rail engineer july 2015

Engineerby rail engineers for rail engineers

www.railengineer.uk

JULY 2015 - ISSUE 129

BACK TO BOND STREETChris Parker reports on the progress that has been made since his last visit in July 2013.

UK RAILWAY TELECOMSProviding the rail industry with telecoms services is complex and often misunderstood. Clive Kessell reports.

RAILTEX REVIEWThe UK's largest railway indoor exhibition, held at the NEC in Birmingham was a great success.

And the winner is...The Network Rail Partnership Awards

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Taking Britains Stations Forward 7Mike Goggin gives his Opinion.

And The Winner Is 14Who had success at the Network Rail Partnership Awards?

Under Cover 40Station canopy reconstruction in Scotland catches Marc Johnsons eye.

Developing a Future Vision 44Mike Arthur tells us why planning a stations layout can improve profitability.

Reducing the Gap 46Replacing a platform surface while the station remains open.

Westermo Mobile Training & Technology Centre 53Paul Darlington explores the latest vehicle in the Rail Media car park.

Walsall to Rugeley Electrification 54Peter Stanton delves into the work on the Chase line.

UK Railway Telecommunications 60Clive Kessell gives us a 2015 update on this Network Rail business.

Compass - Degraded Mode Recovery 64How do you kick-start the railway if the signalling system fails?

Interoperability - A Necessary Complication 68Paul Darlington explains what it is, why we need it, and the benefits.

Grange Sidings Demonstrations 74Polly Rivers discovers a roller with rail wheels, and a new excavator.

Window Sampling Made Simple 77A new rig for site investigations.

Modelling the Future 78Combining new surveys with old plans to better understand Liverpool St.

Location Location Location 80The RILA system delivers new angles on data collection.

No Longer Just Railway Suppliers 84The editor visits Railtex and finds several non-railway companies there.

Railtex Review 86Keynotes, seminars, stands, networking, awards and golf.

Contents

Were looking to highlight the latest projects and innovations in

Signalling & Telecommunications Innovation in the September issue of Rail Engineer.

Got a fantastic innovation? Working on a great project? Call Nigel on 01530 816 445 NOW!

24

30

34

Back to Bond StreetChris Parker returns to the scene of an earlier article.

The Train Now ArrivingGraeme Bickerdike reports on new stations in Yorkshire

Vive les Differences

Final Push

48

Compass - Degraded Mode Recovery 64How do you kick-start the railway if the signalling system fails?

Interoperability - A Necessary Complication 68Paul Darlington explains what it is, why we need it, and the benefits.

Grange Sidings Demonstrations 74Polly Rivers discovers a roller with rail wheels, and a new excavator.

Window Sampling Made Simple 77

Rail Engineer July 2015 3

photographycompetitionSend in your smartphone photos to [email protected]

Entries must be sent before midnight on 30th September 2015.

KAZAM Tornado 350 smartphone

win

You don t take a photograph, You make it.


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You don t take a photograph, You make it.You don t take a photograph, You make it.


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This month were looking in detail at stations and lead off with an opinion piece by Mike Goggin who, as international director with Steer Davies Gleave, wrote it for us whilst in Mexico!

Stations are now closely linked with surveying and the emerging use of BIM (Building Information Modelling) and other technologies. Using a cocktail of nineteenth-century record drawings of Liverpool Street station, combined with modern laser scanning techniques, Bridgeway has produced a 3D digital model with data sets as big as the station itself. Up in Scotland, Story and Twinfix used a 3D printer to create a plastic model of a new glazing bar so it wont be long before a whole station roof is built the same way.

There were plenty of snags to contend with in the construction of two new stations on the Caldervale route - sandstone cuttings and suspected, but unrecorded, mine workings for a start. Graeme Bickerdike has been to see the successful end result of almost 20 years of planning.

For those of you who cant wait to go to the new John Lewis in/around Birmingham New Street theres a chance to experience it all with an app and some cardboard glasses. Marc Johnson has had a preview of the real thing and is mightily impressed.

If you ever thought that Birmingham New Street has been a little cramped then just keep in mind it was originally built to cater for 40,000 to 60,000 passengers a day. The daily total is now 175,000.

This is about the same as Londons Bond Street which, just to put it all in context, is getting close to the number that pass through Heathrow every day!

The complexities of the work at Bond Street are extraordinary. Apart from engineering precision, there are areas of foreign territory to avoid. Chris Parker, complete with CD plates, has safely filed his report in his diplomatic bag.

Trevor Burton and Mark Thomas of Fugro give us their view of the futuristic present in the field of surveying concepts. But will we ever be able to find all the drain runs, along with their depths and outfalls?

At the Network Rail partnership awards, Mark Carne alluded to the opening of Birminghams John Lewis but hastened to add that he would probably give it a miss. He could resort to those glasses perhaps?

However, he was full of praise for the project and many others in the event reviewed by Nigel Wordsworth. Among the great and good of the award recipients were. the Football League Trust - twice.

Paul Darlington takes us through the labyrinthine web of interoperability. But its not just trains that have to function across borders, the paperwork has to be joined up as well - extending to different owners as well as countries.

Clive Kessell has always been clear about the role of railway telecoms. If the telecom systems fail, the trains

stop. In the end, SPTs and GSM-R may well be the only means of moving trains when the signals are at red. But now theres much more than phones involved. With a blizzard of telecoms acronyms we find out how our railway is really entering the digital era.

Heres a fascinating concept. How about bringing together all the data and information out there thats used for a whole range of separate tasks and combine it all into a skeletal signalling system that can at least get trains moving when the real signalling system has sat down? Clive is on the case.

With such an intense programme of network electrification it is not surprising that lessons are being learnt - and not forgotten until the next time. Peter Stanton looks at how the North West electrification programme has reduced the infrastructure costs of the Chase Line programme.

Weve a lesson in French phonetics in our look at the first combined high-speed railway in France; that is, it has been designed to carry both freight and passenger traffic. Fans of bridge slides will be impressed.

OK, a new route to Cornwall might not wipe its face in narrow economics, but widen the scope of the effect of such a new route on the community and the picture starts to change. Who knows, well soon be off to Cornwall via Tavistock and Okehampton.

Over (or up or down) in Stoke this month something moved - ... very... precisely. Polly Rivers had a sneak preview of two bits of kit that might just keep all our trackbeds clinically smooth and uniformly compacted.

The Rail Engineer recently had an unusual van appear in its car park. Not the local chippy or even the mobile library, it was Westermos custom-built vehicle containing an array of demonstrations and displays showing how IP, Ethernet and legacy communication technologies can be combined for railway applications.

Nigel Wordsworth and I prowled round Railtex this year asking the question, What brought all the new exhibitors to the Birmingham NEC? What did they think of this new alien world? What made them spend all that money? Much of it stemmed from a completely new phenomenon, their belief that their skills and products were transferable across industry. Shrewd cookies!

EditorGrahame Taylor

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GRAHAME TAYLOR


Last month, Rail Engineer launched a photographic competition to find the best railway photograph taken on a smartphone.

The rules are simple. Take a photo of your work on the railway, or the railway around you, and send it to [email protected] stating where and when it was taken, what phone it was taken on, and what the subject is. We need your entry by 30 September 2015 and you can win a KAZAM Tornado 350 smartphone - with a 13 megapixel camera.

To assist you, last months issue contained the complete rules and an article by professional photographer Paul Bigland to help you take better photos.

Entries have already started to pour in, so here are a few to give you some ideas. These are just selected entries - inclusion in this feature in no way implies that the photo will or will not win the competition as the judging process is completely separate.

Keep on snapping!

6 Rail Engineer July 2015

OPINION

An untapped gold mine? An operational interface? A community space? A passengers gateway? A citys identifier? A complex and historic asset to manage?

