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Hidden talent

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Four people with hidden impairments have completed a 12-week job placement at Transport for Greater Manchester.

The exercise is aimed at helping them build confidence in the world of work. Abigayle Murray, 20, of Altrincham, Sharik Riaz, 21, of Cheetham Hill, David Fogg, 51, of Hyde, and Mikey Rice, 21, of Stockport, took part in the Employment Placement Programme.

A hidden impairment is a communication or learning disability, such as dyslexia, meaning the individual may need extra help and development in certain tasks. The quartet worked across several TfGM departments including policy, research, information technology and administration for one day per-week over the three months. They were also paired with a TfGM employee or buddy to help mentor them. Since the start of the scheme, two of the four have secured employment .

Says Mikey Rice, ‘Working in the Information Systems department at TfGM as part of the EPP scheme was very enjoyable and a great opportunity for me. I was specifically involved in assisting my ‘buddy’ with the maintenance and updating of computer technology. It helped build my confidence as well as giving me some very valuable experience in a large organisation.’

His ‘buddy’, Chris Leigh, from TfGM’s Information Systems department, said, ‘Mikey was a pleasure to work with during the placement. I am extremely pleased that he felt he learnt from it and I hope his future is a bright one.’

Pearl in the Oyster

Hard working staff and generous passengers in London have boosted the fortunes of the Railway Children charity with a cheque for almost £52,000.

Staff at London Underground helped calculate money left on soon-to-expire Oyster cards donated by the public to the Railway Children. Cards are collected in special boxes at four London stations: King’s Cross, Liverpool Street, Heathrow Airport and Heathrow Terminal 4.

The Oyster card donation scheme has been running since 2007. Last year the tourist boom for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations and Olympics helped swell the proceeds of the scheme.  A better designed collection box was introduced in December 2011 and since then the number of cards donated at participating stations has increased.

Alan Mundy, who has worked hard to keep the scheme on track, headed the delegation for London Underground that handed over the cheque at King’s Cross. The cheque for £51,857.48 represented the proceeds of Oyster cards donated by customers over a 33 month period from March 2010 to December 2012.

The Railway Children’s Corporate Programmes Manager, Dave Ellis, praised the generosity of London Underground’s customers and the efforts of railway staff who operate the scheme. Dave expressed his thanks to all the staff that had contributed to the success of the scheme by ensuring the boxes were positioned and emptied regularly.

LU staff also have to record and process the refunds on the donated cards. Says Dave, ‘Every single person involved is helping us to fight for children who live alone and at risk on the streets.’ The Railway Children works with street children and young runaways both in Britain and overseas. It remains the charity of choice for many in the industry.

Kemble line to double

The Swindon to Kemble railway line is to be doubled and new signalling equipment installed.

Network Rail’s £45m project to upgrade the line between Swindon and Gloucester via Kemble and Stroud will increase capacity allowing for the operation of four trains per hour in each direction. Planned work will include upgrading earthworks along the route to accommodate new track and signalling equipment.

The extra capacity will be essential during the planned electrification of the Great Western main line when Bristol Parkway and Severn Tunnel are closed and south Wales trains are diverted along this route.

Says Patrick Hallgate, Network Rail’s Western route managing director, ‘Initial work has already started and during these operations where possible the railway will remain open. The line of route between Swindon and Kemble was double track up until the late 1960s, when a decline in passenger demand led to the singling of the line. Over the intervening years passenger demand has grown significantly and this scheme will meet the demand forecast over the next 30 years.’

The project should be complete by Easter 2014. Control of signalling on the line will transfer to the new  control centre at Didcot. Local leaders have welcomed the scheme. Says Justin Tomlinson, MP for Swindon North, ‘This is major infrastructure investment will provide a big boost to Swindon’s economy. I am delighted that the work is now getting underway.’

Shorterm Group secures future of Kehoe

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Kehoe Rail Services called in the administrators earlier this year after a long trading history providing rail services to a host of key infrastructure clients, including Network Rail, London Underground and mainstream construction workers.

Paul Kehoe, owner of Kehoe Rail Services was already in advanced discussions with Shorterm Group – a leading specialist recruiter and supplier of technical staff, professional engineers, skilled trades staff, and commercial and industrial workers – regarding a merger, when the funding position of Kehoe altered dramatically.

Operating under tight time frames, the Shorterm Group was able to obtain the licence, securing the future of the contract workforce now operating their payroll.

To provide security not just to Kehoe’s clients but also the back office staff, Shorterm is now employing all back office and support staff.

This has been a seamless transfer and has not resulted in a single failure for any of Kehoe’s staff, clients or contractors.

Paul Kehoe said: “Having already selected Shorterm Group as our partner in 2012, I am able to be confident that this arrangement is the right one for our business, our clients are protected, our contractors are being paid and our staff are not facing redundancy.

