RailStaff January 2017

JANUARY 2017 | ISSUE 230

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CONTENTS JANUARY 2017 | ISSUE 230

RIP-ROARING START FOR 2017 | 8 Cover features scaffolder Billy Russell at work over Christmas.

Photo taken

by Mark Carne, CEO of Network Rail.

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2017 got off to rip-roaring start for the rail industry, with a plethora of new projects completed, new trains on test and new rail links opened.

BRINGING TRACK AND TRAIN CLOSER TOGETHER | 28 NCB’s managing director, James Collinson, explains the pressures that are forcing rolling stock and track engineers to work more closely together.

FINDING A POSITIVE SAFETY MESSAGE | 30 The 2016 IOSH Rail Conference weighed up whether it would be the positive or negative motivators that deliver a safe New Year for the industry.

PROTECTING THE RAILWAY | 34 A look at the ways in which BTP is tackling the threat of terrorism on the UK’s railway.

MADE IN BRITAIN | 48 The first British-built IEP train goes on show at Newton Aycliffe.

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PART-TIME SOLUTION | 56 56

Heathrow Express announces plans to hire part-time drivers for the first time - a step in the right direction, the company believes, to a more diverse workforce for the industry.

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RAILSTAFF JANUARY 2017

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Basque Country Etiquette

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Paul O’Connor

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In a small city in the Basque country last year, an English teacher grew fed up with his pupils being sore losers. The children enjoyed the various classroom quizzes and games all designed to improve their English. But they were fiercely competitive.

In the end the teacher said: Look I have had enough of this yah-boo, it’s not fair, business. This is what you do when you lose: You step up to your opponent, look him in the eye, shake his hand and say, ‘Well done, my friend’.

It’s a lesson for the wider world, for industrial relations and politics. The unedifying sight of the losing side in the American presidential election questioning the validity of the whole exercise is disturbing. The main presupposition of a democracy is that you

abide by the election result. Elections are not simply a means to achieving your ends.

Similarly the Brexit vote in the UK was an expression of direct democracy. It is deeply disturbing that the establishment should seek to subvert popular will by bringing court cases and parliamentary delaying tactics. In both instances the establishment threw more resources, more institutions and most of the media behind their campaigns and yet still failed to win.

It is time to put the recent past behind us, to affirm the result and make the new world of 2017 a success. The penalties for not doing so are incalculable. To continue disunited, sore losers deliberately looking to sabotage economic and social confidence is an incipient treason. Britain is a great country, powerfully strengthened by its peoples from the Commonwealth and the Continent. We need them all. The railway is a prime example of an industry, indeed a culture, that has melded disparate peoples into a cohesive and enthusiastic community of winners.

At RailStaff we shall continue to support men and women from all backgrounds, cultures and religions as they seek to invest their working lives in a career with one of the world’s most successful transport industries.

Back in San Sebastian very occasionally rival football supporters, disagreeable siblings and street urchins have been startled to be greeted with a handshake and a smile by their antagonists, cheerful types in the main, with a rudimentary command of English. Happy New Year and a prosperous 2017 to all our readers and advertisers… and critics. andy@rail-media.com FACEBOOK.COM/RAILSTAFF | @RAILSTAFFUK | RAILSTAFF.UK

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Grayling proposes consensual reform

Rail chiefs have greeted Chris Grayling’s (pictured) plans for closer working with enthusiasm. The Secretary of State wants to see a merging of train and track operations at local level.

Says Paul Plummer of the Rail Delivery Group, ‘The Secretary of State is setting out a positive vision that we can all support, and one that together we want to make work.

‘We need to ensure that every part of our railway is more joinedup and working closer together – one railway pulling in the same direction.’

It’s a view widely shared and fits with recent Network Rail policy of devolving more power to route operations.

Says Mark Carne, chief executive of Network Rail, ‘We strongly welcome these plans

to bring more joined up working within the industry.

We have already devolved Network Rail into route-based businesses closer to customers, and the proposals announced… will build on the alliances we have created between these route businesses and train operators.’ Drawing attention to the delay attribution arguments that add costs to both operator and provider, he added, ‘We also strongly believe there should be better alignment of incentives between train companies and Network Rail.

That is why we now align the performance incentives for all of Network Rail’s 35,000 staff, around targets agreed jointly with train operators. But more needs to be done across the industry.’

Last year, Mark Carne announced the creation of boards for each of the devolved route businesses.

These will include passenger representatives. The new route boards will oversee the running of the railway in their area.

Grayling caught the headlines whilst still in opposition by saying John Major’s privatisation of railways had been wrong to split track and train operation. Policy was further refined in opposition by talking to people working in the industry about how it should be run. Despite his altercations with London cyclists, Grayling remains a convincing figure at the transport helm. Reform of the railway, under Chis Grayling, observers believe, will be taken up and implemented by the railway itself.

Rother Valley reprise Rother Valley Railway is now linked to the national rail network thanks to a set of sidings put in by Network Rail.

Network Rail chairman, Sir Peter Hendy (pictured), opened the new sidings at Robertsbridge, East Sussex. This new sidings mean the heritage railway is also a step closer to realising its aspiration to restore the missing link to the Kent and East Sussex Railway, between Bodiam and Robertsbridge. Delivery of new trains and construction materials will now be much easier thanks to the new sidings.

Anticipating transport secretary Chris Grayling’s rail unity reforms, Sir Peter Hendy praised rail staff involved in the project. ‘I would like to congratulate the teams here at Network Rail, the RVR volunteers, and all who helped make the new connection and sidings a reality.

This is a tremendous example of

Middlesbrough makeover A long-awaited £2.7 million refurbishment of Middlesbrough station starts this spring.

The station roof and stonework will be repaired in a 13-month project. The Grade II listed building needs special attention and the local authority plans to make it the centrepiece of a comprehensive regeneration scheme.

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Says Middlesbrough Mayor, Dave Budd, ‘Middlesbrough railway station is at the heart of the town’s historic quarter and is central to our aspirations for the town centre and the wider area. It’s an iconic building that reflects the town’s rich heritage while having a pivotal role to play as a key gateway to its future growth and prosperity.’

rail organisations working together for the benefit of passengers and the public. Thank you for your dedication and well done to all involved.’

It’s a view reflected by Mike Hart OBE, Trustee of the Rother Valley Railway. ‘It has been a joy to work with the Network Rail team who have done a wonderful job in enabling the facility that will be of great mutual benefit. This will allow us to further develop the work we do together in providing training facilities for Network Rail and London Underground staff along with making possible the transfer of rolling stock between our railways.’

Rail chiefs are keen to stress the new facility at Robertsbridge was delivered thanks to a partnership between Network Rail, RVR, Kent and East Sussex Railway and a team of volunteers from London Underground and other organisations.

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Desiro debut at Clapham The first of a £210 million fleet of new trains for South West Trains (SWT) has now arrived at Clapham ahead of final testing.

The Siemens-built Class 707 Desiro City trains will provide space for approximately 11,000 passengers every weekday morning to and from London Waterloo.

A pair of five-carriage trains starts testing in the new year and the first trains are expected to enter passenger service in April. When the full rollout is complete by November 2017, 30 trains, comprising 150 carriages, will provide space for thousands

of additional passengers every day.

Network Rail is rebuilding platforms 20-24 at Waterloo, the former International Terminal, boosting capacity and creating a spacious new concourse. This summer platforms 1-4 will be extended allowing longer trains to serve suburban routes. The 707 is lighter and more energy efficient, reducing impact on the environment and track.

Says Rail Minister, Paul Maynard, ‘I am pleased to see the first of this new fleet of trains arriving in the UK on schedule.

They are part of the record investment the Government has been making to modernise our railways.’

TfL winds its way down Baker Street It’s not just rail staff who were out on track during the holiday period: Taking a leaf out of the rail industry’s book, Transport for London inspired major utilities to dovetail roadworks over the holiday season.

Road traffic levels drop by a quarter over Christmas. Over a 100 works took place along a key two-mile stretch of Marylebone Road and Euston Road.

National Grid worked on gas pipelines on Baker Street while Thames Water dug up the water main at the same location.

There will be no more leaves on the line as foresters turned out to prune overhanging trees. Meanwhile road engineers took advantage of the blockade to repair pavements, carriageways, lighting and drainage - rail-style.

TfL managed to dovetail 100 road works.

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RAILSTAFF JANUARY 2017

Rip-roaring start for 2017

2017 got off to a rip-roaring start for the rail industry, with a plethora of new projects completed, new trains on test and new rail links opened.

Over Christmas and the New Year, while Britain partied, the Orange Army pushed ahead with 200 projects designed to increase capacity and improve rail services.

Almost all were completed on budget and on time. New trains will provide more seats and space for hard-pressed commuters this year as new railways like the Elizabeth line and the Oxford -Marylebone link add to the rail success phenomenon in 2017.

200 projects Teams in almost every region were aiming to complete milestone upgrades over Christmas and New Year. On the West Coast Main Line, engineers delivered an upgrade to the power supply around Milton Keynes, points upgrades at Birmingham New Street and track renewals in Carlisle. In the North

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West, existing track was realigned and a significant programme of structures works was carried out on the Ordsall Chord project.

On the Anglia route, 12.5 km of overhead catenary was replaced, allowing a disruptive speed restriction to finally be lifted, and the final phase of the Cardiff Area Signalling Renewals programme was completed in South Wales.

Important preparatory work for HS2 was also carried out at Euston. While the power was off, Network Rail began the process of relocating OLE equipment from the west-side carriage shed before it is demolished.

Carne on camera One of the 24,000-strong team at work over the festive period was scaffolder Billy Russell, who was snapped by Network Rail’s chief executive, Mark Carne, while working on a bridge replacement project in Bramley, Hampshire.

Says Billy, who is 25 and from Maidstone, ‘This was the first Christmas Day that I’ve worked since I had my two youngest children.

I missed their whole day as I left home at 4am and didn’t get back until after they’d gone to bed. It’s hard knowing that I missed out on all their excitement; however, I figure that it was a small sacrifice to make.

‘The kids aren’t interested in me on Christmas Day, it’s all about their presents whereas on site, I’ve been a part of something that will improve rail journeys in this area, and I’ve helped to ensure that it’s all been done safely.’

In publicity material announcing the successful delivery of the Christmas programme, Mark Carne said, ‘Our people can now go home and enjoy their delayed Christmas and be proud of having delivered a huge programme of railway improvement work. And we don’t just do it at Christmas. We are working week in, week out as we invest to transform our railway.’

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Craig for Haigh Haigh Rail Ltd has appointed Craig Jones as a senior project manager.

Craig, who joins from Stobart Rail, has over 16 years’ experience in the delivery of permanent way works, which are at the very core of Haigh Rail's engineering offering.

Having joined Jarvis at the start of the millennium, Craig worked his way up the track engineering ladder and has held senior positions at both Babcock Rail and Network Rail - the latter culminating in managing a Works Delivery Unit in the North, where he undertook the role of CRE Permanent Way for all delivered work.

Craig has worked on several major projects in the last few years including Network Rail’s Far North Plain Line Framework, as well as the Gospel Oak to Barking Electrification Track Lowering Scheme and delivering track drainage and track alignment works on the Ashford

MacPherson joins SSE Enterprise Rail Stewart MacPherson has been appointed as the new head of business development (Infrastructure Projects and Regional Transport) for SSE Enterprise Rail.

to Canterbury lines.

Craig will work closely with engineering director Dan Foster. A delighted Chris Haigh, managing director of Haigh Rail Ltd, said, ‘It is fantastic to have secured the services of Craig.

He is a great fit for our business, has a great work ethic and will further enhance our project management team.’

Stewart has made the move from Network Rail, where he worked for 19 years, most recently as a route delivery director, responsible for overseeing rail infrastructure (enhancements and renewals) projects in Scotland.

Stewart joins SSE with extensive experience in running a portfolio of large capital investment programmes comprising many engineering disciplines, including track, signalling, electrification and power.

Raj Sinha, managing director of SSE Enterprise Rail, said, ‘We are pleased to welcome Stewart to the team. He brings a wealth of industry knowledge and will take the lead on identifying new

opportunities on infrastructure projects and regional transport for SSE Enterprise Rail.

‘His appointment will help us to realise our plans for further growth within the UK rail industry - both as an M&E and power specialist and a proven provider of other services such as civil engineering, telecoms and energy solutions. Our aim is to continue to help the industry to build a better railway for Britain.’ SSE Enterprise Rail has recently been awarded large projects with both Network Rail and Transport for London.

New Year appointment The good Sheppard for Ballyclare Roger Foster has joined Ballyclare Limited as its new sales and marketing director.

Rail electrification contractor RJ Power Group has appointed Mark Sheppard as HSQE manager.

Roger, who has spent almost 30 years in the apparel and textile industry, joins the PPE and workwear specialist from Orbit International, where he held a similar role.

Says Carlton Greener, Ballyclare’s managing director, ‘This is a key appointment for Ballyclare, and we’re delighted to have secured the services of someone like Roger who is both highly experienced and highly regarded in the industry.’

Roger said he was delighted to join a company ‘with products that people know they can trust to do the job’.

Says Roger, ’There were a number of things which attracted me to the company, but the most significant were the facts that

Mark has worked his way up from the shop floor in engineering and concrete roof tiling, before moving into health and safety around 20 years ago.

The production of COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations) assessments proved to be a useful learning curve early on.

Sheppard has worked in the highly regulated world of nuclear decommissioning at the Ministry of Defence. His 10-year tenure made him highly proficient in providing concise, informative and well-written documentation and close adherence to regulations. It also had relevant parallels with the rail industry and his new role at RJ Power Group.

Mark cites his approach to

Ballyclare is one of the very few workwear manufacturers that truly believes in its products, and that it really understands its customers.

He added, ’There is a lot of talent and ability within the company and that will go a long way to helping us build the brand and make it even stronger than it currently is.’

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safety as calm, considered and pragmatic. ‘I can see from my short time with RJ Power Group, that safety is taken very seriously and everyone has a good awareness of what is required,’ says Mark.

RJ Power Group faces significant challenges in adopting the principal contractor role in the near future. Mark has experienced some of these in previous roles and looks forward to bringing his skills to bear with regard to the rail division’s health and safety responsibilities.

