Railway Strategies Issue 108 Final Edition

RAILWAY F o r S E N I OR R A I L M A N A G E M E N T

Final Edition 108

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Problem free bySeedesign page14

FOCUS ON

Engineering

Solving the engineering skills gap l Intelligent switchboards l

FOCUS ON

Infrastructure

King’s Cross - the inside story l Tunnel fires – are we doing enough? l Avoiding supply chain failure l

NEWS Network Rail cuts executive bonuses Thales to equip Regional Operating Centres Northern Rail unveils smart ticket machines

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From the Editor

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A strong foundation

Chairman Andrew Schofield Managing Director Mike Tulloch Editor Gay Sutton editor@railwaystrategies.co.uk Managing Editor Libbie Hammond Editorial Designer Jon Mee Advertisement Designer Jenni Newman Profile Editor Libbie Hammond Advertisement Sales Dave King Head of Research Philip Monument Editorial Researchers Keith Hope Gavin Watson Tarj Kaur-D’Silva Mark Cowles Administration Tracy Chynoweth

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y first month in the Editor’s hot seat has certainly been an interesting one, and something of a baptism of fire. Railway Strategies LIVE took place at Royal Geographical Society in mid May, bringing

together some of the industry’s key thought-leaders to share their vision for the future of the sector, and set out some paths for achieving that (p32).

One of the messages to come from the event is that with so much public money going into rail infrastructure over the next five to ten years, we need to attract, train and retain a cohort of home-grown engineers with the relevant skills and experience to carry out the work and rebuild the knowledge-base we once had.

A considerable amount of parallel long-term investment is taking place in places like the Middle East and South America, so we will then have the opportunity to export those capabilities and services and contribute significantly to the UK economy.

In this month’s issue, Ian Hay discusses the skills gap (p12), and brings some interesting ideas to the table. Not only does he highlight the need to inspire the very young and increase training and apprenticeships, but also considers the possibility of skills crossover with other engineering disciplines.

Having worked in manufacturing for many years and seen companies like BAE Systems train highly skilled engineers then lose them when defence orders dry up, I think this is an excellent idea. I would love to hear what you think about this, and the skills issue in general.

Please email your thoughts to editor@railwaystrategies.co.uk

Railway Strategies by email

Issue 108 ISSN 1467-0395 Published by

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zzzzzzzzzzzzz Contents Features

Legal Signals – East Coast franchise 19 Fiona Scolding Railway Strategies LIVE review 32 Gay Sutton

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News

Cover story

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Industry 4 &11 Rolling stock 6 Stations 7 SHEQ 9 Appointments 10 Rail Alliance 18 Conferences & exhibitions 64

Focus on Engineering

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Resourcing the rail revolution 12 Ian Hay Rolling back to the beginning 14 Yann Rageul A matter of intelligence 17 Mark Beswick

Focus on Infrastructure HS2 – is the UK ready? 20 Matthew Kitching A symbol of London 22 Mike Byrne and John Turzynski New technology in action 25 Case study Still a burning issue? 26 Mark Tansey

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Next generation stations 28 Paul Williams Improving procurement 30 Annette Gevaert

Profiles Speedy Services 40 London & North Western Railway Co Ltd 43 Stadler Rail 48 UK Power Network Services 51 Keyline 54 Ermewa Railway 59 Heathrow Express 61

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NEWS I Industry

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Passengers and taxpayers to win in new Virgin Trains contract l Virgin Trains has been awarded the West Coast franchise in a deal that could deliver thousands of extra seats each day, free superfast WiFi for all customers and some 58 per cent increase in revenue to the taxpayer.

The new West Coast contract comes into force on 22 June and will run until the end of March 2017, providing a range of improvements. Twenty one trains will have one first class carriage converted to standard class, increasing standard class capacity by 5500 seats per day.

All 76 Pendolino and Super Voyager trains will be equipped with superfast WiFi, which Network Rail intends to support by providing track-side infrastructure, making this the first major intercity deployment of 4G technology on the UK rail network.

A new direct service between Shrewsbury / Blackpool and London will be opened in December 2014. Under the terms of the contract Virgin will guarantee payment of more than £430m over the length of the contract DfT, which is an increase of at least 58 per cent.

Patrick McCall, Virgin Trains executive co-chairman, said: “This puts the problems of 2012 firmly behind us, and shows the clear benefits of a well-run franchise system.

Other improvements include station modernisation and increased emphasis on apprenticeships, traineeships and graduate placements.

Better for business users l thetrainline.com has launched Trainline Mobile, offering the facility for B2B customers to access their business travel bookings on a smartphone, using its existing award winning app.

Business customers who have booked through their TMC, or as a Corporate client of thetrainline.com, can now use thetrainline.com app to log in to their business account as well as, or instead of, their personal trainline account. When viewing ‘My tickets’, any bookings made through the customer’s business account are highlighted, making them easily identifiable.

Customers can see all the details of their booking, including their ticket, on departure collection reference where appropriate. This facility is available to the majority of TMC or corporate clients of thetrainline.com.

This enhanced functionality is currently available thetrainline.com Android and iPhone apps. It is expected that customers will be able to fulfill business bookings made online using the Trainline Self Book, Trainline Professional or Trainline Connect systems to barcode m-tickets delivered to the app later in the year.

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High Speed Rail College comes a step closer l Skills and enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock has announced the four locations shortlisted to become the home of the National College for High Speed Rail. The new college will comprise a central ‘hub’ with a number of satellite educational ‘spokes’ across the country, providing training to the next generation of engineers working on the HS2 project and beyond.

The areas shortlisted for further development are Birmingham, Derby, Doncaster and Manchester.

Skills and enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock said: “We received a number of very strong proposals, and not all can be taken forward to the final stage. However, we hope that all those locations that responded to the consultation will develop strong links with the main college site, so that as many learners as possible have access to the opportunities that HS2 and other rail engineering projects will create.”

Terry Morgan, chairman of Crossrail and chair of the National Skills Academy for Railway Engineering, has been appointed to advise on the college’s development.

“I came from a vocational background,” he said, “and I think the high speed rail college is a fantastic opportunity to inspire a new generation of motivated young people to follow this pathway.”

NEWS I Industry

Next phase l Thales has been selected by Network Rail to provide its ARAMIS Traffic Management System (TMS) at two new Regional Operating Centres (ROCs) in Romford and Cardiff, with a contract value of £28.4m.

This will be the first time that the internationally proven TMS technology has been deployed in the UK, and is part of Network Rail’s significant investment targeted at improving rail network performance and capacity. When rolled out nationally, TMS technology will help Network Rail safely integrate, operate and manage the UK rail network through 12 state-ofthe-art ROCs. This new contract follows Thales’s partnership with Network Rail on its innovative Intelligent Infrastructure programme, which is already significantly reducing train delays caused by asset failure. The award-winning programme is believed to be the largest real-time condition monitoring system for the rail sector globally – now monitoring over 30,000 assets in real time.

Thales’s ARAMIS TMS solution is already used to control more than 60,000 trains per day in 11 countries – including Germany, Austria and Portugal, where its adoption has significantly improved performance, managing trains in complex mixed traffic networks similar to the UK’s.

The solution has continually evolved since its launch, building on feedback from the large user community. Network Rail and its stakeholders are now part of this user community and will be able to share best practice with other users globally.

Recognised for CSR l Southern has been awarded a Big Tick by Business in the Community. The award was presented to Southern for its Corporate Responsibility work at the Arts and Business Awards.

Big Ticks are awarded to businesses who demonstrate significant achievement in tackling key social and environmental issues. The Ticks are part of Business in the Community’s celebration of arts engagement, in line with their larger social agenda.

Southern was a finalist in the Corporate Responsibility Award category with its Art on the Line project. This began during early 2013, at Haywards Heath station, when Southern and Sussex Down’s College came together to transform waiting rooms from blank canvases into mini art galleries by displaying student produced creative works.

The displays are helping Southern to enhance the look of stations for passengers, whilst providing the College the chance to highlight student work, inspiring them to take pride in their local area and promoting the college to future artists. Working together a range of new, inspiring paintings, photographs and poems have now also been setup in all four waiting rooms at Lewes Station. Plans are also underway to add more stations to the project.

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Keep on track l West Coast train operator Virgin Trains has improved the way it navigates complex environmental legislation after turning to online specialists Cedrec to produce a new legal register.

Virgin Trains was awarded certification to the internationally recognised ISO 14001 Environmental Management System standard in January 2014.

The decision to produce the new legal register in 2013 with support from Cedrec has proved to be an asset, enabling Virgin Trains to record and note amendments or changes to legislation in a way that can be understood better by those with ISO 14001 responsibility and provide greater clarity about how these will impact on a business employing more than 3000 people and operating 17 railway stations between Rugby and Carlisle.

Simarjeet Kaur, Virgin Trains’ environment and sustainability manager, sees the value of Cedrec’s expertise as integral to improving company-wide environmental compliance, welcoming the benefits provided.

“Railway legislation is notoriously complex, so there’s no doubt that the new register has been essential in flagging up legislation that’s relevant to us and helping us to understand better what’s required,” said Simarjeet.

“Producing a legal register can be a minefield but Cedrec’s expertise has made the whole process easier. Their ability to provide easy-to-understand analysis and interpretation of complex and technical rules and regulations in digestible and intelligible bulletins is not only excellent but also ensures we’re always compliant.”

She added that the summaries and subtext breakdowns provided are clear and comprehensive and can, if necessary, be expanded to reveal more detail and analysis.

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Network Rail

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NEWS I Rolling Stock

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A clear view l Whether it’s a view of the passengers or of what is occurring on the platforms, good visibility is indispensable to a public transportation operator. A clear view of the situation in and around the tram? Transport Organization HTM has opted for a driving convenience of reliable monitor images in combination with a maintenance-friendly camera system.

Now, 47 trams in The Hague in the Netherlands have replaced their mirrors with Orlaco cameras.

The HTM trams were previously equipped with mirrors but this proved to be too precarious a solution in practice. The mirrors were replaced by robust Orlaco camera and monitor systems in 47 trams.

Visibility in public transport is a necessity: the operator must be able to see passengers boarding, that the situation is safe before departing. On the exterior of the tram, the right hand side, has ‘Dome’ style cameras mounted above the doors. Each camera is focused on one of the five doors, allowing the operator to see passengers board and disembark from the dashboard-mounted monitor. An additional advantage is the view that the cameras give the operator while at the platform, reducing the risk of accidents. The cameras also offer insight into what was previously a blind spot for the operator. An operator not only benefits from clear views when standing still, but also when driving with a sharp overview of the situation.

Operators driving with mirrors for thirty years, feel this permanent view on the right side of the tram to be a great advantage.

l Siemens Rail Automation has received full System Acceptance from Network Rail for the latest release of their RailCom Manager platform, which facilitates the control of IEC61850 devices within an automated substation. This follows the successful completion of an upgrade of the SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) traction power control system at Network Rail’s integrated electronic control centre in York earlier this year.

Originally installed in 2002, the upgrade was required not only to overcome certain areas of obsolescence, but also to extend the operational life of the system and to provide the capability for future interfaces to Network Rail’s new DNP3-IP communications protocol.

The work, which saw the successful migration of the SCADA traction power system to Siemens’ latest RailCom Manager platform, took place over a 20 day period and was followed by a 30 day trial, with the system being signed into operational use on 2 January 2014.

The whole programme was delivered as a completely seamless migration, with no disruption to the operational railway.

On the throne l Smith Brothers & Webb is helping train companies to save time with the launch of its new ‘airline-style’ controlled emissions toilet (CET) system that works three times faster than conventional models.

Exclusive to Smith Brothers & Webb, the fully automated CET uses negative pressure to evacuate 800 litres of effluent in just eight seconds – allowing a single operative to clean out tanks on a 12-carriage high-speed train in just ten minutes. The task would have previously taken half an hour. The new fully automated Britannia model uses technology similar to that used in airline toilets and is the first of its kind in the world.

The first of the systems – designed and manufactured in the UK at Smith Brothers & Webb’s Warwickshire factory demonstrates the company’s level of expertise and is soon to be installed in

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Hong Kong, at a depot on the South Islands extension line.

Smith Brothers & Webb Chairman Harvey Alexander pointed out that it is a perfect solution to meet modern day requirements.

He said: “The speed and ease of use of the new Britannia CET system makes it particularly attractive for high-speed trains, which of course is fast becoming a major growth area “Furthermore with more trains now running at night there is less time available for maintenance. Consequently we have already received a number of enquiries from train operators who are moving toward more of a 24-hour a day service.

“Operators want swift turnarounds of trains and this new fully automated Britannia CET certainly delivers – it can empty three times as many tanks as a conventional model in the same time.”

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NEWS I Stations

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Improved facilities

Smarter ticket machines l Northern Rail, a Serco and Abellio joint venture, in a rail industry first, has unveiled customer information facilities on Ticket Vending Machines around its network. The cutting-edge technology has been rolled out on 92 machines with smaller, rural stations benefitting first. The new software, provided by Parkeon, allows customers to not only purchase their tickets at the machine but to also find out what time the next train will arrive and at which platform.

Alex Hynes, managing director of Northern Rail, comments: “Embracing this new technology has made our Ticket Vending Machines even more customer-friendly. Passengers at a number of our smaller stations don’t have access to physical Customer Information Screens and it can be difficult for them to access the most up-to-date train running information. We know how important this is to them and we’re now offering even more ways to keep informed.”

Fresh and clean l Ipswich rail station is looking smarter and cleaner, after deep cleaning was carried out by the region’s train operator, Abellio Greater Anglia.

A team of cleaners spent a month on the station using special equipment to thoroughly clean the booking hall, waiting rooms, toilets and sanitary ware, and undertake a thorough clean of the platforms to remove all traces of chewing gum.

The deep clean helps to bring the station up to the high standard expected by customers and create a smarter, more welcoming environment.

Abellio Greater Anglia’s Area Customer Service Manager, James Steward, said, “I hope that customers will notice a real improvement to the station environment as our enhanced cleaning regime brings results.”

l Passengers are benefiting from a range of new and better facilities at the newly refurbished Whaley Bridge station.

Network Rail has worked with Whaley Bridge Town Council and the Friends of Whaley Bridge to deliver the improvements which were officially opened at the end of May. Three years ago the station had no passenger facilities and there were significant gaps between the train and platform, often making it awkward for passengers to get on or off trains.

Now, thanks to a £1.1m investment, passengers are able to access heated and secure waiting rooms on both platforms, along with a new ticket counter, toilet facilities and improved platforms, which have reduced the gap between the train and platform, making access to trains easier. The station buildings have been sympathetically restored and the waiting room is also available for local community events and displays.

Patrick Cawley, scheme sponsor from Network Rail said: “These improvements are a testament to the hard work of Whaley Bridge Town Council and the Friends of Whaley Bridge. Both have worked closely with Network Rail to make the upgrade of the station possible and to provide facilities which not only benefit the increasing number of passengers using the station but also the local community. The station is something Whaley Bridge can be proud of and will serve passengers very well for many years to come.”

£9.5 million new stations l Two new stations on the rail line between Bradford and Leeds will improve transport links and support a major regeneration scheme following government agreement to make almost £10 million available to fund the project, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced on 28 May 2014.

The Department for Transport will fund up to £9.5 million of the £16 million Leeds Rail Growth scheme. One of the new stations will support the development of the Kirkstall Forge site, which will include around 1000 new homes and extensive commercial buildings.

The scheme consists of two new stations on the LeedsBradford railway line — at Apperley Bridge and at Kirkstall Forge — both designed to encourage more people to swap their cars for train journeys. The Apperley Bridge Station will include a park and ride site to serve both Leeds and Bradford whilst the Kirkstall Forge Station will kick start over £400 million of mixed-use development at the Old Forge site.

The announcement granted full approval to the scheme, which is promoted by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, allowing work to begin. The main works are scheduled to start in July with completion of the scheme in August 2015.

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NEWS I SHEQ

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Gold medal winner

Cut cost & carbon l Bibby Distribution has converted five MAN tractor units to dual fuel LPG for Unipart Rail, which will save up to £200,000 of fuel and cut CO2 emissions by ten per cent over the next five years.

The two firms have worked together since 1998, with Bibby Distribution operating 30 vehicles for Unipart Rail, some of which run in excess of 200,000 km a year. The switch to LPG is expected to take over 66 tonnes of CO2 out of Unipart’s vehicle operations. With fuel bills accounting for around 30 per cent of the overall contract cost, the move will also significantly slash operating expenses.

Duane Trower, logistics operations director at Unipart Rail said: “Fuel usage comes with both financial and environmental costs, so we were delighted when Bibby Distribution proposed a solution that would help cut both without compromising on service. We’re already seeing substantial savings both in terms of cash and carbon emissions and we’ll be breaking even on the investment in less than 18 months.”

l Working at height specialist Nationwide Platforms has been awarded the RoSPA Gold Medal after demonstrating outstanding standards in occupational safety and health for the fifth consecutive year.

David Rawlins, RoSPA’s awards manager, said: “The RoSPA Awards encourage the raising of occupational health and safety standards across the board. Organisations that gain recognition for their health and safety management systems, such as Nationwide Platforms, contribute to a collective raising of the bar for other organisations to aspire to, and we offer them our congratulations.”

