The Rail Engineer - Issue 109 - November 2013

the rail

engineer by rail engineers for rail engineers

Stuart Marsh looks at the recovery of the Class 66 locomotive that has lain on the shore of Loch Treig for the last year. 8

Driving innovation Signalling Innovations Group. 24

Biting the bullet

www.therailengineer.com

NOVEMBER 2013 - issue 109

this issue q RUSSIA’S BIG SHOW 34 q NEW EUROSTAR UNDER TEST 38 q GROUND FORCE 46 q ARRESTING RUSTING 50

Written-off!

Signalling Thameslink

High capacity, high availability. 16

Danish rollout of ERTMS. 30

Never bet on a blockade A long disruption on the WCML. 40 technology � design � M&E � S&T � stations � energy � DEPOTS � plant � track � rolling stock

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the rail engineer • November 2013

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Contents

Biting the bullet The Danish ERTMS roll-out

News 6

30 New Eurostar under test

High-output goes west.

Written off

10

Recovering a Class 66 from the shore of Loch Treig.

Signalling the Thameslink programme

16

High capacity signalling across London.

Driving innovation into Signalling

24

The work of the Signalling Innovations Group.

Russia’s big show

34

Expo 1520 for Russian-guage railways.

38

Being prepared

44

A P Webb get ready for the big one.

Ground force

Never bet on the blockade

46

Holme Tunnel is a most peculiar shape.

All for one - and one for all?

The drivers did and lost

56

Alliancing may be the way to go.

Changing Track

62

Collin Carr speaks with Steve Featherstone.

40 The ice man cometh

Fitting more brakes

68

Direct rail wheel braking for dumpers and MEWPs.

Decision time for asset managers

70

SALVO (Strategic Asset Life-cycle Value Optimisation) explained.

Vegetation Control

81

European railways look for solutions.

54

See more at www.therailengineer.com

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the rail engineer • November 2013

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Editor Grahame Taylor grahame.taylor@therailengineer.com

Production Editor Nigel Wordsworth nigel@rail-media.com

Production and design Adam O’Connor adam@rail-media.com

Engineering writers chris.parker@therailengineer.com clive.kessell@therailengineer.com collin.carr@therailengineer.com david.bickell@therailengineer.com david.shirres@therailengineer.com graeme.bickerdike@therailengineer.com jane.kenyon@therailengineer.com mungo.stacy@therailengineer.com peter.stanton@therailengineer.com simon.harvey@therailengineer.com steve.bissell@therailengineer.com stuart.marsh@therailengineer.com

Advertising Asif Ahmed asif@rail-media.com

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Part of

All together now!

Wouldn’t it be great if everyone worked off the same hymn sheet, everyone had common goals and nobody squabbled about money? But traditional contractual arrangements aren’t built that way. They tend to encourage competitive behaviour where collaboration goes out of the window. Now it seems that Alliancing is the ‘answer’ with shared objectives and even shared insurance cover. Andrew Robbins explores the background to what seems like a breath of fresh air. Perhaps we need to go through a period when railways aren’t expanding and when money’s really tight to find out whether the alliancing concept is actually sound.

I’ve been talking to Alan Howarth, Network Rail’s project sponsor for the Warrrington to Preston nine day blockade and to Andy Webb of A P Webb Plant to hear of the pressures and tensions involved when the WCML is closed for such an extended period. But beware, in these days of alliancing it is not wise to draw on previous railway performances when you’re placing a bet.

Denmark, it seems, isn’t going to dabble with ERTMS. A trial here, an experiment there. No, quite the reverse. As Clive Kessell narrates, they’re going to install it nationwide to replace all its existing signalling and retro fitting all - almost all - its rolling stock. Here again there’s a deal of collaboration and cooperation going on. The technical challenges are formidable and there are also operating rules to understand and change. An example for the UK? Read on!

SNIP (Signalling National Innovations Portfolio) has a surprisingly varied portfolio of initiatives. As Clive tells us, the project includes exploiting the possibilities of Plug and Play equipment, Class II trackside

power supplies and ‘Data Exploitation, this latter deals with gathering a definitive list of signalling infrastructure via the track recording train, even using automatic image recognition system eventually. Encouragingly, the portfolio is ever expanding.

Steve Featherstone is Network Rail’s track programme director and is the person responsible for maximising the use and efficiency of all the expensive high output plant. He’s been talking to Collin Carr about how the massive productivity of these machines can help the railways become truly a seven day operation. There’s also an announcement in the article about the date of the next National Track Plant Exhibition. Get out your diaries!

Erudite as ever, Stuart Marsh reminds us that Loch Treig, when translated from the Gaelic, means loch of death - a homely reminder to strangers not to trespass too closely. But, unfortunately, this is exactly what a Class 66 managed to do in the Great Rains of 2012. At 130 tonnes and wedged half-way down a hillside, this locomotive was doomed to be cut up and taken away - although with no road access this proved to be tricky. Its bogies did make it back to the track and trundled off to fight another day.

David Shirres has been to Russia again to the bi-annual Expo 1520 - a trade fair and engineering conference for Russian gauge railways (1520mm). Be prepared for everything to be large from rolling stock to aspirations. And he came back with the award of Russian Railway’s best foreign journalist of 2013 for his articles in The Rail Engineer!

These days it’s hard to think that anything as valuable as a crossLondon railway tunnel would lie abandoned. But that’s exactly the position back in the early 80s.

Snow Hill Tunnel then was just

GrahamE Taylor

a dark void glimpsed fleetingly from the Circle line. Things have changed, and how they changed is told by David Bickell in his comprehensive account of the evolution of the line and its connections with both northern and southern networks.

The hillside is on the move just east of Todmorden. It’s not the first time in geological history perhaps, but our Victorian forebears chose to drive a tunnel through it. For many years all was well, but now Holme tunnel is distinctly unhappy. It’s a very strange shape.

Graeme Bickerdike has been to see what can be done to keep the line open.

In a fascinating article on lineside vegetation control, Sasha Dodsworth of The Ecology Consultancy tells us what is going on in other railway networks worldwide. It seems that GPS control has proved to be invaluable in the precise use of spraying. Not only are trouble spots known about, it is possible to spray in the dark. Invasive species are, of course, everywhere - but does Japanese Knotweed affect Japan? And how would they get on with our dandelions I wonder?

Returning briefly to the subject of contractual bonhomie, it’s not everywhere. When it was announced that the new Eurostar trains were to be built in Germany, the home team promptly went off in a huff and brought in their lawyers. Despite the fat fees, nothing changed, but there are many technical difficulties yet to solve before we see the new rolling stock in service. Nigel Wordsworth’s piece tells of incorporating multiple signalling systems along with kit to cope with a variety of voltages - not forgetting all the interoperability issues. So, any chance of alliancing do you reckon?

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NEWS

the rail engineer • November 2013

For the first time, a high output track renewal train is operating in the South West. It is being used to replace track on the Basingstoke to Salisbury line as part of a major track renewal scheme The work is needed to replace track over 50 years old. High output staff will work through the night replacing between 450-900 yards of track every night. This is up to five times the amount of track that could normally be replaced in a shift, enabling the work to be carried out much faster than it would be using conventional methods of track renewal.

Work will continue on weekday evenings until the end of January on an ‘adjacent line open’ basis so that a reduced train service can continue running.

Jim Morgan, infrastructure director for the South West Trains-Network Rail Alliance, said: “By using the high output track renewal train, we can drastically cut the amount of time needed for the track replacement works.

“At the end of the first week, we expect to have installed around 2000 yards of new track, all with the minimum amount of disruption for passengers. To complete this level of track replacement without the use of the machine would normally take two full weekend closures of the line so this will really help us to deliver a faster and more efficient track renewal scheme.”

High Output goes west

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Rail Delivery Group expands A unified railway became one step closer the other day when it was announced that the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) would take over the policy and communications functions of ATOC (the Association of Train Operating Companies) and, at the same time, incorporate personnel on secondment from Network Rail. This means that RDG will, in future, be the voice of the rail industry.

The Rail Engineer, which as part of Rail Media is an associate member of RDG, was informed by chairman Tim O’Toole that “Network Rail, train operating companies and freight operating companies have agreed to combine the communications and policy functions of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) with complementary resources from Network Rail and support from other RDG members. Michael Roberts, ATOC’s chief executive, succeeds Graham Smith as RDG director general.

“The current ATOC business services teams will continue to run the passenger operator schemes, such as National Rail Enquiries, reporting as now to Michael Roberts (right) under their existing individual governance arrangements.”

NEWS

the rail engineer • November 2013

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Rail contracts and heat treatment Tata Steel has cut the ribbon on a new €12 million heat-treatment facility in France for the production of harder-wearing 108-metre rail.

It uses an induction furnace to heat the rails to 950°C before cooling them quickly with compressed air, a technique which will more than double the output of heat-treated rail from Tata’s Hayange steel mill and allow the company to manufacture longer lengths of ‘superhardened’ rail for the first time.

The plant at Hayange, in the Lorraine region not far from the Luxembourg border, first began producing 108-metre rail in 2011 and will look to supply its new heat-treated rails to Germany, Switzerland and Scandinavia - countries with winding mountainous routes and lines with high axle loads that need harder wearing track.

The new facility will produce around 70,000 tonnes of the longer heattreated rails each year, more than doubling the current annual output of treated rail to 125,000 tonnes.

Tata’s Scunthorpe and Hayange sites have a combined output of 600,000 tonnes of rail every year, with around £130 million having been invested in Scunthorpe since 2006 to allow the mill to manufacture 216-metre rail lengths.

The steel blooms used in rail production at Hayange are actually from Scunthorpe - transported from the north of England to Lorraine through the Channel Tunnel.

In October, Network Rail signed a five-year deal with Tata which will see Scunthorpe supply around 140,000 tonnes of rail annually for the UK network. In times of high demand, Hayange has also supplied Network Rail in the past.

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NEWS

the rail engineer • November 2013

Another major electrification contract has been awarded, this time as part of Crossrail. Balfour Beatty Rail has been awarded a contract by Network Rail for the electrification of a 12.5 mile section of the Great Western main line.

Electrification contract

The contract covers the installation of new overhead line electrification equipment on all lines between Stockley Junction (near Heathrow Airport) and Maidenhead on the Crossrail West Outer section. It also includes supporting ancillary civils and power works.

This contract follows the award earlier this year of the track infrastructure contract for the same section in the West Outer area.

Innovations being introduced by Balfour Beatty Rail for this latest contract include new and enhanced plant solutions including its new High Output Wiring Train which offers safer, more efficient installation of overhead lines.

Balfour Beatty chief executive, Andrew McNaughton said: “We are delighted to be awarded this contract and very much look forward to continuing our long-term relationship with Network Rail and continued support with the Crossrail programme.

“Our investments in specialist High Output plant solutions for these works confirm our ongoing commitment to the UK rail market and, in particular to the National Electrification Programme.”

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In a recent announcement from Moscow, our own David Shirres was confirmed as Russian Railway’s best foreign journalist of 2013.

Over the last couple of years, David has made several trips to Russia.

He has looked at the preparation works for the winter Olympics at Sochi, been to Vladivostok at the end of the trans-Siberian route, and up to the frozen North in winter to see how the railway (and his beard!) freezes in the extreme cold.

So David has worked hard for his award, and it is good for The Rail Engineer to receive plaudits from outside the UK recognising that we do, in fact, cover other markets as well.

Announcing the award, a Russian Railways (RZD) spokesman said: “It’s an annual event. In the frame of the Corporate Celebration of JSC RZD, the press-service of RZD nominates several most actively writing correspondents from Russia and one from the international side on the basis of published articles. This is an acknowledgement from the company of your hard work.”

David’s latest article, on Russia’s Big Show, can be found in this issue on page 34. Check it out.

NEWS

the rail engineer • November 2013

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More awards The RailStaff Awards are the only national awards presented exclusively to people, not companies. They recognise the contributions made by both individuals and teams to life on Britain’s railways and to those who use them. As such, they are the most popular awards of the year and over 1,000 people were at the presentation evening in Birmingham on 5th October.

Network Rail’s Peter Musgrave won Engineer of the Year. Working with supply partner Aspin Foundations, Peter developed a world class highly innovative solution based on micropiling to fix formation stiffness problems in track. The solution is now being used on the Network to remove temporary and permanent speed restrictions on trains which have existed in the network for years and would have cost millions of pounds to fix with highly disruptive possessions.

The Hatfield recovery team was the Rail Infrastructure Team of the Year. When around

1.4 million tonnes of colliery spoil slipped causing the four track railway next to Hatfield Colliery to move sideways by 15 metres and upwards by 5 metres, the project team effectively took a £20 million project through all essential development and delivery stages in just five months. They worked all hours sacrificing nights, weekends and holidays to focus on reopening the railway as soon as feasibly possible.

Richard Bradley of FT Transformers won Signalling & Telecommunications Person of the Year. He was challenged to design and build a transformer with zero inrush that would solve

.

all Network Rail’s problems with the old legacy transformers. He completed the designs, and has successfully solved the legacy transformer problem and in doing so is saving the industry hundreds of thousands, if not millions of pounds (issue 107, September 2013).

In total there were 18 winners on the night, including Steve Diksa of Bridgeway Consulting, who was presented with the Lifetime Achievement award. A career railwayman since 1978, when he started out as a trackman, Steve has worked his way up to a leading exponent of railway safety dynamics.

It was good to see railway men and women receiving the plaudits of their colleagues for the work that they do every day. Next year’s RailStaff Awards will be on Saturday 1 November in Birmingham - be there!

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the rail engineer • November 2013

Written-off!

Stuart Marsh

All in all, after a rather chilly start, it’s been a pretty fair year weather-wise. At the time of writing, we even seem to have enjoyed something of an Indian summer. It was all very different in 2012 of course and June stood out as a particularly wet month, in a year of wet months.

the rail engineer • November 2013

T

he evening of 28 June was one of particularly heavy and prolonged downpours across Scotland and Northern England. Widespread travel chaos ensued, with the WCML blocked by flooding and landslides in Cumbria and the ECML blocked by two landslips in Northumberland.

Scottish boulders Across western Scotland, torrential rain was falling on already saturated ground and on the West Highland line, about half way along the shores of Loch Treig, a substantial landslide occurred between Corrour and Tulloch stations. At this point the railway runs along a shelf cut into the steep hillside above the shores of Loch Treig. The loch and glen are celebrated for their wild and majestic beauty and it’s difficult to imagine a more isolated place - there is no habitation and the nearest road, itself little more than a track, is four miles away!

Peering through the rain bleared windscreen of his GB Railfreight (GBRf) Class 66 locomotive, the driver of block freight 6S45 had no means of knowing what lay ahead.

His train of twenty four PCA 4-wheel tank wagons was conveying alumina powder from the Alcan dock at North Blyth to the smelter at Fort William, when suddenly the shape of a large boulder loomed into view. It had been dislodged onto the track by a slip on the hillside above the railway boundary.

An emergency brake application had little time to take effect and all the driver could do was hang on as the locomotive and first five wagons were derailed to the left. Crashing though trees and ploughing down the embankment towards the loch, the locomotive came to rest on a natural shelf in the slope.

Although badly shaken, the driver was fortunate to survive this frightening ordeal uninjured. Even his rescue was spectacular, courtesy of a Sea King helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth.

Now what?

So much for the drama of the incident, but as ever there’s the problem of how to deal with the aftermath.

The West Highland line was closed for a week as the derailed wagons were recovered and the track repaired, but just how does anyone deal with a 130 tonne locomotive lodged half way down a 30° slope with its bogies buried in the earth?

A Class 66 is a very expensive item, which would normally be a good enough incentive to attempt a lift, but with rail-only access it was soon clear that there were some major logistical and engineering problems.

The steep embankment meant that rail mounted cranes couldn’t safely provide sufficient reach. Various options were considered and discounted, including the strengthening of the embankment and the provision of large concrete crane pads. Winching the locomotive was considered too, but it was decided that there was a real danger of destabilising the track formation.

Rumours and opinions about possible (and impossible) options seemed to abound, including jacking up the locomotive on air bags and floating large recovery pontoons on the loch, but these ideas were never seriously considered.

Recover or scrap?

The discussions on recovery options were nevertheless lengthy and complex, involving Network Rail, various recovery specialists and the insurers of both GBRf and Porterbrook, the owners of the locomotive. Any operation that would deliver an intact locomotive would need to be priced at less than the combined value of the locomotive, plus the cost of its subsequent repair. Alas, it was not to be, as the best estimates for recovery were in the region of £3 million.

That, and the suspicion that the locomotive’s main frames were distorted, sealed its fate.

It was decided that the most cost effective solution would be to undertake as much component recovery as possible and then cut up the body shell on site. Number 66734 ‘The Eco Express’ would therefore become only the second Class 66 to be scrapped - the previous casualty being 66521, which was involved in the Heck collision.

Photo: ALASDAIR EADINGTON

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the rail engineer • November 2013

Whilst talks took place, the locomotive was drained of all fluids (fortunately the fuel tank hadn’t been ruptured), sheeted over, then netted and tethered by cables to prevent any further movement towards the loch. Cameras were set up to monitor any shift of the locomotive, and so the situation remained until August 2013 when work on site was able to start.

Getting started Unusually, the main contractor for the recovery project was Network Rail itself, necessitating some lateral thinking as far as the contractual arrangements were concerned. As Billy Agnew, Network Rail’s scheme project manager explained: “This was a novel position for us, requiring an entirely new approach.

“Initially there was something of a stumbling block caused by the complex contractual requirements and the related legal matters. Network Rail’s solution was to appoint QTS Group as our principal sub-contractor for the project, although in effect they were working on behalf of GBRf and their insurers.” A ten week time slot was allocated for the entire project, which commenced in mid-August 2013.

The lack of road access had the potential to create severe logistical difficulties. Rail access was easy enough, but the problem was how to transfer plant and equipment between rail level and the worksite some 40-metres down the steep embankment. The solution was to construct a 400-metre long hardcore haul road linking a road/rail interchange point with a levelled working area adjacent to the locomotive.

This turned out to be one of the most difficult undertakings of the entire project, as Billy Agnew related: “Consultation with the land owners, Currour Estates, and the owners of the loch, Alcan, was a

prerequisite. In addition, the environmental impact was of particular concern. Indeed, this is a responsibility that Network Rail takes very seriously.”

Using road-rail plant, the top soil was carefully removed for later reinstatement, and both sides of the roadway were bunded. Protection of the environment is a feature of all modern engineering projects of course, but the Loch Treig site was particularly sensitive.

The loch has been a reservoir since 1929 when the Treig Dam was built to enlarge the existing loch as part of the Lochaber hydro-electric scheme - a project incidentally that involved the diversion of the West Highland Line. To avoid contamination of the water supply and to protect wildlife within the loch an inflatable boom was deployed at the main work site to catch any accidental spillages.

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the rail engineer • November 2013

Because of the heavy plant and machinery that would be needed on site, the slope around the locomotive required stabilisation. Gabion baskets were used to create access ramps diagonally up the side of the embankment and to provide a stable working platform adjacent to the locomotive.

It seemed clear from the outset that, due to the constraints of the site, only relatively small pieces could be hauled out. Clearly the disposal of the locomotive would involve a lot of gas cutting, so a scaffolding structure was built along one side of the locomotive to create a series of stepped work platforms. A visitor viewing platform was also constructed and again, gabions were used to provide stable foundations.

Component recovery Where feasible, reusable parts were recovered before the cutting operation began. Working closely with the project team, Electro-Motive Diesel Inc (EMD), the American manufacturers of Class 66, assisted in drawing up a component recovery schedule. EMD fitters were also provided on site.

