives it a massive degree of realism and a real spice to it all.’

Engineering Council of ATOC His experience on the BR programme meant that later in his career, when he was chairman of the Engineering Council of ATOC, he became a keen advocate of professional development schemes operated across the whole industry, even though the www.railstaff.co.uk

iNTERViEW

industry is now made up of so many different companies. The absence of such a programme, he argues, was apparent in the immediate aftermath of privatisation. ‘At British Rail I had the opportunity to go and see a whole variety of different engineering disciplines and areas of activity ranging from night shift servicing through to writing tenders and speciﬁcations, design work and manufacturing because we were a fully integrated organisation. Even on the rolling stock side, HSTs were designed by British Rail, they were manufactured by British Rail and were maintained by British Rail. ‘Things like the ATOC Engineering Development scheme are so important because no one company can give a developing engineer exposure to all those activities but with a co-ordinated programme where all the different companies involved in the industry participate we can still give people the opportunities to go and get involved.’ At British Rail he was a depot manager for Network Southeast and rose through a variety of senior management positions. After privatisation he worked for LTS, GNER and National Express before DB Regio and Arriva. www.railstaff.co.uk

‘First real leadership role’ Career highlights include his time on the Chiltern Line in the early 1990s. In what Richard describes as his `ﬁrst real leadership role’ he was involved with the introduction of the Class 165 Turbo ﬂeet. ‘What that really embedded in my psyche was that if you can get a locally based team of people who understand their market place, their customers and their operating environment and give them the right hardware or kit through investment they can transform the worst performing operation into one that can lead the industry - and you can do it very quickly.’ The introduction of the Class 165s and station redevelopment transformed the line. ‘For me, it cemented the things I’d learnt in my training: it’s about the people, it’s about the processes, and it is about the hardware. You need to have all three in balance.

Engaged and positive ‘You need to have people engaged and positive about what they are doing, they need to be competent and conﬁdent, but you need to be organised and have a plan to underpin it, enthusiasm isn’t enough. Also, you can be heroic and enthusiastic and have a

good plan, but if your kit doesn’t work, you’re going to really struggle.’ He went on to work on the London, Tilbury and Southend, LTS. Again, resignalling and new rolling stock transformed the line and reinforced the lessons learnt on the Chiltern Line. As c2c it now regularly tops performance and satisfaction tables. McClean heads up two quite different organisations within Deutsche Bahn–owned Arriva - DB Regio Tyne & Wear, which two years ago won the contract to operate Tyne & Wear Metro, on behalf of Nexus; and, more recently, open access operator Grand Central, acquired by Arriva last November.

It was his passion for engineering that steered him towards a railway career…

£385m refurbishment The Metro is currently undergoing a £385m refurbishment to replace, repair and renew infrastructure and equipment. In return for funding this, the government wanted Nexus to demonstrate value for money. The result was putting the operation out to tender which led to 13 bids, of which DB Regio’s was the winner. Once more McClean is involved in the refurbishment and renewal of a rail system with DB Regio planning its operations to allow Nexus to get access to the

iNTERViEW

infrastructure. So far so good: passenger research reveals general satisfaction with the new arrangements. ‘Punctuality is up, customer satisfaction is up, fraudulent travel is down, the measured quality of the stations and the Metro cars are up. So, between ourselves and Nexus, we are running the railway to a higher standard, while at the same time having this very large engineering project going on around us.’ How has he been able to do that? ‘The key is to focus on our people. Customer service was going to be so important in achieving the transformation that was needed to meet Nexus’ objectives. ‘The ﬁrst thing we did when we started the concession was to bring all of the people who deliver front line customer service together into the same company under the one leadership. We could ensure the culture and the competence were all aligned. ‘The second thing is, we have invested in new planning systems and have increased the planning resource to cope with the constantly changing operating environment. We have also invested in a lot of process technology to improve things like defect reporting and management.’ Now any member of front-line staff can report defects on trains or stations via their smart phone directly to a fault management analyst who, in turn, can immediately mobilise repair staff. 34

This has led to a halving in the number of defects in the last 12 months. Communications and technology has also been harnessed to keep the travelling public up-to-date. An integrated system allows control centre staff to advise of problems on the system in real time, through the website, on Twitter, email and Facebook, to an estimated audience of 250,000.

Open Access Operator Grand Central has only been his responsibility since February when he took over from Tom Clift as managing director. The acquisition was part of Arriva’s strategic goal of maintaining its position as a major player in all public transport in the UK. As an open access operator, Grand Central runs a service not provided by existing franchisees and under less prescriptive terms. ‘We looked at the various ways of being involved in rail and we can see that open access operation will be an important and developing part of intercity passenger provision. We see open access as a key part of our overall portfolio.’ Arriva likes the open access operation’s smaller scale and its flexibility to meet market needs and respond to revenue risks. ‘If you are in the game of providing commercial services directly to the travelling public you need to have more flexibility to manage the risks associated with that. It also has the advantage that you have the flexibility to constantly respond to changes in that market place.’