Jeremy Fish, managing director of Nationwide Platforms, said: “Health and safety is our number one priority at Nationwide Platforms and we are absolutely committed to the welfare and wellbeing of all our stakeholders. We’re incredibly proud to receive our fifth RoSPA Gold prize and will continue working hard to meet and go beyond the industry leading standards we set ourselves.”

The majority of RoSPA’s awards are noncompetitive, grading achievement at merit, bronze, silver and gold levels. Organisations that maintain high standards in consecutive years can win gold medals, president’s awards and orders of distinction.

Line made safer l Kee Systems, a leading supplier of Kee Klamp fittings, recently secured a contract with Carillion to design and install a handrail and fence safety solution to segregate train depot staff from the Brighton mainlines and to protect them from the live tracks.

Carillion, the integrated support services company secured a £120m contract with Network Rail to upgrade depots and stabling sites as part of the Thameslink programme. The programme aims to increase the capacity of trains from eight to 12 carriages, and to provide depots and stabling, where the new length trains can be parked and cleaned. The project designer, BCS specified Kee Klamp fittings, as they are Network Rail approved, for the Brighton element of the scheme where a new depot was built.

Kee Systems supplied for the new build Brighton depot. The company also worked directly with Carillion, installing 50mm x 50mm Weld Mesh Panels, which work as screens to prevent debris from the train depot affecting the main railway line. The Kee Klamp fencing also created a safety barrier of 1m from high voltage cables.

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NEWS I Appointments

SYSTRA appoints a new CEO

A new sales director for Dilax

l Tim O’Neill is to join the SYSTRA Group as chief executive officer for the United Kingdom and Ireland. His appointment is seen as a step forward in developing the Group in the UK, where significant rail related projects are underway.

Tim joins SYSTRA from Atkins where he was managing director of rail communication systems business, providing design and build services to Network Rail, Transport for London and Heathrow Airport. Prior to that, he held the position of director of rail projects mainly for London Underground and Network Rail.

Previous experience includes senior project manager on the West Coast Main Line ERTMS for Alstom, and supervising engineer on the Jubilee Line extension of the London Underground.

Pierre Verzat, president of SYSTRA Group, said: “Tim’s deep understanding of the UK business and his experience of financial and commercial processes are invaluable in serving the needs of our customers in this key region.”

l DILAX, the leading global provider of people counting technology, has appointed Neil Harrison as sales director. He will be responsible for developing relationships with new and existing customers and building market share in the retail sector across the UK and Ireland.

Neil has over 15 years’ experience in sales and managing global accounts. He joins direct from Chubb Fire & Security, and has previously held senior positions at Path Intelligence, ADT Fire and Security, Autotime Solutions and the PHS Group.

Nigel Fountain, managing director of DILAX UK: “Neil has an impressive sales track record and understands the importance of building strong customer relationships and helping retailers to better understand consumer behaviour. We look forward to working closely with him to identify new business opportunities in the retail sector and meet our ongoing strategies for growth.”

Jim Crawford to move to HS2 l Jim Crawford has been appointed programme director for phase one of HS2 construction, moving from Network Rail where he has been the major director for the £6.5 billion Thameslink upgrade.

Jim has delivered some notable milestones for Thameslink, including the rebuilding of London Blackfriars and Farringdon stations. At HS2 Ltd he will be completing the set up of the team responsible for the delivery of the multibillion pound construction programme for the first phase of the new high speed rail network between London and West Midlands.

Welcoming the appointment HS2 Ltd construction CEO Simon Kirby said: “I am very pleased that someone of Jim’s calibre is joining us as we have much to do between now and when we expect to have spades in the ground in 2017.”

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Three strategic appointments at Thales l To strengthen its international organisation, Thales has made three appointments to its international development department.

Jean-Yves Tolot, who was previously in charge of the Africa region, becomes Vice President, Saudi Arabia. He will be based in Riyadh and will lead all Thales business activities in this country. Jean-Yves has held various ministerial cabinet posts focusing on the transportation sector and has worked for Qualis and EADS International before joining Thales in 2008.

David-Claude Pichavet, VP export sales, is in charge of business development for major projects at the international development department. David-Claude has held a variety of senior executive positions with Thales in the Middle East, and will be moving from the Parisbased position of vice president Saudi Arabia.

Christophe Farnaud, previously in charge of international relations, becomes vice president, Africa. He has enjoyed a successful career in the diplomatic service including Ambassador to Greece, and adviser to the French Government.

Low carbon vehicle expertise for Cenex l Cenex, the UK’s first Centre of Excellence for low carbon technologies, has appointed Keith Budden as head of business development.

With over 20 years’ experience in developing and delivering sustainable development programmes in the public, private and voluntary sector, his role will be to capitalise on Cenex’s market leading expertise in low carbon technology to help support both private and public sector organisations deliver green growth.

Commenting on Keith’s appointment, Robert Evans, CEO of Cenex said: “Keith brings exceptional expertise and understanding of the low carbon vehicle sector to Cenex and we are excited to have him on board to drive our business growth going forward.”

Nick Howers joins Frazer-Nash l Engineering consultancy Frazer-Nash continues to expand its rail capability by appointing Nick Howers as consultant.

Nick moves from London Underground where he has been employed since joining as a graduate in 2005. In his most recent role of fleet assurance manager he managed the logistics of the Jubilee Line fleet around the Olympics.

Nick will provide a focus within FrazerNash for leading the delivery of the broad range of technical skills offered for rolling stock projects.

Richard Jones, rail business manager at Frazer-Nash, said: “Nick joins at an exciting time for the rail industry in the UK and will play a key role at Frazer-Nash as we continue to expand the business.”

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Landmark reached l Hitachi Rail Europe Ltd. has celebrated the construction of the steel frame at its Hitachi Rail Vehicle Manufacturing Facility in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham. This represents a significant milestone in the £82 million factory development, which started in November 2013 and is expected to be completed by mid-2015.

Once completed, the facility will serve as Hitachi Rail’s primary European facility for train manufacturing and assembly. It will be the base for the manufacture of the new Great Western Main Line (GWML) and East Coast Main Line (ECML) trains the company is building for the Government’s Intercity Express Programme (IEP).

Keith Jordan, Managing Director of Hitachi Rail Europe, said: “Today’s celebration is a reflection of all the hard work that has been undertaken

by Merchant Place Developments, Shepherd and the many suppliers on the construction process over the past six months. This factory will be the hub for Hitachi Rail Europe’s manufacturing operations in the UK and Europe and it’s important that we continue to work effectively with our contractors to ensure a state-of-the-art facility is produced.”

Geoff Hunton of Merchant Place Development, said: “With construction at a landmark stage, we reflect that it has been six years since the investors put in their original monies – a long time ago – but a sign we hope that with the continued hard work of the construction and development teams this building will be identified in the future with the long term success of not just Hitachi Rail but also the region as a whole.”

(From left to right: Geoff Hunton, Director, Merchant Place Developments (MPD), Benjamin Mawby, Project Manager, Hitachi Rail Europe (HRE), Phil Wilson MP, Steve Joyce; Regional Manager: Shepherd Engineering Services, Darren Cumner, Manufacturing Plant Manager, HRE, Andrew Constantine, Shepherd, Keith Jordan, MD, HRE, Julie Finley, MD, Finley Structure, John Finley, Finley Structures, Neil Matthias; Project Manager; Shepherd Construction Ltd, Michael Chicken, MPD)

NEWS I Industry

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175 successful years l Derby City Council, East Midlands Trains and Network Rail joined forces on 30 May 2014 to celebrate 175 years since the first ever passenger train ran between Derby and Nottingham. The Midland Counties Railway, which officially opened on Thursday 30 May 1839, ran the first ever train between these two East Midlands Trains’ cities and hundreds of people along the route greeted the ‘flying wonder’ with shouts of applause as the rail link between Derby and Nottingham opened for the first time.

Mirroring the events of 175 years ago, the Mayor of Derby (Councillor Fareed Hussain) and the Lord Mayor of Nottingham (Councillor Ian Malcolm) met at Nottingham station to celebrate the important link between the two cities, used to transport millions of commuters, students, and leisure passengers every year and guests were given an opportunity to see progress on the multi-million pound station improvement scheme nearing completion at Nottingham.

David Horne, Managing Director of East Midlands Trains, said: “This is a very exciting and special year for our railways. Today is a double celebration as we are marking 175 years of Derby’s railways and the 175th anniversary of the first ever train to run between Derby and Nottingham. Today this route provides a crucial link for millions of our passengers and it’s important that we reflect on the success of the past 175 years and look ahead the exciting improvements planned for the future.”

As part of Derby’s 175 year association with rail, a number of events are taking place throughout the year to celebrate Derby’s proud rail heritage and the future role of the railway. During the summer, East Midlands Trains will be holding a special Red Dot Day at Derby station with tickets priced at £17.50 return to travel anywhere on the East Midlands Trains network, and there will also be a chance for people to have a look behind the scenes of Derby’s Etches Park depot, which is used by East Midlands Trains to maintain thousands of trains each year.

Below target bonus l Network Rail’s remuneration committee has decided to award bonuses significantly below target to the company’s executive directors for the 2013/14 financial year. The decision reflects mixed results on key performance objectives during the year, but recognises well-managed recovery from a winter of extreme weather.

The five eligible executive directors will each receive around 12.5 per cent of salary (around £50,000 each). The maximum award possible under this scheme was 60 per cent of salary. No bonus was earned for passenger train punctuality, where targets were not met. A 20 per cent reduction was also made to reflect less progress on safety performance than was expected, despite good progress in reducing overall level crossing safety risk.

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Engineering

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Resourcing the rail revolution Attracting, training and retaining the next generation of rail professionals is the biggest challenge the industry faces. IAN HAY, UK director of rail at URS discusses the options

I IAN HAY, UK director of rail at URS

n May, Network Rail began to announce the delivery partners for its ambitious ÂŁ25 billion five-year investment programme, which will see the organisation renew more than 7,000 km of track across Britain.

Combine this with projects like HS2, Crossrail and Transport for London’s planned network upgrades, and the UK will see more investment in rail infrastructure in the next few years than it has since the Victorian era.

This unprecedented level of activity will require a large number of skilled engineers. Yet while demand for these skills is increasing, the industry is struggling to recruit people with the required qualifications and experience.

This chronic shortage of highly skilled people is the single biggest challenge facing our industry. Put simply, there are not enough people to deliver the work.

Factors contributing to the shortage Decades of underinvestment in the UK’s aging rail

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infrastructure have contributed to a decrease in the number of skilled engineers, with many now retrained and employed in other sectors. With fewer suitably trained graduates entering the profession each year and a significant number of engineers nearing retirement, the skills gap is only set to widen. This is particularly true for specialist disciplines such as signalling and electrification. Given the importance of infrastructure to the UK economy, this skills shortage and impending exodus could dramatically disrupt economic recovery by impacting vital projects intended to stimulate regeneration and growth.

While I welcome the upturn in investment we are currently experiencing, if we are to feel confident we are witnessing the dawn of a long hoped for rail revolution, there are some questions that cannot be ignored: most notably, how committed is the government to taking a more long-term approach to infrastructure planning?

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During the economic downturn many engineers left for more buoyant markets overseas or abandoned the industry completely

Planning for the future An independent body to assess transport requirements over the longer term would help rectify decades of on/ off investment in infrastructure, which have certainly contributed to the skills crisis. The ability to plan the UK’s infrastructure needs beyond the election cycle would allow the rail industry to recruit to the fullest, with real confidence that the demand for skills will be sustained.

Sir John Armitt, the chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority and former chief executive of Network Rail, recommends establishing a National Infrastructure Committee. Such a body, if implemented correctly, would help identify and plan the nation’s future infrastructure needs.

Long-term infrastructure planning should ease the stop-start investment pattern that has exacerbated the engineering skills shortage in the past. During the economic downturn many engineers left for more buoyant markets overseas or abandoned the industry completely.

We cannot risk this happening again if investment priorities change.

But what can engineering companies do to ensure the supply of skilled workers meets the demand now?

In the short term, combining skills from overseas can be one solution. UK operations of global companies are feeling the benefit of being part of a wider organisation where they are able to pool sought-after skills and share work, with highly trained engineers from around the world brought together to deliver projects.

Short-term solutions like this will help close the immediate skills gap, but there is much more that needs to be done to secure the long-term prosperity of the UK’s rail industry. The real key to addressing the skills shortage is to ignite young people’s imagination about the possibilities of an engineering career. The engineering profession needs to win the attention of children long before they select which subjects to study at GCSE or A-Level.

Training and apprenticeships Apprenticeships and graduate development programmes are vital in bringing forward tomorrow’s engineers. As an industry, we must develop both routes in order to attract new talent. Apprenticeship schemes offer an alternative path into the profession, focused on work-based learning that can lead to full professional accreditation. Crossindustry groups such as the Technician Apprenticeship Consortium (TAC), supported by the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE), are looking at ways

to help companies recruit and train apprentices more easily. TAC is working alongside professional institutions and awarding bodies to develop new qualifications across a range of engineering disciplines. It is hoped this initiative will encourage companies to commit to apprenticeship programmes and help increase the number of young people taking up this route.

Developing the skills of existing engineers will help mitigate the impact of the looming departure of so many experienced, senior-level professionals that is facing our industry. There are huge opportunities at the moment for young people to progress quickly in their careers by learning from experts at the height of their powers.

This is certainly the case in signalling and electrification, where engineers with knowledge of these disciplines are in high demand. At URS we employ many ‘old masters’ of specialist rail disciplines from the days of British Rail, who are now nearing retirement. These experts, some with over 40 years’ experience, enjoy sharing their knowledge and passing the baton to the upcoming generation of rail engineers. We have introduced a programme so that our bright stars of tomorrow can learn directly from highly experienced engineers to fasttrack their careers and deliver high-quality work for clients.

Comprehensive training programmes like this will help companies tackle their growing workload. However in my view, innovative approaches to staff training and development are also essential as the industry looks to the future. As a profession, we must think laterally about how to work together to bring the transferable skills of experienced technical professionals from less buoyant market segments into those experiencing growth.

Conclusion I’d like to see a dedicated steering group of industry figures to tackle this important issue. Introducing some flexibility into the training and qualifications framework for rail engineers would allow skilled professionals to move from one discipline to another in line with the needs of the economy and job market. As a nation, we cannot afford to waste our existing engineering technical talent, and new ways must be found to encourage retraining and mobility within the STEM professions.

Government and industry must work together to support the long-term health of the rail industry.

Attracting, training and retaining the next generation of talented professionals who will drive our industry forward is the most important challenge we face. zz

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Engineering

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Rolling back to the beginning Yann Rageul, head of sales Europe & strategic consulting, Romax, discusses designing a problem-free fleet

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French railway operator’s recent adjustments to platform widths and the order of new rolling stock, at a cost of ₏50 million, should serve as a reminder that careful planning must not be overlooked and that all elements should be checked and taken into consideration during the design process.

In the UK, the Office of Rail Regulation recently revealed that train journeys have doubled in the last 20 years.

Approximately 1.27 billion train journeys were taken between March 2012 and 2013 and this number continues to rise. With this in mind, any mistakes made during the initial design and planning stages have the potential to have a much greater impact.

Costly penalties and their impact on revenue become an ever-increasing risk if design mistakes begin to frequently lead to a failure in service. Many railway operators have processes in place to limit issues before they arise, such

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as regular testing and inspection. However the most effective way to eliminate downtime is in the early design stages. We would argue that integration is one of the most important elements in the design process and has a major impact on rail operation and downtime.

To put it simply, you could have the best quality rolling stock components manufactured by the most acclaimed companies in the industry, but as soon as they are put together as a system, issues can arise. This might not occur during the testing process as a limited number of parts with specific tolerances are tested. However, it can become an issue further down the line. The fallout from this can be incredibly costly especially if designs are implemented for multiple fleets, across several networks.

Using accurate design simulation software capable of running parametric studies across a range of parameters simultaneously, such as bearing clearances and manufacturing tolerances, is essential. It is possible to pinpoint where problems could arise and mitigate the issue by making the design less sensitive and therefore avoiding potential expensive problems.

The use of design simulation technology at the initial stages of concept development gives you the opportunity to conduct parametric studies to optimise the full system under differing operating conditions that can be encountered throughout a Rail Network.

Data outputs can help decipher the root cause of failure before a failure has even occurred. It’s often surprising to operators that a disruption causing countless delays can be something as small as minor misalignment issues or

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Engineering

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simply bearings settings that are slightly out of place.

National railway operators risk exposing themselves to serious backlash if things aren’t running smoothly. They need to take a proactive approach by identifying and eliminating integration issues at the start.

Some railway operators, such as Irish Rail, a national provider of rail and related services in Ireland, are not only taking this proactive approach to fixing problems, but also identifying the root cause to avoid similar problems in the future. When the company started seeing an increasing number of bearing failures in a particular fleet of rolling stock, it wanted to track down the cause, so it approached Romax Technology to help.

Romax was able to provide a review of all design and service data, and perform a physical analysis of the axle box bearings, simulation and modelling using its in-house developed driveline analysis software RomaxDESIGNER. The result means Irish Rail is now in a much better position to limit the amount of failures, project operations and consequently reduce risk.

