RailStaff October 2013

RailStaff

Civil Engineering Projects & Nationwide Plant Hire

stobartrail.com

Issue 191 / October 2013

THE MOST POPULAR PUBLICATION IN THE UK RAIL INDUSTRY

www.railstaff.co.uk

School Party for RailStaff awards new register for Robinson

© bbC

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one and only bbC’s the one Show named London Midland as one of the leaders...

© Jonathan webb

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over one thousand railway staff and families rolled up to the International Convention Centre in birmingham to party the night away at the seventh RailStaff awards on 5th october 2013. this year the RailStaff awards attracted a record 35,000 nominations for the 18 categories. big hearted railway staff raised over £5,000 on the night for the Railway Children Charity.

Railways boost job market Continuing growth in rail travel has resulted in 10,000 extra jobs.

Continued on PaGe 17

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The HR, Recruitment & Skills Awards 2013

NOMINATIONS CLOSE SOON!

21st October 2013

Who is the best?

Awards for Companies: Best Executive Search company in Rail Best Labour Supply Agency Best Rail Professional Recruitment company Best Training Organisation

Awards for Teams: Best Training Team HR Team of the Year

Awards for Campaigns: Best New Entrant Programme / Campaign Best People Strategy (Resourcing, Skills, HR) Best Recruitment Campaign

Awards for Individuals:

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HR Person of the Year Outstanding Contribution to the Rail Industry Training Person of the Year Recruitment Person of the Year

HR, RECRUITMENT & SKILLS AWARDS

Nominate for free at www.railhrawards.com

CoMMent

Publisher:

Paul O’Connor

Editor:

Andy Milne

Production and design:

Adam O’Connor

Senior Reporter:

Jonathan Webb

Writer:

Nigel Wordsworth

Track Safety:

Colin Wheeler

Pictures:

Colin Garratt

Advertising:

Asif Ahmed Craig Smith Paul Curtis

Contact Email Addresses News: news@rail-media.com Pictures: pictures@rail-media.com Adverts: adverts@rail-media.com Subscriptions: pat@rail-media.com

Contact Details RailStaff Publications Ltd Rail Media House, Samson Road, Coalville, Leicestershire, LE67 3FP. Tel: 01530 56 00 26 Web: www.railstaff.co.uk Email: hello@rail-media.com Printed by Pensord.

RailStaff is published by RailStaff Publications Limited.

A Rail Media Publication.

SPeCIaL FoCuS

the real mark of a civilisation is the depth and knowledge of its people ‘Education is the pre-condition of progress …”

people. Education is the phenomenon that frees us from the servitude of eternal toil. Our encouragement must ensure those stepping out beyond the harvest know the value of education.

Malala’s father, Mr Yousafzai, a head teacher, said, ‘Educate your daughters: they’re amazing!’

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The encouragement of parents and mentors like Mr Yousafzai is essential. We may not always understand the exigencies of modern scholarship but the year one pupil, new apprentice and departing student should know just how desperately, heartstoppingly, proud of you we are.

© ShutteRStoCk.CoM

Contact us:

Encouraging Education

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RailStaff

the poet, John keats, wrote of autumn as the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. Fields are gold with newly harvested corn, orchards bow with fruit. a walk in the woods awakens a deep yearning in even the most hardened city dweller.

However, the mists herald another season: the start of the academic year. Wide eyed five year olds start primary school, young people set out on apprenticeships and students gather in cheery concourses at universities.

Sadly, behind the roseate hue of the departing combine harvesters lurks a different picture. The British now have one of the lowest rates of literacy and numeracy in the developed world. It is in everyone’s interests to put this right.

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban for daring to suggest women should be as well educated as men, encourages us all with her emphasis on the importance of education. Education is the precondition of progress.

We should lead by example. Book onto an adult education course, talk to a union learning rep, pick up a serious novel, go to see live theatre. If maths and science remain a mystery, approach a sympathetic arithmetician during the dark evenings that lie ahead.

The real mark of a civilisation is the depth and knowledge of its

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training Matters In november’s RailStaff

Shops on stations defy recession

australian coup for network Rail

Check out the latest initiatives in rail training as RailStaff reports on high quality professional training and assessment services from across the whole rail industry. has your company focussed on electrification needs to address the shortage of oLe engineers? to promote your training services call us today on 01530 56 00 26 or email training@rail-media.com.

according to the british Retail Consortium high street sales have increased by a meagre 0.4% between april and June this year.

International subsidiary, network Rail Consulting, has landed a major new role with transport for new South wales.

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Reshuffle at Virgin trains reality. There is more growth to come and the team we have in place will ensure we have continuity and experience to build on these achievements,’ Sir Brian said.

Tony Collins has been with Virgin Trains nearly 14 years with nine years as Chief Executive Officer.

Tony started his career in 1979 as a Commercial Apprentice with Wolverhampton-based Rockwell Thompson Limited, before taking on the role of Financial Analyst. He joined Virgin from Alstom Passenger Group in Birmingham.

Chris Gibb, 50, joined Virgin in May 2003, previously he was managing director of Wales and Borders trains. A career railwayman Chris joined British Rail as a clerical officer from school in 1981. He spent 20 years working his way up in a variety of operational roles throughout Britain.

Patrick McGrath remains as Director Human Resources, Graham Leech, Executive Director Commercial, and Andy Cross, Director Business Support. All

three have more than a decade of experience at Virgin Trains.

Phil Whittingham became Director, Finance on 1 January 2008. A Chartered Accountant Phil joined the company from KPMG’s Birmingham office in August 1999, where he worked closely with Virgin Trains.

Phil Bearpark has been with Virgin Trains since the franchise started in 1997. He originally trained as an engineer and is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and a Member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. In his spare time he enjoys restoring old motorcycles.

Chris Gibb also paid tribute to

the staff at Virgin. ‘Delivering great customer service truly is a team effort, requiring not only great staff, which we have in spades at Virgin Trains, but also co-operation between the different stakeholders across the industry.

‘I am especially proud of the part I have played in bringing these important individual parties together to deliver improved performance. That’s the foundation which great service is built on.’

Chris was seconded to Network Rail for six months last year and led a taskforce focused on improving performance and reliability on the West Coast main line.

© ShutteRStoCk.CoM

Virgin Rail Group was keen to stress continuity at the top as Phil whittingham, Director Finance, stepped up to become the Lead executive and Phil bearpark, Production Director took over as Director operations and Customer Service.

The moves follow Chief Executive Tony Collins’ decision to quit and Chris Gibb’s move to Network Rail as a non-executive director. Collins will stay on as an advisor at Virgin.

The new management team will be overseen by Virgin’s Patrick McCall and Stagecoach’s Martin Griffiths, both executive chairmen.

Virgin Trains’ top performing staff were singled out for praise by Sir Brian Souter, Stagecoach Group Chairman.

‘Virgin Trains is a fantastic partnership between two innovative transport groups. Tony, the wider management team and the thousands of people at the sharp end of delivering the train service for customers have done a superb job of making our joint vision of transforming rail travel a

Chris Gibb.

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www.railstaff.co.uk

newS

Goodwill gesture marks rail reshuffle a Yorkshire farmer who owns a couple of traction engines and rescued a steam ship that took part in the evacuation of Dunkirk has been appointed Parliamentary under Secretary of State for transport.

Robert Goodwill, 56, is MP for Scarborough and Whitby and farms 250 acres locally. He replaces Simon Burns who plans to become deputy speaker, complementing John Bercow.

Rail analysts were quick to pick up on Goodwill’s ownership of several traction engines, a steam lorry and a ship. A clear believer in integrated transport Goodwill served on the Transport Select Committee in 2005, staying for 18 months. He is a patron of the National Traction Engine Trust.

Before becoming an MP he served as MEP for Yorkshire between 1999 and 2004. The five year stint in Brussels confirmed his position as a euro-sceptic. In May 2010 Robert Goodwill was appointed by David Cameron as an Assistant Government Whip and shortly after this was promoted to Pairing Whip.

Robert Goodwill was born in North Yorkshire and was educated at Quaker Bootham School in York and the University of Newcastle where he read for a BSc in Agriculture. His farm near Malton has been in the family for over 150 years.

Goodwill is quite popular locally. Two years ago he stepped in to save the Scarborough pleasure ship ‘Coronia’ which was one of the flotilla of small ships that sailed across the English Channel to evacuate the British Expeditionary Force and 139,997 French, Polish, and Belgian troops from the beaches of Dunkirk in 1940. Married to Maureen the couple have three children.

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5

newS

banking baroness heads for Dft

Farringdon breakthrough for Phyllis

helen pays up

Crossrail’s tunnel boring machine, Phyllis, has completed the construction of the first of the new train tunnels under London.

Phyllis reached Farringdon - the midway point of the project - 17 months after starting her 4.2 mile journey from Royal Oak in west London. During the coming weeks, Phyllis will be dismantled and her 130 metre long trailer system will be removed from the tunnel via the recently completed Fisher Street shaft.

Six other Crossrail tunnelling machines are hard at work deep under London burrowing along their 26 mile marathon. Says Andy Mitchell, Crossrail Programme Director, ‘Crossrail’s construction continues to move ahead at a significant pace. Crossrail has not

kind hearted railway staff just can’t win, it seems.

Often criticised for being too aggressive when dealing with fare dodgers the press leapt to attack a Virgin Trains conductor who let an actress travel for free when her credit card was rejected by his ticket machine.

Former Coronation Street actress Helen Flanagan (right) supplied her name and address and later paid the fare. The 23-year-old star, who was en route to a TV appearance in the capital, later took to Twitter to thank Virgin for allowing her to continue her journey.

6

only completed the first Crossrail tunnel under London but has reached the half-way point for our tunnelling machines with a phenomenal 13 miles of train tunnels constructed to-date.

A further six tunnelling machines are currently hard at work constructing over 100 metres of new tunnel each day with major tunnelling due to complete next year.’

Susan Kramer pursued a career in banking rising to become VicePresident at Citicorp in Chicago

Partners which advised on financing infrastructure in Central and Eastern Europe.

Sadly John Kramer died of melanoma in 2006.

Kramer entered parliament as MP for Richmond Park in 2005.

She lost her seat to Zac Goldsmith in 2010 and subsequently was made a life peer, concentrating on finance and banking. She contested the London mayoralty.

Baroness Kramer has been a consistent supporter of Crossrail and vigorously opposes Heathrow’s third runway. She is a patron of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust.

© ShutteRStoCk.CoM

Liberal Democrat peer baroness kramer has been appointed transport minister.

She replaces Norman Baker who had been moved to the Home Office. Susan Kramer was born in 1950 in Holborn and educated at St Paul’s Girls School. She went on to St Hilda’s College, Oxford where she read PPE, Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

She met and married the American John Kramer in 1972.

Mr Kramer was himself secretary of the Illinois Department of Transportation. The couple lived in Illinois between 1973 and 1993.

Susan Kramer pursued a career in banking rising to become VicePresident at Citicorp in Chicago.

After the collapse of the Iron Curtain John and Susan Kramer returned to Europe - John had studied at the Free University of Berlin.

Together they ran a number of projects including Future Water International in rural Hungary and Infrastructure Capital

www.railstaff.co.uk

high Speed chair for higgins

Sir David higgins has moved quickly to diffuse political tension surrounding high Speed 2 just days after his appointment as chairman of hS2 Ltd was announced.

Higgins steps down as Network Rail’s Chief Executive next April but will join HS2 Ltd on 1st January 2014, going full time from April.

Mark Carne, former executive vice president of Royal Dutch Shell,

8

takes over as CEO of Network Rail in April.

Sir David has been a long term supporter of high speed railways and spelled out in confident terms the importance of HS2. ‘People forget, I started (on the Olympics) in late 2005. In 2006, there was not a single positive bit of media coverage. It was all about this will never be done, the budget is ridiculous, it can’t be done, we’ll be embarrassed about what’s going to happen about it… It took about two years for the first green shoots to emerge.’

Higgins met Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, requesting he be allowed to brief Labour Party leaders and avoid HS2 becoming a political football.

Higgins wants to get all sides to back the scheme. ‘As I did in the Olympics, I (now) have the right to brief opposition and government both at a local and national level.’

HS2 will serve as an economic dynamo for the economy and represents the next installment in Britain’s revitalised and fast

growing rail industry. ‘While we do have the safest railway in Europe, we also have the oldest railway in Europe, and the growth rates here far outstrip any other utility in the UK and any other railway in Europe. So, it’s essential for economic growth in this country to have a proper modern railway,’ Higgins added.

The move to HS2 Ltd caps a successful career for Sir David Higgins, the Australian farmer’s son from Brisbane in north Queensland who, as a child, watched steam engines thundering through farmland near where he lived.

He read civil engineering at university in Sydney and later worked in Africa on mining projects and airports. After a spell gem prospecting in Kenya he ran the Sydney Olympics, a role he reprised at the Olympic Delivery Authority in London.

Higgins has been a keen and long term supporter of high speed railways. Speaking in RailStaff two years ago he said, ‘90% of all long term journeys in France are by

high speed rail. France already has 2,000 kilometres of high speed railways. And before we open High Speed Two they’ll have built another 1,000 kilometres of high speed rail.’

With remarkable prescience he also said, ‘Unless everyone’s vigilant it won’t go ahead so we have to be avid supporters of it.’

Current HS2 chairman, Doug Oakervee, will remain in post to oversee the introduction of the Government’s Hybrid Bill before the end of this year. The Bill will secure Parliamentary approval for Phase 1 of the route between London and Birmingham, allowing work to start in 2017.

Sir David also moved to calm fears of spiraling costs. ‘My first priority will be to rigorously scrutinise costs to ensure they remain under control,’ he said.

‘HS2 presents a strategic opportunity for this country and I am determined to make sure we take it by delivering a railway that will allow business and communities to prosper in the long term.’

new register Mouchel strengthens team for Robinson

Rail Director for eaL

Lloyd’s Register has appointed Mike Robinson to the newly created role of Group Customer Strategy Director.

Robinson started at Lloyd’s Register on 2 September 2013 and joins from Royal Mail Group, where he was leading Group Strategy. Previously, Robinson ran his own commercial strategy consultancy after holding commercial directorships with Marconi, Argogroup and Philips Electronics.

He has an MBA from Henley Management College, and graduated from University College, Cardiff with a BSc (Joint Hons) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

Dr ben Dunlop, electrification Director for the atkins rail business, is joining the board of eaL, the specialist awarding organisation for industry qualifications.

He joins the board alongside Julia Chippendale, EAL’s new managing director. Says Dr Dunlop, ‘The rail industry needs skilled engineers to deliver its maintenance and investment plans, so the challenge now is to encourage the next generation into the sector.

‘EAL is supporting employers do just that with the release of its new rail qualifications and I am delighted to be joining the Board at this exciting time.’

Dr Dunlop has been working in the rail industry for more than 25 years. Throughout his career he has been involved in delivering major projects including West Coast Route Modernisation, Thameslink and Crossrail.

Simon witney has joined Group Mouchel as divisional director – environmental services, within its uk Infrastructure Services business.

His arrival follows that of Simon Isherwood as business development director, energy and environment. A graduate of Oxford and Sheffield universities, Simon has held director level consultancy positions at Arup, Symonds, Oscar Faber/Faber Maunsell, Hyder Consulting and Jacobs.

Simon’s international experience includes senior principal and project director roles in Australia with GHD and E3 Consult (later CDM Smith), where he provided strategic environmental consultancy prior to returning to the UK this year.

Simon Witney is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a Chartered Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute and the Environmental Institute of Australia and New Zealand.

Says Managing Director, Mouchel Infrastructure Services, David Virden, ‘With 30 years’ experience in planning, environment and development, 12 years as a director in consultancy, and a track record of building strong relationships with UK and international clients, Simon is well-placed to help Mouchel develop its environmental and development services offering.’

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PeoPLe newS

Vital role for Leavis the training arm of Vital Services Group, has appointed Matt Leavis training team leader for the south.

Leavis, 30, from Leicester has taken charge of Vital’s training centres in Corby, Kidderminster, Leicester, Epping and Kennington (London) with responsibility for 12 trainers and more than 145 apprentices.

Matt worked at Network Rail for 11 years, most recently as a workforce development specialist.

‘Vital was always one of Network Rail’s preferred suppliers and is well respected within the industry, so I was already aware of the company and the high quality of work it delivered,’ says Matt.

‘We share a passion for giving budding engineers an opportunity to develop the skills they need to

Global runner heads Crossrail It

“We share a passion for giving budding engineers an opportunity to develop the skills they need to work within the rail industry …”

Matt LeaVIS, tRaInInG teaM LeaDeR, VItaL SeRVICeS GRouP

work within the rail industry and I am really impressed with how Vital has grown its provision so quickly and effectively during the last two years.’

andrew turner has been appointed interim It director for Crossrail.

Turner, who spent almost five years as CIO at insurance specialists Hiscox, takes over from Neil Farmer, who was in the role since August 2009.

He started his career at British Airways looking after transport operations at Heathrow Airport.

He was head of IT services at Seeboard Plc and worked for Cable & Wireless before moving into the financial sector at Royal Sun

high Speed hot seat atkins has appointed its first Chair of high Speed Railway engineering.

Professor Peter Woodward (pictured), currently professor of Railway Geotechnical Engineering and Head of the Institute for Infrastructure & Environment at Heriot-Watt University in Glasgow, will oversee a high tech team charged with developing ambitious strategies for high speed rail at Atkins.

Says Douglas McCormick, Managing Director of Atkins’ rail business, ‘The requirement for high speed rail is growing at a pace, with projects world-wide expected to be worth £100s of billions in just the next 15 years. The combined efforts of Atkins and Professor Woodward offer a real opportunity to develop solutions in the UK that will overcome global challenges, to the benefit of UK Plc.’ Professor Woodward leads the High Speed

www.railstaff.co.uk

Railways Research Group. Woodward specialises in high speed railways, including ground vibration and track mitigation strategies. He joined Heriot-Watt in 1993 after gaining a PhD from Manchester University. He is also a member of the Permanent Way Institution.

Woodward spent ten years on secondment to the rail industry. He developed the unique patented railway track reinforcement system, XiTRACK, now widely used in Europe and Asia to solve railway track problems at all train

Alliance where he was Strategic Relationships Director.

After a spell at Aspen Re, as Group IT director, he joined Hiscox. Andrew was educated at the University of Wales where he read English Literature. He has an MBA from the University of Bath.

Andrew Turner is a serious long distance runner and has been awarded the international Marathon Majors Five Star Award for completing the top five marathon courses in the world in under three hours.

These include Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City marathons. Taylor relaxes by playing the piano, violin and viola.

speeds.

Says Professor Peter Woodward, ‘High and ultra-speed railways are our future. They have the capacity to transform the economic prosperity of nations and our challenge is to develop the technology to underpin their successful implementation and cost effectiveness across the world.

‘Heriot-Watt already has the UK’s biggest purpose-built laboratory test track bed (GRAFT II) which can predict the effects of high speed trains and simulate the effects of decades of operation on major lines. With the support of Atkins we plan to construct the world’s most advanced railway test track facility (GRAFT III) and to develop the world’s premier railway testing organisation for high-speed.’

This summer Atkins and Heriot-Watt University signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding to create a High Speed Centre of Excellence which is already home to the biggest purpose-built laboratory test track bed that can predict the effects of high speed trains and simulate the effects of decades of operation on major lines.

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RaIL aLLIanCe newS

Join the Rail alliance now Rail alliance membership starts from just £500 per year

log on to www.railalliance.co.uk email info@railalliance.co.uk or call 01789 720026.

Colin hosts Sell-out RailStaff awards Rail alliance members were out in force at the RailStaff awards 2013 with Colin Flack in charge of proceedings.

Says Tom O’Connor, managing director, Rail Media, ‘Having Colin host the event is a real bonus for us all. It can’t be easy running an event that is an uproarious party on the one hand and a serious attempt to celebrate the guts, drive and determination of the industry on the other.

Colin carried it off with great sensitivity and aplomb. It was good to see other Rail Alliance members also there, too numerous to name.

RailStaff and the RailStaff Awards

stand for good news stories about the rail industry and the people who work in it, produce and supply it 24/7.

The Rail Alliance under Colin’s inspired leadership has become an integral part of rail dynamics in Britain.’ Colin Flack managed to keep order at the Back to School themed event dressed in mortar board and gown on a slowly revolving stage.

Says Colin, ‘The RailStaff Awards 2013 is great fun but it is making a serious point. The success of our industry is down to the thousands of railway staff, inventors, designers, sub-contractors,

conductors, cleaners and managers who come together to create Europe’s fastest growing railway.

Congratulations to all who won prizes, the highly commended and runners up and those who were shortlisted. Can I also say congratulations to everyone who was nominated. That’s an achievement in itself.

This is an industry that is careful about who it respects. Thanks as well to all who took the trouble to nominate a colleague. Going out of your way to praise a pal or just say thank you to a colleague is the hallmark of success and good leadership.’

events Coming up 24th october 2013 – Members’ Meeting and networking event hosted by Coventry university enterprises. Contact: Rhona.clarke@railalliance.co.uk for more information and to book a place.

Please Note : Rail Interiors: The Inside Story – Event at Coventry University previously advertised for 24th/25th October 2013 has been postponed to March 2014 due to unforeseen circumstances. Please contact: sbeer@cad.coventry.ac.uk for more information.

Rail alliance at Rail Vehicle enhancements 2013

a Glowing example of Collaboration.

Rail alliance members and prospective members all benefited from a full day of events organised by our long standing member onyxrail.

RVE 2013 took place at the Derby Rams Pride Park Stadium on the 3rd October. Events included the Rail Alliance Business-to-Business meeting, the Rail Vehicle Enhancements 2013 EXPO and the RVE Technology Forum.

Visitors were able to hear from industry insiders, starting with an excellent keynote address by Ian Walmsley of Porterbrook that set out the typical perspective of vehicle owners.

Ian explained the investments required for legacy rolling stock and the role that SMEs can play in refurbishment and enhancement projects. He certainly captivated the audience delivering one of the most entertaining, yet thoroughly valuable presentations we have had the pleasure of listening to.

The Rail Alliance announced two new funding streams: the HiTech Rail ERDF Project and EIT’s Test and Trials Voucher Scheme.

In an inspiring presentation Kevin Lane of Onyxrail explained how to overcome the barriers to supplying the Rail Industry. This answered many of the questions asked by members following the no-nonsense presentation. Then followed an incisive review

by Neil Bates of Creactive Design whose 10

presentation majored on how to succeed in the process of new product development. Both presentations gave members much to think about.

