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Biggest challenge yet

With its focus on innovation, there’s always something new at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ (IMechE) Railway Challenge, especially as the competition had a record twelve entries this year. The challenge was held over the first weekend in July and was managed by the Institution’s Railway Division, with around twenty volunteers running the event. Under the guidance of a steering group led by Professor Simon Iwnicki, the Division produces the competition’s rules and a performance-based locomotive specification. This is changed each year to encourage modification of previously entered locomotives.

The IMechE provides a small number of staff to administer the event, arrange the facilities required and seek sponsorship. This activity is led by Sandra Balthazaar, the Institution’s education manager, who is charged with inspiring the next generation of engineers, including through outreach activities in universities. This year, the competition was sponsored by the Railway Industry Association, RSSB and Wabtec.

Regular readers may recall that Rail Engineer has reported on every Railway Challenge since the first competition in 2012. Each year, the competition is held on the three-kilometre track on the Gretton family estate near Melton Mowbray, operated by the Friends of the Stapleford Miniature Railway (FSMR).

It is essentially a miniature version of the Rainhill trials, in which apprentices, students and graduates are required to design and build 10¼” gauge locomotives to the competition’s specification. These are then subject to track-based challenges to test energy storage, traction, ride comfort, noise, maintainability and reliability. In addition, there were presentation challenges for design, business case and innovation. There is a maximum of 150 points for each challenge, except for the energy challenge which scores up to 300 points.

Brunel’s locomotive

This year Brunel University provided something that was both new and unexpected: a piston-driven locomotive (above) with coupling and connecting rods driving four axles. The pistons were driven by compressed air at eight bar, admitted by computer-controlled solenoid valves. For a high starting torque, the design was for an eighty per cent cutoff (the point in the piston stroke at which the inlet valve is closed) on starting, reducing to forty per cent at maximum speed.

For the energy storage challenge, the pistons store compressed air in an auxiliary tank which is then used to power the locomotive away from a standing start.

To allow the locomotive to get around the sharp curves at Stapleford, the locomotive axles have a 20mm lateral float, achieved by keying them into both the axle bearings inner races and their cranks, which would otherwise have restricted the axle float.

Also new this year

After a ten-hour journey from Germany, a team from the department of mechanical engineering and mechatronics (or Fachbereich Maschinenbau und Mechatronik) of FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences gave the competition its first non-UK entry. The FH Aachen locomotive was to have been hydrogen powered. However, for various reasons, it was not possible to use the locomotive’s hydrogen fuel cell, leaving only the batteries to power the loco.

University of Birmingham and AEGIS engineering systems locomotive under test.

A battery health monitoring system, that counts coulombs (the unit for electrical charge, equivalent to one ampere-second) in and out, was considered by the SNC-Lavalin team to be its first UK railway use. Another first for the challenge was the array of five 50-watt solar panels fitted to the entry from the University of Southampton and Siemens.

The locomotive from the University of Birmingham and AEGIS Engineering Systems was also powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. However, this was not a new development as Birmingham entered a hydrogen-powered locomotive for the inaugural Railway Challenge in 2012. Their innovation this year was to use a silicon carbide inverter as one of their two power converters. This offers high efficiencies, and so requires less cooling, and also produces less electrical noise, reducing the requirement for smoothing capacitors and offering significant weight saving on a full-size locomotive.

The teams

The challenge rules state that those eligible to enter must be either a student on a university engineering course, an engineering graduate within two years of graduation, a member of a monitored professional development scheme for less than two years or an apprentice.

The teams are generally a mix of students in their final two years, whose work on the challenge is part of their degree course, or rail company graduates for whom the challenge is part of their training programme. Three teams were collaborations between academia and industry: University of Southampton with Siemens; Bombardier with the University of Derby and the University of Birmingham and AEGIS Engineering Systems.

At the University of Sheffield, the team comes from the Railway Challenge at Sheffield (RCAS), an extracurricular student-led club within the mechanical engineering department supported by the university. As such, the team is made up of all university years and students get no course credit for the work on their locomotive. As the five final-year students in the Sheffield team now have positions within the rail industry, such enthusiasm brings its own rewards.

From the eleven teams which made it to Stapleford, there were about a hundred competitors in total, with women making up a fifth of those taking part.

A challenging operation

The Stapleford Miniature Railway has a station with various sidings and a turnaround triangle. From the station, an 800-metre single line runs down a 1 in 80 gradient to a 1.2km balloon loop. This year’s competition plan required each of the entries to run around this loop three times, with the FSMR also running steam-hauled spectator trains on the Sunday.

This was a challenge that needed a detailed operational plan, with the flexibility to deal with locomotive failures. Bridget Eickhoff of RSSB, as the IMechE’s operational controller, had the job of ensuring the challenge ran smoothly.

Southampton and Siemens undergo their maintenance challenge as Simon Iwnicki looks on from behind.

After unloading, the plan for the first day, Friday, was to complete scrutineering to confirm that each locomotive had been built to the specification and that it could safely compete. This consisted of a series of static and dynamic tests to confirm, for example, whether the locomotive had the required braking performance. To complete scrutineering, a locomotive had to collect the required set of seven stickers to demonstrate satisfactory compliance with all the tests.

Half the teams also attempted their maintainability challenge on the Friday. This was a timed test that required them to remove and replace a wheelset, performed under the strict eye of the judges who paused the test at appropriate times to ensure it was done safely.

Saturday and Sunday

On the Saturday, the remaining maintenance challenges were completed and teams were given an opportunity, one at a time, to test their locomotives on the railway. They were closely followed by the rescue locomotive, the FSMR’s model Warship diesel-hydraulic locomotive powered by a 1600cc Ford Cortina engine, which was ready to effect a speedy recovery if needed.

Saturday was also the day for the business case challenge. Teams had to present themselves to a panel of judges to make the case as to why a hypothetical customer should buy their creation. Nerve-wracking stuff!

Sunday was the day for spectators to witness the track-based challenges. The operational plan required the first spectator train to leave at 09:30, closely followed by team one’s train and the rescue locomotive. Once these trains were in the balloon loop, the spectator train returned to the station, allowing team two’s train to depart for the test area.

In this way, the plan was to run a spectator train and two test trains every hour. In the event, only eight locomotives were able to enter the track-based challenges and it took 4½ hours for them to undertake their tests. Only one required assistance from the rescue locomotive.

Non-runners and casualties

Every year, just getting locomotives to the line is a challenge in itself. University students don’t even meet up until October, so getting a locomotive (or upgrades to a previous one) designed, built and tested by the end of June is a real struggle. Every year, one or more teams are still finishing off their entries in the sidings at Stapleford, that’s if they turned up at all!

This year was no exception. Of the twelve entries, Manchester Metropolitan University was unable to attend and Alstom had arrived at Stapleford with a non-operational locomotive. It had blown a power inverter and a replacement could not be sourced in time. Nevertheless, the team acquitted themselves well in the maintenance and business challenges.

The joint Bombardier and University of Derby team also had problems with the power electronics on their locomotive and, despite much effort, could not get it operational for the track challenges.

Brunel University’s piston driven locomotive was, according to chief judge Bill Reeve “unquestionably the most popular locomotive that has ever turned up”. Its test run on the Saturday certainly attracted interest although a problem with its solenoid control prevented it exceeding walking pace, so it was also unable to undertake the track challenges.

Of the remaining eight locomotives that did, there were two casualties. The ride comfort challenge is measured over one kilometre and must be completed in less than six minutes. Due to fuel supply problems, the Transport for London (TfL) locomotive was unable to achieve this time. However, once this issue had been resolved, it was able to undertake the remaining track challenges.

FH Aachen’s locomotive also failed during the ride comfort challenge. Its auto-tensioned toothed belt drive looked to be more reliable than the chain drives that had been a significant problem during previous competitions. Unfortunately, the belt itself had parted. Although Reeve expressed his admiration for the impressive manner that the team quickly got their locomotive working with one powered bogie, this was not enough and the FMSR rescue locomotive had to assist FH Aachen back to the station.

A president with no regrets

Carolyn Griffiths is both a railwaywoman and the IMechE’s new president. At the prize ceremony, she considered herself to be “living proof that railway engineering is really very interesting”. Although she hadn’t planned to be a railway engineer, it was something she had done all her working life. As she told everyone: “I haven’t left and I’ve no regrets.”

In making this point, she was echoing Bill Reeve’s comment to the competitors that the “whole idea of this event is to encourage you to see railway engineering as a career”. From the sheer effort and enthusiasm displayed by the teams, he was hopeful that the challenge would succeed in this aim.

The first prizes were for the sponsored challenges, starting with the RSSB’s innovation challenge. Bridget Eickhoff presented the certificate for this challenge to the University of Birmingham/AEGIS team.

The design challenge was sponsored by Wabtec. Brush Traction’s engineering director, Chris Myatt, found himself presenting certificates to three teams rather than one. As head judge Bill Reeve explained, the judges considered that the entries by Huddersfield, SNC-Lavalin and TfL were all exceptionally good submissions with nothing to choose between them.

The Railway Industry Association (RIA) sponsored the business case award. Its technical director, David Clarke was pleased for RIA to sponsor this as it reflected all the things the association likes: encouraging people into the rail industry, skills and innovation. Proving that it’s possible to win something without a working locomotive, the award went to Alstom for a business case that was described as “outstanding”.

Track challenges

In awarding the track challenges, judge Malcolm Dobell noted that Birmingham and Southampton/Siemens had respectively won the energy storage and traction challenges by a large margin. He advised that the maintainability challenge had been won by Sheffield and the ride comfort challenge by SNC-Lavalin, which also won the noise challenge. However, following a judges’ review, it was realised that this should have been a joint award with Warwick.

Reeve announced that the judges wished to give two special awards to teams that had particularly impressed. These went to FH Aachen, for its initiative in getting to Stapleford from Germany, and the Brunel for its popular and novel locomotive.

