Innovation, decarbonisation and growth: These are the three key topics of this year’s Railtex, the UK’s leading trade event for the entire railway sector. Taking place from 9 – 11 May 2023 at the NEC in Birmingham, Railtex 2023 will once again provide a unique opportunity to source and explore the latest products and services aimed at improving the efficiency, safety, and sustainability of rail transport. The show features a strong line-up of national and international suppliers, the popular On-Track Display area, and a three-day supporting programme packed with expert talks and special activities. Just a few weeks to go until leaders, innovators and trailblazers of the rail industry will come together at Railtex 2023 in Birmingham to discuss, present and source the latest technologies and solutions addressing some of the rail sector’s challenges. With continued growth and investment expected for the coming years, current goals are centred around improving the efficiency, safety, and sustainability of the sector, while also enhancing the passenger experience and connectivity between different modes of transport, as well as supporting economic growth. “Digitalisation, automation, and electrification are just some of the key developments that have opened up new possibilities for the rail industry in the years to come,” says Olaf Freier, the Transport Portfolio Director, on behalf of show organiser RX. “Railtex offers the ideal platform for industry professionals, policymakers and other stakeholders in the rail sector to connect with manufacturers, suppliers, service providers, and peers. There is plenty of opportunity to explore the latest products and innovations and learn about new projects, policies and initiatives. The whole event is geared towards networking, knowledge sharing and technology sourcing to help attendees grow their business or career in the rail industry.” Supporting programme with high-profile speakers and networking A three-day conference and activity programme, organised by the main show partner, the Railway Industry Association (RIA), provides exclusive insights into the latest developments and projects in the rail sector, exploring how rail companies can successfully innovate and change to meet future industry challenges. Participants will also benefit from excellent networking opportunities with suppliers and peers. The Future Focus Conference & Young Rail Professional Conference The Future Focus Conference features an exciting agenda of keynotes, presentations and panel discussions by leading industry experts and thought leaders, covering key aspects of sustainability, safety and policy. This year’s topics will touch on rail supply chain issues ahead of CP7 (Control Period 7), the decarbonisation of rail, and international opportunities for the sector. Speakers include representatives from the Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT), Great Western Railway, Network Rail, the Railway Industry Association, Siemens, Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB), and Midlands Connect. The Young Rail Professional Conference on day three is dedicated to the new generation in rail. The Conference Zone is located at Stand U11. The drop-in sessions are free to attend and CPD certified. Updates on the programme and speakers are published on the official event website. Innovation Village RIA’s Innovation Village, built at the centre of Railtex, provides a collaboration platform between technology suppliers and rail clients to help create game-changing solutions. Each day features a different client with pioneering solutions developed in collaboration with suppliers, offering a great opportunity to learn from delivered projects. Innovation village “mayors” include the Network Rail R&D Portfolio, the Transport for Wales Lab, and the Train Operating Companies (TOC) Innovation Community. The Innovation Village is part of the “Unlocking Innovation” programme, a multi-award-winning initiative by RIA designed to accelerate innovation. Top suppliers and newcomers from across the entire rail supply chain Attendees can expect an excellent cross-section of technologies and services that facilitate the safe, efficient, and sustainable operation of rail transport. Exhibits cover rolling stock technology, track, and infrastructure, signalling and communications, vehicle maintenance, fare collection systems, cable technology, and many other rail-related products and services across the entire rail supply chain. Attendees are invited to use the Railtex Exhibitor List Tool and Online Show Preview to explore exhibitors and products that are of particular interest to them. Venue, tickets, and opening times Railtex 2023 will take place from 9 – 11 May 2023 at the NEC Birmingham, UK, right in the heart of the Midlands region. International flight connections and the excellent local infrastructure make the venue easily accessible. For further travel information please visit our Travel Hub. Visitors can register online and order free tickets ahead of the event. During the show, tickets are available on a purchase basis via the online ticket shop or on-site. For fast and easy access, visitors are advised to print out their e-ticket or download their mobile ticket prior to the show. Show opening hours are from 10:00 AM to 17:00 PM on Tuesday, 9 May, and Wednesday, 10 May 2023, and from 10:00 AM to 16:00 PM on Thursday, 11 May 2023. For further information please visit: www.railtex.co.uk Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals 