Whatever your view, its fair to recognise that the nations stations often prove a great catalyst for debate. So what is the issue?

Multiple voices and expectations

There are increased voices in regard to the contribution that stations need to make: Civic leaders want a station that

helps demonstrate the vibrancy and strength of their City/town and one fully integrated into their local transport network and civic infrastructure. In Steer Davies Gleaves research for Network Rail we consistently heard from local decision makers of the contribution that a revitalised station had made as a catalyst (or at least not an embarrassment) to more positive conversations with potential investors.

The stations neighbours and local community want a convenient railway/transport interchange and a quiet life protected from anti-social behaviour which includes the hooded youths, the impact of inappropriate car parking in side streets and congestion caused by kiss-n-ride commuters.

The train operator wants an easy to manage, resilient and secure estate which supports effective train performance.

The private sector and potential investor want a flexible approach and an asset which can evolve and adapt to new consumer expectations and products.

The taxpayer wants a low cost station estate that contributes where it can to other goals but otherwise does not represent a poor value asset that needs to be maintained and operated.

And finally, but not least, the passengers. They want a hassle-free and easy to use experience

that might offer added value but which provides for an informed, safe and comfortable place to wait.

Meeting those expectations is not always going to be easy but it is a worthy and realistic challenge for the industrys station managers. However, the apparent divergence of the expectations is fuelling the debate for a change of control of the nations stations. Recent press reports place Network Rails managed stations into the firing line.

Time to get seriousThe expectations are different

but theyre not wholly mutually exclusive. All too often the conversation starts pulling organisations into their respective camps unable to recognise that, ultimately, a good station performs well for the passenger, railway, local community and taxpayer.

The good news is that Rail Delivery Group has developed, supported by Steer Davies Gleave, its vision for stations (due to be launched this summer) which recognises the need for a holistic, creative and informed approach to station design, development and management.

I believe that the RDG vision for stations invites the industrys funders, stakeholders and operators to resolve some longstanding questions once and for all. We need to stop the distraction of debate and get on with the delivery of better performing stations.

When I was at Network Rail I led the companys response to the Governments proposals for Full Repairing Insuring Leases now deployed on three franchises. It made me painfully aware that informed debate needs to start early and be grounded in the reality of industry and its stations.

Informed debate requiredAs we rightly consider the merits

of potential devolution of stations, we need to help decision makers to recognise the implications of the realities of Britains stations. For example: Stations are not a driver of

passenger satisfaction or rail demand. Well-managed, comfortable and attractive stations help to mitigate passenger frustrations when things go wrong and the excellent station may just make a statement and encourage rails competitiveness over other modes. Poor stations are a driver of dissatisfaction and potentially an inhibitor of some demand.

ORR annual footfall metrics indicate that over 10% of stations probably have less than 20 people using the station on a daily basis and a third have less than 200 people.

In our national review of retailing opportunities for Rail Delivery Group, we concluded that most stations do not represent potential generators of significant income. Working with retailing strategists we identified around 270 stations with potential of material commercial trading activity and worthy of further investigation - thats less than 11% of the estate.

The industry has a distracting bureaucracy, for example, the station classification system now has little value and relates to footfall and platforms in the late 1990s.

Quality of asset information remains a live issue, not least because of the historic nature of the estate and the split responsibilities between landlord and station operator.

The 2,537 stations (or whatever number you quote since it depends on who counts them within the industry!) are not homogenous. There are bound to be some whose role and contribution needs to be reviewed and others whose potential may remain not fully tapped.

With an objective and considered assessment, I am confident that we should be able to make meaningful progress on stations which deliver for the industry and its stakeholders. We need to provide a clearer, more consistent and sustained approach and an investment framework to deliver within. This may just come from outside the traditional railway, but whoever it is needs to take informed steps forward.

Mike Goggin is a director with Steer Davies Gleave and was previously Network Rails director of stations and customer service.

Moving forward with determination: taking Britains stations forward

MIKE GOGGIN

7Rail Engineer July 2015

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Celebrating women

2019. Thats a big increase and his target will be difficult to achieve.

But we must not forget that there are women in the industry already. 14% of Network Rails total workforce is female.

So it should be no surprise that 32 employees of Network Rails south east region, the Thameslink programme and its contractors gathered at the site of the Bermondsey Dive Under to

celebrate Women in Engineering Day.

Network Rails director of diversity and inclusion, Loraine Martins, said: The railway industry is a great place to work and I encourage all women, and particularly those young women who are choosing their topics to study, to see the railway and engineering as exciting and rewarding environments.

Tuesday 23 June was Women in Engineering Day. Set up by the Womens Engineering Society, the national day is designed to raise the profile of engineering and to encourage more women to join the industry.

At the moment, not many do. Only 7% of the engineering workforce is female. So there is a big job to do in attracting women and girls into the engineering profession. They need to be convinced it's not all heavy labour, hairy chests and rude language but

a skilled job for which they will be well rewarded.

In rail its even worse - just 4.4%. In a recent interview with Rail Engineer, Mark Carne - Network Rails chief executive - has set a goal of having women make up 30% of the graduate intake by

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Rail Engineer July 20158

improvement. I want to see him drive that forward.

"But there are still challenges - important aspects of Network Rails investment programme are costing more and taking longer. Electrification is difficult. The UK supply chain for the complex signalling works needs to be stronger.

Construction rates have been slow. It has taken longer to obtain planning consents from some local authorities than expected.

"But that is no excuse. All of these problems could and should have been foreseen by Network Rail.

He then announced four major changes. When Richard Parry Jones steps down as chairman in July he will be replaced by Sir Peter Hendy, the current Transport Commissioner in London. Secondly, the Secretary of State has appointed Richard Brown as a special director of Network Rail with immediate effect to update

him directly on progress. Thirdly, no Network Rail executive director will receive a bonus for the past year and the role of the Public Members has been abolished. Fourthly, Dame Colette Bowe, an experienced economist and regulator, will look at lessons learned and make recommendations in the autumn for better investment planning in future.

Confirming that the Great Western electrification programme was a top priority, he then announced that some work would be paused - the electrification of the Midland main line and of the TransPennine route. But the Government remains committed to most of the current workbank.

He finished by stating: Passengers want a railway that is better, faster and more reliable than today powered by a huge increase in investment and ambition right across the country. That is what they will get."

Network Rail falls behindThe ORR (Office of Rail and Road) has published its latest Network Rail performance statistics, and in part they make sorry reading.

Network Rail has agreed targets to meet for CP5, which runs from 1 April 2014 until 31 March 2019. These are to make sure it delivers value for money, punctuality and reliability, reduces disruption for todays passengers while improving the railway for the future, and safeguards the sustainability of the rail infrastructure.

ORRs report shows that Network Rail has not met a number of its enhancements programme delivery targets, with some projects facing delays, and it has also delivered far less work than it planned for the upkeep of the rail network.

In detail, at the end 2014-15, Network Rail had missed 30 out of its 84 planned milestones with some projects facing delays or cost escalations. Track renewal is 7% behind plan, signalling renewals are 63% behind schedule and overhead line renewals are 77%

behind target. While performance on the East

Coast main line and freight sector has been good, overall punctuality of train service performance remains at 89.6% - 2.9 percentage points lower than the 92.5% target.

ORR chief executive Richard Price said: Network Rail has made a slow start in delivering on its enhancements and performance targets for CP5 and we have asked it to demonstrate how it plans to get back on schedule to deliver on its commitments to 2019.

As a consequence of all this, Secretary of State Patrick McLoughlin made a statement to the House of Commons. "Since joining Network Rail in 2014, the chief executive Mark Carne has reviewed the organisations structure, performance and accountability. He has strengthened his team. He has a structure for

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NEWS

The seemingly never-ending series of changes to the HS2 route and design continue. As a result of discussions between HS2 Ltd and communities along the London-Birmingham route, a motion has been laid in Parliament instructing the HS2 Select Committee to consider more than 120 changes the government wishes to make to the HS2 hybrid Bill.

