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RailStaff
PaGe 13
one and only
Railways boost job market
Continuing growth in rail travelhas resulted in 10,000 extra jobs.
bbC’s the one Show named LondonMidland as one of the leaders...
Issue 191 / October 2013
PaGe 8
Continued on PaGe 17
over one thousand railway staff and families rolled up to the International Convention Centre in birmingham toparty the night away at the seventh RailStaff awards on 5th october 2013. this year the RailStaff awardsattracted a record 35,000 nominations for the 18 categories. big hearted railway staff raised over £5,000 on thenight for the Railway Children Charity.
the poet, John keats, wrote ofautumn as the season of mistsand mellow fruitfulness. Fields aregold with newly harvested corn,orchards bow with fruit. a walk inthe woods awakens a deepyearning in even the mosthardened city dweller.
However, the mists heraldanother season: the start of theacademic year. Wide eyed five yearolds start primary school, youngpeople set out on apprenticeshipsand students gather in cheeryconcourses at universities.
Sadly, behind the roseate hue ofthe departing combine harvesterslurks a different picture. TheBritish now have one of the lowestrates of literacy and numeracy inthe developed world. It is ineveryone’s interests to put thisright.
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistanischoolgirl shot in the head by theTaliban for daring to suggestwomen should be as well educatedas men, encourages us all with heremphasis on the importance ofeducation. Education is the pre-condition of progress.
We should lead by example. Bookonto an adult education course,talk to a union learning rep, pickup a serious novel, go to see livetheatre. If maths and scienceremain a mystery, approach asympathetic arithmetician duringthe dark evenings that lie ahead.
The real mark of a civilisation isthe depth and knowledge of its
people. Education is thephenomenon that frees us fromthe servitude of eternal toil. Ourencouragement must ensure thosestepping out beyond the harvestknow the value of education.
The encouragement of parentsand mentors like Mr Yousafzai isessential. We may not alwaysunderstand the exigencies ofmodern scholarship but the yearone pupil, new apprentice anddeparting student should knowjust how desperately, heart-stoppingly, proud of you we are.
International subsidiary, networkRail Consulting, has landed amajor new role with transport fornew South wales.
Shops on stationsdefy recession
according to the british RetailConsortium high street sales haveincreased by a meagre 0.4%between april and June this year.
training MattersIn november’s RailStaffCheck out the latest initiatives in rail training as RailStaff reports on highquality professional training and assessment services from across thewhole rail industry. has your company focussed on electrification needs toaddress the shortage of oLe engineers? to promote your training servicescall us today on 01530 56 00 26 or email [email protected].
Encouraging Education
the real mark of a civilisation is thedepth and knowledge of its people
Virgin Rail Group was keen tostress continuity at the top as Philwhittingham, Director Finance,stepped up to become the Leadexecutive and Phil bearpark,Production Director took over asDirector operations and CustomerService.
The moves follow ChiefExecutive Tony Collins’ decision toquit and Chris Gibb’s move toNetwork Rail as a non-executivedirector. Collins will stay on as anadvisor at Virgin.
The new management team willbe overseen by Virgin’s PatrickMcCall and Stagecoach’s MartinGriffiths, both executive chairmen.Virgin Trains’ top performing staffwere singled out for praise by SirBrian Souter, Stagecoach GroupChairman.
‘Virgin Trains is a fantasticpartnership between twoinnovative transport groups. Tony,the wider management team andthe thousands of people at thesharp end of delivering the trainservice for customers have done asuperb job of making our jointvision of transforming rail travel a
reality. There is more growth tocome and the team we have inplace will ensure we havecontinuity and experience to buildon these achievements,’ Sir Briansaid.
Tony Collins has been with VirginTrains nearly 14 years with nineyears as Chief Executive Officer.Tony started his career in 1979 as aCommercial Apprentice withWolverhampton-based RockwellThompson Limited, before takingon the role of Financial Analyst. Hejoined Virgin from AlstomPassenger Group in Birmingham.
Chris Gibb, 50, joined Virgin inMay 2003, previously he wasmanaging director of Wales andBorders trains. A careerrailwayman Chris joined BritishRail as a clerical officer fromschool in 1981. He spent 20 yearsworking his way up in a variety ofoperational roles throughoutBritain.
Patrick McGrath remains asDirector Human Resources,Graham Leech, Executive DirectorCommercial, and Andy Cross,Director Business Support. All
three have more than a decade ofexperience at Virgin Trains.
Phil Whittingham becameDirector, Finance on 1 January2008. A Chartered Accountant Philjoined the company from KPMG’sBirmingham office in August 1999,where he worked closely withVirgin Trains.
Phil Bearpark has been withVirgin Trains since the franchisestarted in 1997. He originallytrained as an engineer and is aChartered Mechanical Engineerand a Member of the Institute ofMechanical Engineers. In his sparetime he enjoys restoring oldmotorcycles.
Chris Gibb also paid tribute to
the staff at Virgin. ‘Delivering greatcustomer service truly is a teameffort, requiring not only greatstaff, which we have in spades atVirgin Trains, but also co-operationbetween the different stakeholdersacross the industry.
‘I am especially proud of the partI have played in bringing theseimportant individual partiestogether to deliver improvedperformance. That’s thefoundation which great service isbuilt on.’
Chris was seconded to NetworkRail for six months last year and leda taskforce focused on improvingperformance and reliability on theWest Coast main line.
a Yorkshire farmer who owns a couple of traction engines andrescued a steam ship that took part in the evacuation of Dunkirkhas been appointed Parliamentary under Secretary of State fortransport.
Robert Goodwill, 56, is MP for Scarborough and Whitby and farms250 acres locally. He replaces Simon Burns who plans to becomedeputy speaker, complementing John Bercow.
Rail analysts were quick to pick up on Goodwill’s ownership ofseveral traction engines, a steam lorry and a ship. A clear believerin integrated transport Goodwill served on the Transport SelectCommittee in 2005, staying for 18 months. He is a patron of theNational Traction Engine Trust.
Before becoming an MP he served as MEP for Yorkshire between1999 and 2004. The five year stint in Brussels confirmed his positionas a euro-sceptic. In May 2010 Robert Goodwill was appointed byDavid Cameron as an Assistant Government Whip and shortly afterthis was promoted to Pairing Whip.
Robert Goodwill was born in North Yorkshire and was educated atQuaker Bootham School in York and the University of Newcastlewhere he read for a BSc in Agriculture. His farm near Malton hasbeen in the family for over 150 years.
Goodwill is quite popular locally. Two years ago he stepped in tosave the Scarborough pleasure ship ‘Coronia’ which was one of theflotilla of small ships that sailed across the English Channel toevacuate the British Expeditionary Force and 139,997 French, Polish,and Belgian troops from the beaches of Dunkirk in 1940. Married toMaureen the couple have three children.
Goodwill gesture marks rail reshuffle
6 www.railstaff.co.uk
newS
Farringdon breakthroughfor Phyllis
kind hearted railway staffjust can’t win, it seems.
Often criticised for beingtoo aggressive whendealing with fare dodgersthe press leapt to attack aVirgin Trains conductorwho let an actress travelfor free when her creditcard was rejected by histicket machine.
Former Coronation Streetactress Helen Flanagan(right) supplied her nameand address and later paidthe fare. The 23-year-oldstar, who was en route to aTV appearance in thecapital, later took to Twitterto thank Virgin for allowingher to continue herjourney.
helenpays up
Crossrail’s tunnel boring machine,Phyllis, has completed theconstruction of the first of the newtrain tunnels under London.
Phyllis reached Farringdon - themidway point of the project - 17months after starting her 4.2 milejourney from Royal Oak in westLondon. During the coming weeks,Phyllis will be dismantled and her130 metre long trailer system willbe removed from the tunnel viathe recently completed FisherStreet shaft.
Six other Crossrail tunnellingmachines are hard at work deepunder London burrowing alongtheir 26 mile marathon. Says AndyMitchell, Crossrail ProgrammeDirector, ‘Crossrail’s constructioncontinues to move ahead at asignificant pace. Crossrail has not
only completed the first Crossrailtunnel under London but hasreached the half-way point for ourtunnelling machines with aphenomenal 13 miles of traintunnels constructed to-date.
A further six tunnellingmachines are currently hard atwork constructing over 100 metresof new tunnel each day with majortunnelling due to complete nextyear.’
Liberal Democrat peer baronesskramer has been appointedtransport minister.
She replaces Norman Bakerwho had been moved to theHome Office. Susan Kramer wasborn in 1950 in Holborn andeducated at St Paul’s GirlsSchool. She went on to St Hilda’sCollege, Oxford where she readPPE, Philosophy, Politics andEconomics.
She met and married theAmerican John Kramer in 1972.Mr Kramer was himself secretaryof the Illinois Department ofTransportation. The couple livedin Illinois between 1973 and1993.
Susan Kramer pursued a careerin banking rising to become Vice-President at Citicorp in Chicago.After the collapse of the IronCurtain John and Susan Kramerreturned to Europe - John hadstudied at the Free University ofBerlin.
Together they ran a number ofprojects including Future WaterInternational in rural Hungaryand Infrastructure Capital
Partners which advised onfinancing infrastructure inCentral and Eastern Europe.Sadly John Kramer died ofmelanoma in 2006.
Kramer entered parliament asMP for Richmond Park in 2005.She lost her seat to ZacGoldsmith in 2010 andsubsequently was made a lifepeer, concentrating on financeand banking. She contested theLondon mayoralty.
Baroness Kramer has been aconsistent supporter of Crossrailand vigorously opposesHeathrow’s third runway. She is apatron of the Suzy LamplughTrust.
banking baroness heads for Dft
Susan Kramerpursued a career inbanking rising tobecome Vice-President at Citicorpin Chicago
Sir David higgins has movedquickly to diffuse political tensionsurrounding high Speed 2 justdays after his appointment aschairman of hS2 Ltd wasannounced.
Higgins steps down as NetworkRail’s Chief Executive next Aprilbut will join HS2 Ltd on 1st January2014, going full time from April.Mark Carne, former executive vicepresident of Royal Dutch Shell,
takes over as CEO of Network Railin April.
Sir David has been a long termsupporter of high speed railwaysand spelled out in confident termsthe importance of HS2. ‘Peopleforget, I started (on the Olympics)in late 2005. In 2006, there was nota single positive bit of mediacoverage. It was all about this willnever be done, the budget isridiculous, it can’t be done, we’ll beembarrassed about what’s going tohappen about it… It took abouttwo years for the first green shootsto emerge.’
Higgins met Chancellor of theExchequer, George Osborne,requesting he be allowed to briefLabour Party leaders and avoidHS2 becoming a political football.Higgins wants to get all sides toback the scheme. ‘As I did in theOlympics, I (now) have the rightto brief opposition andgovernment both at a local andnational level.’
HS2 will serve as an economicdynamo for the economy andrepresents the next installment inBritain’s revitalised and fast
growing rail industry. ‘While we dohave the safest railway in Europe,we also have the oldest railway inEurope, and the growth rates herefar outstrip any other utility in theUK and any other railway inEurope. So, it’s essential foreconomic growth in this countryto have a proper modern railway,’Higgins added.
The move to HS2 Ltd caps asuccessful career for Sir DavidHiggins, the Australian farmer’sson from Brisbane in northQueensland who, as a child,watched steam enginesthundering through farmland nearwhere he lived.
He read civil engineering atuniversity in Sydney and laterworked in Africa on miningprojects and airports. After a spellgem prospecting in Kenya he ranthe Sydney Olympics, a role hereprised at the Olympic DeliveryAuthority in London.
Higgins has been a keen andlong term supporter of high speedrailways. Speaking in RailStaff twoyears ago he said, ‘90% of all longterm journeys in France are by
high speed rail. France already has2,000 kilometres of high speedrailways. And before we open HighSpeed Two they’ll have builtanother 1,000 kilometres of highspeed rail.’
With remarkable prescience healso said, ‘Unless everyone’svigilant it won’t go ahead so wehave to be avid supporters of it.’Current HS2 chairman, DougOakervee, will remain in post tooversee the introduction of theGovernment’s Hybrid Bill beforethe end of this year. The Bill willsecure Parliamentary approvalfor Phase 1 of the route betweenLondon and Birmingham,allowing work to start in 2017.
Sir David also moved to calmfears of spiraling costs. ‘My firstpriority will be to rigorouslyscrutinise costs to ensure theyremain under control,’ he said.‘HS2 presents a strategicopportunity for this country and Iam determined to make sure wetake it by delivering a railway thatwill allow business andcommunities to prosper in thelong term.’
high Speedchair forhiggins
Simon witney has joined GroupMouchel as divisional director –environmental services, within itsuk Infrastructure Servicesbusiness.
His arrival follows that of SimonIsherwood as businessdevelopment director, energy andenvironment. A graduate of Oxfordand Sheffield universities, Simonhas held director level consultancypositions at Arup, Symonds, OscarFaber/Faber Maunsell, HyderConsulting and Jacobs.
Simon’s international experienceincludes senior principal andproject director roles in Australiawith GHD and E3 Consult (laterCDM Smith), where he providedstrategic environmentalconsultancy prior to returning tothe UK this year.
Simon Witney is a Fellow of theRoyal Geographical Society, aChartered Member of the RoyalTown Planning Institute and theEnvironmental Institute ofAustralia and New Zealand.
Says Managing Director, MouchelInfrastructure Services, DavidVirden, ‘With 30 years’ experiencein planning, environment anddevelopment, 12 years as a directorin consultancy, and a track recordof building strong relationshipswith UK and international clients,Simon is well-placed to helpMouchel develop itsenvironmental and developmentservices offering.’
Mouchel strengthens team
Lloyd’s Register has appointedMike Robinson to the newlycreated role of Group CustomerStrategy Director.
Robinson started at Lloyd’sRegister on 2 September 2013and joins from Royal MailGroup, where he was leadingGroup Strategy. Previously,Robinson ran his owncommercial strategyconsultancy after holdingcommercial directorships withMarconi, Argogroup and PhilipsElectronics.
He has an MBA from HenleyManagement College, andgraduatedfromUniversityCollege,Cardiff with aBSc (JointHons) inElectrical andElectronicEngineering.
new registerfor Robinson
Dr ben Dunlop, electrificationDirector for the atkins railbusiness, is joining the board ofeaL, the specialist awardingorganisation for industryqualifications.
He joins the board alongsideJulia Chippendale, EAL’s newmanaging director. Says DrDunlop, ‘The rail industry needsskilled engineers to deliver itsmaintenance and investmentplans, so the challenge now isto encourage the nextgeneration into the sector.
‘EAL is supporting employersdo just that with the release ofits new rail qualifications and Iam delighted to be joining theBoard at this exciting time.’
Dr Dunlop has been working inthe rail industry for more than 25years. Throughout his career hehas been involved in deliveringmajor projects including WestCoast Route Modernisation,Thameslink and Crossrail.
