Image: Leeds station roof – a TSP project with Network Rail.
TSP Projects, the engineering arm of British Steel, has been acquired by French consultancy and engineering concern Systra.
The move doubles the French company’s presence in the UK and
will be known as ‘TSP Projects, a Systra company’.
TSP Projects’ expertise in civil engineering,
electrification and track will expand and complement Systra’s existing UK rail
engineering business. The French company, which is owned jointly by SNCF and
RATP, already boasts national and international experience in high speed rail,
heavy rail, metro, light rail transit and transport consultancy.
This major investment by the French company creates an 800-strong
combined workforce in the UK and provides TSP Projects with a permanent owner
aligned with its core activity. With an annual turnover of £35million, TSP
Projects currently employs over 400 people across five offices in the UK: York,
Manchester, Birmingham, Reading and Bristol and, from today, the teams will
work alongside Systra Ltd, which has 13 UK offices.
Pascal Mercier, Systra Ltd CEO said: “As the signature team
for transportation solutions, Systra is committed to providing clients with
truly specialist expertise, delivered locally. This acquisition is a
game-changer for our UK & Ireland business, placing us among the leading UK
consulting engineering firms. This is a good fit between two like-minded
companies with a shared commitment to excellence, safety and innovation.”
The UK has a clear target to reach net zero emissions by
2050. Rail is already a naturally low-carbon means of transport, responsible
for less than 2.5 per cent of total transport emissions and about 0.6 per cent
of the UK’s total emissions. But in a world where electric cars are becoming
quickly commonplace, to remain competitive, rail’s emissions can and must be
reduced even further.
Industry must play its part, not least by meeting the
Government’s challenge to remove all diesel-only trains by 2040. As the Committee
on Climate Change’s report in June outlined, decarbonisation by 2050 is
achievable and affordable but it means every sector, not just some, need to
act.
At Alstom, we believe a two-pronged approach is essential
here. Electrification is the only viable technology that can be deployed for
high-speed and very long-distance passenger parts of the network, and it will
have a crucial role in the coming years as the network winds down its usage of
diesel trains.
For other parts of the network, where electrification is not
feasible due to costs or practicalities, hydrogen is the most viable answer. It
is proven to work by Alstom in Germany, and ready to enter the UK network soon
through Alstom and Eversholt Rail’s ‘Breeze’ project to convert Class 321s to hydrogen-powered
at Alstom’s train modernisation centre in Widnes.
As a global leader in electrification, Alstom also has the proven and innovative solutions to ensure electrification of the network can play its part in taking polluting diesel trains off the rails. This innovation brings a wider range of benefits too, from a reduction in construction risk, improved health and safety during the works, and the need for less kit that, in turn, improves the public realm.
Lecco.
Alstom’s electrification pedigree
Nestled in the foothills of the Italian Alps lies the
beautiful Italian city of Lecco, situated on the edge of Lake Como and the home
to Alstom’s in-house centre for excellence for electrification components. It
is here that Alstom’s high-speed electrification systems, which are installed
throughout Europe, are manufactured and supplied.
In the UK, this has meant that the Lecco factory has also
supplied much of the electrification equipment for the railway systems being
installed by Alstom’s joint venture with TSO and Costain in the Crossrail
tunnels. This electrification system is based on Alstom’s OCS3 range of
equipment, with Alstom S&I Lecco rigid overhead conductor beams being used
throughout the tunnels.
Having complete ranges of electrification equipment suitable
for mainline, high-speed and urban schemes has been a critical factor in Alstom
achieving its global leading position in electrification. As part of this,
Lecco has produced the Clever Cantilever, or CLever, developed specifically for
use in the UK and now fully part of the Network Rail Master Series range of
equipment. This innovative electrification support system has now been in
operation on the UK network since 2016.
High-output delivery in the construction phase is something that Alstom has developed over a number of years in specialist wiring techniques. In October 2015, Alstom introduced its wiring train in the UK. Modified specifically for use on the British network, this was successfully deployed on the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme then subsequently on Stirling, Dunblane, Alloa and Shotts. The train consists of seven vehicles, each of which has a specific purpose – a traction crane and MEWP (mobile elevating work platform) unit, drum carrier, wire tensioner, manipulator and MEWP, two independent MEWPs and a traction unit with MEWP and pantograph.
Wiring train.
The wiring train has the advantage of being classed as an
OTM (on-track machine) and, as such, can travel loco-hauled. Once the train
gets to the work site and into the possession, it can run out catenary and
contact wire together at full line tension. The individual units that comprise
the train can split, allowing registration activities to be undertaken and the
fitment of any in-line items such as section insulators and the like. The wiring
train can also be used to run ancillary wires such as earth wires and feeder
wires, providing a complete electrification delivery solution.
The advantage of the Alstom electrification installation
system is that three wire runs can be completed in one shift, compared with
four shifts conventionally for one typical wire run. A higher quality installed
tension length is achieved due to the mechanisation and, as with all Alstom
innovations, the focus is on safety as the number of trackside workers is reduced.
This innovative and unique electrification delivery system was highly commended
in the 2019 Rail Partnership Awards for driving efficiency.
With any infrastructure project, successful delivery and
commissioning frequently requires long, costly possessions. When combined with
the safety risk element of having multiple workforces on track, any innovative
development that improves safety while reducing the commissioning period,
saving time and money, is valuable. In this regard, Alstom’s industry-leading signalling
business has developed its SMARTCert tool suite to eliminate the need to use
spreadsheet trackers and paper-based reporting – this tool can also be applied
to electrification projects to provide efficiency benefits.