Among the amendments to be put to the Select Committee are:

- Changes to the HS2 route near Lichfield, which mean the railway will now pass under the A38, the

West Coast main line and the South Staffordshire line rather than run over them on viaducts;

- Altering the proposals for the relocation of the existing Heathrow

Express depot at Old Oak Common to Langley near Slough, instead of the North Pole East depot site currently proposed in the Bill;

- The construction of sidings to the west of the Old Oak Common station, which could facilitate a future connection between Crossrail and the West Coast Main Line, if needed;

- The construction of a bypass for Chipping Warden in Northamptonshire, which will be

of particular benefit to parents and pupils of the Chipping Warden Primary School on the A361 Byfield Road.

However, an HS2 spokesperson confirmed that there will be no change in overall costs to HS2. Many of these amendments have no additional cost, or cost less than the original scheme. The hybrid Bill remains on track to achieve Royal Assent by the end of 2016 so that work can start in 2017 as planned.

120 amendments to HS2 hybrid bill

In a boost for its Derby plant, Transport for London (TfL) has awarded Bombardier a 260 million contract for 45 new Overground trains.

The new stock, which will start to arrive on the network from 2018, will replace the Class 315 and Class 317 trains TfL inherited when it took over some of the West Anglia Main Line services out of Liverpool Street last month.

Thirty-one of the new trains will operate on the Overground West Anglia and Romford to Upminster routes, eight four-car trains will serve the existing route between Gospel Oak and Barking

and another six will be used to bolster services on other routes.

Mike Brown MVO, managing director of London Rail, said: Some of the trains we have inherited along the West Anglia route are over 30 years old and have not been in use for some time.

Were now working hard to overhaul these trains to make them more reliable until the new trains come into service from 2018.

Yet more orders for Bombardier Derby

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NEWS

They are perfectly suited to their environment, but are ungainly once taken out of it.

Two recent examples included the delivery of the 100th Bombardier M5000 tram to Manchester. One of 120 new trams that will both replace the old T68 trams and serve an enlarged network, the order will be complete by 2017.

But the trams designers in Vienna never envisaged it having to negotiate the roads of a Manchester trading estate.

Similarly, when GWR Pannier Tank Engine No. 5764 was built in Swindon

in 1929, it was designed to operate in sidings and freight yards, not in the narrow streets around Worcester Racecourse. She was being taken there to be displayed to help raise funds for the Severn Valley Railway.

They should have gone by rail!

Trains are like albatrosses


NEWS

Remember Dawlish? February 2014 gave us headlines such as Cornwall cut off after rail collapse (The Telegraph) and Restore rail link plea after storm leaves Cornwall cut off from network (Cornish Guardian).

Although the rebuilding of the line was hailed as a tremendous achievement at the time, it still meant that the solitary rail connection with Cornwall, as well as most of Devon west of Exeter, was closed from 5 February until 4 April. The cost of the rebuild itself was around 35 million while a report by the Devon Maritime Forum claimed

that the total economic impact could have been as high as 1.2 billion.

Understandably, the population of the UK west of Dawlish is worried in case it happens again.

Route selectionNetwork Rail reacted to the

problem by publishing the snappily-named West of Exeter

Route Resilience Study in July 2014. This looked at a variety of alternative routes that could be built to bypass Dawlish and so offer a more secure route to the West.

Option A was to rebuild the former London & South Western Railway route from Exeter to Plymouth via Okehampton. Option B would construct a modern double-track railway on the alignment of the former Teign Valley branch line from Exeter

to Newton Abbot. Five different versions of option C would be new lines from Exeter to Newton Abbot. Costs were estimated to range from 470 million for option B to 3.1 billion for the most expensive of the options C.

Business cases for all of the alternatives were regarded as poor, with the commercial return not justifying the cost of construction.

Now, however, a new report has been published which looks at the first of Network Rails alternatives, the rebuilding of the Okehampton line. Prepared by Greengauge 21, the report looks at the additional benefits of reopening the route for local services, rather than solely as a diversionary route.

Interestingly, the report was prepared for the Campaign to Protect Rural England. Although many might think that this organisation would reject talk of further railway development on the grounds that it would ruin the countryside, thats actually not the case.

The foreword states: As train travel grows in importance, so places that are cut off from the rail network face growing disadvantages. This applies mostly to rural areas.

This report sets out why better railways are essential if we want to protect and enhance our countryside, and get more people visiting and enjoying it. It shows that reopening is not an

Alternative route to the West

Network Rail West of Exeter Route Resilience Study 04Summer 20141. Executive summary

Figure 1: Options 3, 4 and 5 (Alternative Routes A, B and C1 to C5)

Crown copyright and database rights 2014 Ordnance Survey AL100017326 2014

Meldon

Lydford

Bridestowe

Brentor

Mary Tavy

WringworthyTavistock

Shillamill

Bere Alston

Bere Ferrers

Ernesettle

St Budeaux

Plymouth

Coleford

Yeoford

Crediton NewtonSt Cyres

Cowley Bridge

PerridgeTunnel

Bridford

Christow

Ide

Exeter

St Thomas

Alphington

Exminster

ChudleighChudleighKnighton

Heathfield

Leygreen

NewtonAbbot

DawlishWarren

BishopsteigntonWare Barton

Route A

Route B

Route C1

Route C3Route C2

Route C4

Route C5

Okehampton

0 2 4 6 81Miles

Key

Existing Line

Proposed New Railway

The various alternative routes that were considered

Rail Engineer July 201512PH

OTO: NILFAN

ION

Meldon Viaduct.

(just west of Yeoford) line remains in the ownership of British American Railways, although its function as a means of accessing Meldon Quarry ceased in 2011, when the quarry was mothballed by its owner Bardon Aggregates. A local heritage railway uses Okehampton station (owned by Devon County Council) as the base for a limited seasonal service in recent years.

The line between Meldon Quarry and Lydford has been converted into the Granite Way - a cycle route - by Devon County Council which owns it. There are various land ownerships between Lydford and Bere Alston. Devon County Council is leading a plan to re-open the Tavistock - Bere Alston section and owns the

relevant track bed.A large number of previous railway

structures still exist, and many could be reused. The most imposing is the iron viaduct at Meldon which, however, probably cant be. Costings assume that a new, parallel structure will be needed leaving the heritage bridge untouched.

There are a few new dwellings on the line of the route in Tavistock which will need to be demolished as no alternative route is feasible, and the cycle way will need to be realigned if that route is taken back for the railway.

But all of this is achievable. It just needs political will and a budget, and then Network Rail can add it to its job list for CP6 from 2019.

exercise in nostalgia, but vital both to unlocking the potential of rural areas and securing a resilient transport network.

Political returnSo the report looks at a wider

justification for adding a second route to Cornwall, not just a strictly-railway investment payback. It concludes: Creating a second route to connect Cornwall and Plymouth with the rest of the national rail network needs to be assessed in terms of the impact on the wider economy, rather than simply the financial costs to the rail sector. The impact of the rail service will be to strengthen demand - including for housing - in Tavistock and Okehampton.

Project appraisal methodologies need to reflect this type of effect - and recognise that the alternative - a near totally car-based way of life and dispersed development patterns - is a less sustainable alternative. The potential to improve rail freight prospects also needs to be considered, and so too does

the economic value of enlarging Plymouths and Exeters journey-to-work catchments.