The right design simulation and analysis software offering should include exploration of the complete driveline, including gearboxes, couplings, bearings, electrical motor and supporting structures such as bogie frame, axle and wheel. This wide scope of analysis, using software designed for speed and accuracy, allows for the number of design cycles to be significantly reduced.

Component life and the overall efficiency of an entire fleet can be calculated, allowing for effective on-going system development.

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Stakes are high, and the consequences involved with ignoring the durability and longevity of a railway system can be serious, especially with passenger numbers continually on the increase. Something as straightforward as using a design simulation software program to replicate failures and test the durability of a system can save you a world of issues in the long term.

The cost isn’t just monetary anymore. It’s about reputations and railway operators are under more pressure than ever to provide a consistent and reliable service.

Making minor adjustments to the design process for rolling stock can be the difference between a happy customer base and a €50 million bill. zz

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Engineering

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A matter of intelligence MARK BESWICK, managing director at R&B Switchgear Group asks: how do you improve the efficiency of some of the UK’s oldest rail networks to deliver a leading transport service?

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Mark Beswick, managing director at R&B Switchgear Group

ast month, the new chief executive of Network Rail admitted that the £1 billion scheme to convert the line linking London to south Wales from diesel to electric had gone over budget because of rising costs.

This is just one of a number of projects Network Rail is undertaking. Others include Thameslink for £6.5 billion, Crossrail for £2.3 billion, the £600 million Northern Hub scheme to increase capacity, £900 million of improvements around Reading and multimillion pound station overhauls at London Bridge and Birmingham New Street.

The organisation’s aim is to upgrade the UK’s rail network so it can carry more trains and passengers, and by 2019 will be able to run an extra 335,000 trains a year.

To achieve this, it’s imperative that the new technology can withstand the added pressures it will face in the future and meet the ever changing safety guidelines.

New standards With the new IEC 61439-2 electrical safety standards coming into force this year, all new electrical switchgear needs to be independently tested and issued with a certificate of compliance, ensuring electrical protection for people and their environment.

By incorporating low voltage, intelligent switchboards which deliver superior safety, reliability and performance, operators will be able to ensure safe operation, trusted reliability and optimum performance.

Losing electrical power is a worst case scenario for any rail service provider, as the knock on effect to customers and staff can be catastrophic. Therefore, to reduce the risk of power failure as far as possible, switchboards incorporating the latest intelligent electrical circuit breakers and devices, which allow remote monitoring of the electrical network via internet or SIM, should be incorporated into each upgrade.

What intelligent switchboards do Intelligent switchboards communicate their status in real-time and automatically alert operational crew of an overload or a situation where power failure could occur if not dealt with. Also, if a power failure does occur, serious consideration should be given to incorporating a facility to ‘hot swap’ out the circuit protection. This would allow rapid replacement without the need to switch off the

whole switchboard.

Being informed in real-time of the status of the electrical network, means that any downtime required for maintenance can be accurately scheduled to fit rail timetables.

An intelligent switchboard can also cut energy costs by providing visibility for motor operation and precise control, and to optimise loadings, trace problems, identify trends and troubleshoot problems before they result in a costly power loss.

In addition to helping boost power system reliability and productivity, intelligent electrical devices such as progressive starters and variable speed drives can synchronise motor operation to load capacity, reducing peak energy consumption by up to 50 per cent.

The space issue Space is also becoming increasingly important for switchgear development. With electrical switchrooms taking up valuable space, there is always a premium to be had by operators specifying main electrical distribution switchboards that can reduce the size of these areas.

New compact modular, standardised LV boards are designed to accommodate more features with less volume and weight, with specially adapted characteristics such as space-saving drawers which directly connected to the vertical busbar are ideal for rail applications.

It is vital for modern rail services to have electrical switchboards which deliver superior safety, trusted reliability and optimum performance.

Switchboards must also comply with a whole set of requirements linked to increasingly sophisticated and challenging applications and changing international standards, while also offering increased productivity and rapid return on investment.

By ensuring electrical equipment is built to these exacting standards, operators have equipment which significantly reduces the risk of supply loss and decreases maintenance requirements while increasing reliability.

Final considerations The new equipment also needs to strike the right balance between high level performance in both electrical distribution and motor control, and open-endedness to continually satisfy the specific needs of rail operation.

It should also deliver the highest possible level of safety for people and installation, even in the most demanding conditions and have built-in peak reliability both short and long term, guaranteeing availability as well as delivering a constantly superior level of performance with ease and speed of use and maintenance. zz

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Rail Alliance

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Recent new members of the Rail Alliance Flotec Industrial Ltd

RSG Structures Ltd

Flotec Industrial Ltd is a manufacturer and supplier of hoses, providing leak free solutions to coolant and turbo applications using EDPM and silicone hoses with uniquely designed clamping method.

Tel: 01509 230 100 Email: sales@floteconline.com Web: www.floteconline.com

RSG Structures Ltd is a specialist precast concrete designer, supplier and installer and can assist in everything from supply, design and groundworks, to full construction projects.

Tel: 08452 997 597 Email: gneale@rsgstructures.co.uk Web: www.rsgstructures.co.uk

Aegis Engineering Systems Ltd

CAF Rail UK Ltd is a leading manufacturer of rolling stock products and associated high precision engineered components for rolling stock including high speed, inter-city, regional commuter, metro, underground and light rail.

Tel: 02476 158 195 Email: caf@caf.net Web: www.caf.net

Aegis Engineering Systems Ltd is an independent engineering consultancy formed in 1997. AEGIS is ISO9001:2008 accredited and Link Up accredited in numerous product codes including Safety Management System Review, and has been accredited by Network Rail as Independent Safety Assessors since 2002.

Tel: 01332 384 302 Email: info@aegisengineering.co.uk Web: www.aegisengineering.co.uk

IA Technology Ltd IA Technology Ltd is a specialist technologies company based in Herefordshire. Operating in a wide range of military, civilian and commercial markets, it specialises in designing, prototyping and manufacturing electronic solutions to exacting standards for some of the world’s most challenging environments and is accredited to handle protectively marked material.

Tel: 01432 342 377 Email: info@iatechnology.co.uk Web: www.iatechnology.co.uk

SmartWater Technology Ltd SmartWater Technology Ltd is a developer and supplier of a proven loss prevention and risk management strategy to protect rail infrastructure and plant machinery. By combining the use of their patented forensic marking technology with innovative tactics to proactively detect and deter criminal activity, they can bring major cost savings to clients.

Tel: 0800 521 669 Email: enquiry@smartwater.com Web: www.smartwater.com

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CAF Rail UK Ltd

For further information, please contact: The Rail Alliance Tel: 01789 720 026 Email: info@railalliance.co.uk Web: www.railalliance.co.uk

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Legal Signals

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East Coast franchise Is the current legal challenge to the East Coast Franchise likely to shape future services? Fiona Scolding discusses the legal standpoint

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Fiona Scolding is a barrister at Hardwicke chambers

he three major rail unions (ASLEF, RMT and TSSA) issued a judicial review in early April 2014 to challenge both the way in which the InterCity East Coast franchise is being run and also the extension of the current Thameslink and Great Northern lines franchises without a further competition.

In mid May 2014, it is reported that the Court has refused the application for judicial review on paper, but that the unions will renew this application. Under the judicial review rules, the unions have a right to make an oral application to the courts to seek permission to move for judicial review. The permission stage of judicial review is a threshold which the unions have to cross to be able to bring a judicial review – and the judge will only grant permission if the claim is arguable. If a judge does decide that the case is arguable, then the case goes to a full hearing. The timescale for this varies, but it can range from very speedy (a matter of a few weeks) to months.

The concerns

Bhavisha Mistry

The unions have gone down this route because they believe that the rail franchise is being rushed through: the government has not considered continuing with the current arrangements: it has not consulted with passengers or the unions: and it has continued with the franchises for Thameslink and Great Northern lines when it should have either sought a further procurement or considered having them run by Directly Operated Railways.

The rail unions are not the first unions or groups of individuals to have trodden this path. The unions are not ‘economic operators’ under the relevant Public Utilities and Contract Regulations which govern the award of contracts within the UK. However, they are people with ‘sufficient interest’ to bring a claim in judicial review.

The mechanisms Judicial review is the mechanism by which those with such an interest can ask the courts to determine whether or not the actions of the government are legal. The courts, when using this process do not determine whether or not the government is correct as to the procurement route that it chooses and will not enter into a debate on the merits of such a procurement, but will simply look at whether or not

this decision has been entered using the correct legal procedures and without significant flaws in the decision making process. A decision to procure services and the manner in which these services are procured are arguably public law decisions as they involve a public law authority and concern public law matters – ie decisions which are more than merely the government acting as private contractor.

Unison sought to judicially review a decision to outsource NHS services in the Dorset area a couple of years ago, unsuccessfully. Patient groups have sought to challenge similar outsourcing decisions in other parts of the country using the mechanism, as have individuals unhappy with the Academy programme or decisions by local authorities to outsource public sector provision across a range of areas. The majority of these claims have not been successful.

What is the outlook It is difficult to know precisely how the Courts will approach this case without scrutiny of the grounds but, in many cases, Courts have been reluctant to find that large scale public projects should be halted because of lack of consultation without very good grounds to suggest that consultation was either promised or that there would be conspicuous unfairness by the absence of consultation. The question of timing again depends upon whether the Government has to abide by or should be made to abide by the recommendations of the Brown review, or has a measure of discretion as to whether or not they adopt such. As to the issue of whether the current franchises for Thameslink should have been extended without further procurement, this may well depend upon how long the extension is for and whether it is economically and practically justifiable.

Some commentators have suggested that this is simply a move to delay completion of the procurement until after the next general election, given that the Labour front bench has indicated that it would consider continuing with, or extending, Directly Operated Railways. It does appear that a side effect of this judicial review may be to halt the procurement process at least for a period of time. However, given past difficulties with letting the East Coast franchise successfully, and in the light of the West Coast mainline procurement problems, it may well be that the unions do have some grounds to wish the Government to proceed with appropriate safeguards in place. zz

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zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Infrastructure zz HS2 – is the UK ready?

MATTHEW KITCHING, partner at built asset consultancy EC Harris LLP asks the million dollar question, and reflects on the recommendations of the HS2 Growth Taskforce

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hose watching the progress of HS2 as it cleared its second reading in the House of Commons in April may have been forgiven for thinking that, barring a catastrophic failure of political will, the case for the scheme had been made and its transformation into reality inevitable. But as the latest recommendations from the HS2 Taskforce suggest, this isn’t the time for potential beneficiaries of the project to take a back seat.

Matthew Kitching is partner at built asset consultancy EC Harris LLP

Taskforce recommendations The HS2 Taskforce, led by Lord Deighton, reported its recommendations in March. The result is a call to arms for government, local authorities, enterprise partnerships, investors, the railway industry and HS2 Ltd itself, to work together to establish an overwhelming case for the scheme.

One issue identified by the Taskforce relates to the limitations imposed by the government’s current approach to assessing business cases for transportation projects.

While the report asserts: “HS2 could be much more than a railway. It could be an exciting and transformational opportunity, particularly for our cities in the Midlands and the North”, its very existence underlines the need for a convincing business case. This is especially true for Phase 2 of the project, to Manchester and Leeds, which requires separate consent from Parliament.

The Taskforce recommends that the government should overhaul its transport appraisal methodology to allow HS2’s second phase to benefit from any up-tick in internalisation of wider, regional economic benefits. However, it is the call for stakeholders and beneficiaries of the potential impact of HS2 to collaborate in creating a detailed, compelling and joined-up case for the scheme that stands out in Lord Deighton’s report. This is combined with an exhortation from the Olympics veteran for HS2 to create an open playing field for UK companies, opportunities for skills, capability growth and investment in the education sector, together with the wider rail industry for years to come.

City planning Some cities along the route are already factoring HS2 into their planning. Birmingham has its Eastside Masterplan for the area around Curzon Street station, Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP have the UK Central Strategy for Growth, there is a master plan for Manchester Piccadilly, and London has a Mayoral Development Corporation for Old Oak Common. Other towns and cities have some way to go however, and as the report suggests, time is of the essence.

Late 2014 is a watershed in the report for the formulation of a number of strategies, including production of local authority HS2 Growth Strategies for station localities, the establishment of locally-led delivery bodies and

development partnerships, and the inclusion of HS2 into local plans and strategic economic plans. According to the report, 2014 is the timescale within which government and Network Rail impact analysis for off-route cities and freight should be completed, as well as the aforementioned plan and timetable for overhaul of the approach to economic appraisal of transport projects, and a strategy setting out how HS2 will contribute to skills creation. If local strategies have not been linked to HS2 due to uncertainty over the project’s future, 2014 is the year to make these links and benefits explicit and measureable.

Pulling together The hope that a single project, even one as large and high profile as HS2, can drive this agenda and encourage the behaviours needed for central government, local bodies and private sector partners to work together may prove optimistic. Nevertheless, the approach set out in the Taskforce’s report is sensible and necessary. The focus on the local agenda is balanced by recognition that support from a central delivery body will be required for the implementation of these strategies for growth by, for example, identifying sources of investment and assembling land for early development – thereby capitalising on increased values.

The government can also help by allowing leeway for modification of the LEPs’ Local Growth Fund applications (March 2014) once the Phase 2 route is finalised. For their part, HS2 needs to set out what elements of the project’s budget can be utilised to support the growth plans. This need for central co-ordination has lead Deighton’s team to the conclusion that a dedicated government Minister should be appointed to oversee the project, and associated regeneration and legacy agendas. Centralised support and influence will be required to pull all of this together, particularly as regional urban centres not directly on the route may have difficulty in evaluating how freed-up regional rail capacity might positively impact their local economies.

Conclusion The recommendations made by the Taskforce are a positive contribution to the HS2 debate and as Deighton says in the foreword, a “build it and they will come” approach will not be sufficient. Retrospective studies show how major transportation projects significantly understate their business case’s benefits. Meanwhile, assuming that the current political consensus means the case for both phases of HS2 has been proved would be premature.

The various stakeholders identified in the Taskforce’s report now need to both work together differently and think together differently, in order to make the project a demonstrable success. zz www.railwaystrategies.co.uk

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Infrastructure

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Photos © Thomas Graham Arip

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AsymbolofLondon King’s Cross: Building Britain’s economy through infrastructure.

By Mike Byrne and John Turzynski

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s we continue to see a growth in urban living, there is an increasing need for improved connectivity and the creation of sophisticated transport hubs. Transport infrastructure is now widely regarded as a vital root of prosperity and economic growth, with nations East and West prioritising its development. In December 2012 China opened the world’s longest high-speed rail line from Beijing to Guangzhou, despite many Chinese provinces still lacking basic water and sewage facilities. Meanwhile in Germany, several projects are underway to position its place as the hub of central Europe’s transport network. These include the $8.4 billion Stuttgart 21 rail project, major airport

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expansions in Munich and Frankfurt, and the new Berlin-Branden Airport.

With so much activity oversees, Britain’s ongoing investment in transport infrastructure is essential if the country is to successfully compete for global business.

Thankfully this seems to be well recognised. Throughout the recent period of economic decline and stagnation, infrastructure spending has remained relatively well protected in Britain. The Government has developed an extensive National Infrastructure Plan, which lays out schemes averaging more than $44 billion annually.

Amongst these is the $36 billion Crossrail project, which will create 55,000 jobs in the capital during

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the construction phase alone. This demonstrates the secondary but more immediate effect of infrastructure projects: job creation.

In developed nations, many of the infrastructure projects undertaken are aimed at modernising existing facilities to accommodate ever-expanding user numbers. This is true of London, where much of the infrastructure system was designed in the 19th century and when the capital’s population was under a quarter of what it is now.

Probably the best example of this type of modernisation to date has been the restoration and development of London’s King’s Cross station. First opened in 1852, King’s Cross station is now part of the busiest transport hub in London, with 150,000 people commuting and travelling daily. This is equivalent to 28 million a year, with millions more using St Pancras International and London Underground’s King’s Cross St Pancras.

Twenty years ago, when Arup was first engaged to support various planning applications pertaining to the station’s expansion, the necessity to increase its capacity was clear and we also had to take into account a secondary consideration. In projects such as this, involving an existing and essential transport hub, planning, engineering and construction teams must balance the work’s urgency with the need to keep the existing transport hub operational. Without this consideration, improvements intended to stimulate economic growth will instead drive stagnation.

Partly for this reason, the redevelopment of the King’s Cross St Pancras interchange occurred in three significant stages. First, St Pancras International, which opened in

2007, followed by King’s Cross St Pancras Underground Station (2009), with the King’s Cross Mainline Station, finally completed on 19th March 2012.

Increasing capacity When the first King’s Cross station opened the terminal housed just two platforms: one for departing and one for arriving trains. Although these had been progressively added to, a drastic overhaul was essential if the station building was to meet current and projected capacity.

Our design of a new 8000m2 Western Concourse was central to this. The updated station, including an additional platform, is able to accommodate 17 peak-time train movements per hour using 12 mainline and suburban platforms.

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Mike Byrne an John Turzynski are directors at Arup.

Arup is the creative force at the heart of many of the world’s most prominent projects in the built environment and across industry. From more than 90 offices worldwide some 11,000 Arup planners, designers, engineers and consultants deliver innovative projects across the globe.

For further information visit:

www.arup.com.