Being a primary sponsor of RVE 2013 the Rail Alliance had substantial stand space which was used to great effect by many of our attending members. The events drew an exceptional footfall giving members a great opportunity to network and gain exposure.

RVE 2013 was filled with exhibitors at the cutting edge of technology from around the world. These showcased real time passenger counting, cab and saloon cooling and passenger

information equipment.

Other innovations on show included LED lighting, entertainment and advertising systems, interior and product designers, energy saving solutions such as hydrogen generators and driver advisory equipment. All of the exhibitors were kept busy with high levels of interest from visitors reflecting the rail industry’s clear and dramatic upturn.

This is a good time to be in railways as the industry limbers up to meet new requirements, including the increasing demands of passenger growth and an urgent desire to boost capacity along with the common objective of improving the rail travel experience.

Following the success of RVE2013 Rail Alliance and Onxyrail plan to co-operate and build on this at RVE2014 which promises to be bigger, broader and better. Most of the exhibitors have already re-booked.

RVE2014 will emphasise the renewed confidence in the rail industry and familiarise visitors with the dramatic opportunities opening across the expanding rail network.

Says Kevin Lane of Onyxrail, ‘RVE2013 has proved a great success. RVE2014 will, I am confident, parallel the huge advances being made by the new rail industry, which all Rail Alliance members strive to sustain and develop.’ www.railstaff.co.uk

Rail Team of the year 2012

Civil Engineering Projects & Nationwide Plant Hire Stobart Rail owns and operates an extensive fleet of specialised plant that is available for hire with or without operators on a nationwide basis including road-rail equipment to match the special requirements of operations on, or near the permanent way.

The Company has an extensive range of earth moving, excavation and earth removal vehicles, enabling Stobart Rail to tackle the most demanding of tasks - this significant investment is continually being added to and upgraded and is predominantly used on

Stobart Rails own contracted works.

Stobart Railâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s substantial fleet of road-rail vehicles provides a comprehensive series of machine-to-trailer combinations, and also accommodates a host of highly specialised attachments; ranging from tamping and cabling equipment to ground investigation and soil nailing rigs.

To enquire about hiring our plant for use on your next project (can include POL) or for our most recent plant register contact:

Andrew Sumner Rail Contracts Manager t. 01228 882 300 e. andrew.sumner@stobartrail.com Gary Newton Estimating Manager t. 01228 882 300 e. gary.newton@stobartrail.com Dave Richardson Plant Manager t. 01228 882 300 e. david.richardson@stobartrail.com

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network Rail and Chiltern Railways have announced they will be working closer together to progress the upgrading of the railway between oxford and bicester.

This includes the connection of the railway at Bicester to the Chiltern Main Line and will involve building one kilometre of new track. Express services between Oxford and London Marylebone via Bicester are expected to start in two years time.

The upgrade of the Oxford to Bicester line not only facilitates the new Chiltern Railways service between Oxford and London, but also forms the first phase of works on the western section of the East West Rail scheme.

The long awaited return of the Oxford-Buckinghamshire link will reconnect Oxford to Milton Keynes

© Jonathan webb

Chiltern collaboration

and Bedford. Says Karl Budge, route delivery director from Network Rail, ‘The investment being made between Oxford, Bicester and Bedford will make a huge difference to local people and the local economy.

‘It makes sense to deliver what were originally separate schemes in a collaborative way. This collaboration will allow fast train services to operate between

Oxford and London Marylebone and will move Network Rail closer to reinstating the railway line through to Bedford and Milton Keynes via Bletchley.’

Oxford to London Marylebone services operated by Chiltern Railways start two years from now from a new parkway station north of Oxford. Trains will also run down the new route from Oxford city centre in spring 2016 once

upgrades in and around Oxford station have been completed.

Journey times from the parkway station to London will be under an hour.

The Western Section of the East West Rail scheme will see the railway line reinstated between Bedford and Oxford, with spurs to Milton Keynes and Aylesbury. New train services are due to begin operations from the end of 2017.

Yo ho ho

Railfreight rescue for stricken fire ship

Startled commuters and sailors were treated to a rousing concert of sea shanties on special trains heading for the harwich International Sea Shanty Festival on Greater anglia’s Mayflower Line recently.

Singers and Pirates jumped aboard with volunteers from the Essex and South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership. A carriage was decked out with sea shanty themes.

Sea Shanty singers from all over the world converge on Harwich for the special weekend and the town resounds with the sound of their singing. The three shanty groups taking part in the Music Train event were Crossjack, from Germany, Hooks and Crooks, from Ireland, and La Bouline, from France.

the cargo of a fire-damaged ship has been saved by an intrepid rail freight company.

The captain of the Zim Rotterdam cargo container ship, sailing from Port Klang in Malaysia to Felixstowe, had to lay up off the coast unable to dock even though the fire had been extinguished.

After several ship-to-shore discussions the Israeli freighter was found a berth at the London Gateway, Britain’s newest deep sea Port and Logistic Park, even though the port is not scheduled to open until November.

The next challenge was to organise the unloading of the ship.

Getting sufficient lorries into the new docks would have taken weeks. Instead quick thinking rail freight staff at DB Schenker laid on a daily freight service to Trafford Park in Manchester.

Zim Rotterdam was the first commercial cargo ship to be unloaded at the new deep sea port ahead of the official opening next

12

month. Rail staff from Network Rail and DB Schenker worked tirelessly around the clock with their counterparts at London Gateway.

Says Carsten Hinne of DB Schenker Rail UK, ‘This has been an incredible effort and demonstrates how the team, and indeed the industry, has come together to help support Zim and its customers.

‘I haven’t seen collective support from the industry like this in any way before and it’s amazing to

think we have put a service together in just a few days - let alone from a non-operational port.

We realised that a solution was needed quickly and viewed this as an opportunity to help Zim, the London Gateway team and the cargo owners in providing a service from the port.’

To celebrate the success of the relationship DB Schenker Rail later named a Class 66 loco, 66185, ‘DP World London Gateway’ as the containers sped on their way. www.railstaff.co.uk

newS

bbC’s the one Show named London Midland as one of the leaders in customer service led social media communication. the birmingham-based train company featured on the show.

Dan Donnelly interviewed Customer Relations Supervisor, Fiona Ryan, about how the company effectively uses its Twitter account to answer queries and send information to passengers. Donnelly put five companies to the test: EDF Energy, Monarch Airlines, Barclays, Southwest Water and BT TV, by tweeting them to see which responded in the quickest time.

A member of The One Show’s production team simultaneously emailed the same five companies to test if social media really is the quickest route to response. London Midland’s Twitter account has 52,000 followers and has won multiple industry awards since its launch in April 2010 - and its

Freight team praised

Alex Jones.

© bbC

one and only

following continues to grow with an average of 2000 new followers each month.

Head of Marketing and Customer Relations, David Whitley, said, ‘We launched our Twitter account to transform the way we communicate with our passengers, using a mixture of personalised messages and jargon-free service updates. 200,000 tweets later, we’re extremely proud of what we’ve achieved so far and it’s great to be recognised by the BBC, too.’

the Rail Freight Group has singled out network Rail’s hard working Freight team for special praise.

The team won three awards recently, including the prestigious Business of the Year award, from the Rail Freight Group. Says Network Rail’s director of freight, Paul McMahon, ‘I’m delighted the efforts of our team and the company as a whole have been recognised by the RFG. Many people from across Network Rail were involved in that success and it recognises the efforts we are making to keep freight flowing smoothly.

‘Rail carries increasing volumes of freight, which is vital to the economy, and we remain focused on improving its performance and capacity.’ The RFG said the company had helped to boost the freight sector through its renewed focus on working closely with business and developing new processes to improve performance.

The rail freight industry directly contributes £870 million to the nation’s economy every year, but supports an economic output of £5.9 billion, six times its direct turnover.

Network Rail expects freight demand to grow by at least 30% over the next ten years.

Shops on stations defy recession according to the british Retail Consortium high street sales have increased by a meagre 0.4% between april and June this year.

However on the railway the story is very different and sales are booming. Station retail sales have powered up by an amazing 6.4% over the same period. These figures were compiled from the results of retailers operating from over 500,000 sq ft of retail space in 520 units/shops at 16 of Britain’s biggest and busiest stations owned and operated by Network Rail.

Shops on stations benefit from a combined annual footfall of over a billion passenger journeys. Trading at both King’s Cross and Waterloo benefited from major investment schemes enabling new retail facilities to offer the public a wider choice of food and beverage, clothes and products. During this period retail sales also benefited from better weather.

Says Jonathan Crick, director of retail at Network Rail, ‘While growth on the high street remains relatively flat, retail in stations continues to grow dramatically. This set of retail results shows how the change in retail strategy combined with investment in new retail space www.railstaff.co.uk

has enhanced the whole station environment, contributing to a strong retail performance even in like-for-like comparisons. Even more so for overall sales.

‘Stations offer a vibrant and healthy trading environment and we are continuing to attract new brands to enhance the breadth of retail offered to passengers.’ All profit from Network Rail’s retail activity is re-invested in the railway.

“While growth on the high street remains relativley flat, retail in stations continues to grow dramatically…”

Jonathan CRICk, DIReCtoR oF RetaIL, netwoRk RaIL 13

trans-atlantic raccoon rider

Malcolm smiles - goodbye

a long distance rail riding raccoon is recovering from her trans-atlantic four time zone trip at an animal rescue centre in wales.

Meeko the raccoon hopped aboard a north bound freight train in Iowa.

Railroad officials believed she slipped aboard during loading at Davenport, Iowa. She survived a four week journey across the USA, Canada, the Atlantic and the UK by drinking condensation and eating cardboard.

Her thousand mile rail journey ended in Halifax, Nova Scotia. However Meeko was unable to get off before the container was loaded on a ship and she set sail for Europe.

Workers at Sear Seating in Ebbw Vale, South Wales, were astonished to discover the raccoon alive and well as they unpacked what they thought would be a crate of machine parts. Meeko has now been moved to the Wales Ape and Monkey sanctuary in Abercave.

Meeko – named by staff after the raccoon in the movie Pocahontas – is building up body fat with plenty of fruit, boiled eggs and cat biscuits. In the film Meeko has an equally healthy appetite. © ShutteRStoCk.CoM

one of the most senior drivers at east Midlands trains has stepped down from the footplate for the last time after a career spanning 51 years.

Nottingham-based Malcolm Goulding began his railway career on 24 April 1962 at Middle Furlong Road shed. Malcolm had just dropped in to ask if there were any jobs going. Starting as a cleaner Malcolm climbed through the links to become a driver on 4 February 1980 and insists that the much lamented class 45s were his favourite locomotive to drive.

Malcolm was famous for his dry sense of humour. Someone once asked one of his colleagues what was wrong with him as he had seen Malcolm smiling at work.

Malcolm played up to this persona by always complaining out loud regardless of what diagram he was booked to work.

a potential simulated disaster underground is essential for training fire fighters and emergency services.

For the first time in almost ten years a network of tunnels underneath Birmingham New Street station has been opened by Network Rail to allow West Midlands Fire Service to conduct just such a live training exercise.

Situated four metres beneath the station’s 12 platforms and spanning 132 metres in length, the tunnel, which closed in 2004, was previously used for Royal Mail postal trains to transport mail from the station out to regional sorting offices.

Says Crew Commander Mark Clifton of Highgate Fire Station White Watch, ‘As firefighters we train daily and we were extremely grateful to Network Rail for the chance to test ourselves and our methods in this unusual environment. The tunnels were a perfect place to test new breathing apparatus, which can be worn for virtually double the time compared to kit we usually use.

Around 40 fire fighters from seven of our stations were involved in the two-hour exercise, which was 14

Malcolm explained how, as a fireman, he developed the craft of driving with the encouragement of his regular drivers. ‘They would say watch me carefully, because tomorrow you will be doing this.’

In retirement Malcolm plans to travel to South America.

Fire Down Below

based on a rescue scenario.’

When the station redevelopment is complete in 2015, railway staff will replace postal workers and fire fighters. The tunnel will be used to access staff accommodation and the CrossCountry Trains national rail catering centre.

Says Steve Lewis, Network Rail station manager, ‘The tunnel

beneath New Street is part of the station’s wealth of history and I’m sure the thousands of passengers that travel above have no idea of the maze of tunnels that lie below and across the wider city. We were delighted to be able to offer our colleagues at West Midlands Fire Service the tunnel for their exercise.’ www.railstaff.co.uk

© Jonathan webb

Railways boost job market

© Jonathan webb

newS

the continuing growth in rail travel has resulted in the creation of 10,000 extra jobs, according to figures released by atoC. Train companies are now employing more than 10,000 extra staff compared to 15 years ago. In 2011-12, train operators employed 50,100 people, a 25% increase on the 39,700 staff working for them 15 years earlier. Productivity is up, too. Hard working rail staff are running 20% more services a day and carrying 73% more passengers.

Productivity measured by staff to passengers ratio has increased by 37%, while satisfaction with services has also increased. Train companies have been hiring more train crew and station attendants,

as well as drivers and conductors to staff the 4,000 extra services running each day now, compared to 15 years ago.

First ScotRail boosted staff numbers from 3,461 to 4,700, an increase of more than 35% since 2004. At the same time, journeys

Dee time

university challenge for railways

a major 12-month £5.3m project to make hawarden bridge across the River Dee stronger, allowing more trains to cross, is now underway.

The main truss of the railway bridge, which was built in 1887, will be strengthened with new steel plates and given a new coat of paint to protect it from corrosion and improve the bridge’s appearance. The scheme will see the whole bridge sand blasted to remove old layers of paint.

This iconic bridge was opened in 1889 with the central span designed as a swing bridge to allow shipping to pass. The bridge has long-provided an important link between Deeside and the original John Summers and Sons steel works.

network Rail is looking for around 100 graduates to join its 2014 graduate scheme.

The company has also expanded its one-year work placement programme for undergraduates.

The aim is to find and hire the best and brightest students before they leave university. There will be 28 paid one-year placements for undergraduates taking a year out in industry between the second and third years of engineering courses.

Graduates can specialise in project management, business services, engineering, general management, finance, property, strategic planning and supply chain management.

Says Mike Bickford, head of resourcing for Network Rail, ‘The best candidates for our graduate programme have had excellent work experience where they have developed the skills and behaviours needed to succeed in the work place.

www.railstaff.co.uk

have increased by 30%. Since 1997, Chiltern Railways has more than trebled the number of train guards it employs. It had just 18 in 1997 compared to 62 in 2013. Services it operates have increased by 59% and passenger numbers by 133%.

Trenau Arriva Cymru has

increased its staff from around 1,800 in 2003 to 2,100 today, a 17% increase. Services are up by 20%.

The figures provide more evidence of an industry expanding and in urgent need of more capacity, more investment and best of all more people.

Krishma Mistry

Tom Coles.

‘Offering undergraduates placements helps us identify candidates that show real promise and means we can secure top talent and save money in recruitment. Building this sort of pipeline for future leaders of the company helps us deliver a better railway for everyone.’

Graduate recruitment is popular among students. Says Krishma Mistry, 24, ‘When I was offered the place on the graduate

scheme it was a great stressreliever and allowed me to focus solely on my studies for the final year.

‘I knew that I had a great job waiting for me with a big company while all my friends were stressing about what they were going to do when university finished. I never thought about working for the railway and I wasn’t sure if I’d fit in but now I’m here it’s definitely for me.’

15

PeoPLe newS

Pandrol move for Satnam

RaF man joins hull trains

Satnam thiara has joined Pandrol uk Limited, as export Marketing Manager focusing on rail markets within South america, africa and asia.

A former winner of the RailStaff Awards 2010 Newcomer of the Year Award, Satnam has built a solid career in the rail industry following a successful debut at Bridgeway Consulting followed by spells at Ramboll UK and latterly Network Rail.

Says Satnam, ‘Pandrol is a global leader for rail fastening systems and has a reputation for delivering across the world that is second to none. I am really excited to be joining Pandrol and look forward to the challenges ahead.’

Paul boulonois has joined First hull trains as catering officer.

The former RAF man turned to rail after a long career in the RAF. After 23 years serving throughout the UK and overseas in the Falklands, Belgium, the Gulf, South Africa, Cyprus and Oman Boulonois joined Arriva Trains Wales in 2007 before moving over to First Hull Trains this summer.

Paul is delighted at the move.

‘While one part of my job is to manage the catering, the customer service side is another part. The strongest and most important element of customer service is the staff, to that end I’ve got it easy as the crews are excellent - they are second to none.

Of the 800,000 passengers who travel with us every year, someone in my team saw every single one of them - that’s an

Police praise river rescue

16

when a disabled man in a wheelchair tumbled into the River nene 100 metres away from a railway bridge under repair, railway scaffolder Jimmy Carr didn’t hesitate.

Inflating his life jacket Mr Carr entered the water and struck out for the drowning man. A passing police officer also helped. Says PC Philip Burn of the BTP, ‘Jimmy swam a very long distance across the water using his training, putting his own life and safety at risk in order to help save the drowning male.

‘This river is dangerous and is known to have strong under currents. Upon reaching the other side Jimmy immediately set to helping remove the drowning male from the water and onto the bank to safety. Jimmy’s actions were truly commendable as he put his own life at risk in order to save another. He showed great determination and all of this was done without anyone needing to ask.’

The rest of the BAM Nuttall team, who had been fully trained for river work, assisted with a rescue boat.

Police praise the prompt action of the rest of the team.

Jimmy Carr works for Network Scaffold.

Says Robert Lewis, sub-agent, BAM Nuttall Ltd, ‘Jimmy Carr and the team for sure saved this man’s life. The site team and Jimmy are very proud of what was achieved. We are here to make a difference and on that day that is exactly what we did. Not only is Jimmy a great member of the team but we are now considering entering him for local swimming competitions, minus his work gear and especially his heavy working boots!’

The gentleman in the wheelchair has made a full recovery.

awesome achievement. I also believe that the overwhelming majority of those people will have been impressed with the professionalism and personability of the crews.’

Lupton to head signalling at Parsons brinckerhoff Matthew Lupton is the new head of Signalling at Parsons brinckerhoff.

A chartered railway signal engineer, Lupton is a member of the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers, and the Institution of Engineering and Technology. He holds a Masters degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Wales, Bangor.

Since joining Parsons Brinckerhoff’s rail engineering team in the Manchester office in 2011 as Principal Engineer, Lupton has led the company’s signalling work on a number of major programmes, including NWEP and HS2, as well as assisting Network Rail with the delivery of the outer area schemes for Northern Hub. www.railstaff.co.uk

Recognising the people who keep the UK rail industry moving.

RailStaff Awards AWARDS PARTY: 5th OCTOBER, BIRMINGHAM

WWW.RAILSTAFFAWARDS.COM

Learning Curve for a-Star Pupils ‘education never stops and it’s time we put rail on the national curriculum,’ said Patricia holgate of London underground speaking at the start of the RailStaff awards 2013.

The party this year revolved around a Back to School theme with raucous partygoers interrupting speeches with raspberry-blowing balloons and party poppers. ‘I must say these events were very different under British Rail,’ said one startled rail chief.

Colin Flack, genial head of the Rail Alliance, hosted the evening calling on every ounce of his experience as an army officer to control proceedings. Martin Frobisher of Network Rail managed to state in two sentences what the RailStaff Awards is about. ‘Today is a big day in the railway calendar,’ Martin said.

‘It’s the day that we recognise all the efforts of the real people who do the work operating, maintaining and building the railway.’

Trumpet Blowing The RailStaff Awards was set up to celebrate the hard work and courage of the ordinary men and women

who make up the industry. ‘We don’t do enough to recognise good practice and it’s great to get a chance to do it,’ says Paul Moogan of Morson International.

Network Rail’s, Jo Kaye, representing the Institution of Railway Operators agrees. ‘People are naturally reluctant to blow their own trumpet so we should provide an opportunity to do it for them.’

Read through the nominations and talk to the winners and most railway staff will say, ‘I was just doing my job,’ or ‘It’s the people I work with, this is their award really.’

Railway people are self deprecating and modest but recognition is important.

Says Chris Godbold from the Transport Benevolent Fund, ‘We feel it’s important to recognise those staff who have not only fulfilled expectations but go that little bit further and provide exceptional service.’

Outstanding achievements of individual staff and their teams testify to an exceptional and confident industry. For instance Toni Goulden of Navartis, acknowledged the role of 100s of project managers,

‘We deal with project managers all the time but there are always some who stand out more.’

It is this need for recognition that makes the RailStaff Awards popular with the 35,000 people who nominated colleagues.

Joined up thinking The RailStaff Awards sees people from all across the industry coming together from driver to track worker and cleaner to chief executive.

Unity, joined up thinking, call it what you will. One cheerful engineer called it Personal Integration. It is a picture of the railway as it should be.

Says Patricia Holgate, from London Underground, ‘We got involved with the awards because we wanted to celebrate the contribution of teams and the value of working together across the industry.’

It’s a theme reflected by Phil Mounter of Westermo. ‘I think it’s important to celebrate individual initiative…(but) the reason we wanted to support the awards was that we wanted to support the rail industry. We wanted to put something back into the industry.’

Interestingly several companies involved in backing the RailStaff Awards have an industry-wide reach. Says Kamal Basra of Bodyguard Workwear, ‘The rail industry is a very challenging place and there are so many people who work very, very hard behind the scenes and are quite often unaccounted for.

‘As a service provider, we also understand how difficult it can be managing people’s expectations. By sponsoring this award we are able to recognise the achievements of special people in this industry.’

Phil Whittingham of Virgin Trains, summed up the underlying logic behind the RailStaff Awards. ‘Team work in the industry is massively important,’ he said.

Entry Level The implicit message behind the good news magazine that is RailStaff, right from day one, is that the rail industry has a great future in front of it and that a determined individual can go right to the top from the shop floor.

The ballast to boardroom story is more common in this industry than

Saving Lives

elsewhere. Lifetime Achievement award winner Steve Diksa started life on a track gang in Derby. Says Keith Jipps of FirstGroup, ‘I think the big thing is the industry wouldn’t be what it is without the dedication of people like Steve. The fact that he has come in at an entry level to make such a difference makes him a very worthy winner.’

The message is that you can do this too. Long term supporter of the RailStaff Awards, Pino De Rosa of Bridgeway Consulting, believes the

well being of the railways is in the hands of all who work in the industry. Says Pino, ‘The most important thing is that we deliver what we deliver in a safe way.

‘The industry is dependent on the drive of the people that are in it and events like this are just so positive. It sends out a good message to everyone in the industry to step up and make a difference.’ It’s not just a difference to the industry but to the lives of many members of the public.

