RailStaff January 2012

ISSU

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Page 11

In this issue...

Numbers soar on

High Speed One

The second anniversary of the

start of domestic passenger serv-

ices on HS1 has seen passenger

numbers powering ahead.

Page 4

Forth Bridge

paint complete

Page 12

Work starts at

Three Bridges

Construction of the new rail op-

erating centre at Three Bridges

has begun.

Page 16-17

Rail.co - Up to the minute global rail news

Page 14

RailStaff

Network Rail’s ten year, £130M

painting and refurbishment of

the Forth Bridge is complete.

Colin Garratt outlines the story

behind his amazing world trav-

els to document the Last Steam

Locomotives of the World.

Lost Leviathans

JAN

2012

1000’s of UK rail jobs online at RailwayPeople.com

Rail Summit 2012Safety19th April 2012 Holywell Park Conference Centre, Loughborough

SE

EP

AG

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www.railsafetysummit.com

High Speed Two, linking Birm-

ingham and London with

Leeds and Manchester, will act

as a rail motorway hosting

trains direct from Edinburgh,

Glasgow, Newcastle, Liverpool,

Preston and Lancaster.

Purpose built high speed trains

will run directly from the WCML

and ECML onto HS2. Secretary of

State for Transport, Justine

Greening, announced the added

bonus together with direct links

to the Channel Tunnel and

Heathrow Airport in a special

statement to parliament.

New high speed trains will be

400 metres long with 1,100 seats,

travelling at speeds of up to

250mph. Double-decker trains,

compatible with HS2 and HS1

loading gauge, will further boost

capacity and comfort.

Although HS2 runs through

13 miles of the Chiltern’s Area of

Outstanding Natural Beauty all

but two miles of the line will be

hidden below surface level. En-

vironmentalists have welcomed

the project.

Says Shaun Spiers of the Cam-

paign to Protect Rural England,

‘We are pleased the Govern-

ment has shown its commit-

ment to Britain’s railways while

being sensitive to the impact

that HS2 will have on commu-

nities and the countryside.’

Mr Spiers welcomed the

promise of further tunnelling

under the Chilterns. The news

marks a personal triumph for

Justine Greening who faced well

organised opposition from the

Tory heartlands and her own

party.

HS2 also acknowledges the

strengths and accomplishments

of the new rail industry and

represents a big boost for staff up

and down the network. Says

Michael Roberts, Chief Executive

of ATOC, ‘HS2 is a vote of confi-

dence in the railways and recog-

nition of the vital role the in-

dustry has to play in supporting

jobs and driving sustainable

economic growth.’

Phase One will see construc-

tion of a new 140 mile line be-

tween London and Birmingham

by 2026. In the second phase

lines will be built to Leeds and

Manchester by 2033.

Scotland and the North to have direct services on High Speed Two

The Greening ofGreat Britain

High Speed Two is good news

for the rail industry. However it

is not a done deal

Despite cross party support its

opponents are powerful and

well organised. Expect it to sur-

face as an election issue. Five

main arguments can be used by

rail industry supporters to ad-

vance the case for HS2.

The first point is the non-al-

truistic one and basically says:

this is my industry and I want it

to prosper. Let’s hear a bit more

about beefing up the fortunes of

the railway business and the ca-

reers of staff who have invested

their professional life in it. The

other points highlight direct

benefits to Britain as a whole.

1 INDUSTRYHS2 is a big vote of confidence

in our industry and means more

jobs, contracts and stability of

employment. The rail industry

has proved it can deliver major

new projects on time and on

budget - High Speed One is the

most apposite example.

After years of being the poor

transport relation it is about

time railways received premium

investment. We want this work

because we’ll build the new

railway, staff the stations and

crew the trains. Railway staff

stand to benefit as a result and

we’d be failing in our duty not to

support it.

2 CAPACITY The railway network is full up.

We’re carrying more passen-

gers, a billion journeys a years,

than at any time since 1948, on

about half the amount of track.

The new high speed railway

will draw people away from ex-

isting express services freeing up

paths for hard pressed local

services.

Rail freight - which itself is

expected to double by 2030 -

will also benefit from more ca-

pacity. HS2 directly benefits

people working in London,

Birmingham and eventually

Leeds, Manchester and cities

linked by the ECML and the

WCML - these will be connect-

ed to HS2 by high speed

through services.

So it is not simply about shav-

ing a few minutes off Birming-

ham - London journey times.

High Speed Two means opening

up the wider railway to enable

more journeys for more people,

more often.

3 ECONOMYGetting out of recession means

stimulating business and trade.

Capital investment projects gen-

erate wealth, boost employment,

encourage local businesses and

directly benefit trade and enter-

prise. Better transport means bet-

ter business, a quicker exchange

of skills, ideas and commerce.

To prosper Britain needs a

more cohesive transport net-

work. Assuming the heavily traf-

ficked West Coast Main Line,

the M1 and M6 are equal to the

task of spreading south eastern

economic promise is naïve in the

extreme.

4 ENVIRONMENTPeople want to travel quickly

and responsibly. As a society

we are much more conscious of

the carbon we burn and the

time we waste. High speed rail

can help.

Train travel is a lot less harm-

ful to the planet than cars and

planes. We use less carbon and

there’s less waiting about. Using

electricity drawn from a nu-

clear or renewal source is clean

and green. Doing something

positive for the environment is

in everyone’s interests.

5 SOCIALFor generations politicians

have backed expensive social

programmes aimed at narrow-

ing the social and economic

disconnect between north and

south. The long overdue high

speed rail network will bridge

that divide.

No one could have predicted

the economic boom that has

revolutionised London over the

last 20 years. It’s a rich and

growing city with an insatiable

appetite for technocrats, entre-

preneurs and every conceivable

trade. The capital desperately

needs better connections with

the rest of Britain.

High speed rail not only brings

it nearer but transmits its own

magic. Remember High Speed

Two will have trains using it

that start at Edinburgh, New-

castle and Lancaster and other

cities that even now hold the key

to Britain’s sustainable and pros-

perous future.

In conclusion backing railways,

improving local services, stimu-

lating growth, going green and

doing something constructive

about prospering the north

country means supporting High

Speed Two.

It seems almost indecent to be rejoicing at the good fortune of

the rail industry. Abroad, the European Union lurches deeper into

crisis. Britain has avoided the euro and the ill considered fiscal

treaty botched together to save it. The United Sates has announced

an ominous draw down of its forces in Europe. This is not a time

to be found wanting in foreign affairs. Yet announcements of a

retreat from Afghanistan and failure to confront Iran underscore

the weakness of the west.

Nevertheless 2012 promises to be a great year for the rail industry.

High Speed Two is to go ahead. Justine Greening is to be com-

mended for having the personal and political courage to launch

High Speed Two, a doubly daunting exercise after just a few weeks

in the job. The Coalition Government understands the importance

of the scheme and of a rail network that will unite and strength-

en Great Britain.

Railways now enjoy the confidence of the political class, a bizarre

change of fortunes from the dark days of John Major’s splintered

sale of British Rail. Major railway projects are now routinely de-

livered on time and on budget. The actual cost of running the rail-

way is being fundamentally reduced by the Rail Delivery Group

and Network Rail.

However, the opponents of High Speed Two are never far from

the platform edge. Look at any article over the last few days on

HS2. Comments are heavily against the project. Most are spuri-

ous and un-researched. Opposition will not let up and High Speed

Two needs continuous and industry-wide support.

Retaining confidence and arguing the case for railways and High

Speed Two are imperatives for all supporters. It is legitimate to ad-

mit to doing this because it’s good for the industry, for jobs, ca-

reers, pay and profit.

There is a deeper reason. Britain is a more isolated country than

at any time since the Second World War. The Obama presidency

has deflated the once special relationship between the US and the

UK. David Cameron’s spirited defence of British interests at Brus-

sels has left us isolated on our island. Britain thus needs to be

strong and united as it faces up to the political, economic and so-

cial challenges of this century.

High Speed Two is a statement of faith in the future. Britain has

to be able to compete and win. A country that can design and build

a new railway is a place with vision and purpose. Can it be

achieved? The courage and daring of the people who make up our

industry provide the answer.

Over 600 people, from engi-

neers, electricians and builders

to carpenters, stone masons

and abseilers, working on the

King’s Cross project came to-

gether recently to celebrate the

end of major construction work

on the new western concourse.

The new concourse is the

stand-out feature of the £500m

redevelopment of King’s Cross.

The domed roof covers an area

three-times the size of the ex-

isting concourse.

Says Ian Fry, Network Rail’s

King’s Cross project director,

‘With the major construction

completed on schedule we can

focus on fitting out the retail

units and installing the new

passenger facilities so passen-

gers can take full advantage of

their new station when it opens

next year.’

Work to build the Western

concourse, which started in

2009, involved up to 1,150 peo-

ple on site at any one time. The

majority of the station rede-

velopment will be completed by

2012 in time for the Olympics

with the transformation com-

plete by 2013. Once completed,

50m passengers will use the

new station each year, 10m

more than today.

King’s Cross crew celebrate

2 | RailStaff | January 2012

Publisher: Paul O'Connor

Editor: Andy Milne

Senior reporter: Jonathan Webb

Pictures: Colin Garratt

Track Safety: Colin Wheeler

Advertising: Asif Ahmed

Craig Smith

Nigel Wordsworth

Paul Curtis

Production: Adam O'Connor

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Training Matters Focus

March IssueThe biggest asset of any company

is its people.

Keep up to date with new Training initiatives.

Contact Paul Curtis on 01530 560026 oremail [email protected]

High Fives - How to Back HS2

RailStaff | January 2012 | 3

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Room now open

Rail News in brief> Sophie names express

Sophie English is all set to name a locomotive, Eco Express,

at the National Railway Museum in York.

Eco Express is named to celebrate the partnership between

Drax and GB Railfreight in the moving of biomass material. The

locomotive was chosen following a children’s competition held

at the Great Yorkshire Show.

> Name change for Scott Wilson

Since it was acquired by URS last year Scott Wilson has been

trading as URS Scott Wilson. It will now trade under the name

URS and the Scott Wilson logo will be removed.

> Severn heaven

The Severnside Community Rail Partnership has clocked up

a small but significant success.

Passenger loadings at several stations are up thanks to the

hard work of local volunteers. Ridership soared from 135 to 201,

or by 49%, at Severn Beach station between 2009 and 2011.

The SCRP covers the network of routes radiating from Bris-

tol, bounded by Gloucester, Bath/Freshford, Weston-super-Mare,

Taunton, and the Severn Estuary - including the branch line to

Severn Beach.

> Blackpool investment

Run down station platforms at Lytham, St Annes and Ans-

dell, on the popular Blackpool South line, are to receive an in-

vestment of £100,000 to make the stations more attractive

ahead of July’s open golf tournament, when thousands of golf

fans are expected to use the line.

Fylde Council is putting £42,500 towards the scheme and the

Local Strategic Partnership is also contributing £40,000. The bal-

ance will come from Lancashire County Council, St Anne’s Town

Council and South Fylde Community Rail Partnership.

Crossrail has unveiled the first

of eight 1,000 tonne, tunnel

boring machines (TBM) that

will burrow under London ex-

cavating the tunnels for the

new west to east rail link.

The 140 metre long, fully as-

sembled tunnel boring machine

is currently undergoing factory

testing in Germany. The machine

will then be dismantled and

shipped to London where it will

be re-assembled at Westbourne

Park. Tunnelling should com-

mence from Royal Oak in March.

Eight tunnel boring machines

will be used to drill 13 miles of

twin-bore tunnels. The TBMs

will undertake ten individual

tunnel drives as they excavate

the 6.2 metre diameter tunnels.

Building Crossrail is a round-the-

clock operation and the TBMs

will run 24 hours a day, 7 days a

week stopping only for sched-

uled maintenance.

As the TBMs advance forward,

precast concrete segments will

be built in rings behind the TBMs.

Construction of the concrete

segment factory for the western

running tunnels between Royal

Oak and Farringdon is now com-

plete at Old Oak Common. The

plant will begin manufacturing

over 70,000 segments for the

western tunnels from January.

Says Chris Dulake, Crossrail’s

Chief Engineer, ‘Crossrail tun-

nelling will get underway in

March 2012 when the first of

eight tunnel boring machines

will begin burrowing below the

streets of London. Work is con-

tinuing across the Crossrail route

to prepare for construction of the

major new rail tunnels.

‘The new Tunnelling and Un-

derground Construction Acade-

my has welcomed its first stu-

dents and will train at least 3,500

people with the skills required to

work below ground while the

first of the tunnel segment man-

ufacturing plants will shortly

commence full operations.’

The eight Crossrail TBMs are

being manufactured by Her-

renknecht AG, Germany which

also manufactured tunnel bor-

ing machines for the Jubilee

Line Extension and the Dock-

lands Light Railway (DLR) Ex-

tension to Bank.

March debut for Tunnel Machine


Matthew Barrow, who works at

Neath station, has received a

special award from Trenau Ar-

riva Cymru.

Matthew was recognised for

his life saving actions in resus-

citating a baby girl at Neath rail-

way station on 17 May 2011.

Says Matthew, ‘I’d just started my

shift and was in the office talk-

ing to my manager when a fe-

male passenger came in and

asked if there were any first

aiders available.’

Another passenger was taking

her two year old daughter to

Morriston Hospital in Swansea to

be treated for a virus. While wait-

ing for the train, the baby girl had

stopped breathing. Matthew con-

tinued, ‘We cleared a desk and

brought the mother and daugh-

ter in where I gave her CPR, a

technique which I’d learned fol-

lowing the death of my 15 month

old son Samuel in April 2009. I

didn’t really think about what to

do, it was an automatic reaction,

which thankfully had a happy

ending despite the young girl

stopping breathing twice.’

Speaking at the company

awards in Cardiff, Matthew said,

‘I’m completely shocked to be

given this award. It’s been a

very emotional evening and

Ruth, my wife, is very proud.’

ATW Human Resources Di-

rector Lynne Milligan, said,

‘Matthew’s award is fully de-

served as he was faced with

the most challenging of situa-

tions to respond to. He didn’t

think twice about going beyond

the call of duty to help a com-

plete stranger in need of help.

His quick thinking response and

life-saving skills ensured a hap-

py ending to what could have

been an incident with tragic

consequences.’

Life saver honoured

Unipart Rail has won a big con-

tract in Australia.

Together with partner UGL

Limited, Unipart Rail will be

providing fleet maintenance

and logistics services for Rail-

Corp in Sydney. The contract is

expected to generate £900 mil-

lion in revenue over the initial

seven years. A joint venture

company has been established

between Unipart Rail and UGL

to deliver the scope of works

under the contract.

Says John Clayton of Unipart

Rail, ‘This contract sees us join-

ing our established supply chain

and ‘Lean’ expertise with UGL’s

proven maintenance and engi-

neering skills, to deliver signifi-

cant operational and financial

benefits to RailCorp in Sydney.

We very much look forward to

delivering success with our joint

venture partner, UGL.’

Says Rob Mason, chief executive

of RailCorp, ‘The contract with

UGL and Unipart Rail will play a

key role in RailCorp’s commit-

ment to deliver safe, clean and re-

liable passenger services, while

delivering value for money to the

taxpayers of NSW.’

Australian win for Unipart

Top cop awarded QPMBritish Transport Police Federa-

tion Chairman, Inspector Alex

Robertson, has been awarded

the Queen’s Police Medal in the

New Year’s Honours List.

Alex Robertson, from Glasgow,

joined BTP in 1978 and became

Chairman of the BTP Federation

in 1999. Alex has had a distin-

guished 33-year police career. He

was Scottish Area Secretary

within the BTPF and then As-

sistant General Secretary in 1995,

and has been an expert voice on

transport policing issues, from

the day-to-day realities of crime

and disorder to the long term

terrorist threats to the rail net-

work.

Alex has also taken an active

part in EuroCop, the European

Confederation of Police, which

deals with issues such as cross-

border cooperation, as well as

the Police Dependants’ Trust

and the National Police Memo-

rial Day. He holds the Police

Good Conduct and Long Service

Medal, the Queen’s Golden Ju-

bilee Medal and, for his Army

service in Northern Ireland, the

General Service Medal.

Says Inspector Robertson, ‘I

am absolutely delighted and

thrilled, as are my family. It is a

really humbling experience.’

Railway stations are good for

business, the community and

commerce.

Investing in them boosts ur-

ban regeneration, drives up em-

ployment levels and increases

property values by up to 30 per

cent, says a study commis-

sioned by Network Rail. The re-

port, by Steer Davies Gleave,

confirms that station invest-

ment can have a major impact

on urban regeneration within

the surrounding area, stimu-

late development, and increase

economic activity and employ-

ment levels.

Says David Biggs, Network Rail

director of property, ‘This report

confirms that investing in sta-

tions not only delivers im-

provements for passengers, but

also boosts economic activity

and leads to further investment

in the local economy. The con-

tinued growth in passenger

numbers has allowed Network

Rail to attract partners to re-

generate the areas around ma-

jor transport hubs.

‘Birmingham New Street is a

great example; we are delivering

a radically new station gateway

in partnership with the council

and John Lewis, transforming

the south side of Birmingham

city centre.’ It’s official - railway

stations can act as catalysts for

wider regeneration.

Rail estate bonus

The second anniversary of the

start of domestic passenger

services on High Speed One

has seen passenger numbers

powering ahead.