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Whilst above ground, the Western Concourse was taking shape; our teams were also working on the £950 million redevelopment of King’s Cross St Pancras Underground Station. Again, the new space’s ability to accommodate increasing visitor numbers needed to be central to all plans, and effective ventilation was a crucial part of this. In order to assess ventilation designs, we created a Subway Environmental Simulation (SES) model of the entire station.

Taking into account high station temperatures due to increased train and passenger numbers, this allowed engineers to design and achieve solutions in accordance with London Underground standards.

Maintaining operation With so many construction elements being undertaken simultaneously, an effective construction and traffic management strategy became integral to the scheme.

We developed construction techniques for the deep excavations and tunnels, which avoided damage to adjacent listed buildings and maintained the operation of railways above ground.

In addition we prepared a stage-by stage construction sequence, including provision for ten, fully-assured interim stations to be delivered consecutively during the enlargement of the ticket-hall. The formulation of a traffic management scheme also minimised the impact of the construction on pedestrians, whilst a temporary ‘quick bridge’ carried traffic over the top of the Western Ticket Hall during excavation and construction.

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Project completion Work continued into 2013, when King’s Cross Square, the final stage in the £550 million main line station redevelopment, was completed. The new 075,000 sq ft King’s Cross Square now provides passengers and visitors a view of the original station façade for the first time in more than 150 years. More than visually impressive, this square provides improved entrances to London Underground and, following strong responses to consultations on the subject, has been dedicated as an area for public art.

The redevelopment of the King’s Cross station area has been a catalyst for one of the largest regeneration schemes in Europe, with far reaching social and economic effects. Sixty-seven acres of brownfield land is being redeveloped, creating eight million sq ft of offices, retail space and housing. In 2011, Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design (the University of the Arts London) moved into renovated railway buildings to the north of the station and new offices for Camden council are currently under construction.

King’s Cross is now more than just a station; it is a London status symbol. We are increasingly seeing connectivity as essential for attracting businesses and talent to cities and therefore key to their success. With efficient links to continental Europe, the North of England and Greater London, King’s Cross delivers just this, reinforcing London’s position as an economic power on the global map. zz

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Infrastructure zz New technology in action Refurbishing and strengthening an ageing rail culvert is made much easier and quicker with UV lining running over a length of 22 m. Taking local ground conditions and rail traffic into consideration, calculations showed that the liner would need to be some 11 mm thick to provide the structural support required over the life expectancy of the liner, which was the main aim of the renovation operation.

Similarly the Soham installation would need to be 14 mm thick to line a 600 mm diameter, 12 m long old brick barrel culvert.

Both liner designs had to be approved prior to installation by Network Rail, then manufactured in Germany and factory impregnated with the UV sensitive resins prior to shipping to the UK.

Accessing the rail crossing point of the Manningtree culvert Preparing the UV light train for a curing run

The launch site for the Manningtree culvert lining operation The end-stop of one of the liners during a lining cure run

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he maintenance of culverts beneath rail lines has long been a cause of concern to rail engineers.

Many culverts are situated in inaccessible locations and neglecting to replace or refurbish them in a timely manner can result in failure which then impacts rail services. So, the development in recent years of smaller footprint, more easily transported trenchless renovation systems has been a major boon to the rail industry.

Separated sites When Network Rail needed to renovate two under rail culverts at Manningtree and Soham, on-site investigations showed that accessibility at both locations would not be easy. At Manningtree there would be additional difficulties due to a low bridge.

To eliminate the need to construct lining scaffolds at either site, a small footprint GRP UV (Glass Reinforced Plastic Ultra Violet) cured pipe lining system, which is 40 per cent thinner but over three times stronger than conventional felt liners, was chosen. The technique for installing these linings is quicker, more efficient, less disruptive, and does not carry any of the potential for pollution that other CIPP lining such as hot water cure and steam cure, can have.

The UV lining works were subcontracted to Insitu, working in partnership with iLine Technologies of Northampton, one of the few lining contractors in the UK with the equipment and extensive experience in installing UV cured liners.

Liner requirements The Manningtree culvert was a 450 mm diameter installation

Speed of installation Both liners were scheduled to be installed in just two days, despite being located some 60 miles apart. And this was made possible by the minimal equipment requirement and small footprint of the UV lining process.

Work began in Soham on Thursday 19 September 2013 with a pre-lining CCTV survey showing the culvert was clean and clear to line. The liner was then installed in a single shift by inverting with compressed air and UV curing in just 20 minutes, including completion of a post lining CCTV survey for the client’s records to show the installation had been completed successfully.

The crew then travelled 60 miles to Manningtree for a start of work on Friday 20. The same process was followed although, on this occasion the lining rig had to be removed from its transport truck and placed on a trailer to be taken to site so that it could negotiation a low bridge.

The work was completed the same day.

The UV equipment used for both installations was an REE2000 curing unit supplied by Reline Europe, which utilised a UV light source comprising of six 1,000 watt UV bulbs.

According to John Beech, business development manager for iLine: “Some of the biggest advantages of using the UV method utilised here were the impressive speed of both the installations, with both culverts being lined and surveyed in just two days and the fact that the use of the UV also meant that, given the proximity to farm land, the potential for pollution was eliminated because no liquid run-off is generated using the UV system. It also helped considerably that the UV process has no requirement to erect inversion scaffolds at either site, an operation that would have considerably lengthened both installation times.� zz

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zz Infrastructure zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Still a burning issue?

Technology and solutions are available to reduce the incidence of serious rail tunnel fires but the danger still remains. The question is, asks MARK TANSEY of FireVu, are we managing the risk effectively?

Mark Tansey,

www.firevu.co.uk

Inside the Channel Tunnel

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t is now 20 years since the Channel Tunnel opened, and over the past two decades it has experienced several incidents of fire, three of which were notable and caused substantial damage. The most serious, in 2008, resulted in a £60 million repair bill and six month’s disruption to services that ultimately cost Eurotunnel an estimated £185 million in lost revenue. The 2008 fire does not stand out as a particularly large or destructive fire despite the costs cited.

The Channel Tunnel fires do press the point, though, that even new state of the art tunnels are not immune from serious fires.

Railway tunnel fires can be more dangerous to life than road tunnel blazes, generally with less favourable

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opportunities for escape than road tunnels. The smaller cross section of a railway tunnel leads to a more rapid spread of fire, stronger convective heating and lower smoke stratification that rapidly affects breathing and visibility.

These factors came into tragic play at the funicular railway at Kaprun in 2000, where 155 passengers lost their lives. The ventilation pushed through toxic smoke that overwhelmed passengers in a matter of minutes.

Improving safety in railway tunnels There have undoubtedly been improvements in railway fire prevention measures and action in the past decade.

Passenger trains are generally less combustible,

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eliminated and we cannot be complacent.

Passive fire prevention can minimise fire damage to infrastructure, with options ranging from micro monofilament polypropylene fibres added to the concrete mix of wall linings, to fire resistant panels and cementitious coatings.

There is a range of active fire suppression solutions available such as sprinklers, standpipes and hydrants, water curtains and water mist that can be combined with passive fire prevention measures. Underpinning the active suppression is fire detection technology, with solutions such as video smoke detection triggering the key systems.

Above: The Kaprun tunnel can act like a giant blast furnace, sucking oxygen in and rapidly sending poisonous smoke, heat and fire forwards. Those above the fire were asphyxiated and then burned by the intense fire

Legislation & railway tunnels

with lower heat release rates from passenger rolling stock specifications. In the 7/7 bombings on London Underground the trains smouldered rather than burned and the loss of life was not due to or exacerbated by flammable materials in the carriages.

Goods trains have also benefited from measures to reduce incidences of fire such as the compartmentalisation of wagons, the control of combustible material and fixed fire suppression. And the implementation of regular fire drill test procedures has improved fire safety levels for both goods and passenger trains.

However, the very nature of tunnel fires and the loads being carried ensures that the issue will never be

In April 2014, EU Directive 2004/54/EC came into effect for road tunnels for all 28 EU member states, an area with a population of over 500 million that generates 20 per cent of global wealth.

In terms of fire detection monitoring, the new directive means systems need to be implemented for tunnels over 500 m long, with video detection systems being mandatory for tunnels longer than 3,000 m.

The same uniform regulations do not exist for rail tunnels despite the dangers outlined above. The NFPA 130 does not cover the issues of fire safety in tunnels. The EU’s technical standard, ‘Safety in Railway Tunnels’ is a framework standard rather than a specification.

Research and the identification of suitable regulations continue to be pursued by The International Tunnelling Association’s Committee on Operational Safety of Underground Facilities.

Global or indeed European-wide railway tunnel safety regulations are not shared.

It all boils down to a need for a co-ordinated approach for the railways, as has been taken for road tunnels.

Railway fires, thankfully, are not every day events. Yet, their impact on life and property can be immense and therefore measures have to be considered against the potential effects of a fire. Isn’t it time that fire detection and prevention for railway tunnels was not one of chance? zz

FireVu can be contacted at: mtansey@ad-holdings.co.uk or 01928706422

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zz Infrastructure zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Next generation stations PAUL WILLIAMS, CEO of Zoeftig, discusses the influence that airport design is having on modern railway terminals

Paul Williams, CEO of Zoeftig

Zoeftig PowerArm

ation Wakefield st

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or most of us, a trip to the airport means one thing: jetting off to enjoy some sun, sea and sand.

While the excitement of air travel has waned a little in recent years, there’s undoubtedly still a buzz about the whole airport experience. An element of this continued interest in airline travel has been generated by the sophistication of the airport environment. Today modern terminals are filled with retail and leisure outlets designed to keep travellers happy and entertained while they wait.

This appeal is also aided by contemporary terminal design, which is largely shaped around traveller-friendly, practical layouts, kitted out with the latest gadgets to ensure business travellers or commuters don’t have to waste time in transit.

While there is a definite boom in the sophistication and ‘experience’ value of modern railway terminals – Birmingham New Street station being a prime case in point – and more people are choosing rail over air for domestic travel, it’s fair to say that travelers rarely expect the levels of luxury, comfort and passenger-focused design that airport terminals can offer. Functionality is generally the order of the day, with waiting areas often designed for practicality alone.

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What stations can learn from airports By their very nature, railway platforms and associated waiting areas are very different to airports. The dwell time is much shorter, the waiting areas are generally much smaller and hence there is less need for a large expanse of seating for the majority of stations in the UK. However, at major rail terminals a lot can and is being learnt from airport design. One notable trend is towards more seating installed in more convenient locations, close to information displays and concessions.

There have been some welcome improvements in terminal design, but a lot more could be achieved in terms of terminal layout and passenger flow, to create more interesting, aesthetically engaging and less uniform layouts. Straight lines of seating, facing one direction, make navigating to seats quite difficult when towing baggage. This could be significantly improved with a different product selection.

Finding the right seating Airport seats are available in a range of comfort levels but still offer durable finishes without the need to have products manufactured from stainless steel, which is the typical platform seating option. Zoeftig recently installed its

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Inside th e Chann el Tunne l

Paddington st ation

inFINITE seating system at Westgate and York Stations which, rather than opting for perforated metal seats or padded seats that can damage easily, specified a selfskinning, structural and flexible foam system, which is very difficult to damage but offers a higher level of comfort and is not cold to the touch.

The benefit of installing seats like these is that they can be upgraded to receive in-seat electrical sockets with both mains and USB. Technology-equipped seating is growing fast in airport terminals, allowing users to plug in smartphones, tablet devices and other electrical equipment. By selecting this type of product, the operator is future-proofing the seating as the product can be reconfigured into solo business units where the passenger can be provided with an individual seat and table with power and curved seating, which offers more sociable configurations for groups of travellers and families.

Such configurations are already being widely used in airports in the UK and internationally, such as San Diego International Airport in California and at United Airlines gates throughout the USA.

A matter of design There’s no denying that airport terminals and railway terminals require different configurations and design processes. Some products are simply unsuitable for certain areas of the railway environment. The most notable issue with railway terminal design is understanding what the most appropriate products are for the outdoor environment, especially where the choice of furniture is concerned.

Power-equipped seating, for example, would be wholly unsuitable for any outdoor application. Where indoor waiting rooms are available, though, there’s no reason why passengers shouldn’t be given the opportunity to relax in comfort, work or browse the net while they wait.

Many rail terminal operators already do an excellent job in selecting products that are durable, of good quality, easy to maintain and offer good levels of DDA compliance; which make up a large proportion of passenger requirement when choosing where to sit. What really limits these environments, though, is the fact that railway terminals are restricted by the traditional layout of a platform and the need to disembark and load passengers in a very short time span.

Best practice Despite these limitations, terminal designers make surprisingly little use of specialist services in the way that airport specifiers do, or to the degree that they should. It would be a very rare occasion for them, or their architects, to liaise with specialist manufacturers like Zoeftig over product layout and configurations. This is probably a result of the traditional restrictive layouts of railways stations but there’s no reason why it should hinder terminal design outside of the immediate platform areas.

If modern railway stations, like London St Pancras, Manchester Piccadilly or Birmingham New Street are any yardstick, then there’s no doubt that the look and feel of railway terminals are evolving to become more customerfocused. This includes mixed retail, restaurants, cafes and comfortable seating areas. Lessons can and should be learnt from how airport terminals operate and while there are obvious restrictions, a growth in customer-centered designs could help to increase traveller enjoyment and dramatically improve passenger flow. zz

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zz Infrastructure zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Improving procurement Every year, significant losses are experienced through rail supply chain failure. ANNETTE GEVAERT explores the causes of failure, and how procurement managers can avoid it Annette Gevaert is director rail and transport at Achilles and manages Link-up, the supplier registration and pre-qualification scheme

with supply chain failure.

Global supplier information firm Achilles, which manages Link-up, the supplier registration and pre-qualification scheme, commissioned independent consultancy IFF to survey a broad industry base including businesses in rail. Results showed that supply chain failure is costing annually an average of £165,600 in total per business.

That includes: suppliers failing to deliver on time; the failure of a supplier to deliver the required service in terms of quality; the financial failure of a supplier; natural disasters and severe weather; damage to reputation due to a supplier; failure of a supplier to meet its Health and Safety obligations; industrial action; exposure to litigation due to a supplier; and acts of terrorism or conflict.

Causes of failure

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he Department for Transport has committed over £38 billion for Network Rail to run and improve the network between 2014 and 2019. Under the CP5 spending plans billions of pounds will be channelled into updating stations, building new track and increasing capacity – more than 7,000 km of track and nearly 6,000 sets of points will be renewed or refurbished and 7,000 km of fencing and 300,000 m2 of station platforms will be replaced or renewed.

This is just an example of the scale of spend underway in the rail sector – record amounts according to Patrick McLoughlin, Transport Secretary.

But with such large sums being spent, we need to ask if procurement professionals are protecting their investments by adequately mitigating risk?

Be prepared for a shock. Recent research suggests that there are significant annual costs associated

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The most common cause of failure is a supplier failing to deliver on time, experienced by 64 per cent of those surveyed and resulting in an average cost of £58,000. Just over half (53 per cent) experienced an issue with suppliers failing to deliver products of the required quality, 34 per cent of whom incurred a cost. The average bill was £111,500. And ranking third in the most common causes of failure is a supplier going bust. One third (37 per cent) experienced the financial failure of a supplier, with 44 per cent paying a financial price. The average cost was £73,000.

Examples of suppliers to the rail sector going bankrupt are not difficult to find.

Only in January, Engments, a supplier to Bombardier failed after operating for more than 50 years. In November Vital Services Group, the largest supplier of labour for Network Rail, went into administration affecting 2,200 workers. And earlier, in August last year, Railcare, the company that maintains the Royal train, went bust with the loss of 150 jobs.

Of course, a supplier going out of business could also be the reason for a supplier failing to deliver on time.

But then there are other risks too, such as a supplier failing to comply with Health and Safety rules. A failure of

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this nature can bring even greater costs in terms of loss of life, litigation, delays, and damage to reputation. Some 5 per cent of respondents had been exposed to litigation with an average payout of £110,000 for those where a cost was involved and 10 per cent of those surveyed experienced damage to reputation, with an average cost of £292,000 to those experiencing cost.

And failure of a supplier – with all its negative impacts – can happen at any tier. Many buying organisations have the misguided view that responsibility for what happens at lower tiers stops with the tier one supplier. But those doing the purchasing are now expected to not only check for proof of a supplier’s compliance to Health & Safety requirements but are expected to monitor their status – and that’s across the entire supply chain, down through all tiers of sub-contractors

Where does the problem lie?

Our research highlights a gaping hole in procurement professionals’ understanding of the supply chain at tier two and tertiary levels. Results show that over 50 per cent of organisations admit to having less visibility of their tier two suppliers than tier one and a staggering 34 per cent of buyers don’t even know who their suppliers are at this level.

With Health & Safety executive statistics for the construction sector showing 39 fatal injuries to workers in 2012/13, and with all the costs, damage to reputation and possibilities of exposure to litigation, shouldn’t procuring organisations involved in construction – including rail – have greater visibility of who their sub-contractors are, at every level, and know exactly how compliant those suppliers are? Monitoring sub-contractors’ compliance to Health & Safety regulations is a critical step in mitigating the significant risks and costs that can arise from an errant supplier.

