Rail links to the Port of Liverpool will be upgraded as part of a scheme to improve the port’s capacity. The Department for Transport will invest in adding a second line on the Bootle to Port link, increasing the line speed and improving signalling at Earlestown West. The schemes are due to be complete by 2019 and will double the number of trains that can enter the port every day to 48, or two every hour. Transport minister Andrew Jones MP, who visited the Port of Liverpool today to view two new options for increasing road capacity to the port, said: “We are determined to improve access to the Port of Liverpool so we can deliver a Northern Powerhouse by creating new jobs and an economic boost to the region.” The rail upgrades will be used to support the Liverpool2 port development, which will allow the port to simultaneously handle two vessels carrying the equivalent of 13,000 20ft containers each. It can currently only support vessels carrying up to 4,000 containers, and the new development is expected to create 1,000 new jobs in the area and up to 5,000 more in the wider supply chain. Warren Marshall, group planning director at Peel Ports, which operates the port, said: “Upgraded road connections are essential but it’s also important to recognise the benefits of other modes.” Port of Liverpool also recently opened a biomass terminal, which will supply up to 3m tonnes of wooden pallets from North America for rail transport to Drax Power Station in Yorkshire.

Changes to Network Rail’s Enhancements Delivery Plan (EDP) following the Hendy Review – including further delays to ETCS commissioning on the East Coast and Great Western main lines – mean that phase 1 milestones are likely being pushed back to CP6, “inevitably” creating uncertainty about the entire delivery of the Digital Railway, Hitachi has said. In its evidence submission to the Transport Select Committee’s inquiry into rail technology, Hitachi Rail Europe outlined a series of concerns around the many ambitions for delivering the Digital Railway proposals. It cited, for example, reductions in the ETCS Cab Fitment Fund, delays to ETCS commissioning and the revision of the Innovation Fund for CP5 from £52m to £19m and the Strategic Research and Development Fund from £50m to £13.5m. “Beyond the above references to ETCS infrastructure plans, there is no mention of Network Rail’s plans to implement an accelerated vision for a digital railway, including the traffic management pilot scheme in Norwich and Great Yarmouth. This is in contrast to Network Rail’s Digital Railway plans for CP5 and CP6-7, as well as the DfT’s focus on digital solutions,” the company added. Hitachi, which has been contracted to provide the Traffic Management System (TMS) for Thameslink as well as a portfolio of train builds across the country, argued that rolling out TMS can increase railway capacity by around 40%. But the current plan “lacks the pace, prioritisation and scope needed to meet passenger and freight growth”, as has been pointed out by the Digital Railway Programme Steering Group. “There is a real need to address the capacity challenges for fare paying customers today – by rolling out TMS capacity enhancement can be achieved more quickly,” the company said. “This current plan is based on making the most use out of existing signalling infrastructure and achieving the lowest whole-life cost approach. It therefore fails to account for the range of economic benefits that could be derived from a faster programme of implementation.” It added: “Given the various complex elements involved in a digital railway, an effective joined-up approach to ERTMS is crucial. The current slow development of ETCS-enabled signals means that ETCS-enabled trains and TMS developments cannot fully take advantage of the capacity and reliability benefits proposed.” While the full business case of the accelerated Digital Railway programme is still being drawn up – with a target submission date of September for the CP6 initial industry plan – there is already “too much uncertainty” around the programme at present, Hitachi said, as well as around subsequent tender opportunities. In addition to that, a lack of information about existing assets and access to date is “discouraging the supply chain from investing in research and development, new services and skills”. “It is also a barrier to businesses within the supply chain to developing collaborative working arrangements on digital solutions,” it added. “Given the complex technologies involved, it is vital that suppliers across each of the different digital railway systems collaborate to better understand the challenges and interoperability of their technologies, and achieve stated milestones. “Likewise, supplier input needs to be greater on the Digital Railway Programme Steering Group. At present, industry representation is largely comprised of train operating companies, rather than those who would be providing the technology.” As well as including greater supplier input in the steering group, the entirety of Network Rail’s Digital Railway team must also operate “with a degree of separation” from the rest of Network Rail in order to “prevent any operational conflict with the day-to-day rules and organisational structure”. Greater supplier input and training To break down current barriers to achieving a digital railway in the UK, Hitachi recommended that Network Rail and the DfT publish a clear programme of works for this programme for CP6 and beyond, as well as develop a supplier steering group linked to the current general steering group “to drive collaborative and innovative approaches”. “In order to deliver the accelerated Digital Railway proposals, more extensive supplier collaboration is required at a technical level, and decision-making level within the Steering Group,” it said. “International expertise from companies such as ProRail can help to understand some of the challenges experienced with implementation in other European countries, looking at lessons learned and the most appropriate actions necessary to improve procedural developments.” But the Digital Railway programme will also require a digitally-talented workforce, Hitachi said, of which the requisite skills exist in the industry at the moment, but not in the necessary amounts to “bring innovation to scale”. “Greater visibility on plans for rolling out the digital railway will allow the supply chain to invest in the talent and training required,” it added. As well as placing greater focus on suppliers, Network Rail must work closely with TOCs to develop efficient plans for training on integrated systems. Read more about this in the April/May edition of RTM, where leaders from Network Rail and NSAR discussed the fundamental need to support suppliers to invest in skills and training.

A CONSTRUCTION chief believes the apprenticeship model is “back in fashion” – and feels the future of the sector is in good hands because of it. Kevin Byrne is Managing Director at Seymour Civil Engineering, and has worked his way to the top having started off at the other end of the ladder. Kevin, who has spent 27 years at Seymour, has seen steady stream of apprentices work their way through the ranks at his firm and says they form a key part of his team. Kevin, who moved the North East specialist to a new headquarters at Hartlepool Marina earlier this year, said: “The whole issue around apprenticeships is very interesting. “I think there has been a sea change. People are getting to the crossroads of further education and giving it some serious consideration rather than going to university. “Different people have different beliefs, but I think that a degree is nowhere near as valuable as it used to be. Why fund an expensive university degree – and pick up the debt at the end of it – when you can come straight into an organisation like ourselves, get on the job training and earn a professional qualification at the end of it? “Graduates are equipped for later life rather than the here and now, whereas apprentices have to learn quickly and within a couple of years they have been given a headstart.” Kevin thinks industry in general could be in a better position in the future if employers adopt the approach used by the likes of Germany. And he welcomes schemes such as National Apprenticeship Week to help spread the word about the benefits of apprenticeships. He added: “There was a big drive into IT in the 1990s when the recession hit. All of a sudden, it wasn’t credible to be a standard plumber or an electrician anymore, and everyone was pushed towards technology. “That, in my view, was the biggest political mistake this country ever made. If you look at somewhere like Germany, there is a model in place. People start on the shop floor, there is a mutual respect and appreciation and doors open along the way to allow them to progress. You will find that a lot of people in the senior positions up at the top have worked their way up from the very bottom. “But now, back in our country, it seems to be coming back into fashion. As I said, the financial aspect plays a big part. But employers are becoming more receptive now, they can see the benefits. “If that continues, and I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t, then I think it benefits everyone. Campaigns like National Apprenticeship Week highlight the opportunities which are available to businesses and students, and I think that is very positive. “From my own point of view, at Seymour if we get an apprentice through the door then they learn from their very first day. They know the Seymour way, and pick up the good habits. It’s easier to give someone good habits than to try and take the bad habits they’ve learned away from them. “The other positive for me is that we are recognised as a local company, and we feel we have a responsibility to help people. The biggest asset to our business is our team, and the apprentices we have are a key part of that team.” Seymour is recognised as one of the North East’s leading civil engineering businesses, and employs a workforce in excess of 230 throughout the region. The firm specialises in drainage, urban renewal projects, restoration and development work as well as sea defence and coastal protection work.

The Need For Speed (The Following is a Promoted Article) Virgin Media has been at the forefront of UK broadband infrastructure for a number of years. However, its ambitious endeavours show no sign of slowing. Indeed, the accelerator pedal has been floored once again with the announcement earlier this year of Project Lightning. In the single largest investment in UK broadband for a decade, Virgin Media is investing £3bn to extend its ultrafast capability to an additional four million premises, taking its reach up to 17 million by 2020. As the world’s most internet-based major economy, broadband infrastructure and the opportunities it offers, is increasingly central to the country’s growth over the coming years. Virgin Media is already central to this growth but it recognises that it cannot stand still. The £3bn of additional private investment it is making is essential for individuals and businesses to thrive in the global digital economy, currently  providing speeds up to 200Mbps with 300Mbps announced for 2016. Significantly, the investment also has the potential to create thousands of new jobs in what will be a multi-billion pound boost to the national economy. Certainly, Virgin Media Business has the potential to make a huge impact in future. It already provides products and services to a wide community of businesses and public sector organisations with most of its 40,000 clients being small and medium-sized enterprises. In a groundbreaking report issued recently, it found the economy could receive a £92bn boost if firms fully develop their digital potential. It also found that in the last 12 months, digital capabilities generated £123bn in business revenues, equivalent to 3.4% of total GDP. It is therefore fundamental for both the growth of business and the UK economy, that businesses of all sizes have access to cheaper, faster, more reliable broadband in order to fulfil this potential digital opportunity. Critically, Virgin Media Business works closely with key government departments including the DCMS to remain at the forefront of developments. This has included assistance to enhance commercial opportunities through the internet. For example, recently it launched a free small business broadband installation scheme to help them get online. This came as the Government’s Super Connected Cities (SCC) voucher programme closed in October. Following high levels of demand for the vouchers and the support the scheme provided to thousands of small businesses, Virgin Media Business committed to cover up to £1,000 of installation costs for new business customers in the same cities covered by the SCC. This is being trialled until the end of the year. Elsewhere, in September, Virgin announced it was bringing ultrafast broadband to Manchester’s Tech Quarter, giving a boost to the local economy and business productivity in the area. Through a package that has been specially designed to support the connectivity needs of businesses located in multi-tenanted buildings, 3,000 businesses co-located in 300 buildings will now have access to the fastest, cheapest and most reliable internet connections. This followed a similar launch in London’s Tech City earlier this year where more than 450 London businesses located in 70 buildings are being connected to Virgin Media Business’s dedicated connections. Delivery of its ambitious plans isn’t a straight forward task but these are challenges Virgin Media Business is confident it can tackle. When rolling out broadband there are numerous things that can get in the way – wayleaves, business rates and even things like parking restrictions – so it is vital that a close working relationship with local authorities is established. Innovative ways of deploying fibre cables such as narrow trenching are assisting the process through increased efficiency and speed of installation. Moreover, narrow trenching reduces the width of the trench used to lay fibre cables from around 40cm to just 10cm and enables engineers to cover up to 100m in a day, twice as fast as current methods. Crucially, Virgin Media is the only widely available provider to use DOCSIS 3 technology to provide broadband from the cabinet to people’s homes. It is the use of this coaxial cable which enables it to support faster speeds without deterioration over distance and is what allows for ultrafast speeds of 200Mbps and beyond. Yet, the advantages of this are only possible through support at a local level. It’s important local authorities work with Virgin Media to cut red tape and remove barriers to broadband rollout. Plans are now in motion with over 250,000 premises already earmarked for build in Manchester, Nottingham and Leeds with more locations to be announced this year.