More services are being intro-

duced to meet demand. Local

people want more. Says Charles

Horton, managing director,

Southeastern, ‘This year we

have responded to passenger

and stakeholder needs and

have introduced new services

from Maidstone West, Sand-

wich and Deal and we are grate-

ful for the support of Kent

County Council, local MPs and

other stakeholders in making

this possible.

‘The service continues to prove

popular with 89 per cent of pas-

sengers telling the independent

Passenger Focus satisfaction

survey they think it is good or

very good.’ In the second year of

operation Southeastern has

recorded an additional million

passenger journeys compared to

the first year of operation, now

totalling 8.2 million.

Numbers soar on HS1

Jim Taylor’s new year gets off to

a good start with an internal

promotion to the board.

Jim, the divisional manager of

NRL Rail, has been appointed a

director with effect from 1st Jan-

uary 2012. He has been with NRL

Ltd since 1994 and was the driv-

ing force behind the establish-

ment of the Rail Division in 2001.

Under his guidance, the divi-

sion has achieved Link-Up ac-

creditation in over 140 product

categories and has earned sig-

nificant contracts with Network

Rail, Story Rail and Balfour Beat-

ty Rail. Says Jim, ‘I am delighted

to be made a director at NRL. Our

rail business has gone from

strength to strength and I look

forward to developing the Rail di-

vision further, with the help of an

excellent team.’

Mike Barber, managing direc-

tor of NRL Ltd, says, ‘Jim has

worked tirelessly over the last

few years to build and develop

our Rail Division and with the

support and hard work of his

loyal team he has created a fan-

tastic business unit.

‘The team has, under Jim’s lead-

ership, delivered consistently good

financial results throughout 2011

whilst at the same time diversi-

fying its supply capability. There

is already a strong order book and

pipeline for 2012 and we are con-

fident that the ongoing success of

the Rail division will continue to

contribute significantly to the

NRL Group’s performance.’

NRL Rail operates from offices

in Grangemouth, Scotland

where Jim is based and Wigan in

Greater Manchester.

RailStaff | January 2012 | 5PEOPLE MOVES

Donovan to head TPENick Donovan is the new man-

aging director of First

TransPennine Express.

Nick, 48, who was FTPE’s engi-

neering director, succeeds Ver-

non Barker OBE now heading

FirstGroup’s Rail Division as

managing director September

2011.

Having joined the company

as new trains project director,

Nick has worked for FTPE since

the start of its franchise in 2004.

He successfully managed the in-

troduction of a new 51-strong

fleet of Class 185 diesel trains.

Says Nick, ‘I am delighted to be

given this opportunity to take on

the role and to build on the

tremendous successes that have

been achieved. FTPE has always

been a company that has inno-

vated and we are entering a re-

ally exciting period.

‘There are a range of infra-

structure projects upcoming and

we are working closely with the

Government to increase capac-

ity and provide more carriages

by 2014. My aim is to lead FTPE’s

already successful team through

these great opportunities and

provide an even better service to

our customers.’

Nick joined British Rail as a

trainee engineer in 1981. He

worked in project development

in the UK, Australia and Taiwan.

He worked for Alstom from 1997

and joined FirstGroup in 2001. In

2011 Nick completed the London

to Paris bike ride in aid of the

Railway Children and raised

over £7,000.00.

Tipping the Scales

Neil Scales is quitting his job as

chief executive of Merseytravel

and heading for Australia and a

new career as ceo of TransLink,

the public transport authority

in Brisbane, Queensland.

Mr Scales has spent 15 years at

Merseytravel and takes up his

new post in March. ‘It was a hard

decision to make and one I

spent some considerable time

agonising over but I have re-

ceived an offer which was too

difficult to refuse,’ says Neil.

‘For me this is a challenge to

make a real difference on the

other side of the world and an

opportunity of a once-in-a life-

time experience ‘down under.’

In a message to staff he said,

‘There is much I will miss, in par-

ticular the tremendous support

I have received from you all

during my time here. I truly

thank you for your loyalty and

hard work and wish you all

every success in the future.’

Born in Sunderland, County

Durham in 1956 Neil Scales

studied at Southmoor Technical

School and played rugby for

Durham Schools. Leaving school

at 16 he took an engineering ap-

prenticeship with Sunderland

Corporation Transport.

He continued his studies at

Sunderland Polytechnic, even-

tually gaining an MSc in Control

Engineering and Computing

Systems and an MBA at the

Open University. He even be-

came a part-time associate lec-

turer with the Open University

and is proud of a pass-rate of

over 90 percent for his students.

Before joining Merseytravel

Neil was an independent trans-

port and engineering consultant

working for the World Bank on

projects across Europe. After his

apprenticeship, he first worked

for Tyne and Wear Passenger

Transport Executive before be-

coming Director of Engineering

and Purchasing at Greater Man-

chester Buses, and then Man-

aging Director of Northern

Counties Ltd in 1990.

In 1997, he was appointed Di-

rector of Customer Services,

Merseytravel, two years later

becoming the Chief Executive

and Director General. He is cred-

ited with completely reversing

the fortunes of Merseytravel

which is now recognised as one

of the best transport authorities

in Britain. Merseyrail is one of

the best performing rail net-

works in Britain.

Richard Parry has joined FirstGroup to help bid

for more franchises.

Richard joins FirstGroup’s bid team from Trans-

port for London (TfL) where he worked for 19 years

in a range of senior roles, most recently as

Deputy Managing Director and Director of Strat-

egy and Commercial for TfL’s London Underground

and Rail divisions.

His new role will focus on First’s bid for the pres-

tigious InterCity West Coast franchise. Says Ver-

non Barker, Managing Director UK Rail, ‘I am de-

lighted to have attracted someone of Richard’s tal-

ent and calibre to the Group. The wealth of ex-

perience that he brings will be invaluable as we

seek to build on our market leadership position

in rail and progress the opportunities created by

the Department for Transport’s new franchising

programme.’

First footing for Richard

Taylor-Made

Olympian role for AndrewAndrew Williams has been appointed c2c’s new

Olympics Project Manager.

He will be liaising with Network Rail, Transport

for London, ODA, LOCOG and the British Transport

Police as c2c prepares for the London Olympics. c2c

serves West Ham station, which is one of the of-

ficial gateways to the Olympic Park and Excel ven-

ues for the Games.

c2c’s Leigh-on-Sea station is the official station for

those arriving by rail for the BMX events at

Hadleigh. Andrew joined the railway as part of the

National Express Graduate Training Scheme in 2008.

He worked for National Express East Anglia and

spent 8 months as a c2c Assistant Group Station

Manager. At the conclusion of the scheme he took

up a permanent position as Duty Station Manag-

er for NXEA at Stratford, before moving to Chiltern

Railways as Performance Planning and Project

Manager.

Says Julian Drury, c2c’s Managing Director, ‘The

London Games are extremely important for c2c

and our customers and Andy will be working in

partnership with the c2c team and our stake-

holders to ensure that everyone travelling by

train on our network during Games time has an

enjoyable experience.’


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Crossing closuresNetwork Rail says it has now

closed 500 level crossings in

Britain since April 2009.

The company intends to close

a further 250 by 31 March 2014.

Many of these are user-worked

crossings often connecting pri-

vate land and are not public

rights of way. Located in rural ar-

eas, many cross busy main lines.

The barriers or gates need to be

operated by the person crossing

and not the railway. Warning

measures include miniature

warning lights, signs or tele-

phones. In many cases an al-

ternative access for the user is

either available or has been pro-

vided to secure closure.

Says Robin Gisby, managing di-

rector for network operations for

Network Rail, ‘In closing these

500 crossings we have removed

the risk of a vehicle or person be-

ing struck by a train at these lo-

cations and improved safety

across the network for everyone

working or travelling by rail.

While this is good progress,

there is much more to be done.

‘We aim to close a further 250

by April 2014 and we will work to

further improve other crossings

across the network and contin-

ue to raise awareness of the

dangers of misuse. Closing a

level crossing is not always an

easy process, and we often need

the support of land owners, lo-

cal authorities and users. I hope

we can count on their continued

support.’

Network Rail intends to close a further 250 crossings by March 2014.

A former Northern Rail manager, who ded-

icated fifty years to the railway industry,

has received an MBE in the Queen’s New

Year’s Honours List.

Phil Thickett, 65 of Darlington, was recog-

nised for services to the railway industry. He

began his career as an apprentice in 1961 and

worked his way up to become Northern’s

Area Operations Manager, where he man-

aged more than 700 staff and more than

1,200 trains every day across Yorkshire and

Lincolnshire, until his retirement last May.

Phil was recognised for his long term

commitment to the railway and his will-

ingness to help others, both inside and

outside the industry. He has mentored

many school children, on a voluntary ba-

sis, on work experience schemes. In ad-

dition he has been involved with many

projects and charity events.

Says Phil, ‘I couldn’t believe it when I was

told the news about the MBE. I have seen

many changes to the railway industry over

the last fifty years and for me it was about

embracing those changes and providing a

service for thousands of people every day.’

Phil was praised for encouraging staff. Says

Ian Bevan, Managing Director of Northern Rail,

‘We are proud of Phil and delighted he has re-

ceived this fantastic honour. He has helped

develop so many of our employees, in both

their daily duties and further education as-

pirations and is a true ambassador for North-

ern Rail and the whole rail industry.

‘Phil’s kind and unassuming nature has a

positive effect on everyone he comes into con-

tact with and makes him a pleasure to work

alongside.’ Phil is married with two children.

Ops manager awarded MBE

Birmingham New Street sta-

tion’s Gateway project took a

visible step forward over

Christmas with the removal of

part of the Navigation Street

footbridge.

A new section of footbridge

was lifted neatly into place.

When the extended bridge

opens at the end of 2012, it will

provide access to Platform 12 for

the first time and create a new

station entrance on Hill Street.

Says Geoff Inskip, chief execu-

tive of Centro, ‘Whilst a lot of the

work so far has not been visible

to passengers, the installation of

this new bridge clearly shows the

excellent progress being made

towards delivering a bigger,

brighter and visually stunning

New Street Station - a world

class facility the whole West

Midlands can be proud of.’

Prior to the bridge lift the old

platform 12 bay platform had to

be closed and the track cov-

ered. Since the ending of parcel

traffic at Birmingham New

Street there has been no need to

stable an 08 shunter and the

platform had become redun-

dant. Working from Christmas

Day through to 27 December, en-

gineers used a 700 tonne crane

to do the job.

The Gateway project should be

completed in 2015. Natural light

will flood across the concourse.

More lifts and escalators will

help speed passengers on their

way.

Says Chris Montgomery, Net-

work Rail project director, ‘The

work we have completed over the

Christmas break represents a

major step forward in our excit-

ing plans to rebuild Birmingham

New Street for the thousands of

passengers who use it every day.

‘Undertaking projects on this

scale in the heart of Birmingham

city centre represents a huge lo-

gistical challenge and we

planned the work carefully to

minimise disruption to passen-

gers and Christmas shoppers

visiting the city centre.’

Better facilities for rail staff

are an essential part of the

scheme. Over the Christmas

break new train crew accom-

modation was built above Plat-

form 1. Other major works in-

cluded the construction of a

tower crane outside the front of

the station. The crane will be

used throughout 2012 to con-

struct the new public square

opposite the Bullring.

The old Pallasades link bridge

and escalator above Station

Street was removed along with

other redundant structures.

The first half of the new station

concourse is expected to open

in time for next Christmas.

The project itself should be

complete in 2015.

Navigation progress at Birmingham

Network Rail is moving furni-

ture for its new national centre

in Milton Keynes by rail.

Thousands of desks, chairs

and tables made by furniture

supplier Vitra, based in Weil am

Rhein, Germany, will be trans-

ported by train from nearby

Basel in Switzerland to Hams

Hall rail freight terminal in

Birmingham. The combined

length of wagons required to

move the furniture is more than

half a kilometre.

Says Tim Coucher, Network

Rail project director for The

Quadrant:MK, ‘Our new nation-

al centre in Milton Keynes will be

one of the most sustainable

buildings in the country, so it

makes sense that we encourage

the use of rail wherever possible

throughout the supply chain.

‘We’re proud to be supporting

the rail industry by choosing

DB Schenker Rail to transport

our furniture from Europe, re-

moving a huge number of lorry

journeys from our roads and

cutting carbon emissions by

more than 90%.’

The Quadrant:MK, will be

home to around 3,000 Network

Rail people when it opens lat-

er this year. It will bring to-

gether all the company’s plan-

ning and support activities un-

der one roof.

Rail turns tableson road haulage


Tel: 01623 646789 or see our website: www.repta.co.uk

Membership open to: all rail and transport industry staff, active or retired,including immediate family.

Membership Card andYearbook

Price: £4.50 inc P&P. Extra family members: £3.00

You can also now join and pay for membership online at www.repta.co.uk

please send cheques / postal orders payable to REPTA to:

4 Brackmills Close, Forest Town, Mansfield, Notts, NG19 0PB. (REF: RS)

New for 2012: Family Membership £9.00 - 2 Adults and Children up to age 10.Plus Discount CinemaTickets.

REPTA 2012

Wild card for FirstGroupFirstGroup has donated £10,000 to its national charity partner, Save the Children.

This brings its total in-kind support and cash donations to just over £4.5 million since the partner-

ship began in 2007. Rather than sending traditional Christmas cards this year, First posted a Christmas

message on its website, including a reference to Save the Children. As a token of the savings made, First-

Group was able to donate an extra £10k to its charity partner.

‘I’m thrilled that our £10k donation breaks the £4.5 million mark and hope it helps bring some much

needed joy to the children in the UK that need it most this Christmas,’ said Avril Gill, FirstGroup’s

Marketing Manager.

A new trial scheme aimed at com-

bating metal theft has been

launched in the north east.

Operation Tornado requires anyone

selling scrap metal to participating

dealers in Northumbria, County

Durham and Cleveland to provide

proof of identity via a photo card. The

trial will last for six months.

Lord Henley, Minister for Crime

Prevention and Anti-Social Behav-

iour Reduction, launched the

scheme at the metal recycling cen-

tre in Shildon, Co. Durham. Cable

theft remains a serious problem in

the railway and rail chiefs will be

watching the scheme closely.

Operation Tornado blows thieves off track

Network Rail in Scotland has

placed £55m-worth of con-

tracts as the Edinburgh Glas-

gow Improvement Programme

powers up.

Morgan Sindall will construct

a new £25m station at Haymar-

ket in Edinburgh, to create a

fully accessible station as well as

an integrated train, tram, bus

and taxi transport hub.

BamNuttall will be working

on railway structures around

the central belt in a £27m proj-

ect and Carillion will deliver a

range of track alterations in a

deal worth £3m. The contracts,

all of which will see work com-

mence in 2012, form part of the

£1bn EGIP scheme.

The Edinburgh Glasgow Im-

provement Programme will see

the electrification of 220 miles of

the existing rail network in the

central belt, including the main

Edinburgh Waverley-Glasgow

Queen Street line. The project is

being funded by the Scottish

Government.

Says David Simpson, Network

Rail route managing director for

Scotland, ‘The investment an-

nounced today will transform

Haymarket, delivering a facility

which will better serve customers

and offer the city as a whole a

station it can be proud of.

‘The track and bridgeworks

contracts we have awarded also

mean that preparations are well

under way to deliver the elec-

trification of rail lines in the

central belt, which will cut jour-

ney times and increase capaci-

ty on key routes into Scotland’s

two biggest cities.’

Haymarket is Scotland’s fourth

busiest station and handles four

million passenger journeys a

year. This is predicted to soar to

10m by 2025. Work at Haymar-

ket includes refurbishment and

the construction of a new mod-

ern concourse to the west of the

existing building as well as a

new access bridge and a spruce

up for the platform canopies.

EGIP spring

In what has become an annual event, the idea of

riding subway cars without your trousers on has

spread to 59 cities globally.

In London earlier this month over 200 passengers

rode the tube in their underwear. More daring was

Istanbul where ten trouser-less travellers were

tailed by police and later arrested. Photos of the

event were confiscated and deleted and the riders

later released.

Warsaw did better with 150 riders. In Paris par-

ticipants in the event had the inspired idea of meet-

ing up in a bar called ‘Sans Culottes.’

New York still tops the ratings with over 4,000

people joining the bare legs brigade. The event is

organised by Improv Everywhere, a New York City-

based prank collective that aims to cause scenes

of chaos and joy in public places.

No pants day

The signalling of the East Mid-

lands and transfer of the re-

gion’s signalling to the East

Midlands Control Centre in

Derby, took a big step forward

on New Year’s Eve with the clo-

sure of Leicester Signal Box.

Opened in 1986 Leicester con-

trolled a vast area, stretching

from Sharnbrook to Loughbor-

ough, along with various branch-

es that came off the Midland

Main Line. Numerous manual

boxes were closed as a result.

For the last shift three local

operating managers who had

worked in the box over the last

quarter of a century came to-

gether to say their farewells to the

signal box. Shortly after it opened,

Leicester Signal Box featured in

an Open University programme

about how modern signalling

works. Opened in 2008, the EMCC

should see control for the whole

of the region’s signalling based

there in the next decade.

New Year’s Eve farewell©

BR

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The final Leicester local operations manager Nick Allsop is joined by re-tired Leicester LOMs Garth Lewin and Trevor Willett, the first LeicesterLOM, in Leicester signal box on Dec 31st just hours before it closed.

Following on from the success of the Rail Safety Summit 2011 we are delighted toannounce the line up for the Rail Safety Summit 2012...