Problems regarding visibility of supplier activities beyond tier one were at the root of the notorious horsemeat scandal last year. To prevent equivalent supply chain issues around visibility impacting the rail sector, the

industry needs to address this core concern by mapping its supply chain – to complete the picture on compliance at every level.

The Achilles research reveals that only 44 per cent of companies have mapped out their supply chains to date, 15 per cent are intending to do so, but worryingly, 31 per cent have no plans to map their supply chains. The rail sector must not be a laggard on this.

So what is holding back such a high proportion of companies from mapping their supply chains? The answer can be found in the research, some 44 per cent do not have the staff/resources to undertake the required work.

Solving the problem This is why a new collaborative approach to mapping the supply chain makes perfect sense.

Achilles provides supply chain mapping services, allowing companies to maintain accurate data and map their extended supply chains. An automated ‘cascading invitation’ from buyer to supplier and from supplier’s supplier ad infinitum, gathers comprehensive information about the supply chain and supplier compliance within it – protecting buyers and mitigating risk.

With such significant costs being incurred it is important that buyers ensure that risk of supplier failure is minimised.

Of course, not all failure costs can be avoided, but efforts need to be made to identify early indicators of failure so that their impact can be mitigated – and the way to achieve this is to get smart with supplier information. Those in charge of procurement and supply chain management should not shy away from investment, but must act swiftly to put processes in place that provide in-depth, accurate and validated information on suppliers – and critically, this should include detailed and up-to-date financial data.

Buyers and suppliers using Achilles Link-up are role models for collaborative working. By being part of the community the costs are shared and data only needs to be maintained at one central location, where it is checked by one centralised resource – all of which makes life easier for suppliers too. zz

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Railway Strategies LIVE 2014 took place at the Royal Geographical Society in London on Thursday 15 May, in glorious sunshine. And that was perhaps fitting. The venue, which has been the launch pad for some of world’s greatest journeys of exploration, played host to a conference that focused on the needs, challenges, changes and tremendous opportunities in the UK rail supply chain

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s a prelude to the event, Platinum Sponsor TBM Consulting Group invited a small group of rail executives to a private dining meal at the St Jame’s Hotel and Club, Kensington to discuss current challenges facing business leaders in the Railway industry and within that intimate and relaxed environment, the discussions ranged across many of the issues that would surface during the conference the following day. One theme surfaced above all others: people management. From this perspective the industry has changed over the years beyond recognition. The real challenge for management today is how to communicate and engage with staff and colleagues to get the very best from them. But more of this later in the review.

the industry’s crucial issues. “We live in an era where foreign ownership of big business is the norm. However, although our OEMs and tier 1 suppliers may have their roots around the world, the real powerhouse of the UK economy is the SME-base. That supply chain is very much UK-based, and is in rude health,” he said. “The conundrum is how we can compete effectively and fairly for the billions of pounds of UK tax payers’ money that the railways will spend over the next ten to 20 years.”

Colin believes we need to be more competitive. The lack of a clear route to market, the propensity of buyers to fail to see the value for money in terms of whole life costs, the lack of scrutiny in the application of British Standards which are required for contracts but are too often conveniently forgotten in favour of similar continental standards are all stacked against us.

“However, our SME-base is nothing if not resilient, ingenious and simply brilliant. SMEs are networkers by nature; they collaborate and hunt in packs. What they need is an environment where they stand a chance and can work the magic of financial recovery, where it really makes a difference.”

Working as a pack Colin Flack

Introduction The conference was chaired by Colin Flack, head of the Rail Alliance, and he opened proceedings by summing up the day’s themes in what he called a Flack-centric view some of

The recently set up Rail Supply Group (RSG) is still very much in the formative stages but has the prospect of making a significant difference to the rail supply chain. Its chairman Terence Watson, who is also UK country president and managing director of Alstom Transport UK & Ireland, set out the thinking behind RSG and the progress that has been made so far.

He began with some facts and figures. More

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son

Terence Wat

long term public investment is being made into the UK railways now than at any point in history. That expansion is being mirrored globally, making the rail sector a huge and robust marketplace for products and services.

Yet we are exporting less than we were at privatisation. Just seven per cent of UK rail output is exported. In France the figure is 37 per cent, and in Germany it’s 47 per cent.

The SME supply base, however, is vibrant and innovative. But to capitalise on these huge opportunities, the supply chain needs a coherent strategy and a single voice to articulate its needs to industry and government.

“We can only do that together,” Terence said. “Moreover, we can’t dominate just the home market. We need to innovate with new technology and capitalise on the growing global marketplace and export our capabilities, creating a future for the railway business.”

The RSG is being developed to fill this gap.

Co-chaired by the secretaries of state for DfT and BIS and populated by representatives from the supply chain, TOCs and major projects such as HS2, its vision is to develop a coherent strategy for the industry, to stimulate growth, collaboration, innovation, inward investment, exports, skills and change. “Clearly we are just at the start, but what we hope to get out of this is a single unified strategy for the whole industry for the first time.”

The board’s council will be an excellent environment for exchanging of information and promoting collaboration. Aware of the need for continuity, fresh thinking and greater input from the SME community, the RSG will report to a new industry board of 20 representatives from the supply chain who will take part on a rotational basis. These will become the RSG council members of the future. “We need the next generation to be involved in this now,” Terence concluded.

Martyn Chymera, former chairman of the Young Rail Professionals, gave an inspirational update on the organisation’s activities, impacts, thoughts and concerns. The Young Rail Professionals have been busy during 2013 with a programme of outreach designed to help tackle the skills shortage and attract young people into the industry, and will be expanding this through 2014.

The organisation is very active on behalf of its members, organising meetings, events, networking opportunities and dinners with top industry speakers. These offer excellent opportunities for networking and skills development. Meanwhile it is increasing extending its reach overseas, and today some 30 per cent of members live outside the UK.

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with its current small debt levels, once interest rates begin to rise.

The human touch Rob Willis, chief executive of TRL (Transport Research Laboratory), the non profit making transport consultancy that provides advice to industry and Government gave a presentation on evidence based research to help drive innovation in a growing railway. To do this, he focused his attention on the human perspective.

Rob Wallis

era

Martyn Chym

Lack of funds, however, has been an issue, stifling many good ideas within the organisation. To tackle this, they have launched a corporate membership scheme which enables large companies to effectively sponsor future activities.

From the young professionals viewpoint, one of the industry’s biggest issues is its poor reputation. The UK railways are now Europe’s safest, with the highest frequency of service, quality and cleanliness. “Despite these good results we still get negative headlines,” Martyn said. It is something that must be addressed.

And he pointed to the one exception that stands out as a triumph for the sector: media reporting of the industry’s response to the line washout at Dawlish.“That is something we can all be proud of. And it was great PR.” Speaking on behalf of the young members, he expressed their eagerness for innovation and for the investment in rail to be continued into the longer term. However he also articulated their concerns for the sustainability of sector,

“Studying human interactions is a scientific discipline,” he said. “We have, for example, been working with RSSB on the train despatch process, studying human behaviours at the platform and train interface, and this is being fed through to national strategy.”

Level crossings have been another major research focus. Some 90 per cent of incidents are caused by abuse of the way crossing should be used, so TRL has been examining the behaviour of different types of people as they approach rail crossing, and looking at ways of improving behaviour.

Another area of recent research has been driver performance, including the levels of information in the cab, driver stress, and the challenges presented by increasing automation.

“What is the risk of the driver ‘tuning out’?” he explained. “How can we make sure that the ‘under load’ of drivers at less critical times doesn’t create safety issues?”

He finished by summarising some elements of future thinking. Passengers are looking for more comfortable seating, more secure luggage storage, toilets that work and don’t smell, better catering options, wireless network for those working on the train, journey information updates. When innovating and introducing new products and systems to

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solve these issues, it is vital to understand the behavioural aspects and to manage expectations.

Seeing the wood for the trees Chris Rolinson, founder of ComplyServe, spoke about the value of progressive assurance for large scale infrastructure projects, and how it enables those who sponsor and manage projects to them make truly informed decisions.

Simplistically, at the conceptual stage of a new project a considerable amount of effort goes into putting the specifications together.

From this, the high level specifications are developed, then partitioned into work packages and issued to contractors. Compliance is then monitored during design and build stages. “But it’s not that straight forward,” he said. “The supply chain is an extremely complex beast.”

Chris Rolison

Progressive assurance joins the project from top to bottom, linking the high level functional requirements of the project through all the stages of design and build. So if anything changes in one part of the project, for example, the impact on the rest of the programme can be seen almost instantly rather than weeks or months later.

From a supply chain perspective, the advantages include a common repository of information that can be accessed globally at any time, and a common compliance process.

To succeed, such a system must know who you are, what your role is and where you can go in the system. It must capture the complex assurance processes on the project, and make them available to the entire community. It has to be highly intuitive and extremely easy to use, and accessible worldwide in a cloudbased format.

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All this information is aggregated into a powerful programme-level dashboard enabling management to manage by exception. “There is no doubt in my mind this will become the standard approach for all major projects in the future. It will change contractual boundaries and relationships and will give the Government and stakeholder communities the governance they demand.”

Bridging the innovation gap David Clarke, director of Future Railway began his presentation on enabling innovation with a quick description of how the Future Railway grew out of the findings of the Rail Technical Strategy.

Created at the end of 2012 to stimulate innovation in the rail sector by helping fund the costly processes of demonstrating prototyping and commercialising innovative ideas, it was initially called the Enabling Innovation Team (EIT). Launched with just £30 million Government funding, it has converted that sum into £60 million of investment through match funding from the innovators and commitments from other funding organisations. “We’re now supporting well over 150 companies, many of them SMEs, to bring their ideas closer to market.”

The strategy is to establish what problems the industry has, and then run a competition to find identify innovative ideas to solve them.

Among those that are currently being funded are concepts for an electric/electric hybrid capable of running on battery power over non electrified stretches of track and under the pantograph on electrified sections, and the Avoidance Of Bridge Reconstruction scheme which could help save 25 per cent of

cost of electrification.

Last year, EIT undertook capability mapping of the UK supply chain. “We’ve established that we have a strong capability in rolling stock, and in whole life system optimisation on infrastructure and rolling stock,” David said. “What we don’t have is much capability in integrated customer solutions, big data, transaction management and cyber security.

However, the rest of UK PLC is good at that, so if we can draw this expertise into the railway and prove it can deliver, then we will have a platform to sell internationally.”

Based on the first year’s success, the innovation funds from TSLG, Network Rail and RSSB are being brought together under EIT which is being renamed Future Railway.

This will generate a significant sum of £125 million for CP5, which the organisation hopes to double through match funding with the innovators. It is also look at further sources of funding including the Innovation Franchising Fund which could bring in another £100 million and the European Shift to Rail fund - another possible £1 billion for innovation.

Other methods by which Future Railway is enabling innovations include a suggestions box for ideas that don’t fit existing competitions, and a subsidised testing and trialling scheme to help companies test their innovations live on the railways at a reasonable cost.

Future Railway is now looking for the next set of challenges. “For example we could unlock a huge amount of capacity if we could find ways of making trains run safely closer together – possibly in a convoy. There are huge opportunities here and our competitors overseas are already looking at this,” David explained. “So we need to ask: is enough being done here to achieve that? If not, then what do we need to do to fill the gap?”

Companies looking to improve their success with innovation can go to the Future Railway website where they will find many useful tools, information, and details about the lates open competitions. www.futurerailway.org

High performance culture

Dave Clarke

Richard Holland, vice-president of TBM Consulting Group Europe completed the morning’s presentations with a talk on creating a high performance culture in the rail industry.

If companies are to take advantage of the

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enormous growth opportunities over the next few years they will need the entire organisation to be invigorated, working with them and pulling together in the direction of company strategy.

“Many companies put processes in place to do this but find they don’t work,” Richard said. “And this is largely about how to engage people. We need an environment where the people in the organisation have the right mindset and a way of thinking that’s aligned with the strategy you are trying to implement.”

The method for achieving this is the same, regardless of whether it is in a 14,000 people company that is spread across the world or in a 50 person SME. And it can be broken down into the following steps.

Firstly, distil the essence of the company strategy into a short message that is exciting, very simple and can be communicated easily across the business. Secondly define the short and medium term steps by which this can be achieved. “And this is where the execution often falls down. This is about strategy and not about hitting budgets or deadlines. You have to have a separate management system for that.”

Communicate all of this effectively, and create a strong visual presentation of it which every individual can see on a daily basis.

The next step is to create KPIs for everyone in the business. These should not only be the usual measures of outcomes, but should also measure the health of the processes that deliver those outcomes. “This is very informative and effective because it will get everyone in the business engaged in performance and change culture. The outcome will then take care of itself.” Then set up a management structure to review the KPIs and performance at different levels of the business, and to cascade the information to the top.

This culture change is not likely to succeed, however, unless people are effectively coached during the review process. “Leaders often tend to tell their teams how they’re performing and then try and solve their problems,” Richard said. “What you need to do is empower the team members to analyse their performance and find their own solutions to improve it.

People need to be challenged. They will rise to the challenge. Teach them how to respond, and give them the tools to use.”

The final part of Richard’s message was that you have to change the way you talk to your people, and the way they communicate cross functionally to solve the issues in the business, a point that had been very well expressed at TBM’s Railway Executive dinner the night before.

Ushering in change at Network Rail Network Rail went live with its new supply chain configuration on 14 April. The National Supply Chain (NSC) headed up by managing director Nick Elliott replaces the previous NDS functions. Now, just one month in, head of procurement Jim Carter explained some of the changes and what suppliers can now expect.

Firstly Network Rail recognises it has not been easy to do business with. “So this has been a profound reorganisation and not just been a matter of tacking teams together,” Jim said. From now onward there will be one primary contact for suppliers and customers dealing with Network Rail, and this is achieved through six clearly defined outward facing directorates.

The Delivery directorate has four regional sections, and is responsible for infrastructure

haulage, seasonal delivery and tampers.

Mark Palmer is the primary contact for the routes in the north, Rob Davis for the south, Stephen Armstrong in the east and Emma Osborn in the west.

The National Railway Services directorate under Paul Gilbert brings together vertically aligned teams to run services such as stoneblowers, grinders, road fleet and infrastructure monitoring with full responsibility for the end to end service provision.

Mark Black heads up the Finance directorate, with a remit for financial control and performance reporting for all business activities as well as responsibility for key NSC systems.

The Technical Services directorate is responsible for all aspects of safety and sustainable development, quality and fleet technical services and business activities including key systems such as ISO9001, ISO14001 and enterprise content management. This is headed up by Brian Mayo.

Ian Sexton leads a 700-strong team at Strategic Services with responsibility for the development and delivery of category management, procurement, supplier relationship management, external business development, marketing and communications.

And finally Katrina Law is in charge of Materials and Logistics, which supplies and delivers railway materials such as rail, sleepers, ballast and components to customers. The directorate has responsibility for the end to end service provision.

From the customer service perspective there is now a strong regional presence that offers local knowledge, and clear points of contact.

According to Jim, the reorganisation creates good visibility and data analytics and should enable the organisation to make better use of its resources. The charters for each department have also been realigned to speak to the entire organisation.

View at the top

Jim Carter

Prof. Richard Parry-Jones, chairman of Network Rail then took the stage and gave an information packed speech that outlined some of the opportunities for companies to innovate, bring new technologies to the railways and improve economic growth in the UK. From Network Rail’s perspective, all infrastructure investments are designed to improve the customer experience, where the term customer encompasses not only the train and freight operating companies but extends to

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Richard Parr

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the end user – the consumer.

“Something I’ve brought from other industries is that it’s easy to underestimate how huge the effect of technology is at changing the customer experience. In many cases change is evolutionary but sometime it’s transformational,” Richard said. “The speed of adoption of technology in the rail sector is slow compared with other industries. So there are real opportunities to grasp technological change more aggressively.”

Currently, some of the biggest opportunities in innovation stem from the transition from analogue to digital railway, and how data collection across the network can be used to improve performance. But it doesn’t stop there. “We’re also moving into digital asset management and automated traffic control.

And we’re about to embark on the biggest signalling revolution since the railways began,” he said.

Another trend he perceives is the move to true collaboration. “I think we all recognise that we have achieved all the gains we can by trading with each other,” he explained. “The next step in performance improvement will come through collaboration and optimising across all systems.”

From Network Rail’s perspective innovations should apply to one of these key strategic

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areas: safety of the public and the workforce; quality, reliability and resilience; capacity; cost efficiency; and sustainability.

He then talked freely about some of the longer-term possibilities in innovation. Here are just a few examples. “Digital processing and transmission bandwidth are on a very clear trajectory to becoming infinite and free.

If that happens, how would we reconfigure our business?” he asked. “It will be no good crunching more and more numbers if we can’t extract useful insights from those numbers efficiently. So having analytic capability is going to be a huge competitive advantage and a core competence for companies in the future.”

He sees a shift towards megatronics - where digitally controlled actuation devices are used on mechanical systems the systems can be configured to behave in an extremely nonlinear way.

From the safety perspective there are many possibilities. Remote asset surveillance could, for example, take the form of acoustic sensors in the embankments listening for soil particle movements. Data from this could predict earth movements well ahead of an event, and trigger maintenance to prevent a dangerous land slip. Remote condition monitoring could also step up a notch and contribute to improved designs.

