RAIL MONTHLY BULLETINOctober / November 2015

DARREN’S UPDATEI am delighted to formally announce

our success in winning the contract to provide HS2 with Professional Services Consultancy for Phase Two (the section between Birmingham,

Leeds and Manchester). This means more than the c.£15m it is

worth over the next five years. It validates the excellent work we have done on HS2 Phase One and demonstrates once more the high regard with which we are held by our client.The win also gets us off to a great start in meeting the ambitions of the recently announced UK Growth Strategy. Make no mistake, our role is a pivotal one in meeting the aspirations of our UK organisation.In an even broader sense, we are playing an imporant role in addressing the pressing issues of building capacity and efficiency into the network. And we need to: the number of train journeys made each year is over twice that of the late 1990s, and rail is moving more and more freight each year too (there has been a 75% uplift in volume of consumer goods being moved by train since 2005, and, compared with this time last year, 80 more freight trains are being filled every week). Given this growing reliance on rail, the government’s decision to ‘unpause’ projects to electrify the TransPennine and Midland mainline was hardly surprising. Without this rail infrastructure our dreams of a ‘Northern Powerhouse’ simply won’t materialise.Through our involvement in major projects like Crossrail, East West Rail, Great Western Route Modernisation, North West Electrification and HS2, we are playing a key role in helping rail reach its potential and achieve new levels of connectivity, convenience and performance for its users and passengers.As we approach the end of 2015 the market is looking to the next tranche of activity. Significantly, the Comprehensive Spending Review, expected at the end of November, will reveal whether Transport for London’s request of £250m funding to develop the hybrid Bill for Crossrail 2 will be supported. If it does, it is expected to drive significant additional market demand in the second quarter of 2016. As one of three bidders in the running to become HS2’s Engineering Delivery Partner for Phase One, we continue to look forward with optimism to an even busier future. A monumental effort from our committed and dedicated bid team allowed us to present a powerful and, I believe, persuasive tender, and prepared us for the behavioural assessments. Well done to all involved.

HEALTH & SAFETY

The tragic events in Paris at the weekend highlight the need for us all to use only approved suppliers when booking travel

(for heritage PB staff: ATPI for flights and hotels, and Capita for rail. For heritage WSP staff: all bookings made through Capita), this allows us to quickly check the whereabouts of colleagues in case of emergency.Following the launch of our Health and Wellbeing Vision for the Rail business, we are drafting the new combined Drugs and Alcohol Policy, Mandatory Controls and Guidance for WSP | Parson Brinckerhoff’s Safety Management System.Our Pedometer Challenge is encouraging us to all consider a less sedentary lifestyle, between us so far we have taken over 60 million steps and covered c.23,000 miles, or, if you prefer, three million calories.We are developing Rail Environment General Awareness Health & Safety training programme aimed primarily at those who don’t carry Personal Track Safety accreditation and require access to the rail environment. Download UK Health and Safety report.

PEOPLE

Our new organisational structure came into effect on 1 November. Details can be found in an email (Organisational Announcement –

A strategy to Support our Potential) sent on 23 October. If you didn’t receive the email or would like it to be resent, please contact Railbox. As part of this structure, we look forward to welcoming Nassar Majothi as our Specialist Services lead when he joins us on 23 November. In September, 22 staff joined our business, including 15 graduates. This brings the total number of new starters for the year to 70.In support of our bid-winning capability, Samantha Burns, Charlotte Judge and Liam Northfield passed their Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) Foundation exams. During November, 24 rail staff will embark on further APMP training.Members of the senior management team undertook a training day to help develop their coaching skills, which lays the foundation for the launch of a new career coaching programme.Rail Engineering Design Technician Apprentices Edward Ashwell, Ben Flynn, Darren Meacher, Alex Paterson and Sam Perrin, were among the first to be recruited onto the Government’s Trailblazer Apprentice

scheme when they attended a study week at the National Training Academy for Rail.Eighteen rail graduates took part in Graduate Action Day in Milton Keynes on 13 October.Attendees networked with colleagues from different disciplines and offices, and met the senior leadership team and a representative from key client Network Rail.

PROMOTING OUR EXCELLENCE

As a consultancy, it is the quality of our people that sets us apart from the competition. Whether via article, tweet, blog, award nomination or speaking engagement, promoting the expertise of our talented individuals is a key part of winning work and building our brand.

Recent profile raising efforts include:

* Ian Bleasdale’s article in Rail Professional (October 2015) emphasises the increasingly important role of collaboration in today’s exciting and stimulating marketplace.

* Damon High talked about the challenges of implementing common safety methods’ regulation and Daniella Daniels-James (from Major Projects) discussed the importance of anticipating and minimising risk at The Institute of Engineering and Technology’s Rail Electrification seminar. A summary was published in Rail Technology (November).

* Steve Denniss’ article on SatNav technology and its impact on rail was published in Railway Strategies (November), which you can read here.

* Our work to help relieve pressure and increase capacity on the Brighton Main Line was announced in Rail (22 Oct 2015) and also on the Government’s website.

* Peter Humphrey’s arrival was covered in Building and other trade press.

* Sherman Havens explains in under a minute how trains are getting smarter. Watch his video here.

* Sofia Angelara represented Young Rail Professionals (YRP) at the Rail Staff Awards where YRP was nominated for Best Rail Team of the Year. YRP’s Christmas Party takes place on 14 December in Spinningfields, Manchester - Xmas jumpers optional! Visit www.youngrailpro.com or follow @youngrailpro on Twitter for more.

Contact Railbox with your news.