It was initially thought that the 22-tonne EMD 710 V-12 engine block would be too heavy to haul out and would need to be cut in situ. In the event however, after removal of the turbocharger and separation of the main alternator, the engine was successfully lifted out by QTS Group engineers as a single unit, complete with its cylinder heads.

Both driving cabs were also separated from the body shell as complete units, although this was largely for convenience, as they were destined for component recovery off site. Other major items recovered intact were the turbocharger and exhaust system, the alternator, the coolant group, compressors and blowers and the electronic control equipment.

Billy Agnew was pleased with the way things went.

“QTS did extremely well and special praise should go to Andy Steel, contracts manager, and to Willie Potter, project/site manager. Their work was exemplary and, due to their resourcefulness and a lot of hard work, the ten week work programme was successfully completed in just six weeks.”

Most recovered parts and scrap metal sections were hauled up to rail level using tracked excavators. These components were then moved by rail to Tulloch station where a holding area was set up. Onward transport by road was then the responsibility of GBRf. The final items to be removed from the embankment were the two 3-axle bogies. After digging out, they were successfully hauled to rail level on their own wheels using a Colmar T10000FS tracked crane/excavator. Both bogies were in good enough condition to be re-railed for onward movement to Tulloch station.

The aftermath The total cost of the project was £1.85 million, which includes remediation works undertaken on the embankment after the locomotive was removed. This cost is, of course, offset to some extent by the high value components that were successfully removed. Finally, the haul road and bunding was lifted and the top soil replaced.

Billy Agnew reported that the land owners were very happy with the result, even claiming the condition of the land was better than before the road construction commenced! It’s worth noting that during the entire project, rail services on the West Highland Line were unaffected - another important cost consideration.

It’s interesting to note too that the name Loch Treig is Gaelic for loch of death - fortunately on this occasion a misnomer, unless we include the locomotive of course.

Folklore has it that the loch was the home of the ‘EachUisge’, a fierce supernatural water-horse. In his 1893 publication ‘Folklore of Scottish lochs and Springs’ author James Mackinlay wrote that this mythical creature would ‘...tear any interloper into a thousand pieces with his teeth and trample and pound him into pulp with his jet-black, iron-hard, though unshod hoofs!’

For one unfortunate interloping Class 66, a thousand pieces is probably an understatement. Could there be some slight truth in those old tales after all?

During the wet summer of 2012 there were three further derailments caused by landslips, each bearing similarities to the Loch Treig derailment. A Class 156 hit rocks and boulders near the Falls of Cruachan on the Oban branch, a Class 153 ran into a slip at St Bees on the Cumbrian coast line and a Class 158 was partially derailed near Dunfermline.

Fortunately, there were no injuries, but all four incidents are being collectively investigated by the Railway Accident Investigation Branch. At the time of printing, the RAIB report was yet to be published.

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the rail engineer • November 2013

DAVID BICKELL

Signalling the L

ying abandoned under London in 1984 was the route between Farringdon and Ludgate Hill, known as the ‘Snow Hill Tunnel’, not to be confused with a similarly named line in Birmingham which coincidentally was also reborn in the 1980s. Passenger services ceased at Holborn Viaduct Low Level as long ago as 1916 and the half a mile of track was lifted in 1971 after freight traffic finished in 1969. Reopening the tunnel was considered in a 1974 London Rail Study but it was the erstwhile Greater London Council (GLC) that took the initiative and funded a detailed cost benefit analysis.

The anticipated benefits included opening up many cross-London journeys and better in-town distribution, saving time otherwise needed to use the bus, tube or walk to final destination. From British Rail’s point of view, there was promise of significant operating cost savings. Time required to turn back EMUs at St Pancras, Moorgate, Holborn Viaduct and Blackfriars would be saved by through running.

The Secretary of State for Transport authorised the scheme in 1986. The project involved various construction works including new track, signalling, and provision of 46 new 4-car Class 319 EMUs - the initial timetable envisaged four trains per hour (tph) through the Snow Hill Tunnel.

By now Network South East (NSE) had been created and took the scheme on board, branding the new service ‘Thames Link’ which became operational as a through route in 1988. ‘Thameslink’, as it later became known, quickly became a well established and recognised brand.

Controlling the route A new double junction was created at Farringdon to facilitate movements to the south via the reopened tunnel, whilst retaining the existing route for some services to continue to Moorgate as hitherto. A new Westinghouse Westpac geographical relay interlocking was installed in Farringdon relay room. This was controlled from the NX Westinghouse panel at West Hampstead Power Signal Box (PSB).

Similarly, near Blackfriars, a junction was created to allow trains to continue to run and terminate at Holborn Viaduct. A new free-wired relay interlocking was provided at Snow Hill to control the line and carriage sidings there. The existing GEC-GS geographical interlocking at Blackfriars was suitably modified. Both these interlockings were controlled from the Victoria ASC (Area Signal Control) South Eastern panel.

In 1990, the Snow Hill route was temporarily suspended to enable Holborn Viaduct station to be closed, the junction removed and the whole site redeveloped. A new box was built for City Thameslink station (the new name for Holborn Viaduct Low Level) on a lower alignment. This had the unfortunate operational nuisance of requiring significant gradients at either end of the station.

Capacity increase Thameslink settled down, rapidly becoming a huge success. However, the capacity limitations began to show as commuters experienced severe overcrowding at peak times. Network South East developed plans to increase capacity, dubbed the Thameslink2000 project with the intention that the scheme would be implemented by the turn of the century.

Alas, the project met with numerous delays on the journey including rail privatisation, two public

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the rail engineer • November 2013 Mid-platform signal with POSA.

enquiries, and the Olympics, leading to the inevitable jibes of ‘Thameslink 3000’! In December 2006, Network Rail was granted the planning permission and legal powers it required to execute the project. The scheme was finally given the green light when funding was confirmed in July 2007.

Although the scheme had been fully developed by Network South East, technology had moved on and ridership continued to grow.

Accordingly, some elements of the original scheme were revised. To meet the continuing growth, a high capacity signalling scheme was required to deliver 24tph through the core area between Kentish Town and Blackfriars, rising potentially to 30tph for an hour to support service recovery. Some novel features were included in the signalling to ensure that performance risk would be minimised in the core section. Any delays here would rapidly spread and affect the Brighton main line, East Coast main line, Midland main line and beyond.

Key Output 1 From the inception of Thameslink, trains had a mixture of 4-car and 8-car. The new requirement for 12-car operation necessitated extension of the platforms at Farringdon. Due to the 1-in-29 gradient approaching from the north, the only option was to extend the platforms at the Snow Hill end by building out across the formation of the line to Moorgate. Whilst the loss of the latter service would inconvenience some commuters, the removal of the double junction here would substantially reduce signalling fault potential and contribute greatly to the robust and efficient operation of the core.

At Blackfriars, a major exercise was undertaken to remove the conflict between Thameslink services running to/from London Bridge with services from the Loughborough Junction direction terminating in the bays located on the eastern side. The bays were relocated to the west side and the Thameslink double track slewed to the east side.

By a dint of good forward planning, when St Pancras station was being transformed to become ‘International’, provision was made for a concrete box to be built underneath that would accommodate the Thameslink lines and a possible new station. Whilst initially not funded, the station box was subsequently fitted out and opened for business enabling the cramped old Kings Cross Thameslink station to be closed.

These developments have required significant signalling alterations.

At Farringdon, the relay room had to be demolished to facilitate the extension of the platform. The new layout at Blackfriars bore little resemblance to that previously signalled. Thus the whole core route was completely resignalled in good time before the start of the Olympics of 2012 and, of course, is designed to support the eventual 24+ tph. The new signalling allowed the introduction of 12-car trains on the route for the first time and First Capital Connect has immediately taken advantage of this with the provision of additional rolling stock to ease overcrowding.

Today there are 15tph.

High capacity, high availability signalling The contractor for these schemes was Invensys Rail (now Siemens Rail Automation). Tried and tested signalling kit has been installed. New Westlock computer interlockings (Solid State Iinterlocking derivatives), controlling lineside Trackside Function Modules (TFMs), were installed at the respective control centres at Victoria and West Hampstead. Signaller interface is achieved via Westcad work stations.

Train detection utilises Bombardier EBI Track 200 (TI21) frequency track circuits which provide immunity to AC and DC traction systems.

There is a block section every 70 metres with associated electrical rail terminations.

Major new projects on the mainline generally choose axle counters as the preferred method of train detection. However axle counters are unsuitable for the core given the long trains, short block sections and mid-platform signals. This combination could result in wheels stopping over the transducer heads giving rise to axle counting errors and hence the train detection section failing ‘occupied’. Furthermore, once an axle counter section has failed, for whatever reason, it cannot be restored to the ‘clear’ state without a time consuming reset process.

Modelling demonstrated that 3-aspect signalling would suffice for normal scheduled operations but this didn’t provide the flexibility to recover from perturbation. Hence a 4-aspect sequence is used throughout the core and mid-platform ‘headway’ signals allow a following train to proceed into a platform as soon as the rear of the previous train has cleared it rather than having to wait for the ‘starting signal’ overlap to clear.

Signals have been positioned such that a full 12-car train can stand between stations, with the platforms at either end also occupied. A miniature LED signal head has been developed for use in cases of restricted clearance such as in a tunnel. AWS (Automatic Warning System) and TPWS (Train Protection & Warning System) is fitted as standard.

Limited bi-directional signalling is provided in conjunction with strategically placed crossovers by which trains may be turned back.

Although full bi-directional signalling was specified for the original NSE scheme, it is now considered that any attempt to implement signalled single line working, say around a failed train, would severely compromise capacity and bring the service all but to a standstill. Other measures will be in place to get a failed train out of the way quickly.

Eagle-eyed travellers will have noticed what appear to be position-light ‘call-on’ or ‘shunt’ signals associated with all the main running signals.

In fact, they are part of the strategy to keep things moving whenever possible.

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the rail engineer • November 2013 Emergency point and route releases In addition to holding signals at red, track circuit failures also deadlock points thereby preventing the signaller/ARS (Automatic Route Setting system) from changing the route. To overcome this further impediment to the running of trains under failure conditions, another novel feature has been introduced.

Emergency point and route releases allow the signaller to change the route without the involvement of the signal technician.

Key Output 2

Inside the Canal Tunnels.

Degraded mode operation Traditional signalling is designed to be ‘fail-safe’. This means that any failure within the signalling system should cause associated signals to display the most restrictive aspect. There is no technical back-up. The train service comes to a standstill whilst anachronistic, time-consuming manual procedures are implemented, usually involving verbal communications between driver and signaller/handsignaller. On a high speed main line or complex suburban area, extensive delays quickly spread, giving rise to a large number of delayed passengers. Of course, it was always the case that engineers would be given personal objectives to reduce signalling failures. The reality is that, even in the 21st century, the harsh railway environment in which signalling components perform their task is such that a fault free utopia is some way off.

POSA signals When Railtrack took over administration of the infrastructure, business managers were extremely concerned at the financial impact of failures under the Schedule 8 performance regime designed to compensate train companies for poor performance attributable to the company. A work stream, encouraged to think ‘out of the box’, started to look at the feasibility of running trains under degraded conditions using signal aspects. A significant output from the process was the concept of the ‘Proceed on Sight’ aspect. After much discussion this concept was ratified by the publication of Railway Group Standard GE/RT8071 in 2006. A ‘POSA’ consists of two white flashing lights set at 45°. A signaller may set a POSA route if a signal fault is present such as track circuit failure, as long as point detection is confirmed and in all other respects the interlocking can permit the aspect.

The driver may proceed and be prepared to stop short of any obstruction.

Retrofitting this feature requires costly modification of existing interlockings, particular if they are hard wired rather than electronic. However, inclusion of the facility at the design stage of a new project is much easier to do and should pay dividends in years to come by limiting the performance implications of track circuit failures.

POSAs have been fitted to all running signals in the core.

Returning briefly to St Pancras International, at the same time that the station box was being constructed over ten years ago, two tunnels were bored between the East Coast main line at Belle Isle and just north of the St Pancras box. These tunnels pass under the Regents Canal and have subsequently been dubbed ‘Canal Tunnels’. They plug Thameslink into the East Coast main line, allowing Great Northern services to become part of the Thameslink portfolio serving Cambridge and Peterborough. Phased installation of the physical junctions and signalling work to bring these tunnels into service has commenced this autumn. The tunnels were described more fully in issue 89 of The Rail Engineer (March 2012).

At Blackfriars the service splits with a planned 18tph going forward via London Bridge, the remaining 6tph continuing via Elephant & Castle.

Currently, from Blackfriars onwards towards East Croydon, Thameslink services face severe bottlenecks.

Between Blackfriars and Metropolitan Junction there is even a section of single line, followed by a short double track section towards London Bridge shared with 29tph serving Charing Cross. Platforms are shared at London Bridge with Charing Cross services and, at the country end, there are flat junction conflicts. Because of these capacity constraints, during peak periods most Thameslink trains are diverted via Elephant & Castle and unhelpfully don’t serve London Bridge.

Hence the 24tph Thameslink service remains an aspiration until the challenge of the capacity constraints in the vicinity of the ‘Bridge’ can be fixed. The good news is that the project team are currently preparing for Thameslink to have a dedicated double track route all the way from Blackfriars through London Bridge to Bermondsey. Thameslink will have separate platforms, the trains linking into the East Croydon route near Bermondsey where a new-grade separated junction will obviate conflicting moves. There will be various stage works through to scheme completion in 2018, with signalling controlled by workstations eventually to be located at the Three Bridges ROC (Railway Operating Centre). In 2012 Invensys Rail was awarded the contract

by Network Rail for the London Bridge station area resignalling. This will include overlaying ETCS (European Train Control System) and ATO (Automatic Train Operation).

A variant of ETCS With the Cambrian Early Deployment Scheme already implemented, ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System) progress in the UK and evolving

the rail engineer • November 2013

concepts have been described in The Rail Engineer before. However, the Thameslink scheme has some unique features.

A frequent 30mph metro style operation is required through the London core but, out on the Midland main line (MML) and East Coast main line (ECML), 100mph capability will enable the trains to share the route with inter-city services. South of London, Thameslink services will run at a variety of speeds, intermingling with Gatwick and Brighton expresses, and suburban services in Surrey, Sussex and Kent.

Given that Network Rail is planning a national programme of ETCS fitment, the logical decision was taken to use ETCS level 2 as the platform for ATO. However, conventional lineside signals will remain to provide a ‘degraded mode’ option. Movement authorities will thus be issued in parallel to the lineside signals via conventional datalinks, and to ETCS system for display on the Driver Machine Interface (DMI) in the cab.

ETCS communications between the control centre and the train are via GSM-R and the Radio Block Centre (RBC). An analysis of system capacity has considered the number of train movements and anticipated volume of voice and data calls. The final design of cell size and base station infrastructure will ensure there is sufficient capacity and there will be a single RBC to manage all movement authorities through the core area and London Bridge station.

There will be 580 balises mounted in the four-foot to transmit positional information to the onboard train systems. In the core area, ETCS End of Movement Authority (EOA) positions will coincide with signal positions with the ATO driving to a stopping position some nine metres in rear of the signal.

A novel feature at key locations to improve throughput and assist with perturbation will be the creation of shorter ‘virtual block’ sections within the normal signalled block sections. In this case the movement authority will read up to a ‘yellow on blue’ block marker rather than an illuminated signal. Block markers are a familiar scene on the Cambrian lines and HS1. These additional sections will apply only in ETCS mode to allow a following train to move further ahead.

ETCS is due to go live in 2015. There are no plans to migrate to ETCS Level 3. Understandably, the project team needs to gain in-service experience and understand the implications of leaving signals in situ before moving to the next level.

First application ATO is already in use on four London Underground lines and the DLR but this is the first application on Network Rail infrastructure. On arriving at the ATO boundary the driver will see a flashing yellow button.

To accept automatic working the driver will put the power controller to neutral and press the yellow button. This will normally happen on the move.

Simulations of the core train service using the VISION model which supports driving profiles and dwell times have demonstrated that ATO together with 45 second dwell times is necessary to achieve the desired capacity. ATO receives timetable and regulation commands from the ATSS (Automatic Train Supervision System) at the control centre, transmitted via Packet 44 - a facility used to transmit separate data using ETCS communications and STMs (Special Transmission Module).

ATO is a non-vital system that requires a safety backup to prevent a SPAD (Signal Passed At Danger) or over-speeding. That takes the form of ATP (Automatic Train Protection), part of the ETCS functionality.

Following the Ladbroke Grove serious SPAD in 1999, train companies developed ‘defensive’ driving standards which understandably tend to err on the side of caution when approaching yellow and red signals.

In a high-capacity metro-style system trains need to be driven in an identical manner, optimising the use of the line speed profile and braking curves, accurately stopping at platforms and red signals (plus or minus half a metre) without braking-coasting-braking. In fact, the ATO system

21

will decelerate the train at rates that result in the ETCS speedometer displaying warning of potential intervention but avoiding actual intervention.

ATO will also open the doors immediately the train stops, and generally help to minimise station dwell and dispatch times. 45s dwell time is specified, 30s for passengers to embark/disembark and 15s for train dispatch. The driver will be presented with a cab count-down display in seconds to ensure prompt departure at the specified time. Door closing will be a manual process by the driver, ensuring passenger safety.

In the core, trains will stop with the centre of the train lined up with the centre of the platform. This, and the elimination of 4-car working, will obviate the current performance issue where a short train stops in an unexpected position leading to a sudden mass movement of passengers along the platform just at the moment those already on the train are attempting to find space into which to alight. It will also assist disabled passengers to position themselves in a suitable boarding position.

Incidentally, platform doors are not being fitted at core stations due to the curvature and vertical geometry of some platforms.

In the event of a fault with the onboard ATO, the system will degrade to manual driving with ETCS. Further levels of degraded operation are to lineside signals with AWS/TPWS, and finally driving on sight with POSA signals.

Overall supervision The ATO will work in conjunction with ATSS, a traffic management system that regulates train movements in accordance with the timetable, has built in strategies to deal with perturbation (ie re-plan the timetable), and issues route setting requests to ARS. The ATSS will transmit regulating instructions to the onboard systems, appropriate for the conditions ahead. An energy-efficient speed profile may be selected but, for example, if a train is running late then ATO may drive as fast as possible.

22

the rail engineer • November 2013

Mid-platform compact signal with integral POSA.

Outside of the core area, a DAS (Driver Advisory System) will provide the energy efficient driving advice to the driver (see issue 104 - June 2013).

The traffic management system at the ROCs will be crucial to getting an even-interval service through the core by ensuring that trains present themselves at St Pancras International and Blackfriars on time and in the right order, and that trains can leave the core as efficiently as possible.

New trains To meet the capacity requirements, a brand new fleet of Siemens Desiro City Class 700 trains is under construction. With a top speed of 100mph, these will be introduced from 2015, being driven initially in manual mode. There will be fifty-five 12-car and sixty 8-car trains, each car being only 20 metres long because of the tight clearances on the route. These will be fitted out with ETCS functionality version 2.3.0d and ATO. AWS and TPWS will be fitted for operation outside the core and for manual driving mode within the core.

The trains are dual voltage with traction changeover at Farringdon (southbound) and City Thameslink (northbound). If a northbound train fails the changeover from DC to AC it can be immediately driven out of the way into the turnback sidings. In ATO mode, traction changeover will be accomplished automatically within the 45s dwell time.

The trains are currently being manufactured in Germany and the first to be rolled out will be tested at the Wildenrath test centre next year.

Operating instructions, Rule Book and staff training

The new Siemens Desiro City train.