The SMARTCert system allows all stakeholders within the commissioning process to interact and obtain all the information they require from one single source of truth. SMARTCert allows for multi-user access, a single source of information and process improvements to the paper and spreadsheet-based process whilst still complying with the Network Rail test and commissioning standards.
The electrification process
Overhead conductor in Crossrail tunnels – Monica Wells.
Alstom, as a global leader in electrification, has developed
a complete, efficient delivery process built on four pillars: BIM (Building
Information Modelling), automation, complete capability and experienced people.
Alstom is one of the few businesses that has a complete electrification
offering covering design, manufacture, installation and maintenance.
The Alstom electrification process is centred around BIM,
using automatic design tools to develop the model out of which schematics,
bills of material and cross sections can all be developed. These tools provide
the maximum advantage when deployed early in the scheme development, at GRIP 3
or 4 (option selection and single option development).
At this stage of the design process, accurate scheme layouts
and BOMs can be developed that help with both costing and planning for later
GRIP stages of detailed design and delivery. The Alstom BIM process allows for
asset information to be collected throughout delivery, providing the maintainer
with a high level of information on the delivered electrified asset.
Technical excellence and competence are key pillars in
Alstom’s delivery process, in this regard a World Class Engineering (WCE)
structure has been developed. WCE is Alstom’s way of identifying technical
expertise within the business globally and providing a platform to sustain and
develop the technical expert community. It means Alstom can measure experts and
competence in a consistent way across the business and ensure the best people
are selected to deliver the clients project.
Innovative systems
Not only is Alstom a leader in overhead electrification, its
innovative reversible power-supply substation (issue 140, June 2016) optimises
the power required for light rail and metro traction systems and can capture up
to 99 per cent of recoverable energy from regenerative braking. Hesop, of which
there are units on London’s Victoria line, the Paris T1 tramway and Riyadh
Metro, increases the energy efficiency of the electrical system, resulting in a
decrease in carbon emissions. This is achieved by converting the energy emitted
by trains during braking into usable electrical power that can be used by
station services such as lighting and elevators.
As the energy is reused, it removes a source of heat. This,
when deployed in tunnels, will have the effect of reducing temperature –
important in hot summer months or for railway systems installed in the UK and
even hotter climates.
The additional benefit gained from Hesop is that, by optimising the electrical power system, the distance between traction substations can be increased and, potentially, their number reduced by 20 per cent. This reduces the amount of infrastructure and hence construction required, providing a capital and lifecycle cost advantage as well as a safety benefit as less construction eliminates the associated health and safety risks.
For the urban environment another form of innovative
electrification is the SRS system. Building on 15 years of expertise acquired
developing APS ‘third rail style’ technology, Alstom extends its feeding
systems portfolio with SRS, a conductive ground-based static charging system
for trams or electric buses equipped with on-board energy storage.
SRS is a technological breakthrough in electric public
transport, enabling city authorities to operate clean, quiet electric fleets
eliminating the need for catenary masts and overhead lines. This is an added
advantage for cities with exceptional architectural heritage or constraints
such as narrow streets or bridges, where overhead infrastructure is unsuitable
or unfeasible. The charging system can be used at stops while passengers board
and leave the train and also at line terminuses, in particular for electric
buses which can fully recharge in the space of a few minutes.
Alstom is a company that truly delivers ‘mobility by nature’, a leading global player in sustainable and smart mobility. Alstom is investing in the UK, and through its electrification products and new traction systems like hydrogen, it stands ready to play its part in decarbonising Britain.
Steve Cox is Engineering & Technical Director SS&I at Alstom.
Major projects, new trains, bewildering technology: these
are the big-ticket items that command everyone’s attention these days. And why
wouldn’t they? Who cares about the high-volume, low-cost bits and pieces that
literally hold the railway together? Nuts, bolts, pins, clips, arms, brackets…
Politicians don’t cut ribbons at the installation of a cable
cleat, but they might – conceivably – have to explain the havoc wreaked by one
failing following an electrical big bang. A single dodgy component can inflict
disruption and embarrassment that’s wholly disproportionate to its size and
cost, by a very significant factor.
With this in mind – as the magazine’s unofficial Analogue Correspondent (my heart was hewn from the earth by Victorian navvies) – I was despatched to Rillington in North Yorkshire to visit a company that’s been keeping cables in check for almost 60 years. In parts, the experience proved surprisingly digital.
Basic principles
In case you’re unfamiliar with the term, a ‘cleat’ is used to secure electrical cables to a structure by installing them at intervals along the cables’ length. What could be simpler? But there are a number of factors affecting its ability to fulfil that role safely and effectively, including environmental conditions, the materials used, performance in the case of fire or impact, resistance to corrosion and the cleat’s strength.
Installing Ellis brackets in
the Severn Tunnel.
The latter is often determined using a mechanical tensile
test; however, the results can prove misleading as the force is applied in a
slow, controlled manner. The electromagnetic forces in short-circuit conditions
act almost instantaneously and oscillate in every direction, sometimes with
destructive consequences. A cleat is most likely to fail at peak current, about
0.01 seconds after the event starts; a breaker won’t have woken up by then.
So, the only reliable way of demonstrating that a cleat will
withstand the resulting forces is to also conduct a short-circuit test –
International Standard IEC 61914 provides a formula for calculating those
forces between two conductors in a three-phase supply. Potentially, they can
amount to several tonnes.