Colin Wheeler

Steve Diksa

Willie Baker

Chairman

Assurance Services Director,

Bridgeway Consulting

Major Rail Incident Planning and

Training Expert

Andrew Livingston

Catherine Behan

Jeff Espenship

Dr Liesel von Metz

Seamus Scallon

QSE Business Partner, Atkins

General Manager, HSQE,

London Underground

Target Leadership

HM Inspector of Railways

Safety Director, UK Rail, FirstGroup


The Rail Safety Summit is a conference for rail safety managers,

infrastructure owners, rail stakeholders and training professionals.

Leading figures from the rail safety, security, risk assessment and

training professions will be in attendance.

Conference speakers include:

BONUS: Network Rail Safety 365 Truck on site


Join the Rail Alliance now

Rail Alliance membership starts

from just £500 per year

log on to www.railalliance.co.uk

email [email protected]

or call 01789 720026.

EVENTSUKTI/Rail Alliance NW Regional Rail Briefing Event

27th Jan tbc - Location... Crewe tbc

Members’ Meeting & Networking Event

Feb tbc - Location... TRaC Global, Skelmersdale - tbc

Infrarail 2012

1st-3rd May - Location... NEC, Birmingham

InnoTrans 2012

18th-21st Sept - Location... Berlin, Germany

New membersGatwick Construction | www.gatwickconstruction.co.uk

(Specialised Construction and Engineering Business Delivering a

Wide Range of Project Building and Maintenance Services to UK

Airport, Rail and Road Markets)

Horizon Specialist Contracting | www.horizonsc.co.uk

(Provider of Specialist Services for Lightning Protection, Earthing,

Structural Maintenance and Height Technology)

Keltbray Rail | www.keltbray.com

(Suppliers of Road Rail Vehicles and Equipment for the Rail Industry

who also Carry out Civils Work including Piling)

Premier Pits | www.premierpits.com

(Global Manufacturers and Installers of Steel Prefabricated

Vehicle Inspection Pits)

Elma Electronic UK Ltd | www.elma.com

(Global Manufacturer of Products for Housing Electronic Systems)

Entire Engineering Ltd | www.entire-engineering.co.uk

(Sub-contract Machining and Fabrication Engineers Specialising in

the Rail Industry)

Anderton Concrete Products Ltd | www.andertonconcrete.co.uk

(Market Leading Supplier of Cable Protection Products to the Rail

Industry)

Green Dragon Rail Ltd | www.4greendragon.com

(Provider of Safety Health Environment & Fire (SHEF) Risk

Management Solutions in all Minor Railway Sectors)

Positive news for 2012view. Welcomed by developers of

major inland rail terminals the

Policy Guidance on Strategic

Rail Freight Interchanges will

help them negotiate the ever

burdensome planning process.

FreightThe review also sanctions Net-

work Rail to invest a further £55

million in the development of the

Strategic Freight Network. This

work includes track doubling be-

tween Ely and Soham eliminat-

ing a major bottleneck on the Fe-

lixstowe - Nuneaton corridor.

Other works include the gauge

clearance of additional routes in

the midlands to allow the pas-

sage of 9ft 6 containers, support

for new services from both Fe-

lixstowe and Southampton ports

and improvements to the 24

hour availability of the network

by enabling diversionary routes

to be available.

Direct Rail Services has an-

nounced the placing of an or-

der with Vossloh España for the

supply of a new fleet of 3750

hp, diesel-electric locomotives

expected to become UK Class

68s. All of this backs up opti-

mistic forecasts predicting a

doubling of rail freight vol-

umes by 2030.

2012 looks like being a good,

positive year as the renais-

sance of Britain’s rail network

continues.

Rail Alliance’s MacroRail 2012

will be held on the 12 and 13

September.

The Rail Alliance is building

on the success of last year’s

event where 60+ exhibitors pi-

oneered the idea. The aim this

year is to have 100 exhibiting

companies with plenty of out-

side exhibitors carrying out

demonstrations.

So, reserve space in your diary

for the second week in Septem-

ber to come and visit Macrorail

2012 at our Long Marston head-

quarters. For member compa-

nies wishing to exhibit, they

can reserve a standard 3m x 3m

exhibition space for £300 plus

VAT (roughly the cost of 1m x 1m

space at a ‘standard’ rail exhibi-

tion!). For more information

please contact:

robert.hopkin@railalliance.co.uk.

As 2012 arrives and both the

Euro crises and the recession

continue, our good fortune is to

be in an industry that is still

spending money and attracting

investment.

High Speed Two is head line

news but Rail Alliance mem-

bers will benefit from a pletho-

ra of positive developments. In

his Autumn Statement, Chan-

cellor George Osborne under-

lined the government’s contin-

ued belief in the recession bust-

ing role of the railways by con-

firming £1.4 billion of invest-

ment as part of the economy re-

vitalising national infrastruc-

ture plan, the Rail Alliance’s Rail

Industry Liaison Manager Neil

Stevens reports.

Projects included the £290 mil-

lion electrification between

Manchester, Leeds and the

ECML. Another beneficiary was

the Oxford - Bedford railway,

where £270 million will open the

western section of the Oxford -

Cambridge ‘Varsity Line,’ as a

100mph mixed traffic route.

Tyne and Wear MetroWith Chiltern Railway’s previ-

ously confirmed upgrade of the

Bicester - Oxford section of this

route, the funding will link fast-

expanding Milton Keynes with

Bedford, London Marylebone,

Oxford and Reading.

Additionally the Chancellor

confirmed a further £390 million

for station improvements,

£290m for bridge renewals, £4m

to upgrade the Tyne and Wear

Metro, £45m on extending the

Oyster scheme in London and

£290 million to limit the planned

January 2012 fare rises to 1%

above inflation rather than the

3% originally proposed.

At the same time the Chan-

cellor backed the extension of

the Charing Cross branch of the

Northern Line through to Bat-

tersea, including two new sta-

tions at Battersea and Nine Elms.

BombardierThere’s good news for rolling

stock with the announcement of

£80 million support for South-

ern’s acquisition of 130 new

Class 377 Electrostar vehicles.

These will supplement South-

ern’s existing fleet and provide

a timely boost to the fortunes of

Derby train builder Bombardier.

Rail freight has also fared well

with Government commitment

to modal shift and rail freight re-

inforced with the publication

of the DfT’s Logistics Growth Re-

Make a date for MacroRail

© T

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Course Title

Personal Track Safety

Lookout

PTS Re certification

LKT Re certification

IWA Re certification

COSS Re certification

PC Re certification

ES Re certification

MC/CC Assessment

OTP Re certification

CPCS Practical Tests

Ten

Eight

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Eight

Six

Six

Two

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One & ½

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£75.00

£95.00

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£130.00

Individual Working Alone

COSS OLP/CRP

Protection Controller

Engineering Supervisor

On Track Plant

CPCS Theory Tests

Ten

Eight

Eight

Eight

Eight

Six

Four

Two

-----

Two

One

Three

Five

One

Two

Min of Seven

Various

-----

£170.00

£95.00

£250.00

£400.00

£95.00

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£90.00

Machine/Crane Controller

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Translink ticks m-ticketingRail passengers in Northern Ireland can now

use Translink’s new mobile phone ticketing

system, mLink.

Passengers can buy, receive and display an elec-

tronic ticket on their mobile phone doing away

with the need for a paper ticket. Says Catherine Ma-

son, Translink Group Chief Executive, ‘With

Northern Ireland having the highest mobile phone

penetration in the UK at 92 per cent and almost

one quarter of people using smart phones, we are

confident that mLink will soon prove to be the pre-

ferred option for train travel.’

Trapeze Group (UK) Ltd helped Translink devel-

op the scheme.

Crossrail has launched a compe-

tition seeking names for six of its

giant tunnel boring machines.

The TBMs will be constructing

the new rail tunnels under Lon-

don. Londoners and people liv-

ing along the Crossrail route

have been asked to propose

pairs of names for the machines.

The winning entries will be

painted onto the tunnel boring

machines.

This spring, the first two 140

metre long TBMs weighing 1,000

tonnes will burrow four miles

east from Royal Oak via Padding-

ton, Bond Street and Totten-

ham Court Road before reaching

Farringdon in summer 2013.

Later this year, the second pair

of machines will launch from

Limmo in Docklands driving 5.2

miles west towards Farringdon

via Whitechapel and Liverpool

Street.

In the winter, two TBMs will be

launched from Plumstead tun-

nelling 1.6 miles and under the

River Thames to North Wool-

wich. A Crossrail panel will se-

lect a shortlist before the public

is invited to vote online for their

favourite pairs of names in Feb-

ruary. Prizes will be awarded to

the three entrants who receive

the most votes.

Winners will receive either Eu-

rostar vouchers or an annual

family pass to Merlin Theme

Parks and will be invited to at-

tend the tunnelling launch event

at Royal Oak Portal.

Naming boring machines

The DfT is to look in more detail at a scheme to

convert the Bombardier built CrossCountry Voy-

ager fleet to hybrid operation, by inserting a pan-

tograph-carrying carriage.

The e-Voyager project would provide more work

for Bombardier’s Derby workforce. Transport Min-

ister, Justine Greening, has asked the depart-

ment to check out costs and described herself as

enthusiastic about the project.

Large parts of the CrossCountry network, such as

Devon and Cornwall, will not be electrified in the

medium term. However a number of CrossCoun-

try journeys, such as those between Birmingham

and the north-west, are made entirely along elec-

trified routes.

Says Paul Roberts, president of Bombardier

Transportation in the UK, ‘It is encouraging news

from Ms Greening on her plans for the eVoyager

project, where we hope a contractual agreement

can be reached in the first quarter of 2012.’

© J

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Pan up for Voyagers


A woman who fainted and fell

onto the tracks at Rochester

has thanked the mystery hero

who jumped down and lifted

her back to safety.

A fellow passenger witnessed

the rescue. Linda Evans, from

Strood in Kent, was standing

nearby on the platform waiting

for a London train. Says Ms

Evans, ‘It was a couple of minutes

before the train was due. She ap-

peared to have fainted. Nobody

seemed to do anything and this

young man jumped down onto

the track to help her.’

Paramedics rushed to the

scene and took the woman to

Medway Maritime Hospital. The

casualty suffered a head injury

and scratches to her arms after

the fall. Meanwhile the mystery

hero has disappeared without

trace.

Mystery hero

Work has begun on a major

upgrade of the railway between

Hastings and Ashford.

Drainage will be improved in

Ore Tunnel and track renewed.

The tunnel lining inside of the

structure will be repaired to pre-

vent water seeping through.

Whilst the line is shut nearly a

mile of track between Rye and

Winchelsea and around one

mile of track between Ashford

and Ham Street will be replaced

with continuous welded rail.

Two rail-over-road bridges at

Doleham and Three Oaks will be

replaced. Work is scheduled for

completion on 9 March 2012.

Hastingsshock and Ore

The future for Bombardier’s

Litchurch Lane works looks

brighter this year after it secured

an additional order for 130 Elec-

trostar cars for Southern.

The new trains will beef up

Southern’s existing fleet and the

contract is valued at £189 million.

‘We are delighted to be awarded

this contract by Southern. This is

a significant project which em-

phasises the performance of

Bombardier’s products in the

UK,’ said Paul Roberts of Bom-

bardier Transportation UK.

‘These vehicles have a proven

track record for their excellent

reliability and environmental

performance which will now

benefit many additional pas-

sengers in London and the

South East. The new trains will

be manufactured in the UK with

initial production commencing

in the latter half of 2012.’

Bombardier Transportation has

people at production facilities in

Derby and Plymouth and 15

maintenance and overhaul cen-

tres across Britain.

Wise men followElectrostarBetter news for staff at Litchurch Lane.

Nottingham’s tram network is set to double

in size with a similar boost to the tram fleet

after funding was agreed.

Work on the five mile extension to Clifton

and the six mile route to Beeston starts soon.

The new services should be running by 2014.

Tramlink Nottingham has taken over the

running of the railway on 16th December

and will be responsible for building the

new lines.

The consortium includes Vinci Invest-

ments, Alstom, Keolis, Wellgrade, Meridiam

and OFI Infravia. The DfT will contribute £371

million of the £570 million needed to com-

plete the scheme. Nottingham City Council

plans to raise most of the rest through the

Workplace Parking Levy, a scheme that

charges employers based in the city a fee for

providing 11 or more car parking places for

employees. The 22 new Citadis trams will

complement the 15 Incentro trams already

in service.

Says transport minister Norman Baker, ‘I

am delighted that we are able to finally ap-

prove funding so that construction of Phase

Two of the tram system can begin. Line One

of the Nottingham tram has proved to be a

great success in encouraging people onto

public transport.

‘These extensions provide the opportuni-

ty to build on that success, and give people

in the south of Nottingham quicker, more

convenient access to the city centre as well

as providing an alternative means of ac-

cessing the city centre for people commut-

ing by car.’

Advanced works including utility diver-

sions start over the next few weeks with the

main tramway construction starting in

March.

Tram extension for Nottingham

Network Rail’s ten year, £130m

painting and refurbishment of

the Forth Bridge is complete.

For the first time there are no

decorators working on the

bridge. With the scaffolding

which has encased the bridge for

over a decade now removed,

the 125-year-old structure will

not need a full paint job for at

least 20 years. The project in-

volved caging the bridge in 4,000

tonnes of scaffolding, painting

over 230,000 square metres of

steel and all 6.5 million rivets in

the structure.

Says David Simpson, Network

Rail route managing director for

Scotland, ‘Our staff and con-

tractors can take real pride in

their achievements on this proj-

ect, not least in the fact that

through their efforts this amaz-

ing structure will remain free of

major maintenance work for at

least two decades.’

Traditionally painters started at

one end of the bridge, worked

across it and then painted back.

Says Marshall Scott, Managing

Director of Balfour Beatty Re-

gional Civil Engineering, ‘Balfour

Beatty is immensely proud to

have successfully delivered the

programme to refurbish the Forth

Bridge over the past decade.

‘It is a testament to the skill

and commitment of the project

team, and the subcontractors

and suppliers, involved in this

significant and complex pro-

gramme of works that the icon-

ic Forth Bridge has been re-

turned to its original condition.’

In the years ahead, a small

team of specialists and engi-

neers will continue to monitor

and maintain the bridge.

Forth Bridge paint complete

Rewiring initiative at ShenfieldAhead of the summer Olympics, engineers

at Network Rail are pressing ahead with

an overhead line upgrade on the Shenfield

and Witham line on the Anglia network.

It’s all been made possible by the hard

work of railway engineering staff over the

Christmas break. Working round the clock

teams completed challenging improve-

ment works between Stratford and London

Liverpool Street.

Now the £200m overhead line upgrade is

to enter its next phase. From 9 January to 21

March, Network Rail engineers will be car-

rying out improvement works on Monday,

Tuesday and Wednesday nights between

Shenfield and Witham. Engineering staff are

replacing 60-year-old overhead line equip-

ment on the Great Eastern main line.

Says Dave Ward, Network Rail route man-

aging director, ‘The completion of work be-

tween Liverpool Street and Stratford marks

a major milestone in this project. The work

we are doing is a once-in-a generation op-

portunity to enable us to run a more reliable

railway and deliver a better service for

passengers. This line is one of the busiest

rail routes in the country and we need to

carry out crucial works to maintain and re-

new the railway.’

Network Rail has 22 scheduled engineer-

ing-free weekends through the summer, in-

cluding the 11-week period between late

June and early September when all dis-

ruptive engineering work on key rail lines

around the country will be suspended for

the London Olympics.

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Book your tickets online: http://tinyurl.com/yrpdinner______________________________________________________________

[email protected]

Last chance to get tickets: only £40 per head!

With special guest speaker Mark Hopwood, MD First Great Western

Sponsored by:Sponsored by:

A Christmas gift for lifeStaff from First TransPennine

Express helped provide gifts

and support for Leeds-based

charity Caring for Life.

Staff donated hours of volun-

teer time to the charity which

assists homeless and vulnerable

people by providing accommo-

dation, ongoing support, friend-

ship and rehabilitation. 21 col-

leagues from FTPE worked over

three days sorting and packing

250 food hampers. In addition

one FTPE employee donated a

further £300.00 as a personal gift.

Says Pam Parkinson from Car-

ing for Life, ‘It was lovely to meet

up with the team from FTPE

again, who came to wrap and

pack 250 Christmas Food Ham-

pers. They have helped to make

this Christmas a special time for

the people we are trying to help.

FTPE’s continued support of our

projects is making a real differ-

ence to so many people who

would otherwise not be able to

enjoy this festive time of year.’

FTPE and parent FirstGroup

have previously donated nearly

£2,500 to Caring for Life to help

funding for the charity’s minibus.

More platforms and a new

ticket hall feature in a £43m

plan to upgrade Peterborough

station.

The redevelopment heralds

longer, more frequent trains and

anticipates a surge in passenger

volume. Four million people a

year use the station and this

number is expected to double

over the next 25 years.

Says Phil Verster, Network Rail

route managing director, ‘We

are making a significant invest-

ment to improve the railway in

Peterborough, providing a better

station and more trains for pas-

sengers. Rail is vital for Peter-

borough given its position as a

strategic transport hub and this

upgrade will provide a real boost

to the local economy.

‘When we’re finished in De-

cember 2013 the station will

have a modern main building,

extra platforms to increase ca-

pacity and reduce congestion,

easier access thanks to new lifts

and longer platforms ready for

new, longer trains serving more

destinations.’

