RailStaff March 2015

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COUNTDOWN TO A DIGITAL RAILWAY HS2, Crossrail, new fleets and electrification will not free up enough extra capacity for Britain’s runaway success rail network, says Mark Carne, chief executive of Network Rail.

Much more capacity is needed. ‘The only real way we can do this is to use digital train control,’ Carne told the rail industry. A step up from ERTMS, digital train control increases the amount of paths available to train companies keen to run more services, more often. Carne, speaking at the Rail Exec Club in London, said proposals will be unveiled next year.

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March 2015 | RailStaff | 3

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Childhood’s End

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For a long time the railway, it seemed, was retrospective, harking back to the glory days of a century ago. Old visions of steam locomotives powering along viaducts and branch line tank engines chugging through an eternal, edenic afternoon, link the railway to an age of innocence, the sort of childhood we all should have had.

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Railways back then were the transport mode of choice.

Cars and jet planes a century and a half ago were almost undreamt of. The horse and narrow boat afforded honourable but constrained competition. The Railway Age gave us the principle of personal mobility. Railways threading pastures and coastlines, cities and valleys, meant everyone from farm labourer to ship builder could go almost anywhere they wanted. In its way, the railway opened up social mobility, a sense of political liberty and became the concomitant of progress.

Never appreciated at the time, the railways fell into disarray.

Under invested, old, clanking trains all too familiar with points failure and unrest, the railway held a dim and flickering hurricane lamp to Britain’s sorry decline. That’s all changing now. The future beckons bright for railway staff of every type.

Linbrooke The railway remains Total controversial.

Politicians still run it Network Solutions

Rail Safety Summit 2015 THURSDAY 30th APRIL Safety First Focus in April RAIL SAFETY SUMMIT 2015

2015

down in cheap bids to gain popularity. Remember this come May. Anyone seeking elected office who has not done their homework on this extraordinary success story is ill equipped to advise Her Majesty on the governance of her realm.

The ill-advised sale of Eurostar demonstrates the lingering shortcomings of political imagination. However, the Coalition Government’s stalwart espousal of HS2, Crossrail and the long and colourful catalogue of railway initiatives should be celebrated.

Aside from the difficulties over London Bridge and the controversy over franchising, the rail industry is quietly getting on with ambitious schemes that lead the field in new technologies and intelligent software - remarkable phenomena in their own right.

The Rail Operating Centres (ROCs), new fleets and electrification and, best of all, the move towards a digitallyoperated railway, freeing up more paths and adding capacity, shines new light on a pioneering, thinking, industry at peace with its past. Rail is the harbinger of technological innovation and the custodian of personal mobility.

It would be whimsical to describe this as a return to the Garden of Eden. But as we approach Easter, everyone involved with the industry can celebrate the fact that the railway tomb is empty. © MARC JOHNSON

Safety Summit

LONDON 30/04/15 - 01/05/15

12

FRIDAYSong 1st MAY 2015 remains the same CIRAS CONFERENCE

34

Labour supply shake up

08:00 Registration 08.00 Registration, Coffee, Exhibition Over the past few years there has been a significant push to improve the safety With its customary razzamatazz, the Network Rail has announced significant 09:15 Warm Welcome to the Rail Safety Summit 09.00 Call to Conference record within the rail industry. The Rail Safety Summit and CIRAS conference on Virgin/Stagecoach operation took over changes to the way it sources contingent Mark Carne from Network Rail presents: Keynote Speaker, Horton, Executive GTR - the temporary workers that the the09:20 30th of April and 1st of May will gather some of the industry’s greatest 09.20 minds Keynote East CoastCharles on 1 March.

AnChief Intercity 225 Officer, labour 09:45 Steve Featherstone from Network Rail presents: 09.40 The consequences of incidents happening (part 1) for a detailed analysis of the industry. in full Virgin East Coast livery arrived at company hires in to supplement its own Worktwo-day Staging and Planning (09.40 – 10.05) Ladbroke Grove Rail Crash 1999 – A Survivors Call 01530Giles 816440 for more information.

King’s Cross station. staff for particular jobs and projects.

10:10 Thomas from HS2 presents: Perspective – Pam Warren 10:30

Challenges facing HS2 with concept, design and delivery Q&A

(10.10 – 10.35) What happens after a life changing incident?

– Rev Liam Johnson

NEWS

4 | RailStaff | March 2015

Digital Countdown ‘We need to grasp the opportunity of digital train control far faster’, says Mark Carne, chief executive of Network Rail. ‘The digital railway will transform passenger information and the way we inspect and control track.’

Best of all it will allow more paths thus boosting capacity on existing main lines.

Currently ERTMS is being rolled out across Europe and the British version developed on the Cambrian line.

ERTMS operates in-cab signalling and a GPS system, Global System for Mobile Communications–Railway, which creates a bubble round the train - protecting it from other trains as it moves along.

Digital Train Control takes the system much further introducing intelligent data, information on other trains, freights and locals, and factoring in live time delays and changing service patterns.

The system shrinks the gap between train paths.

Progress Made Mark Carne was speaking at the Rail Exec Club run by Rail Media. Planners, pioneers and every type of operator piled into the Drapers’ Hall in the City of London on March 5 to discuss progress being made in expanding the railway and plans to take that forward faster still.

As well as Mark Carne, speakers included Jeremy Long, MTR and Jon Shaw, Bombardier.

Jeremy Long, chief executive officer of European Business at MTR, revealed plans to start running TfL Rail branded services this May between Liverpool Street and Shenfield. Looking round Drapers’ Hall he asked all those who had been involved in Crossrail to put their hands up - over half the people there raised an arm. New Class 345 Crossrail trains - built in Britain - will be introduced in May 2017 and will start running through the tunnels a year later.

Jon Shaw from Bombardier, which is building Crossrail’s 345 Aventra fleet at Litchurch Lane, praised the comeback of the UK’s home-based train building

industry. Jon has been working on trials of the IPEMU, the Independently Powered adapted Electrostar 379013, on the Manningtree branch. Jon, from Derby, pointed out battery operated devices were popular in Essex and the train had proved a great success.

A Greater Challenge Humour aside, the rail industry still faces a difficult ride in media terms.

The recent problems at London Bridge station demonstrate the challenge of trying to deliver substantial improvement to the infrastructure whilst maintaining intensive commuter rail services - a challenge that chief executive Mark Carne admits he hadn’t fully appreciated when he first joined the organisation in 2013.

‘I think the challenge of transforming

the railway - and with the investment we’re making in the railway - whilst still keeping it running reliably every day is a greater challenge than I anticipated,’ he said.

Other industries might have the luxury of crossing a bridge when they come to it but the railway, mentally, has to make the leap years in advance.

Undaunted, Carne and the rail industry will be pressing on this summer with plans for a digital railway that delivers fast and frequent services on a scale never envisaged before by even the most positive RailStaff reader.

Clock Ticking A better informed public and corporate transparency is welcomed by Carne. ‘I welcome Freedom of Information. We’re willing, more than willing, to do it.’ He

went on, ‘Of course it will present all sorts of challenges... but we’re a public service and we’re spending a lot of money on behalf of the public to deliver that service. We have to make some really difficult choices... It’s right that the public has the opportunity to see how we make those choices and, in a sense, to hold us to account for the way in which we do it.’

The clock is ticking on railway capacity and Mark Carne, who collects antique clocks as a hobby, is determined to make every minute count.

The second Rail Exec Club of 2015 will be held on the 23rd of April at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Birmingham. Capacity is also an issue and to make sure of your place, book now.

More details are available at: www.railexec.com

NEWS

March 2015 | RailStaff | 5

Electrifying News for the North Upwards of 12 major rail arteries in the north are set to be electrified.

The North of England Electrification Task Force has presented a final report to Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin highlighting 12 northern rail routes it believes should be electrified by 2024.

The Electrification Task Force has identified 32 routes in total. The report presents the economic case for each and categorises them into three tiers depending on priority and compatibility with local planning.

Electrification, and the capacity and environmental benefits it brings, are central to the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ concept which has been pushed by the current Coalition Government.

Within the report, 12 routes were listed in the Tier One category which urges their inclusion in the High Level Output Statement for Control Period 6.

The routes include: • Calder Valley (Full) • Liverpool to Manchester via Warrington Central • Southport/Kirkby to Salford Crescent • Chester to Stockport • Northallerton to Middlesbrough • Leeds to York via Harrogate • Selby to Hull • Sheffield (Meadowhall) to Leeds via Barnsley / Castleford & connections • Bolton to Clitheroe • Sheffield to Doncaster/Wakefield Westgate (Dearne Valley) • Hazel Grove to Buxton • Warrington to Chester.

MP Andrew Jones, who chaired the taskforce, said, ‘It is a comprehensive report detailing where we think the priorities lie for rail electrification in the north. We have placed economic growth at the heart of this project and been working on the premise that

all the lines of the north would be electrified, it is only a question of when.

This report details where it should start.’

He added, ’The need for rail electrification is significant. It is part of

the improvements in infrastructure that we need in the north. We know how much there is to do and to do it we are looking at a task of generational scale.

Indeed, this report is intended to look years ahead.’

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NEWS

6 | RailStaff | March 2015

Sleepers Awake!

Prestigious Class 92s are getting ready to haul Serco’s Caledonian Sleeper services on electrified routes once the new franchise cuts in on 1 April.

GB Railfreight, part of the Eurotunnel Group, has signed a 15-year contract with Serco to provide train drivers and traction for the Caledonian Sleeper.

Four refurbished class 92s, purchased thanks to Groupe Eurotunnel, will be used on the electrified routes south of Edinburgh and Glasgow.

North of Edinburgh, the company plans to use six class 73/9s from October 2015, which are currently undergoing work at Wabtec’s facility in Loughborough. In the meantime, it will be operating class 47s, on hire from Harry Needle Railroad Company (HNRC) - based at Barrow Hill in Derbyshire.

Class 92s were originally built for use

in the Channel Tunnel and can operate on the French national network, Southern region third rail and in the tunnel. GBRf’s Class 73s date back to the Gatwick Express and were able to draw power from the third rail as well as having a diesel motor. Now the 73s are being fitted with MTU 1,600 hp V8 engines only.

Says John Smith, managing director of GB Railfreight, ‘GB Railfreight is delighted to announce that we will be supporting Serco with train drivers and traction on their Caledonian Sleeper franchise.

‘We’ve been working closely with the company in putting together a strategy that would work best for them on these given routes and have invested in the appropriate rolling stock and training to make this strategy effective.’ The contract will provide GBRf with around £100 million in revenues over 15 years.

New Station for Ilkeston

Work has started on Ilkeston’s brand new railway station.

The Derbyshire town once had three stations but the last one closed in 1967. The £9.6 million station, which has been part-funded from the government’s new station fund, will provide direct, hourly connections to Nottingham, Chesterfield and Sheffield.

Two platforms and a car park will make it easy for local people to use.

The nearby Station Cafe is looking forward to an upturn in business.

Recently, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin visited the site and met staff. ‘The new station at Ilkeston will make a real difference to the local area when it opens, and will help secure economic growth across the region by linking people with jobs, and businesses with people.’

He added, ’Investing in projects like this is a central part of our long-term economic plan, as part of the record investment in our rail network between 2014 and 2019. I am pleased that work is now underway, and I look forward to it being completed as soon as possible.’

Railsport Games 2015 The 22nd annual Railsport Games takes place in Stanley Park, Blackpool, on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 June 2015.

A total of ten sports will be contested including: Football - Fivea-Side Open and Six-a-Side Over 35s, Cricket, Netball, Rounders, 10K Road Race, Badminton, Table Tennis, Chess, Darts and Ten Pin Bowling.

The venue for Ten Pin Bowling will be the MFA Bowl in Blackpool, while Darts will take place in a venue near to Stanley Park.

Entry forms and event details are available for downloading from the Railsport GB website (www.railsport. org.uk) or alternatively they can be obtained by contacting Railsport Games co-coordinator Rebecca Freeman at railsportgb@yahoo.co.uk or 07834 087834.

The Railsport Games 2015 is open to all employees, spouses and dependents of railway staff and contractors working in the rail industry. Staff at London Underground and associated bus companies are

eligible to take part.

Rail Media will be fielding a couple of teams and we look forward to seeing you there. Why not give the Railsport

Games 2015 a try and at the same time enjoy a weekend by the sea in Blackpool?

Closing date for entries is 13 May, 2015.

Lyrical Ireland Just ahead of St Patrick’s Day 17 March - and in unintentional celebration of Ireland’s superb performance in the Six Nations rugby championship, London Underground’s Poems on the Underground has launched a wide celebration of Irish poetry.

The move also commemorates the 150th anniversary of the great Irish poet W.B. Yeats. Also on show will be poems

by Antoine Ó Raifteiri, Louis MacNeice, Eavan Boland and Paula Meehan.

A leaflet celebrating Irish poetry including poems by W.B. Yeats, Seamus Heaney, Patrick Kavanagh and Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, will be available free to the public at selected Tube stations later this year.

Britain’s Largest Specialist Transport Union

Network Rail has tabled a final four year pay offer to the unions The deal involved a pay freeze in year one – that amounts to a real-terms pay cut On top of that job protection guarantees will expire this year with no assurances into 2016 and the travel-concession arrangements are also seriously undermined RMT is conducting a referendum ballot on the offer of ALL Network Rail members with a recommendation to register a strong NO vote A NO vote will put us into dispute with Network Rail and will trigger a ballot for industrial action

Fight the attack on pay and conditions

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Protecting our members’ interests is our priority

Join us today www.rmt.org.uk

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PEOPLE

8 | RailStaff | March 2015

MTR Crossrail Announces Executive Team Steve Murphy

Kev Jones Kev Jones joins as engineering director from Abellio where he has led fleet and engineering strategy for franchise bidding. Formerly operations director at QSS Group, Kev has a solid rail engineering background. He was engineering business development manager at London Midland, depot manager at Central Trains and before that at West Coast Traincare. Kev started as a graduate trainee on the railway at ABB/BRML.

A former train driver for Heathrow Express forms the centrepiece of MTR Crossrail’s new executive team.

Steve Murphy is managing director. Steve joined MTR last August from Arriva UK Trains where he was chief operating officer. He set up London Overground Rail Operations Limited (LOROL) which achieved an unprecedented increase in customer satisfaction and record-breaking punctuality scores plus a quadrupling of passenger numbers. Previously he was general manager of Irish Rail for three years - working with Dick Fearn.

Steve was also managing director of Chiltern Railways.

‘I am delighted we have been able to draw together a group of very talented individuals from a wide range of backgrounds,’ says Steve.

Claire Mann

Andy Boyle

Claire Mann is the HR and operations director for the Crossrail organisation that will begin running TfLbranded trains between London Liverpool Street and Shenfield on 31 May, 2015.

Further services will be gradually introduced from 2018, with full Crossrail services operating by the end of 2019.

Claire joins from Arriva Trains Wales, where she was operations and safety director. She rose through the ranks at Heathrow Express to become control centre manager. A spell at Silverlink Metro followed and she transferred into London Overground Rail Operations Limited (LOROL), a joint venture between MTR and Arriva UK. In 2010 Claire joined First Great Western.

Train service delivery director Andy Boyle joins from Network Rail, where he was area director West Anglia, following a highly successful career which has seen him rise through the organisation into key leadership roles responsible for the delivery of both operations and maintenance disciplines in various parts of the South East rail network.

Andy King Andy King is the finance director. Andy was a key member of the successful MTR team that produced the winning bid for the Crossrail concession. Prior to joining MTR, he worked for LOROL and started out as treasury manager at Chiltern Railways.

Mark Eaton Concession director Mark Eaton joins from LOROL where he was also concession director, cementing a successful relationship with TfL. Mark brings extensive experience of the rail industry stretching back to his early career with British Rail.

Nigel Holness The team’s programme director, Nigel Holness, is currently operations director for the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly Lines where he is responsible for service delivery and asset maintenance, the latest in a number of leadership roles he has held at London Underground.

Nigel led the operations team during the London Olympics.