Restraining cables during a fault is a fundamental role of
the cleat; it’s a means of protection as well as support. In order to withstand
the applied forces, the optimum spacing between each cleat can be determined
using a formula which takes account of the required loop strength and peak
short-circuit current.
Potted history
None of this is news to the specialist team at Ellis –
formerly Ellis Patents – which boasts a skilled workforce of around 60, mostly
residing in the towns and villages around Rillington. The firm was founded by
Arthur Ellis, who piloted more than 90 bombing missions for the RAF during the
Second World War. Back on civvy street, he trained as a plumber and set about
manufacturing plastic pipe clips and cable clamps, with electricity boards as his
major customers. That was 1962; today the firm has an annual turnover of around
£7 million.
Production of Centaur
cleats.
The operation moved to its current site in 1974, about a
mile from the York-Scarborough line. Unfortunately, the village station had
closed 44 years earlier. Following Arthur’s retirement in 1987, the company was
acquired by Chris Calvert – its current chairman – and fellow investors from
Walkern Victoria Industries. It acquired EDL Cable Supports in 2002 and has
since become a global force, offering one of the most comprehensive catalogues
of cleats, clamps, hangers and associated peripherals to international clients
and projects.
As you walk around, you get the sense of an open,
collaborative culture and an engaged workforce. Innovation is encouraged and
facilitated through ongoing – and sometimes speculative – investment in new
kit. This is not a company that’s resting on its laurels, but neither are staff
being driven to distraction. Managing director Richard Shaw tells me they are
encouraged to go home at the appointed time and not check their emails. One
culprit habitually ignores the edict whilst another recycles redundant
equipment to assist with his construction of a traction engine! This seems a
happy place.
Vertical integration
Unlike many competitors, Ellis is fully resourced in-house –
not only designing its own products, but also building CAD models and
subjecting them to finite element analysis. “This tells us where a component
will break and under what force”, says Richard. “Then we can 3D-print it.
Production tooling
manufactured by Ellis.
“We know the printed model is about 40 per cent of the
strength of the real thing due to the difference in plastics so – when we test
it – if it comes out at 40 per cent of the figure we were expecting, we know
we’re on the right track. We can do all that work without ever making anything,
but it gives us the exact volume of materials needed, how long it will take to
manufacture and the price.”
Beyond that, Ellis’ capabilities extend to prototyping and
tooling for die-cast and injection moulding. This creates enormous flexibility
and an inventive mindset: when a client comes with a problem, ways and means
are readily available to develop custom-made solutions.
Through the 37 miles of tunnel on High Speed 1, there’s an
Ellis cable cleat every 600mm. When the consulting engineer first approached
the company during construction, he told them he needed 70,000 bespoke
aluminium cleats in 12 weeks. They were designed, tested and delivered on time.
Ellis products are deeply embedded on the London Underground
and Hong Kong Metro; they also formed part of the design for the recent
installation of overhead line equipment through the Severn Tunnel. Thousands of
its Centaur cleats can be found in the London Power Tunnels – extending for 20
miles under the capital – as part of the firm’s biggest ever order, worth £1.5
million. And the UK’s Astute-class nuclear-powered submarines also feature its
products.
Attention to detail
As we know, though, the railway is different; visit most of our classic tunnels and you’re unlikely to see many cleats. Instead, the approach taken since the advent of power, telecoms and signalling was to place the associated cables on hangers, fixed to the sidewall. It’s quick and makes life easy. But even here, there’s scope for improvement.
Stephen Walton, Ellis’ technical director, revealed: “We’ve
reworked the traditional pressed-steel hanger to be stronger and safer by
adopting a curved profile; they use less material so the shipping costs are
cheaper. We’ve also developed polymer hangers which are lighter-weight, offer
more insulation resistance and will never corrode.
Emperor cleats.
“A lot of what we’re doing is about making the products
easier to carry and improve speed of install, responding to the needs of the
contractors we’re increasingly working with.”
When legacy hangers become life-expired, Ellis has a modular
retrofit system which can be secured in place without disturbing the existing
cable system. There’s a delightful simplicity and elegance about these
products. I spent much of my chat time with Richard and Stephen fiddling with a
stackable twist-to-fit no-bolts cleat, a unique device conceived in response to
a Network Rail enquiry. The action had something very pleasing about it.
Inevitably, there is a procurement challenge here. Ellis’
polymeric products are more expensive than its metal variants, but being less
heavy improves installation efficiency – a big issue for the rail industry
given the scarcity of possession time – whilst their longevity means that
whole-life costs are lower. Cleats can be supplied pre-assembled with the
requisite fixings – pushing up the initial purchase price but delivering
benefits that reduce costs overall. Until we get our heads around these issues
and learn to buy smarter, better products and lower expenditure will elude us.
All that glitters…
2019 represents another busy year for Ellis as it continues
to grow the business. It has much to offer the rail sector through a sharp
focus on innovation, responsiveness and value. Of course, its competitors would
say the same thing – they have similar brochures, product ranges and part
numbers. “Their ‘innovation’ is copying us,” Richard reflects ruefully.
It’s indicative of the company’s position in this market that others closely follow Ellis’ lead. However, whilst imitation is often flattering, it rarely compares favourably with the original.
The 2008 Climate Change Act was the first in the world to make a government legally accountable for delivering its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions target, which was at least 80 per cent lower than the 1990 baseline. The Act is the basis for the UK’s approach to tackling and responding to climate change. It requires five-yearly carbon budgets to be set and established the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) to provide independent, expert, evidence-based advice.