At the end of the day, it will be a political decision, not an economic one. What will be the political fallout of having the West of England cut off for another couple of months if it happens again? What will be the political benefits of spending 1 billion on Devon and Cornwalls railways when 40 billion is being spent between London and Birmingham (HS2) and 33 billion in London itself (Crossrail 27 billion and Thameslink 6.5 billion)?

Likening the rebuilding of the Tavistock - Okehampton line with the reinstatement of the Borders railway between Edinburgh and Galashiels, the report states that it is timely to consider now whether there are also places where the role of railways in rural areas can be usefully expanded.

Technically feasibleMost of the railway alignment is

intact. The survey confirmed that The Okehampton - Coleford Junction

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PHOT

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ON

Every year, Network Rail brings its top suppliers and collaborators together to celebrate the very best of the previous years achievements. This year, the Partnership Awards moved out of London back to Birmingham - to the Hilton Metropole Hotel at the NEC. The great and the good of the railway industry gathered, resplendent in black ties (and red ties, and spotty ties, and even the occasional evening dress) to discover which projects and programmes Network Rail felt had stood out from the myriad of others over the past year.

Having gathered at a drinks reception, nearly 500 of the industrys top movers and shakers took their seats for the evening.

Mark Carne welcomed his guests. Our Partnership Awards are a really important part of our calendar, he told them. They are a celebration of collaboration giving us a chance to step back and take stock of what we in the industry together are achieving.

Weve had a huge number of entries again this year, and I really want to personally congratulate everyone who has been shortlisted because it was a really tough

job for the judges to decide who the winners were going to be. I know we always say that but absolutely this year it certainly was the case.

Today, the railways are extraordinarily successful in this country. More people than ever before are travelling by rail today and more people wish to travel by rail. Wherever I go in the country, no matter where it is - in Scotland or Wales or anywhere - there is an insatiable desire for people to have more trains, faster trains, more platforms. Nobody says to me Oh shut that railway - we dont need this. People want more railways and thats why today we are investing in Britains railways more than we ever have done in the past.

We are opening new railways, like the Borders railway well be opening later this year - a new domestic railway for the first time in a hundred years. Were electrifying some of the main arteries in our country, for example the Great Western electrification project - a huge project that will bring new trains, faster trains, higher standards of comfort for the passengers who want to travel. And that will bring more passengers - the demand will continue to grow.

We will reduce congestion - the new Reading Flyover is just one example of how we can separate different lines and different routes and create less congestion for passengers.

And the winner is...The Network Rail Partnership Awards

NIGEL WORDSWORTH


And of course we are building some extraordinary new stations. Here in

Birmingham in a couple of months time were going to have the opening of John Lewis in a station. 270,000 people are expected in the first weekend of John Lewis. I know where I am not going to be that weekend! But its going to be a fantastic station and there are many others of these iconic stations that were opening from London to Edinburgh transforming the passengers experience. And thats before you even start to talk about these megaprojects like Crossrail and, of course, Thameslink.

But the projects we are celebrating today are not just the megaprojects, these huge projects which attract so much attention. We have two thousand small projects going on across the network - improving safety by building better level crossings, increasing capacity with platform extensions and improving the accessibility for people at our stations with Access for All.

You all know that this is difficult stuff. Its really hard to do what you all do every single day and every single night. The way I describe the industry to people who dont understand is its like rebuilding your house while you are still living in it undisturbed because thats what we do together. And its an extraordinary testament to you that I think we do it so well together. It takes huge dedication and tonight is our opportunity to thank you and your colleagues for the huge efforts that you put in to building a better railway for Britain.

Mark then left everyone to enjoy their dinner.

Safety and sustainabilityOnce everyone had dined, broadcast personality Marcus

Brigstocke took the stage. Having apologised that he didnt know many jokes about trains, he nevertheless entertained the audience for a while with tales of his experiences with other forms of transport.

Following that, it was time for the important part of the evening, the awards themselves. The first award of the night was for Safety, and to present the award Marcus introduced Richard Hardy, managing director of built environment consultancy BRE Global.

Safety is paramount to everything we do, Richard stated. It should be at the heart of every project, from planning through to commissioning. This award recognises teams and projects that have shown a

continuous improvement towards improving safety within the workplace and on - or near - the railway.

The shortlisted entries were Amey Rail for tackling Driver safety and fatigue, Atkins for its work on level crossings, Balfour Beatty for the Crossrail West Outer programme, Mission Room Limited for SWL 360 See More, Save Time, Stay Safe and the Football League Trust for its Rail Safety programme.

After opening the obligatory envelope, Richard announced that the winner was the Football League Trust. The Rail Safety programme is a partnership with Network Rail which sees the charities attached to 10 Football League clubs use the power of football to deliver rail safety messages to young people in areas identified as hotspots. A mixture of football, fun games and educational workshops are used to engage with thousands of young people and improve their understanding of rail safety. Young people at each of the clubs also plan and run their own rail safety event and create new learning materials. Boys and girls also have the chance to compete in a national 5-a-side tournament.

In addition, the judges highly commended Atkins and Balfour Beatty for their significant contribution to safety.

Richard Harding stayed on the stage for the second award, for sustainable excellence. With record growth and investment in the rail network comes ever greater pressure to deliver outstanding value for money and service and to achieve the highest levels of both safety and sustainable development, Richard stated by way of introduction. This award recognises exactly that - organisations that clearly demonstrate sustainable and responsible ways of working.

There were only four companies on the shortlist this time - Balfour Beatty for its Crossrail West Outer track infrastructure project, Carillion Rail for work on the

Richard Hardy (left) and Marcus Brigstocke present the Rail Safety Award to the

Football League Trust.


Thameslink programme - outer areas,

HS1 Limited for a high speed approach to sustainable excellence and Skanska for the Bermondsey Dive Under.

The award went to Carillion Rail for achieving several initiatives which, in turn, created volunteering positions for socially disadvantaged members of the community. In the judges opinion, by embedding a culture for delivering sustainable outcomes, the Thameslink team has helped raise the bar on sustainability and enhanced the reputation of the railway.

HS1 and Skanska were both highly commended in this category.

Community engagement and heritageLisa Cunningham, programme director for business

in the community, was invited to the stage by Marcus Brigstocke to present the award for community engagement.

Explaining the background to this award, Lisa told the audience: The rail industrys work impacts on more than 20 million people in communities around Great Britain. The need to be mindful of the impact of work on lineside neighbours is paramount. This award recognises those partnerships that have made a conscious effort to work with these communities and in doing so help build relationships with Britains rail industry.

On the judges shortlist were the Construction Youth Trust for the Budding Brunels rail programme (a three day industry-led careers guidance workshop); East Yorkshire Villagers at War Community Group - a community project to commemorate soldiers who lost their lives in World War One, especially soldiers that used to be employed by the Railway; J Murphy & Sons for the demolition and reconstruction of the School Hill Road bridge which, being situated between two parts of the Earl Danbys Primary School, presented the project team with some significant community engagement challenges; Kier which is constructing a new 11.4 million station complex at Port Talbot and the Football League Trusts Rail Safety programme.

To the surprise of many in the room, who perhaps werent aware of the project, the Football League Trust won again. This excellent initiative, by working at the very heart of their local communities, provides a service that

can help young people at risk turn their lives around through providing initial engagement activities.

The judges also chose to highly commend Construction Youth Trust for Budding Brunels Rail and also J Murphy & Sons for the School Hill Road bridge reconstruction.

Marcus then thanked Lisa for presenting the Community Engagement award and invited Andy Savage, executive director of the Railway Heritage Trust, to join him at the lectern.

Were lucky in Britain to have one of the most historic railways in the world, Andy enthused on his favourite topic. Sensitivity to this rich railway heritage is an important factor for those undertaking projects. This award celebrates the conservation, restoration and promotion of this heritage, recognising the particular regard shown to Network Rails buildings and structures of national importance.