Running a railway with ATO and conventional signalling involves a complex set of operating procedures. Building on the work already undertaken on the Cambrian ERTMS scheme, significant additions and amendments are needed with the national Rule Book to accommodate ETCS and automatic operation. The project team are working with FCC and the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) to bring this to fruition by 2015.

ATO operation will introduce a new perspective for train drivers. For example, they may find the faster approaches to red signals a little scary. Training will ensure they gain confidence in the new systems before taking a live train through the core in ATO mode.

System proving and integration The new ETCS and ATO train control technology must undergo a rigorous process of development, testing and commissioning. This cannot be achieved on a working railway. Furthermore, other suppliers are developing kit for Network Rail’s national roll-out of ETCS which also requires testing. Accordingly, a new facility called ENIF (ETCS National Integration Facility) has been set up using part of the Hertford loop using a specially adapted Class 313 unit. Fortuitously, the signalling, ETCS, ATO and new trains for Thameslink are all now being supplied by Siemens, thereby keeping contractual interfaces to a minimum.

2018 The project team are extremely busy ensuring the many challenges of equipping this route for high capacity train movements are realised. Come 2018, long suffering commuters will have a world class mainline/ metro service and experience at least a 200% increase in capacity at peak times.

The survival of the Snow Hill route connecting the networks north and south of the Thames was probably a close-run thing. It was the extraordinary vision and determination of the transport planners of the GLC and BR’s NSE who rescued the line from almost certain destruction by redevelopment in the 1980s.

The primary source for this article is a recent presentation to the IRO by Paul Bates, project director, Thameslink Programme, and an earlier paper to the IRSE by Paul Bates and Dave Weedon, Thameslink principal signal engineer.

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the rail engineer • November 2013

Driving Innovation

into Signalling Signalling technology and system engineering has moved on considerably over the past twenty odd years. However, it is still perceived by many as expensive and failing to keep up with technology advances that have emerged in other industries.

CLIVE KESSELL

Plug and play.

Network Rail is mindful of this criticism and has created a Signalling Innovations Group to investigate how new initiatives might be introduced at a tactical rather than strategic level. While the latter relates primarily to the ERTMS programme and traffic management and will take years to come about, more rapid improvements to existing engineering practices should be capable of being made that give quicker financial benefits and so promote additional investment. Ken Peters heads up the group, and The Rail Engineer met with him to learn how it operates and how it fits into the larger organisation.

Organisation and objectives The origins of the Group date back to 2005, when two engineers (Ken Peters and Tim Franks) established a project known as STAMP Signalling Tools and Methods Programme. At this time, new signalling projects were hampered by having to carry out planning work using traditional ways of working. Typical examples included the production of schemes plans, route and trackside surveying, signal sighting and the management of data for solid state interlockings.

This small beginning was given a budget of some £18 million to produce a series of modular tool sets, which could be used to not only get projects moving more quickly but to do so in a consistent manner. Good results prompted Network Rail to see if other initiatives might come about if the group were to be enlarged.

To be effective, the programme must be business driven. Every innovation must have a proven business case with the ones most likely to yield the best benefits being given priority. The newly formed organisation to deliver signalling projects, headed up by Mark Southwell (issue 107, September 2013) with Mark James as its professional head of signalling, was the logical place for tactical innovation activities to reside.

Signalling delivery, along with telecommunications and energy supply, are treated differently to other Network Rail engineering activities which are organised on a Territory basis. There are several reasons for this - they are considered national business units, the Railway Operating Centres (ROCs) will not align automatically with territory or route boundaries and the need to maintain a critical resource mass.

Resources must be organised to produce maximum efficiency so that development work on a new project is not constrained by geographic location. This does not mean having everyone in one place and the Infrastructure Projects Group (Signalling) has offices in Birmingham, Reading, Croydon, York and Glasgow. However, keeping precious signal engineering expertise together as a single unit within the company was seen as essential.

It is also true that modern signalling embraces many other disciplines and thus the innovations team includes engineers and experts having specialist knowledge in mechanical design, electrification & power, civil structures, train equipment, data processing, business analysis and information technology, all being needed in modern signalling system design.

So how does innovation come about? It can be driven from a number of sources not necessarily within Network Rail. Getting ideas from the end user, be it the routes, the train companies or the supply industry, are the usual generators. Anyone who has a ‘what if’ question will be welcome to present the group with a challenge.

After assessment for viability and business gain, the solution may progress either from within the group’s own expertise, or in conjunction with the supply industry, or in collaboration with universities. Examples of the latter are ‘The Digital Railway’ project with Oxford University and the ‘Guidance, Navigation and Rail Vision’ project that emanated from Loughborough University.

Driven by efficiency gain, it sometimes means higher cost in the short term to obtain improved output in times to come.

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the rail engineer • November 2013

Achievements so far

Class II in service at Reading. $Q]HLJHB5DLOB8.B BSULQW SGI

With STAMP being expanded to cover other things, ongoing work has a new banner - SNIP (Signalling National Innovations Portfolio).

Remembering the remit to reduce the cost of signalling, the use of COTS (Commercial off the Shelf) equipment features in much of the work being carried out.

Plug and Play Cabling (issue107, September 2013) originated from the Infrastructure Projects Group (Signalling). However it was not just the design and production of plug ended cables, much more a whole re-think on how trackside installation of signalling equipment is achieved. Measurement, design, procurement, on site storage and testing methodologies all have to change, and some of these still require attention.

Attempts to speed up cable route measurement by aerial survey and train based survey did not yield the desired accuracy. Recourse to a person with a measuring wheel has been necessary, somewhat ironic given that the whole concept is to reduce the number of man hours needed at the lineside. More work is therefore being done to see if a combination of measuring techniques can be used to achieve the desired end result.

The adoption of Class II trackside power supplies has similarly had implications well beyond just replacing a three core cable with only two cores. Double-insulated systems need new designs of transformers, terminations and end usage equipment, all developed in conjunction with the supply industry. Just in case anyone is worried that earthing has been abandoned, lineside location cases, equipment racks and all other metal work is still safely bonded to ground potentials.

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Asset capture and recording has long been a problem for the rail industry and criticism from the ORR that Network Rail did not know what it owned has produced a number of initiatives to get this corrected.

The SNIP project ‘Data Exploitation’ is building on the previous upgrade of the Track Recording Unit, which has seen train-borne cameras upgraded and re-positioned to meet the need of signalling asset surveys. The semi-automated process is programmed to identify any asset needed for a signalling scheme ranging from signals and point machines to block joints and axle counters.

The raw data currently has to have a human interpretation (known as profiling) that can then be used to develop a signalling plan. It is hoped that an automatic image recognition system can be devised to minimise human intervention. This will be achieved by building on a partnership with BAE Systems at Yeovil, so adding weight to ensure the concept can be successful.

To date, 30% of the railway has been surveyed for signalling equipment.

With the concept developed, the ongoing work will be taken over by the ORBIS (Offering Rail Better Information Services) team who are charged with keeping the asset database current.

Data preparation has been a problem area ever since computer-based signalling was introduced. Getting some form of standardisation is the goal and a good starting point has been the automating of scheme plan data. Exporting the proposed layout in a standard data package (Signalling Data Exchange Format) using XML mark up language has been achieved and this in turn will enable the information to be exported to suppliers to speed up the production of data for future interlockings.

the rail engineer • November 2013

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the rail engineer â&#x20AC;˘ November 2013

Another data validation exercise has been the verification of signalling rules in the new modular signalling projects and a trial involving Siemens (ex Invensys) using a product called iProver shows promise. Proving that SSI (Solid State Interlockings) data is safe has been a challenge from day one and even today, it is not entirely a precise science. The innovations team have developed a tool called SSI Workbench that is a networked version of the SSI work station for preparing such data. It is not the whole answer to the problem but is one of many ways in which the safety approval of data can be streamlined.

Future Work

Photo: GIOCONDA

There is a shopping list of work for the Innovations Group to do under the SNIP banner and the list will continually need updating as initiatives arise.

Modular Signalling is likely to be adopted for the signalling of secondary routes. This technology has the potential for much reduced cost but can the planning work be made easier? A tool called ISP-Sketch is capable of producing the associated simplified scheme plan and then exporting this for data preparation. It was not used on the two trial installations but is likely to feature on future projects.

Signal Sighting is already automated to some extent. Work is underway to carry out image modelling using both video footage and/or virtual reality so as to achieve desk top sighting without anyone having to go trackside. The benefits will include consideration of options so as to get the preferred end result and then to use the model for assessing signal construction requirements and driver route learning.

Level Crossings are an ever-more-expensive item in railway infrastructure, so how can their costs be reduced? The use of industry standard PLC equipment (programmable logic controller) for the control circuitry is one such suggestion and is being progressed in conjunction with the Network Rail central signalling team.

Design Tools which take the tedious workload out of signalling design is a worthwhile objective. In conjunction with the signalling industry, the development of automated processes to produce scheme plans, headway analysis, signal spacing and data preparation has funding approval for the upgrade of existing tools.

Product Acceptance is a complex process within Network Rail and it can take months to get even the most basic of products approved. Is it all necessary? Many think not and a more pragmatic approach is called for. The identification of products that can make a real contribution to efficiency must be prioritised.

Determining products that sensibly do not need formal approval is another challenge. Cataloguing items by complexity such that anything that could be bought as a standard piece of hardware would not require formal approval will be a sensible step forward. Equally, if a product is successfully in use elsewhere in Europe or the wider world, does it really need to go through the complete approval cycle? Getting progress on this latter issue might help prevent the bespokery that so often takes place.

So, there is nothing earth shattering in what this group sets out to achieve. It is just the application of good plain common sense and logical evolution by engineers who have been around in the rail signalling business long enough to know where the scope for improvement might exist. They do not seek to work in a vacuum and interchange of ideas with other bodies is very much part and parcel of the process. Long may they continue to flourish.

Balfour Beatty Rail applies engineering excellence to drive efficiencies and minimise the impact of track renewals works on the UK rail network.

Driving efficiencies Scan to find out more

By successfully meeting the challenge of installing the first full track and ballast modular S&C during midweek night possessions the number of weekend possessions is minimised, bringing significant cost savings and reduced disruption for passengers. This has set the benchmark for modular S&C installations and brings the industry a step closer to achieving a true 24/7 railway.

020 7216 6800 www.bbrail.co.uk

• POWER & ELECTRIFICATION • TRACK • SIGNALLING • ASSET MANAGEMENT • MULTI-DISCIPLINARY PROJECTS •

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the rail engineer â&#x20AC;˘ November 2013

Biting the Bullet - The Danish ERTMS Roll Out

So, how was this decision reached and how will the system be implemented?

CLIVE KESSELL

Justification and Procurement

M

uch has been written on the deployment of the European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS) Level 2 across Europe. Most of the more recent High Speed lines are equipped with the system (or more accurately the ETCS - European Train Control System plus GSM-R) where infrastructure and trains are more or less self contained and the supply base has been a single contractor.

Those railways that have begun to roll out the system on existing lines have encountered many problems with performance, interoperability between different suppliersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; equipment, retro fitting of rolling stock and interfacing

the system to legacy signalling equipment.

In Denmark, 60% of the signalling equipment will have reached its end of life within 15 years and its ATC system equipment (more correctly

Automatic Train Protection) will be unobtainable after 2020.

Typically the signalling equipment is 50 years old, with 40% of interlockings requiring renewal by 2015. 50% of train delays are due to faults in the signalling system.

Faced with this situation, the rail authorities have decided to implement ERTMS nationwide, ridding itself of all existing signalling equipment in the process and retro fitting rolling stock other than that with only a short remaining life.

Like most European countries, the Danish Rail organisation is split. Banedanmark, Rail Net Denmark, is responsible for the maintenance of 2,323 kilometres of track and the traffic control and signalling systems. The principal main line train operator is DSB (Danske Statsbane - Danish State Railways).

Recognising the growing problems with signalling obsolescence and reliability, in 2006 a strategic political decision was taken by the Danish Parliament that a complete renewal programme should be embarked on over a 10 year period subject to suitable business and technical projections being prepared and approved.

This analysis took place between 2007 and 2008 and needed to prove that such a programme would benefit from the economies of scale. The new system would have to offer a quantum leap in technology

the rail engineer • November 2013

while using standard designs and components, resulting in operational savings and a reduction in maintenance costs.

The adoption of simple and safe operating rules should reduce the number of safety approvals needed and result in fewer traffic management sites.

A complication arose with the Copenhagen S-Bane, this being a regional suburban service for the city sometimes adjacent to the main lines but never sharing tracks as the electrification system is different. It is broadly equivalent to the London Overground in its role. This would not only need signalling renewal but also a significant increase in capacity. As such, a different solution for the S-Bane has been adopted.

Once agreed, a procurement process proceeded with many firms competing for the considerable business on offer.

Eventually the main contracts were awarded in 2012 on the following basis: Two ETCS contracts; East and West, the rationale being that no single company would be capable of supplying the entire country

(Alstom has the East sector and a Thales - Balfour Beatty Rail consortium the West sector); »» One contract for the train equipment on both main line and regional rolling stock; »» A supplementary GSM-R contract to include GPRS packet switching capability and additional coverage to the GSM-R voice network already being rolled out; »» An ongoing framework contract to provide for equipping any new lines; »» An option for ERTMS Level 3 (Regional ERTMS) on rural lines.

Taking this approach has resulted in considerable cost reductions compared with the European norms for ERTMS provision both trackside and train-borne. A separate contract has been let for the modernisation of the S-Bane.

Contractual Collaboration and New Rules A project of this size needed some new thinking if the all

too often contractual barriers were not to be encountered.

During the tendering phase, day long sessions with all involved parties were held to discuss and understand both technical and non-technical issues. The need for close collaboration was self evident but identifying the potential problem areas at an early stage was essential. In this way, the suppliers got a much better understanding on what was required and the submitted bids were thus of a higher than normal quality.

The sharing of risk is always contentious and both client and supplier had to accept a pragmatic approach. One factor within the collaboration process

31

has been ‘how do we disagree with each other?’ Or, in other words, when disputes occur, what is the mechanism for resolving them? As someone said, ‘if the lawyers appear, then we will have failed’.

A dominant element has been to ensure the resulting system and equipment is as near to a standard design as possible, with any necessary developments and deviations having to be proven as absolutely essential. This caused a considerable focussing of minds and resulted in both Banedanmark and the train operators needing to change their organisations to suit the new signalling system. These changes will affect controllers,

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the rail engineer • November 2013

Deployment

dispatchers and maintenance staff, as well as drivers and other train crew.

More contentious has been the decision to modify the operating rules to fit ERTMS deployment and remove some long cherished national principles, known locally as ‘Kill your own Darlings’.

The outsourcing of project management was also rejected on the basis that integration would suffer; all parties have been required to participate in this activity.

Copenhagen S-Bane Control System The S-Bane connects the outer suburbs of Copenhagen with the city centre. It too requires a control system update, not only to replace outmoded signalling equipment but also to provide additional capacity.

The rail authorities looked at options and concluded that to incorporate the S-Bane network into the main line ERTMS programme would not be a good

The magnitude of the project makes the timescale for implementation quite long. Since the Danes have had no previous experience with ERTMS, the start of the roll out is to be two trial lines, one in the north between Langå and Frederikshavn, the other nearer to Copenhagen between Roskilde and Næstved.

These will be commissioned in 2016 and will give both infrastructure contractors vital experience for the ongoing programme.

Banedanmark will take its time to learn from these early deployment routes so that further commissionings can be sure that all technical and operational situations have been understood and any problems rectified. The main lines will follow between 2018 and 2021 with the rural lines following on

idea for three reasons. Firstly, the ability of ERTMS to offer the traffic throughput required was suspect, secondly, the capacity of ERTMS in heavy traffic areas such as city centres was known to be limited owing to lack of bandwidth in the circuit switched GSM-R configuration and thirdly, the timescale for completing the S-Bane upgrade was unlikely to be commensurate with the main line programme.

Being as the network is separate

from this. It is possible that the latter will adopt the Regional ERTMS system currently being both trialled and implemented on similar lines in neighbouring Sweden.

The total cost of the project is budgeted at 14.8Bn Danish Kroner equivalent to around £1.5Bn. Some 20% of this expenditure will be by central government grant.

The installed system is expected to have a design life of 25 years and both Banedanmark and its contractors are expected to continue in partnership for this period. It is accepted that some updates of equipment and components will need to happen during this time but these should be in line with what happens to other ERTMS systems across Europe.

It would be easy to suggest that if the Danes can do it, why cannot the UK and other countries within Europe do likewise?

The situation is not that simple.

For a start there are the logistics

of scale; the Danish network is 2100 km with about 1600 trains per day (excluding the S-Bane), so the network is much smaller.

Equally, past investment in signalling systems has been proportionally less than in other countries so it has a much older age profile. The more modern systems can afford to be retired early.

Even noting this, the Danes concluded that the supply industry could not cope with nationwide roll out using a single contractor. The UK ERTMS programme for main line deployment firstly on the GW and then the ECML is probably as much as both the client and supply industry can cope with in the timescales declared.

That said, full marks to the Danes for being brave enough to take this bold step and for putting a package of collaboration together that should overcome the perils of interoperability, contractual disputes and rule book changes. We shall all watch with interest the next few years to see if it pans out as planned.

from the main lines, it was feasible to adopt a different solution. The advent of Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) systems elsewhere in Europe led to the easy decision of adopting one of these. After competitive tendering, a contract was awarded to Siemens for its TrainGuard MT wireless based system.

As well as the CBTC element, the contract includes signalling interlockings, traffic management, datacomms including passenger information, facilities to provide extra functionality and train equipment associated with the signalling system. As for the main line, an important factor has been that the system is well proven and in service elsewhere thus hopefully ensuring no nasty surprises with either the technology or operation.

An early deployment line from Jægersborg to Hillerød will be equipped first to test out the system and enable training of staff to take place. Thereafter the policy will be to commission sections from the extremities of the various lines and work inwards towards the city centre.

The central sections will be the last to be done. Once a section of line is commissioned, the changeover at the nominated point from existing to new will be by a simple switch on the train and thus trains have to be equipped with both old and new technologies.

Altogether, there will be 6 phases and the whole project will be implemented between 2014 and 2018 at a cost of 3.9 billion Danish Kroner, equivalent to around £400 million.

Lessons for others

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The bacteria can enter the body through cuts and scrapes, mouth or eyes and may even pass through unbroken skin.

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Cover all cuts and broken skin with waterproof plasters Wash your hands before eating, drinking and smoking Go to your GP and request a blood test if you have persistent flu-like symptoms or severe headaches.

Watch Atkins’ safety video to find out more

Plan Design Enable

34

the rail engineer • November 2013

big show

DAVID SHIRRES, Russian Railways’s best foreign journalist of 2013.

R

ussian Railways (RZD) takes its research seriously. Its rail research institute, VNIIZhT, employs 1700 people at six locations throughout Russia. Its facility at Shcherbinka, south of Moscow, has a 6km circular test track and a research complex six times the size of Derby’s Railway Technical Centre.

Every two years, Shcherbinka hosts Expo 1520 - a trade fair and engineering conference for Russian gauge railways (1520mm). This September’s Expo was the fourth such event with the first being held in 2007. There were six exhibitors’ pavilions totalling 17,000 square metres, 44 static items of rolling stock and a ‘dynamic exposition’ of 40 moving exhibits on the circular test track with 325 companies from 29 countries participating. The Rail Engineer was there to find out more.

At the glitzy opening ceremony, RZD’s president, Vladimir Yakunin, thanked his western partners from France, Germany, Italy, and Slovakia for their support. He felt Vladimir Putin’s directive to construct a high-speed rail line gave potential for further development.