By 2017, the UK was over half-way to meeting its 2050 target
with GHG emissions 43 per cent below those of 1990. However, this was not good
enough as this was largely achieved through the relatively easy measures of
burning gas instead of coal and using more renewables to generate electricity.
Furthermore, it was becoming increasingly clear that the 80 per cent reduction
target was not enough.
In May 2019, the CCC published its report ‘Net Zero: The
UK’s contribution to stopping global warming’. This reviewed the latest
scientific evidence on climate change and concluded that the UK should adopt a
target of net-zero GHG emissions by 2050 which, if replicated across the world,
would deliver a greater than 50 per cent chance of limiting the global average
temperature increase to 1.5°C.
The report considered this target was achievable as the
technologies and approaches to achieve net-zero are understood. However, it was
also considered to be hugely demanding and only achievable if there is urgent
government action to drive the significant urgent policy changes required.
In June, the CCC’s net zero 2050 target became legally binding as the Climate Change Act was amended to adopt it.
Achieving net zero will affect everyone in Britain and
require some lifestyle changes. Yet, whilst some might believe that reducing
emissions requires an economic slow-down, the good news is that it need not
make the UK poorer. The CCC report explains the technologies needed to both
reduce emissions and maintain economic growth as well as the policies that the
government must adopt if these technologies are to be deployed.
The technical report that supports the CCC’s recommendation
is available online and is a daunting 304 pages. For this reason, we thought
our readers might appreciate a summary, especially as this report provides the
context for rail decarbonisation.
Electrify everything
As fossil fuels have a high energy density and can be
readily stored and transported in fuel tanks, tankers and pipelines, it is not
surprising that the modern world is utterly dependant on them. However, if net
zero is to be achieved, we must be weaned off them. To do this, the CCC report
stresses the need for extensive electrification, particularly in respect of
transport and heating.
The obvious reason for this is that electricity can also readily transport huge amounts of energy, albeit only to fixed locations. An exception to this is electric trains, which are thus the only form of high-speed and mass transport that offers potentially zero emissions. No doubt for this reason, the report recommends a rolling programme of railway electrification, otherwise rail transport is hardly mentioned except for the need for modal shift from road and air to rail. Yet any significant modal shift would require a huge increase in rail capacity, such as that HS2 will provide.
The CCC report considers that the electrification of road
transport (19 per cent of the UK’s GHG emission) will be by battery and
hydrogen-powered vehicles. Advances in battery technology and the provision of
the required charging infrastructure will make electric cars increasingly
practicable, so that no more petrol or diesel vehicles should be sold after
2030. However, the report points out that the solution for HGVs is not clear
and is likely to be a combination of hydrogen and battery technology, such as
extremely fast chargers at motorway service stations. It also moots the use of
a motorway pantograph system to continuously charge HGVs.
Electrical industrial and domestic heating is also essential
to reduce fossil fuel consumption. The report notes that there is an urgent
need to engage with the public on a strategy to move away from gas heating as
GHG emissions from buildings accounts for 17 per cent of UK emissions. It
envisages that electricity should be used to power heat pumps to heat buildings
as this would produce three units of heat for one unit of electricity. There is
also the potential to use hydrogen in the existing gas distribution system to
heat buildings.
By 2050, the UK will require a low-carbon electricity generating capacity of 150GW to generate a total of 645TWh to satisfy this extensive electrification. This compares with today’s 104GW which produces 300TWh. The CCC envisage a vast increase in solar, off-shore and on-shore wind generation. However, its scenarios take a cautious approach, limiting the share of variable renewables to under 60 per cent as these are not suitable for base load and peak power which needs to be supplied by nuclear power and gas turbine plants with carbon capture and storage (CCS).
Aviation and shipping
Aviation and shipping accounts for 10 per cent of UK GHG
emissions and, unfortunately, cannot be electrified except perhaps for short
distance domestic shipping. Aviation makes up seven per cent of the UK total,
of which 96 per cent is international flights from which emissions have
increased from 15 to 35MtCO2e (Metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent)
between 1990 and 2017.
By 2050, there are unlikely to be any commercially available
zero-carbon planes. Measures to manage aviation emissions will therefore
include more efficient engines and airframes, improved airspace management, the
use of sustainable alternative fuels and measures to reduce growth in demand.
While biofuels could be a substitute for aviation fuel, this might not be the
best use of this scarce resource for which there are alternative uses that may
save more emissions. Synthetic carbon-neutral fuels are another alternative,
although it is likely their costs will be very high.
There are a range of options to reduce shipping emissions,
some of which may allow shipping to get to near-zero emissions. These include
more efficient hull and engine designs, improved operations and the use of
alternative fuels such as ammonia and hydrogen.
CCS and BECCS
One key technology that has yet to be developed is Carbon
Capture and Storage. In contrast, the production of biofuels is a
well-developed technology and accounts for three per cent of road fuels.
However, there is a finite limit to its production, given land constraints and
the requirement for food production, and growing biomass requires a significant
carbon input. Therefore, the production of bio energy with CCS (BECCS) is
required if biofuels are to contribute to the net-zero target.
CCS can capture and store up to 90 per cent of the GHG
emissions associated with fossil fuel power generation and industrial
processes. The UK’s first carbon storage facility is expected to be operational
by the mid-2020s. This will capture 200,000 tonnes of CO2 from a gas terminal
near Peterhead and use the existing pipelines to store it in a depleted gas
field.