Paul Parsons Welshman Paul Parsons joins MTR Crossrail as customer experience director, following a highly successful career with retail giant, Tesco.

New Chairman for Balfour Beatty Philip Aiken is to join the board of Balfour Beatty as non-executive chairman at the end of March.

Aiken currently chairs the Aveva Group and is a non-executive director of National Grid plc and of Newcrest Mining Limited.

Current chairman Steve Marshall will retire from the board on 25 March, 2015. Peter Zinkin, planning and developments director is also stepping down.

Says Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty Group chief executive, ‘Philip has many years of highly relevant international board-level experience at the top of industry, and we look forward to his valuable contribution to the business, including areas of paramount importance to the group such as safety.

‘The board is focussed on the group-wide transformation programme and capturing the significant opportunity to drive leaner, stronger, processes, improved profits and strong cash generation to the benefit of our shareholders.’

Philip Aiken says he is looking forward to helping the executive team set the business back on course. ‘Balfour Beatty has great people and a vast depth of engineering capability and technical expertise. The group is striving

to ensure that the value delivered to our customers translates into best-in-class performance and restores Balfour Beatty to strength.’

Walsh Joins Murphy Peter Walsh has been appointed operations director London & South at J. Murphy & Sons Limited, concentrating on rail, tunnelling and piling.

Walsh joins from Vinci Construction UK Ltd where he has held a number of senior positions during the last 17 years.

He has a wide range of experience in major rail and infrastructure operations. Previously, Walsh worked for Taylor Woodrow Construction.

Educated at Loughborough University, Peter read a BSc in construction engineering. Walsh also studied Management at Surrey University and took an MBA - with distinction - at Warwick.

PEOPLE

March 2015 | RailStaff | 9

Captain America Ron Hartman is to head Network Rail Consulting’s North America division.

Hartman, a seasoned rail careerist, joins from Transdev. He studied English at Stony Brook University in New York City. Later, he read a masters degree in urban and regional planning at the George Washington University in Foggy Bottom, Washington DC. He began his career with the American Public Transit Association (APTA), working in policy and technical support before taking up the post of general manager at Maryland’s Mass Transit Administration (MTA) where he stayed for 12 years. Ron Hartman went on to serve as vice president for planning and development at Amtrak for three years before joining Veolia Transportation where he became senior vice president.

Griffiths Heads Underground

At Transdev he has been the chief executive officer of the rail division since 2008, leading the transformation of commuter rail operations in Florida, California, and Boston as well as Transdev’s successful rail infrastructure maintenance and construction subsidiary, VTMI, which he established in 2009.

Says Network Rail Consulting’s managing director, Nigel Ash, ‘I am very pleased that we have got someone with Ron’s knowledge and experience to lead our business in North America. Ron’s proven record of growing successful railway businesses combined with Network Rail’s corporate capability will give us the impetus to make rapid progress in growing our business in Canada and the USA.’

Steve Griffiths has been named as the new chief operating officer for London Underground (LUL). The former chief executive officer of Virgin Atlantic has been working as business change director at the Bond Aviation Group for the last year. He joins LUL in May, reporting to managing director Mike Brown.

After starting his career with RollsRoyce plc, where he completed his apprenticeship and obtained an engineering degree, Steve worked his way up to become a senior engineer before leaving to join Virgin Atlantic.

As director of engineering for Virgin Atlantic he was responsible for all aspects of aircraft engineering and maintenance. He was appointed as the long-haul airline’s chief operating officer in 2009.

London Underground is now recognised as among the fastest

improving metros in the world.

Sustained investment in modernising the network, as well as a rigorous focus on reliability, has seen reliability levels soar in recent years.

Griffiths replaces Nick Brown, who has been acting as interim chief operating officer since December.

Brown is staying on until June to ensure continuity.

Steve is an active charity fundraiser.

Major charitable events he’s taken part in include Cycle India, Trek China’s Great Wall expedition and the Boston New York cycle ride.

London Underground is now recognised as among the fastest improving metros in the world.

Swanage Man Heads North Swanage Railway’s general manager, Richard Jones, is to leave the award-winning Dorset heritage line and become the new operating officer for the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway in Yorkshire.

Says Richard, ‘I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at the helm of the Swanage Railway. It has been a privilege and a pleasure to lead such a fantastic team.…My decision to leave the Swanage Railway has been made

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for purely personal reasons. I regard Yorkshire very much as my spiritual home, as I was largely brought up in Sheffield as a child.’

Having been the Swanage Railway’s general manager for almost two years, Richard has previously been the general manager of the Bodmin and Wenford heritage railway in Cornwall for five years. He has been involved with heritage railways as a volunteer for 42 years, working as a paid employee in the sector for the past nine years.

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RAIL ALLIANCE

10 | RailStaff | March 2015

New Year Resolution for 2015 Join the Rail Alliance Join the Rail Alliance now Rail Alliance membership starts from just £500 per year

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

Rail Alliance shines Light After Dark ‘Light after Dark’ - the specialist outdoor event for the Rail Lighting Sector sponsored by the Rail Alliance in association with the Institution of Lighting Professionals (ILP) was held at the Quinton Rail Technology Centre (QRTC), Long Marston, in Warwickshire during the evening of 25 February 2015 Why would you find a group of rail and lighting professionals gathered together on a dark, chilly February night?

The reason: Light after Dark, the first collaborative event of its kind between the ILP and the Rail Alliance. Light After Dark offered a unique opportunity for professionals from the lighting and PPE sectors to get together and show off their products, goods and services in a real rail environment.

The event was held over two sessions. The first was an afternoon CPD seminar staged by the ILP. The second half took place in the evening.

As night fell exhibitors took advantage of the darkness for maximum effect to demonstrate lighting and safety products against the backdrop of a rail environment. At Long Marston this includes a platform, track, moving rail assets and a level crossing.

During the afternoon, attendees heard industry speakers discuss key issues surrounding lighting in the rail sector.

For the evening event, everyone headed off to the Rail Alliance’s dedicated rail testing, trialling and demonstration facility, the QRTC, for the outdoor lighting demonstration where companies including; iGuzzini Lighting UK, Horizon Utility Supplies, CFM Services, King Fisher Lighting, FHOSS Technology, Advanced LEDs, Aluminium Lighting Company, DW Windsor, Ritelite (Systems), Uni-Lite, Selectequip and Peli Products all had demonstrations set up to show their products.

With over 70 attendees from rail, lighting and PPE sectors, the expectations were raised for something other than a simple “lights on and lights off” demonstration.

Bob Phelps from Aluminium Lighting Company gathered an enthusiastic throng around his Raise and Lower lighting column demonstration. Bob demonstrated how a quick and easy tilt function of 90 degrees from upright down to the ground suited the rail industry perfectly from a safety point of view. Moreover, given that this column can be operated, serviced and maintained by one person without special tools there are significant downstream cost and time savings to be accrued by operators.

Mark Cooper, from iGuzzini, spoke about the prevention of glare whilst demonstrating his product range fitted to ALC’s lighting columns. Mark Hopkins from Advanced LED introduced their variable lighting controlled lantern which is programmable by a variety of means allowing the light to - effectively - tick over at 10 per cent illumination, with considerable cost savings to an operator, and then revert to 100 per cent illumination when someone passed under it or when energised by various sensors. As these lanterns formed a ‘mesh’ network so it was possible to know exactly which light had been triggered and why - thereby adding to the safety feature provided by such lighting.

John Charles from DW Windsor introduced their range of products including their Kirium and Trebem ranges and further outlined the cost benefits and controllability of LED light sources.

Last, but not least, Andrew Kimitri demonstrated FHOSS technology by showing how their innovative powered light PPE safety wear compares to normal industry standard PPE gear

in the dark. The results spoke for themselves as everyone saw a clearly illuminated ghostly outline of a figure highlighted in the darkness wearing the FHOSS equipment, compared to being unable to see the other person wearing railway specification HiViz PPE who was operating in the same shadows side by side with the FHOSS-equipped operator.

Simon Higgens, CEO of ISS Labour, commented on the value of attending the event and said, ‘ISS Labour Ltd is a leading supplier of temporary lighting for track renewals and maintenance works and is constantly looking at the market for new lighting products as well as keeping up-to-date with developments in lighting technology. The Light after Dark event provided us with an excellent opportunity to meet with suppliers in a focused environment dedicated to lighting, which was exceptionally useful to us.

‘We are really looking forward to attending the next Rail Alliance/ILP lighting event later on this year.’

The Rail Alliance and ILP plan a larger event for the autumn following the success of and high attendance at this event. If you would like to be included in newsletters and information on this event, please contact Rhona on rhona. clarke@railalliance.co.uk.

Supplying Innovation The Rail Alliance’s next event will be ‘Supplying Innovation to the TOCs’ held in London on 19 March 2015, with confirmed speakers from the engineering manager of ATOC, Arriva UK Trains and Porterbrook Leasing. To attend this event please e-mail Rhona Clarke on rhona.clarke@railalliance. co.uk or 01789 720 026.

FutureRail Voucher Testing Scheme FutureRail’s Voucher Testing Scheme is very much part of the agenda for Rail Alliance, and means that companies operating in the rail sector can take full advantage of up to five days subsidised trial and testing. There is the option to use five consecutive days or alternatively, the days can be broken down over a period of a few weeks or even months. If there is more than one product to test, then a further five days can be made available per product.

To find out more about the Trial and Test facilities available here at the Quinton Rail Technology Centre, please contact Rob Hopkin: robert.hopkin@ railalliance.co.uk We would always advise that you attend one of our rail Test, Trial & Demonstration briefings offered free to all companies (you do not need to be a member of the Rail Alliance).

Test, Trial & Demonstration Briefings - FutureRailway Test, Trials & Demo Facilities Briefings Dates: 17 March, 21 May Venue: Quinton Rail Technology Centre, Long Marston. (1430-1630 hrs following a buffet lunch) For more information and to book your place contact: Rhona Clarke on rhona.clarke@railalliance.co.uk.

And don’t forget, Rail Alliance also offers an introduction course to get started with BS11000! Only £50 to attend if you are a Rail Alliance member.

Introduction to BS11000 Collaborative Business Relationships Date: 17 March, 21 May (1000-1400 hrs Workshop including buffet lunch) Venue: Long Marston.

For more information and to book your place contact: Rhona Clarke on rhona.clarke@railalliance.co.uk.

It’d be really lovely if you could, use those helping hands for good.

There were 1,490 platform related accidents last year. Everything from people rushing to get on or off trains, distractions from mobile devices, luggage, prams and intoxication all played their part. Now this is a big number. We thought it was a little too big. So we decided to try and reduce it.

We hit the books and our research discovered that even though people are aware of these dangers, they never actually think an accident is going to happen to them. However, they noticed when others were at risk. We took this information to develop a campaign to encourage people to simply ‘Lend a Helping Hand’ and be considerate to fellow travellers. This could be something as simple as standing aside when people are alighting the train or not rushing and barging on the platform.

You can help in a really simple way Get behind our campaign and we’ll all be OK. We don’t want to tell you things you already know. You know the potential risks around the platform, but we’d love you to reinforce safe behaviour by promoting this campaign and leading by example. Share with your friends and colleagues to help spread the word. Let’s make the station a safer place for everyone.

The campaign is now live across Network Rail and TOC managed stations.

If you would like to know more then please email: enquirydesk@rssb.co.uk

www.lendahelpinghand.co.uk or search #helpie on Twitter

NEWS

12 | RailStaff | March 2015

The Song Remains the Same With its customary razzamatazz, the Virgin/Stagecoach operation took over East Coast on 1 March.

An Intercity 225 in full Virgin East Coast livery arrived at King’s Cross station the following morning, trailing promises of extra staff, better training and more services.

The undoubted enthusiasm of Virgin, which has long hankered after the franchise, failed to dampen public reservations about the transfer of the successful train operation to the private sector. Directly Operated Railways (DOR) under the inspired leadership of Karen Boswell and Michael Holden built a credible operation scoring high in punctuality and satisfaction terms.

That said, Virgin and Stagecoach have wrought a sea change in how the railway is run and received in the South West and on the West Coast Main Line. Passengers in the weeks after the transfer will have been reassured that staff professionalism, commitment and kindness continues as before. The East Coast Main Line should be the number one flagship service and certainly staff running the service - both in control and on board - present it that way.

Questions over railway stewardship

go right to the heart of the pre-election political conundrum facing Britain this spring. Is it right to separate running trains from running infrastructure?

Do publicly owned railways perform better than their private sector counterparts? What works best - free market capitalism or a state-run public sector? Is there anything in between, a so-called third way?

Company spirit As the new management team gets to work, headed by the immensely able David Horne, the outgoing team leaves behind a fully functional, motivated

Report by Andy Milne

and efficient body of men and women.

This was achieved by state-owned DOR - only the Department for Transport (DfT) could come up with a title quite so uninspiring.

Karen Boswell set about building a brand staff could relate to. After National Express Group handed back the keys, Boswell, on arrival at York, found a dispirited body of staff worried about stability and their long-term prospects.

DOR stabilised the business which was expected to transfer back to the private sector after two years. Then the term was extended allowing significant investment in its people and assets.

Under DOR’s guidance, the East Coast team was able to rekindle a company spirit amongst its people. It is the staff, DOR acknowledges, that became the bed-rock of East Coast’s success over the last few years. That success was itself recognised by the industry. Over the last five years, East Coast was the recipient of no fewer than 65 industry awards. East Coast staff are regular nominees at the RailStaff Awards.

Make it sing Speaking in the North East two days later, Sir Richard Branson echoed this sentiment. ‘Compare it to the West

NEWS

Coast. When we took that over, it was run down and fairly dilapidated and sad, and staff were demoralised,’ says Branson. ‘But we invested in rolling stock, transformed it, and have doubled the number of people using it. We hope we can do the same with the East Coast by replacing the old rolling stock to give workers something they can be proud of, and passengers something they can enjoy using. We will try to make it sing like the West Coast.’

Inter City Railways is 90 per cent Stagecoach and 10 per cent Virgin and has an eight-year deal with a committed payback of £3.3 billion to operate the franchise and a commitment to invest £140 million into services.

Happily new rolling stock in the shape of Hitachi Super Express trains will start work on the line from 2018.

Operationally the railway should perform even better. The new Rail Operations Centre at York brings together Network Rail staff and train company staff to run the main line.

Close alliancing - regardless of cap badge - has been pioneered on the Stagecoach operation in the South West and has been judged a great success. With the active connivance of Network Rail and the DfT, railway people are being encouraged to combine around a common identity.

It’s nothing new.

Long term partnerships Says Patrick McCall, senior partner, Virgin Group, ‘Our long-term partnership with Stagecoach has seen a revolution in customer service standards, great product innovation, reduced journey times and improved timetables on the West Coast Main Line. We will deliver similar success on the East Coast and will work with the existing teams there to build on their achievements.’ Partnership is the watchword.

The future beckons bright for East Coast and for the railway mosaic government orchestrated and private sector delivered. In a recent report the Rail Delivery Group emphasised that based on future passenger demand, an increase in the size of the national fleet of between 52 per cent and 99 per cent will be required over the next 30 years.

The proportion of vehicles using electric traction will rise from 69 per cent today to 95 per cent in 30 years’ time.

March 2015 2014 | RailStaff | 13

Rather than being prescriptive, the report pushes the principle that rolling stock procurement should be marketbased and franchise-led. By putting train operators and fleet owners at the centre of planning and delivering rolling stock, better value for money can be achieved. The report points out that this is already the case for the new rolling stock to be procured for the North of England.

Richard Brown, chairman of the Rolling Stock Strategy Steering Group, is blunt in his appraisal. ‘Demand for rail travel is set to continue to grow. Meeting this demand with the most suitable and cost efficient rolling stock is vital to maximising the railway’s benefits for passengers as well as the economy, local communities and environment.

This updated rolling stock strategy sets out future potential demand and identifies challenges and opportunities.

The rail industry is committed to working with government to ensure a whole-life, whole-system approach on rolling stock is adopted. This will maximise both value for money and benefits for rail customers.’

