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News in brief

Official start of £100 million Metro Flow project in South Tyneside

A £100 million track dualling scheme that will increase service frequency, reduce journey times, and improve reliability on the Tyne and Wear Metro has officially got underway. The Metro Flow project will see an existing freight line upgraded and electrified in South Tyneside, making it capable of carrying Metro services, boosting the capacity for an extra 24,000 customer journeys every day. Three sections of single track will be dualled between Pelaw and Bede Metro stations, with the most intensive period of track works taking place between September and December during a twelveweek major line closure.

CWE Ltd establishes Centre of Excellence for Rail

CWE Ltd has announced it is launching a Centre of Excellence for Rail at its Crowle facility, providing customers in the sector with one of the most comprehensive rolling stock refurbishment services in the UK. The news follows the recent launch of its new hydraulic and mechanical buffer cell, and brings its coupler refurbishment facility, which is currently based in Worksop, into its Crowle site, ensuring all of its capabilities are under one roof. As a result, current and future customers in the rail sector will benefit from a more efficient service with easy access to the relevant parts and expertise at one site. The new Centre is a key part of CWE’s growth plans for the future, which will focus primarily on expanding its presence in the rail sector.

Avanti West Coast launch new Train Driver recruitment campaign

Avanti West Coast has launched a campaign to help recruit 40 new Train Drivers at locations throughout the UK in 2022. The initiative aims to encourage more people, especially women, to consider the role as a realistic career to pursue. In January, applications opened for the first ten new posts. As a part of the that recruitment process an online Train Driver question and answer session was held featuring newly qualified driver Hayley Richardson who talked about her experience.

Over 1,000 people signed up to hear the London based recruit, who spent ten years working for the Cambridgeshire Constabulary, qualifying as a Detective Constable, share details about her training and what it’s like to drive at train at 125mph.

‘I absolutely love being a Train Driver’ said Hayley. ‘I wanted to do something out of my comfort zone, and I would encourage anyone, especially women who are looking for a career change or have their hearts set on becoming a driver to put in an application.’

Further posts are expected to be advertised in June at depots in the Midlands and North West. Successful applicants will need to be over 20 years and six months of age when applying, live within an hour of their designated depot and meet the required medical standards. Avanti West Coast has also created a dedicated webpage offering helpful advice to those actively thinking about train driving as a career with the option to sign up for job alerts – https:// www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/about-us/ careers/train-driver-recruitment.

Richard Morrow, Head of Drivers at Avanti West Coast added: ‘Train driving is a wonderful career, one that carries a lot of responsibility and job satisfaction. Whilst the application process is competitive, if you think you have what it takes, then we’d love to hear from you.’

Train Driver Alice Catchpowle

Play as both the driver and company director

Take the controls of your train and travel across Europe with passengers and merchandise. In the Early Access version, drive through Germany, riding in the cab of several different locomotives. Each of these locomotives has its unique characteristics (power, braking, etc.) that you need to fully master to be as effective as possible. Take your passengers through astonishingly beautiful lands, including both town and country, forest and mountains.

Not only do you have to drive the trains, you also have to grow your company by optimizing your passenger and freight activities. Choose a name, a logo, purchase locomotives, and hire drivers, giving them new contracts and exploring new tracks. You must also maintain your locomotives to prevent breakdowns and handle emergency repairs. You are free to accept or refuse contracts: make the right choices, earn money and develop your company.

Train Life involves demanding gameplay based on real-world behaviour. You have to respect the rail signals and driving instructions, adapt for rail switches, and manage speed. Make sure you keep an eye on braking distance when you pull into the station and open and close the doors for your passengers. There are also unforeseen situations to manage, such as fallen trees, stalled cars, and trains rolling on your track. The dynamic weather and day/night cycle mean you have to adapt the way you drive to avoid accidents and damage to the tracks.

Train Life: A Railway Simulator is available on Steam and on the Epic Games Store.

News in brief

New ‘Rapid Response’ Road-toRail (R2R) D-Max

Aquarius Rail, working in collaboration with Network Rail Scotland, have designed, manufactured and delivered a bespoke Rapid Response R2R D-Max. For use by the Mobile Operations Managers on one of the UK’s most challenging routes; the West Highland Route in Scotland. Based on the Aquarius Rail R2R D-Max, a capable vehicle on both road and rail, the Rapid Response R2R D-Max has many additional features to enable it to respond quickly to incidents in remote locations.

Rail Forum to Host Supply Chain Engagement Events

The Rail Forum have launched two new supply chain engagement events for February 2022. The first event will be an Introduction to the New Wabtec UK to be held on 23 February from 10.00am at Pride Park Stadium, Derby. The second event is a HitachiAlstom High Speed Supplier Engagement Conference, to be held on 28 February from 10.00am at Pride Park Stadium, Derby. The conference will include a series of presentations from both organisations on their current and future plans with specific reference to HS2. There will also be ample opportunity to speak with team members during a networking session.

New analysis shows that modal shift matters to transport decarbonisation

A new report published in late January makes clear that a national high speed rail network, with HS2 at its centre, has an essential role to play if the UK is to have any chance of achieving its net zero ambitions by 2050, facilitating the move from polluting car and air travel to rail.

Published by the High Speed Rail Group (HSRG), Modal shift matters – and HS2 delivers it sets out how HS2 is uniquely positioned to provide a more attractive alternative to both motorways and domestic flights and provide the capacity needed to accommodate modal shift on a significant scale.

