railstaff december 2012

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RailStaff

PAGE 12

Croydon crossover complete

PAGE 24Continued on PAGE 4

Passenger Focus -A Critical Friend

Marc Johnson reports on the passen-ger’s long term ally of the railways.

A new 1000 tonne bridge whichlinks all platforms slips into place.

Issue 181 / December 2012

Winner

Rail Team of the Year

stobartrail.com

See Stobart Advert P2

Festive Cheer for Railways

PAGE 8

Keith Ludeman joinsNetwork Rail Consulting

The government has signalled its determination to push ahead with railway development in the New Year. HS2 Ltd has been strengthened with the appointment of an overall Director General and a further commitmentto extend the line to Manchester and Leeds. More immediately work will get under way next year on LondonUnderground’s Northern Line extension as the Chancellor backed the £1 billion investment in his autumnstatement and pledged to progress HS2 to the north. In a supportive signal to the private sector Virgin Trains isset to go on running West Coast express services for another two years. A busy Christmas on the railwaysheralds more of the same next year as Britain’s recession busting rail business powers ahead.

© SHUTTER

STOCK.COM

In 2012 a Stobart Rail Team was

awarded the RailStaff Awards Rail Team

of the Year for the work they carried out

on the Manchester Metrolink Track

Replacement Possession.

“Stobart Rail successfully delivered the

core works within a very demanding

timeframe, both lead-in and delivery.

Despite unforeseen circumstances

affecting key aspects of their supply

chain, they responded effectively by

reworking their methodology just days

before the core works began. Their level

headed and proactive approach ensured

the track was handed back on time at

operational line speed.”

Stobart Rail specialise in Bridge &

Tunnel reconstruction, Track Lowering,

Earthworks, Civils & Drainage projects,

Plain Line Track Renewal and

Replacement of Ballast under Switches

and Crossings.

If you would like some Award winning

thinking and Award winning engineering on

your next project contact us to discuss.

Clive Pennington

Head of Engineering, MRDL

Rail Team of the Year

Keith Winnery

t. 01228 518 150e. [email protected]

Andy Richardson


Kirk Taylor


Rail Director

Operations Director

Managing Director

stobartrail.com

Rail Team of the year 2012

Cheerful, festive, news aboutrailways is in marked contrast tothe sombre headlines of war andcold weather elsewhere.

For the third year running Britainfaces a difficult winter full of rainand snow. Threats to the freedomof the press and increasedpressure on the health servicecompound the continuingrecession.

Abroad concerns over Russia, theimploding Eurozone and theescalating violence in Egypt andSyria barely obscure Iran’sominous advance to nuclearpower. We live in a sad and violentworld run in the main by peoplewith little sense of responsibilityor the historic freedoms thatshould be the birthright of all men,women and children.

However, the doomsayers havetheir way most of the year. Amidstour celebrations we should raise aglass to what has been a good yearfor Britain. The Queen’s DiamondJubilee and the London Olympicsmarked a return to confidence bythe British.

The rail industry stands right atthe heart of such celebration. HerMajesty may apparently use aparachute when occasiondemands, but is a long termsupporter of railways - more athome in the Royal Train than in atraffic jam. Railways and railwaystaff made a major contribution tothe Olympics of which they can beproud.

Her Majesty’s Government looksto railways to generate jobs andopportunities and is prepared toinvest consistently to achieve this.For its part the railway needs moreresponsible structures to channelthe enthusiasm and dynamism ofits people.

Railways themselves aim to beresponsible and safe deliverers of

the service, masters of customercare, financial probity andindustrial peace. The railindustry can look to the newyear with confidence anddetermination.

In that spirit we wish all ourreaders and advertisers a MerryChristmas and a happy andpeaceful new year.

www.railstaff.co.uk 3

Training MattersIn February’s RailStaffTraining and education are the sure fire ways to success, not only forindividuals entering the rail industry but for railways as a whole. The skillsgap could prove a real constraint as more major projects come on line andCrossrail, HS2, new tram ways and stations need ever more new staff. Please contact Paul or Tom on 01530 565701.

“The rail industry can look to the new yearwith confidence and determination”

PAGE 20 PAGE 35SPECIAL FOCUS

Publisher: Paul O’Connor

Editor: Andy Milne

Production and design: Adam O’Connor

Senior Reporter: Jonathan Webb

Writer: Nigel Wordsworth

Track Safety: Colin Wheeler

Pictures: Colin Garratt

Advertising: Asif Ahmed

Craig Smith

Paul Curtis

Contact Email AddressesNews: [email protected]

Pictures: [email protected]

Adverts: [email protected]

Subscriptions: [email protected]

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A good year for BritainThe rail industry stands right at the heart of such celebration

COMMENT

Rail Freightmoving forwardWith the constant press attentionon the passenger railway atpresent, it can be easy tooverlook rail freight, says the RailFreight Group.

Dr. Beeching’ssilver liningHyperbole will flourish in thespringtime as the nation comm-emorates the 50th anniversary ofa butcher wielding his knife; thedeeds of a mad axeman.

© SHUTTER

STOCK.COM

4 www.railstaff.co.uk

Christmas confidence boosts railways

The appointment of a directorgeneral to an expanded HS2 Ltd,investment in LondonUnderground developments atBattersea and the Olympic Parkand the two year extension of theVirgin Trains contract on the WestCoast spells out a furtherstatement of faith in railways.

The industry, which consistentlyoutperforms its rivals in terms ofcost, wealth generation andenvironmental responsibility, ispoised for further much neededexpansion next year.

Strengthening HS2 Ltd as itramps up preparations for theconstruction of Britain’s secondhigh speed rail link will be DavidProut. Immediate tasks includepreparing a hybrid bill for the firstpart of the project.

Secondly, Mr Prout and his teamwill be taking forward GeorgeOsborne’s pledge, announced inthe House of Commons, to takethe line through to Manchesterand Leeds expeditiously.

Planning hoopsBuilding new railways in Britain

is a tough remit. The engineeringchallenge is secondary to theplanning hoops and slip-knotreviews common to all majorprojects. Happily the new DirectorGeneral has a wealth of experience

of Britain’s labyrinthine planningand environmental laws.

Mr Prout currently heads theDepartment of Communities andLocal Government. Previously hewas planning chief for the RoyalBorough of Kensington and Chelsea.A career civil servant Prout hasworked in Brussels for the EuropeanUnion. His first hand knowledge ofthe inner workings of governmentand enthusiasm for the scheme willdirectly benefit HS2.

‘Making HS2 a reality isabsolutely crucial to our country’sfuture prosperity and I am verypleased to have been asked to takeleadership of this much-neededprogramme at this time,’ saysDavid Prout.

‘I look forward to helping to takethe project through Parliamentand continuing to demonstrate thevery real need for more capacityfor people and freight on ourrailways, which will help makeBritain a more prosperous and lesscongested country.’

Teams at HS2 are progressingdesign and environmental workfor Phase One. The race is on topresent a hybrid bill to parliamentduring 2013. With expected crossparty support this looks likereceiving Royal Assent in 2015. Thebill will request powers necessaryto acquire land and construct the

line between London andBirmingham.

To cope with the burgeoningpopularity of rail travel the DfT hasextended the Virgin Trains WCMLcontract for a further two years. Anexpanded Pendolino fleet and anhourly service between Glasgowand London will boost capacity onthe line.

106 Pendolino carriages havebeen delivered on budget andahead of schedule thanks to hardworking railway staff at Alstom,Angel Trains, Network Rail, the DfTand Virgin Trains.

In London news of the go aheadfor the Battersea extension cameas Crossrail stepped up tunnellingunder the capital. The Batterseaproject involves substantialredevelopment around the oldpower station and the extension ofthe Northern Line to Nine Elmsand Battersea.

Capacity expansion has caughtthe attention of the governmentwhich has identified railways asreliable pilots of economic andindustrial dynamism. As theCoalition Governmentcontemplates further cuts topublic services and welfare,investment in rail is being steppedup in a bid to generate wealth andjobs. Confidence in the recessionbusting rail industry remains high.

“Making HS2 a realityis absolutely crucial toour country’s futureprosperity and I amvery pleased to havebeen asked to takeleadership of thismuch-neededprogramme at thistime.”DAVID PROUT,DIRECTOR GENERAL,HS2 LTD.

Crossrail is recruiting graduatesto the project between now andthe end of January.

The first successful applicantsto the Crossrail Graduate Schemewill join the project in autumn in2013. Says Andrew Wolstenholme,Crossrail’s Chief Executive(pictured), ‘Crossrail istransforming rail transport in

London so this is a fantasticopportunity for graduates to joinus and play a key role indelivering Europe’s largestconstruction project.

‘Graduates will receive uniquefrontline experience on a majorinfrastructure project, picking uptransferable skills that will openthe door to a range of future

projects and careers. The graduatescheme will help us develop thenext generation of leaders in agrowing industry where their skillswill be in huge demand in future.

‘With a limited number ofspaces available, we are lookingfor exceptional people to bringthe talent and enthusiasmneeded to help deliver this

unprecedented project.’ Training will take place on site

and at the Crossrail supportedTunnelling and UndergroundConstruction Academy. Graduateswill work towards receivingprofessional chartered status intheir relevant field and will besupported by a PersonalDevelopment Manager.


NEWS

Graduate call for Crossrail

Graduates will play a key role in delivering

Europe’s largest construction project.


NEWS

Local leaders in Manchester andSalford are backing Network Rail’splans to link Manchester’sPiccadilly, Oxford Road andVictoria stations using the newOrdsall Chord.

The scheme will improve railservices across the north andforms the first part of theNorthern Hub strategy. At ameeting in the Museum of Scienceand Industry the new OrdsallChord scheme was unveiled aheadof a pre-Christmas publicconsultation.

The first part of the NorthernHub programme will help ease arail bottleneck to the south ofPiccadilly station and enable moretrains to travel throughManchester Victoria. This willenable two new fast trains perhour between Manchester Victoriaand Liverpool; six fast trains,instead of four, an hour between

Leeds and Manchester and betterjourneys between Manchester,Leeds and Liverpool.

Network Rail has appointed ateam of experts to design theOrdsall Chord. Two potential bridgeoptions have been unveiled forconsultation, including a bowstring railway arch and analternative flat bridge. Thefeedback from the public will be

passed on to the design panel andused to inform the plans.

Says Dyan Crowther, NetworkRail’s route managing director,‘Britain relies on rail and withdemand for rail travel increasingit’s essential we invest in therailway to provide a better servicefor passengers with more trains,additional seats and fewer delays.‘We thank those who have already

made a valuable contribution tothe development of this vitalproject. Feedback from last year’sconsultation suggests that theoverwhelming majority of peoplesupport our plans to deliver faster,more frequent services across thenorth and helping stimulate lowcarbon economic growth.’

Final plans will be submitted forapproval next year.

Leaders backOrdsall Chord

Amey has appointed sevenexperts in asset management toits strategic consulting team.

Charles Oldham, Jon Jarritt,Adam McCullough, Chris Beedie,Owen Johnson, Tom Bedeman andIan Gordon join Amey fromHalcrow. The seven-strong teamwill focus on five areas of assetmanagement; analytics, financialmodelling and budgeting, businessplanning, scenario analysis andprogramme management.

The team is engaged across thewhole spectrum of Amey’sactivities including rail. Teammember Chris Beedie has alreadybeen seconded to Network Rail tosupport the Strategic Planningteam with budgetary submissionsto the Office of Rail Regulation(ORR). A qualified engineer Chris iscurrently studying towards an MScin Software Development with theOpen University.

Amey’s Consulting team has

grown ten-fold in seven years andnow comprises 2,300 professionals.Amey acquired two additionalconsulting teams recentlyincluding Transportation Planning(International) Ltd (TPi) and therail consulting arm of White YoungGreen (WYG).

Says Andy Milner, ManagingDirector of Amey’s Consultingdivision, ‘Amey is responsible formanaging thousands of publicassets across the UK and we’reinvesting in the very best

professionals to help us maximisepotential time and cost savings forour customers. This is testamentof our commitment to grow ourconsulting business on thenational and international stage.’

Amey boostsasset team

Siemens is buying InvensysRail for £1.742 billion.

At the same time, thecompany plans to divest itselfof its baggage handling, postaland parcel sorting activities.Both planned transactions arepart of the recently launchedSiemens 2014 program.

The move expands Siemens’presence in the growing globalrail automation market

SiemensacquiresInvensysRail

“The seven-strongteam will focus onfive areas of assetmanagement…”

Former RAF officer, SteveChapman, has been appointedFleet Manager at Greater Anglia’sCrown Point Depot, Norwich.

Mr Chapman has a Royal AirForce engineering background andserved 19 years in the RAF. Hejoined as an engineeringapprentice and completed hisleadership training as acommissioned officer, beforeundertaking a variety ofengineering management rolesincluding overseeing operationalmaintenance of jet aircraft withhis final role being Head ofEngineering on IX(B) Squadron atRAF Marham, Norfolk.

After leaving the RAF Stevebecame the Head of BusinessManagement Systems at MayGurney where he was responsiblefor business improvements forPublic Sector Services. He takesover from Acting Fleet Manager,Steve Mitchell, who returns to hisprevious role as Fleet TechnicalEngineer and deputy EngineeringDirector.

Steve Chapman is 41, lives inSouth Norfolk and is married toRachel and has three children. ‘Iam looking forward to taking onthe challenges of the role andhelping the team to build on theirsuccesses.’

Top changes at Arriva


RAF man heads Crown Point

Andrew Cook has been appointedGeneral Manager of the BritishPullman train, part of the famedOrient Express.

Cook will oversee all areas of thebusiness for the British Pullmanand will be based in London,reporting into Gary Franklin,Managing Director, Trains andCruises.

Andrew was previously generalmanager of The Westcliff, Orient-Express’ property in Johannesburg,since 2008. Before that he was atthe Mount Nelson Hotel in CapeTown and has worked at leadinghotels in Bahrain and Dubai.

Managing a team of around 50,including stewards, chefs,managers and maintenancepersonnel, he will be responsiblefor maintaining the high servicelevels and looking at adding newtrips to the train’s schedule.

Cook goesBritishPullman

LudemanheadsoverseasKeith Ludeman, former chiefexecutive of the Go-Ahead Group,has joined new internationalbusiness, Network Rail Consulting,as a non-executive director.

Network Rail Consulting, asubsidiary of Network Rail, aims toharness the vast range of skillsand experience available withinNetwork Rail. Britain’s rail industryhas a long history of exportingknowledge and skills overseas.

Mr Ludeman, 62, was mostrecently group chief executive ofone of Europe’s biggest transportgroups - Go-Ahead - from 2006until 2011. Since his retirementfrom that post he has also servedas a non-executive director ofNetwork Rail.

Says Simon Kirby, chairman ofNetwork Rail Consulting, ‘Keithbrings with him decades of

experience of leadership in thetransport industry, both in Britainand overseas. His addition to theboard of Network Rail Consultingwill provide first-hand,commercial expertise andcorporate oversight as we look todemonstrate the best of British

expertise around the world.’ Mr Ludeman joins chairman

Simon Kirby and managingdirector Nigel Ash on the board ofdirectors of Network RailConsulting, along with NetworkRail’s group finance director PatrickButcher.