Capital at risk The rail industry proves that the state sector - if it can overcome civil service caution - and the private sector - if it is prepared to put capital at risk - can combine to produce an economic success story that serves the wider needs of the country.

As spring cut in, Michael Holden, erstwhile chairman of East Coast, slipped out of London to catch a flight to Nepal. Once at Kathmandu, he joined a

group of Railway Children supporters.

Michael is hiking across the high country of Nepal, climbing up to the Everest Base Camp with David Franks of Irish Rail, Dyan Crowther of Govia Thameslink and a team of other equally committed railway people. Few will worry about who they work for as they traverse the ice fields and airless terraces of the

Himalayas. Their guts and determination demonstrate what purposeful individuals can achieve when they come together with a common goal. Hard though it is to describe the boulder strewn yak-tracks of Everest as a stairway to heaven, their example nevertheless demonstrates that, for the railway at least, the song remains the same.

NEWS

14 | RailStaff | March 2015

RailStaff talks to Story Contracting’s head of operations for Rail, Ian Purdham.

This year, Story Contracting’s Ian Purdham will celebrate his 10th year with the business.

With a background as a plant operator and in the highways sector, Ian started with Story as a plant coordinator in 2005 and now finds himself as the head of operations for the Rail division. In that time he’s helped the company to complete a series of challenging projects and collect several industry award wins along the way.

Story began offering its services to the rail industry in 2000. In September last year, the company was named as one of nine Network Rail framework contractors, covering the LNW region during CP5 - this

The inside Story

was on top of an earlier framework contract win for Scotland. To deliver such a range of projects over the next few years, Story is investing in its people, developing a new training offering and ensuring longserving staff are given the opportunity to move up through the company.

‘Moving from developing my career to helping colleagues to develop theirs is new to me but it’s something I’ve really enjoyed getting involved with and it can be really rewarding to see your team develop,’ said Ian. Ian’s own progression through the company owes itself to a combination of training, hard work and being in the right place at the right time. Whilst working on the Blackpool Tramway Project in 2011, Ian made the most of an opportunity to put his project management skills to the test.

Says Ian, ‘One of the guys who was running the project took ill and was unable to work for a period.

This left a project management gap on the project and as I was so heavily involved already as a quantity surveyor and being as I am, I put my hat in the ring to say I’ll run the scheme to its completion.’

Following Blackpool, Ian grew into this project management role and in 2013 he was promoted to operations manager of Story’s rail business.

Framework contractor Over the last couple of years, Story has won awards for several projects and last year was named as Network Rail Supplier of the Year. By the end of CP5, Ian says Story want to be established as a preferred framework contractor.

‘Come the end of the five-year framework, we really want to be right at the top of our game and making it impossible for the client to go elsewhere.

‘We’ve used innovation and we’ve come up with some new solutions and developed existing methodologies to make them safer and more efficient. We’ve used some new technology and what we have done is we’ve worked closely with our client, listened to what they wanted.’

As Story continues to grow, so does its need for new people and skills. To fill this gap, the company is in the process of building a solid foundation of training and staff cultivation. This includes the creation of an ILM-accredited trainee site management programme.

In 2014, Story made a record 120 hires across the contracting business thanks largely to the framework wins. For Ian, who lives in Carlisle, the priority is to bring in new people, local to its regional bases, from entry level and recognising loyalty by promoting from

NEWS

March 2015 | RailStaff | 15

Network Rail Supplier of the Year 2014.

within - Ian himself began climbing the ladder after spotting a trainee quantity surveyor role advertised, and was sponsored through completion of his degree whilst working for the company. Ian said he was mindful not to ‘stifle growth from within the business’ and Story’s recruitment plan mixes both external recruitment and internal promotion.

Says Ian, ‘We have a lot of people in the business who have been here 10 years plus… so we’ve got a lot of history and a lot of loyalty within the business which sends out a strong message for people joining us.’

Employer of choice As a principal contractor, it is also important that Story is seen to be addressing the industry-wide skills shortage, something Ian recognises.

‘We’re working alongside the likes of Murphy’s, Carillion and AMCO, big companies and groups with established training programmes,’ said Ian. ‘The likes of Balfour Beatty will have world-renowned training programmes, so as a smaller family-owned company, we have had to look at our offering and how it stacks up against the leaders in the industry. Having the opportunity to collaborate on projects alongside these groups has it’s benefits but at Story, we always do what’s right for us and our people, on our own scale, which is manageable and doesn’t detract from our values and vision.

‘We want to be seen as an employer of choice. I want to be able to retain engineering graduates in and around our regional bases. We’re starting to offer a lot more work experience opportunities and work placements to graduate engineers who are locally based but are doing their degrees in potentially Leeds, Newcastle, further afield.’

He added, ‘The people retention within the business is really high. There’s other examples of people who have come in and worked their way through the business to senior level. It’s a fun, involving, engaging place to work and there’s a really good feeling about the business and about the team. They all want to work for each other and work together.’

PEOPLE

16 | RailStaff | March 2015

Staff Join Ballast Train Network Rail is bringing 500 AmeyColas track renewal staff in house this March.

The move marks the largest transfer of staff to Network Rail since the phased insource of maintenance activities in 2005. The transfer coincides with Network Rail plans to purchase a new £50 million ballast cleaner, codenamed BCS5.

The new cleaner will be built to accommodate third-rail operation, allowing the conductor rail to safely remain in place throughout the cleaning process. The ballast cleaning train will be built by Plasser and Theurer and will become the fifth ballast cleaning system in the fleet. It will be delivered in 2016.

BCS5 has reduced emissions and incorporates measures to reduce workforce exposure to ballast dust, including mist-based suppression

systems.

Welcoming the new staff, high output project director Ben Brooks said, ’The move will give us greater opportunity to drive continuous improvement in both safety and performance on site.

It is fundamental to delivering our cost efficiencies and also allows longer term investment in training and development for the high output workforce, our fleet and maintenance facilities.

‘With the purchase of the new ballast cleaner and the insourcing of 500 staff who previously contracted for us, Network Rail is taking more direct control of its high output ballast cleaning and track relaying operations; activities core to its dayto-day business.’ He added, ‘Network Rail is leading the world, completing mechanised track renewals overnight in short duration access and handing back the railway at higher speeds than attainable with conventional methods.

‘The new equipment allows us to add the third rail DC electrified network to our programme so passengers south of London can start to see the benefits of

high output track renewals too.’

The 800-metre long machine will be Network Rail’s fifth and most advanced ballast cleaner on the railway.

High Speed role for Stuart Westgate Stuart Westgate has been appointed programme development director for HS2.

Reporting directly to chief executive Simon Kirby, he will lead development of the new north-south rail line and provide an important link between HS2 and other transport bodies.

Stuart joins HS2 from KPMG where he spent four years as director of major projects advisory.

Stuart Westgate read a degree in electronics engineering at Middlesex University and studied project and

contracts management at Dunchurch College. He has a comprehensive background in the railway industry and has worked on the Jubilee Line extension and Thameslink 2000.

He worked for the Nichols Group as a consultant and was seconded to a wide array of rail industry projects and organisations. These included spells with London Underground, Crossrail, Channel Tunnel Rail Link, West Coast Route Modernisation and the Strategic Rail Authority.

Says Simon Kirby, ‘Stuart has a proven track record of leading innovative, ambitious and complex

‘Stuart has a proven track record of leading innovative, ambitious and complex projects and is exactly the type of person we want at HS2 as we continue to move toward the construction of the railway.’

projects and is exactly the type of person we want at HS2 as we continue to move toward the construction of the railway. We are committed to delivering a world-class railway and that means having the highest calibre people working on the project.’

Prior to joining KPMG in 2011, he spent two years as director of Crossrail Surface, responsible for the main line elements of the crossLondon rail scheme. He was deputy director for London Underground’s Cooling the Tube Programme and programme manager for the Strategic Rail Authority for the integration of HS1 and Thameslink at St Pancras.

CITB for Intertrain Intertrain is now an Accredited Training Provider following an extensive visit by CITB - the Construction Industry Training Board.

Intertrain employs more than 40 trainers delivering a wide range of railway training from Personal Track Safety (PTS) to Auxiliary Operating Duties and the five-day Site Management Safety Training Scheme.

Working with employers nationally, Intertrain offers railway engineering and overhead line apprenticeship schemes to gain the necessary qualifications to start a career on the railway.

Intertrain is an NSARE ‘Outstanding’ railway training and assessment provider.’

12 – 14 MAY 2015 • NEC, BIRMINGHAM, UK 12th INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF RAILWAY EQUIPMENT SYSTEMS & SERVICES

Railtex is the all-encompassing showcase for technological innovation across all sectors of the rail supply market - the platform for people from throughout the industry to meet face to face, make connections and do business.

Regist for FR er EE at www.r ailtex.c o.uk saving £20 the do on or

Hundreds of exhibitors will present thousands of products and services to the industry. See the latest innovations and hear updates on key projects and developments within the industry from high profile speakers.

Tel + 44 (0) 1727 814400 info@railtex.co.uk Supported by:

www.railtex.co.uk

FEATURE

18 | RailStaff | March 2015

Report by Marc Johnson

Before the

gold rush Over the next few decades, Britain will need a lot of new trains. Exactly how many and who will build them is up for grabs.

Prospects for train builders in the UK have improved remarkably from the outlook five or 10 years ago.

Alstom closed its Washwood Heath factory in 2005 after completing a run of Virgin Pendolinos, leaving Bombardier in Derby as the last real train manufacturer in the UK. The completion of Hitachi’s Newton Aycliffe site this year will signal the arrival of a new manufacturer for the UK that is not only looking to supply to the domestic market but the whole of Europe. With further big rolling stock contracts to be awarded over the next few years and an industry-led rolling stock strategy for the future in place, train manufacturers are again looking to invest in the UK.

Long-term demand The industry has presented its ‘Long Term Passenger Rolling Stock Strategy’.

It produced several headline figures, the most striking of which is that the country’s total passenger train fleet will need to increase by up to 99 per cent to meet the projected demand.

Electrification programmes mean the need for electric multiple units (EMUs) will be particularly great, between 13,000 and 19,000 vehicles over the next 30 years.

A chunk of these have already been ordered and are well into production through major schemes like the Intercity Express Programme (IEP),

Thameslink and Crossrail, but many are still unaccounted for.

Speaking during the opening of Alstom’s new bogie overhaul facility at Longsight depot in February, sales director Rob Whyte said the company, like most others, was keenly pursuing opportunities with HS2 and London Underground. Given its pedigree supplying high-speed trains across Europe, HS2 is particularly attractive to Alstom. Speaking about the recordbreaking V150 TGV, Whyte said highspeed rail was ‘absolutely our DNA’. ’The market is very different in the UK now from how it was even five years ago,’ said Whyte. ‘Visibility for future opportunities is not three years, five years or even 10, it’s 20 and 30 years, which really is an incredibly different place to be from where we were before.’

Alstom has been shortlisted for a contract to supply 250 new trains for the Piccadilly, Bakerloo, Central and Waterloo & City lines, also known as New Tube for London. The shortlist includes Siemens, Hitachi, CAF and Bombardier.

Although Bombardier didn’t close the doors of its Litchurch Lane site as Alstom did at Washwood Heath, the outlook had looked gloomy for the 175-year-old manufacturer following the loss of the Thameslink contract.

Several years on, and Britain’s last remaining rolling stock works is investing and expanding.

Just before Christmas, Bombardier opened its ‘Iron Bird’ test facility for Crossrail. The Iron Bird is one component of a large investment programme currently underway at

Bombardier’s Litchurch Lane site.

The manufacturer is spending £12.5 million on a separate Aventra testing facility which is needed to house the longer 205-metre trains. Around £20 million has already been spent on the development of the train itself and a further £142 million is being invested in a depot at Old Oak Common in West London.

As well as Crossrail, Bombardier is manufacturing 191 new S Stock Tube trains for the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines, 57 new London Overground cars and new Class 387/1 and 387/2 Electrostar units for Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR). A second announcement in February confirmed

FEATURE

the creation of 150 new skilled jobs and 40 apprentice/graduate roles. Around 80 per cent of the jobs will be created in Derby.

Trouble with Thameslink When Siemens was awarded the contract to supply new trains for Thameslink it was viewed widely as an attack on the UK’s train manufacturing industry. Siemens would argue that, whether or not it builds its trains in Britain, it is supporting the industry, employing around 3,000 people within its rolling stock, signalling and electrification businesses.

Steve Scrimshaw, managing director, rail systems at Siemens, believes the UK plays a crucial role in its rolling stock business. He said, ‘If you reflect on it and say do we have a factory where trains are assembled in the UK and you have a train coming out the door no we don’t. But we certainly have a huge manufacturing presence within the UK overall, with almost 14,000 employees and 13 factories. This includes our factory in Chippenham where we manufacture signalling equipment for the UK and internationally.

‘We also make significant use of the UK’s rail supply chain on major projects such as the Thameslink Rolling Stock Project, where we are also manufacturing a significant number of hi-tech electrical components and

March 2015 | RailStaff | 19

assemblies at our factory in Hebburn in addition to the wider UK supply chain.’

Siemens currently has 1,600 rail vehicles in the UK. By 2018, this will double to more than 3,000. In order to maintain this growing fleet, Siemens is building new depots at Three Bridges and Hornsey for Thameslink.

In September, Siemens will also contribute to the development of future engineering skills when it opens its new industry training academy in Northampton which is being developed in partnership with the National Skills Academy for Railway Engineering (NSARE).

With Siemens’ current order book and the new contracts on the horizon, Steve said he also would ‘never say never’ to Siemens actually assembling trains on British soil in the future.

‘There’s clearly a lot of investment going on in the rail industry,’ said Steve, speaking about prospects as a whole. ‘It hasn’t been as buoyant for a long time as it has been in the last few years.’

With capacity at a premium there’s never been a better time to get involved in the British rolling stock market. Train builders are preparing now to provide the fleets of the future.

Thameslink Class 700.

Alstom’s Longsight depot in Manchester.

A fairytale ending

FEATURE

20 | RailStaff | March 2015

Report by Marc Johnson

The Midland main line (MML) is described as being something of a ‘Cinderella’ railway. That’s a nice way of saying that it hasn’t seen much in the way of investment in recent years. The East Midlands region in particular has not benefitted from the cash injection seen on routes in other parts of the country.

In CP5, however, the region which gave birth to the railway is finally going to the ball - thanks to an unprecedented portfolio of enhancements. It may be surprising, but the electrification of the MML will cover a distance three quarters the size of the Great Western electrification programme. On top of this technical challenge, the organisations carrying out the work will have to adapt to several major changes being made by Network Rail as to how major projects are planned and delivered.

Unprecedented programme Central to the investment in the Midlands over the next five years is the MML electrification programme.

The project involves extending the electrified route north of Bedford to the East Midlands and South Yorkshire.

This will include 639 single-track kilometres of new OLE. The electrification scheme is one large piece of a bigger puzzle which includes capacity improvement works, station remodelling and resignalling schemes. Altogether, £1.3 billion is being spent upgrading the route and electrifying the line to Derby by 2019 and Sheffield by 2020.

The electrification programme kicks off this year between Bedford and Corby. Route clearance works are already 20 per cent complete.

Another significant bottleneck will be removed through remodelling works at Derby station which will be completed in 2018. The multifaceted portfolio of work around Derby will also include resignalling the route between Derby and Stoke.

Network Rail is investing so much in the East Midlands in order to meet a predicted growth in demand for rail in the region which is expected to rise by 16 per cent by 2019. In January, Network Rail predicted that passenger numbers could increase by as much as 114 per cent by 2043.

Add to that an increased demand for freight capacity.

Long-term planning is needed, and Network Rail has now begun looking beyond 2020 and has published a consultation document for the route which, among other things, includes plans to upgrade the MML to four tracks and separating it from the line to Nuneaton at Wigston Junction within the next 10 years.

Safe Start 2015 The programme is being delivered by the Network Rail Infrastructure Projects East Midlands (IPEM) team, which comprises Network Rail, AMCO, Arup, Atkins, Carillion, Powerlines, Galliford Try and Murphy.

