GEOTECHNICAL AND TRACK ENGINEERING
Teaching the teachers
Featherstone described how Network Rail looked at existing technology around the world to achieve faster track replacement.
This involved work to have the machines specially modifi ed to fi t the gauge of the British railway, with delivery partners Amey and Colas working in a joint venture. Featherstone added, proudly, that as the team got progressively better at using the machines, French company Colas came over to learn best practice from the UK team.
He said: “Where initially France was used as the reference site for GB, it’s now the other way round: they now bring the French engineers over to the UK to understand what good looks like.”
Commenting on the direction of passenger growth and demand, he said: “It’s only going one way – we’re moving more and more passengers, and there is a desire to use the railway earlier in the morning, later at night. More and more people are getting used to the leisure travel at the weekend.
“As long as the railway keeps growing, there’s going to be increasing need for a technology such as this.”
i
Every minute counts
With a view to speeding up the process even further, Featherstone said that the challenge was setting up and getting the machines running at their top speed faster. This could shave time off the start and end of working time, improving effi ciency and providing much faster track renewal.
The work rests upon Lean principles, to make all those extra minutes add up to produce hundreds of extra metres of production.
He said: “It’s about being creative: instead of getting 8 hours of access, we can get 8 and a half, or with the 8 hours of access we can take away the possession and isolation quicker so we can get an extra 20 minutes of full production. An extra 20 minutes of full production may be another 100 metres of track that we’ve renewed.”
The new machines are being used across the network, apart from areas using the third rail system south of the Thames. However, a pilot is taking place in this area at Christmas, to see how this could be achieved.
Featherstone said: “The technology should be capable of doing it, but we’ve just got to take it carefully and make sure we get the method
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statements right for using it in the third rail area.”
Compensation and cost
There are two TRSs in operation, as well as three ballast cleaning systems. Future plans will see another two ballast cleaning systems, bringing the total number of high output systems to seven.
The machines themselves represent a very expensive capital cost, but they could save money in the long term, through lower compensation for closing the railways.
Featherstone said: “I think it’s a balance of two things. If we are leaving the railway open on a Saturday and Sunday then it will save us money in compensation because obviously, generally we have engineering possessions on overnight anyway so it’s much cheaper for the access.
“It’s a question of time effi ciency; it’s about doing the right thing for passengers. This is an engineering solution that will allow passengers to stay on trains: that means the railways are more attractive and more people use the railway.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/6306.aspx
rail technology magazine Oct/Nov 12 | 47
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