Synergies and economies of scale He argues that Arriva brings greater strength to Grand Central. ‘The ﬂip side of being an operation of the scale of Grand Central is that the overhead and the wherewithal to get started and to operate at all is a very high proportion of their business. ‘By linking Grand Central to the larger Arriva family we can bring to bear a lot in the way of synergies and economies of scale, so we can improve simple things like websites, retailing channels, yield management and marketing.’ I put it to him that managing two such different organisations must be something of a balancing act. ‘I’ve got two great teams and on Grand Central the general manager Sean English has been

there since it started and is very much in the driving seat of that business. My role is to support him, making sure operations improve day-on-day. ‘This allows me to spend the vast majority of my time focusing on the Metro operation while still giving Grand Central the input it needs from me. It’s about providing the leadership and acting as the channel through to the parent company to make sure the team at Grand Central gets the support it needs to meet the objectives we have set them.’’ McClean lives in Knaresborough in North Yorkshire but travels up to Newcastle on Mondays to stay until Thursdays, leaving wife Jane and his children Lucy, 6 ½ , and Daniel, 5, behind. He met Jane, a fellow Cambridge graduate, when he was in London. They had a common interest, for, while he was coxing the Women’s First Eight, she was coxing the Men’s First Eight. He says they hit it off once she had overcome an initial concern he might steal her crew. He laughs. ‘I was able to conﬁrm to her that I had no such intentions, because, frankly, her lot smelt bad and weren’t half as good looking as mine.’

“Punctuality is up, customer satisfaction is up, fraudulent travel is down, the measured quality of the stations and the Metro cars are up. So, between ourselves and Nexus, we are running the railway to a higher standard, while at the same time having this very large engineering project going on around us…” RiCHARD MCCLEAN, MANAGiNG DiRECTOR, DB REGiO TyNE AND WEAR www.railstaff.co.uk

TRAiNiNG

Give young people a chance

Villiers backs rail training

A top director at First Capital Connect, who started his career as a 16 year old ticket clerk, has helped launch a new apprenticeship scheme.

Getting more people, particularly women, into the rail industry and training them up to the challenges that lie ahead is essential, says Theresa Villiers.

The new FCC apprenticeship is aimed at those who have neither experience nor qualifications and FCC will even provide extra tuition in reading, writing and arithmetic. Says FCC Customer Service Director, Keith Jipps, ‘We’ve recognised that young people who are not necessarily academic find it difficult to get work – even those who have fabulous people skills. We want to put that right. I started aged 16 in a ticket office and worked my way up to the top; we want to give other people that opportunity.’ The scheme will give 18-23 years old all the training needed to gain an NVQ Level 2 and 3 qualification and guarantee them a role at the

end of their 12 month course. During this time they will also take part in the Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award. Welsh rugby international Scott Quinnell has added his support to the plan. ‘I am a great believer in giving young people the chance to make a go of their life and gain employment; that’s why I’m supporting this scheme. It’s exactly what I aim to achieve in my Sky Sports programme, The School of Hard Knocks. We have to give young people in our communities the chance to shine – and that is just what we are doing here. I am delighted to be involved in FCC’s initiative.’ The apprenticeship plan is a part of FCC’s Career Connections initiative aimed at boosting customer service experts, recruiting more drivers and engineers.

Sarah Graham Briefs MSPs Two Scottish MSps, Maureen Watt and Neil Bibby (pictured) have praised ScotRail’s Modern Apprenticeships in Customer Service. The 18 month course is delivered at the train operator’s Training Academy. The 11 young people on the course hope to complete their apprenticeships and Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award this summer. Says apprentice, Sarah Graham, 22, who lives in Barrhead with her

www.railstaff.co.uk

partner and two-year-old daughter, ‘I have thoroughly enjoyed the apprenticeship so far and have high expectations for the end of the programme. The apprenticeship is a great way to learn on the job, develop skills and secure a better future for me and my family, particularly during a time when so many young people are unemployed. I have been wearing my uniform with pride.’

Speaking at Infrarail the transport minister underscored rail industry determination to attract more people to the industry. ‘We also want to increase opportunities for the rail industry’s workforce, and widen the pool of talent from which the sector recruits. One way to do that would be to persuade more women to consider a career in rail,’ she said. Speaking before an audience almost entirely composed of men Theresa Villiers went on, ‘Even today, over 80 per cent of people working in public transport are men and less than 14 per cent of Network Rail’s workforce is female.’ Recognising the need to recruit people from outside the industry

Villiers called for more training providers to offer their expertise to the expanding rail industry. ‘Modernising training will help, so it can be delivered more ﬂexibly and more quickly to suit the working patterns of modern life. ‘We would like to see new providers enter the market for training so the next generation of staff have wider and more convenient opportunities to develop the skills needed to progress their careers.’