Stressing that the judges were open to all forms of traction, Reeve commented that the judges couldn’t help but notice that, when adjusted for load, the outstanding traction performance was FSMR’s 2-8-4 steam locomotive. Hence, it was felt that a special load-adjusted traction award should be presented.

Dobell then announced the results in reverse order, finally revealing that SNC-Lavalin had won overall. However, it had been a close-fought competition. Out of a maximum of 1,500 points, the scores for the top three teams were: Huddersfield (889); Birmingham/AEGIS (1041) and SNC Lavalin (1087). These teams had also jointly won the reliability award.

Everyone a winner

IMechE president Carolyn Griffiths acknowledged that whilst there had “clearly been some heart-rending moments, all the teams had been successful”. She felt that designing and building such prototype locomotives in a short lead time was a “phenomenal achievement”. She was sure that the practical experience gained by the teams, as well as learning about business economics, project planning and time management, would prove invaluable.

In this respect, everyone was a winner. So was the railway industry as a whole, since the challenge must help attract young engineers to the railway industry.

The Railway Challenge can only take place with the support of sponsorship from RIA, RSSB and Wabtec, the Railway Division’s volunteers, support from the Gretton family and FSMR members whose enthusiastic help is also invaluable.

But what of its future? Since 2012, the number of locomotives attempting the track challenges have been three, four, four, four, five and eight. This indicates that increased numbers can be expected next year.

Subject to confirmation, the 2018 Railway Challenge is expected to be held on Saturday 30 June and Sunday 1 July with scrutineering on Friday 29 June. The IMechE will open the entry list on Monday 23 October and the first 16 entries will be accepted.

Thus it seems likely that “biggest challenge yet” will apply to this competition for some years to come.

Written by David Shirres


Organisations interested in entering the 2018 Railway Challenge should contact the IMechE’s Sandra Balthazar at [email protected].

A trio of southern bridges

Willingdon Tree, Oyster Pond and Cat’s Back – three delightful names, but what are they? The answer is they are all footbridges, recently installed on the network at Eastbourne, Newhaven and Wandsworth respectively. They all also presented their own challenges – a level crossing so dangerous it had to be closed before its replacement bridge was ordered, long pedestrian diversions and protected trees in the way of craneage.

All three were installed by   B&M McHugh, based in south London and holders of the minor works contract for Kent and Sussex. However, these three projects were awarded as individual design and build contracts from GRIP stage 3 to 8.

Willingdon Tree

This pedestrian-only crossing was a lightly used means of access from a housing estate onto the Willingdon Levels, a lowland marsh area used for agriculture and recreation. The crossing was located between Polegate and Hampden Park stations in Eastbourne, on a slight curve, with 80mph traffic and up to 145 trains crossing each day.

In the normal course of events, its replacement by a footbridge would have been relatively low priority in Network Rail’s plans to eradicate level crossings. The key issue that raised its risk rating to C (Very High) were the number of near-misses reported – 19 incidents in five years. These included a near miss with a young child aged between 8 and 11, and two girls observed sitting in the four-foot, very close to touching the conductor rail.

Such was the concern with the risks to young users that Network Rail took the unusual step of seeking permission from East Sussex County Council to temporarily close the crossing to users for seven months until a footbridge could be provided.

Network Rail’s route managing director for the South East, John Halsall, described Willingdon Tree crossing as “one of the most frightening level crossings on my route”.

To allay local concerns at this temporary lack of access across the line to Willingdon Levels, Network Rail held a local public meeting on 7 November 2016. Network Rail’s route managing director for the South East, John Halsall, told the meeting: “We have seen several incidents where people, including children, could have been killed and we also know that young people use this crossing as a means to trespass on the railway.

“I know this will come as a shock to some, but I cannot leave this crossing open. I’m keen to work with the community to close it, so we can keep them – and their children – safe.”

Following the meeting, the crossing was closed off by palisade fencing on 13 November 2016. At the meeting, local anglers, who used the crossing daily to access a fishing lake, were vociferous in their concerns at the lack of a suitable alternative access route. As a result, Network Rail agreed to provide a pontoon footway through an adjacent bridge over a drainage channel. However, the floating walkway provided to meet anglers’ concerns was in reality barely used.

The proposed footbridge was to be a standard steel structure with a span of 14 metres. The layout of the Network Rail land boundary, and the land purchased, resulted in a straight stair on the Down side and a 180° cranked flight on the Up side. The design for this was undertaken by Ipswich based MLM Group.

Work to build the bridge began in January 2017, with the construction of the foundations, which were 12-metre-deep CFA piles installed by a Klemm 709 rig working during normal hours behind hoardings. The trestle and stair steelwork erection by B&M McHugh personnel took place in an eight-hour rules of the route possession on 22 April, and the bridge span during another possession on the 23rd.

The bridge was completed and opened to the public in May, as had been promised at the public meetings. It has received a positive reception from the local community and, importantly, removed a high risk crossing from the railway.

As the bridge was located adjacent to private gardens, and also as a result of the site’s history of stone throwing at trains, it was agreed that the mesh screens would be provided throughout.

Oyster Pond

The footpath from Beach Road to Seaford Beach in Newhaven passes over the single line railway between Newhaven Harbour and Bishopstone stations on an ‘Exmouth’ type footbridge. This design of precast concrete bridge, a product of Exmouth Concrete Works, was widely used by the Southern Railway and Southern Region, from the early 1920s to late 1970s, but many have since been replaced as corroding reinforcement and spalling concrete weakened them.

Oyster Pond footbridge had been deteriorating for some years and, to maintain its integrity, had a temporary timber prop on the down line formation (see below) and the trestles had been encased in blockwork.

In 2015 Network Rail approved the replacement of Oyster Pond footbridge with a standard steel structure.

Like the bridge at Willingdon Tree, the land available meant the layout was asymmetric, with a single flight on the Up side and a 180° cranked flight on the Down side. The new bridge is of twin track span to permit future doubling here and is located four metres west of the existing structure. This optimises the use of available land for the stair flights and also permitted the new foundations to be constructed prior to the demolition of the concrete structure.

An early task was therefore to gain planning approval for the repositioning of the new bridge from Lewes District Council, which was achieved on 20 October 2015. The formal closure of the footpath by East Sussex County Council began on 1 February 2016 and a very long diversion alongside Mill Creek provided to maintain access to Seaford Bay beach.

Working closely with MLM Group, the design was developed to incorporate the extensive experience of fabricating steel footbridges for Network Rail by fabricator Convira Group.

Network Rail land to the west of the site provided a compound for B & M McHugh whilst the working access to the site was through a Southern Water sewage treatment works. Work to build the bridge began in January 2016, with the construction of the foundations, which here were CFA piles driven 19 metres deep through alluvial and fluvial deposits, again installed by a Klemm 709 rig working during normal hours behind hoardings.

A good working relationship with the Southern Water operations team enabled a 500-tonne crane to be positioned in the works. The old bridge was demolished in a single 57-hour possession on 12/13 May and the new structure erected in two eight-hour rules of the route possessions on 6 and 7 May.

The completed bridge reopened to public use on 4 April 2016.

Cat’s Back footbridge

Cat’s Back footbridge is a pedestrian and cycle bridge, located between Clapham Junction and Wandsworth Common stations, which provides a crossing point over the four-track cutting that dissects Wandsworth common.

The bridge deck, 3.8 metres wide, was of steel trussed girders with concrete-encased cross girders and a heavily spalled concrete deck. In 2015, Network Rail agreed to replace the superstructure.

B&M McHugh was awarded the contract to replace the superstructure with a standard steel footbridge of similar width and to upgrade the side span parapets and surfacing.

As the only crossing point of the line within the common, it was a well-used bridge by walkers, runners and cyclists as well as by pupils at Northcote Lodge School, whose pupils used it to reach their playing fields. A long diversionary route was provided alongside the railway boundary to Bellevue Road at the southern end of the common, returning on the opposite side.

The key problem to be overcome in planning the project was the craneage for the demolition and construction works. Wandsworth Borough council was concerned that several of the common’s mature trees would have to be removed or heavily trimmed to enable a 250-tonne crane to access the works, and so they requested that a larger crane be used. As a result, the project was planned around the use of a 1000-tonne Demag AC1000 road crane, located 50 metres back from the bridge, with lifts planned over the tree canopy.

The works started on 3 January 2017, with the team first carrying out work to the side spans during normal working hours. Abutment brickwork repairs took place during night-time rules of the route possessions.

On 13 January, a temporary trackway for that weekend’s crane and lorry access was laid across the common. This ran from Bolingbroke Grove to the site using Dura-Base HDPE panels laid directly on the grass.

The existing span was lifted out for offsite demolition and recycling at the start of a 52-hour possession on 14/15 January. Temporary timber bracing had previously been installed between the parapets to ensure the span could be lifted safely.

The existing bearing shelf was broken out on each side using hydraulic breakers mounted on 13-tonne excavators. The crane placed new precast cill beams on each abutment before adding the new steel superstructure, designed by MLM Group and fabricated by Nu-Steel. The following day, the temporary access trackway was removed, returning the common’s grass to normal use.

Final finishing works followed, with the bridge being completed by 24 February. It was formally opened by students from Northcote Lodge School on Tuesday 22 March.

Bruce Karsten, vice-principal of Northcote Lodge School, said, “Network Rail has done a great job in keeping us up to date with the works and we are grateful that they have completed everything so speedily.  The boys are looking forward to being able to use the bridge again on their way to and from school as well as having access to the sports pitches across the railway line.”

So, three great names for three much-needed new bridges. Cat’s Back is probably the highest profile, while Willingdon Tree was arguably the most necessary in terms of public safety. But all were installed in a timely manner and are welcomed by their local communities.

Who said that footbridges were simple structures?