“I look forward to a long future with the Shorterm Group.”

Steve Gallucci, chief executive of Shorterm Group, said: “Operating this business complements our existing rail offerings ensuring our clients a full service, even in highly-specialist sectors. It complements our business model and we are delighted to have Paul and his team on board already.”

Mind the Doors – Quick!

Passengers on the Victoria line are now benefitting from the most intensive service ever run on the line.

In the peak – morning and evening – 33 trains are running per hour with less than two minutes between trains. The move follows London Underground’s modernisation of the line and the introduction of new signalling and new trains.

The new trains are more accessible with wider doors and more spaces for wheelchair users. Platform humps – platform sections raised for the full length of a carriage – have been installed at Victoria line stations to give level access between the platform and the train. These make it easier for wheelchair users, parents with buggies and passengers with luggage to board and alight trains.

Says Mike Brown, Managing Director of London Underground, ‘The Victoria line has seen enormous growth in demand in recent years and passengers are now experiencing even more benefits with more frequent and more reliable services and a huge number of accessibility improvements.

‘During the busy morning and evening rush hours there is now less than two minutes between trains which will speed up journeys on the line. On top of this, our engineers have been working extremely hard making the line more reliable. This work is already paying off, but we are not complacent and will leave no stone unturned in our effort to further improve the service all day, every day.’

The Tube modernisation overall will deliver a 30 per cent increase in capacity. Work on upgrades to the Northern, Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines continues.

London Calling

Bombardier workers in Derby look set to receive a late Christmas present if the order for additional class 378 vehicles goes ahead.

Transport for London has been in discussions with the train builder regarding adding an extra vehicle to all of its 57 sets of class 378s and the possibility of ordering another five complete trains. The news comes in the wake of a huge surge in passengers using the London Overground network.

A decision on the contract, which would be worth around £120 million to Bombardier, is expected soon.

Every picture tells a storey

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Southeastern is naming one of Britain’s high speed Javelin trains in honour of Dame Sarah Storey, 22 time Paralympic medallist.

The Javelin fleet carried over 2.4 million spectators to and from the Olympic Park over the period and was integral to the success of the Games. Dame Storey took home four gold medals for cycling at the Games, which takes her tally for both swimming and cycling to 22 medals.

She was recently appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2013 New Year Honours list. 11 Javelin trains are already named after some of Britain’s greatest sporting champions and this year Southeastern will be adding another 12 Olympians and Paralympians to the fleet.

Ian Bullock to lead Arriva Trains Wales

Ian Bullock is the new managing director of Trenau Arriva Cymru.

Ian, Customer Service Director at ATW since December 2003 replaces Tim Bell. The ATW managing director is currently on secondment to the Arriva UK Trains division’s franchise bidding team. Ian reports to Steve Murphy, Chief Operating Officer of Arriva UK Trains.

Says Steve, ‘Ian has been a member of the Arriva Trains Wales executive team since the franchise began in 2003. He has made a valuable contribution to the success of the Arriva businesses in a range of roles, and has a wealth of experience and skills that will ensure the business continues to deliver the level of service our customers expect and deserve.’

Arriva Trains Wales operates the Wales and Borders rail franchise on behalf of the Welsh Government.

McLoughlin restarts franchise programme

The DfT is to push ahead with a new franchising programme after digesting Richard Brown’s review – conducted in the wake of the West Coast franchise fiasco.

Bidders will not be reimbursed for cost incurred so far. Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin says the DfT will negotiate extensions with First Great Western, First Capital Connect and c2c. Meanwhile the government-owned Directly Operated Railways is making necessary preparations to take over services if terms cannot be agreed.

Says Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin, ‘These plans mark an important step on the way to restarting the franchising programme, and while I am determined this should happen as quickly as possible we do need time to get this right. We have had to take some tough decisions regarding franchising, and while they may provide a challenge in the short term, I believe the lessons we have learnt will help deliver a more robust system in the future benefitting fare payers and taxpayers alike.’

The competition for the Essex Thameside franchise will be resumed with a revised invitation to tender for a 15-year franchise issued to existing short-listed bidders. The DfT hopes to extend the c2c contract by two years.

The Great Western franchise competition has been stopped. The current franchise will now run until October – the DfT  exercising its contractual right to extend the current contract with First Great Western by 28 weeks. Negotiations for an additional two-year contract will commence shortly. Long term proposals will be revealed in the spring.

The new combined Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise competition will be resumed. This will be a 7-year contract. The current Thameslink/Great Northern franchise operated by First Capital Connect ends in September but allows for a 28-week extension, which the department intends to exercise. Again the DfT says it will negotiate a two year extension if possible.