RAILSTAFF JANUARY 2017

Air star for Stobart

Webb master

Warwick Brady joins Stobart Group as deputy group CEO this January.

Balfour Beatty has appointed Peter Webb as head of electrification delivery at its Rail Systems division.

Brady was chief operating officer of easyJet plc and has extensive commercial and management experience.

A career in aviation has seen him working as CEO at Mandala Airlines in Asia. He spent two years as chief operating officer of Air Deccan/Kingfisher in India.

Prior to that, Warwick was deputy operations director at Ryanair from 2002 to 2005, where he held various senior executive roles including

Mission Michele

deputy CEO of Buzz, following its acquisition from KLM. Warwick is also a nonexecutive director of FirstGroup plc.

Says Mick Rayner, director, Balfour Beatty’s Rail Systems division, ‘We’re delighted to appoint Peter to this newly created position, which supports Balfour Beatty’s continued investment in the electrification market. He provides a wealth of expertise and a strong track record of successfully delivering electrification projects for our customers.’

Peter Webb has been with Balfour Beatty since 2011 and is

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a career railwayman of 23 years. Most recently he was construction director and worked on the West Outer Electrification which will connect Crossrail to the rest of the rail network.

Burchell chairs RDG

Stablehold for NEG

Michele Ashton has been appointed as Railway Mission Chaplain to East Anglia and Liverpool Street.

Tom Stables becomes managing director of National Express Rail and UK Coach this month as the respected Andrew Chivers retires after 37 years on the railway.

Michele comes to the Railway Mission from the catering industry, where she had responsibility for over 50 school kitchens.

Chaplaincy is a change of direction, but, says Michele, ‘I realised that my skills were transferable, and I had a real sense that chaplaincy would be a great opportunity for me to help and support people.’

It’s a Christian charity offering help to everyone - of all faiths and none, a group of specially trained people who offer friendship and a listening ear to anyone connected with the railway.

In his new role, Tom Stables will have responsibility for both rail and coach businesses in Britain, supported by Julian Drury, at c2c, and Wolfgang Schuster at German rail operations.

Tom has been managing director UK Coach for four years.

Andrew Chivers began as an engineering management trainee at British Rail in September 1978, based in Derby. He went on to manage various depots and held a number of fleet engineering leadership roles.

Chivers was managing director at Wessex in 2002 and

moved on to become managing director of London Lines - an amalgamation of c2c, WAGN and Silverlink in 2003. He then worked for National Express East Anglia in 2007 and was promoted to National Express’ managing director Rail in 2010.

Chivers led NEG’s entry in to the German Rail market. Rail colleagues joined to wish him auf wiedersehen and a happy retirement.

Chris Burchell, managing director for UK Trains at Arriva, has been appointed as chairman of the Rail Delivery Group (RDG).

Chris succeeds Martin Griffiths, chief executive of Stagecoach Group, who has chaired the RDG Board for a planned three-year term since December 2013.

Chris became managing director for trains at Arriva UK in August 2014. He previously worked for Southern Railways, Thames Trains and was a production manager for Railtrack.

Burchell read French at Kent University and spent a year at Jean Moulin University in Lyon.

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Watercress down memory lane

A small team at the Watercress Line plans to collect people’s memories of travel by steam locomotive in Hampshire.

© Nigel Kendall

The aim is to build up a bank of memories relating to the railway between 1940 and 1965. The team is looking for a broad range of stories to paint a picture of what life was like during the last years of steam travel.

Can you help? Troop trains, evacuees, the Second World War, collecting goods from stations, going on holiday, even emigrating via Southampton docks - many have steam stories to tell. Everyone from trainspotters to rail staff past and present can help.

Collecting people’s oral histories is part of the Canadian Pacific project which is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. This project will see the return to steam of the Watercress Line’s flagship steam locomotive, no. 35005 Canadian Pacific.

Alongside this restoration work comes a wide range of educational activities that reflect how the rich and precious heritage of railways lies not only in preservation work but also in the very human stories that show how these railways impacted the everyday lives of many people. It’s often forgotten that railways were used for all manner of things, from moving home to delivering newspapers, and were central to people’s lives.

New Year delight for Hornsey One of the UK’s largest train maintenance depots has opened for business.

Thinner Blue Line What do you think about plans to merge the British Transport Police with the new force, Police Scotland? Members of the Scottish Parliament want to know your views - that is people working in the rail industry on both sides of the border.

Concerns have been expressed by police officers and railway staff. The Police Service of Scotland/Seirbheis Phoilis na h-Alba is a comparatively new force and was formed in 2013 by merging eight regional forces. By contrast BTP is thought to date back to 1826 - three years before London’s Metropolitan Police force was created.

Want to comment? Send an email to justicecommittee@parliament.scot by Tuesday, 31 January 2017.

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Canadian Pacific 35005 in the snow.

The expanded T&RS depot at Hornsey will house and maintain £1 billion-worth of new trains delivering the new, high intensity Thameslink service across central London, London Bridge, Gatwick and beyond as part of the government-sponsored Thameslink Programme. Up to 20 apprentices a year will be trained at Hornsey, by GTR and Siemens, working on a range of over six classes of trains.

The new depot at Hornsey was built by Siemens with contractor VolkerFitzpatrick and includes large new sidings and has stabling capacity for 188 new Class 700 carriages (Class 717s); an underframe cleaning facility; twocarriage wash machines; two bogie drops and full depot signalling - including power operated points, depot protection and points heating.

Recent upgrades over the past two years to the original Hornsey depot as part of the Thameslink Programme include a new control

room and signal control depot; a second new underframe cleaning facility; security upgrade to the whole depot site; a new depot personnel protection system with CCTV and an automatic numberplate recognition system.

Says GTR engineering director Gerry McFadden, ‘This enlarged and modernised facility will support the biggest fleet renewal in the history of this part of the Great Northern railway and create fabulous new journeys on to an expanded Thameslink network.

‘The new maintenance building at Hornsey is a crucial part of the governmentsponsored Thameslink Programme which will support the exciting new cross-London connections for passengers on much of our existing Great Northern route. Built specifically for Siemens to maintain our new Class 700 Thameslink trains, the new building complements the improved existing depot where we care for the Great Northern fleet and together they create a centre of excellence in engineering.’

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RAILSTAFF JANUARY 2017

Toddlers on track

ALL © TfL/London Transport Museum

London’s Transport Commissioner, Mike Brown MVO, said, ‘We are facing a skills shortage within the transport industry and it is vital that we work together to tackle this challenge. Capturing the imagination and curiosity of children is part of the solution.

We need more schemes to ensure that children from an early age are inspired to pursue a career in engineering.’

Bridge to industry A new initiative to help tackle the shortage of skilled engineers aims to encourage children from nursery age onwards to understand more about railways.

‘Enjoyment to Employment’ is an educational programme held at the London Transport Museum, offering the chance for children to engage with a range of skills and activities that inspire them. The initiative aims to maintain the enthusiasm that children usually have for engineering and transport when they are young and highlight the jobs and opportunities that a career in transport and engineering offers.

The wide-ranging programme includes active and immersive sessions at the museum and in schools which make it clear how science, technology, engineering

and mathematics can provide the practical know-how and attitudes that are useful for employment.

Nursery age Young children will be encouraged to play and interact with real engineering equipment and objects including hard hats, uniforms, dispatch batons, pieces of track, and specialist testing equipment.

Sessions at the museum will target pre-school and early primary school children by letting them participate in activities including mending vehicles, helping passengers with travel information and dressing up as drivers and engineers.

Participants, including children of nursery age, will also meet people currently working in the transport and engineering sectors.

Speaking at the launch,

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Sam Mullins, director of London Transport Museum, said, ‘The new initiative will provide hands-on activities to over 7,000 pre-schoolers, acting as a bridge between children and young people and industry. This will be the first time that engineering classes will really be offered to children of primary and nursery age helping both parents and teachers understand the

opportunities offered by transport and engineering. This target will be in addition to over 145,000 children and young people that already participate in education programmes provided by the museum.’

Experts say that it is vital to give children and young people hands-on experiences if they are to really engage in a subject. The London Transport Museum does this using its collection and by working in partnership with industry, putting children in touch with real life role models.

The London Transport Museum believes that while there is much excellent work being done with A-level and undergraduate students, the best way to increase the numbers and diversity of young people considering careers in transport and engineering is to start young, harnessing a child’s early enthusiasm for transport.

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Hansford Review: Have your say With Network Rail under pressure to increase the efficiency and reliability of its delivery of major projects, an extensive review is looking into all barriers that prevent alternative project delivery models.

Professor Peter Hansford, a past president of the Institution of Civil Engineers and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, agreed to chair the review. Operating independently of the Network Rail Executive, the Hansford Review will make recommendations directly to the Network Rail board.

In announcing this move, Network Rail chief executive Mark Carne said, ‘We need to act more like a private business with customers’ needs at the heart of everything we do.

‘Led by Peter, this review is due to start immediately and demonstrates mine and the company’s commitment to identify and break down any barriers that currently discourage either third party funding and financing of projects, innovation or new models of delivery.

‘Peter has a wealth of experience in delivering complex infrastructure projects and in reviewing them. I’m delighted he’s agreed to head up this important review so that we can find out what we need to do to embrace competition at every stage of a project, and start doing it.’

The members of the review panel include:

• Alistair Gordon - chief executive officer, Keolis; • Andy Milner - chief executive officer, Amey; • John Smith - managing director, GB Railfreight; • Matthew Symes - partner, Concerto; • Mike Gerrard - independent expert; • Zara Lamont - performance improvement director, Carillion.

The panel has now appealed for evidence from the industry, to be submitted by 31 January 2017.

All submissions will be treated as private correspondence between the contributor and the review chairman, and any content subsequently utilised within the review’s report will be anonymous and unattributed.

Professor Hansford is particularly interested in hearing from RailStaff readers.

Says Peter, ‘I am keen to hear from any RailStaff readers interested in the future funding and delivery of Britain’s railway.

To contribute to my review please email, in confidence, to peterhansfordreview@nichols. uk.com by 31 January.’

Further evidence will come from the final report of a project group convened by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) to investigate alternative ways to deliver and finance enhancements. This group has representatives from Network Rail, train operating companies and construction contractors, so representing the RDG and the whole of the rail industry.

The Hansford Review is due to submit its report in spring 2017.

Denise presents Spirit of Sunderland A name plate has been presented by Virgin Trains to Sunderland to mark the first anniversary of its services between the vibrant hub of the North East and London.

In December 2015, Virgin Trains power car 43274 was named ‘Spirit of Sunderland’ to mark the arrival of its inaugural daily service to London King’s Cross. Virgin Trains has now presented an identical replica commemorative plate to Sunderland City Council.

The commemorative plate was presented to Councillor Henry Trueman, Deputy Leader of Sunderland City Council, by onboard staff member Denise Blas, who worked on the first service and is a proud resident of the city.

Says Henry Trueman, ‘It’s really important for the biggest city between Leeds and Edinburgh to have a direct link to the capital.

It’s really useful for businesses and leisure travellers, including shoppers, and (it’s) great that they can go from Sunderland city centre direct into the centre of London with Virgin Trains.

‘I am delighted to receive this plate on behalf of Sunderland City Council and to continue to work with Virgin Trains to help grow its service from the city.’

The move marks a personal triumph for local hero Denise Blas. ‘I’m so proud to be from Sunderland and to have helped to launch the service last year. This included meeting Sunderland football players Lee Cattermole and Fabio Borini at the Stadium of Light – which was great as I’m a big fan of the club and season ticket holder!’ says Denise. ‘I’ve really enjoyed working on this service and was really pleased to hand over this plate to the council on behalf of Virgin Trains.’

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Lord Mayor takes the train

A walk in the dark A Virgin Trains locomotive 91130 has been named the ‘Lord Mayor of Newcastle’ to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the city’s Mayoralty and Freemen.

King John granted a charter, in 1216, to Newcastle’s burgesses - known today as the Freemen - which empowered them to elect a Mayor of Newcastle. The ceremony, which was held at Newcastle Central station, was hosted by Jonathan Edwards CBE, himself an Honorary Freeman of the city.

The current Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Councillor Hazel Stephenson, said, ‘We have had many events to mark the 800th anniversary of the Mayoralty and Freemen but this will probably be one of the most enduring events.

‘The Mayoralty is one of the longest surviving civic institutions in the city. It’s a great honour to have a train named after it.

People who live and travel along the whole of the East Coast Mainline will see what a truly special year this is for Newcastle.

Now it will be remembered for years to come.’

Visit Kent

In a laudable bid to persuade visitors to board Kent’s fully crewed network of heritage railways, Visit Kent has launched a campaign.

Dubbed ‘Connecting Kent’s Heritage Railways’ the project includes East Kent Railway, Kent and East Sussex Railway, Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway, Spa Valley Railway. Earlier this year, Visit Kent

successfully bid for £75,000 from the Department for Transport’s Heritage and Community Rail Tourism Innovation Fund to help boost the profile of the county’s heritage railways.

Says Sandra-Matthews Marsh MBE, chief executive of Visit Kent, ‘A huge amount of people put so much time and effort into keeping these networks going, often for free, and we want to celebrate their hard work and the railways’ stories.’

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A seven strong team of Crossrail Anglia workers has successfully walked the route of the Elizabeth line for charity. The team started at the western point of Reading station and followed the line through the heart of London into Essex, where they finished three days later at the route’s eastern point of Shenfield.

The team, which consisted of colleagues from Network Rail, Costain, Keltbray, DTS and Alstom, walked the 100-mile route above ground and took in all 40 Crossrail Stations along the way. So far the team has raised more than £8,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

On day one, they started the trek at Reading station at 6am, and called it a day at Heathrow Terminal 4 just after 7pm.

Says Keltbray Aspire’s section manager, Michael O’Donovan, after taking in 11 stations that day, ‘It’s dawned on me - this is definitely no stroll in the park!’

They started off at Hayes & Harlington the following day at 7am, and were just starting to flag a little when they reached the halfway point at Paddington where Keltbray’s chief executive,

Brendan Kerr, rang from France to congratulate the team.

At Liverpool Street, Alstom’s Craig Wardley needed medical attention but soldiered on after getting bandaged up. At Custom House they called it a day at 8pm.