Written by Bob Wright

Waterloo and South West Route Upgrade

Widely regarded as one of the best of the London termini for passenger circulation and amenities, perhaps up until the reconstruction of Euston, Waterloo station now finds itself undergoing a major transformation. Once again, as it has done several times before, the station must keep ahead of capacity demands, both those pressing now and future forecasts.

Looking back over time, it is possible to see how these present needs are only a continuation of an inevitable ongoing evolutionary process.

Prior to the present station, there existed a complex and confused arrangement of platforms, buildings, track layouts and passenger areas. These had evolved piecemeal, over many years, as the commuter belt expanded and the London & South Western Railway developed its services during the nineteenth century.

Towards the end of that century, the railway company found that, eventually, it had to take radical measures to cope with the increasing passenger numbers and the unsatisfactory operational aspects of the station. For example, fifteen of the platforms had to share numbers 2 to 10. There would be trains on either side of a platform, but the unknowing passenger would find it difficult to be sure on which face was his train!

Waterloo was well known for the difficulties in getting information about departures. In Jerome K. Jerome’s famous and amusing book Three Men in a Boat (1889), the station was satirised as the protagonists, frustrated in their inability to find their train to Kingston, had to bribe an engine driver to take them there. The train that they had illicitly acquired was actually the Exeter mail.

It is in part thanks to the ramshackle nature of the previous station that the L&SWR directors were incentivised to make a fresh start on the site. In 1901, chief engineer JW Jacoub-Hood was sent to the USA to study the design of terminal stations. The new Waterloo, which was constructed between then and its grand opening by Queen Mary in 1922, largely followed his plans, which provided a straightforward and spacious station on a difficult site.

The new design featured a broad passenger concourse running across the ends of all twenty-one platforms, along with a new roof, passenger amenities and railway offices in a long frontage block across the whole area available for station redevelopment.

Throughout the twentieth century, Waterloo station was a common sight in feature films and also in newsreels during both World Wars, with servicemen and those greeting or waving them off thronging the familiar concourse. The magnificent clock, which still hangs centrally over the concourse, is often in evidence.

On the theme of armed conflict, the Victory Arch, which is a notable architectural feature at the west end of the concourse, opposite to Platforms 19 and 20, is, because of its position, sadly unnoticed by the majority of passengers hurrying through it to gain access to or from the station. The architectural context of this will become clearer later in this article.

The station went through periods of further development in the 1920s and 1930s with the electrification schemes, but remained largely unchanged until the construction of the International terminal which opened in November 1994, reducing the number of platforms available for ‘domestic’ use back to nineteen.

Time for development

The incentive for the present upgrading is the need, once more, to provide significant extra capacity at the station and throughout the Wessex Route. The opportunity is provided primarily by the five redundant former International platforms, which are now being pressed into use for domestic services.

Since the relocation of Eurostar services from Waterloo to St. Pancras International in November 2007, platforms 21 to 24 have lain dormant awaiting a new purpose (Platform 20 was put back into use for domestic services in 2014). The former International terminal ticketing, checking-in and security facilities have become an empty space, isolated from the rest of the station.

A most imaginative project to revitalise this part of the station, and also to provide the key to capacity enhancement for the whole route, is now rapidly approaching completion.

Following similar thinking to that which created the fit-for-purpose rebuilt Waterloo in 1922, the International platforms are being shortened at their buffer-stop ends so that there is space for a broad and adequate passenger concourse in front of a new gate line with departure board displays above.

During the period in which these platforms were in operational use for Eurostar services, the passenger checking-in area was below the level of the platforms themselves. The radically refurbished area now includes a new concourse bridge, which connects the original platform concourse to the new one for Platforms 20 to 24, at a stroke unifying the new “Domestic” platforms with the original nineteen and greatly facilitating passenger circulation. The lower level, below this new bridge, will become part of a retail area to be developed. There is an aspiration for it to rival the similar developments at London St. Pancras International and Birmingham New Street.

The five new platforms will open for temporary operational use between 5 and 28 August whilst there is a closure of Platforms 1-10. After that, Platforms 21-24 will remain closed until December 2018. Platform 20 will remain open permanently.

Aesthetics

Virtual reality imaging and artists’ impressions of the redeveloped area at two levels around the new concourse bridge show an enhanced passenger circulation and retail environment, with new architectural features which will show off the 1990s International roof structure to great effect. It can also be seen from the imaging that the Victory Arch will be displayed far more effectively as part of the overall ambience than it ever has been previously.

Another major structure to be incorporated into the redeveloped area of Platforms 20 to 24 is a new link roof, which will form continuous cover between the iconic International roof and the original station roof trusses. The structural glass wall, which previously separated the International from the domestic stations, was taken down as part of the modifications for the new concourse.

Capacity demands

Network Rail’s Wessex Route is one of the busiest and most congested parts of the railway network. In 1997, soon after privatisation, there were 108 million passenger journeys annually on the whole South West (Wessex) Route. Currently, that figure has more than doubled to 234 million per year. Furthermore, a baseline passenger survey study made in 2013 forecast that between that date and 2043 there would be an increase of 40 per cent.

Those statistics refer to the whole SW (Wessex) Route. For Waterloo station alone, the statistics are perhaps even more significant. Here there are more than 99 million passenger journeys per year, up from 58 million in 1998. More people use Waterloo station than Heathrow airport.

Capacity solutions

To respond to these pressing demands for increased capacity, Network Rail and South West Trains, in partnership with the Department for Transport, have developed a strategy known as the Waterloo and South West Upgrade. The primary key components of this upgrade are:

  • Redevelopment of the previous International terminal and platforms;
  • Extension of Platforms 1-4 to accommodate 10-car trains in place of the present eight-car units;
  • Platform extension at 10 outlying stations – Feltham, Chertsey, Camberley, Egham, Virginia Water, Sunningdale, Ascot, Martins Heron, Bracknell and Wokingham;
  • Track and signalling alterations on the approaches to Waterloo to create longitudinal space for the platform alterations;
  • Thirty new five-car Desiro class trains;
  • Improvements in access to the Bakerloo, Northern and Jubilee tube lines from platforms1/2 and 3/4 and from the former International terminal.

Investment, implementation and programme

The upgrade represents an £800 million investment, approximately half of which is accounted for by the conversion of the International platforms and terminal into their new use. Also included in this overall budget, apart from the other platform extensions and associated track and signalling alterations, is the provision of thirty new five-car trains.

The infrastructure alterations and new build are being carried out by the Western Capacity Alliance, which is a consortium of Network Rail, Aecom, Colas Rail, Mott MacDonald and Skanska.

The overall programme commenced in 2016 with the initial redevelopment stages of the International platforms. They have been shortened at their far ends to take 12-car trains rather than the much longer Eurostar trains for which they originally catered.

When these platforms are ready for use by Windsor line services on 5 August this year, Platforms 1 to 10 will be closed between then and 28 August. This closure will allow Platforms 1 to 4 to be extended to accommodate 10-car trains and Platforms 5 to 8 will be modified. The proximity of switch and crossing configurations outside the station means that the extension of the platforms cannot be achieved without significant modification of the track layouts approaching these platforms and their associated signalling.

Much of this alteration to the approach infrastructure was accomplished over the 2017 Easter weekend. Arup has designed an innovative track layout, including tandem switches on concrete bearers, to achieve compactness in the limited area available for reconfiguration.

An even more severe closure, of Platforms 1-14, between 25 and 28 August, over the Bank Holiday weekend, is needed in order to complete the track and signalling alterations necessitated by the platform extensions.

Extension of the platforms at the outlying stations is now complete apart from the work at Feltham, which is complicated by the proximity of a level crossing.

The end result of this, the largest investment for decades, will be an increase in peak time capacity into Waterloo of 30 per cent. That’s room for an extra 45,000 people each morning and afternoon.

Working with the travelling public

The need for these major closures and the effects of them on the train services has been well publicised to customers throughout the South West area through a comprehensive leafleting campaign and the provision of other local information such as station posters, commercial adverts and media announcements. Passengers have been given very detailed advice about how to modify their travel plans economically and to avoid frustration whilst, at the same time, being told of the long-term benefits of the capacity upgrade. The publicity campaign also aims to reduce the demand for travel during the closure periods in order to further minimise the potential for overcrowded services.

Using the results of surveys carried out by Transport Focus, Network Rail has been able to confirm that 84 per cent of customers polled were fully aware of the work to be carried out in August, which is the most disruptive period in the whole programme, and 62 per cent are supportive of the need for the work. Also, encouragingly, there has been a good response to the exhortations to minimise travel. During this period 34 per cent of respondents will work from home or a new location, 24 per cent will take annual leave and only 50 per cent “will continue to use the train”.

Written by Mark Phillips

Harringworth Viaduct – Travel & Repeat

As nineteenth-century railway companies levelled corridors through Britain’s landscape, those in their employ inflicted disorder and upheaval on the places they visited. Navvies earned notoriety for working hard and drinking even harder, that latter characteristic having a predictable impact on previously unsullied rural communities.

There is, however, a more nuanced story to tell. Of immense social value is the Reverend Daniel William Barrett’s sympathetic insight into navvy culture, chronicled during his time running a Railway Mission on the Kettering-Manton line in the late 1870s.

Seaton, a village close to the Rutland/Northamptonshire border, had a population of about 320 at this time; then Messrs Lucas & Aird arrived with their construction contract from the Midland Railway. Suddenly, 47 wooden huts appeared nearby, at the northern end of a proposed viaduct; each one typically housed seven men, two women and three children – upwards of 560 souls. Beer consumption was conservatively estimated at 30 gallons weekly per hut (a daily rate of about five pints per man), on top of which was half a gallon of whisky.