Bob Holland is the new managing director ofArriva’s UK business.

Holland, successful head of Arriva UKTrains, will be backed up by Steve Murphy,who will lead the trains division. Murphy iscurrently managing director of LondonOverground Rail Operations Limited. Hewill become Chief Operating Officer forArriva UK Trains, a new role, responsiblefor Arriva’s burgeoning rail business.

Mike Cooper, currently an ExecutiveDirector at Arriva who has successfullyled the Arriva UK Bus division since 2005, will beappointed Deputy Chief Executive from 1 January 2013. He will take on specificaccountability for the Arriva Mainland Europe division.

The moves have been precipitated by the decision by David Evans,Managing Director, Arriva Mainland Europe, to retire. Mr Evans is becomingmore involved with the children’s charity he and his wife founded inZambia.

Says David Evans, ‘I have had the most amazing time working withexcellent, talented people, building a successful business ten times as large aswhen we started our European development. I will miss my colleagues hugelybut I am looking forward to a new phase in my life with new challenges.’

David Martin, Chief Executive of Arriva, said, ‘David has made a significantcontribution to the success of Arriva. We wish David and his wife a very happyretirement, and success with their charitable endeavours.’

Arriva is one of the largest providers of passenger transport in Europe,employing some 47,500 people and is part of Deutsche Bahn.


PEOPLE NEWS

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Ganymede Solutions has a long heritageof providing contingent labour to safetycritical aspects of the rail industry.

Tel: 0845 880 8104

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Sir John Armitt, the man who helped set upNetwork Rail and oversaw the hugelysuccessful Olympic Delivery Authority willbecome the next chairman of National Expressfrom February 2013.

Armitt replaces John Devaney who becamechairman in 2009. The appointment of Sir Johnheralds a Christmas cracker shake up at the topof the company. Current managing director,Andrew Cleaves, is moving on to become

International Development Director. TomStables succeeds him, having joined NationalExpress in 2010 as Group Business DevelopmentDirector. Tom Stables spent eight years withFirstGroup.

Says Dean Finch, Group Chief Executive ofNational Express, ‘I am delighted that Andrewand Tom have agreed to these new roles.Andrew has made a significant contribution tothe coach business and I look forward todrawing on this experience as we developour international opportunities. I am alsopleased that Tom has agreed to succeedAndrew. Tom has wide-ranging transportexperience and recently led our EssexThameside rail bid with distinction. I lookforward to continuing to work with them bothin the coming years.’

The widely respected Sir John Armitt iscurrently Deputy Chairman of Berkeley Groupand a member of the Transport for Londonboard. From 2001 to 2007 he was Chief Executiveof Network Rail and its predecessor, Railtrack. In1997 he was appointed as Chief Executive ofCostain, a position he held until 2001. Before thishe was Chief Executive of Union Railways, thecompany responsible for development of thehigh speed Channel Tunnel Rail Link.

He previously spent 27 years at John Laing plcrising to become Chairman of the LaingInternational and Civil Engineering Divisions.Sir John will initially join the Board as a Non-Executive Director on 1 January 2013 and thentake over as Chairman on 1 February. NationalExpress has one remaining rail franchise, topperforming, c2c.

Armitt to chair National Express

Michael O’Higgins, formerchairman of the AuditCommission and currentchairman of the PensionsRegulator, has been appointed toNetwork Rail’s board as a non-executive director.

Mr O’Higgins, 58, was amanaging partner at PAConsulting Group for almost 10years from January 1997 toSeptember 2006, working mainlyon public sector projects. He is alsoa visiting professor of economicsat the University of Bath and wasinvolved with the London Schoolof Economics and Harvard.

Says Richard Parry-Jones,chairman, Network Rail, ‘Our goalat Network Rail is to provideoutstanding stewardship of ournation’s rail infrastructure andoperate it with the levels of safety,

punctuality and efficiency thatdelight our growing numbers ofcustomers and satisfy thecountry’s taxpayers who help fundthe business.

‘Michael will be a tremendousasset, bringing with him decadesof business experience and publicsector expertise and will work withthe board to see best value beingrealised and delivered.’

Mr Norris changes trainsMichael O’Higgins joinsNetwork Rail

Steven Norris, former ConservativeMinister of Transport anderstwhile London Mayoralcandidate has joined the board ofdirectors of Manchester-based VitalServices Group.

The former Executive Chairmanof Jarvis Plc has extensive industryexperience and is currently acommissioner of the IndependentTransport Commission. He is amember of the Institution of CivilEngineers, the Chartered Instituteof Logistics and Transport and theAssociation of Project Managers.

John Smith, chief executive andfounder of Vital Services Group,said, ‘We are delighted to havesomeone of Steve’s calibre joiningus as we expand our Group. Hebrings invaluable industryexperience and is respected as oneof the few politicians to also have asuccessful career in industry.’

Steve Norris is pleased at the new

move, ‘I am thrilled to be joiningJohn Smith and his excellentmanagement team at Vital ServicesGroup. They are market leaders inthe fields of transport, power andcommunications and have anexcellent training division that ishelping to improve our nationalskills base,’ he said. ‘I look forwardvery much to working with theteam to help develop the businessfurther.’

Originally from Liverpool Norrisstill supports Everton. Hisautobiography, ‘Changing Trains’was published in 1996.


Join the Rail Alliance nowRail Alliance membership starts

from just £500 per year

log on to www.railalliance.co.ukemail [email protected]

or call 01789 720026.

RAIL ALLIANCE NEWS

New MembersRail Alliance sees busy year aheadThe Rail Alliance wishes all itsmembers and everyone in the Railsector the very best for Christmasand hopes for a prosperous newyear in 2013 for everyone.

In January we will be announcingour 2013 Calendar of events. It willbe even busier than this year and

will include Macrorail 2013scheduled for September whichwill in effect be a “county show”for the rail sector and will be a costeffective, value-enhancedopportunity to demonstrateproducts and services to theindustry.

© SH

UTTERSTO

CK.COM

Southeastern carries around570,000 passengers across 1,000miles of track every weekday insouth east England.

The company serves commuter-belt Britain with 1,400 daily trainjourneys into London, and is underconstant pressure to ensurepassengers reach destinations ontime and in comfort. This putsstress on Southeastern’s 3,500-plusemployees, whether customer-facing or working behind thescenes.

Southeastern’s maintenance fleetincludes a range of vehicles, fromsmall vans to larger vehiclesbearing heavy equipment orbiohazardous chemicals, as well asexpensive machinery such asdrilling tools.

Each employee must have theright training and approval to usecertain tools in order to complywith health and safety. However,ensuring that only the right staffwere able to access equipmentwas a major challenge. Toimprove this, Southeasterndecided to look at how to bettermanage access to its vehicles andtools.

Until recently, keys for vehiclesand tool storage units were kept ina basic key box. Staff logged keysremoved in a paper logbook. Whenunder pressure, or in a rush to getto a job, keys were sometimestaken without being logged outproperly. This compromisedsecurity and also meant vehiclesor machinery were not available

when needed.Southeastern needed an access

management system that wouldlet it quickly assess whether anemployee was qualified to handlespecific equipment, and alsoensure keys were monitored andreturned on time.

Says Sam Cook, shift productionmanager at Southeastern, “Wewere impressed with Traka’s abilityto design a system that perfectlymatched our requirements. We arestill heavily reliant on physicalkeys but manual processes wereholding us back.

Traka’s key management systemis a way of combining old and newby bringing in twenty-first centuryautomation and accountability.”

Traka developed a bespoke

access management system inwhich keys are permanentlyattached to a Traka iFob, each witha unique identity. Keys can only beremoved by the correct member ofstaff, disabling the removal of keysby unauthorised staff.

The system automaticallyrecords when a key is used and bywhom on a central database.Southeastern can generate areport for each key, showing whenit has been used, by whom, andwhen it was returned. It can alsoalert management if a key is notreturned or if an unauthoriseduser attempts key removal.

Reaping the rewards of auditedaccess management

Since implementing the systemtwo years ago, control over keyshas been significantly improved.Unauthorised personnel cannotaccess keys to equipment they arenot allowed to use.

“Accountability makes a bigdifference,” explains Cook.“Members of staff know that whenthey take a key, the system logsthat to their employee record, so ifthey lose it, we’ll know. Thatencourages them to return keys ontime and also to leave vehicles andtools in good condition.

www.traka.com

Southeastern boosts depot security withSmart Access Management System

Pilz Automation Technology(Pilz is at the forefront of safetytechnology. Pilz has developed thePSS4000-R safety programmablelogic controller (PLC) and I/O as analternative to proprietary rail relayinterlocking. The system can beused for SIL 2, SIL 3 and SIL: 4applications) www.pilz.co.uk

A V Coatings(Pioneering the application ofpolyurea and polyurethane coatingin the UK. Polyurea andpolyurethane are solvent-freecoatings which can be applied tovarious surfaces.) www.avcoatings.co.uk

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Terram and PW are registered trademarks of Fiberweb Geosynthetics Ltd

London Overground hascelebrated its fifth birthday, just afew weeks short of completing itsfinal extension across southLondon, creating an orbitalrailway around the Capital.

Says TfL’s Chief Operating Officerfor London Rail, Howard Smith,‘London Overground’s first fiveyears have seen meteoric growthin both the railway network andpassenger numbers. We’veextended the Overground to WestCroydon and Crystal Palace, we’velinked Dalston Junction toHighbury & Islington and soonwe’ll cross south London to themajor rail gateway of ClaphamJunction.

‘We’ve bought a new fleet of 57new air-conditioned trains, we’vebuilt new stations, refurbished oldones with 21st century passengerfacilities and we’ve put staff atevery station while the trains arerunning. In north London, wereplaced a signalling system and

tracks that had been in place sinceVictorian times.

In short, London Overground is aperfect example of how - if youput passengers at the centre ofeverything you do - they will usethe services you offer. Londonerswant a safe, frequent and reliableservice to get them around theCapital and London Overgroundprovides it.’

In just five years passengernumbers have quadrupled, with

more than 100 million journeysnow being made each year on theLondon Overground and morethan 300 million to date. InDecember the final link in thenetwork from Clapham Junction toSurrey Quays will click into placemaking London Overground’sorbital network complete.

London Overground is operatedby LOROL, a joint venture betweenDeutshe Bahn and Hong Kongsubway operator, MTR.


Festive cheerfor ActonDiveunder

Overground celebrates five years

Croydon cross over complete

Teams from Network Rail will beworking over Christmas at Acton,west London, on the new trainunderpass needed to improvereliability.

Engineers and track workers willbe installing a new junction on thetracks at Acton. The works areessential to help increase capacityalong the Great Western Main Lineahead of Crossrail servicesbeginning in 2018.

Says Jorge Mendonça, Crossrailprogramme director, Network Rail,‘The works at Acton are animportant part of the Crossrailproject and will help bring long-term benefits to passengerservices. To minimiseinconvenience as much aspossible, the work will beundertaken at the least busy timeof the year.’

A new 1000 tonne bridge whichlinks all platforms at East Croydonstation has been slipped intoplace.

The 100 metre-long, 14 metre-wide bridge was built next to EastCroydon station. Moving at a speedof around six metres an hour, thebridge slid into place while trainscontinued to run underneath.Services were unaffected.

Once opened, the new structurewill provide step-free access to allsix of the station’s platforms and alink with the new western portalon Dingwall Road. Costing £20m,the bridge has been paid for byNetwork Rail and the LondonBorough of Croydon.

Says Mark Ruddy, Network Rail’sroute managing director forSussex, ‘East Croydon station isalready one of the country’sbusiest stations and is used by anever-increasing number ofpassengers. By effectively puttingthe concourse area onto thebridge, this landmarkimprovement will ease congestionwithin the station and illustratesour commitment to providingbetter access and facilities.

© JO

NATHAN W

EBB


NEWS

Elizabethan serenade

The Young Railway Professionals(YRP) has launched a brand newwebsite with a social network atits heart.

www.youngrailwayprofessionals.org – took its inspiration fromsocial networks like LinkedIn andFacebook. The idea is to bringyoung people together from allover the rail industry creating aprofessional online community.Members can create their ownprofiles, link with colleagues andfriends and post news andupdates.

Says Paul Cooper, Chairman ofthe Young Railway Professionals,‘I’m really pleased to announcethe launch of a new home of theYoung Railway Professionals. Wewill shortly be entering our fourthyear and, as our organisation hasgrown, we have been looking at

ways of better meeting the needsof young people in our industry.

‘We have invested in the creationof a bespoke website, designed toprovide young people with accessto a calendar of networking eventsin the industry, as well as the YRPonline networking communitywhere our members can createtheir own profiles and begin toconnect with peers from aroundthe world.’

New Media for YRPWhen railway staff heard Maria Rowe had been shortlisted for a StJohn Ambulance award for saving her father’s life but could not affordtickets up to London, First Great Western stepped in and donatedrailway tickets to Maria and her family.

Maria, 11, from Redruth in Cornwall brought her father back to lifeafter he suffered a heart attack. Maria was guided by a 999 call operatoras she performed CPR on her dad, John, following a heart attack lastJuly. On the third cycle ofresuscitation Mr Rowe, 65, started tobreathe again before an ambulancecrew arrived and took overtreatment.

Says FGW’s general manager inthe west, Julian Crow, ‘When ayoung girl like Maria has thepresence of mind to remember herfirst aid training and bring herfather back from the brink - andyou hear that the family cannotafford the trip to London, it is aprivilege to be able to providetickets for them to travel.’

First Class ticket for Maria

Crossrail’s tunnel boring machine,‘Elizabeth’ has started burrowingalong its five mile route creatingthe eastern section of the new railline between Docklands andcentral London.

TBM Elizabeth will work forwardto Farringdon, Crossrail’s longesttunnel section. Sister machine,Victoria, will also begin work onthe eastern tunnels later. As the150 metre long tunnellingmachines advance, precastconcrete segments are placedforming concrete rings which linethe tunnels.

All of the concrete segments are

being manufactured at a newfacility in Chatham in Kent. Theconcrete segments are thendelivered by barge from Chathamto the east London site. Ships arealso being used to transportexcavated material from thetunnels to Wallasea Island inEssex.

TBMs Elizabeth and Victoria willtunnel beneath the River Leatowards the new station box atCanary Wharf where work isalready underway to prepare fortheir arrival. The machines shouldbreak through to the station nextyear.

After maintenance in the largestation box the TBMs will continuetheir journeys towardsWhitechapel, Liverpool Street andFarringdon. Elizabeth and Victoria

are due to arrive at Farringdon inlate 2014. Across the wholeCrossrail project, eight tunnellingmachines will construct 13 milesof twin tunnels under London.


,

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News addict? Keep up to date at:

Andy Milne considers the successof the mix of individual staffpower with private sector dash asthe rail industry prepares for morechange next year.

