TRACK TECHNOLOGY & RAIL LIVE
A ‘Rail Strategy’
FutureRailway director David Clarke also discussed the Rail Supply Group in his talk, noting that in the UK, saying it could help boost exports. But by ‘de-risking novelty’ and ensuring vital if high-risk technologies can be developed, exports can be grown enormously, he suggested.
A ‘Rail Strategy’ to match the very successful one in the automotive industry is what’s needed he said, and he wants to see one in place a year from now.
There is more from Clarke’s fascinating speech on innovation, and an interview with him, on p38-39.
Signalling workbank
Mark Southwell reiterated the messages on signalling resources and the workforce through CP5 as covered in the last edition of RTM, and said the £3.3bn CP5 workbank compared to £2.7bn in CP4, with nearly 100% more SEUs (signal equivalent units). He whizzed through some of the bigger projects, like Watford, North Lincolnshire, Motherwell, East Kent, Feltham, Cambridge and Birmingham New Street,
and the need to achieve a 25.7% reduction in signalling renewal costs. “But we achieved 23.8% in CP4 without proper plans at the start of the control period,” he said. “Now, we do have plans.”
Asked about the biggest challenges, Southwell mentioned access – a theme that kept cropping up in talks over the two days.
Network Rail’s Signalling Innovations Group was exhibiting at the show, and had billboards with useful tidbits of information, such as: “360 level crossings are set to be commissioned in CP5. A standardised plug and play MCB-OD design is available.”
In fact, teams from right across Network Rail were busy at the show, from Asset Management Services to high output track renewals.
Electrification on display
Electrification was another big focus, unsurprisingly, with so much work coming up in this area. As well as the speeches, there was a wide variety of electrification-related kit and plant on display, and one of the biggest live demonstrations came from ABC Electrification (the joint venture of Alstom, Babcock and Costain) with Network Rail’s own OCR (overhead conditional renewal) team. With support from SB Rail and its Kirow KRC250, and Innovative Railway Safety Ltd, they showed off the speedy and efficient installation of piles, structures, fixed termination brackets and new Series 2 cantilevers. The Furrey+Frey designed Series 2 OLE system is for lower-speed routes than Series 1. That demonstration was followed up the next day with wiring installation and tensioning.
This was just one of many demonstrations throughout the two days, and the amount of larger machinery to see was simply startling: a huge number of cranes, MEWPs (mobile elevated work platforms), crawler excavators,
trailers, road railers, Unimogs, locomotives – anyone looking for a comprehensive list can find one at
ontrackplant.com
Lead after lead
Of the scores of people RTM talked to at the show, feedback was almost universally positive, apart from a few minor gripes about the layout of the giant site and its distance from the car park.
Damen Ward, rail manager for Scotland at Selectequip Ltd, said the company had got about 90 leads by Thursday morning, proving how useful the show had been. The company, showcasing the Nighsearcher portable light system and its safety signage, said it had been a “fantastic” event.
Clyde Schwartz, operations manager of the AmeyColas JV, said: “There’s been some really good innovation on show, both in terms of technology and safety, and we’ve had lots of interest at our own stand.”
Marc Bews of Tecton Ltd, who was showcasing the company’s ‘Liberator’ range of CCTV recorders, said it was “definitely different from the shows we normally do”, but a big success.
Mark
Potts, rail
plant manager at SPL
Powerlines UK, said: “It’s a real benefit that it’s a live site where we can bring kit in by rail and put it on display, it makes it much more direct. It’s gone well so far and we’ve had good interest.”
Hayley Child, a programme manager with Network Rail, said the ‘live site’ element had been a big plus and that it had been a great show all round, while Clive Oliver and Dan Devenish of Greentek Ground-Guards were
rail technology magazine Jun/Jul 14 | 113
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