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Edinburgh Waverley’s new roof installed

Let there be light

Two ridges create Edinburgh’s spectacular topography. On the glacial tail from an extinct volcano are the castle and high medieval buildings. Opposite is a drumlin ridge on which sits the city’s Georgian New Town.

The Nor’ Loch between them was drained to become Princes Street Gardens in 1820. To them was added the Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway in 1846, reaching the site of the current station. A year on, two other companies opened adjacent stations. All three were later combined to become Edinburgh Waverley.

Since then the station has been expanded to cope with additional rail traffic but always taking account of its historic setting with the roof limited to 12.8 metres above rail level by statute and the station having listed building status.

Following the increase in traffic from the Forth Bridge’s opening in 1890, the lines through Princes Street Gardens were quadrupled, much to the outrage of many in the city, and Waverley was rebuilt around a central island, essentially becoming today’s station. 120 years later, with a roof area of 34,000m2, it is the second largest station in the UK with much of its fabric in urgent need of renewal.

The project to end all projects

To keep it fit for the 19 million passengers who use it each year, a £110 million project started in September 2009, following on from a number of previous developments.

Railtrack had considered transforming Waverley into a station with through platforms accessed from a concourse above. Although this option was actively progressed, with a Parliamentary application to increase the roof height restriction by 2 metres, by 2003 it became apparent that it was not viable.

Despite some work being undertaken by the Station Regeneration Project in the late 90s, little was done to Waverley’s roof due to the uncertainty of the station’s future.

With the pending reopening of the Airdrie-Bathgate line, the priority was to increase capacity. A £150 million project to add four new platforms was completed in 2008, enabling 28 trains per hour to be handled rather than 24. This set the stage for the current mission.

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Work taking place on the roof alongside one of the disused walkways.

Four steps

Al Barclay, Network Rail’s Project Manager for the renewal is clearly proud of the way that work has been done to date and in particular how it has not disrupted train services.

He explains that the close liaison with train operating companies this entails is just one example of the way the project is working with its many stakeholders: retail units, taxis, disabled groups, prestigious hotels, planning authorities.

From an early stage, the team has worked with the City of Edinburgh Council and Historic Scotland to meet their requirements without delaying the programme.

Minimising the risk from consents was one of the reasons for splitting the project into four packages –

1. Enabling works comprising demolition of the old GPO building at the east end of station together with its associated link bridge and reconfiguring the HV supply for the station and signalling centre. This was undertaken by May Gurney between September and November 2009.

2. Roof repairs and reglazing, resurfacing of the concourse and ramps, station drainage and stonework repairs. This is the largest package and is being carried out by Balfour Beatty. It started in April 2010 and will be completed at the end of 2012.

3. Replacement of the Market Street entrance, resurfacing and providing new canopies for the southernmost island platform (8 & 9) as well as resurfacing New Street car park. This has been let to C Spencer and will be done between September 2011 and July 2012.

4. Repairs and rationalisation of services in the main building and operations building, coupled with resurfacing of the main building’s internal concourse. This last item of work will be completed by March 2014.

The Waverley Steps entrance is the focus of a separate £7 million project to provide a ‘feature entrance’, canopy, escalators and lifts. This was designed by architects Jefferson Sheard with Morgan Sindall appointed as contractor.

The low road

Currently ongoing is Balfour Beatty’s £50 million Package 2, split into high and low level works. The latter involves resurfacing 9,000m2 of platforms including copes and tactile paving, 4,000m2 of station concourse and the approach ramps, as well as upgrading the drainage system.

White Terrazzo concourse tiles, installed in the early 80s, are being replaced with new ones of buff sandstone. Al explains that this will reduce glare with the extra light from the new roof, will be in keeping with the station character and reduce the risk of slipping when wet.

All the platforms are being resurfaced except for the new ones provided by the recent enhancement project.

This is done within overnight and disruptive weekend possessions, typically from 01:00 Sunday to 04:30 Monday. This does not affect the train service although some replatforming is necessary and the station berthing is changed to accommodate the work.

Resurfacing the station ramps included repairs to the corroded steelwork below and renovation of cast ironwork. The two heritage lamp standards on each ramp were removed for blasting and repainting by the Ballantine Bo’ness Iron Company who are also producing replacement cast iron balustrades for the ramp. These were removed 15 years ago as they were not secure.

Although some can be reused, many new castings are required for which the old balustrades provided a pattern.

Closure of the south ramp excluded vehicular traffic from the station except for delivery vehicles at specific times. This required a temporary taxi stand outside by the Market Street entrance as agreed with the council and taxi drivers.

With typically 250 requests for mobility assistance each week, special arrangements were devised with advice from support groups. A bus shelter in the New Street car park with a call button was provided and four additional helpers were hired for the ten-week ramp closure to guide mobility-impaired passengers through specially marked disabled access routes.

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The station ramps have been resurfaced.

And the high road

Renewing the roof’s 28,000 panels requires repairs and surface treatment of the supporting steelwork and a new glazing system. Currently there is no easy access to most of the roof – this is being rectified by providing fixed walkways and moveable running gantries.

The working platform for this work is typically half the total roof area to avoid delay to the project. After its erection, each roof bay is encapsulated prior to grit blasting. The encapsulation uses the working platform and old roof with sheeting along the sides and ends of each bay.

The blasting is being done by ThyssenKrupp Palmers using the technique they use on the Forth Bridge. This involves a compressor and grit extraction plant up to a kilometre from the workplace, located in the Carlton Road compound. It services the entire roof.

After the blasting, steelwork repairs are undertaken and surplus material removed, including glass, timber and steel. Balfour Beatty has subcontracted this work to CEP Demolitions Ltd who recycle the material; only 5% is taken to landfill as waste.

Bare steelwork is then painted before the secondary steel and aluminium glazing system is erected. Laminated glass panels are then fitted, the first of which were put in place on 21st April this year.

Other high level work involves the removal of a large redundant water tank on the Klondyke wall, an improved roof drainage system, new lighting and work on three station roof walkways. The Balmoral walkway is directly above the west side station footbridge and services the Balmoral Hotel. It is to be repaired and retained.

The redundant walkway from the north-east of the main building to the former GPO building will be removed except for its steelwork which is part of the roof structure.

The Jeffrey Street walkway resulted from the Act of Parliament for the 1890s station redevelopment. This allowed the council to build a railway footbridge through the roof to maintain a route between the old town and Leith Walk.

It was closed for repairs in 1958 and cannot now be reinstated as, in 1974, a span was removed to construct the Edinburgh Signalling Centre. The bridge is to be reclad to retain the current appearance of the roof, its deck removed and sides glazed to provide an attractive feature with increased light.

For the future

Package 3 is to be undertaken by C Spencer for £9 million between the 2011 and 2012 Edinburgh Festivals, from this September to next July. It concerns the station’s southern part, separated from the rest by the Klondyke wall.

The Market Street entrance involves steps and a footbridge crossing Platforms 8 & 9, then through the wall to the main station. The new entrance will have a wider footbridge and street-level lift access. Platforms 8 & 9 are to have new canopies and improved steps.

This package also includes resurfacing New Street car park and Klondyke wall repairs. It requires a footbridge to be provided through an opening in the wall and access to the New Street car park for a construction compound, all on a temporary basis.

