Respond, Rebuild, Revive and Renew

26th June 2020

Andrew Haines considers a post-Covid railway

Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines holds round-table briefings with the editors of the rail industry’s press, including Rail Engineer and sister publication RailStaff, every six months or so.

On 8 June, thanks to the Covid-19 lockdown, no table was in evidence and instead everyone logged into Zoom. Andrew Haines spoke for about 15 minutes, then opened the sessions up to questions from those attending. It was a far-reaching session, and gave Andrew the chance to explain how he felt the four phases of Covid-19’s had affected and would still have an impact on the rail industry. In doing so, he used the four ‘R’ words.

Respond

Andrew Haines considers that the railways have responded very well to the Covid-19 crisis and is immensely proud of what his colleagues have done. The railway was given a “peculiar brief” – to run a sensible level of service for key workers, regardless of how many people were using them. He considered the reduction in train services was the industry’s biggest ever short-term train planning exercise, which went remarkably smoothly.

The industry has also done a good job of maintaining capital investment, as Network Rail and its supply chain have worked in an agile manner to respond to challenges of social distancing. As a result, in April and May, about £1 billion was spent on renewal and enhancements. During this time, rapid payments were made to suppliers. Few, if any, other parts of the economy have managed to sustain that level of economic activity.

There have also been some fantastic examples of rail industry colleagues helping the broader community. Network Rail helped build the Manchester Nightingale hospital and was involved in the provision of PPE for the NHS, for example, having arranged for a lemonade bottle manufacturer near Stockport to manufacture temporary visors.

Rebuild

What Andrew considered to be a “big ask” is the ramping up of services, to around 85 per cent of previous levels, on Monday 6 July. Whilst Network Rail was very pleased with the decision to mandate face coverings on public transport in England from 15 June, he was concerned that, if the requirement is to maximise trains, passengers and social distancing, a “very chaotic situation” will be the result.

Although the industry explained the consequences of differing levels of social distancing, government has yet to decide whether to relax this. It considers that such a decision must be based on scientific evidence.

Yet the government is faced with conflicting scientific advice on the effectiveness of face coverings, despite strong evidence that their use could safely allow a reduced social distance, as explained in our feature about face coverings elsewhere in this issue.

Revive

It clearly will be a long time before there is a return to the previous levels of travel. Hence Andrew feels that the revival of rail travel is fundamental. This means that the industry shouldn’t take passengers and freight users for granted and that a reliable timetable with excellent train performance will be essential.

He also considers that more space will be needed for cyclists and that a sustained marketing campaign, not seen since the days of British Rail, will be required.

The Covid-19 crisis will almost certainly drive fare reform, as it has accelerated the trend of flexible and home working. As revenue risk is no longer with the train operating companies, it seems likely that the Department for Transport will have to lead fare reform – and do so quickly.

The emergency measures arrangements that replaced franchising need to be replaced this September with something more sustainable. The challenge will be to devise contracts that provide an effective response to a variable situation at a time of reduced revenue.

Andrew also felt that there is still an appetite for rail reform, a topic in which Keith Williams is still actively involved. The government is considering how to deal with his recommendations now that franchising has been largely parked. As it is unlikely that there will not be much time for parliamentary legislation to create a new body, the issue is how much can be done through a combination of direct DfT control, industry collaboration and collective leadership.

Renewal

Despite the enormous financial pressures, Andrew advised that “we are hearing encouraging messages from government about the desire for further infrastructure spend” and that “we are not yet seeing a threatened cull of capital or revenue expenditure.” Yet his message to the supply chain is that “you have got to work with us to drive efficiencies” as doing this is “going to make or break our ability to access additional government funding in the next few years”.

For its part, Network Rail must improve the way that GRIP (Governance for Railway Investment Projects) is applied. He advised that the company is looking very radically at this to reduce timescales and costs. Yet, many consider there’s nothing wrong with GRIP and that the problem is it being applied in a cumbersome way with endless months spent on optioneering and spurious risk assessments.

The speed at which work was mobilised for the Kilsby tunnel blockade and derailment repairs on the Gospel Oak to Barking line gave Andrew hope that the GRIP process can be reformed. He thought that the key lessons from these examples is to reinstate the power of the professional engineer, railway operator and railway manager. Essentially, he felt that this was about “repositioning the position of the professionals in the industry to take those key decisions”.

Electrification

Having tackled the four Rs, Andrew moved on to other topics, largely as a response to questions from the ‘virtual floor’.

He confirmed that Network Rail will be presenting its Traction Decarbonisation Network Strategy to the DfT in July in accordance with the original timescale. The hope is that this will result in an extensive electrification programme. The sense he is getting is that Ministers are taking it very seriously but are not yet quite ready to go public.

Network Rail has always advised that a continuous programme is required. If government require this, Network Rail could provide the supply chain with the continuity of demand that would facilitate investment in skills and technology to get a better price.

He was absolutely determined to demonstrate that Network Rail has ‘fit for purpose’ electrification standards. He advised that “what we do know is that we can do more electrification on the Transpennine route upgrade more cheaply, because of the work that we have done to significantly reduce electrification clearances, which has driven a lot of costs out of structures”.

In the short-term, the Midland main line electrification could be extended. However, there may be a short lead time before electrification can be restarted. Network Rail recognised the importance of keeping experienced teams together and he thought that was why the government is looking to move quickly. He hoped the supply chain recognised this and would not do anything rash in this respect.

Track worker safety

The recent double tragedy of Margam in July, followed by another track fatality at Roade in April, sadly highlighted the importance of improved track safety arrangements.

Andrew advised that investment in a track worker safety task force had been approved two weeks before the Margam fatalities and that its programme had four elements:

Planning and undertaking maintenance, for which progress has been made with Covid driving risk-based maintenance;
Technology such as track warning systems, which are not consistently used across the network;
Signaller workload and the use of line blockages – one challenge is that Covid is limiting access to signalling centres for assessments;
Culture.

Of these, culture is the most difficult issue to address. Andrew felt that although, in many ways the industry had a positive culture, some behaviours needed to be improved. He also felt that informal relationships mitigated against safety-critical communications.

In this respect he had some challenging, honest and constructive discussions with Trade Union leaders and his own colleagues.

In the hour that he spent talking and answering questions, one thing that came across very strongly was Andrew’s belief that Network Rail is part of the railway as a whole. He is, no doubt, very close to the train operators, both individually and collectively through the Rail Delivery Group. He was quite prepared to answer questions on train operations, whether passengers should wear face masks and how they keep their distance – for example commenting that keeping two metres apart while boarding a busy train would adversely affect both dwell times and adherence to the timetable.

It was a very revealing session.

Face coverings – Why can’t scientists agree?

26th June 2020

When Grant Shapps advised that face coverings would be compulsory for those using public transport, he noted that scientists aren’t in full agreement about face coverings. Yet it is difficult to understand why the transmission of the Covid-19 virus should be a matter of scientific debate. Furthermore, such disagreements weaken the essential requirement for a clear message.

Keeping two-metre social distancing as trains get busier will, to quote Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines, “result in a very chaotic situation”, which has its own risks. If effective, face coverings offer a way to reduce this distance safely. This issue is therefore of crucial importance to the rail industry and the safety of its passengers and staff.

Asking the right question

Fundamental to this disagreement is what question is being asked. If it is “how can members of the public be protected?”, then home-made face coverings are not the answer. The fine aerosol carrying the virus can only be stopped by a high-filtration surgical grade mask.

A more meaningful question is “how to control the virus at source”, which requires constraining the virus-laden fluid particles from the mouth. A paper produced by the University of Edinburgh entitled “Face Coverings, Aerosol Dispersion and Mitigation of Virus Transmission Risk” explains that the optical technique of schlieren imaging was used to visualise airflows from the mouth. This showed that coughing ejects droplets at around 10 metres per second and concluded that all masks enable a reduction of at least 90 per cent of the distance of the front throughflow.

The paper by Trisha Greenhalgh, Professor of Primary Health Sciences at the University of Oxford, entitled “Face coverings for the public: Laying straw men to rest”, provides detailed evidence to show that face coverings constrain the virus and rebuts criticism of one of her earlier papers.

Follow the science

Professor Greenhalgh considers the basic science of Covid-19, which replicates in the upper respiratory tract and so is likely to be transmitted mainly by relatively large droplets emitted by coughing, sneezing, and speaking. They then quickly turn into aerosols which are much harder to block.

Although individuals suffering from the virus should not be on public transport, Greenhalgh demonstrates that there is significant virus transmission by those without symptoms. She also shows that face covering need not be 100 per cent effective, as mathematical modelling suggests face coverings that are only 60 per cent effective and only worn by 60 per cent of the population would reduce the R number to below 1.0.

She provides examples of the effectiveness of face coverings. In one, a mask-wearing virus carrier who flew from China to Toronto and did not infect anyone else on the plane. Another example is the Czech Republic and Austria, which both introduced social distancing on the same day, with the former mandating compulsory face coverings. New infections fell more quickly in the Czech Republic, and only began to fall in Austria after masks were made mandatory two weeks later.

In her rebuttal of the criticisms of her earlier paper, Greenhalgh considers the respective merits of “systematic” and “narrative” reviews. She considers that, whilst systematic reviews, with their controlled experiments, are suitable for narrowly defined biomedical questions, more complex problems require the insight of a narrative review. She notes that, in the face of a pandemic, the search for perfect evidence may be the enemy of good policy.

Thus, it seems that the scientific disagreement about face coverings is about answering the right question and academic differences over scientific method. Reaching the correct conclusion requires consideration of all relevant factors, including the risks associated with a large increase in road traffic if rail commuter services can only operate at 15 per cent of their capacity.

If all such factors are considered, the rationale for face coverings is irrefutable. Yet this needs to be clearly explained to the public if their use, and any associated reduction in social distancing on trains, is to be accepted.

All safety practitioners know that, in the hierarchy of risk controls, the priority should be to remove the hazard at source and that PPE should be the last line of defence. Trisha Greenhalgh presents a convincing argument to demonstrate that face-coverings can largely eliminate the hazard of Covid-19 at source.

Contract signed for three year restoration of Bristol Temple Meads

26th June 2020

Bristol Temple Meads station is set to be brought back to its former glory as a huge restoration programme gets underway this summer.  

Network Rail has signed Taziker to be the primary contractor in a three-year refurbishment of the famous Victorian roof on the city’s oldest station.

As well as refreshing the roof for a cleaner, brighter experience for passengers, work on the Grade I listed structure will protect it from further deterioration for future generations. It will involve extensive metal and woodwork repairs and the complete re-glazing of the roof and canopies. This is the first major refurbishment of the station roof in over 25 years and is due for completion in 2023.  

The £24 million contract is good news for the economy in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, with around 75 full-time workers expected onsite at the peak of the project. In addition, Taziker has also committed to creating apprenticeships for local people; offering a unique opportunity to work alongside experts with experience on other heritage landmarks including Brunel’s Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol and the Royal Albert Bridge in Plymouth.  

The project is part of a wider programme of railway upgrades in the area to improve reliability, capacity and the overall passenger experience.   

This includes the remodelling of a crucial junction just outside the station, a complete rewire of the station’s electrical system, and, in collaboration with West of England Combined Authority, the creation of a new station entrance which will offer access to a new university of Bristol campus and the east of the city. 

Mike Gallop, Western route director, Network Rail, said: “This is a great moment for Bristol and the whole West of England as we will be providing a brighter station for passengers, worthy of the original creator, Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

“We’re ambitious about our plans for the railway in the city, and this is just the first step in providing a world-class station to enable more people to get to their jobs and encouraging more investment in the area.”

Work commences to improve Victorian drainage at Manchester Victoria station

26th June 2020

Work is commencing on a scheme to prevent flooding around Manchester Victoria station. The Department for Transport is investing £1 million in the critical scheme, which will bring drainage systems around the 166-year old station into the 21st century.

Drainage systems in the basement of the station will be connected to the River Irk, which runs underneath the station, providing a more efficient way of draining the station building for the 8.9 million passengers who use it every year.

Manchester Victoria Station – Victoria Facade.

The drainage system underneath the road in front of the station will be completely replaced, and drainpipes on the historic station façade will be cleaned and maintained to ensure they are working at full capacity.

The work will begin on 28 June and is set to complete in October.

Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris said: “Bringing Manchester Victoria’s drainage system from the Victorian era into the 21st century will help give passengers the reliable services they deserve, reducing frustrating disruptions.

“This is part of a wider £10 million rail investment to reduce the risk of flooding in the Manchester area, which will help protect the city and surrounding area from damage and delay.”

Rory Kingdon, senior sponsor at Network Rail, said: “It’s a testament to Victorian engineering that so much of the infrastructure our predecessors built is still surviving and thriving, but the time is right to bring the drainage systems at Manchester Victoria into the 21st century.

“Carrying out this work now should mean less passengers are affected by any disruption around the station, and we’ll be ready to welcome back travellers to a warm and dry station when it’s safe to do so.”

First step towards new HS2 station at Euston completed

25th June 2020

Preparations at London Euston for the construction of HS2 have taken the next step with the demolition of the station’s western ramp and canopy.

Removal of the structure, which has been in place since the modernisation of Euston in the 1960s as part of the electrification of the West Coast main line, took 13 weeks and paves the way for the construction of the new HS2 Euston station.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, work on site was paused on 23 March but restarted on 16 April once Government-approved safe working practices were in place. The work was carried out by Network Rail, HS2 and its contractor Skanska.

The western ramp was used to access the parcel deck on the first floor of the station. The area was once used as a Royal Mail parcel sorting depot, taking parcels from the trains on three dedicated platforms for parcel freight.

Skanska – Euston Station, Cutline – West Ramp Demolition 2020 02-05 – V7

The ramp allowed vehicle access to the upper deck, but the parcel depot was taken out of use when post began being transported on road due to increased passenger demand.

Patrick Cawley, HS2 and Network Rail On Network Works director, said: “The completion of this work is of major significance to the HS2 project and marks the first piece of structural work to Euston station in order for the new high speed station to be built. It has been an important and successful piece of collaborative work between the teams at HS2, Network Rail and Skanska.

“HS2 will transform the way we travel in the UK, helping to improve the current train network and providing new low carbon journeys and improving air quality for future generations.”

Patrick Vallely, senior programme manager for HS2 enabling works and the station redevelopment said: “I’m excited to be a part of the joint NR , HS2 and Skanska team that through great collaboration , effort and use of joint skills successfully dismantled the west ramp and canopy to meet the original completion date – despite a necessary pause in works for 3-4 weeks to implement essential Covid-19 safety measures.”

HS2 reveals list of bidders for Curzon Street station

25th June 2020

HS2 has revealed the names of the construction firms in the running to build Birmingham Curzon Street station – which will be the high-speed rail project’s city centre terminus.

The companies that will be invited to tender for the £570 million contract:

BAM Ferrovial (a joint venture consisting of BAM Nuttall Ltd and Ferrovial Construction (UK) Limited)
Laing O’Rourke Construction Limited
Mace Dragados (a joint venture consisting of Mace Limited and Dragados S.A. UK Branch)

HS2 suggests that this announcement will help provide confidence for Britain’s construction and engineering sector, with the contracts set to secure hundreds of jobs as the industry moves out of coronavirus lockdown.

Birmingham Curzon Street station, which recently became the first HS2 station to gain planning approval, will be net zero carbon in operation and will adopt the latest eco-friendly design and sustainable technologies, including capturing rainwater and utilising sustainable power generation, with over 2,800m2 of solar panels located on platform canopies.

It is designed to meet a ‘BREEAM excellent’ standard, which is an industry recognised standard for buildings that reduce energy usage and materials waste and minimise their impact on the natural environment.

David Poole, HS2’s procurement and commercial director, said: “Birmingham Curzon Street is absolutely at the heart of the HS2 project and will help transform the city and the economy of the wider region. We are looking for a partner to take on the highly complex construction phase, working with us to deliver this logistical and engineering challenge.

“It’s great to see how much interest there is in the competition and we look forward to working with the successful bidder to deliver, what will be a new low-carbon architectural landmark for Birmingham and the UK.”

HS2 worked with WSP and Grimshaw Architects LLP on the design for Curzon Street, which is inspired by the great arched roofs built by the Victorian railway pioneers. The design takes that inspiration into the 21st Century, ensuring accessibility and a focus on the open space and landscaping around it.

Alongside up to nine high speed trains an hour, passengers will also be able to access the Midland Metro, which runs alongside and underneath the station, while accessible pedestrian routes lead to local bus services, Sprint rapid transit bus services and local rail services from the neighbouring Moor Street station. Cycle parking has also been incorporated, providing space for more than 550 bicycles.

Significant progress has already been made on site. A massive archaeological programme, involving 70 archaeologists, has unearthed the world’s oldest railway roundhouse. Demolitions and ground investigations are preparing the site for construction, and utility diversions are set to begin in the summer.

The two-stage Design and Build contract will see the winning bidder work closely with HS2 to develop the detailed design and construction of Curzon Street Station. Contracts are expected to be awarded next year.