For the past 18 months, the project team has been working together planning, designing and delivering enabling works and, on 29 January, employees from each of the companies came together in the East Midlands for the first time to discuss best practice as the programme moves towards delivery.

Primarily, the focus was on safety and the event provided a platform for the IPEM Safety Leadership Team (SLT), which is made up of the senior leaders from each of the IPEM companies, to set out its safety pledge and ensure that all the companies involved are working to the same ‘Everyone home safe everyday’ philosophy that Network Rail has adopted.

Entitled Safe Start 2015, the event followed a supplier engagement event hosted by Carillion at the start of 2014 for UK companies supporting Network Rail’s Multi Asset Framework Agreement (MAFA) projects.

Held at the exhibition centre behind Donington Park’s famous Dunlop Straight, the event, which was organised by Carillion’s James Steele and his team, offered PPE providers, plant operators and all other corners of the infrastructure supply chain the opportunity to showcase their products and safety innovations.

A series of seminars delivered by SLT members demonstrated the safe work principles that underline each element of delivery from design to the planning of work and welfare on site. On the day, there were 750 attendees, 560 delegates and 160 suppliers.

Richard Walker, Network Rail route delivery director, East Midlands, said that a new way of working had to be adopted in order to deliver the project

FEATURE

and to deliver it safely. Speaking after the event, he said: “We’re not working in an alliance, we’re not working in a contractual collaboration, what we’re trying to do is have people working together for the right reasons.”

Safe Work Leaders Using current figures, IPEM predicts that, unless it does something different, it will suffer 20 major injuries, 200 lost-time injuries and 20,000 close calls during the 20 million man hours required to complete the project. Safe Start is one way in which IPEM aims to improve safety performance by changing mindsets and adopting safety initiatives such as the Plan & Deliver Safe Work (PDSW) programme.

IPEM will be the first project team to employ PDSW and will have the first worksites to employ Safe Work Leaders (SWL). Walker said he felt the partnership model that is being adopted for the Midland main line electrification project would help the roll out of such a significant reform in Network Rail’s planning and safety protocols. He said: “The way that we’re setting up our integrated programme is going to help Safe Work Leader deliver... It complements exactly what we’re doing.”

The SWL will be involved in the planning and will be accountable for the safe delivery of work on-site.

Although the COSS role will remain, they will report to the site SWL, who will have to be employed by either Network Rail or a principal contractor.

Overall, Walker said that he was satisfied that safe delivery of the programme wasn’t a concern for the East Midlands. “I know we’ll have a decent culture,” said Richard, adding: “It’s not something we’re not looking at, it’s something that’s at the forefront of our minds.”

Richard said that just a few weeks on, he was seeing the benefits from the event. He believed that it had already begun to improve communication across the supply chain and the next engagement event is already in the planning.

March 2015 | RailStaff | 21

TRACK SAFETY

22 | RailStaff | March 2015

IF YOU THINK SAFETY IS EXPENSIVE TRY HAVING AN ACCIDENT WE ALL KNOW BETTER TRACK SAFETY FOCUS CAN SAVE LIVES; OFFICE AND SYSTEM FOCUSSED SAFETY INITIATIVES ARE NOT THE ANSWER SAFETY Colin Wheeler colin@rail-media.com

On 22nd January last year John Wright was struck by a train at Newark Northgate Station; he suffered severe injuries and died in hospital nine days later.

He was 49 years of age and had worked on the railway for some 30 years. He was acting as lookout, part of a team of three with an ultrasonic tester and a Controller of Site Safety (COSS). This was routine work on a site with which they were all familiar.

Site visit management checks?

The Safe System of Work (SSoW) was drawn up by the trained planner whose workload according to the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) included producing of up 120 plans each week. The planner rarely went on site and was unfamiliar with the Newark Northgate area.

The SSoW specified Osterfen Level Crossing as the access point despite it being five miles away from the site. The work was just 70 metres to the south of Newark Northgate platform ramps. The team regularly used the Permanent Way Yard access since it was adjacent to the work.

Intermediate and distant lookouts were specified in the SSoW, but the COSS had recalculated the warning times and the team had agreed that one lookout was enough.

The RAIB reports that, “generally safe systems of work have evolved over the years to get the job done in the most flexible and expedient way.”

It adds that internal sample checks have been carried out on SSoW paperwork but the ways in which they are implemented on site were not checked by management.

Platform 3 not Platform 1 The work of the team that day consisted of a series of site surveys where ultrasonic rail testing was to be carried out. Having arrived at the Permanent Way Yard the lookout and tester proceeded to site whilst the COSS checked which test procedure they were to use.

Shortly after 1008 am the London to Newark Northgate train approached en-route to platform 3. It needed to negotiate two crossovers; the driver sounded his horn and the two men acknowledged his warning and moved to their nominated place of safety.

Just before the train reached the first crossover the lookout turned his back on the train and walked towards the station leaving the place of safety as he did so. He moved close to where he had been before the train approached.

The report suggests this was “most probably to check for trains coming from the opposite direction, having decided that the approaching train was proceeding straight into platform 1.”

The tester facing south saw the approaching train and shouted to the lookout that it was “coming across” meaning that it was heading into platform 3. Although the train braked

and sounded a second warning horn, he did not turn to face it until it was too late. The Rule Book states that no one should move out of the position of safety until the COSS has given permission for them to do so.

Three recommendations The RAIB report makes just three recommendations; improving site safety discipline and vigilance, especially for teams doing routine work; improving the implementation of procedures for planning safe systems so working methods minimise the risk to track workers and thirdly improving the competence management process providing training and sufficient working time to enable front line managers to implement procedures.

The lookout had been involved in two previous safety related incidents but had been “assessed in the line” by his line manager to confirm his competence until March 14th. Neither of these incidents had been documented by the line manager.

The most recent occurred near Grantham a month earlier involving the same team. The lookout was walking some 100 metres in front of the other two and was switching off the TOWS (train operated warning system) as he left each section of track leaving the rest of the team unprotected. One team member complained verbally to the line manager and suggested that retraining was needed. The safety briefing was not carried out on site but in the van during the journey to site at Newark Northgate.

TRACK SAFETY

95% red zone working last year The COSS Handbook requires a safety briefing to be given about the work, its location and system of work followed by the signing of a briefing form. It also mandates the COSS to stay with the group to observe and advise for as long as they are on or near the line.

The RAIB report says that the “current AITL (Assessment In The Line) process is not considered by front line staff to be as effective as the previous system; it does not provide periodic refresher training.

However, it recognises ongoing work

by Network Rail that “aims to address skills and behaviours of safety leaders on site.” The report refers to ten years of aiming to reduce the extent of red zone working (i.e. working with lookout protection whilst trains are running) “by encouraging staff to actively consider other ways of protecting track workers”.

Under their standard 019 issue 8 December 2010 Network Rail undertook to monitor work carried out under green and red zone conditions for comparison with their targets.

RAIB report that Doncaster, Finsbury Park and Peterborough all remain at 95% red zone working whilst Bedford achieves just 15 %.

Moston Platform edges At 0620 on the morning of January 28th a Northern Rail train from Manchester Victoria to Rochdale travelling at 68 mph struck displaced platform edge coping stones as it passed through Moston Station.

Fourteen minutes earlier a DB Schenkler freight train travelling from Warrington Arpley to Doncaster had passed through the same platform according to the RAIB. They identified two incorrectly stowed container fixings on the rear wagons as having

March 2015 | RailStaff | 23

struck the platform and displaced the copings. There was only minor damage to the passenger train which did not derail.

RAIB also discovered that the platform edge at Moston was closer to the track than permitted by Railway Standards and that this had been identified by a survey back in July but had not resulted in action before the January incident.

Electrical Fire at Windsor Two days later on January 30th electrical arching caused a fire to break out under the 1953 hours South West train service from Windsor and Eton Riverside to Waterloo. The Class two 458/5 EMU (Electric Multiple Unit) was just 400 metres from Windsor Station when a small bang was heard from under the sixth coach followed by sparking and flashing. The train was only travelling at around 15 mph as smoke began to enter the carriage through the ventilators.

As the driver was speaking to the signaller by radio the fire burnt through the floor of the sixth coach which rapidly filled with smoke. There were just eleven passengers on the train and the fire brigade had extinguished the fire by 2050 hours.

The fire broke out in a junction box under the carriage floor where power from the collector shoes connects to the main power cable or “bus line”.

RAIB are investigating.

Safe Work Initiative For me a number of things stand out.

Planning without the planners visiting the site is wrong. Audits, software records and checks of paperwork are far less important than unannounced listen and learn visits to site by management.

The current initiative with courses

for Safe Task Leaders, Safe Work Leaders (SWL) and Safe Work Managers is backed by new software and has introduced more industry jargon.

Safe Work Leader courses have generated comments in my postbag.

One course attender (a very experienced COSS) advised me that he had begun a course on which he was required to complete a software plan to be submitted to a Planner for checking. The process after planner approval was for it to then be Line Manager approved, returned to the planner and then to the Safe Work Leader who would be required to answer five closed questions before it could be used.

My correspondent was unimpressed by the process. When his course laptop crashed twice on day two of the course and then again on day three he and other COSS’s on the course accepted the trainer’s offer to give up.

The five who stayed the course were all planners, none of whom he tells me had ever been on track. If there is truth in his comments I suggest the

process may need to be simplified to ensure it is easy for track staff to use, otherwise they will inevitably identify easy, flexible, effective and safe ways of doing the work. But surely that is the aim of the SWL initiative?

More time on track needed The principle should surely be to make it easier for track staff to commit to safer working practices. Reducing the paperwork and replacing software solutions with management spending more time out on track supporting their people must be the way forward.

Those who are already doing so should be considered as potential nominees for the Wing Award I suggest.

This month I really must thank those who have written in with their safety concerns. Especially pertinent now as nominations for this year’s Wing Award, made each year in recognition of the individual who is judged to have made the most outstanding contribution to track safety are now invited.

For nominations or details contact: colin.porter@irse.org

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NEWS

26 | RailStaff | March 2015

Douglas Farrington Bids Farewell Douglas Farrington has retired from Signal House Group Ltd after a stunning 61 years service - broken only by two years national service.

Says Doug, ‘I have greatly enjoyed my time in the rail Industry and, as you can imagine, I have seen numerous changes over the years, some of which I believe have been very beneficial, others not quite so, but overall a great industry to work in, and in Signal House Group a really good company to be working for.

‘Over the years, I have made many friends from all areas of the industry and it is fair to say that after 61 years, I am going to miss the day-to-day involvement but equally I am looking forward to my retirement.

Doug Farrington initially worked with Hornchurchbased Middar Automation in Essex, later transferred to Dorking and quickly became an expert on the new gassupplied switch heaters - which stop points freezing.

The job took him on travels from Land’s End to John O’Groats as well as Switzerland and Turkey where his equipment was installed on the Ankara to

Costain Marks Training Dividend Costain’s rail sector is pushing ahead with a new rail training scheme designed to help civil engineers and other professionals prepare to work on the railway.

The news comes as Costain announced another strong performance last year with increases in revenue and underlying operating profit, a record order book of £3.5 billion and a recommended final dividend of 6.25 pence per share.

Bulgaria border line. During these visits, Doug became somewhat concerned when he was informed that his English would be initially translated into Japanese for the main contractor and then from Japanese into Turkish for the end user.

The group then found itself on the move again as the then managing director decided to retire and sell the company. This move eventually led them to Leighton Buzzard, and the current site that today’s owners, Signal House Group Ltd, operate their signalling operation from.

During his years, Doug has dealt with many hundreds of rail contractors and operators going back from British

The new training programme has been successfully trialled with ABC Electrification Limited, the Costain, Alstom and Babcock joint venture which is delivering electrification programmes in the Scotland, Wales, Midlands and Great Western regions.

The training covers all aspects of the railway, including a comprehensive introduction, technical information and safety. Following a successful trial, the programme will be made available to joint venture partners, the supply chain and customers.

‘Rail is an exciting and challenging place to work. This course provides the fundamental knowledge and tools to ensure a smooth and efficient transition that will benefit both the individuals and our customers,’ says rail systems director Paul Williams.

Rail to Network Rail, becoming personal friends with many that he has done business with over the years.

The Signal House Group brings together three specialised engineering companies offering substantial experience in railway signalling. The group includes civil engineering and installation experts, Collis Civil Engineering, structural engineering and new piling systems from Collis Engineering Ltd, as well as LED signal heads from Signal House Ltd. Doug with Signal House Group directors (L-R) Peter Roberts, chairman, Peter Hobbs, managing director, Doug Farrington and Andy Leafe, finance director.

Helping Hands for Harbury Thanks to railway staff and engineers pushing ahead at Harbury, the railway between Leamington Spa and Banbury is to reopen on Friday, 13 March - three weeks earlier than originally expected.

It’s all down to railway staff and Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin issued a public thank you.

‘Having seen the scale of the challenge, I congratulate Network Rail’s engineers on reopening the line faster than expected. There is, of course, a longer term task in trying to make sure this sort of disruption does not happen in future.’

The silver lining of the Harbury Crisis is a re-commitment to railway investment.

‘This landslip shows the importance of making our railways fit for the 21st century,’ said McLoughlin.

Andy Cooper, managing director of CrossCountry, also paid tribute to the Orange Army, ‘The early completion of the work is great news

as we will again be able to provide through journeys by train for our long distance and local customers.

‘We are grateful to Network Rail’s engineers for getting the line open again before the busy Easter holidays.’

The route between Birmingham and London Marylebone, the Thames Valley, south coast and the port of Southampton is used by 130 passenger and freight trains a day. It has been closed since 31 January following a 350,000 tonne landslip near Harbury, a few miles south of Leamington Spa. Staff and contractors from Network Rail and Murphy have worked 24 hours a day to repair the landslip and the railway will reopen less than six weeks after the landslip occurred.

Says Mark Carne, chief executive of Network Rail, ‘Harbury cutting has suffered from landslips for more than 150 years. We have secured the cutting and made it safe and will carry out long-term repairs which will significantly reduce the chances of similar incidents in the future.’

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The Scottish Government has urged all political parties at Westminster to get behind HS2 and bring it to Scotland.

Scottish Infrastructure Secretary Keith Brown decried plans to cut HS2 short in the north of England.

‘Delivering high-speed rail would be the biggest and most transformative transport infrastructure project for Scotland but current plans would see services hit the buffers in Leeds or Manchester,’ says Keith Brown.

‘With the upcoming general election, people in Scotland have the chance to focus minds in Westminster and complete the track to Scotland.’

The Scottish Government wants Scotland to be part of the HS2 scheme and is committed to highspeed rail.

‘High-speed rail is an opportunity to rebalance the economy, spreading economic activity by linking our great cities with faster journey times and better connectivity.

Brown Urges HS2 - Take the High Road

‘Research by Greengauge 21 shows a Manchester to Scotland high-speed link has the potential to generate almost £25 billion for the economy,’ Mr Brown argues. ‘Since 2007, rail travel has increased by 144 per cent

between London and Glasgow; by 191 per cent between Manchester and Scotland; and by 261 per cent between Birmingham and Scotland.

‘Demand for freight is also increasing but line capacity is severely

American takeover for Freightliner The Freightliner Group, one of the most successful management buy-outs of the rail privatisation process, has been acquired by Genesee & Wyoming Inc (G&W) of the USA. The American railroad company, which started as a 14-mile track operation in upstate New York in 1899, has extensive international holdings and wants to deepen its involvement in

Europe. It will acquire Freightliner from Arcapita, which has been the majority shareholder since 2008.

All existing arrangements for Freightliner’s operating companies and their staff will remain unaltered.

Says Russell Mears, chief executive officer of Freightliner Group, ‘Genesee & Wyoming brings additional investment firepower, extended international reach and increased rail infrastructure expertise to add to the

existing strengths of the Freightliner Group. Their commitment to safety and service quality in all activities also mirrors our own values.’