Howarth urges skills training Founder members of the National Skills Academy of Rail Engineering have urged the industry to recruit more engineering staff and beyond that to take on people from outside the industry for training. Speaking at the Infrarail Exhibition in Birmingham Gil Howarth, NSARE’s Chief Executive, emphasised that planned enhancements to the national railway network, London Underground, High Speed Two and numerous expanding metros will increase the demand for skilled railway engineers. Warning of the need to step up recruitment, Howarth says NSARE has been contracted by the Ofﬁce of Rail Regulation to undertake a detailed engineering skills forecast for the industry. The ﬁrst part of this should be completed before the end of this year and will give

much more precise details of future requirements. Paul Cooper, Chairman of the Young Rail Professionals and Pete Waterman, patron of the Academy, backed Gil Howarth’s calls for action.

“NSARE has been contracted by the Office of Rail Regulation to undertake a detailed engineering skills forecast…” GiL HOWARTH, CHiEF ExECuTiVE, NSARE

Driving in safety, intolerance of mistakes, strong management and indeed a macho approach will never achieve the zero in safety we all seek! SAFETy COLIN WHEELER colin@rail-media.com On April 23rd Steve Hails became the new Health and Safety Director for Crossrail. in line with most of our railway industry, Crossrail’s aim is to prevent accidents happening. i have no difﬁculty in supporting this principle. The Press Release however refers to their “target zero philosophy as driving every action undertaken by Crossrail staff and our delivery partners”. The use of the word ‘drives’ hints at a misunderstanding of people and their motivations. I hope it came from their public affairs department not Steve Hails.

Leading by example The old adage “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink” is true when applied to creating a safety culture. To encourage people at work to work safely and be passionate about it, for both their own safety and that of those working alongside them is an excellent goal. But leading by example and showing commitment are how it can be achieved; not coercion. I believe that similar statements are also true when it comes to managing and motivating people to get things done at work generally. Management through fear or by threat is unsustainable and generally ineffective.

The old adage “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink” is true when applied to creating a safety culture… 36

Beware of safety statistics I have seen many variations on the signage of contractors working on large road schemes. “1,750,000 safe hours worked on the site” is one I spotted recently. The pressure such a well-publicised slogan puts onto those working there must be huge. Rather than encouraging safe working I suggest it is likely to encourage underreporting and the concealment of minor accidents and near misses. Many now realise the importance and value of reporting near misses and indeed all incidents, which could have become accidents. Proclaiming achievements in terms of safety can be counterproductive. Presenting awards for safety statistical achievements is surely always likely to promote the hiding of any incident on the day before the award is to be made?

Network Rail safety initiatives Recalling the comments made by Network Rail’s Gareth Llewellyn of Network Rail that I reported last month, I am still looking forward to reading what I hope will be a small number of easily understood and evidently sensible “Life Saving Rules” within our mainline infrastructure owning organisation. I note from the details on their safety website that Network Rail’s Project Safety Leadership Group are now addressing the issues of double shifting, electrical isolation safety issues, workforce safety reporting of near misses and close calls, and the restoration of Task Brieﬁng sheets back to where they began as single page brieﬁng aides memoire rather than cover-all method statements running to many pages. However, I am concerned that even they are looking to mandate every company they use to have a close call reporting system within

six months. This last initiative will produce close call reports. But the mandating could well lead to individuals being told to ensure reports are generated which will alienate the workforce I suggest! Indeed it is not beyond the realm of possibility that some may even invent close calls so as to comply with Network Rail’s mandate! I am delighted to see that the task of rationalising the number of Sentinel accredited competences has at last begun. That is one initiative which should save money, improve safety, and even go some way in convincing those who do the work that their skills are appreciated.

RAIB reports The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has published a number of reports since last month and issued a couple of accident investigation alerts. The report on the incident at Kings Cross Station on October 10th last year illustrates the sort of incident which, although only minor injuries resulted could easily have had a serious outcome. A passenger rushing to board a train due to depart got a hand trapped in the closing doors and was pulled someway along the platform. Luckily she merely suffered bruising to the ﬁngers of her left hand. The train was made up of two 8-coach Class 365 EMU’s under driver-only operation. The report suggests that the design of the door seals should be reviewed. In my opinion more signiﬁcantly the report adds that “dispatch staff had adopted the practice of using their experience and observation of passenger behaviour to determine whether it was appropriate to give the Right Away.” If the dispatch staff were adequately trained and their managers and supervisors had created a good open management

and safety culture would the potential for this incident not have been realised before it happened?