Rail Directorfor eaL
www.railstaff.co.uk 9
PeoPLe newS
atkins has appointed its first Chair of highSpeed Railway engineering.
Professor Peter Woodward (pictured), currentlyprofessor of Railway Geotechnical Engineeringand Head of the Institute for Infrastructure &Environment at Heriot-Watt University inGlasgow, will oversee a high tech team chargedwith developing ambitious strategies for highspeed rail at Atkins.
Says Douglas McCormick, Managing Directorof Atkins’ rail business, ‘The requirement forhigh speed rail is growing at a pace, withprojects world-wide expected to be worth £100sof billions in just the next 15 years. Thecombined efforts of Atkins and ProfessorWoodward offer a real opportunity to developsolutions in the UK that will overcome globalchallenges, to the benefit of UK Plc.’
Professor Woodward leads the High Speed
Railways Research Group. Woodward specialisesin high speed railways, including groundvibration and track mitigation strategies. Hejoined Heriot-Watt in 1993 after gaining a PhDfrom Manchester University. He is also amember of the Permanent Way Institution.
Woodward spent ten years on secondment tothe rail industry. He developed the uniquepatented railway track reinforcement system,XiTRACK, now widely used in Europe and Asiato solve railway track problems at all train
speeds. Says Professor Peter Woodward, ‘High and
ultra-speed railways are our future. They havethe capacity to transform the economicprosperity of nations and our challenge is todevelop the technology to underpin theirsuccessful implementation and costeffectiveness across the world.
‘Heriot-Watt already has the UK’s biggestpurpose-built laboratory test track bed (GRAFTII) which can predict the effects of high speedtrains and simulate the effects of decades ofoperation on major lines. With the support ofAtkins we plan to construct the world’s mostadvanced railway test track facility (GRAFT III)and to develop the world’s premier railwaytesting organisation for high-speed.’
This summer Atkins and Heriot-WattUniversity signed a landmark Memorandum ofUnderstanding to create a High Speed Centre ofExcellence which is already home to the biggestpurpose-built laboratory test track bed that canpredict the effects of high speed trains andsimulate the effects of decades of operation onmajor lines.
high Speedhot seat
the training arm of Vital ServicesGroup, has appointed Matt Leavistraining team leader for the south.
Leavis, 30, from Leicester hastaken charge of Vital’s trainingcentres in Corby, Kidderminster,Leicester, Epping and Kennington(London) with responsibility for 12trainers and more than 145apprentices.
Matt worked at Network Rail for11 years, most recently as aworkforce development specialist.‘Vital was always one of NetworkRail’s preferred suppliers and iswell respected within the industry,so I was already aware of thecompany and the high quality ofwork it delivered,’ says Matt.
‘We share a passion for givingbudding engineers an opportunityto develop the skills they need to
work within the rail industry and Iam really impressed with howVital has grown its provision soquickly and effectively during thelast two years.’
Vital role for Leavis Global runnerheads Crossrail It
“We share a passionfor giving buddingengineers anopportunity todevelop the skills theyneed to work withinthe rail industry …”Matt LeaVIS,tRaInInG teaM LeaDeR,VItaL SeRVICeS GRouP
Turner, who spent almost fiveyears as CIO at insurancespecialists Hiscox, takes over fromNeil Farmer, who was in the rolesince August 2009.
He started his career at BritishAirways looking after transportoperations at Heathrow Airport.He was head of IT services atSeeboard Plc and worked for Cable& Wireless before moving into thefinancial sector at Royal Sun
Alliance where he was StrategicRelationships Director.
After a spell at Aspen Re, asGroup IT director, he joinedHiscox. Andrew was educated atthe University of Wales where heread English Literature. He hasan MBA from the University ofBath.
Andrew Turner is a serious longdistance runner and has beenawarded the internationalMarathon Majors Five Star Awardfor completing the top fivemarathon courses in the world inunder three hours.
These include Boston, London,Berlin, Chicago and New York Citymarathons. Taylor relaxes byplaying the piano, violin and viola.
Rail alliance members and prospectivemembers all benefited from a full day of eventsorganised by our long standing memberonyxrail.
RVE 2013 took place at the Derby Rams PridePark Stadium on the 3rd October. Eventsincluded the Rail Alliance Business-to-Businessmeeting, the Rail Vehicle Enhancements 2013EXPO and the RVE Technology Forum.
Visitors were able to hear from industryinsiders, starting with an excellent keynoteaddress by Ian Walmsley of Porterbrook that setout the typical perspective of vehicle owners.
Ian explained the investments required forlegacy rolling stock and the role that SMEs canplay in refurbishment and enhancementprojects. He certainly captivated the audiencedelivering one of the most entertaining, yetthoroughly valuable presentations we have hadthe pleasure of listening to.
The Rail Alliance announced two new fundingstreams: the HiTech Rail ERDF Project and EIT’sTest and Trials Voucher Scheme.
In an inspiring presentation Kevin Lane ofOnyxrail explained how to overcome thebarriers to supplying the Rail Industry. Thisanswered many of the questions asked bymembers following the no-nonsensepresentation. Then followed an incisive reviewby Neil Bates of Creactive Design whose
presentation majored on how to succeed in theprocess of new product development. Bothpresentations gave members much to thinkabout.
Being a primary sponsor of RVE 2013 the RailAlliance had substantial stand space which wasused to great effect by many of our attendingmembers. The events drew an exceptionalfootfall giving members a great opportunity tonetwork and gain exposure.
RVE 2013 was filled with exhibitors at thecutting edge of technology from around theworld. These showcased real time passengercounting, cab and saloon cooling and passenger
information equipment. Other innovations on show included LED
lighting, entertainment and advertisingsystems, interior and product designers, energysaving solutions such as hydrogen generatorsand driver advisory equipment. All of theexhibitors were kept busy with high levels ofinterest from visitors reflecting the railindustry’s clear and dramatic upturn.
This is a good time to be in railways as theindustry limbers up to meet new requirements,including the increasing demands of passengergrowth and an urgent desire to boost capacityalong with the common objective of improvingthe rail travel experience.
Following the success of RVE2013 Rail Allianceand Onxyrail plan to co-operate and build onthis at RVE2014 which promises to be bigger,broader and better. Most of the exhibitors havealready re-booked.
RVE2014 will emphasise the renewedconfidence in the rail industry and familiarisevisitors with the dramatic opportunitiesopening across the expanding rail network.
Says Kevin Lane of Onyxrail, ‘RVE2013 hasproved a great success. RVE2014 will, I amconfident, parallel the huge advances beingmade by the new rail industry, which all RailAlliance members strive to sustain anddevelop.’
10 www.railstaff.co.uk
Join the Rail alliance nowRail alliance membership starts
Rail alliance at Rail Vehicle enhancements 2013a Glowing example of Collaboration.
Rail alliance members were out inforce at the RailStaff awards 2013with Colin Flack in charge ofproceedings.
Says Tom O’Connor, managingdirector, Rail Media, ‘Having Colinhost the event is a real bonus forus all. It can’t be easy running anevent that is an uproarious partyon the one hand and a seriousattempt to celebrate the guts, driveand determination of the industryon the other.
Colin carried it off with greatsensitivity and aplomb. It was goodto see other Rail Alliance membersalso there, too numerous to name.RailStaff and the RailStaff Awards
stand for good news stories aboutthe rail industry and the peoplewho work in it, produce and supplyit 24/7.
The Rail Alliance under Colin’sinspired leadership has become anintegral part of rail dynamics inBritain.’ Colin Flack managed tokeep order at the Back to Schoolthemed event dressed in mortarboard and gown on a slowlyrevolving stage.
Says Colin, ‘The RailStaff Awards2013 is great fun but it is making aserious point. The success of ourindustry is down to the thousandsof railway staff, inventors,designers, sub-contractors,
conductors, cleaners and managerswho come together to createEurope’s fastest growing railway.
Congratulations to all who wonprizes, the highly commended andrunners up and those who wereshortlisted. Can I also saycongratulations to everyone whowas nominated. That’s anachievement in itself.
This is an industry that is carefulabout who it respects. Thanks aswell to all who took the trouble tonominate a colleague. Going out ofyour way to praise a pal or just saythank you to a colleague is thehallmark of success and goodleadership.’
Colin hosts Sell-out RailStaff awards
24th october 2013 – Members’Meeting and networking eventhosted by Coventry universityenterprises. Contact:[email protected] more information and to booka place.
Please Note : Rail Interiors: The InsideStory – Event at Coventry Universitypreviously advertised for 24th/25thOctober 2013 has been postponed toMarch 2014 due to unforeseencircumstances. Please contact:[email protected] for moreinformation.
eventsComing up
the cargo of a fire-damaged shiphas been saved by an intrepid railfreight company.
The captain of the ZimRotterdam cargo container ship,sailing from Port Klang in Malaysiato Felixstowe, had to lay up off thecoast unable to dock even thoughthe fire had been extinguished.After several ship-to-shorediscussions the Israeli freighterwas found a berth at the LondonGateway, Britain’s newest deep seaPort and Logistic Park, even thoughthe port is not scheduled to openuntil November.
The next challenge was toorganise the unloading of the ship.Getting sufficient lorries into thenew docks would have takenweeks. Instead quick thinking railfreight staff at DB Schenker laid ona daily freight service to TraffordPark in Manchester.
Zim Rotterdam was the firstcommercial cargo ship to beunloaded at the new deep sea portahead of the official opening next
month. Rail staff from Network Railand DB Schenker worked tirelesslyaround the clock with theircounterparts at London Gateway.
Says Carsten Hinne of DBSchenker Rail UK, ‘This has beenan incredible effort anddemonstrates how the team, andindeed the industry, has cometogether to help support Zim andits customers.
‘I haven’t seen collective supportfrom the industry like this in anyway before and it’s amazing to
think we have put a servicetogether in just a few days - letalone from a non-operational port.We realised that a solution wasneeded quickly and viewed this asan opportunity to help Zim, theLondon Gateway team and thecargo owners in providing aservice from the port.’
To celebrate the success of therelationship DB Schenker Rail laternamed a Class 66 loco, 66185, ‘DPWorld London Gateway’ as thecontainers sped on their way.
12 www.railstaff.co.uk
Chilterncollaborationnetwork Rail and ChilternRailways have announced theywill be working closer together toprogress the upgrading of therailway between oxford andbicester.
This includes the connection ofthe railway at Bicester to theChiltern Main Line and will involvebuilding one kilometre of newtrack. Express services betweenOxford and London Marylebonevia Bicester are expected to start intwo years time.
The upgrade of the Oxford toBicester line not only facilitatesthe new Chiltern Railways servicebetween Oxford and London, butalso forms the first phase of workson the western section of the EastWest Rail scheme.
The long awaited return of theOxford-Buckinghamshire link willreconnect Oxford to Milton Keynes
and Bedford. Says Karl Budge,route delivery director fromNetwork Rail, ‘The investmentbeing made between Oxford,Bicester and Bedford will make ahuge difference to local people andthe local economy.
‘It makes sense to deliver whatwere originally separate schemesin a collaborative way. Thiscollaboration will allow fast trainservices to operate between
Oxford and London Maryleboneand will move Network Rail closerto reinstating the railway linethrough to Bedford and MiltonKeynes via Bletchley.’
Oxford to London Maryleboneservices operated by ChilternRailways start two years from nowfrom a new parkway station northof Oxford. Trains will also rundown the new route from Oxfordcity centre in spring 2016 once
upgrades in and around Oxfordstation have been completed.Journey times from the parkwaystation to London will be under anhour.
The Western Section of the EastWest Rail scheme will see therailway line reinstated betweenBedford and Oxford, with spurs toMilton Keynes and Aylesbury. Newtrain services are due to beginoperations from the end of 2017.
Startled commuters and sailorswere treated to a rousing concertof sea shanties on special trainsheading for the harwichInternational Sea Shanty Festivalon Greater anglia’s MayflowerLine recently.
Singers and Pirates jumpedaboard with volunteers from theEssex and South SuffolkCommunity Rail Partnership. Acarriage was decked out with seashanty themes.
Sea Shanty singers from all overthe world converge on Harwich forthe special weekend and the townresounds with the sound of theirsinging. The three shanty groupstaking part in the Music Train eventwereCrossjack,fromGermany,Hooks andCrooks, fromIreland, and LaBouline, fromFrance.
Yo ho ho Railfreight rescue for stricken fire ship
according to the british Retail Consortium highstreet sales have increased by a meagre 0.4%between april and June this year.
However on the railway the story is verydifferent and sales are booming. Station retailsales have powered up by an amazing 6.4% overthe same period. These figures were compiledfrom the results of retailers operating from over500,000 sq ft of retail space in 520 units/shopsat 16 of Britain’s biggest and busiest stationsowned and operated by Network Rail.
Shops on stations benefit from a combinedannual footfall of over a billion passengerjourneys. Trading at both King’s Cross andWaterloo benefited from major investmentschemes enabling new retail facilities to offerthe public a wider choice of food and beverage,clothes and products. During this period retailsales also benefited from better weather.
Says Jonathan Crick, director of retail atNetwork Rail, ‘While growth on the high streetremains relatively flat, retail in stationscontinues to grow dramatically. This set of retailresults shows how the change in retail strategycombined with investment in new retail space
has enhanced the whole station environment,contributing to a strong retail performance evenin like-for-like comparisons. Even more so foroverall sales.
‘Stations offer a vibrant and healthy tradingenvironment and we are continuing to attractnew brands to enhance the breadth of retailoffered to passengers.’ All profit from NetworkRail’s retail activity is re-invested in the railway.
Shops on stationsdefy recession
bbC’s the one Show namedLondon Midland as one of theleaders in customer service ledsocial media communication. thebirmingham-based train companyfeatured on the show.
Dan Donnelly interviewedCustomer Relations Supervisor,Fiona Ryan, about how thecompany effectively uses itsTwitter account to answer queriesand send information topassengers. Donnelly put fivecompanies to the test: EDF Energy,Monarch Airlines, Barclays,Southwest Water and BT TV, bytweeting them to see whichresponded in the quickest time.
A member of The One Show’sproduction team simultaneouslyemailed the same five companiesto test if social media really is thequickest route to response. LondonMidland’s Twitter account has52,000 followers and has wonmultiple industry awards since itslaunch in April 2010 - and its
following continues to grow withan average of 2000 new followerseach month.
Head of Marketing and CustomerRelations, David Whitley, said, ‘Welaunched our Twitter account totransform the way wecommunicate with our passengers,using a mixture of personalisedmessages and jargon-free serviceupdates. 200,000 tweets later, we’reextremely proud of what we’veachieved so far and it’s great to berecognised by the BBC, too.’
one and onlythe Rail Freight Group has singled out network Rail’s hard workingFreight team for special praise.