Virgin continues to run West Coast through to 2014 and is campaigning hard to retain the franchise.

Next stop Conon Bridge

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Conon Bridge station in the Scottish Highland is back in business after 53 years.

The station, which closed in 1960, has been rebuilt using funds from Transport Scotland with contributions from the Highland Council, HITRANS and ScotRail.

Says Frank Roach, Partnership Manager for HITRANS, ‘We are delighted to see this project come to fruition, improving access to  employment, education and leisure in Inverness and further demonstrating the key role that the railway plays in the Highlands.’

25 services a day connect Conon Bridge to Inverness and the Highlands. The new, modern station at Conon Bridge is lit by environmentally-friendly LEDs and the shelter lighting is provided by solar panels on the roof. There is also a car park, cycle rack and cycle lockers.

Conon Bridge station is proving popular with local people working in Inverness. Trains take around 25 minutes to travel to Inverness. Dingwall is approximately seven minutes to the north.

Getting tomorrow’s workforce on track

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Recent announcements regarding HS2 and Network Rail’s £37.5billion investment are undoubtedly welcome developments for the industry and could herald a renaissance in engineering in this country.

The news that HS2 is set to create an estimated 100,000 jobs along with the 200 major rail projects that have received investment, including Thameslink, Crossrail and London Overground, is all good news serving as a positive outlook for the industry.

Yet a recent report by the National Skills Academy for Railway Engineering (NSARE) for the Office of Railway Regulation details concerns over whether the suitably qualified and experience staff will be available to resource the rail sector in the years to come.

Some of the country’s leading universities, such as the University of Birmingham and Sheffield Hallam University, have offered some excellent industry-relevant degrees for many years and now, in response to growing interest in the field, Bath and Liverpool universities are following suit by setting up new degree courses in Rail Systems Engineering.

This has to be good news for the industry, as the Higher Education (HE) sector promotes rail as a viable career route linked to their degree offering.

But as more HE providers become increasingly involved in the rail sector, does more need to be done to forge a link between employers and education so that academic qualifications are complemented with practical skills and hands-on experience?

In my view it is absolutely critical that the rail industry effectively engages with the HE sector to ensure that universities are producing well-rounded, work-ready graduates who have the right combination of work experience and academic qualifications to meet employers’ needs.

One solution could be an increase in the number of sandwich degrees. These are effective in not only providing people with an academic qualification, but also giving young people a real insight into what working in the sector is really like and, crucially, equipping them with work-based experience.

The rail sector faces great opportunities ahead. If we are to maximise these opportunities it’s imperative that the industry collaborates with a whole range of training and education providers to equip our young people with the skills, experience and qualifications to make the future happen.

Top backing for Crossrail 2

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The rail industry has swung firmly behind plans for Crossrail 2 as outlined by former transport secretary, Lord Adonis.

The new north-south cross-London railway will relieve congestion and provide much-needed extra capacity. The line will see a new central tunnel built between Wimbledon and Tottenham.

The recommendation comes in the final report of London First’s Crossrail taskforce, chaired by Andrew Adonis. Welcoming the report, David Higgins, Network Rail chief executive, said, ‘If the capital’s economy is to continue to thrive then we must plan now, together, for the transport infrastructure requirements of London’s future.

‘Our projections show that by 2031 we will need to accommodate 36% more commuters into London each day. Network Rail is already delivering the biggest capacity improvement programme since the Victorian era, but even that will not be enough on some routes.’

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson is backing the plan. ‘The case for the construction of Crossrail 2 is incontestable and is made forcibly in this report,’ says Johnson. ‘Over the next 20 years London’s population is forecast to expand to levels that will clog the Tube and rail arteries of our great city if we do not provide more capacity.

‘There is no time to lose and my team will work closely with London First and others on developing plans for this vital railway.’

Railtex visitor registration now open

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The countdown to Railtex 2013 is well underway, with just weeks to go before the show opens its doors at London’s Earls Court exhibition centre on 30 April.

Visitor registration is now open via www.railtex.co.uk, providing free entry to all who sign up in advance to attend. Registering by this method also avoids a £20 entry fee payable on the day and speeds up access to the show.

Railtex promises to be a busy exhibition presenting the very latest in railway technology across all sectors of the market. The number of companies taking part continues to grow, with up to 400 exhibitors likely to be present when the event opens.

RailStaff readers can easily keep track of which firms will have stands via the regularly updated exhibitor list on the show website.

Visitors to the event will also have free access to a comprehensive programme of briefings and discussions on technological developments and policy trends in the industry.

Providing highlights will be a     seminar programme running throughout the show, hosted by RailStaff’s sister magazine and Railtex media partner, the rail engineer. With keynote speeches by industry leaders already announced, the full programme will soon be available on the event website.