By 2050, the CCC expect the annual UK storage requirement is
expected to be about a thousand times this amount (i.e. 176 million tonnes of
CO2). Storage potential is not considered to be a constraint for the UK, which
has sufficient geological capacity to store CO2 at this rate for 500 years.
Exhausted oil and gas fields and their pipeline infrastructure present
significant CCS opportunities.
The net-zero report also envisages that hydrogen should be
produced by methane reforming with CCS for the resultant CO2 emissions.
Hydrogen needs to be produced in this way as if it was all produced by
electrolysis. This would increase annual electricity production by 400TWh (more
than 50 per cent of the projected 2050 demand). It predicts that, by 2050, UK
hydrogen use will be the annual equivalent of 270TWh (compared with 27TWh in
2017).
Most of this hydrogen is required for heating, both to
satisfy industry’s requirement for high temperature gas heating and to be used
in existing domestic gas distribution networks. Buses and trains would require
respectively 3TWh and 0.3TWh, a small fraction of total hydrogen production.
Unlike heating, the hydrogen used in fuel cells must be of a very high purity
and so is better produced by electrolysis. This would be a more appropriate
option where train depots may be some distance from a large steam reforming
plant but could be close to a wind farm and use otherwise unwanted energy during
the night, for example.
Land and lifestyle
In 2017, the UK’s woodlands absorbed two per cent of
Britain’s GHG emissions or 10MtCO2e. The report envisages that annual
afforestation rates of between 30,000 and 50,000 hectares would increase
woodland cover from its current 13 per cent of the UK’s land area to between 17
and 19 per cent, so increasing this carbon sink to between 16 and 36MtCO2e by
2050.
In contrast, the biological processes inherent in crop and
livestock production make it impossible to reduce agricultural non-CO2
emissions to zero. Currently, agriculture accounted for nine per cent of all UK
emissions, half of which were from ruminant livestock. The report considers
that there is significant potential to reduce emissions by more efficient use
of nitrogen, better manure management, improved crop productivity, better
thermal efficiency of agricultural buildings and low-carbon alternatives for
tractors and other machinery.
The report shows how consumer lifestyle choices can help to
reduce agricultural emissions as healthier diets rely less on carbon-intensive
animal products (like lamb, beef and dairy). Reducing food waste is also a key
step that individuals can take to reduce emissions as a significant amount of
agricultural land is devoted to the production of the 10 million tonnes of food
which are wasted each year, of which 70 per cent is binned within households.
Other lifestyle choices to support net zero emissions are
indicated by the current breakdown of average household emissions which are:
heating (31%), transport (27%), diet/agriculture (18%), aviation (12%),
electricity (9%) and waste (3%). Whilst the reduction of GHG emissions from
heating and electricity will largely come from technological improvements,
other aspects require changes in consumer behaviour such as diet and waste. The
CCC report mentions the requirement to make more use of public transport and to
fly less, noting that the growth in air travel cannot be unfettered.
Who pays?
Net zero by 2050 is estimated to cost between one and two
per cent of GDP, which is the same cost of the 80 per cent target which
Parliament accepted when the 2008 Climate Change Act was passed. Incidentally,
it is also similar to the entire defence budget (1.8 per cent in 2018).
As well as savings from the avoidance of climate damages,
the CCC considers that there are likely to be significant benefits from the
required decarbonisation programme. These include better air quality, energy
self-sufficiency, with little demand for imported fossil fuels and their
associated price volatility, and industrial opportunities from the UK being the
first to adopt such a radical carbon reduction programme. For example,
delivering the goals of the Paris Agreement will require annual $2 trillion
global investment in low-carbon technologies up to 2050.
Delivering this ambitious net-zero programme will require
significant capital investment for which the report recommends that HM Treasury
undertakes ‘a thorough review of the costs and benefits of meeting a net-zero target
and the appropriate policy levers to achieve an efficient and fair transition’
to attract sufficient low-cost capital. In this respect, it considers that
‘cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is not suitable for climate change action’.
The CCC is clear that decarbonisation action must progress
with far greater urgency. Of all its recommendations, perhaps the most urgent
is ensuring that the right financial levers are in place. The required
investment may not be forthcoming if government investment appraisals do not
adequately value carbon savings.
As an example, business cases for projects that deliver the
required modal transfer from road to rail are weakened under current rules
which require them to take account of the cost of the resultant loss of fuel
duty. No doubt such decarbonisation disincentives will be addressed, otherwise
there is little chance of achieving substantial carbon reductions.
The net-zero report shows the huge changes that will need to be made across all sectors. It is a bold vision which includes the following issues relating to the rail industry:
The benefits of electrification generally and
for rail the requirement for a rolling programme;
That there will
be far greater use of battery and hydrogen technology in the automotive sector
than on rail;
That biofuels and synthetic fuels are likely to
be a scarce resource, the use of which may only be justified in applications
for which there are no other zero-carbon options;
The requirement for modal shift from road and
air needs a significant increase in rail capacity, such as that provided by
HS2;
The urgency to act now;
If net zero is to be achieved by 2050, the need
for Government financial policies that incentivise carbon savings.
A credible rail decarbonisation programme must address these issues.
Merseyrail will be introducing new trains to its network
around the Liverpool City Region from next year, replacing the current fleet of
electric multiple units which are now approaching 40 years old.
Built and maintained by Swiss manufacturer, Stadler, the
trains will be modern, fast and comfortable. They will also be able to carry
more people, more quickly, helping support the growth of the City Region with
the potential to run beyond the current ‘third rail’ to places like Wrexham,
Skelmersdale and Warrington in the future.