G&W owns short line and regional freight railways in the United States, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and Belgium. In Australia G&W operates the 1,400-mile Tarcoola to Darwin rail line, which links the Port of Darwin with the interstate rail network in South Australia.

constrained.

‘High-speed rail has the potential to bring huge economic benefits to Scotland but also adds Scotland’s economic weight to the overall case for high-speed rail across the UK.’

Million Plus for Stansted

Stansted Express is carrying more passengers than ever.

Passenger numbers were up 21 per cent on 2013 to over 6 million in 2014.

Abellio Greater Anglia, which operates the service says it is the fastest and most comfortable way to get between Central London and the Airport.

Helpful staff and journey times of 47 minutes to London’s Liverpool Street give it the edge over the dreaded M11.

Trains run every 15 minutes.

A new, dedicated customer service desk at Liverpool Street station includes four ticket machines, a flight information display screen and topperforming customer service assistants to help passengers with enquiries, buying tickets and flight and rail information.

NEWS

March 2015 | RailStaff | 29

London Overnight

Nikki wins IT learner award Nikki Palmer has been awarded Stephenson College’s IT Apprentice of the Year 2014.

The London Overground will start running all night at weekends from 2017.

Night-time services will also be expanded on the Metropolitan, Circle, District, and Hammersmith & City lines once Transport for London’s (TfL) ongoing modernisation programmes are completed.

The Docklands Light Rail will offer 24-hour services from 2021. The promise was made in a joint statement

by Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and Mayor of London Boris Johnson as the pair visited track workers and maintenance staff working through the night at Victoria station in London.

However, RMT leader Mick Cash

sounded a note of caution. ‘RMT is not opposed to extended running but there are massive issues on staffing, safety and maintenance which have not been addressed and which would need to be signed off by our reps.

‘This announcement has been made against the backdrop of a near doubling in assaults on staff, cuts to over a thousand jobs and the axing of guards on London Overground.

Night running would mean increased drunkenness and risks to both passengers and staff alike and could only work with substantial increases in staffing right across the board…’

The night running announcement formed part of a further commitment to invest in London’s heavily used rail transport infrastructure.

Bridge to the Future Local students, railway planners and engineers plan to work together on a new railway bridge over the Midland Main Line connecting the north and south elements of the Great Central Railway.

Nikki works as a retail assistant in the booking office at Beeston station, Nottinghamshire, for East Midlands trains. She joined the railway 14 years ago and has been based at Beeston for the last five years.

Her shift pattern meant that a collegebased course at a regular time each week was not an option. Nikki turned to the IT apprenticeship scheme delivered

by Stephenson College where she could be assessed and trained in the workplace at times to suit her.

Cheryl Duncan-Ratcliff is Nikki’s assessor and nominated Nikki for her award. ‘I feel that Nikki deserves this award as she has been an outstanding and positive student throughout her course. She started her programme in October 2013. She has grasped the challenge of her return to education, having left school at 16 with nine GCSEs. ‘She has developed her IT skills throughout the course and her confidence has grown with her progress.

She works independently and on her own initiative, yet isn’t afraid to ask for

Local school children in Leicestershire will help create the new railway and replacement bridge thanks to a partnership between Network Rail and the Great Central Railway.

Says Tom O’Connor, who heads RailStaff’s publisher Rail Media, based up the road in Coalville, ‘Everyone agrees the railway needs to capture the interest of young people and inspire them to take up rewarding and durable careers in the industry. Bridge to the Future is an excellent example of young and old coming together to forge a new, better and more powerful railway.’

The ‘Bridge to the Future’ project will give students hands-on experience of how STEM subjects play a vital part in railway design. The project will reinstate a 500-metre section of the Great Central Railway – the UK’s only double-track, main line heritage railway.

Students at three Loughborough schools, Charnwood College, Limehurst Academy and Woodbrook Vale High School are taking part. The eight-week programme will take students through the process of building a bridge.

Work will include a complete ecological and wildlife survey, testing ground stability through geotechnical surveys and the planning, design and construction

‘I’m glad all my hard work paid off and I am privileged to have been given such an opportunity’ guidance when necessary.

‘She balances her shifts working in the booking office with both family and course commitments. She is conscientious, always cheerful and a great role model for a successful IT Apprenticeship in the rail industry.’

‘I’m glad all my hard work paid off and I am privileged to have been given such an opportunity,’ said Nikki. ‘I would encourage anyone with self motivation to give it a shot. I look forward to taking on Level 3 for 2015 and any possible avenues this will take me down in the future.’

All of this could not have happened without the ongoing working relationship between Stephenson College and Union Learning at EMT. ASLEF education project worker Chris Nutty was the instigator in organising Nikki’s course.

of the embankments and bridges. Not over looked will be the hoops the railway has to go through to obtain planning consent. Cost analysis will also be addressed.

At the end of the project, students will design and build a model of the bridge based on the specifications for the bridge which will carry Great Central Railway’s steam trains over the Midland Main Line.

Engineers and project managers from Network Rail, AMCO, Carillion and Murphy will take lead roles during the programme.

Says Lili Tabiner, Great Central Railway, ‘The Bridge to the Future project is a complex feat of civil engineering, but before any structure is built a lot of work is needed so the new railway can operate for many years.

‘Experts are guiding us through every stage of the process and each of these disciplines requires specialist skills that are obtained through the study of STEM subjects. By taking students on site visits, and through the guidance of engineers working on the scheme, we hope the project will encourage more students to take up science, technology, engineering and maths.’

YOUNG RAIL PROFESSIONALS

30 | RailStaff | March 2015

Spring Flowering for

Young Rail Professionals March Corporate Membership Drive

With the advent of spring comes the blooming of a new Young Rail Professionals (YRP) calendar of activities. March will see the election of new executive officers, including the new YRP chair, and a new wave of opportunities to encourage and support young people in their pursuit of fulfilling rail industry careers.

An explosion of growth, driven by our current YRP leadership and soon to be sustained by our new YRP leadership, has led to YRP becoming the best and most widely known resource to engage with young professionals and attract young people into the industry.

Paul Case, our YRP external relations manager, sums it up well, ‘With support from our corporate members, YRP has managed to deliver an ambitious programme of activities in 20142015, holding more networking and development events than in any other year and inspiring talented people to join the industry through our award-

Like the crocuses of spring, YRP activities require the support of external agents to coax a new crop of budding railway professionals, in order to ensure that YRP will provide terrible attempts at extended metaphors, time and time again.

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winning YRP Ambassador scheme.

‘As we continue to grow - our membership has doubled in the last year - we plan to exceed last year’s ambitions and deliver even more benefits to the industry.’

As a not-for-profit company run by a committee of passionate volunteers, YRP relies on corporate support through our membership programme to provide all of the fantastic benefits to young people and to our stakeholders.

If your company would be interested in supporting and working with YRP, we’re now offering memberships for 2015-2016 and would love to hear from you. Our corporate membership deliverables increase each year, as the scope and influence of YRP goes from strength to strength.

YRP events To show you the value enabled by the corporate membership resources, we’d like to share with you some of the exciting upcoming events in the YRP calendar which showcase the growing regional influence across Great Britain.

YRP events are specifically tailored to be relevant and interesting to young people, and you can always be assured of a young and vibrant crowd in attendance; we aim to have both the development and the networking aspects provide worthwhile use of our members’ valuable evening time.

In London, 10-11 March, YRP is offering free tickets to MetroRail World Congress and also an opportunity for young people to pitch their railway technology innovations in a Dragons’ Den-style competition to senior railway executives.

Further north, in Birmingham, on 11 March, we have the YRP West Midlands Regional Branch launch event, where both government and industry will have a presence amongst the evening’s speakers, to discuss the future of railways in the region. The evening

also includes networking drinks and a buffet, and both young professionals and managers alike are encouraged to attend to learn what YRP can offer in the region.

Further North Even further north still, in Manchester, on 19 March, we have the YRP North West Regional Branch launch event, which will also see illustrious speakers, drinks, and a buffet amongst the fantastic setting of the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry. Once again, we encourage both young and senior rail professionals to attend, to engage with our regional branch and help shape its future.

Going strong is our YRP East Midlands branch, with a full slate of events for the next month. On 30 March, in Derby, they will host a Network Rail seminar on the Midland Main Line Electrification Project. Following the wide-reaching success of the recent London YRP-STEMNET induction day, YRP East Midlands is leading the charge to increase regional outreach, hosting a YRP-STEMNET induction session in Derby on 9 April. Adding to the cornucopia of offerings, 23 April will

YOUNG RAIL PROFESSIONALS

March 2015 | RailStaff | 31

© SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

also see an exclusive visit to Progress Rail Services and an aspirational seminar on how rail managing directors can help drive growth and success in the railway industry for the next decade.

Five Secrets A new and exciting area of development for YRP is our upcoming co-hosted conference for undergraduates, the YRP-Network Rail Digital Railway Conference in London, on 16 March. Following the conference is an open networking session, which will see YRP, Network Rail employees and undergraduate conference attendees have an opportunity to discuss the themes of the day.

If you know of keen undergraduates who would like a free place and sponsored travel to attend the Digital Railway Conference, please have them visit the YRP website to sign up.

Also in London, on 19 March, we have a great seminar, ‘5 Secrets the Project Management Books Won’t Tell You’, that will provide exciting insight into how to manage major projects.

Showcasing the outreach by our YRP Ambassadors, our Joint University

Presentation Programme has seen nearly 20 YRP presentations this year to promote the railway industry as a career path, with another 20 to go, and could use the support of more YRP members and young railway employees to ensure its success.

We still have a few tickets left for the YRP Annual Black Tie Dinner on 16 April, with keynote speaker Simon Kirby, and nominations are still open through March 11 for the YRP of the Year Award, to showcase the glittering talents of young rail professionals.

If anyone would like to become involved in organising future YRP events, performing outreach activities to promote the railway industry as a career choice and developing opportunities for young people to be recognised and prioritised in the wider railway industry, then you are of course welcome to come to our open Quarterly YRP Executive Committee Meeting on 10 March, where we will discuss all of these efforts and how you can get involved. To find out how to support YRP through corporate membership, you can contact Paul Case, YRP external relations manager, at paul.case@youngrailpro.com

YOUNG RAIL

PROFESSIONALS

YRP THANKS THE TREMENDOUS SUPPORT OF ITS 2014-2015 CORPORATE MEMBERS

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CORPORATE MEMBERSHIP IS NOW OPEN FOR 2015-2016

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NEWS

32 | RailStaff | March 2015

Virgin - Stays on Top Virgin Trains is supporting British dairy farmers by stocking regionally sourced fresh milk on its trains.

Dairy farmers get a raw deal from supermarkets and cutting out the middle man could help.

Fresh milk will be supplied from dairies along the West Coast Main Line and will be delivered to the nearest Virgin Trains depot for loading onto trains.

Typical suppliers include Yester Farm in Edinburgh. The family-run

farm strives to keep food prices low by completing the entire production process on site, from milking through to pasteurisation.

Says Simon McCreery, managing director of Yester Farm, ‘We know that supplying on such a scale whilst remaining environmentally friendly is difficult and it’s testament to Virgin Trains’ ethos that they’ve made this move to support local farmers.’

Over 300,000 litres of fresh milk will be used across the 300 Virgin Trains services that run each day.

Monumental Folly

It’s not just Chelsea fans who are under fire for using abusive and violent language on trains this month. A hot-tempered commuter on the London Underground picked the wrong passenger to swear at when he told a man standing in front of him at Monument station to ‘Go f*** yourself’. The passenger, although insulted, did not react to the fiery outburst. Matt Buckland had in fact moved aside to let a woman off the train and so blocked Mr Angry’s egress from the carriage.

To his surprise later that day, Matt, who is head of recruitment at investment firm Forward Partners, found himself interviewing the foul-mouthed

passenger for a job. He posed several questions about good manners and how to behave on public transport. ‘I think it crept up on him slowly as my questions became more and more tube related,’ said Matt. The applicant laughed it off but did not get the job as a web site designer.

Matt Buckland said he was not right for the role. Now it looks like his career is off-line after an obscene line on the Circle line.

Monument station stands near the 62-metre high doric column monument to the Great Fire of London which started at nearby Pudding Lane in 1666. Meanwhile Matt is still keeping his cool as TfL pushes ahead with plans to expand capacity on the District and Circle lines.

training for this flagship project.

The scope of the contract, which runs for five years, includes capacity management, network planning, train planning, passenger station operations, engineering, asset management and infrastructure management. Serco will provide technical assistance and interim management and training for passenger services. The Freightliner

Group will provide similar expertise for freight operations.

The Saudi Railway Company is a government owned company established in 2006 by the investment arm of Saudi Arabian Ministry of Finance. The 2,750 km North South Railway is one of the largest rail projects currently under construction in the world.

Saudi Win for UK Rail A rail industry consortium has won a contract with the Saudi Railway Company to manage the new North South Railway.

Network Rail Consulting, Serco and Freightliner have joined together to provide management and technical support for infrastructure, freight and passenger operations.

Says Nigel Ash, managing director of Network Rail Consulting, ‘That a joint British bid has won this prestigious contract against strong international competition demonstrates that we have the right blend of knowledge, experience and expertise within our industry.’

Saudi Arabia’s North South Railway is an ambitious project that will link the capital, Riyadh, with the Jordanian border, including a second line

branching off to connect with Zabirah and then the coast at Ras Al-Khair on the Persian Gulf.

The new railway will carry passengers but is heavily focussed on freight and will work with the bauxite mining operation at Zabirah and phosphates at Hasm Al Jalamid in the north.

Network Rail Consulting will provide technical assistance, management and

FEATURE

34 | RailStaff | March 2015

Labour supply shake-up

Report by Nigel Wordsworth Network Rail has announced significant changes to the way it sources contingent labour – the temporary workers that the company hires in to supplement its own staff for particular jobs and projects.

At the same time, London Underground is to adopt the ‘Sentinel 2’ ID card for engineering and maintenance workers. This is the same card that Network Rail introduced at the end of 2013 and the move will effectively create a UK standard industry ‘pass’ for engineering and maintenance personnel who work on the railways.

Speaking exclusively to RailStaff, Nick Elliott, managing director of Network Rail’s supply chain, says, ‘We started with a fundamental review of how contingent labour is used across the whole supply chain, which suppliers they were using and where those people were coming from. We split the country up into contracting units so we had a better way of providing localised support to the individual areas.

‘We then looked at how we could assign contracts based on that geographical split, driving better local accountability, less distance to move people around, having a better source of supply in the geographical areas that we wanted to use the people in.

‘At the same time we were absolutely clear that we wanted to de-commoditise the whole supply chain division of labour. It’s become clear over a period of time that it has turned into a commodity industry,

FEATURE

March 2015 | RailStaff | 35

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FEATURE

36 | RailStaff | March 2015

and these are people we are talking about, people who need to be trained, people who need to be dealt with in the right and fair way if we are going to get the right outputs from them.

‘So the whole process was about looking at what our operational need was from a geographic and a localised business perspective and also about how we might raise the bar in terms of the treatment, the safety provision, the training and the equipping of our contingent labour workforce.

‘That’s how we came up with both the contractual arrangements that we’ve put in place and the code of conduct for labour that underpins the requirements that we’re asking the suppliers to adhere to.’

57 reduced to 20 As a result of this exercise, Network Rail has reduced the number of contingent labour suppliers from 57 to just four core suppliers and 16 specialists in the fields of electrification & plant, signalling & telecommunications, protection and welding. There will be a primary and secondary core supplier for each geographical area, as well as contracts for the various specialisms. In total, the contracts add up to a minimum of £450 million over five years from 1 April 2015.

The new arrangements refer only to Network Operations (the maintenance organisation) at this stage, although Infrastructure Projects is also able to take advantage of them. So far, the first part of IP to decide to adopt the new contracts is plain line track renewals which is, in any case, a major user of contingent labour.

The new code of conduct applies to all labour suppliers, whether they are one of the 20 involved in the new contracts or any other company supplying IP direct or even any of Network Rail’s contractors. It applies to all labour supply anywhere, from office cleaners to on-track engineers.