He believes the industry should be looking at exoskeletal robotics, a robotic suit that track workers could ‘wear’. It would enable them to perform skilled manual and intellectual tasks and employ the mechanical power of the suit to perform the physically challenging elements of the work. The concept is already being developed in other industries, and would significantly improve the long term health of track workers.

Transponders on trains and on the maintenance team’s personal protection equipment could give warning of an approaching train. And for the sticky issue of safety on level crossings: “Why don’t we work

with Apple or Google so when pedestrians are listening to music on their iPhones, it will use the GPS data and mute the music to warn them when they are approaching a level crossing. The technology is already there. This could be done at very little cost.”

The railways already use geotechnical developments such as micro piling and bound ballast to reduce maintenance costs. But Richard is really keen to look at coatings for the rail industry, and sees huge opportunities in the wheel track interface in for example the design of bogeys and the points systems.

On the civil construction side, the trend is to move towards off-site fabrication and systems integration, and this has already been used by Network Rail in bridge construction. Further areas of interest include advanced reliability engineering, and hybrid drives and automated driver support.

All in all, it was a quick but fascinating romp through all the technologies and developments currently on the horizon, and it certainly provided a lot of food for thought.

Conclusion The range, vision and quality of this packed speaker programme made this an essential event for all rail supply chain companies inhabiting or wanting to work in this fast moving space. It is easier, now, to see the shape of the industry to come, the opportunities that are available and steps that can be taken to establish the UK supply chain in the global marketplace.

It was not all intensive listening, though.

The speaker programme was complemented by lunch time and coffee breaks during which delegates could wander through the exhibitor areas making contact and asking questions.

Many also took the opportunity to catch up on networking opportunities either inside this beautiful historic building or outside in the sun drenched garden. It was a day packed with opportunity. zz

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Progressive assurance on track for large infrastructure project compliance Railway Strategies recently caught up with progressive assurance solutions company Comply Serve’s founder, Chris Rolison, to find out more about this software as a service and how it is being used on infrastructure projects around the globe, and why!

Chris Rolison

Q. Firstly can you give us a brief overview on Programme Management and the Assurance Process?

“Programme management and assurance should work hand in hand, the issue for major projects is that programme management doesn’t give the granularity of information that you absolutely need to find out where a project is in real terms. Oftentimes, at programme management meetings, you know you’re on time, on budget and have the resources, but you don’t actually know how compliant you are. This is where assurance comes in and provides that level of depth and detail that ultimately enables the stakeholders to be very confident about the delivery, safety and value for money for the programme.”

Q. What does a progressive assurance system do?

“ComplyPro® was built to satisfy the needs of infrastructure projects, where essentially you need an engineer to be able to pick up the product and to use it within two or three hours of training.

That is possible because underlying ComplyPro is a very powerful set of processes, which guide the user through complex assurance procedures and allied to this is intuitive reporting that allows users to review information presented as colour coded progress report dashboards as the programme advances delivering full traceability and highlighting any issues in advance. ComplyPro also enables collaboration and connectivity between multiple teams, from programme directors to the many contractors and suppliers, maintaining a ‘single source of truth’ based on the most up to date information. The assurance process becomes an intrinsic part of the design process itself and that delivers many other advantages, in terms of efficiency, design, managing engineering change, managing the thousands of requirements, managing costs and providing one single system that connects all levels, partners and suppliers with a cloud based system. You’re cutting out a lot of layers of process and overhead to provide a fully visible, traceable, efficient assurance capability.”

Q. How does it handle Hazard Management?

“Hazard management, along with a number of other processes are layered on top of the assurance framework within a programme.

With hazard management you are looking to record the hazard, and then looking at how to mitigate that hazard. Because the system is highly integrated within the overall framework for assurance, as you mitigate those hazards, you automatically update your requirements specification.”

Q. You are well entrenched internationally in the rail industry, where else?

“Rail infrastructure projects is where ComplyPro earned its spurs with clients like Crossrail and London Underground where we have a large reference base of Design Consultants and Contractors using the system. However, its principles are applicable to pretty much any major project. We’ve already had success in other sectors, from an airport build with the Oman Muscat program, and renewable energy in Australia with Carnegie Wave Energy and closer to home Thames Tideway.”

Q. It seems that ComplyPro has very good traction in the Middle East?

“It’s because the Middle East is really a green field area for rail systems and many countries, like Qatar, are developing their very first rail infrastructure. Often they employ expertise from all over the world, from more mature countries in the area of rail systems, like the UK. People come into these green field projects with lots of ideas, knowledge and experience and find it possible to establish an assurance framework from the very first principles at the true start of the project. In terms of expertise there is a real shortage of assurance experience, and the progressive assurance process enables a project to centralise this skill base and use it far more efficiently, and extend that to the rest of the programme.”

Q. How does progressive assurance fit within the BIM compliance scene?

“BIM is a huge subject matter and a topic that has captured the industry. Currently the BIM model doesn’t fully allow for assurance.

It really is about information modelling, which is great and needs to be there, but we’ve been talking to relevant organisations, including Bentley Systems, about bringing the assurance model into the overall BIM model itself. Then you’ll have a very powerful capability indeed that embraces assurance.

Q. How do you see the industry moving forward?

“The government has already picked up on the fact that assurance is key in terms of their visibility of the true progress of programs. I think we’re now entering into a period of transformation and within 5 to 10 years this will become the standard approach not only for governments but for use at the corporate and enterprise levels too. We hold regular industry briefings with key speakers from our user base at Crossrail, Copenhagen Metro, Banedanmark, Etihad Rail, Qatar Rail and such.

Our next is in September and the interest and engagements that come from these sessions is huge and an indication of the significant demand for progressive assurance. ”

www.complyserve.com

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A livelyevent

Lisa Brakewell, Client Relationship Manager for TBM Consulting Group, the Platinum Sponsor of the Railway Strategies Live Conference 2014, gives a personal review of the event

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e arrived early at the Royal Geographical Society on a lovely hot May Day, immediately the vibe within this historic building was one of anticipation and excitement as delegates gathered for this well attended annual event.

As TBM Consultancy Group Platinum Sponsor of the event, we set our stand within the main room next to the refreshments, which were very well received throughout the day due to the high temperature outside.

First on stage was an introduction from Colin Flack CEO of the Rail Alliance who endeavored from this moment to keep timings on track….

Excuse the pun!

Next to present came Terence Watson, UK Country President and Managing Director, Alstom Transport UK and Ireland, who we have worked with closely over the years. He reflected

on his new role as Chairman of the new Rail Supply Group and the need for all industry players to work together.

The morning continued with Martyn Chymera, Former Chairman, Young Rail Professionals, Rob Willis, Chief Executive TRL, and Chris Rolison Founder of Comply Serve (the Gold Sponsor of the event.)

At this point we broke for coffee. As we stood by our TBM Consultancy Group stand in anticipation of the floods of eager delegates anxious for a gift bag and enquiries on how we could help their business, it became evident that the sun and the great outdoor garden to the rear of this beautiful building, was enticing the delegates far more than any Sponsor’s stand. So with a cold drink or coffee in hand they headed outside. There was only one thing for it we would have to venture outside ourselves. All of a sudden the formal black corporate suit became an ill choice of attire.

However this was not to dissuade me from networking. Chatting to the audience it became evident that the theme within the group of delegates I to spoke to was that issues facing the Rail Industry at the moment were generic and that as leaders they cannot lose sight of business fundamentals, and must maintain a balance between working “on the business” – looking at the strategic breakthrough objectives and working “in the business” – their operative implementation and day to day measures of success.

This made me smile as I reflected on the content of Richard Holland’s (Vice President of TBM Consultancy Group) Presentation coming up just before lunch and encapsulating this topic and focusing on creating a high performance culture in rail.

Dragging the delegates out of the sun and back into the auditorium was not easy, but

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Mark Cawston did an excellent job getting the momentum back on course. Next up was David Clark Director Future Railway Enabling Innovation Team where we heard what is coming up with the creation of the Future Railway programme, which brings together the RSSB and EIT teams with the Network Rail.

At this point of the agenda timings were running way behind schedule and Mark Cawston’s arms began to move in very strange directions at various people as he frantically tried to revert back to some sort of schedule!

TBM’s Richard Holland began by talking about the importance of creating a High Performance Culture in Rail. He identified the need for an effective Management System and demonstrated that successful implementation of a Management System has two key elements: Strategy Deployment – “ON the business” which is driven by a critical few breakthrough objectives, it is process focused – what do we need to do fix or build to move the organisation to the next level? Strategy Deployment is cascaded and action-planned at point of impact, with stretch targets and a disciplined monthly review process and has a strong focus on driving value for customers.

The second element is KPI Management System – “IN the business” driven by customer and Annual Operating Plans. Corporate KPI’s are cascaded to point of impact with specific targets and action plans to achieve; it is focused on day-to-day performance, disciplined daily review processes with root cause and countermeasure activity and tends to focus on creating value for shareholders.

He evidenced this with an Alstom Case Study. After watching a video of the Management System in place at Alstom, Richard summarised their positive results.

He concluded his presentation with a thought provoking slide on accelerating results through Opex. l Compelling Vision and Culture l Focus on business issues not process issues l Change yourself not others l Focus on real substantiated results l Deep emotional commitment at all level through deployment.

Even though the hunger felt by the delegates within the room was palpable, the atmosphere and engagement throughout Richard’s presentation was very positive and he held his audience well. Feedback after the event also supports this.

Lunch was then served to very willing

taste testers, as everyone yet again migrated to the outdoor areas, again giving sponsors the chance to integrate with the delegates as they enjoyed the lovely UK weather.

Colin Flack commenced the afternoon session and introduced Jim Carter, Head of Contracts and Procurement Operations, Network Rail who discussed the merger of the two divisions at Network Rail.

Professor Parry-Jones, Chairman of Network Rail, then embraced his audience and interest by discussing demand trends in transport and their impact and outlining the opportunities presented by changing technologies where the UK can play a role in Rail.

More refreshments followed and some lively discussion between delegates and exhibitors. Colin Flack and Roger Moore then described to an eagerly waiting audience the background to the changes and the impact of the new Product Acceptance Process, as well as how it would work going forwards. This

also incorporated a lively question and answer session within the Panel Debate.

After enjoying an Executive Railway Dinner the evening before at St James Hotel London, Richard and I packed away after an eventful couple of days in London as Platinum Sponsors of the Railway Strategies Live Conference 2014. The train beckoned and we were on our way.

For further information visit:

www.tbmcg.co.uk or email: lbrakewell@tbmcg.com.

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Full speed ahead Speedy Services is looking forward to participating in more significant rail projects in 2014

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peedy Services, the UK’s leading provider of equipment rental and support services is part of Speedy Hire, a leading service provider offering equipment for both hire and sale, and associated services to construction, infrastructure, industrial and related services. It provides those services to customers who operate both in the UK and overseas.

Founded in 1977, Speedy Hire is the UK’s largest provider of hire equipment and has grown to be a £350 million turnover organisation with over 100,000 customers, 4000 employees and a national network of over 350 depots.

The organisation invests substantially in its hire fleet which means that customers can be sure of the most modern and efficient tools and equipment, fully compliant with all safety regulations.

It offers an extensive range of equipment for hire including access, light plant, power tools, fencing, heating & cooling equipment, portable accommodation units, high performance pumps, generators and compressors, lifting, safety and surveying instruments.

In addition to the core range of products in the fleet it also offers customers access to a fleet of over 12,000 powered access machines, non operated plant equipment, road sweepers, forklift trucks, dumpers, rollers, telehandlers and excavators. Transportation is a major sector for Speedy Services and it offers a fully integrated and innovative service to help deliver projects and possessions on time and to budget.

In fact, it has a specialist Rail portfolio to support all aspects of network renewal, maintenance and enhancement; for mainline, underground, overground, light rail, tram, train operating companies (TOCs) and freight operating customers (FOCs). As a result, Speedy provides a one-stop rail solution from six strategically placed operational depots around the UK: Wimbledon, Warrington, Glasgow, Sunderland, Doncaster & Abercam.

Clients in the Rail sector find a number of benefits of working with Speedy Services. “We are proud to provide a reliable one-stop-shop for all the plant requirements of rail and transport infrastructure contractors,” confirmed David Creasey, Senior Operations Manager of the Rail Business at Speedy Services. “Our clients always specialise in time critical projects in the rail industry, often in a high risk environment so it is crucial that they can rely on the equipment and support that we provide.”

As a result of its dedication to assisting clients in the

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rail sector, Speedy Services has established contracts with major rail companies and principle rail contractors including Network Rail, Carillion and Balfour Beatty.

With Carillion in particular the company has seen recent success, when it supplied all the site and implementation equipment for an £80m contract to build new structures, including three new stations, as well as earthworks, ground treatment and filling on the AirdrieBathgate Railway Link (which connects Edinburgh to Glasgow. It also worked on the Reading station modular track installation project, and has its own on-site depot at the £1.4bn Kings Cross Regeneration scheme.

The £1.4 billion project, which is expected to take around 15 years to reach completion, is being led by

property developer Argent. Speedy has been appointed by construction group BAM Nuttall Ltd, one of the four main contractors selected by Argent.

With a large team of on-site workers, supplying tools and equipment for a project of this scale presents a major logistical challenge. Downtime resulting from delays in the

Peli UK and Speedy Services A close partnership has developed through dedication, delivering the award-winning Area Lighting Systems to key stakeholders across the Rail sector. Central to this has been joint marketing, and co-ordinated practical, cost-saving demonstrations, showing the efficiency of the solutions.

Support has been imperative; with next-day delivery from Peli’s central warehouse often required, ensuring the customer is never without key equipment. Solution-led lighting has been developed by working with clients to improve workplace safety and overall environment.

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delivery of tools and equipment can add further delays.

BAM was looking for a solution, which could provide instant access to a wide range of essential kit thereby enhancing productivity.

After considering the challenge, Speedy provided an on-site facility, enabling the project team to tap into the Group’s entire assets and resources. Staffed by a permanent and highly trained team, it stocks a wide range of popular tools and accessories, as well as

providing repair, maintenance and inspection services.

The on-site team also provides training support for operatives, running its award-winning toolbox talks on a range of health and safety issues. This is a flexible solution that will expand and evolve as the project progresses.

After years of success, Speedy Hire had to handle a difficult situation in 2013 within its International Division, to which it responded decisively and effectively, restructuring both the UK and Middle East management teams. In addition, it gained pace in winning a wide range of new contracts, and implemented a number of new key initiatives that will enable the company to continue to improve its capital disciplines, business processes and further strengthen the culture of the company.

A new CEO, Mark Rogerson, was appointed in January 2014, and he was excited to be taking over the company at a time when the UK’s economy and growth are recovering. “Speedy’s breadth of assets, depth of capabilities and the passion of our people will enable us to differentiate our service offering, and I very much look forward to working with our customers to ensure we deliver exceptional outcomes for them,” he said at the time of his appointment.

On the release of the company’s Annual Results in May 2014, Mark commented: “At its core, Speedy is a good company operating within strong markets, with a compelling value proposition and great people.

“Whilst there is much still to do, growth in our markets is now emerging and our sales revenues in the last quarter of FY2014 and in the first month of this new trading year have been promising. We now need to build on this opportunity to drive shareholder value through the delivery of our strategic priorities.”

“We have a very close relationship with both our clients and our supply chain,” added David, with regards to Speedy Services. “This ensures a continual provision of first class equipment to the industry and we continue to lead the field.” zz

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London & North Western Railway Co. Ltd.

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Collaborative solutions

With a rapid history of growth and expansion, London & North Western Railway Co. Ltd. (LNWR) has continued to impress with its leading reputation for quality overhaul and maintenance services

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he company has a lively history dating back to 1993, when the music producer, entrepreneur and rail enthusiast, Pete Waterman first founded the business. By 1996 LNWR had commenced trading by providing locomotive maintenance services to specialist and charter train operators. The company enjoyed early success allowing LNWR to grow impressively and to develop a range of skills and services that would enable it to meet the growing demands of the rail industry.

For the following decade and a half LNWR tendered and undertook several successful projects for clients including the company’s first work on commercial trains for First North Western, Bombardier on Virgin Voyager DEMU trains and Freightliner. During 2007 LNWR constructed a

ÂŁ3 million train servicing facility with the capacity to service 20 vehicles at once. Later during 2008, the company was acquired by its current owner Arriva plc, within which LNWR operates as an independent stand-alone business.

Today the business operates from five strategically placed depots across the UK, located in Crewe, Bristol, Eastleigh, Cambridge and Newcastle. The company is headquartered in Crewe where it was originally founded and today delivers the same high quality of service from all five of its locations. Its facilities in Bristol, Eastleigh, Cambridge and Newcastle were acquired from Axiom in 2011 and allowed LNWR to expand rapidly with a minimum of development costs. It is this pace of growth and expansion that has helped identify LNWR as a

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London & North Western Railway Co. Ltd.

dynamic and effective organisation.

The main services offered by LNWR are comprised of quality overhaul, maintenance and servicing options for passenger rolling stock, locomotives, freight wagons and track plant. This sees the company working with leading train and freight operating companies, rolling stock leasing companies (ROSCOs) and train manufacturers and the company is continuously looking to expand its horizons as managing director, Sean Forster reflected when LNWR was last featured in Railway Strategies during July 2013: “We are actively looking to develop contracts with all the major rolling stock companies and indeed we already work with a variety of operators to help them in delivering modifications over and above the statutory heavy maintenance that is required.”