The shortlist contained several projects well known to Rail Engineer readers. AMCO Rail for the repair and refurbishment of Hawarden swing bridge, Amey Rail for its work on Chorley Flying Arches, Carillion Rail (Scotland) for the Ballochmyle Viaduct strengthening project, Groundwork Wakefield and the work at Wakefield Kirkgate station and Siemens Rail Automation work to improve capacity at Whitby station.

All five were excellent choices, but one project had to win and the award went to Amey Rail and the Chorley Flying Arches.

Those who recall Graeme Bickerdikes report in issue 120 (October 2014), or who have seen his excellent video (look for it on YouTube), will know that Amey worked collaboratively with English Heritage and other key stakeholders to ensure the Grade II listed Flying Arches were preserved. Research into historical construction methods, design work to maintain the aesthetics of the arches and strong project management, along with bespoke development of modelling software, ensured that not only was a key part of rail heritage protected, but

(Left) Carillion Rail received the Sustainable Excellence Award.

(Below) The Football League Trust returned to the stage to collect the Community

Engagement Award from Lisa Cunningham.


Network Rail Partnership Awards 2015 Winners: Best Large Project & Supplier of the Year for Huyton to Roby Capacity Improvement Scheme

Our success in winning these two Awards is shared with those individuals and companies listed below & acknowledges their commitment, positive attitude & collaborative approach that underpinned this successful project:

The Network Rail Project & Northern Hub Teams

The Buckingham Project Team & Workforce from our Gateman Adam to Project Leader Stuart

The Buckingham proposals & off-site support teams

Our Design Team led by Mott Macdonald

Fellow Project Contractors Siemens, Balfour Beatty & Babcock Rail Our Key Local & National Suppliers to the Huyton to Roby project including : AD Modular Ltd- Aqua S & T Systems - Buckingham Plant Hire - Charcon Construction Solutions -

EHS Holdings - Eldin Rail - FP McCann - GCL Contractors - Haigh Rail - Hanson Premix - Hird Rail Services- HR Kilns Ltd & HR Fibreglass - Huyton Asphalt - J Handford & Son - LEC5 - Newey & Eyre -

Omega Red Group - Opus International Consultants - Orton Electrical Services - Phiilip Shovlin Plant Hire - Pickerings Lifts - QTS Rail - Quattro Plant - Quadriga Contracts - Rail Waiting Structures Randstad - Rhomberg Sersa - Roger Bullivant - Rydon Signs - Standard Scaffolding - Steel Pile In-stallations - Structural Fabrications Ltd - Terrawise Construction -Tony Gee And Partners - Total

Rail Solutions - UBU Environmental - Universal Piling & Construction - Waterseal

www.buckinghamgroup.co.uk

Network Rail Partnership Awards 2015 Winners: Best Large Project & Supplier of the Year for Huyton to Roby Capacity Improvement Scheme

Our success in winning these two Awards is shared with those individuals and companies listed below & acknowledges their commitment, positive attitude & collaborative approach that underpinned this successful project:

The Network Rail Project & Northern Hub Teams

The Buckingham Project Team & Workforce from our Gateman Adam to Project Leader Stuart

The Buckingham proposals & off-site support teams

Our Design Team led by Mott Macdonald

Fellow Project Contractors Siemens, Balfour Beatty & Babcock Rail Our Key Local & National Suppliers to the Huyton to Roby project including : AD Modular Ltd- Aqua S & T Systems - Buckingham Plant Hire - Charcon Construction Solutions -

EHS Holdings - Eldin Rail - FP McCann - GCL Contractors - Haigh Rail - Hanson Premix - Hird Rail Services- HR Kilns Ltd & HR Fibreglass - Huyton Asphalt - J Handford & Son - LEC5 - Newey & Eyre -

Omega Red Group - Opus International Consultants - Orton Electrical Services - Phiilip Shovlin Plant Hire - Pickerings Lifts - QTS Rail - Quattro Plant - Quadriga Contracts - Rail Waiting Structures Randstad - Rhomberg Sersa - Roger Bullivant - Rydon Signs - Standard Scaffolding - Steel Pile In-stallations - Structural Fabrications Ltd - Terrawise Construction -Tony Gee And Partners - Total

Rail Solutions - UBU Environmental - Universal Piling & Construction - Waterseal

www.buckinghamgroup.co.uk

the works were completed and handed back ahead of schedule.

AMCO Rail was highly commended for Hawarden swing bridge (issue 124, February 2015) as was Groundwork Wakefield for Wakefield Kirkgate station (issue 105, July 2013).

Technology, innovation and peopleNetwork Rail chairman Richard Parry-Jones is well

known for his enthusiasm about introducing innovation onto the railways. He spoke on the topic recently at Railtex in the Rail Engineer seminar theatre. Tonight, he was in his element presenting the award for the Best Use of Technology & Innovation.

He was quickly in the groove. Investing in innovation and technology will help transform our knowledge of the railway making us better at targeting when, where and how we improve it. It will enable us to increase the number of faster, better trains we can run on our network.

The nominations for this award were AmeyColas for safety innovations in track renewals, Balfour Beattys new Stove Pipe Lifter attachment. EY/CSC for the ORBIS programme, Fugro RailData and its implementation of a new measurement technology mounted on regular service trains: The Rail Infrastructure ALignment Acquisition (RILA) system, and the University of Birmingham which had undertaken state-of-the-art computer modelling to facilitate track bed stabilisation.

To several in the room, the choice was obvious. Offering Rail Better Information Services, known as ORBIS, was launched to modernise the way Network Rail works through the delivery of intelligent apps and decision support tools. To deliver this, Network Rail has partnered with EY as business change integrator, to manage the end-to-end delivery of the solution to customers, and CSC as systems integrator to manage the integration and implementation of the technology.

Rail Engineer reported on the RINM Asset Viewer, a sub-system of ORBIS, in March 2015 (issue 125) while sister magazine RailStaff reported on My Work, one of the first and most successful apps developed and delivered to frontline teams, in April 2015.

Two other projects were highly commended - Balfour Beatty for its new Stove Pipe Lifter attachment and the University of Birmingham for its computer modelling to facilitate track bed stabilisation.

Innovation is nothing without people, and Francis Paonessa - managing director of Infrastructure Projects - was next up to present the award for Investing in People.

Francis recognised the role that the railways people play. This industry is responsible for 20,000 miles of track, enabling 1.3 billion journeys and transporting 100 million tonnes of freight every year but it will only ever be as good as its people. This award recognises projects and partnerships that promote accountability, opportunity and diversity.

Shortlisted were Amey Plc for its Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award/Amey Apprenticeship scheme, Amey Rail for the Great Western Electrification programme, Carillion Rails Young Peoples Training Schemes, Skanska for Bermondsey Dive Under and TSP Learn for the Learn:IT programme which supports individuals within Network Rail to develop capability and skills in IT and communication.

The award went to Amey Rail for the Great Western Electrification programme. The judges felt that Amey Rail is creating a sustainable legacy in electrification by investing in people strategies that develop a highly skilled and technically efficient workforce from a variety of backgrounds and training the future generation of engineers in OLE at their new facility in Swindon. Throughout the contract, Amey has invested in an international graduate programme, recruited ex-military personnel, encouraged more women into engineering and used international collaboration to increase capacity and enhance skills in the UK, all of which justified the company winning this award.

Carillion Rail and Skanska were both highly commended for their work in investing in people.

(Left) Francis Paonessa awarded Amey Rail for Investing in People.(Right) Another team from Amey Rail collected the award for Driving Efficencies from Richard Threlfall.(Bottom right) Richard Parry-Jones centre with the Innovation Award winners EY/CSC.


Efficiencies and collaborationInvesting in people helps to drive efficiency, so it was

logical that the next award was for just that. After a short break - the awards ceremony was now half-way through - Richard Threlfall, partner at KPMG, joined Marcus as he read out the nominations.