The team won three awards recently, including the prestigious Businessof the Year award, from the Rail Freight Group. Says Network Rail’sdirector of freight, Paul McMahon, ‘I’m delighted the efforts of our teamand the company as a whole have been recognised by the RFG. Manypeople from across Network Rail were involved in that success and itrecognises the efforts we are making to keep freight flowing smoothly.
‘Rail carries increasing volumes of freight, which is vital to the economy,and we remain focused on improving its performance and capacity.’ TheRFG said the company had helped to boost the freight sector through itsrenewed focus on workingclosely with business anddeveloping new processesto improve performance.
The rail freight industrydirectly contributes £870million to the nation’seconomy every year, butsupports an economicoutput of £5.9 billion, sixtimes its direct turnover.Network Rail expectsfreight demand to growby at least 30% over thenext ten years.
Freight team praised
“While growth on the highstreet remains relativley flat,retail in stations continues togrow dramatically…”
a potential simulated disasterunderground is essential fortraining fire fighters andemergency services.
For the first time in almost tenyears a network of tunnelsunderneath Birmingham NewStreet station has been opened byNetwork Rail to allow WestMidlands Fire Service to conductjust such a live training exercise.
Situated four metres beneath thestation’s 12 platforms andspanning 132 metres in length, thetunnel, which closed in 2004, waspreviously used for Royal Mailpostal trains to transport mailfrom the station out to regionalsorting offices.
Says Crew Commander MarkClifton of Highgate Fire StationWhite Watch, ‘As firefighters wetrain daily and we were extremelygrateful to Network Rail for thechance to test ourselves and ourmethods in this unusualenvironment. The tunnels were aperfect place to test new breathingapparatus, which can be worn forvirtually double the timecompared to kit we usually use.Around 40 fire fighters from sevenof our stations were involved inthe two-hour exercise, which was
based on a rescue scenario.’ When the station redevelopment
is complete in 2015, railway staffwill replace postal workers and firefighters. The tunnel will be used toaccess staff accommodation andthe CrossCountry Trains nationalrail catering centre.
Says Steve Lewis, Network Railstation manager, ‘The tunnel
beneath New Street is part of thestation’s wealth of history and I’msure the thousands of passengersthat travel above have no idea ofthe maze of tunnels that lie belowand across the wider city. We weredelighted to be able to offer ourcolleagues at West Midlands FireService the tunnel for theirexercise.’
one of the most senior drivers ateast Midlands trains has steppeddown from the footplate for thelast time after a career spanning51 years.
Nottingham-based MalcolmGoulding began his railway careeron 24 April 1962 at Middle FurlongRoad shed. Malcolm had justdropped in to ask if there were anyjobs going. Starting as a cleanerMalcolm climbed through the linksto become a driver on 4 February1980 and insists that the muchlamented class 45s were hisfavourite locomotive to drive.
Malcolm was famous for his drysense of humour. Someone onceasked one of his colleagues whatwas wrong with him as he hadseen Malcolm smiling at work.Malcolm played up to this personaby always complaining out loudregardless of what diagram he wasbooked to work.
Malcolm explained how, as afireman, he developed the craft ofdriving with the encouragement ofhis regular drivers. ‘They wouldsay watch me carefully, becausetomorrow you will be doing this.’In retirement Malcolm plans totravel to South America.
Malcolm smiles - goodbye
Fire Down Below
trans-atlantic raccoon ridera long distance rail riding raccoon is recovering from her trans-atlanticfour time zone trip at an animal rescue centre in wales.
Meeko the raccoon hopped aboard a north bound freight train in Iowa.Railroad officials believed she slipped aboard during loading at Davenport,Iowa. She survived a four week journey across the USA, Canada, theAtlantic and the UK by drinking condensation and eating cardboard.
Her thousand mile rail journey ended in Halifax, Nova Scotia. HoweverMeeko was unable to get off before the container was loaded on a ship andshe set sail for Europe.
Workers at Sear Seating in Ebbw Vale, South Wales, were astonished todiscover the raccoon alive and well as they unpacked what they thoughtwould be a crate ofmachine parts. Meekohas now been moved tothe Wales Ape andMonkey sanctuary inAbercave.
the continuing growth in railtravel has resulted in the creationof 10,000 extra jobs, according tofigures released by atoC.
Train companies are nowemploying more than 10,000 extrastaff compared to 15 years ago. In2011-12, train operators employed50,100 people, a 25% increase onthe 39,700 staff working for them15 years earlier. Productivity is up,too. Hard working rail staff arerunning 20% more services a dayand carrying 73% morepassengers.
Productivity measured by staff topassengers ratio has increased by37%, while satisfaction withservices has also increased. Traincompanies have been hiring moretrain crew and station attendants,
as well as drivers and conductorsto staff the 4,000 extra servicesrunning each day now, comparedto 15 years ago.
First ScotRail boosted staffnumbers from 3,461 to 4,700, anincrease of more than 35% since2004. At the same time, journeys
have increased by 30%. Since 1997,Chiltern Railways has more thantrebled the number of train guardsit employs. It had just 18 in 1997compared to 62 in 2013. Services itoperates have increased by 59%and passenger numbers by 133%.
Trenau Arriva Cymru has
increased its staff from around1,800 in 2003 to 2,100 today, a 17%increase. Services are up by 20%.The figures provide more evidenceof an industry expanding and inurgent need of more capacity,more investment and best of allmore people.
Railwaysboost jobmarket
a major 12-month £5.3m project tomake hawarden bridge across theRiver Dee stronger, allowing moretrains to cross, is now underway.
The main truss of the railwaybridge, which was built in 1887, willbe strengthened with new steelplates and given a new coat ofpaint to protect it from corrosionand improve the bridge’sappearance. The scheme will seethe whole bridge sand blasted toremove old layers of paint.
This iconic bridge was opened in1889 with the central spandesigned as a swing bridge to allowshipping to pass. The bridge haslong-provided an important linkbetween Deeside and the originalJohn Summers and Sons steelworks.
Dee timenetwork Rail is looking for around100 graduates to join its 2014graduate scheme.
The company has also expandedits one-year work placementprogramme for undergraduates.The aim is to find and hire thebest and brightest students beforethey leave university. There will be28 paid one-year placements forundergraduates taking a year outin industry between the secondand third years of engineeringcourses.
Graduates can specialise inproject management, businessservices, engineering, generalmanagement, finance, property,strategic planning and supplychain management.
Says Mike Bickford, head ofresourcing for Network Rail, ‘Thebest candidates for our graduateprogramme have had excellentwork experience where they havedeveloped the skills andbehaviours needed to succeed inthe work place.
‘Offering undergraduatesplacements helps us identifycandidates that show realpromise and means we cansecure top talent and save moneyin recruitment. Building this sortof pipeline for future leaders ofthe company helps us deliver abetter railway for everyone.’
Graduate recruitment is popularamong students. Says KrishmaMistry, 24, ‘When I was offeredthe place on the graduate
scheme it was a great stress-reliever and allowed me to focussolely on my studies for the finalyear.
‘I knew that I had a great jobwaiting for me with a bigcompany while all my friendswere stressing about what theywere going to do when universityfinished. I never thought aboutworking for the railway and Iwasn’t sure if I’d fit in but nowI’m here it’s definitely for me.’
when a disabled man in a wheelchair tumbled intothe River nene 100 metres away from a railwaybridge under repair, railway scaffolder Jimmy Carrdidn’t hesitate.
Inflating his life jacket Mr Carr entered the waterand struck out for the drowning man. A passing policeofficer also helped. Says PC Philip Burn of the BTP,‘Jimmy swam a very long distance across the waterusing his training, putting his own life and safety atrisk in order to help save the drowning male.
‘This river is dangerous and is known to have strongunder currents. Upon reaching the other side Jimmyimmediately set to helping remove the drowning malefrom the water and onto the bank to safety. Jimmy’sactions were truly commendable as he put his ownlife at risk in order to save another. He showed greatdetermination and all of this was done withoutanyone needing to ask.’
The rest of the BAM Nuttall team, who had beenfully trained for river work, assisted with a rescue boat.Police praise the prompt action of the rest of the team.Jimmy Carr works for Network Scaffold.
Says Robert Lewis, sub-agent, BAM Nuttall Ltd,‘Jimmy Carr and the team for sure saved this man’slife. The site team and Jimmy are very proud of whatwas achieved. We are here to make a difference andon that day that is exactly what we did. Not only isJimmy a great member of the team but we are nowconsidering entering him for local swimmingcompetitions, minus his work gear and especially hisheavy working boots!’
The gentleman in the wheelchair has made a fullrecovery.
16 www.railstaff.co.uk
PeoPLe newS
Police praise river rescue
Satnam thiara has joinedPandrol uk Limited, asexport Marketing Managerfocusing on rail marketswithin South america,africa and asia.
A former winner of theRailStaff Awards 2010 -Newcomer of the YearAward, Satnam has built asolid career in the railindustry following asuccessful debut atBridgeway Consultingfollowed by spells at RambollUK and latterly Network Rail.
Says Satnam, ‘Pandrol is aglobal leader for railfastening systems and has areputation for deliveringacross the world that issecond to none. I am reallyexcited to be joining Pandroland look forward to thechallenges ahead.’
Pandrol move for Satnam RaF man joins hull trains
Matthew Lupton is the new headof Signalling at Parsonsbrinckerhoff.
A chartered railway signalengineer, Lupton is a member ofthe Institution of Railway SignalEngineers, and the Institution ofEngineering and Technology. Heholds a Masters degree inElectronic Engineering from theUniversity of Wales, Bangor.
Since joining ParsonsBrinckerhoff’s rail engineeringteam in the Manchester office in2011 as Principal Engineer, Luptonhas led the company’s signallingwork on a number of majorprogrammes, including NWEP andHS2, as well as assisting NetworkRail with the delivery of the outerarea schemes for Northern Hub.
Lupton toheadsignalling atParsonsbrinckerhoff
Paul boulonois has joined Firsthull trains as catering officer.
The former RAF man turned torail after a long career in the RAF.After 23 years serving throughoutthe UK and overseas in theFalklands, Belgium, the Gulf,South Africa, Cyprus and OmanBoulonois joined Arriva TrainsWales in 2007 before moving overto First Hull Trains this summer.
Paul is delighted at the move.‘While one part of my job is tomanage the catering, thecustomer service side is anotherpart. The strongest and mostimportant element of customerservice is the staff, to that endI’ve got it easy as the crews areexcellent - they are second tonone.
Of the 800,000 passengers whotravel with us every year,someone in my team saw everysingle one of them - that’s an
awesome achievement. I alsobelieve that the overwhelmingmajority of those people willhave been impressed with theprofessionalism andpersonability of the crews.’
Recognising the people who keep the UK rail industry moving.
Learning Curve for a-Star Pupils
RailStaffAwards‘education never stops and it’s timewe put rail on the nationalcurriculum,’ said Patricia holgate ofLondon underground speaking atthe start of the RailStaff awards2013.
The party this year revolvedaround a Back to School theme withraucous partygoers interruptingspeeches with raspberry-blowingballoons and party poppers. ‘I mustsay these events were very differentunder British Rail,’ said one startledrail chief.
Colin Flack, genial head of the RailAlliance, hosted the evening callingon every ounce of his experience asan army officer to controlproceedings. Martin Frobisher ofNetwork Rail managed to state intwo sentences what the RailStaffAwards is about. ‘Today is a big dayin the railway calendar,’ Martin said.‘It’s the day that we recognise all theefforts of the real people who do thework operating, maintaining andbuilding the railway.’
Trumpet Blowing The RailStaff Awards was set up to
celebrate the hard work and courageof the ordinary men and women
who make up the industry. ‘Wedon’t do enough to recognise goodpractice and it’s great to get achance to do it,’ says Paul Moogan ofMorson International.
Network Rail’s, Jo Kaye,representing the Institution ofRailway Operators agrees. ‘Peopleare naturally reluctant to blow theirown trumpet so we should providean opportunity to do it for them.’
Read through the nominationsand talk to the winners and mostrailway staff will say, ‘I was justdoing my job,’ or ‘It’s the people Iwork with, this is their award really.’Railway people are self deprecatingand modest but recognition isimportant.
Says Chris Godbold from theTransport Benevolent Fund, ‘We feelit’s important to recognise thosestaff who have not only fulfilledexpectations but go that little bitfurther and provide exceptionalservice.’
Outstanding achievements ofindividual staff and their teamstestify to an exceptional andconfident industry. For instance ToniGoulden of Navartis, acknowledgedthe role of 100s of project managers,
‘We deal with project managers allthe time but there are always somewho stand out more.’
It is this need for recognition thatmakes the RailStaff Awards popularwith the 35,000 people whonominated colleagues.
Joined up thinking The RailStaff Awards sees people
from all across the industry comingtogether from driver to track workerand cleaner to chief executive.Unity, joined up thinking, call itwhat you will. One cheerfulengineer called it PersonalIntegration. It is a picture of therailway as it should be.
Says Patricia Holgate, from LondonUnderground, ‘We got involved withthe awards because we wanted tocelebrate the contribution of teamsand the value of working togetheracross the industry.’
It’s a theme reflected by PhilMounter of Westermo. ‘I think it’simportant to celebrate individualinitiative…(but) the reason wewanted to support the awards wasthat we wanted to support the railindustry. We wanted to putsomething back into the industry.’
Interestingly several companiesinvolved in backing the RailStaffAwards have an industry-widereach. Says Kamal Basra ofBodyguard Workwear, ‘The railindustry is a very challenging placeand there are so many people whowork very, very hard behind thescenes and are quite oftenunaccounted for.
‘As a service provider, we alsounderstand how difficult it can bemanaging people’s expectations. Bysponsoring this award we are able torecognise the achievements ofspecial people in this industry.’
Phil Whittingham of Virgin Trains,summed up the underlying logicbehind the RailStaff Awards. ‘Teamwork in the industry is massivelyimportant,’ he said.
Entry Level The implicit message behind the
good news magazine that isRailStaff, right from day one, is thatthe rail industry has a great futurein front of it and that a determinedindividual can go right to the topfrom the shop floor.
The ballast to boardroom story ismore common in this industry than
18 www.railstaffawards.com
elsewhere. Lifetime Achievementaward winner Steve Diksa startedlife on a track gang in Derby. SaysKeith Jipps of FirstGroup, ‘I thinkthe big thing is the industrywouldn’t be what it is without thededication of people like Steve. Thefact that he has come in at an entrylevel to make such a differencemakes him a very worthy winner.’
The message is that you can dothis too. Long term supporter of theRailStaff Awards, Pino De Rosa ofBridgeway Consulting, believes the
well being of the railways is in thehands of all who work in theindustry. Says Pino, ‘The mostimportant thing is that we deliverwhat we deliver in a safe way.
‘The industry is dependent on thedrive of the people that are in it andevents like this are just so positive. Itsends out a good message toeveryone in the industry to step upand make a difference.’ It’s not just adifference to the industry but to thelives of many members of thepublic.
Saving Lives Numerous stories at the RailStaff
Awards reveal harrowing details ofdisasters averted and lives saved. It’sa serious subject and very moving tohear the whispered testimony ofdrivers, track workers and stationstaff who tried to save the lives ofthose in danger.
Bob Wright of FT Transformers,referred to the courage of TrainDriver of the Year, Adam Osborne-Hall, who saved a girl’s life after shejumped in front of his train.
‘Out of all the sponsorships I thinkthe best one is Train Driver of theYear because we put our trust intrain drivers on a daily basis,’ saidBob Wright. ‘Hopefully with hisintervention he’s helped her toimprove her life and want to live on.’
Suicide is a big problem on therailways. The new Special LifesaverAward by Samaritans/Network Rail,goes some way to recognising thework going on behind the scenes totry and reduce railway fatalities.
Says Samaritans chief executiveCatherine Johnstone, ‘It’s aboutsaving lives on the railway. It’s forthe front line staff and that’s where
the difference is made. They getconfidence and more skills. It’simportant for the people working onthe front line to feel equipped todeal with things that happen intheir place of work.
‘When people intervene it can alsohave a knock on effect for them andif they’ve been on the course we canhelp them.’
Everybody’s got to learnsometime
Engaging with pupils and students,the railway staff of the future, isessential as Patricia Holgate pointedout, ‘We are striving to keep in touchwith the future,’ she said and added.‘Education never stops.’
TfL now takes this so seriously itplayed a lead role in the creation ofthe Royal Greenwich UniversityTechnical College which opened itsdoors last month. The driving aimis to attract young people aged 14to 19 to study engineering andtechnical subjects, making goodthe skills gap.
Says George Renshaw from LPAGroup Plc, ‘We support the drive ofpeople within the industry. It’s so
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RAILSTAFF AWARDS
important that people are attractedto the industry.’
Education certainly never stops.Rail Person of the Year, Tony Paul, anEast Coast driver based in Newcastlehas organised numerous trainingcourses including numeracy andliteracy for railway staff.
‘When we look at what Tony hasdone, he has helped dozens anddozens of people get qualificationsin basic numeracy, he’s organisedlots of charity events, the list isendless. I can’t think of a moreworthy winner,’ says MartinFrobisher of Network Rail.
Education and learning is greatlyvalued in the industry and this wasmarked with an admittedirreverence at the RailStaff Awards.Among the guests were parentswhose children had just startedschool and in some casesdisappeared off to universityaltogether.
Mums and dads, unnerved bytales of Fresher’s Week, were able tocommiserate over a shared bottle ofplayground milk, which after acursory risk assessment turned outto be pina colada.
CelebrationThe rail industry has a great deal
to celebrate – better performance, anexpanding network, new projectslike Crossrail and Great Westernelectrification, more passengers andmore investment.
Best of all it now has a nationalindustry wide scheme forrecognising and paying tribute tothe real heroes out there driving andcrewing trains, maintaining thetrack and infrastructure and theteams of people engaged inexpanding Britain’s recessiondefying railway phenomena.
Says Craig King of SETEC, ‘I thinkwe should be positive within theindustry and we should celebratesuccess….We don’t do it anywhereelse. The RailStaff Awards is the onlyone that’s doing it.’
Despite the best efforts of thesupporters of the RailStaff Awardsmost of the true heroes of theindustry remain unremarked. Smallmention is made of the thousandswho travel in comfort and safetyevery day oblivious of this silentarmy working round the clock oftenin the cold and dark.
‘Recognition in the industry isreally important in particular for thestaff, the unsung heroes,’ says PhilWhittingham of Virgin Trains.
The thousand partygoerscelebrated with an elan that mighthave troubled schoolmasters ofyesteryear. In fact it was an eveningfizzing with confidence andexuberance.
Says Sean McGinley, director ofMcGinley Support Services, ‘TheRailStaff Awards is an exercise inconfidence, in the future of the
industry and the people who makeit up.’
Martin Frobisher has it right. TheRailStaff Awards is the one day inthe year when we look at railwaystaff and say, hey thank you,thank you very much for all you’redoing.
Keith Harding from HeathrowExpress, speaks for many when hesays, ‘I go to a lot of awards but thisone means the most because it’spersonal. It’s people. It’s what holdsthe industry together.’
Network Rail is proud to sponsor the RailSta4 Awards 2011It’s your hard work – the individuals and teams within our industry – that’s helping us build a better railway for Britain.
From pioneering investment and development projects, to innovations that make everyday services faster, smarter and safer, we believe in recognising the excellence that’s enabling the transformation of our network.
That’s why we’re very proud to once again sponsor this year’s RailStaA Awards.
Helping Britain run better networkrail.co.uk
Network Rail is proud to sponsor the RailSta4 Awards 2013
From pioneering investment and development projects, to innovations that make everyday services faster, smarter and safer – we believe in recognising and celebrating the individuals and teams that are enabling the transformation of our network.
That’s why we’re very proud to once again sponsor the RailStaA Awards.
A better railway for a better Britain
networkrail.co.uk
20 www.railstaffawards.com
iPhone hero wins Outstanding Customer Service Award
ashley Cosker, who works for c2cat Southend Central in essex, winsthis year’s outstanding CustomerService award. ashley used newtechnology and good oldfashioned friendliness to help outa distressed passenger atSouthend.
Ashley used an app on his owniPhone to track down a customer’smissing iPhone. The man had leftthe phone on a train. Ashleycontacted three stations the trainhad called at, with no joy but thentalked to the customer about thetype of phone. Ashley realised hecould activate his iPhone appenabling it to trace another iPhonelocation.
Ashley pinpointed the phone in aroad nearby the station. He set offwith the customer and zeroed inon the missing phone whichappeared to be in a college. Thepair entered the college and askedabout the phone at reception. Infact the phone had been handedin by a student travelling on thetrain earlier.
Says Sarah Simmonds of c2c,‘The customer and his iPhonewere reunited. One happycustomer and a member of staffthat epitomises what c2c is about.It may only be a phone… ButAshley was compassionate,positive, professional and wentway beyond his call of duty. To saythe customer was happy is anunderstatement.’
Ashley Cosker joined the railindustry eight years ago. ‘I’d like tothank all the people who nominatedand voted for me, and my workcolleagues, also my fiancée Karenfor supporting me and keeping me
on track,’ says Ashley. Hugh Jennings, c2c Head of
Retail, said: ‘We’re really pleasedfor Ashley. He showed greatinitiative and determination inhelping this customer. Ashley canbe proud that he was nominatedby his colleagues – it’s not only ourcustomers who appreciate thevalue of providing great service,
but also our staff.’Tom O’Connor, head of Rail
Media agrees, ‘This is a great story.Ashley Cosker used his initiativeand his own phone to track downthe missing iPhone. It reads likesomething out of a spy thriller. It isnot just e-ticketing andinformation apps we see being putto good use by train companies butrailway staff think on their feetand use the latest in newtechnologies to push theboundaries of customer service.Congratulations to Ashley Cosker.’
Owned by National Express, c2coperates services on the London,Tilbury and Southend line and hasone of the best reliability recordsin Europe - frequently evenbeating Swiss Railways.
Bodyguard WorkwearPresenting the award, Kamal
Basra of Bodyguard Workwear,which sponsored the OutstandingCustomer Service Award, said: ‘The
rail industry is a very challengingplace and there are so manypeople who work very, very hardbehind the scenes and are quiteoften unaccounted for.
‘As a service provider, we alsounderstand how difficult it can bemanaging people’s expectationsand by sponsoring this award weare able to recognise theachievements of special people inthis industry.’
Bodyguard Workwear wasestablished in 1975 and is now oneof the leading distributors ofSafety Clothing and PPE. Over theyears Bodyguard Workwear hasworked with some of the largestConstruction, Petrochemicals,Utilities and Transport companiesin Britain.
Bodyguard Workwear pridesitself on looking after allcustomers individually from thelargest contractors to the soletrader. Each customer isimportant.
www.railstaffawards.com 21
RAILSTAFF AWARDS
Highly Commended
Tower of Strength Graham Matthews, a conductor
with Southern Railway, proved atower of strength when his trainwas involved in a double fatalityone morning.
Later a passenger wrote in saying,‘I am writing to highlight thetremendous role the conductorcarried out on this most difficult ofjourneys. He was extremely calm,
professional and sensitive to theincident at hand and should becommended for the way he dealtwith the situation. I hope hereceives recognition for the way heapproached this tragic event in sucha mature and level headed way.’
Says Sarah Evans of Southern,‘Graham instantly took actionmaking sure the train was safeand provided support for hiscolleagues and passengers. Heenlisted the help of an off-duty
fireman to stay with the driver,whilst an off-duty police officersupported Graham with customerservice duties.
Ensuring that everyone was keptup-to-date, Graham remained incontinuous contact withSouthern’s control centre withreports from the train, and alsorelayed service information back tohis passengers whose journeyswere significantly delayed.Patrolling the train continuously,
Graham showed remarkable dutyof care to both his colleague andcustomers.’
Praise for All-WeatherRichelle Walsh
Richelle Walsh who works forNorthern Rail at Greenfield Stationnear Oldham is well thought of bycustomers and staff alike. She hasbeen awarded the British EmpireMedal.
Says Lynn Norbury of NorthernRail, ‘Richelle selflessly leaves herhome very early in the morning toensure she can get to the stationfor her customers. Many times thishas meant Richelle abandoningher vehicle and continuing thejourney to the station on foot asthe snow was so bad.
Once at the station there is notime to get warm as Richelle getsstuck into shoveling snow to makea safe entrance to the station andplatforms for her customers. Withsnow cleared Richelle then setsabout making enquiries about theservice so that she is armed withreal time information for when hercustomers start to arrive.’
22 www.railstaffawards.com
Senior track bed Design engineerat network Rail, Peter Musgrave,wins this year’s Rail engineer ofthe Year award. Peter Musgravespecialises in track bedengineering and permanent wayworking for network Rail. he is incharge of a team of 11.
Says Uma Shanker of NetworkRail, ‘Globally there has beenmassive interest in the behaviourof track formation and itsimportance in the lifetime of thetrack…a bit like getting thefoundation for buildings right.
Peter and his supply partners AspinFoundations have spent countlesshours, toil, sweat, trial after trial anddeveloped a world class highlyinnovative solution based on micro-piling to fix formation stiffnessproblems in track.’
Peter and his team are improvingthe track bed the railways sit onhelping scale down temporaryspeed restrictions and saving theindustry millions of pounds in theprocess.
Says Uma, ‘Peter for me hasdemonstrated what engineering isall about…finding simple elegantsolutions to complex problemsand making it really simple toimplement. The industry shouldrecognise and thank Peter for allhis effort and determination tocome up with this solution withhis supply chain partners at AspinFoundations.
If you notice the train you aretravelling on doesn’t slow downany more at a certain point on it’sroute, it is probably down to Peterand if you are sat on a train that
slows down every day at a certainpoint on its journey get in touchwith Peter and ask him to go andinject the piles.’
Says Tom O’Connor managingdirector of Rail Media, ‘So oftenengineering is thought to be thepreserve of everything above thesleeper but in fact the safety of thetrack bed and the whole geology ofsupport that goes on is every bit asimportant. With more and moretraffic using the railway, improvingits stability and permanence is ineveryone’s interest.‘Congratulations Peter, acontinuing quality job that inspiresus all.’
Says Peter Musgrave, 55, wholives in Nantwich, Cheshire, ‘I’dlike to thank Uma Shanker and allthe track bed team. It is a whole
team effort.’ Peter joined BR’s civilengineering division in 1978 andworked his way up.
Morson InternationalThe Rail Engineer of the year is
sponsored by Morson Internationalwhich has a comprehensive railoperation that supplies a broadspectrum of skilled personnel torail projects across the UK andoverseas.
Morson International has beeninvolved in the rail industry forover four decades, driving upquality and value for money. In afield that has been experiencing anotable skills shortage, MorsonInternational is eager to raise theprofile of engineering andencourage those joining theindustry to specialise in a skill that
Track Bedtriumph
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RAILSTAFF AWARDS
is much sought after in projectsacross the UK.
Paul Moogan, client servicesdirector of Morson Internationalsaid, ‘To recognise someone whogoes above and beyond isfundamental. We don’t do enoughto recognise good practice and it’sgreat to get a chance to do it.’
Highly Commended
Bluebell breakthroughAs Infrastructure Director of the
Bluebell Railway Chris Whiteoversaw the reinstating of therailway to East Grinstead. Thismeant excavating a rubbish filledcutting and liaising with professionalconsultants, engineering contractorsand volunteer labour from withinthe railway.
Says Clive Kessell of the BluebellRailway, ‘The Bluebell Railwayopened its complete northernextension on the 23 March 2013.This was a remarkableachievement for a Heritage Linewith nothing on this scale everhaving been tackled before by anysimilar line.’
Paul delivers new Chord Paul Tomblin developed the
project to build a chord linking theEast Coast main line with theCambridge line from the drawingboard to commissioning.
Says Paul Huthwaite of NetworkRail, ‘Paul successfully workedwith Network Rail’s constructionpartners to form the Hitchin
Alliance. This type of collaborationwill be the blueprint for futuremajor rail projects.
‘Even before constructionstarted, Paul and his teamengaged with the public, invitingcomments and suggestions. Onceconstruction started, Paul ensuredthat any affected residents werekept informed as the various
stages of the work were carriedout.
‘He also went beyond what wasrequired by holding site open daysfor the public including a walk ofthe new line before it openedwhich raised funds for localcharities.’ The new line wascommissioned ahead of scheduleand under budget.
PROUD TO SPONSOR
Rail Engineer of the Year 2013
Morson Group operates through two main subsidiaries, MorsonInternational and Morson Projects. Morson International is the UK’s No1 Technical Recruiter and provides specialist engineering and technical personnel. Morson Projects provides outsourced engineering and project management design services. To date,Morson Group has presence is 57 office locations across the globe.
London underground’s ‘everyJourney Matters team’ wins thisyears Rail team of the Year award.
The Every Journey Matters teamis made up of 20 enthusiasticstation staff selected to lead thestaff engagement programme.
‘We’re all station staff but we’reseconded. Winning this award isamazing. We’ve had a six monthsamazing journey and to finalise itwith this is just fantastic,’ saysDavid Stamp.
The ‘Every Journey Matters’ teamis based at Lillie Bridge depot in
West London. Four team members,James Hayden, Diane Kwarteng,David Stamp and Sarah Beighton,came to the RailStaff Awards 2013to accept the award on behalf ofthe 30-strong team. The teamusually wears purple. ‘We’reknown as the Purple People,’ saysDavid. ‘Purple People withPASSION,’ added Diane Kwarteng.