3-hours without toilets or air conditioning Another case in point was the incident that occurred on 26th May last year. The RAIB report was released on May 23rd. A Brighton to Bedford train suffered a loss of power and came to a halt. The public address system failed after around 45 minutes and during the three hours it took to rescue the train the air conditioning ceased to function and the toilets stopped working. Not surprisingly, if unwisely some passengers decided to force the doors open. Eventually it was hauled into Kentish Town Station. Unusually the RAIB used You-Tube, Facebook and Twitter images in their investigation. The concerns of the report centre on poor communication with the passengers, the inadequacy of the training and brieﬁng of the staff and the arrangements for rescuing a train with no power. Again I suggest the right open attitude of trust between workers and their managers should have resulted in adequate training and the use of understanding and initiative to deal with the situation.

Tram safety in Europe Manchester Metorolink trams have been running through Manchester city streets and around Piccadilly Gardens since July 1992, as I remember having been the railway civil engineer in Manchester when its ﬁrst phase was constructed. The RAIB report into the fatality of a 67-year old pedestrian who fell whilst running into the path of a tram travelling at just 9 mph. He became trapped under the front of the leading vehicle and subsequently died of his injuries. The report calls for research into www.railstaff.co.uk

TRACK SAFETy

the front ends of trams and the potential for causing injury of the current designs of under-run protectors. I am surprised that it does not also recommend a full review of the designs used across the European mainland with particular reference to those countries which have enjoyed the uninterrupted use of trams since they ﬁrst began to replace horse drawn vehicles.

Train guard fatally injured in Yorkshire Another fatal accident occurred at about ten past noon on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway on May 21st. The 60 or so year old volunteer guard had uncoupled one coach from a rake of coaches stabled in the platform. It was being drawn off by a steam locomotive, which unexpectedly changed direction and moved back towards the remaining rake of coaches crushing the guard. The preliminary investigation

report from the RAIB says that the ex-Southern Region Class S15 locomotive was working tender ﬁrst but “the reverser could change from reverse into forward gear unless it was prevented from doing so by the operation of a locking device. Should the reverser not be secured in any position, any change may not be noticed by the driver and in these circumstances, would only become evident on opening the regulator, when a change of direction would occur”.

Cyclist killed on user bridleway crossing Also in May a fatal accident occurred on Wednesday May 2nd at Kings Mill Number 1 Bridleway Crossing Mansﬁeld, Nottinghamshire. The 1555 hours passenger train from Nottingham to Mansﬁeld Woodhouse struck and killed the 34-year old male cyclist as he was cycling over this user operated crossing. The railway is two-track and runs close to both housing and

The remit of the RAIB clearly excludes establishing blame or liability… industrial estates. The crossing is equipped with signage including “cyclists dismount”, telephones and self-closing gates according to the preliminary alert from the RAIB.

Are we wrong not to identify blame? The common theme behind all of these reports from RAIB (and indeed the views I have expressed about motivation for those who work in our rail industry) is the importance of recognising the fallibility and potential for making mistakes which we all share as human beings. The remit of the RAIB clearly excludes establishing blame or

liability. That is the business of the Office of Rail Regulation, the Police etc. But if we are to learn from the mistakes that are made and indeed share that learning across the industry then highlighting the details of blame, liability or indeed simply flagging up where and by whom errors of judgement contributed needs to be done. I believe that being briefed on the circumstances that led to accidents and incidents makes situations seem more real to those at work. We are all then more likely to remember the details when faced with similar situations. A bland instruction, however strongly worded does not have the same impact. One of the values of the old style report issued by Her Majesty’s Railway Inspectorate each year was that it did just that and used the details of significant safety events to set out concerns and lessons to be learnt for the future. I question whether there is any publication today which does so; but the need is surely still there?

Stay On Track.

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Three Days at Infrarail

The rail industry was out in force at the ninth infrarail Exhibition, held at the NEC near Birmingham. Over 5,500 people came to see more than 200 exhibitors. The team from RailStaff was there too along with writers from the rail engineer – which hosted a series of well attended seminars. RailStaff’s new format attracted much attention and favourable comment. Minister of State for Transport, Teresa Villiers MP, opened the show. Her speech, delivered in the exhibition’s seminar theatre, reassured delegates and she demonstrated a ﬁrm command of her brief. Afterwards she met staff on the RailStaff stand and reassured us that she was right behind High Speed Two. 38