Time and again the rail industryfinds itself in a quandary when itconsiders the question ofownership. Everyone has a view asto what should be done about therailway. Popular prejudice reachesright up into the realms of showbusiness and informs the counselsof opportunist politicians.

Old battles between left and rightare rehearsed with all the passionof sectarian loathing. However, thequestion of ownership is germaneto the wider debate of what aneconomy is for, who should run itand why.

Dr. BeechingNext year marks three important

anniversaries for the railwayindustry. In 1963 Dr Beechingpublished his ill starred Re-Shaping of British Railways report,recommending massive closures.Twenty years later came theSerpell Report; it was actually sentto Margaret Thatcher on 20thDecember 1982, proposing the

truncation of the industry to ahandful of arterial routes. Then in1993 Sir John Major drove througha bill to privatise the railways.

In this issue Graeme Bickerdiketakes RailStaff’s positivemessaging to new heights byreporting on the good doctor’sinadvertent legacy of a network ofcycle ways. Next year ColinGarratt of Milepost 92½, in aneight part series, looks at thepassage of events since railwayprivatisation.

2013 itself will be a pivotal yearfor railways. High Speed Two, if itclears the final appeals in court,will forge ahead. Reports by SamLaidlaw and Richard Brown intowhat went wrong with West Coastfranchising and what the trouble iswith franchising more generallywill set the industry up for furtherchanges hopefully marking theend of uncertainty for railwayinvestors - private and public.

Many papers carry riders askingreaders not to use what is reportedas the basis of an investmentdecision. At RailStaff we alwaysbelieved right from 1997 onwardsin the future triumph of therailway industry.

We recommend taking that jobwith a railway company andinvesting in the myriad combinesoperating in the booming railsector. For railways continue toconfound the political polarities ofour time. The industry hassurvived ill consideredgovernment intervention and theoccasional private sector let down.To understand the future ofrailways it is helpful to place themin the context of our times.

A better societyThe late Michael Foot – arguably

the least understood of the LabourParty’s post-war leaders - took ashis starting point the plannedeconomy of the Second World War.It is not just peppery colonels whoregaled bored teenagers in the taproom with tales of how we pulledtogether; Foot believed it gave us aglimpse of how a better societymight operate if people put thegreater good above personal gain.

The element missing from thepost-war political settlement inBritain was the sense of needing toface a common foe. The SovietUnion, only recently an ally, wasnot perceived as an enemy on a

par with Hitler. In fact many inwhat passed for a ruling class feltcommunism was the true answerto mindless fascism andirresponsible big business.

The Thatcherite reforms of the1980s swept away much of thestatist intervention espoused bythe post-war Atlee administration.Everything from telephones towater and electricity wasprivatised. The Stock Market wasderegulated and the energies ofprivate capital set free. Thatcherbased her politics on the beliefthat the individual knew best howto look after themselves.

What neither politician graspedwas the need to take risks inbusiness as an individual. Thesorry record of our recession is acatalogue of risk averse civilservants and their counterparts inthe private sector. Whoever wouldhave imagined a Labouradministration bailing out a bank?Financial risk prediction is at theheart of the current franchisingcontroversy.

TakingOwnership

© SHUTTER

STOCK.COM


NEWS

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Keep up to date at:

Railway staff take risksevery day

By contrast railway staff takerisks every day. A BTP officer is atrisk. A guard on a late service is atrisk A track worker despite hugeadvance in safety managementdeals with risk as part of the job.

The triumph of the individualover adversity is best attested bythe RailStaff Awards and thestories featured in this magazine.These record people saved byrailway staff on platforms,lifetimes spent helping colleaguesand new ideas panning out for thegood of the unknowing public.

Building a career in railways is alife time commitment andimmensely rewarding. Howeverthe work is often difficult, lonelyand time sensitive. This is also anindustry were working people goright to the top. David Franks -recently appointed to run IrishRailways started life as a platformclerk. Pino de Rosa head ofBridgeway Consulting started outas a railway bricklayer.

AlliancingRailways confound old fashioned

views of class division. Moreoverthe thinking behind the NetworkRail route management reforms ispushing power down from the topand out onto the actual railways.Local staff manage decisions forthe good of the network.

Similarly successful traincompanies are those where stafftake the lead in developing newideas and are encouraged to putthem in place. Alliancing is thenew watchword - controllersworking together for the commongood.

This is a great industry to join ifyou come from overseas or havebeen bundled out of anotherprofession. Railways draw uponthe talents of 100 countries andcultures; we see school teachers,soldiers and students joining upbringing a well spring of newideas, ingenuity and enthusiasm.

It is this espirit de corps that haskept railways going through thedark times of the 80s and 90s and

has resulted in double the amountof passengers being carried on halfthe mileage of track.

Perhaps Michael Foot wouldhave delighted in an industrywhere staff so often put thecommon good and sense ofpurpose above personal gain.Sturdy entrepreneurs of yearsgone by would enthuse at asociety where the fixers andthinkers are out there leadingfrom the front.

Both would enjoy the RailStaffAwards which highlights the hardwork and brilliance of our staffand the companies andorganisations they represent. Thisis an industry with a future likeno other. Therefore, at the least,railways must evolve a structurethat makes better use of privatesector investors and capitalisesthe inherent talents of the workforce. It is right that the people inrailways should take moredecisions as Sir David Higgins,the head of Network Rail, hasurged.

Entrepreneurial daringWe have seen over franchising

the confusion that results fromentrusting too much power toinexperienced civil servants whosefirst loyalty is not to the railways. Itwould be better by far to evolve astructure that was run by railwaypeople for the railways.

In this pragmatism the railwaysees the joining together ofindividual responsibility withentrepreneurial daring. Our leadersmay wish to reflect over theholidays that despite Beeching,Serpell and Major this industrytravels an iron road, of its ownconstruction, out of failure anddespair.

It is an iron-hard tough road butit shows us how industry and theeconomies of the future mightwork for the good of all. 2013 willbe a good year for the railways -depend upon it.

“Building a career inrailways is a life timecommitment andimmensely rewarding.However, the work isoften difficult, lonelyand time sensitive.”

Edinburgh Waverley Station.

Network Rail has seen 18 of itsformer apprentices graduate fromSheffield Hallam University withhigher national certificates (HNC) inrailway engineering this November.

In total 64 Network Railemployees received honours andmany attended a graduationceremony at Sheffield Town Hallon 16 November. There were 22people who gained theirundergraduate honours in

engineering. Says Ian Miller, 25, a former

Signalling and Telecomsapprentice, now working inPlymouth as a works delivery teamleader, ‘At times it has been astruggle to balance my studies andfull time job. However, thanks tothe fantastic support I havereceived from my colleagues inPlymouth delivery unit, I havebeen able to achieve the results I

hoped for. ‘I joined the Network Rail

Apprenticeship after completingmy A-Levels. I’d always wanted togo to university, however I wantedto be sure that what I choose tostudy would be relevant to mycareer path. Having found a careerand job I enjoy, I look forward toreturning to Sheffield inSeptember to continue my studiesto Foundation Degree Level.’

The railway graduates took thetwo-year part-time course inaddition to a busy professional lifeworking at maintenance depotsand out on track. Network Railpays for the university fees,accommodation and gives themtime off to attend classes andexaminations. It now offers up to40 places a year to both those whohave come through the apprenticescheme as well as those who havetaken a different route.

Says Network Rail’s educationprogrammes manager, BillTempleton, ‘As the networkcontinues to get busier and weface the challenges to get moretrains (running) on time andincrease capacity, we will need amore highly skilled workforce toachieve these.

‘It makes absolute sense for us todevelop the excellent talent wehave coming through ouradvanced apprenticeship schemeand I am convinced that this formof pipeline development will makeus a more attractive employer forother bright men and womenseeking a career in engineering.’


Rowan Joachim, a Transport forLondon Project Leader on theLondon Underground CrossrailTeam, recently helped welcomesixty children from schools inEnfield to the London TransportMuseum’s ‘Inspire Engineering’ day.

The object is to get schoolstudents to think seriously about acareer in railway engineering. Over2,000 children have now visitedthe museum’s Acton Depot in westLondon. Students take part in ahands-on day making full use ofthe museum’s unique transportcollection.

Inspire Engineering aims toencourage Key Stage 3schoolchildren (aged 11-14) tomake exam choices relevant to anengineering career. Results andfeedback are good. Demonstratingthe practical applications ofengineering really increasesfascination in STEM (science,technology, engineering andmathematics) subjects.

As well as involving children in

practical experiments – such asthe Breaking Eggsperiment, whereteams work together to build atrain track that can carry an eggpassenger - they were alsointroduced to an Engineering Ace,an industry ambassador, to givethem a better understanding ofengineering. Rowan Joachimhappily took on the role.

Says Rowan, ‘At the start of theday most of the children have noreal understanding of whatengineering is or think it’ssomething to do with repairingwashing machines or fixing cars.But by the end of the session theystart to see just how muchengineering affects their everydaylives.

‘They are always amazed whenthey hear about the type of workthat engineers get involved in andwhat a creative career it can be. It’sdays like this that help to makechildren think about theopportunities available to them,whether they take up an

engineering apprenticeship afterGCSEs, or stay on at school andcontinue to study science at Alevel.’

A study by the Institute ofPhysics showed that nearly half ofall state schools in England do notsend girls on to study A-levelphysics. A separate report from

the Royal Institution’s L’OrealYoung Scientist Centre claimedthat one in two schoolchildren findscience and maths too difficult ortoo boring to study; this despiteseven in ten children deciding onscience-based careers. The LondonTransport Museum is helping putthat right.

London Transport Museum inspires young engineers

Sheffield honours for railway graduates


TRAINING

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Web. www.vital-rail.com Email. [email protected] Tel. 0845 894 9020 Fax. 0845 894 9699

Women in EngineeringChange the mindset to change the balanceFollowing the NSARE inspection inthe summer, it was made clearthat expert training within the railindustry is of paramountimportance.

However, what is also of greatimportance is ensuring that wehave new blood and a diverseworkforce coming into theindustry. It’s crucial that weaddress this issue and look tochange the mentality of theindustry and consider howtraining providers can engage withthe potential engineers of thefuture.

The engineering industry as awhole has an ageing,predominantly male workforceand we must look to tackle thisissue if the UK’s engineering sectoris to remain competitive. We mustseek out, develop and harness thetalents of potential engineers fromall backgrounds.

Untapped pool of talentWomen represent a largely

untapped pool of talent that wouldprovide huge benefits especially tothe rail sector where women holda credible 23 per cent of themanagement positions.

But the UK figures for the pasttwo years show no change in thepercentage of female engineeringprofessionals; in fact the UK hasthe lowest proportion in the EU,just 8.7 per cent.

More worrying still is the factthat the trend among youngerwomen is for them not to chooseengineering as a career. Cantraining providers assist inchanging the mindset?

Skilled engineersDuring the Second World War

women were trained to becomeskilled engineers, producingammunition, planes and eventanks while men went onto thefront line, demonstrating thatfemales were more than capable oftaking on roles that werepreviously the preserve of men.

Then in the 1950s, time-servedApprenticeships took to theforefront of engineering wheremen once again were leading theengineering industry.

Over seven decades later, genderattitudes towards women arechanging. New generations oftrainers are entering themarketplace who have differentattitudes to women in theindustry, which will undoubtedlylead to more women beingencouraged into the sector.

We need a strategyHowever, despite the fact that

the mindset is changing andopportunities are available forwomen, it appears that early onthey are dissuaded or divertedfrom following the engineeringcareer route. However, theirapparent disinterest inengineering can’t be down toability. In fact in China a third ofthe engineers are female, proving,if proof were needed, that womencan be attracted into theprofession.

The reality in this county is thatgirls often close the door on careeropportunities in engineering bythe choices they make as youngteenagers. The message is loud

and clear; we need a strategy forreaching these young womenbefore culture, tradition andmisconceptions get in our way.

Female ambassadorsTraining providers understand

that there is a need to target youngwomen before their ideas aboutengineering are shaped by aculture that still believesengineering is off-limits.

One of the ways we can do this isby using female ambassadors,visiting schools and careers eventsto show young women the modernface of the industry and theexcellent training opportunitiesthat are available to them.

This is not just about opening upopportunities for women; there

needs to be benefits for bothparties. For them, of course, thereis employment, security andprogression.

For us, having women in theworkplace brings a newperspective and a different skill setthat should change the workplacedynamics for the better, bringingwith it increased productivity. If weall play our part now, the future ofthe industry will be protected.

We must seek out,develop and harnessthe talents ofpotential engineersfrom all backgrounds.

Angelica Momodu, Vital Rail’s first female apprentice.

With the old green canopy gone thehistoric frontage of King’s Crossstation has been revealed for thefirst time in 150 years.

Lewis Cubitt’s magnificent Grade I

listed Victorian station façade takesthe lead in London’s newest publicspace - King’s Cross Square. Thedemolition of one of the capital’slongest surviving temporary

buildings marks the start of the finalphase of the biggest transformationin the station’s 160-year history.

The new square, designed byaward-winning London-based

architects Stanton Williams, willopen in autumn 2013. Says MattTolan, Network Rail’s programmemanager at King’s Cross, ‘We’refinally removing a building that’salmost universally unloved, restoringthe station to its full architecturalglory and creating a modern stationfit for the future that givespassengers and the localcommunity a huge new space toenjoy.

‘With the completion of the finalphase of King’s Cross station’sredevelopment, we aim to bring abit of the grandness and old-worldcharm of Europe’s city-centrerailway stations right to the heart of21st century London.’

The final phase of works followsthe opening of the spectacularglass and steel western concoursein March. This provides three-times more space for passengersthan the old concourse. Improvedlinks to the London Undergroundand St. Pancras International willhelp the 45 million passengers ayear at King’s Cross.


NEWS

Relatives of the 31 people whodied in the fire at King’s CrossUnderground station on 18November 1987 joined fire-fightersand railway staff at a memorialevent at the station.

Sophie Tarassenko, whosebrother Ivan died in the fire aged25 laid flowers. The blaze startedon a wooden escalator andengulfed the London station.Aslef’s Mick Whelan said thetragedy underlined the fact thatsafety was the first priority of anypublic transport system.

‘This is a time for mourning andhonouring the dead,’ he said. ‘Butpart of that process it to determinethat nothing like this must happenon our railways ever again. Wemust never becomplacent,’he said.

King’s CrossRemembered

A new town developmentproposal at Beaulieu Park hasreceived planning permissionfrom Chelmsford City Council.

The 3,600 home community willinclude a new railway station onthe East Anglian main line. Thestation will be built once the

houses are sold. The project whichincludes three new schools and abusiness park, should getunderway next year.

Says Graham Cherry, ChiefExecutive of CountrysideProperties, which is progressingthe project, ‘This decision is the

first step towards new homes, newjobs, and new infrastructure whichwill really take the new City ofChelmsford to the next level. Ourvision is of a sustainablecommunity, designed to thehighest standards, with a uniquesense of place and landscape.’

Cubitt returns to Square

New Station in Essex

An artist’s impression of the new Beaulieu Park railway station,

which will be built once 2,500 homes have been occupied.