To improve passenger safety, and make the network more
accessible to all, the new trains will have a sliding step that will allow
level access.
Merseytravel, which oversees the operation of the Merseyrail
network, will own the new trains on behalf of the Liverpool City Region
Combined Authority, which has set aside a reserve to help fund the project.
Merseytravel will then lease the trains to Merseyrail.
Of course, there is more to the project than simply buying a
fleet of new trains. The £460 million project includes provision for power
upgrades to the network and work on platforms and track to help manage the gap
between the train and platform. There will also be major refurbishment of the
depots in Kirkdale and Birkenhead, so they can be adapted to maintain modern
trains, moving to more computer-based diagnostics.
More power
Although modern trains are more efficient than those built
40 years ago, they also have additional electrical requirements.
For example, they demand more electrical power for traction
and auxiliaries, such as air conditioning. Regenerative braking pushes power
back into the 750V DC supply network, which has to be capable of accepting it
(for example by having another train in section which is demanding power). If
the system is not receptive, then the train’s onboard batteries will be
charged.
The power supply network therefore had to be upgraded. This
was required to meet the demands of the new fleet but will also eradicate
existing DC issues at the fringes of the network, which had often caused delays
on the Southport service.
Contractually, the situation is somewhat complex. Network
Rail is undertaking the work, funded by Merseytravel. VolkerRail is the
delivery contractor, employing AECOM as the lead designer.
The substation work needed was almost equally complex. Seven
were to be upgraded (three on the Wirral lines and four on the Northern lines)
by the provision of high-voltage (HV) switchgear modules, auxiliary
transformers and isolation transformers.
One track paralleling hut (TPH) would be converted to become
a full DC substation by the provision of an HV switchgear module, a DC
rectifier module, a transformer rectifier, an auxiliary transformer and an
isolation transformer.
In addition, three completely new HV / DC substations would
be built, each including HV switchgear modules, DC switchgear modules, DC
rectifier modules, transformer rectifiers, auxiliary transformers and isolation
transformers.
All this would draw down more power from the distribution network operator (DNO), so three new substation buildings would be required, constructed in accordance with Scottish Power Energy Networks’ specification, to accommodate a 33kV power supply and a 33kV/11kV transformer to suit the demands of Network Rail’s upgraded substations and equipment.
HV feeders
Modelling of the existing Network Rail distribution system
identified several areas of weakness within its existing HV feeder network.
Based on these findings, AECOM recommended the introduction of new HV supplies
to the proposed new substation sites at Long Lane and Aughton as well as HV
cable modifications at Aintree.
These HV feeder enhancements included the provision of three
new HV feeders. One will be between Walton and Long Lane, another at a site
still to be determined between Maghull North and Town Green stations. There
will also be one between the new DNO substation building at Birkenhead North
and the upgraded substation at Bidston.
Modifications to the existing High Voltage (HV) route at Aintree substation required the existing HV cable to be cut and redirected into the existing substation to create two separate HV feeders.
In addition, electrical traction equipment (ETE)
enhancements include upgrades to the existing along-track continuity bonding,
impedance bonds, negative DC track feeder cables and track isolation switches.
Ongoing design
AECOM has now completed outline designs (GRIP 3) for the HV
feeders and ETE works and is carrying out the detailed design (GRIP 4/5) for
the HV, ETE and substation works.
It’s a complex job, requiring both preparatory work and the
interfacing of several different design disciplines.
Before design could commence, topographical surveys were
undertaken on all of the substation, under-track crossing (UTX) and under-road
crossing (URX) sites. In addition, ground investigation works, including
soakaway testing, were undertaken for all substations, UTX and URX sites.
The design itself brought in the skills of AECOM’s experts in:
Civil and structural engineering (foundation
designs, ancillary civils works, cable management / containment systems, UTXs,
URXs, brickwork and DNO buildings);
Telecoms (SCADA connections for new substations);
Geotechnical (ground investigation factual and
interpretive reporting, slope stability analysis, slope remedial works and
retention structures);
Highways (road access for new substation sites,
including road safety audits);
Environmental and ecological surveys and
management.
In addition, consideration had to be given to the key
external interfaces with both Scottish Power Energy Networks and Siemens
Switchgear.
Smooth progress?
In the main, the design process went smoothly. AECOM
principal engineer Azadeh Ghadamgahi, who has over 12 years of experience in
the design and management of power systems and electrification projects,
commented: “The design submission was comprehensive and received only minor
comments back from the client. The team was aware of the programme and
deadlines by having effective/good communication.
“While going through the technical quality review process,
everyone, whether they are a designer, checker, CRE or lead verifier, was
accountable for their own work, which helped us to have a successful
submission.
“As there are several sites within this project, with a
multitude of designers, our aim was to maintain consistency of approach in order
to produce a standardised product.
“As with any major project, there have been requested
changes to the design from the client later in the process, which we have
integrated faultlessly.”
One of the features of this project was the number of young
designers working on the team. One such was Luke Thurgood, who started his
career as a rail design engineering apprentice and has learnt his trade through
the support of senior engineers around him. He now has a strong knowledge of
the design of heavy-rail electrification systems, mainly focused around
third-rail contact systems, negative bonding and points heating supply and
distribution.
In the past year, Luke has obtained Engineering Technician (EngTech) status with the IET and continues to develop his academic knowledge while working by undertaking further studies (HND) at London South Bank University. All his studies have been funded through the government’s apprenticeship scheme – AECOM is a keen supporter of this initiative.
The AECOM E&P team
The AECOM E&P team consists of 125 engineers spread over nine offices in the UK, Madrid and Bangalore.
All of AECOM’s rail disciplines feature a very comprehensive competency process. In addition, there is an independent process for internal assessment of CRE and CEM competency. This ensures that, at all levels, engineers are assigned to projects matched appropriately to their skills. For E&P, this is especially important as there are a large number of sub-discipline specialisms to cover, for example earthing and bonding in electrified areas.
This competency process is also used for staff training and development to guide on appropriate mentoring as required.
AECOM’s teams are competent in all elements of trackside LV design, including points heating, signalling power (there is in-house competency to undertake testing and inspection); station and trackside building M&E design (supported by the buildings division with 350 M&E engineers) to have the capability and competence to undertake any size rail station scheme; OLE design with demonstrable competence in all series with recent Series 2 experience on GOBE (Gospal Oak to Barking Electrification); traction power (including traction simulation), substation (750V DC (Wessex Capacity Alliance PSU) through to auto transformer feeder station (Boreham feeder station design)) and HV design up to and including 66kV (the industrial power division covers design up to and including 400kV); all elements of ETE design (S&C Alliance and Wessex Capacity Alliance) including protection studies and stray current mitigation design; and full depot systems design capability in the South West, which can be demonstrated with recent commissions with Southwestern Railway at its Fratton, Farnham and Basingstoke depot enhancements for new rolling stock.
In addition, AECOM operates Bentley’s ProjectWise, which supports a common data environment (CDE), for all its projects, which allows for unrivalled workshare ability across all offices and geographies. This, coupled with AECOMs desktop Jabber system (calls and screen sharing) and office-wide video-conferencing facilities, enables virtual side-by-side working and meetings globally.
AECOM’s UK design teams are able to interact with our systems modelling team in Madrid as a single delivery unit to provide for the complete electrification solution:
Civil and structural engineering (foundation
designs, ancillary civils works, cable management / containment systems, UTXs,
URXs, brickwork and DNO buildings);
Telecoms (SCADA connections for new substations);
Geotechnical (ground investigation factual and
interpretive reporting, slope stability analysis, slope remedial works and
retention structures);
Highways (road access for new substation sites,
including road safety audits);
On 8
August the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Michael Matheson,
announced the go-ahead for detailed design work to support the proposed
reopening of the 9·5km railway serving Levenmouth, in Fife, at an estimated
cost of £70 million.
The mothballed-single track line was closed to passengers in 1969 but remained open for freight up to 2001. It is owned by Network Rail, though out of use under Short Term Network Change (STNC) provisions. Thus, the line has no blockages. It has four river bridges but no major structures and connects with the main line from Edinburgh to Perth and Dundee at Thornton North Junction, which is still operational but secured out of use.
The
re-opened line will have stations at Leven and Cameron Bridge. Levenmouth is
the largest settlement in Scotland without a rail service and the new line
would provide a rail head for East Fife and its tourist attractions.
Furthermore, as Europe’s largest grain distillery, owned by Diageo, is at
Cameron Bridge, there is significant potential for freight traffic.
In his
announcement, Matheson noted that: “The detailed appraisal work that has been
carried out suggests that improved transport links, which give Leven a direct
rail link to Edinburgh, will lead to an enhanced local economy, bringing better
access to employment and education and the potential for new investment. Easier
and more sustainable travel options will make it easier for people to reach
hospitals, schools and visit other areas of the country as well as giving better
access to Levenmouth.”
Matheson
also committed an additional £5 million to a Levenmouth Blueprint fund
available to partners to maximise the benefits of the Scottish Government
investment in the area.
His announcement is the culmination of the long-running Levenmouth Rail Campaign’s work to persuade the Scottish government of the need to reopen the line. It is expected that, when it opens in a few years’ time, trains to Edinburgh will take 70-75 minutes.
AECOM,
the global infrastructure services firm, is developing one of the UK’s first 3D-printed
commercial products made from graphene-reinforced polymer. The company’s
CNCTArch is designed to drive down the costs associated with installing digital
signalling systems on transport networks, using a graphene arch that sits over
rail tracks and eliminates the need to attach new digital equipment to existing
infrastructure.
Derived
from graphite, graphene is one of the strongest materials in the known universe.
It was first isolated by researchers at the University of Manchester in 2004.
The AECOM team came up with the concept of CNCTArch in response to clients’ concerns about the cost and time of digitising the signalling systems on their networks. The company looked at replacing the traditional ‘bolt and screw’s method of deploying digital systems in tunnels, which takes four shifts to install, by developing an arch on which the digital technology is attached that doesn’t bolt to any existing infrastructure and would take only one shift to install.
AECOMs CNCTArch.
While
developed for use in tunnels, the CNCTArch can also be used in open
environments and has the potential to transform the deployment of digital
traffic management systems.
An
example of this new lightweight arch, 4.5 metres high, is currently being
tested on an outdoor track at Network Rail’s workforce development centre in
Bristol, where AECOM is working with Network Rail’s Western region team and its
Bristol Parkway signalling training school to test the arch. Sensors have been
installed to monitor, in real-time, how the arch performs in different weather
conditions, measuring oscillation and deflection.
The six-month trial is the next step towards commercialising the product, with the results enabling AECOM to further validate the feasibility of using the arch as an alternative to traditional methods of installing digital equipment.
German
national rail infrastructure manager DB Netze has announced that construction
work to complete the tunnels under the town of Rastatt will recommence in 2020,
with the tunnels now due to open in 2025.
