MANCHESTER METROLINK SPECIAL
“Obviously you can’t change the whole system over in one go”
“All of this considered, we have an interesting six months ahead!”
to MPT in August this year to deliver further extensions from Chorlton to East Didsbury and Droylsden to Ashton-under-Lyne, as well as to Manchester Airport and to Oldham and Rochdale town centres.
Rolling out a large infrastructure project of this kind is difficult in any circumstances, especially in a busy city.
“The project in east Manchester is at an interesting stage, because there is a big connection with the travelling public. With regards to the other two projects in south Manchester and on the Oldham and Rochdale line, the involvement with the public is minimised because the construction work is taking place either in a cutting or an existing railway line.
“There are a number of different challenges, one of the biggest being having to connect into the existing system which has been around for quite a long time – but that just means that we have to work to maintain the existing running of the tram system as well as introducing the new system.
“Another challenge that we face is changing from what is effectively a mixture of fixed block signalling and line-of-sight system to a purely line-of-sight
system. Introducing a new way of doing things like this will be very challenging on an existing network.”
The introduction of the ‘line- of-sight’ system of working will require drivers to undergo training.
“They have already started this training, using the new system on the existing trams. This will include both the current drivers and the new ones who will be drafted in over the next year or so.”
“Even if we weren’t doing extensions, changing over from one operating system to another presents a major challenge,” added Philip.
“Obviously you can’t change the whole system over in one go. It has to be done in sections and in such a way as to ensure that drivers are appropriately
trained and have the appropriate knowledge to operate on that part of the system whilst ensuring that the system itself is robust and can stand up to the rigours of a modern tram way.
“At the moment we are working on rolling that system out on the Eccles line which, whilst it still has the old signalling system in place, is shadow running the new line-of-sight operating system. This means we can ensure the switch-over of the systems goes as seamlessly as possible.
“Although passengers won’t notice much, this will have a big impact upon drivers, because it is vitally important they are trained correctly and have a comprehensive understanding of what is going on.”
Whilst the delivery of these improvements to the system is certainly challenging, doing so safely and within the allotted time and budget is also absolutely crucial.
“Since the beginning of the scheme we have made sure it
represented value for money and was current,” says Bryan. “If, for example, there were two lifts and a ramp on a stop, then we looked at ways we could minimise the cost but still provide the DDA requirement for the stop. So we went through a whole process of making sure the cost represented value for money. This has been carried through the entire project and includes making sure that we are not doing things which aren’t necessary.
“There is a very big emphasis in the early stages - before we progress too far with the design - of looking at delivering the things which are required, but in smarter or slightly different ways, so we can make sure we aren’t spending money on things we don’t have to,” adds Philip.
“With regards to the other extensions which were signed up in early August with MPT, we went through a very diligent process to ensure the costings from MPT represented good value for money even before the contracts were signed.
“Then even after the contracts were signed, there were certain options which were put into those contracts which would allow us to ensure we – and therefore the taxpayer – were getting value for money.”
rail technology magazine Dec/Jan 11 | 47
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