GRAHAM’s rail teams worked around the clock over the Bank Holiday weekend to deliver crucial upgrades to South East London’s rail network. The essential bridge replacements and supplementary works took place under abnormal track possessions at Bellenden Road Underbridge (Southwark) and Westdown Road Underbridge (Lewisham). Both projects involved the replacement
SSE Enterprise Rail has been awarded a five-year programme of works through Network Rail’s building and civils framework. Awarded to SSE Enterprise Rail, the work has a potential value of more than £200m in multiple regions and will be delivered between 2019 and 2024 [with early works commencing in 2018].
Network Rail has revealed that they have invested £4 million pounds in upgrading Waterloo Station over the Easter period. The £4 million upgrade project that took place is part of the planned investment in to Waterloo & South West Upgrade. There is a plan to invest £800 million in the
Passengers of Bolton Station will witness platform improvements starting next week. This is part of the Railway Upgrade Plan set out by Network Rail. There will be plans to provide Bolton Station with the capacity to provide their passenger with faster, electric train services. These new train services are expected
Network Rail is set to be stripped of its full control of railways in England’s as part of a major government shake-up. Chris Grayling, Transport Secretary, has announced that he intends to bring track and train operations back together, handing train operators greater influence over the work that takes place
Network Rail is set to unlock land for 12,000 new homes by 2020. The company is in the process of finalising plans to release the land for the development of around 12,000 new homes to play its part in meeting the government’s target to release enough land to build 160,000
As outlined in a new set of guidelines for procurement (as put together by Sajid Javid, Business Secretary), areas of corporate social responsibility and economic accountability are to be placed on the shoulder of key, large-scale public sector bodies. To include organisations such as the NHS, Highways England and Network
GRAHAM’s rail teams worked around the clock over the Bank Holiday weekend to deliver crucial upgrades to South East London’s rail network. The essential bridge replacements and supplementary works took place under abnormal track possessions at Bellenden Road Underbridge (Southwark) and Westdown Road Underbridge (Lewisham). Both projects involved the replacement and reinstatement of two underbridges within a restricted 72-hour rail possession. The railway closures began at 01:20 on Saturday 26th May and finished at 04:00 on Tuesday 29th May. The bridges carry National Rail, London Overground and Thameslink commuter services, as well as providing a busy thoroughfare for railway freight services. The works were part of Network Rail’s overall £78m investment in key asset maintenance and upgrades to more than 600 infrastructure schemes throughout the country. Successful completion Commenting on the successful completion of the bridge projects, Leo Martin, GRAHAM’s Managing Director – Civil Engineering, stated: “Both schemes underline the technical expertise of our staff and supply chain, and their ability to deliver complex rail projects safely and to the highest standards within possession constraints. “When working in these challenging rail conditions, safe and timely project delivery is only possible through close collaboration between ourselves, Network Rail, our supply chain partners and stakeholders. This was a real team effort and everyone pulled together to ensure the successful completion of these projects.” Works As part of the Bellenden Road Underbridge upgrade, the GRAHAM team replaced the existing 12m single span deck with two new Network Rail standard U decks, which were 66t each. The Westdown Road Underbridge project also centred on the replacement of the existing 12.5m bridge with two new Network Rail standard U decks, which were 74t each. It included the replacement of new station platforms. Both projects featured propping to restrain the existing abutments from potential overturning, the removal of tracks and ballast, the demolition of the existing bridge and the installation of the new superstructure decks. New pre-cast concrete cill slabs were placed at each location. Additionally, the reinstatement and re-tamping of the tracks were completed before reopening to rail traffic. Complexity The works involved setting up heavy lift cranes, including a 350t crawler crane and a 500t mobile crane, on the roadways below each bridge location in advance of the railway closures. The complexity of the works was made even more challenging by the severe weather conditions over the bank holiday weekend, with heavy thunder and lightning hampering crane lifts at critical times, and the team having to resolve a number of unforeseen issues as the project progressed. At its peak, over 100 people were on site to deliver each respective project. Meticulous planning GRAHAM’s rail experts have been meticulously preparing for the works over recent months in conjunction with a specialist supply chain, stakeholders, TOCs / FOCs and Network Rail. GRAHAM’s Rail Director, Jonny Kerr, believes this advanced planning and teamwork was the key to the success of both projects. “These complex bridge replacements were completed by our teams through their meticulous planning and technical expertise. The team worked closely with our various supply chain partners, stakeholders and Network Rail and their partners to ensure that there was minimal disruption to the rail network,” said Jonny. “There was a tremendous amount of planning done in advance, which allowed us to progress each project smoothly even with the challenges presented. Additional factors, such as operational High Voltage and S&T cable routes, required support and protection during the works.“ “It’s a tremendous achievement and I’m very grateful to everyone who rose to the challenge. “We would like to thank the public for their patience during the closures.” Rail expertise GRAHAM has completed a broad portfolio of award-winning work within the rail sector. Examples of GRAHAM’s expertise in delivering complex construction within an operational railway include the “Live Launch” of a 55m span, 515t bridge structure over ten railways lines in South London, slope stabilisation works in South Wales and the construction of a new railway station in the Midlands.