© SH

UTTERSTO

CK.COM


The eastern end of the tunnel suffered from

considerable water ingress prior to the repair works.

Hyperbole will flourish in thespringtime as the nationcommemorates the 50th anniver-sary of a butcher wielding hisknife; the deeds of a mad axeman.

Brought in from ICI to stem therailway’s haemorrhaging losses,Richard Beeching’s initialproposals emerged in March 1963,accelerating the contraction of thenetwork seen through the 1950s.Appendix 2 of his report listedfive-and-a-half pages of lineclosure recommendations,representing about 6,000 routemiles, although a fair proportionwas ultimately reprieved thanks tovociferous campaigning.

Known euphemistically as a“reshaping of British Railways”,analysis of Beeching’s broaderimpact can wait for another time.What’s beyond question thoughis that it has proved good news…for cyclists.

Since completion of the Bristoland Bath Railway Path in 1986,many other forgotten trackbedshave resumed a transport role,connecting communities just astheir railways once did. TheNational Cycle Network (NCN),now extending over 13,000 miles,continues to reach new places,often by railway.

Amongst its highlights are someiconic viaducts - Conisbrough,Glen Ogle, Derriton - and acollection of around two dozentunnels. Wishful thinkers hopingto reverse the Beeching cuts mightbemoan such development;pragmatists though will recogniseit as safeguarding alignmentsagainst more substantialencroachment.

Making the connectionAlmost lost amongst the Appendix

2 entries was Bradford Exchange-Batley-Wakefield, encompassing aheavily-engineered section of linebuilt by the Great Northern Railwayin the 1870s.

Now, 48 years after the last trainran over it, part of the route isreturning to public service as aGreenway, accommodating bothfeet and bikes. This will connect twoWest Yorkshire towns - Ossett andDewsbury - via the 179-yardEarlsheaton Tunnel, penetrating ahill that highways have to climbover.

“There is some awkwardtopography there”, affirmsLynnette Evans, Kirklees Council’sCycling Officer. “The roadalternative on the A638 WakefieldRoad is not at all cycle-friendly.

The disused railway provides alevel route and passes manyresidential areas so it will givepeople an opportunity to maketheir journeys more sustainably.

It’s a new green space, helping toimprove health and quality-of-life.And we’re also hoping for aneconomic boost to both towncentres by regenerating what wasa derelict and overgrown corridorbetween them.”

It doesn’t come cheap of course.The work is costing around £1.3million, one-third of which hasbeen secured from the DfT’s LocalSustainable Transport Fund.Additional support is coming viasustainable transport charitySustrans which won lotterybacking in 2007 for its Connect2scheme, to bridge dozens ofstrategically unhelpful gaps in theNational Cycle Network.

Sustrans has been heavilyinvolved in the Earlsheatonproject, completing a feasibilitystudy prior to the route’sdevelopment and undertaking oneof the earlier construction phases,although the latest works havebeen carried out by in-housecontract teams from the two localauthorities involved, Wakefieldand Kirklees.

Graeme Bickerdike reports

Dr. Beeching’s silver lining

Photography by Four by Three


FEATURE

Turn back timeQuite what John Fraser would

make of it is difficult to gauge. Asthe Great Northern’s engineer, itwas his enterprising vision thatdrove the railway from Ossett toDewsbury in the first place.

Tragedy inevitably visited thetunnel during its construction. AFrench miner, James Smythe(presumably not his real name),joined the workforce on theevening of Tuesday 17th December1872. Shortly after his return fromsupper, heavy snowfall caused alandslide 20 yards from theeastern entrance.

This triggered a collapse of thetunnel’s timber centring,entombing Smythe beneath thedebris. His cries grew weaker overthe half-hour that followed untilsilence prevailed. It was Fridaybefore his body was exhumed.

Another rock fall claimed anavvy the following spring. But onTuesday 6th May 1873, aceremonial keystone was insertedinto the arch, following which adinner was laid on at Dewsbury’sMan & Saddle Hotel. Goods trafficstarted to use the tunnel a yearlater.

No significant toll had beeninflicted on the structure byredundancy, imposed in February1965. Bought by Dewsbury

Corporation nine years later, itnow falls under the maintenanceregime of Kirklees Council.

An inspection in March 2010found the tunnel to be in goodorder compared with others of asimilar vintage. Freeze-thaw actionhad caused localised spalling ofthe masonry sidewalls, comprisinga rubble fill behind ashlaredsandstone blocks.

Loose brickwork and bulging wasapparent to the south spandrelface of the east portal. Doing it nofavours was a sapling which hadtaken root above the string course,pushing the parapet upwards.Water ingress afflicted both endsof the tunnel - particularly thesection immediately beyond theeast portal - but the rest waspredominantly dry.

Addressing these defects wouldform much of the worksprogramme. Another majorelement involved taking the pathover Preston Street, which therailway formerly crossed via anunderbridge 40 yards beyond thewest portal. Its deck was salvagedfollowing closure; this hassubsequently benefited theadjacent works as the structureoffered very restricted headroom -certainly too low for lorries to passbeneath. Like-for-like replacementwas therefore not an option.

Light and shadeThe tunnel’s boggy eastern

approach cutting had been clearedas part of a previous phase.Through here a 2.5m path hadbeen laid comprising a recycledsub-base sitting on a starter layerof 100-125mm stone; above theseare a Terram 2000 geotextile and a60mm surface course. Thiseffectively acted as the access roadfor all the tunnel works.

Bats proved a significantconstraint, restricting interioractivity to the period from April toOctober. They also influenced thelighting. Surveys found evidence ofcommon pipistrelles using cracksin the south sidewall, both as asummer night roost and forhibernation.

As a result, the initial plan wasnot to illuminate the tunnel,however Police concerns over anti-social behaviour caused this to bereviewed. Although relativelyshort, the structure incorporates acurve of 22 chains in radius,meaning that one end is not quitevisible from the other.

(Right) Spalled stonework is broken out of the

north sidewall.

(Left) Repair work on one of the spandrel faces.


Finding the right solution provedan interesting technical challenge.The compromise was to installlighting but reduce its intensity atdusk to just 20%, and create a darkcorridor along the south sidewalland at the crown along which thebats could navigate.

Specialist contractor PhilipsWRTL helped to develop thedesign which was evolved throughon-site trials. The starting pointwas to mitigate disruption toexisting roosts while providingsufficient light to ensure userswould feel secure.

Installed are nine directionalunits each incorporating 30 LEDs.The original intention was to fixthese at the haunches of the arch,with the path running directlybelow them to maximise sight

lines. However they are nowsupported on 4m-high posts,positioned 2m from the wall; thepath is aligned down the centre ofthe tunnel. While expectationsmight be for consistent spacing,the posts have been located toavoid known bat roosts.

Steven Hanley, Principal Engineer- Transportation, has overseen theproject on behalf of KirkleesCouncil. “While the lighting designconcept is fairly straightforward,we had to work hard to find theright balance: getting the tunnelopen, getting the right levels,getting the right design.

We had to allay people’s fearsand at the same time meet legalrequirements in terms of notdisturbing any bat roosts. So wehad a couple of night-time visits

and made some adjustments tomake it fit for purpose. All partiesgot involved. As a result we’vereceived approval from the batspecialists and West YorkshirePolice. It also meets BritishStandard lighting levels, so we’veended up with a good solution.”

Power showerInspections revealed that the

tunnel’s original p-way drainage -running along its centreline on afalling gradient of 1:59 to the west- had deteriorated and partlycollapsed. As a first step to dealingwith the water ingress, this wasremoved and a new drain buriedat the foot of the north sidewall.

At both portals, breakers wereused to loosen the accumulateddebris behind the parapets beforebeing removed by a vacuumexcavator. This allowed a concretesaddle to be poured at the westend, with a filter drain inserted.

On top of the east portal, thework exposed an extensive brick-built collection system thatdischarged water from the cuttingface into the railway drain. Thiswas cleared and repaired.

Whilst the result has been toreduce the intensity of thepenetration, broken pipeworkwithin the cutting face will needinvestigation and reinstatement in

(Above) Due to root damage, a section of the

east portal’s parapet had to be rebuilt.

(Right) A concrete saddle is poured above the

west portal, incorporating a filter drain.


order to improve things further.Overcoming the associated accessdifficulties will demand specialistinvolvement.

Spot brickwork and masonryrepairs followed over a period ofthree weeks. Scaffolds facilitatedthis work at the portals, allowing anumber of bat boxes to be builtinto the parapet. Within thetunnel, portable platformsprovided access to the sidewalls,for which a local source ofreclaimed stone was found thatclosely matched the requireddimensions.

Level crossingSeveral design options were put

forward to take the path acrossPreston Street. Howevermaintaining access to the nearbybusiness and residential propertiesproved a constraining factor.Although a footbridge was initiallypreferred, this would haverequired considerable approachramps - starting within the tunnel- in order to obtain the necessaryclearances; it would also haveproved visually intrusive.

The chosen solution involves anat-grade crossing, with the roadrealigned horizontally to providesufficient visibility around thehillside and an existing bridgeabutment, and vertically tominimise the path’s descent fromtrackbed level.

The two intersect at the crest ofthe road’s new vertical curve; thepath falling at a maximumgradient of 1:20 as is preferred forNCN routes. Considerableearthworks had to be formed inorder to accommodate thisarrangement as the land droppedsteeply away on Preston Street’swest side whilst the formerrailway, having crossed the bridge,was carried on a 6m-highembankment.

Traffic was switched onto the newalignment during the course of oneNovember weekend, allowingbackfilling operations to take placeabove the old road and for theconnecting path to be laid from thetunnel mouth. Still serving as aretaining wall, the abutment wasreshaped and tidied up.

And onwardsJanuary will see an official

opening for the new section ofpath. The Council’s attention willthen turn to a 600m missing linkbetween the site of Earlsheaton’sformer station and the localauthority boundary, beyond whichthe Greenway has already beenlaid by Wakefield Council.

The approaches to the tunnel willimprove aesthetically when thescattered grass and wild flower seeddisguise the bare verges, but usershave already been enjoying theGreenway in numbers, welcoming

the local connectivity it brings.The second phase of Beeching’s

railway reorganisation, publishedin February 1965, proposed afocussing of investment on around3,000 miles of major trunk lines.Representing less than half thenetwork, this underpinned hisview that there was still too muchduplication of routes. He returnedto ICI four months later, thegovernment having rejected hisvision.

Fifty years on, Beeching’s legacycan still stoke the fire of many railenthusiasts. Even his most ardentsupporters could not argue thathis surgery was unequivocallysuccessful, but perhaps we willcome to reflect more positively onit as discarded infrastructure isincreasingly rehabilitated to play apositive social role.

FEATURE

(Left) Backfilling work takes place over Preston

Street’s old alignment, with traffic diverted onto

its new one.

(Below) The cycle path’s tarmac surface is laid

through the tunnel.


Wha

t do

they do

A critical friend - that’s how thechief executive of Passenger Focus,Anthony Smith, sees theorganisation’s relationship withthe rail industry. Someone whoseviews you value even if it isn’twhat you want to hear.

It’s a relationship which datesback to 1947 and the formation ofthe Central Transport ConsultativeCommittee (CTCC) - a body whichwith a network of regionalcommittees was designed to give aformal voice to the views ofpassengers.

Since then the organisation’sname and responsibilities havechanged a number of times.Eventually the Rail Users’Consultative Committee (RUCC)became Passenger Focus - theoperating name of the RailPassengers’ Council - in 2006.

Really annoying‘I’m sure at certain times they

find us really annoying,” saysAnthony Smith. “They probablythink we’re focussing on thewrong thing or being too vocalabout certain things, so it’s a funnyrelationship.

‘I believe they probably thinkwe’re necessary because theyrealise that to a degree they runmonopolies and you’ve got to havea counter balance theme ofconsumer interests.’

Passenger Focus has an annualbudget of £4.7 million, employsaround 40 people and seeks to getthe best deal for passengers usingresearch-based evidence to argue

for what passengers want. Theremit includes bus passengers andtram passengers.

It’s this focus on research whichmeans the organisation’s NationalPassenger Survey is widelyregarded as the most accuratemeasure of performance withinthe industry. The quality ofservice isn’t just measured bypunctuality but by whatpassengers think of every aspectof their journey.

Independent viewpointThe National Passenger Survey,

which polls more than 65,000 railpassengers each year, doesn’t justlook at overall satisfaction for eachoperator but asks for views on theattitude of staff, car parking andeven the toilet facilities. It alsoconsiders how well operators arecatering for different types ofpassengers.

‘We work really hard to keeplines of communication open withthe industry and we work veryhard on the tone of what we do sowe’re not shrill, and we’re not acampaigning organisation that’sshouting the whole time,’ saysAnthony.

‘Everybody in the industry andthe government says what’s veryuseful about what we do is theresearch because we do it from anindependent viewpoint. We’ve gotno axe to grind. We’ve got a verysimple business model; we go andask passengers what they think,we write it down and then wepublish it.’

How effective isPassenger Focus?

Aside from the battles over faresand ticketing, Passenger Focus haspushed the industry, the ORR andthe government to focus more onhow the railway managesdisruption and how quickly itfeeds information to the platform.Punctuality remains the key factorgoverning passenger satisfaction,but it’s poorly managed delays thatcontinue to frustrate users themost.

As well as pressuring operatorsto improve services, PassengerFocus acts as a translator oftechnical and often confusing dataand terminology. Train punctualitydata takes many different forms.What we’d call late might beconsidered on time by anothermeasure. Passenger Focus acts asan independent watchdog whichpositions itself as a filter betweentrain companies and the travellingpublic.

The West Coast debacleTraditionally franchise renewals

give Passenger Focus anopportunity to lever the wants ofrail users into formal proposals.The West Coast debacle has morethan ever before brought thefranchising process into question.

The ensuing row has madepassengers more aware of theprocesses which decide who is incharge of the country’s trains. Thesystem can appear closed off topassengers.

‘With franchising you have a very

Passenger Focus –A Critical Friend

Marc Johnson reports on the passenger’s championand long term ally of the railways

Continuing our series looking at people and organisationsin the rail industry, RailStaff asks the question:What do they do?

?

Anthony Smith,

Chief Executive of Passenger Focus.


FEATURE

big, very complex, very long-termdecision, which frankly you’re notreally going to get passengersfocussed on,’ says Anthony.

“They’re far more worried aboutwhether they’re going to get a seattoday or tomorrow, or whether thetrain is going to be punctual nextweek when they have to get towork on time for somethingspecial.’

Making sure long-termpassenger interests are promotedin these complicated debates isimportant. ‘What is clear is thatthe process of franchising needsmuch more opening up so thatpassengers have a much cleareridea of what is being done on theirbehalf.’ Smith hopes this will givepassengers a much betteropportunity to inform the process.

Make a differencePassenger Focus is a mediator.

Every year it deals with around3,500 passenger complaints -usually from rail users unhappyabout how a train operator hasdealt with their initial complaint.