Almost four kilometres of glazed platform edge screening has been installed across central London’s Elizabeth line stations, keeping passengers safe with the final segment of the landmark rail project now open. St Helens headquartered glass manufacturer Pilkington UK supplied 5,000 glass panels to Knorr-Bremse Rail Systems UK, which manufactured and installed floor-to-ceiling platform screen and door systems – creating a transparent safety barrier between the platform edge and the track. The glazed barriers feature on both the 240-metre-long eastbound and westbound platforms at the Paddington, Bond Street, Woolwich, Canary Wharf, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street and Whitechapel stations. The glazing comprises two pieces of advanced toughened glass, based on the technology that underpins the Pilkington Pyroclear® range – addressing the current risk requirements including barrier safety and blast resistance. Kristian Chalmers, head of sales at Pilkington UK, said: “We’re proud to be one of the many suppliers from across the UK’s nations and regions that have helped Crossrail to become a reality.   “Naturally, a project like this commands the specification of high-performance materials that can withstand very high traffic while meeting critical safety requirements. “Knorr-Bremse chose to work with us on the project for the Elizabeth line due to the strength and quality of the Pilkington Pyroclear® product technology, and our ability to meet both a demanding technical brief and a complex programme. The glass is an ideal choice for projects with safety and security standards as high as this. This is reflected by the fact that we now have products listed in the London Underground approved product directory.” The Elizabeth line will serve 41 accessible stations, 31 of them upgraded, including all three terminal rail stations at Heathrow and services to Reading. It will boost central London’s rail capacity by 10 per cent, bringing an additional 1.5 million people within 45 minutes’ commute of central London. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals 

Civil engineering specialist GRAHAM has delivered a new multi-million-pound footbridge in Peterborough, ensuring that members of the public can continue to cross the A47 easily and safely. GRAHAM was appointed by National Highways, which needed to replace Longthorpe’s old bridge as it approached the end of its life. Now operational, the new 30-meter-long structure (which is located just five meters from the site of the old bridge) was designed to be more accessible for cyclists, pedestrians, and wheelchair users. It was delivered as part of a £250 million package of National Highways projects, geared towards improving safety on the A47 between Peterborough and Great Yarmouth. To ensure no biodiversity has been lost as a result of the bridge build, four hundred new trees will be planted locally to replace those it was necessary to remove as part of the project. Wood chippings produced were donated to a community garden in nearby Ravensthorpe and wood from pallets, which had been used to deliver materials to the site, were also given to the community garden where a volunteer transformed them into a model of a steam train. This was subsequently donated to a school nursery. Andrew Harmon, Contracts Manager for GRAHAM, commented: “We’re proud that National Highways appointed GRAHAM to deliver these essential improvements to the major road network. GRAHAM strives to make a difference to communities, and the new footbridge will improve accessibility in the area, making it safer for everyone to cross the A47.” As part of the project, GRAHAM demolished the old arched concrete footbridge, which was built in the 1970s and failed to meet current industry standards. The new structure was constructed whilst keeping the old footbridge open, complete with reinforced containing walls and pre-cast concrete bridge beams. The new bridge also features shallow access ramps for enhanced accessibility, two abutment walls, CFA piling, and a luminated handrail. Its retaining wall contains Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate (LECA), a unique, sustainable material. GRAHAM worked to minimise disruption, managing two full weekend closures, and shutdowns of the A47 for the bridge beam delivery and demolition phase. The old bridge was kept open for