Peterborough is a major rail-

way centre and hosts a complex

mix of commuter and long-dis-

tance services travelling both

east-west and north-south as

well as burgeoning freight traf-

fic - the station itself has two

freight passing loops.

Network Rail’s redevelopment

will increase capacity through

the station, with two new plat-

forms constructed on the west

side of the station for use by

trains travelling on east-west

routes, freeing up the existing

platforms for north-south serv-

ices. The current platform 3 will

also be widened and a new plat-

form added for future London-

bound high-speed services from

Peterborough.

In addition to the new plat-

forms, platforms 2 and 3 will be

extended to facilitate future 12-

car Thameslink services, which

will provide direct connections

from Peterborough to London

and destinations across the

South East. Platforms 4 and 5 will

be extended for future Intercity

Express services, which will pro-

vide new trains on long-dis-

tance routes to the north of

England and Scotland.

A new goods loop will also be

created to the west of the station

to increase freight capacity on

the key cross-country route from

the port of Felixstowe to the

Midlands and beyond. A sepa-

rate £3m scheme will provide a

brighter, bigger entrance and a

larger concourse at the station.

Olympic gateway for Calais

A giant set of Olympic Rings

has been unveiled on the en-

trance to the Channel Tunnel at

Coquelles near Calais.

The tunnel itself and High

Speed One will be one of the

main gateways to the London

2012 Games. Athletes anxious to

avoid the twin traumas of air

travel and motoring are expect-

ed to catch the train. The rings

have been put up by Eurotunnel

working with the French Na-

tional Olympic Committee.

Says Mayor of London, Boris

Johnson, ‘As the starting line

for 2012 Olympic and Paralympic

Games fast approaches we want

to say loud and clear to all our

European neighbours that Lon-

don is the only place to be next

summer.

‘Whether you’re heading to

the Olympic Park to watch some

amazing sport, soaking up the

best cultural events the city has

to offer or coming to revel in the

atmosphere at our Live Sites

there is something for everyone

to enjoy.’

Rail is poised to play a central

supporting role in the 2012 Lon-

don Olympics.

Platform promisefor Peterborough

The Young Railway Professionals will be holding

their third Annual Black Tie Dinner on Thursday,

2nd February 2012 in London.

The event provides a unique forum for young

people working in the rail industry to meet with

their peers, be inspired and have a great time. The

Young Railway Professionals is keen to ensure that

everyone across all disciplines is given the op-

portunity to meet their contemporaries in style.

Held in central London, guests will enjoy a net-

working drinks reception before sitting down to

a three course meal and entertainment. Mark Hop-

wood, Managing Director of First Great Western

will be following in the footsteps of Chris Mole and

Pete Waterman as he takes to the stage as the af-

ter dinner speaker, championing interdisciplinary

working and railway apprenticeships.

Representatives from the Railway Children char-

ity will be on hand to oversee a raffle stuffed with

generously donated prizes from across the in-

dustry. For more information, or to book a ticket

visit: www.youngrailwayprofessionals.org

Dinner date for YoungRailway Professionals

An impressive line-up of

keynote speakers will be a

major draw for visitors to this

year’s Infrarail exhibition.

Minister of State for Transport

Theresa Villiers, Network Rail’s

Managing Director Investment

Projects Simon Kirby and

Howard Smith, Chief Operating

Officer, London Rail at Transport

for London, will all be making

presentations as part of the

show’s seminar programme, or-

ganised by our sister publication

the rail engineer.

Free to attend and open to all,

the seminars will be a highlight

of this ninth Infrarail event,

which showcases the latest rail-

way infrastructure products and

systems from the industry’s

leading suppliers.

With less then four months be-

fore the show opens its doors,

momentum is now building.

More than 120 exhibitors have

confirmed their participation in

the event, with just a few stands

remaining.

Space on the On Track Dis-

play is all sold, but some op-

portunities for exhibitors re-

main in The Yard, a new In-

frarail feature for showing larg-

er plant and machinery used

for railway construction and

maintenance.

Infrarail 2012 takes place at the

NEC in Birmingham from 1 to 3

May. Pre-registration offering

free entry to the exhibition will

be available soon via the show

website – www.infrarail.com

Well worth a visit, the website

also provides an up-to-date list

of exhibitors and the latest news

on all that will be happening at

this year’s event.


Infrarail keynote speakers

Canfield backs better buy strategyThe Railway Industry Association has backed a

call by the Transport Select Committee for a

clear strategy on future procurement of new

trains.

Says RIA Director General Jeremy Candfield, ‘It

is absolutely essential that the supply industry

has a clearer understanding of future rolling stock

needs if it is to plan resources for efficient delivery.

It is now 981 days since an order for mainline pas-

senger trains was placed.

‘The current situation of long gaps between or-

ders and great uncertainty over timescales adds

significantly to costs and deters investment in

skills and equipment. We urge that a long-term

rolling stock strategy is published, developing

from the Initial Industry Plan and Network Rail

Passenger Rolling Stock RUS documents that the

railway industry has jointly produced.

‘We fully support the Committee’s recommen-

dation that the Government explain how the very

welcome improvements to procurement practices

they have recently announced will be applied.’

Construction of the new oper-

ating centre at Three Bridges

has begun.

When completed in 2013 it

will become the nerve centre of

railway operations in Sussex.

Local MP Henry Smith joined

railway staff at the site. The rail

operating centre at Three Bridges

will be one of 14 centres na-

tionally, built to replace more

than 800 signal boxes currently

used to control train movements

across the network.

The new centres will have

more advanced signalling tools

and technology and will help re-

duce delays, improve perform-

ance and increase capacity. The

new operating centre at Three

Bridges is one of three major

projects in the area.

As well as the new centre

these include a new 11,200

square metre traction and main-

tenance depot for the new

longer Thameslink trains and an

array of station improvements at

Three Bridges. New car and cy-

cling facilities will also be built

for staff.

Says Henry Smith MP, ‘Three

Bridges is a significant transport

interchange hub that serves lo-

cal commuters and business

alike. I’m delighted at Network

Rail’s commitment to invest in

upgrading this important Craw-

ley gateway.’

Major construction of the rail

operating centre, which is being

carried on behalf of Network Rail

by C Spencer Ltd, is expected to

be completed by early 2013. Says

Mark Ruddy, Network Rail’s

route managing director for Sus-

sex, ‘The new operating centre

and train depot will make Three

Bridges one of the most impor-

tant places on the railway in the

south east.

‘As well as helping to create a bet-

ter railway, the 900 plus jobs po-

tentially being created in the area

will also give a vital boost for local

shops and amenities. The

plans are also great news

for passengers in Three Bridges

who will get a better station and

other improvements along the

Brighton main line.

‘Thameslink will deliver

longer, more modern trains,

more seats and a wider choice

of journey options and the op-

erations centre will help us run

a more punctual and reliable

service.’

Work on the

new rail operating centre at Three

Bridges station was officially

started by (from left): Chris

Burchell, managing director of

Southern trains; Mark Ruddy,

Network Rail’s route managing

director for Sussex; Henry Smith

MP for Crawley; Brett Jarman,

Spencer’s project director, and

Peter Lawrence, Spencer’s rail di-

rector (south).

Work starts at Three Bridges

Northern Hubplans promotedPeople across the north of Eng-

land want to see more railways

and better services.

Network Rail’s biggest ever

consultation exercise in the

north promoted plans for the

Northern Hub and a vision for

rail investment across the re-

gion. If fully funded the Hub

would allow faster, more fre-

quent journeys.

It includes the Ordsall Chord,

a new short section of railway

near Manchester which will

reduce journey times by easing

a major bottleneck; work to

electrify the network between

Manchester and Liverpool and

the Lancashire triangle, and

plans to fully restore Man-

chester Victoria station.

Says Network Rail’s Graham

Botham, ‘The scale of this con-

sultation clearly demonstrates

our ambition to stimulate eco-

nomic growth by better con-

necting the towns and cities of

the north. It is hugely encour-

aging that the overwhelming

majority of the public in the re-

gion support our plans to make

it easier for people to get to

work, do business, go shopping

and visit friends and family.’

80 per cent of local people in-

terviewed said the plans would

make them more likely to use

the train.

The North Norfolk Railway is

celebrating a new year’s bonus.

Last year the railway beat its

records, carrying over 150,000

people for the first time in a sin-

gle year. The final figure of

150,497 was 5 per cent up on

2010, which was itself 13 per cent

up on 2009. The railway is based

in Sheringham and runs along

the spectacular Norfolk coast.

Says Colin Borg of NNR, ‘Com-

ing on top of a 13 per cent in-

crease in 2010, the record result

is a tribute to our volunteers who

operated an intensive pro-

gramme of services and special

events throughout the year. It

emphasises the importance of

the Poppy Line to the tourist

economy of North Norfolk.’

The railway plans a special

three day event in June com-

memorating the 60th anniver-

sary of the Ealing comedy film,

‘The Titfield Thunderbolt.’

North Norfolk’srecord year

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The man who signalled the last

train from Swanage to Corfe

Castle and Wareham on New

Year’s Day 1972 has returned

to the Swanage Railway to

mark the 40th anniversary of

the sad day.

Amidst high winds and heavy

rain retired signalman, Bob

Richards joined other passen-

gers from the 1970s for a cheer-

ful steam trip on what is now a

flourishing heritage railway. Bob,

from Corfe Castle, who went on

to work for Network Rail, joined

Peter Sills and his father Fred-

erick Sills from Wareham as

well as Malcolm Munro from

Wool who were passengers on

that last fateful day.

Bryan Trent, from Parkstone in

Poole also came along with his

1972 British Rail train ticket to

watch the first steam train of the

day carry a special commemo-

rative headboard designed and

produced by Malcolm Munro.

Bob was also reunited with

two pieces of equipment. The

first piece of signalling equip-

ment from 1972 was a single line

staff, an inscribed section of

steel tube with a metal ring in

the end, used to allow a train on

the line between Swanage and

Corfe Castle. The single line staff

was used from the summer of

1967 when the signalling at

Swanage station was taken out

of use and dismantled.

The second piece of signalling

equipment from 1972 was an in-

scribed Tyer’s electric key token

made of steel which was the au-

thority for a train to run on the

single line between Corfe Castle

and Worgret Junction near

Wareham.

Peter Sills, also the volunteer

chairman of the Swanage Rail-

way Company, brought along a

photograph of Bob using the

same staff and key token to sig-

nal a British Rail train at Corfe

Castle in late December, 1971.

A delighted Bob said, ‘It was

great to hold the staff and key to-

ken again after 40 years. The

British Rail signalling system at

Corfe Castle back in 1972 was a

traditional Edwardian manual

system but it worked very well.’

Peter added, ‘I remember Bob

because I rode on the trains be-

tween Wareham, Corfe Castle

and Swanage as a child and so

I knew the staff very well. The

people who operated the branch

line were like a large family and

it was very sad indeed when the

railway closed after a period of

decline.’

The Swanage Railway service on

New Year’s Day, 2012, was hauled

by ex-British Railways Standard

Class 4 Tank steam locomotive No.

80104 built at Brighton in 1955 and

restored from a scrapyard condi-

tion by Southern Locomotives

Limited during the 1990s. The

railway forms a central attraction

on the isle of Purbeck - Dorset’s

hidden gem.

Return of the Signalman

The station at Stratford upon Avon is to benefit from a new £1.26m

footbridge for passengers.

The Government has approved a Warwickshire County Council

funding bid. Transport Minister Norman Baker MP, who last month

visited the station ahead of the announcement, approved the fund-

ing for a new disability compliant footbridge at the town station which

will be fitted with lifts. The scheme will be completed by March 2014.

When it is built, the new footbridge will mean that people will no

longer have to use the barrow crossing between the platforms when

taking a train from the island platform. The barrow crossing is prob-

lematic for passengers who cannot manage the stairs because it re-

quires a long walk and a wait for station staff to escort them across

the track. The existing step footbridge will remain in place, follow-

ing its recent restoration by Network Rail.

Says Peter Butlin of Warwickshire County Council’s transport sec-

tion, ‘The new footbridge is a much-needed improvement which will

help bring the station up to date by providing better access for pas-

sengers. The securing of this funding reaffirms our commitment to

the long-term future of the town station and that it continues to be

a vital transport hub after the opening of the new Parkway station.’

A Winter’s tale

Flower PowerTransport for London is hoping

a new campaign featuring

flowers painted on the ground

at 15 spots around Croydon,

where trams share the streets

with cars and pedestrians, will

help make people more aware

of their surroundings and

avoid accidents with trams.

The message accompanying

the flowers is: Don’t be remem-

bered like this. Watch out for

trams. Other measures to im-

prove the safety and comfort of

the 71,000 passengers that use

the system every day include the

deployment of six Tramlink

neighbourhood officers, im-

proving sightlines for tram driv-

ers and pedestrians and road

markings showing the path of

trams.

Staff limber upStaff on London Underground are receiving special training ahead

of the London Olympics.

The focus may be on customer care but the training includes a trip

to the Olympic Park. Olympic authorities want to see athletes and

spectators travelling to the games by rail.

New Venture for Ironman AndyAndy Ridout has launched Advance Train-

ing and Recruitment Services, a Link Up

approved recruitment company specialis-

ing in railway engineering and construc-

tion.

The move marks the high point of Andy’s

15-year career in the industry, including ten

years as Director for Rail at a major Re-

cruitment company. He is now using his

wealth of experience to place candidates

into engineering, management and project

services roles, both contract and permanent,

across all major rail disciplines.

Andy said, ‘I’ve always loved working in

rail recruitment. I want to be dealing with

candidates directly, as I believe they stand

a better chance of success if their recruiter

has extensive experience and a thorough

understanding of the industry. At Advance

TRS our knowledge and experience isn’t

promoted up and out of the candidate’s

reach, but right on the front line where it’s

needed most.’

The philosophy is proving a success, with

Advance TRS having placed over 30 candi-

dates into permanent positions in its first

ten weeks and appearing on the preferred

supply lists of seven respected rail organi-

sations.

‘We’re already seeing some cracking re-

sults,’ added Andy. ‘We’re looking forward

to continuing our success into the new year

by growing our team and getting more can-

didates into the jobs they deserve.’

Andy believes, despite the nation’s gloomy

employment figures, that 2012 will be an ex-

citing year for those working in the rail in-

dustry. ‘There are some huge projects com-

ing up, such as the MAFA frameworks and

London Underground’s SSR project. Net-

work Rail’s centralisation to Milton Keynes

will create a host of new opportunities, not

to mention the Olympics. The upshot is, if

you’re getting bored and starting to wonder

what else is out there, now could be the per-

fect time to do something about it.’

Starting a new company may seem like a

brave move, but then Andy never has been

one to shy away from a challenge. As well

as having run five marathons since 2003,

Andy completed the Barcelona Ironman

race in 2009 and has now begun training for

the world’s toughest Ironman, the Norse-

man, in 2013.

Andy is inviting anyone to get in touch and

find out what Advance TRS can do for them.

If you would like to introduce yourself, call

01483 230624 or visit www.advance-trs.com

for more information.

Success Spotlight

Bob Richards with Peter Sills at Corfe Castle on the 1st January 2012.

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The Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park.


The decision to document the Last

Steam Locomotives of the World was

not taken lightly.

From the outset it was going to be a

desperate race against time. By 1969,

having turned professional to begin

the task, steam traction had already

vanished from the main lines of Amer-

ica, Great Britain and parts of Scandi-

navia. It was obvious that countries

around the world would follow suit.

The steam age had been an incredi-

ble phenomenon by any standards.

Steam was the driving force behind the

Industrial Revolution; anywhere that

was anywhere had a railway. The steam

locomotive was also a sensual and

beautiful creation, the one truly living

machine.

Some 640,000 steam locomotives are

believed to have been built, embracing

thousands of different designs and

shapes operating over a multiplicity of

different gauges around the world.

America built the greatest number with

177,000 examples.

Great Britain - railway builder to an

empire and the world - produced some

110,000 locomotives and these came

from an amazing total of over 350 dif-

ferent foundries over more than one

and a half centuries.

Remotest places on earthThe diversity of railway operations led

me to some of the remotest places on

earth embracing all five continents.

The first long haul expedition was to

Finland and Lapland in 1972 to capture

the Arctic snows.

This expedition included an

overnight footplate journey on a bal-

last train from Rovanemi to the quar-

ries at Raajarvi inside the Arctic Circle

from which we were to bring a loaded

train.

Chilled and covered in snow, I mount-

ed the footplate of Finnish Railway’s TR1

Class Mikado No.1074 which drew into

the yard at Rovanemi with a long string

of empties. The cheery crew seemed

pleased if surprised that an English vis-

itor would be joining them.

We departed on time at 02.41 and en-

tered a world of extremes. From the hot

roaring locomotive to the arctic blizzard

sweeping across the desolate white

landscape. Our engine’s exhaust must

have been audible for miles as, burning

a mixture of logs and coal, the huge

Mikado plunged into the darkness with

headlamp blazing, the track ahead hav-

ing disappeared under a blanket of

snow.

Dawn broke whilst the wagons were

being assembled at Raajarvi and coffee

was brewed from a blackened kettle

hung inside the firebox whilst huge

Finnish skin sausages sizzled away on

the Friedman injector mount. Never did

food taste so good as in that remote La-

pland quarry.

African expeditionWithin months of returning from

Finland came the first African expedi-

tion embracing South Africa, Rhodesia,

Kenya and Tanzania. This three month

tour had many highlights, not least

working with the 234 tonne condensing

4-8-4s, built to work over the waterless

Karroo Dessert between De Aar and

Beaufort West.