The French and German Ambassadors also spoke to emphasise their rail industries’ current contribution and future potential involvement.

In the conference hall The three day engineering conference covered many topics including the development of the supply chain, light rail,

track machines, harmonisation of international standards and Russia’s future high-speed rail line. As at the opening ceremony, the conference had an international flavour with contributions from UIC and European rail companies.

The Russian rail market is clearly important to France. During François Hollande’s Moscow state visit in February, SNCF president Guillaume Pepy signed an agreement with Vladimir Putin to create an international high-speed rail training and research centre.

Pepy returned to Moscow for Expo 1520 to give a presentation to the conference’s plenary session when he explained that SNCF’s business strategy is focused on IT, customer relations and the competition.

He illustrated this by three specific initiatives: the low cost high-speed train, WeGo, using Trains à Grande Vitesse (TGV) with 20% more seats to compete with cut-price airlines; a Europe-wide travel planner, Mytripset, with travel time and price of all transport modes including cars; and Tranquilien, an app that uses crowd sourcing data to show the level of crowding on each train coach.

High-speed rail to Kazan With RZD’s high speed plans offering significant business opportunities, the sessions on high-speed rail attracted the greatest interest. Two years ago, RZD was confident that there would be a high speed line to St Petersburg by 2018 but last year it became clear that finance was not forthcoming. After this stalled start, Putin’s announcement in June of a 770km high-speed line to Kazan has put Russia’s high-speed rail programme back on track. This is expected to cost £19 billion of which £5 billion of state funding has been authorised. State funding

the rail engineer • November 2013

35

1890 design Ov class steam locomotive.

Euro-Russian rail partnerships

and private financing (around 30%) is expected to provide the remainder. With St Petersburg already having its 250 km/h Sapsan service, this changed plan is a political decision intended to develop Russia’s eastern regions.

Alexander Misharin, chief executive of RZD’s high-speed rail lines, advised that the Kazan line would be built for 400km per hour to reduce the current 13 hour journey time to 31/2 hours. He declared that the line would be completed for the World Cup in 2018. Acknowledging that this was ambitious, Misharin commented that it is “a project timetable that government has prepared for us”.

Benefits to mainland Europe In a session on high-speed rail and economic growth, speakers from France, Germany and Italy described the benefits brought by highspeed rail. Deutsche Bahn’s head of business

development, Niko Warbanoff, described how it had increased the importance of small cities and “had more than paid back their costs”.

Michel Leboeuf, adviser to the SNCF president, echoed this point and stated that, rather than being expensive, high-speed was very profitable as only 25% of project costs increase with speed and speed significantly boosts revenue. For this reason, the French experience was that new high-speed lines attract private finance.

Having carried two billion passengers on its high-speed network, Leboeuf was certain of its socio-economic benefits. It had also proved to be carbon positive after ten years and delivered safety benefits with a shift from road to rail. He was in no doubt that building 500 TGV sets for the high-speed network had saved the French rail industry. His advice to the Russians was “be ambitious”.

Just as Alstom has benefited from a domestic market for its TGVs, so has Siemens from its local rail market including high-speed trains. Both companies also have strategic partnerships with Russian companies to meet the country’s requirement for technology transfer. This gives them a high profile and Henri Poupart-Lafarge and Dietrich Möller, respectively presidents of Alstom and Siemens in Russia, are invariably prominent speakers at Russian rail conferences.

Ural locomotives is Siemens joint venture with the Russian Sinara Group to produce Lastochka EMUs and freight locomotives using Siemens electrical equipment that will eventually be produced in Russia. In May, it opened a £160 million factory at Yekaterinburg for EMU production which is the first in Russia to weld rail car bodyshells. As reported in The Rail Engineer issue 106 (August 2013), Lastochkas had previously been produced by Siemens in Germany.

Alstom’s partnership is with Transmashholding, in which they have a 25% share, and it has sent 200 of its engineers to Russia. The two companies have formed TRTrans, a joint venture to design new passenger and freight locomotives in Novocherkassk using Alstom’s electrical equipment which is also to be produced in Russia.

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the rail engineer • November 2013

Stradler’s FLIRT DMU with its power car.

The partnerships’ locomotives RZD is replacing its Soviet era traction with more powerful locomotives. Improved efficiency is also essential as RZD uses 5% of Russia’s electricity. Expo’s displays included next generation locomotives being produced by the Alstom and Siemens partnerships, all of which are winterised for temperatures of as low as -50°C. The EP20 is a Bo-Bo-Bo single unit dual voltage (3 kV DC and 25 kV AC) passenger locomotive produced by Transmashholding first unveiled at Expo 1520 in 2011. With a 6,600kW rating it can haul 17 coaches at 200km per hour. RZD have ordered 200.

Ural locomotives built its first 2ES10 ‘Granite’ locomotive in 2010. This is a 3kV DC two-unit freight locomotive with a 2 x Bo-Bo wheel arrangement. It has an 8,400kW rating and can haul freight trains of 9,000 tonnes. RZD have ordered 221 of these locomotives for which a 10% energy saving is claimed. Ural also unveiled their prototype 11201 locomotive at Expo. This is an AC version of the 2ES10 which is expected to receive type approval in April 2014.

Also launched at Expo were Transmashholding’s 2ES5 and KZ8A locomotives. RZD has ordered 200 of the 2ES5, a two-unit 25kV AC freight locomotive, the first in Russia with asynchronous traction drive. Rated at 8,400 kW it can haul up to 9,000 tonnes at 120 km per hour. The KZ8A locomotive is similar to the 2ES5 but more powerful at 8,800 kW. 200 of these are to be produced for Kazakhstan, a reminder that Expo 1520 is not just about Russia.

Chief engineer’s view Expo 1520 provided an opportunity to talk with RZD’s chief engineer, Valentin Gapanovich. He felt that the construction of the new high-speed line would certainly involve international contractors but felt this was an opportunity to localise production. He gave power supplies as a specific example.

Localisation would also be a key factor in selecting the supplier for the required forty train sets.

Gapanovich advised that RZD had “big plans” to modernise its signalling and was discussing this with Bombardier and Siemens.

A pilot scheme at Sochi will provide radio block signalling to ERTMS level 2. He mentioned

that Talgo gauge changing equipment is to be installed on the border between Poland and Belarus. This would eliminate the need to change bogies on Moscow to Berlin trains in 2015.

With RZD wishing to adopt European rail technologies, The Rail Engineer was keen to know what Europe could learn from RZD. Gapanovich considered that Russia led the world with its gas turbine locomotive and rail monitoring techniques which use contactless magnetic field testing in which France and Germany are particularly interested. During a visit to TVEMA’s VD-UMT-1 NDT coach, advice was received that this technique could detect rail flaws at up to 140 km per hour.

the rail engineer • November 2013

Cooking with gas VNIIZhT designed a prototype gas turbine locomotive, GT1, which was built in 2007. It has an 8,300kW gas turbine powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) directly driving a 6,000 rpm generator. Cryogenic equipment and a heat exchanger had to be developed to handle and recycle natural gas. With Russia’s abundance of this fuel, it is 30% cheaper to run than a diesel locomotive.

GT1 comprises two units, each having three bogies, with a total weight of 300 tonnes. One unit has the gas turbine and the other has a 17 tonne LNG tank. LNG has three times the density of a compressed gas and so can give the locomotive a range of 750km. At the last Expo 1520, GT1 hauled a record breaking 16,000 tonne train which, at 2.4 kilometres long, occupied 40% of the circular Shcherbinka test track.

This year the Sinara Group unveiled their production gas turbine locomotive, GT1h, for which RZD has placed an order for 40. Valery Tolstov, Sinara’s technical director, explained how lessons learned from the GT1 prototype included better regulation of turbine speed between 3,000 and 6,000 rpm and improved adhesion with four bogies on each unit, giving

the locomotive 16 powered axles. GT1h uses Sinara’s TE8 diesel freight locomotive’s chassis that has, at each end, two bogies fixed to a spreader frame.

37

Twice a day, Expo 1520 offers its ‘dynamic exposition’. This is a parade of rolling stock through the ages around the Shcherbinka test loop. This is led by seven preserved steam locomotives, the oldest of an 1890 design followed by Soviet era diesel and electrics.

Then come the next generation of locomotives including GT1 with its unmistakable turbine whistle. Bringing up the rear was a range of ontrack machines.

Elektriraudtee, placed in August 2010.

Although 900 FLIRT units have been ordered, the Estonian order is the first for diesel units for which a power car was developed after the order had been placed.

Stadler’s Ralf Warwell explained that the FLIRT DMU is identical to the EMU except for the insertion of a five metre long diesel power car on articulated bogies between two passenger cars. He explained that, with automatic control of the power car, the driver’s controls are also the same as the EMU. The power car has a central passenger corridor with diesel generators either side which gives the motor bogies at each end of the train a total power output of 1340 kW.

A ride on a FLIRT

Lessons from Russia

Stadler provided an opportunity to ride around the Shcherbinka test track on their FLIRT DMU which was part of an order for 20 DMUs and 18 EMUs for Estonian railways,

It is always fascinating to learn about Russia’s impressive rail developments. Although RZD’s operations are significantly different to British practice, Expo 1520 provides much food for thought for the UK rail industry.

Russia’s ambitious high-speed rail programme and the European experience that supports it is a significant contrast to UK’s anti-HS2 establishment. It was interesting to hear from SCNF how their development of a high-speed network had created the domestic market to support its rail industry that is so lacking in the UK. This year RZD will procure 803 locomotives at a cost of £1.6 billion which is a small part of its massive rail investment programme.

Whilst Russia looks to mainland Europe for support, sadly the UK is not seen as a player.

Yet it is difficult to accept that Britain does not have the expertise to be part of this market and it would be great to see a British company at Expo 1520 in 2015.

Dynamic exposition

(Left)Production Gas Turbine locomotive, GT1h

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the rail engineer • November 2013

Photo: ACHIM SCHEIL

NIGEL WORDSWORTH

New Eurostar under test T

he first new Eurostar trains, being manufactured by Siemens in Germany, are already largely complete and testing is well underway.

It was in October 2010 that Eurostar announced that it had selected Siemens to build 10 new trains which would be designated Eurostar e320.

The announcement was a bit of a surprise to those who felt that Eurostar, which is 55% owned by SNCF - the French state railway operator - would be sure to buy a French train.

It surprised the French government as well. Two SNCFappointed directors to Eurostar resigned and French president Nicolas Sarkozy took the matter up with German chancellor Angela Merkel. At the same time, lawyers argued that the Siemens train didn’t comply with safety regulations for running through the channel tunnel and so the contract should be declared invalid.

At the end of the day, nothing changed. The order for 10 train sets, each 400 metres long, was confirmed for a total of around £550 million. Delivery was scheduled for 2014. At the same time, Eurostar announced a further £150 million would be spent on refurbishing its existing trains which have been in service since 1993.

More passengers to more destinations The new trains are intended to expand Eurostar’s international services. The current fleet does not comply with European interoperability standards and is restricted to running a service between the UK, France and Belgium. The new Eurostar e320 sets will be able to operate to Amsterdam, Cologne (Köln) and other continental destinations.

Manufactured at the Siemens factory in Krefeld, the bespoke design of the new Eurostar trains is based on that of the successful Velaro family, examples of which are already running in Germany, Spain and China. The aluminiumbodied trains will be able to carry 890 passengers and their luggage,

around 20% more than the existing fleet, at speeds of up to 320 km/hr (200mph).

Much of the extra space comes from having no dedicated power cars. Instead, traction motors are distributed along the train - one of the changes from the older class that caused most of the complaints about the contract. This frees up passenger space in the two end cars.

In order to be able to operate in several countries, the new trains will be fitted with various different signalling systems and are capable of running off 25kV 50 Hz AC, 15kV 16.7 Hz AC, 3000V DC and 1500V DC supplies. Power output is 16MW or 21,000hp.

The first half-sets started appearing from the Krefeld factory at the end of 2012 and were taken by rail to Siemens’ test track at Wildenrath. Initial tests on an 8-car set proved encouraging and it wasn’t long before full, 400-metre long trains were seen on the six kilometre oval track, running at speeds of up to 160 km/hr.

the rail engineer • November 2013 Photo: DENNIS VANSUMMEREN

On the main line By the autumn of 2013, five full trains had been completed and, while four remained at Wildenrath, one was hitched up to a Class 66 freight locomotive and taken to Forest-South depot across the border in Belgium. There, power tests could be carried out on a 13-kilometre section of the main line between Gare d’Ath and Gare de Silly.

Meanwhile, interoperability is still a thorny issue. The approval process, which is being carried out by the German Federal Railway Authority (EBA), is following on from that of Deutsche Bahn’s new Velaro D (Class 407) which were due to enter service in 2011 but are still hung up in testing. These delays will have an impact on the new Eurostar, which now may not be ready for service before 2015.

Once all the approvals are in place, the new e320 (Class 374 in the UK) will both be available for use on the existing Eurostar network and can start development runs to other destinations.

Eurostar recently announced that a scheduled service from St Pancras to Amsterdam will start at the end of 2016.

Photo: CORENTIN CORWELIER

So it is a long drawn-out process.

Siemens is paying the price for being one of the first to develop truly international and interoperable trains. Hopefully, in the light of this experience, approving vehicles for international service will only become easier.

Exotic styling Meantime, the first of the original (Class 373) sets was withdrawn from service after the Olympics were over.

It is currently at Eurostar’s Le Landy depot in northern France where it is being fitted with a completely new interior. This has been designed by Italian styling house Pininfarina, perhaps more famous for work with Ferrari and other exotic car manufacturers.

Described by Eurostar as “completely new - much more than new carpets and a lick of paint”, the design is being kept a closelyguarded secret as it will transform the look of the twenty-year-old trains. It will be revealed when the first train re-enters service in the first half of 2014.

The interior of the e320/Class 374 will be very similar. Different in detail due to it being in a different train, the intention is that the family resemblance will be strong and passengers will be in no doubt that they are travelling in a Eurostar.

So the interesting and elegant new trains will have exotic and fresh new interiors. International train travel has a bright future.

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the rail engineer • November 2013

GRAHAME TAYLOR

Never bet on a

blockade!

I

t’s just gone four o’clock in the morning in high summer during a period of particularly fine, hot weather. The sun will be up soon. The first trains of the day have set out from their depots heading for Warrington on the West Coast main line (WCML). They are appearing on the signaller’s display as illuminated track circuits. From the trackside they’re becoming visible as tiny white lights in the distance, shimmering slightly in the early morning haze.

But they have nowhere to go.

The line between Warrington and Preston is blocked and has been blocked for the past nine days for major S&C renewals. This is a time of extreme pressure. It’s all been going to plan so far, but with a few minutes to go there are still red signals blocking the way for these, and all subsequent, trains.

So far, passengers are unaware

that nothing can move. They’ve planned their journeys on the basis that their trains will be running - trains that depend on these early morning movements being uninterrupted.

The seconds are ticking away.

More trains appear on the signaller’s panel. The white lights in the distance are getting brighter, but the signals remain at red.

There’s nothing now to be done. It all depends on the final handback of infrastructure by the permanent way, signal testers and overhead line staff.

At 04:20hrs word comes through that the possession protection has been lifted and that the WCML is open for business. Signal aspects change and the approaching trains continue their journey.

Passengers are oblivious of the tension that has just been released.

The most efficient option But why the nine day blockade?

What can justify such a long disruption of the WCML? Well,

as Alan Howarth, Network Rail’s project sponsor tells us, this is all about going for the most efficient option.

It all starts with an examination of the maintenance requirements for the larger infrastructure items on the route. Take, for example, some of the S&C layouts. These have to be tamped about twice a year, but such is the interdependence of each individual piece that it’s necessary to block all lines in order to treat the layout effectively. This can lead to 28-hour possessions, or what is known as disruptive access.

the rail engineer â&#x20AC;˘ November 2013

41

Looking at a list of proposed renewals and looking also at the list of sites where disruptive access is required led to a project to design out the need for such long possessions.

The idea is that, by simplifying and extending a layout, it is possible to tamp individual parts on their own, without the need to block the entire layout. These individual items of work can then be done within normal eight hour possessions.

But completing all this new work is, in itself, disruptive. And so it was for four S&C sites between Warrington and Preston. However, these four could be combined into one installation process and, with a deal of intense planning, could be completed in nine days instead of a cumulative total of twenty-five.

Despite involving two weekends and a whole week of business travel, this would be a huge gain for the Virgin trains business. The leisure market, especially at weekends is a large growth area.

Integrated access And so, with a compromise between engineering preferences and passenger traffic flows, the blockade was fixed for July 2013. The Network Rail/ Babcock Alliance is based at Crewe under Paul Marshal.

Work was allocated to the most suitable contractor based on their ability to provide the best service.

Everything was planned on an â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;integrated accessâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; arrangement.

Although there were four main sites, it was possible for work involving both railway and non-railway work, structural improvements, track maintenance and station work to be included - so long as the main works were not affected.

There was a major risk though.

It was just not possible to get all the freight traffic through the diversionary routes and so the remainder was threaded past the work sites under single line working using pilotmen. The signalling was not in operation because all the tracks had been disrupted. To ensure a

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42

the rail engineer • November 2013

smooth operation, trains were tracked on the night from their point of origin - right back to Southampton in some cases. Through careful liaison between individual control offices these vital services were fed towards the blockade at the right time and in the right order so that they would turn up for their twenty minute slot.

The day to day running of the project involved the classic three-tier control system: Bronze, silver and gold. Bronze involved each work site and also stations. Silver was the first level of coordination and Gold was the highest. Conference calls occurred twice a day to feed through progress and any snags encountered.

Radio communication was used at each site along with internet facilities. This meant that emails and drawings could be sent directly to site.

Independent project review The Warrington Bank Quay to Preston blockade was such a high profile project that it was decided to follow an independent project review process right from the start. This was a lesson learnt from the Olympics where a similar scheme had resulted in a 99.9% train punctuality.

It involves representatives of all parties from across the industry making regular presentations of their planning and risk appraisals to an independent panel made up of key individuals from Network Rail, TOCs, FOCs and suppliers. The process started 29 weeks before the blockade and covered everything in fine detail - from the proposed replacement timetable through to examining the reliability of hand tools. But the major engineering risks were investigated too, such as tampers and their reliability, train driver availability and route knowledge. Train operating company readiness was also explored in terms of station capacity, train stock reliability and staff arrangements.

Key parts of the diversionary routes were examined and proactively treated to prevent failures. In reality there were two major projects involved. The first and most visible was the engineering, but the second was making sure that the diversionary routes remained open and able to take the extra influx of traffic.

The cut finger Before the final go ahead, the reviewing panel issued a certificate to the project team to confirm that all plans were sound and that everything was ready to go. With the work completed and the only reportable safety incident being a cut finger - unpleasant enough for the finger perhaps - it was time to extend the review process into the lessons learnt. This was done at both two and eight weeks after.

Alan acknowledges that the review process was the most rewarding part of it all. “It showed me how to plan effectively and taught me the key things that really matter to the industry as a whole.” Not surprisingly these all centre round collaborative working and integrated planning to ensure that the ultimate customer - the passenger - has the least disruptive travelling experience possible. This may mean organising trains to suit traffic flows and capacity needs rather than individual companies’ proposals. There is not likely to be a simple or quick solution!

Where next? “Penrith, Harrison sidings and Oxheys are still to do, but we are still investigating sites for CP5 where collaborative working with extended engineering access would be the most appropriate implementation solution. It doesn’t suit everywhere.”

Postscript These were also anxious times in a drivers’ mess room. A sweepstake was run on when the blockade would be handed back. All bets were that the possession would overrun with no sites running faster than 20mph.