This category was closely-contested and six projects had been short listed, although there were only four companies involved: Amey Rail for Craigentinny, Amey Co 0las for high output track renewals - production process improvements, Amey Rail again for production process improvements on the Great Western electrification programme, Atkins for Midland main line electrification New Overhead Line Structures, Carillion Rail - Red Light Safety Equipment and HS1 Limited - Control Period 2 - Agreed Settlement - A New Approach.

Before announcing the winner, Richard commented: With record passenger numbers, the drive for efficiency across the industry has never been more important. This award recognises organisations that have made real strides in their work to help create a more efficient railway for all those who work on it, and all who use it.

He then presented the award to Amey Rail for production process improvement on the Great Western electrification programme. The judges felt that Amey had continuously optimised the piling value stream whilst building LEAN capability through training, coaching, and mentoring. The project has resulted in a dramatic reduction in piling cycle times, made large cost savings, as well as training 48 personnel in both Sigma yellow and green belts.

Another Amey Rail project, at Craigentinny, and the Atkins work on the Midland main line, were highly commended.

Collaboration is everywhere these days. Some collaborations are forced marriages to undertake a particular project, other companies choose to collaborate on a semi-permanent basis. Introducing the Best Collaboration award, Peter Loosley - policy director of the Rail Industry Association - stated: Proper collaboration is critical to the successful delivery of projects, which makes this award so important. This was an extremely strong field with some excellent examples of what collaboration can achieve. But one project did stand out because of its complexity, the benefits of its outputs, the large number of stakeholders involved, and measures taken to establish an obvious one team ethic.

The strength of the field which Peter mentioned was

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Peter Loosley of RIA left presented the Collaboration

award to Carillion Construction Services.


borne out by the short list - seven projects were named, more than for

any other category so far. Some of them we already knew.The list was: Abellio Greater Anglia for Great Eastern

overhead line renewals, Carillion Construction Services for Reading Station Area Redevelopment (RSAR), Costains Kent multi-Functional framework, Groundwork Wakefield and Wakefield Kirkgate station, Tata Steel and its HPrail / HP335 rail grade introduction, the Football League Trusts Rail Safety programme and Transport for Greater Manchester with its Irlam station redevelopment project. Would the Football League win a third award?

The answer was no. Instead, Carillion won its second for helping to transform Reading station which now provides more reliable services, increased capacity and has reduced journey times. Thousands of passengers and freight users are benefiting from one of the biggest new infrastructure investment programmes carried out on the Western route. Safety is at the centre of everything from planning, value management, design and delivery, achieved by close collaboration of all parties involved around a set of shared goals.

Abellio Greater Anglia and Costain were highly commended for their work in this field.

Small, medium and largeNow it was time for the project awards. Alistair Godbold,

honorary fellow and deputy chairman of the Association for Project Management had the task of presenting all three project awards.

He started with the award for small projects, valued at under 3 million. The nominations were Construction Marine for coping with the major landslip at Unstone on the Midland main line, Costain which is delivering the Samphire Hoe rockfall mitigation as part of its Kent multi-functional framework, Dyer & Butler for emergency repairs at Teignmouth Station and Smugglers Cove near Dawlish, J Murphy & Sons for Harrowden Road overbridge and Story Contracting for Pleasington Golf Course level crossing bridge construction.

It was a good entry of interesting projects - all essential to the running of the railway despite their small price tags.

The winner was Story Contracting, last years Supplier of the Year, making a welcome return to the podium. Network Rail is investing significantly in the improvement or closure of hundreds of crossings during CP5. Pleasington Golf Course in Lancashire

was identified by Network Rail as being in the top ten high-risk crossings in the North. Story Contracting developed an innovative solution for the construction of a new overbridge to remove the exposure and risk of public interface. The solution was formed from pre-cast concrete FlexiArch which was installed during a standard rules of the route possession. This project was a first for the rail environment. This method has gone on to be considered for use by other regions.

Costains Samphire Hoe rockfall mitigation project was highly commended this time.

Medium projects are defined as being valued between 3 million and 20 million. There were five projects shortlisted: AMCO Rail for the construction of Dawlish Lower Sea Wall, Atkins work for EGIP (Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme) at Cumbernauld, Buckingham Group Contracting - Redditch Branch enhancements, Carillion for dealing with a landslip at Chipping Campden and Kiers Chelsea Bridge refurbishment.

In the opinion of the judges, the best medium-sized project this year was the way in which Carillion is delivering a sustainable, safe and cost-effective solution to remediate the landslip in Gloucestershire to prevent materials from falling on the railway and stabilise the slope.

On Good Friday, Easter 2013, a large land-slip occurred on a railway cutting near the village of Mickleton, Gloucestershire. The slip created a huge amount of unstable earth which threatened the operational railway. The railway remained open but Network Rail instructed Carillion to commence 24/7 slip watch to ensure the safety of the operational railway.

Carillion was engaged by Network Rail, as a local BCDP (Building and Civils Delivery Partnership) framework contractor, to deliver a sustainable, safe and cost effective solution to remediate the landslip to prevent materials from going on the railway and to stabilise the slope. The works, designed by Arup, were successfully completed allowing the railway to remain open. Additional works to the tunnel portal and drainage works were identified and

Alistair Godbold presented the Best Medium Contract Award to Carillion for Chipping Camden left and that for Small Contract to Story Contracting for Pleasington Golf Course right.


Network Rail instructed Carillion to carry out these works as they were on site, to provide efficiency to Network Rail. These additional works are due to be completed in summer 2016.

Atkins, for EGIP at Cumbernauld, and Buckingham Group Contracting for Reddich Branch enhancements were highly commended.

Now came the big-hitters - the best large project valued over 20 million. Five major projects were on the list: Buckingham Group Contracting for the Huyton & Roby capacity improvement scheme, Carillion Rail - Doncaster to Water Orton gauge enhancements, J Murphy & Sons - National Electrification Programme Bridges Framework, London Overground, Transport for London - London Overground Capacity Improvement Programme - East London Line, and Siemens Rail Automation for London Bridge Station Redevelopment Phase 1.

As Alistair Godbold said: Each of these projects represents a huge boost to Britains rail network and all are rightful winners. However, there could be only one on the night and that was - Buckingham Group Contracting for the Huyton & Roby capacity improvement scheme.

The Huyton & Roby Capacity Project, part of the Northern Hub Programme, provided value for money train service improvements to facilitate economic growth across the North of England. The integrated BIM project enables non-stopping trains to pass stopping passenger services between Liverpool and Manchester and has provided lasting benefits for the rail network.

The team from Buckingham Group Contracting was naturally delighted with this result, while J Murphy & Sons had to be satisfied with being highly commended.

The BIG oneSo that just left one award to go - the big one -

Network Rails supplier of the year. For the last two years, a smaller contractor had won this award - Story Contracting in 2014 and NG Bailey in 2013. Before that it had been the major contractors - Babcock (2012), Invensys Rail (now Siemens Rail Automation - 2011), BAM Nuttall (2010) and Balfour Beatty (2009). Which way would Network Rail swing this year?

Macrete NCE 1-2 page Feb 15-paths.indd 1 27/01/2015 14:23



Buckingham Group Contracting won Best Large Contract for Huyton & Roby.


Mark Carne came back to the stage for this one. He thanked Marcus Brigstocke for hosting the evening, he thanked all the suppliers which had made entries into the awards competition, and he thanked everyone for their hard work which has helped to build a better railway for a better Britain.

Then he turned to the business at hand.When choosing the Supplier of the Year, he said, it

is easy to be attracted by the huge scale of some of the projects that we do and the breadth of capability.