Refurbishing the historic main building and the operations depot is the final package, comprising roof repairs, watertight windows, rationalisation of services and cleaning of stonework, murals and the glass cupola.

Provision of a construction compound is a constraint that might affect timing of the work. At the latest it will be completed by March 2014.

Fitting it all together

Making this all happen requires effective management of the interfaces between various items of work and station operations, for example supports for the working platform constrain resurfacing works.

This is managed by sequencing the programme with priority being given to roof works by the Waverley Steps project. Also, at some locations the working platform is being hung.

Willie Watson, the project’s Station Interface Manager, has the job of minimising the impact on Waverley’s operations. His advice has helped maximise possession opportunities without affecting train services.

Perhaps the greatest challenge is to manage the flow of 50,000 passengers each day, especially as the station footprint can change up to three times per week. Al considers that Willie’s advice is invaluable in this respect both in determining what footprint is acceptable, ensuring that there is suitable temporary signage and specifying other measures, such as the purchase of smaller trolleys for Rail Gourmet.

The next 120 years

Waverley’s roof and the Forth Bridge have a shared history. They are both 120 years old and have lasted well despite inadequate maintenance under British Rail. Both are undergoing similar types of treatment with revised access arrangements that should ensure their future for the next 120 years.

The roof is only part of the Waverley renewals project which is impressive in many ways, especially for its lack of impact on train services.

Nevertheless it is inevitable that there will be some inconvenience to station users who may not appreciate how their station is being transformed. But it will soon be revealed so they can share Al Barclay’s pride in a station that is fit for the next century.

Stripping away the gold plate

Who says there’s no focus on efficiency? Those commentating from outside the industry should first witness the conviction of many within it, like Network Rail’s North East Project Manager Ben Lynch. He speaks with erudite clarity, not just about his current mission – the Hickleton and Moorthorpe signalling renewals scheme – but also on cost-effective engineering as part of a sustainable ‘value for money’ railway. If the industry is currently hamstrung by conventional wisdom and disproportionate standards, it’s not for the want of trying by people like Ben. He recognises that “We have new opportunities and new technologies that offer so much.” And he’s keen to tap into them; so are his colleagues and so is their boss.

His climb to a position of high responsibility started from the bottom. “I started out in my railway career working on the tools and this has given me a good grounding. There tends to be a lot of noise and distraction around large rail projects” he continues. “The trick is to concentrate on what’s really important to get a project moving forward in a cost-effective manner. Our targets on cost may seem onerous, but they are there for the right reasons. In the past there have been layers of over-engineering and spare capacity. We now need to question whether this represents good value for money. New practices and technologies can give us a railway that’s safer and more reliable than before, and at an affordable cost.”

And that’s what the McNulty Report, or Rail value for money study as it’s more properly known, demands of the railway. As described in last month’s issue, it sets out recommendations for a leaner fitter industry, designed to deliver a £1 billion saving annually by 2019. Without this, the report claims, the railway’s growth requirements cannot be achieved.

Computer control

The Hickleton and Moorthorpe signalling renewals scheme, situated on the Sheffield-Leeds/York route, provides some timely examples of the forward thinking that Network Rail needs, both at the design stages and on the ground. It was commissioned during a 79-hour blockade over the late May bank holiday weekend, a £9 million contract having been awarded to Invensys Rail in January 2010.

The project has involved the replacement of mechanical signal boxes at Hickleton and Moorthorpe – latterly controlling only power signalling – and has involved the installation of 52 SEUs (Signalling Equivalent Units), including 32 new LED signal heads. Some 11½ miles of two-track railway have been resignalled, much of it bi-directionally. This is based around an Invensys Rail WESTLOCK computer-based interlocking located at York. Communication with the trackside modules is via the FTN network which has necessitated an acceleration and upgrade of the local FTN installation programme. This aspect of the project was undertaken by telent together with the provision of new telecoms throughout.

At York Signalling Control Centre, the WESTLOCK is interfaced via a DeltaRail IECC with the existing Ardsley area workstation and is presented on three screens. WESTLOCK is a powerful and highly versatile interlocking system which, since its trial at Leamington Spa in 2007, has been commissioned at several locations across the UK, mainland Europe and Australia. Some notable applications have included the resignalling of Glasgow Central, Oxley near Wolverhampton, the Durham Coast scheme, the South Wales Control Centre in Cardiff and, most recently, at the Thames Valley Signalling Centre at Didcot.

Safe and secure

Lessons learned for the recent Durham Coast resignalling project (see Issue 75 of the rail engineer) have been put into practice on the Hickleton and Moorthorpe scheme, especially the use of deeply buried ducts for cable routes. 200mm in diameter, these are 1m below ground level and even the inspection chambers are covered by 200mm of ballast in an effort to deter thieves. The route runs through the Yorkshire coalfield’s former heart; having stopping beating, crime thereabouts has flourished and the area between Swinton and Moorthorpe has become a hotspot for cable theft. So there has also been further use of anti-theft cabling (see Issue 64 of the rail engineer).

And it’s not just cables – the signal box at Moorthorpe has been burgled several times. Fortunately on each occasion the signalling equipment has been completely ignored – it’s the domestic white goods that have disappeared!

Another feature of the Durham Coast scheme that became a requirement of the Moorthorpe project at the GRIP 5 implementation stage involved Network Rail and Invensys Rail setting up shared office and storage facilities well away from the railway. In the event, a large and secure industrial unit at Manvers was used for this purpose. As Ben confirms, “These measures, coupled with good on-site housekeeping and the use of guards placed at strategic locations, mean that theft and disruption have been cut to minimal levels. This, together with the buy-in of the BTP, has also ensured the protection of rail personnel from the attention of criminal gangs.”

The specifications called for the use of high security location cases and palisade fencing around REBs, as well as installing the new cable in a buried route. “We are confident that these measures will cut theft and disruption” asserts Ben. “On the Durham Coast route, Network Rail maintenance staff used to be out patching cables virtually every weekend but since the new signalling was commissioned in November 2010 there have been only two minor thefts of tail cables, with no impact on train services.”

The Moorthorpe project covers some 30km of railway encompassing the Swinton relay room and stretching northwards as far as Pontefract Baghill Station. At Moorthorpe Junction, immediately north of the station, a chord joining with the Doncaster to Leeds (East Coast Main Line) route is used by Cross Country services.

The existing Down and Up goods loops at Moorthorpe have been upgraded to passenger status, the Down loop having been entirely relaid and new turnouts installed. Four trap points have been recovered and clamp lock point actuation has been replaced with HW2000 point machines throughout the scheme. All existing REBs have been refurbished and two new ones installed, together with new UPS systems. Medium voltage track circuits are used exclusively and all signalling is of the four aspect type. Hot axle box detectors are provided near Pontefract Baghill Station and at Hickleton. A further change at Moorthorpe Station has involved the construction of a new footbridge to replace a MWL (Miniature Warning Lights) foot crossing.

Local delivery

Network Rail’s local maintenance delivery units based at Sheffield and Leeds, with some sub-contracting to Story Rail, have undertaken significant tasks including the installation of the buried cable routes, S&C and 30 pairs of insulated block joints, together with the plain-lining works. Although not affecting the completion date of the project, the severe weather and low temperatures experienced during November and December did cause some disruption. As Ben explains, “We can’t disturb the ballast at temperatures below -7C and track welding can’t take place below -2C. Fortunately we were able to work around this.”