Fundamental to the programmeis the gathering of ideas and inputfrom frontline staff to help LondonUnderground boost customer careon the network.
Says LU’s Alison Little, ‘SinceApril, the team has been designingand facilitating staff workshops totalk about how we can improvecustomer service across a range oftopics – ticketing, customerinformation, the stationenvironment, station processesand the way stations are staffedand managed.
However, the role this team hasplayed has been much more thanjust facilitating workshops. Theyhave been key in communicatingwith their peers about what hascome out of the workshops –through going out on our networkand having one to oneconversations, providing supportfor the stations management teamand through an online community.
‘They have also been central tofeeding back their colleagues’views and ideas to the programmeteam responsible for developingany changes.’
The team has enjoyed greatsuccess. Many of the seniorstakeholders at LU have been veryimpressed with the commitmentand maturity of the team. AddsAlison, ‘They have done anamazing job in getting feedbackfrom over 2,000 station staff so far,always managing to engage with
their colleagues and get usefulinput about how we can improvecustomer service in stations.’
Patricia Holgate, from awardsponsors, London Underground,said: ‘We got involved with theawards because we wanted tocelebrate the contribution ofteams and the value of workingtogether across the industry.’
Tom O’Connor of Rail Mediaagrees, ‘Spreading best practice isessential in any business. The‘Every Journey Matters Team’ ismaking a real impact in customercare. Engaging staff in thisimportant process has hugebenefits not only for the railindustry but for the people whomatter most, the customers.’
London UndergroundRail Team of the Year is
sponsored by LondonUnderground, a subsidiary ofTransport for London. The networkcelebrates its 150th anniversarythis year. The first section openedbetween Paddington andFarringdon in 1863.
Today, LU runs trains on elevendifferent lines serving 270 stations.The Tube is currently carryingrecord numbers of passengers. Inthe year 2010/11, LU carried more
Every Journey Matters – Team of the Year
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RAILSTAFF AWARDS
than 1.1 billion passengerjourneys.
As part of Transport for London’sInvestment Programme, LU isworking to address many years ofunder-investment and to ensureLondon has a world class transportsystem, including upgrades of alllines to improve reliability andincrease capacity by nearly 30%.Delivery of these major upgrades,involving new trains, track,signalling and control equipment,is phased over a ten year perioddue to the complexity of the task.
Highly Commended
New Street Switchover Success
The Switchover Team at NetworkRail was formed to deliver theSwitchover Project at BirminghamNew Street. The projectsuccessfully delivered anoperationally ready station againstthe background of the biggestchange for 50 years for the 140,000passengers who use New Streeteach day.
Thirteen people worked on the
Switchover project and whilst theydelivered exceptional individualoutputs this group’s collectiveoutputs were far greater than thesum of its parts.
The team included ProjectManager Mark Bennett; three newgraduates, Andrew Tustin, CiprianCiuraru and Mohammed Ali; fourStation CommunicationsExecutives, Jenna Kawycz, SueBeardsmore, John Earley andAndrew Minorczyk who deliveredthe Training, Briefing andFamiliarisation plan.
Niasha Nugent represented thestation team with four furtherTrack and Train graduates SamStor, Thomas Harman, ChrisThurbon and Jagdeep Sekha.
Beach Boys Win St Bees Surfin’ Safari
Replacing a railway bridge at StBees on the Cumbrian coastlooked impossible. It is approachedby a narrow residential road andthe railway itself has clearancedifficulties and no chance of amobile crane or railing the bridgein.
However Richard Atkin’s BeachBoys team, from BAM Nuttall cameup with the perfect solution. Withthe full co-operation of the peopleof St Bees the team moved thebridge in by using the beach – atlow tide of course – using a 24wheel six axle transporter.
Says colleague, Mike Breen,‘Richard and his team began theoperation at 7am by driving thetransporter down the life boatramp onto the foreshore. Our
transporter then began its journeyalong the foreshore on analuminium roadway which wascontinuously leapfrogged from theback to the front of the machine.
The transport took the full sevenhours available and had to dealwith two very soft areas on thebeach and was safely parked up atMarch House Lane before high-tide. Reconstruction of the bridgewent as planned the followingweekend.’
26 www.railstaffawards.com
Richard bradley of Fttransformers Ltd has won thisyear’s Signalling andtelecommunications engineer ofthe Year award
Richard has designed and builta new transformer with zeroinrush – that is the huge upsurgein current when a transformer isfirst switched on. Richard alsowanted to add in a box that gavegreat electrical protectionproperties so engineers wouldfeel safe using the equipment outon site
A chance visit to BirminghamMoor Street helped. Says BobWright, managing director, FTTransformers, ‘Richard attended aRail Alliance meeting at MoorStreet and noticed a coating forweather protection. Richardenquired about its insulationproperties and whether it wouldadhere to metal. The insulationproperties were not known soRichard requested a sample andgot the test department of FTTransformers to check insulationproperties.’
The tests went well and Richardset about helping his design teamto design and manufacture a range
of transformers with zero inrushand high efficiency. Richard ledand managed all aspects of thedesign and construction, spendingmany hours of his own timethinking out and improving theproject.
Says Richard, ‘I’m shocked andreally excited that we finally gotthe recognition for the work thatwe all put in.’ Richard, 34, lives inRedditch. ‘I’d like to thank BobWright, chairman FT Transformers,for steering us in the rightdirection and everyone at FTTransformers. This is a real teamevent.’
Says Andy Milne, editor RailStaff,‘This is a great example of theingenuity and cross fertilisation ofideas in the rail industry. It wasn’tjust Richard’s visit to Moor Streetwith the Rail Alliance but his ownsharp eyed observation andimagination that resulted in a newgeneration of transformers, betterand safer than before.’
WestermoPhil Mounter, from award
sponsor Westermo DataCommunications, said: ‘It’s great tobe here to present an award to
such a worthy winner. I think it’simportant to celebrate individualinitiative and the work that they’vedone on their own endeavour. Thereason we wanted to sponsor theRailStaff Awards was we wanted to
support the industry, we wanted toput something back into rail.’
Westermo Data Communicationsdesigns and manufactures robustdata communication devices forharsh environments.
Signalling triumph forRichard Bradley
www.railstaffawards.com 27
RAILSTAFF AWARDS
Westermo supplies products thatprovide the communicationinfrastructure, derived fromproven commercial technology, forcontrol and monitoring systemsthat are used in mission criticalsolutions where commercial gradeproducts are not sufficientlyresilient.
Westermo was established in1975. The head office is located93.2 miles southwest of Stockholmin Sweden. Over the past threedecades Westermo has grown withsubsidiaries being established inSweden, UK, Germany, France,Singapore, North America, Taiwanand sales partners appointed inover 35 countries worldwide.
Highly Commended
Thameslink Triumph forPhil De Silva
Phil De Silva has a background inthe aerospace, rail and telecommsindustries. He joined telent in2008. One of the larger contractshe ran was the successful deliveryof Thameslink Inner Areastelecommunications work.
Says colleague, Cathy Whittall,‘Phil now runs a portfolio ofprojects ranging from professionalengineering services providingradio design studies, to majorprojects such as the GSM-Rcontract. Phil has worked hard todevelop his team…Each teammember has had the opportunityto develop their own specialismand skills in their chosen field.’
Signalling InnovationsGroup meet challenge
Traditional methods of gatheringinformation about assets involvedtrack walking with a trundle wheeland GPS receiver. This exposedstaff to an array of safety risks.
Network Rail’s SignallingInnovations Group (SIG) changedthe way in which asset inventorydata was captured by utilisingNetwork Rail’s track inspectionvehicles to undertake train basedOmniSurveyor3D (OS3D) surveyson behalf of Infrastructure Projects(Signalling) project teams.
The use of a survey train haslogistical difficulties which includedefining and surveying the project
geographic area, resource planningfor the train, obtaining train pathsand managing the requirements ofmultiple disciplines across thebusiness.
Says colleague, Stirling Kimkeran,‘The team has risen to these
challenges in order to deliveraccurate asset inventory data in atimely manner. This is no meanfeat as they are from not onlydifferent departments, but alsothree different companies spreadaround the country.’
28 www.railstaffawards.com
Paul Mitchell, who works at CastleCary station in Somerset for FirstGreat western, is joint winner(with Stephen Sharp) of this year’sStation Staff of the Year award atthe rail industry’s nationalRailStaff awards.
Paul always shows genuineinterest and care for the peoplewho pass through his station.Earlier this year a young girl arrivedlate one evening and asked for achild ticket for a journey thatwould involve two changes of train.
Paul asked if she really was achild as she looked much olderand he had also noticed that shehad cigarettes in her handbag.However, she was able to give herdate of birth without hesitation, soseemed to be genuine.
Paul was then concerned that a15 year old should be making sucha journey alone at that time of day.Some time after the girl hadstarted her journey, a care workerarrived at the station to enquire ifa 15 year old girl had been seen.He explained that she was in carefor her own safety because ofprevious involvement with drugand sexual exploitation, thesubject of a police investigationand that, if she was to return toher home town, she would be invery real danger.
Says colleague Gavin McArthur,‘It was Paul’s care and genuineconcern that prompted him, longbefore the care worker arrived, tofirst check the company’smessaging service to see if therewere any reports of missing youngpeople.
There was nothing but Paul stillmade a careful note of the girl’sappearance and of the journey shewas making - which trains shewould have to travel on and whereshe would have to change. Oncethe care worker arrived Paulimmediately phoned BritishTransport Police.
He was able to explain to thepolice exactly which trains the policeshould target in order to be able tointercept the girl on her journey sothat she could be returned into thesafety of the care worker.
Adds Gavin, ‘Being close to anumber of private boardingschools, hundreds of young peoplepass though Castle Cary station.
This young girl could have beenseen as just another one of those.But Paul’s intuition and concernand his willingness to act on itrather than ignore it ensured thatthis young girl was prevented frompotential further harm.’
Says Paul, 60, ‘My family deservespecial thanks and especially mywife Kathy - she let me fulfil mydream. I changed careers 15 yearsago. Before that I was a primaryschool head teacher.’ Paul lives inRadstock near Bath.
Says RailStaff editor Andy Milne,‘Parents everywhere will recognisethe great service of people likePaul Mitchell. The world is adangerous place where youngpeople are almost routinelyexploited. It is reassuring everynow and again to catch a glimpseof the forces of good winning out.Congratulations to Paul Mitchell.’
Transport Benevolent FundSays Chris Godbold from the
Transport Benevolent Fund, whichsponsors the Station Staff Award,‘Front line life isn’t always easybecause passengers encounterdifficulties and they often expectstaff to have ready answers [forthings] which may not be in theircontrol. We feel it’s important torecognise those staff who have notonly fulfilled expectations but go
that little bit further and provideexceptional service.’
TBF supports those who work inthe public transport industry inGreat Britain when they are inneed, hardship or distress. Almostanyone who works in the industrymay join TBF, which is a registeredcharity.
TBF has members in most majorpublic transport companies andenjoys support from all the maintransport unions. We are amembership charity and tobecome a member you must workin the public transport industry.We have helped thousands ofmembers in times of need orhardship and offer an extensiverange of benefits.
TBF was originally established tohelp families of London publictransport workers serving in theFirst World War. A permanent trustwas set up in 1923 and we havebeen helping public transportworkers for nearly 90 years. Inrecent years we have shownextensive growth nationally andwe have members in most parts ofEngland, Scotland and Wales.
Paul Mitchell works for FirstGreat Western which operatesservices from London in the eastto Brighton and Gatwick in thesouth, Carmarthen, PembrokeDock and Penzance in the west
and Banbury, Hereford andWorcester in the north.
FGW carries one and a halfmillion passengers every week on9,000 services calling at 276stations. Services include highspeed inter-city expresses,commuter trains and the Cornishsleeper service.
Highly Commended Damian Plumb of First
TransPennine Express looked aftercustomers during severe winterweather in Cumbria keeping thestation open despite sustainedsnowfall and freezingtemperatures.
Says colleague SarahCunningham, ‘Snow proved noobstacle to Damian. Not only didhe keep the station open pastclosing time, meaning strandedcustomers could keep warm andsafe, he also worked tirelessly togrit platforms and clear the snow.
‘Damian worked so late that heeven had to stay in a local hotelovernight, but was up early doingthe same thing the next day andeven jumped on the train to clearsnow and lay grit at all theunmanned stations down the line.Passengers praised Damian forgoing above the call of duty andputting in his all to ensureeveryone was kept safe.’
Somerset rail hero wins Station Staff AwardStephen Sharp, Chris Godbold, and Paul Mitchell.
www.railstaffawards.com 29
RAILSTAFF AWARDS
The Transport Benevolent Fund is
proud to sponsorthe Station Staff
of the Year award again this year.
With the help of the TOCs,Network Rail and other
employers throughout the public transport industry we
now have over 40,000 members.For just £1 a week a variety of
benefits are available to you, your partner and dependent children.
in England and Wales (1058032) and in Scotland (SC040013)The Transport Benevolent Fund (known as TBF) is a registered charity
rg.uk FundBenevolentTransport
rg.uk 8571
000
032) and in Scotland (SC040013) SC040013) (known as TBF) is a registered charity gistered charity
t
Stephen Sharp, who works atwhaley bridge Station fornorthern Rail, is this year’s jointwinner (with Paul Mitchell) of theStation Staff of the Year award atthe rail industry’s nationalRailStaff awards 2013.
Says David Mansell of NorthernRail, ‘Over the past three years,Whaley Bridge Station has beentransformed. First the mainbuilding was beautifully restoredby Network Rail. The Up platformupon which it stands has beentotally rebuilt to modernstandards, and a new waitingroom is about to be completed onthe Down platform.
All this augments the work onthe garden carried out by the‘Friends’ group. However, untilOctober 2012 this effort wasundermined. The station was notmanned by someone with driveand enthusiasm who wanted thestation to succeed by providing
the users with a friendly welcomecombined with top-class service.’
Enter Stephen Sharp and a newway of thinking and running thestation. Passenger and localcouncillor, Alistair Stevens, takesup the tale. ‘Stephen has beenrunning our station for nearly ayear now. Before his arrival it wasnot a nice place to start yourjourney. The Booking Office wasnever open on time, we had avariety of staff who served ticketsand nothing else.’
Whaley Bridge is very differentnow. ‘He arrives an hour before hisshift every day, no matter whatthe weather. He is so polite andpleasant to everyone. We all talk toeach other on the platform now,which we never used to.’ Thestation is immaculate andhanging baskets decorate thestation.
At the recent 150th Anniversaryof the line being extended from
Whaley Bridge to Buxtonpassengers and the Friends Groupall wore Victorian costumes.Stephen turned up in full MorningDress and a Top Hat.
Ticket sales and ridership is up.Stephen also spares time to givetalks to local schools. Hisreputation for helpful,authoritative advice for intendingtravellers soon spread not onlyaround Whaley Bridge but to thesurrounding communities.
Stephen, 49, lives in New Mills. ‘Iused to be a conductor based atManchester Victoria. I’d like tothank wife, Paulette, and mymanager, Pam Williams. They haveboth been very supportive,’ hesaid.
Says Andy Milne, RailStaff editor,‘It is difficult to compress into afew words the sum of whatStephen Sharp has achieved atWhaley Bridge. The nominationscover several pages and it is all
good stuff. Stephen has succeededin placing Whaley Bridge stationright at the heart of thecommunity it serves. He mustrank as one of the bestambassadors for railways in thebusiness.’
Stephen Sharp works forNorthern Rail which has 4,900staff providing nearly 2500 localand regional train services everyweekday serving a population ofnearly 15m. Trains call at over 500stations. Northern Rail providesdirect access to three nationalparks; Peak District, YorkshireDales and North Yorkshire Moorsas well as routes into the LakeDistrict.
Station Staff of the Year issponsored by the TransportBenevolent Fund. TBF supportsthose who work in the publictransport industry in Great Britainwhen they are in need, hardshipor distress.
Whaley Bridge joint winner of Station Staff Award
30 www.railstaffawards.com
Sara borland, business MarketingManager at east Coast wins thisyear’s Project Manager of the Yearaward for her role in organising aSkyfall train to celebrate the mostsuccessful James bond movie ofall time.
East Coast was approached tohelp with the global release of theJames Bond thriller on DVD andblu-ray. The highly ambitiousproject involved a fully wrappedtrain, itself to be chartered fromKing’s Cross to Edinburghtransporting film stars, writers andproducers.
Says George Shuttlewood of EastCoast, ‘Sara made the East Coast‘Skyfall’ train happen, and happenin incredible style, with everydetail covered to ensure ourmoment in the global spotlightwas a proud one.
‘I think many others would haveconsidered the project too hard todeliver, and having no specificrequirement to do it, perhaps justsaid no. However, Sara spotted theopportunity to be associated withsuch a great British icon as one notto be missed, and she convincedthe business it was a project worthdelivering and associatingourselves with.’
The logistics were not simpleand the timeframe to deliver wastight but Sara, with huge help andsupport from a fantastic teamacross the whole East Coastbusiness made this happen.
With meticulous attention todetail, and persistence in ensuringany hurdles were overcome thisproject was extremely well runfrom start to finish. The ‘Skyfall’train in addition to generating inexcess of £10 million worth of
global media coverage for EastCoast created a massive buzzamong our customers and acrossthe country.
‘It’s my birthday tomorrow, 6thOctober, and this makes a finebirthday present. Can I thank allthe team at East Coast,’ says Sara,who has worked for East Coast for13 years and is based in York.
The movie team had wanted allsorts of outside caterers and
contractors to take over the projectbut Sara was having none of it.Most of the organisation andcatering was done in-house. ‘Tome the reason for doing the trainfor Skyfall was to show the worldthat rail travel can be glamorous.’Friends at the RailStaff Awardsagreed Sara certainly achieved this.
Says Andy Milne, editor ofRailStaff, ‘Daniel Craig’s reprisal ofthe role of James Bond and theinspired directing of Sam Mendesmade Skyfall one of the best Bondfilms of all.
‘It is great that the makers ofsuch a bold and brilliant movieshould look to East Coast trains tohelp launch the DVD and blu-rayversion. Dealing with showbizpeople, whilst rewarding, is nevereasy.
Sara Borland is exceptional inbeing able to bring this off. JamesBond historically uses rail travel asa reliable form of escape - just likethousands of our moreconventional passengers. Train
travel can be glamorous and Sara‘Bond Girl’ Borland certainlyproves just that.’
NavartisToni Goulden of Navartis, this
year’s sponsor of the ProjectManager of the Year Award, said:‘We deal with project managers allthe time but there are alwayssome who stand out more.Congratulations and well done toSara.’
Narvartis itself is a specialistproject-focussed technicalrecruitment company which worksclosely with clients, consultanciesand contractors to meet highdemand in securing highly skilledtechnical and managementprofessionals within theinternational railway industry.
Highly trained and industryfocussed recruitment teams atNavartis provide a flexible tailoredrecruitment service in order toidentify and recruit high calibreprofessionals.
Skyfall Sara Borland wins Project Manager of the Year
www.railstaffawards.com 31
RAILSTAFF AWARDS
Capitalising partnerships withinternational candidate and clientnetworks Navartis recruitmentexperts are well positioned toproactively fulfil the rail industry’sgrowing demand for skilledprofessionals across all disciplines.
Highly Commended
Sleepless Phil ShowsUltimate Professionalism
Senior Project Manager PhilMcKenna has worked extensivelyon London Underground projects.Colleagues praise hisapproachability andprofessionalism.
Says Mark Williams, of KNNetwork Services, ‘Phil seems torelish adversity and sees problemsas challenges to overcome. He willput in as much time and effort asis needed to push through thedifficult times.
‘He always makes the time tohelp and support us when weneed it. I’m sure the guys on sitethink he’s actually a machinebecause he never seems tosleep!…Phil has an ability to
assess, listen, and communicate,sometimes with vigour, sometimeswith a firm hand, sometimes withgentle encouragement but alwayswith the ultimate professionalism.’
Nine Day Wonder Accolade Paul Marshall is a Programme
Manager within the TrackRenewals delivery team and wasresponsible for the delivery of a
nine day blockade on the WCML inJuly 2013.
Says Joan Heery of Network Rail,‘The project renewed four keyjunctions and 2.5 miles of plainline track. Blockades of thisduration are generally not grantedon the WCML and the project hadto be delivered ‘right first time.’Paul has been under considerablepressure for the last 12 months to
ensure the project was a success.’ Despite the tight timescales and
broiling hot summer, Pauldelivered the project on time. Theproject was successfully deliveredwith the added bonus that one ofthe junctions Wigan SpringsBranch, opened at 80 mph…Paul’sstrong leadership capabilities werekey to the success of the project,’adds Joan.
32 www.railstaffawards.com
Myra’s Wells founder wins David Maidment Award for Charity
Founder of Myra’s wells, eddieMartin, a train manager withCross Country, has won the DavidMaidment award for charity atthis year’s RailStaff awards.
Says colleague, David Watkin, ‘Aswell as being a highly dedicatedTrain Manager, Eddie has alwaystaken his social responsibilitiesseriously. As an active memberand father figure of his localchurch he supported manyactivities, and for over 10 yearswas a prison visitor at one of theUK’s highest security prisons.
But it was in 2006 that, followingtragedy, his life changed. His wife,a school teacher, was killed as shedrove to work one morning. Somemonths afterwards whilst visitinga dilapidated school in BurkinaFaso he hit upon the idea for a
lasting memory for his wife Myra. First he paid to repair the school,
and then he decided to try andraise the funds to sink a well toprovide the school with freshwater and Myra’s Wells was born.’
The lives of over 100,000 peoplehave been changed for the betterin Burkina Faso. Before localpeople had to walk many miles todraw water.
Keith Harding from HeathrowExpress, the sponsor of this year’saward, said: ‘I go to a lot of awardsbut this one means the mostbecause it’s personal, it’s people,it’s what holds the industrytogether.’
Says RailStaff Editor, Andy Milne,‘This is hugely deserved. Theamount of energy Eddie puts intothis is phenomenal. It is also an
inspiring example of someoneputting faith into action, providingdirect help for people who mostneed it.’
Adds David Watkin, ‘Eddieraised enough money to sink twowells and provide two villageswith running water. Havingcreated a lasting memory lesserfolk would have been satisfied,but not Eddie. He knew that wellssave lives.
In a country short of water, andwhere much of the available waterwas contaminated, Eddie knewthat he could make a life changingdifference to many more people.Since then Eddie has raised over£150,000 and has completed over30 wells, all of which are inspectedby Water Aid. The wells aremanaged by various pastors and
village chiefs. They must beavailable to all regardless of tribeor religion and serveapproximately 100,000 people.’
Eddie Martin is originally fromGlasgow and now lives inBournemouth ‘I am delighted.With Myra’s Wells we have nowcompleted 31 and are about to dothree more.’ Eddie said.
Eddie Martin works for CrossCountry trains. Cross Country isrun by Arriva Plc - part of DeutscheBahn. Cross Country stretchesfrom Aberdeen to Penzance, andfrom Stansted to Cardiff and callsat over 100 stations.
Heathrow ExpressThe David Maidment Award for
Charity is sponsored by HeathrowExpress which provides fast and
www.railstaffawards.com 33
RAILSTAFF AWARDS
PROUD TO SPONSOR
THE DAVID MAIDMENT AWARD
FOR CHARITY AT THIS YEAR’S
RAILSTAFF AWARDS
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frequent services between LondonPaddington and Heathrow Airport.Heathrow Express is a non-franchised, non-subsidised privatecompany which owns its owntrains, the stations at Heathrow,and the entire below-groundsection of the line at the airport.
The service was launched in 1998and carries an average of 16,000passengers a day. It is the fastestrail link from London to Heathrow,with a journey time of just 15minutes to Terminals 1 and 3 (afew minutes more for Terminals 4and 5).
Highly Commended
Sahara Sarah Braves Desert Sarah Hollies completed a five
day trek across the Sahara to raisemoney for the charity,Breakthrough Breast Cancer. Sarahspent a year preparing bothphysically and mentally for thechallenge.
Her training regime includedwalks along the Worcester -Birmingham Canal, treks in andaround Aberystwyth and warm
weather training in Majorca. Allcosts were borne by Sarah herselffrom boots to Bedouinaccommodation and never oncedid she ask for grace or favourfrom the company for leave oraccommodation - regardless ofblisters.
Sarah works for London Midland.
Stefan Rides to the Rescue Stefan Chybowski of Heathrow
Express helped organise a charityride from Cardiff MillenniumStadium to London HeathrowAirport Terminal 3 for Train DriversRoy and Agnes Boyce’s son Harry,who suffers with cerebral palsy andrequired an operation in the US.
Stefan spent hours of his owntime planning the route, hotels,rest stops, transport and supportteams for the 17 riders as well ascompleting the 170 mile himself.The team raised approximately£10,000 from the ride. All 17 cyclistsarrived safely outside Heathrow T3,a great achievement in itself.
34 www.railstaffawards.com
an hR team attracting new peopleto the industry and retaining theskills of many more has won thisyear’s hR team of the Year award.
London Underground’s StrategicResourcing Team has won praisefrom many people for severalinitiatives, among them‘Classroom to Boardroom’. SaysVanessa Long of TfL, ‘Significantskills shortages are becomingmore and more apparent in therail industry and if leftunaddressed, delivery of futureprogrammes will becomeincreasingly challenging.’
‘Classroom to Boardroom’encourages children to takeScience, Technology, Engineeringand Mathematics (STEM) subjectsand to promote the transportindustry and engineering as acareer choice. Pupils were setchallenges based on a realTransport for London challengeand they presented their findings
to a Transport for London Panel atthe London Transport Museum.
As a result the TfL apprenticeprogramme is now over subscribedwith high quality students.Interestingly managers arebenefitting from mentoring pupils,improving their confidence,communication skills andprofessional development.
Another innovation, WorkforceContinuity, is helping deviseeffective career paths foremployees. Through rolling outstrategic workforce planning,Strategic Resourcing has identifiedkey areas, as much as five years inadvance, where staff will berequired or where projectsconclude and organisationalchanges take place.
With this vision, the team areable to look at what type ofworkforce will be required andcreate career pathways andrecommend the training
interventions well in advance toensure continuity of service andthat TfL has the right skills, fit forthe future.
Says Tom O’Connor, managingdirector, Rail Media, ‘Helping staffbuild better careers for the futureis in everyone’s interests. StrategicResourcing has pioneered severalinitiatives which will help attractthe skilled people we need andretain those already contributingto the industry.’
James Lloyd, Steven Mills, SteveFoster, Penny St Martin, andPatricia Holgate were surprisedand delighted by the award. ‘We’dlike to thank our colleagues andthe parts of the business we’vebeen lucky enough to work with,’says James. ‘We have also hadgreat support from the wider railindustry who we’ve collaboratedwith,’ adds Patricia Holgate.
Says Asif Ahmed, managingdirector of RailwayPeople.com,
‘The phenomenal efforts made byLondon Underground’s StrategicResourcing Team go a considerableway to making good the skillsshortfall the rail industry is nowdealing with. It is a challenge andStrategic Resourcing not only helpsfill the gap by what they do buttheir ideas and efforts are feedinginto an industry wide campaign toattract and retain top quality staff.Very well deserved.’
Railwaypeople.comHR Team of the Year is sponsored
by RailwayPeople.com. Launchedin 2001 RailwayPeople.com is thelargest dedicated rail job site in theworld. We strive to respond to thecontinual needs of both candidatesand recruiters, which is reflectedin our growing database and longterm relationships we have withour customers.
Railwaypeople.com has morethan 190,000 live CVs, over 2,500
London Underground’s Strategic Resourcing teamwins HR Team of the Year Award
www.railstaffawards.com 35
RAILSTAFF AWARDS
new registered candidates eachmonth and sends out 60,000 jobalert emails each day.
Highly Commended
Recruitment Success forLaura Fletcher
Laura Fletcher a newcomer atFirst TransPennine Express has setnew standards for recruitment andwon top quality staff for thecompany.
Says Sarah Cunningham of FTPE,‘Within a year, Laura has not justmet the needs of the business butshe has completely revolutionisedour process, standards andcapability in the area ofrecruitment. Laura grasped thebespoke requirements of manyroles, such as safety critical rolesincluding Qualified and TraineeDrivers.
She has somehow delivered thenumbers and quality for recruitsinto every discipline, whilstlearning about the business, theindustry and her role. She hasmanaged 70% more vacanciesthan the previous year, attracted
twice the number of candidates tothese and reduced the cost percandidate by 30%.’
Craft work boost forMorson International
Mark Craft works for MorsonInternational and looks afterNetwork Rail.
Says colleague, Russell Otter,‘Mark has worked within therecruitment and rail industries foralmost five years, and I believe hissuccess should be celebrated. Lastyear Mark was tasked withenhancing the service level Morsondelivers to Network Rail, maintaincompliancy and increase fill rate.’
Mark pushed ahead with anumber of bold initiatives. SaysRussell, ‘Recent KPI targets showMark and his team wereresponsible for placing 67% ofMorson contractors with NetworkRail. Not only did Mark succeed inthe task he was set; he exceededagreed KPI targets with the client.’
36 www.railstaffawards.com
Steve Diksa, assurance ServicesDirector at bridgeway Consultinghas won this year’s Lifetimeachievement award.