Real money hung on this result.

There was astonishment in the mess room as nobody had reckoned on an on-time hand back with 50mph at three sites and one at 80mph (a first for the UK). All the stake money went to charity! Not a bad result either.

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the rail engineer â&#x20AC;˘ November 2013

Being prepared Andy Webb, managing director of A P Webb Plant Hire, explains how his company was involved in the nine day blockade of the West Coast main line

the rail engineer • November 2013

45

A

P Webb was awarded the S&C Alliance (Babcock/Network Rail) contract for the supply of road-rail plant in February of this year. Since then, our relationship has grown over the months into a progressively more comfortable and collaborative arrangement in the lead up to the Wigan blockade.

I’ve been in the railway plant hire business for 30 years so I felt reasonably confident but, because this was a high profile job, we concentrated really hard on how we performed. The enormity of the task focussed us to take a second and deeper look at what we did.

Advance maintenance In preparation, we went beyond even what the manufacturers’ maintenance requirements were for our kit. Significant failure risks were identified and in some circumstances this meant removing the entire cab of the machine to uncover the ‘rat’s nest’ of hosing so that we could tidy and re-route accordingly.

Our engineers delved into performance and maintenance records. They looked at trends going back perhaps 18 months or more to see if we could detect any forms of failure that re-occurred. Anything that seemed suspicious was reviewed and pre-emptive replacement of components considered. Alternators were upgraded following analysis to minimise electrical faults and closely scrutinised track and tyre condition including the replacement of rubber track pad inserts.

A policy of enhanced hose re-routing and protection on attachments was enacted, studying areas of weakness through operational assessment. In some instances we redesigned attachments for better hose routing and ensured each was transported on a purpose made stillage to reduce potential loading and unloading vulnerability.

Overall, we adopted a higher level of attention to detail and commissioned one individual who is responsible for overall plant reliability.

On site During the possession, we had fitter cover that adopted a role of patrolling the plant rather than waiting for something to go wrong and reacting. This was a huge advantage, although it tired the poor chaps out! They were able to intercept or have a sight of potential issues before they developed into a problem. We also built and installed a mobile workshop and stores on site which included hose making equipment, welders and compressors.

There were a total of four sites spread over 18 miles, and this needed a level of staff flexibility. Each machine operator and lorry driver was equipped with detailed maps so that they could find the best way from their site to anywhere else in the blockade.

We held regular briefings, site walkouts and team meetings so that everyone knew the lie of the land prior to the event. And they knew where everyone else was too. Our team members all had key phone numbers not only our own, but for everyone involved in the blockade. We gave them as much comfort as we could so that they knew that they were not isolated or alone. At the touch of a button they could give or receive vital information.

Fuel supplies At any time, it’s unforgivable to run out of fuel - so we paid massive attention to this and positioned bowsers of diesel at strategic locations rather than keeping it in a compound.

This meant that fuel was always accessible rather than being isolated by other plant or engineering trains in the way.

We placed great significance on the role of ‘Team Leader’ and these individuals had empowerment to ensure correct logistical deployment of fuel, men, track access equipment and attachments.

There will always be eleventh hour changes, we know that, and you can’t really plan for the unknown - apart from being able to react accordingly and being flexible. When things get tricky, management must impart more energy whilst at the same time being light of foot.

In the end, it’s the machine operators you’ve got to manage. These guys don’t just sit around waiting for the phone to ring!

You roster them, you monitor their shifts, their fatigue, their rest time. You check their competencies so that you send the right guy to the right kit - someone who can operate a ballast broom or a sleeper grab. Your hire desk has to be extremely alert.

We run a system of manager-on-call and fitter-on-call and this is twenty-four hours every day of the year - irrespective of blockades. But it would be right to say that we ‘upped the ante’ on this blockade. Our rail director Malcolm Wellings, senior plant controller Connie Lennox, and senior reliability manager Paul Helks were very focussed throughout.

And our control room? It resembled a Churchillian war room with a white board showing where every piece of equipment was at any particular time. It’s all part of the “Make it happen” motto that Webbs adopts.

46

the rail engineer • November 2013

Photo: FOROAIRE AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY

GRAEME BICKERDIKE

Ground 180mm

TRACK SLEWED

GE G HINMIN R FO

320mm

(Above) The tunnel’s south portal (bottom right) is overshadowed by Thieveley Scout.

Meanwhile the site compound takes shape in advance of the blockade.

(Left) A cross section through the tunnel at the point of greatest distortion.

I

ts colour scheme might get repainted by the seasons but we tend to view Britain’s natural landscape as a constant, not changing much from one Ice Age to the next.

The reality of course is subtly different as adverse weather, seismic activity and human intervention - quarrying, mining, forestry and the like - all act to locally reshape the topography over time. As custodian of lofty structures relying on ground support and others offering clearances only measured in inches, the railway can certainly find its operations unsettled when the earth moves.

Holme Tunnel accommodates the Copy Pit route (FHR6) which climbs to a summit of 749 feet between Hall Royd Junction - just east of Todmorden on the Caldervale line - and Gannow Junction near Burnley where the Colne branch converges. On the face of it, the tunnel is comparatively workaday, measuring just 265 yards. But the care it has demanded over 164 operational years has been disproportionate to that length, providing an insight into the incremental effects of external forces.

How’s that for positive spin? This winter sees engineers and machinery ascend the Pennines again to lavish yet more attention on it.

High maintenance Opened by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway in November 1849, Holme Tunnel penetrates a spur of land below Thieveley Scout, an escarpment on the south-west side of the Cliviger Valley where several rotational landslips have occurred - both recent and historic - resulting in unstable, undulating terrain. Debris from one such slip comprises the upper layer of the spur which reaches a height of 35m above the tunnel’s centre.

As might be expected over the course of its life, sections of the original 600mm masonry lining have demanded repair and recasing in brick. This work has been predominantly focussed towards its ends. Whilst minor defects were apparent in the 1950s, the condition of both the portals and lining was not causing any particular concern until the mid-1970s when cracking in the voussoirs at the north (Burnley) portal was observed for the first time. Although the tunnel itself was wet, with perished mortar and spalled masonry, no bulging or hollow sections had been identified at that stage. But the decade that followed brought a marked deterioration: bulges developed in several places, as well as fractures, deep open joints and considerable displacement of the north portal’s parapet.

By the mid-1980s, problems at the other end had become sufficiently serious for British Rail to undertake major temporary works to

47

Photo: AMCO RAIL

the rail engineer • November 2013

improve the tunnel’s integrity. In 1986/7 and then again in 1991, a total of 152 steel ribs were inserted, supported from cess casings tied together by invert struts; associated slewing of the Up line took place to maintain clearances. This strengthening extends 81 metres into the tunnel from the Todmorden portal. But the degradation and cracking has continued to an extent that even this steelwork now shows signs of distress.

Not surprisingly, then, an intensive tunnel management regime has been established, involving monthly inspections and remote monitoring of the defects and profile. Today the Up-side haunch is displaced by 320mm at the point where distortion is at its most severe, forcing the crown upwards by 180mm and driving the development of a hinge in the Down-side haunch. Loss of gauge clearance has led to the introduction of a 20mph permanent speed restriction, with obvious implications for the 80 or so passenger trains that pass over the route daily.

It’s all mine The landslip debris overlies solid material through which most of the tunnel was bored - the Lower Coal Measures deposited during the Westphalian age. Mines feature heavily

“Not surprisingly, then, an intensive tunnel management regime has been established...”

As coring works go on inside, the Todmorden portal’s parapet tells its own story of the pressure it’s been under.

throughout the area but the Cliviger Valley Fault - with its 390-metre down throw geologically separates the tunnel from the workings of two former pits on its west side.

Coal seams do however intersect with the tunnel at five locations. The closest recorded workings - running parallel to it occurred 35 metres to its south, close to the Todmorden end, when the Royd Wood Drift Mine was active between 1984 and 1986.

It’s thought unlikely that this could have directly contributed to the tunnel’s difficulties although the colliery’s owner previously suggested that cracks did appear in the lining just a few days after one of the regular ‘pressure shifts’ in the mine which were accompanied by the floor uplifting. Whatever their cause, it’s clear that slippage and rotational failures along subgrade seams have driven the distortion, with lateral forces acting on the lining towards the south end whilst slope failures have triggered longitudinal masonry fractures near the Burnley portal.

That progressive decline has made inevitable the need for another intervention, enabling works for which have been ongoing since May. This project will be more invasive than those undertaken previously but promises greater rewards, delivering W8 gauge with standard clearances and restoration of the 45mph linespeed, with passive provision for 75mph. To facilitate the work, a blockade has been agreed from 9th November to the end of March 2014 between Hall Royd Junction and

48

the rail engineer • November 2013

Photo: AMCO RAIL

Photo: AMCO RAIL

Burnley Manchester Road. During that period, TransPennine and Northern Rail passengers will enjoy the scenery over Copy Pit from the comfort of replacement buses.

Pecking order

(Top) Preparatory drilling for the permeation grouting (above), carried out during Rules of the Route possessions Prior to the blockade.

(Below) A geological long section through the tunnel.

SANDSTONE

SILTSTONE

Fulfilling the project on Network Rail’s behalf is AMCO Rail, working to a design developed

by Donaldson Associates. This has three key elements: general repairs to the lining at the north end, reconstruction of the lining at the south end and rebuilding of the Todmorden portal. Allied to this will be replacement and realignment of the p-way through the tunnel and 200m either side of it to meet gauge clearance requirements, together with new six-foot drainage. The tunnel works are costed at £16.3 million, with a further £600k being invested in around 40 smaller schemes to make best use of the opportunity brought by the closure. The spectacular Lydgate Viaduct will be among the beneficiaries.

Permeation grouting has already been injected to improve the strength and cohesion of granular material behind the lining. Within the blockade, the proposed methodology will then see the masonry progressively replaced with steel arches encased in sprayed concrete from a point 88 metres from the south end, working back towards the portal.

The plan goes like this. Four of the existing ribs will be withdrawn, allowing the associated cess casings to be broken out and the invert strut removed. These are located at 2.1m centres. A 1.5m length of lining will then be cut away and the estimated 32 tonnes of arisings taken by dumpers to a stockpile at the portal.

Rockfall protection mesh will be fitted after the ground has been trimmed to the correct profile.

A two-piece precast concrete invert will be laid on a 50mm sand bed prior to angled cess units for the new steel arches being bolted to it.

The arches themselves - to be placed at 1m centres - each weigh about 4 tonnes and are being fabricated by Barnshaws. They come in three sections connected by flexible joints for ease of transport and fitment, and are to be lifted into place using a bespoke attachment mounted on a 32-tonne excavator, after which the bolts will be tightened and temporary lateral restraints employed. The estimated cycle time for removal of the existing lining and installation of one arch is 13 hours, with an additional four hours needed to cut out each group of four ribs. This sequence will be repeated until a 12-metre section is complete.

Rapid-hardening concrete will then be poured to fill the invert and cess areas, after which spraying of the new 420mm thick fibrereinforced concrete lining will get underway.

Then they start again.

Good housekeeping Whilst the remaining 150 metres of tunnel towards Burnley is subject to some longitudinal movement, the deformation has significantly less structural impact.

Consequently the work here will be less intrusive, comprising general maintenance and remedial treatment: cross-pinning of the masonry, crack stitching, repointing and so forth. In an effort to reduce the water ingress, which becomes more prevalent towards the portal, hollow sections will be grouted and low-level weep holes cut. There’ll be some spot brick replacement as well as recasing of several spalled brickwork areas, amounting to 77m2.

It’s routine, low-tech, high-volume activity but comes with its own set of practical challenges.

MUDSTONE

COLLUVIUM (LOOSE DEPOSITS)

PRESUMED PROFILE PRIOR TO PREVIOUS MINOR SLIPS

TODMORDEN PORTAL

BURNLEY PORTAL

TO BE RELINED COA L SE AMS

COA L SE AM

TO BE REPAIRED

HOLME TUNNEL

COA L SE AM

COA L SE AM

COA L SE AMS

The Todmorden portal is typical of its time, designed by John Hawkshaw, the Lancashire & Yorkshire’s preeminent Consulting Engineer. Lacking the flourishes that adorn many others, the portal does have a unique character thanks to the reshaping forced upon it by the ground movement. As the crown of the arch has been pushed upwards, so too has the parapet’s middle.

Fortunately for the project team, the listings folk at English Heritage have not been troubled by Holme Tunnel; this has afforded scope for a design solution in concrete.

Rock bolts have been inserted through the portal’s spandrels and wing walls in preparation for the blockade. Thereafter the parapet will be dismantled and dowel bars fixed into the wing walls to support new in-situ concrete spandrels and parapet beam. The voussoirs will then be removed to allow completion of the lining, after which the portal’s foundations will be installed and its concrete face finished.

Know your place Although arrogance might delude us into believing otherwise, it’s a reflection of man’s position in the overall hierarchy that our attempts to remodel the world around us can only ever be regarded as temporary, vulnerable to irresistible forces far beyond those we could ever hope to exert. For evidence of that, you need only look in some disused tunnels to see how rapid their decline can be when maintenance ends and nature is left to do her worst.

But the 21st century has brought advantages that were not around 25 years ago when Holme Tunnel’s troubles were last substantively tackled. As such, this winter’s project will bring a solution for the longer term: reinstating the tunnel’s structural integrity and allowing the return of a normal asset management regime. Performance will improve and line closure risks diminish as the structure’s deterioration is halted. We’ll return to chart the trials and tribulations posed by those objectives next year.

Photo: AMCO RAIL

the rail engineer • November 2013

A trial erection of four arches and precast concrete invert units.

49

50

the rail engineer â&#x20AC;˘ November 2013

g n i t s e r r A I

t is well known that steel corrodes and that the resulting rust occupies ten times the volume of the original steel. When the steel is embedded in concrete, whether as steel beams or reinforcing bars, this expansive reaction cracks the concrete and forces the cover concrete to spall away. This lets in more moisture, accelerating the corrosion.

One might think that stopping this process is simply a matter of chipping back the loose concrete, cleaning the steel back to bright metal and reapplying new concrete. Whilst this is a perfectly acceptable method for the direct area of repair, it does nothing to improve the situation in adjacent parts of the structure and may even make matters worse. To understand why, we need to look at the basic corrosion mechanism with steel embedded in concrete, which is an electro-chemical process.

Understanding corrosion It takes an enormous amount of energy to convert iron ore into steel and, left to its own devices, the steel readily converts back to iron ore (rust). The alkaline environment that the freshly poured concrete affords arrests this decay. However, atmospheric carbon (principally from CO2 gas) and chlorides in de-icing salts or

KEVIN BENNETT

sea spray neutralise the alkalinity through carbonation and chloride attack respectively. When the alkalinity drops at the level of the embedded steel, corrosion can start. This may take decades to set in but many of our structures are old enough that they are now in trouble and need intervention to prevent degradation.

At the point where the alkalinity is lowest, an anode is set up in the steel. Next to this, a cathode is established and electrons flow from the anode to the cathode.

The corrosion happens at the anode.

After a concrete patch repair has been carried out, that section is once again highly alkaline.

However, adjacent to the repair is old concrete that might be barely alkaline at all. A new anode therefore establishes itself in the old concrete, leading to new corrosion adjacent to the repair.

Due to this phenomenon, which is known as the incipient anode effect, in as little as three years after the repair the member can be in just as sorry a state as before.

The most effective remedy is to apply a cathodic protection (CP) system. This imposes a low electrical current by artificial means that stops the electrochemical reaction just described.

Either the current can be provided from an external power source or

the rail engineer • November 2013

from a metal which is less noble than steel, ie a metal that will corrode in preference to the steel.

Such metals are usually zinc or mixed metal oxides on a titanium matrix.

Two projects that illustrate the successful implementation of cathodic protection are Tilbury Dock and Nettlehill.

Titivating Tilbury The A1089 Tilbury Dock Road crosses over the Fenchurch Street to Southend railway just north of Tilbury Town Station on a nine-span viaduct. It mostly comprises of a steel composite deck supported on reinforced concrete piers, crossheads and abutments, and it was these support structures that needed repair and protection.

The project brief was to carry out concrete repairs and install an impressed current cathodic protection system to these supports. Specialist contractor Freyssinet was brought in to: »» Remove defective and delaminated concrete using hand-held breakers for small areas or hydro-demolition for larger areas with all repairs having saw cut edges; »» Replace the concrete using hand-trowelled polymer modified repair concrete, shuttered and flowable concrete or sprayed concrete; »» Design and install an impressed current cathodic protection system, noting the need for the system to take account of lateral posttensioning in the pier base beam.

The CP system was designed and commissioned by Freyssinet’s in house cathodic protection design company, Corrosion Control Services Limited. It was installed on three crossheads, two abutments and three piers. The solution was designed as two independent systems, one either side of the bridge, each linked into its own stainless steel enclosure which contained all the controllers and data links.

51

Installation entailed grit blasting the concrete surface where CP was to be applied and fixing titanium mesh anodes against the roughened surface. Various electrical connections were made between the original reinforcement cage, the control panel and the new mesh. Reference electrodes were installed at specified locations (these check that the system is working effectively), then 25mm of concrete overlay was sprayed over the cables and mesh as permanent protection.

Fettling Nettlehill A second example of this type of problem is Nettlehill Railway Bridge which carries the A899 over the Edinburgh to Bathgate line immediately south of junction 3 on the M8 and close to Livingston. The crossing comprises three separate twospan structures with precast concrete beam decks.

These three structures carry the two carriageways plus a sliproad and were suffering from corroded reinforcement in their blade piers and abutments. Earlier patch repairs were starting to blow again and there were many additional areas of rusting and spalling.

Defective concrete had to be removed by hydro-demolition due to the extensive areas involved. The average depth of repair was 120mm in order to give good penetration for the replacement concrete which was sprayed back in behind the reinforcing bars. Propping of the precast beams that formed the deck was necessary before works could commence on repairs immediately below their supports.

The decision had been taken to apply an impressed current CP system to the bridge abutments and central blade piers. To accomplish this, two types of anode system were used. An MMO (mixed metal oxide) coated titanium mesh anode was applied directly to the atmospherically exposed faces of the structures and an MMO coated ribbon canister groundbed system was buried adjacent to the abutment

We need to look at the basic corrosion mechanism with steel embedded in concrete.

wingwalls to provide protection to those elements below ground level.

Both of these projects were completed with minimal disruption to rail services. The currents now flowing through the reinforcing cages of both structures may well be tiny but the effect is powerful.

Corrosion will be kept at bay and the fine blank canvas that the new sprayed concrete provides can be enjoyed by graffiti artists for years.

Kevin Bennett is Senior Technical Director, Freyssinet Ltd.

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52

the rail engineer • November 2013

MATT DRAPER

Cable Management

Sleepers

O

ver the duration of the Thameslink Programme, it was envisaged that approximately 200 Under Track Crossings (UTXs) would be required to take cables across the line. Many of these would be on brick viaducts with shallow ballast depths, where conventional crossings might not be possible.

There was a clear opportunity to develop a new design of cable management sleepers to reduce the need for UTXs and to provide a safe and constrained environment for the management of cables that cross the track.

The sleepers would predominantly be used for third-rail DC power supply cables which are up to 57mm in diameter. These cables, if not contained within UTXs, would normally be laid across the ballast and be vulnerable to damage from tampers or other track plant.

Immediate benefits Steel variations of cable management sleepers already exist on the market. However, being conductive, these are not permitted for use in third rail areas. The new design would have to be made from an insulating material, and the obvious choice was the same concrete as that of plain sleepers.

Assuming that the new cable management sleepers would cost around £100, a comparison could be made with conventional crossings. The costs of UTXs vary greatly, but typically: »» the lowest cost of a simple drilled UTX is £20,000 (two tracks); »» the lowest cost of a ducted UTX in a new site is £25,000 (two tracks);

»» the average cost of a ducted UTX in an existing site is £45,000 (two tracks).

There appears to be no upper limit for the price of a UTX and some are considerably more than the figures above.

Taking the total cost of a crossing using cable management sleepers to be in the region of £8,000 to £10,000, it was calculated that replacing just six UTXs would recoup the design cost.

If 150 of the planned 200 crossings were to use the new cable management sleepers, then the potential saving to Thameslink would be a minimum of £2.4 million up to December 2016.

As far as could be foreseen, there would be no negative impact from the programme. The cable management sleepers, being made from the same materials as regular sleepers, should be no more difficult to install.

In addition, there is a significant reduction of risk. There are no earth works and there is a reduction of site labour, possession time and plant requirement. Installation and use of cable management sleepers would not be affected by ground conditions. There should be less maintenance requirements than with UTXs and the level of site safety would be improved.

Looking to the future As the difference in cost between conventional and cable management sleepers is comparatively low, several of them could easily be installed when renewing track in areas of high cable density. It will be much more efficient to do this at the installation stage, into pre-arranged gaps every 14/28 sleepers in plain line, than retro-fit. And even if there is no immediate use for them, installing them makes the line future-proof in terms of cable crossings for almost no additional cost.

In addition, cable management sleepers could be used in the standardisation of design for S&C to be installed with every new set of points.

Development Cemex was successful in winning the contract to undertake the detailed design of the new sleeper, together with the manufacture of the necessary moulds and the production of prototypes for testing and type approval. This would run in parallel with Network Rail’s product approval process.

The preferred final design was to provide a central slot or groove in the top of the sleeper that can be used to carry DC power cables up to 57 mm in diameter across the four foot. In addition they can be used for all other cables associated with signalling and telecommunications - of particular interest to engineers installing new ‘plug and play’ systems.

the rail engineer • November 2013

53

In addition, the groove could be widened towards the midpoint of the sleeper to accommodate fixings with impedance bonds.

It was considered that, in order to meet the performance requirements, only a pre-stressed concrete mono-bloc sleeper with a central cable groove would be acceptable. The method of design and manufacture matched that of existing sleeper and bearer designs.

Also, the requirement for an inclined and vertical rail seat version was identified to match the soffit depth of adjacent sleepers (EG47) or bearers (001E). The fastening method would also match the adjacent sleeper or bearers, using either Fastclips or traditional Pandrol e-clips.

Consideration was also given to accommodating the new Pandrol Fastclip FE.

Product Approval In conjunction with the design development and testing, the new products were put through product approval within Network Rail. As part of this process, the prototype product was dynamically tested under the full axle load with 2 million cycles to check durability.

As with other new products, there was also a requirement to provide risk assessments, operation and maintenance manuals and prove compliance with standards and the original performance specification written for the cable management sleeper.

Once all this was finished, the Thameslink programme could start installing the new cable management sleepers, and making that handy £2.4 million saving.

Matt Draper is senior project engineer - track, London Bridge Area Partnership, Network Rail.

PRE-STRESSED CONCRETE MONOBLOCK SLEEPER WITH GROOVE FOR SIGNALLING / POWER CABLES Network Rail Approved: • The EG53 can accommodate a cable of diameter up to 60mm.

For use with: • BS113A or CEN60E1 rail.

• Pandrol “FASTCLIP” fastening.

Manufactured in accordance with: • Network Rail specification NR/SP/TRK/030.

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the rail engineer • November 2013 Photo: JONATHAN WEBB

NIGEL WORDSWORTH

Winter is coming, and with it one of the major problems that the railways face - ICE. Whenever the temperature drops towards freezing, or below it, the ice becomes a major factor. It can affect almost every aspect of railway operations.

But what if the ice is on the third rail? It can stop electricity reaching the train’s pickup shoe and without that no-one is going anywhere. Sand won’t fix this problem - the shoe needs to slide on the rail so it is not a question of increasing friction, but of removing the ice.

In particularly problematic areas, rail heaters can be fitted which both prevent ice from forming and melt it if it does. But it is not practical to do that to the whole third-rail network. What is needed is an economical and effective way of melting the ice that can be easily applied.

Early de-icing Kilfrost has been making de-icing fluids since the 1930s. Their first application was in de-icing football pitches, but in 1937 they found favour with the Royal Air Force for de-icing aeroplanes. Demand grew during World War II and the company moved from Whitley Bay to Haltwhistle, Northumberland.

After the war, aviation expanded and Kilfrost products were also used by the British Antarctic Expedition to keep its vehicles running.

By the winter of 1962, Kifrost de-icer was being used to free up frozen points on the railways. The company has been involved in the rail industry ever since.

Photo: JONATHAN WEBB

Slippery under foot The most obvious are station car parks and approaches. Cold weather after rail, or a heavy dew, or a light snowfall that is then compacted by cars and pedestrians, and car parks can become a sheet of ice. It is time to get the salt and sand buckets out.

It covers the platforms too, so that passengers slip and slide on their way to the trains. The solution is the same, though there are some rather more specialised and effective granules that can be used these days rather than simple salt.

If there is ice on the ground, there is ice on the rails. Its presence means that trains can’t accelerate from a station, but also means that they can’t stop once they do get going. Sand is again the traditional answer, this time from sandboxes and applicators on each train rather than a man with a bucket in the car park.

the rail engineer • November 2013

Kilfrost Rail is used as a de-icer on third rail applications as well as points. Rail Plus also acts as an anti-icer. Its thicker formulation adheres to the rail and prevents icing down to temperatures as low as -39°C. Sprayed onto the rails by a special train, the formulation is biodegradable and does not attack or corrode the rails themselves.

Overhead equipment can suffer the same way. Ice on the contact wire causes sparking and damage to both the wire and to pantographs, so it is important to keep that ice-free as well.

Flying ice Trains also suffer from ice. Movable parts, particularly bogies and in the undertrain area, are prone to seizing when ice is about. In 2011, Kilfrost entered into collaboration with specialist Swedish company Nordic Ground Support Equipment and developed the TDIce range of products. These are heated de-icers and anti-icers which, as the name suggest, are sprayed onto affected and critical areas using Nordic’s equipment.

Freezing is, of course, an international problem. ProRail is the infrastructure maintainer in the Netherlands where the same winter challenges are faced, including that of including ice blocks falling from trains causing S&C and signalling malfunctions and damage to the trains themselves. These flying lumps of ice can, of course, also pose a safety threat to passengers at stations and track workers lineside.

As a result, Lloyds Register Rail Europe, a company offering expert advice to help companies to manage systems and risks, was contracted by NedTrain and ProRail to find and implement solutions for winter related issues for the rail network.

Boaz Bos, senior project manager at Lloyds Register Rail Europe, commented: “We decided to use Kilfrost TDIce Plus due to the company’s reputation and the references we received from other users. Kilfrost has greater

55

experience of de/anti-icing solutions than any other provider in the rail industry and this meant we were confident in the company’s ability to treat and prevent ice forming on our trains.”

NedTrain first installed a pilot Nordic anti-icing system incorporating Kilfrost’s fluid for trial purposes during winter 2011/12. This was successful so a further five systems were installed across the Dutch rail network in winter 2012/13, when the responsibility for managing these systems was handed to ProRail.

The anti-icing properties of the TDIce Plus helps prevent the build up of ice in the first place, it is not just a method of ice removal.

It is starting to find application with other train operators as Christine Mazencieux-Pear, sales manager at Kilfrost’s Winter Division, commented: “The concept of using anti-icing systems to prevent the build up of ice and snow is gathering pace as increasing numbers of operators are investing in such installations.

As well as being easy to spray, Kilfrost TDIce Plus is non-hazardous and fully biodegradable.

As a result, it is well aligned to ProRail’s sustainable ethos.”

Frozen ballast It is not just the trains and the infrastructure that can freeze, materials sitting in storage yards can as well. When a track renewals team brings a train-load of new ballast to site, opens the hopper doors to dump it all onto the track, and the ballast just sits there in one frozen lump weighing many tons, there is not much that can be done.

What can be done is that the ballast can be given a coating of anti-freeze before it is loaded. An environmental assessment needs to be undertaken first in case the work site is scientifically sensitive, in which case the procedure cannot be used. However, so long as there are no such concerns, a good coating of anti-icing mixture can keep the ballast flowing.

A new Kilfrost product, AGT, will be trialled this winter on just this application. Carl Jones, business improvement specialist at Network Rail NDS (National Delivery Service) explained: “The product will be applied at Network Rail’s eight nationwide Virtual Quarries, or VQs, using bespoke tractors and bowsers equipped with gantries and specialist spraying equipment.

This reduces both the amount of chemical required and the chances of any product affecting the surrounding area. The treatment areas are monitored and independently tested to ensure that the chemical is not presenting any risks to the environment.”

All this, of course, goes on out of sight of the passenger, sliding his way across the car park.

And that sand and salt makes a dreadful mess inside the station concourse. Why not use Kilfrost Power Pellets instead?

56

the rail engineer • November 2013

All for one - and one for all?

W

ith the debate raging over spiralling costs for capital infrastructure investment, a new model of project that might just show the way is quietly establishing itself in the UK rail industry. Pure alliancing is a form of project organisation based on an Australian model - the pure alliance agreement - in which employer and contractors sign a contract committing them to work closely together as one integrated team for the duration of a project.

What distinguishes ‘pure’ from more traditional methods of alliancing and other collaborative contract models is that the parties agree to share most of the risks and rewards. This means, for example, that an employing organisation cannot force a contractor to take the hit on cost overruns.

Instead, what are sometimes called ‘no sue agreements’ or ‘no claims environments’ bind the partners to reimburse each other’s extra costs and prevent them from suing each other.

Value for money The 2011 government-sponsored McNulty report on rail investment shaped the attitude of much of the rail industry towards alliancing, including Network Rail. One of McNulty’s key recommendations was for the industry to adopt BS11000 - a benchmark for collaborative working - to deliver greater value for money for taxpayers.

Neill Carruthers, head of collaborative working for Network Rail Infrastructure Projects, has been heavily involved in

ANDREW ROBBINS

developing the company’s alliancing approach.

“The alliance model now represents our most advanced form of collaborative working with the supply chain,” he says.

“It’s been around in the UK since the1990s.

Originally, it was developed by BP for North Sea projects, and in more recent years in other infrastructure sectors by companies such as the National Grid and Anglia Water.

“There’s also been a tremendous amount of work done in Australia over the past decade or so. Over A$80 billion (£47 billion) of public sector infrastructure projects have been carried out under various forms of alliancing.”

to track, telecommunications, highways, and most things in between.

This multidisciplinary programme is being delivered by the Staffordshire Alliance, comprising Network Rail, VolkerRail, Laing O’Rourke and Atkins. It aims to remove a bottleneck on the West Coast Main Line through three key projects: linespeed improvements between Crewe and Stafford, resignalling Stafford station and the surrounding area, and a proposed new flyover at Norton Bridge (issue 104 - June 2013).

The Stafford project Over the past two years, several projects across the network have been established as alliances. The most advanced of these is the £250 million Stafford Area Improvements Programme (SAIP).

The first UK rail industry project to adopt the one contract, pure alliance approach, SAIP is an intensive programme of improvements

Scotland route managing director David Simpson, centre, is joined by ScotRail MD Steve Montgomery, left, and Transport Minister Keith Brown to welcome one of the new 380s to Paisley Canal on the first day of all-electric services.

the rail engineer • November 2013

57

Unanimous decisions The core of any alliance is its integrated management team - comprising representatives of the main project players.

Under a pure alliance agreement, all major decisions are agreed unanimously.

Such projects have just one standalone commercial agreement. In earlier models, the commercial agreement took precedence over a separate works agreement, and generally overrode it in cases of dispute.

“We’re trying to create a different commercial imperative,” adds Neil. “There’s just one agreement and the parties have to make it work - there’s no opt out into another agreement.

“The basic concept of pure alliancing is collective legal responsibility, which means moving away from the traditional risk transfer approach of ‘the employer shall do this and the contractor shall do that’ towards saying ‘the alliance shall do this’.”

Best behaviour Above all, pure alliance projects are about individual staff working and behaving in a new way, and prioritising the project’s aims above those of their employers.

Peter Webb, head of construction management at Balfour Beatty, was delivery manager in the Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace project (F2A) - a complex resignalling

Stafford Area Improvement Programme Alliance Manager Dominic Baldwin (far left) and the SAIP Alliance Leadership Team, left to right, Graeme Castle - Operations Leader for Laing OíRourke Construction Ltd; Stuart Birch - Director of Major Projects for VolkerRail Ltd; Steve Higham Managing Director, Rail Engineering Projects for Atkins; Rob Offord - Commercial & Finance Director (Central) for Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd, pictured with the ‘Stafford knot’ - the traditional symbol of Staffordshire and its county town, Stafford. and improvement programme that’s been likened to “carrying out open heart surgery on the network every weekend”.

“One of the fundamental points of pure alliancing is behaviour,” insists Webb. “The old way of contracting fostered suspicion.

Information was given out on a need-to-know basis, and people protected their own company and resources.

“In place of that, you have a very open culture: a sharing of information and resources, based on trust and relationships.”

The alliance leadership team, including representatives from Network Rail and Balfour Beatty, reinforced the idea of the project as a new organisation by renaming it F2A - First to Alliance - with its own logo and branded pens and mugs.

58

the rail engineer • November 2013

Collaborative working After spending some time impressing the new attitude upon the project workforce, and finding new roles elsewhere for those unwilling to work this way, Peter and the leadership team saw a new attitude begin to emerge with contractors making practical decisions that favoured the project rather than their own company.

“We set a challenge to our integrated project organisation - specifically the P-Way - to save costs over the plan,” says Peter. “They came back and told us they could lose one locomotive off every engineering train - there were usually two - and do what’s called a runaround move. To move the train from the nonlocomotive end, they’d disconnect the engine, cross over some points, run it back round the other way, cross over some more points, and put it back the other end.

“It forced them to do more logistics planning, but saved the project £750,000. That shows people changing their behaviour and thinking with the client rather than selfishly. And the money went back into the pot of that particular project.”

Changing attitudes Neill Carruthers agrees that attitudes had to change. “Network Rail had a reputation as quite a tough client to work for, so one of the challenges we are trying to tackle is unpicking years of learned behaviour.

“We’ve invested a lot in alliance development opportunities - workshops for our own staff before the procurement process begins, and joint workshops afterwards. The principles upon which we assess partners as being suitable for alliancing are very much the same ones we now apply to ourselves.”

Alliancing and beyond Although pure alliancing isn’t suitable for every project, Neil believes that it will be used more widely during control period five (20142019). He hopes it will also be extended to involving Network Rail’s customers, the train and freight operating companies, in infrastructure project schemes.

“Alliance working has already been established between Network Rail and its customers for operational activities, such as our alliance with South West Trains, but widening this to capital expenditure projects represents a further opportunity for collaboration,” he says.

“To this end, the Rail Delivery Group (a body bringing together train operators and Network Rail) is overseeing a piece of work to develop a framework to promote greater collaboration between us and the operators in the delivery of capital expenditure schemes.”

The HS2 alliance?

So could this new spirit of industry cooperation, and a determination to keep a lid on costs, extend to the biggest infrastructure project of them all - HS2?

HS2 Ltd has already issued a statement declaring its aim to save 10% on costs by recruiting contractors at the start of the project to work “in an integrated way”. But is the company prepared to embrace alliancing principles still further?

“We’re looking at a wide range of contracting models to assess which are most appropriate for HS2, considering its size and complexity, including alliancing,” commented Beth West, HS2’s commercial director. “We recognise that collaborative working is vital to the successful delivery of our project. We’re only starting the process of engaging with our supply chain, and we’ll need to incentivise our suppliers from the outset to ensure they focus on the overall costs and programme - not just their own performance.

“The bottom line is that we want to ensure these incentives are cascaded to all companies in our supply chain - not just at the top tier so we can deliver the best value for money for the taxpayer.”

So alliancing is here for the long term.

Companies will have to get used to forming alliances with others, and those alliances will be different from project to project. Just another challenge to face in the years ahead.

60

the rail engineer • November 2013

Northfleet first, then Gravesend

A

s part of the multi-million pound programme to introduce 12-car trains to the railway network in Kent, Gravesend station will be completely remodelled. The current track layout, which has two roads for non-stop running through the middle of the station with Up and Down loops serving the two platforms, will be revised. A new single-faced central platform will serve Londonbound trains while the two existing platforms will be extended.

Heavily revised The station facilities will also be ungraded under the Access for All (AfA) scheme through the installation of a new footbridge and lifts to all platforms. There will also be enlarged ticket halls, more retail opportunities, a new passenger information system and other improvements.

When complete the station will have been transformed from a four-line (two up and two down) to a three line - one up and one down line with a turn-back facility. Most of this work, which is being undertaken by Spencer Rail, will occur during a 15-day blockade over Christmas and New Year. However, Spencer has been on site since May this year as there was a large amount of enabling and preparatory work to be done.

Not least of this was the signalling commissioning at Northfleet. An integral pre-blockade element of the programme, the Northfleet Turnback commissioning was completed early in October. The next step will be the installation of the new footbridge and the removal of the existing one - two key elements of the project which have been removed from the blockade in a bid to de-risk the scheme.

Also appearing at Ipswich As if Northfleet and Gravesend weren’t keeping the Spencer Rail team busy enough, the company is also hard at work installing the Ipswich chord. A recent 27 hour possession saw activity across many disciplines.

Signalling and E&P work included the replacement of a signalling power distribution board, the commissioning of new signalling power REB, the commissioning of 11 new functional supply points, alterations to 14 signalling location cases and the installation of 47 new signalbox panel tiles - which have been wired ready for later commissioning.

The teams also installed two new wire runs of 340 metres each and section-proved the two new sections which stretched over 12 new structures installed previously.

New bridges Two bridges were also successfully installed within the possession. Sproughton Road Bridge,

an over road bridge, was constructed out of place in one of our compounds. The completed 363-tonne bridge was driven down the public highway using an SPMT (self-propelled modular transporter) to its final location and lowered into place. Part way through the move the bridge had to be landed on temporary stools to allow the SPMT to re-orientate itself due to its size.

Road mobile cranes were used to lift out the old crash protection beam (CPB) after being cut from its supports using a diamond wire rope saw and installing the new CPB. At 26 metres, Bridge 404 was slightly longer but was directly installed in sections of two 55 tonne plate girders and 19 smaller cross girders using a 750 tonne mobile crane. The bridge was installed alongside the current infrastructure and will be slid into place closer to Christmas.

Waterworks as well While the work at Ipswich was progressing, the Environmental Agency needed a redundant sluice gate to be removed which is in close proximity to the operational railway. Spencer’s demolition contractor used a 250 tonne crane to do this additional work.

After the main bridge installation, Spencer’s project manager Tony Perrin said: “Everyone on the project performed exceptionally well and I think we can all be proud of the work we completed. There were a few spanners thrown our way but we’d worked hard in the planning to give us contingencies - that paid dividends. It’s always a good feeling when a bridge fits, despite the planning we do beforehand.”

It looks as though the Spencer rail team is going to be busy at Christmas this year.

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the rail engineer • November 2013

COLLIN CARR

Changing track O

ver the last decade, Network Rail has invested heavily in high output plant and equipment designed to maximise the installation of new track and switches & crossings (S&C) whilst minimising disruption to train services. Weekend leisure travel is growing, and although the age of severe weekend disruption caused by engineering work has not entirely disappeared, it is slowly receding, allowing the Train Operating Companies (TOCs) and their customers to start to believe that the railway is open for business seven days a week.

The person responsible for maximising the use and efficiency of all this expensive equipment is Steve Featherstone, Network Rail’s track programme director. The Rail Engineer caught up with him in Birmingham recently, the day after he had hosted a very successful ‘Reliability Conference’ for plant suppliers which highlighted their importance in the process of efficient track renewal.

Front line knowledge Steve is always trying to create more time to get out and about to meet those who do the actual work. This approach is based on advice he received from his father when he first started work nearly 30 years ago. His father told him that “if ever you have a problem, ask the guys who dig the holes. They will have known the answer for 20 years, it is just that nobody asks them.” And that is just what Steve does.

His first career was in the gas industry. As he was experienced at managing safety critical infrastructure, he was asked to take on the role of maintenance director for Network Rail just over six years ago, shortly after the tragic train crash at Grayrigg. Since then, he has worked hard to acquire a significant amount of rail experience and, throughout this time, he has attached great value to the knowledge of his front line staff and suppliers. In fact, he now builds on his father’s advice by saying that “you should also ask the guys what the problems are that they face on a daily basis and then ask them what the solutions are. That way you will be able to address the fundamental barriers to progress.”

Another example of this approach is the recently held National Track Plant Exhibition (issue 107 - September

2013). This was Steve’s brainchild, bringing the myriad of suppliers together along with nearly 4,000 visitors. Steve explained that it was time well spent meeting suppliers at the exhibition, to realise the great practical innovation that is being created by the supply chain that will allow Network Rail to be more productive, use less track access and hand back reliably at higher line speeds.

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64

the rail engineer • November 2013

Boundaries removed Over recent months, the track delivery team for which Steve is responsible has been significantly reorganised. The previous arrangement consisted of four regional teams, all with the ability to carry out all forms of track renewal. The new organisation is made up of three specialist national teams covering high output, S&C and conventional plain line.

Regional barriers have been removed and skills, knowledge and best practice can be shared across the whole railway network.

The high output project director, responsible for two high output track renewal systems designed to renew rail and sleepers, is Ben Brooks. He also looks after three high-output and two medium-output ballast cleaners. Each train is designed as a 900 metre long linear factory. Currently, AmeyColas maintain and operate these machines.

Maximising output The highly-trained AmeyColas team require 2 - 2.5 hrs to set up ready for work and the machines are then capable of between five and nine metres of productive work per minute. Steve mentioned that nine metres per minute was achieved when the Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin, visited the site to see at first hand one of these machines working. The machine operators were determined to put on an impressive performance and they did. Steve said you could hear a different tone and pulse from the machines - they were working to maximum capacity and they worked well.

Once these machines are running, every additional minute that they are able to work has a significant impact on output. This increase in productivity is something that Steve has spent time discussing with the TOCs. Given that one more hour of possession per midweek night could offer an additional 2,000 metres of renewal each week, should the last trains of the day be diverted or cancelled and is there a way of sharing the benefits?

The Track Renewal System offers an 80mph handback speed if the track has been consolidated with a Dynamic Track Stabaliser (DTS). If a DTS is not used, a 50mph handback speed is imposed. However, not using the DTS allows more time for the high output machines to work, improving productivity. It’s a trade off that the industry has to consider. Steve did point out to me that a typical handback speed in France is 30mph, giving them even more time for production and therefore potentially lower unit costs. The French are however keen to learn about higher handback speeds, where Network Rail is now leading the way.

This balance between output and handback speed can only be solved by Network Rail and

the TOCs working together. More work in one session means less line closure overall, but the lower handback speed can effect the timetable for a while.

Stiffening S&C renewals Steve remarked on the risks associated with S&C renewals and the need for quality engineers, working to high standards, to ensure that all the risks are managed effectively and efficiently in this potentially high-risk area. To manage this very challenging process, Joan Heery has been appointed as project director for S&C renewals throughout the network. Steve described Joan as one of the best engineers that he has ever worked with and a great person to lead the S&C portfolio.

In the future the contracts for this work will be split into two areas, north and south, and at present tenders are with Network Rail for their consideration.

Modular S&C renewal allows more time and attention to be spent on the preparation of the sub-base, raising standards to those

used in highway engineering where falling weight deflectometers are used to determine the right formation stiffness before the black top is applied. In the past, stiffness of track sub-base was determined by the number of passes of a vibrating plate whacker and usually three passes was the norm. That has now all changed and stiffness of the sub-base is measured accurately before the S&C units are lowered into place and joined together.

This improvement in quality has enabled S&C renewals to be opened to traffic at 80mph.

Steve’s vision is for up to 125mph handback speed, but there is still some way to go before they get there.

Giant jigsaw Steve talked about a recent visit to Progress Rail near Nottingham. Progress Rail provides modular S&C panels for Network Rail’s tilting wagons to deliver to site. He said it was fascinating to see the new complete S&C layouts assembled on an area about the size of 5 football pitches. These layouts are then broken into their modular pieces

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the rail engineer • November 2013

and transported to site where they are reassembled, as Steve said, “like a great big jigsaw”.

One of the key issues raised by the Progress Rail team was their desire to be involved in discussions with designers and installers at a much earlier stage than they currently are.

They believe that this will reduce waste and increase value. Therefore, Steve has organised a pilot of a manufacturer’s hot desk for them to be able to spend time with the designers and installers.

Conventional plain line renewals is now directed by Ian Henley, who is one of the most experienced engineers in this field. Contracts for seven areas throughout the country are currently out to tender with a short list planned for November and contracts placed

by April 2014 lasting up to ten years. To avoid one contractor dominating the process, no one company will be able to have more than 55% of the total work.

Every week, Steve produces a ‘Track Delivery Update’, outlining anything and everything that he thinks would be of interest to the wider railway team. It started six months ago with a distribution of about 100 but this has increased significantly to about 7,000 and is still growing as people ask to be added to the distribution list. In the Update, Steve not only talks about the things that have gone well but also provides an honest assessment of the things that have not gone well and the lessons that have been learned.

Steve recently wrote about activities on the Wigan to Southport route where they are achieving around 270 yards of rail, sleeper and ballast renewal per night, emphasising the financial benefits of midweek night relaying.

Also, he writes about his visits to meet the frontline teams and his suppliers and the things that he has learned by “listening to the guys that dig the holes”. It’s a fascinating read, indicative of his open and inquisitive management style, and it is very refreshing to see such an open, honest and transparent approach.

Improving efficiency Ballast is very much on Steve’s mind at the moment. This is currently over-ordered by about 45% on average, so he is stressing the importance of using the ‘ballast calculator’ properly to ensure that accurate quantities are ordered. This will sit alongside a process that will start to measure the over-ordering of ballast on each site so that the problem can be resolved.

Steve is also pushing hard to reduce the exposure of the frontline workforce to the effects of ballast dust. Following his father’s advice, he visited a quarry and talked to those

who quite literally dig the holes to find out where the dust comes from and how the quarrying process works. He also visited one of the NDS (National Delivery Service) local distribution centres so that he could fully understand the lifecycle of ballast from quarry to local distribution centre to installation in the track to removal from the track and finally to recycling. As an engineer himself, Steve likes to understand how whole systems work so that he can work to make the whole system more effective and efficient.

Rewarding those who are embracing the challenges is important, and Steve recently presented two ‘Golden RRV’ awards. The first for the best track plant operator was awarded to A P Webb as its plant was 100% reliable throughout period 5. The second, for the most improved track plant operator, was awarded to TXM. Since the presentation, a number of plant company managing directors have since contacted Steve to find out what they need to do to win an award - exactly the reaction that he anticipated.

It is clear that much progress has been made and the benefits are visible. Steve’s organisation has moved from four regional teams to three specialist teams managed by Ben Brooks, Joan Heery and Ian Henley, as already outlined. Steve attaches great store to this organisational change, believing that now there is the opportunity for great ideas, improvements and lessons learned to be shared more easily throughout the organisation. This is underpinned by another principle that Steve believes in “Share with Pride, Copy with Pride” - a commitment to best practise and continuous improvement which bodes well for the future.

Steve Featherstone (left) awards a Gold Digger to Andy Webb.

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68

the rail engineer • November 2013

Fitting more brakes PAUL CONWAY

O

n-track plant, mostly construction equipment which has undergone a road-rail conversion, is very common on the railway infrastructure.

There are various types of conversion, each of which has its advantages and disadvantages. Back in issue 89 (March 2012), The Rail Engineer reported on a Network Rail initiative to fit direct rail wheel braking (DRWB) to approximately 450 excavator-based machines by means of automotive-style disc and calliper brakes.

High-ride excavators The program followed serious ‘failure to stop’ incidents reported on by the RAIB (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) at Raigmore near Inverness and Rannoch Moor involving two variants of 9b high-ride excavator.

These are vehicles with rail wheels which, when deployed, jack the rubber-tyred road wheels up clear of the railhead. Instead, the tyres impinge on the rail wheels, imparting drive and also braking. If for any reason the tyres do not contact the rail wheel properly, then there is no drive but also, more importantly, no braking.

As an immediate response to the two incidents, Network Rail undertook a risk assessment of the use of 9b RRV equipment to maintain and renew the infrastructure, the output of which was proposed gradient restrictions and a medium term plan to upgrade machines with brakes that act directly on the rail wheels. Subsequent discussion with the ORR (Office of Rail Regulation) resulted in the enforcement of the gradient restrictions by way of an Improvement Notice which held Network Rail to its declared braking plans.

The upgrade program saw Network Rail contracting with a number of the established vehicle converters rather than just one, to ensure maximum capacity in the market and hence achieve the throughput of machines to satisfy the regulator with the rate of upgrade in response to the improvement notice.

Each converter submitted designs for review and evaluation by Network Rail Plant Engineering against the remit. Once the commercial process was complete and contracts were in place the upgrade programme began with the successful companies, Rexquote, GOS Engineering and Alan J Hargreaves Plant.

LOIs In parallel with the upgrade programme, the risk of ‘failure to stop’ incidents was contained with a number of control measures as briefed out in a Network Rail Letter of Instruction (LOI) NR/BS/LI/235 including: 1. Restriction of use of 9b machines on gradients equal to or greater than 1:75; 2. Planning hierarchy to select 9a or 9c machines as a first choice; 3. Use of trailers with service brakes to enhance system braking; 4. High Ride checks to ensure an optimal interface between road and rail wheel.

The LOI was phased in its approach, mandating the 1:75 restriction on six Delivery Units (DUs) initially and so addressing those with the greatest population of steep gradients. These were Perth, Glasgow, Plymouth, Cardiff, Motherwell and Shrewsbury.

The use of service-braked trailers (point 3 above) is an important point to note. The owners were encouraged via the Rail Plant Association and other industry forums to upgrade their trailer fleets to incorporate service brakes with many owners choosing to fit hydraulic and pneumatic solutions to give maximum flexibility and compatibility with host RRVs. Around.80% of the national fleet has now been updated and another LOI will remove the remaining park-brake-only variants from Network Rail’s infrastructure at the end of March 2014.

The upgrade of machines was regularly reviewed against plans to ensure that the volume of machines available to work on gradients met the intent of the LOI to minimise business impact and reduce system risk.

the rail engineer • November 2013

69

Phase two

A result This approach worked well and, despite a slow start to the programme, the target number of machines was achieved in April 2013. By this time the implications of the LOI were total with restrictions in place for all DUs. With the upgrade programme complete and the greatest risk category addressed, Network Rail Plant Engineering was asked by the regulator to consider the risk of the remaining 9b vehicles. During this period, and as the risk of other 9bs was being evaluated, two significant incidents which can be categorised as ‘failures to stop’ occurred.

The first was a Quattro dumper which got into an un-braked state whilst off-tracking near to Bradford station. The dumper ended up running away down the gradient into Bradford station causing damage to Platform 1 and the dumper itself.

The second involved a TXM Genie Z-boom Mobile Elevated Work Platform (MEWP) which experienced difficulty whilst on-tracking. The MEWP ran away and struck scaffolding in a tunnel near Glasgow Queen Street High Level station.

Whilst the two incidents are not directly linked, both would have been mitigated by the use of a service brake. It is for this reason that Network Rail took the initiative to undertake a second phase braking upgrade program.

It is worth pointing out at this stage that there were a number of excavators which were excluded from DRWB Phase 1 due to either their complexity, or yielding a limited return on investment due to being one of a kind and requiring high investment to achieve one-off or very small quantities of upgraded machines. DRWB Phase 2 looks to include these machines as well as the population of 9b MEWPS and dumpers.

The program is at a very early stage with funding approved and the tender process underway. It is anticipated that contracts will be let in December 2013 following the completion of the tender reviews and design scrutiny stage by Network Rail, with programme completion forecast for August 2014.

Delivery of Phase 2 will enable Network Rail to say with confidence that it has mitigated, as far as is practicable, one of the three main risks affecting on-track plant operations (runaways) and greatly reduced the risk of another one (collisions). All of which will make the railways a safer place to work.

Paul Conway is principal engineer, Plant and T&RS at Network Rail Technical Services

The dumper at the time of the incident. There is no contact between the rubber tyres and the rail wheels.

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70

the rail engineer • November 2013

ANDREW ROBBINS

Decision time for asset managers

B

ritain’s infrastructure is creaking. With the Victorians’ great industrial legacy, the railways and the sewers to name but two, reaching the end of their working lives, there’s a lot of fixing to do.

Government estimates put the amount of UK infrastructure in urgent need of renewal at £300bn across all sectors. Of this, a significant proportion is on the railway network - a factor much exercising the minds of asset management (AM) leaders in organisations such as Network Rail and London Underground (LU).

Aging assets So how exactly do organisations decide what to do with their aging assets? Well, until recently, everybody just had to work it out for themselves.

And the pressure to get it right has never been greater. In its annual efficiency assessment of Network Rail, published in September, the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) criticised the organisation for being “unlikely to deliver the potential 23.5% efficiencies identified for operations, renewals, maintenance and asset management by the end of control period four (2009-2014)”. And with continued ORR pressure to do more with less over the next control period, that pressure won’t ease any time soon.

In the capital, London Underground (LU) faces equally significant challenges to get more from existing assets. The latest Government spending review resulted in cuts of 12.5% to the Transport for London budget. For good measure, Mayor Boris Johnson also announced a target of 30% improved reliability by 2015.

Opening SALVO But help for beleaguered asset managers could be at hand. A group of major infrastructure organisations - including London Underground, utility and oil sector companies - has joined forces with industry experts and Cambridge University to produce a set of principles for guiding asset management decision-making across all industries.

Known as the SALVO project (or Strategic Asset Life-cycle Value Optimisation amongst friends), the results of the three-year research programme were unveiled last month. Project director John Woodhouse explained the thinking behind the project.

A new pan-industry approach to asset management has been launched, and the rail industry is closely involved

“Britain is facing a perfect storm - a significantly aged asset base, combined with increased demand for services, increased service expectations, and ever-increasing scrutiny from regulators and the public,” he said. “Even more crucially, we’re facing

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the rail engineer • November 2013 Network Rail model Network Rail chose not to get involved with the SALVO project, but says it continues to maintain a close dialogue with the team.

A spokesperson added: “We’ve developed a whole-life cost model to gain a better understanding of three areas: asset degradation, failure and consequences; the effectiveness of maintenance and renewal interventions; and the unit cost of these interventions.

“The models that resulted from our programme have been recognised by the ORR as being ‘at the frontier of best practice’. We are now looking at developing them to apply to other parts of our business such as route planning and procurement - with the added advantage that we own them.”

Common standards

increased skills shortages as ‘silver surfer’ asset management engineers walk out the door. Once they’ve done that, their expertise is lost, so we need to find a way of capturing it while we can.

“The SALVO project is a people-oriented method for helping asset engineers decide what to do, how much to do and when; and for helping them translate those decisions into business language a financial director can understand, and present a sound business case. It helps people decide between different intervention options, in terms of value for money. For example, whether it’s better to service a generator, and at what intervals; or to replace it, and if so when.

“A major component of SALVO is making effective use of what we call ‘tacit knowledge’ - the accumulated wisdom and experience of the engineers who’ve worked on assets for years. You can gather all the hard, historical data you want, but you can never hope to get a complete picture from data analysis alone. Organisations need to consider what might happen if they don’t do things, and consider the changes they’ll face in the future, so the input of those at the sharp end is crucial.”

The importance of getting asset management right is reinforced by government bodies such as Infrastructure UK - the Treasury body set up to promote long-term infrastructure priorities and encourage private sector investment.

“Through the Infrastructure Cost Review programme, we’ve been working with industry to explore and agree the common standards the custodians of our infrastructure should apply to the management of their assets,” said a spokesperson.

“There’s a lot of variability across different industries, and some are better than others - for example, at knowing the condition or relative state of their assets.

“Whatever technical standards are available - and there are a lot of them about - the starting point is to get some common language and understanding across different infrastructure sectors. We need to establish a framework for that understanding, so it can filter up to decision makers.

“We’re not going to mandate any one solution, but where we’re in control of public infrastructure, we’ll always aim for clarity and consistency of standards.”

Underground assets

Disciplined decisions

Gareth Powell, director of strategy and service development, London Underground, explained why his organisation had chosen to join the project.

“We’re constantly improving and expanding our network, but demand is outstripping supply,” he stated. “There are over a billion journeys every year on the Underground. Demand has increased by 45% since 2003 and will continue to rise. We have 426 escalators and 670 trains on the existing network, and we’re investing in new infrastructure in areas of London where employment and population is likely to grow most.

“We’ve got no choice: we have to improve our asset management to benefit our customers, in terms of reliability, efficiency, capacity, delivery and technology.”

For SALVO’s John Woodhouse, that sounds exactly like the right approach.

“We’re just trying to clarify the steps and disciplines needed for good asset management decision making,” he says.

“Once you’ve got those in place, you reduce a lot of the tensions and competing priorities, and you get greater transparency over why things need to be done, and when’s the right time to do them.”

Planning strategies Powell cites escalators as one area where SALVO methodology is already helping LU plan its asset strategies.

“Some of our escalators are 50 years old. We don’t have any plans that tell us what reliability we can expect, so it’s not easy to decide the best time to refurbish them. “We can’t easily take one out of service because it can cause overcrowding and delay. If one breaks down, however, it’s even worse.

“SALVO is a process to help us reach the right solution for situations like these, and helping to balance the trade-offs involved. It won’t necessarily be the perfect solution - just the right one in the context of the knowledge available at the time. Interventions have to be done at the right time, because there’s no point doing more than you need, and you also have to decide on them collaboratively. That’s very important.”

www.salvoproject.org

the rail engineer • November 2013

73

New hammers for rail O

ne of the world’s foremost designers and manufacturers of hydraulic piling hammers and related equipment, BSP International Foundations has developed a new piling hammer at the company’s Ipswich facility.

The DX hammer has been specifically developed to drive steel piles to support electrification staunchions, gantries and other railway projects requiring foundation piling.

It has been designed as an attachment for mounting on road/rail or tracked excavators with an operating weight of around 32 tonnes.

When mounted to the machine’s bucket linkage, the hammer can be quickly erected from a horizontal transport position to vertical. Side tilt adjustment of five degrees left and right allows it to cope with the cant of the rail lines. During piling, the hammer is automatically guided or crowded in the vertical plane.