Ninety of these 108 foot long giants

were built by the North British of Glas-

gow in 1953-54 at a cost of £112,000

each. Prior to their introduction, water

had to be specially conveyed into the

desert.

An unforgettable week was spent

photographing these engines whose ex-

haust steam passed through condens-

ing elements in the tender. One of the

pictures from that week was captioned:

Eruption screaming. Two condensers

ease up to the semaphores with fires

made up and blow down valves scream-

ing.

The steam giants which truly opened

up the African continent were the Gar-

ratts. In Kenya I experienced the red liv-

eried Mountain Class 2-8-4 and 4-8-2,

thirty four of which were built by Bey-

er Peacock of Gorton in 1953.

These oil fired metre gauge giants

were 104 feet long and weighed over 250

tonnes in full working order. They

climbed the 332 miles long route from

Mombasa on the Indian Ocean to the

Kenyan capital of Nairobi, one mile

above sea level.

Iron Dinosaurs1974 saw the first incursion into south

east Asia covering Java, Sumatra, Taiwan

and the Philippines. This expedition

gave rise to the term Iron Dinosaurs and

rightly so as the island of Java was like

a Jurassic park of locomotives.

Over a hundred different types worked

hundreds of miles of sugar plantation

lines and many lines of the state rail-

ways. I saw engines of every colour and

shape, many were hybridised and some

were up to a hundred years old.

The diversity was enhanced by the ex-

otic nutshell burning veterans of neigh-

bouring Sumatra’s palm oil estates.

Incredible apparitions were also to be

found on the Philippine island of Ne-

gros where on the logging and sugar

railways the fabled Dragons of Sugar Is-

land coloured the night sky with their

fiery endeavours. These engines threw

shrouds of crimson embers forty feet

into the air, burning either wood or

bagasse - the straw-like waste fibres of

sugar cane processing.

The Insular Lumber Company of Ne-

gros Island operated their No.7, one of

the world’s most incredible steam sur-

vivors in the form of a four cylinder

Compound 0-6-6-0 Mallett from Bald-

win of Philadelphia in the early 1920s.

For years I had dreamed of catching this

mahogany burning giant alongside one

of the company’s vertical cylinder Shays,

Colin Garratt outlines the story behind his amazing new album

LOST LEVIATHANS

Sunlight Smoke & Shadow, China.

Indian XE being broken up. Leicester Power Station.

the classic logging engine of the

American Pacific north west -

the two veterans, side by side at

the dead of night, spraying the

tropical vegetation with fire.

It was also my dream to catch

No.7 on the wooden trestle

viaduct, built in the Wild West

tradition under American colo-

nial rule, with a line of active vol-

canoes in the background.

India and PakistanBy the late 1970s I had reached

India and Pakistan whose pro-

lific railway network was al-

most entirely built by Britain

during The Raj. India was to be-

come my second home. Not

only did I find the Britain of my

childhood but also the trains I

grew up with. Many of India’s

steam locomotives had their

spiritual home in the soft Eng-

lish countryside.

I was to make eight expedi-

tions to India, including three to

the Assam coalfield in the far

north east corner next to the

border with Burma and China.

Here I found an Inclined Plane

operated by a Lancashire Boiler

drawing coal from a hillside

mine, whilst a few miles away

was Ledo Brickworks, where

the steam powered machinery

for cutting and shaping the

bricks came from Wooton Broth-

ers of Coalville, whilst the two

stationary boilers hailed from

John Thompson’s works in

Wolverhampton.

Two foot gauge Saddle Tanks

from Bagnalls of Stafford pro-

vided the mainstay of motive

power on the Assam coalfield for

over one hundred years. I

mounted a desperate campaign

to have Ledo Brickworks pre-

served but to no avail.

Also in India I majored on the

X Series of standard designs sent

out from Britain during the 1920s

to reduce the amount of different

types being demanded by the

various railway companies. In-

cluded were the handsome XC

Pacifics, which resemble the

L.N.E.R.Gresley A3s, and the mas-

sive XE 2-8-2 Mikados with their

strong Gresley P1 aura. My at-

tempts to have an XE preserved

were successful but I failed with

the XC which are now extinct.

Latin AmericaThe longest expedition was to

Latin America where, in six

months, Argentina, Uruguay,

Brazil, Paraguay and Chile were

covered. It was a non-stop ad-

venture ranging from a Beyer

Peacock Compound 4-6-0 in

Argentina’s high security naval

base to the world’s last Texas

type 2-10-4s, caught highballing

2,000 tonne trains across the

metals of Brazil’s metre gauge

Teresa Cristina Railway.

Equally thrilling were the wood

burning Edwardian Moguls, built

in Glasgow, heading passenger

trains over the international

main line between Ascuncion,

the capital of Paraguay and

Buenos Aires.

But perhaps the high spot was

the journey into Chile’s Atacama

Dessert in search of the world’s

last Kitson Meyer, built by Kitson

of Leeds in the Edwardian peri-

od. The British-owned railways

of the Atacama once brought

gold and nitrates to ports along

the Pacific coast.

I reached that wild place to

find just one Kitson Meyer ac-

tive on track demolition duties

at Taltal. Amid the remains of

an old office block I found a

Girl’s Annual of 1912. What an

incomparable history our tiny

island has.

The World’s last greatsteam user

Over more recent years I have fo-

cussed on China, the world’s last

great steam user, with twenty ex-

peditions to date. Until the 1980s

it was almost impossible to get

into China and there were many

rumours of exotic types lingering

behind the Bamboo Curtain.

These included an ex-Great

Western Dean Goods 0-6-0s, and

4-2-2 Singles, exported to the

Shanghai and Nanking Railway

in 1910 by Kerr Stuart of Stoke on

Trent.

Then in December 1983, when

I finally got access, the opposite

proved to be the case. There

were six standard types which,

between them, amounted to

some 11,000 locomotives with

no sign of the exotic rarities of

yesteryear.

Even more remarkable, steam

locomotives were still being

built at a rate of one a day. It was

a strange feeling. I had turned

professional some fifteen years

earlier to document the Last

Steam Locomotives of the

World and here they were, still

being built and some of them

would possibly outlive me.


Indian F Class, Rameshwara Jute Mill. Indian XC Pacific.

Staring glumly at the post-

Christmas middle age spread

it’s easy just to say, forget it.

I’m too old to do anything

about this. Think again. It’s nev-

er too late to start running. The

human frame was made for it.

Certainly it is worth checking

with your GP before taking up

the sport. However, the secret to

running is stick at it and run

very, very slowly at first until you

naturally pick up speed.

Champion runner, Ron Hill,

started life as the child of a

railwayman, and was born and

brought up in Accrington, Lan-

cashire. With his parents’ en-

couragement he trained hard at

various sports and went on to

excel at running.

Today he still runs every day,

without exception, aged 73. In

his time he has competed in

the Tokyo and Munich

Olympics and won the Boston

Marathon, the first Brit to do so.

He has been running every day

since December 1964.

A run, for Ron, has to be at

least a mile. Even after surviving

a car crash he kept going and

also managed a mile after

bunion surgery. He’s run thou-

sands of miles and is deter-

mined to keep on going.

‘This running has worked for

so long I don’t see any reason to

change,’ says Ron who runs a

successful sports equipment

business. A growing body of re-

search supports the theory that

mankind is descended from

long distance nomadic run-

ners, able to track and run

down antelope simply by stick-

ing with the animal pursued -

long before the invention of

sharp metal knifes, spears and

arrows.

Anthropologists conjecture

we are only ever happy when

on the move, running, slow and

sure for long distances. Rec-

ommended reading: Christo-

pher McDougall’s ‘Born to Run.’

Too old to run?


Already by mid-January

New Year’s Resolutions are fad-

ing fast.

Maybe you’ve relapsed and

belted down a doughnut, a pint

or a midnight slab of chocolate.

Getting to the gym can prove

much more inconvenient than

first thought. The good news is

it’s never too late to get going

and the Railway Children may

have the solution.

The secret to getting fit and

losing a few pounds is motiva-

tion. The best way to motivate is

to commit to a course of action

and tell everyone about it. The

Railway Children charity has a

range of events that people can

sign up to and help raise mon-

ey for. Committing to raising

money for charity by running a

10K or a marathon helps ensure

you get on and train for it. More-

over the Railway Children has

expert advice on hand.

Make lifelong friendsSays Katie Mason, events or-

ganiser at the Railway Children,

‘Sign up for one of Railway Chil-

dren’s events and get fit, lose

weight, go to somewhere you’ve

always wanted to visit. It’s a

chance to make lifelong friends

and change your life in a positive

way by helping children in need.

Just about anyone can compete

in our events, as long as you pre-

pare yourself.’

The idea is by committing to an

event - a fun

run or a mountain climb - you

stick at training. Katie has many

ideas on how to ramp up fitness.

‘If you’re not quite at the peak of

your physical fitness, don’t wor-

ry, we’ll give you lots of help and

advice both with training and

with raising your sponsorship.’

The Railway Children has a range

of ideas to suit individuals, teams

and corporate events.

Cycle challengesCycling is a good sport, easy on

the knees compared to running

and burns calories steadily. The

Railway Children offers several

cycle challenges with a differ-

ence this year: Why not cycle 180

miles through the Spanish

mountains of the Sierra Nevada

to the beautiful coast on the

Summit to Sea Challenge. Near-

er home try The London to Paris

bike ride which takes you 178

miles from capital to capital. For

the truly bold the new event, Cy-

cle India, begins at the mystical Taj

Mahal and finishes 300 miles lat-

er at Jaipur.

If walking is a more realistic

option the Railway Charity has

a great new event, the Welsh

3000s. Climb the 15 mountains

over 3,000 feet over three days.

The ever popular Three Peaks

Challenge by Rail celebrates its

10th anniversary in 2012. ‘We are

the only charity to do this event

by train,’ says Katie.

Virgin London MarathonThe Railway Children has

places on several major run-

ning events. These include the

Adidas Silverstone Half

Marathon in March, the Virgin

London Marathon in April and

the Bupa Great Manchester

Run in May. In London a 10k

run sponsored by BUPA takes

in several famous landmarks

and will be held on the course

which is expected to be used

for the 2012 Olympic

Marathons.

Looking further afield more

intrepid fund-raisers can take

part in an overseas challenge for

an adventure of a lifetime in

some of the world’s most spec-

tacular destinations. Trek to the

summit of Kilimanjaro, the high-

est freestanding mountain in

the world and visit a Railway

Children project in Tanzania to

meet the children who benefit

from your hard-earned spon-

sorship money.

Trek to the lost city of Machu

Picchu or walk along the Great

Wall of China. There are lots of

different challenges to choose

from all over the world. Says

Katie, ‘These events are fan-

tastic for corporate team build-

ing, comradeship, personal

achievement and simply hav-

ing fun.

Make 2012 a year to remember!’

Charitable Training gets you fit

Rani has some quickdecisions to make.Does she run from the man coming towards her,or does she talk to him? Should she trust him, or willhe abuse her, or even rape her? She knows that ithappens all the time. Should she agree to do things withmen, bad things, if it means she can stop herself and herlittle brother starving?What should she do for the best?

Thousands of children at stations around the world are makingdecisions that can shape their whole futures. The dangers are many,and the adults who will abuse them are all too persuasive.

Rani was lucky - because RailwayChildren were thereRani arrived at India’s Lucknow Train Station with her littlebrother. Orphaned, she was left with relatives that didn’tcare. Desperation led them to board a train to thenearest city, they were alone and incredibly vulnerable.Fortunately, a Railway Children worker got to them first.He gained their trust, and made sure they didn’t fallinto the wrong hands.Now Rani and her brotherare safe, happy and hopeful - as childrenshould be.

Data Protection: Railway Children hold your data for marketing purposes to keep you updated about our work. We will not share your information with any third parties.If you do not wish to receive updates from us please call 01270 757596. Registered charity number: 1058991

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I enclose my cheque/postal order made payable to Railway ChildrenOR Debit/credit card. Type of card:

MasterCard Visa Maestro/Switch* CAF

Card no:

Start date: Expiry date:

*Issue No: CSV no. last 3 digits on reverse of your card

�Yes, I’ll help children on the streets or at railway stations. Here’s my donation to make sure Railway Children get there first.

I would like to give £10 or my own amount of £............

Please help children like Ranitoday by calling 01270 757 596

or use the formbelow

The nextfewminuteswill changeRani’s lifeforever...

Please send to: Railway Children, FREEPOST RRHJ-ESZK-EYCG, 1 The Commons, Sandbach, CW11 1EG or donate online at

www.railwaychildren.org.ukTo protect identities, names are sometimes changed. Wherever possible we gained the consent of the childpictured in accordance with our child protection policy.

Find us: facebook.com/railwaychildren

Follow us: @railwaychi1dren

(please quote ‘PRRSTF’)

(code ‘PRRSTF’)

Following an excellent if snow-

less celebration of Hogmanay

may I wish you a very happy as

well as safe New Year?

It made a change for travel not

to be disrupted by snow, even if

you, like me, are awaiting gale

damage repairs. For those who

worked in possessions over

Christmas the weather was con-

siderably kinder than the last

two years!

I guess that the majority of us

will have indulged in a glass or

two at some time during the fes-

tive season, and this will have

added to our enjoyment of the

celebrations. Those who work on

railways know that alcohol and

railway work don’t mix!

“A Puff of Regret”It has been reported that the

Government are developing leg-

islation to tighten our laws on

drug taking and driving. For

those who work on the railway

it is a “criminal offence to be un-

fit through drugs or alcohol

while doing work that is safety

critical”.

Network Rail, London Under-

ground and others have de-

tailed regulations and rules in

place. Network Rail’s Safety Cen-

tral website uses the title of “A

Puff of Regret” to announce

their latest safety campaign,

stressing their rules on the use

of drugs and alcohol by those

who work on their railway, with

graphic posters and presenta-

tional materials. The principles

are sound and have my full

support.

The details however should

be challenged. Network Rail

enthuses over its zero tolerance

policy on drugs as does London

Underground. I still find it hard

to accept that Network Rail’s

standard is set at a limit of 20

mg alcohol per 100 ml of blood

whilst a driver on the motor-

way is supposedly fit to drive

with up to four times that

amount of alcohol in his or

her blood (i.e. 80 mg).

The stories about inebriated

airline pilots are I hope exag-

gerated, but do they work to any

set limit? Surely these different

responses can’t all be right? The

Network Rail limit is equiva-

lent to around one and a half

units of alcohol and I am not ad-

vocating that they slacken their

standard.

One standard please!When it comes to drugs (both

illegal and legal) one needs to be

aware that the taking of over the

counter medicines and pre-

scribed ones can also put you

the wrong side of a random rail

drugs test. The consequences

can be a ban from working on

the railway for five years.

My real concern lies in the

fact that Network Rail and Lon-

don Underground apply similar

but not identical rules to the

problems of drug and alcohol

use by those working on their in-

frastructure. Hence it has proved

possible for a worker to be dis-

missed from his job by one em-

ployer following a positive drug

and alcohol test to Network

Rail’s standard, and to work to-

tally legitimately a week later on

London Underground doing

similar work!

Another wasteful and unnec-

essary result of the differences

in standards is that the railway

medical screening providers

have to carry out two sets of

tests (one to each standard) if an

employee is to work on both

sorts of infrastructure.

On cost grounds alone Net-

work Rail and London Under-

ground should surely be able to

agree on just one standard. Do-

ing so would strengthen the

zero-tolerance message for both

organisations. I have discussed

this with senior managers of

both organisations but so far the

response from both has merely

been it will have to wait until

“they” agree with “us”!

“Dem Dry Bones”James Weldon Johnson (1871-

1938) was the Afro-American

author of “Dem Dry Bones”

which is arguably the best

known of all Spirituals. It is now

used on the Network Rail Safe-

ty Central website to publicise

their latest safety initiative

aimed at reducing the number

of slips, trips and falls that result

in injury every year.

Astonishingly 44% of all seri-

ous accidents are a result of a

slip, trip or fall. The website

uses an X-ray type skeleton

graphic with a number of click

on points which reveal details of

injuries sustained on the rail in-

frastructure and the both long

and painful recovery of those

who tripped, slipped or fell.


Colin Wheeler writes...

44% of all serious accidents are aresult of a slip, trip or fall

A Safe and Happy New Year to allwho work on rail infrastructure

TRACK SAFETY

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I was less impressed by the

homily that says “taking an ex-

tra five minutes to assess the site

for safety hazards can save a

whole load of pain and injury

later”. With tight possession

times, detailed planning done in

an office and extensive method

statements and briefing packs,

many of us have lost the focus

on being responsible for looking

after ourselves.

Safety Behaviours Perhaps of greater importance

is the principle to be found in

their Projects’ “Behaviour based

Safety Programme”. It states

that “strong safety cultures ex-

ist where the following are in

place - leadership, commitment

and clear expectations; critical

positive behaviours identified

and expressed; the right tools,

processes and procedures; train-

ing and awareness of desired be-

haviours and clear metrics for

performance measurement and

monitoring”.

Sounds good to me! But if

managers really know their peo-

ple (and vice versa) I believe

that the costly measurement

and monitoring, may be reduced

to a very low level. Of course this

could upset many of those

lawyers seeking no-win no-fee

“work” whose charges rise with

the amount of paperwork avail-

able to argue over.