A career railwayman, Stevejoined the railway in 1978 as atrackman in Permanent Way Gang22. ‘I owe the job to mygrandmother really, says Steve.‘She was working in a café onMidland Road in Derby and she gottalking to a railway man andmentioned her grandson waslooking for a job on the railway. Ididn’t know I was looking for a jobon the railway but she fixed me upwith an interview and off I went.’
It was an equally lucky break forthe railway industry. Working hisway up Steve became a leadingexponent of railway safetydynamics. Steve was appointedChief Executive of Rail TrainingAudit Services (RTAS), then part ofRailtrack, in 1999. Later he movedinto Network Rail as SafetyCompetence DevelopmentSpecialist where he helped developthe current Sentinel safety trainingcompetence system. Steve joinedBridgeway Consulting in 2008.
Steve has developed new safetysystems at Bridgeway Consultingmaking it one of the safestcompanies operating on the UK’srail infrastructure. He personallyvisits work sites during the dayand night to undertake safetyaudits to measure and benchmarksafe working.
Diksa remains a highly respectedfigure advising Network Rail, RSSBand infrastructure contractors onrail safety issues. His eagerness toassist and attend working groupsor seminars to promote rail safetyhas helped form some of the rulesand policies we adhere to today.
Says Pino De Rosa, managingdirector at Bridgeway Consulting,‘This will undoubtedly continue tobenefit the railway workers oftoday and the future. FurthermoreSteve hasn’t just been focused onhis own career; he has also takenthe time for many years to mentoryoung entrants to the industry.
‘His nurturing approach hashelped them with knowledge intheir field and provided them withthe guidance and the confidenceto build long and successfulcareers in the industry. His
influence has certainly driventhese people to become motivatedand hard working railprofessionals.’
Tom O’Connor of Rail Mediaagrees. ‘I have known Steve Diksafor many years now and thisaward is great news. Not only doesit mark a real and long termcontribution by a popular figure inthe railways but it salutes Steve, aman who joined the railway on thebottom rung and worked his wayup. Moreover it is a renewedtestament to the importance ofrailway safety.
‘The RailStaff Awards is always abit of a party with lots of humourand irreverence on the eveningitself. That is just as it should befor we work in a serious and safety
critical industry. That so manythousands of people travel insafety and comfort is in no smallpart down to the enduringcommitment of people like SteveDiksa. We salute you.’
Says Keith Jipps of FirstGroup,which sponsored the award, ‘Ithink the big thing is the industrywouldn’t be what it is without thededication of people like Steve. Thefact that he has come in at anentry level to make such adifference makes him a veryworthy winner.’
‘I’d like to thank my wife, Helenand my children, Victoria andRebecca for their patience andsupport,’ says Steve. ‘Others I mustthank are Pino DeRosa and all myfriends at Bridgeway Consulting.
They really have given me a newlease of life.’
Steve 52, added, ‘Last but notleast I’d like to thank mygrandmother, Ruth, who helpedme get that first job on the railwayback in 1978. I dedicate this awardto her memory.’
FirstGroupFirstGroup are sponsors of the
Lifetime Achievement Award. Thecompany is Britain’s largest railoperator carrying more than 310million passengers per annum. Itoperates First Great Western, FirstCapital Connect, FirstTransPennine Express, FirstScotRail, First Hull Trains andLondon Tramlink.
It runs regional and commuter
Steve Diksa Wins Lifetime Achievement
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RAILSTAFF AWARDS
www.firstgroup.com
Proud sponsor of the Lifetime Achievement Award
at the RailStaff Awards
services, open access and light railoperations as well as high speedinter-city trains and overnightsleepers – everything from localservices to long distance expresstrains.
The company has a strong trackrecord of investment with morethan 700 new vehicles introducedand punctuality and performanceincreasing across each of theirfranchises since FirstGroupcommenced operation. Thecompany is committed tomaintaining a leading position inthe market through the upcomingfranchising competitions.
Highly Commended
Twiggepedia man honoured Chris Twigg of LB Foster Rail Rail
Technologies (UK) Ltd was highlycommended. NicknamedTwiggepedia Chris has a deepknowledge of the railways and hasbeen with the company since 1971.
Based in Sheffield, LB Foster RailTechnologies is a leading supplierof railway friction solutions and
track component products. CJTbrings a vivacity and level oftechnical expertise to thecompany like no other.
He is an active andindispensable member of theteam at LBF. His rapport withclients is inspiring. He can befound one day in full PPE assistingin a hands-on install and bemeeting senior executives fromblue chip companies the next.
Friendly touch for John Murphy
John Murphy travelled fromIreland and set up Quattro Plant in1989, with only two second handmachines to his name. 24 years,and a lot of hard work later, theorganisation is now the biggestprovider of rail plant in the UK.
John has dedicated 24 years ofhis life to the rail industry,succeeding in creating not only
one of the largest organisations,but also one of the friendliest,happiest and most loyalcompanies in the rail world.
Always ready with a joke and akind gesture, John has combinedbusiness with fun, and with itmanaged to build a unique empireunlike any other in the industry,proving that even in uncertaintimes, business doesn’t alwayshave to be doom and gloom.
38 www.railstaffawards.com
Chris Roberts, who works on thenational Level Crossing ClosureProgramme for network Rail haswon this year’s Rail Safety Personof the Year award.
At Thorne South Station in SouthYorkshire Chris Roberts and otherteam members were checking outplans for putting in a footbridgewhen they witnessed a train hit apedestrian.
Says colleague, Jonathan Wright,‘Chris attended the injured victimgetting critical information fromher while a helicopter ambulancewas mobilised. Chris kept callingthe British Transport Police forupdates on the lady’s health untilshe was taken off the critical list inhospital.
‘Even though Chris was involvedfirst hand with the incident heworked right through the weekendwith his team to develop thefoundation and layout plans for atemporary footbridge to make sure
the site was made safe and noother pedestrians were exposed todanger.
‘Chris and his team also thenassisted the development of thepermanent solution by procuringand managing survey work. Thetemporary bridge was completed22nd January.’
Thanks to Chris the new bridgewas designed within 72 hours ofthe incident and a temporarybridge was in place within 13 daysof the incident. Prompt action byChris won praise from local peopleand the press in Doncaster.
Says Scott Meadley,Development Manager LNE Route,Network Rail, ‘There was a needfor speed and judgment after theevents of the 8th, and Chris camegood on both counts….He did agreat job, especially as he has donethis on the back of witnessing theincident on the 8th Jan.’
Says Chris, 35, from Garforth in
Yorkshire, ‘Massive thanks to thedesign team; this award is down tothe team. The lady survived, whichwas a miracle. For the next twoweeks it was full on 24/7 to get atemporary footbridge in and takeout that dangerous crossing. I hada great team backing me up.’ Chrisis based in Hudson House in York.
‘Chris Roberts rose to thechallenge of helping an injuredpedestrian at Thorne South andthen immediately doingsomething about the safety issueinvolved,’ says Tom O’Connor,managing director, Rail Media.‘Safety remains the number onepriority of the industry and Chris’sactions pursuant to the near-tragedy demonstrate this withurgent eloquence. This is a welldeserved award.’
Bridgeway ConsultingSays Pino De Rosa, from award
sponsor, Bridgeway Consulting,
‘The most important thing is thatwe deliver what we deliver in asafe way. The work these guys domaintains the safety and integrityof the railway.
‘The industry is dependent onthe drive of the people that are init and events like this are just sopositive. It sends out a goodmessage to everyone in theindustry to step up and make adifference.’
With safety at the forefront of alloperations Bridgeway Consultinghas always aimed to provide asafe, effective and professionalservice to its clients. A proactiveapproach is underpinned by adetailed director-led managementprocess that utilises a number ofmethods to ensure safety is alwaysa priority.
With extensive engineeringexpertise Bridgeway Consultingprovides a dynamic and innovativeservice, and is equipped to
Crossing hero wins Rail Safety Person of the Year
www.railstaffawards.com 39
RAILSTAFF AWARDS
undertake small or large tasksefficiently, professionally and mostimportant of all, safely. Thisapproach continues to provideBridgeway Consulting’s clientswith peace of mind when theyengage with them on key projects.
Highly Commended
Safer Walesthanks to Tracey
Tracey Young of Network Rail haspushed ahead with new initiativesaimed at educating the localcommunity on the dangers ofOverhead Line Electrification –coming soon to Wales and theWest.
Says Mark Davies of NetworkRail, ‘Tracey has been exceptionalin identifying the needs of thebusiness to address thecommunity risks of 25kv OLEequipment. Tracey set upmonthly meetings to determinethe target audience, key risks,lineside neighbours, schools andother potential interfaces….shehas driven engagement with thecommunity on electrification
such as the Cardiff CityCommunity Safety educationteam and the local council zonesto support getting the messageout about safety risks regardinglive OLE.’
Tracey has risen to the challengeand engaged with a wide array oforganisations – many of whomhave testified to how valuable shehas already proved. According tocolleagues Wales will be safer forlistening to Tracey Young.
Scott boosts SafetyLeadership Teams
Scott Brown, a field deliverymanager at Thales, successfullycarried out a company-wide drivefor safety awareness.
Says Mike Duncan of Thales,‘Scott has taken control of one ofour Safety Leadership Teamswithin the programme he workson. Scott has built a dynamicengaged group who are leading theway in our Ground TransportationSystems area of the business.
‘His initiatives have resulted in asignificant drive to embed a safetyculture in the project, which is
bleeding through successfully intoother projects also. Scott is alsothe link within the business to ourmanagement team, ensuring that
there is an understanding at alllevels of the safety priorities andneeds for employees working ontrack and on site.’
40 www.railstaffawards.com
John McCuaig, Justin Lanigan andJason Fenner - Southern’sContinuous Improvement team –have won this year’s Depot teamof the Year award. the teamboosted unit availability andreduced down time by applyingLean philosophy to depotmaintenance procedures.
Says Jo Loerns, ‘The December2011 timetable change placed arequirement on the Southern Fleetteam to reduce the number ofClass 377 units (taken) out ofservice for maintenance or repairfrom 12 to 9 - a 25% reduction.This in turn allowed Southern torun longer train services forpassengers.’
The demand for greater unitavailability meant improvingexisting maintenance examprocedures. The team achievedthis by using LEAN philosophy tolook into the order of theindividual maintenance tasks thatmake up each exam. Thanks to theteam downtime per unit was
halved.‘John, Justin and Jason, helped
the Southern Class 377 team toreduce exam downtime from 80-90hours to 40 hours,’ said Jo.
‘It’s the guys that did it, the guyson the shop floor,’ says JohnMcCuaig. ‘They did the work, cameup with the ideas and with theirhelp we managed to bring in thechanges and meet the targets.’ Theteam, which includes, John, Jason,and Justin, is based at Brightonand Selhurst.
This combined effort resulted inthe highest ever availability ofClass 377 trains – up from 93.5%to 95% after the Decembertimetable change. This increasedcapacity by 3,000 and 2,000 seatsin the morning and evening peaksrespectively. The project was agreat success at the depot.
‘Major exams are now beingcompleted within a 48 hour targettime, something that wasconsidered near impossiblepreviously. This is largely due to
the team’s drive, enthusiasm anddetermination,’ adds Jo.
Says Tom O’Connor, managingdirector Rail Media, ‘Capacity is thenumber one issue on Britain’srailways. The industry is a successstory and is struggling to cope withthe huge upsurge in peoplewanting to use trains. Long termwe need more railways, a highspeed network and new fleets.
‘However the fact that railwaystaff can make such a greatdifference to seat availabilityduring the morning and eveningpeaks is a phenomena we shouldcelebrate and that we do not hearenough about.
‘Well done to John, Justin andJason and all those on the shopfloor who made this work. I knowthey all deserve a standing ovationand of course many of those whoappreciate their efforts most, nowhave a seat.’
Virgin TrainsSays Phil Whittingham of Virgin
Trains which sponsored the award,‘Team work in the industry ismassively important. They areworking in an area with relativelyfixed costs so any improvementsthat can be made are welcome.They are an important part of theindustry and recognition in theindustry is really important inparticular for the staff and theunsung heroes.’
Virgin Trains has brought about astep change in Anglo-Scots railservices. In 2004, the companyintroduced its tilting electricPendolino and diesel SuperVoyager trains, revolutionisingtravel on the West Coast mainlineand cutting the fastest GlasgowCentral to Euston journey from 5hours 13 minutes to 4 hours 41minutes.
The Scotland-Birminghamservice was developed as part ofthe Virgin Cross Country franchisebefore transferring to West Coastin 2007. The establishment of theVirgin High Frequency timetable
Southern Stars win Depot Team of the Year
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RAILSTAFF AWARDS
following the £8.9bn West CoastRoute Modernisation programmein December 2008 cut typicalGlasgow-Euston journeys by morethan 40 minutes and establishedthe fastest 4hr, 8min journey.
In December 2012, Virgin Trainsintroduced an hourly London-Glasgow timetable. Virgin Trainscurrently operates 30 trains ineach direction between Scotlandand England, 15 of which operatebetween Glasgow and LondonEuston.
Southern Railway Ltd is a part ofGovia and provides train servicesin London and the south-eastconnecting London and the southcoast, through east and westSussex, Surrey and parts of Kentand Hampshire. Southern operatesa fleet of around 300 trains sevendays a week
Highly Commended
Jubilee triumph for Fleet Team
The Jubilee Fleet ImprovementTeam at London Undergroundsuccessfully developed a LEAN
programme in house for theoverhaul of Jubilee line stock. NickClyne, the project manager, led aone-team approach, crossingdepartmental boundaries.
Nick worked with Chris Darvall(Head of Support designate), FionaMcDonald (Interim General
Manager), Ian Ferguson (BusinessDevelopment Manager), MartynSarkies (Production Manager) andhis team of chargehands andoperatives, and the team ofManufacturing Engineers.
The team established a Leanproduction area for the Brake
Actuator overhaul, designing thefloor layout and building theprocesses from scratch. Successrequired the involvement of theunions and people at all levels.
Nick’s vision, determination andleadership coupled with his highpersonal professional work ethicsand enthusiasm ensured projectsuccess.
Manchester Team praisedfor On Board kindness
A train crew from ManchesterPiccadilly Depot was put forwardfor discreetly handling the onboard death of a passenger.
Moosa Patel, train manager andcustomer services assistantsPhindle Nkuna and Kathy Earlworked together when a passengerdied on their train. They clearedthe coach and requestedemergency services meet the trainat Wilmslow.
Moosa Patel managed to contactthe gentleman’s nephew andadvised him to come to Wilmslowas soon as he could. The teamthen waited with the train untilthe emergency services arrived.
42 www.railstaffawards.com
a man who talked down amachete-wielding man atnuneaton station wins this year’sSpecial Lifesaver award.
Adrian Whittington of LondonMidland remained with a manwhom he knew had possession ofa machete and had threatened toharm someone. Adrian stayed withthe man and talked to him for 20minutes in order to keep him calmand distract him from attackingother passengers.