The
Rastatt tunnels are a key part of the long-term plan to quadruple the entire
line between Karlsruhe and the Swiss border at Basel. This is one of the
busiest sections of railway anywhere in Europe, with lengthy double track
sections used daily by nearly 400 trains, more than half of them freight, in 2019,
according to DB.
The previous collapse of one of the tunnels underneath the existing main line on 12 August 2017 led to a seven-week closure of the line and caused major disruption to European logistics services as no alternative routes were readily available. The costs of the closure and disruption to rail users and wider industry have been estimated at up to €2 billion.
Construction
of the twin bore tunnels, designed for 250km/h operation, began in 2013 using
tunnel boring machines (TBMs) at shallow depths in alluvial sedimentary rocks.
However, work ceased from 12 August 2017 when a landslip into the newly
constructed eastern tunnel bore not only disrupted construction but severed the
existing main line on the surface. A 160-metre-long section of the tunnel including
the TBM was then filled with concrete to stabilize the site.
The route re-opened on 2 October 2017, after a 275-metre-long concrete slab had been laid to support the railway on top of the area that collapsed.
Railway being removed from the site of the collapse. DB)
DB has
now agreed its plans to complete the Rastatt Tunnels. The remaining 200 metres
of the undamaged western bore will be completed by the ARGE Tunnel Rastatt
consortium using the TBM that is already in position (having been shut down in
August 2017). The existing surface main line is protected from any unexpected
tunneling issues as it is on the concrete slab built in September 2017.
To
permit construction of the eastern tunnel under the existing main line without
danger of further disruption to the route, DB will first move a 700-metre section
of the line so it follows the course of the completed western bore (on the
surface) to slew it away from the construction site; approval for this has been
granted by the German Federal Railway Office (EBA).
DB and
ARGE Tunnel Rastatt then plan to excavate the remaining part of the eastern
bore using open excavation methods (cut and cover) having first inserted
concrete walls to the required depth. This will include removing the
160-metre-long concrete plug and the remains of the TBM. A concrete line trench
17 metres deep will be dug and the tunnel constructed in it before it is back
filled. This work is expected to commence in 2021; DB Networks has applied for
the necessary planning approvals to the EBA.
Once
the two tunnel bores are completed, the surface line will be moved back above
the eastern bore. Construction of remaining cross passages and entrance portals
plus fit out will take until 2024. DB currently expects the Rastatt Tunnel to
open in 2025 along with approach lines on either side, resulting in a
four-track railway from Karlsruhe to Offenburg.
Following the 2017 accident, detailed evaluation of ground conditions, including 70 bore holes, and other factors has been underway to ascertain responsibility for the tunnel collapse and subsequent disruption to the railway line through Rastatt, which resulted in substantial financial costs for both DB and multiple private freight operators. A conciliation and arbitration process is underway to establish responsibility and financial damages, with the aim of avoiding lengthy legal action.
East
Midlands Railway is the new name on the UK rail network, following its
successful bid to run the East Midlands franchise.
EMR,
as it wants to be called, is owned by Abellio, the same company that now runs
Greater Anglia, ScotRail, West Midlands Trains and Merseyrail. It has taken
over the franchise, complete with trains, staff and services, from East
Midlands Trains after owner Stagecoach was disqualified from the East Midlands
competition for submitting a ‘non-compliant’ bid.
The
new franchise came into being on Sunday 18 August 2019. One day later, the
first EMR-liveried train, Class 222 Meridian number 222104, was revealed to
stakeholders and the press at Derby station. Its smart purple livery shone in
the August sunshine, which made a rare appearance, and was admired by all who
saw it.
Station
staff had new ties and new badges, though ‘Stagecoach blue’ shirts were still
in evidence. Passengers were even offered cupcakes bearing EMR logos. One
manager looked very smart in a nice purple sweater, although he admitted he
bought it himself!
Even
so, it was well done and a credit to the new company. The expected speeches
were made, by the managing director of Abellio UK Dominic Booth (“Abellio is
delighted…”) and the City Mayor of Leicester and chairman of the East Midlands
Councils Sir Peter Soulsby (“We’re pleased to welcome East Midlands Railway…”),
but there were some serious promises for the future being made as well.
A
fleet of 33 new five-car trains is being ordered from Hitachi at Newton
Aycliffe for delivery in 2022. They will be AT300 trains, similar to the Class
800/802 units already being supplied to GWR and to LNER. However, they will
have coaches only 24-metres long, rather than the 26 meters of the other two
classes. And they will have one extra diesel engine, four spread over the five
carriages, to cope with the long diesel-only sections north from Kettering.
In
addition, Class 360 all-electric trains will be brought in for the London to
Corby service once electrification is complete, and Class 170 diesel
multiple-units will be used for cross-country services.
Julian
Edwards, managing director of East Midlands Railway, was keen to stress that
passengers would get improved services as well as new trains.
The
timetable will change from December 2021, correcting some of the current
anomalies in which trains to and from London often seem to run close together
with then long gaps before the next one. In future, the schedule will be more
evenly spread.
Catering
will be sorted out. EMR intends to give both standard and first-class
passengers a better offering.
And
improved Wi-Fi will be available throughout all trains. The current offering is
seen as being sub-standard and it will be improved.
There is more of course – £20 million investment in stations, easier ticketing, more customer assistance, better staff training – but customers want comfortable trains that are on time and provide decent catering and good connectivity, and that’s what EMR will offer.