Rail’s share of the London-Scotland travel market could leap from 29 per cent to 75 per cent if, alongside HS2, services are speeded up north of Crewe, just as Government’s recent ‘Union Connectivity Review’ called for. The report makes clear that the tipping point for the move from air to rail is journey times between 21/2-41/2 hours – which HS2 can play an important role in facilitating. This would apply to a lot of cross country journeys as well trips to/from the capital.

There is international precedent for such a transformation. On Britain’s only existing high-speed infrastructure, HS1, Eurostar services have reduced air passenger volumes by 50-60 per cent on London- Paris/Brussels routes. In France the TGV Atlantique route has achieved a 65 per cent shift from air to rail, where models had predicted only a 29 per cent increase.

With road transport accounting for some 67 per cent of the transport sector’s greenhouse gas emissions and rail just 1.4 per cent, encouraging people to shift modes is important. Longer distance journeys account for fully 30 per cent of both vehicle miles and carbon emissions; and this is where battery-powered cars and lorries reach their limits. Large-scale transfer from car to rail is possible in this important longer journey category, and HS2 brings the increase in rail network capacity needed to accommodate it.

HS2 modelling results to date suggest only a small modal shift from car to rail travel, but this looks to be due to data limitations. The evidence from completed projects elsewhere reveals people do switch from car to high-speed rail, with pressure being taken off parallel motorway networks.

HS2 also has a role to play in decarbonising freight, taking pressure off the country’s busiest freight corridor, the West Coast Main Line, and so allowing more freight trains to be run. It is estimated that 40 per cent of today’s HGV road mileage could switch to a better rail alternative.

Anti-erosion work underway beneath Greater Manchester railway viaduct

Urgent repair work is being carried out on Reddish Vale viaduct in the Tame Valley to keep passengers and railway freight safely on the move. This is after it was discovered by a routine Network Rail inspection that fast-flowing water from the River Tame has caused the riverbed to wash away. Approximately 2,500 tonnes of rock armour, which are large boulders, is being installed at the foundations of the structure. The immediate repairs will make sure the viaduct’s foundations are not at risk of erosion and trains can safely travel on the Hope Valley line for years to come.

Train services are still running over the structure at the usual 50mph line speed. The viaduct, in the Reddish Vale area of

Reddish Vale viaduct aerial view credit Network Rail air operations

Stockport, was built in 1875 and carries the railway over the Tame Valley. Train services using the viaduct connect Manchester to

Sheffield on the Hope Valley line.

News in brief

Rail industry launches commuter rewards platform

To help commuters make the most of their journeys back to work, now the restrictions have lifted, the rail industry has launched a national commuter rewards website to help rail users make the most of their ‘me-time’ on the train and long awaited catch up with friends/colleagues after work. The rail industry is helping people travel and book with confidence by providing better journey information about busier trains and alternative routes, boosting cleaning, ensuring carriages are well ventilated and helping them change a booked journey fee free should their circumstances change. To take advantage of the free and discounted rewards rail commuters just need to sign up to nationalrail. co.uk/commuter and pick the rewards they want.

Northern completes refurbishment of one hundredth digital train

Northern’s one hundredth refurbished Class 158 is now out on the network. The delivery of 243 refurbished trains is part of a multi-million-pound investment programme to enhance customer journeys with new trains and better stations. The first phase of refurbishment consisted of repainting and fitting new seating, carpet and lighting, while phase two – which is currently taking place – will deliver free Wi-Fi, CCTV, enhanced and real time customer information screens and a raft of on-board systems designed to improve train performance and maintenance.

WMCA agrees priorities for £1.3 billion investment in region’s transport networks

More than 50 projects to improve road, rail, tram, bus, cycling and walking routes across the region have been agreed by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Board. The list of preferred schemes will now be submitted to the DfT for final approval, after which the full list will be published. The wide-ranging plans include a new railway station at Aldridge and the UK’s first very light rail line in Coventry City Centre. Investment will also continue in the existing Metro system, with funding to be set aside to develop the business case and plan for the further extension of the Midland Metro along the Hagley Road, as well as the expansion of the tram depot in Wednesbury.

The schemes, to be developed over the next five years, will be funded from the £1.05 billion City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement, which was awarded to the region by the Department for Transport (DfT) last year, topped up with local funding.

Schemes which promote the decarbonisation of transport, target investment into areas of poor connectivity and support inclusive growth have been prioritised – in line with policies outlined in the region’s draft Local Transport Plan which was also approved by the WMCA Board.

The future of LOC platforms

Step on Safety have recently supplied their first GRP LOC platform incorporating a screw-in pile foundation. Working with Anchor Systems Ltd who provided the screw-in piles and CSM Ltd who organised the installation for their client Linbrooke Services Ltd, the revolutionary system uses hand driven plant, requiring no OLE isolations, no on track plant and used zero water or concrete.

The base of the platform was fabricated in modules at the SoS headquarters in Suffolk using GRP profiles that could be manhandled into position then bolted together and to the piles. SafeRail™ GRP handrailing was then fixed to three sides of the frame before panels of QuartzGrip® Open Mesh Grating were added to create an anti-slip floor.

Using traditional methods, the piles and staging installation would have taken a number of weeks to install, required on track machinery, OLE isolations, and used considerable volumes of water and concrete. All the screw piles for seven locations were installed in just six nights thanks to Anchor Systems, with the seventh night seeing the first staging fixed into place. Two SoS installers were on hand for their first few installations, but subsequent ones will be handled by CSM.

All the teams involved have worked diligently and professionally from design to delivery, creating a solution that leaves virtually zero environmental impact. What’s more the GRP structure, handrail and flooring is zero maintenance and will last decades.

For more information on GRP solutions for the Rail Industry contact Matt Barber at Step on Safety 01206 396 446 or visit www.steponsafety.co.uk.

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