Green is the new White for c2c G
arrandale recently came up with a solution for c2c that would enable it to maintain its green initiative while keeping the renowned whiteness of its trains. This involved upgrading the train-washing facility at c2c’s East Ham depot to collect the water used to clean each train, filter it and return it to the tanks so it can be used to help wash the next train.
Through a series of filters, Garrandale’s water recycling system cleans the water being stored ready for re-use in the cleaning process. The entire cleaning cycle is now carried out in three stages; the first, which includes the application of the detergent, uses fresh water and the recycled water is then used in stage two for rinsing away the detergent. The final rinse then uses fresh water for a streak free finish. Waste water is collected from the apron after every cleaning cycle, filtered and re-used. This provides significant savings over cleaning systems which use fresh water for every cycle without any increase in washing times. For c2c, the new train-washing facility has reduced its water consumption by 50 per cent. Along with cost savings for the operator, the system can also be custom designed to suit any existing location and equipment. Andy Coles, Garrandale’s sales and marketing director, said: ‘Our aim is to make eco-friendly products which enhance energy-efficiency, reduce environmental impact, avoid hazardous substances, increase product life expectancy and, as in the case of c2c, use recycled content.’ Visit
www.garrandale.co.uk
Keeping CrossCountry’s trains on track M
illions of pounds a year are spent on ensuring services run on time, but with more than 20,000 miles of track to maintain and keep clear, problems are inevitable. Now, Toc’s have another method of monitoring lines and identifying problems either before they occur or immediately after something goes wrong - CCTV. Vehicle technology company 21st Century’s Rail division has installed cameras on 91 CrossCountry trains to monitor the infrastructure of Britain’s largest railway route - covering around 1,500 miles of track. The system gives CrossCountry access to live and recorded images in high definition and will provide vital video evidence of, for example, incorrect signal sequences, signals passed, obstructions on the line and infrastructure failure. This will also provide evidence of trespass and vandalism, or accidents and fatalities. A key benefit is the ability to view the system in real time - invaluable in ensuring corrective action is taken quickly to avoid delays. British Transport Police can also access the system. The cameras record constantly so they also provide images for vegetation
surveys, as well as support trackside maintenance and monitor the location of equipment.
Andy Cooper, managing director, CrossCountry said: ‘The system is quickly becoming an important part of our work to reduce delays. The ability to see immediately what happened and to review the footage will dramatically reduce disruption.’ Visit
www.21stplc.com
Hima-Sella and Sensonics fill the void S
ystems integration specialist Hima-Sella has received funding from the Technology Strategy Board to develop an innovative low- power and wireless rail track bedding displacement (void) monitoring solution.
Collaborating with Sensonics - specialists in vibration and displacement transducers - the solution will use track-mounted units containing tri-axial accelerometers in order to sense movement in three planes. Activated by the track vibrations of an approaching train the units, which can also record temperature, will transmit the maximum displacement in each axis. A data acquisition unit, located trackside and which can be integrated into the current Network Rail maintenance monitoring strategy, will timestamp the data; which can then be used for trending purposes and better scheduling maintenance work.
Richard Shaw, Hima- Sella’s Rail Systems account manager, said: ‘It’s important to know if and when track is moving, as a
December 2013 Page 105
result of ballast shift, for example, so that the information can contribute towards a cost-effective condition- based predictive maintenance strategy. Alarms can also be raised in the event of sudden and unexpected voids developing.’
The money from the Technical Strategy Board will fund a two-year project to not only develop a solution but also to demonstrate how the void monitoring system may be exported to overseas markets. Visit
www.hima-sella.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140