Around the rest of the show, exhibitors, customers and colleagues were meeting up and discussing business. Stands came in all shapes and sizes. One of the biggest was from signalling specialists Invensys. They were just inside the door and seemed busy throughout the show. Commercial director Will Wilson was on hand and speciﬁcally asked to take two copies of RailStaff away with him. So who else was there? Network Rail’s Simon Kirby, managing director infrastructure projects, and David Golding, electriﬁcation programme sponsor, also spoke in the seminar theatre, as did the safety director of Balfour Beatty Rail, Steve Holmes. Eighteen exhibitors had their chance to address visitors on a

wide variety of subjects ranging from surveying to lighting. To pick out a few highlights, lighting specialists MJ Quinn was showing a new range of LED replacements for conventional fluorescent tubes. Operating over 360°, the fire-resistant tube is ideal for use in underground stations. If the power should fail, the integral photo-luminescent strip will emit light for up to four hours, sufficient time for the station to be evacuated. Ingenious! Keyline, part of the Travis Perkins group, exhibited at Infrarail for the first time as part of the Yard which gave plant companies the opportunity to show of their larger vehicles. One of the new DAF crane-operated vehicles that Keyline will use to support Crossrail was on display. www.railstaff.co.uk

iNFRARAiL

Attending Infrarail is all about meeting people; former colleagues not seen for years, experts in their field who can explain new technology, and entrepreneurs and innovators who have something different to offer…

LH Group was close by, showing off a converted Mercedes lorry from Zweiweg that can be used as a base vehicle for a variety of applications. They also served some of the best coffee at the show. Coffee was also a feature of the HoldFast stand. A full-sizes espresso machine did the honours, while Mark Coates-Smith expounded on the virtues of HoldFast’s rubber level crossing panels. Protective clothing specialists PHS Besafe were showing a new system tailored to the needs of the rail industry. Arc:Gear multi-layer garments will not melt or fuse on contact with live electrical arc ﬂash, while the next-to-skin and mid layers ensure that the garment has good breathability www.railstaff.co.uk

and doesn’t hinder movement. When walking round all the busy stands got a bit too much, there was always the networking area next to the PHS Besafe stand. Plenty of chairs and tables allowed visitors to sit down for a discussion, or just rest aching feet. The Platform, a panel-forum area that was new at Infrarail this year, was close by and seemed well attended while sessions were underway. Topics covered collaborative working, HS2, innovation and the skills gap, so there was something for everyone. Back in the main exhibition, Tata Steel was based near a couple of panels of track, which were being used by other exhibitors to show off their equipment. The blue-painted steel sleepers looked smart, and the

SilentTrack® noise-deadening block attached to the rails were a good example of how Tata is still developing track technology. Attending Infrarail is all about meeting people; former colleagues not seen for years, experts in their ﬁeld who can explain new technology, and entrepreneurs and innovators who have something different to offer. It all adds up to a very useful three days at the NEC. Next year will be the turn of Railtex, held 30 April – 2 May at Earls Court 2 in London.

More trains for GOB Following a huge growth in passenger numbers, Transport for London has invited expressions of interest to supply additional diesel powered vehicles for the Gospel Oak-Barking route. Currently operated by eight Bombardier-built Class 172 two-car units the line has seen passenger numbers soar by 100% at some stations, with overcrowding on peak services. Passengers and rail staff hope longer 3-4 car trains will be used.

Networker makeover The Eversholt Rail Group has completed a £45m investment programme improving its Class 465 Fleet. ‘The success of this refurbishment programme is due to the collaborative working by Railcare and Southeastern with Eversholt Rail. This programme reflects Eversholt Rail’s ongoing commitment to fleet management and investment in its assets,’ says Mary Kenny, Chief Executive Officer for Eversholt Rail (UK) Limited. The 20 year old units are used extensively by Southeastern.

MP urges Heathrow link with west Local Mp, Fiona Mactaggart, has added her support to a growing campaign to link Heathrow to Reading and Slough by rail. Currently passengers either have to go into Paddington or change at Reading for a bus. Says Mark Hopwood, First Great Western’s managing director, who also backs the campaign, ‘It will only take around four to ﬁve miles of new railway across land which is currently not really used for anything. ‘We think getting a link into Heathrow would not be as difﬁcult as other railway projects being thought about. This is not going to happen overnight, but when I speak to the business communities of Slough, Reading,

Swindon, Bristol and South Wales, they all seem very enthusiastic.’ Provision of the route could reduce journey times dramatically. Reading to Terminal 5 would take 28 minutes while Slough to Heathrow would be nine minutes. Says Fiona Mactaggart MP, ‘Rail access from the west to Heathrow is crucial to the prosperity of Slough, and will expand the places in easy reach of Heathrow by public transport, bringing the prosperity that Heathrow generates to a wider circle of beneﬁciaries. It will reduce trafﬁc on the M4, and cut business costs.’

Bill Douglas Tribute ScotRail has paid tribute to local film director, Bill Douglas, with a sculpture at Newcraighall. The artwork marks the 40th anniversary of the release of the iconic film, My Childhood. Bill Douglas made a trilogy of films based on his working class upbringing in the 1940s. Inspired by the late Douglas’s films, artist Kenny Munro has created a six-feet-tall artwork called A Place of Dreams, which

A word to the wise The Reverend Ron Keen, Railway Mission Chaplain, has been handing out bibles to staff at stations in Cardiff, Barry and Radyr. Says Ron Keen, ‘I always believe that people will read it, no matter who they are, just out of curiosity.’ The bibles are paid for by a legacy created by the late T W Hill, a director of the Taff Vale Railway who died in 1869. A committed Christian, Hill left money to ensure bibles could be supplied free of charge to rail staff and passengers down the years. Paul Brittain, a mobile ops manager on the railway has had to deal with

shows a director with his camera, against a backdrop of a passing steam train. 4th June is the tenth anniversary of Newcraighall station’s opening in 2002.

seven suicides over the last ten years. ‘The Bible will be useful for us all, though we’re not churchgoers. When you have fatalities, or when something personal has happened, it will be good to refer to the Bible to satisfy that need.’ Over the years, the interest from Mr Hill’s trust paid for bibles to be placed in 91 waiting rooms in the 47 stations along the line. Says Paul Woolley of the Bible Society, ‘We’re indebted to T W Hill for his vision in wanting to see people engage with the scriptures as they waited for trains and worked on the railways. The Bible is as relevant today as it was then.’ www.railstaff.co.uk

NEWS

In the family The grandson of Sir Nigel Gresley recently visited the Kent and East Sussex railway to see one of his grandfather’s steam locomotives. Ben Godfrey visited Tenterden station to see the Great Northern Railway N2 No 1744, built in

1922. Designed by Gresley No 1744 ran commuter trains to and from London King’s Cross for 40 years. Mr Godfrey was accompanied by his son and daughter James and Nina and grandchildren Ben, Lilly and Christopher.

Train naming for Traction Inspector Merseyrail traction inspector Stuart Mason, who died last year at the age of 57, is to have a train named in his honour. Mr Mason served the railway all his life. His widow, Debbie Mason, said, ‘Stuart was a railway man through and through and would have been thrilled that a Merseyrail train is being named after him.’ Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather before him Stuart Mason joined the railways as a booking boy in the signal boxes around Manchester Victoria when he left school. He became a signalman and later moved to the footplate becoming a driver at Newton Heath. In 1988 he became a traction inspector, a job he held until his retirement in April 2009. Says Merseyrail operations inspector Paul Marks, ‘The Merseyrail operations team from

the top to the bottom all owe a huge debt of gratitude to Stuart who, at some point, trained, coached and mentored every single member of the current operations managers, inspectors and leader drivers. ‘He was deeply respected by all who knew him and by those who worked alongside him for he was a person of enormous integrity. He had the highest moral values and always displayed a great sense of fair play.’ The naming will take place later this year.

“He was deeply respected by all who knew him…” pAuL MARKS, OpERATiONS iNSpECTOR, MERSEyRAiL

Facetube passengers on London underground will soon be able to tweet and update their facebook status as they wait for trains. This summer sees the roll out of free Wi-Fi at 82 of the network’s busiest stations, including Waterloo, Oxford Circus, Canada Water, Stratford, Liverpool Street, Leicester Square and King’s Cross. Most rail gateways to the 2012 Olympics will be covered with around 80 stations WiFi enabled by the end of July. Says Gareth Powell, London Underground’s Director of Strategy and Service Development, ‘Our customers will soon be able to connect to the internet for live travel information while they are on the move through stations. ‘Bringing a next generation WiFi service to one of the world’s oldest underground transport networks www.railstaff.co.uk

is progressing as planned and the forthcoming service is testing well. The ﬁrst stations include some of our busiest and most well-known destinations and we’re on-track for a successful launch this summer - all delivered at no additional cost to fare payers or tax payers.’

“Bringing a next generation WiFi service to one of the world’s oldest underground transport networks is progressing as planned…” GARETH pOWELL, DiRECTOR OF STRATEGy AND SERViCE DEVELOpMENT, LuL 41

NEWS

Thanks to funding by Dorset County Council, trains will eventually be able to run off the main line at Wareham and down to Swanage on the preserved isle of purbeck line. Network Rail plans to install signalling costing £2.7m over the next two years. The Swanage Railway has been running steam and diesel trains between Swanage and Norden, near Corfe Castle - half way between Swanage and Wareham - since 1995.

Volunteers drive the trains, staff the ticket offices, mend the track and balance the books…

Modern Signalling Volunteers drive the trains, staff the ticket ofﬁces, mend the track and balance the books. On special occasions excursion trains travel to Swanage from various parts of the country, but the track points at Worgret Junction have to be changed manually and people waving ﬂags provide signalling.

However, Dorset has handed over the ﬁrst instalment of the funding and ﬁnalised the agreement with Network Rail. The money is part of the Purbeck Transportation Strategy. By installing modern signalling, the charity will be able to run up to eight return journeys per day. This will increase its income and put it among the biggest community railways in the country.