One of the provisions of the code of conduct is that the London living wage must be paid, as a minimum, to everyone working in the capital. It doesn’t, at this stage, mandate that the national living wage has to be paid

outside of London. Says Nick, ‘It’s not absolutely mandated at the moment but it’s something we’re working on through our HR department.’

Zero hours contracts are, and have been for some time, a bone of contention in the industry. That too is being addressed.

‘As I said, we are working hard to de-commoditise labour supply and therefore we are very keen to work with our suppliers towards greater and increased directly-employed labour on committed hours contracts. We are not in a position to mandate that, but we are absolutely committed to get them to move towards that.

‘We need to understand the challenges our suppliers face but we are determined to increase the proportion of the workforce who are on committed-hours contracts. But determined to make sure that they are all adhering to the tax provisions and they are all providing fair employment for their employees.’

In a secondary announcement, it was revealed that Network Rail will be taking on 500 employees of AmeyColas as operation of the high-output machines that work on the track is pulled back in-house.

LUCAS out, Sentinel 2 in Just one day after Network Rail’s announcement concerning labour supply contracts came news that London Underground will be adopting

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FEATURE

38 | RailStaff | March 2015

the Sentinel 2 card as its worker ID in the future. This will replace the current LUCAS card, although the latter will remain valid until they expire.

Sentinel 2 ID cards store information about the card-holder electronically and can be accessed and verified in a number of ways, including via a smartphone app. On-site, up-to-date information can now be more easily referenced. Initially, the minimum competency requirement for a contractor to access LU infrastructure will be recorded in Sentinel (the Industry Common Induction plus an LU endorsement) with more competences being rolled in over the coming

months. In the future, information on working hours will also be available to help avoid what’s known as ‘doubleshifting’.

In an exclusive interview, TfL’s programme director of infrastructure George McInulty explained his thinking.

‘I’ve worked for London Underground for the last 30-odd years and in all that time it appears to me there has been very little convergence between Network Rail and LU, now TfL (including Docklands Light Railway and London Overground).

‘That confuses, or has the potential to confuse, the supply chain that we both use – we both use the same

people - and it also doesn’t exploit the synergies that there are between our two organisations. It adds complexity and it adds cost.

‘So over the last few years we have been looking at opportunities where we can work together. This seems to me to be a bit of a no-brainer. We have our own system, LUCAS, which is effectively the London Underground contractor system, and that is up for renewal. So we needed to do something and renewing the LUCAS system with its inherent out-datedness seemed to be the wrong thing to do. It just seemed eminently sensible that, as Network Rail was developing and moving on to Sentinel 2, that we join forces rather than reinvent the wheel.

‘Historically, where we’ve found contractors who are misbehaving, whether that be double-shifting or whether they are just in flagrant disregard of our rules and have therefore been barred from our system then the next day they could be working on Network Rail - and vice versa. So bringing this view of the complete landscape to the industry is actually, I think, a really fundamental and great step.

‘And actually it’s cheaper for the supply chain as well!’

So there were two major announcements in two days, which add up to the biggest shake-up of labour supply to the industry for some time.

Comments from the new core suppliers Andy Pendlebury, Ganymede, ‘This is a significant achievement for Ganymede and the RTC Group as a whole. Ganymede has steadily established itself as one of the UK’s most respected contingent labour suppliers, with safety being at the core of the business. We look forward to supporting Network Rail in line with the code of conduct to further improve safety performance on the rail infrastructure.’

Sean McGinley, McGinley Support Services, ‘We are pleased to have been selected as one of the four main Network Rail contingent labour suppliers for CP5. As we mobilise, we recognise that Network Rail’s Code of Conduct is the new standard for rail related service delivery in the UK and have already invested significantly in a higher level of health, safety and wellbeing for our workforce. We look forward to helping Network Rail reach their objectives with a fully compliant Code of Conduct service from the 1st April 2015.’

Ged Mason, Morson Group, ‘This is the major contingent labour contract for the UK, and will set the standard across the rail industry.

There is a core emphasis on health and safety, training, pay and the supply of compliant workers; this has been a primary focus for Morson for the near-four decades we have supplied to the UK rail industry and we fully support this approach, as do our sister companies.’

Steve Gallucci, Shorterm, ‘Shorterm is delighted to be awarded such a prestigious contract to supply to Network Rail after such a rigorous tender process. We look forward to working in partnership with Network Rail through CP5 and beyond to deliver a safe, competent workforce and bringing new entrants into the sector.’

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FEATURE

40 | RailStaff | March 2015

ROC and Role

Over the next few years, Network Rail is replacing the traditional signal box with 12 Rail Operating Centres (ROCs) and an advanced traffic management system which will make the railway safer, more efficient and easier to run. Six of the ROCs are brand new and that presents a number of challenges.

Virgin East Coast carried its first passengers on 1 March. The following day train company staff arrived at York ROC to work alongside Network Rail employees. It’s an example of the collaborative working structure that will be recreated around the country over the next couple of years.

‘At the moment it’s still very much early days,’ said Simon Whitehorn, Network Rail’s head of network operating strategy.

Bringing TOCs together with Network Rail in the same building will in part help reduce the impact on passengers in times of disruption, at least that’s the plan. For some, the transition will require them to adapt from using mechanical levers to digital displays and from occupying lonely signal boxes to busy offices.

Simon said, ‘That’s a big cultural shift for people, so people who have been used to working as a lone signaller

in a remote signal box somewhere [are] suddenly coming into a nice new building.’

He added, ‘The process of engagement with staff, both our own staff and train operator staff, has been paramount throughout all of this because when you’re creating these facilities you have to create them with a view as to how people are going to work in them. What’s the environment going to be. ’We’re doing a lot of work around the cultural change aspects that sit around this because actually we’re going to be taking people who are used to working alone and putting them in an environment where they’re working as part of a much bigger team. That’s something I think sometimes gets forgotten about. People focus on the facilities.’

A wide-reaching training programme is currently underway to bring signalling staff from some of the older facilities into the ROCs. ‘Clearly everybody knows that over time the number of signalling staff that we have operating the network is reduced, and we’ve always been upfront and honest about that,’ said Simon.

‘We have made sure with the trade unions that we’re not just casting people aside. Where we have to, where

one particular signal box or group of signal boxes closes because their area of operation has gone into the ROC, we are looking at how we re-deploy signallers within reasonable boundaries.

‘We can’t obviously expect people to uproot and commute to locations that are too far away from their home area but we have a migration strategy.’

Over the next 12 months more of these operating centres will go live and begin to take over signalling responsibilities. Rugby goes live in April and will have its first signalling scheme migrated over in August. Romford opens in May and will be one of two centres to become the first to deploy ERTMS in December. Basingstoke will be ready for operational use in June at which point all six of the new-build ROCs will be up and running.

Says Simon, ‘If we have to think things through slightly differently or change our approach and equally even if as a result of getting people into these buildings, we find that we’ve got things wrong in terms of how things have been designed then we will work with them in a collaborative way to adjust and learn lessons.

‘This is not something that’s just going to go in and that’s it get on with it, end of story. We will continue to work and keep the dialogue going.’

FEATURE

March 2015 | RailStaff | 41

The leadership structure across the ROCs will vary from region to region.

Generally, there will be a ROC manager, usually a Network Rail employee, who oversees the day-to-day running of the facility.

Manchester ROC was the first facility to open in July last year. In December, Northern Rail and TransPennine Express joined Network Rail. Once fully operational, up to 400 people will work at Manchester.

Asked about whether Network Rail would have to step in to manage the interests of the network with two competing TOCs either side, Simon said, ‘Clearly there are always issues to be worked through and particularly when there is disruption…’

He added, ‘I know from my previous roles, I was general manager on the West Coast Main Line for four years, at times of disruption the implementation of contingency plans, which train operator might be able to run certain services and which train operator might have to curtail certain services, that’s already pretty much pre-planned through the contingency plans.’

‘Whilst they might work for different organisations they are effectively sat side by side in the same group of desks and it doesn’t matter whether one works for c2c or Network Rail, they know they need to work closely together to deliver the service for the end customer,’ said Simon. ‘It’s like a lot of these things, we have to plan. The proof will only come when we actually implement, and

I guess it will be interesting to review at some point and we will continue to review and learn lessons as we go.’

Ultimately, these facilities have been built for people not computers.

Although the need for a signaller pulling a lever will soon go, people are still, and will be in the future, essential to providing a reliable, punctual, quality rail service.

Manchester ROC.

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42 | RailStaff | March 2015

RAILWAY CHILDREN

All About That Base

An intrepid team of Railway Children supporters is preparing to walk across the roof of the world to Everest Base Camp, as we print.

The expedition to Everest Base Camp and back takes two weeks trekking thousands of metres above sea level and coping with thin air and altitude sickness.

After arriving in Kathmandu, the team will fly to Lukla, rated the most dangerous airstrip in the world at just 460 metres long. Then comes the long trek to the village of Namche Bazaar following the valley of the Dudh Kosi river. The path commands views of some of the highest mountains on Earth including Lhotse and Mount Everest itself. Climbers usually pause for a day or two to acclimatise themselves to the thin air before continuing. The journey continues to Dingboche, a small village perched at 4,530 metres. The Everest Base Camp in Nepal is 5,364 metres above sea level, Everest is 8,848metres.

The team includes Iarnród Éireann’s chief executive David Franks and Johanna Franks, Dyan Crowther, chief operating officer of Govia Thameslink Railway, and Michael Holden, chief executive at Directly Operated Railways. Mac Motraghi, head of bid delivery at Hitachi Rail Europe joins David Taylor, business development director, at Thales and Adam O’Connor, production maestro at Rail Media. Tim Wade, service manager at London Underground, and Dave Gregory, a paramedic in Suffolk, will be trekking along with Dave Thorpe of East Coast Trains and Andy Ridout of advance-TRS. Katie Mason of Railway Children with Simon Johnston, director at Mainspring, the events and publishing business, Darren Morley and Steve Whitehead, both of First TransPennine Express, complete the team.

View from Kala Patthar of Mt. Everest (8848 m) and Nuptse (7864 m) peaks at sunset - Nepal, Himalayas.

RAILWAY CHILDREN

In February, the team met for a practice hike through Edale in the Peak District. ‘It was cold and hard going through snow, but we had a good time,’ said Adam O’Connor. ‘Most of us came together to do the Kilimanjaro trek for the Railway Children and team bonding is essential. All of us were aware that the Himalayas will be colder, tougher and have the added challenge of being at high altitude.’

The expedition includes climbing Kalapatthar with its commanding views of Everest.

‘When we get there we will aim to scale the neighbouring peak of Kalapatthar, which at 5,647m is pretty high and affords an excellent view over the summit of Everest itself,’ says Michael Holden.

‘Having survived the summit climb of Kilimanjaro four years ago, I wanted to set myself just one more extreme challenge in my life. This is it!

March 2015 | RailStaff | 43

Dave Gregory has been preparing for the expedition by completing climbs in Derbyshire and the Cairngorms.

‘I am quite an experienced walker and have done the Three Peaks Challenge twice and walked parts of the French Alps,’ he says, but, ‘this is going to be something different and the environment and altitude will be challenging. Going from 50 metres to more than 5,000 metres above sea level will be quite different to what I’m used to.’

Everyone in the team is aware of the importance of the work of Railway Children. It’s a personal commitment.

Railway Children is an international children’s charity that works to reach homeless children on the streets of Britain, Africa and India. In the UK alone, a child runs away from home every five minutes, forced to flee as a result of poverty, abuse, violence or neglect.

Says Adam O’Connor, ‘Railway Children is my charity for life. I met some of the children that we helped when we climbed Kilimanjaro. I have children now myself and realise just how precious they are.’

It’s a view echoed by Andy Ridout. ’As a father of four myself, hearing some of the horror stories that these children live on a day-to-day basis is extremely harrowing. The innocence of children is a priceless commodity and one which is cruelly taken away by those who seek only to coerce and exploit. For those of us who have children, it’s a cause that hits close to home as we often forget how unfortunate many other children are in this world.’

Andy, a committed triathlete, has been training all winter, running, cycling and getting in plenty of gym work.

Mount Everest continues to fire the imagination. Edmund Hillary, from New Zealand, and Tenzing Norgay, of Nepal, reached the top in 1953. The pair took photographs of each other and buried a few sweets and a small cross in accordance with local custom before descending.

‘Railway Children is my charity for life.

I met some of the children that we helped when we climbed Kilimanjaro.

I have children now myself and realise just how precious they are.’

Adam O’Connor, Production Manager, Rail Media

NEWS

44 | RailStaff | March 2015

Borders Backing for CRP Scotland’s sixth Community Rail Partnership on the newly restored Borders Railway has been launched by Scottish transport cabinet secretary Keith Brown.

The Association of Community Rail Partnerships’ (ACoRP) Annette Filby, development officer – Scotland South, is helping to develop the new CRP. ‘The partnership is open to all groups and organisations along the length of the line who would like to be involved,’ says Annette.

‘An action we plan to undertake in the coming months are drop in sessions near each station to share information on the plans for the new stations and the ways in which the local communities can get involved.’

The Borders Railway Community Partnership covers the length of the line from Edinburgh Waverley to

Tweedbank and will work closely with community groups, regional organisations and local businesses.

‘Community Rail Partnerships are an excellent initiative to drive community involvement in local railway lines.

‘The Scottish Government has supported the Borders Railway because of the significant economic and social benefit for the region.

I believe that the Borders Railway Community Partnership will help to ensure that these benefits will be felt throughout the communities,’ says Keith Brown.

The Scottish Government has joined with ACoRP to help develop Community Rail Partnerships in Scotland.

Says ACoRP general manager Neil Buxton, ‘ACoRP is pleased to be able to help set up this the sixth Community Rail Partnership in Scotland.

‘The communities are starting to

see the benefits of working together in partnership and we are looking forward to helping the Borders Railway Community Partnership to achieve positive outcomes.’

John Mitchell, from the Scottish Borders Council, welcomed the CRP, ‘Travelling by train will be a new experience for many within the Borders

Forth Bridge Fly Past The centre piece of a week of celebrations to mark the 125th anniversary of the world’s most iconic railway crossing, the Forth Bridge, saw a fly past by a replica Spitfire and RAF Typhoon fighter jet.

Scottish Transport Secretary Keith Brown and Transport Scotland’s chief executive, David Middleton, witnessed the fly past.

Pupils from Edinburgh’s James Gillespie Primary School sat enthralled as Edward Thomson described how he had witnessed a German bombing raid from the bridge. This took place on 16 October, 1939, and was the first German bomber raid of World War Two on British soil. It was also the first time that Spitfires had attacked German planes and resulted in the first German prisoners of war (POWs). The target of the raid was actually three warships rather than the bridge as was reported at the time.

Edward witnessed the raid as a 10-year-old boy from a train travelling over the bridge. As was traditional at the time, he threw a lucky penny into the

water as the train passed over the bridge and at the same time saw huge splashes as the German bombs fell.

Describing the Forth Bridge as a ‘majestic icon’, Keith Brown noted that it looked resplendent in its new paint job.

For the future, Network Rail’s design development work on a visitor centre to

take the public to the top of the bridge is well advanced. Historic Scotland is closely involved in the development of this facility which could help their application for the bridge to be given World Heritage Status.

The bridge is already inspiring the next generation of railway engineers.

and Midlothian Communities and the partnership will support people as they discover the advantages of using the train.

‘We are keen to make sure that the social and economic benefits are spread throughout the Borders region and not just those towns and villages which have stations.’

Conductors take the train Ten new conductors have completed their training at Abellio Greater Anglia.

The group joined the railway in October last year and graduated earlier this month.

The newly qualified conductors will be based at Ipswich, London Liverpool Street and Norwich.

Trainee conductors participate in a 16-week training programme, studying all the operational, commercial and passenger requirements of the job.

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46 | RailStaff | March 2015

OPERATIONS FOCUS

Get Social!

Report by Marc Johnson Train operators worked out early on just how useful social media could be as a tool for communicating with passengers.

Only recently, I lost my wallet on a train. It’s a familiar nightmare scenario which this modern communication channel is helping to resolve.