‘By the time we got to Harold Wood Station at 3.15pm on the last day of the challenge, it was pretty much torture, but thanks to all the cheers from our colleagues along the way we reached Shenfield at 5.45pm,’ said Michael O’Donovan.

‘Those cheers and encouragement from our companies and friends on social media kept us going. Big thanks also go to Nickie Boughton from Costain who ferried us about, popped our blisters and dressed our wounds. She is our unsung team hero. At the end my feet felt hotter than the hottest curry, but raising more than £8,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support was epic,’ Michael added.

The Crossrail on Foot 2016 team consisted of Steve Kerslake (Costain), George Ncube (Costain), Craig Wardley (Alstom), Chris Dennis (DTS), Michael O’Donovan (Keltbray Aspire), Jack Healy (Keltbray Aspire) and Ashley O’Sullivan (Network Rail).

Bridge slide bonus Network Rail has completed a key element in its project to reconstruct Awsworth Road Bridge in Ilkeston.

The bridge was demolished and a new, ready-made, bridge deck installed giving a new lease of life to the 116-year-old structure. Work on the bridge began in September and will be completed in April 2017.

As well as ensuring that the bridge will last another hundred years, the upgrade will also deliver an improved road across the bridge, giving drivers better visibility on approach. The full road closure which is currently in place will remain until the end of March 2017.

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End of gap year in sight Morson Vital Training goes Platinum for Settle and Carlisle A vital rail link, the historic Settle and Carlisle railway, looks set to become an enduring symbol of rail industry grit and determination.

Since the landslip of last February, engineers have been on site stabilising the embankment and relaying track. The railway is on target to reopen in March 2017.

‘The viaduct-like structure we’re building will safeguard this section of railway for generations to come. If the land gives way again, the railway will not,’ says Rhiannon Price, project manager for Network Rail. ‘This is a complex repair job many months in the planning. We are now focused on getting this iconic and much-loved line fully reopened right the way to Carlisle as soon as possible, which is on schedule for 31 March 2017.’

Once the railway is reopened, Network Rail plans further improvements to the foot of the embankment below the line and above the River Eden. This will include drainage ditches and pipework, rock armour to guard against erosion when flows are high, and finally replanting trees over the entirety of the affected area. The Settle and Carlisle line is used for freight as well as passenger services and forms an important part of Anglo-Scottish rail connections.

Morson Vital Training gets the New Year off to a powerful start. Morson Vital Training has been awarded platinum in a recent quality assurance visit by the National Skills Academy for Rail (NSAR) and has been named the number one rail training provider in the UK.

The platinum status follows an extensive review of the organisation by a panel of 11 industry experts chaired by Guy Wilmshurst-Smith, head of professional development and training at Network Rail, including key senior representatives from Transport for London, Network Rail, Crossrail and the project director of HS2. In order for the award to be upheld, all 11 were required to agree unanimously.

The accolade follows a three-day review of quality assurance based observations and is the highest grade available to be awarded by the NSAR. This recent award highlights Morson’s commitment to best practice and the high quality delivery of training in all areas – from booking, through delivery and on to post-course analysis.

Morson Vital Training are now seen as the leading light in all areas.

Neil Robertson, chief executive of NSAR said, ‘I am delighted to see Morson Vital Training receive this award. The inspection reported exemplary performances in all categories, above and beyond.

I’m pleased the industry quality panel agreed.’

Established in 2013, Morson Vital Training delivers rail training and assessments from a suite of UK-wide training academies. With an ongoing desire to deliver the best in all industries, Morson initially took the decision to look to plug a growing skills gap in the North West, and over the last few years have expanded to London, Chelmsford and Farnham.

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With an industry leading apprenticeship programme playing a huge part in the award, the focus is always on looking to be the best while delivering the industry needs. It is hoped a national apprenticeship programme will be rolled out in 2017.

Matthew Leavis (pictured), head of training, was thrilled by the award. ‘It’s been a two-year long journey and it’s a very personal one to me. To lead a great team such as that within Morson to the highest possible award achievable by an inspector is amazing and very satisfying.

‘To be awarded the status of number one is incredible. It just goes to show the hard work and dedication put in by the team, and proves that if you set a goal and keep working towards it, you will get there.’

Ged Mason, chief executive of Morson Group, said, ‘I am delighted with the team at Morson Vital Training for their ongoing dedication to achieving this award status. We pride ourselves on going that extra mile and this award is a real example of this.’

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Plan for young people Rail recruitment specialists Advance-TRS have praised the launch of the ‘Rail Sector Skills Delivery Plan’ which sets out a number of solutions to address the industry’s widening skills gap.

Meadow makeover for Gospel Oak and Barking Rail staff and contractors have been helping create a wildflower meadow at Walthamstow Wetlands.

Network Rail and its main contractor, Murphy, are electrifying the railway between Gospel Oak and Barking ahead of the introduction of four-car electric trains from 2018. New trains will be twice as long as well as quieter and greener.

The Walthamstow Wetlands project will transform ten functioning reservoirs covering approximately 500 acres into a new urban reserve for London.

The project is currently under construction, and with the help of

enthusiastic teams from Network Rail and Murphy it will include a new wildflower meadow. The site designated wildflower meadow has been cleared of fly tipped waste, brambles and buddleia.

Says Andres Giannetti, Murphy project director, ‘It was fantastic to see our volunteers helping out with wildflower grassland restoration. Speciesrich grasslands are one of our most threatened habitats and improving them is important for the long-term survival of many plants, invertebrates and birds.’

The 14 mile long Gospel Oak to Barking route will reopen in late February with the re-introduction of two-car trains.

Biomass New Year The seemingly unstoppable GB Railfreight (GBRf) has signed a rail haulage contract with Lynemouth Power Limited and will build 50 new high-capacity biomass hopper wagons.

The new hoppers should enter service in October 2017. GBRf plans to run 27 trains per week, delivering over 37,000 tonnes of biomass fuel per week.

The trains will run between Port of Tyne and Lynemouth Power Station in Ashington, Northumberland. The contract

comes as part of a 10-year investment project by the power station.

GBRf previously demonstrated its reliability along this route whilst running coal services to Lynemouth. The last coal train to the station ran in April 2015.

Says John Smith, managing director of GB Railfreight, ‘We are delighted to announce this new contract with LPL, as a result of the commitment and dedication of our team. GB Railfreight has grown extensively over the past few years, and new contracts with companies such as LPL are an indication of the positive outlook for our company’s future.

This new contract shows the strength of our company, at a critical time for investment in the rail freight industry. We are very proud we are able to continue to grow in this environment.’

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The plan has been developed by a consortium of rail organisations headed by the National Skills Academy for Rail (NSAR) in response to the government’s ‘Transport Infrastructure Skills Strategy’ published back in 2015.

The plan highlights today’s record number of rail passengers, a number that has more than doubled in the last 20 years. More significantly, it underlines the glaring gap between the number of skilled workers entering the industry and the number required to carry out future projects over the next two decades.

More than £100 billion is set to be invested into our railways over the course of the next 20 years in an unprecedented move to increase capacity and relieve pressure on our congested railway network. In order to facilitate the works for this investment, the industry will need to recruit an additional 100,000 rail staff over the next 20 years. This number will be made up of around 19,950 track staff, 50,000 operational staff, 10,000 drivers, and 5,000 signalling and train control staff.

The delivery plan is aiming to change the perception of the rail industry in an effort to attract more young people, and especially women and ethnic minority candidates, into the sector.

The rail industry can often be mistakenly thought of as just a ‘dirty’ industry that is geared solely towards boys and this perception is something that is set to be addressed in future recruitment

campaigns.

The plan will also make career paths more transparent for aspiring engineers, showing different entry routes, a map of all the potential roles and the wide variety of different progression paths that are available.

‘We often forget that many of the engineers that will be building tomorrow’s great projects like HS2 and Crossrail 2 are studying for their SATs and GCSEs as we speak,’ says Advance-TRS’ managing director, Andy Ridout.

‘It is vital that we act now to inspire the next generation of railway engineers so that we have the right people in place to deliver tomorrow’s better railway.’

There are plans to follow the automotive and aerospace industries in collaborating with UK universities to develop rail-focused engineering degrees. These degrees will be multi-disciplinary courses combining mechanical, electrical, systems and digital engineering together with rail systems at the core.

The cost to the industry by not investing in skills now is estimated to be around £300 million as projects risk delays and additional staffing costs. Advance-TRS are keen to work with engineering and construction companies across the UK to ensure projects run on time and to budget.

Advance-TRS specialises in placing niche, hard to find engineers and managers into some of the UK’s most exciting engineering projects.

Find out how Advance-TRS can help deliver real added value to your projects, visit www.AdvanceTRS.com or give Advance a call on 01483 361061.

You can read more about the Rail Sectors Skills Delivery Plan at www.nsar.co.uk ‘Together, we can all advance.’

New characters for Stobart Rail's Safety Campaign Engineer, Ganger and Planner characters added for Stobart Rail’s Safety Campaign The launch of Stobart Rail’s ‘Think Safety, Act Safely’ campaign in April 2016 has improved the awareness of common safety issues for all our workers.

The campaign soon developed into schools across the UK and has been recognised by winning the ‘Community Engagement Award’ at the Rail Exec Most Interesting Awards.

Kirk Taylor, Managing Director, commented: “The idea of taking the campaign into schools, especially targeting primary ages, is to reach out to the young children and introduce them to the rail industry. At the same time as educating them on the importance of safety, not just for themselves but everyone around them, and the impact it can have.

“The hope is the campaign will spark an enthusiasm in the children to become the next generation of rail workers.”

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Merl Evans honoured A Class 37 freight locomotive has been named ‘Merl Evans’ in honour of the late pioneer of railway locomotive models.

Locomotive 37099, ‘Merl Evans 1947 – 2016’, was named at Derby Station by his wife, Maureen Evans. The ceremony was attended by family and friends.

David Haarhaus, managing director of Bachmann Europe Plc, said, ‘We were all devastated by the loss of Merl. He was a fantastic colleague, eloquent ambassador and more personally a wonderful friend to me and so many others here at Bachmann.

The world became a poorer place with his passing. Merl was instrumental in the development of the company’s large portfolio of OO scale locomotives and rolling stock for over 20 years.’

Merl Evans first became involved in the model railway industry when working in the Palitoy Design Department on Action Man accessories. An enthusiastic railway modeller since childhood, he left a copy of the Railway Modeller on his drawing board one lunchtime and as a result was called to a meeting with William Pugh, the development director. Merl emerged from the meeting as

the project controller for a yet unnamed new range of model railways. In due course, Merl introduced Mainline Railways at the 1976 Toy Fairs and kickstarted the standards of ready-torun models that pertain today.

Merl joined Bachman in 1992. He worked closely with many railway companies and heritage railways over the years to develop the models he designed. The full-size Colas Rail engine was immaculately turned out from the workshops in Cardiff

complete with Aberystwyth shed code and a Welsh Dragon.

37099 was built by the English Electric Co Ltd at its Vulcan Foundry work at Newton-leWillows and was delivered new to British Railways on 14 December 1962. Later it was sold for scrap by EWS but saved and has been working on the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway. It was purchased in 2016 by Colas Rail and is now in action across the national rail network.

Ken thanks Birmingham supporters High-speed fun Birmingham New Street’s Big Issue seller is looking forward to 2017 with renewed optimism after a successful four months working at the station.

Ken Swain secured the pitch inside the station, a warm, dry and exclusive spot making him the envy of his fellow Big Issue sellers across the city.

Says Swain, ‘I had been selling in Birmingham for four months in the city centre and I was asked to vend on the Network Rail pitch in Birmingham due to my ability for selling and customer service skills.

‘Since starting the new pitch, things have gone really well for me. I have made extra sales and also new customers. By earning an additional income I am able to make sure the boat that I live on is shipshape and I am looking forward to continuing to build on the relationships I am making. I am really proud of how things are going, 2017 looks to be a good year for me.’

The Big Issue Foundation believes in a ‘hand up and not a hand out’ and recognises that earning an income is a key step in a person’s journey towards stability and a better life. Achieving something for yourself is 100 per cent more empowering than having it done for you.

‘A hand up is what The Big Issue offers, helping me to be self sufficient and being the guiding light I needed,’ says Eliot Schofield, a Big Issue Vendor.

The Big Issue is currently working with around 2,000 sellers per week and works with the homeless and people who are at times facing deep personal crisis ‘I’d like to thank everyone who has bought a Big Issue and look forward to seeing them all in the New Year,’ says Ken Swain.

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Railway staff from the Great Central Railway and East Midlands Trains with the 125 Group have raised £1,350 for Railway Children.

To mark the 40th anniversary of 125mph HST services in the UK, a special EMT HST ran on the Great Central Railway (Nottingham) for one day. It was the first time that this formation of train has operated on this line and proved to be very popular with visitors.

The chosen charity, Railway

Children, received a percentage of the ticket sales.

Says Darren Ward, head of drivers for East Midlands Trains, who helped to mastermind the event, ‘I’m delighted to be able to present the cheque to the Railway Children after such a special day of fundraising.

‘Our HSTs remain a firm favourite with many people, and along with the rest of the industry, we wanted to celebrate their heritage and at the same time raise some valuable funds for one of our favourite charities.’

Left to right: Darren Ward (Head of Drivers for East Midlands Trains), Mark Coney (Head of Fleet Delivery for East Midlands Trains), Dave Ellis (Corporate Partnerships Manager for Railway Children), Donna Adams (Stakeholder and Community Rail Manager), Alan Kemp (Director of Great Central Railway, Nottingham), Alex Wood (Director of 125 Group) and Phil Stanway (Director Great Central Railway, Nottingham).

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Viennese waltz for Elizabeth line trains Elizabeth Line trains are being prepared for all weather running.

Bombardier Transportation, which is building the new trains in Derby, delivered the front carriage of a test train to the Rail Tec Arsenal test centre in Vienna for three weeks of testing in a number of weather conditions, with temperatures ranging from -25ºC up to +40ºC. The facility in Vienna is the only place in Europe that can carry out this level of testing on trains.

Says Howard Smith, operations

director, Elizabeth line, ‘It’s important that we check that the new trains can operate in anything that the changing British weather can throw at them and it won’t be long before our customers will be able to get on board a train, with the first of them going into service in May 2017.’