But what is really important for us is safety, customer focus and the ability to be responsive and collaborative. And that is why we have decided to award the Supplier of the Year 2015 to this company that has set high standards, a company that plays to its strengths. The Supplier of the Year 2015 is Buckingham Group Contracting.

The room erupted. Once again Network Rail had chosen one of its smaller contractors as Supplier of the Year, recognising the important work that they all do to keep the railway running and to drive the efficiencies that the industry so badly needs.

Buckingham Group managing director Mike Kempley and rail director Simon Walkley spoke with Rail Engineer outside the main room shortly afterwards.

Its a fantastic achievement for us as a business, said a delighted Mike Kempley, and more importantly for the guys who are working for us. The team on Huyton & Roby - a fantastic team. But it works together because it is a joint team with us and Network Rail - great supplier, great client and a great interface with the rest of the stakeholders. Were part of that and were glad to be recognised that it really is a full team effort, which is what tonights all about anyway.

Simon Walkley agreed. Its fantastic for our people. Were only the sum of our parts and its about their attitude, their commitment and were absolutely delighted for them. Its a prize for those guys who come to work every day, focus on what the customer wants and deliver.

Network rail chief executive Mark Carne joined Rail Engineer for the final word.

I think its been a marvellous event. Its our opportunity to really say thank you to the thousands of people who make this industry the huge success that it is. We can only have a few people represented in the room but they really are representing those thousands of people and its wonderful for us to have that chance to say thank you.

The audience had been a good mix of large companies and smaller concerns. I think its important to reflect the range of different companies that we have in our industry. Of course we rely very heavily on the major players and its lovely to see them being rewarded by success at events like this. But also its important to recognise that smaller companies sometimes bring something special. They bring new ideas and innovation to the industry and we want to encourage that and show our appreciation for their efforts as well.

Mark was asked about the emphasis placed on topics such as heritage and sustainable excellence in the awards, not just engineering. We try to mix it up as there are so many dimensions to what is a successful partnership. This year we have community engagement which I think is hugely important, really showing how we think about the impact we have on the lives of people who live near our railways and I was particularly pleased to see the Football League Trust win that award as they work on improving safety awareness of the railway amongst young people.

We must remember that we are an industry team. We thrive and succeed together and the closer that we collaborate together the more successful well be. Of course theres a time for competition but actually theres also a time for really close collaboration driving the

passenger experience up, and thats what we all have to try and do.

Mark Carne presents the Supplier of the Year Award to "a company that plays to its strengths" - Buckingham Group Contracting.


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Much has been written about the importance and complexity of the Crossrail works in London, but it is easy to overlook the London Underground upgrade works that are going on alongside them. A typical example is Bond Street, which

opened in 1900 and today sees over 173,000 people/day travelling through. To put it in context, this comes close to the 200,000 a day using Heathrow. When Crossrail is completed in 2018, this figure is expected to rise to about 225,000/day. The station is already stretched by the current numbers, as are its regular users! As with many other busy Underground stations, the concourse and circulation areas get overcrowded and there is restricted access to the platforms, with only one way in and out for some.

London Underground intends to remedy this through a scheme which began in 2010 and is now well advanced. Rail Engineer last visited

the site in July 2013 (issue 105) so it was interesting to take up an offer from Miles Ashley, London Undergrounds programme director for Crossrail, to see the progress that has been made since then.

The key improvements being delivered include a new station entrance on Marylebone Lane to the north of Oxford Street, a new ticket hall accessed from this entrance, new escalators to serve the Jubilee line, new lifts providing step-free access from street level to all platforms and, finally, facilities within the station for interchange with Crossrail. With the exception

of the Crossrail interchange, which will go live when the new line

opens, these facilities are all due to open

in 2017.

Four measures of successLondon Underground and its suppliers are

justifiably proud of this project. Miles Ashley described four key reasons for this. The project has an excellent safety record, and has won a RoSPA safety award four years in succession. This has not been achieved by throwing money at safety, indeed the project team would argue that conversely, the good safety achievements have led to reduced costs.

That leads to the second reason for pride, cost. The cost of this project as measured in relation to the extra capacity provided is around one third lower than the European average for similar schemes.

These good results owe a great deal to the third reason, the excellent team spirit within the project team. All of the project representatives spoken to confirmed that the level of co-operation between client and JV members was exceptional at every level. The truth of this seemed to be clear during the visit to the underground works, when it was hard to distinguish which company employed which individual. A really important element of this teamwork has been the inclusion of London Underground operations staff in the team.

This has really helped to ensure the smooth progress of the project and the minimisation of disruption to the live railway network, a feature which has been further confirmed by the fact that the team won the 2015 Team of the Year Award at the London Transport Awards, and has been shortlisted for the BCI Team of the Year Award.

concourse and circulation areas get overcrowded and there is restricted access to the platforms, with only one way in and out for some.

London Underground intends to remedy this through a scheme which began in 2010 and is now well advanced. Rail Engineer last visited

serve the Jubilee line, new lifts providing step-free access from street level to all platforms and, finally, facilities within the station for interchange with Crossrail. With the exception

of the Crossrail interchange, which will go live when the new line

opens, these facilities are all due to open

in 2017.

Back to Bond StreetCHRIS PARKER


The fourth success has been the relationship with the neighbours. Westminster City Council normally only issues Section 61 approvals to big projects six months at a time, but here it has been so pleased with the projects attitude that it has granted 12 months at a time. Given the tiny site, which has only one access, abuts a foreign embassy and a five-star hotel, and is surrounded by some of the most expensive retail and commercial sites in the world, it is clear that the project team has excelled in managing the external stakeholders around them. Oh yes, and of course, its in a conservation area too!

An unusual project achievement has been to encourage schoolchildren to get a close-up view of the tunnelling works. This has been possible because of the construction of one of the new access connections between existing and new in such a way that school parties can be taken to this point through the operational station and shown the new tunnel via an access gate in the hoardings.

Grouting and concretingGrouting played a key role in limiting

damage to neighbouring properties on this project, as with many of the other current London Underground and Crossrail sites in central London. In this case the grouting was all carried out from one grout shaft by Bachy Soletanche using tubes manchette (essentially grout tubes with means to control grout distribution along their length). 93 of these were driven from the shaft approximately horizontally on three levels under the surrounding structures. They were used to pre-grout and strengthen the ground, and later to permit compensation grouting to correct any settlement after tunnelling. This element of the project has been successfully completed and demobilised.

A key innovation by the project has been the early erection of a steel and pre-cast concrete-framed structure that is destined to form the skeleton of the permanent over-site development once the station works are done. On a small site it might seem odd to erect this structure early, but it is not so daft as it might appear.

The innovation has been to use the frame to create site space above the works, so that plant such as the

ventilation and concrete machinery is installed here, out of the way of the tunnelling and construction down below. The exterior of the frame is clad with panels with high sound-attenuation properties. The single street-level access already mentioned comes into this structure right next to the five-star hotel. The access is fitted with sound insulating doors so that, at night, the hotel residents can be spared any interruption to their sleep.

There are two shafts within the site that give access to the different levels down below. Innovation has been applied here too, as one of the shafts is fitted with a heavy steel horizontal door which may be closed over all or part of the shaft to provide extra working space for activities at ground level when needed.

Further working space was released by mining below a listed eighteenth-century building adjoining the site. The cellars of the building were removed after piled supports had been installed and a heavily reinforced concrete slab had been constructed to transfer the loads from the building into these.

Monitoring apparently showed that the building moved a maximum of about 13mm out of vertical during this massive underpinning exercise, but by its completion it had returned to exactly where it was originally.

Another neighbouring building had to be treated totally differently as it is a foreign embassy. As such, it is legally foreign territory and could

not be touched. Consequently, down below ground, a tunnel has had to be constructed right round three sides of this structure to gain access to the parts of the site on the far side. This tunnel is not required for the permanent works at all, but it is now intended to make use of it as a service duct once construction uses cease.

Underground, the shafts and tunnels have been constructed using a fibre-reinforced SCL (sprayed concrete lined) technique. Most of the construction has been in London Clay, which is easily dug and, provided that

Access to the operational station used to allow schoolchildren to see into the works.

Construction of the new sprayed concrete lining (SCL) tunnels.


its moisture content is not altered, remains quite stable after excavation. The moisture issue is critical though, and so the general rule has been to excavate one metre and then spray concrete to seal the surface before advancing the excavation again. The final lining goes on later, in two layers. The first of these is structural, again steel fibre reinforced SCL, the second is a smoothing coat that prevents injury from the rough surface of the FRC.

The dry SCL mix is delivered by road tanker in a similar fashion to that commonly used for mortar on building sites. It goes into large silos within the site, from which it is delivered to the mixing and pumping plant lower down the building frame. Here water is added before the wet concrete is pumped through a network of tubes to the spraying plant at the work site.

Connecting with earlier tunnelsOne of the more fascinating aspects of the

works was the construction of the interfaces with the existing rail tunnels and platforms. The natural reaction, on seeing the outside of a tunnel lining, is to worry. In the past, that was not something that one would expect to see unless there had been a serious problem like a collapse. On this site, there were many places where it was possible to see, and indeed to touch, the exterior of a tunnel lining. In most instances there were trains running or people on a platform only a few feet away on the other side of the tunnel rings.

This was all a part of the plan here, of course, for the project is all about new connections to the existing railways. In some instances, the new works were to connect into existing ones to provide access directly from stairs, escalators or lifts. In other cases, the need was to cross over or under an existing tunnel or pair of tunnels.

So, what happens at these interfaces between old and new? Well, all of these places on this site involve spherical graphite cast iron tunnel (SGI) rings. Engineers will understand that one doesnt just hack a hole in these to make an aperture! Not even when the railway inside is closed, as it may then have to remain closed much longer than planned.

Where the intention is to make a new connection into the existing tunnel, say to access a platform, then it is necessary to construct a frame around the intended aperture that will carry the loads that are currently carried by the bits of SGI that are going to be removed. This

means bolting a large horizontal beam into the SGI lining above the top of the required hole, bolting a second such beam across the bottom, and then interconnecting these down each side of the planned hole with further steel frame members. The side members, of course, need to be curved to fit around the circular tunnel lining profile. Once this rectangular frame has been erected and secured in place, the disc cutters can come out and the opening can be cut in the lining. Always supposing, naturally, that the other side of the lining has been hoarded out and made secure.

When there is the need to bridge over an existing tunnel it gets more complicated still. The tunnel lining cannot be used to carry any of the bridge loadings, and so suitable bridge abutments have to be constructed on appropriate foundations parallel to the tunnel on each side. As with the side entrance aperture construction, the next stage is to reinforce the

Constructing a bridge over existing operational tunnel.

Stairway tunnel between existing platforms for new platform accesses.


tunnel lining so that it may be safely cut open where the bridge deck is to span over the railway below.

The approach to this on the Bond Street site involves the construction of heavily-reinforced concrete walls parallel to the planned bridge, one each side of it. These sit on the tunnel lining and are tied into it and the new bridge abutments. Once again, after the SGI lining has been stabilised by these works, and with the railway below closed off, the tunnel lining can be cut out to permit the bridge deck beams to be placed across between the abutments and secured.

It is important to seal the bridge deck to prevent things from falling into the tunnel below once the bridge is brought into use but, even so, there were prominent signs beside the bridges on this site forbidding washing out on or near the bridge deck.

Working conditionsIt is worth mentioning here how hot

it gets in these working conditions. On the day of the site visit, it was initially quite a relief to get underground as it was windy, cold and wet outside. However, it soon became apparent how warm it was in the workings.

When visiting one of the stairway tunnels, which was rectangular in section rather than a circular tunnel, one really felt the heat. The walls, floor and roof of this were all of thick, heavily reinforced concrete, and the concrete had been poured relatively recently.

The heat from the reaction of the setting concrete was strong but, according to the team members working there, it was nothing. Apparently, just after the pour, it had been so hot that the concrete was unpleasant to touch. Working there must have been very hard to bear.

One of the most noticeable aspects of the work, in common with many similar ones going on in London now, are the temporary works and services - very-

prominent tubes, ducts and pipes. The big flexible ducts seen are the air supply ducts, bringing fresh air pumped into the tunnels to ensure safe breathing conditions for men and machines.

The Costain/Laing ORourke joint venture is using diesel plant down in the tunnels, so without this air provision the atmosphere would quickly become unpleasant and potentially unsafe. Other supplies piped in include water, concrete and compressed air. Managing all these services is a critical aspect of the job. As the tasks being undertaken change, it is necessary to move ducts and pipes around to ensure that they dont obstruct the work.

Despite the air supply, and even though all critical plant is duplicated (or more), there is still a risk of plant failure, fire or another cause of foul air in the tunnels. For this reason, everyone on site is required to wear, and be able to use, a re-breather.

Journalists are no exception, and so I was issued with one of these devices and trained in its use before being allowed onto site. For those not familiar with these devices, they are a bit like large stainless steel lunch boxes worn on a belt round the waist. Inside this is a thing rather like a WW1 gas mask.

In an emergency, the device is worn on the chest and one breathes through a mouthpiece rather like that of a snorkel. The bag on the chest contains chemicals and has to be inflated when initially donned.

After that, one breathes out into it and breathes in from it. Chemicals within the apparatus strip the carbon off the carbon dioxide breathed out, so releasing free oxygen for one to breathe. This process generates a lot of heat, so the bag on the chest gets quite hot. Im pleased never to have needed to use one of these in earnest so far! However, just wearing the thing in its box all day every day in confined workspaces must get pretty annoying.

However, the men and women working on the site seem to be well able to grin and bear it. Despite the heat and the gas masks, the team constructing Bond Streets enlarged underground station seem to be dedicated to getting it ready on time for its 2017 opening. Rail Engineer will be there to see the finished result.

Stairway tunnel.

LU staff employing hand tunnelling techniques due to the close proximity to the operational Central line.


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0523 McMillan Rail Sector Magazine Ad.indd 1 25/07/2014 09:01

When New Streets 600 million overhaul is completed in September, passengers alighting in Birmingham will discover a much brighter, much bigger, much more modern station. There will be lifts and escalators linking all platforms to concourse level for the first time, significantly improving accessibility and passenger flows.

It wont just be passengers who will spot the difference. Frontline staff will arrive to work to find a station that bears little resemblance to the one which has sat in the centre of Englands second city since the 1960s.

New Street station was only designed to cope with around 40,000 to 60,000 passengers a day. Currently the station receives somewhere in the region of 175,000 passengers - 35,000 more than when Network Rail started the refurbishment six years ago. Reconfiguring New Street to cope with this has required an enormous civils programme - all of which has been carried out above an operational railway.

The original concourse is being replaced by one five times bigger than London Eustons. A mirrored cladding

now hugs the exterior, pulling the existing station buildings together. And inside, the layout of the upper level has changed completely.

Passengers were given their first glimpse of what the new station will look like in April 2013 when the project reached its halfway point. The completion of phase one allowed the closure of the old concourse and work to start on the projects standout feature - its central atrium.

The project is now entering a critical phase, as the team races to get it completed. Rail Engineer was invited to see how far the project had come before the media was locked out ahead of the grand unveiling.

To help the transition, down the road at Network Rails Meridian House office, one of the projects apprentices has developed a virtual

solution from the same computer modelling software used to plan the construction. Using a pair of cardboard g

rail engineer july 2015

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