SSE Enterprise Rail has been awarded a five-year programme of works through Network Rail’s building and civils framework. Awarded to SSE Enterprise Rail, the work has a potential value of more than £200m in multiple regions and will be delivered between 2019 and 2024 [with early works commencing in 2018]. The framework consists of mechanical and electrical engineering services, building services and fabric works on a wide range of Network Rail infrastructure assets in the South of England and Wales. SSE Enterprise Rail has secured works in the Wales region which covers both the North and South Routes, and will use its new Taff Wells offices as its headquarters for all Welsh operations. Western region works comprise of both the West Country and Thames Valley routes. The business was also successful with bids for the Wessex route and London North West, where it will complete works on both the North and South routes. Tom Smith, SSE Enterprise Rail’s Director of Operations, said: “The award of this framework is fantastic news for SSE and our highly committed and focused Rail team. Competition for the work was incredibly strong. The contract underscores our team’s exceptional skills and capabilities and our exclusive geographical presence in UK rail – with 3,500 people available across 62 office and depot locations UK-wide. “We look forward to working with Network Rail over the coming months and years as we continue to demonstrate our ability to deliver projects safely and to a high standard. Our commercial team, under the leadership of Colin Robertson, put together a fantastic bid and we are delighted to have been awarded such a significant contract so early on in the CP6 process.” Raj Sinha Managing Director of SSE Enterprise Rail, said: “Our rail offer continues to grow stronger and, with a turnkey service incorporating financial support, design, deliver/build, maintenance and asset ownership, SSE is ideally placed to offer a very different strategic perspective and delivery system to support the rail industry. “This contract reinforces our clear intent to become a supplier of choice on Britain’s railways and signals how proficient we have become in this field of work. “With other strong opportunities on the horizon, we are working collaboratively to identify and deliver value-adding solutions through initiatives such as asset/project funding, asset ownership and alliances with Network Rail and other organisations including HS2 and Transport for London. “We believe we have something truly unique to offer the industry and this contract award, we anticipate, will be the first of many significant initiatives we will be actively involved with over the next five years and beyond.” SSE Enterprise Rail is a multi-disciplinary rail contractor that has worked across Britain’s railways for the last 17 years. Specialising in M&E and E&P projects, SSE Enterprise Rail has aspirations to support the ownership and funding of electrical infrastructure and provide greater energy services into the UK rail network. SSE Enterprise Rail is part of SSE plc, which employs more than 20,000 people UK-wide.
Network Rail has revealed that they have invested £4 million pounds in upgrading Waterloo Station over the Easter period. The £4 million upgrade project that took place is part of the planned investment in to Waterloo & South West Upgrade. There is a plan to invest £800 million in the area of Waterloo ad the South West of England in order to deliver a more efficient service with a larger capacity for passengers. Over the course of the Easter period more than 7,000 hours of work was carried out replacing important sections of the track and creating a new signaling gantry at Waterloo station. All of this work occurred over the course of three days, which is a massive achievement for the team at Network Rail. The new signaling gantry extends over platforms 1-8 and was carried out before the work to extent the first four platforms at the station. The platform extensions will take place during August this year when the station is expected to close for three and a half weeks. The schedule of work that was completed over the Easter period has allowed Network Rail to move one step closer to increasing the capacity of Waterloo station. The Railway Upgrade Plan will improve the rail service for passenger all around the UK and make the services offered more reliable. Network Rail currently owns and manages 20,000 miles of track that make up the rail network around Britain. The company employs 36,000 people across the nation and their teams work around the clock to keep the rail network working as well as possible. The Railway Upgrade Plan is an investment by Network Rail in order to transform the rail network. The upgrade will be the largest scheme of work on the network since the Victorian era and will create a service that is faster and more reliable as well as able to accommodate more passengers.
Passengers of Bolton Station will witness platform improvements starting next week. This is part of the Railway Upgrade Plan set out by Network Rail. There will be plans to provide Bolton Station with the capacity to provide their passenger with faster, electric train services. These new train services are expected to be running from December 2017. This work forms a part of the larger Network Rail Plan that will see over £1 billion invested in to the Great North Rail Project. The project will see improvements made to the railway between Manchester and Preston. This work will be entering the next phase of the upgrade starting from Sunday 26th March. However, there are not expected to be any impacts on the train services. As part of the Railway Upgrade Plan, Network Rail are focused on investing in Bolton to try and provide passengers with the railway that should meet their needs for many years to come. Hopefully the improvements to the railway will also help in boosting the economy across the North of England. The work at Bolton will also see the renovation of platform 5, which hasn’t been use since the 1990s. This extra platform will allow an increased number of trains to run between Manchester and Preston. The projects will help modernise the railway in order to create more, better and quicker railway journeys for passengers using Bolton railway. Passenger will see parts of the platforms being worked on fenced off, and Network Rail advise their service users to allocate extra time in their journey for manoeuvring on the platforms and to take care while being on them. In order to keep the station open, the improvements to the platforms are occurring a section at a time, which means there will be construction at varying parts of the platform while the work is taking place.