Already in service Two models are available, the DX20 and the larger DX25, which offer dropweights of 1.5t and 2.0t. Maximum impact energy is 20kNm and 25kNm respectively while blow rate at

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Both DX hammers can also be used to drive sheet piles, small bearing piles or tubular steel with ultimate load bearing up to 1800kN. They can be operated directly from a suitable hydraulic excavator. So far, the new hammers have mainly been used to prepare foundations, the upgrade of stanchions and cantilevers to carry overhead power lines and signalling equipment on the rail network.

A feature of the new hammers is an innovative BSP double-acting cylinder, whereby the ram is accelerated on its

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the rail engineer • November 2013

Suck it up

74

I

t may seem odd, saying that large structures wear out, but they do. Like anything, they deteriorate over time and will eventually need to be replaced. Steel bridges, particularly, are prone to this. If they aren’t painted regularly, and if the drainage isn’t good, they will slowly rust away. And they will do so first in all the nooks and crannies where the paint doesn’t reach and where the water pools, out of sight.

Railway structures have to be inspected regularly. Externally this can be done using visual techniques, although ladders, cherrypickers and even abseiling ropes may be needed as well. However, there is still one area that is very difficult to inspect.

This is the bridge deck itself as it is covered by ballast and track. It is obviously impractical to lift the track every time an inspection is due, so another solution has to be found.

In the South West, specialist contractor Total Rail Solutions (TRS) was awarded a contract

by AMCO to fit twenty-eight bridges with FRP (Fibreglass Reinforced Plastic) ballast retention panels onto the face of the steel girders. These will allow Network Rail’s engineers to inspect what they call the hidden critical elements (HCE) - the steel deck sections which get congested with small ballast, grit and water.

The FRP panels include gratings and inspection panels. Through these, endoscopes can be used to look at all these HCE areas, searching for signs of corrosion and any weakening of critical points.

Difficulties Bridges may look big, but there isn’t always a lot of room on them. Many of these structures have very high ballast (up to 900mm) with as little as 100mm clearance from the sleeper end to the face of the girders. This meant that installation was going to be tricky.

The bridge spans vary from 9 to 70 metres and, depending on how many girders there are, there could be as much as 240 metres of ballast retention to be installed on any one bridge. With possession times at a minimum, the initial concern was how to excavate the ballast quickly and efficiently leaving enough time to install the FRP and its components and then to get the ballast back in and fit for the passage of trains.

After researching different ways of excavating ballast simply and quickly, the proposed solution was to use a ‘Tube Cube’. This is basically a giant-sized vacuum cleaner designed to hang on the end of an excavator arm. Ballast is simply sucked up through a flexible tube into the metal body which can hold about 1.2 tonnes of ballast.

Then, when the work is complete, doors open at the bottom of the cube and the ballast is simply dumped back into place.

Paul Bateman, TRS’ head of projects, contacted Ian McMeekin of Tasty Plant, UK importer of these machines, and a Tube Cube (or TC1 to be precise) was procured for use on the contract.

Outcome The first tranche of the work was to fit a total of 400 metres of FRP ballast retention over five structures on the North Devon line during a nine day blockade. Paul Bateman was pleased with the way the Tube Cube had helped in the work.

“The tube cube was very efficient and made the excavation of ballast a relatively easy operation. We were achieving 10 metres per hour of ballast excavation at 800mm depth. This just could not be achieved with the traditional manpower and shovels due to the constraints on site. The Tube Cube has reduced our programme hugely, leaving our skilled labour to install the FRP retention in record time.

With a number of structures still to be fitted with FRP panels, the work will only get quicker. As the team become more used to the constraints of working in such confined spaces, and to using the specialist plant, it won’t be long before all 28 bridges are complete and TRS can move on to the next job for their Tube Cube.

The above works are being delivered through the contracting side of Total Rail Solutions. The company is able to draw upon the existing pool of skilled labour as well as utilising their own fleet of on-track plant. This new venture is an exciting opportunity for the company, providing Fixed Price Contract work offering value for money to its clients.

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76

the rail engineer • November 2013

All done with magnets

O

nce upon a time, though not so long ago, in order to erect a safety barrier to protect the workforce from moving vehicles, operatives could be seen digging away ballast in the four foot. This placed them in both imminent danger and in close proximity to potentially harmful ballast dust, even though a full possession was required before this work could be completed.

Further, it was often the case that the safety barrier was erected on day one, the work completed on day two and on day three the safety fence removed and the ballast re-instated. Both day 1 and 3 work was undertaken in a full and costly possession with the possibility of Network Rail having to pay additional compensation to the TOC’s.

A better barrier But a break-through occurred with the invention and introduction of the RSS magnetically attached safety barrier (issue 92 - June 2012). This does not require ballast removal (and hence no replacement), can be erected from a ‘position of safety’ 20 times more quickly than conventional barriers and, more often than not, in a line blockage rather than a full possession. No ballast dust is disturbed, protecting the health of the workforce and no need to remove frozen ballast in winter.

For the technically minded, the magnet is a sintered manufactured magnet of Neodymium Iron Boron, which will never lose its power and in a straight line takes 600kN to pull it off the rail - but do not worry the patented technology allows simple one arm removal. Its Tessla measurement is small and as a consequence it does not affect track circuits or axle counters.

Since its development and introduction, the RSS magnetically attached safety barrier has gained wide acceptance within the UK and European rail infrastructure, North America and Canada. It has won several prestigious awards for its innovative approach to workforce safety, whilst additionally, significantly improving efficiency, safeguarding workforce health, and saving both time and cost.

A new generation Following on from this success, and using the same principles of magnetic attachment, RSS has developed a range of other equipment to improve safety: 1. Points Run-through Signage 2. Temporary Speed Restriction Boards 3. A Lookout/refuge Protection Kit ‘STOP- Check points are correctly set before proceeding’ warning boards are used extensively on track work sites. These boards are placed at either end of S&C layouts to ensure that any vehicle movement carefully considers the direction of the switches before proceeding.

The existing points run through (PRT) sign is an A-frame, free standing board approximately 80cm high. In general the A-frames have to be sand bagged to prevent them from falling over.

Using the same technology as the productapproved magnetic barrier, new magnetic PRT signs have been developed and are approved

by Network Rail. These will not require any sand-bagging and track staff will not need to lift or bend to install or remove them. In addition the sign is now 1.5 metres tall and is clearly more visible than the A-frame.

More to come Two other products are currently on trial.

Temporary Speed Restriction boards are required to be placed before a worksite on the outside web of the rail, to alert drivers of a maximum speed allowed throughout the site.

The new product consists of a foldable stanchion with a carrying handle and is attachable to the web of the rail by the same magnet (as is used on the barrier). It is capable of being erected and/or dismantled from a position of safety in a few seconds by one operative, albeit the rule book requirements (eg: that a lookout should be available) must be followed.

Talking of lookouts, they can be particulary vunerable. They work on their own, sometimes at considerable distances from workers, often for long periods with the sole function of looking out for traffic and issuing warnings.

Until now. Lookouts have largely been unprotected, with no physical barrier provided to keep them in a place of safety. Now RSS has developed a lookout protection/refuge safety barrier kit. Using its magnetic attachment system, the barrier keeps the lookout in a position of safety, 1300 mm from the edge of the rail whilst working. It is simple to erect and dismantle, light to carry (20kgs), and offers a much improved level of protection.

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78

the rail engineer • November 2013

Rising

to the challenge

W

hen NG Bailey, which is providing mechanical, electrical and telecom services (MET) on the multi-million pound Reading Station redevelopment, required low-level access equipment that could be used outside on the station platforms, the team sought a solution from Hire Station’s specialist low-level access division.

Open air access

requires the use of low-level Mick Harris, NG Bailey’s project access equipment and has been manager at the Reading Station carried out behind the scenes site, explained: “The project is inside the many buildings on a massive undertaking with all site. However, working at height work being carried out while on the fifteen platforms at the station has continued to be Reading presented us with its operational. It started in June own set of issues - the platforms 2011 and at the peak of activity, in are open to the elements, and March this year, we had over 200 are also subject to the wind personnel working on site. With effect caused by trains passing such a large workforce, together through the station. Therefore, with thousands of rail travellers any access equipment used passing through the station, had to be classified for outdoor safety is paramount. use. We also wanted equipment Hire“Much Stationofad 1 21/10/2013 09:50 Page 1 our130x90_Layout installation work that could be readily moved into

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position without the need for erection and dismantling.

“After calling in Hire Station, we were delighted to learn of the introduction of the wind-rated PecoLift and had no hesitation in placing an order for eight units.

We already had 25 standard Peco’s on site which had been successfully deployed on all types of indoor MET tasks. They are easy to move around and can easily be elevated to a height that is suited to canopy installation tasks and, importantly, they have proved very popular with our installation teams.”

Wind rated Unlike the standard PecoLift, which is designed for indoor use on flat and level surfaces, the wind-rated PecoLift can be operated on gradients up to three degrees and has a wind rating of 12.5m/s (approximately 30mph). The new PecoLift has all the features and benefits of the standard unit. It doesn’t use batteries, so there is no charging or mains power requirement just step on and turn the handle.

Its unique winding mechanism requires minimal effort to attain a safe working height of 3.5 metres,

and its wheels are automatically braked on elevation.

Graham Haigh, Business Development Director for Hire Station’s low-level access division, said: “Development of the wind-rated PecoLift clearly demonstrates our commitment to providing safe and effective products that improve productivity. Hire Station identified the need for an outdoor version of PecoLift and, because of our strong relationship with manufacturer Power Towers, we were able to work closely with them on its development.”

the rail engineer • November 2013

First tractors, now lorries M

79

aintaining the UK’s rail infrastructure has never been an easy task but, with a little bit of innovative thinking, TRAC has ensured its fleet makes light work of routine maintenance. With traditional agricultural tractors mounted on rail wheels carrying out de-vegetation works, and standard lorries fitted with rail gear to allow a full range of overhead line work to be carried out, TRAC’s fleet is a little different from the norm to say the least.

First - Mercedes Every addition to TRAC’s fleet is a result of careful planning and thought into the best possible delivery methods. The 26 tonne Mercedes-Benz Actros Lorry is one such purchase that ticks all the TRAC boxes: multi-purpose, reliable and just a little different from what others are using. The machine is fitted with a Palfinger crane that is capable of lifting 1.5 tonnes at 16 metres. The crane can also be coupled with a man basket and used as a MEWP to manoeuvre two people into a position of work.

Two trailers with extended tow bars allow easy transport of long structures to worksites. When required, the flatbed of the lorry can be used to transport equipment or drum carriers.

And now Renault TRAC’s latest addition to the fleet is another such machine that will see both routine OHL maintenance work and implementation services delivered efficiently.

The Renault lorry is fitted with a Gama platform that can take up to 550kg and work to a radius of six metres. As with all TRAC’s machines, versatility is critical and the platform can be removed when not in use, allowing the flatbed to be used for transportation.

A Hiab crane, capable of lifting one tonne at 12 metres, is fitted to the rear of the cab. The new lorry allows a huge range of standard maintenance works as well as more complex implementation and track enhancement services to be easily delivered.

As the fleet continues to grow and TRAC’s scope of services increases; the black and yellow machines are starting to become a regular sight throughout the UK infrastructure.

80

the rail engineer • November 2013

New tilt grading buckets

S

andhurst, the UK’s dedicated excavator attachment rental company, has added tilt grading buckets to its specialist rental fleet, offering contractors yet another attachment capable of increasing excavator productivity.

Hydraulic tilt grading buckets are available to fit excavators from five tonnes and up. They enable users to profile, grade or ditch quicker and with greater accuracy.

The new tilt buckets have 90º of bucket tilt, 45º left / 45º right, and are available in 60”/1500mm, 72”/1800mm and 84”/2100mm widths. They are perfect for grading batters, ditching, profiling and for shaping ballast during infrastructure work.

Operating a nationwide attachment rental service, Sandhurst Rail offers a comprehensive range to maximise excavator productivity. www.sandhurst-rent.com

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the rail engineer â&#x20AC;˘ November 2013

81

Vegetation control Finding new solutions to an age old problem

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eave a railway running through the countryside, or even in urban areas, unattended for too long and it will soon be overgrown. Vegetation control is therefore important, but this has to be both effective and economical. With the most efficient weedkillers now banned because they kill everything for miles around for years to come, deemed to be a bad thing, new solutions have to be found.

SASHA DODSWORTH

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the rail engineer • November 2013

It is an international problem, so the UIC (International Union of Railways) recently held a conference on the subject at Network Rail’s Westwood facility. The conference was well attended with representatives from a number of International Rail Companies including Deustche Bahn, SNCF, OBB, Translink, Infrabel and the East Japan Railway Company. The Rail Engineer went along as well.

retained as possible. The middle ground is that the vegetation is here to stay and must be dealt with both in a cost effective way and with limited damage to the environment.

Also, this vegetation can be of benefit and the conference looked at the ways that Network Rail and other companies, most noticeably the East Japan Railway, are utilising it and future options to consider.

Not just track

Using chemicals

Many people working on the railways are merely concerned with the manmade elements of the rail, or as one of the speakers put it “that middle bit the train goes down.”

However, the vegetation that borders the rail needs just as much consideration.

Without management, this vegetation can become a real problem. For example, it can pose a safety risk to both passengers and staff, it can cause delays to the service by obstructing signals and lines of sight and can cause conflicts between the railways and the general public.

All of these problems cost Network Rail and other rail companies time and money. The aim of this conference was to discuss how vegetation is currently managed by Network Rail and its international counterparts and to consider ideas to improve this management in regards to reduced time, cost and impact to biodiversity.

Many of the old guard might like to see the rail corridor go back to how it used to be 60-odd years ago when all vegetation was removed due the risk of fire from the steam trains. Obviously, ecologists are biased the other way and want as much native vegetation

The majority of vegetation management across Europe is carried out via chemical control. The use of chemicals varies across Europe due to the legislation imposed by each individual country.

SNCF (French Railways) kicked off the talks about chemical control. It is responsible for 30,000 km of rail line and, with track and rail side land, this adds up to around 100,000 hectares to look after. In order to adequately cover all this, SNCF employs 6 mainline spray trains and 25 regional trains.

The use of chemical herbicides is strictly controlled by the Ministry of Agriculture and is limited for this reason. To reduce both cost and manpower, it is important that the application of these chemicals is done at the right time of year and only when and where required. As such SNCF employs a number of strategies such as the use of preventive herbicides in March to May during the germination period to limit growth, the alternation of herbicides between years and treatments to limit plant resistance and tailoring the herbicide used to the weather conditions.

These measures and the development of better chemicals have allowed the SNCF to reduce the amount of herbicide they use by 3/4 since 1984.

Other railways adopt variations on this theme. In Belgium, Infrabel uses a camera and computer system in order to correctly deliver the dosage of herbicide in a bid to save costs and man power.

Mechanical methods In some areas chemical control is not a viable option and the reasons for this seem to be the same across the board - proximity to a protected wildlife site and proximity to a water resource. The traditional method of vegetation removal in these areas is mechanical; undertaken by hand strimmer, chainsaws and, if the lay of the land allows, flays. Generally sub-contractors are required, as having full time employees sitting around until they are needed is not a viable option.

One sub-contractor from the USA stated that they deal with the issues involved in vegetation removal all day everyday and, as such, have a skill set generally not present in many large infrastructure companies.

As mechanical removal is not a viable option for large expanses of the rail corridor, experiments are being undertaken in various countries to come up with more cost effective methods. The Japanese have been using recycled plastic sheets to cover areas of vegetation in order to restrict growth. The French have gone a step further and have been trialling the use of geotextiles placed under the ballast and/or bordering pathways.

They have found that these geotextiles seem to work and are relatively inexpensive at €3 a metre. However, one major drawback is they require the removal of the ballast layer in order to be installed, so only new lines or areas scheduled for renewal are currently eligible.

the rail engineer • November 2013

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Knowing what’s out there The benefits of GIS (geographic mapping system) mapping were explained by SNCF and Deutsche Bahn (German Railways). The railways are extensive and having detailed information about the network, including any issues and special protections within each and every section of the network, is invaluable.

Both companies use GIS software to map vegetative events, regulative requirements, treatment schedules, invasive species, adjacent obstacles, fire risks and contaminated land remediation to name a few.

Having detailed maps can also lead to having more effective spraying regimes, reducing the risk of spaying in a protected area and hence the resulting fines and penalties. Mapping allows for better planning and therefore reduced wasted man hours and, as Deutsche Bahn pointed out, having GPS coordinates make night work much easier and it doesn’t matter if the locals have stolen your marker posts.

In France, GIS software is currently installed in 14 of their spray trains and they are aiming to have all of their stock updated by February of next year. With this software their spraying regime avoids excessive dosage of areas - a waste of money in a section of railway management which is generally under funded and, going by the reaction of many of the delegates present, an area that often plays second fiddle to other departments.

Invasive species The issue of invasive plant species was briefly touched on throughout the conference as an ongoing and growing problem for those involved in vegetation management. In the UK, those plants classed as an invasive species are listed on Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended). There are currently 37 different plants species in England and Wales covered under this legislation.

The three most likely to be encountered on the railways are Japanese knotweed, giant hogweed and Himalayan balsam.

Japanese knotweed should be familiar to all, but giant hogweed has the additional drawback of causing skin irritation and, in some cases, a form of chemical burn if the sap comes in contact with the skin. So it doesn’t take a genius to see that this plant and vegetation clearance by hand doesn’t mix.

A major problem with dealing with invasive plants seems to be a lack of knowledge about where they are along the rail line and the inability of track staff to recognise them. An example of this was given by Translink, which is currently attempting to map the location of all their invasives. However, as it asked its workforce to report as and when they saw them, the programme is having mixed results.

Benefits of vegetation

East Japan Railway Company has been planting railway forests in areas prone to avalanches, rockslides and heavy snow and rainfall for over a hundred years. Not only do these forests provide a buffer for railway lines but they are also harvested for timber. As the East Japan Railway Company has around an estimated 4,020 hectares of woodland, this amounts to a reasonable profit.

In this country, the planting of large areas of forest is not an option - but surely some of the wood created from ongoing maintenance felling could be sold for domestic use rather than going through the chipper. Not massively profitable perhaps, but the additional money might take a bit of the sting out of the sub-contract fees.

And, of course, never underestimate the power of good PR. Thameslink is the first large scale project in the UK to use biodiversity offsetting to meet its environmental requirements. The project wanted to gain a net increase in habitats.

Due to the limited amount of land available to Network Rail along the proposed route, off-site alternatives had to be found and that’s where offsetting comes in. In a nut-shell, biodiversity offsetting allows a developer to compensate for damaging one area by improving another, either by directly undertaking enhancement works or paying someone else to do it for them.

In the ecological world, biodiversity offsetting is a hot topic. Some are all for it and some not so much but, as the first UK demonstration of offsetting, if Thameslink gets it right it will be great positive PR which can otherwise be quite hard to come by for any large infrastructure project.

On the other side of the coin, vegetation doesn’t have to just be seen as a nuisance, it can be beneficial in a number of ways. In Japan, the

Sarah Dodsworth is an ecologist with The Ecology Consultancy.

Diseases A problem to consider for the future is disease in trees, such as ash dieback which is currently much in the news.

According to the Tree Council, there are over 400,000 ash trees within falling distance of the rail line. Without proper planning and management this disease could prove a disaster to Network Rail in both a monetary and safety sense.

Of course, ash is only one of the tree species affected by a growing number of pests and diseases. Others not so much in the public eye will have to be considered in any management plan/strategy.

Diseases and the issue of invasive plants highlighted a general trend when it came to vegetation management and the environment as a whole. It was generally felt that there was a lack of specialist knowledge and expertise within the industry and there is a need for outside help and increased in-house training in a number of environmentally related areas.

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the rail engineer • November 2013

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