‘Our job is to make a differencefor passengers. We aim to beuseful.’ Passenger Focus producesresearch that is useful to theindustry and government. The aimis to help them make rational andsupportive decisions about therailways and their passengers.Importantly Passenger Focus sticksup for passengers, making suretheir voice is heard in an industrywhich has a lot of largemonopolistic structures.

In the organisation’s annualreport, unpaid fares notices werehighlighted as a major area ofconcern. Unhappily regularpassengers who have forgottentheir rail card are treated the sameas those who are trying to defraudthe railway.

Passenger Focus has been askingfor more rail staff to use consistentdiscretion day to day. SaysAnthony, ‘Imagine you have been acustomer of a train company for 26years. One day you forget your railcard and bang you’re done. There’sno notion of: Hang on I’ve been acustomer of yours for 26 years; whyare you treating me like this.

‘The industry has to step backand think about this from a

consumer relations point of viewas well as collecting revenue whichis quite right and proper.’

After 13 years of gentlepersuasion as a critical friend,Anthony believes the industry hasbeen listening to their advice, evenif sometimes begrudgingly.

“It definitely has become moreconsumer focussed and I think thewhole industry has become morepassenger focussed. Thegovernment has and the ORR hasas well. It’s slowly, slowly gettingthere.”

Smith might have annoyedguards and rail chiefs alike butmost agree the industry needsfriends - and a friend in need is afriend indeed.

“We’ve got a verysimple businessmodel; we go and askpassengers what theythink, we write itdown and then wepublish it.”ANTHONY SMITH,CHIEF EXECUTIVE,PASSENGER FOCUS

FOR SAFETY’S SAKE KEEP IT LOCAL, PERSONALAND DELEGATE THOSE SAFETY RESPONSIBILITIESSpecialists should advise: Locals with ballast scratched

boots must be empowered, and accountable

Recent severe weather reminds usthat mankind does not know it alland still makes mistakes,sometimes wilfully but oftenunintentionally. It is part of beinghuman.

As we approach the season ofgoodwill and “turning over a newleaf” for 2013 we need to re-balanceour approach to track safety byreturning to a human scale of workorganisation. Continuouslyimproving systems, processes andequipment is a waste of time if welose the commitment of those whodo the work. Arguably this isalready happening.

The weekend commitment ofthose working in cold wet andfreezing conditions, especially justbefore the dawn breaks deservesthe simplest of methodstatements and procedures. Aremulti-sponsored PICOPs (Personsin Charge of Possession),Engineering Supervisors (ES’s) etc.the driving force behind the neverending changes we suffer?

Are the details hammered out bythem or by competence assessedprofessionals with cleanunscratched boots sitting roundtables in the break out areas ofcomfortable heated offices? Mostof us know that the latter is theless safe norm these days.

Working on track for anhour with a Road/Railer andno possession!

What is described by the RailAccident Investigation Branch(RAIB) as a “Possession Irregularity”(but could easily have become amultiple fatality accident) atDunblane on October 28th iscurrently being investigated. Areader has already commentedthat he finds the detailsunbelievable!

A fifteen mile long Saturdaynight to Sunday morningpossession had been taken by asingle PICOP between Stirling andBlackford Signal Box. When thedrainage work of the gang wascompleted within the possessiontime their ES attempted to contactthe PICOP to tell him that theirroad/rail vehicle and the gang werenow clear of the tracks havingfinished their work.

Having failed to contact thePICOP he rang the Signaller atBlackford who told him that thePICOP had handed the tracks backto traffic an hour earlier! I wonderhow many work sites were set upthat night and how well the PICOPknew the ES’s.

Did the PICOP even know theywere working? Was he in directcontact with each ES as the workdetails were planned? Is a 15-milelong single PICOP Possession thebest way of doing work at thatlocation? The final report willmake interesting reading.

84 minutes ahead ofschedule when it derailed

I suspect similar detachmentplayed a part in the derailment ofa Class 90 locomotive owned byFreightliner but on hire to Virgin

Trains which derailed at BletchleyJunction around 0227 on themorning of 3rd February this year(pictured above).

The RAIB report says that it wasbeing driven from Crewe toWembley when it “derailed as itwas negotiating the divergingroute at Bletchley Junction”. Itsspeed at the point of derailmentwas 65.5 mph though the speedlimit was 15 mph.

The driver suffered minorinjuries but there was significantdamage to the locomotive, trackand overhead line equipment.Although the signal changed fromred to “F” for the diverging routethe driver thought he wassignalled straight through andapplied full power before realisinghis error.

He had booked his taxi homefrom Wembley Depot for 50minutes before his scheduledarrival time and “several times heexceeded the speed limit for alight locomotive in one casetravelling at 77 mph when thespeed should have been no morethan 60 mph”.

The locomotive was 33 minutesahead of schedule leaving Creweand 84 minutes ahead when itderailed. The report commends

the signaller at Bletchley who putthe last signal on the Down Fast todanger stopping a train just 550metres from the derailedlocomotive that was fouling thetrack in front of it.

If the job could sensibly andsafely be done in an hour less whydidn’t the plan reflect this? If thetaxi had been ordered early beforewhy did no one question the earlyrunning?

Too fast but thespeedometer was faulty

The actions of the driver of thelight locomotive that derailed atBletchley Junction and the driverof the train that passed signalSD4-81 at danger on April 26th thisyear near Stafford bearcomparison.

The locomotive was en routefrom Washwood Heath to Crewewhen it passed signal SD4-81 atdanger on the Down Slow linesouth of Stafford on West CoastMain Line. The owners of thelocomotive held their own Inquirywhich established that thelocomotive had a faultyspeedometer and had been drivenat speeds above those permitted.

The incident was not reported toRAIB until September. It is now


SAFETYColin [email protected]


under investigation by RAIB whohave already suggested that thereis insufficient evidence of thehired-in driver’s competence. Hisemployer surely knew the details ofhis competences and recent drivingand the owners of the locomotivechecked it too, didn’t they?

“Forefront ofeveryone’s mind?”

I recall taking part in Institutionof Safety and Health RailConferences in both London andCardiff some years ago. These arenow well established with the 8thsuch event held on November 20that Glazier’s Hall in central London.

Chair of the Commons SelectCommittee on Transport LouiseEllerman MP spoke and gained theheadlines with the claim that“health and safety can aidindustry cost cutting”. I agree.

Predictably Richard Price from theOffice of Rail Regulation stressed theneed for “Health and Safety being inthe forefront of everyone’s mind”and drew attention to regulationpriorities – level crossings, workforcesafety, occupational health androlling stock.

A new award for occupationalhealth was presented to Crossrailat the Conference for theirachievements. Since February 2010no fewer than 6,000 of their staffhave had health assessments andthey have staged campaigns toraise awareness on sites.

Crossrail claim that the benefitsare already being seen with“increased surveillance andengagement with sub tiercontractors”. But I am surprisedthat this rail award went to anorganisation which is still in theprocess of building its railway.

Seven cows and a calf killedOn Thursday July 12th at 6-40 pm

a two car Class 150 Diesel MultipleUnit travelling from Gloucester toFishguard ran into a herd of cowsat 52 mph. The driver saw them ashe rounded the bend but hisemergency brake application didnot stop the train before he raninto them derailing all wheels ofthe first coach.

Both coaches remained uprightwhen the train stopped just 190metres from where the driver firstsaw the cattle (and 60m metres onfrom the point of derailment).There were two staff and 28passengers on the train but no-one

was injured, although seven cowsand a calf were either killed or hadto be destroyed.

During the afternoon 25 beastshad gained access to the railway atMidland Farm footpath crossing.They had wandered half a miletowards Clarebeston Road. A levelcrossing inspection team inspectsevery six months. Their December2011 report identified thedownside hanging post as being“in poor condition, in need ofreplacement with repairs toadjacent fencing.”

Their March 2012 inspectioncommented on the work nothaving been done, but work wascarried out on June 13th. However,the new fencing straining post was75 mm instead of the specified 100mm section.

The RAIB report says the cowspushed against the under sizedpost and simply broke it off at orjust above ground level. Havingidentified this, the RAIB decidedthat a full investigation was notnecessary.

In the month between therepairs and the accident I find itdifficult to believe that thepatroller, local supervisor, farmerand others were all unaware of theinadequate repair. It is surely morelikely that they all knew aspecialist group were responsibleand took no action. Keeping thingslocal and working closely withadjacent farmers etc. is better andsafer every time!

With Network Rail’s currentorganisation in place it should beeasy for Routes to buildrelationships between localmaintenance people, trainoperators and their drivers and

neighbouring farmers andlandowners.

Local engineers and supervisorsneed to be empowered to takeaction and be responsible for thesafety and reliability of all railwayinfrastructure on their patch. Theywill need access to specialistservices but should remainresponsible.

Systems and equipment

improvements are a good thingbut the zero statistics we all seekwill only be achieved by ensuringthose on track feel valued,responsible and supported by theirengineers, planners and managers.

We need a New Year resolutionacross the industry to take thisforward in 2013 instead ofconstantly tinkering with rulesand instructions all the time.

FatalityJust as this article went to press I

was saddened to learn that a 26-year old SkyBlue subcontractor wasstruck and killed on December 4thby the 1119 train from Scunthorpeto Lincoln Central at Sykes Laneabout half a mile Lincoln side ofSaxilby Station.

He was a member of a NetworkRail maintenance gang carryingout kango packing when the trainhit him at 1-55 pm. The accident isnow under investigation by boththe RAIB and Office of RailRegulation. My thoughts andprayers are with his family andfriends for whom 4th Decemberwill now always be remembered.

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NEWS

For the past seven years, GraemeBickerdike’s website, ForgottenRelics, has been quietly recordingmany of the tunnels and viaductsthat were abandoned by therailway as part of the industry’srestructuring through the 1950sand 60s.

A mad thing to do you mightthink, but amongst them are sometruly iconic structures: the 2,997-yard Catesby Tunnel on the GreatCentral’s ambitious LondonExtension - known to many as “thelast main line” - and “the otherForth rail bridge” which spannedthe river near Alloa five yearsbefore its limelight was stolen bythat famous cantilevered colossusdownstream.

With new material added eachmonth, Forgotten Relics(www.forgottenrelics.co.uk)continues to grow in both scopeand reach: more of the 140 tunnelsand 120 viaducts now featurephotographically and historically,and the site now consistently ratesin the top 2% in terms of globalwebsite traffic.

According to top rail writer,Graeme Bickerdike, the popularityof Forgotten Relics is an indicatorof just how much underlying

interest there is in Victorianengineering achievements.

“If you explain to people howthese structures were built and theconditions experienced by thoseinvolved, they suddenly see themin a different light. Viaducts arepart of the landscape and, as such,easy to admire.

‘Tunnels though are different -dark and hidden away. Each onerepresents a victory of humanenterprise over natural andtechnological barriers. Howevermuch of a liability they might be totheir owners, we shouldn’t losesight of that.”

As an example, Graeme points tothe first Woodhead Tunnel whichcoaxed trains through the Penninesbetween Sheffield and Manchester.At three miles in length, GeorgeStephenson condemned it tofailure before it was built, declaringthat he would eat the firstlocomotive that got through it.

But seven years of exertionculminated in its opening in 1845.To aid progress, five constructionshafts had been sunk from themoorland above it, the deepestbeing 590 feet. Shaft No.2 tookfour-and-a-half years to complete.Huge volumes of water hampered

progress, with 5.7 million tonsof the stuff having to bepumped out of the workings.

Yet despite all that, when the12 faces of the heading wereeventually joined together, thegreatest inaccuracy in line andlevel was just three inches. “AsStephenson probablyrecognised, this wasn’t just atunnel - it was a miracle!”asserts Graeme.

It is for that reason that, as wellas recording such relics, thewebsite’s other objective is tocelebrate them. There are desktoppictures to download, archive filmsand reminiscences from formerrailwaymen. Also printed eachyear is a calendar featuring adozen of the most strikingstructures, available through thesite for £9.35 each.

Says Graeme, ‘There is a sadnessabout these places - particularlywhen you consider thesignificance of their former roles -but dereliction can still beevocative and eye-catching.They’re certainly worthy of gracinga kitchen wall.’

Judge for yourself by ordering acalendar atwww.forgottenrelics.co.uk/calendar.

Lest we forget

14th March 2013

Loughborough University

Fantastic speaker lineup announced soon.


Dates have been confirmed forone of the rail industry’s mostsuccessful festivals.

Indietracks 2013 tunes up for itsseventh festival at the MidlandRailway at Butterley on 26/27/28July next year. This is later thanlast year when the dates were putback to the start of the month toaccommodate the equallypopular London Olympics.

Indietracks hosts an inspiringarray of independent musicians,many flying just below the cuspof fame and fortune. The idea isthe brain child of Stuart MacKaywho once worked as a carriagerestorer on the Midland Railway.

Bands play on several stages –outdoors and indoors, in a nearbychurch and on the trains

themselves. Around 50 artistsplayed this year. The festivalhosts art and craft workshops forall the family and a selection ofdiscos after the bands finish.Festival goers can have unlimited

rides on the railway over theweekend, as well as full access toother railway attractions andmuse.

Previous headliners atIndietracks have included Camera

Obscura, Allo’ Darling, EdwynCollins, The Pains of Being Pure atHeart, Teenage Fanclub, LosCampesinos, The WeddingPresent, Au Revoir Simone andArt Brut.

IndietracksRocks

Buterley

Benchmarkfor Poet

Dubbed the world’s most romantic metro system, theParis Metro has turned to an unromantic factory inMarket Harborough to keep its passengers moving forthe next three years.

RATP, operator of the Metropolitan, has signed a dealto buy wheels for its escalators from Texane in MarketHarborough, Leicestershire. Over the next three years,Texane will supply around 6,000 polyurethane wheels tothe RATP group.

It’s a major step forward for the manufacturer, whosesecret system binds solid polyurethane tyres toaluminium or iron wheels so strongly that they last foryears even under heavy strain – a crucial selling pointfor busy mass transit systems that can’t afforddowntime.

Says managing director Arnab Dutt, ‘Up to now, wewere supplying RATP on an ad hoc basis but thiscontract gives us security that the business willcontinue, and we see it as a vote of confidence in therobustness of our product.’

Unlike London, Paris’s subway is shallow at around 25feet so most of the wheels will be used on travelators,rather than escalators. Running up to half a kilometre inlength, these moving walkways are a crucial part of thenetwork, connecting many of its 301 stations andplatforms beneath the busy Parisian streets.

Although predominantly flat, some of the Metro’stravelators cover slight inclines, putting extra strain on

the wheels. The Metro’s original art nouveau entrancesare iconic symbols of romantic Paris. Dating from 1900,more than 80 survive - three of them featuring elaborateglass canopies - while the rest have a cast-ironbalustrade, featuring plant motifs, and orange globes.

A statue of the poet, Philip Larkin,has proved so popular at HullParagon station that a bench hasbeen put up around a pillar close by.