Following a period of integration across the four depots that were acquired from Axiom, LNWR’s five locations employ around 200 staff and possess combined workshop facilities with space for more than 70 vehicles. All five locations boast extensive servicing facilities as well as overnight servicing and fuelling capabilities. “LNWR offers train presentation services through each of its five depots including light maintenance servicing to approximately 180 vehicles per night to key passenger service customers such as Bombardier, Siemens, ATW and East Midlands Trains,” added Sean in 2014. “Freight vehicle maintenance and servicing, and the company’s wheel lathe capability are based in Crewe, while heavy maintenance services are carried out at both the Crewe and Bristol depots and this is likely to expand to further sites in the near future.

“During 2014 we have continued to add to our heavy maintenance order book with contracts secured with Angel Trains for Class 142, Chiltern Railways for Mark Three

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Overhaul and APU, both of which will be completed at the Bristol facility; and with Porterbrook for Class 170 and ATW for Mark Three Refurbishment, which will be completed at our Crewe depot.”

The execution of the various service requirements of LNWR customers depends on the correct application of dedicated equipment, a skilled workforce and the use of the company’s different locations. The strategic spread of depots across the UK means that LNWR can offer its customers greater and more readily available options in terms of fleet locations, while providing the company with an excellent base of potential future growth and diversification opportunities.

In terms of workforce LNWR is proud to manage

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a dedicated and highly experienced team, as Sean observes: “The LNWR workforce is highly skilled and we have a great depth of industry knowledge and experience. We pride ourselves on delivering an excellent service and in providing customers with a professional, collaborative and transparent solution-led approach while maintaining a commercially sensible attitude.” Indeed, the

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professionalism of the LNWR team in delivering the highest quality service while adhering to the company’s solution driven approach is vital in collaborating with customers old and new. “We believe that future business growth will come from developing customer relationships,” Sean adds. “We work with both ROSCOs and train operating companies (TOCs) so the company’s commercial advantage will come from its ability to consistently deliver what its customers require.”

Finally, in terms of equipment the company’s depots are equipped to allow LNWR to offer turnkey service and maintenance services to clients operating all over the UK. While heavy maintenance is carried out at Bristol and Crewe, all facilities offer overnight servicing and fuelling options that allow clients to keep fleets moving.

Furthermore facilities for overhaul and refurbishment of rolling stock and locomotives can be found at Eastleigh, Bristol and Crewe. The LNWR depot in Crewe is also home to the company’s tandem wheel lathe, which allows it to provide an accurate and efficient wheel re-profiling service. The modern wheel lathe was provided by Sculfort and is installed in its own dedicated facility, which is operated around the clock. As well as inherently offering greater throughput when compared to comparable

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz machines, the flexible hours of operation offered by LNWR mean that clients can choose wheel overhaul times that are convenient to them. This greatly reduces costly downtime and guarantees a highly efficient service.

Presently the market is very buoyant, with significant activity taking place in both heavy maintenance and interior refresh projects. As such, LNWR is poised to mobilise for existing contracts due to begin during the second half of 2014 while continuing to seek new opportunities and customers. “During 2014 we will have commenced five to six major new projects and will move from mobilisation to production phase through the rest of the year. On-time delivery to the agreed specification is an imperative and a vital element of the company’s operations over the next 12 months will be ensuring that we meet customer expectations,” says Sean.

“We expect the next three to five years to be a very busy time and for customers to be looking for value added solutions from their key suppliers. We are very focused on making sure that we play a major part in helping LNWR customers deliver and we believe that the company’s collaborative, solutions led approach will allow us to provide this,” he concludes. zz

Unipart Rail Unipart Rail currently overhauls over 1,300 bogies per year for TOCs, ROSCOs and train builders such as Siemens, Hitachi, Chiltern, LNWR and East Coast. The range of bogie types overhauled includes specifications dating back to 1932 vehicles and some of the newest fleets operating in the UK. Unipart Rail is able to utilise in-house engineering support to solve ‘real-time’ technical issues and provide specialist support services including welding, NDT and bogie alignment. The company offers a complete “door-to-door” service with flexible overhaul programs to meet customers’ requirements.

www.lnwr.com

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Market manufacturing

Stadler Rail has positioned itself as a crucial supplier to manufacturers of rail vehicles globally, confronted with an increase in demand from the emerging Eastern European Rail sector

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ounded in 1942 by Ernst Stadler, Stadler Rail has witnessed many milestones in its history, supplying railway vehicles to an industry that has been dependent on steam power, diesel power, battery power, and most recently, electrical power. Today the Stadler Rail Group is based on a holding structure, with Stadler Rail AG as the parent company and seven affiliated companies, which conduct the operating business. The family owned joint-stock company Stadler Rail Group employs over 6000 personnel in a total of 12 locations in Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Italy, Belarus, the US, Austria and Algeria.

Recognising that the rail industry is today in a dynamic and highly complex restructuring phase, over the past few years Stadler has worked hard to ensure that its strategy matches its human and financial resources. Despite the negative trend in the industry, with many companies being acquired, merging, or disappearing, Stadler has been able to achieve exceptional development. Figures published report a consolidated turnover in 2012 of over CHF 2.4 billion, and CHF 2.5 billion in 2013. With contracts secured well in advance, due to the nature of the rail industry, the figures for 2014 are equally as competitive. A gradual increase in the number of employees, order bookings, and turnover over the years has been attributed to the systematic focus of the product portfolio addressing the needs of the market.

Stadler Rail’s strategy today focuses on the regional

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and suburban service market segments, the light regional express railway service and streetcars. Through maintaining this focus it intends to remain the global number one in the rack railway vehicle market. Stadler Rail has positioned itself as a supplier complementing the global rail vehicle builders such as Alstom, Bombardier, and Siemens. Company CEO, Peter Spuhler wrote: “Our independence is an important basic strategic value for us and, in the past few years, we have closed the last existing production gaps by selectively expanding into the areas of electrical engineering and bogie (truck) construction. In doing so, we are now able to offer complete vehicle concepts. Unlike the large suppliers, we do not pursue any platform strategies with clearly defined products in clearly defined market segments. Rather, we offer customised solutions to railway companies on the basis of modular concepts, which are tailored to their specific needs.�

In June 2014, Stadler Rail won a contract for 30 sleeper and dining carriages from Azerbaijan Railways, worth over CHF 120 million. As the first sale in Azerbaijan it represents a further milestone in the strategy to tap into the CIS and Eastern European Rail sector. The carriages are destined for use on the Baku-Tbilisi-Istanbul line, and will have gauge-changing bogies to allow non-stop services between Georgia and Turkey. The order covers five different carriage types with a high-quality interior, as well as a comprehensive spare parts package and

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz personnel training. Peter Spuhler spoke of his delight about the contract in a press release in June: “This order means we have gained a foothold in another CIS market.

The development of new products and tapping into new markets are very important to us. This is the only way to ensure our Swiss plants will be working to capacity in the medium term.�

The European debt crisis, which started in late 2010, has resulted in a fall in orders received by Stadler Rail from the traditional Western European markets, and as a result the company is targeting new markets and sectors.

One of the company’s various strategic objectives is to tap into new markets in the CIS, also due to the shift in the values of the currencies. Showing early signs of initial success, the business has won some important orders for Central and Eastern Europe, including an order for Aeroexpress double-decker multiple-unit trains to connect Moscow city centre with three major airports.

The order from Russian rail operator Aeroexpress for 25 KISS double-decker multiple-unit trains worth EUR 380 million was an important milestone for the company in 2013. These trains will operate on the commuter railway lines running between Moscow city centre and the three airports.

Mobility is one of the decisive challenges for policy and economy in the 21st century, with society demanding an increasing freedom of movement. The Stadler Rail Group focuses on regional and suburban traffic, light S-rail traffic, the tram and rack railway sectors. The production range spans from individually customised vehicles through small and medium series to the upgrading of rolling stock. The GTW low-floor articulated railcar and the RSI Regio Shuttle are the best-known models in the Stadler range. With every aspect of production undertaken beneath one roof, from body and bogie manufacture through to the final assembly, Stadler Rail is in a position to offer the market complete vehicle concepts. The modular concepts cover specific requirements by rail companies, which is one of the reasons for the success of the company, supported by state-of-the-art technologies, lightweight and servicefriendly designs, which help to keep operating, energy, and maintenance costs low.

In line with its business plan, further important contracts in Central Europe were won in 2013 and 2014. Based on the FLIRT, which has sold over 960 units over the past ten years, Stadler has developed the next generation, FLIRT3.

This latest range of trains is made up of various modular sub-ranges. In August 2014, Stadler Rail, working in a

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consortium with Polish rail vehicle manufacturer Newag, won an international invitation to tender from Polish State Railways PKP Intercity for 20 long-distance trains. The contract relates to eight-carriage FLIRT3 trains with a high-quality interior to allow comfortable long-distance travel.

Additionally it received an order from Hungarian State Railways MÁV and the Austrian-Hungarian private railway company GySEV ordered 48 FLIRTs. This takes the number of Stadler FLIRTs in Hungary to over 100.

The order received from MÁV, having already had 60 in service for several years is just one of many new orders

evidencing high levels of customer satisfaction. Serbian Railways ŽS also ordered 21 FLIRT3 trains for commuter rail services in the Belgrade region, financed by The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London.

In 2013, Stadler successfully delivered around 250 high-quality trains and trams on schedule, strongly supporting its claim to be one of the world leaders in terms of punctuality, vehicle reliability and innovation.

One of its biggest success stories comes from a contract in Norway, where Stadler Rail delivered its 50th FLIRT multiple-unit train to Norwegian State Railways (NSB) in January 2014. Delivered on schedule, the approval process by the Norwegian authorities was completed without any problems. In 2008, NSB ordered 50 of the 200 km/h FLIRTs, consisting of 24 intercity FLIRTs and 26 trains for the Oslo commuter railway system from Stadler, and the first train left the halls in Bussnang just 24 months later. This is a potentially record-breaking achievement for a completely new design of vehicle. NSB has since ordered a further 20 trains, which Stadler is currently in the process of constructing.

In early 2014, Stadler also reinforced its growing service sector with its maintenance work consolidated in a new subsidiary company, having been awarded contracts in Switzerland, Poland and Sweden. Through the takeover of the Voith subsidiary Voith Rail Services in the Netherlands, the company succeeded in further expanding its service sector. As an example, Stadler Rail has received a contract from BLS for spare parts management for the new MUTZ double-decker multipleunit trains (KISS type), which involves Stadler taking over the storage and delivery of all spare parts for the customer. As well as maintaining a range of fleets, Stadler Rail also offers comprehensive services and revisions, ranging from minor service work by mobile teams on sub-systems or vehicles to major conversions or extensive repairs to vehicles severely damaged in accidents. Recognising the potential of future contracts, Stadler Rail is utilising its global sites and reputation as it continues to expand in a very competitive environment. zz

www.stadlerrail.com Glas Trösch AG Rail Glas Trösch AG Rail is proud to be supplier in cabin glazing for Stadler Rail AG. Besides outstanding quality and reliability, product innovation plays a significant role for our company. Thanks to our company-owned developmental team, motivated staff and state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, Glas Trösch AG Rail counts as one of the most competent suppliers worldwide in the field of high-end windscreens and cabin glazing for the most important train manufacturers.

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High Speed1 Influencing your energy strategies with integrated solutions High Speed1 Background l ÂŁ150 million project in South East England. l St Pancras, London to Channel Tunnel in Folkestone, Kent. l Providing traction power to 108km track. l Design, construct and commission. l To maintain and operate for 50 years. l 36 non-traction HV substations. l Tunnel and surface cabling 11kV and 25kV.

Challenges l Design reliable, cost-effective and efficient systems. l Provide traction power to the design quality parameters required throughout the route.

l Ensuring electromagnetic compatibility with signalling and communication circuits. l Put in place three independent feeder stations, linked to the National Grid to supply traction power. l Segregate earthing between Distribution Network Operator (DNO) and HS1. l Putting safety precautions in place for potential faults. l Interference and damage to live cables.

Solutions l Constructing three traction supply feeder stations along the route. l 20 auto transformer stations were deployed along the entire railway. l Use Static Volt Ampere Reactive (VAR) Compensators

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zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Livis Livis is a multi-disciplinary civil engineering and construction company delivering projects that are time and safety-critical in environments that include transport, water, power, ports and harbours and other challenging sectors. Its recently secured civil engineering works for UKPN Services will be undertaken on the Network Rail Kent PSE, facilitating an increase in carrying capacity. Its directly employed workforce is team oriented, with the skills and appropriate trade qualifications to enable capability and competence to be realised, thus ensuring quality and commitment on all projects.

technology which improves the voltage regulation. l Careful planning and interface meetings. l Installation of isolation transformers and bespoke earthing design solution. l Implementing a design strategy to avoid rise of earth faults. l Formal notification and introduction of working procedures and safety.

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Innovation and Ideas l Energy modelling of all existing electrification infrastructre assets. Redesigning helped the project to proceed by lowering total expenditure costs including: l Land Acquisition Costs l Planning Costs l Capital Expenditure Costs

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l Operations & Maintenance Expenditure l Insurance Costs l The power supply being 25kV overhead – a first in the UK on a High Speed line. l The power being fed directly from National Grid, not the DNO, to increase reliability.

Sustainability Achievements l Training and development programme of staff which increased skills and knowledge. l All materials were carefully selected to be environmentally friendly. l During the construction phase energy efficiency was implemented.

Client Benefits l High Speed train from London St Pancras to Folkestone. l Certainty over maintenance. l Keeping up-to-date with modern technology for at the next 50 years. zz

www.ukpowernetworksservices.co.uk

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KEYLINE

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Strong supply With a dedicated network of depots across the UK, Keyline is the single point of contact for expert rail construction solutions throughout England, Scotland and Wales

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perating as a subsidiary of Travis Perkins plc since 1999, civils merchant Keyline maintains a network of 74 sites that enable the company to focus on the core disciplines of convenience, product quality and availability, competitive prices, service and delivery with an aim to be the first choice supplier to all of its customers. Its network of branches is complimented with thousands of product lines with core products that are never out of stock, which allows Keyline to act as an essential link with the supply chain for customers across the construction industry. “We are the UK’s largest supplier of specialist rail, HBM, civils and drainage solutions,” says UK rail sector manager Richard Wade.

Keyline services the railway industry through its dedicated National Rail Division, which specialises in the supply of construction materials related to platform, tunnelling, track and station works. The company has vast reserves of knowledge and experience in delivering expert merchant services to its clients, which are on hand in a moments notice as Richard elaborates: “We have

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz always supplied an out-of-hours service to support rail contractors for planned work. However, due to the needs of the industry we now also offer a service for unplanned emergency work, whereby Keyline has the capacity to open a depot on a 24/7 basis, 365 days a year. Thirty five Keyline depots across the country are geared up to offer this service and all 35 depots can be accessed via one telephone number anywhere in England, Scotland and Wales.”

As such, Keyline has continued to enjoy strong performance through the years and supply clients throughout some of the UK’s busiest rail networks.

“Market conditions have been buoyant over the past 12 months and we continue to grow staff numbers in line with significant year-on-year growth,” outlines Richard. “This ensures that despite the increase in business we continue to give a first-class service to our customers, which include Crossrail contractors, London Underground and its contractors, Multi Asset Framework Agreement (MAFA) contractors, Network Rail Civil and Building contractors and Trackwork contractors.”

Indeed between 2012 and 2013 Keyline enjoyed growth within the railway sector and the company has

continued to remain strong since. All work carried out within the rail sector is facilitated through the company’s National Rail Office (NRO) in Northfleet, which acts as a central point of contact for clients regardless of the whereabouts of their projects within the UK. Given the safety critical nature of rail services, quality in terms of both product and delivery are at the forefront of Keyline’s operational culture, therefore the central-point concept of the Keyline NRO allows clients to reduce risk in a number of ways as Richard explains: “The most significant changes in the industry have been

Tensar International Tensar International pioneered the first geogrids in trackbed during the early 1980s to stabilise rail ballast over track with low formation strength. These geogrids were ‘biaxial’, featuring rectangular/ square apertures (openings). Since then, extensive independent full-scale laboratory testing complemented by monitored site installations have been used to develop the product range. This led to the recent launch of Tensar TriAx TX190L geogrid, which comprises ribs forming a series of stable interconnected hexagons with triangular apertures.

The large aperture size was chosen for optimum interlock with ballast particles. Also with TriAx geogrid, testing indicated even better performance in preserving track geometry and extending maintenance intervals over low or variable stiffness track formations, than the previously used Tensar biaxial geogrids. Tensar TriAx TX190L has Network Rail product approval and is extensively stocked and supplied by Keyline in GB

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zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz TERRAM Being a key supplier of Keyline, TERRAM know all too well the importance of product quality, service and delivery.

TERRAM manufacture and deliver quality PADS approved Geosynthetics for extending track-bed life, preventing clay pumping and sub-grade erosion, reinforcing ballasts over weak subgrades as well as reinforcing embankments.

On time, in full deliveries are of paramount importance to the Rail sector and the supply chain department at TERRAM work closely with Keyline to ensure all orders adhere to this.