Trains now run daily When the Swanage Railway began work in 1976, Swanage station was boarded-up, platforms had been bulldozed and there was no track. Trains now run daily. Says Swanage Railway Company chairman, Peter Sills, ‘We’re delighted that this once-in-ageneration opportunity has come to fruition. It has been a team effort by everyone involved, especially the Purbeck Community Rail Partnership.’ www.railstaff.co.uk

FEATuRE

Perception of power in rail recruitment Employers are increasing the time they take to decide on who to hire. At the same time, top grade candidates are realising they have many advantages in an era of skill shortage. An unprecedented demand for graduates means these are testing times for companies needing to ﬁll vacancies. Engineering and rail recruitment specialist ATA’s Managing Director Scott Bulloch explains how some rail clients are underestimating the potential power of quality candidates.

Skills gap in engineering ‘Everyone is aware that there is a skills gap in engineering. In many organisations key skilled labour is rapidly approaching retirement age,’ says Scott. To compensate, organisations seek talented and experienced personnel. The rail industry is no exception. ‘With so many engineering companies forced to close or shed staff during the recession, surely we should have an abundance of available talent for employers to recruit from?’ says Scott. The situation is not as straightforward as many believe. Recruitment agencies trying to get this talent back into work have identiﬁed new challenges. First is the trend that sees some employers taking much longer to decide to offer the job to the candidate. It sounds simple but ATA notes that employers hold off for that ‘perfect’ candidate. Unwilling to compromise on skill or level of experience, a number of employers were either unwilling or too under resourced to commit the time and money to training people - deciding instead that they would rather just manage with the

resource they had until the ideal candidate comes their way. This indecisive behaviour coincides with a shift of power in the industry and the emergence of a second trend. Top quality candidates now realise that, in an under-resourced market, they have a greater amount of control when it comes to choosing who they work for.

Pick and choose ‘Historically candidates would focus on perhaps one, maybe two roles and await the outcome of those,’ says Scott. ‘However, we have started to note that good candidates realise they are sought after. We are ﬁnding that candidates don’t simply rely on one or two vacancies, they have several opportunities open to them at once and when they are ready, they are in a position to pick and choose their employer of choice. ‘This is great for our candidates but it conﬂicts with the hesitant trend of employers and can mean

that by the time they have made their mind up to recruit an individual, he or she has already decided on an alternative role. ‘There are also still high levels of uncertainty within UK engineering and many candidates need to be incentivised to move. This can be in the form of packages but it is also important that candidates see true potential and a secure future with employees. ‘This means that employers also need to try that much harder to promote themselves as an employer of choice and if they use an agency to recruit then they must be conﬁdent that the agency is presenting their brand in a favourable and true light.’

A recruitment partner that will truly understand their needs So with such differing trends, what is the advice for employers and candidates? Scott recommends: ‘Employers and candidates should work with a

recruitment partner that will truly understand their needs. At ATA we provide a consultative approach, listening to what our clients require and because we are experts in the market place we can advise them on the realistic nature of their expectations and develop a recruitment methodology that will deliver what they need, ﬁrst time. ‘For candidates it is important that they also dedicate some time to working with their recruitment agency to identify what is truly important to them. At ATA we manage the application process thoroughly, so that candidates have realistic expectations in terms of packages and the types of organisations that we work with from the outset. ‘There is no point in wasting a client or candidate’s time in the ﬁrst instance if they aren’t a true match. It is this approach that delivers our success ratio average of 1:3 candidates employed from the interview process with the client.’ www.ata-recruitment.co.uk

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

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

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

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

www.railstaff.co.uk

www.trsstaffing.com Rail and Infrastructure Vacancies 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. Currently we have vacancies for the following:

Senior Structural Engineers

HV/LV Electrical Engineers

Warrington & York - £35 - 50K Rail experience including station, bridge and structural designs

London - £45 - 70K Traction Power, AC/DC or construction experience

Signal Designers, Engineers and Managers

Senior P-Way Design Engineers

UK & Australia - £400/day or £45 - 65K IRSE license or significant relevant experience

London & Warrington £400/day or £60- 80K Working on major new rail projects & station upgrades

Rail Senior Project Managers

Senior Planning Engineer

UK, UAE, Australia, Far East & Africa - £350 - 500/day or £50 - 80K Experience on rail & station enhancement project

London, York & Birmingham £320 - 400/day or £40 - 55K Rail, LUL or construction experience. P3e/P6 essential

Looking to advertise? You can stop looking!