Larkin lived in Hull and worked asa librarian at Hull University. Thestatue was erected in 2012. Fiveplates bearing examples of his workwere put up in 2011. The statueshows the poet dashing for a trainand is named ‘late getting away’ aquote from his poem The WhitsunWeddings.

We’ll always have Paris

© SHUTTER

STOCK.COM


NEWS

Train drivers at Northern Rail havehelped reduce its carbon footprintby 23% since 2007.

By limiting fuel consumption,Northern Rail has used 136,784litres less fuel since 2009. The traincompany has also reduced utilityconsumption by 9.8 million kWhsince 2008, the rough equivalent ofelectricity consumption by 3,000households.

Northern Rail measures its entirecarbon footprint, encompassingdirect emissions and indirectemissions associated with itssuppliers. Strategies includepioneering eco-driving techniquesand better training for drivers.

Says Dr Karen Booth, Head ofSustainability for Northern Rail,‘We have used a strategic

approach to achieve thesefantastic results, starting witheducating our employees, such astrain drivers as to how they candirectly have a positive impact onthe environment. We have reducedthe time that trains spend idle atstations, and we have ourchampions within the companythat actively encourage ouremployees to change theirbehaviour.

‘We carry out many local projectsaround our network to reduceconsumption and waste, workingwith charities and school childrento get the important messageacross. We even have a policy ofconsidering environmentalelements when it comes toprocurement decisions for thebusiness, ensuring our suppliersreflect our beliefs and help us toreduce our overall impact on thewider environment.’

Carbon cut

Better fuel management makes environmental sense.

Passengers using the country’sbiggest and busiest stations willget a helping hand from a newarmy of volunteers during thefestive season and beyond.

The move comes after theacclaimed success of the railindustry’s travel champions at theLondon Olympic and ParalympicGames. Almost 600 travelchampions from across NetworkRail’s business worked alongsidestation teams to provide traveladvice to visitors from across theworld as well as commuters lastsummer during the Games.

The travel champions are avisible part of the Olympic legacyfor passengers across the country.Staff are released from normalduties to help out on platformsand concourses at 17 Network Railmanaged stations.

Network Rail intends to makethe volunteers a permanentfeature in its stations at busy

times, such as bank holidayweekends and during big sportingevents. The decision was madeafter staff who had volunteeredduring the Games said theywanted to continue to help thetravelling public in future.

Says Olympic long-jump goldmedallist Greg Rutherford, ‘Travelchampions were a fantastic part ofthe Games. I had family coming toLondon who don’t use publictransport that often – people likemy dad, who had absolutely no

idea where he was going and wasstill trying to ring me on the day ofthe competition to find out how toget to the stadium!

‘So for him to manage itperfectly just shows what a goodjob the travel champions did. I’dlike to say a massive ‘thank you’from me and all the other athletes,because without the travelchampions it would never havebeen as smooth as it was and itwouldn’t have been the greatestOlympics in recent history.’

Olympicvolunteers

win rematch


NEWS

Supporters of Stansted Airportwant to see more use made of therailway as well as a link to theproposed Crossrail 2 line andfaster journey times.

‘We have the spare capacity andinfrastructure in place to support35 million passengers a year andwith faster rail links we can attractthe airlines whose passengersvalue quick and reliable links toLondon,’ says airport chief, NickBarton.

‘That’s why we launched our newrail campaign - Stansted in 30 - topersuade Government and the railindustry to commit to reducingjourney times from London toStansted to around 30 minutes.’

As controversy rages over thethird runaway at Heathrow, airchiefs at Stansted believe the timeis ripe for expanding the airport.With better transport links theairport could handle an additional1.4 million passengers a year.

‘We believe there is a strong case

to link the airport to high speedrail and support the proposals toextend Crossrail to Stansted. TheEast of England has suffered fortoo long from the effects of under-investment in the rail network andthese improvements would have asignificant impact on the localeconomy, jobs and long termgrowth.

‘Our vision is for Stansted to bethe best connected air-rail hub inthe UK, delivering fast, frequentand more reliable services for our

passengers and the localcommunity. The case is clear forinvesting in the railway toStansted,’ Mr Barton said.

The Crossrail 2 scheme involvesbuilding a north-south rail linkacross London betweenWimbledon and Leyton using thedisused track between Chelseaand Hackney. Ruud Haket,managing director of GreaterAnglia, wants to see moreinvestment in rail access toStansted.

‘At Greater Anglia, we arecommitted to working with regionalstakeholders to help secure greaterinvestment in rail services on theWest Anglia route to Stansted Airport.

‘Passengers are already seeing thebenefits of high quality new trainson airport services, but to achievefuture aspirations such as quickerjourney times, more capacity on theroute and more late night and earlymorning trains, will requiresignificant investment in additionalinfrastructure.’

Rail visionfor Stansted

Carlisle’s Waverley Viaductremains closed to pedestriansdespite plans by locals to open thedisused structure to cyclists,runners and walkers.

The British Railways Board(Residuary) Ltd is responsible forrailway properties no longer in useby the operational railway. Thegrade II listed structure spanningthe River Eden is a popular localfeature. However local authoritiesare not prepared to take on thestructure and keep it safe for thepublic.

BR says fences are needed eitherside of the viaduct to protectpeople. Although city leaders aresympathetic, progress has beenslow because of a private land

owner on the north bank whoopposes the idea. Now BR’splanning application to puttemporary fences at each end ofthe viaduct has been opposed.Locals want to see a right of wayorder introduced.

Says David Ramshaw of the‘Save the Waverley Viaduct’campaign, ‘Reopening it would

make an enormous difference to alot of people, especially in BelleVue. It would provide a link to thenature reserves, provide a traffic-free crossing of the Eden andimprove the footpath network ofthe city.’

The viaduct carried the Carlisle-Galashiels-Edinburgh railway,which closed to passengers in 1969.

It’s held every year and thisyear the Rail Staff Carol Service,supported by the TransportBenevolent Fund, will takeplace on Wednesday 19thDecember 2012 at St Mary’sChurch in Somers Town.

The church is on EversholtStreet to the right of Eustonstation looking in the directionof travel. Says editor AndyMilne, ‘This is a real chance tocatch up with old friends andhelp support the TransportBenevolent Fund which does somuch to assist railway staff lessfortunate than ourselves.’Refreshments will be served inthe vestry afterwards.

Rail staffcarolservice

Airport chiefs want to see London – Stansted

journey times reduced to 30 minutes.

Don’t blameBritish Rail

Information

from TBF on

0300 333 2000

ETD 00 38571Auto

1200 38571

RAIL STAFF

ChristmasCarol Service

withLondon’s Transport Choir

conductor: Chris Loder

The Parish Church of St Mary the VirginEversholt Street, London NW1

Lunchtime service at 1230Wednesday

19 December 2012Light refreshments in the vestry afterwards

Supported by Sponsored by

TransportBenevolentFund

The Transport Benevolent Fund (known as TBF) is a registered charity inEngland and Wales (1058032) and in Scotland (SC040013)

Freightliner has taken delivery ofthe first of its new ‘Shortliner’wagons from VTG.

The fleet of twin platformShortliner wagons is designed tomeet the demand of the evolvingdeep sea container market for 40ftcontainers. Historically theindustry made greater use of 20foot long containers and still dealsin 20 foot equivalent units or TEUs.

The 40ft deck length, twoplatform, wagons are designed tomaximise the amount of 40ftcontainers that can be hauled perservice minimising under-utilised20ft space. Through the use ofthese new wagons, Freightlinercan haul longer, heavier trainsusing PowerHaul locomotives.

Shortliner services increase thenumber of 40ft containers hauledper train by over 42% incomparison to a standard Class 66

service hauling 24 wagons.Shortliner services commenced atthe end of October, running eighttwin wagons (16 platforms) on itsservices between the Port ofFelixstowe and Manchester. To date,each platform has been fullyutilised with a 40ft container.Freightliner will have completed itsinitial delivery of 86 (40ft) platformsby the end December 2012.

Says Adam Cunliffe ManagingDirector, ‘Freightliner’s investmentin the new Shortliner wagonsdemonstrates continuedcommitment to understandingand then meeting our customers’needs in a market which isincreasingly dominated by 40ftcontainers. The new wagonscomplement Freightliner’s existing60ft wagon fleet ensuring adramatically improved utilisationof both 40ft and 20ft containers.’

After their first few Christmaseschildren will start to question thephenomena of Father Christmas.

Just how does one elderly man ina sleigh get round all the childrenin the world? Even allowing for thelong night and the turning of theearth it’s a lot of work to do. Theanswer of course is that SantaClaus functions by magic and thehelp of a small army of nimbleelves.

Challenging featsMagic seems to be the

watchword in the wider rail freightindustry, which performs equallychallenging feats every night allthe year round. The extraordinary

rise of intermodal rail freight hasbeen met with hard work andingenuity by Britain’s railwayindustry.

Lineside structures, bridges andstation canopies have been pulledback allowing the bigger 9’6”containers to use the railway. Likethe portly figure in red, continentalsized freight can now slipgracefully through the narrowstraits of the home counties.

Relatively unknownHowever, the main disadvantage

rail freight faces in Britain is thatwider industry does not know howto use it. Very little news of whatrail freight is achieving commands

press interest. Despite the hardwork of the Rail Freight Group andperspicacious press officers at themajor freight companies the wholenetwork of terminals, trains anddepots remains relativelyunknown to anyone outside theimmediate rail freight industry.

Frank Roach, now partnershipmanager at HiTrans in Scotland,tells a story of a company wantingto move timber from the north ofScotland. Had they thought ofusing rail? No they hadn’t.

Frank worked out where thetimber was being felled, how muchhook and haul would cost andwhether there was a suitable railhead nearby - there was. He thensowed all the elements together,shouted timber and the trainsheaded south. It took more effortthan described but worked well.

Far more needsto be known

Most rail freight companies haveexcellent sales and marketing staffwell attuned to their customersneeds. What is needed are moreambassadors for rail freight.

Railway staff in the industrygenerally are good ambassadorsfor railways - and rail freight.However, far more needs to beknown about the potential for railfreight and how it is organised ifwe are to emulate the inspiredexample of Frank Roach morewidely.

Communications are important.Every year 1000s of children sendnotes to Father Christmas. Theidea seems to work. Would thatthe rail industry could speak withauthority on rail freight withsimilar informed conviction.


Ambassadors needed

Freightliner is carrying more 40 foot containers than before.

Long Haul forShortliner

DB Schenker Rail UK has launched a new door-to-door intermodalservice, D2D.

Ease of use is the watchword. Customers will be able to a book afreight movement for a container irrespective of mode, road or rail.That’s all taken care of by D2D, billed as an integrated transport servicefrom the quayside direct to the warehouse. The service will utilise roadand rail haulage as appropriate to ensure goods are delivered on-time.

Says Carsten Hinne, Managing Director Logistics for DB Schenker RailUK, ‘Rail freight is easy to use and our job is to ensure we make it sofor customers. D2D allows ease of access to rail freight services forcustomers in the knowledge that handling within ports and finaldeliveries by road are already connected.

Our aim is to help retailers and manufacturers increase their use ofrail freight and with D2D we are confident we have a product thatmeets their needs.’

DB Schenker Rail’s door to door service makes it easy for customers to switch to rail freight.

Door to Door


FREIGHT FOCUS

With the constant press attentionon the passenger railway at present,it can be easy to overlook railfreight, says the Rail Freight Group.

From time to time a story hits theheadlines, such as this year’sconcerns over track access chargesbut, for the most part, rail freight isbusy getting on with running trains,and growing business.

The rail freight statistics show thatthere has been continued growth involumes, the last full year showed10% growth. Underlying theheadlines though, the individualmarkets are showing differenttrends and facing different issues.

Moving power station coal haslong been the bedrock of the railfreight sector, and even now makesup around one third of all business.Demand for coal depends on thegeneration mix at the powerstations, and critically the price ofgas, which has fluctuatedsignificantly in recent years.

Emissions controls, which comeinto force in 2015 are expected tosee a number of coal fired plants,including Didcot, close down, withassociated loss of traffic. Yet othersites do have a longer term futureand are likely to continuereceiving significant volumes ofrail-fed coal.

BiomassSome generators are also looking

to invest in biomass generation,either completely or ‘co-fired’ withcoal. Biomass offers a bigopportunity for rail freight asvolumes will necessarily be higherthan the equivalent coalmovement, but there are alsochallenges with equipment, andtransit conditions, as well as withrail capacity. This is an importantmarket for operators, and needsdevelopment in coming years.

The aggregates sector also makessignificant use of rail freight. Itsfortunes are tied closely toconstruction activity, and trafficlevels tend to rise and fall with thetwists and turns of the economy.Nonetheless, rail has continued toconsolidate its position in thissector, including to serve Olympicsconstruction and now in themovement of Crossrail spoil.

Intermodal containersHowever, the sector which has

undergone the mosttransformation is the movement ofintermodal containers by rail. In thelast decade, volumes haveincreased by some 78%, and nowcomprises the largest businesssector for the freight operators.

The majority of this traffic ismoved from the major deep seaports which receive imported goodsfrom the Far East and Americas, aswell as European destinations.

Felixstowe and Southampton arethe two largest generators of traffic,with Felixstowe seeing some 30daily return rail services, andSouthampton not far behind. Thesetrains operate to a range of inlanddestinations, including terminals inthe West Midlands, North West,North East and Scotland.

As well as services from ports, socalled ‘domestic intermodal’ is alsogrowing albeit from a small base.These rail services are runningbetween UK-based distributioncentres often moving traffic forretail customers, and replacingtrunk hauls by lorry on themotorway network.

The rail linked interchange atDaventry has been at the forefrontof these developments, with regularservices to and from Scotlandoperating on behalf of logisticscompanies and major retailers.

Indeed, some companies havenow relocated their warehousingonto the site, to reduce the need forlocal road legs to the terminal.Other sites are also beingdeveloped, including new facilities

near Castle Donington inLeicestershire, and across thecountry.

And what of the future? Well, railforecasts predict strong growth,particularly if the development ofrail linked interchanges andwarehouses can keep pace withthe aspirations for a greater use ofrail.

There is still market share to bewon from the deep sea ports, andgeneral growth in this sector,including from new developmentswhich should feed through intoincreased rail movements. Biomass,and waste by rail offer new bulkopportunities alongside traditionalmarkets.

Delivering growth has plenty ofchallenges for the sector, in railcapacity, in continuing to improveefficiency and in meeting the everchanging demands of modernlogistics. There needs to be a stableand consistent policy frameworkfrom Government, to supportinvestment from the private sector.

Customers need to drive thesector to meet their needs, and alsorecognise where rail is best usedalongside the choice of modesthey traditionally use. There isplenty to play for in the comingdecade.

Rail Freightmoving forwardThe sector which has undergone themost transformation is the movementof intermodal containers by rail.

© SHUTTER

STOCK.COM

When the rail industry wasprivatised rail freight, like the restof the business, was scheduled forquiet decline.