Network Rail is set to be stripped of its full control of railways in England’s as part of a major government shake-up. Chris Grayling, Transport Secretary, has announced that he intends to bring track and train operations back together, handing train operators greater influence over the work that takes place on the rail lines throughout the country. At present, the UK’s track infrastructure is solely owned and maintained by Network Rail, which is publicly owned, with trains and services operated by private train operating companies such as Virgin and Southern. However, Mr Grayling has called for a change, with both track and trains to be managed by “one joined-up team of people”. Under the changes, Network Rail and train operating staff will be integrated into operating teams for renewal and maintenance work. It is not yet clear how much control Network Rail will have over the tracks – as is the make-up of the teams. Mr Grayling is also expected to reveal plans to create a organisation, separate to Network Rail, called East West Rail. This will oversee the construction and operation of a rebuilt multi-million-pound train line linking Oxford to Cambridge. This will be the first fully integrated rail operation created since the end of British Rail in 1994, and will be tasked with securing private sector design, build and management of the route. The move will be a step away from the way major enhancement projects, which are usually delivered on the UK’s rail lines through Network Rail’s Infrastructure Projects Division. Last month, the chancellor Philip Hammond gave £100m to the speed up the delivery of the western section of East West Rail between Cambridge and Bedford, and a further £10m to develop a preferred route from Bedford to Oxford. Network Rail chief executive Mark Carne has welcomed the changes, saying more needed to be done to align incentives between the organisation and train operating companies.
Network Rail is set to unlock land for 12,000 new homes by 2020. The company is in the process of finalising plans to release the land for the development of around 12,000 new homes to play its part in meeting the government’s target to release enough land to build 160,000 homes. Almost 200 sites throughout the country have been picked out as suitable for housing development. Included in this is enough land space for around 5,000 homes in London, 3,600 in Manchester and the North, 1,700 in the Midlands and East of England, and around 1,400 homes in the South of England. The ambitious scheme has already started with the biggest 20 sites. The projects earmarked include a major scheme at Chesterton near Cambridge which will release enough land for more than 800 homes, and the former Exchange Station site in Manchester which will deliver enough land for 700 homes. Network Rail will partner with developers to release land on a site by site basis over the next three to four year period. The firm is also considering an accelerated approach which would see some sites grouped together and sold as multi-site developments. These sites could go to market as soon as spring next year. Managing Director of Network Rail Property, David Biggs, commented: “As we now ramp up our land release programme to deliver thousands more homes, we will be working closely with the Homes and Communities Agency, London Land Commission, local authorities and developers to bring identified sites forward to help meet the country’s housing needs.” Meanwhile, two thirds of the new London Bridge station concourse was officially opened to commuters at the end of last month. The redevelopment is part of Network Rail’s railway upgrade plan and the government-sponsored Thameslink programme which will transform north-south travel through London by 2018.
As outlined in a new set of guidelines for procurement (as put together by Sajid Javid, Business Secretary), areas of corporate social responsibility and economic accountability are to be placed on the shoulder of key, large-scale public sector bodies. To include organisations such as the NHS, Highways England and Network Rail, the guidance will see responsibility for social and economic impacts laid upon such organisations for the importing of steel; instead, encouraging the use of British steel. To be applied to all projects greater in value than £10m, clients will also be expected to look at other core areas of corporate social responsibility such as: carbon emissions, sourcing standards, the transportation of materials abroad, as well as areas of social importance such as health and safety – specifically for the staff of the suppliers themselves. As such, those organisations successful in securing public sector contracts will then also need to promote steel requirements direct to UK-based producers so as best to ensure that British businesses are provided with ample opportunity to both compete for, and secure supply contracts on an equal playing field. The guidelines themselves are expected to bring a level of assurance to the continuity of the UK steel market, allowing those organisations in the sector to better tap into the colossal £300bn expected to be spent on the major UK infrastructure developments already highlighted for across the country over the next few years. The announcement itself follows swiftly after Tata Steel’s expression of interest in selling its UK businesses, which presently includes the biggest steel mill in the country; something which heralded great concern for the future prosperity of the wider industry. Sajid Javid explained: “By changing the procurement rules on these major infrastructure projects, we are backing the future of UK steel – opening up significant opportunities for UK suppliers and allowing them to compete more effectively with international companies.”