But the work ethic was heroic. Wagons with a capacity of 2¼ cubic yards would do 14 rounds in a shift, with two men allocated to each one. This meant that every man was tasked with shovelling more than 20 tons of earth, above their heads, in 12 hours. And they often finished early. At its peak, a workforce of 3,500 – assisted by 120 horses – was occupied along 15 miles of route. Around 90 million bricks had to be manufactured and fired, mostly on site. It was backbreaking, monotonous and monumental; today, it is also beyond anyone’s imagination.

Hard sell

Using three kilns, Mr R Holmes made 20 million bricks for the line’s centrepiece – the aforementioned viaduct across the Welland valley and its flood plain, now generally taking the name Harringworth. Extending for 1,280 yards (1,171 metres), the structure was surpassed in length only by the elevated multi-track approach to London Bridge. Responsible for its design was the firm of consulting engineer William Henry Barlow, his second son Crawford – who acted as resident engineer – and former pupil Charles Bernard Baker.

A banquet to celebrate the keying of the last span by Lieutenant Colonel Tryon – whose land the viaduct stood on – was hosted in a shed at Seaton station. It was July 1878 and work to construct the 82 arches had been ongoing for less than 13 months. Barlow Jnr described the structure as “one of the grandest and most perfect pieces of workmanship to be seen in the United Kingdom”. History suggests he was probably overdoing it, but he had every right to indulge in a little hyperbole.

Strong and stable

Throughout its operational life, Harringworth Viaduct has benefited from numerous repair interventions, hence its red and blue patchwork appearance. The most recent, undertaken by Amco Rail for Network Rail’s Infrastructure Projects East Midlands Civils Renewals team, was extensive and deeply described by Chris Parker in August 2016’s Rail Engineer.

In summary, the work has involved a comprehensive programme to address all recorded brickwork defects, together with optioneering for a longer-term strengthening scheme which will raise the structure’s currently-restricted load capacity rating to RA10. As things stand, 25-tonne axle-load freight is limited to 20mph across the viaduct; the objective is to increase this to 60mph. However, the need for further option development has prompted the deferral of this phase into CP6.

We return now to focus on the parapets, which presented a challenge that could not reasonably have been overcome by conventional means – a bespoke machine was called for.

Better connected

Investigations by Cowi UK (formerly Donaldson Associates) indicated that the transverse distribution of live load through the viaduct’s fill material had the effect of pushing out the spandrels, driving arch ring separation as well as the formation of longitudinal cracks in the arch barrels below both the six-foot and inner face of the spandrel walls. These were, in turn, causing the parapets to lean outwards, whilst movement of the piers and arches under traffic – combined with an absence of construction joints in the parapets – encouraged extensive fracturing to occur. Whilst none of this is unusual in masonry structures, the lean was locally significant – recorded at more than 40mm.

Cowi’s remediation design – developed by senior engineer Manesha Pieris and Peter Harris, director of civil engineering – specified the local replacement of bricks and installation of 6mm-diameter stitch bars within the mortar joints across the vertical cracks. To better secure the parapets into the structure, it was also decided to grout 20mm-diameter vertical reinforcement bars at one-metre centres through the brickwork along the full length of the viaduct, a total of more than 2,300. Every third bar was 1,400mm long to reach the dentil corbels below the stone string course, the others were 1,200mm.

Thereafter, 20mm joints would be saw-cut through the parapets – two each side per span – to allow some shear movement, thus reducing the likelihood of cracks reappearing. To lessen their visual impact on the Grade II listed structure, the joints would be located alongside thickened sections of brickwork on the outer face of the parapets, symmetrically above each arch.

On the inner face, galvanised steel angle brackets would be fixed either side of each joint, extending down from the coping stones into the stepped lower part of the wall where it would be inset. A complication here was the presence of a troughing route at the toe of the parapet on the Up side, which had to be temporarily relocated. The brackets were also used at locations where the lean exceeded 40mm, making a total of 716 to fit across the structure.

First seed

Confronted with the considerable task of delivering the design was Amco’s project manager Shaun Trickett. He approached specialist drilling contractors who took the view that three teams could probably achieve sixty 27mm-diameter cores in an eight-hour shift using DD400 rigs. To complete, approximately twenty-six 16-hour possessions would be needed, with a steep emerging cost of about £500,000. But this ‘traditional’ approach brought issues around working at height, HAV (hand-arm vibration) and the risk of the core breaking within the brickwork or pushing it over. The search immediately got underway for a better system.

Together, Shaun and John Keele, Amco’s plant manager, came up with a concept for a rig which would sit over the parapet. It was based around three MBS piston drills – hardware with a long track-record in the mining industry for the likes of rock bolting. Working in collaboration with Network Rail’s own project management team, an on-site test took place involving a single drill held by a quick-hitch and eight-tonne mini excavator. This proved the starting point for a year-long process of development and refinement led by Chris Scott at Foulstone Forge.

As Rail Engineer has previously reported, Chris is a problem-solver, using hydraulics, pneumatics and ingenuity to achieve what was not hitherto practical, or to do so more efficiently. Whilst the level of complexity varies from machine to machine, his attention to detail is always absolute. On this occasion, he proceeded to explain Charles’ Law, describing why the air-flushed drill bits are cool when withdrawn.

Hang in the balance

Weighing 900kg, the rig comprises a three-sided frame which hooks over the parapet, lifted on and off by a roadrailer but entirely independent in terms of stability. It sits on durable high-grip rubber wheels, adjustable in height to ensure the drills remain vertical despite the slope of the coping stones. Powering the front pair is a 3kW traction unit with an epicyclic gearbox, enabling the rig to self-advance between the refuges, located over every third pier. Guide wheels are provided on both side pieces, running along the copers’ upright faces and a string course. The position of the wheels can be set from a place of safety using a lever and pin system.

Used to drill the holes are three Turbo Bolters, supplied by Minova, each one being mounted to a crosshead which travels freely up and down a vertical post, driven by a double-acting pneumatic ram with a pulling pressure limited to 40psi – sufficient for effective drilling but not enough to unintentionally lift the rig off the parapet. Despite much of the kit being outboard, the whole system will rest securely on the copers without any lateral restraint thanks to two counterbalancing legs on the inboard side.

Behind the RRV are two T8 trailers. On the first is a 4kW vacuum unit – to capture the expelled drill cuttings – standing alongside a panel from which the works supervisor can individually control the drills, their travel mechanisms and air flush. There’s also a ‘dead man’s handle’ which shuts everything off if mishap results in its release. Ancillary equipment is carried on the second trailer, notably the 500cfm compressor for the air supply, as well as lighting and a generator.

Bit by bit

On-site operations were logistically hampered by the nearest RRAPs (Road Rail Access Points) being six miles away at Corby and Manton. This meant that two hours were lost at the start and end of each possession due to the required set-up and travelling time, although this was later halved when permission was granted to stable the RRV and trailers on the ACE siding at Manton, leaving all the equipment permanently rigged.

Initially, 25 possessions were arranged, most of them running from midnight on Saturday to 16:00 Sunday. Day and night shifts were established, overseen by foremen Tommy Johnstone and Colin Turner, whilst Paul Thompson and Lee Kaszar – who were already familiar with MBS drills from their previous careers down the mines – underwent training at Foulstone Forge to become licenced operators of the system.

On the rig’s first outing, the team achieved 120 holes in a six-hour shift and maintained this rate thereafter. When Rail Engineer attended, one ‘travel and drill’ cycle was typically being completed in three-and-a-half minutes, the grouting-in of the bars following on immediately behind. Despite the use of Minova polycrystalline diamond-tipped bits, the make-up of the wall proved a significant variable, with soft red brick, hard blue brick and 5mm-thick steel plates encountered. Over one particularly tough weekend, the team went through 60 bits.

Speculate to accumulate

The brick-laden drudgery of Harringworth Viaduct’s construction period presents a harsh contrast with the comparatively seamless hole-drilling exercise progressed by Amco 140 years later. The former was delivered substantially by hand, many hundreds in number; nowadays these wearisome and repetitive tasks can be done by finger, pushing a button or pressing a lever. That’s how it should be, of course, greatly reducing the attendant risks.

But there is another bonus here, measured in time and money. By investing £60,000 in the rig, an overall saving was made of around £200,000; the drilling was finished several weekends early, such was the improved efficiency. And by adapting the rig to fit other parapets – a fairly modest job – there remains the potential to reduce future project costs elsewhere. It might be uniquely spectacular, but Harringworth Viaduct is not alone in suffering problems with middle-age spread. There will be more to come.

Photography: Four by Three

Written by Graeme Bickerdike

Defending Poole Harbour

Some people say that Poole Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in the world. Whether this is true or not, the harbour is clearly a lot bigger than most people would imagine. Although the overall tidal range is relatively small by UK standards, a large area of the harbour is drained at low water, revealing salt marshes and a rich array of mud flat ecosystems.

Spanning Poole Bay from east to west is a 1.4km, two tracked rail causeway, formed from a two-metre-high embankment. To enable tidal water to flow north to south, there is a three-span structure called Creekmoor Viaduct toward the east end of the causeway and another 3 spanned structure, Upton Viaduct, toward the west end of the causeway. The causeway itself dates back to 1842.

The Network Rail causeway crosses to the south of Pergins Island, a local nature reserve. Upton Lake and Creekmoor Lake, to the south-west and south-east respectively, form a southern harbour area known as Holes Bay.

For inspection purposes, the causeway is divided into six CERDs (Coastal Estuarine River Defence assets). They are, in fact, earthwork embankments which are protected on the southern face with pitching stone and mass concrete where most exposed to the tidal conditions. However, on the northern face within the bay, they are unprotected.

The surrounding land is very low lying and level, with very shallow slope angles typical of a brackish tidal basin. Tides are influenced by the Isle of Wight and a double tide is notable on the ebb, giving rise to a unique drainage system.

Challenging access

This means that the high tide periods last longer than the low tide periods. As a consequence, gaining access and carrying out maintenance and other construction work at low tide becomes far more challenging than experienced elsewhere in the UK. As would be expected at such a location, many repairs have been conducted over the years, including localised placement of rock armour, sprayed concrete render and installation of concrete wave-walls at the crest of the causeway in more exposed locations.

In January 2014, Bridgezone (now Xeiad) carried out a cyclic detailed inspection of the causeway on behalf of Network Rail. Gavin Baecke, senior asset engineer (structures) for the Network Rail Wessex route, explained that a substantial number of defects were identified, including voids that were penetrating into the embankment by up to two metres.

In addition, certain lengths of the structure were being subjected to locally generated wind-waves, creating scour and lowering of the foreshore that exposed the toe of the structure as well as the stone pitching. In the past, these areas had been repaired using sprayed concrete but these defects were deteriorating year-on-year and, therefore, it was decided that significant repair works were required.

Impact on the environment

Other sections of the causeway, that are less exposed to wave action because of higher foreshore levels, were heavily vegetated, with large trees and bushes growing which could undermine the stability of the embankments. Therefore, ahead of any major works, isolated trees had to be removed and the vegetation cut back so that the structure could be surveyed fully.

As this is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Wetland of International Importance (Ramsar convention on wetlands), Gavin pointed out that any planned works would have to be considered alongside their potential environmental impacts both during the repair works and for the long-term.

As a consequence, a detailed Environmental Impact Assessment had to be compiled for the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), including impact and mitigation measures for each stage of the repair work.

WSP, which is based in Exeter, was appointed as consultant to develop and review a wide range of engineering options taking into account environmental, engineering and economic merits. A short-list of options was compiled for Network Rail, presenting a series of possible approaches. Gavin explained that this piece of work, developed by WSP working closely with Network Rail and its framework contractor Osborne, has proved to be invaluable because they have now collectively developed a risk grading system on a scale of 1 to 5, which enables Network Rail to prioritise the work that needs to be carried out, with 5 being the highest priority.

Invaluable coastal expertise

The additional value that WSP injected into this risk-prioritising process was to offer knowledge about the coastal erosion generally alongside the impact that climate change is having on such locations. For example, without being too scaremongering what will the coast look like around Poole in years to come? Could the whole town be exposed to flooding? Farfetched you might say – but is it?

One option being considered is to work with the local council on an initiative to protect the harbour by developing a salt marsh regeneration programme designed to be environmentally friendly and to provide natural protection to the coastal area and to the embankments of the railway causeway.

With regard to the shopping list of work required to address the defects identified as Grades 4 and 5, the ‘One Team Wessex’ project delivery team, formed of Network Rail and Osborne with, on this occasion, WSP as the designer, developed the most productive and efficient way of carrying out the work over the four-day Easter period and for two days on the following weekend.

The approach they adopted was efficient, low-key and very successful. Two road-rail vehicles were hired for the duration of the work. They organised two, ten-hour shifts that would overlap by two hours, thus minimizing night-time work and, therefore, the associated risk that such working could present in such a potentially hazardous environment.

Creating flexible possessions

30 workers were allocated to each shift and a depot was established alongside the sidings at Poole station, about 500 metres from the causeway. The possession at night was from the station and across the causeway. This meant that the road-rail vehicles could move materials and equipment up to the causeway, creating worksite stockpiles.

Once everything was in place, the possession was shortened so that it only extended across the causeway. This meant that Poole station could then be fully operational for trains to run to Bournemouth and beyond, thus minimising disruption to passengers and the train operator – ‘One Team Wessex’ in action!

The Network Rail project manager for the work was Stuart Davis. He was clearly very proud that a team approach was adopted as this, and the form of contract adopted, enabled the scope of work to be completed, and emerging defects rectified, whilst ensuring that final costs were kept within budget.

The view was that this incentivised approach ensured that they were not only able to address all of the Grade 4 and 5 categories of work but also a significant amount of additional repair work as well. There were no accidents, either to people or the environment, which was pleasing given the location.

The work carried out on this isolated tidal location, with its intermittent rail and boat access included, the following:

  • Repairs to areas of mass concrete where the rendering had broken away and was missing;
  • Installation of stone masonry sets where the existing sets had been washed away, exposing the vulnerable embankment core;
  • Filling voids behind many of the masonry stone sets;
  • Repairing the revetment slopes around the abutments of the two viaducts that were in poor condition – material had been washed away causing the revetments to slump and hollow out so that they were no longer offering the protection that they were designed for;
  • Repairing and replacing loose flagstones offering toe protection to the embankment and mass concrete installed to the toe of the embankment, especially in the area of the two viaducts;
  • Placing of grout bags in washout areas, especially in those vulnerable areas where the embankment elevation is quite low;
  • Placing Portland Stone rock armour where areas of unprotected embankment toe had been damaged by scour;
  • Removal of trees and tree roots that had created weaknesses in the embankment shoulder;
  • Resetting masonry sets that have become dislodged by tide and vegetation.

Over this short period of intense work, 20 tonnes of limestone blocks were installed plus 840 Rock Rolls, 180 tonnes of granular fill and 390 tonnes of gabion rock.

Talking to Gavin, Stuart and their colleagues gave a reminder that, not only is Network Rail responsible for a significant number of high profile coastal sites, but it also has a significant mileage of lower-profile coastal railway that requires significant care and understanding.

It is also a reminder that, just as the industry needs to keep abreast with current technology for signalling, track and rolling stock, railway engineers also need to understand the potential harm that climate change can cause to the railways in years to come. Projects such as Poole Harbour’s Salt Marsh Regeneration Scheme should be essential reading and understanding for all concerned.

Written by Collin Carr

Class act in the cavern

It was an unlikely venue for a chance meeting that would change popular music forever – the less than salubrious surroundings of a dingy nightclub beneath a Liverpool fruit warehouse. It was here of course, in the Cavern Club, that Brian Epstein, a local record-store owner and music columnist, first encountered The Beatles. The rest is history.

Unfortunately, the same can be said of the original Cavern Club. It closed in 1973 and was filled in during construction work on the Merseyrail underground rail loop – a cavern of a very different kind!

Loop back

Major engineering works were undertaken deep beneath the streets of Liverpool between 1972 and 1977 to link and integrate the Wirral and Northern lines of the Merseyrail system. These two commuter routes, electrified with 750V DC third rail system, have been operated under the Merseyrail brand name since 1978, latterly by a train operator of the same name.

Interchange facilities between these two lines were constructed at Liverpool Central and Moorfields stations.

As part of what became known as the ‘Loop and Link Project’, this grand scheme included the creation of a two-mile single-bore loop-back tunnel – the Mersey Loop. Driven under the Liverpool streets at depths varying between 17 and 40 metres, this created a one-way loop line, starting and ending at James Street station. As well as increasing destinations for Wirral line passengers, by serving the business and shopping districts and Lime Street station, this new line increased capacity by allowing the seamless turn back of all services around what is effectively a balloon loop.

The running line of the Mersey Loop was laid as a form of slab track, comprising concrete sleepers encased within a concrete bed. This has lasted reasonably well but, after over forty years, maintenance issues were arising. Broken and deteriorating sleepers, increasing in numbers, were notoriously difficult to change, requiring lengthy and expensive possessions. Network Rail therefore took the decision to renew the slab track. This remedial work has been undertaken in stages, typically with 200-250 metre stretches of track being renewed on each occasion.

Story

In order to improve efficiency, diminish passenger disruption and reduce costs, planning commenced in 2014 on a scheme that would see all of the remaining stretches of track, amounting to 1200 metres in total, renewed in one phase. Three tunnel track sections and four station platform sections were to be renewed during a six-month complete line closure, commencing in January 2017. Network Rail appointed Carlisle-based Story Contracting to undertake the works.

In the tunnel sections, the existing 1970s slab track was formed using standard concrete sleepers set at 750mm centres within reinforced concrete plinths. The plinths were cast directly upon the tunnel invert sections, with a void formed between them for drainage purposes. A central semi-circular drainage channel was incorporated into the tunnel invert beneath. Steel walkway plates were placed between the sleepers in the four-foot to cover the drainage channel.

Renewal of the remaining original slab track in the tunnel sections has been completed, with the plinths being entirely broken out and replaced by new concrete haunches cast in situ. These are linked by pre-cast reinforced concrete struts. Pandrol Vipa SP base plates carry new CEN 56 rails and the drainage channel has been protected by a sectional phenolic fire integrity FRP walkway.

Within the station platforms, the original track was installed as a concrete slab with a drainage pipe cast into it in the four-foot. The rails were sat on Pandrol base plates fixed into the concrete at 610mm centres. Here, the solution has been to remove the permanent way and then reduce the slab by planing, leaving the existing drainage unaltered. The slab has, however, been broken out locally for the installation of new transverse drains. Pandrol SFC base plates have been fitted by over-coring the existing bolts. The SFC baseplates offer a shallower construction depth, which reduced the slab planing depth. By using these methods, the estimated saving to Network Rail has been greater than £1 million.

Isolated

Jonny Fearon, senior project manager for Story Contracting, explained how access difficulties modified the working methods used. “Logistics were a great challenge for this project,” he told Rail Engineer. “Other than the station access points for operatives, there were just two points of access open to us in terms of plant and concrete deliveries. Throughout the project, our RRVs were faced with a six-mile round trip under the Mersey from Birkenhead. Fortunately, for the concrete deliveries, we could make use of a ventilation shaft behind Central station.”

The single-bore tunnel also hampered operations in terms of storage areas and methodology. To avoid any storage, handling and transportation issues associated with steel rebar reinforcement, fibre-reinforced concrete was used instead. Further, by drawing upon expertise from Transport for London, Story Contracting was able to introduce lightweight FRP walkway gratings, diminishing the manual handling challenges.

Similarly, the concrete struts that span between the concrete haunches were originally a 60kg two-man lift. Designer Arcadis was able to develop a more slender strut, which reduced the weight by half.

Effective forced ventilation within the tunnel sections was a primary consideration. Diesel fumes and dust from the plant machinery were potentially hazardous, so a system of 14 large ventilation fans was installed to keep the air moving. The air quality was continuously monitored throughout the duration of the project.

Water supplies were piped from ground level along the tunnel. Also, lighting, electricity and compressed air supplies were fixed to the tunnel wall.

The four station platforms around the loop were the only areas available for storage. Their surfaces required protection by boarding and the use of geotextile membranes. All in all, two weeks of set-up time was required before work on the slab track could start.

Pumped

To handle the concrete deliveries, a wagon-mounted pump was positioned at the head of the Central station ventilation shaft. The concrete, brought to the site through the city centre by over thirty road deliveries, was pumped down the shaft into a static concrete mixer mounted on Story’s concrete train. This was then hauled along the tunnel, headed by Story’s rail-mounted Unimog. Adjacent to the worksite itself, a second static pump was then used to deliver the concrete, pumping it over distances of up to 140 metres.

From initial mixing, a maximum work time of four hours was permitted. This took account of the transport time, the two-stage pumping operation and the actual placement into the haunches. Thereafter, the concrete mix was designed to accelerate its curing rate to accommodate the canted track and steep gradients of the slabs. In order to prove the concept, a trial pour was undertaken on the surface, replicating the anticipated conditions in the tunnels, complete with installed Vipa plates and rails. This mock up was subsequently used for training purposes and as an induction tool for visitors.

Describing the logistics, Jonny Fearon said: “Approximately 170 cubic metres of concrete was poured using the double pumping method. Meanwhile, the broken-out slab track and other waste materials were transported by RRV to James Street station before being loaded into engineering trains. In all, we ran eight works trains, carrying 1,600 tonnes of spoil off site for later recycling.”

Paths for the works trains were only available at weekends. “We were effectively land locked from Monday to Friday,” Jonny continued. “Restocking onto the platform storage sites could only take place at weekends when we had possessions in place out to Birkenhead.”

Wet

Transporting materials within the single-bore tunnel wasn’t the only difficulty, as Jonny described. “The tunnels are rather wet in places, so dealing with ground water was a concern. At all times, we had to be very careful to maintain the water flow in the drainage channels. Pumping of the tunnels is constant and it was very important that we protected the pumps from contamination and detritus. Mesh and filter membranes were installed for this purpose and required consistent supervision as unpredictable surges were frequent.”

Work in the tunnels followed a set routine. Firstly, the live rail was removed, followed by the running rails, which were cut into two-metre lengths for ease of transport and to reduce handling difficulties. An RRV would then be used to break out the slab using a pecker attachment. A mini-digger would load the spoil into a bin, to be transported by RRV to the twin bore area of James Street station.

Formwork was then fitted, which also supported the pre-cast struts used to link the two haunches. The three steel lacer bars were then added within each haunch before the concrete was pumped. In this way, 110 metres of slab would be formed, principally because the continuous welded rail was delivered in 108-metre strings.

Rail launchers were set up in the four-foot to allow the CWR to be launched over the newly constructed slabs. The rails were then supported at two-metre intervals on alternating blue and yellow colour-coded jigs. The blue jigs set the horizontal alignment and the yellow jigs set the gauge and vertical alignment.

Quality

A wire brushing technique was used to provide a key for the Pandrol Vipa baseplates which were then wedged in position with the clips preinstalled. Four 32mm core drillings were required for each base plate. The project required some 14,000 drillings to accept Hilti resin anchors. Voids under the Vipa baseplates were then filled with a Tecroc cementitious grout, cast within reusable GRP form work. Each Vipa baseplate rests on a 22mm Tecroc pad and a 10mm plastic shim.

A strict Quality & Inspection Test Plan (QITP) process was followed throughout these procedures. Pull out tests were undertaken on 10 per cent of the anchor bolts, with negligible failures detected.

With the rails in situ, the FRP gratings were then laid in place to cover the central drainage channel. Finally, a new conductor rail was installed using Rehau glass-fibre-reinforced supports.

The project required over 9,500 man hours to complete, the work being undertaken on a three-shift pattern comprising two 10-hour shifts overlapping by one hour, plus a nightly maintenance shift of eight hours. In this way, productive output was maintained for 19 hours each day, with site management, cleaning and restocking occurring during the night. This also helped with the management of fatigue experienced by operatives and staff working in challenging environmental conditions.

Timely

With the Mersey Loop project underway, the opportunity was taken to undertake other maintenance works to alleviate future disruption. Early in the scheme, the S&C North Alliance (a partnership between Network Rail, Amey and Rhomberg Sersa) undertook switch and crossing (S&C) renewals at Hamilton Square. Later in the project, the S&C Alliance returned to carry out heavy refurbishment of S&C around Mann Island junction (adjacent to James Street station) and the renewal of 1,100 metres of plain ballasted track under the Mersey.

The value of the Mersey Loop scheme was £8.75 million and hand back occurred, on budget and on time, on 19 June. A major factor in the success of the project was the involvement by Story Contracting of experienced specialist contractors that had worked on previous phases of track slab renewal. This ensured that the knowledge and equipment was available to undertake the work safely and to a high standard.

The lifespan of the new track slab is expected to be at least 60 years and the use of the adjustable Pandrol Vipa baseplate system means that track gauge, top and line can be easily maintained.

FLIRT friendly

The investment in new maintenance-friendly track will support a new Merseyrail fleet on the network. Bespoke four-car FLIRT (Fast Light Innovative Regional Train) units, built by Swiss manufacturer Stadler Rail, will be introduced from 2020. Indeed, the Mersey Loop project forms part of a £340 million investment in the Liverpool City Region’s rail network over the next three years – a combination of funding from Network Rail and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, via the Government’s Growth Deal fund and Merseytravel.

Due to the Loop and Link Project, the original Cavern Club cellars may have been destroyed in 1973, but happily a new Cavern Club was opened in 1984, having been built nearby to a similar floor plan and using many of the bricks from the old club. 2017 marked the Cavern’s 60th anniversary and celebratory events are taking place throughout the year.

Rock and pop is alive and well on Merseyside, although there’s not much in the way of shake, rattle and roll down in the caverns of the Mersey Loop. Story Contracting’s excellent track alignment sees to that!

Written by Stuart Marsh

Rail Engineer Issue 154: August 2017

Münster’s Magnificent Machines

It was a warm, muggy and chaotic start to the 2017 IAF International Exhibition for Track Technology in Münster. A combination of technical disasters for British Airways causing travel hiccups for hundreds of exhibitors and guests, and temperatures soaring to a sticky 35 degrees, meant excitement was high for the start of Europe’s biggest plant extravaganza.

However, whilst the aviation industry might have been feeling the strain, with three packed halls, a busy plant yard and Plasser & Theurer’s huge tracked exhibition area taking over a significant section of the Münsterland Halle exhibition complex, the European rail world once again flocked to Germany and proved that, no matter how clammy the weather or tetchy the journey, you can’t keep a good rail show down!

Plugging-in to what’s new

Having made their way through the super-efficient check-in procedure, visitors were greeted with a trio of jam-packed exhibition halls – and not a shell-scheme stand in sight. ‘The bigger the better’ seemed to be the theme, with towering stands stretching for miles, and showcasing German-hospitality at its finest!

Walking past the Schwihag stand was particularly difficult around lunchtime, as very tempting plates of steak and potatoes appeared before guests, along with glasses of frosty beer and wine being served from the on-stand bar. In fact, with various stands tempting passers-by with duck burgers, salted caramel crepes, asparagus and goats cheese pizza, German sausage buns, piles of fresh strawberries, chilled champagne and, of course, plenty of beer, at times it did almost feel like you’d stumbled into a food festival. Well, when in Münster…

Stepping outside the main exhibition halls, one could be forgiven for thinking it was the entrance to a Robel showroom. A series of conjoining units showcased everything from hand tools to bogies, with live demonstrations spicing things up.

One of the demonstrations was of the hybrid rail grinder, a new contract win for Robel UK which will see the company supplying Network Rail with one prototype grinder and 25 units to evaluate over the next few months. The kit utilises ground breaking (ground grinding?) hybrid technology, which sees the tool producing its own energy whilst idling, using KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) technology. This is then stored, and used to power the grinder when ready for action.

It’s not just the small tools that are harnessing the power of hybrid technology though. Plasser & Theurer’s buzz phrase for 2017 was “Innovation to You”, and this saw the worldwide teams showcasing a huge range of equipment. However, it was the new range of hybrid OTMs that really stole the show. The cutting-edge E3 machines provide all the power, capacity and technical ability that you would expect from a Plasser & Theurer machine, but the E3 technology has been perfected to help minimise noise levels, lower fuel consumption and minimise maintenance requirements as part of an environmentally enviable package – think along the lines of a rail Prius!

Two of the machines on show were fitted with the new technology, the Unimat 09-4×4/4s E3 and the HTW 100 E3. The Unimat 09-4×4/4s E3, a tamper, has been given a completely electrifying makeover, with every element of the vehicle streamlined to achieve maximum efficiency.

In fully electric mode, an electrical drive motor transfers power from the overhead line onto the rail at the axles of the power bogies for propulsion. When engaged into electric working mode, rotary motions are powered by electric motors, and linear cylinders working hydraulic components, such as the lifting-and-lining unit or the squeeze cylinder of the tamping unit, are supplied by an electrically operated hydraulic unit.

As well as working in full electric mode, the tamper can operate as a hybrid. A 600kW diesel engine creates energy to supply drive components to move the vehicle to site, and once there the electrical working units run just like the electric mode.

The HTW 100 E3 vehicle, created to maintain overhead lines, has been designed like so many of the cars we now see on our roads – a perfect balance of traditional fuel and eco- boost technology. Whilst travelling to site, the machine is powered by a 480 kW diesel generator. This, as well as regenerative braking, charges the on-board lithium traction batteries. These provide power for two six-hour shifts of clear working capacity. The battery capacity can be extended using additional modules.