BR had four main freightcompanies for sale - three werebought by Wisconsin Central andbecame EWS - subsequentlyacquired by DB Schencker. Out ofthe fourth, RailFreight Distribution,BR’s international freight pioneers,came the hugely successfulFreightliner - a management buyout. The international business ofRfD subsequently became EWSInternational. Various freight yardsand intermodal terminals weredivided up between thebusinesses.

Far from declining, figures showrail freight 60% higher than it wasback in 1994. This success hascome about as a result of changesin freight type as well as volume.In a bizarre turn around offortunes this presents quite achallenge to Network Rail, chargedwith getting the most out of therailway infrastructure.

Under BR freight trains wereroutinely held up to allow priorityfor passenger services. New railfreight forwarders and the privatesector aren’t about to stand forthat. Paths are bought and paid forand more are needed.

Happily Network Rail hasdemonstrated a healthy sympathyfor the sector. Robin Gisby, theoriginal freight director, had firsthand experience of BR highhandedness when working in theprivate sector running Charterail.Tim Robinson, Network Rail’sfreight director, has worked atGBRf and EWS. His remit is toaccommodate and encouragefreight traffic.

“The challenge around freighthas been enormous for NetworkRail. The biggest change has beenthe shift in market share betweenbulk and intermodal traffic.Intermodal, which is primarilycontainers is now the largestsingle sector in terms of tonne-miles. In fact, 30% of all rail freighttraffic is now containers.”

A new business profileThere have been several major

changes that have added up toNetwork Rail’s freight challenge.

First, the traditional internal bulkfreight traffic has indeed declined.The aggregates industry is stillgoing strong and, as Tim Robinsonpointed out, Network Rail is amajor aggregates customer so anumber of those trains are for itsown use. However, coal is decliningand the volume of bulk chemicalsis also down.

Secondly, a lot of that bulkfreight still exists but is nowimported. Bulk trains have to beloaded at the dockside and thentransported inland to power

stations and other customers,meaning that the network ofroutes is now totally different.

In addition, the change over ofpower station fuel from coal tobiomass has made a big difference.Biomass, basically wood chippings,is more sustainable than coal as itis the waste bi-product of thetimber and paper industries andcomes from trees that arereplanted.

However, biomass needsdifferent wagons from coal, andmore of them as biomass is onlyhalf the density of coal meaningthat the same weight of materialhas twice the volume.

Another complication is thatbiomass has a lower calorific valuethan coal, so you have to burneven more weight (and double thatvolume) to get the same heatenergy out.

All this has required the buildingof dedicated biomass terminals atplaces like the Port of Tyne andDrax power station, and morewagons. As a freight train islimited in overall length to about775 metres, the longest that Britishsignalling can handle, morewagons mean more trains, in bothdirections, loaded from the portand empty back.

Trains versus lorriesAs well as bulk traffic from the

ports rail freight is dealing with asteep increase in containerisedfreight. Containers are easy to loadonto ships and to unload at the

other end. When a ship docks anumber of containers may beunloaded for the same customer.These all have to be carried to theirdistribution centre or warehouse.

The obvious way to do this isusing a fleet of trucks, eachcarrying a container. However, tomove a number of containers atonce is impractical, and havingthem all arrive at the warehouseat the same time is equally aproblem, so the containers tendto be stored at the quayside andcollected as required.

For short distances a driver canmake a couple of collections aday, and for a small number ofcontainers, that is a reasonablesolution. However, if the distanceis a bit further a driver can onlymake one run a day.

The transport costs havesuddenly doubled. Quaysidestorage is expensive; as much asthree times more expensive thanhaving the container held at aninland yard.

Enter the Container Train. It canspirit 100s of containers away toinland terminals, where storagecosts are lower and from wherethey can be easily collected bythe end customer.

Tim Robinson points out thatfreight is very cost sensitive. Forexample, Daventry is closeenough to Felixstowe that a lorrycan collect two loads a day,making it marginally cheaperthan using a train. However,Hams Hall near Birmingham,


Futurebeckonsfor RailFreight

Nigel Wordsworth talks toTim Robinson,Network Rail’s freight director

which is only 34 miles further, isjust too far for that, reducingroad freight to one collection aday, and making rail freightcheaper.

For multiple containers deliveredover a distance, rail freight iscompetitive, and even attractive.The main challenge then becomesBritain’s constricted loading gauge.Bridges are lower, platforms nearerand tunnels cosier than on thecontinent.

Big boxes, little boxesA standard shipping container is

20 or 40 feet long and 8’6” high.Most railway wagons can takeeither one 40’ container, two 20’ones or, if it’s a 60’ wagon, one ofeach. And that is what the railwaywas delivering, from ports such asFelixstowe or Nuneaton, to railfreight depots at Nuneaton, HamsHall and elsewhere.

Then along came the 9’6” “hi-cube”container. The shippers like it asthey can load more into onecontainer, and most of the world’srailways hardly notice the difference.

But Britain’s outdated and smallloading gauge couldn’t cope.

To retain the new healthy levelof freight traffic, Network Rail hadto enlarge the loading gauge of itsmajor international freight routes.These are W10 and W12 gaugeand involve remodelling stationplatforms and canopies, droppingtrack under bridges and throughtunnels, and even the wholesalereplacement of bridges on someroutes. Now the six freighthauliers can move 9’6” boxesaround large parts of the networkand carry on growing theirbusinesses.

The quickest growing sector isnow secondary distribution, from

the primary distribution centre toothers in the regions. Stores suchas Tesco, Sainsbury and Marks &Spencer are interested in movingloads from the Midlands toScotland, Northern England andWales.

The competition is still lorries,ones with large trailers that can bestacked with pallets two-high. Thatmakes them larger than even a hi-cube container. So the 10’1”container made an appearance. Butthat won’t even go on a W12 railway.

The answer was some extra-low-height wagons, manufactured inthe UK, that enabled an extra-highcontainer to fit on a standard track.They did the trick, and already 1.5%of UK freight traffic is using them.

Timetable triumphThere is still the challenge of

running freight trains andpassenger trains on the samerailway, with both areas of theindustry becoming busier. TheWest Coast Main Line, for instance,is one of the most heavilytrafficked railways in Europe.

Freight often runs at night, whenthere are less passenger services.Set against this maintenance work

uses night time possessions. Nowmaintenance has to be plannedbetter to accommodate rail freight.

Clever thinking helps. Inspiredtrack works are underway to helpseparate freight and passengertrains at key nodes. These includeprojects such as the NuneatonNorth Cord, opened recently,which is a 0.9 mile new line whichcuts 15 miles off a freight routeand the North Doncaster Chord.Simple, pragmatic, railwaydevelopments which will savemoney and boost capacity.

Conflict of interest betweenpassenger and freight operations isless of an issue now. A betterplanned, better performing railwayaims to meet all its customersneeds.

Says Tim Robinson, ‘Thestandards of train performancehave increased so much thesedays that there is always a bit of abattle for scarce resources.However, there is a culture in therailway that the good of therailway must come first.’

Every week, 6,000 freight trainscriss-cross the railway. 4,000 ofthese are scheduled, running totimetables every bit as detailed,and just as closely monitored, aspassenger timetables. Theremaining 2,000 are ad-hoc,arranged at short notice by a largetimetabling team at Milton Keynes.

Quiet decline has been all butforgotten in the cries for loud andsustained expansion. Rail freight inBritain is a growing market and onewhich Network Rail’s freight teamis determined to nurture andexpand.


FREIGHT FOCUS

Intermodal, which isprimarily containersis now the largestsingle sector in termsof tonne-miles…

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Freight ArrangerGetting industry to use railwayfreight services is a real challenge.

The business community oftendismisses rail freight as toocomplicated, and unreliable. Thatcould all change as trials of a newscheme, ‘Freight Arranger,’ wereannounced for next year.

Freight Arranger is the brandname of the IntegratedMultimodal Logistics Control andBrokerage Centre, which is partfunded by the Technology StrategyBoard. Partners include TruckTrainBrokerage Ltd, Rockshore Ltd, GBRailfreight, John G Russell(Transport) Ltd and CoventryUniversity.

Too complicatedMention rail freight and the

response traditionally has beenone of muted sympathy andconfused shoulder shrugging. ‘Noton my radar,’ ‘It’s all toocomplicated trying to find the railoperators.’ ‘I would not knowwhere to start to put together aninter-modal chain involving rail,hauliers and terminals.’

Old fashioned views of railreliability are hard to eradicate.‘Rail? Never use it. Not reliableenough.’ Worst of all is theperceived lack of access to railwayfreight forwarding advice. ‘Takesfar too long to check out railoptions and their response ispathetically slow.’

The comments set out abovewere made during the course ofrecent conversations with a largenumber of freight forwarderstalking about how they selecttransport. Worryingly theseresponses expose a hugecredibility gap as far as rail freightservices are concerned as viewedby a large part of the commercialfreight sector.

Rail is seen as remote, suitedonly to large block trainmovements, dominated by thelarger shipping lines. It is difficultto secure information in relation toservices, space availability andprices. Other criticisms includebeing unable to give accurate realtime location of cargo in transit.The forwarding sector is,apparently, deterred from usingrail services by its invisibility.

Demanding requirementsRail is in effect ruled out of a

huge market by its inability tounderstand and satisfy the volatileand demanding requirements ofthe retail freight sector, criticsimply. One call to a haulier and thejob is fixed.

The equivalent enquiry to railoperators can lead to a multiplicityof contacts to string together aninter-modal option. This can anddoes deter forwarders from eventhinking of rail as a credibleservice provider.

Technology Strategy BoardThis deep seated problem has

been recognised and is beingaddressed through a projectfunded by the Technology StrategyBoard. The major objectives of theTSB are to secure modal shift torail and to reduce road congestionbetween cities.

Given the invisibility of railfreight services the project aims toboost rail by providing instantaccess to available rail services interms of routes, schedules,timings, space availability, pricingand ability to track progress ofshipments in real time,independent of the train serviceprovider.

A screen based system is beingdeveloped to provide rapidresponses to enquiries and allowinformed choices to be madewhich are not readily achievableusing present methods. In effectrail freight will be following themodel used in the aviation andhotel industries.

The results from this should beevident in the form of higher levelsof rail freight which will benefitthe train operators. This couldapply to contract trains whereunfilled space can be released to awider market than at present andused for commercial gain. Forenquiring parties the benefitsinclude a much wider choice ofoptions.

Better info about collection,haulage and delivery as well as therail element and terminalcomponents will help provide acomposite commercial offer whichcan be booked direct. The backoffice savings in terms ofadministration and paperwork arelikely to be significant.

The scheme will reduce errorrates and multiple transcriptionrequirements. This has foundparticular favour with major linesand forwarders. The system isdesigned to allow train serviceproviders and hauliers to inputtheir prices in a neutral andanonymous format. This willprotect their commercial positionsand the information they elect tomake available.

Live trialsThe project is aiming to

implement live trials using thebrokerage system in early 2013from the Tilbury/Barking area tothe Midlands and Scotland andthen roll out onto two otherpossible routes before the projectis complete under the TSBauspicies.

The project is then aiming to becommercialised and developed fora greater spread of routes.Potentially it could link toEuropean operations or beoperated within national domainswithin Europe.

FREIGHT FOCUS

© SH

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Removing a further freight-constraint this Christmas is theNuneaton North Chord, opened bytransport minister, Simon Burns.

The new 0.9 mile long flyovermeans freight trains will no longerhave to zig-zag across the throat ofNuneaton station in betweenpassenger services. The £28.3mproject forms part of NetworkRail’s strategic freight network and

was designed and built by Atkins.The 0.9 mile chord is the high

note in the route enhancementscheme enabling freight trainscarrying ISO 9ft 6in containers totravel from Felixstowe to the WestMidlands and North West Englandwithout being routed via London.Traditionally Britain’s railwaysystem has a smaller loadinggauge than its continental

counterparts. This means bridgesare lower and platforms and lineside structures nearer the tracksthan in France.

However, hard work by NetworkRail and freight companies hasopened up substantial parts of therailway boosting trade andremoving thousands of lorriesfrom Britain’s roads. The first trainto use the new chord was a GBRfservice from Felixstowe.

Cargo included ‘Your children’sChristmas toys and bottles ofwine,’ said genial John Smith,GBRf’s managing director.Nuneaton is a busy junction onthe West Coast Main Linetraversed by the Leicester –Birmingham railway. Nuneaton isalso connected with Coventry viathe Bedworth line.

Says Douglas McCormick,managing director of Atkins raildivision, ‘Having a consistent,efficient railway network is crucialto boosting the UK’s economy. Notonly will the Nuneaton NorthChord improve freight capacity butit will reduce congestion aroundNuneaton station as well.’

A new railway flyover, the NorthDoncaster Chord, has been giventhe green light.

Network Rail’s eagerlyanticipated planning applicationhas been approved by theSecretary of State for Transportand engineers are already on site.Currently freight trains travellingbetween the Humber ports andthe Aire Valley power stations haveto run on the ECML for 14 miles.

The flyover, at Shaftholme to thenorth of Doncaster, will remove amajor pinch point on the EastCoast Main Line. Preparatory workis already underway. The bridgewill be constructed by NetworkRail and Morgan Sindall and isexpected to be completed in early2014.

Flyoverclears hurdle

DB Schenker Rail UK hasincreased its services betweenBritain and Italy with anadditional weekly service betweenHams Hall and Domodossola.

Trains run every Monday,Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.Rail freight services betweenBritain and Italy are used by a widerange of retailers, food producersand manufacturers. In early 2013 afifth service between Hams Halland Domodossola starts.

Says Alain Thauvette, ChiefExecutive of DB Schenker Rail UK,‘We look forward to operating afull weekday service in the comingyear, with the introduction of afifth weekly service between thetwo countries.’

Domodossola is a busy city inPiedmont, northern Italy, near theSwiss border.

Italian NewYear’sResolution

The Haven Gateway Partnership’s Low Carbon FreightDividend is a three-year project, supported with nearly£3 million from the European Regional DevelopmentFund (ERDF), set up to help small and medium sizedbusinesses (SMEs) choose a greener mode of transport.

What’s on offer? An integrated package of support tohelp you make the switch, including workshops in freightoptimisation and low carbon marketing, online knowledgebank, a carbon calculator to compare and contrastdifferent modes of transport and see the carbon savings.Plus, by demonstrating modal shift, a dividend worth up to£6,750 if you switch 90 containers from road to rail.

Who qualifies? SMEs with a base in the East of Englandwith fewer than 250 employees and either an annualturnover of less than £43.7 million or a balance sheet ofless than £37.6 million. Eligibility also depends on anyprevious state aid funding you have received, and detailsof parent or subsidiary company ownership.

Want to know more? Visit www.lcfd.co.uk to sign upand complete an online eligibility form or contact LisaBrazier, project manager, on 01206 713612 or [email protected].

There isn’t a whole lot of complicated paperwork and

virtually everything can be done online via the website.The project team are here to help you every step of theway.

So what are you waiting for? You don’t have to be in thetransport sector, any SME that moves freight incontainers could be eligible for this unique project.

Calling all small and medium sized businesses!

Do you move your containers by road? Have you ever considered switching to rail?

Did you know there’s real help available to support you in making the change?

