DEPOT & WORKSHOP EQUIPMENT
Barry Graham, business development director at Northern Rail, discusses the recently opened rail depot at Allerton in Merseyside.
T
he re-opening of Allerton depot has been in the pipeline for a long time,
but when work finally did start, it was all done incredibly quickly.
Northern started discussions with Axiom Rail, the previous owners, around three years ago. By this time, the demand for depot maintenance capacity was already growing, and along with extra fleet require- ments, the project presented the opportu- nity to prepare for the electrified units, fol- lowing the electrification of the railway in the North West.
The redevelopment included complete re-ballasting of the track, renewed points work, a new type of hand-operated, hy- draulic points machine installed as well as a new carriage washing plant. The side pits and the under-train wash are still in the course of being completed.
Business development director at Northern Rail, Barry Graham, spoke to RTM about the demand for this new depot and how challenges were overcome to complete the project on time.
Creating capacity
Graham said: “Our depot capacity at the three main depots we have at Heaton in Newcastle, Newton Heath in Manchester and Leeds have been under pressure for a long time, because the fleet has increased progressively, since the start of the North- ern franchise. Therefore we definitely need- ed more capacity purely for that purpose.
“But taking a longer strategic view, Allerton depot is fully wired 25kV overhead. In the knowledge that the North West electrifica- tion has been approved, we knew that we needed somewhere to be able to deal with the change in the fleet that was going to come about with the electrification.”
The depot will also be able to cater for much larger capacity as Northern’s fleet continues to grow. Graham explained: “It has a substantial capacity to take on more vehicles over time and it will definitely be the main base for the electric fleet once the North West electrification is completed.
“To put the capacity problem into con- text, at the start of the franchise, Decem- ber 2004, Northern had 587 vehicles in its fleet. We now have 691.”
62 | rail technology magazine Dec/Jan 12
“It will definitely be the main base for the electric fleet once the North West electrification is completed.”
“There are still some things to complete, there is an under-train wash and side pits still to be finalised and that will be done, all being well, by the end of February. The wheel lathes needs to be re-activated. But we have an operational depot and they’ve done us proud.
“It was an excellent example of Network Rail concentrating on delivering on its ob- jective rather than being focused on com- pliance and process, as I’m afraid some- times in the past they have been.”
Steps to success
Good project management, sustainability and provision of employment have ensured benefits to the area. For example, 45 jobs were created, representing a substantial employment opportunity.
Additionally, new technology allowed the installation of an eco-friendly control for temperature and lighting. Graham added:
Timing is everything
After buying the depot from Axiom Rail, the initial timescale that Network Rail pro- posed for redeveloping the site would have resulted in opening in early 2014; over two years after the additional vehicles were set to arrive. However, after discussion, Net- work Rail agreed to begin work earlier, and refurbishment started around May 2011.
With new rolling stock expected to be in use from December 2011, this left only a short timescale to complete the project within. However the depot opened on time and Graham said: “I think we can say with- out reservation that Network Rail has done a superb job in that respect.
“Given that it was an opportunity to be able to use current technology and current best practice, this has been a very important feature. Network Rail drove that and we were very supportive of it.
“It’s been a tremendous benefit, tackling things in that way. In terms of the environ- mental approach I think it’s fair to say the depot incorporates current best practice.”
Network Rail conducted the project man- agement and directly employed staff, supported by a range of contractors and specialists to carry out the work. Graham suggested that keeping in close working contact helped to ensure smooth running during the project.
He said: “We’ve had our own depot man- ager designated on-site, to make sure that we have the constant close liaison. We han- dled the programme by having frequent ex- changes so that we were up to speed with what was happening. A ‘no surprises’ phi- losophy applied. I think that’s been one of the secrets to our success.”
Challenges
Conducting such a huge project in that amount of time did prove challenging, Gra- ham admits, but this just makes successful completion even sweeter.
“The biggest challenges were the sheer scale of the task in a very tightly com- pressed timescale. Although the depot had to be handed over to us by the timetable change date, of course we needed people to be in there for training purposes, in November. Some training was done off- site but we needed people in there on the ground to do all the training that you need to do on-site, plus a start on getting the de- pot fully equipped.
“Between the initial extreme of proposed completion in early 2014 and doing it in effect what was six months; that was a tremendous achieve- ment. It was the com- plexity combined with the very compressed timescale that was the biggest challenge.”
Barry Graham
FOR MORE INFORMATION Visit
www.northernrail.org
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