Social media provides an extra point of contact for passengers. We can now check to see if it has been found and ask the operator directly where it might be.

YouTube turned 10 in February. Twitter will celebrate its first decade in business next year as well and Facebook has only recently passed the same milestone. It shows just how quickly social media has grown.

Social media is used as a commercial tool to promote ticket sales and offers, but its value lies in carrying real-time information about delays and cancellations. Social media and improved compatibility with mobile devices has made it much easier for operators to get information to passengers wherever they might be.

OPERATIONS FOCUS

Twitter in particular has allowed operators to begin a direct dialogue with passengers and respond instantly to queries and complaints. The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has been monitoring this. The regulator believes social media could be a factor in the overall downward trend in complaints. Social media allows operators to explain to passengers why their train is late and can satisfy a frustrated passenger who may have otherwise written a formal letter of complaint to the company.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly The problem for the ORR is that traditional ways of measuring complaints don’t really work with social media. That is why the ORR is meeting with TOCs to try and identify a way they can reliably capture and analyse the thousands of messages being posted online every day.

Another important role of social media for the ORR is how it allows TOCs to provide passengers with vital information when there is disruption on the network. There is one downside though.

‘Not everybody is on social media, not everyone is using a smart phone,’ said Ankeeta Munsi, corporate communications and digital engagement manager at the ORR. Although the trend is moving toward the use of social media, the difficulty lies in predicting how technology may change in the next five to 10 years.

In a paper published last year, the ORR highlighted some social media successes. One example came from South West Trains which had responded to a tweet about a broken passenger information screen at a station by first fixing the screen and then telling the passenger who sent the original tweet to ‘look up’. But a good social media presence is becoming the standard practice not the exception. Passengers presume that operators have manned Twitter and Facebook accounts.

March 2015 | RailStaff | 47

Ankeeta believes that good social media engagement is now just part of everyday life for operators. ‘Passengers expect real-time information and transparency, because technology now allows it in other aspects of daily life.’

However, there is one big problem social media poses for train operators. When trains are late or cancelled, disgruntled passengers often take to Twitter or Facebook to vent. Public dissatisfaction has never been so public and if not properly handled, what may have been a well thought out communications strategy can quickly turn into a PR disaster.

Sophie Denton, a social media manager at Virgin Trains, believes social media is becoming a central part of Virgin’s customer service strategy. ‘We’ve established the biggest Twitter following in the rail industry in a pretty short space of time, which is a great achievement,’ says Sophie.

‘It’s completely transformed what we do and how we interact with a lot of our customers. A few years ago, the main points of contact could be getting your ticket checked, going through the station or to the onboard shop. Now we can answer questions in a few minutes when the train manager might be two carriages away.’

She added, ‘The great thing about the job is that every day is different and you never quite know what you’re going to come to work to find. On a daily basis, I deal with everything from delays and complaints to advice on journeys, and banter with our customers who just want to have a bit of a chat during the day.

‘We’ve seen some amazing examples of what can be done on Twitter, including the infamous ‘Poogate’ saga where we helped one customer who was stuck in a toilet without loo roll. But there’s so much that goes on every day under the radar that this just touches the surface. I think it’s made a big difference to our ability to improve customers’ journeys and we’re proud to do this in a very Virgin way.’

Analysis The increasingly important role Twitter plays for train operators was highlighted in a report commissioned by Commute London, a team of rail industry researchers who analyse passenger tweets real time to identify issues on the network.

Using a clever sentiment analysis algorithm the team were able to identify the main issues that are leading to passengers directing their tweets at train operators. Unsurprisingly the three main reasons were cancellations, overcrowding and delays.

Commute London suggested that operators should use social media channels to create more of a dialogue with customers and crucially to use the data gathered to inform the whole business. Some operators are already doing this. Northern has said that it analyses its social media interactions daily.

The report didn’t just focus on what operators need to do better, however. Its final recommendation was to passengers, urging them to use sites like Twitter and Facebook to provide constructive feedback to train operators and not just for a moan.

In the end, my wallet was retrieved through a more traditional method, thanks to a helpful ticket barrier guard who rang the next station down and asked if they would scour the carriages for it. But social media played its part. A few minutes after messaging the operator, London Midland, I was given a list of phone numbers for all the stations where it could have made its way to. Social media may not be a substitute for actually having a member of staff in front of you but it gives passengers confidence that there is always someone available to listen and help.

OPERATIONS FOCUS

48 | RailStaff | March 2015

Power Performance for UKPNS UK Power Networks Services (UKPNS) has been awarded the British Standard Institution’s BS 11000:2010 for managing Collaborative Business Relationships.

The company, which runs safe, sustainable electricity networks for the UK’s major infrastructure industries - including rail - plans to introduce the standard across all relevant UKPNS Collaborative Relationship programmes.

UKPNS has been involved in the landmark construction of Section 1 and 2 of High Speed 1 and the £130 million power upgrade of supplies to the Southern Region.

In London itself, UKPNS has been busy on project works on the Thameslink

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The Department for Transport (DfT) has published procurement documents for the East Anglia route, officially launching the competition to find the new franchise operator.

Abellio has operated the franchise since February, 2012. The two-year franchise was extended in 2014 for a further two years to allow a long-term contract to be drawn up.

The new operator will take over services on the route from October 2016.

Pre-qualification for the Greater Anglia franchise is now open.

Successful bidders will be able to submit a detailed proposal later this year.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said, ‘East Anglia has a thriving economy and I want it to be served by the best train services possible.

‘Giving the region train services fit for the 21st century is vital to connecting people with jobs and businesses with customers. Good transport is central to our long-term economic plan.’

OPERATIONS FOCUS

March 2015 | RailStaff | 49

Cork Line Upgrade to cut journey times Report by Tim Casterton During 2015 Iarnród Éireann (IE) plans to invest €10 million on track improvements on the main Dublin to Cork line with most work concentrated on the 80-kilometre stretch between Hazelhatch in County Kildare and Portlaoise.

Work will take place at weekends between March and November excluding the holiday period in July and August - and will involve the removal and replacement of degraded ballast, track drainage work and the track geometry will be improved.

Works will progress during 34-hour

long possessions and a 54-hour possession over the Easter holiday. IE estimates that up to 80,000 tonnes of ballast will be required.

As a prelude to the introduction of faster running on the Cork to Dublin line, a new non-stop morning peak time service will be introduced after Easter this year. By the end of 2016 much of the route between Hazelhatch and Portlaoise will be available for 100mph running and this will shave around eight minutes off journey times to the west and Limerick.

Additional works over the following two years, including the removal

of level crossings and some bridge work, will allow a further journey time reduction from the current two hours 30 minutes to around two hours 15 minutes from Cork to Dublin.

Since the boom years of ‘the Celtic Tiger’ when motorway construction led to a loss of passengers from rail to private cars and coaches, passenger numbers on the Cork route have been eroded. The speeding up of services aims to build on recent successes in post-recession rebuilding of passenger journey numbers.

2014 was a pivotal year for IE, the first year for some time when overall

passenger numbers increased, with journeys over the year up by around one million more than in 2013.

Finances over the last few years have become critical due to reduced use of rail as a direct result of the recession.

However by tailoring operations to fit circumstances and looking at niche markets such as sporting events, tourism from cruise ships and major concerts, the generation of some additional revenue has been achieved and it is expected that faster journey times on the principal inter-city route will give further opportunity to increase revenue.

OPERATIONS FOCUS

50 | RailStaff | March 2015

Bigger Role for Conductors at Northern Northern Rail has unveiled a spruced-up fleet of Class 319 EMUs for use on the newly electrified railway on the Liverpool Lime Street-Manchester Airport route and is developing a new, enhanced, role for onboard staff.

Amidst continuing controversy about rolling stock capacity, Northern took delivery of the first of 20 units last summer. Since then, staff have been working hard to smarten up the 25-yearold trains. The new Northern Electrics sport a new exterior livery created by noted designer Ray Stenning. The refresh also brings the addition of extra handsets for the public announcement system in the middle carriages of the train and conductor door control panels at all doors of the unit.

RailStaff recently boarded a Northern Electric train at Liverpool South Parkway station as part of the operator’s driver training programme. Following approval from the ORR, the first electric passenger

service was launched between Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Airport on 5 March, with more units due to go into service throughout the year.

Eagle-eyed passengers will notice that the branding of the Northern Electrics varies from the rest of the fleet. The logic is that the Electrics represent a shift change in customer service across the

entire franchise. With staff spread across 464 stations from Leeds to Manchester and Liverpool, consistency can vary. This is something the operator is trying to address.

As well as introducing refreshed electric trains, Northern is revamping the role of its conductors. The 319s will have door controls spread across the vehicle,

OPERATIONS FOCUS

helping conductors to remain with passengers throughout their journey.

In order to help them adapt to a more customer-facing role, Northern has developed a new industry-recognised training programme, which is currently being rolled out.

Questioned about how effective this programme of improvements would really be, given the difficulties in updating its aged Pacers, Northern’s message was clear.

‘One of our biggest assets is our people,’ said Northern’s customer service director Natalie Loughborough. Natalie believes the operator’s focus has to be on delivering an excellent customer experience.

‘The rolling stock’s still important, I appreciate that, but if we get that right and we get the presentation of their services and make sure they are very, very clean and well presented, we get the information delivered right, then people accept the rolling stock better.’

She added, ‘We use our strengths that we have in people, in what we do around standards and how we manage our environment whether it be stations or on train, regardless of rolling stock. I think if you look at our results, we are making a difference.’

March 2015 | RailStaff | 51

There are a number of projects in development to either improve or replace the Pacers. These include Vivarail, which would see the introduction of modified D Stock Underground trains, and Porterbrook’s refurbishment of its Class 144s - known as Class 144 Evolution - which is currently being carried out by RVEL. The Department for Transport (DfT) has now published the Invitation to Tender (ITT) for the Northern and TransPennine Express franchises which requires prospective operators to produce a plan for replacing the Pacers and a requirement to order at least 120 brand new carriages. Northern’s ITT also includes a £30 million investment in stations and more services.

Until the start of the new franchise in

February 2016, however, Northern has to do what it can with what it’s got.

‘When we bring in the 20 or so 319s, it will take our rolling stock fleet to something like over 700 vehicles,’ said Rob Warnes, Northern’s planning and programmes director. ‘200 of the vehicles are 142s - 500 of them aren’t and you have to put this into context.’

‘Yes, we would love to change the Pacers out tomorrow, it’s not going to happen,’ he added, ‘But we have got to continue to grow this railway, improve the standards we offer to our customers, because at some point those Pacers will go.

‘We’re not going to sit on our laurels and wait until they’ve gone. We have got to keep driving better and better customer service, better punctuality...’

A Class 319 undergoing refurbishment.

OPERATIONS FOCUS

52 | RailStaff | March 2015

The Role of Open Access

Report by Marc Johnson

Britain’s rail network is full. Well that’s what we’re often told. The justification for major rail projects, like HS2, is that it will free up paths on already crowded main lines. To meet the rise in predicted demand for rail travel in the coming decades, we need more capacity than any series of smaller improvement programmes can deliver.

Alliance Rail Holdings, which is owned by Arriva, aspires to operate new open access services on both the East Coast and West Coast main lines. On the East Coast this would involve the introduction of Pendolinos on services to Edinburgh and Class 801s on routes to Cleethorpes and Bradford. In both cases, Network Rail concluded that there was sufficient capacity for an open access operator to compete directly with franchised services, although the application for the West Coast has since been rejected by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR).

ORR decided on balance that the revenue the service would create wasn’t

sufficient to justify its impact on the franchise operator. Once an open access operator is licensed to call at a major station en route it qualifies for a share of the revenue generated at that station.

Small can be beautiful Nevertheless the general consensus is that open access is a good thing.

Although the government is confident that its franchise model is the best solution for passengers and taxpayers, it says it is broadly supportive of the competition that open access operators create. The quality of service is also often highlighted. In a customer survey published by consumer group Which? in February open access operators, Grand Central and First Hull Trains, took the top two spots. Grand Central’s managing director Richard McClean said the results showed that ‘small can be beautiful’. The operator employs just 130 people.

‘As an open access operator, we provide a much needed direct service to communities not previously well served by rail,’ said McClean.

‘This allows us to not only

meet the specific needs of those communities, but to also be part of them by supporting local charities and community initiatives across Yorkshire and the North East.’

This month, MTR launched its new open access service in Sweden between Gothenburg and Stockholm, putting itself in direct competition with the country’s state-owned rail operator. MTR will operate a fleet of brand new trains from Swiss manufacturer Stadler. The service has been made possible by the Swedish government’s decision in 2010 to open up the long-distance rail market to private operators.

There are other open access services that have been developed over the past few years including GO-OP, a cooperative, which hopes to eventually begin running a main line rail service between Westbury and Birmingham Moor Street.

The argument runs that having more open access operators drives down ticket prices, boosts revenues and improves service quality.

Managing director of Alliance Rail Holdings Ian Yeowart, who established

OPERATIONS FOCUS

March 2015 | RailStaff | 53

‘In parallel, this government has a clear programme of franchising that places the needs of passengers at the heart of the railway. We believe we have established a stable market and a competitive industry that is delivering for passengers and Grand Central in 1997, believes it’s time the argument surrounding open access was turned around. How can it benefit the UK rail network, not how will it impact on franchised services.

Competition is king Says Ian, ‘I think the first thing to do is look at the success of open access where it’s operated on the East Coast Main Line. It’s been there since 1989 and every application that’s made gets doom and gloom from the DfT and from other operators and yet the reality and the evidence is that it’s been nothing other than an unqualified success.

‘Journeys are up, stations that have been poorly served for many years, including in BR’s time, now see significant patronage on the routes to London and probably more importantly you’re getting some real competition…’

Asked about its position on the role of open access operators, the DfT tried to walk a tightrope of diplomacy.

In a statement the department said, ‘The government is supportive of the benefits that open access can bring through competition in the rail market

whilst being mindful of the impacts that open access can have on franchised operators and in turn the value to the taxpayer.

‘In parallel, this government has a clear programme of franchising that places the needs of passengers at the heart of the railway. We believe we have established a stable market and a competitive industry that is delivering for passengers and taxpayers.’

‘Competition is king’ said Ian, who confirmed that the company was in the process of disputing the ORR’s decision

to block the open access operator from running trains on the West Coast Main Line.

‘Open access has proven to be generative, it grows the market significantly, it offers passengers choice because that’s the only weapon they have. It’s either choice or don’t travel.

They have no other weapon.’

As discussion rages about the future of franchising, it could well be important that the constructive role open access operators have played in expanding services and improving the railway is not overlooked.

taxpayers.’

NEWS

54 | RailStaff | March 2015

Caledonian Siesta

A brand new 75-coach strong fleet for the new Caledonian Sleeper service will be built in Spain by Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF).

Serco, which takes over the Caledonian Sleeper on 1 April, has signed contracts with CAF for the manufacturing of the new fleet and Alstom UK for maintenance of the coaches.

The new fleet will arrive in April 2018.

The new coaches will offer cradle seats, pod flatbeds, berths - some with ensuite - and will include a Brasserie-style club car.

The cradle seats have reclining seats and footrests. Pod flatbeds will fully recline from a seat into a bed and offer a privacy screen and a reading

light. The en-suite berths will provide toilet and shower facilities.

Alstom has been providing maintenance services for the Caledonian Sleeper trains for more than a decade. During the first three years, Alstom will continue to maintain the existing sleepers.

From 2018, Alstom will maintain the new fleet for the remaining 12 years of the contract at its Polmadie and Wembley traincare centres with daily servicing to be carried out at Aberdeen, Fort William and Inverness.

Planned overhauls will continue at the Inverness depot.

Says Peter Strachan, Serco’s Caledonian Sleeper managing director, ‘This is a major milestone in our plans to deliver an innovative new Caledonian Sleeper service. I’m absolutely delighted we have signed contracts with our partners and look forward to delivering an improved service from 1 April, 2015 and from 2018 when we introduce the innovative new coaches into service.’