Railfreight Strikes A Chord

The flyover will remove amajor pinch point on theEast Coast Main Line

Baroness Hanham,

Richard Morton,

Lord Berkeley.

With the rapidly rising cost of fueland today’s carbon, congestionand cost conscious society, roadhaulage is an increasinglycontroversial issue.

Not only do continuing rises infuel charges play a significant partin inflation, but best use of energyitself has become a majorconsideration.

Stobart’s dedicated rail freightservices, first launched in 2006,represent an innovative solution toreducing carbon emissions. Thetrains are based on speciallycommissioned containers whichare packed at the customer site.They are then transported to therailhead on Stobart skeletaltrailers, where the containers aretransferred onto the company’srolling stock for transport to theirdestination.

Since the launch of the originalDaventry to Mossend service, theproject’s success has resulted inthe launch of a further threetrains, running between five andsix days per week, with anadditional route from Wakefield to

Mossend due to commenceshortly.

Return trips on the above routesfrequently have highly cost-effective capacity available.

Building on a successful trackrecord in the operation ofenvironmentally responsible dailyrailfreight services, Stobart Railoperates a dedicated weekly train,which links the fruit and saladgrowing areas of southern Spainwith the UK’s major groceryretailers.

The train transports thirty chilledcontainers, each controlled andmonitored using the latest satellitetechnology; ensuring producearrives in top condition.

The flexibility to meetyour requirements

The seasonality of fruit and saladproduction has long formed abarrier to development of effectiveleading edge transport solutionsbetween the Spanish fruit andsalad growers and their UKmarketplace. In the past it hasbeen impractical for growers to

maintain their own transportcapability to service the limitedseason, meaning they must rely onexpensive short term transportcontracts.

The initial single train a weekwill be supported by daily roadservices following the same route.As takeup increases, additionaltrains will be added in place of theroad services, until three trains aweek are provided.

Spain to UK in just 53 hoursThe weekly rail service

commences at 23:59 CET onTuesday in Valencia, where 30sealed loaded containers, whichhave been collected fromcustomers and consolidation sitesby Stobart, are transferred to rail.

Following a brief stopover at PortBou for transfer of the loadedcontainers to standard Europeangauge rolling stock, the traincontinues via Toulouse and Paris toarrive at the Channel Tunnel.

The last leg of the journey seesthe train arrive at Barking Railportat 04:00 GMT on Friday, only 53hours after departure fromValencia. Once changeover iscomplete, the train returns on thesame route, arriving in Spain at21:00 on Sunday, some 50 hourslater. This return leg offers someexcellent backhaul transportopportunities.

For further information contact:Central Sales Enquiries on 01788823 222 oremail [email protected].


Lynch Plant Hire, top providerof Grab Lorries, Tippers andRoll On Lorries, has opened anew Material Rail Hub innorth-west London.

The hub on Channel GateRoad, Willesden NW10, is nearOld Oak Common depot andWillesden Freight Terminal.The central location meansLynch is now ideally situatedto offer workable solutions toany waste disposal problems.

Lynch uses physical,chemical and biologicalprocesses to treat a wide rangeof contaminants, and canaccept material over the next3-5 years. With a qualifiedtechnical support teamavailable for site visits andanalysing soil reports, Lynchcan provide a rapid responsefor the customer.

The Lynch Rail Hub can offera price per load dependant onsoil analysis but always highlycompetitive, cheaper thanlandfill and discounted ratesare available on larger projects.

Says General Manager RayCripps, ‘The benefits are therefor all to see with highlycompetitive gate fee which isfree from landfill tax. A highlysustainable re-use option givesus the flexibility to facilitatelarge scale and small scaleprojects. We can guarantee afast, efficient, professionalservice with the duty of careensured at all stages of theproject in a prime location inLondon.’

Lynch opensrail hub

Route

Inverness/MossendDaventry/Mossend

Barking/WidnesDaventry/BarkingDaventry/Cardiff

Grangemouth/AberdeenBarking/Spain

Partners

Tesco/StobartTesco/StobartTesco/StobartTesco/StobartTesco/StobartShared User

Tesco/Stobart

Frequency

6 per week each way6 per week each way6 per week each way6 per week each way6 per week each way6 per week each way1 per week each way

Stobart Rail Freight Routes:

Stobart turns to rail freight

FREIGHT FOCUS

In Glasgow on 21st November sixyoung railway professionalscaptivated their large audience ata presentation competition run bythe Railway Engineers Forum (REF)Scotland whose members arefrom the IMechE, PWI, IRSE, IROand CILT.

This event was the first of itskind in Scotland and required eachspeaker to describe a project orinitiative and their contribution toit. Bill Reeve, Transport Scotland’sCommercial Director hosted theevent.

First to speak was MotsiMadangombe, a CommercialManager with Network Rail’sInfrastructure Projects Division.Motsi’s topic was collaborativeprocurement strategy.

In his presentation he drewcommercial lessons from thePaisley Corridor ImprovementProject and stressed the

importance of aligning Client andContractor interests. He comparedcollaboration to marriage andreminded his audience thatmarriages either end in divorce ordeath.

Running class 66 locomotivesonly 40mm below OLE was onlyone aspect of the presentation onthe Paisley Canal Electrificationproject. This was given by BrianSweeney, a Network RailElectrification Asset Engineer.

With the line energised only twodays previously, his presentationincluded a “breaking news” slide ofa class 380 EMU under the wires. Heexplained that the project had beendelivered for £12 million against theoriginal cost estimate of £28 milliondue to a lower than normal wireheight. This required a uniquemethod of operation to ensure thatthe line was de-energised for stockabove the height of ScotRail’s EMUs.

Significant enhancementsMany of the points and crossovers

at Carstairs are not now requiredresulting in unnecessarymaintenance costs and speedconstraints through the junction.The presentation by Sean Malone, aGraduate Mechanical Engineer withNetwork Rail, explained how theMotherwell North SignallingRenewals project provided anopportunity to rationalise the layout.

Sean explained his involvementin the Particular RequirementsSpecification (PRS) to defineavailable options. These were notjust about the removal ofredundant facilities as theyincluded significantenhancements.

These are proposals to extendthe down freight loop and close astation platform, making the otherbi-directional, to increase speed onthe Up Main to 105 mph.


Prize winningpresentationsin Glasgow

“This event was thefirst of its kind inScotland and requiredeach speaker todescribe a project orinitiative and theircontribution to it.

David Shirres reports


FEATURE

PMSM drives, Supercapacitorsand 4Q motor controllers wereamongst the terms explained inRowan Bell’s presentation.

Rowan, a Graduate ElectricalEngineer with Interfleet, wasresponsible for the electricaldesign of the 101⁄4 inch gaugelocomotive that won the IMechERailway Challenge.

This, albeit diminutive,locomotive was also the first oneto be built at Derby locomotiveworks for 40 years. In hispresentation Rowan explainedhow the design had to meet thechallenge’s requirements,including the particularly difficultspecification for energy storageduring braking.

£1 million projectFreight traffic has to be diverted

to electrify the line betweenLiverpool and Manchester. For onediversionary route this required a£1 million project to clear linesaround Northwich to W8 gauge todivert freight traffic. William Storey, Graduate Civil

Engineer with Babcock, explainedthat this required five track lowersat four bridges. His presentationincluded animated slides thatshowed the complexity of thiswork for which he not onlydeveloped the engineering planwith associated documentationbut worked as Engineer during theworks.

Black boxes are actually yellowand should be called OTMRs (OnTrain Monitoring Recorder). Thismuch and more was explained byJamie Adamson in hispresentation. Jamie, anEngineering Graduate with FirstScotRail, had been tasked withsaving time verifying the OTMR

channels and getting VehicleAcceptance Body (VAB) approvalfor his proposal.

With the ScotRail fleet having584 cabs, even small time savingsare of great benefit. Jamie’spresentation also highlighted thatOTMRs are not just for recordinginformation in the event of anincident as their use for remotecondition monitoring providesvaluable maintenance data.

Expert presentationsThus in just less than 2 hours,

the six young presenters haddelivered expert presentations ona diverse range of subjects withintheir allowed 10 minutes. It wasclear from the questions generatedthat the audience was impressed.No-one envied those with thedifficult task of selecting the threeprize winners.

The three judges were SteveWhitmore, President of the PWI,Stewart Stevenson MSP, formerScottish Minister of Transport andStephen McConnon, chairman ofIMechE’s Railway Division’sScottish Centre.

Whilst the judges deliberated,the audience and speakersmingled at a wine reception wherethere were further discussionsabout their topics. After 30minutes the judges appeared toannounce the results. Before doingso Steve Whitmore, speaking onbehalf of the judges, advised thatall the presentations had beenjudged to be excellent.

However the judges had to pickthe winners and so after muchdeliberation they concluded thatfirst, second and third prizesshould be awarded to BrianSweeney, Rowan Bell and WilliamStorey.

Prizes, donated by First ScotRailand Network Rail, were a ScotRaildriver simulator experience, two1st class sleeper tickets and a visitto the top of the Forth Bridge.Kenny Scott, ScotRail’s EngineeringDirector presented the prizes.

Perhaps the real prize for all thespeakers was the opportunity todeliver presentations to a largehigh-powered audience. Acquiringsuch presentation skills is a keyaspect of the development ofyoung professionals. Howevercompetent they may be, they areunlikely to be effective unless theycan sell their ideas.

InterfleetMagnus Conn of Interfleet, who

sponsored the event, emphasisedthe importance of training anddeveloping the new generation ofrailway professionals. He notedthat for some time afterprivatisation, there had been nosuch training due to short-termconsiderations. He was glad thishad changed as, for example, withthe speaker’s employers.

Network Rail, First ScotRail,Babcock and Interfleet all havegraduate and apprentice schemes.However with privatisation’smissing generation it was essentialto develop and encourage aspiringprofessionals as indeed REFScotland has done through thisevent.

Left to right

First Prize: Brian Sweeney

Second Prize: Rowan Bell

Third Prize: William Storey

FAWLEY HILL

FAWLEY HILL

STEAM AND VINTAGE WEEKEND

SIR WILLIAM MCALPINE

INVITES ENTRIES FOR

THE FIRST (AND PROBABLY ONLY)

Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th May 2013

Fawley Hill, Fawley, Henley-on-Thames, RG9 6JA | 01491 571373 | [email protected]

The event will celebrate the Centenary of

Fawley’s resident

She has worked for Sir William’s family all her life

and for the past 48 years has been happily pulling

wagon loads of visitors up the steepest standard

gauge gradient in the world at Fawley Hill.

Hudswell Clarke 060 Saddle

Tank Engine No 31.

At the simplest level: we envisage charities

hosting hospitality areas - to which they will sell

tickets: to include entry of course. Obviously

they can do more than this if they wish. This

works well and gives everyone a slice of the cake.

This will be a celebration of all forms of transport:

from to and

from to

to

and, being Fawley Hill, (animal sanctuary) there

will be ANIMALS too.

BICYCLES PLANES MACHINERY:

HORSE-DRAWN PLOUGHS PLOUGHING

ENGINES JCB’S

If you are interested in attending, please email

[email protected]

ANY COMPANY WISHING TO SPONSOR ANY PART OF

THE EVENT IS URGED TO CONTACT FAWLEY HILL.

CHARITIES ATTEND


CAREERS

New Year, New Career?

Seeking a fresh start or new challenge? Look no further;

launching on December 18th 2012 is advancerailwayjobs.com -

the new specialist job board for the rail sector!

Recruitment experts, advance-TRS specialise in supplying contract

and permanent staff across all Network Rail and London

Underground infrastructures.

For more information, to apply or search for a job visit

www.advancerailwayjobs.com“Together, we can all advance.”

www.advancerailwayjobs.com

Call: 01483 361 061

Our clients are searching for enthusiastic candidates to assist in the development and delivery of key industry projects and

have vacancies in all areas, including:

Project Director - Rail - £80,000 - £100,000pa+ package

Head of Signalling - £60,000 - £70,000pa

Project Director - Metro - $15,000 - $18,000pm

CAD Manager (Mircostation) - £28,000 to £35,000pa

Based in London

Based Nationwide

Based in India - Bangalore

Based in Derby

Programme Manager - £350 - 450pd

Senior Project Planner - £40,000 - 45,000pa

OLE Construction Engineer (CRE) - £350pd

Head of Survey (Associate Director Level) - £60,000 - £70,000pa

£

£

Based in Birmingham

Based in Glasgow

Based in London and Essex

Based in South East or Midlands

RailwayPeople.comFast track your career

...awaiting your application.

over

live jobs

2,000


Due to the growing demand from major clients within the ,

are looking for skilled personnel with current competencies for

and opportunities.

We would like to hear from the following for prestigious projects starting in London,

South East and South West England:

railway infrastructure

CarmichaelUK NWR

ContractPermanent

Site & Senior Engineers Survey Assistants Junior Engineers

Surveyors Senior Technical Officers Sub Agents / Agents

Project Managers General Foreman Supervisors

Register your CV today online or via email in Word format to: [email protected]

Call one of our consultants on: +44 (0) 208 522 8888

Job opportunities on prestigious projects in London, South East and South West

Job vacancies posted daily on our website

www.carmichaeluk.com

www.trsstaffing.com

Rail and Infrastructure VacanciesTRS Staffing Solutions are international engineering recruitment specialists. We recruit for major National and International projects for leading National Rail organisations, main contractors and consultancies. Currently we have vacancies for the following:

+44 (0)20 7419 5800 or email [email protected]

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

Rail, Infrastructure & Construction

Senior Electrical Design EngineerLondon + UK wide - £45 - 70K or £400 - £550/dayHV, Traction Power, AC/DC or construction experience

Senior P-Way Design Engineers London/Warrington/Birmingham - £350/day or £40 - 70K Working on major new rail projects & station upgrades

Senior Planning Engineers London, York & Birmingham - £320 - 450/day or £55K Rail & construction experience

Safety Systems Engineer/ManagerLondon/South East - £350 - 500/day or £40 - 60KExperience on rail & infrastructure projects

Principal Civil/Structural Engineers (CRE)London/Birmingham/Warrington & York - £50 - 60K or £350 - £450/day Station, platform & bridge designs

Telecoms Engineer/Project Manager UK wide - £300-400/day or £40-50K GSM-R, CDM or FTN experience

Train PlannerDirect Rail Services (DRS) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), established in 1995 to provide a safe, secure and reliable transport service to the nuclear industry. Today, DRS has a reputation for excellence within the freight industry and has a profi table and dynamic business boosting a healthy turnover of around £50 million a year.

Whilst DRS continues to support the decommissioning activities of its parent company, it has successfully extended its service offerings into a number of new and exciting rail market sectors.

To apply, please send a CV and covering letter detailing your experience in this area to: [email protected]

Closing date: 21st December 2012.


CAREERS

northernrail.org/careers

Time for a change of direction?

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railstaff december 2012

Documents

stobart rail team

new year

uk rail industryrailstaffpage

rail business powers

railstaff awards rail

track lowering

mrdlrail team

winnerrail team