Numerous stories at the RailStaff Awards reveal harrowing details of disasters averted and lives saved. It’s a serious subject and very moving to hear the whispered testimony of drivers, track workers and station staff who tried to save the lives of those in danger.

Bob Wright of FT Transformers, referred to the courage of Train Driver of the Year, Adam OsborneHall, who saved a girl’s life after she jumped in front of his train.

‘Out of all the sponsorships I think the best one is Train Driver of the Year because we put our trust in train drivers on a daily basis,’ said Bob Wright. ‘Hopefully with his intervention he’s helped her to improve her life and want to live on.’

Suicide is a big problem on the railways. The new Special Lifesaver Award by Samaritans/Network Rail, goes some way to recognising the work going on behind the scenes to try and reduce railway fatalities.

Says Samaritans chief executive Catherine Johnstone, ‘It’s about saving lives on the railway. It’s for the front line staff and that’s where

the difference is made. They get confidence and more skills. It’s important for the people working on the front line to feel equipped to deal with things that happen in their place of work.

‘When people intervene it can also have a knock on effect for them and if they’ve been on the course we can help them.’

Everybody’s got to learn sometime Engaging with pupils and students, the railway staff of the future, is essential as Patricia Holgate pointed out, ‘We are striving to keep in touch with the future,’ she said and added.

‘Education never stops.’

TfL now takes this so seriously it played a lead role in the creation of the Royal Greenwich University Technical College which opened its doors last month. The driving aim is to attract young people aged 14 to 19 to study engineering and technical subjects, making good the skills gap.

Says George Renshaw from LPA Group Plc, ‘We support the drive of people within the industry. It’s so

London Underground

London Underground proud to sponsor the 2013 RailStaff Awards At London Underground we recognise that our people are critical to achieving our vision of a world class Tube for a

delivering an upgraded network while carrying record

world class city. So for the third year running, we are

numbers of passengers.

delighted to be an associate sponsor of the RailStaff

2013 is a big year as we step up the modernisation of the

Awards. These awards recognise and reward the brilliant

Tube to ensure it remains the engine room of the UK

work, dedication and commitment of individuals and teams

economy, helping to create thousands of jobs across the

from across the rail industry.

country. So it is fitting that our sponsorship of the

At London Underground we’re firm believers in continuous

RailStaff Awards will help to focus on excellence across

improvement and development... and it’s the people who

the rail industry.

MAYOR OF LONDON

18

work for us that will help us achieve the success of

Transport for London

www.railstaffawards.com

RAILSTAFF AWARDS

important that people are attracted to the industry.’

Education certainly never stops.

Rail Person of the Year, Tony Paul, an East Coast driver based in Newcastle has organised numerous training courses including numeracy and literacy for railway staff.

‘When we look at what Tony has done, he has helped dozens and dozens of people get qualifications in basic numeracy, he’s organised lots of charity events, the list is endless. I can’t think of a more worthy winner,’ says Martin Frobisher of Network Rail.

Education and learning is greatly valued in the industry and this was marked with an admitted irreverence at the RailStaff Awards.

Among the guests were parents whose children had just started school and in some cases disappeared off to university altogether.

Mums and dads, unnerved by tales of Fresher’s Week, were able to commiserate over a shared bottle of playground milk, which after a cursory risk assessment turned out to be pina colada.

Celebration The rail industry has a great deal to celebrate – better performance, an expanding network, new projects like Crossrail and Great Western electrification, more passengers and more investment.

Best of all it now has a national industry wide scheme for recognising and paying tribute to the real heroes out there driving and crewing trains, maintaining the track and infrastructure and the teams of people engaged in expanding Britain’s recession defying railway phenomena.

Says Craig King of SETEC, ‘I think we should be positive within the industry and we should celebrate success….We don’t do it anywhere else. The RailStaff Awards is the only one that’s doing it.’

Despite the best efforts of the supporters of the RailStaff Awards most of the true heroes of the industry remain unremarked. Small mention is made of the thousands who travel in comfort and safety every day oblivious of this silent army working round the clock often in the cold and dark.

‘Recognition in the industry is really important in particular for the staff, the unsung heroes,’ says Phil Whittingham of Virgin Trains.

The thousand partygoers celebrated with an elan that might have troubled schoolmasters of yesteryear. In fact it was an evening fizzing with confidence and exuberance.

Says Sean McGinley, director of McGinley Support Services, ‘The RailStaff Awards is an exercise in confidence, in the future of the

industry and the people who make it up.’

Martin Frobisher has it right. The RailStaff Awards is the one day in the year when we look at railway staff and say, hey thank you, thank you very much for all you’re doing.

Keith Harding from Heathrow Express, speaks for many when he says, ‘I go to a lot of awards but this one means the most because it’s personal. It’s people. It’s what holds the industry together.’

Network Rail isNetwork proud Rail to sponsor is proud the RailStaff Awards 2013 to sponsor the RailStaff Awards 2011 From pioneering investment and development projects, to innovations that make everyday It’s your hard work – the individuals and teams services faster, smarter andwithin saferour – we industry – that’sbelieve helping in us build a better railway for Britain. the recognising and celebrating From pioneeringindividuals investment and development projects, and teams that are enabling to innovations that make everyday services faster, smarter the transformation of our network. and safer, we believe in recognising the excellence that’s enabling the transformation of our network.

That’s why we’re very proud to once

That’s why we’re very proud to once again sponsor this year’s again sponsor the RailStaff Awards.

RailStaff Awards.

Helping Britain run better A better railwaynetworkrail.co.uk for

a better Britain networkrail.co.uk www.railstaffawards.com

19

iPhone hero wins Outstanding Customer Service Award ashley Cosker, who works for c2c at Southend Central in essex, wins this year’s outstanding Customer Service award. ashley used new technology and good old fashioned friendliness to help out a distressed passenger at Southend.

Ashley used an app on his own iPhone to track down a customer’s missing iPhone. The man had left the phone on a train. Ashley contacted three stations the train had called at, with no joy but then talked to the customer about the type of phone. Ashley realised he could activate his iPhone app enabling it to trace another iPhone location.

Ashley pinpointed the phone in a road nearby the station. He set off with the customer and zeroed in on the missing phone which appeared to be in a college. The pair entered the college and asked about the phone at reception. In fact the phone had been handed in by a student travelling on the train earlier.

Says Sarah Simmonds of c2c, ‘The customer and his iPhone were reunited. One happy customer and a member of staff that epitomises what c2c is about.

It may only be a phone… But Ashley was compassionate, positive, professional and went way beyond his call of duty. To say the customer was happy is an understatement.’

Ashley Cosker joined the rail industry eight years ago. ‘I’d like to thank all the people who nominated and voted for me, and my work colleagues, also my fiancée Karen for supporting me and keeping me

on track,’ says Ashley.

Hugh Jennings, c2c Head of Retail, said: ‘We’re really pleased for Ashley. He showed great initiative and determination in helping this customer. Ashley can be proud that he was nominated by his colleagues – it’s not only our customers who appreciate the value of providing great service,

but also our staff.’

Tom O’Connor, head of Rail Media agrees, ‘This is a great story.

Ashley Cosker used his initiative and his own phone to track down the missing iPhone. It reads like something out of a spy thriller. It is not just e-ticketing and information apps we see being put to good use by train companies but railway staff think on their feet and use the latest in new technologies to push the boundaries of customer service.

Congratulations to Ashley Cosker.’

Owned by National Express, c2c operates services on the London, Tilbury and Southend line and has one of the best reliability records in Europe - frequently even beating Swiss Railways.

Bodyguard Workwear Presenting the award, Kamal Basra of Bodyguard Workwear, which sponsored the Outstanding Customer Service Award, said: ‘The 20

rail industry is a very challenging place and there are so many people who work very, very hard behind the scenes and are quite often unaccounted for.

‘As a service provider, we also understand how difficult it can be managing people’s expectations and by sponsoring this award we are able to recognise the achievements of special people in this industry.’

Bodyguard Workwear was established in 1975 and is now one of the leading distributors of Safety Clothing and PPE. Over the years Bodyguard Workwear has worked with some of the largest Construction, Petrochemicals, Utilities and Transport companies in Britain.

Bodyguard Workwear prides itself on looking after all customers individually from the largest contractors to the sole trader. Each customer is important. www.railstaffawards.com

RAILSTAFF AWARDS

Graham showed remarkable duty of care to both his colleague and customers.’

Praise for All-Weather Richelle Walsh

Highly Commended Tower of Strength Graham Matthews, a conductor with Southern Railway, proved a tower of strength when his train was involved in a double fatality one morning.

Later a passenger wrote in saying, ‘I am writing to highlight the tremendous role the conductor carried out on this most difficult of journeys. He was extremely calm,

professional and sensitive to the incident at hand and should be commended for the way he dealt with the situation. I hope he receives recognition for the way he approached this tragic event in such a mature and level headed way.’

Says Sarah Evans of Southern, ‘Graham instantly took action making sure the train was safe and provided support for his colleagues and passengers. He enlisted the help of an off-duty

fireman to stay with the driver, whilst an off-duty police officer supported Graham with customer service duties.

Ensuring that everyone was kept up-to-date, Graham remained in continuous contact with Southern’s control centre with reports from the train, and also relayed service information back to his passengers whose journeys were significantly delayed.

Patrolling the train continuously,

Richelle Walsh who works for Northern Rail at Greenfield Station near Oldham is well thought of by customers and staff alike. She has been awarded the British Empire Medal.

Says Lynn Norbury of Northern Rail, ‘Richelle selflessly leaves her home very early in the morning to ensure she can get to the station for her customers. Many times this has meant Richelle abandoning her vehicle and continuing the journey to the station on foot as the snow was so bad.

Once at the station there is no time to get warm as Richelle gets stuck into shoveling snow to make a safe entrance to the station and platforms for her customers. With snow cleared Richelle then sets about making enquiries about the service so that she is armed with real time information for when her customers start to arrive.’

Outstanding Customer Service Debs Stockdale

FINALISTS

Ashley Cosker Rehana Khawaja

Ian Clee Bhavesh Tailor

Gillian Mitchell

Waterloo Custom er Service Assistanc e Team Paul Dowlman

Tom Manning

Richelle Walsh

Mel Tosh

Liza Kopper and St eve Baker at Kings Cr oss Station Craig Young Chris Lay Andy Phillips

PROUD TO SPONSOR The Outstanding Customer Service Award

Southern Assiste d Travel Team Graham Matthews Fred Tarimo Paul Blackie Andrew Jackson

www.bodyguardworkwear.co.uk www.railstaffawards.com

21

Track Bed triumph Senior track bed Design engineer at network Rail, Peter Musgrave, wins this year’s Rail engineer of the Year award. Peter Musgrave specialises in track bed engineering and permanent way working for network Rail. he is in charge of a team of 11.

Says Uma Shanker of Network Rail, ‘Globally there has been massive interest in the behaviour of track formation and its importance in the lifetime of the track…a bit like getting the foundation for buildings right.

Peter and his supply partners Aspin Foundations have spent countless hours, toil, sweat, trial after trial and developed a world class highly innovative solution based on micropiling to fix formation stiffness problems in track.’

22

Peter and his team are improving the track bed the railways sit on helping scale down temporary speed restrictions and saving the industry millions of pounds in the process.

Says Uma, ‘Peter for me has demonstrated what engineering is all about…finding simple elegant solutions to complex problems and making it really simple to implement. The industry should recognise and thank Peter for all his effort and determination to come up with this solution with his supply chain partners at Aspin Foundations.

If you notice the train you are travelling on doesn’t slow down any more at a certain point on it’s route, it is probably down to Peter and if you are sat on a train that

slows down every day at a certain point on its journey get in touch with Peter and ask him to go and inject the piles.’

Says Tom O’Connor managing director of Rail Media, ‘So often engineering is thought to be the preserve of everything above the sleeper but in fact the safety of the track bed and the whole geology of support that goes on is every bit as important. With more and more traffic using the railway, improving its stability and permanence is in everyone’s interest.

‘Congratulations Peter, a continuing quality job that inspires us all.’

Says Peter Musgrave, 55, who lives in Nantwich, Cheshire, ‘I’d like to thank Uma Shanker and all the track bed team. It is a whole

team effort.’ Peter joined BR’s civil engineering division in 1978 and worked his way up.

Morson International The Rail Engineer of the year is sponsored by Morson International which has a comprehensive rail operation that supplies a broad spectrum of skilled personnel to rail projects across the UK and overseas.

Morson International has been involved in the rail industry for over four decades, driving up quality and value for money. In a field that has been experiencing a notable skills shortage, Morson International is eager to raise the profile of engineering and encourage those joining the industry to specialise in a skill that www.railstaffawards.com

RAILSTAFF AWARDS

is much sought after in projects across the UK. Paul Moogan, client services director of Morson International said, ‘To recognise someone who goes above and beyond is fundamental. We don’t do enough to recognise good practice and it’s great to get a chance to do it.’

Highly Commended Bluebell breakthrough As Infrastructure Director of the Bluebell Railway Chris White oversaw the reinstating of the railway to East Grinstead. This meant excavating a rubbish filled cutting and liaising with professional consultants, engineering contractors and volunteer labour from within the railway.

Says Clive Kessell of the Bluebell Railway, ‘The Bluebell Railway opened its complete northern extension on the 23 March 2013.

This was a remarkable achievement for a Heritage Line with nothing on this scale ever having been tackled before by any similar line.’

Paul delivers new Chord Paul Tomblin developed the project to build a chord linking the East Coast main line with the Cambridge line from the drawing board to commissioning.

Says Paul Huthwaite of Network Rail, ‘Paul successfully worked with Network Rail’s construction partners to form the Hitchin

Alliance. This type of collaboration will be the blueprint for future major rail projects.

‘Even before construction started, Paul and his team engaged with the public, inviting comments and suggestions. Once construction started, Paul ensured that any affected residents were kept informed as the various

stages of the work were carried out.

‘He also went beyond what was required by holding site open days for the public including a walk of the new line before it opened which raised funds for local charities.’ The new line was commissioned ahead of schedule and under budget.

Rail Engineer of the Year

FINALISTS PROUD TO O SPONSOR Rail Engineer o of the Year 2013

Morson Group operates through two main subsidiaries, Morson International and Morson Projects. Morson International is the UK’s No1 Technical Recruiter and provides specialist engineering and technical personnel. Morson Projects provides outsourced engineering and project management design services. To date, Morson Group has presence is 57 office locations across the globe.

T:: Manchester 0161 707 1516 T

T: T: London 0207 633 2040

W:: www W www.morson.com .morson.com

E: rail@morson.com

www.railstaffawards.com

Steve King

Fiona Reilly

Chris White

Paul Ramsey

Darren Walsh

Tara Scott

Lukasz Kusior

Paul Tomblin

Mark Lindahl

Colin Mcateer

Robert Kay

Peter Musgrave

Bogdan-Victor Mazalu-Dragu

Stuart Coombes Stephen Schofield

23

Every Journey Matters – Team of the Year

London underground’s ‘every Journey Matters team’ wins this years Rail team of the Year award.

The Every Journey Matters team is made up of 20 enthusiastic station staff selected to lead the staff engagement programme.

‘We’re all station staff but we’re seconded. Winning this award is amazing. We’ve had a six months amazing journey and to finalise it with this is just fantastic,’ says David Stamp.

The ‘Every Journey Matters’ team is based at Lillie Bridge depot in

24

West London. Four team members, James Hayden, Diane Kwarteng, David Stamp and Sarah Beighton, came to the RailStaff Awards 2013 to accept the award on behalf of the 30-strong team. The team usually wears purple. ‘We’re known as the Purple People,’ says David. ‘Purple People with PASSION,’ added Diane Kwarteng.

Fundamental to the programme is the gathering of ideas and input from frontline staff to help London Underground boost customer care on the network.

Says LU’s Alison Little, ‘Since April, the team has been designing and facilitating staff workshops to talk about how we can improve customer service across a range of topics – ticketing, customer information, the station environment, station processes and the way stations are staffed and managed.

However, the role this team has played has been much more than just facilitating workshops. They have been key in communicating with their peers about what has come out of the workshops – through going out on our network and having one to one conversations, providing support for the stations management team and through an online community.

‘They have also been central to feeding back their colleagues’ views and ideas to the programme team responsible for developing any changes.’

The team has enjoyed great success. Many of the senior stakeholders at LU have been very impressed with the commitment and maturity of the team. Adds Alison, ‘They have done an amazing job in getting feedback from over 2,000 station staff so far, always managing to engage with

their colleagues and get useful input about how we can improve customer service in stations.’

Patricia Holgate, from award sponsors, London Underground, said: ‘We got involved with the awards because we wanted to celebrate the contribution of teams and the value of working together across the industry.’

Tom O’Connor of Rail Media agrees, ‘Spreading best practice is essential in any business. The ‘Every Journey Matters Team’ is making a real impact in customer care. Engaging staff in this important process has huge benefits not only for the rail industry but for the people who matter most, the customers.’

London Underground Rail Team of the Year is sponsored by London Underground, a subsidiary of Transport for London. The network celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. The first section opened between Paddington and Farringdon in 1863.

Today, LU runs trains on eleven different lines serving 270 stations.

The Tube is currently carrying record numbers of passengers. In the year 2010/11, LU carried more www.railstaffawards.com

RAILSTAFF AWARDS

than 1.1 billion passenger journeys.

As part of Transport for London’s Investment Programme, LU is working to address many years of under-investment and to ensure London has a world class transport system, including upgrades of all lines to improve reliability and increase capacity by nearly 30%.

Delivery of these major upgrades, involving new trains, track, signalling and control equipment, is phased over a ten year period due to the complexity of the task.

Highly Commended New Street Switchover Success The Switchover Team at Network Rail was formed to deliver the Switchover Project at Birmingham New Street. The project successfully delivered an operationally ready station against the background of the biggest change for 50 years for the 140,000 passengers who use New Street each day.

Thirteen people worked on the

Switchover project and whilst they delivered exceptional individual outputs this group’s collective outputs were far greater than the sum of its parts.

The team included Project Manager Mark Bennett; three new graduates, Andrew Tustin, Ciprian Ciuraru and Mohammed Ali; four Station Communications Executives, Jenna Kawycz, Sue Beardsmore, John Earley and Andrew Minorczyk who delivered the Training, Briefing and Familiarisation plan.

Niasha Nugent represented the station team with four further Track and Train graduates Sam Stor, Thomas Harman, Chris Thurbon and Jagdeep Sekha.

Beach Boys Win St Bees Surfin’ Safari Replacing a railway bridge at St Bees on the Cumbrian coast looked impossible. It is approached by a narrow residential road and the railway itself has clearance difficulties and no chance of a mobile crane or railing the bridge in.

However Richard Atkin’s Beach Boys team, from BAM Nuttall came up with the perfect solution. With the full co-operation of the people of St Bees the team moved the bridge in by using the beach – at low tide of course – using a 24 wheel six axle transporter.

Says colleague, Mike Breen, ‘Richard and his team began the operation at 7am by driving the transporter down the life boat ramp onto the foreshore. Our

transporter then began its journey along the foreshore on an aluminium roadway which was continuously leapfrogged from the back to the front of the machine.

The transport took the full seven hours available and had to deal with two very soft areas on the beach and was safely parked up at March House Lane before hightide. Reconstruction of the bridge went as planned the following weekend.’

London Underground

Rail Team of the Year

FINALISTS

Amey Asset Perform ance Centre Team

Richard Atkins Beach Boys Consultancy Serv ices Team Learning &amp; De velopment Team Fenchurch Street & Responsible Person s

London Undergroun d Stations Operation s Te

am Oxford Circus Grou p Duty Managers UTC Project Team Moorfields Station Staff Network Solutions

Birmingham New St Service Delivery Ce reet ntre Gateway (Phase 1) Wembley Event Vo Switchover Team lunteers Communications Tw Ne twork Rail and Sa itter Team maritans Programme Deliver Union Learning y Team Representatives Ne Clapham Junction wcastle Staff and Management Alex Pinfold Dave Birch & Kay Hamson Southern Assisted Travel Team Every Journey Ma tters Team

London Underground proud to sponsor the 2013 RailStaff Awards MAYOR OF LONDON

www.railstaffawards.com

Transport for London

25

Signalling triumph for Richard Bradley Richard bradley of Ft transformers Ltd has won this year’s Signalling and telecommunications engineer of the Year award Richard has designed and built a new transformer with zero inrush – that is the huge upsurge in current when a transformer is first switched on. Richard also wanted to add in a box that gave great electrical protection properties so engineers would feel safe using the equipment out on site A chance visit to Birmingham Moor Street helped. Says Bob Wright, managing director, FT Transformers, ‘Richard attended a Rail Alliance meeting at Moor Street and noticed a coating for weather protection. Richard enquired about its insulation properties and whether it would adhere to metal. The insulation properties were not known so Richard requested a sample and got the test department of FT Transformers to check insulation properties.’

The tests went well and Richard set about helping his design team to design and manufacture a range

26

of transformers with zero inrush and high efficiency. Richard led and managed all aspects of the design and construction, spending many hours of his own time thinking out and improving the project.

Says Richard, ‘I’m shocked and really excited that we finally got the recognition for the work that we all put in.’ Richard, 34, lives in Redditch. ‘I’d like to thank Bob Wright, chairman FT Transformers, for steering us in the right direction and everyone at FT Transformers. This is a real team event.’

Says Andy Milne, editor RailStaff, ‘This is a great example of the ingenuity and cross fertilisation of ideas in the rail industry. It wasn’t just Richard’s visit to Moor Street with the Rail Alliance but his own sharp eyed observation and imagination that resulted in a new generation of transformers, better and safer than before.’

Westermo Phil Mounter, from award sponsor Westermo Data Communications, said: ‘It’s great to be here to present an award to

such a worthy winner. I think it’s important to celebrate individual initiative and the work that they’ve done on their own endeavour. The reason we wanted to sponsor the RailStaff Awards was we wanted to

support the industry, we wanted to put something back into rail.’

Westermo Data Communications designs and manufactures robust data communication devices for harsh environments.

www.railstaffawards.com

RAILSTAFF AWARDS

Westermo supplies products that provide the communication infrastructure, derived from proven commercial technology, for control and monitoring systems that are used in mission critical solutions where commercial grade products are not sufficiently resilient.

Westermo was established in 1975. The head office is located 93.2 miles southwest of Stockholm in Sweden. Over the past three decades Westermo has grown with subsidiaries being established in Sweden, UK, Germany, France, Singapore, North America, Taiwan and sales partners appointed in over 35 countries worldwide.