Initially trains will be sevencarriages long operating between Liverpool Street and Shenfield from May 2017. The first full length, nine-carriage trains will be first introduced between Heathrow and Paddington from May 2018.

Purnoor speeds holiday getaway Orton fundraisers get the Lowe done Energetic staff and supporters at Orton Group have been celebrating 25 years in business by aiming to raise £25,000 for charity. So far teams have managed £17,000.

As well as a busy year with Network Rail, Buckingham Group Contracting Ltd, C Spencer Ltd, staff found time to box, race and climb - inching ever nearer the goal.

Says Orton Group’s managing director, Andrew Lowe, ‘Our team has gone above and beyond over the last few months to help

us get near our target of £25,000 for our five inspiring charities, from Tough Mudder, a climb of Mount Snowdon and challenging bike rides...’

Lowe himself weighed in to take part in his first ever Ultra White Collar Boxing match. The five charities are the Peter Pan Nursery, Cystic Fibrosis Trust, Cancer Research UK, Guide Dogs for the Blind, and MND Association.

The silver anniversary marks a personal triumph for Andrew Lowe. ‘After I completed my electrical apprenticeship at 21, I was made redundant. Shortly after, I decided to set up Orton Electrical & Mechanical Services and operated as a sole trader, quickly gaining a reputation locally and winning subsequent contracts.’

Andrew and friends now bid for work against the very company that made him redundant! Orton specialises in electrical and mechanical equipment design and installation.

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It’s a growing phenomenon on the railway - the timely use of volunteers and supporters.

Community rail partnerships, station adoption schemes and heritage railways have long been blessed by a steadily growing phalanx of motivated volunteers.

Last month, students from Durham University turned out to help Virgin Trains with the city’s annual Christmas getaway.

Thousands of students descend upon Durham station at the end of the Michaelmas term to return home via train. This year the railway teamed up with the university to recruit students to pack bags on-board – with the volunteers bagging a first class ticket home as a reward.

Says station manager Louise Rutherford, ‘We were inundated with applications to join Virgin Trains, and the university has also been a great help by getting the message out to students to turn up early and not to bring the kitchen sink with them.’

Student rail staff were trained to lift baggage safely. Says Purnoor Grewal, 23, who is from New Delhi and is studying for a masters in corporate law, ‘This is a really good opportunity for students and, in between

helping them with their bags, I am enjoying meeting people, having fun and bringing some festive cheer.

‘The staff have been pampering me, bringing me food and drinks, and there is a lovely atmosphere at the station. I will be back on duty on Sunday before I catch the train to London on my way back home to India.’

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The new railway between Oxford and London is proving popular with shoppers, commuters and tourists alike.

Chiltern Railways and Network Rail opened the new rail link connecting central Oxford with London Marylebone in December following a £320 million investment by the franchise operator and the infrastructure manager.

The completion of the new rail link to London – the first from a major British city in more than 100 years – sees central Oxford connected to Marylebone via new stations Oxford Parkway and Bicester Village. It has been just 12 months since the line opened from Oxford Parkway on the outskirts of Oxford in October 2015.

The first year has seen over 1.5 million passengers using the

Oxford flyer takes off

line. Numbers are expected to grow further with the extension into the city. The new service will offer two new trains per hour throughout the day between Oxford and London Marylebone with journey times

of around an hour.

The new link is part of Britain’s Railway Upgrade Plan and is an example of new, direct competition on Britain’s railways creating choice and flexibility.

The idea for the line was

New Year Meet Me on the Corner Honour for rail action A determined rail advocate in Scotland has been recognised in the New Year’s Honours list.

Barrie Forrest, the vice chairman of Rail Action Group, East of Scotland (RAGES), has received a British Empire Medal for services to the community of Reston and Auchencrow in the Scottish Borders.

As well as his 14 years as the vice chairman of RAGES, Barrie has been a member of the community council for nearly 40 years. RAGES was formed in 1999 - born out of a desire to improve the quality of rail services between Edinburgh and Dunbar. Its remit now includes the entire south-east Scotland region. Barrie joined the group at its inception.

The Scottish government recently agreed to increase its funding to build two new stations at East Linton and Reston - in part thanks to Barrie’s campaigning efforts.

Nexus is modernising the Tyne and Wear Metro and has completed a £3 million programme to replace the tracks in the iconic tunnels that run deep beneath the streets of Newcastle.

Three miles of track has been successfully replaced in the tunnels which run from Jesmond to the QEII Metro bridge across the River Tyne. The work, which forms part of the £350 million Metro all change modernisation programme, has been carried out entirely during night shifts to ensure no disruption to Metro services on the busiest section of the system.

The director of Rail and Infrastructure for Nexus, Raymond Johnstone, praised local rail staff. ‘Our staff have carried out all of the work in stages, during the small hours of the morning, so passengers won’t even have known that it was taking place. This has meant no planned disruptions to services through the busiest section of the Metro system.

‘The tunnels are a challenging environment to work in but the

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project itself was more straight forward as the actual track beds are concrete and they didn’t need to be replaced like in the other parts of the system which are over ground.’

He added, ‘I’m also delighted that Nexus was able to deliver this work in-house, using our own staff and equipment.’

It is the first time that the rails

conceived by Chiltern Railways who invested £130 million of the £320million total cost. Network Rail constructed the line on time and within budget as part of the wider East West Rail project, contributing £190 million.

in Metro’s city centre tunnels have been entirely replaced since the system opened to passengers in August 1980.

The Metro tunnels beneath the streets of Newcastle were bored out in the late 1970s and were built specially to carry Metro trains through the city centre towards Gateshead and South Tyneside.

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TRACK&TRA RAILSTAFF JANUARY 2017

BRINGING

COMPANY FOCUS

CLOSER TOGETHER

D

igital Railway will bring engineers of different disciplines closer together than ever before. It will demand a system-wide approach to the way railways are designed and built that is sometimes lacking.

‘It’s prompting conversations that are well overdue in terms of a civil engineer talking to a rolling stock engineer,’ said James Collinson, managing director of the Network Certification Body (NCB).

In December, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling announced that future franchises will be overseen by joint management teams made up of members of Network Rail and the route’s train operator. This too is an attempt to bring the track and train closer together.

It’s something that James has strived towards throughout his career. While working at Network Rail, he put together the Rail Vehicle Interface Engineers team: a group of rolling stock engineers within Network Rail who were capable of having the technical conversations with the operator that had been missing up until that point.

The team was a precursor to the deep alliances and joint working groups that are now becoming common, although James played down its role. ‘I wouldn’t profess to this way of working being my brainchild alone.’

Hitachi's Class 385 EMUs for ScotRail.

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HIGHLIGHTS Within NCB, James is trying to create a similarly diverse team. NCB, while part of the Network Rail group, is an independent assessment and certification body for the industry.

Prior to its creation in 2012, infrastructure certification had been carried out in-house, but the evolution of European safety and interoperability legislation was making that arrangement unsustainable.

From a team of around 20, NCB has grown threefold and by the end of CP5 hopes to have a workforce of between 80 and 100 people.

Says James, ‘We had an initial model of what we considered to be the right organisation to

achieve what was needed. This has successfully evolved, and we’re now in our fifth year of doing business, we’re almost up to 60 people and we’re continuing to grow.’

One of the highlights for James from the past 12 months has been the growth of the body of work undertaken by NCB’s rail vehicles team.

‘Being part of the Network Rail group means we’ll inherently have a high level of activity in the infrastructure project side of things, but now we’re able to demonstrate we’re capable of doing non-infrastructure type work. Rail vehicle and on-track machine certification and compatibility activities are the success stories for me,’ says James, who himself trained as a traction and rolling stock engineer.

Projects include being the Notified Body and Designated Body for the new Caledonian Sleeper carriages, certifying the new LORAM rail grinders and being the Assessment Body for Hitachi’s Class 385 EMUs for ScotRail, which began dynamic testing just before Christmas.

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James Collinson.

HELPING THE INDUSTRY

BROAD KNOWLEDGE While studying mechanical engineering at Sheffield University in the early 1990s, James undertook a summer placement at British Rail. It went so well that he was invited to apply for the graduate scheme; he was accepted and spent the next 10 years working in traction and rolling stock engineering roles. In 2000, he decided to ‘change sides’, joining Network Rail (formerly Railtrack) as a contracts manager in the infrastructure maintenance side of the business.

Says James, ‘This type of change of discipline was rare at the time, but it’s happening more and more now. I’m very keen to encourage and promote it as it’s an increasingly important feature of being an engineer in the railway industry.’

NCB’s close association with Network Rail, while a benefit in many ways, can pose some challenges: James says it is sometimes difficult to convince T&RS engineers that coming to work for an organisation that has Britain’s rail infrastructure manager as its parent company is the right career move.

Says James, ‘NCB is adopting a system approach to railway certification and we’re aiming to grow our engineering capabilities across the board: infrastructure, T&RS, electrification, signals etc, so they can seamlessly mesh with the expertise that’s already established within the business.’

He added, ‘I want engineers to see NCB as a place where they can not only practice the discipline that they know and love but have the opportunity to develop and progress by being part of the bigger railway picture.’

As well as ensuring that projects comply with the legislation, part of NCB’s role is to try and shape the standards they’re assessing against. ‘Just because it’s compliant with the standards doesn’t necessarily mean it’s fit for purpose,’ says James, explaining the nuanced approach to assessment that is required - it is as much about ensuring the compatibility of the technology as it is about ticking boxes for compliance.

Brexit, and what it might mean for the current standards and the role of the notified body, will likely make the need for experienced engineers capable of providing this level of service even greater. It’s a concern for the entire industry and one that NCB is addressing where it can.

Says James, ‘It takes time and investment to build up this knowledge and it’s already a scarce resource.’

NCB is able to tap into the rich graduate resource within Network Rail. Graduates join NCB in order to gain an understanding of the role certification plays before going back into Network Rail or elsewhere.

It’s one way of cultivating the engineers which the industry will need in the future.

‘We’re helping the industry as a whole by developing these people,’ says James. ‘But we don’t really want to lose them to the competition, so our challenge is to work out how to attract and retain them, whilst allowing them to get what they need from a business that’s quite niche in what it does.’

James says he now feels comfortable about NCB’s position in the UK. He believes 2017 will see the company pursuing opportunities overseas, giving it the chance to promote the same system-wide engineering approach to projects around the world.

Says James, ‘It takes time and investment to build up this knowledge and it’s already a scarce resource.’

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FINDING A POSITIVE SAFETY

MESSAGE REPORT BY MARC JOHNSON

THE IOSH RAIL CONFERENCE DISCUSSED POSITIVE LEADERSHIP AND THE STRICT NEW LEGAL GUIDELINES GOVERNING HEALTH AND SAFETY

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T

he railway has a moral, commercial and legal responsibility to do things safely, but what is it that motivates individuals and organisations to improve? Is it the opportunity to make positive changes or the fear of financial and reputational ruin?

Which method is most effective; the carrot or the stick? This was a recurring theme at the annual IOSH Rail Conference, which was held in November at the Nottingham Belfry Hotel. The introduction of new stricter sentencing guidelines in February last year was one very clear example of the latter.

Companies that breach health and safety law can now expect much higher fines. What’s more, the new guidelines can be applied retrospectively, as has already been demonstrated with prosecutions brought against Network Rail and Babcock Rail over the course of the last 12 months.

Speaking on the subject was Kevin Elliott, head of the health and safety team at legal firm Eversheds. Kevin specialises in transport health and safety law; notably he was involved in the legal fallout from Potters Bar. Addressing delegates, he said it was maybe incorrect to describe the fines as being more severe; in cases where there has been a fatality, it could be that the fines have now only just been brought in line with the severity of the crime. However, speaking after the event, Kevin said he questioned whether larger fines would actually help improve safety standards.

‘Whilst there’s no room for complacency, we operate the safest workplaces and railways in the world… I honestly don’t think that the right answer to ensuring that they’re safer is larger fines or prison sentences.’

NOT IN THE INTEREST OF JUSTICE Kevin said that he felt companies like Network Rail and Babcock Rail, which received fines of £4 million and £400,000 respectively, had a right to feel aggrieved that their cases had been processed under the new guidelines, as both incidents had occurred several years before the new guidance came in. Such delays are not in the interest of the victims or the companies being prosecuted, he said, adding, ‘It’s not in the interest of justice.’

The delays highlight a need for further investment in bodies like the ORR and the HSE, said Kevin. ‘I would say anecdotally, that from what I hear from inspectors, that they have a lack of resource and I’m sure they are frustrated that these cases take so long.’

Kevin said he would be more supportive of the higher fines if the revenue raised was used to fund more inspectors or to support schemes that promote a positive safety culture.

The jeopardy for individuals is also greater under the new guidelines.

‘You don’t have to do much wrong to be in peril of going to prison,’ said Kevin, with the threshold of culpability now lower than in the past. Courts will also look at possible harm and not just the actual outcome of an incident.

POSITIVE LEADERS

all © IOSH

Those who work in the field would rather promote a positive safety message. John Gillespie, HM Assistant chief inspector of railways at the ORR, opened the conference by talking about positive leadership.

He said, ‘Positive leaders need to have an understanding of motivation, and what actually motivates individuals towards a positive goal.

‘For me, there are three main motivators towards good health and safety performance - legal, financial and moral motivators.

These will play differently on different people, in different roles in an organisation.’

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Like Kevin, John talked about the threat posed by complacency. Latest figures show the UK is leading Europe in the safe operation of its railway, with no fatal accidents on a train in nine years. But as has been demonstrated by Spain, which currently has gone from being one of the best performing railways to one of the worst following the deaths of 79 people in the derailment at Santiago de Compostela in 2013, these achievements stand on fragile ground.

He added, ‘Complacency for me is acceptance of the status quo; acceptance that we are safe enough; acceptance that we do not need to improve.

We are good enough.

‘For me, that is what complacency feels like and it can become part of an organisation’s culture. We can still improve - even a small improvement is a good improvement.’

HEALTH AND SAFETY STRATEGY So in what areas can the UK look to improve? The RSSB’s rail health and safety strategy, which was published in April last year, highlights a few. In particular, the industry still needs to improve how it monitors and reports road risk, fatigue and other wellbeing issues.