Invensys Rail was the principal contractor responsible for the design of most engineering assets, installation and commissioning of the project. A close alliance was formed between the separate contractors on site which contributed to the project’s excellent safety record. This was born out of behavioural culture embraced by all.

The expertise of Network Rail FTN commissioning engineers was harnessed to help build and commission a very complex and diverse transmission system which carries the SSI circuits. The determination to succeed from all the technical staff from different delivery teams was impressive and key to realising the project on time.

Dorman LED signal heads were specified in the design stages and a massive signal-supporting gantry was to be installed at the southern end of the Moorthorpe loops. As an example of the cost saving mindset and forward thinking described earlier, the gantry idea was abandoned in favour of unique flat-faced and very lightweight signals from VMS Limited (see Issue 72 of the rail engineer), using technology developed by the company for highway matrix signs. They were trialled at Pelaw near Gateshead from August 2010, with Network Rail granting VMSL full approval in March this year and then wasting no time deploying them. Installed at Moorthorpe on 21st May, both signals are mounted on posts with integral tilting mechanisms – one 3.3m high, located in the cess, and another of 5.1m between the Up line and passenger loop. The height difference is driven by signal sighting issues and the kinematic envelope. Their use marks a significant – and highly visible – step forward in rail engineering cost reduction.

Another departure from normal practices, and a further indication of lateral thinking, took place at Moorthorpe. Here, the new switches and crossings were assembled just over the boundary fence in the concrete-surfaced car park of an adjacent – and fortuitously vacant – industrial building. This area was also used for ballast stockpiling and the dismantling of recovered point work. A Liebherr 250-tonne mobile crane, supplied by Baldwins Crane Hire, undertook the lifts.

Maintenance reduction

The benefits of schemes typified by the Hickleton and Moorthorpe signalling renewals are neatly summed up by Ben Lynch. “By investing in modern technologies and additional security measures such as the deep cable routes, we are able to concentrate on maintaining our assets rather than carrying out continual repairs and replacement of stolen cabling. Access to the railway is expensive and it is one of our aims to reduce this requirement.”

Network Rail recognises that costs across the industry as a whole are at an unsustainable level. Even before the McNulty Report was published, it was committed to attaining savings in its annual costs of 23%, or £800 million by the end of Control Period 4 in 2014. As we now know, McNulty identifies a potential for even further savings to be made. At the same time, Network Rail must deliver sustainable improvements in safety and performance whilst investing in capacity enhancements.

The company is confident that its financial performance at the end of CP4 will be at least £471 million better than its original target. It says this can be achieved through increases in income and reductions in operating, maintenance and renewals costs. Rebates to the Government and Scottish Executive would also mean that interest payments can be reduced. Decision making and accountability will be decentralised and moved closer to its customers – the TOCs and FOCs – which it is hoped will drive further efficiencies. Time will tell.

“The industry must look at everything it does and be willing to change” asserts Network Rail in its 2011 Delivery Plan Update. This vision will needs heroes and heroines at the sharp end to deliver it, and to take some of those decentralised decisions. It will fall to people like Ben Lynch and his 26-strong team to play a pivotal role. If their efforts at Moorthorpe and Hickleton are anything to go by, there seems little doubt that they are up for the challenge.

Taking stock

Huge cost savings could be made when Britain buys its next generations of trains if the industry works together to design and procure them, according to Network Rail’s draft Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS) on passenger rolling stock.

The report, which draws on months of work involving key players, asserts that reducing the number of train types and phasing orders over time could potentially save hundreds of millions of pounds. This approach reflects recommendations made by the government’s recent Rail value for money study, chaired by Sir Roy McNulty.

Passenger rolling stock costs currently reach £1.8 billion per year – 15% of the railway’s annual running cost. There are now 12,000 vehicles on the network in 64 different classes. 5,000 new vehicles have been introduced since 1996, each costing an average of £1.1 million.

The draft RUS recommends the industry should exploit economies of scale in procurement wherever feasible and consider the infrastructure works needed to allow rolling stock to be interoperable within the market sector it serves. It claims that 20% of procurement costs could have been saved between 1988 and 2010 if there had been continuity of orders.

The deadline for consultation responses is 1st August.

Network Rail’s National Plant & Equipment Show at Westwood Heath

Showstoppers!

Westwood Heath, on the outskirts of Coventry, was the setting for Network Rail’s recent National Plant & Equipment Show. Around 100 suppliers were invited to participate, presenting their products and services to maintenance engineers from all over the country. The show was the successor to the popular regional events that have been held for the past couple of years. Located in a large field across the road from Network Rail’s Westwood Training Centre, there was plenty of room for exhibits whilst the main building had facilities for meetings and press conferences.

On arrival, the first impression was of the display’s sheer scale. There were over 80 separate exhibits, with some stands having two or three suppliers sharing space. A central marquee offered free tea, coffee and lunch – and shelter when it rained as it did on the Monday and Thursday. However, Tuesday and Wednesday were dry so the rail engineer made the most of the conditions to look around the stands.

Looks very smart

First port of call was Hydrex. To one side of its display was the Neotec ELAN platform access basket which has recently gained product acceptance from Network Rail. The ELAN has been engineered to make OLE maintenance and construction easier with three elevating platforms, an off-road rubber-tracked chassis for easy on-tracking, and automatic cant levelling in rail mode for stable mobility. A crane arm is also fitted – this can be used via a remote control from any of the three workstations for added control and visibility.

Hydrex also had on show a gleaming Case 988 Megarailer – one of 50 RRVs that it has recently put through an upgrade programme. £3 million has been spent to bring the machines into line with RIS-1530-PLT Issue 2 by fitting an entirely new RCI system, adding cameras to remove blind spots and additional control valves to prohibit work at height when changing the diverter valve. The brakes have also been upgraded and the finished product given a full respray. The one on display certainly looked very smart.

Sitting under the arm of the Megarailer was a Bracke C16a tree felling head – a highly effective attachment that can cut down and remove trees up to 10” (260mm) in diameter. Hydrex reputedly have the only ones operating in the industry.

A watchful eye

Next stop was the Quattro caravan. For some time the firm has specialised in the hire of road-rail plant, including the small and versatile Multicar vehicles. A representative from Multicar was on hand to explain the latest range of vegetation control and drain-clearing bodies that are available for the vehicles. Naturally Quattro’s heavier plant was also on show as would be expected from a company that supplies almost a third of the rail sector’s RRVs.

Three of Network Rail’s contracted security companies were lined up in a row. Vital Rail Security showed how they could use a portable CCTV arrangement to enhance their traditional manned surveillance. The VT Sentry camera system on display was a modified telescopic light tower with four fixed cameras and a moveable one to give 360° coverage. One of VRS’ newly-delivered security patrol vehicles in Network Rail livery was also there. Senator Security had an impressive railway backdrop to its stand and emphasised how good PTS-qualified security staff could help combat cable theft as well as providing more traditional worksite protection.

Robel was showing an assortment of on-track tools. There was much interest in its new mobile track profile grinder for use after welding. It can now grind both the sides and top of the rail so that no further fettling is required. A new clipping/unclipping machine was also on show, as were a variety of rail saws and drills. A small stand from Tasty Plant Sales, an emerging company dedicated to rail maintenance attachments, featured the Richter & Muller HSW, a combined wet-bed excavation/single sleeper removal tool.

Balfour Beatty Plant & Fleet Services had a large display, showing off its range of specially built sustainable welfare cabins. Known as Ecolootion Units, they include rainwater harvesting systems and an incinerator for waste disposal. They are also able to operate from any on-site power source as well as internal batteries, and naturally include a comfortable seating/canteen area.

To deliver these container-based cabins, Balfour Beatty has developed a lifting attachment known as Lo-Loc. This provides a safe, quick and simple solution for attaching chains and slings to lifting points which cannot be reached without working at height. It can also be used on a variety of plant and equipment such as generators, lighting towers and rail tools.

Taking the strain

Keltbray Aspire had some smart road-rail OLE access platforms mounted on DAF chassis while A P Webb Plant Hire Ltd exhibited two brand new access machines. The Super Scissor 180 Slew offers a huge platform capacity of 500kg at 11m working height and an impressive work area of 1.7 x 4.6m when fully extended, while the 180° platform slew allows great versatility. The twin-cabbed Railboss 500/900 access platform, featuring an optional pantograph, is ideal for OLE maintenance and renewal with a basket capacity of 900kg to 6m and 500kg to 8m. It is certified to work in winds up to Gale Force 8.

Factair exhibited its temporary tunnel ventilation systems and range of instruments for monitoring atmospheric conditions. For dustier applications, lightweight battery-powered air-fed respirators with a PF20 protection factor were on show. These devices provide a filtered source of breathing-air to a face mask including head, eye and ear protection.

Several vegetation maintenance companies were present. UPM Tilhill was showing the Greenmech range of chippers and shredders while HTR (Homegrown Timber) had an impressively larger chipper on its stand. JSD Rail Research & Development Ltd showed the EcoPlug Max which solves the problem of trees that have been felled growing again, while the Embankment Maintenance Deep Cutting Sprayer is capable of covering 20m of bank in one pass up to 25m high.

Fighting foliage

QTS showcased some of its unique road-rail vehicles. The Valmet 830.3 Forwarder/Chipper has been modified by adding a low-rail guidance system allowing it to be used on track and eradicating the need for rubber wheeled vehicles. A Woodsman Drum Wood Chipper has been added to form a multi-use vegetation management machine which can access land-locked areas via rail. The forwarder will lift and process the materials from either side of a track using the 10m-reach crane, with the chipper processing up to a diameter of 22”.

An Atego road-rail demountable jet/vac unit was also on the QTS display. This has a night/day reversing camera system and is capable of towing rail trailers. It also has a powerful Rootes blower with a suction performance of -500mb and discharge pressure of 1 bar, as well as a high pressure jetting system with 3,000 litres of clean water storage capacity which can be loaded on-track using standpipes or other approved sources.

The QTS 18m Long-Reach Excavator is the only long-reach RRV in the UK and, with the ability to be fitted with attachments such as a flail head or quad saw, can also be employed for vegetation works. QTS has used the excavator successfully on several embankment regrading jobs where access has only been available via rail.

An impressive variety of smaller machines – including a Unimog fitted with a 16” chipper and a 3.5t Takeuchi mini excavator capable of working under live OLE – completed the QTS offering.

Boy’s toy

SRS had some of the largest vehicles at the show. One of its typical 25-tonne road-rail lorries was fitted with two hydraulically powered cable drum carriers with wire dispensing units front and rear which can recover or pay out catenary or contact wire under tension. Also on display was a front-mounted HMF 2120 crane together with rear-mounted Hiab and Palfinger 290 cranes, all on SRS RRVs. Rear-mounted cranes leave the vehicle loading areas free to carry rails, sleepers, drum carriers, wire and so on. The Palfinger crane was set up with a spray arm for vegetation clearance in deep cuttings, while the range of crane attachments included clamshell, rail and log grabs.

There was quite a variety of things to see from Cintec. Outside one of its inflatable marquees stood an LUF Bushfighter, a radio-controlled tracked mulcher designed to tackle vegetation even on steep banks. With a variable track, it is a true boy’s toy as Steve Featherstone of Network Rail proved when he demolished a clump of scrub and brambles with it later in the day. His wide smile said it all!

The Arboricultural Association’s Utility Arboricultural Group (UAG) was very pleased to be invited to have the opportunity to explain how the association, through the UAG, seeks to represent all those involved with vegetation management adjacent to railway assets and plant.

Let there be light

Lighting specialists Peli Products brightened up the show with their new 9440 Area Lighting System. This is a rechargeable portable floodlight which can be rapidly deployed in areas where there is no mains power. Weighing only 7.3kg, the unit is ideally suited for S&T engineers as it can be easily carried along the track and leaves hands free when fault finding and testing. Peli’s 9430 mobile lighting system was also on display. Used throughout Network Rail, this self-contained unit weighs less than 10kg. The retractable mast extends to almost 1m in height and can be rotated through 360°. The head also pivots to angle the light to where it’s required. There is a low battery warning system to prevent users being caught without light.

Bance was showing its latest Alumicart-mounted gauging and recording equipment which can be used for a variety of tasks including tunnel and platform gauge clearances, OLE height and stagger and ultrasonic rail testing. Synthotech has designed a pan-and-tilt CCTV system specifically for Network Rail which can simplify the identification of blockages in pipes, pin-point required repairs and locate covered catchpits. A fleet of systems similar to the one on display will shortly be rolling out through the network.

Using up to 90% less product over traditional track lubricants, Interflon’s new Teflon lubrication system has been developed and field-tested as a response to the need for environmentally-friendly systems that demand less maintenance. An interesting display made the most of its advantages.

GGR was showing a couple of its rail mini cranes which have full Network Rail product acceptance. With a lifting capacity of up to 6 tonnes, they have often proven to be quicker, safer and more cost effective than traditional RRVs. Using GGR’s unique Strail, Holdfast and Bomac vacuum lifters, they can also handle rail panels weighing up to 1400kg.

Size isn’t everything

Small tools were much in evidence. Cembre showed a new rail saw, while Maxim Power Tools had a new trolley to steady its rusted-rail-clip loosener. Next door, SigAssure also had a new lightweight trolley, this one to carry tools and supplies from access point to worksite. Aggreko was showing off its range of quiet generators and a small stand had a couple of lighting towers from Arc-Gen Hilta. Gray Campling, manufacturer of industrial airless paint sprayers, showed a novel arrangement for painting the sides of rails.

A large area at the bottom of the exhibition was given over to the VP Group. TPA Portable Roadways, UK Forks, Torrent Trackside and Hire Station all had displays there. Torrent was showing off the plant that is used as part of its on-track tools contract with Network Rail, while Hire Station was concentrating on its less specialised portable tools. TPA had a small display but, as all the show’s visitors were walking around the site on their roadways, it was hard to miss them!

Some 1,200 visitors went through the show over the week and all were in agreement that it was an excellent way to see the plant that is now available for use on our railways. Organisers Scott Harrison and Ray Caines are to be congratulated on a job well done and we look forward to next year’s show.