The sums add up too. The new technology is reducing the operating costs of the kit by more than €100 an hour. And as well as saving costs, the developments also allow for a more flexible working capacity – similarly to the Robel grinder, the hybrid technology is proving significantly quieter than traditional methods, with tests showing that on average the machines are 10dBA quieter than their counterparts, meaning the equipment is well placed to work efficiently in tunnels and urban areas.

Cutting edge

The beauty of the IAF show is the sheer amount of track space available, allowing suppliers to showcase some truly exciting pieces of kit. However, if yellow isn’t your colour, this probably isn’t the place for you. At the Geismar stand, the team were even colour coordinated to their display, with international team members all sporting rail-plant-yellow ties.

One piece of Geismar’s kit stuck out a mile though – it was white. This white wonder was a track panel- laying machine, with a difference – it has no need for any auxiliary track, it is designed to operate perfectly on just formation ballast (maybe its lack of rail requirement is why it wasn’t ‘rail plant yellow’?). Using this cutting- edge equipment, a minimal team would be able to install a track panel of up to 42 metres long via remote control, with no need to send a man into a potentially dangerous worksite.

This equipment is currently used in France, however Geismar is meeting with its Network Rail sponsor to determine fleet requirements within the UK, and evaluate options to bring this exciting equipment to market.

Weather worries

With whispers in the air that the lightning storms that had lit up Northern Europe were on their way to us, and the mugginess and distant rumbles certainly suggesting the same, I declined the kind offer from Billy Thomson at NEOTEC to take a trip up in the SkyRailer’s cage to get an overview of the show. However, should I have chosen to, I’d have been in good company. Network Rail has recently adopted the machine for its Overhead Condition Renewals team.

“It’s a nice accolade. The week before the show, we delivered number 78 and 79 into the UK, with 12 going directly to Network Rail. We’re aiming for 100 by Christmas,” laughed Billy. “Who knows, British Airways might have delivered my suitcase by then too!”

Unlike BA with Billy’s suitcase, one team that really delivered was Matisa, with its corner of the showground living up to its “100%” slogan. The team was using the Münster event to showcase its innovative ballast consolidation system, the B66U, which is using double head tamping to ‘shake up’ traditional ballast stabilisation systems.

Matisa’s new machine differs from its competitors by only working on the ballast, and ensuring that existing track geometry remains stable and true. Whilst others may be more aggressive, the B66U’s technology ensures that vibrations are only emitted into the ballast, making this a great option for works on bridges, in tunnels and built-up areas.

The new system has already been accepted for maintenance use in Switzerland, Italy and, in principle, in France (at the time of writing SNCF was running trials), with renewals poised to follow. Will we be seeing it any time soon shaking up the UK infrastructure? Apparently, Network Rail has already made a trip to see it in action on a particularly bitterly cold night in Strasbourg, so watch this space!

Plenty of people from Network Rail also made the trip over to Germany, but there was no danger of needing to wrap up warm here. I bumped into Nick Matthews, Network Rail’s track engineering manager for the S&C Alliance, and once we had exchanged concerns over sun burn risks, he revealed that he was attending the show on the lookout for new technologies: “At the S&C North Alliance, we’re always looking for ways to improve delivery in the UK”, he said. “I’m ideally looking for an innovative solution for track panel lifting, but there’s always plenty of gems tucked away at a show like this.

With this in mind, one of Nick’s stops should have been PMC Rail. Not only did the blissfully air-conditioned training cabins provide some break from the heat, but the state-of- the-art simulation technology, which allows for realistic training on everything from tamping to track geometry, could offer a solution for getting operators up-to-speed on the great new equipment on offer at the show – perfect for any gems he tracked down. Additionally, the PMC Rail team won my entirely unofficial prize for the most enthusiastic and welcoming organisation at the show. I also (mentally) handed out a couple of prizes for the least enthusiastic and grumpiest organisations at the event, however I’ll keep these to myself… let’s put it down to heat and lack of access to PMC Rail’s air-conned units!

Tuesday afternoon saw a break in the summer weather with a downpour of biblical proportions. The poor team at Amberg Technologies fell victim to this sudden storm, with attendees of their off-site field trip getting a little more than they bargained for with regards to the rain. Whereas baseball caps (and bizarrely, toothbrushes) had been the order of the day on the freebie front, suddenly all eyes were on exhibitors giving away umbrellas – visitors to the SRS UK stand were certainly grateful for their sizable offerings (thanks Gethin)!

Happy birthday

The final day of the show marked one year of British Steel, and it was great to see the enthusiastic team members flying the flag for British manufacturing in Europe. They were strong in their key message of their dedication to “building a stronger future” and, certainly, the impressively structural stand was always busy, although the lack of British delicacies on the buffet table was concerning, not one Colin the Caterpillar birthday cake in sight.

In fact, birthday cakes were very thin on the ground generally. The show also played host to the 25th birthday of Swedish-based Railcare. However, instead of filling in a fire safety form and lighting some candles, the team celebrated by putting on a great show for visitors (including a number of key visitors from Network Rail) with their Railvac and newly launched ballast- feeding combo.

There was a fairly good party though – although it wasn’t necessarily thrown completely on behalf of British Steel and Railcare. Plasser & Theurer’s famous event saw the great and the good mingling together on Wednesday night, and enjoying an evening of networking, along with the opportunity to relax after a busy couple of days. However, it did lead to a fairly slow start and a few pairs of dark sunglasses on Thursday morning…

Good things, small(ish) packages

As well as visitors on the lookout for the ‘big kit’, the show was well attended by some familiar faces from the small plant world in the UK. So, in the interests of balance, I set myself a task to track down the most interesting attachments at the exhibition. Having dug through the buckets, and sieved through the flails, I decided on two likely candidates.

In pride of place on Colmar’s internal stand, I didn’t have to go very far before I found something that ‘undercut’ the competition… the Dymax Rail Ballast Blaster, an undercutter bar designed for use with all excavators with or without Tiltrotator technology. This scary creation wouldn’t look out of place on the poster for a horror film. With two sets of bi-directional blaster chains, each topped with carbine tipped teeth, this ballast beast boasts the “longest life chain in the rail industry”, and I’m certainly not going to argue with it!

A special mention must go to BSB- Saugbagger und Zweiwegetechnik’s TinBin TC2 – to be known as the TubeCube TC2 in the UK and distributed by Tasty Plant. Live demos showed the simple-but-brilliant suction excavation attachment in action, with its rotating head making hoovering up ground and gravel as easy as running a Dyson over the carpet, with the attached ‘bin’ meaning there’s minimal dust created. At one demonstration we spotted a young child crouched at eye-level – fascinated by the action unfolding – and he managed to remain relatively dust free until his mum hoicked him away!

Whilst searching for these hidden gems, I can’t have been the only person to have spotted a famous Pixar robot hiding in plain sight on the Zeppelin Power Systems stand? My sources assure me this Wall-E lookalike was in fact a Caterpillar engine, however I’m convinced that there’s more to this story… are Disney animators sneaking round rail shows looking for inspiration?

Working together

Although Brexit may be taking over the headlines in the UK, there was little evidence of a fractured Europe at the IAF show, with the industry proving exactly how much can be achieved with active collaboration.

At the Pandrol/Rosenqvist/Vortok/ Railtech stand, a family message was definitely in the air, with the four companies pulling together in an impressive united display. Their busy track section highlighted exactly how well their individual kit worked together as one united solution.

“It’s great to have the whole family here together, it’s our main theme for the event,” explained Nicole Lyons, Pandrol’s marketing coordinator. “We’re really innovative in our approach here, and are in the process of bringing everything even closer together than it has been previously. We’re becoming a lot more unified and synchronised.”

Talking of becoming unified, Rail Products UK was showcasing a pair of machines that have really hit the nail on the head for use across the worldwide market. The show saw the unveiling of the hefty TH21 road/ rail crane. However, for a European market, it was the organisation’s ART17TH MEWP, with its variable gauge (from one to 1.6 metres) and pantograph that really stood out.

A surprise guest was the appearance of Van Elle Rail, although not present under the company’s traditional piling guise. The rail team took delivery of two Colmar T10000FSCG cranes – the only two in the world in fact – just two weeks before the show and, despite only having their new toys for a few days, they decided to share nicely and joined forces with Colmar to make sure the crane’s presence was firmly felt at the show.

Another UK organisation proudly displaying its European reach at the show was Wales-based GOS Tools and Engineering. With a shiny Readypower machine sat in pride of place on the stand, highlighting GOS’ commitment to fleet investment, there was no underestimating the team which was showcasing UK engineering at its finest.

Not everyone was feeling the love though. Poor System 7 had a hefty hiccup at the show, when it was forced to cover its shiny new tamping bank up in the middle of day one, due to issues with the patent. After this, we weren’t allowed onto their stand, or to take any pictures of the front or end of the machine poking out of the huge tarpaulin. However, we did hear whispers that the embargoed machine has already been sold, despite the legal wranglings. Nothing like a bit of drama to spice things up a little!

In the course of three days, guests at IAF ran the full gamut of the emotions. We saw highs as Plasser & Theurer handed over its 16,000th track machine to the CEO of the Italian Rail Network. Lows, when the main coffee emporium ran out of apple cake just as the rain drove everyone inside. Laughter, when a grunt of acknowledgment from a seemingly benign air seat sent an over- enthusiastic tester jumping three feet into the air. Tears, with stories from numerous stands of burnt fingers achieved from polishing a machine in 35 degree sunshine on set up day (although these were tears of laughter in some cases…).

However, whether you left the show with burnt fingers or a burning desire for a hybrid tamper, everyone I spoke to is already making plans to revisit in four years’ time. My hotel is already booked for the 2021 show – see you there!