Also likely to prove popular will be a series of presentations in the Project Update Theatre showcasing the latest developments in major rail schemes.

The programme already includes seminars by senior Network Rail managers on the Birmingham Gateway Project, the Edinburgh-Glasgow Improvement Programme and plans to electrify large sections of the system.

There will also be an update on delivering a high-speed rail network for the UK by a senior figure from HS2 Ltd, including an outline of the associated procurement strategy and the business opportunities for British companies who wish to get involved with the project.

For much more information on these and the many other activities taking place during Railtex 2013, including show opening times and travel advice, visit www.railtex.co.uk

Olympic railways for Sochi

Sochi’s 2014 Winter Olympic Games are the first to be held in Russia since the Soviet Union’s controversial 1980 Moscow Olympics.

Russia is keen to impress and its railways have an important part to play. Vladimir Putin was keen to demonstrate Sochi’s new rail infrastructure by hosting a meeting with Olympic officials on a train running along the almost complete 48km new rail line from the coast into the mountains. Mr Putin reported that the line was 85% complete.

It still requires signalling and electrification work. After this and commissioning tests are completed, the line is expected to open to traffic in mid 2013.

Running on the line will be a fleet of new Siemens built Lastochka trains which will be serviced in a new £120 million depot at Alder which also opened last month.

The depot opening coincided with Russian Railways Annual General Meeting at which its President, Vladimir Yakunin, announced that the Lastochkas now have their certificate of compliance. They are shortly expected to enter passenger service from Sochi along the Black Sea coast.

This line is part of a new £4.4 billion road/rail route which includes six rail tunnels totalling 10.4km and three road tunnels totalling 7.7 km with road and tunnels sharing common service tunnels. Its 23 rail bridges and 23 road bridges respectively total 11.5km and 9 km and are built to withstand the region’s earthquakes. It survived one of 5.5 magnitude experienced by Sochi in December.

Test train at Wembley

A former Silverlink 313 is being converted into a laboratory train to test European Train Control System technology prior to its roll-out on the mainline network.

Painted in Network Rail yellow, 313121 will be refurbished and equipped with the latest ETCS equipment, including a technician’s workstation, before taking to the metals again. Unit 313121 is leased from Beacon Rail and is being refurbished by Alstom at its Wembley depot.

The train forms part of the European Rail Traffic Management System implementation project. Starting this summer the Hertford National Integration Facility (HNIF) will see European Train Control System (ETCS) kit from four suppliers put through its paces on a five-mile section of the Hertford loop.

Says Rob McIntosh, Network Rail’s project director for ETCS, ‘Our facility at Hertford, and the train that will run on it, are further steps towards improving the railway across the country. Vital lessons have already been learned during our trials on the Cambrian Lines and now we are refining our knowledge in preparation for the future installation cab signalling on Great Western and East Coast main lines.’

To allow for the operation of HNIF, bi-directional signalling has been installed on the northern section of the Hertford Loop, to allow the down line between Molewood Tunnel and Langley South junction to become a test facility.

During peak hours the section will be part of the normal railway, but when ETCS testing is required the block will be ‘switched out’ – switching control from King’s Cross signal box to a laboratory facility being built at Hitchin. ERTMS is a signalling and train control system ensuring trains operate within safe limits and speeds at all times, and includes in-cab signalling.

Grand Central Terminal celebrates centenary

One of America’s iconic railway stations, New York’s Grand Central Terminal – colloquially known as Grand Central Station – celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.

Now the home of the Metro-North Railroad, the station boasts top class restaurants, cocktail lounges, a gourmet market, and numerous speciality shops. The huge railway station has 44 platforms accommodating 67 tracks on two levels – below ground.

Total number of tracks and sidings exceeds 100. Much of the railway’s operational side of the station is hidden from public view.     Grand Central demonstrates what can be achieved when it comes to developing the inherent value of the site.

Network Rail is increasingly mindful of pioneering work at Grand Central as it seeks to make similar developments at its major stations.

Driving force

Railroad and shipping tycoon, Cornelius Vanderbilt was the driving force behind the construction of Manhattan’s original Grand Central Depot, which opened in 1871. Vanderbilt sunk the tracks below what would become Park Avenue.

However, the 100 year old Grand Central Station owes its unique success to the foresight of New York Central Railroad chief engineer William J. Wilgus who developed the idea of constructing revenue-producing buildings over the rail yards.

Wilgus described his strategy as ‘taking wealth from the air.’  Originally from Buffalo, New York, he was a civil engineer and a career railway man, well versed in the capital-intensive imperatives of building railways.

Wilgus had worked on railroads in Minnesota and Michigan as well as New York. His strategy with the huge new terminal on 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Manhattan, right from the start, was to help offset the project’s enormous cost by building upwards over the railway lines themselves. It paid off.

Completed in 1913 the Grand Central project cost $80 million and was greeted as the biggest railway terminal in the world. Back then the terminal covered a total area of 70 acres and took ten years to complete. Office blocks and hotels nearby were linked to the station by underground passages- many lined with shops.

The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel even had its own platform and lift – platform 61. Most famous of all is the Oyster Bar which opened in 1913. Every day 30 different types of oysters are served up to gourmet diners.

Largest commuter railroad

The Metro-North Railroad was created in 1983. Over 30 years it has grown to be the largest commuter railroad service in the United States.

Although long-distance trains stopped serving Grand Central in 1991, by that time Metro-North’s reputation for unprecedented on-time commuter service had secured the future of Grand Central.

In the 1990s a $196 million restoration project saw the main concourse ceiling cleared of smoke and nicotine, a new staircase put in and the main waiting room converted into an exhibition hall,. In Wilgus tradition the development was paid for by the creation of another 65,000 square feet of retail space.

Must-see location

Grand Central holds a unique place in the affections of New Yorkers and travellers from around the world. It remains a must-see location beloved of film directors, tourists and novelists alike.

Plans to knock it down in the 1960s were fiercely resisted – Jackie Kennedy backed the campaign. The United States Supreme Court ruled against demolition setting a refreshing precedent for preservation groups. Plans to further develop the station continue to be developed.

The Municipal Art Society of New York wants to see more green areas and sensible redevelopment. Ideas include creation of a giant glass walk way in the sky, new gardens and piazzas. One thing is certain, Grand Central Station is here to stay and the Wilgus theory of trade and commerce will continue to help pay for it.

Wake up call

Luxury-class cabins, showers, televisions and gourmet dining are just some of the add-ons expected to be considered by bidders hoping to operate the Anglo-Scottish Caledonian sleeper service from 2015.

Potential operators have been told by Transport Scotland that the service must be like Scotland on wheels, an invitation to the country and more than just a train service. The 15-year franchise and £100m of investment will boost the service which at one time was threatened with closure.

Potential bidders will need to lodge their interest in running the service by April. These are expected to include Abellio, Virgin and Serco.

Prince visits King’s Cross

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The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall have visited the redeveloped King’s Cross station, seeing at first hand the restored train shed and new western concourse.

Railways have always been popular with the Royal Family and the Prince was pleased to meet King’s Cross station manager Tom Caine and his team. ‘We had to make sure that we kept the station running during the visit,’ said Tom. ‘When the Royals arrived, it wasn’t too long before the public started gathering round and taking pictures with their phones.

‘But we kept a close eye to make sure the visit passed smoothly. It was great to see them both enjoying the Harry Potter trolley at platform 9 and three quarters.’

The royal party was welcomed by Robin Gisby of Network Rail and John McAslan, architect of the western concourse, which opened in March 2012. Together they visited the construction site of King’s Cross Square, along the station’s southern frontage, which opens next autumn.

Once complete, the new square will reveal the historic station’s original Lewis Cubitt façade for the first time in a century. Cubitt is the Duchess of Cornwall’s great, great, great uncle.

The Prince arrived by tube from Farringdon Station where he met apprentices and Crossrail engineers (see training section). Says Robin Gisby, ‘It was a real honour to have the Prince and Duchess visit King’s Cross and Farringdon stations, and to talk to them about why we’re carrying out these works. We’re in the middle of the biggest capacity improvement programme since Victorian times.’

High Speed 2 picks up steam

Any doubts that the Coalition Government had wavered in its support for HS2 were dispelled at the end of January.

Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin, announced the line would be built through to Leeds and Manchester from Birmingham. After the necessary public consultation the final route will be decided on by the end of 2014. Andy Milne reports.

Although public opposition to HS2 remains high, local leaders, the business community and the rail industry back the scheme. Why are economists, academics and politicians behind high speed rail? For the rail industry it is an easy answer – RailStaff readers will build the track and signalling and drive and crew the trains.

Our advertisers will supply the expertise and equipment needed to do the job. However the real argument for High Speed Two goes much deeper, right to the heart of how Britain sees itself prospering in the 21st century.

Anyone looking briefly at Britain last year saw a stable democracy governed by a popular monarch, a country capable of coming third in the Olympic Games medal tally. Keeping well clear of the Euro seems to have spared Britain the agonies of mainland Europe’s deepening monetary crisis.

Zipping along to the London Olympics on a re-engineered London Underground system, High Speed One and Southeastern’s excellent Javelin trains was to experience Britain at its cheerful best.

A deeply uncertain future

However the reality is Britain and the British face a deeply uncertain future. The last half of the 20th century saw Britain surrender a 200 year tenure of global maritime dominance. Not by losing colonial wars but largely because the British concluded empire was wrong, expensive and a political embarrassment.

This is the point of view taught in schools throughout the UK. Joining the European Union, the rise of Scots and Welsh nationalism and the troubles in Northern Ireland made the British weary of their very identity. Loss of confidence is best illustrated by the widespread use of the adjectival term ‘UK’ – as in ‘the UK government’ or ‘a UK firm.’

Difficult wars in Afghanistan and Iraq compounded the situation. The railways, once the arteries of Britain’s industrial triumph, were wound down and over half the network closed. Traditional industries fared little better.

Detractors claim the UK is a small island tacked on to the north European coast. The weather is appalling, health provision unrealistic and crime and riot never far from public paranoia.

A sense of confidence

Such pessimistic perceptions are fast changing now. Last year marked a turning point. The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics not only boosted morale but helped restore a sense of confidence and purpose among Her Majesty’s subjects.

Underscoring this new confidence, railways have expanded carrying double the amount of passengers as they did 50 years ago on half the track. No wonder trains are crowded.

Rail freight has boxed clever piling up container traffic and opening up new markets. Tram systems thread many major cities and are themselves poised for expansion. Railways of every description are an essential element of the new success equation and urgently need to expand. The visionaries of Britain’s future are backing a winner.

Unified Britain

The Coalition Government and local leaders realise a unified Britain needs to be tight and cohesive to compete with emerging economies like China and Brazil.

Unifying a country does not only depend on staging superb international sports shows. The future for a new Britain will depend on it being confident and cohesive with a transport system that matches economic aspiration.

A new high speed railway linking London, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester and eventually Edinburgh and Glasgow will best achieve this. High speed rail will help spread the powerhouse effect of London and the south east. Moreover it will unite the north with the south. A link with Scotland is an essential part of this, as David Shirres explains.

Good for Britain

High Speed Two will diminish the social disconnect between London and the north in a way that state social spending programmes never can. The idea behind high speed rail is to spread the dynamics of London’s commercial success to the north and the midlands and eventually Scotland. Make no mistake, High Speed Two is good for commerce and good for Britain.

Building new railways is never easy and involves disrupting countryside and people’s homes. However the government is pressing ahead with conviction.

As Mr McLoughlin said, ‘I’m afraid we will upset some people, but I appreciate that and we’ve got totryanddoasmuchaswecanto alleviate the damage wherever we can. You can’t build a brand new line and not have problems. There will be some areas where you are going to have to negotiate.’

What is not in doubt is the role railways are already playing in Britain’s Olympian comeback. Developing high speed rail makes political as well as economic sense. The message from the scheme’s supporters is clear: If you want to do something positive for your country’s future – back HS2.

advance-TRS launches new website

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advance-TRS launches its new and advanced website – advancerailwayjobs.com

After much anticipation, expert Railway Recruitment Company advance-TRS has launched its state-of-the-art new website this month – advancerailwayjobs.com.

At advancerailwayjobs.com you can receive live, individually tailored email updates as well as keeping in the loop with all the latest industry news.

advancerailwayjobs.com gives our clients an exceptional insight into the outstanding, professional training and recruitment services available.

“The site’s easy navigation and attractive layout is sure to be a hit” commented Mark Irving, Contract Engineer Manager – (Victoria Interlocking Renewals for Invensys Rail). He went on to say, “I will definitely be using advancerailwayjobs.com to search for future opportunities”.

advance-TRS is offering you the chance to win £100 worth of gift vouchers in our prize draw! To enter just answer this question; how many marathons has Managing Director, Andy Ridout taken part in?

You can find the answer at advancerailwayjobs.com

Good luck!

advancerailwayjobs.com- “Together, we can all advance.”

To enter the advance-TRS competition send your answer along with your full name, job title, telephone number and email address to [email protected].

The winner will be selected randomly from a prize draw on 01.03.2013 when the competition will be closed for entry.

King’s Cross: The final works

After the opening of the Western Concourse at King’s Cross in March 2012, the next stages of the work to restore King’s Cross to its deserved grandeur was temporarily halted so as not to disrupt the passenger flows during the Olympics. Writes Clive Kessell

Once these were concluded, work recommenced last autumn to remove the 1970s southern concourse and restore the splendour of Lewis Cubitt’s 1852 original station frontage.

The uninitiated might think that tidying up the station frontage involved just a bit of quick demolition and the laying of a few paving slabs. In fact the single storey concourse, which has attracted much criticism in recent times, had in fact been opened in a blaze of glory back in 1973.