the duration of the works, with a minibus service provided for members of the public. GRAHAM’s team could only gain access to the site via the A47, as residents live on either side of the structure. GRAHAM have programmed works in April and May to carry out improvement works upgrading central reservation vehicle restraint system and streetlighting Addressing attendees at the bridge opening, Chris Eglinton, National Highways Project Manager for the bridge build, commented: “This is a fantastic day, and I am delighted for everyone whose hard work and professionalism has got us to this point. “Improving the major road network and making it safer – including how you cross over it – is what we do. This new bridge will make that much easier. Whether you’re on a bike or perhaps pushing a pram, I’m sure people will notice the difference.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals 

HS2 yesterday confirmed that ‘Florence’ and ‘Cecilia’ – the two giant tunnelling machines digging HS2’s longest tunnels – have passed Amersham, 5-and-a-half miles into their 10 mile drive under the Chilterns. The enormous 2,000 tonne machines have spent almost two years excavating the twin tunnels between the M25 and South Heath in Buckinghamshire that will help the high speed rail project protect the environment while improving connections between London, Birmingham and the North. Each machine is a 170m long self-contained underground factory, digging the tunnel, lining it with 56,000 concrete segments to form rings and grouting them into place as it moves forward. Designed specifically for the geology of the Chilterns, the first TBMs were launched in Summer 2021 from a site near the M25 and have excavated more than 1.8 million cubic metres of chalk and flint. As well as digging and lining the tunnels, engineers have also completed the excavation of five shafts that will provide ventilation and emergency access near Chalfont St Peter, Chalfont St Giles, Amersham, Little Missenden and an intervention shaft at Chesham Road. The 44m deep shaft at Amersham – which the TBMs have now passed – will be in the middle of a road junction just outside the Buckinghamshire town. A ‘headhouse’ will be built on top of the shaft to house safety equipment, with a flint-faced boundary wall and a pre-patinated zinc roof to help match the natural tones of the surrounding landscape. Once complete, trains will pass through the tunnel at speeds of up to 320km/h, providing zero carbon journeys between London, Birmingham and the north while freeing up capacity on the existing rail network. Martyn Noak, HS2 Ltd’s Head of Tunnel Engineering, said: “The Chiltern tunnel will take HS2 underground and safeguard the woodlands and wildlife habits above the tunnel as well as significantly reducing disruption to communities during construction and operation of the new railway. “I’ve been very impressed with the progress made by Florence and Cecilia as they make their way unseen beneath the Chiltern Hills.  It’s great to see how much progress they and the teams excavating the five shafts have made and I’d like to thank everyone involved in getting us this far.” The two TBMs are operated by, Align – a joint venture formed of Bouygues Travaux Publics, Sir Robert McAlpine, and VolkerFitzpatrick. Each machine has a crew of 17 people, working in shifts and supported by over 100 people on the surface, managing the logistics and maintaining the smooth progress of the tunnelling operation.  Coralie Peroux, Tunnel Manager, Align ‘Florence and Cecilia reaching our third shaft at Amersham is a great achievement for not only the tunnelling team and the team involved in excavating and preparing the shaft, but also the supporting teams on the surface at the South Portal, manufacturing the concrete segments required to line the tunnel and processing the spoil from the tunnels.” “In particular I would like to pay credit to Align Shafts team, working with our supply chain partners KVJV and Keltbray, who have been working tirelessly over the last few months to ensure the shaft is ready for the arrival of Florence and Cecilia.”    Approximately 2.7 million cubic metres of material – mostly chalk and flint – will be excavated during the construction of the tunnels and used for landscaping. Once construction is complete, the temporary buildings at the south portal will be removed and the site landscaped with around 90 hectares of new wildlife-rich chalk grassland habitats. Chalk grassland used to be widespread across the hills of southeast England and are considered habitat of international conservation significance with just 700ha left across the Chilterns. HS2 currently has five TBMs in the ground, with a further five due to be launched over the coming years. Together they will create 64 miles of tunnel between London and the West Midlands including major tunnels on the approach to London and Birmingham. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals