RailStaff January 2013

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RailStaff

PAGE 12

Heavy metallegislation

PAGE 13Continued on PAGE 4

Leadershipneeded

Richard Brown’s report on RailFranchising is published.

New legislation now in forcemakes it harder for rogue traders.

Issue 182 / January 2013

PAGE 8

David Tonkin is newChairman of RIA

The railway industry has drawn up a comprehensive plan to take forward a £37 billioninvestment in better capacity, electrification and efficiency. The Industry Strategic BusinessPlan comes as the Coalition Government committed itself to High Speed Two, Crossrail’s fifthtunnel boring machine, Sophia, started work and young people lined up to join the fastgrowing rail industry. Rachie-Ann Owen, 21, heads a host of apprentices and new staffbuilding fast moving careers on the railway.

Rail plan heralds £37 billion spend

© JO

NATHAN W

EBB

© SHUTTER

STOCK.COM

Every January the media carrystories of commuters bellyachingabout the latest rise in rail fares.Trains, they claim, are packed andunpunctual.

In a bizarre parallel new projectslike High Speed 2 are derided, eventhough it will create additionalcapacity for seat-seekingpassengers. Every perceived failingof the railway is gleefully lit up andreported.

In spite of this the resurgent railindustry has caught theimagination of the CoalitionGovernment, the businesscommunity, school leavers andsecond careerists alike.

The Rail Technical Strategy,Industry Strategic Business Plan,outstanding station retailperformance and soaringpassenger volumes may not be thestuff of sensational headlines.However, the excellence of thenews we report continues toinform a confident upbeatindustry that has confounded thedoomsayers.

A negative press culture maycontinue to rejoice at the halfempty glass and make heavyweather of industrial discord.Railway staff will be encouraged bythe announcement of the IndustryStrategic Business Plan, Crossrail’scontinuing progress and renewedcommitment to expanding therailway’s infrastructure andbuilding HS2.

The secret of success is the

railway’s ability to pull together.The early completion of projectslike Paisley Canal electrificationdemonstrates what can beachieved by working together andgoing beyond the constraints ofcontractual aspiration. This powercomes down to the strengths ofthe men and women who makeup the industry.

Judith Biggs BEM and Les HoeyMBE are ordinary people makingan impact over and above the aims

of their job. The railway of thefuture will draw heavily on thestrengths they represent. Theresurgent railway creates jobs,spreads ideas and commerce.

This is why the CoalitionGovernment is supportingrailways. Investing £37 billion inthe rail industry will boost theeconomy immeasurably. Oursupporters should be commendedfor having the stomach to stickwith it.

www.railstaff.co.uk 3

Training MattersIn February’s RailStaffTraining and education are the sure fire ways to success, not only forindividuals entering the rail industry but for railways as a whole. The skillsgap could prove a real constraint as more major projects come on line andCrossrail, HS2, new tram ways and stations need ever more new staff. Please contact Danny, Paul or Tom on 01530 565701.

“Investing £37 billion in the rail industry willboost the economy immeasurably”

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Soaring passenger volumesThe secret of success is the railway’s ability to pull together

COMMENT

Honours for Rail HeroesA welcome host at WarwickParkway station, Sir Peter HendyCBE and Howard Collins wereamong railway staff who receivednew year’s honours.

The Fall and Rise ofBritain’s RailwaysThis year sees the fiftiethanniversary of Richard Beeching’s“The Re-shaping of BritishRailways.’ Colin Garratt ofMilepost 921⁄2 reports.

4 www.railstaff.co.uk

In a comprehensive display ofunity, rail industry leaders haveoutlined strategies to take forward£37 billion worth of investment,stressing a commitment to cutcosts and a determination to worktogether.

Says Jeremy Candfield, director-general, Railway IndustryAssociation, ‘This plan is not moreof the same; it marks a shift to afundamentally different railway.Suppliers are working with the

other industry parties to seek toensure that it is delivered asefficiently and cost-effectively aspossible.’

The plan takes forward deliveryof government transport proposalsoutlined last summer and coveringCP5 - Control Period Five, 2014-19.The plan aims to double capacityfor passengers, attract more freightand make the railway more reliableand customer friendly.

£200m investment in the

Strategic Freight Network willaccommodate expected growth of30% in rail freight tonnage by 2019.Many of the projects are familiar torailway staff.

The plan takes forwardelectrification of over 850 miles ofrailway including the GreatWestern and Midland Main Lines,the Cardiff Valley lines and theGlasgow – Edinburgh route. TheNorthern Hub goes ahead as doesthe East West Railway connectingOxford – Bletchley – Bedford.

Future-proof railwayinfrastructure

The plan also recognises theneed to future-proof railwayinfrastructure against bizarreweather including heat waves, coldsnaps and flooding.

Says David Higgins, Network Railchief executive, ‘One million moretrains run every year than tenyears ago, more passengers arriveon time than ever before, oursafety record is one of the best inEurope and, despite the dailychallenges we face, customersatisfaction is at record levels.

‘Successive governments havemade this possible by lookingbeyond the short term andrecognising the critical importanceof the railway to Britain’s future. Asour railway gets busier thechallenges get bigger and morecomplex.

‘We have entered an era of trade-offs. Increasingly we have tobalance the need to build moreinfrastructure, run trains on timeand cut costs, and in many areaschoices will need to be made.’

Minsters have been encouragedby the Paisley Canal Electrificationproject which saw ScotRail waivingcompensation claims boosting thespeed of the project andsubstantially lowering costs.

Says Tim O’Toole, chairman ofthe Rail Delivery Group, ‘We aremoving forward together as anindustry, which is a significantdevelopment.’

Higgins underscored the value ofworking together. ‘As an industrywe have achieved a huge amountand we are already seeing thebenefit of working more closelytogether with our customers andsuppliers and that must remain atthe heart of everything we do.

‘Our aim is to be a trusted leaderin the industry as we work to builda better railway for a better Britain.’

Rail Plan launched by Industry Leaders

worth of investment,stressing a commitment

to cut costs and adetermination to

work together

£37bn

Launch of TBM Sophia at Plumstead Portal.


NEWS

High Speed Rail is popular with thepublic. That’s the happy new yearmessage from HS1.

Over 25 million domesticpassenger journeys have beenmade on Southeastern’s High SpeedOne services between London andKent since the launch of theservice.

December saw the three yearanniversary of the introduction ofBritain’s first domestic high speedservice. Hard working staff atSoutheastern have achieved someof the best records in punctualityand customer satisfaction inEurope.

Says Charles Horton, managingdirector of Southeastern, ‘Theservice has been an overwhelmingsuccess. In the three years since thelaunch we have extended the

service to more destinations suchas Maidstone West, and toSandwich and Deal with thesupport of Kent County Council,and we’ve boosted the number ofservices in the timetable to meetthe increased demand.’

The service was launched inDecember 2009 and achieved 7.2million passenger journeys in itsfirst year. Journeys grew to around8.2 million in the second year, and itnow transports over 9 millionpeople a year.

Says Nicola Shaw, chief executiveof HS1 Ltd, ‘The world classreliability of High Speed 1infrastructure keeps delays tocustomers down and delivers veryfast journey times from Kent toLondon.’

Punctuality is high and the serviceconsistently scores over 90 percent.The service achieved internationalrecognition last summer during the2012 London Olympics carryingover 2.4 million people to and fromthe Olympic Park at Stratford.

Athletes, officials, VIPs andthousands of members of the pressjoined the millions of spectatorswho left their cars behind to usethe Javelin service during theGames.

Half the fleet of Hitachi 395s arenamed after Britain’s fastestathletes. Southeastern is set tohonour the stars of the London2012 Games and will name theremaining trains after top Olympicand Paralympic Champions asvoted by Southeastern employees.

Fast race for HS1


The official opening of a 1.3kmsection of line near Surrey Quaysin December now means thatpassengers can make use ofLondon’s first orbital railway.

Already dubbed the M25 on rails,the new route allows commutersto make short journeys around thecapital without having to travelinto central London. Orbitaljourneys mean avoiding busystations like Victoria, Waterloo andLondon Bridge.

With four trains in each direction

an hour, some 12.3 millionpassengers are expected to makeuse of the new link. The newsection of track, which cost £75mto install, commences just southwest of Surrey Quays station andlinks the East London line sectionof London Overground withexisting track just north east ofQueens Road in Peckham.

Funding has come from the DfT(£40m), TfL (£15m) and NetworkRail supplying the remaining£20m.

Orbital Link

Paisley pattern for Unified RailwayA railway electrification project inScotland has been hailed as the wayforward for railway co-operation.

ScotRail waived its right todisruption compensation paymentsfrom Network Rail during extensiveengineering works. Bothorganisations worked together tomaximise time engineers hadavailable at evenings, weekends andduring a nine-day closure of the linein mid-October.

A fully electrified service is nowrunning on the Paisley Canal lineafter Network Rail and ScotRailcompleted the £12m upgrade of theroute on time and on budget. Theaward-winning project, which onlystarted last August, has beendelivered in just four months and atless than half of the £28m theupgrade was originally expected tocost.

The electrification of the line is thefirst major project to have beendelivered under a landmark new

alliance between Network Rail,ScotRail and main contractorBabcock Rail, with all organisationsworking closely to save time andmoney.

Says David Simpson, Network Railroute managing director forScotland, ‘The successful on-timecompletion of this schemedemonstrates how, by workingclosely together, the rail industry

can enhance the service it providesthe public while cutting the cost ofprojects. Delivering a project of thissize in just four months is asignificant achievement for allinvolved and one that will have realbenefits for those using the line andthose living alongside it.’

The project involved electrifyingfive miles of the route fromCorkerhill to Paisley Canal station,

as well as rebuilding the platform atHawkhead and lowering sections oftrack along the route to allow thenew overhead power cables to runbeneath bridges on the line.

Significant cost savings were madeon the scheme by using extended‘neutral’ sections when passingunder overhead structures. Thismeant no bridges needed to beraised as part of the works, reducingcosts by millions.

Steve Montgomery, managingdirector of ScotRail, added, ‘PaisleyCanal is the new benchmark forcollaborative railway projects. Weneed this flexibility andcommitment to become the normto ensure that we continue to offerthe best combination of services,facilities and value for money forcustomers.’

“Paisley Canal is thenew benchmark…”STEVE MONTGOMERY,MANAGING DIRECTOR,SCOTRAIL

PROJECT NEWS

The king of Morocco has launched the first tram line in Casablanca.King Mohammed VI joined Alstom staff to wave off the first of 74

Citadis trams. The 20 mile line connects east and southwest districts ofCasablanca with the city centre and has 48 stops.

Citadis trams are 65 metres long in double units and can carry up to606 passengers with a capacity of up to 250,000 passengers per day.Metallic red livery contrasts with the brightness of the city and interiordesigns are in accord with Moroccan style.

Air conditioning, large tinted windows and information displays inArabic and French all guarantee a good trip for passengers. TheCasablanca Citadis trams were manufactured and assembled in Franceat the Reichshoffen factory.

Play it again - tram

© JO

NATHAN W

EBB


The Railway Industry Associationhas appointed David Tonkin aschairman.

Mr Tonkin is the chief executiveof Atkins in the UK. In his role asChairman, Mr Tonkin will lead theRIA Council, which is formed ofsenior representatives of membercompanies and directs theactivities of the association. Hetakes over from Colin Walton,formerly Chairman and ChiefCountry Representative ofBombardier Transportation, UKand Ireland, who has completedhis two-year term as RIAChairman.

David was appointed CEO ofAtkins’ UK business in October

2010. Prior to this he wasmanaging director of thecompany’s rail division. The jobincluded delivering complexsignalling projects on the WestCoast Main Line upgrade, PortTalbot resignalling and the NorthLondon Rail Infrastructure Project,and winning tunnelling designcontracts for Crossrail, as part of ajoint venture with Arup.

A qualified cost andmanagement accountant Davidhas worked in the brewing, leisureand financial services industries aswell as in construction.

A firm supporter of rail he said,‘Governments around the worldcontinue to invest in infrastructureas a means of driving economicgrowth. With its ability to providesafe, reliable, fast and green linksbetween cities and regions, rail

remains a high priority for manyof them. As pioneers of train travel,UK companies can providevaluable skills and experience tosupport the enhancement andgrowth of the railway worldwide.’

Richard George is taking over as managing director ofInterfleet Technology following the retirement ofDavid Rollin after almost 20 years at the helm.

Mr George will take up the position at the end ofFebruary 2013, fresh from his recent role as Director ofTransport at the London Organising Committee of theOlympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG).

Richard George has had a long and distinguishedcareer at a senior level in the transport industry. AsDirector of Transport for LOCOG, the organisers of theLondon Olympics, Mr George was responsible for theplanning and delivery of transport services in supportof the Games. Prior to his LOCOG role he had beenHead of Public Transport for the Olympic DeliveryAuthority.

Before the London Olympics he was a director of thestrategic rail consultancy firm, First Class Partnerships.George spent three years as the High Speed 1 ProjectDirector for Eurostar. Other roles with FCP included:Corporate re-structuring of Eurostar; ‘Operator of LastResort’ at South Eastern Trains when the Connexfranchise was withdrawn by the DfT and an advisoryrole to the DfT on the creation of Network Rail on thedemise of Railtrack.

Richard started work with Freightliner Ltd in 1977and undertook numerous management roles in thepassenger, freight and engineering divisions of BritishRail until becoming the Business Strategy andPlanning Director for InterCity in 1990.

He served on the board of FirstGroup plc and as UKRail Director was Chairman of First Great Western,First Great Eastern and First North Western Trains. AsManaging Director of Great Western trains in 1997 hewas involved in the aftermath of the Southall traincrash and later on the aftermath of the LadbrokeGrove train crash of 1999. At rail privatisation George

led the Management Buyout of the original GreatWestern franchise in 1996.