Highly Commended Thameslink Triumph for Phil De Silva Phil De Silva has a background in the aerospace, rail and telecomms industries. He joined telent in 2008. One of the larger contracts he ran was the successful delivery of Thameslink Inner Areas telecommunications work.

Says colleague, Cathy Whittall, ‘Phil now runs a portfolio of projects ranging from professional engineering services providing radio design studies, to major projects such as the GSM-R contract. Phil has worked hard to develop his team…Each team member has had the opportunity to develop their own specialism and skills in their chosen field.’

Signalling Innovations Group meet challenge Traditional methods of gathering information about assets involved track walking with a trundle wheel and GPS receiver. This exposed staff to an array of safety risks.

Network Rail’s Signalling Innovations Group (SIG) changed the way in which asset inventory data was captured by utilising Network Rail’s track inspection vehicles to undertake train based OmniSurveyor3D (OS3D) surveys on behalf of Infrastructure Projects (Signalling) project teams.

The use of a survey train has logistical difficulties which include defining and surveying the project

geographic area, resource planning for the train, obtaining train paths and managing the requirements of multiple disciplines across the business.

Says colleague, Stirling Kimkeran, ‘The team has risen to these

challenges in order to deliver accurate asset inventory data in a timely manner. This is no mean feat as they are from not only different departments, but also three different companies spread around the country.’

Signalling & Telecommunications David Rayner

FINALISTS

Richard Bradley Network Rail IP Signalling Innovations Group Robert Jones Jason Maggs Ian Puckrin Paul Dowlman

Paul Grayston Edinburgh IECC Signaller, SSM & MOM Team Chris Hodges Philip De Silva Stephen Schofield Anthony Afonso Nicholas Wellingt on

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27

Somerset rail hero wins Station Staff Award Paul Mitchell, who works at Castle Cary station in Somerset for First Great western, is joint winner (with Stephen Sharp) of this year’s Station Staff of the Year award at the rail industry’s national RailStaff awards.

Paul always shows genuine interest and care for the people who pass through his station.

Earlier this year a young girl arrived late one evening and asked for a child ticket for a journey that would involve two changes of train.

Paul asked if she really was a child as she looked much older and he had also noticed that she had cigarettes in her handbag.

However, she was able to give her date of birth without hesitation, so seemed to be genuine.

Paul was then concerned that a 15 year old should be making such a journey alone at that time of day.

Some time after the girl had started her journey, a care worker arrived at the station to enquire if a 15 year old girl had been seen.

He explained that she was in care for her own safety because of previous involvement with drug and sexual exploitation, the subject of a police investigation and that, if she was to return to her home town, she would be in very real danger.

Says colleague Gavin McArthur, ‘It was Paul’s care and genuine concern that prompted him, long before the care worker arrived, to first check the company’s messaging service to see if there were any reports of missing young people.

There was nothing but Paul still made a careful note of the girl’s appearance and of the journey she was making - which trains she would have to travel on and where she would have to change. Once the care worker arrived Paul immediately phoned British Transport Police.

He was able to explain to the police exactly which trains the police should target in order to be able to intercept the girl on her journey so that she could be returned into the safety of the care worker.

Adds Gavin, ‘Being close to a number of private boarding schools, hundreds of young people pass though Castle Cary station.

28

Stephen Sharp, Chris Godbold, and Paul Mitchell.

This young girl could have been seen as just another one of those.

But Paul’s intuition and concern and his willingness to act on it rather than ignore it ensured that this young girl was prevented from potential further harm.’

Says Paul, 60, ‘My family deserve special thanks and especially my wife Kathy - she let me fulfil my dream. I changed careers 15 years ago. Before that I was a primary school head teacher.’ Paul lives in Radstock near Bath.

Says RailStaff editor Andy Milne, ‘Parents everywhere will recognise the great service of people like Paul Mitchell. The world is a dangerous place where young people are almost routinely exploited. It is reassuring every now and again to catch a glimpse of the forces of good winning out.

Congratulations to Paul Mitchell.’

Transport Benevolent Fund Says Chris Godbold from the Transport Benevolent Fund, which sponsors the Station Staff Award, ‘Front line life isn’t always easy because passengers encounter difficulties and they often expect staff to have ready answers [for things] which may not be in their control. We feel it’s important to recognise those staff who have not only fulfilled expectations but go

that little bit further and provide exceptional service.’

TBF supports those who work in the public transport industry in Great Britain when they are in need, hardship or distress. Almost anyone who works in the industry may join TBF, which is a registered charity.

TBF has members in most major public transport companies and enjoys support from all the main transport unions. We are a membership charity and to become a member you must work in the public transport industry.

We have helped thousands of members in times of need or hardship and offer an extensive range of benefits.

TBF was originally established to help families of London public transport workers serving in the First World War. A permanent trust was set up in 1923 and we have been helping public transport workers for nearly 90 years. In recent years we have shown extensive growth nationally and we have members in most parts of England, Scotland and Wales.

Paul Mitchell works for First Great Western which operates services from London in the east to Brighton and Gatwick in the south, Carmarthen, Pembroke Dock and Penzance in the west

and Banbury, Hereford and Worcester in the north.

FGW carries one and a half million passengers every week on 9,000 services calling at 276 stations. Services include high speed inter-city expresses, commuter trains and the Cornish sleeper service.

Highly Commended Damian Plumb of First TransPennine Express looked after customers during severe winter weather in Cumbria keeping the station open despite sustained snowfall and freezing temperatures.

Says colleague Sarah Cunningham, ‘Snow proved no obstacle to Damian. Not only did he keep the station open past closing time, meaning stranded customers could keep warm and safe, he also worked tirelessly to grit platforms and clear the snow.

‘Damian worked so late that he even had to stay in a local hotel overnight, but was up early doing the same thing the next day and even jumped on the train to clear snow and lay grit at all the unmanned stations down the line.

Passengers praised Damian for going above the call of duty and putting in his all to ensure everyone was kept safe.’ www.railstaffawards.com

RAILSTAFF AWARDS

Whaley Bridge joint winner of Station Staff Award Stephen Sharp, who works at whaley bridge Station for northern Rail, is this year’s joint winner (with Paul Mitchell) of the Station Staff of the Year award at the rail industry’s national RailStaff awards 2013.

Says David Mansell of Northern Rail, ‘Over the past three years, Whaley Bridge Station has been transformed. First the main building was beautifully restored

by Network Rail. The Up platform upon which it stands has been totally rebuilt to modern standards, and a new waiting room is about to be completed on the Down platform.

All this augments the work on the garden carried out by the ‘Friends’ group. However, until October 2012 this effort was undermined. The station was not manned by someone with drive and enthusiasm who wanted the station to succeed by providing

the users with a friendly welcome combined with top-class service.’

Enter Stephen Sharp and a new way of thinking and running the station. Passenger and local councillor, Alistair Stevens, takes up the tale. ‘Stephen has been running our station for nearly a year now. Before his arrival it was not a nice place to start your journey. The Booking Office was never open on time, we had a variety of staff who served tickets and nothing else.’

Whaley Bridge is very different now. ‘He arrives an hour before his shift every day, no matter what the weather. He is so polite and pleasant to everyone. We all talk to each other on the platform now, which we never used to.’ The station is immaculate and hanging baskets decorate the station.

At the recent 150th Anniversary of the line being extended from

Station Staff of the Year

FINALISTS

Anthony Steel Mustafa Eray Fiona Healy Lindsey Hudson

Jose Moscoso-Rey Corrina Stebbings Paul Mitchell Damian Plumb

June Savage Badreddine Ayad Stephen Sharp John Woodhouse Crewe Station Te am Birmingham International Station Stockport Station Staff

Whaley Bridge to Buxton passengers and the Friends Group all wore Victorian costumes.

Stephen turned up in full Morning Dress and a Top Hat. Ticket sales and ridership is up.

Stephen also spares time to give talks to local schools. His reputation for helpful, authoritative advice for intending travellers soon spread not only around Whaley Bridge but to the surrounding communities.

Stephen, 49, lives in New Mills. ‘I used to be a conductor based at Manchester Victoria. I’d like to thank wife, Paulette, and my manager, Pam Williams. They have both been very supportive,’ he said.

Says Andy Milne, RailStaff editor, ‘It is difficult to compress into a few words the sum of what Stephen Sharp has achieved at Whaley Bridge. The nominations cover several pages and it is all

good stuff. Stephen has succeeded in placing Whaley Bridge station right at the heart of the community it serves. He must rank as one of the best ambassadors for railways in the business.’

Stephen Sharp works for Northern Rail which has 4,900 staff providing nearly 2500 local and regional train services every weekday serving a population of nearly 15m. Trains call at over 500 stations. Northern Rail provides direct access to three national parks; Peak District, Yorkshire Dales and North Yorkshire Moors as well as routes into the Lake District.

Station Staff of the Year is sponsored by the Transport Benevolent Fund. TBF supports those who work in the public transport industry in Great Britain when they are in need, hardship or distress.

The Transp Transport port Benevolent Fund nd is proud to spon sponsor nsor the Station Staff S of the Yearr aw ward award again this yyear. ear ear.

With the help of the TOCs, Network Rail and d other employers througho throughout out the public transport industry stry we now have over 40,000 mem members. mbers.

For just £1 a week a var variety riety of benefits are available to you you, u, your partner and dependent children. hildren.

Join today! t

000 2000 0300 333 20 etd 00 38 38571 8571 e-mail help@tbf.or help@tbf.org.uk rg.uk www.tbf.org.uk www.tbf.or rg.uk

Transport Benevolentt Fund

The Transport Benevolent Fund (known as TBF) is a registered gistered charity in England and Wales (1058032) 032) and in Scotland (SC040013) SC040013) www.railstaffawards.com

29

Skyfall Sara Borland wins Project Manager of the Year Sara borland, business Marketing Manager at east Coast wins this year’s Project Manager of the Year award for her role in organising a Skyfall train to celebrate the most successful James bond movie of all time.

East Coast was approached to help with the global release of the James Bond thriller on DVD and blu-ray. The highly ambitious project involved a fully wrapped train, itself to be chartered from King’s Cross to Edinburgh transporting film stars, writers and producers.

Says George Shuttlewood of East Coast, ‘Sara made the East Coast ‘Skyfall’ train happen, and happen in incredible style, with every detail covered to ensure our moment in the global spotlight was a proud one.

‘I think many others would have considered the project too hard to deliver, and having no specific requirement to do it, perhaps just said no. However, Sara spotted the opportunity to be associated with such a great British icon as one not to be missed, and she convinced the business it was a project worth delivering and associating ourselves with.’

The logistics were not simple and the timeframe to deliver was tight but Sara, with huge help and support from a fantastic team across the whole East Coast business made this happen.

With meticulous attention to detail, and persistence in ensuring any hurdles were overcome this project was extremely well run from start to finish. The ‘Skyfall’ train in addition to generating in excess of £10 million worth of

30

global media coverage for East Coast created a massive buzz among our customers and across the country.

‘It’s my birthday tomorrow, 6th October, and this makes a fine birthday present. Can I thank all the team at East Coast,’ says Sara, who has worked for East Coast for 13 years and is based in York.

The movie team had wanted all sorts of outside caterers and

contractors to take over the project but Sara was having none of it.

Most of the organisation and catering was done in-house. ‘To me the reason for doing the train for Skyfall was to show the world that rail travel can be glamorous.’

Friends at the RailStaff Awards agreed Sara certainly achieved this.

Says Andy Milne, editor of RailStaff, ‘Daniel Craig’s reprisal of the role of James Bond and the inspired directing of Sam Mendes made Skyfall one of the best Bond films of all.

‘It is great that the makers of such a bold and brilliant movie should look to East Coast trains to help launch the DVD and blu-ray version. Dealing with showbiz people, whilst rewarding, is never easy.

Sara Borland is exceptional in being able to bring this off. James Bond historically uses rail travel as a reliable form of escape - just like thousands of our more conventional passengers. Train

travel can be glamorous and Sara ‘Bond Girl’ Borland certainly proves just that.’

Navartis Toni Goulden of Navartis, this year’s sponsor of the Project Manager of the Year Award, said: ‘We deal with project managers all the time but there are always some who stand out more.

Congratulations and well done to Sara.’

Narvartis itself is a specialist project-focussed technical recruitment company which works closely with clients, consultancies and contractors to meet high demand in securing highly skilled technical and management professionals within the international railway industry.

Highly trained and industry focussed recruitment teams at Navartis provide a flexible tailored recruitment service in order to identify and recruit high calibre professionals. www.railstaffawards.com

RAILSTAFF AWARDS

Capitalising partnerships with international candidate and client networks Navartis recruitment experts are well positioned to proactively fulfil the rail industry’s growing demand for skilled professionals across all disciplines.

Highly Commended Sleepless Phil Shows Ultimate Professionalism Senior Project Manager Phil McKenna has worked extensively on London Underground projects.

Colleagues praise his approachability and professionalism.

Says Mark Williams, of KN Network Services, ‘Phil seems to relish adversity and sees problems as challenges to overcome. He will put in as much time and effort as is needed to push through the difficult times.

‘He always makes the time to help and support us when we need it. I’m sure the guys on site think he’s actually a machine because he never seems to sleep!…Phil has an ability to

assess, listen, and communicate, sometimes with vigour, sometimes with a firm hand, sometimes with gentle encouragement but always with the ultimate professionalism.’

Nine Day Wonder Accolade Paul Marshall is a Programme Manager within the Track Renewals delivery team and was responsible for the delivery of a

nine day blockade on the WCML in July 2013.

Says Joan Heery of Network Rail, ‘The project renewed four key junctions and 2.5 miles of plain line track. Blockades of this duration are generally not granted on the WCML and the project had to be delivered ‘right first time.’

Paul has been under considerable pressure for the last 12 months to

ensure the project was a success.’

Despite the tight timescales and broiling hot summer, Paul delivered the project on time. The project was successfully delivered with the added bonus that one of the junctions Wigan Springs Branch, opened at 80 mph…Paul’s strong leadership capabilities were key to the success of the project,’ adds Joan.

e Year Project Manager of th Proud to sponsor Project Manager of the Year

FINALISTS Graham Parker

Jeremy Spence

Richard Cooper

Robert Huggins

Kate Barnes

John McCulloch

Sara Borland

Gary Lawson

Geoff Brison

Mark Bennett

Phil McKenna

Heidi Sly

Nick Hilton

Philip De Silva

Paul Marshall Technical Recruitment Specialist t. 01302 556 674 www.railstaffawards.com

www.navartis.co.uk 31

Myra’s Wells founder wins David Maidment Award for Charity

Founder of Myra’s wells, eddie Martin, a train manager with Cross Country, has won the David Maidment award for charity at this year’s RailStaff awards.

Says colleague, David Watkin, ‘As well as being a highly dedicated Train Manager, Eddie has always taken his social responsibilities seriously. As an active member and father figure of his local church he supported many activities, and for over 10 years was a prison visitor at one of the UK’s highest security prisons.

But it was in 2006 that, following tragedy, his life changed. His wife, a school teacher, was killed as she drove to work one morning. Some months afterwards whilst visiting a dilapidated school in Burkina Faso he hit upon the idea for a 32

lasting memory for his wife Myra.

First he paid to repair the school, and then he decided to try and raise the funds to sink a well to provide the school with fresh water and Myra’s Wells was born.’

The lives of over 100,000 people have been changed for the better in Burkina Faso. Before local people had to walk many miles to draw water.

Keith Harding from Heathrow Express, the sponsor of this year’s award, said: ‘I go to a lot of awards but this one means the most because it’s personal, it’s people, it’s what holds the industry together.’

Says RailStaff Editor, Andy Milne, ‘This is hugely deserved. The amount of energy Eddie puts into this is phenomenal. It is also an

inspiring example of someone putting faith into action, providing direct help for people who most need it.’

Adds David Watkin, ‘Eddie raised enough money to sink two wells and provide two villages with running water. Having created a lasting memory lesser folk would have been satisfied, but not Eddie. He knew that wells save lives.

In a country short of water, and where much of the available water was contaminated, Eddie knew that he could make a life changing difference to many more people.

Since then Eddie has raised over £150,000 and has completed over 30 wells, all of which are inspected

by Water Aid. The wells are managed by various pastors and

village chiefs. They must be available to all regardless of tribe or religion and serve approximately 100,000 people.’

Eddie Martin is originally from Glasgow and now lives in Bournemouth ‘I am delighted.

With Myra’s Wells we have now completed 31 and are about to do three more.’ Eddie said.

Eddie Martin works for Cross Country trains. Cross Country is run by Arriva Plc - part of Deutsche Bahn. Cross Country stretches from Aberdeen to Penzance, and from Stansted to Cardiff and calls at over 100 stations.

Heathrow Express The David Maidment Award for Charity is sponsored by Heathrow Express which provides fast and www.railstaffawards.com

RAILSTAFF AWARDS

frequent services between London Paddington and Heathrow Airport.

Heathrow Express is a nonfranchised, non-subsidised private company which owns its own trains, the stations at Heathrow, and the entire below-ground section of the line at the airport.

The service was launched in 1998 and carries an average of 16,000 passengers a day. It is the fastest rail link from London to Heathrow, with a journey time of just 15 minutes to Terminals 1 and 3 (a few minutes more for Terminals 4 and 5).

Highly Commended Sahara Sarah Braves Desert Sarah Hollies completed a five day trek across the Sahara to raise money for the charity, Breakthrough Breast Cancer. Sarah spent a year preparing both physically and mentally for the challenge.

Her training regime included walks along the Worcester Birmingham Canal, treks in and around Aberystwyth and warm

weather training in Majorca. All costs were borne by Sarah herself from boots to Bedouin accommodation and never once did she ask for grace or favour from the company for leave or accommodation - regardless of blisters.

Sarah works for London Midland.

Stefan Rides to the Rescue

Stefan spent hours of his own time planning the route, hotels, rest stops, transport and support teams for the 17 riders as well as completing the 170 mile himself.

The team raised approximately £10,000 from the ride. All 17 cyclists arrived safely outside Heathrow T3, a great achievement in itself.

Stefan Chybowski of Heathrow Express helped organise a charity ride from Cardiff Millennium Stadium to London Heathrow Airport Terminal 3 for Train Drivers Roy and Agnes Boyce’s son Harry, who suffers with cerebral palsy and required an operation in the US.

r Charity David Maidment Award fo

FINALISTS Eddie Martin

Helen Rylands

Sara Hollies

Christopher Emmett

PROUD TO SPONSOR

Stefan Chybowski

Hannah Shackcloth

THE DAVID MAIDMENT AWARD

Scott Wardrop

David Pike

FOR CHARITY AT THIS YEAR’S

Eddie Michel

Sanderstead Station

RAILSTAFF AWARDS

Andy Ridout

Anthony Tuohy

Geoff Powell

Coventry Station Team

Hitchin Alliance Project Team

Will Forrester

Alan Mundy

2013

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London Underground’s Strategic Resourcing team wins HR Team of the Year Award

an hR team attracting new people to the industry and retaining the skills of many more has won this year’s hR team of the Year award.

London Underground’s Strategic Resourcing Team has won praise from many people for several initiatives, among them ‘Classroom to Boardroom’. Says Vanessa Long of TfL, ‘Significant skills shortages are becoming more and more apparent in the rail industry and if left unaddressed, delivery of future programmes will become increasingly challenging.’

‘Classroom to Boardroom’ encourages children to take Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects and to promote the transport industry and engineering as a career choice. Pupils were set challenges based on a real Transport for London challenge and they presented their findings 34

to a Transport for London Panel at the London Transport Museum.

As a result the TfL apprentice programme is now over subscribed with high quality students.

Interestingly managers are benefitting from mentoring pupils, improving their confidence, communication skills and professional development.

Another innovation, Workforce Continuity, is helping devise effective career paths for employees. Through rolling out strategic workforce planning, Strategic Resourcing has identified key areas, as much as five years in advance, where staff will be required or where projects conclude and organisational changes take place.

With this vision, the team are able to look at what type of workforce will be required and create career pathways and recommend the training

interventions well in advance to ensure continuity of service and that TfL has the right skills, fit for the future.

Says Tom O’Connor, managing director, Rail Media, ‘Helping staff build better careers for the future is in everyone’s interests. Strategic Resourcing has pioneered several initiatives which will help attract the skilled people we need and retain those already contributing to the industry.’

James Lloyd, Steven Mills, Steve Foster, Penny St Martin, and Patricia Holgate were surprised and delighted by the award. ‘We’d like to thank our colleagues and the parts of the business we’ve been lucky enough to work with,’ says James. ‘We have also had great support from the wider rail industry who we’ve collaborated with,’ adds Patricia Holgate.

Says Asif Ahmed, managing director of RailwayPeople.com,

‘The phenomenal efforts made by London Underground’s Strategic Resourcing Team go a considerable way to making good the skills shortfall the rail industry is now dealing with. It is a challenge and Strategic Resourcing not only helps fill the gap by what they do but their ideas and efforts are feeding into an industry wide campaign to attract and retain top quality staff.

Very well deserved.’

Railwaypeople.com HR Team of the Year is sponsored

by RailwayPeople.com. Launched in 2001 RailwayPeople.com is the largest dedicated rail job site in the world. We strive to respond to the continual needs of both candidates and recruiters, which is reflected in our growing database and long term relationships we have with our customers.

Railwaypeople.com has more than 190,000 live CVs, over 2,500 www.railstaffawards.com

RAILSTAFF AWARDS

new registered candidates each month and sends out 60,000 job alert emails each day.

Highly Commended Recruitment Success for Laura Fletcher Laura Fletcher a newcomer at First TransPennine Express has set new standards for recruitment and won top quality staff for the company.

Says Sarah Cunningham of FTPE, ‘Within a year, Laura has not just met the needs of the business but she has completely revolutionised our process, standards and capability in the area of recruitment. Laura grasped the bespoke requirements of many roles, such as safety critical roles including Qualified and Trainee Drivers.

She has somehow delivered the numbers and quality for recruits into every discipline, whilst learning about the business, the industry and her role. She has managed 70% more vacancies than the previous year, attracted

twice the number of candidates to these and reduced the cost per candidate by 30%.’

Craft work boost for Morson International Mark Craft works for Morson International and looks after Network Rail.

RailwayPeople.com Fast track your career

Proud to sponsor the Recruiter / HR Person or Team of the Year.

Says colleague, Russell Otter, ‘Mark has worked within the recruitment and rail industries for almost five years, and I believe his success should be celebrated. Last year Mark was tasked with enhancing the service level Morson delivers to Network Rail, maintain compliancy and increase fill rate.’

Mark pushed ahead with a number of bold initiatives. Says Russell, ‘Recent KPI targets show Mark and his team were responsible for placing 67% of Morson contractors with Network Rail. Not only did Mark succeed in the task he was set; he exceeded agreed KPI targets with the client.’

Recruiter / HR Person or Team

FINALISTS Andy Ridout Lisa Brackner Amanda Hopkins Laura Fletcher Nigel Sweeney Chris Scott

TfL Strategic Resourcing Mark Craft Amanda Gleaves Sarah Gatland Oiver Behrendt

THE LARGEST RAIL JOB SITE IN THE WORLD www.railstaffawards.com

35

Steve Diksa Wins Lifetime Achievement Steve Diksa, assurance Services Director at bridgeway Consulting has won this year’s Lifetime achievement award.

A career railwayman, Steve joined the railway in 1978 as a trackman in Permanent Way Gang 22. ‘I owe the job to my grandmother really, says Steve.

‘She was working in a café on Midland Road in Derby and she got talking to a railway man and mentioned her grandson was looking for a job on the railway. I didn’t know I was looking for a job on the railway but she fixed me up with an interview and off I went.’

It was an equally lucky break for the railway industry. Working his way up Steve became a leading exponent of railway safety dynamics. Steve was appointed Chief Executive of Rail Training Audit Services (RTAS), then part of Railtrack, in 1999. Later he moved into Network Rail as Safety Competence Development Specialist where he helped develop the current Sentinel safety training competence system. Steve joined Bridgeway Consulting in 2008.

Steve has developed new safety systems at Bridgeway Consulting making it one of the safest companies operating on the UK’s rail infrastructure. He personally visits work sites during the day and night to undertake safety audits to measure and benchmark safe working.

Diksa remains a highly respected figure advising Network Rail, RSSB and infrastructure contractors on rail safety issues. His eagerness to assist and attend working groups or seminars to promote rail safety has helped form some of the rules and policies we adhere to today.

Says Pino De Rosa, managing director at Bridgeway Consulting, ‘This will undoubtedly continue to benefit the railway workers of today and the future. Furthermore Steve hasn’t just been focused on his own career; he has also taken the time for many years to mentor young entrants to the industry.

‘His nurturing approach has helped them with knowledge in their field and provided them with the guidance and the confidence to build long and successful careers in the industry. His 36

influence has certainly driven these people to become motivated and hard working rail professionals.’

Tom O’Connor of Rail Media agrees. ‘I have known Steve Diksa for many years now and this award is great news. Not only does it mark a real and long term contribution by a popular figure in the railways but it salutes Steve, a man who joined the railway on the bottom rung and worked his way up. Moreover it is a renewed testament to the importance of railway safety.

‘The RailStaff Awards is always a bit of a party with lots of humour and irreverence on the evening itself. That is just as it should be for we work in a serious and safety

critical industry. That so many thousands of people travel in safety and comfort is in no small part down to the enduring commitment of people like Steve Diksa. We salute you.’

Says Keith Jipps of FirstGroup, which sponsored the award, ‘I think the big thing is the industry wouldn’t be what it is without the dedication of people like Steve. The fact that he has come in at an entry level to make such a difference makes him a very worthy winner.’

‘I’d like to thank my wife, Helen and my children, Victoria and Rebecca for their patience and support,’ says Steve. ‘Others I must thank are Pino DeRosa and all my friends at Bridgeway Consulting.

They really have given me a new lease of life.’

Steve 52, added, ‘Last but not least I’d like to thank my grandmother, Ruth, who helped me get that first job on the railway back in 1978. I dedicate this award to her memory.’

FirstGroup FirstGroup are sponsors of the Lifetime Achievement Award. The company is Britain’s largest rail operator carrying more than 310 million passengers per annum. It operates First Great Western, First Capital Connect, First TransPennine Express, First ScotRail, First Hull Trains and London Tramlink.

It runs regional and commuter www.railstaffawards.com

RAILSTAFF AWARDS

services, open access and light rail operations as well as high speed inter-city trains and overnight sleepers – everything from local services to long distance express trains.

The company has a strong track record of investment with more than 700 new vehicles introduced and punctuality and performance increasing across each of their franchises since FirstGroup commenced operation. The company is committed to maintaining a leading position in the market through the upcoming franchising competitions.

Highly Commended Twiggepedia man honoured Chris Twigg of LB Foster Rail Rail Technologies (UK) Ltd was highly commended. Nicknamed Twiggepedia Chris has a deep knowledge of the railways and has been with the company since 1971.

Based in Sheffield, LB Foster Rail Technologies is a leading supplier of railway friction solutions and

track component products. CJT brings a vivacity and level of technical expertise to the company like no other.

He is an active and indispensable member of the team at LBF. His rapport with clients is inspiring. He can be found one day in full PPE assisting in a hands-on install and be meeting senior executives from blue chip companies the next.

Friendly touch for John Murphy John Murphy travelled from Ireland and set up Quattro Plant in 1989, with only two second hand machines to his name. 24 years, and a lot of hard work later, the organisation is now the biggest provider of rail plant in the UK. John has dedicated 24 years of his life to the rail industry, succeeding in creating not only

one of the largest organisations, but also one of the friendliest, happiest and most loyal companies in the rail world.

Always ready with a joke and a kind gesture, John has combined business with fun, and with it managed to build a unique empire unlike any other in the industry, proving that even in uncertain times, business doesn’t always have to be doom and gloom.

Lifetime Achievement Award

FINALISTS

Steve Diksa

Peter Daw

Nigel Stockdale

Mike Sowden

Les Thorington

Paul Dowlman

Peter Illes

John Aplin

Helen Roberts

John Murphy

Keith Harding

Chris Ireland

David Carter

Vince Wragg

Chris Twigg

Peter Felton

Proud sponsor of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the RailStaff Awards

www.firstgroup.com

www.railstaffawards.com

37

Crossing hero wins Rail Safety Person of the Year

Chris Roberts, who works on the national Level Crossing Closure Programme for network Rail has won this year’s Rail Safety Person of the Year award.

At Thorne South Station in South Yorkshire Chris Roberts and other team members were checking out plans for putting in a footbridge when they witnessed a train hit a pedestrian.

Says colleague, Jonathan Wright, ‘Chris attended the injured victim getting critical information from her while a helicopter ambulance was mobilised. Chris kept calling the British Transport Police for updates on the lady’s health until she was taken off the critical list in hospital.

‘Even though Chris was involved first hand with the incident he worked right through the weekend with his team to develop the foundation and layout plans for a temporary footbridge to make sure 38

the site was made safe and no other pedestrians were exposed to danger.

‘Chris and his team also then assisted the development of the permanent solution by procuring and managing survey work. The temporary bridge was completed 22nd January.’

Thanks to Chris the new bridge was designed within 72 hours of the incident and a temporary bridge was in place within 13 days of the incident. Prompt action by Chris won praise from local people and the press in Doncaster.

Says Scott Meadley, Development Manager LNE Route, Network Rail, ‘There was a need for speed and judgment after the events of the 8th, and Chris came good on both counts….He did a great job, especially as he has done this on the back of witnessing the incident on the 8th Jan.’ Says Chris, 35, from Garforth in

Yorkshire, ‘Massive thanks to the design team; this award is down to the team. The lady survived, which was a miracle. For the next two weeks it was full on 24/7 to get a temporary footbridge in and take out that dangerous crossing. I had a great team backing me up.’ Chris is based in Hudson House in York.

‘Chris Roberts rose to the challenge of helping an injured pedestrian at Thorne South and then immediately doing something about the safety issue involved,’ says Tom O’Connor, managing director, Rail Media.

‘Safety remains the number one priority of the industry and Chris’s actions pursuant to the neartragedy demonstrate this with urgent eloquence. This is a well deserved award.’

Bridgeway Consulting Says Pino De Rosa, from award sponsor, Bridgeway Consulting,

‘The most important thing is that we deliver what we deliver in a safe way. The work these guys do maintains the safety and integrity of the railway.

‘The industry is dependent on the drive of the people that are in it and events like this are just so positive. It sends out a good message to everyone in the industry to step up and make a difference.’

With safety at the forefront of all operations Bridgeway Consulting has always aimed to provide a safe, effective and professional service to its clients. A proactive approach is underpinned by a detailed director-led management process that utilises a number of methods to ensure safety is always a priority.

With extensive engineering expertise Bridgeway Consulting provides a dynamic and innovative service, and is equipped to www.railstaffawards.com

RAILSTAFF AWARDS

undertake small or large tasks efficiently, professionally and most important of all, safely. This approach continues to provide Bridgeway Consulting’s clients with peace of mind when they engage with them on key projects.

Highly Commended Safer Wales thanks to Tracey Tracey Young of Network Rail has pushed ahead with new initiatives aimed at educating the local community on the dangers of Overhead Line Electrification – coming soon to Wales and the West.

Says Mark Davies of Network Rail, ‘Tracey has been exceptional in identifying the needs of the business to address the community risks of 25kv OLE equipment. Tracey set up monthly meetings to determine the target audience, key risks, lineside neighbours, schools and other potential interfaces….she has driven engagement with the community on electrification

such as the Cardiff City Community Safety education team and the local council zones to support getting the message out about safety risks regarding live OLE.’ Tracey has risen to the challenge and engaged with a wide array of organisations – many of whom have testified to how valuable she has already proved. According to colleagues Wales will be safer for listening to Tracey Young.

Scott boosts Safety Leadership Teams Scott Brown, a field delivery manager at Thales, successfully carried out a company-wide drive for safety awareness.

Says Mike Duncan of Thales, ‘Scott has taken control of one of our Safety Leadership Teams within the programme he works on. Scott has built a dynamic engaged group who are leading the way in our Ground Transportation Systems area of the business.

‘His initiatives have resulted in a significant drive to embed a safety culture in the project, which is

bleeding through successfully into other projects also. Scott is also the link within the business to our management team, ensuring that

there is an understanding at all levels of the safety priorities and needs for employees working on track and on site.’

ar Rail Safety Person of the Ye

FINALISTS Proud Sponsors of the Rail Safety Person of the Year 2013 With a reputation built on safely delivering multi-faceted projects we continue to provide a service of exceptional value to all of our clients.

Bridgeway Consulting’s diverse portfolio of services ensures our clients continue to benefit from our ‘one stop shop’ service offering. We know that the quality of our people ensures that we provide a quality service and this is why we are pleased to sponsor the Rail Safety Person of the Year in the 2013 Railstaff Awards.

Engineering the future...

Paul Bramble

Philip Hannaford

John Matheson

Stephen Parker

Wayne Clay

Tracey Young

Rods De Faria

Dave Warren

Giles Tidmarsh

Mark Shepherd

John Jebson

Les Kenward

Chris Roberts

Scott Brown

Peter Angell

0115 919 1111 | enquiries@bridgeway-consulting.co.uk

www.bridgeway-consulting.co.uk www.railstaffawards.com

39

Southern Stars win Depot Team of the Year

John McCuaig, Justin Lanigan and Jason Fenner - Southern’s Continuous Improvement team – have won this year’s Depot team of the Year award. the team boosted unit availability and reduced down time by applying Lean philosophy to depot maintenance procedures.

Says Jo Loerns, ‘The December 2011 timetable change placed a requirement on the Southern Fleet team to reduce the number of Class 377 units (taken) out of service for maintenance or repair from 12 to 9 - a 25% reduction.

This in turn allowed Southern to run longer train services for passengers.’

The demand for greater unit availability meant improving existing maintenance exam procedures. The team achieved this by using LEAN philosophy to look into the order of the individual maintenance tasks that make up each exam. Thanks to the team downtime per unit was 40

halved.

‘John, Justin and Jason, helped the Southern Class 377 team to reduce exam downtime from 80-90 hours to 40 hours,’ said Jo. ‘It’s the guys that did it, the guys on the shop floor,’ says John McCuaig. ‘They did the work, came up with the ideas and with their help we managed to bring in the changes and meet the targets.’ The team, which includes, John, Jason, and Justin, is based at Brighton and Selhurst.

This combined effort resulted in the highest ever availability of Class 377 trains – up from 93.5% to 95% after the December timetable change. This increased capacity by 3,000 and 2,000 seats in the morning and evening peaks respectively. The project was a great success at the depot.

‘Major exams are now being completed within a 48 hour target time, something that was considered near impossible previously. This is largely due to

the team’s drive, enthusiasm and determination,’ adds Jo. Says Tom O’Connor, managing director Rail Media, ‘Capacity is the number one issue on Britain’s railways. The industry is a success story and is struggling to cope with the huge upsurge in people wanting to use trains. Long term we need more railways, a high speed network and new fleets.

‘However the fact that railway staff can make such a great difference to seat availability during the morning and evening peaks is a phenomena we should celebrate and that we do not hear enough about.

‘Well done to John, Justin and Jason and all those on the shop floor who made this work. I know they all deserve a standing ovation and of course many of those who appreciate their efforts most, now have a seat.’

Virgin Trains Says Phil Whittingham of Virgin

Trains which sponsored the award, ‘Team work in the industry is massively important. They are working in an area with relatively fixed costs so any improvements that can be made are welcome.

They are an important part of the industry and recognition in the industry is really important in particular for the staff and the unsung heroes.’

Virgin Trains has brought about a step change in Anglo-Scots rail services. In 2004, the company introduced its tilting electric Pendolino and diesel Super Voyager trains, revolutionising travel on the West Coast mainline and cutting the fastest Glasgow Central to Euston journey from 5 hours 13 minutes to 4 hours 41 minutes.

The Scotland-Birmingham service was developed as part of the Virgin Cross Country franchise before transferring to West Coast in 2007. The establishment of the Virgin High Frequency timetable www.railstaffawards.com

RAILSTAFF AWARDS

Actuator overhaul, designing the floor layout and building the processes from scratch. Success required the involvement of the unions and people at all levels.

Nick’s vision, determination and leadership coupled with his high personal professional work ethics and enthusiasm ensured project success.

following the £8.9bn West Coast Route Modernisation programme in December 2008 cut typical Glasgow-Euston journeys by more than 40 minutes and established the fastest 4hr, 8min journey.

In December 2012, Virgin Trains introduced an hourly LondonGlasgow timetable. Virgin Trains currently operates 30 trains in each direction between Scotland and England, 15 of which operate between Glasgow and London Euston.

Southern Railway Ltd is a part of Govia and provides train services in London and the south-east connecting London and the south coast, through east and west Sussex, Surrey and parts of Kent and Hampshire. Southern operates a fleet of around 300 trains seven days a week

Highly Commended Jubilee triumph for Fleet Team The Jubilee Fleet Improvement Team at London Underground successfully developed a LEAN

Manchester Team praised for On Board kindness

programme in house for the overhaul of Jubilee line stock. Nick Clyne, the project manager, led a one-team approach, crossing departmental boundaries.

Nick worked with Chris Darvall (Head of Support designate), Fiona McDonald (Interim General

Manager), Ian Ferguson (Business Development Manager), Martyn Sarkies (Production Manager) and his team of chargehands and operatives, and the team of Manufacturing Engineers.

The team established a Lean production area for the Brake

A train crew from Manchester Piccadilly Depot was put forward for discreetly handling the on board death of a passenger.

Moosa Patel, train manager and customer services assistants Phindle Nkuna and Kathy Earl worked together when a passenger died on their train. They cleared the coach and requested emergency services meet the train at Wilmslow.

Moosa Patel managed to contact the gentleman’s nephew and advised him to come to Wilmslow as soon as he could. The team then waited with the train until the emergency services arrived.

Depot Team of the Year

FINALISTS

Periodic Heavy Clean Team Eastcroft

Brixton Train Operato rs Depot

East Midlands Train Reading PWAY Drivers team St Pancr as Irvine ST Rapid Respon Derby Etches Park Op ce s Lee Ross and An dy Staff Shunters and Dawkins Supervisors Euston Maintenance Heavy Maintenance FIT De livery Unit and HLOS Team Hornse y TSC Continuous Improvemen t te am Heathrow Express Siemens/ISS Train Fleet Service Quality Aesthetics Team Team Littlehampton The Jubilee Fleet Manchester Piccadilly Improvement Team Depot

www.railstaffawards.com

41

Nuneaton man wins Special Lifesaver Award a man who talked down a machete-wielding man at nuneaton station wins this year’s Special Lifesaver award.

Adrian Whittington of London Midland remained with a man whom he knew had possession of a machete and had threatened to harm someone. Adrian stayed with the man and talked to him for 20 minutes in order to keep him calm and distract him from attacking other passengers.

The incident took place one summer’s evening in June at Nuneaton Station. A police officer commended Adrian and said, ‘Adrian is a quiet, pleasant and unassuming chap who put the welfare of his passengers before his own and assisted us in ensuring a delicate and dangerous situation did not escalate.’

Now in its second year the Special Lifesaver Award is backed by the Samaritans and Network Rail. The Special Lifesaver Award aim is to recognise the preemptive actions of station staff, train crew, track workers and many railway staff who by timely intervention prevent a potential fatality.

‘I didn’t expect to win and I have really enjoyed the night,’ says Adrian Whittington, 50. Adrian is now Duty Station Manager at Nuneaton, having started as a railway dispatcher nine years ago.

‘I owe many thanks to my wife Debbie for putting up with my tales when I come home from work. Thanks also to my line manager, Tam Giez, and all the crowd at Nuneaton,’ says Adrian.

Says Andy Milne, editor of RailStaff, ‘Adrian’s story exemplifies exactly the sort of bravery and courage that so often goes unreported by the wider media. We are delighted to go someway to putting that right.

‘Adrian heads a sizeable contingent of railway staff who have in some way or other talked down disturbed members of the public intent on harming themselves or others. Railways can be dangerous places and Adrian’s story is an inspiring one. The fact this came in from a police officer also reflects the danger our police colleagues face and the support we 42

in the industry give them.’

The Network Rail/Samaritans Partnership was launched four years ago with the aim of reducing the number of suicides on the railways. Network Rail is investing in the partnership.

Special courses have been developed to equip train staff with the skills to approach vulnerable people and help to get them to a place of safety, as well as a call-out service that involves Samaritans volunteers visiting stations to offer support to vulnerable people and staff.

Samaritans chief executive Catherine Johnstone paid tribute to all staff involved in the joint initiative to reduce railway

fatalities. ‘It’s about saving lives on the railway. It’s for the front line staff and that’s where the difference is made. They get confidence and more skills.

‘It’s important for the people working on the front line to feel equipped to deal with things that happen in their place of work.

When people intervene it can also have a knock on effect for them and if they’ve been on the course we can help them.’

Samaritans is a confidential emotional support service for anyone in the UK and Ireland. The service is available 24 hours a day for people who are experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those which may lead to

suicide.

Volunteers offer support by responding to phone calls, emails and letters. Alternatively people can drop in to a branch to have a face to face meeting. Across the UK you can call Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 for the price of a local call. In the Republic of Ireland call 1850 60 90 90.

Highly Commended Stafford hero commended Gareth Shelley, a Virgin Trains Customer Service Assistant at Stafford, tried to save the life of a young man who jumped in front of a freight train.

Says colleague, Joanna Buckley, www.railstaffawards.com

RAILSTAFF AWARDS

‘Gareth was on the night turn at Stafford when at 2.45 he heard the horn sounding from a freight train on platform 5. He ran over to see that the train had hit an 18 year old boy, and the driver was saying the he was dead.’ Gareth noticed that the boy was still moving and that he wasn’t dead but had lost limbs.

‘Gareth liaised with the ambulance, signal box and control.

He also co-ordinated emergency services, line blockages, welfare for the driver, and basically did everything that he could have done in that situation.’

Gareth was not a Team Leader but acted as one in this instance.

‘Ever since the incident Gareth has remained professional and not let it affect him.’ Sadly the boy later died from his injuries.

Cardiff BTP in mercy dash The actions of five Cardiff-based BTP officers, PCs Chris Jones, Kirk Taylor and Clive Ellaway, along with PCSOs Kumar Hirani and Guy Davies, undoubtedly prevented a disturbed man from taking his own life.

Police received a call from Whitchurch Hospital saying that a patient had just left the hospital in an agitated state and was going to Llanishen station to put himself under a train. The five officers sped to the station and saw a man walking along the lines approximately 300m from the platforms.

Although BTP requested that all trains be stopped two trains were too near the station and could not be stopped at signals. The man stood between the running lines in front of one of the trains. The train driver had not seen him.

However the officers reached the man and pulled him to safety with seconds to spare. He was

returned to Whitchurch Mental Health unit.

Says colleague David Carter, ‘The actions of the officers undoubtedly prevented this man from taking his own life and, as a result, prevented the trauma of being involved in a fatality to the train driver, conductor and passengers.’

ard Samaritans Lifesaver Aw

FINALISTS Whatever you’ve done.

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43

Hatfield wins Rail Infrastructure Team of the Year

network Rail’s hatfield Recovery team which reinstated a land slipped railway, wins this year’s Rail Infrastructure team of the Year award.

Between 9th and 12th February 1.4 million tonnes of colliery spoil slipped causing the railway next to Hatfield Colliery to move sideways.

The four track railway between Goole, Scunthorpe and Doncaster was blocked.

The closed route, one of the busiest in the north put in jeopardy a number of other major projects planned for summer 2013 as it was to be used as a diversionary route. However, initial forecasts saw the railway reopening in November unfeasible given the heavy usage of the line.

Working in partnership with the colliery, a new approach was devised which would allow the railway to be re-opened well in advance of winter 2013 and secure the long term operational capacity and viability of the colliery.

44

Network Rail Infrastructure Projects SNE, based in York, immediately mobilised an incident response team to start work on the railway recovery…As well as replacing over 450m of a four track railway and coal siding, the team liaised daily with Hatfield Colliery to ensure all efforts were focused on the recovery plan.

Says Caroline McGuigan of Network Rail, ‘The project team effectively took a £20m project through all essential development and delivery stages in just five months. The team worked extended hours sacrificing nights, weekends and holidays to focus on Network Rail’s customers by reopening the railway as soon as feasibly possible.

‘The railway was fully reinstated and re-opened at 05:00 on 8th July 2013, a little over three months earlier than originally anticipated.

During the blockade, Network Rail also undertook a number of accelerated renewal and enhancement projects to

maximise the access they had, minimising the need for any future disruption.

‘Network Rail has been highly commended from a number of stakeholders and observers for its pro-active approach and the speedy recovery of this important stretch of railway. The Hatfield recovery project is a fantastic example of what can be achieved by committed individuals, coming together as a team, working towards a shared goal and with clear leadership.’

‘We’re absolutely thrilled. It was a hard effort but I think it showed the railway in its true spirit,’ says Steve Poole. ‘When things go wrong we actually bring out the best in people.’ As well as Steve the team included, Rob Clark, Tony Heap, Charlie Chell, Alistair Boyle and Paul Siemiamwicz.

Says RailStaff editor Andy Milne, ‘The initial incident with its pictures of buckled track and mud caught the national headlines.

Less widely reported was the

tremendous achievement wrought by the Hatfield Recovery team proof again that this industry takes every challenge bowled at it and turns it around.

‘The Hatfield Recovery Team award goes some distance to recognising the sheer determination and hard work that went into putting this right.

Hatfield Colliery has a place in the hearts of all coal industry supporters. It was saved from closure by a management buy out in 1994. The rail industry has historically partnered coal mining and it is good to see a team which went to enormous efforts to help Hatfield Colliery win this award.’

McGinley Support Services The Rail Infrastructure Team of the Year Award is sponsored by McGinley Support Services a LinkUp accredited supplier of personnel and services to the national rail and urban metro rail industry.

McGinley Support Services www.railstaffawards.com

RAILSTAFF AWARDS

provides a rail and metro staffing and track operative service through its centralised rail and metro organisation. As one of the top specialist rail recruitment suppliers McGinley Support Services has pioneered new initiatives that embrace safety systems and workforce management, upholding a strong safety and quality culture that is necessary to support the rail and metro industry in meeting its own objectives.

Highly Commended

‘The outcome of the blockade was a very successful delivery with the team achieving the UK’s first Switch and Crossing renewal handback (with a line speed of) 80mph at Wigan Springs Branch.

‘The team successfully removed switch diamonds, opened out the junctions for the point ends to be maintained independently and provided increased operational flexibility for Train and Freight operating companies,’ says Bashrat Mahfooz of Network Rail.

Late Late Show for Anglia Team

Nine Day team wins the West The Crewe S&C Collaboration Team was tasked with delivering the £18 million West Coast Main Line nine day blockade and replacing four life expired junctions.

The Collaboration Team engaged with major stakeholders to come up with a viable access solution.

Blockade Roadshows were hosted allowing the project team to work alongside Network Rail’s Communications Team.

The Anglia Switches & Crossings Team developed a safe system of renewing a track crossover set of points at Tottenham Hale in North London during two short overnight mid-week possessions.

Says Nick de Bellaigue, a Programme Controller at Network Rail, ‘The stakes were extremely high, and everything had to work perfectly. With so little time to do the work, if there were problems, the project team knew that they ran the risk of disrupting

commuters’ journeys into work on this busy line into London Liverpool Street.

‘Under pressure, the team practiced all the new techniques that they had to use. They also planned everything meticulously, and picked individuals who really wanted to make the difference.

‘On the first night there was a delay of 30 minutes to the start, but the team were determined not to cancel the work. In the end the first night’s work was completed in just 6 hours 38 minutes, well within the 8 hour allowance. And on the second night the work was completed in just under 7 hours.’

Rail Infrastructure Team

FINALISTS Anglia Switches & Crossings Team Track Access & Isolations Team SI/GI Team

Track Design Team Infrastructure Projects Network Solutions

Hitchin Alliance

Track Renewals Crewe S&C Collaboration

Reading Maintenance Delivery Unit

Banbury Technical Team

Reading PWAY

Network Rail National Track Plant Exhibition and Innovation Showcase Team

Hatfield Recovery Team

helping to build the nation Experts IN support services for infrastructure markets McGinley Support Services are pleased to be sponsoring

Rail Infrastructure Team of the Year at the Railstaff Awards 2013 0845 543 5953

www.mcginley.co.uk www.railstaffawards.com

45

Josie Borg wins Rail Manager of the Year Josie borg manages a team of over 140 staff round the clock running thirteen stations on two branch lines. as well as day to day management Josie has led her teams through changes to the business keeping staff motivated, reassured and informed.

Says Mike Smith, of London Underground, ‘Her passion in doing a good job is only outstripped by her compassion for her team. If there is a problem, Josie will be the one that her team turns to. They know they will get an honest answer and any actions promised will be done without chasing.

‘Josie exudes enthusiasm. She is able to motivate people into doing almost anything just by her determination to get the job done right and her no nonsense approach to getting stuck into any activity herself.’

When a contractor died on site Josie bravely dealt with the incident in a calm and efficient manner even though she knew the deceased well. In another incident where a gas leak occurred and a fire brigade cordon shut down the railway, she was praised by senior police officers at the scene.

‘Her wealth of knowledge and experience includes championing safety. She takes responsibility for her actions and for getting things done and whilst maintaining a really good working relationship with her team, she is not frightened away from having that difficult conversation.

‘Josie leads her team with enthusiasm and dedication. All of her team know that she is always available; it’s rare to find her phone switched off even on annual leave and as far as she is concerned, her team is like a second family.

‘Getting this award feels wonderful. I’ve been with London Underground for 36 years and this is for me like the cherry on my career because I hope to retire next year if possible. It’s really nice it’s come at this time. I’d like to thank Mike Smith, my performance manager, and all my team at work,’ says Josie who lives in Ickenham.

‘I can only praise her for her 46

flexibility, the way that she leads her team and the fact that she can’t perform any task normally; she always has to go beyond what anyone expects of her,’ adds Mike.

Institution of Railway Operators Says Jo Kaye of the IRO, which sponsored this award, ‘The IRO is all about the development of individuals so that is why we always want to support this event because it has such a wide variety of categories. People are naturally reluctant to blow their own trumpet so we should provide an opportunity to do it for them.’

Says Tom O’Connor, managing director of Rail Media, ‘Managing staff in what is a very busy

environment with the unexpected an almost daily occurrence is a difficult and challenging skill.

Being able to reassure staff and help them through the changes the rail industry goes through is a double bonus. This award is hugely deserved and we wish Josie and her team every success in the future.’

The Institution of Railway Operators (IRO) was launched in May 2000 to develop and promote the safe, reliable and efficient operation of the railways – heavy rail, metro, light rail and heritage rail operations.

The institution acts as the custodian of best practice in railway operational management.

The IRO identifies with all

nominees for the Rail Manager of the Year award and is totally committed to the industry-wide objective of better leadership.

Highly Commended In our opinion Cassandra Sutton, c2c Group Station Manager, has pioneered high standards and staff empowerment at stations under her care on the top performing c2c network.

‘She actively sought staff views and feedback and she was receptive to constructive challenge,’ says Mohammad Hasanat of c2c ‘She always approached us and asked our opinion.’ www.railstaffawards.com

RAILSTAFF AWARDS

‘With her unique approach to initiative and leadership she has enhanced the safety and security of customers and staff. Colleagues point out her remarkable support for all the members of staff, backing their training and professional development. She has encouraged many at c2c to reach their full potential and to give their best as individuals and in teams.’

Personal touch is all important Julie Davis looks after her team like a family. ‘On July 17th at around 6.00 whilst working at Chafford Hundred station, Essex, I was assaulted by a member of the public who was attempting to travel without previously purchasing a ticket,’ says Claire Reeves.

‘It was a very distressing incident, not only for me but for my two colleagues who witnessed the attack.’ Despite the very early hour, within minutes of the incident being reported Julie was in touch with Claire by phone. The personal touch is all important at c2c.

‘Julie went the extra mile by visiting me at the station, what I find exceptional is this was all before 7.00 in the morning,’

continues Claire. ‘Because of the way Julie dealt with the situation and the support she gave me I was able to continue working with no

need to take any time off. I feel Julie has a great attitude to staff and genuinely cares for our safety and well being.’

Rail Manager of the Year

FINALISTS Annette Gevaert Paul Bassett Julie Davis Cassandra Sutton » A pr professional ofessional network network » Ar ea ev ents Area events » Academic qualifications » Pr ofessional Development Development Professional » CPD sc schemes hemes

Our membership inc Our includes lud des an anyone yone in involved volved in rrailway ailway oper operations ations in the the h UK. UK. T o find out what ar ey o missing out on visit… ou To are you www .railwayoperatorss.co.uk www.railwayoperators.co.uk

www.railstaffawards.com

Carl Hewitt Steve Byford Kissore Kher Joe Harris John Hockenhull Mark Haslam

Carl Painter Danny Coppin Josie Borg Mohammed Mayet Gemma Newby Phil James Stephen Townley Chris Peers Stephen Bradley Keith Hills

47

Bryony Govan cleans up

bryony Govan of CrossCountry has won this year’s apprentice/ Graduate of the Year award.

Bryony Govan, a Graduate Management Trainee, successfully re-organised the on board cleaning of trains at CrossCountry, bringing the sub-contracted cleaning teams in house, saving money and improving standards.

CrossCountry’s trains are cleaned at turnaround locations including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester Piccadilly, Nottingham, Birmingham New Street, Stansted, Reading, Bristol, Cardiff, Bournemouth, Paignton and Plymouth.

Says Amanda Hopkins of Cross Country, ‘Bryony presented strategic options to the Cross Country Board, developed a concept, built a business case, dealt with HR issues, and led the transition and mobilisation, including TUPE and union negotiations, and integrated and recruited over 60 cleaners at 12 locations as far apart as Edinburgh, Plymouth, Bournemouth and Stansted.

48

‘The absence of key information about employees that were being transferred into CrossCountry was a challenge. Bryony also communicated effectively with and influenced those affected by the change reassuring them and dealing with their reservations. This was done clearly, professionally and admirably, as well as the challenge of using their input and feedback against tight timescales.’

The results have included a spectacular improvement in cleaning and a six figure saving in costs.

‘I’d like to thank Amanda Hopkins and Malcolm Cotterell.

They recruited me and supported me. Thanks, also, to everyone who voted for me,’ says newcomer Bryony, 31. Bryony lives in Derby and works for CrossCountry in Birmingham. Bryony graduated with a degree in Environmental Earth Science from the University of Wales in Aberystwyth.

Adds Amanda, ‘Bryony has been a great graduate. She is enthusiastic, professional and has a desire that pushes everyone to do things

better. She has a lovely personality and is very approachable. She is very keen to learn and takes a thorough interest in whatever task she is set and is very reliable.

‘Bryony has truly received some remarkable results. She steps up to any challenge and the progress she has made is very pleasing. Her future looks very bright. We are proud to have her as part of the CrossCountry team.’

CrossCountry is run by Arriva Plc, part of Deutsche Bahn, with services that stretch from Aberdeen to Penzance and from Stansted to Cardiff, calling at more than 100 stations.

Says Asif Ahmed, sales director with Rail Media, ‘The advantages to the rail industry of people like Bryony are hard to put a figure on.

Not only has she boosted the business prospects of a leading train company but she has successfully influenced the careers of 60 people who are now an integrated part of the railways. Ask passengers what they want after punctuality and seat availability and its cleanliness every time.’

LPA Group George Renshaw from awards sponsor LPA Group Plc said, ‘We support the drive of people within the industry because it’s so important that we’ve got people attracted to the industry. It is really rewarding when we have people like Bryony.’

LPA Group Plc designs and manufactures top class LED lighting solutions, market leading electronic and electro-mechanical systems as well as equipment with the flexibility to solve complex inter-car connection problems, auxiliary power & distribution systems from their four UK subsidiaries, LPA Channel Electric, LPA Excil Electronics, LPA Haswell Engineers and LPA Niphan Systems

Highly Commended Greenwich commendation for Amy Footer Amy Footer of London Underground, project managed the decommissioning and refurbishment of a ‘c’ stock train www.railstaffawards.com

RAILSTAFF AWARDS

several months before despite the numerous programmethreatening issues.’

Signal Success for Singh Corin

for the Royal Greenwich University Technical College. The train is used for training students on real railway equipment.

Says Brian Devlin, ‘Amy’s engaging management style

impressed most people who came into contact with it. She was very organised and was able to keep a tight reign on the numerous issues that cropped up, by being involved in all aspects of the project at all levels.

Year Graduate / Apprentice of the

‘Where Amy lacked knowledge she was not afraid to ask questions, increasing her knowledge along the way. The train car and bogey were delivered to a pre-constructed trackbed on the date decided

Singh Corin works for Network Rail, Signalling Innovation Group, IP Signalling, and was set the challenge of developing activities to support technology learning at Reading UTC. He also organised E&P training for Network Rail graduates and developed a new process for empowering maintenance staff to share safety, business and technical improvement ideas.

Says David Carter of Network Rail, ‘Singh Corin has been a valuable member of the Signalling Innovations Group over the last 9-10 months and his contributions have had positive team and business impact.

‘His work in supporting the roll out of Class II Based Distribution Systems has been instrumental in the wider industry take up of Class II which offers significant efficiency savings against current norms.’

!"#$%&'(#!)*

FINALISTS Farhan Ahmad

Penny Gilg

Zoe Smithurst

Singh Corin

Bryony Govan

Robert Liddle

Luke Rawcliffe

Daniel Russell

Amy Footer

Maria Kemp

Tony Cheung

Christine Collett

Lauren Williams

Dean Amos

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Joelle Caldarelli +++,)(-./%&'(,*&0 !"#$%&'(#!)* !"#$%&&$'()$*+,,$-*./(( 0123"#$!456373!89":2;<7=6:>?=1 www.railstaffawards.com

49

Merseyrail Team Win Trainer of the Year Merseyrail’s Learning and Development team wins this year’s trainer/training team of the Year award.

The team works tirelessly for railway staff and the community.

Says colleague, Barbara Gardner Sharp, ‘They consistently seek ways to engage the workforce in learning new skills through union learning in addition to participating in fundraising events like the recent ‘Stand up for Anita’ comedy event.

‘Dave Morgan and the team organised coaching sessions in their own time and mentored eight participants in delivering a 10 minute comedy routine.’ The event raised £10k for charity.

Participating staff developed new skills and confidence. ‘The passion and enthusiasm generated by the team across the business was and is amazing,’ adds Barbara.

‘I feel absolutely gobsmacked. It’s a big surprise,’ says Dave Morgan, 50, Learning and Development manager at Merseyrail. ‘I’d like to thank my other team member, Siobhan Kilbane, head of Learning and Development. It’s a recognition for everyone who helped. If people didn’t engage with the stuff I do then it wouldn’t work.’ Dave joined the railway as a cleaner 20 years ago. He is based in Liverpool and lives in Wavertree.

From Merseyrail’s perspective the L&D team, led by Siobhan Kilbane, has always ensured providers deliver engaging, interesting and relevant training across the business. In their own time they ensure all external providers have

50

the insight needed to tailor the courses to the staff concerned.

L & D staff have taken tutors round the business, visiting stations, trains and depots, in their own time. Team members all gave up their own time to provide groups of unemployed people with insight and knowledge helping them enter the workforce.

The team offered ongoing support to these people coaching and mentoring them which resulted in some successfully gaining employment and others securing work experience. ALL of them felt more valued and more confident as a result. Each person achieved an employability qualification to support them in the future.

Merseyrail Learning and Development has become a great ambassador for the railways says RailStaff editor, Andy Milne, ‘This team has had an impact beyond the rail industry. To see a rail industry learning and development team helping those less fortunate than ourselves get on the job market is welcome indeed and proves the rail industry contributes to the communities it serves.

‘The team is thoroughly professional and is making a huge difference in the lives of railway and local people alike. This is exactly the sort of achievement the RailStaff Awards seeks to draw attention to. It’s a success and rolls back negative perceptions of the industry.’

Says Craig King, managing director of SETEC, which sponsored the Trainer/Training

Team of the Year, ‘I think we should be positive within the industry and we should celebrate success. It’s good to allow training companies nationally to say ‘actually we’ve done a good job here’. We don’t do it anywhere else. The RailStaff Awards is the only event that’s doing it.’

Merseyrail operates throughout Liverpool and on the Wirral. It is one of the most punctual and reliable railway networks in the UK. Merseyrail runs almost 800 trains per day and carries over

100,000 passengers on an average week day.

With 66 stations on the network Merseyrail is one of the most intensively used networks in the UK running on 75 route miles of track.

SETEC The Trainer/Training Team of the Year is sponsored by SETEC, specialist provider of training and consultancy services. Founder and managing director, Craig King, is an experienced signalling and electrical engineer turned trainer.

Beginning his career as a trainee technician, Craig went on to work as a principal technical officer before joining training provider Catalis. Craig was eventually asked to head up Catalis’ signalling division, which, under his leadership, went on to become the most profitable area of the company.

Following a two-and-a-half-year stint leading the restructured TQ Catalis, Craig has now established SETEC which offers training and consultancy services in; signal engineering, railway telecommunications systems, www.railstaffawards.com

RAILSTAFF AWARDS

control systems, electrical engineering, IRSE licensing, IOSH and NEBOSH-approved safety, health & environmental training, health and safety advisory and consultancy services, and course writing and development.

For Craig, the RailStaff Awards are an opportunity to cultivate good training practices within the industry.

Highly Commended Communications Team Commended The Switchover Team was formed to deliver the Switchover Project at Birmingham New Street.

The project successfully delivered an operationally ready station against the background of the biggest change for 50 years for the 140,000 passengers who use New Street each day.

Thirteen people worked on the Switchover project and whilst they delivered exceptional individual outputs this group’s collective outputs were far ‘greater than the sum of its parts. The team

included Project Manager Mark Bennett, three new graduates, Andrew Tustin, Ciprian Ciuraru and Mohammed Ali, four Station Communications Executives, Jenna Kawycz, Sue Beardsmore, John Earley and Andrew Minorczyk who delivered the Training, Briefing and Familiarisation plan.

Niasha Nugent represented the station team with four further Track and Train graduates Sam Stor, Thomas Harman, Chris Thurbon and Jagdeep Sekha.

Trainer beats illness to carry on Rob Dawber is an Operational Trainer with Northern Rail, well respected by colleagues throughout the industry due to his specialised knowledge, friendly approach, dedication, commitment and support for colleagues and trainees.

Says colleague, Helen Norman, ‘In 2011 Rob was unfortunately diagnosed with cancer and underwent a series of gruelling chemotherapy and radiotherapy sessions lasting a period of nearly

12 months. However, Rob did not let this deter him from his role as a Trainer and continued to support colleagues and trainees throughout his illness.’

‘Rob kept up his hard work and support. A large number of Driver Trainees continued to learn and develop their skill as Train Drivers without any delay or negative

impact on their training thanks to Rob’s support and commitment to them and his role.

‘Rob is a big character in the team, and his absence during times of treatment left a massive gap, but his continued presence and return to health helped to build an even stronger team with a great spirit for fun and life.’

RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERING TRAINING AND CONSULTANCY

Trainer / Training Team of the Year

FINALISTS Monique Choudhuri Emma Rudge Craig Lawrence Kees van der Wiele

Customer Experience Training Team Merseyrail Learning and Development Team

Helen Reynolds

Birmingham New Street Gateway (Phase 1) Station Communications Team

Paul Haynes

Rob Dawber

Mandy Passmore

Scott Cullen

Gary Lavers

Tim Lavington

Mark Cawdron

ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC ENGINEERS

craig.king@setecltd.co.uk | 07748 32 88 31 www.railstaffawards.com

51

Lifesaver wins Train Driver of the Year

Prompt action by Southern driver adam osborne-hall saved a girl’s life. adam wins this year’s train Driver of the Year award. his actions exemplify the many stories of courage and compassion that echo through the RailStaff awards.

Andy Harrowell describes the events of a cold January night that resulted in a life saved. ‘On 9th January 2013, Adam was driving the 23:15 from London Victoria to Tattenham Corner. Just after midnight Adam saw someone jump in front of his train and despite taking all of the appropriate actions, due to the short distance, was unable to stop in time.

Adam went back down the train to find a fifteen year old girl stuck under the wheels. She was alive, but badly hurt with leg injuries.’

52

Adam contacted the emergency services and stayed with the girl until help arrived.

‘During this time Adam engaged the young girl in conversation to stop her from going to sleep and took the time to discuss why she had tried to kill herself for a fifth time,’ says Andy. ‘As part of this conversation the girl asked Adam why she failed and he steered her away from this topic, instead trying to help her to see and focus on the positives in life.

‘Adam had received no prior training in dealing with these types of situations but waited with the girl, offering support, until the emergency services arrived.’

Although the girl suffered a broken leg, fractured pelvis and lost fingers, her situation could have become a lot worse if not for the action taken by Adam. ‘He

showed true courage by deciding to leave his cab and spend time with the girl, talking to her to ensure she remained conscious while help was on its way. He went further than just keeping her comfortable by helping her to reconsider her outlook on life.’

‘I’d like to thank my immediate family - they get the brunt of anything that happens at work,’ says Adam, 27. ‘Thanks as well to my manager, Paul Simpson. I think this was the first time he’d dealt with an incident of this kind.’

Adam is based at Selhurst Depot.

Says Tom O’Connor, managing director of Rail Media, ‘This is a sad story but one full of compassion and kindness. Not only did Adam Osborne-Hall save this child’s life but by talking to her hopefully changed her outlook on life. His actions that night

personify kindness and caring.

This award is highly deserved.’

Bob Wright, chairman of award sponsors FT Transformers, said, ‘Out of all the sponsorships I think the best one is Train Driver of the Year because we put our trust in train drivers on a daily basis.

Hopefully with his intervention he’s helped her to improve her life and want to live on.’

Adam Osborne-Hall works for Southern Railway Ltd. Southern’s routes include Southampton to Ashford, the south coast to London, the South London Metro and a service to Milton Keynes.

Southern’s two principal London stations are London Victoria and London Bridge. Southern also runs the Gatwick Express

FT Transformers Train Driver of the Year is www.railstaffawards.com

RAILSTAFF AWARDS

sponsored by FT Transformers which manufactures signalling transformers which can reduce voltages from 650v to 110v ac. The Class 2 hybrid transformer incorporates zero inrush and is housed in a protective casing that gives total safety. Inrush means the huge upsurge in current when a transformer is first switched on.

FT Transformers was founded in 1937 by a former radio engineer, Harry Forrest. FT Transformers supplied transformers to the London Underground ahead of the 2012 Olympics. Long experience has seen the company developing a transformer for the first cardiograph machine, helping with Frank Whittle’s pioneering development of the jet engine and supplying electronic equipment for the Barcelona Olympics.

Highly Commended Child’s Life Saved London Underground driver Gary Dobkin saved a child’s life. Driving his train on an open section of the District line, Gary spotted a child

on the track ahead. He was able to stop in time and alert the Line Controller and have the train stopped in the opposite direction.

With power off Gary took the uninjured child to safety. The child was autistic and had wandered onto the track.

Says colleague, Margaret Waite, ‘Gary was able to get the child onto his train without injury with gentle coaxing. He arranged for the child to be met by station staff at the next station.’ The child was later reunited with his parents. Mum and dad were so grateful for what Gary had done that they insisted on meeting him to thank Gary in person.

Driver puts ideas into action London Underground driver, Ersan Sokmen, has come up with a number of ideas designed to improve the efficacy of track side equipment.

These included a new train reversing marks/limit of shunt board made to a highly reflective design.

Another was an idea to integrate

telephone tunnel wires within the porcelain pot, as the current design had the wires resting on top of the pots and often these would fall off causing traction current to be discharged. On occasions there would be damage to these wires and delays to the customers.

Says colleague, Lee Watson, ‘These (ideas) have been

incorporated and used on our system. All areas where the track has been upgraded have the reflective reversing and shunting boards and the telephone wire upgrade uses his initial design idea with the porcelain pots. This has saved the company money for further investment and reduced delays.’

C t er o N S O PA

David House

FINALISTS

James Robertson Andy Thompson Darryl Redmond Dave Hansford Sean Roberts Tony Ilesanmi John Ingham

65 57 /0

Train Driver of the Year Nick Hardy Andy Wareham Mandy Passmore Ersan Sokmen Gary Dobkin Adam Osborne-Hall Shelley Hancock

APPROVED REPLACEMENT FOR LEGACY TRANSFORMERS. NO MORE SHOCKS WITH OUR PROTECTIVE COATING. > ZERO INRUSH > INSULATED TO 20,000V - Self healing type properties > FULL CERTIFICATION CLASS II > HYBRID TRANSFORMERS

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sales@ft-transformers.co.uk 53

Learning hero wins Rail Person of the Year

tony Paul, aslef union Learning Rep and east Coast train Driver wins this year’s Rail Person of the Year award.

Based at Newcastle, Tony Paul devotes considerable time to staff welfare projects. Tony set up Literacy and Numeracy courses in partnership with Sunderland College and encouraged 59 staff to take the courses and achieve an NVQ in each subject.

He planned a weight loss course in partnership with Weight Watchers at Newcastle Central Station. Over 30 staff have signed up. Tony even managed to get a prize of £100.00 for the staff member with the greatest percentage of body weight lost.

With friends he ran several open days including the incredibly popular driving simulator, where non-drivers are invited along to have a go on a simulator. Each 54

staff member gets to drive from London Kings Cross to Stevenage, reaching 125 mph before stopping at the end of the platform.

Says Doug Stafford of East Coast, ‘Tony does an awful lot of work in his own time, with regards to organising activities and educational courses as part of Newcastle’s Staff Welfare organisation.’

John Scott agrees, ‘The joint trade union learning days were non existent before Tony undertook the task as the representative from ASLEF. Now the RMT and TSSA have joined forces with ASLEF to run the most successful courses on the route. Over 100 rail staff from across the whole industry have participated in sitting extra qualifications to improve their life.

By creating a joint team of the three railway trade unions and with the generous assistance of

management and other rail staff who have been prepared to give up their free time to assist, the Newcastle Learning Team is now the best in the country.’

Colleges from both Sunderland and Newcastle participate in the project. The Lord Lieutenant of Tyne and Wear has given his support .

Tony Paul was amazed to win the RailStaff Awards. Reflecting on what he has achieved at Newcastle, the 45 year old train driver from Whitley Bay, said, ‘It’s a nice thing to do, you know? You get a good feeling from it and people appreciate what you do.’

Tony Paul started as steward and now drives trains between Edinburgh and London. ‘I was the first steward at Newcastle to go on the footplate as a driver,’ he said.

Says RailStaff editor, Andy Milne,

‘Tony Paul is an inspiration to all who work in the industry. One of the railway’s great successes, which never receives adequate public recognition outside the mess room, depot and offices, is the amount of education and training that goes on.

‘I don’t mean just on rail related issues - important though those are - but a range of skills that people need to advance their careers and to grow in themselves. What he has achieved is of immeasurable worth to staff and their families down the years.’

Network Rail ‘When we look at what Tony has done, he has helped dozens and dozens of people get qualifications in basic numeracy, he’s organised lots of charity events, the list is endless. I can’t think of a more www.railstaffawards.com

RAILSTAFF AWARDS

worthy winner of the top prize,’ says Martin Frobisher of Network Rail, who presented the award.

Rail Person of the Year is sponsored by Network Rail. 2013 is proving a busy year for Network Rail. Capacity enhancements are powering ahead at Reading and London Bridge as well as smaller schemes such as Peterborough and the latest round of platform extensions in the south-east.

Together with continuing improvements on the West Coast Main Line and preparations for the electrification of the Great Western Main Line, 2013 will see solid progress on the expansion of the railway.

The new station at Birmingham New Street proves what can be achieved by an industry working together, assisted by top performing staff with an emphasis on co-operation.

Network Rail is pushing ahead with apprenticeship programmes and graduate recruitment in a bid to expand the skills base needed as investment in rail continues in support of economic growth

Highly Commended Wealth of experience for Liam Liam joined Bridgeway five years ago and has amassed a wealth of experience and qualifications. He is now a Senior Examiner and as well as working in the conventional rail environment he is qualified in using roped access (IRATA level 1) inspecting confined spaces and is an underwater diving attendant.

Liam can be found out on track, scaling radio masts, examining culverts deep beneath the tracks or checking rail structures with an underwater dive team.

Says Martin Beasley, ‘It may seem unusual that, in a category often reserved for time-served career railway people, we see a nominee who is only 24.

‘Nonetheless, the hard work, dedication and single-minded focus Liam has shown to the railway make him an ideal candidate for this award and stands as a great source of inspiration to others considering a career in the rail industry.’

Root cause resolution Phil Dubery of Thales Transportation Systems resolved performance issues on the Jubilee Line after the introduction of the new moving block signalling system.

Says colleague, Mike Duncan, ‘Phil, a rolling stock engineer by training, set about learning the complex operations of the system software. He developed a strong team and a set of analytic tools in order to be able to review the data log information created by the

system to get to the root cause of any issues.

Working tirelessly with his team and collaborating closely with stakeholders in Tube Lines and London Underground, he set about reviewing the system behaviour for every disruption on the Jubilee Line.’

Phil was able to identify the root cause of each one and with operators and engineers take steps to make sure it didn’t happen again. Performance is up and the new system is working well.

Rail Person of the Year

Network Rail is proud to sponsor the RailStaff Awards 2013 From pioneering investment and development projects, to innovations that make everyday services faster, smarter and safer – we believe in recognising and celebrating the individuals and teams that are enabling the transformation of our network.

That’s why we’re very proud to once again sponsor the RailStaff Awards.

A better railway for a better Britain

FINALISTS Mark Hardeman

Michelle Harper

Liam Furnis

Colin Waite

Pete Donnelly

Richard Constable

John Hibbert

Philip Dubery

Tony Paul

Carl Duke

Jon Bertozzi

Anna Holly

Larry Heyman

Paul Atherton

Mario De Luca

networkrail.co.uk

www.railstaffawards.com

55

RAILSTAFF AWARDS

Drinks reception kindly sponsored by A-Plant Rail...

Plant, Tools, Survey & OLE Equipment

Site Welfare & Power 56

0844 800 8044 www.pet-rail.co.uk

0370 050 0797 www.aplant.com

www.railstaffawards.com

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Liverpool link First transPennine express has opened a new traincrew depot in Liverpool city centre.

The depot complements a £60m investment in new trains and will help take forward an ambitious timetable expansion from May 2014. FTPE will be providing faster and more frequent journeys with improved regional connections.

The company’s first Merseyside office and staff depot creates 42 local jobs including team managers, drivers, conductors and fleet engineers. Since 2004 FTPE has provided an hourly service linking Liverpool, Manchester,

Yorkshire and the North East and has seen passenger numbers grow by 44 per cent.

Says FTPE Programme Director, Chris Nutton, who is responsible for the introduction of new trains and the new May 2014 timetable, ‘Liverpool is a key location for First TransPennine Express and our brand new traincrew depot means increased local employment, improved connectivity and enhanced customer benefits including greater capacity, quicker journeys and more travel options.’

The company’s first Merseyside office and staff depot creates 42 local jobs…

winter bonus Virgin trains is pushing ahead with pre-season ticket sales ahead of the introduction of the new timetable on 8th December.

Expanded express services are proving popular with sports stars.

Recently Virgin Trains brought four Liverpool boxing champions, the Smith brothers, Liam, Stephen, Paul and Callum, to London for the British Boxing Awards. The new timetable sees Virgin Trains’ recently lengthened Pendolinos, typically delivering 153,000 seats every weekday.

Says Phil Bearpark, Virgin Trains Production Director, ‘As the number of people using our highly-rated services grows we

tube figures rise

© ShutteRStoCk.CoM

australian Coup for network Rail

International subsidiary, network Rail Consulting, has landed a major new role with transport for new South wales.

NRC has been appointed as independent safety assessor for the design and delivery of the North West Rail Link in Sydney.

The project is worth £4.8bn.

Network Rail Consulting will be closely involved during the two major construction contracts, namely the Tunnel & Station Civil Works Contract and the Surface & Viaduct Civil Works Contract, as well as safety advisory services in relation to the Operations, Trains and Systems Contract. www.railstaff.co.uk

The 38km NWRL is Australia’s largest current public transport project and the biggest public transport project in Sydney since construction of the world-famous Sydney Harbour Bridge almost a century ago.

The North West Rail Link will be a fully-automated rapid transit system. It includes eight new stations, ten miles of tunnels and a 2½ mile elevated skytrain viaduct. Says Nigel Ash, managing director of Network Rail Consulting, ‘This commission heralds the start of a long-term working relationship with Transport for New South Wales

need to make sure their journeys are comfortable. We’re paying an extra £150 million this year for the four new 11-car Pendolinos and 70 extra Standard carriages we now have in operation. Our new timetable makes the most productive use of that extra capacity to give customers a speedy and enjoyable journey.’

and coincides with the recent opening of our Sydney office as a focus for our work in this vibrant rail market.

‘We believe we have much to offer other railways around the world and look forward to helping further develop rail in Australia and New Zealand, sharing the best of British engineering and ingenuity.’

Network Rail Consulting aims to harness the vast range of skills and experience available and demonstrate British expertise overseas. In short NRC acts as an international ambassador for Britain’s booming rail industry.

according to transport for London travel on the London underground has soared.

An extra 9.5m passenger journeys were made on the Tube in June and July compared to last summer. Says Phil Hufton, Chief Operating Officer of London Underground, ‘With more than nine million additional customer journeys on the Tube this summer we’re now carrying more passengers than ever before, while working flat-out to get the most reliable performance we can from the Underground.

‘We know the warmer months can bring many challenges impacting on the reliability of our trains and tracks, as well as an increase in people feeling the effects of higher temperatures, so we’re doing everything we can to make customers’ journeys as comfortable as possible.

‘The first fleet of air-conditioned trains is now in operation on the Metropolitan line and the trains are being rolled out on the Hammersmith & City and Circle lines, and platform cooling solutions have been introduced at stations including Green Park, Victoria and Oxford Circus.’

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ReD Zone woRkInG on FaSt LIneS wILL be PRohIbIteD FRoM 2015 Trackworker safety is a priority for RAIB and ORR SAFETY Colin Wheeler colin@rail-media.com

the Rail accident Investigation branch (RaIb) annual Report for 2012 was published on September 23rd. Carolyn Griffiths their Chief Inspector comments that there are “still areas where risks are recurring” despite the fact that 95% of relevant safety recommendations have been implemented.

Between January 2008 and December 2012 a total of 678 recommendations were made. Only 450 of them have so far been implemented, but a further 91 of them have been “achieved by other means”. The report highlights two particular areas of risk; level crossings and the safety of trackworkers.

Leadership challenges The report lists recurrent issues that affect track worker safety.

These include the following leadership issues:

• Exercising authority and influence and understanding the tasks • Planning and effective communication • Possessing the right personal qualities • Giving clear instructions and having good quality procedures One or more of these featured in 22 investigations last year. The Preface to each report says “it is inappropriate that RAIB reports be used to assign fault or blame as it is not the purpose of investigations to establish blame or liability”.

There is a fine line to be drawn between the responsibilities of the RAIB and the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) on these matters.

The Report refers to two accidents and a near miss on open lines. One was fatal, the other resulted in serious injuries and the near miss was very serious.

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All three “featured poorly planned work”. Damningly it goes on to say that “it is doubtful that the system of work planned could have been implemented” and none were challenged by the staff involved.

A section in the report refers specifically to “Red Zone” working and comments on the Rule Book having dropped this wording. It says Network Rail will prohibit the use of “unassisted lookouts within 200 metres of a junction, where speeds exceed 100mph and for moving worksites with effect from 2015”. About time too I suggest!

ORR’s latest views The ORR’s latest Periodic Review refers to the future investment of £10 million in “technology to develop alerts to workers of approaching trains”. Additional funding is also earmarked for the funding period 2014-19 totalling £163 million for “safer ways of taking isolations, £80 million to improve the safety/efficiency of road/rail vehicles and £67 million for reducing the risks at level crossings.

There is no reference to the many systems already in use and well proven on the railways of Europe; we must avoid re-inventing the

wheel. I believe safe and reliable products already in use will also work on our side of the English Channel!

Safety culture concerns Ian Prosser, ORR’s Director of Safety writing in the Review reaffirms their vision for “zero workforce and industry caused passenger fatalities”. On improving leadership in safety culture he adds that “actions at supervisory level and in the workforce do not always reflect the right safety culture”.

He highlights “underlying tensions between safety and train performance and punctuality”. He adds that “Network Rail has insufficient resource to deliver their planned maintenance work” adding that “we saw increases in the number of rail breaks and track geometry faults on some routes”.

Commenting on structural examinations, he acknowledges that they “generally gave an accurate picture” but says recommendations are too general and “managers do not have the time to fully evaluate the implications especially from site inspections.”

I well remember my time in Sheffield as the Engineer responsible for the inspection, repair and maintenance of bridges,

stations, tunnels, signal boxes and indeed all structures other than track. A most important task was the approval and countersigning of all inspection reports. Over time I got to know the problem structures and wherever I had doubts I did my own inspection.

My motivation was simple. If a failure occurred that either disrupted train traffic or caused injury I would almost certainly lose my job. I had the delegated authority but with it came the responsibility.

Concrete hanging from a bridge The RAIB is investigating an incident reported by a train driver on August 1st. He was driving the 4pm Clapham Junction to Highbury and Islington train when he saw an object hanging from an over-bridge at Denmark Hill Station. It proved to be a 4.5 metre long piece of concrete and the line was closed to traffic. During the previous 22 months loose concrete had been removed from this same bridge on four occasions.

An urgent inspection had been carried out six weeks prior to this incident in response to another report of loose concrete, although not in the same area. Following the August 1st incident, concrete was removed from half the area under www.railstaff.co.uk

heaLth & SaFetY

The Control Cab fell off onto the track

the bridge. An earlier inspection found that the concrete was not in danger of falling.

Derailment caused by track dip RAIB is also investigating the derailment at Stoke Lane Level Crossing, Nottingham of a freight train with 30 bogied, diesel carrying wagons hauled by a Class 66 locomotive. It happened on August 27th. The cause was a “severe track

dip linked to the presence of a large void”. The void was up to 2.5 metres long and had a maximum depth of 0.7 metres.

The line had only re-opened on the morning of the previous day following work at Nottingham Station. High voltage cables had been laid in a one metre diameter tunnel under the crossing in early July.

Time is running out!

A completed RAIB report features a “dangerous occurrence” that took place at Blatchbridge Junction near Frome on March 19th last year. A type 95 track renewal unit was moving when one of its control cabs, weighing around one and a quarter tons fell off onto the track due to all eight of its supporting bolts having fractured! (left) Fortunately the under-slung cab only had to drop a short distance onto the track where it skidded along the rail for a mile and a half attached to the machine only by its electrical cables and air brake hose.

It dislodged the four-foot section of a foot crossing as it did so, and only came to rest when the brake hose wore through resulting in an automatic brake application.

The report says that a number of the bolts may have been damaged by a previous incident at Thatcham Station in January 2011 as some of the bolt fractures were corroded.

The report rightly suggests there could have been serious implications had the unit collided

with a platform or if a train approaching on the adjacent track had collided with the cab.

Whilst there is good reason for the fault, blame or liability of individuals not falling within the remit of investigations carried out by the RAIB, I am pleased that both they and the ORR clearly accept planning has to be better.

But we must resurrect the motivations that were nurtured years ago by the delegation of responsibility to those actually doing the work. The idea of planning being completed in an office and then handed to supervisors who are instructed to follow the plan is wrong. Every shift supervisor needs to be involved at the planning stage, and managers need to listen to their concerns.

In my experience they will very often be able to make the job easier and safer. Most important of all, having been directly involved they will do all that they can to get the job done safely and well. Now is the time for increased delegation of responsibilities together, with increased individual accountability.

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59

Metrolink 2.0 Manchester Metrolink 2.0 has been given the go ahead.

Taking a break from cabinet reshuffles and HS2, Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin, was delighted to approve Transport for Greater Manchester’s application for the Transport and Works Act Order necessary to progress the scheme.

Says Andrew Fender, TfGM chair,

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the first of 22 new alstom Citadis trams for nottingham has arrived at net’s wilkinson Street depot.

Built in Barcelona the trams are scheduled to arrive at the rate of two a month via Southampton docks. The first five vehicles will enter service on Line 1 from next June. This is prior to Line 2, which will see Beeston, Chilwell and Clifton join the tram network, opening six months later.

Although ordered by NET as a result of the tram network expanding, the new trams will not be allocated to just Line 2 services but will see service across the network, supplementing the 15 Bombardier-built Incentro trams.

In tandem with delivery of the new trams, the current fleet is being refurbished in order to provide passengers with a uniform fleet.

Although conductors are being abolished there should be no redundancies as staff are being given the opportunity to train as

‘This is fantastic news and means we can now press ahead with developing the detail of the delivery programme, appointing a contractor and getting work started as soon as possible.’

The new route will run through St Peter’s Square, along Princess Street, Cross Street and Corporation Street and re-join the existing Metrolink line just outside Victoria station. The decision means TfGM can now finalise arrangements for delivering the scheme

new rolling stock. The new trams will receive names and it looks as if they will follow the Incentro trams by being named after people associated with Nottingham.

Names currently carried include Mary Potter, founder of the Little Company of Mary Sisters in 1877 and William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army.

drivers. Passengers will be expected to purchase tickets from machines at tram stops. Revenue protection duties will be carried out by a team of roving inspectors.

The new trams will create 100 new jobs, making a total of 216 staff employed on the system. The depot at Wilkinson Street is being extended to accommodate the

Milan birthday party alstom has celebrated the 25th anniversary of its world famous Pendolino train at Milan Central station on 4th october.

During the evening an ETR450, Elettro Treno Rapido, the first Pendolino in commercial service, and a ETR401 prototype entered the station to the delight of unsuspecting passengers as they made their way home. The first scheduled ETR450 service was on 29th May 1988, slashing the journey time between Rome and Milan 4 hours 55 minutes to 3 hours and 58 minutes.

A quarter of a century later 492 Pendolino trains have been built for 13 countries including Poland, the UK and China. The Savigliano works is currently busy with the Polish order and journalists were lucky enough to be able to visit the production line to see every stage of construction.

Future developments in Pendolino design are likely to see

the adoption of anticipative tilting, which enables the first vehicle to react quicker when going into a curve. The first two Polish Pendolinos have already arrived in the country and are currently undergoing dynamic testing.

Alstom has invested over €40 million in Savigliano works in the last four years.

© Jonathan webb

© Jonathan webb

the team behind the construction of the highly successful a1 locomotive, tornado, has announced that it intends to construct a P2, another long lost class of locomotive.

The P2 Steam Locomotive Company aims to develop, build and operate an improved Gresley P2 Mikado for use on the main line and preserved railways. Only six P2s were ever built and the new locomotive will adopt the number 2007. Frames will be cut in May 2014, the 80th anniversary of 2001 ‘Cock o’ the North’ - the first P2 to be built.

Spanish trams arrive at nottingham

© Jonathan webb

Mikado to steam again

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RoLLInG StoCk newS

test role for GbRf hitachi Rail europe has signed a contract with Gb Railfreight to help with the testing and commissioning of the Class 800 and Class 801 trains for the Great western Main Line as part of the Intercity express Programme.

GB Railfreight will provide locomotives for transit movements and train crew throughout the test programme. Says Keith Jordan, Managing Director, Hitachi Rail Europe, ‘Hitachi Rail Europe is dedicated to delivering the Class 800 series trains into service on schedule and for this, it is highly important to have the right partner to support our testing programme.

‘GB Railfreight have shown that they align well with the Intercity Express Programme requirements and locations, offering a highly proactive response to the scenarios we need to test.’

Hitachi Rail will build the first pre-series Class 800/801 trains in the company’s factory in Kasado, Japan, and they will be shipped to the UK for testing in early 2015.

Subsequent trains will be manufactured in the newly constructed train factory in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham.

In 2012 Agility Trains signed a

Chiltern’s fleet heads South

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blackpool tram boost

© Jonathan webb

the first of Chiltern’s refurbished class 168s has left wabtec works in Loughborough.

The 19 strong fleet will carry a new Mainline livery and is having new saloon carpets, new seat covers, new table tops, a heavy clean, new internal signage and labelling fitted throughout. Over the course of the programme all cab and saloon doors are being fully overhauled.

Although the class 168/2s are the first to enter works they will not receive the door overhaul until 2016, as it is a mid life overhaul and they don’t reach this stage until then. Next in works will be the class 168/0s, with the whole fleet scheduled for refurbishment by November 2014. Thanks to top performing staff at Loughborough each unit spends just 15 working days at the works.

contract with the Department for Transport to build, finance and maintain 596 train carriages for the Great Western Main Line and the East Coast Main Line as part of the Intercity Express Programme.

Hitachi Rail Europe and John Laing are the main shareholders in Agility Trains.

This summer the Secretary of

blackpool’s tram system looks set to be extended from the promenade to blackpool north railway station following an announcement by transport for Lancashire that £16.4 million has been awarded towards the total cost of £18.2 million for the scheme.

The money comes from a funding package of £90 million allocated to improving road and rail networks on the Fylde coast over the next decade. The new tram lines will run from the North Pier out along Talbot Road to the railway station. It is now up to

State for Transport announced an additional contract for the provision of another 270 carriages for the East Coast Main Line, bringing the total number of train carriages to 866. The trains will be provided in 5-car and 9-car formations either fully electric (Class 800) or as bi-mode trains (Class 801).