Green project to provide power for part of Belgium’s rail network

Work has been completed on a green project to provide power for part of Belgium’s rail network. The scheme has involved the installation of 16,000 monocrystalline solar panels on the roof of a tunnel. They cover a surface area of 50,000m2, roughly equivalent to eight football pitches, and should generate an estimated 3,300MWh of electricity every year, equivalent to the average annual consumption of almost 1,000 families. Over the next 20 years, around 47.3 million kg of CO2 emissions will be saved.

Belgian rail infrastructure firm Infrabel will use the energy in the Antwerp North-South Junction area, including the city’s central station, to power both conventional and high speed trains on the Amsterdam-Brussels-Paris line.

The project represents a unique application for solar technology in Europe and cost €14.5 million to deliver.

The Welsh Highland Railway takes the high road

When the rail engineer last reported on the Welsh Highland Railway in August 2008, the line was still in the final stages of construction and civil engineering challenges were dominating the work. The railway had opened from Caernarfon to Rhyd Ddu and was beginning to carry useful passenger loadings, establishing itself in the Welsh tourist industry. A recent IRSE technical visit enabled the story to be brought up to date but a brief recap as to what has been involved might be useful.

The line has been built in four stages –

• Stage 1 from Caernarfon to Dinas in 1997 using the trackbed of the old standard gauge line to Afon Wen. As such, clearances were not a problem but the processes needed to rebuild the railway were learned.

• Stage 2 from Dinas to Waunfawr in 1999 on the old WHR route showed that the structure gauge had to be enlarged to accommodate the new locomotives and rolling stock being provided. This meant lowering the invert of existing underbridges or the provision of new ones as well as rectifying a major landslip.

• Stage 3 from Waunfawr to Rhyd Ddu in 2003 saw the railway begin the climb to its summit, encountering a number of bowstring bridges along the way. Some of these could be fettled back into shape but one was replaced by using a redundant standard gauge bridge from the Sheffield area. At Rhyd Ddu, two water towers have been provided at both ends of the station – a reminder that water replenishment is a vital constituent when operating steam locos.

• Stage 4 from Rhyd Ddu to Porthmadog has been by far the biggest challenge, caused in part by the locals at Beddgelert not wanting an intermediary terminus because of expected road traffic problems. This section includes four tunnels through the spectacular Aberglaslyn Pass as well as raised retaining walls to protect against damage by rock fall, an eight-span viaduct at Pont Croesor, a widened embankment at Nantmor using reinforced earth (rare in the UK) and the construction of farm accommodation bridges near Porthmadog. Three new steel truss bridges have been required for the various river crossings, made and assembled by the Brunswick Iron Works in Caernarfon. The track laying process was by now down to a fine art and a record 360 metres of track was laid in one day. Footpaths had been created on sections of the trackbed and these had to be replicated close to the line, all part of getting the local community on side. At the Porthmadog end, there was the triple challenge of crossing both Network Rail’s Cambrian line and the Britannia Bridge, as well as accommodating trains in the Ffestiniog Railway’s station.

The line has a stiff gradient, with short stretches involving climbs of 1:36. To operate long trains, powerful locomotives are required and the line has four Garratt engines acquired from South Africa, three 2-8-2 tender engines from the same source but not yet operational, the original Garratt locomotive K1 brought back from Tasmania by the Ffestiniog many years ago and two diesels for use on works trains, one of which can act as a standby when steam is unavailable. There is also a converted 1m-gauge tamper as well as other track maintenance plant. The main coaching stock is new and slightly bigger than the Ffestiniog coaches, thus offering more height and seat width.

Signalling and operations

The signalling on the Welsh Highland is delightfully simple – there is none. Train movements are controlled by staff and ticket. An engraved staff for every single line section is kept in a locked cabinet at all the passing loops. The train has to have this staff in order to proceed into the next section. Normally trains in different directions pass at these places so it is merely a matter of exchanging staffs between trains.

Occasionally, when specials are being operated, two trains can follow each other in the same direction and this leads to ticket working whereby the first train, having seen the staff, is issued with a written ticket for the section and is allowed to proceed. The following train proceeds with the staff once confirmation is received that the first train is clear of the next loop. All of this can get complicated and situations do arise where the staff is at the wrong end of the section to be entered. In such circumstances, there is no alternative but for someone to drive by road to the next station, collect the staff and return.

The WHR operators would like something more flexible and a number of single line token instruments have been acquired from Irish Rail. The plan is to commission these at each loop but linked via a broadband internet connection, there being no cabling along the railway. The means of achieving this connection are being thought up at the present time using the experience of other railways where similar things have been done.

There are signals at every loop but only to indicate that the loop can be entered. These are modelled on the original Ffestiniog design, being a circular banner painted red with lights around the circumference. Known as ‘ladybirds’, only the top and bottom holes are equipped with yellow LED lights. When the lights are lit, the loop is clear to enter. However some loops have sidings and, to enter these, a shunt token is required, the issuing of which is arranged through the control at Porthmadog. The ladybird signal is unlit if a shunt token is in use. Loop operation is further safeguarded by white point lights. When lit, these indicate the point is set for the loop to be entered. Trains leaving a loop run through the points wrong road, whence the light goes out.

A number of level crossings exist on the line. Private access roads have unprotected open crossings with the usual cautionary notices. At public roads, the standard UK AOCL (Automatic Open Crossing Locally monitored) is used with wig-wag red lights plus strident sounders for road users and a white light for train drivers showing that the crossing has been activated.

Crossing the Cambrian

The diamond crossing at Cae Pawb had been laid when the line was visited in 2008 but the means of safely controlling movements were still being devised. The situation was made more complicated by Network Rail being about to change the line from RETB operation to ERTMS (see issues 74 (December 2010) and 79 (May 2011) of the rail engineer). Once the method of providing a release from the Machynlleth control centre had been agreed – this by limiting the issue of movement authorities – a method of safely preventing WHR trains from inadvertently entering the crossing had to be devised. This has four constituent parts –

• A local control panel and relay-based interlocking set in two adjacent lineside cases and a ‘sentry box’ for the crossing controller. The panel shows the release status from Network Rail which, if free, allows the clearance procedure to begin. Relays were chosen on grounds of cost and the interlocking was designed by the WHR signal engineer, constructed by MGB Signalling and independently tested by Sitec.

• Two track circuits on either side of the crossing of which all four have to be operated in sequence for the procedure to be completed and the crossing clearance given back to Network Rail. Should the sequence not complete – if for instance a loco has to rescue a failed train – then an emergency release can be given by the crossing operator. Since the WHR power supply is domestic mains with no back-up, the track circuits nearest the crossing are powered from Network Rail’s safeguarded supply. The track circuits are the 70V impulse type, these being more suitable for breaking down any surface rust that might build up with the relatively infrequent train service. The 70V supply is derived locally and suitably protected against lightning interference.

• A wide-to-gauge trap point on both sides of the crossing with a point lock for both the closed and open positions. This type of trap was chosen rather than the more usual single rail design as it will cause an errant locomotive to derail in a vertical position, it not being desirable to turn the train onto its side.

• A home and distant signal either side of the crossing, both of the ladybird type, which can only be cleared when the interlocking has proved all the other circuits are correct.

The usual safety certification has been necessary, made more complex by having to first prove a process for the original RETB signalling on the Cambrian. However, with ERTMS commissioned on this section back in October 2010 and WHR not regularly running to Porthmadog until 2011, both parties are gaining confidence with the new operating procedures.

Access into Porthmadog

To enter the Ffestiniog Railway’s station, the Welsh Highland has to cross the Britannia road bridge. This involves a short section of street running. The rules for this were a test for all the authorities. Having firstly tried to use railway rules, then tramway and then by inventing revised railway rules, the final solution has been to treat this as an elongated AOCL. The strike-in activation when arriving at Porthmadog is by manually operating a plunger on the approach but this means stopping the train; not ideal with a steam engine and a heavy load. Plans to operate automatically are being worked out to allow a 5mph approach and have already been tested in the reverse direction when leaving Porthmadog to go north.

The station layout is less than ideal for the WHR. Trains have to go past the station and reverse in – akin to Dorchester South before it was modernised as older readers will remember. Propelling a long train around the station curve was not thought to be a good idea so a Ffestiniog pilot locomotive (usually a diesel) has to be on hand to attach to the train’s rear before reversing. All this is a bit complicated so one can expect to see a more convenient arrangement being designed in the years to come.

Remarkable value

This amazing line is now in full operation and already establishing itself as a major tourist attraction. The cost of rebuilding has been £23.8 million, of which Stage 4 was £20 million. This might be considered a lot of money but, in terms of what has been achieved, is comparatively cheap. Funding has come from the Millennium Commission, the Welsh Assembly and the EU development fund, plus a host of smaller contributors. Many local contractors have been used in the construction – Jones Bros, James Cyf, William Hughes, Brunswick Iron to name a few. This has helped local employment, as will the ongoing operation. The business that the Welsh Highland, Ffestiniog and other railways bring to the local economy is estimated to be twice the annual operating costs. The objectors at Beddgelert and elsewhere are now much in the minority.

Thanks to Dr Richard Burton, Alasdair Stewart, Quentin MacDonald, Tim Maynard and others who give their time to the railway and provided information for this article.

Accessing the inaccessible

In May 2010, surveying specialist Severn Partnership was approached to provide a proposal for track movement monitoring during piling works for a new footbridge adjacent to the railway fence line. This needed to adhere to Network Rail Standard NR/BS/LI/045 – Monitoring track over or adjacent to civil engineering works: procedure and intervention levels.

Severn Partnership is a well-established firm of chartered land surveyors and geospatial engineers with an excellent reputation for providing bespoke measurement solutions. The company was established in 1983 and now employs over 20 well-qualified surveyors combining to form experienced and accredited teams. Based in Shrewsbury, their expertise – particularly in railway surveying, laser scanning, and 3D modelling – draws opportunities to manage projects throughout the UK and overseas.

The company has been a user of instrumentation from Leica Geosystems for many years. It has eight Geodetic GPS receivers, three Leica Digital Levels and two Leica High Definition Surveying™ laser scanners.

Gearing up

The site of the new footbridge is adjacent to the Great Western Main Line just outside Swindon where the linespeed is 120mph. Working with lookouts is prohibited in this area and opportunities to take line blockages are very limited. Given that the monitoring period was expected to last at least two months, Severn Partnership proposed an automated monitoring system using Leica instrumentation and software. The extent of the monitoring covered 90m of track and four rails, with Leica GMP104 glass prisms located at 3m centres (124 prisms in total).

Subsequent to the award of the contract, a site meeting was arranged with Severn Partnership and Network Rail. Following the acceptance of several method statements, prisms were installed, trackside equipment established, and both cant and baseline surveys completed.

Whys and wherefores

Two, stable reinforced pillars for Leica prism/target assemblies were constructed within adjacent fields and two no-dig temporary instrument pillars were installed trackside for prism/target assemblies. All were clear of the zone of influence. A further no-dig pillar was constructed within the zone of influence, but such that lines of site to all others were maintained throughout the contract period. This facilitated constant free-station observations to ‘correct’ the instrument position and height should any movements occur during the piling works. The instrument was housed in a purpose-built shelter to protect against the elements.

A Leica TS30 precision monitoring total station was chosen for the project for its high accuracy, Automatic Target Recognition (ATR), fast action and reliability. With an angular accuracy of 0.5” and a distance accuracy of 0.6mm + 1ppm, the TS30 was ideal for the job.

A UHF radio link was established between the instrument and a laptop over 500 metres away in a nearby contractors’ cabin using Leica TSPS28 radios. A Leica meteorological sensor was connected to provide readings and corrections for temperature and pressure. A wireless dongle enabled Severn Partnership to remotely access the laptop from the office where its data was pushed into the Leica GeoMOS dedicated web interface. This allowed Severn and the client to graphically analyse the data securely online.

Software benefits

With the TS30 operating 24/7, observations were taken of the prisms remotely using the GeoMoS software. This provides a flexible automatic deformation monitoring system that allows connectivity and data acquisition of various geodetic and geotechnical sensors (total stations, GNSS receivers, Digital Levels, meteorological sensors, inclination sensors, strain gauges) via various communication devices and protocols including cable (RS232, RS485, fibre optic, LAN), radio (WLAN, Bluetooth, UHF, VHF), TCP/IP, mobile internet, GPRS and 3G.

GeoMoS is able to collect data from these geodetic sensors, then control and compute various parameters, and automatically store all measurements and results in an open SQL database. This can be accessed online both locally and remotely by Severn Partnership as well as the client.

It is not only possible to use the values obtained directly from the measurement sensors, but also to derive so-called ‘virtual sensors’ from these observations. Therefore cant can easily be computed in real-time within the software and treated as an independent measurement in its own right. Once these values have been obtained, a variety of limit checks/tolerances on these observations can be applied and automatic alert messages triggered via various means such as fax, email, SMS text messages, alarm bells. External applications such as batch files (.bat) and executables (.exe) can be delivered once the limits have been exceeded. Network Rail’s guidelines for track monitoring NRS/BS/LI/045 specify these trigger levels and necessary actions should they be exceeded.

Validated accuracy

GeoMos was set up to automatically email a report on vertical movement, cant and twist to Severn twice a day. These were analysed and forwarded daily to Network Rail, with comments. The software also offered the facility to assess lateral and longitudinal movements, and effectively the gauge. Additional results and trends were obtained and analysed by accessing the site laptop remotely and downloading the results.

Warnings of cant and twist exceeding trigger levels would have been sent by text and email had the situation arisen. The facility to receive this information and view the data on site was available to Network Rail, the contractors and any other interested party.

As was expected, the equipment performed reliably and the results validated the implied accuracy. The system provided not only a cost effective solution but enabled an accurate monitoring programme to be established within an area that was effectively inaccessible during the monitoring period.

Manchester united

Manchester has long been a city divided. Mancunians pride themselves on the colour of their blood – red or blue depending on football team. A north-south divide contrasts the former manufacturing towns in the north of the conurbation against more affluent quarters to the south. And rail travellers to the city centre are divided by origin into arrivals at Piccadilly or Victoria.

There is sharp contrast between the two main line stations – Piccadilly was rated best station in the country for customer satisfaction in 2007 whilst Victoria in 2009 attracted headlines as the worst or, using the schoolteachers’ euphemism, ‘most in need of improvement’.

Products of competing Victorian-era railway companies, they have never had a direct link. In today’s age, when the competitor is the motor car and passenger expectation is for easy interchange, that is a serious drawback.

But this will soon change. In his budget statement on 23rd March 2011, the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announced £85 million to fund a new link between Piccadilly and Victoria. The innocent-sounding name of the scheme – the Ordsall Chord – belies the fact that this is the first, and most significant, stage of the Northern Hub – a plan to transform rail travel across the north of England as part of an ambitious strategy to unlock the full potential of the North’s economy.

The Northern Way

Flat caps, pies, smoking mill chimneys, rain – it’s grim up north. Unfortunately the economic reality supports the stereotype. The North consistently underperforms. If productivity and employment of the northern regions matched the UK average, government statistics show that the UK would be some £29 billion per annum better off.

In 2004, the three northern Regional Development Agencies joined forces to form The Northern Way. Their challenge was to answer a simple question – what should the North do differently to accelerate, significantly, the rate of growth of its economy? Reporting back three years later, they identified transport as a top priority with three objectives: better links within city regions, better links between city regions and better links to international gateways.

The first enables commuting, providing easier access to work. The second gives agglomeration benefits: businesses become more productive when they are better connected to other firms and markets. The third is links to ports and airports, and in the North this means Manchester Airport, the UK’s largest outside London.

Motorways between the northern cities are already busy – morning peak congestion is reckoned to add 32 minutes to the 46-mile journey between Leeds and Manchester. Use of the hard shoulders may provide some temporary relief given that new roads have little funding at present. The evidence shows that motorway congestion will worsen and is already acting as a constraint to growth in the North.

So can railways save the day? Without changes to the current network, unfortunately the answer is no. Many routes are operating at capacity. Further, there are multiple constraints so no single intervention can deliver a substantial improvement, making it difficult to generate a business case for an individual scheme.

Three future paths are possible for rail. To do nothing, carrying on as at present, is unacceptable as overcrowding will become worse and worse. Doing a minimum could provide longer trains to relieve crowding, but studies show that only 18% of the untapped economic benefit is captured. Do more is the challenge set by The Northern Way and requires a significantly increased level of service with a wider range of direct trains and better connections, possible only through enhancements to the existing infrastructure.

The Northern Hub

Network Rail’s Northern Hub proposal embraces the ‘do more’ philosophy. A strategy of interventions at 17 locations is proposed, enabling an extra 700 trains per day to run across the north of England, an increase of 40%, generating 3.5 million more journeys a year.

The beauty of the Northern Hub is that it has linked together a series of schemes, demonstrated the potential timetable improvements that could result and married together detailed transport, passenger and economic models to provide a robust justification which shows an overall benefit to the North’s economy of some £4.2 billion.

Using The Northern Way’s economic growth models and showing what could happen if rail capacity was made available to meet the demand, the proposed £530 million investment generates an extremely high benefit:cost ratio of 4.0, double the typical value for rail schemes.

The most critical problem is the bottleneck of rail lines in and around Manchester which restricts the frequency, speed and reliability of services on key routes throughout the region. Around half of all rail connections in the North involve a start, finish or transit through the city. These include the inter-regional trans-Pennine services serving Liverpool, central Lancashire, Sheffield, Leeds, Hull and the North East. There are the long-distance services to Birmingham, London, Wales and the South Coast. On top of these are commuter services plus the international connection to Manchester Airport.

There are three key issues to be resolved in the city centre area: conflicting movements on the approach to Piccadilly, platform capacity and capacity beyond Piccadilly through Oxford Road. Two alternative strategies have emerged – either increase traffic into Piccadilly or focus development on Victoria.

The Piccadilly solution

Piccadilly is undoubtedly the premier station – it has the London services, a recent makeover and the high ratings. Unfortunately it is full. The main platforms 1 to 9 have a timetabled occupancy of over 80%. Potential enhancements include improving the track layout to platforms 10 to 12 which are currently reached from a restrictive single-track lead. After that, additional platforms would be needed. If trains are lengthened the problem worsens, as many platforms are currently shared by more than one short train.

On the approaches, east-west traffic conflicts with north-south movements. A Scarborough to Liverpool service, for example, has to cross every other track to get from Ashburys to the through lines at platforms 13 and 14. One such movement consumes six minutes of capacity of the entire throat. Services to Manchester Airport from the North East, Leeds and Sheffield have to turn back at Piccadilly, taking up valuable platform time and crossing the London fast lines.

These conflicts could be removed by heavy civil engineering – a flyover at Ardwick has been suggested. However, the disruption would be severe – lengthy blockades would almost certainly be needed. This would be a huge scheme with little prospect of phasing – around £500 million of capital investment could be needed over a short period.

There are other drawbacks. Even with the additional infrastructure, performance analysis suggests that the modified layout would produce no improvement in performance over the current layout once additional services were added. And hypothesising for the future, concentrating ever-more services on Piccadilly could limit options for a new high speed line to approach or share the station.

Victoria, victorious

The preferred alternative is to increase use of Victoria. This paradigm shift would reroute many of the trans-Pennine services there, avoiding the conflicting moves at Piccadilly. A complete recast of the timetable would be needed, together with new infrastructure to link Piccadilly and Victoria – the Ordsall Chord.

The theory is that the east-west Leeds to Liverpool trains get routed via Victoria to remove the throat-crossing conflicts at Piccadilly. This can be achieved on the existing network, running from Stalybridge via Ashton-under-Lyne and Miles Platting rather than Guide Bridge and Ardwick, then continuing through Victoria and Salford Central. Using this route also delivers a reduction in journey time and fits the pattern of economic growth in Manchester.

Services to Manchester Airport necessarily need to pass through Piccadilly, however it is desirable for all Leeds trains to call at the same station. Airport-Leeds trains therefore get rerouted via Victoria, using the Ordsall Chord to pass from the Airport and Piccadilly, through Oxford Road to Victoria and then on to Leeds. This avoids turning back at Piccadilly and removes other throat conflicts.

Similar strategies can be devised for the Sheffield trains, with potential routeing available via Marple and Ashburys to reach Victoria. New possibilities are also opened up, such as direct trains from Bradford, Halifax and the Calder Valley line to Manchester Airport using the new chord. Access to the many areas of the city centre could be significantly improved with a 15-minute interval service between Piccadilly, Oxford Road, Deansgate and Victoria.

Getting a grip

Mention of blue-sky thinking and fundamental timetable change is enough to increase the blood pressure of the hardiest railway professional. Previous attempts have foundered – in 1979 Parliamentary powers were obtained for a similar link which was never built. As well as the engineering works, additional rolling stock is likely to be required and the three key franchises for Virgin, Northern Rail and First TransPennine Express are all due for reletting in the next two years, so there is a lot involved.

Project sponsor Rachel Hogley is part of the team that manages the Northern Hub scheme for Network Rail. She explains that the project has reached GRIP 2 investment stage following completion of work by Mott MacDonald. The preferred package of investments has been determined, having considered a long-list of 51 possible interventions throughout the North. Crucially too, the assessment work has concluded that the greatest benefits will be delivered by a Victoria-based solution.