Career railway man David Rollin took up his positionat Interfleet Technology in 1994, also after a successfulmanagement buy-out of the company from BritishRail in 1996. The company grew from a 99-employeeDerby-based operation to an internationally-operatingindustry leader with more than 20 offices around theworld and over 650 staff.

Richard George to head Interfleet

Andrew Haines has become anon-executive director ofEversholt Rail.

Currently chief executive ofthe Civil Aviation Authority, arole he has held since August2009, Haines previously spent23 years working in the railindustry. A graduate trainee heworked for parliamentaryaffairs at the BR board and roseto become managing director ofSouth West Trains and head ofFirstGroup’s Rail Division.

Says Graham Love, non-executive chairman of EversholtRail, ‘We are looking forward towelcoming Andrew onto theBoard and working with him.His wealth of experience willprovide us with an invaluableinsight in helping to meet theneeds of our customers.’

EversholtRail move

New Chairman for RIA “As pioneers of traintravel, UK companiescan provide valuableskills and experienceto support theenhancement andgrowth of the railwayworldwide…”DAVID TONKINCEO, ATKINS


PEOPLE NEWS

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Thecommercialdirector ofthe hugelysuccessfulStansted

Airport is to join Network Rail’sproperty division.

Jonathan Crick will becommercial director of retail,focusing on boosting retailinvestment at Network Rail’s 17managed stations, includingBritain’s busiest, King’s Cross,Liverpool Street and Waterloo.

The role also overseesadvertising, car parks and othercommercial contracts atstations.

Says Network Rail’s director ofproperty David Biggs, ‘Britainrelies on rail, and commercialrevenue is a vital funding streamfor Network Rail. We are at acrucial phase in delivering ourvision for retail, as we work tocreate ever better environmentsfor passengers and shoppers,transforming stations intodestinations in their own right.

‘Jonathan’s extensivecommercial experience acrossthe travel sector will be a majorasset to our team, helping us toachieve our commercial goalsand deliver even greater valuefor the British people.’

Joining from BAA, Jonathancurrently holds the post ofcommercial director at StanstedAirport, responsible for retail,property and aviation. He waspreviously chief executive ofeasyBus and before that wassales and marketing director,

Monarch Airlines. During the last three years,

Network Rail has generated over£390m of revenue from retailactivity. The total revenueforecast for all property activitiesover a five-year period endingMarch 2014, including businessestate and developments, is£1.3bn.

All profits are reinvestedstraight back into the railway.Network Rail has over 520,000 sqft of high footfall retail space atits 17 managed stations. Retailsales results at these stationshave outperformed the highstreet during much of therecession.

Andrew McNaughton to head Balfour Beatty

Stansted Star joins Network Rail

Andrew McNaughton takes overfrom Ian Tyler as Chief Executive ofBalfour Beatty on 31st March, 2013.

Andrew is currently Deputy ChiefExecutive and Chief OperatingOfficer. He joined Balfour Beatty in1997 and was appointed to theBoard in 2009 as Chief OperatingOfficer. Andrew is a chartered civilengineer and Vice-President of theInstitution of Civil Engineers. Hewas involved with the ChannelTunnel Rail Link, East Kent Sectionand has played a leading role inproject management.

Says Steve Marshall, Chairman,‘Andrew has a deep understandingof our customers and operations,and the relentless drive necessaryto successfully deliver the strategythat he has been intimatelyinvolved in developing.’

Between 1985 and 1997 heworked for the Kier Group, startingout as a site engineer. Andrew waseducated at the Royal HospitalSchool, Ipswich, Suffolk, theUniversity of Nottingham, where

he read civil engineering and theUniversity of Reading, where hetook an MSc in ProjectManagement. He lives in Londonand has two teenage daughters.

‘It has been a privilege to be partof the leadership team at BalfourBeatty for several years only nowsurpassed by the opportunity totake over from Ian as Chief

Executive. ‘We have a strong company and

are in a good position to meet theshort term market challenges andtake advantage of the longer termopportunities. I am lookingforward to building on the solidplatform that we have created andleading us to the next stage ofstrategic growth,’ said Andrew.

Ruth Waring has joined the boardof the Chartered Institute ofLogistics and Transport.

Previously she has worked forExel Logistics, Gefco UK andPearson Education, beforebecoming managing director ofLabyrinth Logistics Consulting.Ruth Waring founded Women inLogistics UK (WiL) which hasgrown exponentially.

Ruth started the organisation in2008 as a group on theprofessional networking LinkedInwebsite. Within three years itsported 2,000 members and washosting educational and industrialnetworking events. Women inLogistics continues to growyearly and now has over 3,000members including 600 men.

Waring is a longstandingmember of CILT. ‘I am honoured tobe joining the Board of the CILT torepresent the interests of womenin the logistics sector,’ says Ruth.

New role forRuth Waring


Join the Rail Alliance nowRail Alliance membership starts

from just £500 per year

log on to www.railalliance.co.ukemail [email protected]

or call 01789 720026.

RAIL ALLIANCE NEWS

2013 and all thatWithout doubt 2012 was aremarkable year for us as anorganisation.

We saw our membership sprintpast the 250 mark and we haveseen more members at our eventsthan ever before; both are trends

that we are confident will continuethrough 2013.

From our membership survey itseems that many feel that we haveat last turned a corner but thatbusiness confidence is still fragile somore work for us all to build on our

strengths. We have an exciting program

going forward into 2013, with plentyof variety and a place for everyone.The highlights are below, but seeour website for the details.

I would like to take this

opportunity to thank the manypeople and organisations who havehelped us throughout the course oflast year and look forward to theircontinued support this coming year.

If 2012 was Great then let’s make2013 Greater! Happy New Year…

Members Networking inc Link-Up31st JanuaryDerby Conference Centre

Members NetworkingFeb TBCGlasgow TBC

Members NetworkingMarch TBCSouth East/Midlands TBC

Rail Allianceevents

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Terram and Hydrotex are registered trademarks of Fiberweb Geosynthetics Ltd

New legislation now in forcemakes it harder for rogue tradersto deal in stolen scrap metal,including cabling.

All cash transactions for metal atrecycling yards will be outlawedremoving the ‘cash-in-hand, noquestions asked’ culture which haspersisted in the trade. The LegalAid, Sentencing and Punishment ofOffenders (LASPO) Act closesloopholes which have allowedcriminals across the country tomake money from the theft ofmetal.

Changes to the Act mean theupper limit of fines has beenremoved for those scrap metalrecyclers which are found to breakthe law or breach the conditions oftheir licenses. The new legislationfollows a year of relative successfor police hard on the heels ofmetal thieves.

Says British Transport PoliceDeputy Chief Constable PaulCrowther, ‘Despite recentreductions in offending, metaltheft remains a serious threat tothe infrastructure of Great Britainand we will only make a realdifference if we continue to takepositive action in conjunction withstrengthened legislation.

‘For several years metal thieves

and unscrupulous metal recyclershave exploited outdated legislationto make profit from criminalactivity. This stops now. Changes tothe LASPO Act have outlawed allcash transactions at metalrecycling yards across England andWales and there has been asignificant increase in fines forthose dealers who fail to abide bythe rules.’


Aerial pictures released by Crossrail showprogress made on the major new railway beingcreated across London.

The aerial images show progress and hugetransformation at Crossrail sites in central andsoutheast London. New stations are underconstruction at Paddington, Bond Street,Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, LiverpoolStreet, Whitechapel and Canary Wharf.

Tunnelling sites are well advanced on eitherside of the capital. Four huge tunnellingmachines, Ada and Phyllis in the west, andElizabeth and Victoria in the east, werelaunched in 2012. Over two miles of tunnel havebeen constructed to-date.

Huge excavation worksWork continues on the new 1,500 acre nature

reserve at Wallasea Island in Essex. Hugeexcavation works are creating a 25 metre-deepstation box at Woolwich. The new facility at OldOak Common is producing 75,000 concretetunnel segments to line Crossrail’s westerntunnels. The 135 year old Connaught Tunnel insoutheast London is being refurbished for useby Crossrail.

The Crossrail project will move into peak

construction mode between now and 2015.Sophia, Crossrail’s fifth tunnelling machine,starts work this month followed by a sixthtunnelling machine, Mary, this summer. Bothmachines will tunnel from Plumstead.

Says Andrew Wolstenholme, Crossrail’s ChiefExecutive, ‘These striking new aerial imagesprovide a glimpse of how Crossrail istransforming the London landscape with world-class new stations and transport links. Frommajor new developments in central London to arange of transport improvements across thesoutheast, this unique bird’s eye view showshow Crossrail is taking shape.

Over 20 million hours have now been workedon the project and 2013 will see furtherimportant milestones including the completionof our first tunnels, further progress toconstruct the new central London stations andupgrades to the existing rail network.’

Hitachi Europe has acquired theRailway Engineering Company Ltdfrom James Fisher and Sons plc.

TRE supplies train simulators andautomatic routing systems. Themove will strengthen Hitachi’spresence in the European TrafficManagement Railway (TMS) sector.Hitachi Rail has over 30 years’experience in this market, fromhigh-density commuter networksto very high speed.

Hitachi’s railway arm in Europe,Hitachi Rail Europe Ltd. earlier thisyear was one of the threecompanies to be awarded a contractto provide a TMS prototype toNetwork Rail.

Says Kiyoshi Yamamoto, ManagingDirector of Hitachi Europe Ltd. ‘Weare delighted to be announcing thisnew acquisition, in line with ourplans to build a greater presence forHitachi in the EuropeanInfrastructure Systems Business,including the rail industry.’

Hitachiacquisition

Aerial proof for Crossrail

Heavy metallegislation

“These striking new aerialimages provide a glimpse ofhow Crossrail is transformingthe London landscape…”


NEWS

A group of cyclists from Network RailInfrastructure Projects’ SupplierEngagement/Assurance Team donned cyclingshorts, wigs and comedy moustaches tocomplete an 80-mile bike ride in aid of Action forChildren last month.

Cyclists Neill Carruthers, Leigh Dawkins,Graham Trueman, Kishan Savjani and AllanTillman rode from London Euston to NetworkRail’s new headquarters in Milton Keynes toraise money for the charity. The team raised£542.92 on the day, which topped up the£20,800 already raised by the Finance andCommercial team.

Fundraising to date has included climbingMount Elbrus, sailing across the Atlantic andkayaking up a river dressed as Batman and

Robin. Throughout the gruelling ride fromEuston to Quadrant MK the team weresupported by Gillian Scott, Sary Parmar, KatieFerrier, Rosemary Pinnock and Dave McLoughlinwho were on hand with drinks, collectionbuckets and spare tyres.

Supporting the challenge, Simon Lubacz, fromGore Products for Workwear Associate said, ‘Actionfor Children is a vital charity which does suchamazing work in the UK to support vulnerable andneglected children and young people.’

Simon helped by supplying the team withsnug waterproof Gore Bike Wear kit. With threemonths left to go and just £8,601 short of theirtarget, there’s till time to make a donation byclicking on www.justgiving.com/FCKids

Riders raise

Passenger numbershave grown by 92%since privatisationtestifying thatfranchising workswell on balance…

Drive and leadership at the mostsenior level will be needed tostrengthen the DfT and deliver thenext round of passenger railwayfranchising.

In his report on franchising,commissioned by Secretary ofState for Transport, PatrickMcLoughlin, Richard Brown alsorecommends more localinvolvement and a simplifiedstructure for evaluating franchiseproposals.

Reporting in the wake of theWest Coast fiasco Brown arguesthere is no credible case for majorstructural change of the currentfranchising system. Passengernumbers have grown by 92% sinceprivatisation testifying thatfranchising works well on balance.

However, Brown advisesstrengthening the DfT so that itcan manage future franchisingawards effectively. This could

mean bringing in more railplanning specialists and localrailway managers to addressindividual rail operations.

‘The franchising system is notbroken, but rather it has made amajor contribution to Britain’sincreasingly successful railnetwork. It is therefore essentialfor both passengers and the wider

rail market that the franchisingprogramme is restarted as soon aspossible,’ says Richard.

Plans for three franchises, EssexThameside, Great Western andThameslink, (which will becombined with Southern andGreat Northern) will be announcedin February. Virgin continues tooperate West Coast.

Leadershipneeded

© JO

NATHAN W

EBB


This year sees the fiftiethanniversary of Richard Beeching’s‘The Re-Shaping of BritishRailways’.

2013 also sees the thirtiethanniversary of the Serpell Report.These two events mirrored thetempestuous undertones ofrailway policy in the yearsfollowing World War Two.

In this eight part series ColinGarratt, of Milepost 92½, outlinesthe turbulent events which led upto the privatisation of British Railin 1993, concluding with ananalysis of the current situationand where it might be heading.

Part 1: A Rough War The mid 1930s saw Britain’s

railways at their zenith, operatingat a high level of efficiency. Safety,comfort, punctuality and speedwere self imposed commitmentsof all true railwaymen. Thenetwork was dense and embracedeverywhere that was anywhere.Closures were almost unheard ofand unimagined.

The last main line to London, theGreat Central, which had beenbuilt some thirty five years earlierwas engineered to the continentalloading gauge and it had beenintended to link the industrialcities of northern Britain withthose of the continent by means ofthe Great Central and ChannelTunnel on which work had begunas far back as the 1870s.

Romantic and ExcitingIn the 1930s railways were a

widespread source of fascinationand were considered to be bothromantic and exciting. The LNERA4 Pacifics and the LMS PrincessCoronations were the Concordes oftheir day and worked prestigious

Anglo Scottish trains like the SilverJubilee and the Coronation Scot.

Thousands of people would flockto the trackside to see thesemagnificent trains pass at speed.In 1932 one of the LMS’s PrincessRoyal Pacifics ran the 401 milesnon-stop from Glasgow to LondonEuston in 5 hours 44 minutes, anaverage start to stop speed of 70mph.

The LMS alone had 67 dailytrains scheduled to run at speedsabove 60 mph in 1938 whilst theGreat Western proclaimed itsCheltenham Flyer to be ‘TheFastest Train in the World’ and onone occasion this express, headedby a Castle Class 4-6-0, ran the 77miles from London Paddington toSwindon in 56½ minutes, anaverage start to stop speed of 90mph.

The most intricate railwaynetwork in the world

Despite increasing competitionfrom road transport, the 1930s sawthe railway still carrying a vastdiversity of freight and the BigFour companies, London Midland& Scottish, London & NorthEastern, Great Western andSouthern, all operated at a profit.

The system was impeccablymaintained. It was the mostintricate railway network in theworld - a fact of enormousstrategic importance in the warthat was to come. To be arailwayman was a source of greatpersonal pride. The railway wasabsolute; if the railway stopped,Britain stopped.

The advent of World War Twoplunged the railway into deepcrisis. Never again would it assumeits rightful supremacy as thenation’s lifeline. The inevitability of

war saw the government takecontrol of the railway onSeptember 1st 1939.

Inevitably the network wouldbecome a constant target forGerman bombers and locationssuch as railway works, runningsheds, major stations andmarshalling yards were allsubjected to relentless bombing bya ruthless enemy, as the Germansattempted to smash the railwayinto inoperability and with it thenation’s morale.

Air attacks on importantinstallations such as railwaysinvariably wreaked a litany ofproblems as, apart from thesevering of operations, came therisk of fire, which frequentlyspread to neighbouring buildings.Hundreds of tonnes of masonrycould be left hanging in extremelyhazardous conditions and notinfrequently with people trappedbeneath it.

THE FALL AND RISE OFBRITAIN’S RAILWAYSPart 1: A Rough War

Blitz on an LMS marshalling yard near Willesden, Septembe

Colin Garratt reports

Photographs supplied by Milepost 921⁄2


FEATURE

Damage to installations likeelectricity, gas and water allbrought their special problems,invariably requiring specialistengineers who were in constantdemand 24 hours a day.

A Leicester knitwearmanufacturer, who got through toLondon St Pancras - having stoodon a heavily laden train whichcrawled all the way - proceeded tosee five clients in the city. Shefound only one of them in anundamaged building. The otherfour had all disappeared in an airattack earlier that week.

Unprecedented demandsWorld War Two was to kill forty

five million people, the sheerhorror of which was causedprimarily by one man. The six yearwar put unprecedented demandson Britain’s railway network andby the end of hostilities in 1945,the railway was physically and

mentally worn out. It had been the willing

workhorse of both the civilianpopulation and the allied forcesand the adversities faced werelegion, not least the loss of themajor workshops, which weregiven over to the building ofmunitions.

Railway works the length andbreadth of the country were largelyengaged in manufacturingarmaments and militaryequipment: tank manufacture atCrewe; guns and gun mountings atDoncaster; shells, bridges andlanding craft at Eastleigh andSwindon and aircraft wings atWolverton.

Repairs to aircraft were alsocarried out in railway workshops.In addition, the railway had tocede 110,000 staff for militaryservice and whilst outside peoplewere brought in to help relieve thedeficiency, including many

women, they were inexperienced;a railwayman is not made in a day.

The demands on the systemwere hard to imagine in today’scontext. Many factories went ontwenty four hour, seven days a

week operation. Raw materials hadto be delivered to the places ofmanufacture and finishedproducts taken out and delivered.

A centralised wagon controlcentre was established to co-

r 1940.

The blitz on London. William Barlow’s arch at St

Pancras received a direct hit from the Luftwaffe.


ordinate the availability of one anda half million wagons. The WarOffice had stores throughout thecountry necessitating movementsfrom the factory to depots anddepots to ports.

Hell on earthThe Black Out, which was strictly

enforced, created a hell on earth.One errant fire glow from alocomotive could release a hail ofbombs from Hitler’s Luftwaffe,causing untold damage.

In addition, the war years werecharacterised by some of theworst weather conditions of thecentury with frosts and heavysnow for three consecutiveseasons. Lines were blocked whilsteverything that could freeze froze- points, the brake gear on freightwagons, signal wires snapped,locomotive injectors iced up andgrease in the axles of wagonssolidified.

In the early days of the conflict,evacuation specials took vast

numbers of children from cities tosafe residences in the countrysideand in 1939, half a million schoolchildren were evacuated in fourdays. Ambulance trains ranthroughout the nation and trooptrains, each averaging up to fivehundred personnel, were acommon sight. During theevacuation of Dunkirk over300,000 military personnel werecarried by rail.

A gentler manifestation of warwas the ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign

whereupon many railwayembankments were turned intoallotments to help with the everpresent risk of food shortages asthe Nazis had a plan to starveBritain into submission.

Infrastructure and rolling stockbecame increasingly run down, asdid the locomotives, but thesteam locomotive is a simplerobust machine of ruggedconstruction, characteristicswhich enabled it to takeinordinate punishment withoutactually breaking down.

‘The engines which wonthe war’

The phenomenal loads carriedby such types as Gresley’s V2s onthe LNER and Stanier’s Black 5s onthe LMS gave rise to theselocomotives being known as ‘theengines which won the war’, anappropriate description, especiallywhen one considers the manysituations when locomotives weremore important than guns. It willever be remembered that virtuallyall of Britain’s wartime railwaywas powered by steam.

And the railway fought back.Fully manned emergencypermanent way trains werestabled at strategic junctionsthroughout the country ready, byday and night to repair bomb

1939; half a million schoolchildren evacuated in four days.

Tanks loaded on Warwells.


FEATURE

damage. Accident wreckage, whichtoday might take three days ormore to repair, would often becleared in a matter of hours withlittle more shortcoming than aspeed restriction.

Throughout the agony of the waryears, Britons had one constantthought, D Day, to get back oncemore across the channel and ridEurope of the Nazi menace. Andwhen that day finally arrived trainload after train load of equipment,supplies and men were takenfrom all over Britain to the easternports from which this unparalleledoperation would begin.

As George Nash wrote in hismagnificent book ‘The LMS atWar’; “What about the movementof equipment, munitions, armourand food for the fighting men?

There was porridge for hisbreakfast, shells for his guns andboots for his feet - beer tobulldozers, pencils to purgatives,saucepans to cement, togetherwith special equipment for serviceanywhere from the Arctic Circle tothe tropical jungles or from thenear stratosphere to the depths ofthe sea.”

So far as the railways wereconcerned these had to be drawnto or from the ports and also fromplace to place within the countryto keep Britain’s mighty militarymachine in operation. As WinstonChurchill proudly proclaimed,“This was their finest hour”.

Part 2: State Ownership andReparations will follow in afuture issue.

“In the early days ofthe conflict,evacuation specialstook vast numbers ofchildren from cities tosafe residences in thecountryside and in1939, half a millionschool children wereevacuated in fourdays…”

The needs of a country at war brought

an immense increase in freight traffic.

The Great Western’s iconic Cheltenham Flyer

approaches Paddington proudly bearing the

headboard ‘The World’s Fastest Train’.

LMS streamlined Princess Coronation Class 4-6-2 No.6220

‘Coronation’ at Euston with the Coronation Scot in 1937.


NEWS

A welcome host at WarwickParkway station, the man whodesigned the InterCity 125 nosecone and a legendary railmanager in the west country wereamong railway staff who receivednew year’s honours.

In London, TransportCommissioner Sir Peter Hendy CBE(pictured right), received aknighthood for services totransport. London Underground’sChief Operating Officer, HowardCollins received an OBE for servicesto the London 2012 Games.

Boris Johnson, Mayor of Londonsaid, ‘Congratulations too toHoward Collins for his OBE and(bus controller) Nana Nyarko forhis MBE. I am sure Sir Peter will bethe first to join me in payingtribute to them and to thethousands of London’s transport

workers, whose hard work everyday is also recognised throughthese honours.’

Judith Biggs has been awarded aBEM, British Empire Medal, for herservices to railway passengers atWarwick Parkway station. SaysJudith, ‘This is something I willnever forget. I never imagined Iwould ever get this kind of award. Ijust never expected it. I love myjob and talking to the passengers,they are like my extended family.’

First Great Western’s regionalmanager Julian Crow, received theMBE. Says Mr Crow, 61, ‘It is alovely thing to happen towards theend of a long career. My wife isthrilled and deserves at least halfof it. Having spent so long in therail industry you just keep yourhead down and get on with it.’

Julian Crow joined British Rail asa trainee and rose through theranks. Under his stewardshippassenger numbers have soaredon branch lines in the south west.

Kenneth Grange, 83, (pictured left)who designed the nose cone of theBritish Rail InterCity 125 highspeed train, received a knighthood.He described himself as chuffed tobits and says he has always been a

monarchist and a fan of PrincePhilip.

British Rail’s former generalmanager of the Eastern Regionbased in York, Frank Paterson, 82,has been made an MBE forservices to museums. Mr Patersonhas chaired the Friends of theNational Railway Museum for tenyears and until earlier this yearhad been on the museum’sadvisory board since 1978.

Les Hoey, 51, (pictured above &right) who works for Network Railin Motherwell, was awarded theMBE for his phenomenal efforts atcharity fund raising. Over the last20 years Mr Hoey has helpedhundreds of children with lifethreatening illnesses.

It all started when his daughterShelley, aged 12, was diagnosedwith acute lymphoblasticleukaemia in 1992. Realising thedepth of the problems childrenand parents faced, Les set aboutraising tickets and funds forconcerts, shows, football matchesand pantomimes. Examples of hiswork are legendary.

Colin McLaren, as a very ill 14year old, was terrified at the

prospect of undergoing atransplant. Colin was surprised toreceive a telephone call just beforethe op. On the line was Les andthe Scotland football team, whohad joined together and calledColin up to wish him well.

Les Hoey said, ‘This is asignificant award and I am veryappreciative. But as I have saidmany times before, the reason I dothis is to put a smile on children’sfaces. That is reward enough forme.’

Les Hoey’s daughter, Shelley,survived her illness and is now afit healthy 32 year old working as acare assistant.

Honours forRail Heroes

“This is a significantaward and I am veryappreciative. But as Ihave said many timesbefore, the reason I dothis is to put a smileon children’s faces…”LES HOEY,NETWORK RAIL


Old apprentices mixed with newat the first ever SoutheasternPassenger Service ApprenticeshipScheme graduation at St PancrasInternational Station recently.

The graduates, the first cohortfrom Southeastern’s newprogram have now completed aNational Vocational Qualification(NVQ) level 2 in customerservices. All have been offeredfull time permanent jobs. Theceremony offered the secondintake of apprentices theopportunity to hear first-handabout a career on the railwaysand meet with senior executivesof Southeastern.

Says Southeastern’s managingdirector, Charles Horton,‘Although we have a solid historyof recruiting engineeringapprentices, this is the first timewe’ve run a scheme that’sfocused on customer facing roles.It’s been a great success and theenthusiasm these young people

have shown has been infectious. ‘In the past 12 months we’ve

watched them become moreconfident and mature into youngprofessionals. We’re proud tohelp these young people gainqualified skills and findemployment here atSoutheastern. These apprenticeshave covered all aspects of therailway as part of their trainingand they’re now prepared for alifelong career. We now welcomethe second tranche of 10 newapprentices and look forward tohaving them onboard.’

The year long programme seesapprentices working on gates andplatforms as well as in ticketoffices. The scheme leads to aNational Vocational Qualification(NVQ) level 2 in customerservices. Aged between 16 and 19each apprentice will be pairedwith a station manager andallocated to a specific region ofthe network.

Ring in the newWest of Scotland MSP, StewartMaxwell, has praised ScotRail’smodern apprenticeship schemeafter a visit to the train operator’sTraining Academy.

Education secretary, StewartMaxwell, met graduates ofScotRail’s Modern Apprenticeshipsin the Customer Service schemeincluding Gabby Di Marco andMichael McElhinney, both aged 20.The duo, from Paisley and Linwoodrespectively, are among the secondgroup of 16 to 23-year-olds to joinScotRail’s 18-month programme.

Says Mr Maxwell, ‘It was apleasure to meet Gabby, Michaeland their fellow apprentices and tohear all about this excellent youthskills programme. The ScottishGovernment is working hard tocombat youth unemployment andimprove opportunities for youngpeople through record investmentin apprenticeships and training.

‘ScotRail has recruited amotivated group of young people

who are being offered a valuableopportunity to improve their skillsand employability.’

Gabby Di Marco recommends thescheme. ‘Doing this apprenticeshipis giving me a great opportunity toget on-the-job customer serviceexperience. I’m really enjoying it.The programme is very diverseand includes everything fromhelping customers at stations andon trains to entering the Duke ofEdinburgh’s Gold Award andmeeting MSPs,’ said Gabby.

Hogmanay hurrah

Rachie-Ann Owen is preparing tostart training as a driver with FirstTransPennine Express.

It’s a dream come true for theone time guard on the SnowdonMountain Railway. Says ChrisNutton, FTPE Programme Director,‘I am absolutely delighted thatRachie-Ann is joining us inFebruary. She is not only fulfilling apersonal ambition but she is goingto be part of a fantastic projectthat will see more capacity andbetter journey choices forcustomers across our network.

Rachie-Ann is a young talentedlady who has excelled in ourrecruitment process. Herenthusiasm to succeed isinfectious and I know she willdeliver great service every day. Shewill be a real asset and I lookforward to travelling with herwhen she completes her training.’

Thought to be one of theyoungest women drivers on themetals, Rachie-Ann Owenattracted national media coverage

after being interviewed on localradio. Rachie-Ann first worked inthe rail industry at just 16 whenshe carried out work experience inthe ticket office at Bangor Station.

Says Rachie-Ann, ‘I’ve lovedtrains ever since I was 10 or 11 andalways knew I wanted to work inthe rail industry. When I workedon the Snowdon Mountain I wasdedicated to one of the Garratt

engines called 87, everyone knewme as Rachie7 so in the end Ichanged my name from Rachel toRachie to suit…

A dream come trueTo work as a train driver for First

TransPennine Express is a dreamcome true for me. The Class 185sare beautiful looking trains. I’mexcited to start my training. To beone of the youngest female traindrivers is amazing and my familyand friends are all really proud.

Since working on the Welsh

Highland Railway, four women havenow joined the team as rail guards.I’d like to think that this role provesyou can do anything you want todo, if you put your mind to it.’

Rachie-Ann will be trained todrive the Class 185 and Class 170trains, joining the FTPE team toserve 25m passengers a year.

Based at Manchester Piccadilly,she will be trained on all FTPEroutes, visiting key destinationsincluding Liverpool, Leeds,Sheffield, Scunthorpe, Cumbriainto Scotland.

Youngest Trainee Driver

“ScotRail hasrecruited a motivatedgroup of youngpeople who are beingoffered a valuableopportunity toimprove their skillsand employability…”

© M

ATT BU

CK

Although the European Rail TrafficManagement System (ERTMS) willrevolutionise railways it posesdemanding training challenges forthe industry.

Already training specialists arepreparing for the job ahead.ERTMS is a tried and testedsignalling system which willreplace traditional line-siderailway signals with a computerdisplay inside the driver’s cab.

Advantages include reducingcosts of maintaining the railway,improving performance and

enhancing safety and capacity.ERTMS will impact on almostevery role from drivers, to track-side workers, train controllers andsignallers.

Great Western main lineLast April, suppliers started

progressing their designs of ERTMSLevel 2 signalling systems. These

will be demonstrated on NetworkRail’s new testing facility on theHertford loop with contracts forthe delivery of the programmescheduled to be awarded in 2014.

The first drive to install ERTMSwill take place on the GreatWestern main line starting in 2016as part of the large-scaleresignalling of the line, coinciding

with the arrival of new trains andelectrification between LondonPaddington and Heathrow Airport,Oxford, Newbury and Bristol. TheEast Coast main line (commencing2018) and Midland main line(commencing 2020) are scheduledto follow soon after.

Meanwhile the National SkillsAcademy for Rail Engineering(NSARE) and Network Rail arescoping out the scheme’s impactand the range and volume offuture skills needed to support theroll-out of ERTMS.

Training staff for the changeoverwill demand huge resources.However, the Railway TechnicalStrategy (RTS) recognises theimportance of resourcing the newtechnology. Network Rail andATOC are working with RSSB andthe rest of the industry as a wholeto make sure it is understood, safeand sustainable.


TRAINING... sponsored by Vital Skills Training

Helping our clients get from...Track OLE &

IsolationsSignalling & Telecoms

Building and Civils

Recruitment

BA

Web. www.vital-rail.com Email. [email protected] Tel. 0845 894 9020 Fax. 0845 894 9699

A partnership between Vital Railand Transport for London (TfL)has led to the creation of morethan one hundredapprenticeships for 16 to 18 yearolds across Greater London.

More than 100 teenagers,including eight former offenders,have been recruited to take anapprenticeship in railwayengineering. Following 12 monthstraining and hands-on experiencethe first 65 apprentices are nowset to begin new careers in therail industry after completingtheir qualifications.

The apprenticeship initiative,backed by the Mayor of London,Boris Johnson, was set up inresponse to unemploymentamong the young. In London onein four young people aged 16 to

24 is out of work.With responsibility for most of

London’s transport network, TfLand its supply chain has providedvaluable work placements for theapprentices, including thepopular project to maintain theEpping Ongar Railway heritageline.

A number of apprentices havealready completed theirqualifications and have moved onto a range of rail businessprojects with Network Rail andLondon Underground.

Says Gary Hardaker, managingdirector of Vital Rail, part ofKennington Park-based VitalServices Group, ‘Young people arethe future of the rail industry andwe’re delighted to have providedopportunities for such a keen

group ofyoungpeople.

‘Transportfor Londonhas been afantasticpartner andwe’re sopleased to seeour apprenticesat the end of theirfirst year. They havegained some valuableknowledge and experienceand made some excellentfoundations in what can be a longand rewarding career.’

Says Yasin Ali, an apprenticefrom Newham, ‘I started myapprenticeship with Vital inJanuary and am really enjoying it.

I’mlearning

lots of newthings and have

made some good friends. It’s beengreat to develop new skills andput them into practice on anactual railway and I can’t wait tosee what else the course has gotin store.’

New Year start for apprentices

Unity Vitalfor ERTMStraining

Lawrence Dobie,

Education and Training Director,

Vital Skills Training.

Lawrence Dobie reports


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News addict? Keep up to date at:

Derby debut

Northern Rail celebrated its eighth birthday inDecember by launching its latest customer-empowerment tool, a free app for the iPhone.

The app, free to download, allows passengers toplan any journey in Great Britain, check live runningtime information and will save details of up to 20previous journeys, making it quick and easy forpassengers to find the information most relevant tothem.

Customers can also purchase tickets through theapp, which automatically finds the cheapestavailable tickets for any journey across the country.Customers can collect their tickets from over 1,000stations 15 minutes after purchase, with no hiddencharges, such as booking or credit card fees.

Says Ian Bevan, Managing Director of NorthernRail, ‘More and more of our customers are usingsmart phones and we are delighted to launch thisapp, providing them with the most relevant and up-to-date information at their fingertips. It’s our

eighth birthday and we have achieved much to beproud of since 2004. This app is another example ofhow we are striving to improve our passengers’journey experience with us.’

Appy appy Birthday

The first vehicle of Southern’s 26five-car class 377/6s has beencompleted at Bombardier’s Derbyworks.

Static testing of the first traincommences in February. Thecompleted unit is expected toleave Derby late spring withtesting on the mainline takingplace in Kent. Their introductioninto passenger service will allowclass 456s to be cascaded to SouthWest Trains after they havereceived a C6 overhaul.

All of the 130 vehicles areexpected to enter traffic in time forthe December 2013 timetablechange. On 14 November Southernannounced that it was exercising

the option, which was due toexpire on 31 December, to order 40more ( 8 five-car sets ) Electrostarvehicles from Bombardier. Thesewill be delivered in 2014 and,unlike the 377/6, will be dualvoltage.

The new suburban 377/6s wereordered because the 23 377/5s, andthree of its own 377/2s, currentlysublet to First Capital Connect arenot due to be returned toSouthern before 2015 as originallyplanned. This is as a result in

delays in procuring the newThameslink stock. All of the 34new units are being funded byPorterbrook. The contract for thefirst 26 trains is worth £188.8million and for the other eightaround £34 million.

Staff at Newton Heath depothave been praised for theirefforts to smarten up NorthernRail’s fleet of 156s.

The refurbished cars featurenew flooring and upholsterywith better lighting. NewtonHeath can refit two carriages inthree weeks. Work includes newcarpets and toilets. The DMUsuper sprinters were built in thelate 1980s by Metro-Cammell atWashwood Heath. NorthernRail operate 18 Class 156s,owned by Porterbrook.

Just Super!

To celebrate their eighth birthday Northern Rail

gave away free smartphone gloves to customers.

© JO

NATHAN W

EBB


ROLLING STOCK

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Keep up to date at:

A Helensburgh man has realisedhis boyhood dream of driving atrain, at the age of 86.

Albert McLean’s daughter set upthe trip, at ScotRail’s train cabsimulator centre underneathGlasgow Central Station. Thesimulators are detailed andrealistic showing scenarios rangingfrom a blizzard in winter to a trainrounding a bend where a potentialproblem could lie ahead.

Under the guidance of simulatorcentre staff, Albert took control ofa Class 170 diesel train, often seenon the Glasgow Queen Street-

Edinburgh Waverley route. Theformer coalman, originally fromGarelochhead, would make a greatdriver.

‘Albert was brilliant. He pickedeverything up really quickly andhad no problem handling all thescenarios we gave him. He drovethrough fog, snow and rain, morethan most drivers have to handlein a single day,’ said MalcolmCook, the simulator centremanager. ‘We were delighted tohelp in making his boyhood dream

come true.’Shirley, Albert’s youngest

daughter, said, ‘I never expectedthe staff at ScotRail to go out oftheir way so much to give my dadthis experience. He helps care formy mum and I try to arrangesome unusual days out to give hima break. This was perfect.

‘I would like to say a huge thankyou to Malcolm and the other staff

at the simulator for helping to setthe visit up and for being sowelcoming on the day.’

Albert McLean still works parttime for an estate agent. He said, ‘Ihad a wonderful day. I can’t believehow realistic it was. I’ve alwayswanted to drive a train or ride inthe driver’s cab and I can imagineit was as close to driving the realthing as I could get.’

Cab drivefor Albert

Passengers on a London-boundEast Coast train were treated to animpromptu concert by the MilitaryWives Choir.

The choir, which shot to numberone with their single “WhereverYou Are” and were among the mostpopular performers at the London2012 Olympic Games, weretravelling to London for anappearance on today’s ITV1 ThisMorning programme in December.

They decided to serenadepassengers as a thank you to stafffor the good customer service theyreceived during the journey.Members of the choir gathered inthe aisle of a First Class carriage onthe Edinburgh to London train andperformed a selection of favourites,including In The Bleak Midwinterand Hallelujah. The choir saidafterwards, ‘It’s fabulous, we really

enjoyed ourselves and the staff onthe train were fantastic.’

Says East Coast spokesman JohnGelson, ‘We’re delighted that theMilitary Wives enjoyed theirjourney with us and chose tothank our staff with thiswonderful impromptuperformance. Staff and passengersalike thoroughly enjoyed themusic and there was a really greatfestive atmosphere on the train asit headed for London.’

Military wivesserenade train staff

Top performer, c2c, has beennamed again as the mostpunctual train company in Britainover the past year.

Results show that over the pastyear 97.3% of c2c trains were ontime. This is well ahead of thenational average of 91.5%. Almostas good as Swiss Railways

managed, 96.6%. Says c2c managing director, Julian

Drury, ‘We’re delighted to benamed as the rail industry’sChristmas number one and tocomplete our year of success. We’renow looking ahead to 2013, wherewe want to make sure more of ourtrains are on time than ever before.’

Swiss role for c2c

“We’re delighted thatthe Military Wivesenjoyed their journeywith us…”JOHN GELSON,EAST COAST SPOKESMAN

“I had a wonderful day. I can’t believe howrealistic it was. I’ve always wanted to drive atrain or ride in the driver’s cab and I canimagine it was as close to driving the real thingas I could get…”ALBERT MCLEAN


Wha

t do

they do

Set up in the wake of theMcNulty report, the Rail DeliveryGroup (RDG) was tasked withanalysing the 77-page documentand working out how therecommendations could beapplied to save the industrymoney whilst delivering a betterservice for passengers.

Sir Roy McNulty’s thoughts arejust the start for a group that islooking to establish itself as oneof the industry’s major drivingforces. According to the group’schairman, Tim O’Toole, the RDGwas formed to fill the leadershipvacuum which had been exposedby McNulty.

‘There was no forum for puttingtogether all of the issues suchthat the government could feel itcould turn to someone and getanswers,’ says O’Toole

On January 4, the TransportCommittee published its Rail 2020report in response to The RailValue for Money Study. In it, thecommittee singled out the RDG asthe body to spearhead theintroduction of new ticketingtechnology and improve retailfacilities for passengers on thenetwork.

2013 looks set to be a big yearfor the RDG, with theformalisation of the group andthe government’s Brown reviewinto franchising all due todominate the agenda at the startof the year.

Fixing franchisingThe RDG brings together

industry leaders on a voluntarybasis, with members includingNetwork Rail, FirstGroup, Virgin,Arriva, Freightliner and NationalExpress.

Meetings have so far looked atasset, programme and supplychain management, technologyand innovation, passengerinformation, and train utilisation.Members have also sought tohelp with franchise reform.

Franchising is high on thegroup’s agenda, with the WestCoast Main Line fiasco generating

countless column inches ofuncomfortable reading for theDfT.

The need for smarter franchises,however, was championed by thegroup back in November 2011 -almost a year before the WestCoast competition was cancelled.The RDG had recommended theintroduction of longer franchises,where the risk is shared fairlybetween the DfT and theoperator.

As the chief executive ofFirstGroup, O’Toole knows betterthan most the impact a mistakein the franchise letting process

The Rail Delivery Group‘Realising the Potential of GB Rail’

Marc Johnson reports on the Rail Delivery Group

Continuing our series looking at people and organisationsin the rail industry, RailStaff asks the question:What do they do?

?

Tim O’Toole,

Chairman of the Rail Delivery Group.

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FEATURE

can have on a business. O’Toolebelieves his desire to see areformed system is no greaterthan anyone else’s in theindustry.

‘We as a group have cometogether and given Richard Brownour views as to what should bedone in franchising. We will hearhis report and then we as RDGwill make a decision.’

Words into actionSome of the RDG’s most

successful work so far has comefrom its asset, programme andsupply-chain managementworking group, particularly in thearea of access management.

The RDG found that a switch tosix-and-a-half hour accessperiods during the weekdays wasa more efficient way ofmaintaining the network.

Says O’Toole, ‘It was eyeopening. Though Network Railhas done a lot of work on accessplanning, it didn’t have the TOCsin there putting the revenue sidein. Never before had progressbeen made so quickly.’

Life after McNultyFormalisation will ensure the

RDG continues its work even ifthe current voluntary systembreaks down.

Stakeholders have beencanvassed and within the comingmonths the group’s future islikely to be secured.

The ORR, however, is keen topoint out exactly how the processof becoming a company limitedby guarantee will impact on whatthe group does and the powers ithas to do it.

Formalising won’t give the RDGany additional authority, but byensuring the forum continues tooperate it will derive power from

the industry executives whomake up the organisation’sworking groups.

The group’s funding will also besecured. Network Rail will fundthe RDG until the end of CP4 atwhich point members will coverthe costs.

Says O’Toole, ‘We seem to havea greater purpose. It will havethis ongoing life and not justdepend on us doing right-minded things for a short periodof time.’

“We as a group havecome together andgiven Richard Brownour views as to whatshould be done infranchising.”TIM O’TOOLE,CHAIRMAN,RAIL DELIVERY GROUP

© ELLIOT BRO

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NEW YEAR RESOLUTION?Personal committed management and supervisionand timely safety briefings following accidentsBring ORR and RAIB together to stop the delays

My favourite definition ofmanagement is a simple one-“getting things done throughpeople”. If done successfully thestaff working for you enjoy whatthey are doing, the team spirit andmorale of the group becomes highand they feel committed to givingof their best and doing a good job.

My New Year resolution is to dowhat little I can to suggest that therail industry changes its focus ontoimproving safety by valuing andtrusting skilled staff more than wedo. All too often the industry strivesto achieve zero accidents byimproving equipment, training etc.and issuing more and moreinstructions - generally to little avail!

If the investment being made inimproving hardware was insteadchannelled into better linemanagement the results wouldsurprise many. I know because Ibegan as a cynic and lived throughthe British Rail Board’s track safetycampaign that resulted decadesago in well over a year without asingle fatality.

Why we have “Human Factors”specialists

The generation of greaterenthusiasm and commitment to

safety has to become our toppriority this year. Traditionallyrailways were led by operators andengineers. But before thedevelopment of specialistmachinery the management andskills of large workforces wereeven more essential than they aretoday.

Now our privatisation has addedcommercial, procurement andcontractual issues and attractedthe attentions of lawyers andaccountants looking for new “feeearning” opportunities. I believeour stubbornly static safetystatistics will only be improvedwhen we rediscover the art ofmotivating people.

Merely paying bonuses is not theanswer. Growing, encouraging andwhere necessary recruitingsupervisors and managers whohave the gift of inspiring others ispart of what we need. “HumanFactors” specialists I have spokenwith say the problems are at lowermanagement and supervisor level.If managers and supervisors weregood enough we wouldn’t needthose specialists?

27 recurrent issues and66 two years old!

In December the Rail AccidentInvestigation Branch publishedtheir 2011 annual report. It is intwo sections; their work in 2011and the recommendations made

from that year. Given that their target is to

publish their reports within a yearof each incident (the average forthe year was ten and a halfmonths) the timescale for thereport is understandable. In herforeword their Chief InspectorCarolyn Griffiths says that shewanted to highlight matters which“warrant further consideration andaction from the industry and theOffice of Rail Regulation”.

In the year 20 investigation

reports and 6 bulletins werepublished whilst another 27investigations were begun. Therecommendations made included“27 recurrent issues.” The reporthighlights the factors againidentified which had been thesubject of previousrecommendations.

There were no fewer than 66recommendations made two yearsearlier and were still not closedout at the end of the year. Half ofthe outstanding recommendations


SAFETYColin [email protected]

™

FETYS FIRST

sponsored by

A lookout stands watch for a gang of

railway workers at the north end of

Watford Junction railway station.

© M

ATT BU

CK


were ones where the Office of RailRegulation (ORR) is “still evaluatingthe adequacy of Network Rail’sresponse”.

“Staff hit by train”Investigations begun in 2011

categorised as of “staff hit by train”included the injury accident atTorworth (January 2011), the nearmiss at Clapham/Earlsfield (March)and the injury at Stoats Nest(June).

The report identifies the“important recurrent issues as“level crossings, red zone working,track quality, maintenance andinspection, runaway trains, fatigueand safety management onheritage railways.

My concerns are evidentlyshared by the RAIB’s expressedconcerns about “safety behaviourand quality of leadership” togetherwith the comment that “a nationalinitiative to address safetybehaviour in local work groups hasyet to reach staff at local depots”.

I believe it will not do so untilmanagement takes the lead, notjust at Board level but by earningthe loyalty and respect for a safetycommitment from all whosupervise and lead within theindustry.

Savings would be achieved as aresult including a reduction in theworkload of RAIB and ORR.

Level CrossingsConcerns over the number of

accidents at level crossings isunderstood, but reading thereports published I have formedthe view that the behaviour ofroad vehicle drivers andpedestrians is a major factor.

The signage and fencing westipulate compares well with otherEuropean countries. As long as thecurrent standards are maintained Isee little need for money beingspent on upgrading.

Manning levels and possession planning

The report into the incident atUfton Level Crossing is a littledifferent. At 1228 on 4thSeptember 2011 the 1113Paddington to Bedwyn train (3-carDMU Class 165) went over the levelcrossing at 61 mph whilst thebarriers were raised. Anapproaching car had to stoprapidly to avoid a collision.

The automatic half barriers were

disabled at the time as engineeringwork was being done. Althoughthe report identifies the lack ofinstruction from the signaller tothe appointed crossing attendantas the immediate cause, it goes onto indicate that the high workloadetc. of the signaller was acontributory cause. This raisesquestions about the possessionarrangements including manninglevels of signalling.

A very recent and tragic fatalaccident occurred at levelcrossings since my last article forRailStaff was published. On 4thDecember at Beech Hill Crossingnear Finningley, betweenGainsborough and Doncaster a carwas struck by a passenger trainresulting in fatal injuries to a fouryear old child. This is still underinvestigation.

December 2012 FatalityOn the same day, and as I

reported in December a track-worker employed by SkyBlue wasstruck by a Northern Rail service atSaxilby Lincolnshire and killed.The accident occurred at 1350 inthe afternoon and involved the1119 train from Scunthorpe toLincoln.

The track-worker was acting asSite Warden for the maintenancegang doing the work. As SiteWarden his duties were to monitorthe working of the gang membersand warn them if they moved toonear to the adjacent track whichwas open to traffic or indeed toanywhere else where they could bestruck by a train. The investigationis on-going as I write.

My memory – still no report onthat fatality

As regular readers know I have along memory. As a railway civilengineer I managed 2,500 people.They were great people workingwith commitment. When I took anew post I often found anentrenched group who were notpulling their weight. They changedor left.

I had excellent managementteams working with me. We madefrequent unannounced site visitsand listened to those doing thework to hear their concerns andaspirations for better working.

When incidents or accidentsoccurred we not only tried toensure no recurrence, we madesure that everyone doing similar

work was immediately madeaware of the factualcircumstances.

I should like to see the NetworkRail Safety Central website usetheir knowledge of each and everyaccident and incident to providethe basic facts about whathappened so that work groups anddepots across the industry receivea timely briefing.

In my experience such briefingsalmost always strike a chord withstaff doing similar work and aremore effective than any HQwritten advice issued monthslater- if at all!

Visiting the “Safety Central”website on January 7th I wasdismayed to find no mention ofthe 4th December Saxilby trackworker fatality but only a 29thDecember bulletin about reportingflood conditions!!

Gangers were safety committedI recall incidents when gangers

and sub-gangers (withoutprompting) offered to personallybrief other gangs in their areasabout accidents and near misses.

Not only was this very effective, italso illustrates the degree of trustand co-operation with staff thathad been built up.

Our local efforts were supportedby regular briefings from bothRegional and National HQ level.The views of the then Chairmanof the British Rail Board wereheard from him directly by us allusing videos and later DVD’s etc.There are lessons to be learnt fortoday.

Meanwhile we all need to readand re-read the RAIB annual reportand in view of the delays causedby differences of opinion betweenRAIB, Network Rail and the ORR Isuggest that now is the time forthe remits of the RAIB and ORR tobe reviewed so that a singleorganisation makesrecommendations and takes therequired actions implementingthem by imposing improvement/prohibition notices or taking legalaction as may be appropriate.

It is evident from the RAIB reportthat both time and money arebeing wasted by delays whilstleaving more people at risk.

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INTERVIEW

Link-up is the UK rail industry’ssupplier registration andqualification scheme and is usedby 115 buying organisations with2,700 individual buyers and 3,500supplier organisations.

Link-up is in the midst of atransformation to support the railindustry with the aim of makingthe scheme more efficient,effective and accessible to thewhole industry on a collaborativebasis.

Is this a new scheme?Annette Gevaert, Director Rail

and Transport at Achilles, says,“Link-up has been established formany years, having its origins inthe state-run British Rail. WhilstLink-up’s current version waslaunched in 2007, Network Railand Achilles were keen to create amore collaborative and balancedLink-up Governance structure.

We’ve been delighted by thegreat level of interest in the last 12months from all members of theindustry who have been keen toget involved. The priority has beento ensure that we work to includewider representation so that itmeets the needs of the industry asa whole.”

Richard Sharp from J. Murphyand Son said, “My objective as theLink-up Steering Group Chair hasbeen to make sure everyone getsthe opportunity to have their sayand that the regular meetings wehave to define the way forward arefor the benefit of the industry.”

Will this truly reflect whatthe industry needs?

Richard said, “Frominfrastructure managers, throughto Train Operating Companies,contractors, trade bodies and the

RSSB, all 21 industryrepresentatives are workingtogether to ensure that Link-upfulfils its core aims as a UK railsupplier registration andqualification scheme.

It is important that the value ofLink-up for procurement and aspart of the supplier assuranceframework are understood anddelivered.”

The Steering Group consists of 21representatives from all differentparts of the industry and issupported by Working Groupsdedicated to defining therequirements for the newplatform, a revision of the productcodes and the Link-up Auditprogramme as well as to introducea sustainability module.

The latest addition has been theforming of a Working Group to setthe overarching Rules for theScheme. The Working Groups havebeen open to anyone in theindustry so that the new version ofLink-up can incorporate areas thatare important to the industry, notjust those of members.

Richard added, “The Link-upSteering Group and Working Groupmembers have invested a lot oftime and energy to agree what’simportant for the industry, whataspects of the current process canbe streamlined and how to gainfurther efficiency improvements.

This included finding the bestplatform for the process ofregistering and updating supplierinformation. We chose the newplatform developed by Achillesbecause it best meets our needs,will ensure a smooth transitionand will deliver great benefits tocompanies working also in otherindustries such as Constructionand Utilities.”

So what’s changing?Annette says, “The expansion of

Link-up to better align withprocurement needs is both contentand process related. Link-up’s newtechnological platform will bringan improved user interface and ahost of new features for buyer andsupplier users.

“For the 2,700 buyers using thesystem, the process streamlinesand shortens the pre-qualificationquestionnaire and provides a moreflexible search facility with adynamic way of requestingadditional information fromselected suppliers. Suppliers willfind it far easier to provide andupdate information because thequestionnaire will be significantlyshorter and enhanced data entrytools will be provided.

“The vast majority of supplierswill also see a reduction in price astiered pricing will be introduced,offering SMEs a cost-effective wayto join the community.”

When is it all happening?Annette said, “Over the last

twelve months, key decisions weremade to re-define the waysuppliers are pre-qualified andhow audit protocols for theindustry are formulated.

The coming months will bedevoted to implementing andrealising the transformation, witha ‘go-live’ for the new platform setfor March-April 2013.”

What does the future holdfor Link-up?

Annette said, “The focus of thetransition team is on the

implementation of the newversion of Link-up, ensuring asmooth and safe migration to thenew platform for all members ofthe community.

In parallel, work continues toidentify and define future schemeenhancements and areas forgreater collaboration – such asthe new Link-up auditprogramme development androll-out.”

Richard added, “The aim is toreduce the audit burden forsuppliers through an overhaul ofthe prevailing audit practices butalso through greater informationsharing. In the Arthur D Littlereport published by the RSSB apossible saving to the industry ofup to £35 million in supplierassurance was identified. With theimplementation of the agreedchanges, Link-up will deliver agreat portion of that savingpotential.”

Can organisations still getinvolved?

Richard said, “Buyers andsuppliers to the rail industry havean opportunity to get involved inthe Working Groups of Link-up, toshape supplier qualification for thebenefit of the whole sector, and tomake rail procurement fast,efficient, and cost-effective. Theopportunity is there for thetaking.”

Annette concludes, “I amconvinced that greatercollaboration is the most effectiveway to reach better alignment andrecognition of supplierqualification in the industry.”

Annette Gevaert and Richard Sharp talk about their roles inhelping supplier assurance and procurement in the railindustry. An initiative has been underway throughout 2012to re-shape the way buyers and suppliers use pre-qualification and tendering processes to improve railindustry procurement.

“Meeting thechallenge”

www.hitachirail-eu.com

to the 100-strong team at the Hitachi Ashford Train Maintenance Centre. Looking back over 2012, you pulled out all the stops to ensure that the Class 395 trains were ready for the Javelin® train service – every day of the Games!

Hitachi Rail Europe says

“Thank you”

From left to right: Craig Pengilly, Stephen Dunn, Rhys Smith, Steve Collins, Matt Lumb and Steve Crosby, representing the 100-strong team at the Hitachi Ashford Train Maintenance Centre.


New Year 2013 means anotherconfidence-boosting rail industryexhibition to look forward to.Railtex takes centre stage at EarlsCourt in London from 30 April to2 May.

The show will be opened byTransport Minister Simon BurnsMP. Railtex brings togetherdesigners, engineers, railway staff,planners and leaders with a fullprogramme of displays andseminars. RailStaff talked to HeidiCotsworth, Exhibition Manager,Mack Brooks Exhibitions, whichorganises Railtex and its sistershow, Infrarail.

RailStaff: What will be new atRailtex this year?Heidi Cotsworth:There will be

several significant innovations. Asan added feature of the exhibitionitself, we are introducing The Yard.This is a display area for vehiclessuch as RRVs and larger items ofrail plant, supplementing theestablished On Track Display forrail-mounted machinery and tools.

Your readers will remember TheYard first appeared at Infrarail lastyear, where it was very wellreceived. Also new to Railtex willbe The Platform, organised inpartnership with Rail Championsto provide an interactivediscussion forum on topicalthemes with panels of industryexperts, with visitors welcome tojoin the discussions.

Another key development thisyear will be the first RailtexAwards. This will take the form ofa dinner on the evening of 1 Maycelebrating the achievements ofRailtex exhibitors.

Also new is an initiative tohighlight career opportunities inthe rail industry for engineeringstudents and graduates. Supportedby the National Skills Academy forRailway Engineering and YoungRailway Professionals, aprogramme we are calling ‘Rail –The Next Generation’ will bringtogether budding professionalsand leading companies at Railtexto help respond to a recognisedneed to bridge the skills gap in therail industry.

RailStaff: These will be inaddition to established featuresof Railtex?Heidi Cotsworth:Yes. There will

also be a full programme ofseminars running throughout theshow and hosted by your sisterpublication ‘the rail engineer’, theProject Update Theatre, whereproject directors will outline thestatus of major UK rail schemes,and the opening day’s NetworkingReception. Everyone attendingRailtex will be welcome to takepart in all of these.

RailStaff: What sort of exhibitornumbers can we expect?Heidi Cotsworth: At the beginning

of this year the number ofcompanies that had confirmedtheir participation or reservedspace at the show stood at 280. Bythe time the show opens we wouldexpect that figure to rise to morethan 400.

Your readers can always checkthe list of exhibitors atwww.railtex.co.uk, which we keepupdated. They will find plenty offamiliar leading companies listedas well as many significantlyimportant smaller firms, includingnew names bringing fresh ideas tothe industry.

The Rail Alliance and Derby &Derbyshire Rail Forum will alsohave their own ‘hubs’ formed bymembers’ stands.

RailStaff: Mack Brookscontinues to run both Railtexand Infrarail in the UK? Whythe two shows and can youexplain the differences betweenthem?Heidi Cotsworth:Taking the

second question first, Infrarail isspecifically concerned with thefixed assets of the railway – track,signalling and communications,civils, stations, security and so on.

All those sectors are also coveredby Railtex, but in addition thatshow includes the many productsand services relevant to trainoperations, notably rolling stock,so it encompasses the entireindustry. We have beensuccessfully running the twoshows in alternating years foralmost two decades now.

Support from the industry for

New Platformfor Railtex

“There will be a fullprogramme ofseminars runningthroughout the showhosted by the railengineer…”HEIDI COTSWORTH,EXHIBITION MANAGER,MACK BROOKS EXHIBITIONS


INTERVIEW

both remains very strong and withmajor schemes ongoing andpositive signals from thegovernment regarding long-termrail investment, we are confidentthat there is plenty of futuredemand for both events.

RailStaff: What are your plansfor Infrarail 2014?Heidi Cotsworth: Dates have now

been set for this. The show will beat Earls Court in London from 20to 22 May next year. And as well asincluding all the familiar featuresof previous shows, there is asignificant development. Infrarail2014 will take place alongside anew event we are planning – theCivil Infrastructure & TechnologyExhibition – CITE 2014.

This will cover all the productsand services needed by the UK’stransport, construction, utilitiesand communicationsinfrastructure sectors, which arepoised to benefit from majorinvestments. We feel there is a lotof common ground between thesemarkets, and staging the twoexhibitions together will offerbenefits both for companies takingpart and for people visiting them.

RailStaff: So why are youmoving Infrarail to London?Have you considered the impactof this on visitors from theMidlands, the North of Englandand Scotland?

Heidi Cotsworth:We are veryaware that both Infrarail andRailtex need to be accessible forvisitors from all over the UK andwe feel that London meets thisneed very well. Recent Railtexshows have also been in centralLondon and it has proved anexcellent venue in terms ofaccessibility.

London is also an attractivedestination for the foreign visitorsthat many exhibitors are keen tosee at our shows. It’s worth notingthat visitors from 49 countriescame to the last Railtex and forInfrarail the figure was 36countries.

RailStaff: What does stagingInfrarail in London mean forRailtex in 2015?Heidi Cotsworth:We are in

constant contact with the industryand a decision on Railtex will bemade in due course. The show hasa history of running verysuccessfully in any venue orlocation it has been staged in.

As with the initial planning forall our exhibitions we will listen tothe industry and make plansdependent on the needs and aimsof exhibitors and visitors to theshow.

RailStaff: How long have youbeen running these shows?Heidi Cotsworth: Mack Brooks’ first

UK rail show was Light Rail 89 in

Bristol. Light Rail grew into Railtex,which was held for the first timeat Wembley in 1993. This year’sRailtex will be the eleventh.

Infrarail was launched in 1994 atManchester’s then G-Mex Centre.Introducing a second exhibition tomeet the needs of the railinfrastructure sector wasprompted by developments in theindustry at the time, notablyimpending privatisation and theplanned creation of a separatecompany responsible for track andsignalling.

RailStaff: How do you feel theseshows have changed over theyears?Heidi Cotsworth: Much has

changed since they were firstlaunched but both shows havestood up well to developments onboth sides of the industry. In termsof what the exhibitions look like,they are very similar, thoughnaturally they reflect companychanges and industryconsolidation over the years. Thebig change has been in theadditional features they nowincorporate.

The focus has been on increasingthe value of a visit to Railtex orInfrarail by providing opportunitiesto learn about developments inpolicy and technologicalinnovation. Seminar programmesand discussion forums like ThePlatform are examples.

Introduction of the On TrackDisplay has also proved popularwith exhibitors and visitors.Adding The Yard to this year’sRailtex will be another way inwhich visitors can inspect some ofthe products that the industry hasto offer.

We also now have theRecruitment Wall (managed bywww.railwaypeople.com) at eachshow to enable exhibitors topublicise their skills needs. Overall,both events are now much broaderand offer more opportunities forpeople to get together.

RailStaff: Mack Brooks also hasrail shows abroad. What areyour plans for those?Heidi Cotsworth:We organise

established exhibitions in France,India, Italy and Russia, mostlytaking place every two years. Ourcorporate websitewww.mackbrooks.com has detailsof all these.

RailStaff: When can peopleregister to visit Railtex?Heidi Cotsworth:Visitor

registration is live on the showwebsite www.railtex.co.uk from 14January. It’s worth adding thatregistering in advance avoids anon-site entry fee of £20 andprovides faster access to theexhibition. We look forward towelcoming RailStaff readers to theshow.


DecisionTo Quit

Five million people still smoketobacco in the UK alone.

Health experts estimate up to amillion of them will try and kickthe habit this January. Just howhard is it to stop smoking? RichardWilcox an ex-smoker at ExpressMedicals reports.

I am old enough to rememberwhen GPs surgeries had ashtraysin their waiting rooms and oftenthe doctor would smoke whileseeing you. Patients could smokein a hospital. Adverts for cigarettes

were everywhere, on billboards,television and magazines. Tobaccocompany sponsorship of sportwas widespread. Smoking waspermitted on the railways and theLondon Underground.

A considerable minorityThe world has been trying to

give up the evil weed for sometime. Smokers are now in aconsiderable minority. Some willgive up smoking on a whim;others will struggle for weeks and

months. What worked for memight not work for you but it’sworth a try.

I was a smoker for over 40 years.Actually let me rephrase that. I ama smoker who has not had acigarette for three months, with aview to becoming a non-smoker.This is to let you know I am noton some holier-than-thou crusadeto stop everybody smoking.

It’s a free country and it’s yourchoice, as it is mine. On the otherhand I have never encouraged

anybody to smoke and there is anincreasing body of evidence tosuggest that continuing to smokeis unwise.

Why did I give up? Whether itwas age or smoking-related, Idon’t know but I wasn’t feelinghealthy. However the real reasonwas the cost, 35p for a singlecigarette. On 10 a day that’s theequivalent of a week’s holiday forevery two years. I like my holidays.Others, I am sure, will findsomething else to spend it on.

© SHUTTER

STOCK.COM


HEALTH NEWS

What’s so hard about givingup?

The important thing is what youtell yourself. Decide who is bigger,you or the cigarette. Decide whyyou want to give up. It has to beyour decision, not a response toothers who want you to give up.Then set up a date. Don’t worry ifyou miss a date, extend the timeframe a little. Just don’t give upgiving up - ever.

What made it easier for me wasgiving up with my partner. We allrespond well to rewards. Promiseyourself that frivolous expensivetreat you have wanted for so longwhen you have stopped for threemonths. After all you will nowhave some cash that can bewasted in other ways other thanon cigarettes.

There is plenty of support forpeople serious about giving upsmoking. Local GPs will help andput you in touch with supportgroups. Discussing how you aredoing with other smokers can alsobe very helpful. On the web see• http://smokefree.nhs.uk• http://www.patient.co.uk/

health/Smoking-Tips-to-Help-you-Stop.htm

• http://www.quit.org.uk/

Recommended reading ‘Easy Way to stop Smoking’ by Allen

Carr available from Penguin Books

Tips for Quits Check out the various web sites

and doctor’s guides. Here are tencommon tips you may findhelpful: • Decide. The power of decision is

crucial. Only you can take thedecision and own it.

• Set a date to stop.• Plan for the challenge of quitting

and read up about it • Keep trying: you are stronger

than any chemical. • Tell family and friends and enlist

their help. • Junk ashtrays, all tobacco,

lighters and matches. • Expect to feel off-colour physical-

ly and make allowances for this.• Avoid social situations where you

light up. • Alcohol is often the adjunct of a

smoke and lessens self control soavoid it.

• Reward yourself. What you’redoing is not easy, so you deservea reward. Promise a meal out or anew movie. Look forward to it.

Run for your life We are told time and again that

exercise is good for us. Few doubtthis. Yet by the time you read this,mid-January, you may alreadyhave quietly let slide that newyear’s resolution. Our editor hascompleted a year of running everyday, started 4th January 2012. If thetrack shoes are back in the box,the gym card tucked away at theback of your wallet what followsmight help you. Andy Milnereports.

This sport is for freeNew Year’s resolutions are all

very well but imply a massiveeffort of will sadly beyond most ofus. Factor in 12 hour shifts and latenight booking-on and a visit to thegym sinks rapidly down theagenda. What I discovered is alittle known secret which oncegrasped makes exercise easy.

Joining a gym is expensive andyet many new members will neverreturn after a visit or two. Thissport is for free. Most peopleswitch off at the mention ofrunning. However, the sport ismisunderstood.

What I mean by running isambling along a park or countrylane breaking into a trot every now

and again. Forget pelting round acinder track or competing in arace. The majority of runners arenot finely honed Olympians buthorizontally challenged men andwomen who have stumbled on themost peculiar secret.

The human body impliesmovement. We are born to run.Millennia ago men and womenmoved on every day, keeping upwith herds of animals. They ranfrom predators and towardsanimals they would catch and eat.

The instinct to run is still withus, albeit hidden beneath the girthin many cases. Look at childrenand their endless games of tag.Buried deep within us is a delightin running. Running for sheerexuberance. Running is inherent inour make up.

Don’t grit your teeth and say: I’mgoing to do this, I have to, I shall…’Better to say, ‘I shall go out thedoor and move for a hundredmetres, a quarter of a mile. That’sall. Easy.’

Teach yourself to run by walking.Walk at your own pace and runlightly down hills. Run on a walkfor a 100 metes or so. Go every day,but try not to get out of breath.Walk easily and run slow. Wear thelightest shoes you can and learn to

land on the front of your feet, thebones behind the toes are springloaded to bounce you along.

Slamming down on the heel jarsyour entire skeleton, damagingankles and knees, splaying hipsand hammering the spine. Thefoot is a natural spring, let itcushion the step. Make this step asmall ballet dancer of a step. Whenstarting to run stand up straightand lean very slightly forward. Youwill feel your feet step forward toadjust balance. It is this movementthat is the key to effortlessrunning - falling with style.

A better physical futureForget the need to break records

or win races. When we run we runaway from the person we became,the fears and regrets that smotherthe immobile. We leave behind theover weight underachiever.

To run is to enter a betterphysical future. We run becausebeing outside in the rain and thewind feels good. The natural worldis a great healer. Never mind whatyou wear. Throw on old tennisshoes, your brother’s rugby shirt,baggy trackies, an anorak and abobble hat. No one cares what youwear.

John Bingham, who took uprunning as a 43 year old veryheavy couch potato, once said,‘People say you can’t run away foryour problems. I say you can.’

If the gym is crowded andembarrassing, the pool full oforange tanned supermen, then gorunning. Step out of your ownfront door in your own time. Tellyourself you will walk the difficultbits. The great thing about runningis that as you improve it becomesexpedient to run more of theroute, to move better. You do itbecause you like to.

The wind at your back, the sunon your face, the snow pinchingyour ears leaves you feeling good,alive. It is then, bouncing along theroad, that you discover the greatsecret peculiar to all runners. Werun because we enjoy it.

Even if you only have time for amile the run is an escape, a road tofreedom. Once you realise that yourun because you enjoy it, becauseyou want to run, not because youhave to, you’ve cracked it.

Recommended reading ‘The Courage to Start’ by John Bingham ‘Born to Run’ by Christopher McDougall

© SH

UTTERSTO

CK.COM

Network Rail InfrastructureProjects has made sustainabilitya formal part of its procurementprocess, with five per cent oftenders now hinging on a bid’sgreen credentials.

The move is part of NetworkRail’s ‘Sustainable DevelopmentVision’ which looks at how futuremajor rail infrastructure projectscan address pressingenvironmental and socialchallenges.

Waste and carbon reduction,protection of the naturalenvironment and the creation ofa level playing field for local firmsto bid for contracts are amongthe types of initiatives the newfive per cent requirement willjudge suppliers on.

‘We, as an industry, arecontributing massively to thisissue in the UK,’ says KatieFerrier, head of supplierengagement, Network Rail. ‘It’s ascary thought that we’re notdoing enough to solve theseissues.’

The new procurementrequirement was revealed toNetwork Rail’s Tier 2 supply chainat Westwood Heath in December.During the event, delegates wereshown examples of the kinds ofsocial enterprise groups that canwork alongside organisations tohelp them attain their five percent.

One of the groups was REDS10 -a social enterprise set up in 2009to find local apprentices to workon construction projects in theirarea. Managing Director PaulRuddick believes groups likeREDS10 will help the rail industryboost its sustainable employmentpractices.

‘With Network Rail nowincluding five per centsustainability requirements intheir tenders, we are excitedabout bringing our services to therail industry. We already workwith most of the Tier 1 maincontractors but in differentsectors such as retail, residential,infrastructure, and education, sowe believe there is no reason whywe can’t bring added social valueto the rail industry.’

The latest change to NetworkRail’s procurement framework ispart of a growing focus onsustainability within theorganisation. Between 2011-2012,

85.9 per cent of Network Railinfrastructure waste was divertedfrom landfill, a step closer to theorganisation’s target of 97 percent by 2014.

In April 2011, Network Railbegan sourcing all its tracktimber from certified sourceswho work in accordance withstandards set by the WWF GlobalForest Trade Network (GFTN).Globally recognised as one of thegreenest transport modes the railindustry is increasinglycommitted to sustainability.

Last year BalfourBeatty pushedrecognition of thesubject bylaunching theSustainabilityAward at theRailStaff Awards2012. TheSustainabilityAward was won byTahir Ayub (picturedright and below) aSenior DesignEngineer atNetwork Rail basedin Birmingham. Therail industry looksset to improve itsenvironmental andsocial credentialsthis year.


NEWS

Procurement procedure recognises Sustainability

Last year BalfourBeatty pushedrecognition of thesubject by launchingthe SustainabilityAward at the RailStaffAwards 2012…


British Transport Police has paidtribute to its brave officers, railstaff, members of the public anda police dog in a specialcommendation ceremony atKelvingrove Art Gallery inGlasgow.

Four nurses who saved the lifeof a man after he had suffered a

heart attack at Glasgow Centralstation were among thosehonoured. Alison Aitken fromAyr, Gary Hewitt from Beverley inEast Yorkshire, Alison Murrayfrom Bishopton and Sarah Taylorfrom Cannock in the WestMidlands, performed CPR andused the heart defibrillator

stored at the station to revive theAyrshire man.

Almost 100 BTP officers, railstaff, members of the public andpolice dog Bruce received anArea Commander’sCommendation. DavidCunningham, a Glasgow Subwaydriver, was praised for hisprompt actions in removing asuspect package from the train,taking it to a place of safety andalerting BTP.

Two railway staff fromStrathclyde transport, Alan Clarkand Douglas McConnell, receiveda commendation for saving anelderly man who had fallen on tothe tracks at Shields RoadSubway station.

Says Chief Superintendent EllieBird, area commander for theScotland area of BTP, ‘Theseofficers and public-spiritedindividuals are extremelydeserving of their accolades. TheScotland area is grateful for theirhard work and assistance andthis ceremony is our chance tosay a big thank you andrecognise their contributions.’

Rail heroes honoured

Greater Anglia has welcomed twonew graduate interns under therail industry’s Track and Train paidwork placement scheme.

Michael Asare (pictured right),from Edmonton and AlexanderBarker-Singh (pictured left), fromHarrow, will undertake a widerange of roles during their time atGreater Anglia and are currentlyworking with the AssetManagement team.

The Track and Train scheme,funded by Network Rail, providesan all-round industry experienceover 18 months, where graduateswill enjoy three six-monthplacements: one at Network Railand two at either a passenger orfreight operator or anothercompany within the rail sector.

In total 85 young men andwomen joined the Network Railscheme this year. All havegraduated in the last two years butowing to tough economic timeshave found themselves eitherunemployed or more likely under-

employed in a non-graduate levelrole. Track and Train offers themopportunities to gain valuableexperience to then take the nextstep in their careers.

Says Michelle Smart, GreaterAnglia’s Director of HumanResources and Safety Assurance,‘We are very pleased to be a part ofthe Track and Train scheme whichis helping to attract talented peopleto the railway. Our interns have allbeen of a very high quality and wewish them every success as theytake the next step in their careers.’

Funded by Network Rail, thescheme involves 28 partnercompanies based across Britainproviding local employmentopportunities. Graduates living inGlasgow, York or Manchester, forexample, will be placed withcompanies in those areas. Thoseon the scheme will be paid asalary of £22,000 per annum and21 days holiday for each of theyears 2012 and 2013.

The rail industry is keen to

search out new talent. Says PatrickButcher, Network Rail’s groupfinance director, responsible forthe scheme, ‘We know that thereare many smart, talentedindividuals out there that haven’thad their break yet and as agrowing industry we can worktogether to provide challenging,valuable and paid work experienceto kick start their careers.

‘What sets this scheme apart isthose involved will work across therail industry and by linking it alltogether, develop a fantastic

knowledge and understanding ofthe challenges we all face and theopportunities for the future.’

Network Rail received 2514applications. Typical roles in Trackand Train will be in networkoperations, station and trainteams, customer service, sales andmarketing, route strategy, assetmanagement and projectmanagement. There will not beroles in corporate functions suchas finance, IT or engineering,where the industry has bespokegraduate schemes already in place.

Track and Train makes good

Sophie Williams, who works forGreater Anglia’s finance team inColchester, braved icy seas forcharity.

With friends Sophie took partin a fund raising dip for the StElizabeth Hospice, in Ipswich,Suffolk. On Christmas DaySophie leapt into the North Seaoff the Felixstowe seafront witharound 400 other participants.The St Elizabeth Hospiceimproves life for people livingwith a progressive illness and isan independent charity whichprovides services free of charge.

Says Sophie, ‘I wanted to helpthe hospice after seeing thefantastic support they gave myMum, so I decided to take partin their annual Christmas DayDip. My colleagues at GreaterAnglia have been a great helpand together with my fatherand uncle, we’ve raised around£1500 for the Hospice.’

Sophie seas


NEWS

Newton Abbot MP, Anne MarieMorris, has officially opened oneof Britain’s first Grade II listedplastic footbridges at Dawlish, theseaside station on the south coastof Devon.

The footbridge was part of a £1mimprovement project. The event

follows the demolition of the oldsteel footbridge last October andthe installation of the newpolymer footbridge.

Says Patrick Hallgate, NetworkRail’s Western route managingdirector, ‘The coastal railway linefrom Exeter to Newton Abbot, part

of Network Rail’s Great Westernmain line, is noted for itsparticularly scenic qualities and

for being one of the most exposedin the country, constantly battlingthe effects of coastal erosion andsalt spray corrosion.

‘Dawlish station was originallydesigned by Isambard KingdomBrunel in 1830 and is grade IIlisted. The station’s 17.5 metre longcovered steel footbridge,reconstructed in 1937, haddeteriorated beyond economicrepair so any similar form ofreplacement probably would havemet the same fate in due course.

Its replacement is a lightweightplastic structure weighing onlyfive tonnes, about one third theweight of the old footbridge. Weare hoping that it will requireconsiderably less maintenancethan the structure it hasreplaced.’

But one thing that won’t change… your confidentiality assured.

www.ciras.org.ukFreephone 0800 4 101 101 Freepost CIRAS Text 07507 285887

...making changes during 2013.

Improved RESPONSE SPEED TO CONCERNS

Improved LEARNING AND FEEDBACK

ImprovedWEB AND NEWSLETTER

Plastic fantastic for Dawlish “Dawlish station was originally designed byIsambard Kingdom Brunel in 1830 and isGrade II listed…”PATRICK HALLGATEWESTERN ROUTE MANAGING DIRECTOR, NETWORK RAIL


NEWS

Volunteer staff worked a charitytrain ‘The Worth Valley Wanderer’and raised over £37,000 for theSamaritans and Weston ParkHospital Cancer Charity inSheffield.

Volunteers from Weston ParkHospital Cancer Charity travelledon the train, which ran from StPancras to the Keighley and WorthValley Railway on Saturday 3November. A raffle carried out onthe train helped raise an additional£960.

The special train was arranged byEast Midlands Trains and themoney raised split between the twocharities. Ticket sales, a specialcommemorative brochure and areal ale bar provided by localbreweries all helped to contributeto the huge amount raised for thetwo charities.

East Midlands Trains staff

supported the event by donatingtheir day’s wages, or working ontheir day off, to help raise themaximum amount of money.

Says Sarah Cross, fund raiser atWeston Park Hospital CancerCharity, ‘We are delighted to be oneof the benefiting charities from theWorth Valley Wanderer trainjourney. We would like to thankeverybody who helped raise such afantastic amount, both thepassengers and the staff of EastMidlands Trains.’

The Samaritans raised a further£2,800 through a silent auctiongiving bidders the opportunity towin a footplate ride and a special

headboard which was displayed onthe front of the Worth ValleyWanderer train.

Says Catherine Johnstone, ChiefExecutive at Samaritans, I wouldlike to say a big ‘Thank You’ to EastMidlands Trains and their staff forgiving up their time to run thespecial service and for raising sucha fantastic sum of money. The dayis testament to the strongrelationships Samaritans has builtwith the rail industry, and EastMidlands Trains, and their staff, inparticular, over the past two yearssince we embarked on ourpartnership with Network Rail, tohelp tackle suicides on the railway.’

Former railway signalmen andwomen are getting together at theSignal School at York’s NationalRailway Museum to celebrate itscentenary in January 2013.

The Signal School looks like agentleman’s train set but has beenused to train would-be signallerssince 1913. The track, signals andlevers and even the table it sits onwere all made by apprentices atthe Lancashire and YorkshireRailway in 1912.

The locomotives, carriages andwagons were supplied by theBasset Lowke Company. On Friday,18 January, to mark its centenary,the NRM will be launching a newfilm about the history of the layout.Then on Saturday 19th Januarypast students who trained on the

simulator are invited to themuseum for a trip down memorylane and a party.

From 1913 trainee signallers usedthe equipment to signal themovement of trains around thelayout and learn the rules andregulations that ensured that traintravel remained the safest form oftravel in Britain.

In 1995, redevelopment forcedthe signal school to close butthanks to the efforts of museumvolunteers, it was recovered fromVictoria Station in Manchester and

brought to the National RailwayMuseum. The lay out has now beenrestored to its 1925 configuration.This was the year of the BritishEmpire Exhibition at Wembley.

Says Russell Hollowood of theNRM, ‘Mention simulators andmost people think of flat screensand futuristic technology; howeverthis model is still used to trainsignallers of the future. We areproud to have been part of its 100year history. Having a team ofenthusiastic volunteers restoringthis has been testament to the

crucial past that this simulator hasprovided.

‘Restored, the model hasreturned to doing what it was builtfor, turning the complex world ofrailway signalling into an engaginglearning experience. We are hopingto see many ex-signal schoolstudents and enthusiasts inJanuary when we celebrate thisacclaimed milestone.’

Signallers and former studentsinterested in coming along shouldcontact Matthew Hick:[email protected]

SignalSchool clears100 years

Worthwhilecause

Water stopfor ACoRPAfter almost a decade in theWest Yorkshire village ofSlaithwaite, ACoRP, theAssociation of Community RailPartnerships, has moved to anew base at Huddersfieldstation.

ACoRP’s new HQ is a Grade 1listed building and was originallya water tank for steamlocomotives. Lying empty andderelict for almost twenty years,ACoRP managed to obtainEuropean funding to renovate itas a demonstration project ofenvironmentally soundconversion of historic structures.

Using the latest techniques andmaterials ACoRP hopes to reduceenergy use to near-zero. Principalfunding came from the European‘CAP’EM’ project and the RailwayHeritage Trust, whilst match-funding and other support wasprovided by Network Rail andtrain operator First Transpennine.

© M

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FAWLEY HILL

FAWLEY HILL

STEAM AND VINTAGE WEEKEND

SIR WILLIAM MCALPINE

INVITES ENTRIES FOR

THE FIRST (AND PROBABLY ONLY)

Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th May 2013

Fawley Hill, Fawley, Henley-on-Thames, RG9 6JA | 01491 571373 | [email protected]

The event will celebrate the Centenary of

Fawley’s resident

She has worked for Sir William’s family all her life

and for the past 48 years has been happily pulling

wagon loads of visitors up the steepest standard

gauge gradient in the world at Fawley Hill.

Hudswell Clarke 060 Saddle

Tank Engine No 31.

At the simplest level: we envisage charities

hosting hospitality areas - to which they will sell

tickets: to include entry of course. Obviously

they can do more than this if they wish. This

works well and gives everyone a slice of the cake.

