4 | the rail engineer | november 2011
IN BRIEF New platforms Birmingham New Street development continues as Birse Rail and Balfour Beatty Regional Civil Engineering have been awarded a £16 million contract to refurbish and reconstruct Platforms 2 to 11. The works, which will include fitting new escalators, lifts, lighting and platform finishes, form part of the £600 million rebuilding of the Birmingham station and will run until 2013. The new section of concourse, currently under construction by delivery partner Mace, will be open in December 2012. the rail engineer will be visiting the New Street site and reporting on latest developments in our February 2012 issue.
All change Philip Hammond MP has left the expanding Department for Transport to take over at the declining Ministry of Defence (a promotion?). In comes Justine Greening MP from the Treasury to take over as Secretary of State for Transport.
news
TRAINING
Bringing on new blood In order to reduce the skills shortage and bring new blood into the railway infrastructure industry, Network Rail has signed an agreement with two civil engineering associations to develop a programme which will better equip civil engineers of the future. The graduate development scheme will see Network Rail working with the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) and the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) to create a cross industry programme of training and experience for civil engineer graduates. The agreement will allow graduates working for Network Rail to spend time with other civil engineering organisations and vice versa, providing a cross industry level of experience. Neil Thompson, Network Rail programme director for infrastructure investment, said: “This agreement provides an excellent platform for our engineering graduates to gain cross industry experience, working with different organisations to develop their knowledge and skills. It will
also help the future of the engineering industry and develop our business by providing better equipped, more knowledgeable engineers who will help to deliver a safer and better value for money railway for Britain.”
Paul Clark (Network Rail), Mike Cocks (CECA) and Graham Nicholson (ACE) sign agreement. The agreement was signed at The Infrastructure Show, held at the NEC in Birmingham on 17-19 Oct 2011.
ENVIRONMENT
Shine a light on Blackfriars At the same time, Dutch state railway operator NedRail has been awarded a short term franchise to run trains in Greater Anglia under its Abellio brand. The agreement runs for only 29 months from February 2012. The new franchise period, of course, covers the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Quicker payments Delays in payments have always been a cause for complaint for both large and small contractors in the rail industry. Now Network Rail’s investment projects arm has reduced the time it takes to pay contractors and suppliers to 21 days, down from 56 days. This new practice applies to all new investment projects works contracts from 1 October 2011. It will not be applied retrospectively to earlier contracts. David McLoughlin, finance and commercial director, Network Rail investment projects, said: “Suppliers and contractors of all sizes will now have much greater certainty over cash flows.”
The new Blackfriars station - which is being built on a bridge spanning the River Thames - is on its way to becoming the world’s largest solar bridge after work started recently to install over 4,400 solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. The Victorian bridge, built in 1886, is the foundation for the new Blackfriars station, which is being upgraded by Network Rail to cater for more passengers and an improved train service. A new roof,
added to the historic structure, will incorporate over 6,000m2 of PV panels, creating the biggest solar array in London. The solar panels will generate an estimated 900,000kWh of electricity every year, providing 50% of the station’s energy and reducing CO2 emissions by an estimated 511 tonnes per year. In addition to solar panels, other energy saving measures at the new station will include rain harvesting systems and
sun pipes for natural lighting. Lindsay Vamplew, Network Rail’s project director for Blackfriars, said: “We’re creating a spacious, modern station while at the same time installing London’s largest solar array to make Blackfriars more environmentally-friendly and sustainable. Constructed in the age of steam, we’re bringing it bang up to date with twenty first century solar technology to create an iconic station for the city.”