Read more: Illuminating Chesterfield station


 

Costain – The benefits of world-class experience

Costain’s current annual accounts include a section which analyses the current UK market spend in power, oil & gas, water, nuclear, highways and rail, estimated to be £92 billion per annum. It also identifies the market spend addressable to Costain alone for each of the sectors. Rail, at £26 billion per year (overall spend, including Network Rail, Crossrail, HS2 and others), accounts for approximately 28 per cent of that total market, of which the proportion of rail addressable by Costain is approximately £7 billion.

What is the relevance of this? Well, it shows that, while rail is very important to Costain, Costain is also very important to the rail industry. The company not only has the potential to account for 27 per cent of the total rail spend but it is also developing a workforce with a level of expertise in rail that is invaluable and “World Class”, but more of that later!

Ross MacKenzie is Costain’s strategic development director, so who better to explain the steps that the company has taken over recent years to put itself in this deservedly influential and advantageous position within the industry.

Catalyst for change

Ross explained that the acquisition in 2015 of Rhead Group, a professional services consultancy with a focus on programme and commercial management, was the catalyst for change within the company. It added a skill base that complemented the delivery skills that Costain was renowned for.

Costain has always had strong professional services offerings in other sectors and, over the last few years, has increasingly provided constructability advice to the world’s major rail schemes. This is in addition to delivering some of Europe’s most complex contracts, one of which, the re-development of London Bridge station, has been well recorded by Rail Engineer. In November 2011, Costain was awarded the contract by Network Rail to transform this, the UK’s fourth busiest station, to meet growing national transport needs by increasing both passenger and rail capacity at the station by nearly 50 per cent.

The redevelopment of the 180-year-old station is now well advanced. It is being completed over nine phases and they all require major rail possessions, which has necessitated years of meticulous planning. The biggest challenge has been to ensure the station remains fully operational at all times, to minimise disruption to passengers, a process that has been described as “undertaking open- heart surgery whilst the patient is still awake”.

Costain has carried out the detailed design and delivery of this major infrastructure project, including a new concourse at street level said to be the size of Wembley Stadium. The work is now at an advanced stage offering an increase in passenger capacity from around 50 million to 75 million.

The London Bridge project has engaged in an array of sustainability initiatives and practices. These include striving to maintain a fit and healthy workforce, reducing the use of natural resources, eliminating waste, maximising talent and skills and integrating business into the community in order to address the issue of low employment in the London Borough of Southwark. All this knowledge must find a way into the industry if it is to continue to improve.

Experience adding value

Costain now has a team of 1,200 specialist industry professionals who have benefited from being associated with a variety of rail projects- including London Bridge – which, as Ross pointed out, have become an important part of their career development. Also, as customers begin to understand the value that Costain can add to a project, they are involving the company much earlier in the design process.

An example of this is the planned reconstruction of the station at Gatwick Airport. Costain is working with client organisations to define project requirements in line with the business case, producing concept design, early stage cost planning and identification of a delivery strategy that minimises operational disruption. Current involvement is for GRIP 2, 3 and 4 (from feasibility through to single option development).

Another example of early involvement in a project resulting in improved delivery was the reconstruction of the Dover sea wall, which had partially collapsed over Christmas in 2015. Initially thought to be a two-year programme of work, it was completed by Costain in only nine months. A collaborative, trusting partnership with Network Rail allowed Costain to take steps in the early stages of the project to speed up delivery – for example, reducing the number of types of pile from nine to three simplified the work and ensured a timely completion. Drones were also used to monitor condition and movement of the wall and surrounding embankments.

Diverse level of expertise

Costain has been involved in High Speed 2 phase 1 since 2012, with an advisory team working on the Hybrid Bill submission, adding real value to the project by providing constructability advice. As a result, the company was awarded the South Enabling Works Contract for High Speed 2 on 16 November 2016.

The contract covers the essential preparatory work needed to deliver the main HS2 programme on time and to budget. It is already creating jobs and training opportunities across Costain’s UK-wide supply chain and work has already started. These early stages involve establishing relationships with the numerous stakeholders, negotiating to agree demolition, diversion of major utilities and numerous other preparatory works.

An essential core requirement is to ensure that all project teams have a complete skill set, so they now employ a substantial number of experienced track, signalling and systems engineers. These specialist industry professionals are working across the sector to deliver a holistic rail service, focused on collaborative working with customers, innovation and whole-life costs designed to create more sustainable and manageable infrastructure assets.

Recognised as World Class

As a result of this good work in the UK, Costain’s reputation is now moving further afield to Australia where, in Sydney, Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW) is planning to spend £30 billion over the next four years. Representatives visited the UK and were so impressed with the work being carried out at London Bridge and other Crossrail projects that they considered Costain to be ‘World Class’ and invited the company to review plans for Central Station, which has similarities with London Bridge in that the plans are to construct a concourse area underneath the existing live tracks of the station.

The technical challenge is that there is only 1.7 metres of clearance from the underside of the existing track level to the concourse roof slab. It’s a challenge that Ross’s team is relishing, and is currently carrying out a peer review to detect any constructability issues as well as assessing the feasibility of the scheme. Also, as part of the consultancy service, the team is assessing potential risks and benefits, as well as possible alternatives, thus adding value to the client.

The next phase is to advise on methodologies and the constructability of the station. The proposal is for a split-level box with punch columns, escalators and lift shafts. Using its expertise from yet another highly complex contract, Crossrail’s C405 at Paddington, Costain has been able to provide the customer with logistical and construction advice.

Similarly, Costain has been involved with TfNSW on the methodology and constructability of Sydney Metro City and Southwest Stations and Corridor (SSC) Project, using experience gained on its Crossrail C610 system-wide fit-out project.

Acknowledgement of world-class expertise is a high compliment indeed. Sometimes the amazing engineering achievements that have been carried out over the last decade or so can tend to de dismissed or undersold.

As Ross pointed out, delivering big contracts is a value-added experience which creates an opportunity for this to be fed back in at the front end by people who are experts in delivery. Lessons have to be learnt and they have to be injected back into the system at the planning stage, and that is exactly what Costain is managing to do and that is why the company is being acknowledged as ‘World Class’, which is a credit to the whole team.


Read more: Illuminating Chesterfield station


 

Illuminating Chesterfield station

Today, much emphasis is placed on the ‘passenger experience’. This is much more than just the time spent on the train, it includes wayfinding at the station, retail opportunities, simple ticketing, passenger information and the courtesy of staff. In short, everything involved in making the customer’s end-to-end journey as pleasant and simple as possible.

So asking passengers to alight, late at night, on a lonely platform that is dimly lit by a few orange ‘sodium’ lights, is now very much a no-no.

However, it’s not just a question of replacing those old lights with some new ones. Lighting has to be evenly distributed, not just a few pools, so that not only is the customer experience enhanced, so is the ability of CCTV to see into all the dark corners. It also has to be economical to run and easy to maintain.

Brighter design

So when East Midlands Trains approached Roch NDT Services to submit designs for the replacement of the existing under canopy high intensity discharge fixtures at Chesterfield station, the new design had to take into account the following essential attributes:

  • Energy consumption reductions; » Future maintenance considerations and access to fittings;
  • Improvement in overall lighting uniformity;
  • Improvement of general lighting ambience for security/CCTV;
  • Future lighting application adaptability;
  • Viable fit-out procedure to avoid potential platform possessions and line blockages;
  • Cost-effectiveness and value for money.

The remit was clear and concise and so Roch set about demonstrating how its Veko LED lighting solution would overcome each challenge, one by one. Not just was a very good lighting performance important, so was the simplicity of the fit out procedure, particularly in a live railway environment.

Lighting calculations were scrutinised in order to position the new lighting system away from the platform edge, which would immediately allow for future access and maintenance to be undertaken without the need for costly platform possessions and line blockages. So, the early designs provided solutions to several key elements of the remit, which entertained future long-term savings on maintenance.

Following on from this, the structural element had to be appraised, in particular, how was the system going to be attached to the super structure in its new position away from the platform edge?

After a detailed survey of both under-canopy structures and drawings produced for the final submission with 3D rendered designs, the project was approved.

The companies involved

Roch NDT Services provides structural testing and analysis of lighting columns in the rail, airport and street lighting sectors covering signals, platform columns, approach road and car park columns and high masts. With this close involvement with the safety and integrity of lighting columns, it was natural that the company also became interested in the positioning and performance of the lights themselves, hence the link with Veko. Veko Lightsystems has offices throughout Europe with installations in the rail sector, warehouses, manufacturing plants and sports facilities. In the UK, the quality of the brand is fast becoming recognised and installations for Network Rail are underway.

The simple reason for this is down to the quality, durability and the ease and speed of installation. For instance, one Veko Lightsystems installation team of two people can install up to 300 metres a day. From the client’s perspective, this means less interruption to services and cuts the inflated installation costs down massively.

Much of this is down to the simplicity and quality of the Veko system. It has containment built in as part of the profile manufacture, so any fit out task can be completed very quickly and there is no need for additional cable management systems, such as trunking, conduit or cable trays. It’s a one-fix solution and the Chesterfield station project highlighted this superbly.

Swift installation

Once the survey and proposal were complete and accepted, no additional site visits were needed and installation costs were vastly reduced. The fit out process for both station platforms to be fully commissioned and operational took just over one shift to complete as the Veko products, which were delivered to site with minimal packaging, were coded and pre-assembled. The positioning of the extruded-aluminium profiles meant that there was no need for any station or line closures.

As a result of the refit, the lights are now 2.5 metres from the platform edge and so easily maintainable. There has been an improvement in lighting uniformity and colour rendering, making passengers feel safe and allowing the CCTV to work at its best. To top it off, energy consumption is down by 75 per cent.

Passengers alighting at Chesterfield immediately noticed the improved quality of lighting, without realising that station security and CCTV operators welcomed the changes too.


Read more: Derby railway station to receive major £200m investment to remove ‘bottlenecks’