Project timescales are determined by Network Rail’s funding periods. “The Northern Hub is one of the big new schemes for Control Period 5”, says Hogley. This funding allocation will run from 2014 to 2019 so the scheme needs to feed into key documents including the Initial Industry Plan, expected this summer, and the High Level Output Statement in summer 2012. Confirmation of funding – and hence the decision on whether the Northern Hub project can proceed – is expected in autumn 2013.

Meanwhile, design work will proceed to GRIP 3 stage by early 2012 with the appointment of consultants this summer. There are multiple ways of performing the enhancements at each of the 17 locations, says Hogley. For example, options have been developed for 25, 30 and 35mph linespeeds through the Ordsall Chord. The GRIP 3 work will carry out the necessary appraisals to refine each intervention to a single option.

The Chancellor’s announcement for the chord therefore came earlier than expected. “A happy surprise”, says Adrian Bocking, Network Rail’s systems integration manager, “although obviously we were aware that discussions were taking place. The whole package has a very strong case, but even so this was great news and unusual in the current climate. This is a big win for rail and a big win for the North.”

Striking the right chord

The Ordsall Chord is due for completion by the December 2016 timetable change, two years in advance of the other Northern Hub works. There are good reasons for accelerating this work, not least that it gives a definitive indication of the overall strategy for rail in the North.

In addition, it ties in with other projects taking place in the current Control Period. The chord lies within the triangle of electrification works from Preston and Liverpool to Manchester which are also due by 2016. The Victoria Station refurbishment is planned for completion by winter 2014. The £20 million works to its roof and concourse can therefore take into account the increase in passenger flows which are expected when services are switched to Victoria.

Consents are on the critical path for the Ordsall Chord. It will need a Development Consent Order from the newly-formed Infrastructure Planning Commission, says Hogley. The construction programme requires the necessary approvals to be in place by spring 2014. Therefore, the GRIP 4 stage preliminary designs of the principal disciplines for this project – track, civils and signalling – need to be complete by late 2012, she asserts.

The chord’s length is a few hundred metres. However, it will be entirely elevated and new structures will be needed to cross the River Irwell and Manchester’s inner ring road. Completed in 2004, the alignment of the ring road allowed for a 1.5m construction depth for the future rail bridge.

Onwards and hubwards

Achieving the full benefit from the chord requires many other works too. In particular, capacity between the Ordsall Chord and Piccadilly needs to be improved. The pinch-point is platforms 13 and 14 at Piccadilly which have a four-minute planning headway due to the station dwell time. New island platforms 15 and 16 are proposed to give two platforms in each direction.

This requires a complex highly-skewed bridge over Fairfield Street, but would increase throughput in each direction from 12 to 16 trains per hour. Critically this could double the number of freight paths to the container terminal at Trafford Park, the North West’s most important rail freight interchange, and satisfying another important strand in The Northern Way’s objectives.

Additional platforms will be needed at other stations too. New west-facing bays are proposed for Victoria to free up the through platforms. Rochdale needs a Manchester-facing bay to improve commuter services. A fourth platform is proposed for Manchester Airport for additional and longer trains – provision for this is being built into the Metrolink tram line currently under construction to the airport.

Attention is needed on the radial routes to deliver an increased level of service. Towards Sheffield, the target is four fast trains per hour rather than the current two. Loops along the Hope Valley Line at Chinley and Grindleford and doubling of the single-line junction at Dore are needed to allow stopping trains to be overtaken.

Six fast trains an hour to Leeds are planned, two more than at present. There is one suitable straight and level section of route for the necessary loops – this proposal could see the reopening of the two disused bores of Standedge Tunnel.

The Northern Hub aims to meet the demands of predicted 40-55% growth in rail travel by 2020. If these figures seem extreme, the measured growth rate over the last decade was 82%. So the question is not ‘can we afford to do something’? Rather, the evidence presented by The Northern Way is that we can ill-afford to do nothing. It promises to be an exciting time ahead for the North.

Escalators – Keep it clean

It is difficult to imagine a major station today that doesn’t include several escalators. Since they were first installed at Earls Court Underground station in 1911, they have become the prime mover when it comes to getting large numbers of passengers between the various levels of our stations.

However, the tragic fire at Kings Cross in 1987 exposed many faults in their design and maintenance. Not only were the escalators there wooden in construction but over eight tonnes of waste material and general detritus (called “fluff” in the official enquiry report) was found in the well beneath them.

Wooden escalators were quickly replaced throughout the underground system and, more widely, they all now tend to be a mixture of aluminium and stainless steel, greatly reducing fire risk. The number of manufacturers has also reduced over time with Otis (USA), Schindler (Switzerland), Kone (Finland), Mitsubishi (Japan) and ThyssenKrupp (Germany) being the main players today. All strive to manufacturer safe and reliable products.

Hazardous waste

The lesson of keeping escalators clean was also learned from Kings Cross. Allowing combustible waste materials to gather is an obvious danger, whilst dirt, spills and small stones from passengers’ shoes not only look unsightly but their abrasive properties can damage the mechanism.

So it is important to keep escalators clean. Until now, that has been easier said than done. Both the treads and risers have to be attended to on a regular basis. Excess solvent and cleaner cannot be allowed to penetrate the internal workings and all this on an endless band of which less than half is exposed at any one time.

The result has been teams of cleaners armed with brushes, cloths and vacuums. Now an innovative British company has combined all those into one portable machine. The company is Rosemor International based in Oxfordshire and the machine is the Rotomac 360.

One step at a time

The escalator still has to be stationary but the Rotomac 360 will simultaneously clean one step and the riser above it in less than a minute. A small amount of citrus-based low-foaming chemical cleaner is sprayed onto the surface and counter-rotating soft brushes agitate that fluid into the dirt between the treads on the steps. The resultant suspension is then automatically vacuumed away.

Rosemor’s machine, weighing 170kg, is easily operated by one person. Between cleaning cycles it ‘walks’ up the staircase, leaving a strip of clean steps and risers behind it. The Rotomac 360 is built to clean the narrowest of escalators so most that are conventionally-sized take two passes to clean – one strip on the right and another to the left. Once all the visible steps are clean it’s simply a question of starting the escalator until the remaining dirty steps are exposed and going through the process again. Then the machine is loaded into its transportation trolley and pushed off to the next escalator that needs attention.

Rosemor has been successful in selling the Rotomac 360 to operators of railway stations, airport and shopping centres around the world. Here, its machines are currently operating at Victoria, London Bridge, St Pancras, Gatwick, Reading, Birmingham New Street and Liverpool’s metro stations.

On the move

Building on this success, Rosemor has since released an enhanced version – the Rotofast 560. This uses the same technology to clean both escalators and travelators but can be used on escalators while they are moving, speeding up the process still further. With two 1.5kW motors, it has the power to remove the deepest grime while ensuring that no excess solvent remains behind to cause complications.

Rosemor’s Managing Director Efi Rosen is justifiably proud of his product. “We have designed a system that doesn’t just rely on line of sight to clean, but cleans up and down and horizontally. It’s safe and it’s fast” he asserts. “We know that public demand for hygiene and comfort continues to rise. Grime and dirt are bad for business, bad for safety and maintenance. Our Rotomac 360 and Rotofast 560 clean-machines are designed to help railway cleaning staff work far more effectively.”

It’s good to see a British designed and built machine that is getting so much good reaction from international customers.

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