It had replaced a 1960s traditional narrow window ticket office and had brought all the usual travel facilities into a single integrated area. However, even in those days, there were plans afoot for the redevelopment of the King’s Cross-St Pancras locality.kgxsquare5 [online]

Grandiose schemes

The concourse was always considered a temporary solution. Nothing came of these grandiose schemes and the concourse soldiered on for over 35 years. With hindsight, this may well have been fortuitous as architectural concepts and respect for the environment has improved immensely in the meantime.

The old concourse suffered mainly from lack of space, around 2500 square metres, which when coupled with arriving and departing passengers, now estimated at 47 million every year, proved to be wholly inadequate for the upsurge in traffic.

Cleverly concealed within the concourse were two large ventilation shafts and one smaller one serving the deep level underground lines below the main station. With demolition, these would once again become prominent and so present a challenge on how to tastefully disguise in the future.

The concourse also gave access to London Underground via a stairway and escalator, neither of which could remain.

The LU ticket hall is only just beneath the surface of King’s Cross frontage, making the demolition work even more sensitive.

Intricate lattice pattern

With the Olympics over, the first tasks were to remove the remaining retail outlets, the left luggage facilities and the ticket office IT server, the latter not having been transferred at the time of the Western Concourse opening.

Removal of the roof had to be carefully planned. The 1970s Spacedeck construction formed an intricate lattice pattern that was self-supporting but with each component being a part of the integral strength.

To begin removing struts piecemeal could result in a catastrophic collapse, not only causing risk to anyone working in the vicinity but also potential damage to the LU ticket hall underneath.

As far as could be ascertained, the method of construction had been to assemble the complete roof at ground level, then slowly jack it up to the required height once the supporting walls were in place. One option was to reverse this process but even this was not without risk.

Murphy, as the main contractor, eventually engaged a specialist firm, AR Demolition of Leicester, who had previous experience of these kind of roofs and their expertise has proved successful in getting the roof dismantled. At the time of writing (early February), only the last elements had still to be removed.

Once complete, the lower half of the Cubitt frontage, which has not been directly viewable for very many years, will have its brickwork repaired and cleaned in readiness for glass screens with automatic glass doors to be provided, thus filling in the now exposed ground level arches.

To protect travellers leaving by the station front and for those traversing from an easterly direction towards the new concourse, a glass canopy will be built above the arches. This will be a cantilevered design but conservation rules will not allow this to be directly attached to the brickwork. Upright columns will support the cantilevers, designed in such a way as to be unobtrusive and not spoil the appearance of the station.

King’s Cross SquareKX Platforms & New Roof [online]

The whole area in front of the station is to be re-named and made into something special as part of the rejuvenation of this one time rather seedy locale. Parallel with the Euston Road will be a row of japonica trees in sunken planters, this being possible as it is clear of the Metropolitan Line tunnels.

Down the side of Pancras Road between the two stations, will be more trees but this time in raised planters so as not to interfere with the underground ticket hall. Benches will be positioned in line with the trees so as to allow travellers to rest awhile and take in the surroundings.

The LU ventilation shafts will be encased in black Portuguese granite flutes with white granite slabs used to band the shafts near to ground level. Stainless steel lighting masts will make a feature of the Cubitt façade and a combination of uplighters and downlighters will illuminate the square in the hours of darkness.

Enclosed entrances to London Underground ticket halls are being revamped – the one leading off platform 8 is currently closed – to blend in with the created ambience. The whole plaza – to be known as King’s Cross Square – will be covered by York paving and protected by security bollards to stop any uninvited vehicular access.

The Station Roof and Clock Tower

A year ago, the twin barrel roofs of the main station were in the process of being reglazed. This work is now complete and the result is a much more airy atmosphere inside the station. When viewed from above, the result is even more spectacular and only then can one get the magnitude of the work that has been undertaken.

In addition to the glass sections, the extent of the solar panels is revealed, these significantly helping the power demands of the station. A meter constantly monitors the power being generated and the percentage that this is contributing. Access walkways and platforms will allow the roof to be kept in tip top condition, something that the Victorian forbears never enjoyed.

The external focus of the station remains as ever, the clock tower. This is three sided – no need for the fourth side as this only overlooks the roof – and whilst no major work has been undertaken on this element of the station, the mechanism for driving the hands and keeping good time has been renewed.

Those of us in the past, who were familiar with ‘waiting train’ clock movements, knew how difficult it was to keep these maintained so as to ensure good timekeeping. The tiny replacement electronic box, supplied by Smiths of Alfreton Road, Derby, barely does justice to the importance of its role but it does the job of powering the three way geared drive mechanisms to the hands very well.

The station revamp is almost complete and when finished will be a credit to this part of London. The £12M spent on this final stage of the project is a considerable sum but will be judged well worth it in the longer term. Completion will be achieved by autumn 2013.