In the strategy, it estimates that absenteeism related to staff health, costs the rail industry around £320 million a year.

Although there aren’t the same legal controls around wellbeing, this presents a strong argument for proactive management of workforce health and wellbeing.

The conference included speakers from RSSB, Network Rail and Virgin Trains East Coast. There was also a joint presentation by IOSH, the British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) and the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on occupational cancers connected with the No Time to Lose campaign.

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View from the chair

'

I went into the day with an open mind. Chairing this conference was an opportunity for me personally to learn more about safety and health in the rail industry.

It was also a chance for everyone involved to hear new ideas to improve workplace safety, health and wellbeing that could be applied both in the rail sector and across industry.

For me, one of the key messages delegates heard was the need for them to embrace the negative to make a positive impact. This message, given by John Gillespie (HM Assistant Chief Inspector of Railways at the ORR), resonated with me as I firmly believe that to really understand what the problem is and find a practical solution to it, you have to accept what has gone wrong in order to put something in place to help for the future. John also talked about us all being ‘positive leaders’.

You don’t have to be the company CEO to be able to make a decision which positively influences your working environment, and to hear that from a representative of the UK’s health and safety regulator was well received.

In my role as president of IOSH, I have the privilege of learning about the incredible array of challenging situations faced by safety and health professionals the world over. Discovering and sharing new innovations that have the ability to transcend industries is always useful, so it was all the more exciting to hear at the conference about the work of Rail Safety Systems BV (RSS).

In creating a new magnetically attached safety barrier, the company has taken a step back from the problem to see a simple solution. I could see this barrier used not only in rail but also road construction, for example, and provide a different way of ensure workers’ safety next to busy transport routes. For me, the idea was a deserving winner of IOSH’s International Railway Group Award 2016.

Among the other themes that stood out to me was the importance of having a structured and properly prepared process for interviewing following an incident or near-miss. The legal update, meanwhile, covered the UK’s new sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences and put the issue back in the forefront of our minds. It was a refresher for me and contained an important and valid message - that as organisations you can accept risk, but you have to manage it.

Overall, I felt the conference shows just what we can achieve by working together, be it at a regulator and operator-level, or by simply sharing ideas both within and outside of the sectors in which we work. By working together we can achieve three things. We can continue to ensure employees return home at the end of their working day fit and well; we can help businesses to realise the benefits of looking after their workforce; and we can tell a positive story about safety and health.

Written by IOSH president Graham Parker who chaired the IOSH Rail Conference 2016.

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Digital Summit

the digital railway THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE Although our railway carries twice as many passengers as it did just two decades ago, demand is still set to rise dramatically in the years ahead. One of the major initiatives to address the inevitable capacity constraints is to digitalise the railway. This will enable more trains to run on existing tracks – safer, faster and more economically – complementing the additional capacity increases from new railways such as Crossrail and HS2.

To address the issue of digitalisation, we will be focussing on two key areas: The ‘Visible’ Digital Railway and The ‘Invisble’ Digital Railway Our industry experts, will focus on key topics such as: Smart Ticketing

5G on trains

Embracing Info-tainment

Improved Information Systems in stations

The internet of things

Cyber Security

Experts in their fields will explain where we are now, what future developments are planned, when it will be implemented and how it will affect everyone involved in the railway today, from train operators and infrastructure owners to passengers and contractors. If you want to know what the future will look like, you need to be there.

26 April 2017 BIRD & BIRD LLP OFFICES, LONDON

B O O K N O W AT R A I L S U M M I T S . CO M Sponsored by

@railsummits

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PROTECTING THE RAILWAY DETECTING AND DEFEATING TERRORISM ON OUR RAIL NETWORK

A

s we enter the New Year, here at British Transport Police we are looking ahead to how we can continue keeping safe the millions of people who use and work on the railway network every day.

An important part of this role is ensuring we work together to prepare against the possible threat of terrorism.

Security alerts and world events last year were a stark reminder to us all - police, the public and rail staff - of the need to remain alert.

That’s why British Transport Police took part in National Counter Terrorism (CT) Awareness Week in December, a week-long programme of activities aimed at raising awareness around this important issue. Communities defeat terrorism, and as part of the railway community, rail staff are a vital part of this community response.

Throughout CT Awareness Week we took part in a range of activities, including high-visibility patrols across the UK and social media activity to tell the public about how we work to keep them safe and how they can help.

The awareness week followed the launch of the ‘See it, Say it, Sorted’ campaign in November, created in partnership with the Department for Transport and the rail industry, in which we ask rail passengers and staff to help keep themselves and others safe by reporting unusual items or activity on the railway. We rely heavily on passengers and staff to be our eyes and ears.

Posters started to be displayed at major railway stations across England, Scotland and Wales from 1 November 2016 and updated security announcements were made at stations. The campaign will be rolled out across the rest of the rail network in 2017.

Says Assistant Chief Constable Alun Thomas, 'Millions of people travel on our railways every day. We encourage the travelling public to report suspicious activity to staff or police, and often as there are more members of staff visibly in the station it will be they who are approached by members of

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all © BTP

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G Officers from BTP's Specialist Response Unit.

Scooby the search dog.

the public who are concerned about something. Therefore it’s very important that rail staff are all trained to respond to this correctly.

'We are not asking members of the public or rail staff to decide whether or not something is a concern, or to assess something as being terrorism related. That’s what we are here for. We would certainly never expect staff to put themselves at risk - which is why we put so much emphasis on training rail staff and on our relationship with them, so we can work effectively together.'

PROJECT GRIFFIN At British Transport Police, we provide training to rail staff through Project Griffin, a national initiative which aims to make sure staff feel enabled to recognise and report suspicious activity and guide them on what to do if they were ever to find themselves involved in an incident.

Throughout last year, our specialist advisors ran more than 200 free sessions, reaching more than 3,400 people from a range of industry partners and business across the UK – including in Glasgow, Sheffield, Cardiff, Bristol, Leeds and Manchester.

These sessions included topics such as possible methods of attack and aim to raise awareness of terrorism, build effective working relationships and empower people to report suspicious activity.

Says ACC Thomas, 'The Project Griffin sessions are a really valuable way of building partnerships with staff across the industry and other businesses. It’s all about the police, rail staff and public cooperating and nobody should worry about wasting our time; it’s better to trust your instinct and contact us if you feel something isn’t right. No piece of information is considered too small or insignificant.

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'Things to look out for include someone being somewhere they shouldn’t be, for example trying to get through a door marked ‘ no entry’, an unattended bag, someone checking security arrangements, for example filming CCTV cameras at a station, or someone avoiding rail staff and police officers.

'Of course we don’t expect rail staff to decide whether or not something is terrorism related.

That’s our job. We have a number of expert units trained to work in the unique and challenging railway environment, but it is vital that people report things to us whenever something doesn’t feel right.'

SPECIALIST RESPONSE UNIT The BTP Specialist Response Unit (SRU) is one of these unique teams, made up of highly skilled officers who respond to reports of suspicious and unusual items on the railway and underground network that could be terrorist related, whilst minimising disruption to passengers.

SRU officers operate under pressure to make difficult decisions about the threat posed by unattended items on the railway network. Part of their role is determining whether items are simply lost property or something which will require additional specialist response.

The SRU responds to a wide range of reports of unusual items which cause concern to rail staff or members of the travelling public. Officers are trained to make assessments in a way which minimises as far as possible any disruption caused to passengers or rail services. This is a unique role. BTP is the only UK police force which has a dedicated, fully trained and equipped team, operating around the clock for the purpose of assessing threats in this way.

As well as dealing with unattended items, SRU officers are also trained and equipped to deal with chemical, biological and radiological threats.

The SRU officers have all the skills of a response police officer but also undertake additional, intensive training for this specialist role. Their training and experience means they are ideally equipped to work in the railway RAILSTAFF.UK | @RAILSTAFFUK | FACEBOOK.COM/RAILSTAFF

environment, which presents its own distinctive challenges.

It’s not just about people; even our fourlegged friends have a part to play in the fight against terrorism. Our dog unit was named Dog Section of the Year by the Worshipful Society of Security Professionals for their outstanding contribution to the protection and safety of the travelling public and response to an evergrowing and changing terrorist threat. BTP dogs are paired with handlers who train and work with them - some are general purpose dogs and others are specially trained in searching for explosives.

The dogs and their handlers take part in Project Servator deployments, which staff may well have seen at railway stations across the country in the past year. During CT Awareness Week we celebrated our one year anniversary of Project Servator, which is now being adopted across the UK by other police forces.

Unpredictable and highly visible, the aim of Project Servator is to deter crime before it happens, by detecting where it might be taking place and stepping in to stop it.

ALERT, NOT ALARMED The deployments could include armed officers, dogs, behavioural detection officers or high profile uniformed cops - and they could pop up anywhere, at any time.

In the past year, there have been more than 400 deployments across the network - from Glasgow and Edinburgh to Leeds, London, York and Cardiff.

‘We are investing in our counter-terrorism response and ensuring that the public and rail staff are fully equipped to do their bit - the message is to be alert, not alarmed,’ says ACC Thomas.

‘The work rail staff do is greatly appreciated

by BTP - we would struggle to do our job without them and I’d like to thank you all for your continued help each year.

‘We’re all working towards the same aim and together, we can continue to keep the travelling public safe.’

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REPORT BY COLIN WHEELER

HOPES AND ASPIRATIONS FOR 2017 AND REGRETS FOR THE ACCIDENTS THAT SHOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED IN 2016.

H

appy New Year to you all, especially those who work on track or on trains.

November 2016 will forever be remembered for the tragedy of the Croydon Tram crash that resulted in 7 passenger fatalities.

As I write I am unaware of any major injuries caused by the huge amount of work that was undertaken during the end of year holidays. My hopes and prayers are for a safer year 2017.

Broken rail kills 150 Over the holiday period many of us experienced foggy conditions.

According to reports in the Times of India similar conditions in the

Extract from the Traffic Controller's Diagram showing the track layout at Ealing Broadway.

State of Utar Pardesh resulted in five people being run over and killed by trains.

The same newspaper suggested that “a fracture in the track could have been to blame” for a train crash that occurred around 3 am on the morning of November 20th (pictured below).

(Fracture in the track sounds to me like a broken rail.) Reports vary but around 150 were killed and a similar number were injured with

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the majority being those who were travelling in the first two coaches.

Here in Britain from the perspective of track workers 2016 was a better year, but the number of level crossing near misses and fatalities remains worrying.

Elsewhere in Europe the terrible accident at Bad Aibling resulted in the signaller being jailed with the media reporting that he had been playing computer games whilst at work.

Sadly the misuse of electronic devices whilst at work is still an underrated threat to rail safety.

Ealing Broadway derailment In the past the Office of Rail and Road has praised London Underground for its “focus on behavioural safety”. However a report published by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) on December 5th tells a somewhat different story.

They investigated the incident where a passenger carrying District Line train derailed its leading bogie at Ealing Broadway on March 2nd last year. The train with two staff and 19 passengers on board was held at a red signal at 0035 as it approached its platform.

The signal at danger was the result of a track circuit failure.

Staff went about the task of establishing which sets of points had to be secured before the train could proceed past the signal at danger and go into platform 7 where it was to terminate.

The report says “due to the inadequate level of information available to service control staff, the poor relationship between the two control rooms involved and a lack of understanding of the way in which the types of

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November 2016 will forever be remembered for the tragedy of the Croydon Tram crash that resulted in 7 passenger fatalities.

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Trinity Lane footpath crossing, Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire. points involved were shown on the various available diagrams, the operational staff did not identify the correct positions of all the sets of points that needed to be secured in the route.”

[Simplistically all that was needed was for someone to say check that 39A points are set to normal and 38 points to reverse].

This resulted in the train which had been standing for just under an hour being authorised to pass the signal at danger with one set of points in the wrong position for the route the train was to follow.

A signalling engineer reader has expressed his surprise that a derailment occurred. He tells me that such occurrences usually result in damaged switch blades etc. but not in derailments unless the train is reversed or rolls back.

However, for me the most important facts uncovered by the investigation were the poor relationships between staff groups and the lack of availability of clear diagrams of the switches and crossings.

More level crossing incidents In late November there were two potentially fatal incidents on level crossings, one in Somerset and the other in Hertfordshire.

Both incidents are being investigated by RAIB which has elected to publish “Safety Digests” rather than full reports.

The Somerset incident was at Thorney Marsh User Worked Crossing on November 26th where there was a near miss with “an agricultural vehicle”.

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The picture published in the initial advice shows scant detail of signage or gates so I am unable to comment on the user aspects of the installation.

On November 29th the second incident occurred at Trinity Lane Footpath Crossing Waltham Cross Hertfordshire.

Two pedestrians, one with a dog were stopped by a construction worker as they approached the crossing. He asked them to delay using the crossing as its exit was temporarily blocked. When the work was completed he allowed them to proceed and use the crossing.

The pedestrian with the dog then crossed over directly in front of a London to Stansted Airport passenger train. This near miss is also being dealt with by a “Safety Digest”.

Safety Digests I am an admirer of the work done and progress that has been made over the years by RAIB in identifying in detail the primary and root causes of accidents and incidents.

If the rapidly increasing use of Safety Digests is confined to cases where the root causes are straight forward and/or have been identified in similar inquiries, then I will remain content by their growing use.

On December 7th at 1000 am the Manchester to Euston passenger express train ran into an engineering equipment trolley at Stowe Hill Tunnel in Northamptonshire. Some damage was caused to the underframe of the train and the outer pane of one of the carriage windows was broken.

The initial advice says that the trolley was one of four that had been stored in the tunnel since the night of the 4/5th December.

Again the RAIB has advised that their current investigation will result in the issuing of a Safety Digest.

Ten pages or is a single sheet enough?

I remain of the view that this digital age still generates too much unnecessary information for those doing work which in turn leads to increases in unsafe working.

Briefings of those who do the work need to be concise giving only the job and site specific variable information to trained and competent individuals. An individual who has worked on major track renewals recently contacted me.

He described the late receipt of a ten page method statement drawn up by a “professional”.

Realising its inadequacy as a working document he reduced it to a single A3 sheet of information suitable in folded form for a back pocket.

Nonetheless it included the possession limits, train movements, bar charts of work, and relevant emergency contact numbers.