An early Christmaspresent - “Ballast BroomBriefings”

For underworked trainers and

Machine Controllers Network

Rail sent out an early Christmas

present on December 19th. It

came as an advice from the Na-

tional Competency Control

Agency - Sentinel (NCCA) or-

ganisation instructing employ-

ers that their Machine Con-

trollers had to be briefed by

March 1st and the briefing de-

tails recorded on the NCCA

website.

The briefings give details of the

equipment and how it may safe-

ly be used to distribute tipped

ballast using ploughs, brushes

and blades attached to various

pieces of plant. The briefing ma-

terial also stresses the need for

operators of the machines to be

trained in the use of each spe-

cific piece of kit.

The briefing is in response to

an accident that occurred at

Ashby back in September 2010.

This resulted in a Machine Con-

troller suffering serious leg in-

juries. Network Rail issued an In-

frastructure Safety Bulletin

about it dated June 8th 2011.

Allegedly there are nearly 40

people employed writing these

amendments to competency re-

quirements, so I was not sur-

prised to find this updating

(which is complementary to a

December Rule Book change)

described as “Machine Con-

troller Miscellaneous Module 2

Group 2 competence”!

Hopefully no one rushed to

get started on this exercise

since the training presentation

was modified and reissued on

January 12th!

How best to train? The training module comes

as a Power Point presentation to-

gether with the trainer notes etc.

Two questions; firstly, were the

delays between September 2010,

the June 2011 Safety Bulletin

and the March 2012 briefing

deadline a timely response to

the accident and the findings of

the Rail Accident Investigation

Branch (RAIB)?

Secondly, is classroom training

the best way for Machine Con-

trollers? When I worked in the

northwest we had both safety

and productivity problems with

plant due mainly to the limited

understanding staff had of what

it could and couldn’t safely do.

Our response worked well. We

set up a series of on-track depot

demonstrations explained by

Machine Supervisors to all who

worked with the plant, including

the normally office based people

who deployed it. We recorded

the details of those who went

out to the depot for the training.

The results were dramatically

good in terms of productivity

and a reduction in incidents.

The train that ran into alorry load of straw bales

Also on December 19th an ac-

cident occurred which is cur-

rently being investigated by

RAIB. The 0910 passenger train

from Milford Haven to Man-

chester Piccadilly was a two

coach Class 175 Diesel Multiple

Unit.

About 14 miles from Car-

marthen it was near the village

of Whitland approaching Llan-

boidy Level Crossing travelling at

68 mph. The driver saw a lorry

and trailer of straw bales on the

crossing in front of him and

applied emergency braking. He

was still travelling at 41 mph

when he hit the lorry.

The train cab was seriously

damaged but the train did not

derail, although it pushed the

lorry and attached trailer 80

metres down the track. Several

passengers received minor in-

juries and shock. The lorry on

the crossing was stationary as

the train approached and the

exit side half barrier was down.

The RAIB website states that

their inquiry will focus on why

the lorry was on the crossing

with the barrier down and the

crashworthiness of the train.

Simplification and lessfragmentation

With the long awaited decision

to go ahead with the construc-

tion of High Speed 2 now made

there needs to be a fresh urgency

to get our industry’s act togeth-

er. The involvement of rail spe-

cialist contractors and consult-

ants with all rail infrastructure

owners is essential.

The errors made back in Rail-

track’s days must not be re-

peated. Simplification of stan-

dards, specifications, tendering

and contract award processes

should all be made to reduce

costs and improve both safety

and efficiency.

I respect the professional work

done by the Office of Rail Regu-

lation (ORR) and the Railway

Safety and Standards Board

(RSSB). But surely now is the

time when their functions need

to be rationalised.

The ORR is described as the

“independent safety and eco-

nomic regulator” but its activities

I understand exclude London

Underground, city tram and

metro systems. The Rail Safety

and Standards Board (RSSB) is

funded jointly by a levy paid by

its members and grants from the

Department for Transport.

It works with its funders and

Network Rail and describes its

role as focussing on “the GB

railway”. Its work is clearly more

widely applicable than this sug-

gests. In terms of competence

and efficiency (and for the ben-

efit of companies undertaking

work with all and any railway in-

frastructure company in Britain)

surely regulation and research

needs to be less fragmented?

High Speed 2, 3 and more!Whilst we have just High

Speed 1 (still widely known as

the Channel Tunnel Rail Link)

this may be excusable but as we

add High Speed 2, 3 and more I

suggest the regulation system

needs rationalising.

Hopefully after overcoming

the nimby-isms of the Chilterns

area we will as part of the coun-

try’s economic recovery redis-

cover the importance of the

north and even Scotland! I write

as an Englishman living in Eng-

land some way north of Hadri-

an’s Wall from where Gateshead

is considered to be the south and

Manchester and Liverpool are in

the south west!

Arguably we will be the last

major country in Europe to de-

velop a high speed rail system.

Doing so will redefine the eco-

nomics of internal air travel and

help all parts of mainland Britain

to contribute to our economic re-

covery and future.

RailStaff | January 2012 | 21TRACK SAFETY


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One of Waterloo’s four disused

Eurostar platforms is to be re-

turned to service in 2014.

Longer trains are to serve the

terminus as the DfT announced

plans to add extra carriages and

upgrade the SWT commuter

fleet. The carriages, which will al-

low around 8,000 extra peak-

time passengers into Waterloo

every morning, will begin arriv-

ing from May 2013, with all new

services in place by July 2014.

Government funding means

lease company, Porterbrook, will

be able to create a fleet of 36 five-

car suburban trains to run on

South West Trains routes. This

new fleet will enable around

8,000 extra peak-time passen-

gers to travel into London’s Wa-

terloo station every morning,

as 8-car trains will be lengthened

to run in 10-car formation on

certain routes.

Alstom is masterminding the

project. Known as Class 458/5,

the improved fleet will be made

up by converting two existing

Alstom-built fleets, the Class

458s, used by SWT and Class

460s, formerly used by the

Gatwick Express.

Modifications will include cabs,

couplers, gangways, as well as

conversion of baggage areas into

passenger saloon areas. Up to

92% of the material content of

the project will be sourced from

the UK supply chain. Doncaster-

based Wabtec will carry out the

work. Alstom is recruiting

around twelve engineers in or-

der to provide a team of twenty

five dedicated to supporting the

conversion project.

Says Transport Minister Justine

Greening, ‘These extra carriages

will help ease those conditions,

while opening an extra plat-

form will provide space for ad-

ditional trains to run. But our

plans do not stop here. We are

now embarked on one of the

largest programmes of rail in-

vestment since the Victorian

era and we expect to introduce

further carriages on Waterloo

routes and bring more plat-

forms into use in the future.’

Waterloo’s former Eurostar

platforms have been out of use

since 2007 when services

switched to St Pancras. Since

then the only rail activity the

platforms have seen is a steam

locomotive being propelled into

the station as part of the Railway

Children theatre production.

Waterloo Sunrise

A £40m plan to improve the rail infrastructure

between Swansea and Gowerton, developed by

Network Rail, has been backed by the Welsh Gov-

ernment and the South West Wales Integrated

Transport Consortium (SWWITCH).

Under the plan six miles of track will be laid be-

tween Cockett West Junction and Duffryn West

Junction. In addition, the disused eastbound plat-

form at Gowerton station will be reinstated to serve

the new track. The Loughor Viaduct will be re-

placed. The bridge is a grade II listed structure.

Says Mark Langman, route managing director for

Network Rail Wales, ‘Today’s announcement of our

plan is another affirmation of Network Rail’s

commitment to growing the railway in Wales. This

scheme has come about by a shared vision with

the Welsh Government and SWWITCH, and the

recognition that investment in rail infrastructure

is good for the economy and will help support and

nurture Welsh economic growth.

‘We hope that local authorities, passengers and

the local community share our vision of the long

term benefits and support us during the con-

struction works to deliver the scheme successfully.

The scheme promises to bring huge social eco-

nomic benefits in south west Wales by improving

capacity and connectivity to key employment cen-

tres such as Swansea, Llanelli, Carmarthen, Fish-

guard and Milford Haven.’

The new viaduct over the River Loughor will be

strong enough to support two tracks. Doubling the

track will improve performance.

West Wales rail boost

Plans to transform London

Bridge station have been given

the green light by Southwark

Council.

The station will have a com-

pletely new platform layout al-

lowing high frequency trains

on the Thameslink route.

Britain’s largest station con-

course will provide more space

for passengers. Sadly the historic

station roof will be demolished.

However new eye-catching en-

trances on Tooley Street and St

Thomas Street will make the

station more accessible and eas-

ier to use. Says David Higgins,

Network Rail’s chief executive,

‘London Bridge is one of the

busiest stations in the country

and this investment is vital for

passengers who want more

space, less congestion and bet-

ter services.

‘Our proposals will breathe

life back into London’s oldest rail

terminus and help build on the

programme of regeneration

along the South Bank and Bank-

side. It will provide a focal point

for the local communities it

serves as well as the tens of mil-

lions of passengers who use it

every year.

‘We are grateful for the sup-

port we’ve received and will

continue to work closely with

our partners and the local au-

thority to deliver the project ef-

ficiently and considerately over

the coming years.’

The station will remain oper-

ational throughout the rede-

velopment and will be com-

plete by 2018.

Razing the roof

The official handover of the

Gogar tram depot to the City of

Edinburgh Council took place

shortly before Christmas.

Four tram drivers are current-

ly on site testing fleet. Graeme

Healy (37) from Edinburgh is

the fleet’s first driver. Says Mr

Healy, ‘I am proud to be able to

say that I am the first of the city’s

next generation of tram drivers.

I did my initial training in Not-

tingham and will be training

the other drivers that come on

board throughout 2012, which is

something I’m really looking

forward to.’

The depot will be home to the

new tram fleet and will also

host the network control centre

when the service opens in 2014.

Says Jenny Dawe, of the city

council, ‘Looking around the de-

pot, it is clear that we have a

world class facility from which

to run the tram network. We are

already well into the testing

programme and it was a real

boost to see the trams in motion

along the test track - a very vis-

ible indication of the momen-

tum we have built up over the

past few months.’

Depot handover forEdinburgh Trams

Cut to the Chase reversedThe increasingly popular

Chase Line between Walsall to

Rugeley is to be upgraded.

Line speeds will be increased to

75mph on many sections of the

route once the £5.4 million proj-

ect is complete. Currently much

of the route is limited to 45

mph. Originally closed to pas-

sengers during the Beeching

era, passenger services were re-

stored by Centro, the transport

authority for the West Midlands

during the 1990s. It has become

an increasingly important com-

muter service in and out of

Birmingham.

Says Tom Ansell of Centro, ‘We

are delighted that Network Rail

is making this important in-

vestment, which will hopefully

act as a catalyst for further im-

provements such as additional

services on both routes and

electrification of the Chase Line.’

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Train driver wins picture competition

An Edinburgh-based train

driver has won a top photogra-

phy competition for his stun-

ning photograph of a passenger

train near Ballencrieff.

Stephen Gorman of Cross-

Country has won the Arriva

Photo of the Year 2011 award

for his picture taken looking

east towards North Berwick,

with North Berwick Law pro-

viding stunning background

terrain. His image of the Cross-

Country train was judged

alongside other finalists’ im-

ages from across the Arriva

group for the annual award.

Stephen, aged 44, is from Gul-

lane, East Lothian. He said, ‘I can

remember that day was very

cold and I was standing in a foot

and a half of snow to get the pho-

to.’ The competition, open to all

47,500 Arriva employees across

12 countries, receives hundreds

of entries every year.

RailStaff editor, Andy Milne, urgesreaders to get involved with theRailStaff Awards.

New Year’s resolutions are all very

commendable but in the main they

concentrate on the ego, the self: Me.

It’s all about me losing weight, me

meeting that someone special, me pay-

ing off the loan, me running that

marathon, me pulling down a new job

or promotion. Maybe a better new

year’s resolution, and one that can

prove a lot easier to stick with, is sim-

ply this: Be a better friend.

Expanding, challenging industryFor some years now RailStaff’s edito-

rial policy has been simply to support

and encourage all who work in the rail

industry, and that’s a pretty wide defi-

nition. Everyone from a tram driver in

Croydon to a cleaner in Edinburgh Hay-

market is part of the industry.

Readers also include senior politi-

cians, people who have just joined

from other industries, new immigrants

who do not have English as their first

language, hence our insistence on plain,

clear English, and a steady core crew of

long term staff.

It makes no difference to us who you

are or where you work. We are here to

support your career in an expanding,

challenging industry. RailStaff seeks to

do this by running good news stories

about new investment, rolling stock or-

ders and acts of heroism by passengers

and staff alike as well as triumphs like

long service awards and sporting

achievements.

Boost moraleThe idea of the paper is to boost

morale and reassure staff. We start

from the unshakable conviction that

Britain needs more railways, more tram

systems, freight railways and high

speed railway lines. Best of all we believe

the industry needs more people like our

readers to build and operate the railway

of the 21st century.

Too often in what is a busy, public-fac-

ing, labour intensive industry the

achievements of the men and women

who make up the railway can be over-

looked. As well as the newspaper, Rail-

Staff, created in the dog days of pri-

vatisation when every one assumed the

railway was doomed, we started the

RailStaff Awards six years ago.

For the peopleThe idea is to shine a light on the acts

of good sense, bravery, courage and pro-

fessionalism which many staff regard as

just routine. Industry and showbiz have

lots of awards for actors and rocks

stars, for hard headed businessmen and

investors but what we want is an

awards scheme for the people who ac-

tually do the work.

The RailStaff Awards are for the en-

gineers and track workers out in all

weathers, the driver checking a train at

four in the morning, the cleaner hiking

into work through a sub-zero snow

storm, the platform dispatcher who

saved a heart attack victim’s life. It’s a

long, long list… However, the success of

the RailStaff Awards depends on you the

reader.

Encouraging a friend is free. The

words, ‘Of course you can do that...’ cost

nothing and are always helpful. Em-

phasise how good you feel about a col-

league or a member of staff by putting

them forward for a RailStaff Award.

The good thing about the RailStaff

Awards is that everyone is a winner.

Nominations can be posted up on web

sites, reprinted in staff newsletters

and of course we feature the winners

and nominees on our web sites and in

RailStaff.

Third party endorsementThe point about the awards scheme is

that it amounts to third party en-

dorsement. You saying your fellow rail

colleague is the best might be quite true

and sincerely meant but give the re-

mark the added impetus of a RailStaff

Awards nomination and suddenly the

whole compliment takes on a stronger

more exciting meaning.

This year will be challenging eco-

nomically. Abroad the fate of the Euro-

pean Union and disagreeable develop-

ments in Iran and Afghanistan over-

shadow us. However 2012 will also be

one of great strides forward as planning

in earnest for High Speed Two gets go-

ing and Crossrail tunnelling forges

ahead along with a dramatic array of

other rail capacity projects.

2012 is a year to affirm our faith in

each other and in this industry. Enter

that special person or team for the Rail-

Staff Awards. Read what happened last

year. We will run articles on how best to

write nominations. Make that resolu-

tion: ‘I will encourage my colleagues.’ It’s

a good New Year’s resolution and could

make 2012 extra special for rail staff.

STAND BY ME

Colleagues of Jenny Calvert celebrate as she wins Rail Person of the Year at the RailStaff Awards 2011.

© STEPHEN GORMAN


Hard working rail engineers

were out in force over the

Christmas break renewing the

deck of Cummersdale Viaduct,

which carries the twin track

Cumbria coast railway over the

River Caldew between Carlisle

and Dalston.

The deck is being completely

replaced as part of a £1m proj-

ect designed to keep the vital ru-

ral rail route open for years to

come. Says Chris Chatfield, Net-

work Rail’s scheme project man-

ager, ‘Compared to many other

railway lines, the Cumbria coast

line is relatively lightly used.

However, it provides a vital link

for all the communities it serves,

which is why we are investing

such a large sum of money in it.

‘The deck of the existing

viaduct is made of timber

planks, which are now life ex-

pired and need replacing. We will

use rail mounted equipment to

lift out the old timbers and in-

stall the new steel deck units,

which come in 46 pieces.’

The River Caldew is a noted

spawning ground for wild

salmon. Scaffolding was at-

tached to the underside of the

viaduct and covered in an en-

vironmental wrap to protect

the river below. This part of the

project had to be completed in

September before the start of

the salmon spawning season.

The fish breeding also means

work can’t be completed before

June 2012.

Mr Chatfield explained, ‘We

need to carry out scour protec-

tion work. This stops the flow of

the river eroding the viaduct

piers, but to do this, we actual-

ly need to work on the river bed.

However, the salmon breeding

season lasts from September to

June so we will have to come

back next summer to finish

the work.’

The new viaduct will be paint-

ed a holly green colour to blend

in with the surrounding coun-

tryside, fooling the fish.

Salmon check forCummersdale Viaduct

Subway salute for AnneThe 115th anniversary of the opening of the

Glasgow Subway is particularly poignant for 80-

year-old passenger, Robert Connor.

A regular user of St George’s Cross station it was

there Mr Connor met Anne, a subway ticket col-

lector, who he’d later marry. He handed her his tick-

et one winter evening in 1974 and never forgot the

encounter.

Says Bob, ‘I knew the staff at St George’s Cross well

as I used the station all the time. A lot of them had

worked on the tram cars before so you’d recognise

all the faces. The Subway had ticket collectors in

those days, often girls, standing at the rear end of

the platform at the bottom of the stairs.

‘I remember coming off at the station one night

coming home from work and handing my ticket

to a girl at St George’s Cross I hadn’t seen before.