Sup-Urbo Depot Opens

Midland Metro’s upgraded and expanded Wednesbury tram depot has been officially opened following a comprehensive £13.8 million expansion.

The Potters Lane complex has been upgraded as part of the £128 million expansion of the line between Wolverhampton and Birmingham.

Council leader Darren Cooper praised railway staff, ‘An awful lot of work has gone into refurbishing the depot while keeping the Midland Metro in operation, and I applaud all those who have made it happen,’ said Cooper, who leads Sandwell Borough Council.

Centro, the West Midlands’ public transport co-ordinator, began the

Golden Clips Complete Borders Rail

On a sunny day in February, Keith Brown, MSP, the cabinet secretary for infrastructure arrived by locomotive at Tweedbank station to help clip together the last stretch of track on Scotland’s new Borders Railway.

Mr Brown (pictured above), former Royal Marine and Falklands veteran, joined Hugh Wark, Network Rail’s project director, and Nissar Mohammed, project director BAM. ‘It is a huge honour to put the final piece of track in place and travel on the first train to run into the Borders in

almost half a century,’ said Keith Brown.

‘The reopening of this line offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver a major economic and social boost for the communities it will serve.’

Project director Nissar Mohammed brought a sense of history to the proceedings. Although much

project in 2012 and the work was carried out by contractors Morgan Sindall.

The first phase was completed in September 2013 in time to allow testing and commissioning of the new fleet of Urbos 3 trams.

Additional trackwork and overhead line electrification provides stabling facilities for up to 24 vehicles.

The second phase consisted of a 42-metre extension to the existing maintenance shed, new office and staff space, and new storage facilities for the tram maintenance works. The Midland Metro runs from Wolverhampton to Snow Hill station in Birmingham city centre via Bilston, Wednesbury and West Bromwich.

work remains to be done before commissioning this summer, ‘It’s a great, great legacy,’ he said. ‘When we leave, we leave not just the people of today but generations of families to come who will enjoy the fruits of what we’ve done here.’

With the rails now in place, the project team will focus on ballast spreading, tamping and track welding. Signalling and communications equipment will be installed. Seven new stations - at Shawfair, Eskbank, Newtongrange, Gorebridge, Stow, Galashiels and Tweedbank - will be finished off and fitted out. Passenger services should be running by September.

‘Coming across the Tweed, I also got to blow the horn - a childhood dream realised,’ added Keith Brown, who travelled on a Class 66 freight loco.

Said Hugh Wark, ‘This has been a great day for us and Network Rail.

We’re seeing the completion of track at Tweedbank station and we’ve marked the occasion [by] installing some golden clips for the last section of rail.’

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NEWS

56 | RailStaff | March 2015

Irish Rail Freight Volumes Up Iarnród Éireann’s freight business has reported good results for 2014, with volumes up for the second year running, Tim Casterton reports.

The rail freight business and the Navigator automotive parts distribution business were overall 3 per cent stronger than forecast for the year.

The highest percentage increase over the year was achieved on the pulpwood freight flow from County Mayo (Ballina and Westport) to Waterford, with a 20 per cent increase in trains being operated for Coillte, the Irish timber company.

The intermodal container traffic also saw an increase in 4 per cent over the reporting period. Intermodal traffic is also concentrated on the Mayo freight hub with all either originating or being delivered to Ballina Freight Yard. The services operated for International Warehousing and Transport (IWT) run

to and from a purpose built rail terminal in Dublin Port with up to seven loaded services running in each direction every week.

Trains are also operated for DFDS Logistics to and from Waterford Port to connect with shipping services to Rotterdam. A total of 1,097 loaded freight trains were operated by Iarnród Éireann during the year. Results would have been even better had the zinc and lead ore traffic from the Tara Mine (near Navan) not been hit by several maintenance shutdowns that resulted in mining being suspended on occasions during the year.

Service performance of freight on Iarnród Éireann is measured in a similar manner to that operating on Network Rail infrastructure in the UK. During 2014, both the punctuality and reliability targets were exceeded with over 92 per cent of freight trains arriving within the scheduled time and with a 97 per cent service reliability being delivered. Trains

carried around 580,000 tonnes, equating to 99 million tonne-kms delivered.

Navigator is the automotive parts business of Iarnród Éireann which specialises in collection and delivery of car parts throughout Ireland. 2014 saw the business delivering a very strong 7 per cent up on forecast with an extremely impressive 99.57 per cent of all deliveries within Ireland arriving on time.

This rating is amongst the best in this sector in Europe. During 2015, delivery vehicles will be fitted with GPS and have Euro class upgrades.

Sunderland Reconnects The Port of Sunderland is celebrating its reconnection to the national rail network.

Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin visited Sunderland to help flag off the first, light engine, trial run.

‘I am proud to see this historic port being put firmly on the map again for freight and maritime projects and gearing up for more business,’ said McLoughlin.

Once at the heart of the British

shipbuilding and coal mining industry, Sunderland’s fortunes declined in the latter half of the last century.

Shipbuilding ceased in 1988 and the port lost its rail connection 20 years ago. The nadir of the decline was marked by the distressing closure of the historic Vaux Brewery in 2000.

However, Sunderland is bouncing back with new electronic, chemical and paper businesses and a successful car building industry. The creation of the University of Sunderland brings a new academic provenance to the city.

Says Mark Tarry, area director for Network Rail, ‘It is fabulous to see rail traffic once more running at the port of Sunderland.

‘Network Rail is committed to supporting the local economy and to promoting the use of rail freight.

Reconnecting this line supports both of those aims. We look forward to continue to work with the port as they seek to attract new rail freight business to the area.’

A class 66 was supplied by DB Schenker.

Glenn Carr, general manager, freight, at Iarnród Éireann, was delighted with the results. ‘Both the rail and Navigator business benefitted from both the up lift in the Irish economy in 2014 and our performance on delivering a very reliable, safe, environmental and efficient service to our customers.’

Glenn intends to target new business this year to further grow upon the foundations of 2014. A target for 2015 will be to look to increase the length of freight trains to improve on the capacity and viability of services.

Fleet Triumph for Selhurst Team

The in-house team at Southern railway’s Selhurst depot has completed an ambitious refurbishment of its Class 377 Electrostar fleet.

From a standing start in July 2011, the team has upgraded 700 carriages a total of 182 trains.

Work included repainting carriages, grab poles were removed and re-coated, new carpets fitted and anti-graffiti film applied to exposed surfaces. New seat covers were fitted throughout. At the same time air conditioning units plus interior and exterior doors were also overhauled.

NEWS

58 | RailStaff | March 2015

Railtex invitation

from advance-TRS Rail recruitment specialists advance Training & Recruitment Services are looking forward to welcoming visitors to Stand D50 at this year’s Railtex exhibition in May. advance-TRS supply skilled engineers and managers for roles across a broad spectrum of disciplines on Network Rail, London Underground and metro infrastructure projects.

Specialist recruiters from the consultancy will be on hand to meet visitors to discuss how they can help fulfill their current recruitment objectives.

The consultancy is renowned for its ability to source scarce, highly skilled candidates in an industry that is facing unprecedented skills shortages.

Stuck in the wrong role, coming to the end of a contract or simply looking for a change? Expert consultants from advance-TRS will be available to discuss current and future career opportunities in signalling, electrification, telecoms, civils and much more.

With huge infrastructure investments creating thousands of new job vacancies across the rail industry, there has never been a better time to consider your career options.

A multitude of live vacancies from advance-TRS will be displayed on the famed ‘Recruitment Wall’ which has been a prominent feature at previous Railtex and Infrarail exhibitions.

Railtex is the biennial rail industry exhibition that showcases technological innovation across all sectors of the industry. The last Railtex exhibition in 2013 was attended by more than 8,200 rail professionals and it is expected as many as 10,000 will attend this year.

‘Our previous Railtex exhibiting experience in 2013 was a resounding success. It was a no-brainer for us to return this year and we are really excited at the prospect of harnessing new connections and strengthening old ones too,’ says Paul Merton, operations director at advance-TRS. advance-TRS will be holding a contest in which there will be an opportunity for one lucky visitor to win a brand new iPad Air. Make sure you don’t miss out!

Railtex 2015 is at the Birmingham NEC from the 1214 May. You can register for a free visitor pass online now by visiting www.railtex.co.uk Do you have a vacancy that needs filling? You can prearrange an appointment with a specialist recruitment expert by e-mailing info@advance-trs.com

Andy Mounts Everest Bid Andy Ridout, founder and managing director of advance-TRS, is joining the Railway Children’s Everest Base camp expedition this March. Ridout, an accomplished triathlete, has spent the winter training hard for the expedition. Says Andy, ‘We have a great team and I am relishing the whole expedition – both the climb and the fantastic views of the Himalayas.’

Can you get the rail supply chain on track?

This is an exciting time to be in rail.

Britain’s railways are crucial to the economy, and on the back of two decades of continuous growth, will expand further to carry more people and freight in the future.

Trains, infrastructure and technology are being reinvented, renewed and rolled out, requiring a confident world class supply chain. Rail is a big buyer, relying on thousands of suppliers of every shape and size, providing a wide range of unique, critical and complex products and services.

To help get this right, RSSB has an important role to play. We are an expert body that helps the rail industry collaborate to continuously improve and meet these future challenges.

We span the whole railway, and our members include Network Rail and other infrastructure managers, train and freight operators, rolling stock owners and suppliers to the industry. We support rail in the areas of safety, standards, knowledge, innovation and a wide range of crossindustry schemes – including supplier assurance.

For further information on RSSB, please visit our website: www.rssb.co.uk

We are looking for motivated, resilient leaders and experts with proven commercial acumen, significant experience of complex procurement and supply chain risk assurance as well as an eye for the big picture and the small detail.

Have you got what it takes?

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Project Manager, Supplier Assurance

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You will head a team of experts to develop industry’s strategy for the capability assessment and assurance of the supply chain.

You will develop, coordinate and oversee arrangements and schemes, and work closely with senior decision makers across the rail industry, government and the regulator.

Long term fixed term contract London-based with extensive UK travel You will project manage the modernisation and transformation of the rail industry’s approach to supplier assurance, managing stakeholder relationships, coordinating schemes and creating a new commercial model that meets future requirements and expectations.

RISQS Scheme Manager Long term fixed term contract London-based with extensive UK travel You will manage the Railway Industry Supplier Qualification Scheme (RISQS), the initial entry point for companies who wish to supply products and services to all main buying organisations in the rail industry, including Network Rail, Transport for London and train operating companies.

To apply, please send your CV and covering letter quoting reference RSSB35M, to: vacancies@rssb.co.uk or telephone: 020 3142 5321 for more information Closing date: 31st March 2015

CAREERS

60 | RailStaff | March 2015

Estimator - Signalling Are you an experienced railway signalling engineer looking to develop your career?

Colas Rail, one of the World’s largest railway infrastructure companies, is looking for experienced signalling candidates that are interested in developing their skill sets as estimators. With a rapidly growing worldwide workbank, Colas Rail needs to expand its estimating and Pre-Contract team.

Essential experience required • Experience in delivering signalling projects • Able to read and interpret signalling plans and diagrams

Experience in estimating practice and principles is desirable. However we would consider an experienced signal engineer who is looking to follow an estimating career, in particular the ability to read and understand construction drawings and design specifications.

• Familiar with current Network Rail signalling installation practice and requirements

To apply, please email your CV to recruitment@colasrail.co.uk or visit www.colasrail.co.uk/careers

• Experience in the use of estimating software

Preferable experience required

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wE ARE RECRUITING A hEAD OF cORPORATE pARTNERSHIPS

Global Scale. Local Focus.

– Rail and Infrastructure Vacancies Currently Available –

Railway Children is the leading charity working with children who live on the streets and railway platforms in India, the UK and East Africa. With strong and loyal support from the UK rail industry, we have been fighting for street children for 20 years.

We are currently seeking an inspiring and experienced leader to manage our Corporate Partnerships Team and generate significant income. The post holder needs to demonstrate vision, leadership and inspiration alongside a passion for creating positive change in children’s lives.

A knowledge of the rail industry as well as strong contacts and connections would be an advantage. You will be personally credible with the gravitas to establish and sustain strong relationships with the senior management team and senior key stakeholders.

CLOSING DATE: 05.04.15 For more information and a recruitment pack visit: www.railwaychildren.org.uk/jobs

Project Manager/Engineer URGENT London, Glasgow, Swindon and Milton Keynes £40K - £55K or £300 - 450/day Civils, P-Way, E&P, Signalling and Telecoms experience.

Senior Project Managers /Engineers

Senior Quantity Surveyors /Commercial Managers London, Glasgow and Midlands £40K - £65K or £300 - £450/day Experience of Network Rail/LUL Projects, NEC contract experience essential.

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London, Midlands and Swindon £40K - £65K or £350 - £500/day Experience of Network Rail Projects, Primavera experience essential.

Senior Civil and Structural Engineers

Risk and Value Specialists

Bristol, Birmingham, Reading and London £30K - £60K or £300 - £350/day Bridges, Stations and Buildings - Mainline Rail Project experience.

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CAREERS

62 | RailStaff | March 2015

Find more jobs at:

www.ata-recruitment.co.uk @ATA_jobs

GLOBAL REACH,

LOCAL DELIVERY

Project Manager - Railway - Rolling Stock

£35,000 per annum

Derbyshire

Role Overview: An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Project Manager to join an established and expanding Rolling Stock industry leader to ensure the delivery of a portfolio of multi-discipline projects to achieve quality, financial, and delivery requirements within the Project Management team and deliver high levels of customer satisfaction.

Must be: PRINCE2 Qualified Project Manager, Experienced in delivering multi-faceted projects, Able to demonstrate knowledge of the railway industry, legislation and approvals processes.

Senior Mechanical Engineer – Rail

£45,000 per annum

Derby

Role Overview: To take responsibility for the delivery of work packages ensuring technical, quality, financial and delivery requirements are met whilst ensuring customer satisfaction. To contribute to the development of the capability and technical excellence of the Mechanical Engineering Department.

Reliability Engineer

£35,000 per annum

Nottingham

Role Overview: ATA Recruitment are seeking an experienced rail industry Reliability Engineer for an exciting new role with our client in Nottingham. This is a developmental position with real scope for a challenging and enthusiastic engineer to shape and influence the direction of the business.

To undertake analysis of machine, sub-system and component safety and reliability to provide proposals for increased system and component reliability to fulfil increased performance, cost reduction and limitation methods.

For further information on the above roles or to enquire about other vacancies with ATA, please contact the Rail team on:

01332 861326 or email your details to paul.willerton@ata-recruitment.co.uk referencing RAILSTAFF + Job Title

Recruitment Open Evening Thursday 26th March 2015 4pm - 8pm Tata Steel Projects, Dukesbridge House, 23 Duke Street, Reading, RG1 4SA Tata Steel Projects’ Reading office is expanding!

As leading railway infrastructure service providers, Tata Steel Projects plays an important role in the design and operation of the UK rail network. Currently engaged in major national flagship projects such as Cardiff to Patchway Electrification, Oxford Corridor Capacity Improvements and Great Western Route Modernisation, we continue to be at the forefront of rail infrastructure engineering in the UK. Consequently we are looking for talented and ambitious engineers to grow our UK rail team and take on leading design and management roles on ground-breaking projects.

We are holding a recruitment event on Thursday 26th March between 4pm - 8pm at our office in Reading and would be delighted if you are able to attend. We are looking to recruit a range of professional people at all levels within the following Engineering disciplines – Civil , Geotechnical, Overhead Line Electrification (OLE) , M&E, Track, Project Engineering and Project Management.

As part of our event we would like to offer you the opportunity to meet with some of our talented rail engineers.

For specific questions about the event and to register for our rail recruitment open evening in Reading, please email tsp.recruitment@tatasteel.com by 23rd March 2015 Can’t make our open day or interested in other locations? if you are unavailable to attend please email your CV to tsp.recruitment@tatasteel.com or call Helen Windust 01904 454633. Please note this is not an event for general interest, suppliers, agencies and press.

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