This will be a celebration of all forms of transport:

from to and

from to

to

and, being Fawley Hill, (animal sanctuary) there

will be ANIMALS too.

BICYCLES PLANES MACHINERY:

HORSE-DRAWN PLOUGHS PLOUGHING

ENGINES JCB’S

If you are interested in attending, please email

[email protected]

ANY COMPANY WISHING TO SPONSOR ANY PART OF

THE EVENT IS URGED TO CONTACT FAWLEY HILL.

CHARITIES ATTEND

Two of First Great Western’sspecially named trains servingCarmarthen and Plymouth havebeen fitted with their original1930s headboards.

The Mayflower operates Mondayto Friday between LondonPaddington (1106) and Plymouth(1500) and is named after thefamous ship that transported 102pilgrims from Plymouth on a 66day voyage to America in 1620.

The Red Dragon runs Monday toFriday between London (1715) andCarmarthen (0730) and is namedafter the mythical Red Dragon,known in Welsh as Y Ddraig Goch,that appears on the Welsh

national flag. Although the flagwas only granted official status in1959, it is claimed to be the oldestnational flag still in use.

FGW Drivers Nigel Williams andMartin Raine helped publicise thetwo 1930s headboards at LondonPaddington, prior to departing toPlymouth and Carmarthen. SaysJulian Crow, First Great Western’sregional manager, ‘So little isknown about the history of theservices we are privileged to runfrom London Paddington to theWest of England and Wales.

Tying in with the launch of thewinter timetable, we decided toput together an e-leaflet detailing

those services, explaining theirnames, and re-installing a sense oftradition behind their names.’ FirstGreat Western runs 18 namedservices between London, Walesand the West Country.


NEWS

The railwayat war

Bedwyncelebrates150 years

Drivers Nigel Williams and Martin Raine prepare the two 1930s headboards at London Paddington, prior to departing to Plymouth and Carmarthen.

Headboard tradition revived

“So little is knownabout the history ofthe services we areprivileged to run fromLondon Paddington tothe West of Englandand Wales…”

Passengers at Bedwyn station inWiltshire celebrated its 150thbirthday by presenting the driverof the first service that day, ChrisBoyce, with a commemorativemug.

The Bedwyn Trains PassengerGroup organised the presentation.Chris works for First GreatWestern. The mugs have beenprinted with a copy of Bedwyn’s1862 timetable. Profits from thesale of the mugs will be donated tothe Bruce Trust, a local charityproviding canal boat holidays fordisabled, disadvantaged andelderly people. The boats aremoored in Bedwyn.

First Great Western has pledged£150 for the trust and donated twofirst class tickets for the charity toraffle as a prize.

The National Railway Museum inYork has launched a databasecontaining the details of 20,000railway workers who died inWorld War I.

The comprehensive resource listsnames, ranks, military numbers, raildepartments and occupations,addresses, family details, dates ofdeath and which war memorial theyare on along with 4,500 references tophotographs in staff magazines.

While highlighting the massivelosses in the industry during thewar, the list also draws attentionto the role women played inkeeping Britain moving. The NRMplans to add to the database.

Driver Chris Boyce receives a 150th anniversary

commemorative mug from Steve Smith, Bedwyn Trains

Passenger Group who also baked the cake (right).

Play your part inrailway history

The National Railway Museum Development Team • Leeman Road • York • YO26 4XJ • 01904 686 285

Here at the National Railway Museum we are very proud to be recognised as the world’s leadingrailway museum and the most visited museum outside London with over 800,000 visitors each year.Our visitors come from all over the world because they are fascinated by our collections and thestory they represent.As a national charity, we rely on the support of people young and old to preserve and care for ourcollections now and for the generations to come.One way of supporting our work is to leave a gift to the National Railway Museum in your Will. A legacygift of any size really does make a huge difference to our work and the future of the Museum.As a Railway Magazine reader, we know that you care as much about our railway heritage as we do,so if and when the time is right for you to include a legacy in your Will, please remember us.


Big-hearted London Midland staffheld a fund raiser for BirminghamSt Mary’s Hospice just beforeChristmas.

Former colleague Ged Mahonwas looked after at the Selly Parkhospice. The fundraiser was heldat Our Lady of Lourdes Club inYardley Wood. Ged Mahon, aLondon Midland train technician,died of cancer aged just 48. Thecare provided touched Ged’s friendand colleague Bob Glover, inspiringhim to start organising fundraisingevents in support of the hospice.

Says Bob, a fellow technicianwho worked alongside Ged fornearly a decade at LondonMidland’s Tyseley depot, ‘I went tosee Ged a few times at St Mary’sand saw what an amazing job thestaff did for him. They were soaccommodating to everyone whovisited and created such a niceatmosphere for him. I think ithelped Ged and his family a lot.

‘He was kept as happy as hecould have been. The events are to

raise money for Birmingham StMary’s but also to keep Ged’smemory alive. He was great on theshop floor, he loved a joke and wasas popular at work as he wasoutside it. We miss him.’

Bob’s charitable efforts have seenhim gain national recognition afterhe was named a finalist for theRail Person of the Year at theRailStaff Awards 2012. Says Bob, ‘I

was really surprised and honouredto be nominated. It was nice butthe fundraisers are not about me,they are about Ged andBirmingham St Mary’s.’

Held for the first time inDecember 2009, the event hasgrown year-on-year to become afixture in the calendar at thedepot. Staff efforts have raisedthousands of pounds for

Birmingham St Mary’s, throughadmission fees and items donatedby football clubs, businesses andcelebrities such as darts champion,Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor.

Says Ged’s widow, Elizabeth,‘Gerard loved Bob and had greatrespect for him as a friend and acolleague. He would feel mosthumble that this charity night isheld in his name. He would haveloved to be there as Gerard loved agood party! It has been fantastic tosee how much they have raisedeach year. Bob, his friends andcolleagues work very hard over theyear to make the evenings asuccess. I admire them very much.’

Colleagues remember Ged Mahon

As the movie, ‘The Hobbit : AnUnexpected Journey’ sweepscinemas, fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’sbooks have pointed toShugborough Tunnel as thepossible inspiration for theoriginal home of Bilbo Baggins, thefilm’s unlikely hero.

Engineers from Network Railworked in the tunnel overChristmas and New Year renewingtracks and drainage. Shugboroughis on the heavily trafficked WCMLbetween Rugeley and Stafford.Tolkien is known to have stayed inthe area at the village of GreatHaywood, on the edge of theShugborough Estate whilstrecovering from fever picked up inFrance during the First World War.

Tolkien started writing whilstconvalescing. He walked dailythrough the Shugborough estateand nearby woods. An early story,‘The Tale of the Sun And TheMoon’ drew upon the landscapeand Shugborough Hall itself.

The tunnel portico, a Victorianmock up of a castle, is thought tohave intrigued the author andfuture Oxford don. With the oldtracks removed Network Railrenewed the drainage through thetunnel. New tracks have beeninstalled.

Rail heritage for Hobbits

“I went to see Ged afew times at St Mary’sand saw what anamazing job the staffdid for him…”BOB GLOVER,GED’S FRIEND AND COLLEAGUE

Overhead boost for DerbyFollowing the announcement ofplans to electrify the MidlandMain Line, Network Rail hasexpanded plans for a newmaintenance centre in Derby.

Revised plans will accommodatethe team required to support theelectrification of the Midland MainLine. The depot will bring togetherup to 400 maintenance staff fromexisting offices and sub-depotsacross the east midlands. Thatteam will now be joined by around50 new electrificationmaintenance specialists.

Says Martin Frobisher (right),route managing director forNetwork Rail, ‘This maintenancedepot is central to our plans tohelp sustain a modern, reliablerailway in the east midlands. Thenew depot will bring our frontlineteams into a single location so wecan better plan and resource themaintenance of the railway. It willalso allow more focused, rapid andflexible response to incidents.

‘The government’s proposal thatit plans to fund the electrificationof our main line is fantastic newsfor the region, giving us a railwaywhich will be cheaper and greenerto run. It also means we will needto recruit electrificationmaintenance teams who will jointhe team at Derby to look after thenew equipment.’

Work gets underway on site thiswinter and the new depot shouldbe ready by December 2013.


NEWS

Chas Bellchamber, a ticket examiner based atNorwich station, is retiring after 61 years service onthe railway.

Railways are a family affair for the Bellchambers. Both his sons work for Greater Anglia, John as an

Operations Manager and David as a Train Driver. Hisgrandson Devin, also works as a conductor. Devinand Chas recently worked their first train together.

The Bellchamber family has served the railway foralmost 180 years. Chas was inspired to join therailway by his father Sidney, who drove steam trainson the Great Eastern Mainline between Norwich andLondon.

Chas Bellchamber joined the railway in 1951 as afireman, stoking steam engines and moved on tobecome a driver. Later he became a guard and SeniorConductor. Chas briefly retired at the end of the1990s, but soon returned as a ticket examiner, as hemissed the railway so much.

Says Andrew Goodrum Greater Anglia’s CustomerService Director, ‘Chas has an enormous level ofexperience and a huge pride in his job. Hisenthusiasm, no matter what time of day, isremarkable. I think it is safe to say that we could getChas to do almost any job on the station and he’d geton with it well. It’s a fantastic achievement in thisday and age to have reached 61 years in the job. Weall wish him a very happy retirement.’

Chas is now 77 years old, he is a keen sports fanand is looking forward to having a bit more time towatch cricket, especially watching his grandsons play.

Final Tickets Please

A group of Belgian chocolatemakers headed by AndrewFarrugia, originally from Malta,has created the world’s longestchocolate train

Next call will be the Guinnessbook of records for the train. Theidea is to boost the country’ssuperb chocolate industry. The110-foot long chocolate sculptureshows a steam locomotive haulingseveral carriages. The sculptureused 2,755 pounds of chocolateand took 784 hours to complete.

Says Mr Farrugia, ‘I had this ideafor a while, and I said what do youthink if we do this realisation of along chocolate train, you know,because a train you can make it aslong as you like… Actually it wasgoing to be much smaller than itwas, but I kept on adding anotherwagon, and another wagon, andit’s the size it is today.’

ChocolateExpress

FaulknerSteps DownColleagues at Greater Anglia’sIlford Depot bid a final goodbyeto long serving Alan Faulknerwho has retired after half acentury of dedicated service tothe railway.

Born and bred in Essex, Alansays he was inspired to join therailway when as a youngster hewatched steam trains go by atRagmarsh Farm, in Wrabness.At 15 he began an engineeringapprenticeship based at StPancras before working at IlfordDepot and then LondonLiverpool Street station as afitter. Later in his career Alanreturned to Ilford Depot, wherehe worked as a yard assistant.

Says Dave Lupton, GreaterAnglia’s Fleet ProductionManager, ‘Alan has given 50years of dedicated service to therailway. He is unique, verygenerous and always ready tohelp. We would like to thankhim for his efforts and wishhim a very happy retirement.’

Vital Technology, part of the VitalServices Group, has successfullycompleted an integrated CCTVsurveillance system project todeter cable theft and vandalism atCricklewood railway depot inNorth London.

To ensure the success of theproject, Vital Technology installeda combination of PTZ and fixedcameras in nine locations acrossthe site, and the recorded footagewas streamed back to a central

control centre. Software developed by Vital

Technology’s sister company,Sicura Systems, was utilised todetect trespassers and raise alarmsto enable remedial action to betaken. Site security was furtherenhanced through the installationof an automated gate securityaccess system for pedestrians andvehicles, and this, together withthe CCTV surveillance system, hasgreatly reduced theft andvandalism at this site.


NEWS

Railway staff in Scotland haveappealed to walkers in theHighlands to keep off railwaylines.

Two German fishermen were hitby a train in Perthshire. SaysConstable Mike Tunney, of BTP,‘Hillwalking is becoming sopopular and the generalperception is people are in aremote area with few trains andthere is nothing wrong with doingit. They may include tourists fromother countries where it is notillegal.’

The father and son team werehit on the Glasgow-Fort William

line on their way back from afishing trip. Paul Kolarczyk, 52,sustained serious leg injuries andhis father, Gerhard, 87, sufferedcuts and bruises to his head.Walkers take short cuts across thetracks assuming the railway islightly used.

Aslef’s Scottish secretary KevinLindsay, ‘The railway is adangerous place and peopleshould not be accessing it.Hillwalkers and fishermen shouldnot be endangering their lives andthose of people on trains.’We can see you: railway staff urge hill walkers

to keep off the tracks.

Shakin’all overA group of students at StonyBrook University in New York hasdeveloped a way of converting thevibrations produced by trains onrailway tracks into energy.

The energy harvester could savemoney and help reduce CO2emissions and has already won anaward. Says Professor Lei Zuo(right), who leads the team, ‘Ourinvention…can harness 200 wattsof electric energy from train-induced track deflections to powerthe track-side electrical devices.

By using two one-way clutches,the innovative mechanical motionrectifier converts the irregular up-and-down vibration motion intounidirectional rotation of thegenerator, thus breaking thefundamental challenge ofvibration energy harvesting andoffering significant advantages ofhigh efficiency and high reliability.’

The Railroad Energy Harvesterhas been licensed and is expectedto be put on test in the new year.

By using two one-way clutches, theinnovativemechanical motionrectifier converts theirregular up-and-down vibrationmotion intounidirectional rotationof the generator, thusbreaking the…

Vital-Eye

Eurotunnel’s rail-borne Le Shuttle service broke its previous volumerecord over Christmas and New Year.

Between Friday 14 December 2012 and Sunday 6 January 2013 a totalof almost 200,000 passenger vehicles crossed the Channel in bothdirections between Folkestone and Calais. This is the equivalent toapproximately 1 million passengers.

Joyeux Noel

Vorsicht!

© DAVID JO

NES


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