We’d see each other most days after that and al-

ways say hello.’

Bob knew the stationmaster quite well and one

night was talking to him about a Christmas par-

ty. Says Bob, ‘The Subway staff at that time had a

party for all of the kids at the Salvation Army func-

tion hall on Butterbiggins Road. I was in for my usu-

al chat and Anne was talking about taking her two

nieces along to the party. Another member of staff,

I forget their name, volunteers ‘Bob will go with

you’. I said I would and that was that.’

Bob approached the date with some trepidation.

‘I remember being quite nervous and had visions

of having to get all dressed up like a waiter in a ho-

tel, but we got on really well. After that we’d use the

Subway to go to the cinema together and we even-

tually got married in August 1981, although we had

a car take us to St Aloysius rather than the Subway!’

Anne worked at St George’s Cross until the Sub-

way closed for modernisation in 1978 and had

worked as a ticket collector on the Glasgow Corpo-

ration buses before that. Bob worked as a draughts-

man for over 20 years at a variety of companies in

Glasgow including Rolls Royce. The couple lived near

St George’s Cross station after retiring, although sad-

ly Anne passed away ten years ago.

Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, which owns

and operates the system, has already begun a mul-

ti-million pound modernisation project to ensure the

Subway remains at the heart of the city for genera-

tions to come. Mr Connor still travels on the Subway

and still has time for a chat with staff. Recent work

on the line means the path of true love should be run-

ning smoother than ever for another century or so.

The closure of the A4 Hammer-

smith Flyover in London is

thought to have stimulated rail

ridership on Thames Valley

services.

According to First Great West-

ern more people than normal

travelled on its London and

Thames Valley services during

the traditionally quieter period

between Christmas and New

Year. The Hammersmith Fly-

over was closed after a series of

inspections carried out by Trans-

port for London showed up

structural defects before Christ-

mas. While diversions are in

place, motorists can expect de-

lays, particularly during peak

periods.

FGW operates four stations

within 3.5 miles of the M4, all

with car parking facilities and

fast times into London Padding-

ton. These include Theale, off

Junction 12 of the M4 and

Slough, 1.5 miles from junction

6 of the M4. Reading is also a

good alternative and Taplow is

just 3.5 miles from Junction 11 of

the M4.

Says FGW’s managing director,

Mark Hopwood, ‘Rail passen-

gers numbers in the London

Thames Valley are higher than

the same time last year, and it

looks like the closure of the

Hammersmith Flyover is con-

tributing to that. We’re pleased

that we’re able to offer a fast, af-

fordable and convenient alter-

native for journeys into Lon-

don.’

The flyover was forced to close

after water corroded and weak-

ened the cables that give the

bridge its strength. TfL has

vowed to make good the dam-

age and reopen the road well be-

fore the start of the London

Olympics.

Westwayho!

A freight train has run for the first time on a re-

cently opened railway linking Afghanistan and

Uzbekistan.

The seven-car train pulled into a new station at

Mazar-e-Sharif after a trouble free journey from

Hairatan on the Uzbek border 50 miles away. Noor

Gul Mangal of the Afghan government was there

to meet the train. ‘This is a matter of pride for us

and a very important issue for Afghanistan,’ he said

speaking in Mazar-e-Sharif.

NATO forces could soon be using the railway. Mil-

itary commanders are keen to re-supply troops

from the north instead of Pakistan. The railway ex-

pects to start passenger operations soon.

Rail debut for peace train

Railways will help unite Afghanistan.

Eleanor Carling, 16 from New-

castle and Morris Pendlebury, 17

from Skipton have won the East

Coast Premier Model Search.

Staff from train company East

Coast and Premier Model Man-

agement, stars of Channel 4’s

the Model Agency, conducted an

exhaustive search up and down

the railway between London

and Edinburgh. Eleanor and

Morris have both won a 12

month contract with Premier

Model who will represent them

and help to establish their career

in the fashion industry.

Both Eleanor and Morris will

also receive a two-day trip to

London, with First Class travel

and £250 in prize money, and in

addition, £250 worth of rail trav-

el vouchers, courtesy of East

Coast, to help with their travel

expenses to London when they

begin their modelling work.

Says Paul Williams, commu-

nications manager at East Coast,

‘We are really pleased that Pre-

mier has found some future

fashion stars during the search

along the East Coast route, and

excited to see how their careers

progress after their discovery.

We’re really proud of the East

Coast Premier Model Search and

have enjoyed working with Ca-

role and the team at Premier

over the last five months.’

The search consisted of Pre-

mier scouts travelling on East

Coast trains to various destina-

tions along the route, and hold-

ing scouting events at stations

along the route including Glas-

gow Central, Harrogate, Peter-

borough, Doncaster, Newcastle,

Edinburgh, York and Leeds.

Model railway

Track cops commendedTwo sergeants who disarmed

and arrested a knife-wielding

man on rail tracks in Leeds,

have been commended by

British Transport Police.

Sgt Robert Pedley and Acting

Sgt Mark Mowvley went onto

the tracks near Redcoat Lane in

Kirkstall and tackled the man.

The two officers, along with

West Yorkshire Police officers,

arrested the man and took him

into custody.

Says Chief Constable Andy

Trotter, ‘Their fast actions helped

minimise any danger to the

public. I am very proud to be able

to congratulate and commend

them for their brave actions.’

The incident shut the railway

line for over two-and-a-half

hours. Certificates of commen-

dation are awarded by the chief

constable to police officers, rail

staff and members of the pub-

lic who have shown special

skill and resourcefulness.

© PA

TC

HE99z


Signal success forHeritage Supporters

The Institution of Railway Sig-

nal Engineers has taken deliv-

ery of an historic locomotive

nameplate.

Class 37 locomotive no. 37232,

belonging to DB Schenker, previ-

ously carried the name: ‘Institu-

tion of Railway Signal Engineers’

and had been designated for

preservation by the Railway Her-

itage Committee (RHC). The

nameplate was handed over by

Nicky Morgan, MP, chairman of

the newly-created All Party Par-

liamentary Group for Heritage

Rail to IRSE President Claire Porter.

‘We are delighted to have the

opportunity to provide a per-

manent home for this name-

plate,’ said Colin Porter, Chief Ex-

ecutive of the Institution. ‘It was

a great honour that the Institu-

tion’s name should have been

carried on such a fine locomo-

tive, and it is wonderfully ap-

propriate that the nameplate

should now be coming to us, just

before our centenary year.’

The nameplate was initially

carried by locomotive 37411,

which was named by Margaret

Hale, wife of the then IRSE pres-

ident, Cliff Hale, at Fort William on

28th May 1987. The nameplates

were transferred to a second lo-

comotive, 37232, which was

named by British Rail’s Director of

S&T Engineering Ken Burrage at

Perth station on 6th November

1990. Latterly the locomotive

worked on engineering trains.

RHC Chairman Peter Oven-

stone said, ‘This event once

again illustrates the excellent

working partnership which the

Railway Heritage Committee

has enjoyed with the railway in-

dustry.’ He went on to explain

that it had been agreed that the

power of designation and the

statutory protection it affords

should be transferred to the

Trustees of the National Muse-

um of Science and Industry.

‘We have been greatly heart-

ened by the Government’s deci-

sion which recognises the sig-

nificance of the nation’s rail-

way heritage and the value of

continuing to maintain the

statutory protection system

which has worked so well over

the last 18 years.’

The government had intended

to disband the committee but is

now understood to be re-think-

ing this. The Railway Heritage

Committee has long been valued

by the railway industry. A final

decision on the way ahead is ex-

pected in February. The Institu-

tion of Railway Signal Engineers

(IRSE) was founded in 1912 and

has members word wide.

Dry run for MerseyrailMerseyrail plans to ban the con-

sumption of alcohol on its trains.

In an unofficial local press sur-

vey 88 per cent of voters sup-

ported the booze-ban. Following

a successful campaign that saw

antisocial passengers prosecut-

ed for putting their feet on seats,

Merseyrail is proposing mak-

ing all its trains and stations dry

to deter alcohol related crime.

Merseyrail’s new managing di-

rector, Maarten Spaargaren, is

right behind the idea. ‘I want to

make the railways a more at-

tractive, safe, pleasant environ-

ment to be in, and one way of

doing that would be to prevent

people who are too drunk to

travel using the service.

‘We think an alcohol ban

would give greater protection to

passengers and staff at all times

of the year. The practicalities of

enforcing the ban are still being

looked into, such as whether it

would need a specific by-law or

the extension of an old one.’

A similar ban, prohibiting the

carrying of open bottles and

cans of alcohol, was introduced

on public transport in London in

2008 and has proved popular

with rail staff and passengers

alike. The Travel Safe campaign

is part of a wider drive to make

Merseyrail more attractive to

potential passengers.

Maarten Spaargaren took

over from Bart Schmeink as

managing director at the end

of November last year.

Merseyrail is run by a Serco-

Abellio consortium.

School children who have been let down by their

local council and had their bus service with-

drawn are turning to rail to get them to school.

For several years now thanks to better comput-

er generated route measuring software, local

councils have been re-evaluating the distance chil-

dren live from school. If it is less than three miles,

even by a yard, measured school gate to front door,

then they no longer qualify for free travel. Among

exemptions is if the walking route is unsafe.

Leicestershire County Council withdrew the free

bus for children in Sileby who attend Humphrey

Perkins School, in Barrow Upon Soar at the end of

the Christmas term. In a controversial move the

council decided the three-mile walk between the vil-

lages was safe after it trimmed back a few trees that

force pedestrians to walk in the road.

Head teacher Peter Nutkins is concerned for the

safety of the children. ‘They (Leicestershire Coun-

ty Council) are arguing it is reasonably safe. How-

ever, when I walked it with David Parsons, the

leader of the council, it took us an hour and a quar-

ter, along a busy road. There are pavements less

than a metre wide, pot holes, ditches, and that is

what the local authority says is reasonable for our

children to walk on. It’s just crazy.’

The school has 900 pupils and 51 of those live in

Sileby. Mr Nutkins has now negotiated a deal with

East Midlands Trains allowing the pupils to trav-

el between Sileby and Barrow for about 50p per day.

School staff will be on hand at Barrow station in

the morning and afternoon to help pupils.

Rail rescue for school kids

The London to Scotland

overnight sleeper service has

been saved after London and

Edinburgh agreed a joint £100

million funding pledge aimed

at refurbishing the fleet.

However, Scottish transport

minister Keith Brown, sounded

a note of caution. ‘I am delight-

ed to now confirm that we have

submitted proposals to the

Treasury that will see us invest,

as a minimum, £50m to ensure

that the Caledonian sleepers

are enhanced to offer better fa-

cilities and a more responsive

service to passenger needs.

‘I now await the decision from

the Treasury on whether it will

stick to its promise and make

the funding available to max-

imise the improvements to the

service.’

The service is run by ScotRail

even though it connects London

with Edinburgh, Inverness and

Fort William. Options suggested

by a recent Transport Scotland

consultation included abolishing

the sleeper. The sleeper service

costs about £21 million a year to

run, excluding track access

charges.

Wake up call for sleeperAs part of the restorative justice

system, eight young people have

been helping do up Haverford-

west station in Pembrokeshire.

They took part in the painting

and restoration project as part of

their community service repa-

ration. The partnership involves

Arriva Trains Wales and Pem-

brokeshire County Council Chil-

dren’s Services. The team of

young people worked with rail-

way staff to repaint concrete

flower planters, seats and

canopy supports as well as

planting new shrubs.

Says Geraint Morgan, com-

munity affairs manager for Ar-

riva Trains Wales, ‘During the

four weekends spent on the

project, their efforts have helped

make a noticeable improvement

to the general appearance of

the station, which has been well

received by local rail users.

‘Projects such as this can help

young people make a valuable

contribution to their local com-

munity. They have also been

given the opportunity to learn

new skills and gain work expe-

rience which they may not oth-

erwise have had. This can then

help with future employment

aspirations.’

Speaking at the station, the

Chairman of Pembrokeshire

County Council, Councillor

David Pugh, said, ‘The project en-

abled the large number of young

people engaged in the work to

learn new skills and disciplines

and participate in a useful local

community project.

Furthermore they were able to

complete their reparation

promptly within their local com-

munity, a very visible form of

payback.Pembrokeshire County

Council, after this successful

start, is looking to continue

working with Arriva Trains and

improve the appearance of oth-

er rail stations in Pembrokeshire.’

Pembrokeshire restoration

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Direct Rail Services has started trials of a staff train,

aimed at reducing traffic congestion at Sellafield.

The week day service from Carlisle will be made

up of three reserved carriages for Sellafield

workers and one additional carriage for mem-

bers of the public hauled by a class 37. After Sel-

lafield, all carriages will be made available to the

public through to Barrow.

In a further development DRS has ordered 15 new

diesel locomotives. The Vossloh Espana Eurolight

UK locomotives will be based on the Eurolight lo-

comotive and will be built in Spain. The locos have

a 3750hp Caterpillar c175 engine and ABB AC trac-

tion equipment and a top speed of 100 mph.


Vienna match for RailsportThe Railsport Games Great Britain Chess Team

took part in a strong Railway International Tour-

nament in Vienna recently.

The team took on Czech Railways, who went on

to win the tournament, Swiss Railways and Aus-

trian Railways. Eight players and a non-playing cap-

tain travelled to Vienna. The team included Gra-

ham Bolt and John Bass of Network Rail, Peter El-

dridge and Barry Kocan of South West Trains, Tony

Lee of CSC, Dave Perrett of Arriva Trains Wales, Alan

Giles of Virgin and Trevor Jones who is retired.

Nicholas Mahoney of DB Schenker was the non-

playing captain.

The match is an annual event, apart from every

fourth year, when the European Railway Cham-

pionships take place, with the next one set for 2012

in Hungary. Railsport GB is keen to recruit addi-

tional players. If you want to find out more about

Railsport Chess activities, including over the board

matches in London, please contact Mike Broad on

020 7904 or 07771 670896 or E mail:

[email protected]

The Bodmin and Wenford Rail-

way has notched up a third

successive record-breaking

year.

Passenger numbers are up and

turnover at an all time high. Af-

ter the last train, the Mince Pie

Special, had returned to Bodmin

General Station on New Year’s

Eve, the BWR had recorded its

best ever results in a calendar

year. A total of 55,789 passengers

marked an increase of 6.6 per

cent on 2010 which itself was a

record year.

Achieving such impressive re-

sults for the second consecutive

year is a major milestone for the

railway and its staff, the major-

ity of whom are volunteers. The

good news marks a fitting finale

to its 25th anniversary year.

The preserved line started in

June 1986. In December 2011

alone, over 5,300 people travelled

on the Railway’s Santa by Steam

and Mince Pie Specials, 7.9%

more than in the same month

last year. The 6½-mile line be-

tween Bodmin Parkway and

Boscarne Junction was original-

ly opened in 1887-88. Passenger

services ceased in January 1967.

‘The success of the 2011 sea-

son is a further tribute to all our

staff, both paid and volunteer,

who have worked extremely

hard throughout the year to

present a caring and profes-

sional image to our visitors. We

are all naturally delighted that

2011 has again been our best

year ever with a record number

of passengers and turnover, and

are extremely grateful to every-

one who has supported us this

year,’ says Richard Jones, General

Manager of the BWR.

Record success forBodmin and Wenford

Staff special launched

The station at Goodwick near

Fishguard in Pembrokeshire

could reopen as soon as March.

Network Rail has now low-

ered and realigned the track

closer to the existing platform at

Goodwick. The progress has

been welcomed by local rail

campaigners.

The existing Fishguard station

at the ferry terminal is too far

outside the town, locals say.

Hatti Woakes, secretary of the

North Pembrokeshire Transport

Forum, says Goodwick station is

better and more accessible. ‘The

problem with the station (at

Fishguard) is it’s quite far out, at

least 10 minutes walk from the

town and most people are tak-

en there by car.

There is a car park which is ex-

pensive, it’s £7 a day. It’s a bit of

a disincentive and it’s putting

some people off, especially peo-

ple who live outside of Fish-

guard.’ Trains have not stopped

at Goodwick since 1964. ‘Good-

wick is more convenient for

many people. It’s going to be very

simple because of the funding

constraints but people will be

able to park for free and the bus

service will stop right outside the

gates,’ says Hatti.

Services on the line have

been increased and railways

are experiencing higher levels

of passenger ridership. Servic-

es at Fishguard have increased

from two a day to seven thanks

to funding by the Welsh gov-

ernment. Pembrokeshire coun-

cil owns the station site while

the work to reopen it is being

funded through the Welsh gov-

ernment’s regional transport

plan.

Fishguard fanfare

The rail industry has launched a new scheme

designed to attract graduates onto the railway.

The scheme - Track and Train - will provide an all-

round industry experience over 18 months, where

graduates will enjoy three, six-month placements:

one at Network Rail and two at either a passenger

or freight operator or another company within the

rail sector.

Says Patrick Butcher, Network Rail’s group finance

director, responsible for the scheme, ‘We know that

there are many smart, talented individuals out

there that haven’t had their break yet and as a

growing industry we can work together to provide

challenging, valuable and paid work experience to

kick start their careers.

‘What sets this scheme apart is those involved

will work across the rail industry and by linking it

all together, develop a fantastic knowledge and un-

derstanding of the challenges we all face and the

opportunities for the future.’