Blackpool Council to find the remaining £1.8 million.

Says Stephen Brookes, chairman of Blackpool Transport user group, ‘The plans for the new tramway are incredibly important as they will enable Blackpool to have a joined up transport consortium. It will be absolutely brilliant for the town. We are expecting electric trains in the next 18 months and when this is completed the tram system will link in at Blackpool North station.’

The extension has been welcomed by local people and campaigners alike. Says Andrew Braddock, Chairman of the Light Rail Transit Association, ‘It is excellent news that the newly refurbished Blackpool tramway will now be able to link to the national rail system and provide better connections for local people and visitors. It is an early example that the delegation of funding powers to local transport bodies is working and one we hope to see repeated around the country.’

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Rabbit run for erik

andy’s pupils take up triathlon

Greater anglia’s erik hamoen, joined eight other cyclists from the abelio Group on a three day charity bike ride covering 235 miles to raise money for transaid.

The charity race started in Romford, Essex and ended in Dam Square, Amsterdam. Erik wore fancy dress and raised £1,520 for Transaid, with the Abellio team as a whole raising £22,111 for the charity.

Says Erik, ‘Cycling 235 miles over three days, through a lot of rain whilst wearing a bunny costume was something of a challenge, but it was a truly amazing experience and I made a lot of new friends over the weekend. I’d like to thank all of my family, friends and colleagues for their support.’

Erik Hamoen is part of Greater Anglia’s Customer Service team.

Transaid is an international development charity that aims to reduce poverty across Africa.

andy Ridout’s successful completion of the Dartmoor horseman Xtreme triathlon in September has had an unexpected side effect.

Andy, who runs advance-TRS, is pushing the idea of minitriathlons to local children. His old school, Waverley Abbey, staged a mini-triathlon at which 150 children took part. Andy helped marshal the event. The pupils aged 7-11 enjoyed the challenge

and several plan to take it up in full.

Andy raised over £10K for the Railway Children. Speaking at the RailStaff Awards Andy said, ‘The triathlon was grueling but I did it the cycling was the worst part.

Since the article in RailStaff seven people I know have decided to take up the triathlon. I wish all of them every success with the training - that’s where you make sure you can do it.’

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www.railstaff.co.uk

ChaRItY newS

oban run for Charity

RailStaff awards donation

the Children’s hospice association Scotland marked its 21st birthday with a party on board a special ScotRail train.

ScotRail ran a one-off ‘CHAS Express’ return service between Glasgow Queen Street and Oban for a group of 60 children, family members and volunteers from Robin House hospice in Balloch. Children got the chance to meet the train driver, Martin Wyber, and make announcements over the PA system.

Before returning home from Oban, they took a walk along the seafront and held an art competition. The journey had been auctioned at a Railway Benefit Fund event – with highest bidder John McArthur, chief

heathrow express sponsors of the David Maidment award for Charity at the RailStaff awards 2013 agree with Rail Media to

executive of Tracsis Plc donating it to CHAS as a gift.

Director Pat Callaghan of ScotRail, said, ‘CHAS has done fantastic work over the last 21 years for children with serious illnesses and their families. It was a pleasure to welcome them on board for this very special party. ScotRail has raised nearly £30,000 for CHAS – its official charity partner – since September 2010.

donate £2,500 from the category sponsorship to Railway Children.

Tom O’Connor, David Maidment, Pat Maidment, and Keith Harding.

ScotRail backs family runners a father and son team is limbering up to compete in the Great Scottish Run in Glasgow.

Peter Watt, 49, a Driver Team Manager at Glasgow Queen Street for ScotRail will be running the half marathon with his son, Stephen Watt, 21, a conductor based at Stirling.

ScotRail’s Great Scottish Runners plan to raise money for Cancer Research UK. Peter Ward lost his mother, father and sister-in-law to cancer.

‘A combination of things made me decide to do the half marathon,’ says Peter. ‘I pulled a muscle in my back earlier on in the year and was then diagnosed with sciatica. I could hardly walk, never mind run. Also, around the

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same time, I was told I had arthritis in both my big toe joints which had been causing me some pain.

‘I had always kept myself reasonably fit but I was beginning to feel like I was falling to pieces. I decided that I would go back to the gym, which has also helped my back.’ Peter was also inspired by an old photo of him and six other ScotRail staff at the 1986 marathon.

‘I decided that I would love to run a marathon again if I could get fit enough, and thought it was probably now or never,’ he said.

First Group has contributed £500.00 to the fund raising efforts.

To sponsor Peter, visit www.justgiving.com/peter-watt

63

Satisfaction Guaranteed?

Finding fulfillment - Randstad campaign seeks to tackle low job satisfaction

with around 175,000 people currently employed by rail contractors, train companies and suppliers, the rail industry is growing and is set to become one of the uk’s main employers.

Staff satisfaction throughout most of the industry is high – check out the reports on the RailStaff Awards in this issue – but it needs to be nurtured.

The rail industry is growing, a phenomena looks set to continue.

Research by Greengauge 21 estimates that 89,000 design, construction and operations jobs will be created over the entire life of HS2 alone. For an industry that fully recognises a future shortfall in qualified and experienced engineers, the need to increase job satisfaction to better attract and retain skills is essential.

‘How I became...’

A new campaign launched by Randstad UK aims to achieve just that. Launching the new campaign, Mark Bull, chief

executive of Randstad UK, said, ‘We are issuing a rallying call to employers to join us in action to address the state of fulfilment at work in the UK. Our campaign for employees ‘How I Became’ is designed to help and inspire everyone to be more fulfilled.’

In the wider industrial world the UK is lagging behind in delivering job satisfaction to its employees, according to new research from Randstad. For its Fulfilment@Work report Randstad interviewed around 45,000 employees in the UK, Europe and English-speaking countries around the world.

Analysing satisfaction over a three-year period, Randstad found that employees in the UK had the lowest scores in nine out of the past 13 quarters. In the third quarter of this year, just 67 per cent of British employees said they were satisfied with their current employer.

Hiring more women The report recommends increasing job variety for workers

Doncaster debut for CML a civil engineering company taking on more work for the rail industry had to expand its workforce and open a new depot to cope with demand.

Leeds-based CML, Construction Marine Ltd, has been operating from its Chapel Allerton headquarters for 25 years. Extra work on railway civil engineering projects has seen it open a new depot at Denaby, near Doncaster, creating an additional 37 new jobs.

In the last two years CML has benefitted from Network Rail’s extra investment in improving the railway infrastructure funded by the government. The company has used the opportunity to capitalise and further invest in specialist skills such as rope access training and new plant to meet stiff rail safety requirements for working near operational railway lines.

Apparently success is all down to the staff.

Says CML’s managing director, Geoff Mortimer, ‘It’s a tribute to the hard work and commitment of our staff. Everyone in the business takes pride in their work and delivering the very best to our customers.’

64

as well as hiring more women, younger and older people. High age profile people are statistically more fulfilled in their work life.

‘Our report is designed to provoke debate but we have identified a number of practical solutions to these issues, and give employers an outline of what needs to change going forward to increase the professional fulfilment of their workforce,’ says Mark Bull.

The report looked at the direct impact low levels of job satisfaction can have on a company’s figures. It suggests that the average cost of an absence per employee is £975 a year. Each year

there are around 160 million working days lost because of absence, amounting to £14 billion.

Speaking at the launch of the Fulfilment@Work campaign, author and philosopher Alain de Botton highlighted the need for employees to rediscover pride in their place of work.

As a foreword to the study, De Botton wrote: ‘One of the great sources of satisfaction in work is the feeling that we are making a difference to people’s lives, that we have, at the end of the working day, somehow left the planet slightly healthier, tidier, saner than it was at the beginning.’

Final ticket check for awards Finalist ticket collector, Les thorington, aged 80, has finally stepped down.

Les, a familiar face to passengers at Leigh-on-Sea station, was nominated for a Lifetime Achievement award at the RailStaff Awards 2013 and made the shortlist.

Les has worked on the local line for 20 years for c2c, and its predecessors LTS Rail and British Rail. He first joined the route as a Revenue Protection Inspector, before working at Chalkwell for a year as a train dispatcher and then on the ticket gates at Leigh-on-Sea station.

Says c2c Managing Director Julian Drury, ‘Our thanks go to Les for all his efforts over the

last 20 years. He’s a well-known local face, having been a friend to thousands of customers, and he fully deserves this recognition for everything he has achieved. We wish him all the best for a very happy retirement.’

On Friday, his last day, Les was presented with gifts from colleagues and regular customers as a thank you for his good work.

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newS

Personal record for Steam Steve

Mind your manners please In a bid to improve the on board behaviour of its more exuberant passengers, First Capital Connect has launched a good manners guide.

The Modern Day Guide to Train Etiquette features important safety messages about walking on stairs, and arriving in good time to catch the train and not dropping litter or food.

Says FCC’s Customer Service Director, Keith Jipps, ‘We care about our passengers’ safety and comfort which is why we are leading a campaign to encourage safer and more considerate behaviour. We know from research that we need to use humour to grab people’s attention.

‘Some of these messages – such as don’t leave your rubbish behind for the ‘train fairies’ – also support the £350,000 investment announced earlier this week to give our passengers cleaner trains.’

FCC cleaners are using new equipment used in hospitals to deep clean the entire fleet. The train doctors are even cleaning trains while in service. The vocal minority of itinerant diners who speak loudly on a mobile phones, eat smelly food and put feet on seats are being encouraged to study the etiquette posters carefully.

one of the north York Moors Railway’s newest drivers, Steve Clark, completed a life time ambition recently by driving an a1 tornado on the evening dining train.

Steve can now say he has fired and driven all the classes of LNER Pacifics in preservation. A1 Tornado, A2 Blue Peter, A3 Flying Scotsman and A4s Sir Nigel Gresley, Union of South Africa and Bittern.

Steve started his preserved footplate life at the Nene Valley Railway in 1991 and has been a regular footplate man on the NYMR for over 20 years. He passed his driving test in May on Sir Nigel Gresley.

Says Steve, ‘I have been involved with NYMR for over 20 years and have gained a wealth of experience.

Passing my driving test saw me enter a new chapter in my footplate career. As much as I like driving you really cannot beat firing an engine - one of the most rewarding jobs there is.

When I was a child I dreamed of one day driving all these LNER Pacifics.’

turkish Delight a new railway tunnel under the bosporus connecting asia and europe is on track to open later this month.

The Marmaray Tunnel in Istanbul will be opened on 29th October 2013, by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister. The project includes a 13.6 kilometre tunnel and a modernised 63 kilometre local rail network plus three new underground railway stations and the modernisation of 37 further stations.

The Marmaray Tunnel is built to withstand earthquakes which measure up to 9 on the Richter scale. Leipzig company, Goldschmidt Thermit put together the track. British company www.railstaff.co.uk

The Marmaray Tunnel will connect Asia and Europe.

Invensys Rail has been making preparations for the official opening 29th October 2013, the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey.

‘The Marmaray tunnel brings Europe and Asia closer together.

This improves the traffic infrastructure between two continents and also at the

historical location of the Bosporus helps to build a bridge between different cultures,’ says HansJürgen Mundinger, Chairman of Goldschmidt Thermit

65

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We offer services such as railway 5%(6#'56/()Q!5/@/7!0()/(00#/()Q!6#'/(/()! '(1!1#'/(')0!3%#!6:0!#'/7Q!6#'(*?%#6Q! utilities and construction sectors. The company has grown to become one of 6:0!FXU*!7'#)0*6!?#%@/10#*!%3!#'/7!

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Network Rail and other major suppliers. With various engineering '(1!/(3#'*6#>56>#0!5%(6#'56*Q!'*!T077! as providing market leading training 5%>#*0*Q!I-.!&#%>?!/*!'!%(0!*6%?! shop for most business needs. We are always looking for new additions 6%!%>#!60'GQ!*%!/3!<%>!6:/(N!<%>!:'@0!

T:'6!T0!(001Q!)06!/(!6%>5:Y!C/*/6!%>#! website to find out more about us.

Email us your CV today Recruitment@qtsgroup.com Or find us on RailwayPeople.com

www.railstaff.co.uk

66

CaReeRS RAIL RECRUITMENT PROFESSIONALS For more details visit our dedicated website section:

www.anderselite.com/rail-jobs

CDI AndersElite has been supplying permanent and contract staff to the rail sector for over 20 years.

We are specialists in providing rail jobs for permanent, temporary and contract positions.

Call us today: Leeds Tel: 0113 242 0303 London Tel: 020 7743 7500

PROJECT MANAGER - £40 - £50k | Nationwide – York office

CONSTRUCTION MANAGER - £40 – 50k + benefits | Kent

Responsible for the Project Management of a variety of schemes ranging from footbridges, station refurbishments, under and over bridges, platform extensions and others. You will have a strong background in the delivery of projects within the rail

A growing, privately owned Contractor is seeking several Construction Managers to initially support a major rail project in the Kent area and be responsible for managing a section of works on the project. They are seeking HNC/D/Degree

industry, ideally with the majority of this work being civil engineering related. Candidates should ideally have a civil engineering related background (degree qualified or equivalent) and have previous CRE experience however this is not essential.

or equivalent educated individuals who are able to work on their own initiative, have excellent communication and interpersonal skills and lead by example.

You will have extensive experience of working on Rail/Civil projects.

Contact: Jon Sheridan | 0113 242 0303 | jon.sheridan@anderselite.com

Contact: Rob Hobdell | 0207 7432 7529 | rob.hobdell@anderselite.com

SITE MANAGERS - £220 - £270 day rate | Yorkshire region

SUB AGENT - £35 – 40k + benefits | London

Two site managers are required with current PTS, SMSTS and previous experience of working on Railway Civil Engineering schemes. Candidates will

Sub Agent required to assist in the delivery of a Crossrail project. This technically challenging work involves the delivery in and around operational

be familiar with writing WPP’s and Task Briefings. These are ongoing contract roles with a well-known local engineering company.

rail and would suit an individual with a high level of experience and extensive rail knowledge. Strong main contractor background required.

Contact: Jon Sheridan | 0113 242 0303 | jon.sheridan@anderselite.com

Contact: Rob Hobdell | 0207 7432 7529 | rob.hobdell@anderselite.com

ESTIMATOR - £22 - £35k | West Yorkshire

SENIOR QUANTITY SURVEYOR - up to £65k + benefits | London

We have a current requirement for an Estimator to join a well-known contractor.

Ideally you will have some previous estimating or commercial experience,

Established business with a strong heritage and healthy forward order book undertaking complex Crossrail schemes including utilities diversions and

contactus@anderselite.com

and will hold a civil engineering qualification. You will be working within a highly skilled bids team with the opportunity for further progression.

Contact: Jon Sheridan | 0113 242 0303 | jon.sheridan@anderselite.com

strengthening, deep excavation and pipe jacking. Ideally Chartered, with a degree or equivalent and a thorough understanding of the NEC contracts.

Contact: Fallon O’Keeffe | 0207 743 7554 | fallon.okeeffe@anderselite.com

CDI AndersElite welcomes applications from all and does not discriminate on grounds of colour, race, nationality, ethnic or national origin, sex (including gender reassignment), sexual orientation, religion or belief, age, being married or a civil partner, or physical or mental disability. CDI AndersElite Ltd operates as both an Employment Agency and Employment Business.

www.trsstaffing.com

Signalling Staff Western Region Areas

Rail and Infrastructure Vacancies 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. Currently we have vacancies for the following:

Telecoms Design Project Engineers

E&P/OLE Engineers

London - £350 - 500/day or £45 - 60K Mainline Rail Project Experience

London/Manchester/Birmingham £35 - 60K or £350 - 500/day Working on major new projects

Project Engineers- Civils

P6 Planners

London, North West & South West £40 - 60K or £350 - 450/day Rail experience including station, platform & bridge designs

London, Swindon & Midlands £40 - 50K or £300 – 400/day Experience of Network Rail projects, Primavera experience essential

Senior Quantity Surveyor

Rail Project Managers (CRE), Site Agent & Sub-Agents

NEC contract experience required London and Swindon £35 - 60K or £300 - 400/day Utilities, Airport or Rail experience with a Civils background

Regional- £35 - 55K or £250 - 400/day Experience on rail Civils works – Bridge refurbishments, embankments and Earthworks

Due to our rapidly expanding rail business, Signalling Construction UK Ltd require the following for short and long term project work covering the Network Rail Western Region Areas of Paddington, Reading, Swindon, Bromsgrove, Worcester, Gloucester, Exeter and Penzance: • Signalling Staff: SMTH, G110 Testers, Installers - IRSE Licensed We want to hear from candidates that are competent SMTH Testers and G110 Testers with experience in any role where thay have demonstrated an equality in Signalling SMTH Testing.

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

+44 (0)20 7419 5800 or email rail@trsstaffing.com

Rail, Infrastructure & Construction 68

Please forward your CV to: karen@scukltd.com

Signalling Construction UK Ltd. www.railstaff.co.uk

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Arup are at the cutting edge of UK rail, working on iconic projects from concept to detailed design such as HS2 and ERTMS. With a rail turnover of circa £100m and a large national !"#$%&'$('')*'$(+,!-.'#!/%!'0'102$%'3405!%'6 ' "7!')*'0 8'6 "!% 0"6$ 04'%064'10%&!"'0 8'!134$5' an extensive number of rail staff.

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We shape a better world

9!'0%!'0 '6 8!3! 8! "'+%1'$# !8'=5'$:%' !134$5!!-.'044$#6 <':-'"$'-70%!'3%$+"-'=!"#!! ' all staff members but also giving us the freedom to choose to work on the most interesting and rewarding 3%$2!,"-.'($%'"7!'=! !+"'$('-"0(('0 8',46! "-'046&!A B('5$:/%!'4$$&6 <'($%'-$1!"76 <' !#.'0 8'6('5$:'#0 "' "$'+ 8'$:"'#75'"7!'C0%D0%8'E:-6 !--'F!D6!#'-068' #!/D!',%!0"!8'$ !'$('"7!'=!-"'#$%&6 <'! D6%$ 1! "-' in the world, drop us a line via railcareers@arup.com

G$'+ 8'$:"'1$%!'0=$:"'%064'0"'H%:3'34!0-!' visit www.arup.com/rail or scan the QR code.

CaReeRS

Train Drivers £Competitive, Various Locations within the UK Balfour Beatty Rail is an international leader in the design, construction, maintenance, management and renewal of rail assets and systems. We operate and maintain a diverse fleet of On Track Machines and we currently have a range of interesting opportunities for experienced train drivers to help deliver our expanding business portfolio.

The roles primarily involve route conducting duties for the Balfour Beatty operated and maintained Rail Grinding fleet.

The machines operate throughout the UK and we are particularly interested to hear from train drivers with current or recent route knowledge of the east and west coast main lines and other routes down the west side of the UK, including South Wales and South west England. There may also be opportunities to perform driving duties in other parts of our business and also to acquire machine operation skills.

Candidates will need to possess the following key skills and experience: Ÿ A qualified train driver with a good safety record. Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

In return we offer a competitive salary and benefits package.

Experience of the operation of on track plant, or an ability and willingness to learn.

Able to carry out minor maintenance and repairs.

Good awareness of health and safety requirements, particularly as they relate to train operations.

Be able to make a positive contribution to a small dedicated team working on high profile contracts.

A flexible approach to work, being prepared to work around a roster that includes night, weekends, bank holidays and respond to short notice changes of plan.

Appreciate the importance of good customer relations.

Able to communicate clearly and concisely, both verbally and in writing.

Hold a current UK driving licence with no more than 6 penalty points.

To find out more call our recruitment team on 0115 9210471, or apply on line at www.bbrailjobs.com or in writing to: Dave Brewin, HR Advisor, Balfour Beatty Rail Plant, Old Station Yard, Sandiacre, Nottingham NG10 5AG.

UK RAIL

UK Rail Maintenance is a new independent Traction & Rolling Stock Maintenance Company, which together with its sister company UK Rail Leasing, has been set up to provide resources to the Heavy Rail Freight industry. UKRM will provide the engineering

MAINTENANCE

expertise including Maintenance, Repair and Testing of Traction & Rolling Stock and components to the group. We are currently recruiting:

Depot Supervisor £30,000 - £40,000, Leicester

Rail Depot Mechanical / Electrical Fitter £27,000 to £35,000, Leicester You should be ideally time served and have a minimum of 5 years experience working in a heavy engineering based industry. Experience in Traction & Rolling Stock and particularly heavy freight locomotives would be a distinct advantage.

You will be required to:-

Key skills and requirements for the role include:-

•

•

• The roles will be based from the Depot working a 40 hours week, normally Monday – Friday; however weekend working and overtime will sometimes be inevitable.

Reporting to the Depot Supervisor/ Manager, you will be responsible for the repair & examination of a range of Traction & Rolling Stock particularly diesel electric locomotives.

www.railstaff.co.uk

• •

• •

Maintain, repair and test Traction & Rolling Stock and components using vehicle maintenance instructions, schematics and procedures Operate equally as a member of a work team, or alone Participate in Company Initiatives Be flexible including working away from home, occasional nights away and prepared to be trained in other areas of railway operations.

Provide on the job training to less experienced colleagues as requested Maintain good housekeeping within the working area

• • • • • •

Time-served apprenticeship/ qualification in a relevant discipline Experience of Traction System products Able to act as a member of a multidisciplined team & work alone Developed analytical and problem solving skills Strong interpersonal skills Work on own initiative where required Good judgement and decision-making capability

To apply, please email your CV to ukrm@railwaypeople.info

70

!"#$%&''&!$()*$*"+% ,*$-%#%.#+$%/&0*)1% 2&/'#)3%*)%4!*+$&5 Signalling Solutions is a company formed by combining the complementary signalling resources and products of Alstom Transport Information Solutions UK and Balfour Beatty Rail Projects.

If you are looking for a new challenge and want to make a real contribution to the success of our business, we have opportunities in the following disciplines: • Design • Testing • Planning • Project Management • Administration • Quantity Surveying • Installation Management • Project Engineering • Health, Safety and Environmental • Systems Engineering

If you want to work with a forward thinking company and the latest cutting edge technology, apply today.

In return for your commitment and contribution, you can expect an excellent package and the opportunity to shape your career the way that you want, with training, development and career planning.

All the advertised positions have the following benefits: We offer a competitive salary plus a range of benefits including a contributory pension and 25 days holiday.

For more information please visit www.signallingsolutions.com or apply by sending your CV to recruitment@signallingsolutions.com

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a Balfour Beatty and Alstom company

Nationwide Occupational Health Services

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