Excessive signage My attention has also been drawn to the excessive use of safety signage on a number of railway structural repair sites.

The details from a single small site were listed as follows: a sign giving Site Manager’s contact details from another non-rail job and a proliferation of repetitive small signs including five on hard hats, four unauthorised access, three high viz clothing, two site office reporting plus eye protection, ear defenders, gloves, safety boots, and “no work without safety induction and risk assessment”.

No mention of partridges in pear trees apparently! Maybe the safety professional has a friend who makes signs? Apart from any costs I suggest that such a proliferation of signage ensures little if any notice is taken of the signs by those working on the job!

driver on board. They left Gwynn Square at noon and headed towards the Cliffs Hotel stop.

The driver was alerted by a flash and a bang and a conductor told him that there was a fire in the motor car, the tram stopped and everyone evacuated without injury. The driver decided to remove the electrical supply from the motor car so entered the smoke filled tram to retrieve his pole and lowered the pantograph.

The report comments that it would have been safer to call the Tramway Control Office for an emergency isolation but that option is not included in driver training.

The fire was caused by a failure of insulation on the cable running from the pantograph via a roof fuse to the main circuit breaker. Car 272 was built in 1935 and converted for its current use in 1960.

The 1960 modifications used VIR cabling with insulation that degrades with time and in May 2015 repairs were carried out very close to the cable that failed.

RAIB expressed the view that this work may well have damaged the adjacent cabling.

Ongoing Investigations Blackpool Tram fire On December 22nd RAIB published their report on the fire that broke out on a Heritage tram at Gwynn Square Blackpool on 24th September. Heritage tram 272 was being operated as part of a “Progress Twin-Car”.

The arrangement is unique to Blackpool trams. 272 was the motor car and T2 was its trailer car. Power is 600 volt DC from a pantograph and the twin unit may be driven from either end.

Travelling up from the town centre T2 was leading and there were two conductors and the

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RAIB publishes a list of their outstanding and ongoing investigations. Two items on that list are of particular interest to me.

The first is the investigation into the train collision that occurred in Plymouth Station on 3rd April last year. It was a slow speed collision and I am surprised at the delay in publication of the final report.

However the most significant one is the class investigation which began on February 2nd 2016 into “Track Worker Safety outside possessions”.

When I met Simon French last July he anticipated the

publication of that report before the year was out. I am sure there are good reasons for the delay!

The RAIB report from their Class investigation into possession working was published some time ago. I am aware of work that has been carried out looking at the provision of fixed earthing devices.

I have long been of the view that possession and indeed individual worksites should be protected by means that no longer require the Victorian methods including flags, banners, boards and detonators that go bang in the night!

In June 2016 David Waboso became Network Rail’s Managing Director Digital Railways. I suggest that a safety critical part of his work in progressing digital train control should be the development and introduction of digitally defined safe possession working and indeed the safe provision of red zone working if any is to be permitted in future.

Little has been heard recently about the planning and delivery of safe work initiative. It is high time we abandoned the concepts underlying Victorian era possession working.

Indeed the practices used by High Speed 1 and planned for Crossrail and High Speed 2, 3 etc. mean that now is absolutely the right time for a step change in the way possessions are organised and protected.

The fact that the contractual workforce may be employed by a number of rail infrastructure owners also needs to be taken into account.

The Rail Media Safety Summit is being arranged for September 2017. Could that event be used to progress a 21st Century possession philosophy at last?

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EVENTS

RAILSTAFF JANUARY 2017

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RAIL MEDIA'S RAIL EXEC CLUB, IN LONDON, SEPTEMBER 2016

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conference

MARCH

exhibition tech press conference

TRANSPORT-LED DEVELOPMENT IN LONDON AND THE SOUTH EAST 2017 conference

2ND ANNUAL: TRANSPORTLED DEVELOPMENT IN THE NORTH OF ENGLAND 2017 conference

exhibition

press conference

awaards

3rd MARCH, London

dinner

www.events.imeche.org

exhibition

tech conference 17th JANUARY, London

RAILWAY DIVISION ANNUAL LUNCHEON 2017 network

free

tech 1st FEBRUARY, London

exhibition

press conference

www.waterfrontconferencecompany. tech

www.waterfrontconferencecompany.

MIDDLE EAST RAIL 2017

com/conferences/rail/events/transportnetwork press conference

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7th-8th MARCH, Dubai conference

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www.terrapinn.com/merail

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RICARDO RAIL - HOW CAN RICARDO HELP TO ADVANCE YOUR CAREER? networkfree

INSIDER MEDIA MIDLANDS HS2 BREAKFAST network

RAIL EXEC NETWORKING LUNCHEON network

10th FEBRUARY, Birmingham dinner

10th MARCH, London

19th JANUARY, Igors Bar, iPro dinner Stadium, Pride Park, Derby

www.midlandsrail.co.uk

www.railexec.com

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free

www.rail.ricardo.com

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RAIL BIM SUMMIT

15th FEBRUARY, London

3RD ANNUAL TRACK MAINTENANCE & ASSET MANAGEMENT CONGRESS 2017 conference exhibition 24th-25th JANUARY, press conference Berlin, Germany tech

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www.railsummits.com

dinner

26th JANUARY, tech press conference University of Derby

INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY conference dinner conference SUMMIT exhibition tech exhibition 15th FEBRUARY, press conferenceParis

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IRAIL 2017

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TRAINS THAT FIT - GAUGING DILEMMA conference exhibition press conference

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CAREERS IN RAIL free AFTERNOON: ENGINEERING STUDENTS conference exhibition

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@railexec

Exec The exclusive club for senior rail industry executives Join the Rail Exec Club in 2017. More than 800 rail professionals joined us in 2016, the only networking for Rail Engineering Executives.

DISCUSSIONS ON FUTURE TECHNOLOGIES

LONDON FRIDAY 10TH MARCH (11:15AM ONWARDS)

C XE T

KET

RAIL EXEC TIC

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IRONMONGERS’ HALL Shaftesbury Place, London, EC2Y 8AA

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Tel: 01530 816 440

gina@rail-media.com

www.railexec.com

Visit the website to buy your tickets today

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EVENTS

RAILSTAFF JANUARY 2017

Three months to go The days are getting longer again and there are now just four months to go until Railtex opens its doors at the NEC in Birmingham. The dates for the show are 9 to 11 May, so this is a good time to start planning your visit.

Registration for free entry to Railtex opens via the show website (www.railtex.co.uk) at the end of January. This gives you access to the exhibition over all three days and to the wide selection of lively associated events now being finalised.

With its impressive line-up of exhibitors, insights into trends in technology and great networking opportunities, this year’s event is again guaranteed to offer something for everyone in the industry.

The number of firms planning to exhibit continues to rise, passing the 300 mark at the end of last year. There will be plenty

of familiar names present as well as many first-time exhibitors, including some high-profile foreign firms, all offering new products and innovative ideas.

One of those making its Railtex debut will be train builder Stadler Rail, which last year won its first UK main line passenger stock contracts covering the supply of EMUs and bi-modes for Abellio’s new Greater Anglia franchise.

Stadler also now owns the former Vossloh facility in Valencia, so it is also supplier of Class 68 and 88 locomotives to Direct Rail Services as well as vehicles for the Sheffield tramtrain project.

Other foreign firms taking part for the first time include Masteris, which provides a single entry point to SNCF’s industrial facilities and experience in fleet maintenance, and Italian train seat manufacturer FISA. Among the UK-based companies new to Railtex is

DepotRail, representing suppliers of the specialist equipment required for depots and workshops, and trackside power supply equipment manufacturer L.C. Switchgear, taking part in the event after previously exhibiting at sister event Infrarail.

They will be joining many of

the best known names serving the UK rail market such as Alstom Transport, Hitachi Rail Europe, Knorr-Bremse UK and Siemens.

The very latest list of exhibitors can be found at www. railtex.co.uk together with all the latest Railtex news.

Discussing a digital future The Rail BIM Summit returns next month to shed some light on what 2017 will have in store for BIM and digital technologies in rail.

On 15 February, a number of the industry’s leading minds will discuss the role and issues surrounding the application of BIM in the design, construction and management of rail assets. Up until this point, the focus has been on the implementation of BIM Level 2, but the conversation is now shifting to how the construction industry moves towards Level 3 and what that will look like.

This will be the third event in the series.

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The previous conference included talks on the BIM strategy for HS2 and the impact of BIM on the delivery of Crossrail. It considered the way in which BIM is making the industry safer and identified the benefits of having construction data so easily available.

Speakers at this year’s event will include Claire Penny, World Wide Solution Leader in IBM’s Watson Internet of Things (IoT) division, Mathew Brett, head of BIM at Transport for London (TfL), and Professor Terrence Fernando, a director at THINKLab. Aecom’s David Philp, who has chaired

the past two events, said, ‘Delegates will learn about the latest developments in digitised working and how it can help unlock more innovative and more efficient delivery methods across the rail life-cycle.’

The Rail BIM Summit will take place on 15 February at the Addleshaw Goddard offices in London, which are located at Milton Gate, 60 Chiswell Street, EC1Y 4AG. The same venue will host the Rail Safety Summit, which this year will be held on 12 September.

For more information or to book tickets visit www.railsummits.com.

The EWS Educational Trust is an independent charity that offers grants, at its discretion, to help people with a close family link to the UK rail freight industry achieve their ambition.

Exceptional Contribution Award Does a member of your family have what it takes to make an exceptional contribution to society?

The EWS Educational Trust has introduced this new grant to help support a limited number of people who would like to, or intend to, carry out a truly exceptional piece of research to benefit society.

The Exceptional Contribution award is aimed at those who are likely to be involved in, but not limited to medical, scientific or engineering advancement and likely to be in doctoral or post-doctoral research.

Special Access Funding The Trust has created its special access funding to help people of any age who face barriers to achieving their full educational, sporting or artistic potential because of a physical disability, a special educational need or other challenging circumstances.

Conditions such as autism, dyslexia or dyspraxia, for example, can make it difficult for people to achieve their ambition.

The grant is for those who the Trust believes would prosper with some financial help.

Check out the ‘How and who we help’ pages on the Trust’s website for more details on the Exceptional Contribution Award, Special Access Funding, and how to apply.

www.ewset.co.uk

Exceptional Contribution Awards application deadline: 14 April 2017 Applications for Special Access Funding can be made at any time, and will be considered at the next grant committee.

Encouraging talent - unlocking potential Registered charity number SC040334

46

FEATURE

RAILSTAFF JANUARY 2017

LIKE CLOCKWORK GLASGOW SUBWAY TURNS 120

O

pening on 14 December 1896, the Glasgow Subway - known affectionately as The Clockwork Orange - is one of the oldest urban rail networks in the world. Last month, the railway celebrated its 120th birthday. Although it hasn’t been extended beyond its two circular lines, the system continues to evolve and over the next few years it will undergo one of its biggest transformations in almost a century.

Although it has used electric traction since 1923, in its formative years the subway was a cable-operated railway. Rather than being hauled by steam locomotives the cables were powered by stationary steam engines which pulled trains around the network. To stop at stations, drivers would simply detach themselves from the cable and if a train needed to be taken out of service for maintenance it would have to be lifted off with a crane.

Passengers could initially travel anywhere on the network for a penny, with trains running every two-and-a-half minutes.

The subway switched to a third rail electrification system in the 1920s. Its popularity grew and during its peak between 1944 and 1959 it was carrying more than 30 million passengers a year.

Around 13 million passengers currently use the subway each year and the network is undergoing a £288 million upgrade to prepare it for the future. A new automated signalling system is being developed by Ansaldo STS to operate alongside a fleet of new four-car trains from Stadler.

The Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) is also modernising the network’s 15 stations. Work at St Enoch, Hillhead, Partick, Ibrox, Kelvinhall, Buchanan Street and Govan Interchange has already been completed.

The official opening in 1896.

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all © Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT)

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FEATURE

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CGI rendering showing a future design (R) alongside the current subway car.

Stationary steam engines were used to pull the cables that moved trains around the network.

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48

FEATURE

RAILSTAFF JANUARY 2017

MADE IN

BRITAIN

FIRST BRITISH-BUILT TRAIN OF THE INTERCITY EXPRESS PROGRAMME (IEP) COMPLETED

J

© Hitachi Rail Europe

The train at the centre of the fanfare was one of the five-car bi-mode units for Great Western.

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ust over a year since it opened, Hitachi’s Newton Aycliffe factory has rolled out the first British-built train of the Intercity Express Programme (IEP).

A significant milestone in the £5.7 billion IEP programme, the manufacturer marked the occasion on 9 December with a celebration at the site.

The event included speeches by the Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, and the Ambassador of Japan to the UK, Koji Tsuruoka, both of whom stressed the benefits the trains and the factory would bring to the North East.

Karen Boswell, managing director of Hitachi Rail Europe, considered the event to be a celebration of the return of train manufacturing to the North East. She was pleased at the way the £82 million site was developing a workforce with the strong engineering skills needed by the industry.

By the spring of next year, Newton Aycliffe will have a workforce of nearly 900, including 50 apprentices. By 2019, Hitachi will employ 2,000 people across 14 sites in the UK and support thousands of additional jobs countrywide.

FIVE TRAINS A WEEK During a tour of the plant, trains could be seen at various stages of completion.

Production is still being transferred from Japan to the UK. Hitachi is supplying 122

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FEATURE

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© Hitachi Rail Europe

BEST OF BRITISH MANUFACTURING In addition to the 122 IEP trains, the plant currently has orders for 36 bi-mode units for Devon and Cornwall routes, 19 Transpennine Express trains, five trains for Hull Trains and 70 Class 385 ScotRail trains. The event marked a low-key milestone for the Scottish trains as well. Adjacent to the Class 800 was a Japanese-built Class 385 that was about to be hauled to Scotland for testing under its own power on the Gourock line.

This will be done within a possession as the train’s effect on signals has yet to be assessed. In a statement released ahead of the event last month, Kentaro Masai, vice president and executive officer, chief operating officer, Railway Systems Business Unit, Hitachi, said, ‘It was 90 years ago in 1926 that a senior Hitachi engineer first visited the North of England to study the leading-edge railway technology of the time.

‘Today, we have a modern intercity train built in the North East by combining the best of Japanese technology delivered with the best of British manufacturing.’

Class 800/1 electric and bi-mode trains for the Great Western and East Coast main lines in total, of which 12 units are being manufactured in Japan. Currently the site puts together around three vehicles a week; the target is to increase this to five a week.

The train at the centre of the fanfare was one of the five-car bi-mode units for Great Western which will start to go into service soon. On the side of the train it reads ‘Designed in Japan, built in Britain’.

Although the assembly of the trains is now moving from Japan to the UK, components like the bogies and aluminium body shells will continue to be manufactured in Japan.

However, UK suppliers are being used for many other key parts, including the pantographs, brake systems and wheelsets.

© Hitachi Rail Europe

Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling MP at Newton Aycliffe talking to apprentices.

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COMPANY FOCUS

RAILSTAFF JANUARY 2017

LEADING STORY

J

ust four weeks after taking over as the new chief executive of Story Contracting, Jason Butterworth (Pictured below) said he was enjoying his return to the rail industry.

‘Some of the people have changed, some of the structures have changed but the basic principles haven’t,’ says Jason, who had spent 15 years in the industry prior to joining Balfour Beatty in 2014.

What was it that brought him back? The company’s founder and chairman, Fred Story, had a lot to do with it. ‘Fred’s authenticity, transparency and honesty is reflected in the grounded and passionate staff that work at Story.

It is real and refreshing.’

NIMBLE BUSINESS Story Contracting’s business operates in the rail and construction markets and is supported by its own plant division. The plant division, which has a fleet of more than 70 RRVs, and a large labour resource have given the company the flexibility to take on a series of challenging rail projects in recent years. Separately, the contracting business

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launched a new house-building division last year, Reiver Homes, with homes already sold in Dumfries and Galloway.

‘The business is nimble, and this means that if a client like Network Rail or Cumbria County Council needs us to help, needs us to step up and provide solutions, we can draw on our own plant fleet, and manpower from our Construction division, and bring it to bear on the project. Most of our staff are multi-skilled, enabling us to respond when needed.’

Jason is currently visiting Story project sites around the country. One of his first stops was Eden Brows, where Story is helping Network Rail to reinstate a section of the Settle and Carlisle Railway north of Armathwaite which was destabilised by Storm Desmond last year. The line is due to reopen in March.

Story, which will celebrate its 30th birthday this year, is also involved in several large schemes that are just getting underway. The company is the principal contractor for Network Rail on the Wirral line track renewal project of the Merseyrail underground loop

RAILSTAFF JANUARY 2017

which began at the start of January. This is the final phase of a renewal project which began in 2005 and will be carried out up until June. It will involve the breaking down and replacement of 1.2 km of slab track, including the installation of new base plates and new running rails.

Story estimates that the contracting business will grow by 30 per cent this year and in November 2016, the company opened a 25,000 sq ft extension of its headquarters in Carlisle to support this ambition.

It’s not only Cumbria where the business is expanding.

Story has offices in Chorley and a depot in Leeds, and is planning on merging its two offices in Scotland to build a combined depot and office hub located on the Central Belt.

However, Jason is mindful that, as Story grows, it doesn’t dilute the culture that has made it successful.

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Story will celebrate its 30th birthday this year.

Story hopes to put together academic programmes with universities and colleges near to its regional bases.

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COMPANY FOCUS

RAILSTAFF JANUARY 2017

ATTRACTING TALENT One of the company’s biggest challenges in 2017 will be recruitment, says Jason, as it looks to employ around 100 additional people over the next 12 months. ‘We’re putting the investment in to attract more talent with the right cultural characteristics that believe in our values and behaviours,’ he insisted. ‘This helps us all achieve the standards that are expected by our business and clients.’

Although Story has its own training centre in Carlisle, it is planning to work more closely with local further and higher education providers. In particular, the company hopes to put together academic programmes with universities and colleges near to its regional bases to allow trainees to stay close to their projects and teams - an approach which will aid the recruitment and retention of candidates.

A particular focus will also be put on apprentices, says Jason, who began his career as a building services engineering apprentice 30 years ago.

Much has changed since then, he believes. Apprentices and graduates are more technologically savvy than they used to be and have more

choice as to where to begin their career.

‘Style of leadership is critical,’ says Jason. ‘Young talent want real engagement and, quite rightly, have demanding career aspirations. Emotional intelligence has to be embedded into your toolkit.’

With so many employers out to attract the best new talent, companies now need to demonstrate that they will put the professional development of their employees first, says Jason. It’s an objective that benefits everyone, especially the industry itself.

‘I really believe in investing back into an industry. I am

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passionate about that and want to make sure that the best talent is attracted into it. As the CEO of a great brand, I have an excellent opportunity to do this.

We want to be the employer of choice and to do that we have to be able to offer the best opportunities.’

SAFETY AND SUSTAINABILITY Having held board positions for the past 15 years within the likes of WSP, McNicholas and Balfour Beatty, Jason is used to overseeing large geographic regions and sizeable teams, but, within just a few weeks, he has begun to understand some

of the additional responsibilities of his new CEO role.

Health and safety will remain a central priority, says Jason.

He explained how Story was rolling out a behavioural safety programme to build on the company’s existing standards and good performance.

‘The vision is much longer term than it has been in my previous roles for futureproofing the entire business, making it sustainable and making a difference to the railway industry.’

Jason is also keen to refine the organisation’s governance and procedures, particularly around estimating and bid management. He wants to retain its entrepreneurial spirit but within a controlled growth plan.

However, Jason believes his biggest responsibility will be to continue the positive work the business has done to date.

‘The Story brand is really, really strong. Customer feedback that I’ve had so far is outstanding in terms of our passion, commitment and ability to finish work within budget and on time.

Our culture and the way we do business at Story is what sets us apart from our competitors and it is important that I help nurture this during our period of growth.’

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YOUNG RAIL PROFESSIONALS

RAILSTAFF JANUARY 2017

S L A N IO S S E F O R P L I YOUNGSRAAND ACCOLADES AWARD

H

appy New Year, dear reader and valued Young Rail Professional supporter. YRP had much to celebrate as an organisation at the end of 2016, and we are starting 2017 with even more enthusiasm to promote, inspire and develop the young people of the rail industry for another year.

2016 saw many exciting developments for YRP, with the organisation becoming CPD accredited; winning and being nominated in several categories for the RailStaff Awards; joining forces with other industry groups to provide exciting member events, most notably collaborating with Women in Rail (WiR) to open up the WiR mentoring scheme to male and female YRP members; and of course, delivering the first ever Rail Week.

We are now rested after the Christmas break, and our focus for the first half of 2017 will be to strengthen and solidify the developments we have made as an organisation to date. One item on the agenda (and arguably our favourite event of the year) is the YRP Annual Black Tie Dinner, to take place on Thursday, 6 April 2016, in London. The event will see over 600 rail professionals come together to celebrate the past year in the rail industry and the young professionals who continue to excel and drive the sector. CPC Project Services has once again shown its commitment to developing and supporting young talent by exclusively sponsoring the event, and Michèle Dix, managing director of Crossrail 2, has been confirmed as the keynote speaker for the event.

PASSIONATE PROFESSIONALS For us at YRP, to promote, inspire and develop also means to recognise the contributions and achievements of our valued members. Through our work, we encounter so many talented and passionate professionals at varying stages of their careers, and 2017 will be the first year we recognise not only Young Rail Professional of the Year but also YRP Apprentice of the Year and YRP Mentor of the Year. We believe we are ideally placed as an organisation to choose and award these individuals, as we seem to meet so many inspiring professionals who meet these criteria on a regular basis! We are very excited for these awards to be presented at the YRP Annual Black Tie Dinner 2017, which will be a move away from the traditionally awarded Young Rail Professional of the Year. A special segment of the evening will be dedicated to the presentation of these awards.

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This will also be the first year where individuals can be nominated electronically on our brand new website. This page will go live in February, and nominators and nominees alike will be able to view the category criteria and apply for each award online through an electronic form.

YRP made great strides in late 2016 with the launch of its new and improved website, a service kindly and painstakingly delivered gratis by Pauley. We wish to use this enhanced interface to make nominating chosen individuals as easy as possible, to ensure our industry’s most dedicated young professionals, apprentices and young people have the opportunity to gain recognition for their contributions; people like last year’s winner, Fiona Malcolm from Porterbrook, Derby who was announced as the Young Rail Professional of the Year at YRP’s Annual Black Tie Dinner 2016.

The award was presented by Steve Mole, managing partner, CPC Project Services, in front of over 300 rail professionals at last year’s spectacular event held at the National Railway Museum in York.

Winning this award is a great opportunity to gain exposure at a national level, with key senior industry figures and young people alike in attendance. These three awards will be facilitated and made possible by the support of CPC Project Services, which yet again has shown its unwavering commitment to the advancement of young people in the rail industry.

The decision to include a category for YRP Apprentice of the Year was driven by the desire within YRP to recognise the talent and outstanding commitment of our industry apprentices, who sometimes can be the unsung heroes of many an organisation. These apprentices are often not only working a full-time job but studying at the same time a feat many of us would rather not take on as we get slightly older (and wiser!) in light of the huge personal commitment this takes.

RAILSTAFF JANUARY 2017

MENTOR OF THE YEAR Last but by no means least, is the category of YRP Mentor of the Year. At YRP, we really couldn’t do what we do without the guidance and support we have received from many key senior figures, who constantly advise and look out for us as an organisation - we want to thank these stellar individuals, and other industry mentors as yet unknown to us, by giving them the chance to be nominated for this award.

At YRP, we know better than most how advice, support and having an approachable and accessible older, or more senior, person as your mentor can shape and guide your career and your ability to make key career or high level strategic decisions. If you know of, or have been helped, inspired and guided by a mentor who has had a positive impact on your personal and professional development, this will be your chance to nominate them for the YRP Mentor of the Year Award.

Finally, speaking of awards, YRP were so delighted to have been nominated in several categories, highly commended in one, and have our very own former chairman, Adam Stead, take home Rail Person of the Year 2016 at the RailStaff Awards 2016. Following on from

this success, YRP has been notified by the several other industry award boards that the YRP Executive Team have not only been shortlisted for the work they carry out, our very own YRP chairperson Sabrina Ihaddaden has also been shortlisted by two organisations for Young Professional of the Year! Many congratulations to you Sabrina! Not that we are biased, but we think Sabrina is wholeheartedly deserving of award nominations and accolades and we wish her every success in 2017.

We will keep all YRP members updated on the outcomes of the award ceremonies, to be held in early 2017.

Remember, please look out for announcements regarding the YRP Annual Black Tie Dinner 2017 and award nomination forms on our website, and if you want to get involved in this great organisation, and promote, inspire and develop the rail industry, please feel free to contact us: www.youngrailpro.com/contact/ or see the ‘Join Us’ section of the website.

Enquiries about the YRP Annual Black Tie Dinner 2017 should be directed to dinnerenquiries@ youngrailpro.com.

YOUNG RAIL PROFESSIONALS

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April

06

YRP ANNUAL BLACK TIE DINNER AND DANCE Tickets are now on sale for the Young Rail Professional’s Annual Dinner 2017. The black tie event will be taking place at the famous Troxy venue in London and is proudly sponsored by CPC Project Services. Book your ticket now at www.YoungRailPro.com

YOUNG RAIL

PROFESSIONALS

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56

TRAINING

RAILSTAFF JANUARY 2017

PART-TIME SOLUTION

P

assengers boarding a Heathrow Express train this New Year will have had a better chance than most of seeing a female driver behind the controls. Around 45 per cent of its drivers are women compared to the UK industry average of 5.4 per cent, according to figures from the train drivers union ASLEF. While many companies are working to address gender imbalance, Heathrow Express is looking for ways to build on its success.

Heathrow Express (HEx) has been operating the fastest route from the UK’s biggest airport into central London for 18 years. Running a fleet of 14 electric trains, HEx operates 150 services every day and has carried more than 60 million people since its launch in June 1998.

In a bid to fill 10 driver vacancies, the operator is now recruiting for part-time as well as full-time drivers - a move which is a first for the industry and one the company believes will further benefit the diversity of its workforce.

MENTOR MAPPING Like train drivers, the majority of commercial pilots are male. But the train driving and pilot job markets are starkly different to other professions. In law, for instance, around 49 per cent of solicitors are women, while 51 per cent of doctors are female.

Heathrow Express is proud of its history of employing women and supporting them through their careers. For example, Kirsty Sando, a customer service representative at HEx, decided to change career

track and became a driver, qualifying at 24. By 27, she had become a driver manager - one of the youngest in the industry - and last year she won an Association of Women Travel Executives award for the positive contribution and impact she had made to the business.

Kirsty was recognised for integrating drivers into the commercial and customer service side of the business and introducing a mentor mapping scheme for the driving team. Kirsty also won an Everywoman award for driver of the year in 2015.

She says, ‘Any suggestion that being a train driver is a man’s domain is as laughable as claiming girls all grow up wanting to be hairdressers.’

Says Lewis Yourdi, head of drivers for Heathrow Express, ‘We are rightly very proud of having the highest proportion of female train drivers in the

UK rail industry. However, we work hard to make Heathrow Express a great place to work for everyone, therefore we are proud to be the first train operating company to actively recruit part-time train drivers.

‘We welcome all applicants, and also aspire to perhaps tempt some out of retirement. We have a great family friendly culture here which is driven by the diversity of all our employees.’

Lead driver Caroline Davies.

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CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY Heathrow Express scored 91 per cent overall satisfaction in the spring 2016 National Rail Passenger Survey, outperforming every train company in London and the South East.

Heathrow Express prides itself as a progressive and innovative company. It was the first UK train company to launch e-ticketing, allowing customers to buy tickets online then receive a barcode directly to a mobile phone that can then be scanned on the train. It was also the first UK train company to launch a fully functional train ticket app, allowing customers to purchase and receive tickets direct to their iPhone, Android, Blackberry or Java-enabled phones.

The HEx technology team also devised a web application for Heathrow Express colleagues, which has proven popular during its first 12 months. The HEx app aims to update different teams -

RAILSTAFF JANUARY 2017

including drivers, duty service managers and head office staff - immediately of any changes in service. It provides instant information on any disruption, so that passengers can be told as soon as possible of any issues affecting the service, and helps to provide details of when the next train will be running.

Heathrow Express recently gave all 90 drivers smartphones to use for digital distribution of briefing material.

This saves paper and makes distribution quicker, which greatly improves internal communications.

Drivers have also been set up to use Yammer - a corporate social networking platform - sometimes dubbed ‘Facebook for business’. This provides colleagues with the ability to communicate quickly and easily and so, for example, drivers can swap shifts via Yammer if they need to. This has proven to be extremely popular and helps facilitate internal communications.

TRAINING

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Around 45 per cent of Heathrow Express' drivers are women.

FACEBOOK.COM/RAILSTAFF | @RAILSTAFFUK | RAILSTAFF.UK

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TRAINING

RAILSTAFF JANUARY 2017

AMTRAIN

info@amtrain.co.uk | 01283 792 633

LOOKOUT RE-CERT

PTS AC PRACTICAL DAY

06/02/2017 1 day Fradley

07/02/2017 1 day Fradley

14/02/2017 1 day Fradley

E-LEARNING

MACHINE CONTROLLER MEWP

DCCR INITIAL

TRAINING

PTS AC RECERT

06/02/2017 1 day Fradley

08/02/2017 1 day Fradley

LOOKOUT 06/02/2017 1 day Fradley

SAFE SYSTEM OF WORK PLANNER RE-CERT 07/02/2017 1 day Fradley

DCCR (DIRECT CURRENT CONDUCTOR RAIL)

CONTROLLER OF SITE SAFETY INITIAL WITH PTS RE-CERT

08/02/2017 1 day Fradley

13/02/2017 7 days Fradley

MACHINE CONTROLLER – GROUP 4 TRANSPORTATION

E-LEARNING

DCCR RECERT

09/02/2017 1 day Fradley

07/02/2017 1 day Fradley

MACHINE CONTROLLER – GROUP 2 CIVILS

PTS AC PRACTICAL DAY 07/02/2017 1 day Fradley

T – 01283 792 633

20/02/2017 1 day Fradley

PTS AC RECERT

10/02/2017 1 day Fradley

E-LEARNING 13/02/2017 1 day Fradley

20/02/2017 1 day Fradley

PTS AC PRACTICAL DAY 21/02/2017 1 day Fradley

DCCR RECERT 21/02/2017 1 day Fradley

DCCR INITIAL E – info@amtrain.co.uk

SAFETY IS NO ACCIDENT

OUR TRAINING CENTRE

Friendly and helpful staff Central UK location Ample parking Experienced trainers (male/female)

TRAINING AND ASSESSMENTS

Wide variety of training and assessments Delivered 7 days a week, day or night.

Excellent standard of training High success rates Flexible courses Competitive prices

MEDICAL AND DRUG/ALCOHOL

Medicals delivered weekly Drug and alcohol screening available daily (8:30 – 15:30 mon-fri) On site and random drug and alcohol screening available For cause contracts

If you are an NSAR approved trainer and/or assessor and would like to join Amtrain Midlands, please email andy@amtrain.co.uk RAILSTAFF.UK | @RAILSTAFFUK | FACEBOOK.COM/RAILSTAFF

15/02/2017 1 day Fradley

22/02/2017 1 day Fradley

CONTROLLER OF SITE SAFETY RE-CERT WITH PTS RE-CERT 28/02/2017 4 days Fradley

INDUSTRY COMMON INDUCTION Can be delivered every day.

1 day Fradley

Drug/Alcohol Testing can be undertaken Monday – Friday between 8:30 – 3:30.

We have assessors to complete IWA, COSS, ES, MC and CC assessments please call for availability.

ARE YOU A FULLY QUALIFIED TRAIN DRIVER? LOOKING TO WORK PART TIME? Heathrow Express operates direct train services from London Paddington to Heathrow Airport every 15 minutes. We aim to provide the best airport experience in the world.

We are looking to recruit fully qualified part time and full time drivers.

If you share our passion for the railway and delivering great customer service, then we would love to hear from you.

For more information visit: jobs.heathrowexpress.com.

Closing date for applications: 12 February 2017.

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CAREERS

RAILSTAFF JANUARY 2017

www.trsstaffing.com

Global Scale. Local Focus.

– Rail and Infrastructure Vacancies Currently Available – Project Manager – Station Modernisation

Rail Programme Manager

London £350 per day

Birmingham, London, York and Birmingham Degree educated, NEC experience £300 - £450/day or £35 - £65k

Conformance Engineer

OLE Engineer – OLE Project Engineer

London, Milton Keynes, Birmingham and Manchester. £400 per day

London, Swindon and Reading £350 - £450 or £450 - £550/day

Project Engineers – Civils, M&E

P6 Project Planners

London, Bristol and Birmingham £300 - £450/day

London, Midlands, Reading and Manchester £40K - £65K or £350 - £500/day

Quantity Surveyors / Commercial Managers

Project Controls Manager

London, Guildford, Bedford, Midlands and York £35 - £65k or £300 - £450/day

London, Midlands, Reading and Manchester £55K- £70K

TRS Staffing Solutions are international engineering recruitment specialists.

We recruit for major national and international projects for leading national rail organisations, main contractors and consultancies.

Small Plant Fitters Small Plant Fitters required nationwide, particularly Romford, Ashford and Glasgow areas. Full-time and casual contracts available at competitive rates / salary.

Small Plant Fitters to carry out repairs and maintenance in accordance with manufacturers specifications and company maintenance schedules on small plant.

Clean driving licence essential. Must have or be prepared to take P.T.S Personal Track Safety qualifications.

Contact Leigh.miller@vpplc.com or Stephen.dally@vpplc.com for details and application pack.

www.torrent.co.uk

ITE LAU N EBS W

ED CH

NEW

Please email your CV to jonathan.miles@trsstaffing.com or if you’d prefer to discuss any roles call +44 (0)20 7419 5800

way People.com RAILSTAFF.UK | @RAILSTAFFUK | FACEBOOK.COM/RAILSTAFF

THE HEART OF UK RAIL RailwayPeople.com is the largest dedicated rail job site in the UK.

RAILSTAFF JANUARY 2017

CAREERS

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Training Programme Development Manager Competitive salary package West Midlands

Due to the nature of this role previous experience within the Train Driver role and a good knowledge of traction and railway rules and regulations would be an advantage.

Since 2007 London Midland has been providing excellent train services throughout the heart of England, from London in the South to Birmingham in the Midlands and Liverpool in the North West.

Over 60 million passenger journeys a year are made using our trains and we manage 150 stations, operating over 1,300 services a day.

Practical experience in designing and delivering training programmes, identifying learning needs and writing training guides and learner material to cater for different learning styles is essential for this role as is an excellent knowledge and understanding Microsoft Office packages.

Due to department expansion a unique opportunity has arisen for a talented individual to join the Training Academy Team within London Midland.

You should be highly motivated, passionate about the development of people whilst possessing excellent communication and presentation skills which will allow you to engage with key stakeholders to design and deliver programmes which will inspire learning and reflect London Midland vision and values.

Playing a crucial role in the successful ongoing development of our colleagues your key focus as Training Programme Development Manager, will be the design and development of new and existing operational training programmes which represent changes in industry, best practice, safety regulations, European Driving Licensing Regulations and compliance with Operational and Occupational Standards.

Whilst embracing new technology you will be responsible for adapting existing materials and techniques to meet the ever changing development needs of our front line teams and communicating these changes effectively to the wider Operations Training Team, supporting them to ensure their successful delivery.

Full support will be offered to ensure the ongoing development of your technical and professional knowledge, a defined benefit pension scheme, 32 days annual leave including bank holidays, and an attractive salary and benefits package.

To apply, please send your CV and covering letter to Charlotte Ruff at recruitment@londonmidland.com.

Railway Engineering Specialists

Expert Solutions The rail industry never sleeps and First Structure meets the demands of a 24/7, 365 days a year environment thanks to our dedicated management team.

Our entire workforce is continually assessed, reviewed and enhanced in safety and ongoing technical training and competence.

First Structure is able to supply all rail disciplines to worksites /offices across the length and breadth of the country. We supply blue collar to white collar rail professionals from a nationwide supply of local labour, managed by our network of strategically placed rail offices throughout the UK.

Due to upcoming works in the Western, Wessex Region and Midlands commencing early in the New Year - First Structure Ltd are urgently looking to recruit the Following Skills within the Railway Sector, please see the list of skills required below:

• P-Way Site Supervisors and Technical Staff (TO to PTO)

• Controller of Site Safety (COSS)

• Machine/Crane Controllers ideally with Group 2 Piling

• Protection Controllers

• Engineering Supervisors with Experience of P-Way Worksite Management with Multiple Train Activity

• Points Operators

• Engineering Supervisors with Procedure A and B • Strap-Men

• Level Crossing Attendants • SWL – from (SWL1 to SWM)

We are also looking to recruit Track Renewals and Civil Gangs for works Starting in the New Year.

We are specifically looking to recruit a large number of Scotland Based Crane Controllers or staff that are willing to re-locate for a long term midweek contract.

For More information regarding works in the Western And Wessex please contact iain.bell@firststructure.co.uk or mobile 07535 727763

For More information regarding works in the Birmingham area please contact neil.tucker@firststructure.co.uk or mobile 07940 709341

Contact Head Office – telephone: 01302 244 471 general enquirys: info@firststructure.co.uk web: www.firststructure.co.uk First Structure Ltd, Balby Court, Balby Court Business Campus, Balby Carr Bank, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN4 8DE

FACEBOOK.COM/RAILSTAFF | @RAILSTAFFUK | RAILSTAFF.UK

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On the 30 July 2014, MTR Corporation (Crossrail) Limited, a 100% owned subsidiary of MTR Corporation, was awarded the concession for operating the new Elizabeth line across London. By December 2019 the construction project shall be complete, marking the introduction of full Elizabeth line services through London. We seek to provide operational excellence and the highest possible level of customer service for London.

As a rail operator MTR Crossrail is an organisation that values its workforce, offering career progression and providing the platform for people to grow and develop.

We now have a number of the following opportunities available across our network.

Driver Team Manager As one of our Driver Team Managers you will be responsible for delivering the reliable operation of the train plan, improving train performance and achieving customer satisfaction targets. You will be leading the drivers in operational safety, carrying out competence assessments of drivers, ensuring that drivers are utilised efficiently and looking after their welfare.

Together with experience in improving levels of driver performance and effectively managing driver and stakeholder relationships, you must have full train driver competence for a minimum of a five year period and thorough knowledge of operational rules and regulations. The role includes shift work and on-call responsibilities.

Driver Team Leader As a Driver Team Leader your primary responsibility will be the coaching and instructing of our drivers and trainee drivers. There will be opportunities to develop through assisting with training and undertaking driver assessments as well as supporting Driver Team Managers with their duties.

You will be expected to contribute to improving train performance, achieving industry leading safety levels, delivering exceptional customer service and embracing new technologies.

A minimum of two years full train driver competence and a thorough knowledge of operational rules and regulations is essential. The role requires shift work.

MTR Crossrail welcomes applications from a diverse range of candidates regardless of background, disability or gender and is committed to creating a workforce as diverse as the communities we serve.

HO’S W E N O U THE GANISING O Y E To apply, please visit www.mtrcrossrail.co.uk/vacancies R A ?

S OR ALWAY AND GAMES ES MATCH

RT? O P S E LOV DO YOU

ARE YOU THE ONE NISING A G R O S ALWAY

MATCHES AND GAMES?

The all-new RailSport Games will be hosted at Loughborough University in July 2017, when we’ll bring together over 1,000 people from the rail industry to compete in 15 different sports.

>> WE’RE LOOKING FOR RAILSPORT AMBASSADORS TO HELP SPREAD THE WORD...

If you are passionate about sport and motivated to inspire others to get involved, then this is for you.

When you become a RailSport Ambassador, you will receive: • A pack to help you start promoting the event • Regular updates on the planning and progress of the event • Complimentary entry to your chosen sport • Limited edition RailSport Ambassador T-shirt If you’ve ever been to a Rail Media event before, you know we like to party.

After the final whistle, competitors from across the industry can enjoy an evening of live music and socialising.

RAILSTAFF.UK | @RAILSTAFFUK | FACEBOOK.COM/RAILSTAFF

WE NEED Y OU!

>>

in helping us If you’re interested t, then email promote the even ilsport.uk ambassador@ra

Net-cert.co.uk

Opportunities to enhance your engineering career Network Certification Body (NCB) is a dynamic independent company within the Network Rail group, at the cutting edge of railway certification in the UK and growing to meet the needs of this expanding market.

What you can expect as an engineer with NCB is career progression, support and encouragement with developing your career.

When you join us, you’ll be encouraged to enhance your capability by working on a large and diverse portfolio of projects.

You’ll also have the ability to broaden your skill sets across vehicle and infrastructure disciplines.

To find out more information about the featured roles below contact us today at ncbrecruitment@networkrail.co.uk

Principal Engineer Nationwide c.£76k

Senior Engineer Nationwide c.£50k

Engineer Nationwide c.£39k

• Act as certifier on an exciting portfolio of conformance assessment programmes and projects – leading the identification of relevant standards and informing customers • Provide technical leadership, mentoring and competence assessment

• Act as lead assessor for railway projects that require compliance with interoperability, CSMRA or national regulations • Make recommendations for changes to UK and international standards

• Check the conformance of designs for new or modified railway infrastructure assets against mandatory standards • Assess projects to determine their impact on railway system safety

KEEPING YOU RIGHT ON TRACK OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH SERVICES FROM EXPRESS MEDICALS

Express Medicals provides a full range of occupational health services.

We will help you to manage absenteeism within your company and tackle major issues such as stress and musculoskeletal problems.

ONGOING SUPPORT

PROMPT SERVICE

Contact us now to discuss your occupational health needs.

MEDICAL EXPERTS COUNSELLING DRUG AND ALCOHOL SERVICES HEALTH SURVEILLANCE

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

TRAVEL HEALTH

PHYSIOTHERAPY

WELLBEING

RAIL MEDICALS

Marketing and Sales Team

020 7500 6900 020 7500 6901 www.expressmedicals.co.uk www.expressmedicals.co.uk

Marketing and Sales Team Marketing and Sales Team

VACCINATIONS BLOOD TESTS

MARKET LEADERS