Graduates already at work in the railway are rec-

ommending the scheme. Says Karl Grewar, a

graduate working at Network Rail and on sec-

ondment to London Travelwatch, ‘Being at uni-

versity is very different to the workplace so it is vi-

tal graduates know how to behave in a business

environment. Learn to plan, to multi-task and to

prioritise your workload.

‘Any work experience you can get under your belt

and refer to in interviews is well worth it. Get used

to the sound of your voice and to speaking in front

of people as you’ll be talking to people at all lev-

els. I have been surprised at how many graduates’

communication skills aren’t up to scratch leaving

university.’

Rail industry plansUniversity Challenge©

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This year sees Coyle Personnel

celebrating 24 years in the

business, and the business is

getting busier.

Coyle is looking for signalling

professionals, tunnelling engi-

neers, quantity surveyors, site

agents and safety officers.

Established in 1988 Coyle Per-

sonnel Plc is a professional re-

cruitment consultancy. With

offices in 12 major locations in-

cluding London (City), Birm-

ingham, York, Glasgow, Cardiff,

Maidstone, Harrow (head of-

fice), Reading and Chelmsford,

Coyle Rail can offer a very

competitive level of service to

meet clients’ ever changing

project needs throughout the

country.

With over 100 in-house re-

cruitment consultants Coyle

Rail delivers confidently every

time. Current clients include;

Invensys, Balfour Beatty,

Amey, Crossrail, Halcrow, Net-

work Rail, BAM Nuttall, Caril-

lion, Birse Rail, Buckingham

Group, Kier Group, Morgan

Sindall, Laing O’Rourke, DLR

Serco and Signaling Solutions

Limited.

Coyle Rail has also been ac-

tively involved in the delivery

and on going presence on the

following projects; West Coast

Route Modernisation, Crossrail,

Reading Regeneration, Major

contracts for Network Rail, East

Kent Resignaling, Bletchley &

Newport Remodeling, Thames-

link, Kings Cross and Waterloo

and City Upgrade.

Exceptional reputationCoyle Rail has built up an ex-

ceptional reputation within

the safety critical rail industry

by ensuring compliance with

all industry regulations, hav-

ing a fully trained and dedi-

cated in house team who hold

as a minimum, Personal Track

Safety (PTS).

Using specialist rail profes-

sionals and a technical division

which complements Coyle’s

current delivery to the railway

infrastructure there has been a

substantial growth within this

area. Furthermore, Coyle Rail

has recently been awarded

framework agreements with

national rail contractors by

consistently providing high cal-

ibre candidates for a variety of

job vacancies.

Coyle have a regularly main-

tained and updated in house re-

cruitment database of regis-

tered rail professionals which

has been built up over the last

23 years. This provides Coyle

Rail with unique access to the

latest qualified contractors and

permanent candidates on the

market. Coyle Rail can also

source both contract and per-

manent staff for Signalling and

Telecoms, Tunnelling, Heavy

Civil, Project/Construction Man-

agement, Design Engineering,

Mechanical & Electrical, Senior

Management, Commercial, Ad-

ministration, Permanent Way

Technical and Engineering.

Looking for a newposition?

With an extremely bright fu-

ture ahead, Coyle Rail is seeking

new candidates who are look-

ing for a new position, whether

it be contract or permanent,

mainline rail or London Un-

derground. Coyles are current-

ly looking for Signalling Engi-

neers (Design / Project Engi-

neers / Managers), Tunneling

Engineers, Delivery Managers,

Cost Engineers, Quantity Sur-

veyors, Site Agents and Gener-

al Foreman (Civil), HSE Advisors

with many other vacancies also

available.

Please send your up to date CV

to [email protected]

or talk to one of our team mem-

bers on 01189 550600.

Construction& Technical

Industrial& Security

Mechanical& Electrical Medical

PublicSector Rail

Secretarial& Commercial

Trades& Labour

IRSE Signalling Design Engineer

IRSE Lead Signalling Design Engineer

IRSE Signalling Design Verifier

Estimator (Rail & Civil)

Cost Engineer (Rail & Civil)

Planning Manager (Signalling)

Telecoms Project Engineer

Senior Project Manager (Rail & Civil)

Senior Quantity Surveyor (Civil & Rail)

PTS Site Agents x 9(Civil/Earthworks/Structures)

To undertake detailed design for

trackside projects

Design and independent checking of

design details

To lead a signalling application engineer team

Platform extension project

Assess and Analyse the cost status of works.

Major Infrastructure experience.

Manage and support existing planning team

for large Signalling projects.

With experience of working as a CRE

Steel & Architectural metal work background

Must come from a sub contract environment.

Degree in QS

Contract to permanent role

Birmingham / Swindon - c£300pd

- c£380pd

- up to £65k + package

London - up to £50k + package

London - c£350-£400pd

Birmingham / Derby - up to £85k + package

London - c£400pd



up to £42k + package

Based in the South WestBirmingham / Swindon

Birmingham / Swindon

Please call 01189 550600 for more information. Please send your CV to: [email protected]

Coyle Personnel Plc is one of the leading independentspecialist recruitment agencies.

With over 20 years experience sourcing bothpermanent and temporary staff, we have careeropportunities for candidates at all levels and deliverhigh quality recruitment solutions to small start upbusinesses through to large multinationals.

Candidates for Coyle Rail

Success Spotlight

APPOINTMENTS

RailStaff | January 2012 | 29APPOINTMENTS

Right now, you have a unique career opportunity.Having successfully secured new orders, Bombardier Transportation are actively seeking skilled and motivated engineering and science professionals to work within our world leading Derby based UK Engineering team.

Opportunities exist in:

As part of this team, you will be responsible for engineering the entire rolling stock lifecycle – from inception through to decommissioning, including manufacture and testing at our Derby facility. In return for your work, you will be rewarded with competitive contractual benefi ts including the opportunity to participate in our award-nominated fl exible benefi ts scheme.

If you believe you can effectively bring your engineering expertise to our leading edge rolling stock design, manufacture and maintenance business, please visit: http://careers.bombardier.com/home for further information on these roles and to apply, quoting the relevant reference number.

Bombardier Transportation – 2011 Winners of the Power Panels Award for People Effectiveness at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Manufacturing Excellence Awards

Ref: T-RS1-ENG-UKDY-10










Fast trackyour career

For full details please visit www.hs2.org.uk/jobs

hs2 is one of the most exciting engineering projects of our generation.Following the Secretary of StateÕs announcement, we are now establishing the implementation team and are therefore seeking experienced professionals with expertise in:

EngineeringEnvironment ManagementProperty ManagementCommunity Liaison Management/Advisors Chief Architect

Community ForumsManagers

Community LiaisonManagers

Community LiaisonAdvisors

Property Asset Managers

Bridge Engineer

TunnelEngineer

Railway Operations Manager

Lead Ergonomist

EnvironmentManagers

Job Opportunities for Rail Staff with CUK

[email protected]

Due to the growing demand from major clients within the ,

are looking for skilled personnel for Permanent and Contract opportunities.

is expanding its services into the Australian market with new offices

opening soon in 2012. This expansion puts into a unique market

position for recruiting railway staff for clients in the UK and Australia. For more information about

opportunities in Australia, please email: [email protected]

railway infrastructure CarmichaelUK

Rail Division

We would like to hear from the following for prestigious projects starting in the

South East of England:

CarmichaelUK Rail Division

CarmichaelUK Rail Division

Register your CV today online or via email in word format to:

or : +44 (0) 208 522 8888call one of our consultants on

Engineers

Engineering Managers

Agents

Sub Agents Safety Critical personnel

Project Managers General Foreman

Works Managers Site Managers

Surveyors

Planners

Commercial personnel

Job vacancies posted daily on our site

www.carmichaeluk.com

If you’re a skilled Engineer, Manager or Technical Specialist looking to work on some of the most exciting and challenging projects in the Rail and Infrastructure sector, then TRS Staffing Solutions can help - now.

We’re currently recruiting for the UK’s leading rail companies and major clients globally, across a wide variety of projects. These include major upgrades for the National Rail network and London Underground. To apply for any of the following vacancies, you should have relevant experience at the appropriate level.

TRS are a global organisation and we are currently recruiting for rail specialists in the UAE, Australia & Far East, West Africa and Canada. If you are interested in working abroad contact TRS today.

To applyPlease send your CV to [email protected] Or if you’d prefer to discuss a role in more detail and in confidence, please contact one of our specialist consultants on

+44 (0)20 7419 5800

Opportunities in Rail and Infrastructure

Asset Engineers and Asset Project ManagersUK wide, £300-£400 per dayStructural, Bridge and Building Asset Management within the Rail sector

Mechanical Superintendent/Construction Managers West Africa, Guinea, 70K-100KRail, Port & Mining Experience

Senior P-Way Design EngineersLondon & Warrington, 60K-80KWorking on major new rail projects + station upgrades

Senior Geologist/Geotechnical EngineersLondon Area, £300-450 per dayExperience in Rail, Mining or Quarrying experience. (3D Resource Modeling)

Electrical Design EngineerLondon £300-£500 per dayChartered status is preferred

Senior Project Planners/Project Controls ManagersLondon £40-60KRail and Mining projects

Signal Designers & Project Engineers and Manager UK + Australia, Contract and PermanentIRSE license or significant relevant experience

Bridge Engineers & Structural EngineerUK £300-450 per day Bridge design for heavy rail freight, heavy-haul bridges over water is preferred

Civil Estimators London £40-60KRail and Civil Projects. NEC contract experience ideal

JanuaryTRSAdvert.indd 1 9/1/12 14:21:29

Technical Sales ManagerField Based – Midlands or South East

Competitive Salary + Car

Unipart Rail - Dorman is a leading UK manufacturer of LED solutions for rail & traffic signalling

and hazard warning lights, its name is recognised globally for quality and innovation.

The organisation is part of Unipart Rail who provide the most comprehensive portfolio of products,

services and solutions available for the rail industry, using its deep expertise in continuous

improvement processes to support its customers in the development of the railway system.

We are looking for an experienced Technical Sales Manager to develop sales for Dorman LED rail

products for both trains and infrastructure in the UK rail market. As a field based Sales Manager

operating out of either the Midlands or South East region, you will have responsibility for technical

sales and account management for both new and existing markets covering the whole of the UK.

[email protected]

17th February 2012.

www.dorman.co.uk

Excellent interpersonal and negotiating skills will be paramount to your success in the role, as is the ability to

work independently generating leads in new and emerging markets.You will have a track record in developing

and delivering new sales opportunities and markets within a technical environment.

Ideally qualified to degree level or equivalent in an engineering discipline, you should have proven

experience in the railway industry, preferably with experience in railway signalling and / or LED products.

Key customers will include Network Rail and principal contractors for signalling projects. Previous

knowledge and experience working with these organisations would be a distinct advantage.

Interested applicants should submit a CV and covering letter

detailing current remuneration package via e-mail:

The closing date for all applications is:

Unipart Rail is an equal opportunities employer

Visit our website

www.sw-gr.com

Opportunities in Australiafor Railway Staff(Competitive Salaries)with relocation packages for the right candidates &

immediate starts available

Further to our recent attendance at AusRail in Brisbane, and the continuing substantial investment

being made in Railway Infrastructure Projects, in Australia, SWGR are keen to hear from the following

individuals who are interested in pursuing an exciting new career path in a variety of locations

throughout the country and different industrial applications such as Mining, Urban Rail, Tunnelling,

Ports and Oil & Gas Infrastructure projects.

We have an urgent requirement for highly skilled Rail professionals for our clients across Australia for

Rail Upgrades and Capacity Improvements.

• A Trade qualification in an Engineering discipline

• A proven track record in Rail Construction or associated area

• Experience of delivering results in a fast paced target driven environment

• Excellent written and oral communication skills

• A desire to live, succeed and excel in an exciting new environment

We are particularly keen to hear from the following:

Essential Skills / Qualifications required:

H & S Advisor Senior Civil Engineers

Structural Engineers Project Engineers/Managers

Signalling Engineers Commercial Managers

Senior M/E Engineers BDM (Mining & Rail)

[email protected] send your CV in Word Format to

U K W I D E S E R V I C E C E N T R E S

Rail RecruitmentManpower

30 | RailStaff | January 2012 APPOINTMENTS

Talascendworldwide technical resources

We have a number of open positions for Recruitment Consultants

in our London office. Please contact Matthew Roberts on

+44 (0)20 8600 1600 or email [email protected]

www.talascend.com

Your first stop for rail jobs...

Currently Hiring

Sourcing Manager - £380 - £450 depending on experience- London / Milton KeynesLeading UK Rail Client is looking for an individual who possesses experience within Rail and

understanding in GRIP stages, Strategic, quality, cost, negotiating with internal stakeholders,

tender processes, writing contract letters and schedules and extensions.

If you have passion for developing and sustaining a Supplier Relationship Management best

practice ethos, then this is the opportunity you have been waiting for.

Contact Joanna Janczaruk / 02086001198 / [email protected]

Comms Project Managers, £45k to £68k + benefits - London or MidlandsWorking for a leading supplier within the UK rail infrastructure sector, we require experienced

Communications Rail Project Managers for projects on Network Rail infrastructure (or LU).

Ideally you will have experience working for one of the rail contractors along with

commercial, budgetary, formal project management qualification and solid operational

comms experience in rail. Two roles; London or the Midlands.

Contact: Ewen Alcorn / 01373 464005 / [email protected]

Signalling Designer - £Excellent – York, Birmingham and LondonThere are currently vacancies at UK locations including York, Birmingham and London for IRSE

Licensed Signalling Designers. Now is a great time to make a move in the Signalling market.

Talascend have both permanent and contract positions available for experienced Designers.

Please get in touch to discuss these opportunities further.

Contact: James Tidman / 02086001618 / [email protected]

Senior Project Engineer, Operational Comms, £45k - £50k + bens Gloucester, Midlands

We are working on behalf of the leading provider of engineering solutions to the UK rail

network. They require an experienced rail telecommunications Project Engineer with strong

experience of Network Rail and rail operational comms. Customer facing and managing a

small team.

Contact: Ewen Alcorn / 01373 464005 / [email protected]

Field Engineer (x3) – Circa £350 per day - LondonA top UK rail project is currently seeking Field Engineers to be based out of Central London.

Please get in touch if you have strong experience in tunnelling, tunnel boring, excavation,

piling and large infrastructure projects. The positions available offer a great opportunity for

Field Engineers to gain experience on a high profile rail project on long term contracts. If you

are an experienced Field Engineer, Construction Manager, Site Manager or Site Engineer then

please get in touch.


Health & Safety Advisors - £Excellent package - LondonAn opportunity has just opened up to work on one of the most exciting projects in Europe.

We are sourcing highly experienced tunnelling Health & Safety Advisors to be responsible for

this interesting and complex project.

Experience of tunnelling activities with experience of BS6164 regulations is essential. You will

be either a chartered member of IOSH or working towards being chartered with at least an

NVQ4/5, Diploma, or Degree.

Contact Rob Duncan-Anderson on / 0208 600 1606 / [email protected]

Project Planner / Manager - £37k or £270 per day - London / SwindonOur client is looking for a candidate who will be managing the operational and planning and

logistics risk associated with delivering the work. You need to have a strong understanding /

experience in managing investment portfolio, Primavera P3e, CDM, Six Sigma Yellow Belt,

Wider Project Management Framework, Risk Assessment Competence and be a member of a

Chartered status / Degree level.


Contract Administrators - Contract and Perm opportunities - LondonFantastic opportunities for Commercial/Contract Administrators with NEC experience.

You will support the Employer by assisting the Lead Contracts Administrator in relation to the

development and implementation of a Contract Management Program for the project

consistent with Contracts Management Policies and Work Processes, Procedures and

Systems. Checking that commercial and contract issues are dealt within the Project at the

lowest level, deputising for the Lead Contracts Administrator when requested and performing

duties allocated by the lead Contracts Administrator for the successful commercial

management of the project goals and objectives.


Signalling Designers - £Excellent – LondonA large mass-transit client is currently seeking Signalling Designers from a mainline

background to attend a 5 day conversion course allowing them to work on mass-transit

projects. Mainline designers with at least 5 years experience can diversify their skill-set and

open up new opportunities. Please get in touch if you are interested in exploring this exciting

opportunity.


Site Manager - Great Project - £Excellent - LondonGreat opportunities for experienced Site Managers working on an exciting project in London.

If you have worked on large multi-discipline rail projects and ideally have SCL and tunnelling

experience then please make contact ASAP. A heavy Civil's background coupled with Station

refurbishment and excavation experience will set you apart from the rest of the field.


Principal Signalling Designer - £Excellent – LondonA leading UK rail company is currently searching for an experienced Signalling Designer to

work on cutting edge new projects. Please get in touch if you are working towards or

currently hold an IRSE Principles Signalling Designer License. The position is available for both

contractors and permanent designers.


Rimini / SSOWP Planner - London - £32kUrgently seeking an experienced Planner in RIMINI or SSOW (Safe System of Work) packages

to start ASAP! Experience is required in quarterly work plan, data analysis, understanding of

Company Standards RT/LS/S/019, Hazard Directory, Sectional Appendix and 5 mile Signal

Diagrams.


020 7500 6900 www.expressmedicals.co.uk

Customer Service Team

Looking after the health of your businessMedical expertise with first-class service levels helping to increase productivity, reduce absenteeism and minimise risk.

Travel Health Vaccinations Wellbeing

Rail Medicals Drug & Alcohol TestingOccupational Health Health Surveillance

Physiotherapy Counselling Blood Testing Skin Assessments

Documents

RailStaff January 2012