In recent months TERRAM has been delivering product to the Borders Rail project where there are many drop-off sites and project work requiring product at various times. We are happy to say that we have been able to support Keyline in its core operational culture of ‘right time, right location and always in full’.

in transport compliance. This is addressed when an enquiry is received at the NRO where an assessment is made whether the level of compliance needs to adhere to Network Rail, Transport for London (TfL) or Crossrail.

We also have robust internal structures and processes in place to ensure that where necessary, only PADS approved or Network Rail specified materials are quoted and dispatched.”

Commenting on the positive customer reaction to

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and success of this centralised strategy he adds: “This has been of great benefit to our customers as it gives them peace of mind. The investment in rail is certainly welcome and confirms that Keyline’s continued long-term investment in our sector approach is the correct strategy.”

The positive reaction and appreciation of the company’s clients were cemented when Keyline claimed the prestigious ‘Transport Supplier of the Year’ category at the 2014 London Transport Awards following the safe and efficient delivery of materials to the Crossrail infrastructure project. In meeting the demanding requirements of the numerous Crossrail construction sites the leading brands of Keyline comply with the strictest regulations while ensuring that deliveries are sourced and delivered at the right time, to the right locations and always in full.

The provision of an exceptionally high level of service is essential to guarantee a steady product supply, thus avoiding costly delays to contractors working across the project.

“Health and safety is the first consideration of Keyline,” explains Richard. “All Keyline vehicles within London have the highest level Crossrail specification. Furthermore, all new Keyline vehicles off the production line are also designed to the Crossrail specification despite there being no significant call for this level of compliance outside of Crossrail. This really highlights the company’s commitment to the safety of all stakeholders within the rail industry.

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Keyline is also at the forefront of best practise and are delighted to be the only builders merchant with a FORS Gold accreditation. Drivers operating in London have also recently undertaken TfL SUDS training.”

With its commitment to best-in-class service and the acclaim of industry recognition behind it, the future of Keyline is on track to be very productive for the rest of 2014 and well beyond. During March 2014 Network Rail published its Control Period 5 (CP5) delivery plan, which will spur another round of opportunity and investment for contractors and builders merchants alike. A key strength for Keyline will be its position as the sole distributer of the G-Tech Composite Coper, which is currently the only coper unit to be fully approved by Network Rail. By combining coper and tactile in one, the G-Tech Composite Coper offers a single structure alternative to traditional multi-component platform edging solutions that can be fitted to existing platforms or a part of new projects.

Following several years of installation and assessment by Network Rail G-Tech recently won a unique patent for the Composite Coper’s quality and endurance making it a highly desirable platform edging solution for the future.

With exclusive authorisation to deliver ground breaking

new technologies to key partners from right across the rail industry and the upcoming CP5 projects, Keyline is sure to grow from strength to strength. “With the start of CP5, coupled with our service and supply chain capabilities I am confident that the Keyline National Rail Division will continue to grow significantly and further support the rail industry,” Richard concludes. zz

www.keyline.co.uk

LAFARGE TARMAC Lafarge Tarmac is the UK’s leading, sustainable building materials group.

Our vision is to be our customers preferred choice for sustainable construction materials and solutions, we are passionate about managing and reducing the carbon footprint of our business.

Our ready-to-use, pre-mixed High Strength Concrete (40N) is strong, hardwearing and with a minimum 28 day strength of 40N/mm2, its suitable for footings and structural applications Because it’s packed in weatherproof, tear resistant plastic packaging, it can be stored anywhere on-site.

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Ermewa UK

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Gas wagon

Steel wagon

Delivering potential Operating as a satellite of one of Europe’s leading specialist rail wagon rental companies, Ermewa UK is on-track to distinguish itself as a major solution provider

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uring September 2012 Ermewa UK was opened in Thame, UK signalling the Ermewa SA entry into the UK marketplace. Ermewa SA is currently headquartered in France, with operations throughout Europe for railcars. Since 2010 it has operated as part of the SNCF Geodis Group and offers local expertise to customers within the steel, petroleum, chemical, construction, mining, food and transportation industries. With its parent company’s broad base of market segments and operating companies Ermewa was in a strong position to enter the UK market. “The Ermewa Group was being re-structured at the same time that it was entering into the UK,” says commercial manager Phillip Archer. “Ermewa UK has now been in it’s Thame office for 18 months and throughout that time the company has been working to make itself known to all of the potential clients in the country. Ermewa SA has rented wagons to UK customers for sometime but we have never been here in name so to speak. So currently the company’s focus is on putting itself at the front of its clients’ minds. This has involved the company’s membership with the Rail Freight Group (RFG) and work through industry functions and shows, as well as general good old fashioned research and

cold-calling of customers.”

While establishing a brand within a new market may appear to be a daunting task, Ermewa UK has actually received a warm reception and perceives highly favourable market conditions over the coming years as Phillip elaborates: “We have actually been very pleased with the industry’s response to the company moving into the UK. It has certainly been made clear that there is room for a competitor within this sector and certainly a competitor of our reputation. Those who are aware of Ermewa SA from the continent know us as a sizable and professional operator.”

Discussing the company’s present position and the current strength of the market he continues: “Generally speaking we have established relationships with most of the major wagon hirers throughout the UK and perceive quite a number of opportunities with various customers, so it is now just a case of looking for initiatives and being in the right place at the right time. In terms of market strength rail freight has continually increased year-on-year and there was an increase of six per cent on last year to the current year. One sector that currently stands out as having increased significantly is the aggregates sector, which has increased by around 22 per cent on last year.

The prediction is that rail freight will continue to increase as it has done every year for the past ten years.”

It is certainly an exciting time to be involved within the rail freight and wagon rental sectors and the market is presently providing opportunities, however there are challenges that apply to the entire industry. During 2011 and again in 2013 for example, amendments came into action affecting the Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations (ROGS) 2006.

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Slurry wagon

Mutant tank wagon ROGS provide the regulatory regime for rail safety, including the mainline railway, metros (including London Underground), tramways, light-rail and heritage railways. Specifically the amendments that came into effect concerned the entities in charge of maintenance (ECM) and the way vehicle maintenance is regulated as Regional Director of Ermewa SA, Cyrille Guyon explains: “ECM regulation has evolved recently meaning that wagon owners are taking more responsibilities for their rolling-stock. ECM really encourages us to work very closely with the third party companies that service our wagons to ensure that regulations are met. The focus is really to work with the right companies to make sure that they can provide what we are looking for in terms of operation and safety.”

Such is the impact of ECM regulation that some operators within the industrial sector who had traditionally managed their own wagons have found it less favourable to continue to maintain a fleet of rolling stock. The result is that many have sold wagons to companies like Ermewa and continued to use them on a lease basis, so while ECM regulations have placed increased pressure on wagon rental companies the changes have also created opportunities for wagon leasing companies to expand their fleets and gain new customers.

Further to its extensive experience through the wider Ermewa SA operation within Europe, Ermewa UK is also an active member of the Rail Freight Group, which acts as a vocal unified voice within the rail freight industry. Presently aside from changes to ECM regulation, issues affecting the UK rail freight include discussion surrounding Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) rail access fees and the drive to upgrade rail infrastructure through Kent to stimulate increased rail freight through the Channel Tunnel. A planned rise in rail access fees in excess of the normal increase

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Gas wagon targeted at the aggregates sector was recently avoided thanks in part to the Rail Freight Group and the need to highlight the benefits of upgrading the gauge capability of Kent’s rail network is also on the group’s agenda as Phillip concludes: “When you look at increasing freight accessibility through Kent from a strategy perspective, whoever has evaluated the HS2 strategy should be asked to apply their method of validating the benefits of HS2 to the budget required to upgrade to W12 gauge through Kent. Perhaps we will find this is equally if not more beneficial to UK PLC as a whole?” zz

www.ermewa.com

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Heathrow Express

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Expressservice Since 1998 Heathrow Express has provided the fastest rail link from London to Heathrow, enabling passengers to reach their destination in as little as 15 minutes

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eathrow Express is a non-franchised, nonsubsidised privately owned company that owns all of its own trains, the stations at Heathrow as well as the entire below ground section of the line between London Paddington and the airport. The service carries an average of 16,000 passengers a day between London and Heathrow and the journey time to terminals One and Three is as little as 15 minutes and only marginally longer for Terminals Four and Five. These are not the only impressive figures that Heathrow Express is able to boast.

For example when it comes to passenger satisfaction, the numbers speak for themselves with Heathrow Express scoring an impressive 96 per cent satisfaction from passengers in the National Rail Survey. This score is the top score throughout the entire UK rail industry.

At present flights from 120 countries fly into Heathrow making the Heathrow Express a vital link in shuttling passengers from the busy airport to London and visa versa. It is a key aim for Heathrow Express to deliver passengers to their destinations safely and on time, and in comfort. To ensure that journeys are as smooth as possible for passengers the company ensures that timetable changes are published via a wide range of media including advertisements, posters, Express TV and

the Heathrow Express webpage. Furthermore the latest information regarding fares and schedules is displayed on board trains via back-seat leaflets and Express TV. One way that Heathrow Express is working to ensure that journeys are as efficient as possible for passengers is through the introduction of combined airline train ticketing.

This is an area where managing director Keith Greenfield is passionately focused on enhancing the service on offer to the company’s customers. At present Singapore Airlines and Aer Lingus already offer this facility online at the booking stage and it is intended for more carriers to follow.

Making the booking process as smooth as the journey itself has been a common goal for Heathrow Express and the application of modern communication technology has traditionally been at the very heart of this initiative.

The company was the first to launch e-ticketing enabling customers to buy tickets online and receive a barcode via either email or to a mobile phone directly, which can then be scanned on the train. Furthermore Heathrow Express was the first UK company to launch a fully functional train ticket app, allowing customers to purchase and receive tickets direct to their iPhone, Android, Blackberry or Javaenabled phones. Use of mobile app tickets grew 40 per cent in 2013 proving that customers appreciate

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these more convenient ticketing options.

During 2012 Heathrow Express undertook a £15 million investment directed at the upgrading of the company’s fleet of rolling stock. The re-launch of the Heathrow Express brand was directed by the themes of providing exemplary service along with the objective to ‘premiumise’ the brand itself. The enhancements introduced to the Heathrow Express brand and fleet were designed to mirror an airline experience, while complying with forthcoming safety standards due to come into effect during 2019.

Heathrow Express currently owns 14 four-car Class 332 trains engineered and built by Siemens Transportation Systems in Germany, in partnership with CAF of Spain. The refurbishment of the fleet lasted 18 months from drawing board to delivery and involved close collaboration with teams from Siemens, Railcare and Interfleet.

The impressive overhaul encompassed a host of improvements including one plus one first-class seating

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with wide aisles that allow business travellers to keep their luggage at their side by their feet, varied express-class configuration of seating to allow for bay and airline seating layouts, LED lighting providing a brighter environment and more reliable lighting, customer information screens providing live flight and onward travel information, a passenger information system to deliver station announcements and other information, improvements throughout the vehicle to comply with TSI-PRM (Europeanwide accessibility regulations) and enhanced safety features including non-slip flooring, emergency lighting, audible warning systems and increased surround lighting.

Heathrow Express currently runs 150 services a day, carrying over 60 million passengers since it was launched in June 1998 and the demand for these services is set to increase with the opening of the new Heathrow Terminal Two in June 2014. To help ease the journey for passengers using the service, Heathrow Express is focusing on the migration of staff to front-line roles to interface directly with passengers. With the customer profile of the business made up of 69 per cent business and 31 per cent leisure travellers, it is vital for London’s economy that the service runs smoothly and it is innovations such as the brand relaunch and a strong focus on customer interface that has given Heathrow Express has reliability of 98 per cent and a 97 per cent repeat travel rating.

The company’s commitment extends beyond offering an excellent service to its passengers, Heathrow Express maintains close links to the local community including proud sponsorship of the England sevens rugby team.

Further to this the Heathrow Express webpage offers links to corporate news and travel information as well as articles

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highlighting London life including the ‘sites and sounds’ of London, food and drink, fashion and interviews with well-known personalities including Sir Richard Branson and James Caan.

With the recent completion of the Heathrow Express brand re-launch and the expected increase in passengers over the coming months, the future looks to be both busy and exciting for the company. Network Rail is planning the new Western Access line to London due for completion in 2021 and Heathrow Express has made it clear that it is ready and determined to take the role of appointed train operator, which represents a potentially very exciting next chapter in the company’s history. zz

www.heathrowexpress.com Pod-Trak Ltd Pod-Trak Ltd is a skilled, multidiscipline contractor to the rail industry, with offices in London, Manchester & Doncaster. Founded in 2007, Pod-Trak puts emphasis on the delivery of a safe, quality service. Continued success through referrals and repeat business with clients such as Heathrow Express is testament to the dedication of this youthful and innovative company, resulting in the successful completion of several projects on HEx infrastructure, ranging from drainage to signage, building long-lasting relationships in the process.

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zz NEWS I Conferences & Exhibitions zzzzzzzzzzz Forthcoming Conferences and Exhibitions This listing represents a selection of the events about which we have been notified. It is strongly recommended that direct contact should be made with the individual organiser responsible for each event before booking places or making travel and accommodation reservations. Cancellations and other last-minute alterations are liable to occur. The editor and publishers of RAILWAY STRATEGIES are not responsible for any loss or inconvenience suffered by readers in connection with this guide to events.

1-2 July Africa Rail Johannesburg Organiser: Terrapinn Tel: +27 (0) 11 516 4015 Email: enquiry.za@terrapinn.com Web: www.terrapinn.com/ exhibition/africarail/ 10-11 September Low Carbon Vehicle Event LCV2014 Millbrook Proving Ground, Bedford Organiser: Cenex Tel: 01509 635 750 Web: www.cenex-lcv.co.uk 11 September The British Rail Conference Dentons, London Organiser: Waterfront Conference Company Tel: 0207 067 1597 Web: www.waterfrontconferencecompany.com/ conferences/rail/events/british-rail 21-25 September – 10th International Conference on Geosynthetics Berlin Organiser: International Geosynthetics Society Web: www.10icg-berlin.com

23-26 September InnoTrans 2014 Berlin Organiser: Messe Berlin GmbH Tel: +49 (0)30 30 38 - 2376 Email: innotrans@messe-berlin.de Web: www.innotrans.com 29 September – 1 October – European Transport Conference Frankfurt Organiser: Association for European Transport Email: http://aetransport.org/contact Web: http://etcproceedings.org/ 9 October Interoperability in Practice A workshop for the European railway industry Brussels Organiser: Hit Rail Email: info@hitrail.com Web: www.hitrail.com 12-13 November Rail Ticketing Europe Brussels Organiser: Terrapinn Tel: 0207 092 1125 Email: philip.kwok@terrapinn.com Web: www.terrapinn.com/conference/ railticketing

27-28 November 2014 Annual Polis Conference Madrid An opportunity for cities, metropolitan areas and regions to showcase their transport achievements.

Organiser: Polis Email: polispolisnetwork.eu Web: www.polisnetwork.eu First call for speakers Online submission: www.polisnetwork.eu/ events2/polisconference/2014-conference/2014abstracts Deadline: 4 July 17-18 March 2015 Middle East Rail Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre Organiser: Terrapinn Tel: +971 4440 2500 Email: enquiry.me@terrapinn.com Web: www.terrapinn.com/exhibition/ middle-east-rail 17-19 March 2015 Rail-Tech 2015 Utrecht Organiser: Europoint Conferences & Exhibitions Tel: +31 (0)30 698 1800 Email: info@rail-tech.com Web: www.rail-tech.com

Institute of Mechanical Engineers Training Courses Technical training for the railway industry A listing of courses currently available from the IMechE (Unless stated otherwise, all courses are in London) 21st October Introduction to rolling stock Key design principles affecting the performance of railway systems

29th October Train control and safety systems Learn of the systems used on UK fleets that provide safety and train operational control

6th November Vehicle acceptance and approvals Introduction to acceptance procedures which apply across the rail network

22nd October Traction and braking Principles of traction and braking for railway engineers

30th October Vehicle dynamics and vehicle track interaction Understand the dynamics of railway vehicles to improve safety, comfort and asset life

A downloadable brochure is available at:

4th November Train structural integrity Structural integrity, fire and crashworthiness systems found on today’s rail fleets

For more information, please contact Lucy O’Sullivan, learning and development co-ordinator: Tel: +44 (0)20 7304 6907 Email: training@imeche.org Web: www.imeche.org/learning/courses/railway

23rd October Optimising fleet maintenance efficiency Understand the issues affecting rail vehicle performance and cost of maintenance 28th October Train communication and auxiliary systems New and existing systems in use on today’s rolling stock fleet

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5th November Fleet maintenance Improve your processes and fleet maintenance

www.imeche.org/docs/default-source/learningand-professional-development-documents/l_ d_railway_training_web.pdf?sfvrsn=2

RAILWAY FOR SENIOR RAIL MANAGEMENT

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Schofield Publishing 10 Cringleford Business Centre Intwood Road Cringleford Norwich NR4 6AU

T: +44 (0) 1603 274130 F: +44 (0) 1603 274131 Editor Gay Sutton

editor@railwaystrategies.co.uk Sales Manager Rob Wagner

rwagner@schofieldpublishing.co.uk

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