Network Rail and Murphys have worked in harmony to ensure a successful project but mention must also be made of Stanton Williams who were retained as the architect and Arup who did all the engineering design and electrical work.

Thanks to Matt Tolan of Network Rail and Patrick Shaw of Murphy for their help and advice.

Passenger satisfaction soars

‘Passengers are saying the quality of rail services is improving,’ says Passenger Focus chief executive, Anthony Smith.

‘The combination of increased income from fares, government investment and a clearer focus on performance and dealing with disruption is beginning to pay off.’

Passengers across Great Britain have reported record levels of satisfaction with train service, 85 per cent overall, with no operator scoring less than 80 per cent. Many train companies and Network Rail areas have made noticeable improvements.

East Coast is now level pegging with Virgin at 92 per cent overall satisfaction. Greater Anglia, with still a long way to go, has improved markedly and is now much more firmly placed among its peers. Chiltern, moving many commuters every day, reaches 91 per cent. First Hull Trains has bounced back to a healthy 95 per cent and Grand Central leads the whole pack with 96 per cent overall satisfaction.

‘However, more work needs to be done. Satisfaction on individual routes still varies widely from 76 to 97 per cent,’ says Smith. ‘Satisfaction with value for money nudged up by one per cent (to 47 per cent), with individual operators varying between 29 and 75 per cent.’

Musical run for Hamburg Koln Express

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The Hamburg Koln Express has celebrated its first six months of operations with an on-board concert.

On January 23 the ‘Fastest Musical Festival in Germany’ took place during the train trip from Cologne to Hamburg.

Various bands and solo artists, including Bryan Kessler, Timid Tiger and Hufschlag and Braun played. The Hamburg Koln Express provides further good news for open access campaigners in Europe. HKX has carried almost 150,000 passengers in its first six months.

Success is down to appealing to the youth market says Chief Executive, Eva Kreienkamp. ‘We have a particularly high percentage of young people between the ages of 18 to 29, who are increasingly doing without their own car and demonstrating a different, more selective mobility behaviour, which means they are very open to the railway service’, said Kreienkamp.

‘We’re very happy about that. And also about the approximately 50% of women on board, showing us that we have been able to expand the market for train travel.’

Hamburg-Köln-Express GmbH (HKX) is the first private rail transport operator in Germany that exclusively operates long-distance passenger service on the tracks.

The majority shareholder of HKX GmbH is Railroad Development Corporation (RDC) Deutschland.

Midnight raiders thwarted by Flackforce

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When thieves repeatedly targeted the Motorail UK site at Long Marston in Warwickshire it seemed like easy pickings.

However the criminals reckoned without chief executive, Ruth Flack, her husband Colin and an assorted posse of special forces friends from the military. In a daring midnight operation, the trap was sprung and police ambushed the gang, hunted them down with dogs and a helicopter and captured them. The thieves were after copper found in locomotives stabled on the site.

Says Ruth Flack, ‘The thieves targeted us over a period of weeks. They managed to breach the security fencing using metal cutting equipment. During oneSep 6 2012 import 008 [online] particular evening a 200 metre section of our overhead line was cut down and stolen.’

Security was ramped up but the thieves continued to target Long Marston, probing our defences and looking for material to steal. ‘These attacks culminated in a theft on a Monday night which was the final straw. I knew that something had to be done to stop these people and to help the police force in their efforts to catch them,’ says Ruth.

Former Army officer Colin Flack, CEO Rail Alliance, is a former Army officer whose career saw him serve in a variety of operational theatres across the globe. Ruth herself is the former Head of Operations for a Ministry of Defence munitions disposal agency. ‘Given both of our backgrounds we have many friends who are ex-military and highly skilled. I decided it was time to ask for help.’

Ruth Flack
Ruth Flack at Long Marston

The Flacks and their friends mounted a surveillance operation at Long Marston using their CCTV, thermal imaging equipment and what Colin calls “his Mk 1 Eyeballs”.

Ruth says, ‘We worked closely with the police to prepare for the next attack and in the early hours of Sunday morning they decided to attempt another serious theft.  Warwickshire police were alerted and they responded with a highly professional team consisting of a firearms unit, dog handler, mobile units and police helicopter. In quick time the gang of five was arrested, detained and charged.’

Ruth Flack thanked Warwickshire Police. ‘The police have been supporting us over the past four weeks and together we had an agreed plan of action should we need to call them.

‘It was great to watch this very professional team of officers in action. We have the highest regard for them. It is comforting to know that this level of response is there when you really need it.’

The couple live at Long Marston. Says Colin, ‘It’s been a spectacular success and a great piece of work by my wife who pulled it all together – I reverted to type and became a foot soldier again. We have not really slept properly for weeks.

However we can now sleep a little easier knowing that our rather unusual approach to metal theft is this effective.’