Please send your CV or if you’d prefer to discuss a role in more detail and in confidence, please contact one of our specialist consultants on

+44 (0)20 7419 5800 or email rail@trsstaffing.com

Rail, Infrastructure & Construction

TRS_JuneAdvert2012.indd 1

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www.railstaff.co.uk

CAREERS

The Midlands Leading Training Provider

Senior Trainer / Training Manager Fradley Near Lichfield To apply, or for further information about the role, please email andy@amtrain.co.uk

We are looking for a Safety Critical and Technical Senior Trainer / Training Manager to join our expanding team at the Midlands Headquarters of Amtrain at Fradley Near Lichfield.

•

The ideal candidate will already be working within the safety critical sector of the rail industry, be very enthusiastic and have the drive to meet the challenges currently facing the training / assessor sector.

•

The successful applicant will be required to: • Be the team leader for Safety Critical and Technical training courses and assessments. • Assist trainers / assessors to ensure all training and assessments are running smoothly. • Make trainers / assessors aware of any changes to training material and brief them if necessary.

Trainer / Assessor Qualifications Desired: NVQ A1, D32 / D33, PTTLS or equivalent, NSARE licensing.

•

Monitor trainer performance, maintain records and provide constructive feedback. Perform trainer reviews, e.g. CPD and log them on the national database. Ensure trainer / assessor competencies are kept up to date. Liaise with NSARE for trainer upskilling and inspection processes.

Safety Critical Trainer Qualifications Desired: Personal Track Safety, Track Induction, Controller of Site Safety, Individual Working Alone, Engineering Supervisor, Lookout, Machine / Crane Controller.

Job Title

Location

Ref

Design Engineer OHL Senior Engineer Project Manager Buyer Mechanical Engineer Project Engineering Manager

Birmingham Hamilton York Chippenham Chippenham Croydon

86666 84721 86665 86662 86661 86664

Visit our website for a complete list of Rail positions across the UK and apply online today quoting the ref above.

Upload your CV today orionjobs.com

www.amtrain.co.uk

Orion Rail Services (ORS) are part of the UK’s largest engineering recruitment specialists Orion Group. ORS are a Network Rail approved company and are Link-Up accredited to supply a number of rail related positions. The Group work with some of the largest industry players across rail providing manpower throughout the UK and overseas.

People are our business worldwide

Job Opportunities for Rail Staff with CarmichaelUK Rail Division Due to the growing demand from major clients within the railway

infrastructure, CarmichaelUK Rail Division are looking for skilled

via email in word format to:

personnel for Permanent and Contract opportunities.

rail@carmichaeluk.com

We would like to hear from the following for prestigious projects

or call one of our consultants on:

starting in London, South East and South West of England:

+44 (0) 208 522 8888

Engineers

Surveyors

Engineering Managers

Job vacancies posted daily on our site

Planners

Agents

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Sub Agents

Safety Critical personnel

Project Managers

General Foreman

Works Managers

Site Managers

www.carmichaeluk.com ENGINEERING PERSONNEL RAIL DIVISION

RailwayPeople.com Fast track your career

thousands of great rail jobs... ...awaiting your application. 46

www.railstaff.co.uk

CAREERS

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northernrail.org/careers

Advance-TRS has more than 25 years experience of recruitment on Network Rail and London Underground Infrastructure. This has provided us with an extensive network of professional clients and candidates at all levels throughout this niche sector. We are currently engaged with some of the industry leaders assisting in the delivery of key projects such as Crossrail, HS2, MAFA Frameworks, and major station upgrades. All of the opportunities shown below are currently LIVE and we have clients who are actively recruiting in these areas:

P-Way Design Engineer

ÂŁ35,000 - ÂŁ45,000 pa

Telecomms Design Engineer (SISS & Ops)

Based in Manchester, York, Swindon, South East

Based in North West, York, London, Birmingham

Senior P-Way Design Engineer

Project Manager (LUL Comms)

ÂŁ40,000 - ÂŁ50,000 pa

Based in York, Swindon, Manchester

Principle P-Way Design Engineer

up to ÂŁ70,000 pa

Project Engineer â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Signalling

ÂŁ35,000 - ÂŁ65,000 pa

Based in Derby or Birmingham

ÂŁ25,000 - ÂŁ30,000 pa

Based in York

Overhead Line Design Engineer

ÂŁ45,000 - ÂŁ55,000 pa

Based in Central London

Based in Manchester

Assistant P-Way Design Engineer

ÂŁ30,000 - ÂŁ45,000 pa

Signalling Design Engineer

ÂŁ30,000 - ÂŁ60,000 pa

Based in Derby, Swindon, York, Birmingham

ÂŁneg salary

Estimator â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Signalling/Civils

ÂŁ40,000 - ÂŁ45,000 pa

Based in Birmingham or Swindon

Based in Derby

www.advance-trs.com

For more information on these or any other current vacancies contact us on 01483 361 061 or send your CV to

or find us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

info@advance-trs.com

www.railstaff.co.uk

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