The incident took place onesummer’s evening in June atNuneaton Station. A police officercommended Adrian and said,‘Adrian is a quiet, pleasant andunassuming chap who put thewelfare of his passengers beforehis own and assisted us inensuring a delicate and dangeroussituation did not escalate.’
Now in its second year theSpecial Lifesaver Award is backedby the Samaritans and NetworkRail. The Special Lifesaver Awardaim is to recognise the pre-emptive actions of station staff,train crew, track workers andmany railway staff who by timelyintervention prevent a potentialfatality.
‘I didn’t expect to win and I havereally enjoyed the night,’ saysAdrian Whittington, 50. Adrian isnow Duty Station Manager atNuneaton, having started as arailway dispatcher nine years ago.‘I owe many thanks to my wifeDebbie for putting up with mytales when I come home fromwork. Thanks also to my linemanager, Tam Giez, and all thecrowd at Nuneaton,’ says Adrian.
Says Andy Milne, editor ofRailStaff, ‘Adrian’s storyexemplifies exactly the sort ofbravery and courage that so oftengoes unreported by the widermedia. We are delighted to gosomeway to putting that right.
‘Adrian heads a sizeablecontingent of railway staff whohave in some way or other talkeddown disturbed members of thepublic intent on harmingthemselves or others. Railways canbe dangerous places and Adrian’sstory is an inspiring one. The factthis came in from a police officeralso reflects the danger our policecolleagues face and the support we
in the industry give them.’ The Network Rail/Samaritans
Partnership was launched fouryears ago with the aim of reducingthe number of suicides on therailways. Network Rail is investingin the partnership.
Special courses have beendeveloped to equip train staff withthe skills to approach vulnerablepeople and help to get them to aplace of safety, as well as a call-outservice that involves Samaritansvolunteers visiting stations to offersupport to vulnerable people andstaff.
Samaritans chief executiveCatherine Johnstone paid tributeto all staff involved in the jointinitiative to reduce railway
fatalities. ‘It’s about saving lives onthe railway. It’s for the front linestaff and that’s where thedifference is made. They getconfidence and more skills.
‘It’s important for the peopleworking on the front line to feelequipped to deal with things thathappen in their place of work.When people intervene it can alsohave a knock on effect for themand if they’ve been on the coursewe can help them.’
Samaritans is a confidentialemotional support service foranyone in the UK and Ireland. Theservice is available 24 hours a dayfor people who are experiencingfeelings of distress or despair,including those which may lead to
suicide. Volunteers offer support by
responding to phone calls, emailsand letters. Alternatively peoplecan drop in to a branch to have aface to face meeting. Across theUK you can call Samaritans on08457 90 90 90 for the price of alocal call. In the Republic of Irelandcall 1850 60 90 90.
Highly Commended
Stafford hero commended Gareth Shelley, a Virgin Trains
Customer Service Assistant atStafford, tried to save the life of ayoung man who jumped in frontof a freight train.
Says colleague, Joanna Buckley,
Nuneaton man wins Special Lifesaver Award
www.railstaffawards.com 43
RAILSTAFF AWARDS
08457 90 90 90*
www.samaritans.org
In partnership with
A registered charity * Please see our website for latest call charges
Whatever you’ve done.
Whatever life’s done to you.
Call Samaritans.No pressure.
No judgement.
We’re here for you.
Samaritans/Network Rail Partnership are proud
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‘Gareth was on the night turn atStafford when at 2.45 he heard thehorn sounding from a freight trainon platform 5. He ran over to seethat the train had hit an 18 year oldboy, and the driver was saying thehe was dead.’ Gareth noticed thatthe boy was still moving and thathe wasn’t dead but had lost limbs.
‘Gareth liaised with theambulance, signal box and control.He also co-ordinated emergencyservices, line blockages, welfare forthe driver, and basically dideverything that he could havedone in that situation.’
Gareth was not a Team Leaderbut acted as one in this instance.‘Ever since the incident Gareth hasremained professional and not letit affect him.’ Sadly the boy laterdied from his injuries.
Cardiff BTP in mercy dash The actions of five Cardiff-based
BTP officers, PCs Chris Jones, KirkTaylor and Clive Ellaway, alongwith PCSOs Kumar Hirani and GuyDavies, undoubtedly prevented adisturbed man from taking hisown life.
Police received a call fromWhitchurch Hospital saying that apatient had just left the hospital inan agitated state and was going toLlanishen station to put himselfunder a train. The five officerssped to the station and saw a manwalking along the linesapproximately 300m from theplatforms.
Although BTP requested that alltrains be stopped two trains weretoo near the station and could notbe stopped at signals. The manstood between the running linesin front of one of the trains. Thetrain driver had not seen him.
However the officers reached theman and pulled him to safetywith seconds to spare. He was
returned to Whitchurch MentalHealth unit.
Says colleague David Carter,‘The actions of the officersundoubtedly prevented this manfrom taking his own life and, as aresult, prevented the trauma ofbeing involved in a fatality to thetrain driver, conductor andpassengers.’
44 www.railstaffawards.com
network Rail’s hatfield Recoveryteam which reinstated a landslipped railway, wins this year’sRail Infrastructure team of theYear award.
Between 9th and 12th February1.4 million tonnes of colliery spoilslipped causing the railway next toHatfield Colliery to move sideways.The four track railway betweenGoole, Scunthorpe and Doncasterwas blocked.
The closed route, one of thebusiest in the north put injeopardy a number of other majorprojects planned for summer 2013as it was to be used as adiversionary route. However,initial forecasts saw the railwayreopening in November -unfeasible given the heavy usageof the line.
Working in partnership with thecolliery, a new approach wasdevised which would allow therailway to be re-opened well inadvance of winter 2013 and securethe long term operational capacityand viability of the colliery.
Network Rail InfrastructureProjects SNE, based in York,immediately mobilised an incidentresponse team to start work on therailway recovery…As well asreplacing over 450m of a four trackrailway and coal siding, the teamliaised daily with Hatfield Collieryto ensure all efforts were focusedon the recovery plan.
Says Caroline McGuigan ofNetwork Rail, ‘The project teameffectively took a £20m projectthrough all essential developmentand delivery stages in just fivemonths. The team workedextended hours sacrificing nights,weekends and holidays to focus onNetwork Rail’s customers byreopening the railway as soon asfeasibly possible.
‘The railway was fully reinstatedand re-opened at 05:00 on 8th July2013, a little over three monthsearlier than originally anticipated.During the blockade, Network Railalso undertook a number ofaccelerated renewal andenhancement projects to
maximise the access they had,minimising the need for anyfuture disruption.
‘Network Rail has been highlycommended from a number ofstakeholders and observers for itspro-active approach and thespeedy recovery of this importantstretch of railway. The Hatfieldrecovery project is a fantasticexample of what can be achievedby committed individuals, comingtogether as a team, workingtowards a shared goal and withclear leadership.’
‘We’re absolutely thrilled. It wasa hard effort but I think it showedthe railway in its true spirit,’ saysSteve Poole. ‘When things gowrong we actually bring out thebest in people.’ As well as Steve theteam included, Rob Clark, TonyHeap, Charlie Chell, Alistair Boyleand Paul Siemiamwicz.
Says RailStaff editor Andy Milne,‘The initial incident with itspictures of buckled track and mudcaught the national headlines.Less widely reported was the
tremendous achievement wroughtby the Hatfield Recovery team -proof again that this industrytakes every challenge bowled at itand turns it around.
‘The Hatfield Recovery Teamaward goes some distance torecognising the sheerdetermination and hard work thatwent into putting this right.
Hatfield Colliery has a place inthe hearts of all coal industrysupporters. It was saved fromclosure by a management buy outin 1994. The rail industry hashistorically partnered coal miningand it is good to see a team whichwent to enormous efforts to helpHatfield Colliery win this award.’
McGinley Support ServicesThe Rail Infrastructure Team of
the Year Award is sponsored byMcGinley Support Services a Link-Up accredited supplier ofpersonnel and services to thenational rail and urban metro railindustry.
McGinley Support Services
Hatfield wins Rail Infrastructure Team of the Year
www.railstaffawards.com 45
RAILSTAFF AWARDS
helping to build the nation
0845 543 5953 www.mcginley.co.uk
McGinley Support Services are pleased to be sponsoring
Rail Infrastructure Team of the Yearat the Railstaff Awards 2013
Experts IN support servicesfor infrastructure markets
provides a rail and metro staffingand track operative service throughits centralised rail and metroorganisation. As one of the topspecialist rail recruitment suppliersMcGinley Support Services haspioneered new initiatives thatembrace safety systems andworkforce management, upholdinga strong safety and quality culturethat is necessary to support the railand metro industry in meeting itsown objectives.
Highly Commended
Nine Day team wins the West
The Crewe S&C CollaborationTeam was tasked with deliveringthe £18 million West Coast MainLine nine day blockade andreplacing four life expiredjunctions.
The Collaboration Team engagedwith major stakeholders to comeup with a viable access solution.Blockade Roadshows were hostedallowing the project team to workalongside Network Rail’sCommunications Team.
‘The outcome of the blockadewas a very successful delivery withthe team achieving the UK’s firstSwitch and Crossing renewalhandback (with a line speed of)80mph at Wigan Springs Branch.
‘The team successfully removedswitch diamonds, opened out thejunctions for the point ends to bemaintained independently andprovided increased operationalflexibility for Train and Freightoperating companies,’ says BashratMahfooz of Network Rail.
Late Late Show for Anglia Team
The Anglia Switches & CrossingsTeam developed a safe system ofrenewing a track crossover set ofpoints at Tottenham Hale in NorthLondon during two short overnightmid-week possessions.
Says Nick de Bellaigue, aProgramme Controller at NetworkRail, ‘The stakes were extremelyhigh, and everything had to workperfectly. With so little time to dothe work, if there were problems,the project team knew that theyran the risk of disrupting
commuters’ journeys into work onthis busy line into LondonLiverpool Street.
‘Under pressure, the teampracticed all the new techniquesthat they had to use. They alsoplanned everything meticulously,and picked individuals who reallywanted to make the difference.
‘On the first night there was adelay of 30 minutes to the start,but the team were determined notto cancel the work. In the end thefirst night’s work was completed injust 6 hours 38 minutes, wellwithin the 8 hour allowance. Andon the second night the work wascompleted in just under 7 hours.’
46 www.railstaffawards.com
Josie borg manages a team of over140 staff round the clock runningthirteen stations on two branchlines. as well as day to daymanagement Josie has led herteams through changes to thebusiness keeping staff motivated,reassured and informed.
Says Mike Smith, of LondonUnderground, ‘Her passion indoing a good job is onlyoutstripped by her compassion forher team. If there is a problem,Josie will be the one that her teamturns to. They know they will getan honest answer and any actionspromised will be done withoutchasing.
‘Josie exudes enthusiasm. She isable to motivate people into doingalmost anything just by herdetermination to get the job doneright and her no nonsenseapproach to getting stuck into anyactivity herself.’
When a contractor died on siteJosie bravely dealt with theincident in a calm and efficientmanner even though she knew thedeceased well. In another incidentwhere a gas leak occurred and afire brigade cordon shut down therailway, she was praised by seniorpolice officers at the scene.
‘Her wealth of knowledge andexperience includes championingsafety. She takes responsibility forher actions and for getting thingsdone and whilst maintaining areally good working relationshipwith her team, she is notfrightened away from having thatdifficult conversation.
‘Josie leads her team withenthusiasm and dedication. All ofher team know that she is alwaysavailable; it’s rare to find herphone switched off even onannual leave and as far as she isconcerned, her team is like asecond family.
‘Getting this award feelswonderful. I’ve been with LondonUnderground for 36 years and thisis for me like the cherry on mycareer because I hope to retirenext year if possible. It’s really niceit’s come at this time. I’d like tothank Mike Smith, myperformance manager, and all myteam at work,’ says Josie who livesin Ickenham.
‘I can only praise her for her
flexibility, the way that she leadsher team and the fact that shecan’t perform any task normally;she always has to go beyond whatanyone expects of her,’ adds Mike.
Institution of RailwayOperators
Says Jo Kaye of the IRO, whichsponsored this award, ‘The IRO isall about the development ofindividuals so that is why wealways want to support this eventbecause it has such a wide varietyof categories. People are naturallyreluctant to blow their owntrumpet so we should provide anopportunity to do it for them.’
Says Tom O’Connor, managingdirector of Rail Media, ‘Managingstaff in what is a very busy
environment with the unexpectedan almost daily occurrence is adifficult and challenging skill.Being able to reassure staff andhelp them through the changesthe rail industry goes through is adouble bonus. This award is hugelydeserved and we wish Josie andher team every success in thefuture.’
The Institution of RailwayOperators (IRO) was launched inMay 2000 to develop and promotethe safe, reliable and efficientoperation of the railways – heavyrail, metro, light rail and heritagerail operations.
The institution acts as thecustodian of best practice inrailway operational management.The IRO identifies with all
nominees for the Rail Manager ofthe Year award and is totallycommitted to the industry-wideobjective of better leadership.
Highly Commended
In our opinion Cassandra Sutton, c2c Group
Station Manager, has pioneeredhigh standards and staffempowerment at stations underher care on the top performing c2cnetwork.
‘She actively sought staff viewsand feedback and she wasreceptive to constructivechallenge,’ says MohammadHasanat of c2c ‘She alwaysapproached us and asked ouropinion.’
Josie Borg wins Rail Manager of the Year
www.railstaffawards.com 47
RAILSTAFF AWARDS
» A professional network» Area events» Academic qualifications» Professional Development» CPD schemes
Our membership includes anyone involved in railway operations in the UK.
To find out what are you missing out on visit…www.railwayoperators.co.uk
hemesCPD sc»
elopmentevessional DofPr»Academic qualifications»
entsea evAr»korwessional netofA pr»
orsatoperyaailw.rwwwo e yo find out what arTTo find out what ar
h ations in ty operaailwrlud ur membership incO
.ukcos.ou missing out on visit…
.he UKed in lvovone inydes an
‘With her unique approach toinitiative and leadership she hasenhanced the safety and securityof customers and staff. Colleaguespoint out her remarkable supportfor all the members of staff,backing their training andprofessional development. She hasencouraged many at c2c to reachtheir full potential and to give theirbest as individuals and in teams.’
Personal touch isall important
Julie Davis looks after her teamlike a family. ‘On July 17th ataround 6.00 whilst working atChafford Hundred station, Essex, Iwas assaulted by a member of thepublic who was attempting totravel without previouslypurchasing a ticket,’ says ClaireReeves.
‘It was a very distressing incident,not only for me but for my twocolleagues who witnessed theattack.’ Despite the very early hour,within minutes of the incidentbeing reported Julie was in touchwith Claire by phone. The personaltouch is all important at c2c.
‘Julie went the extra mile byvisiting me at the station, what Ifind exceptional is this was allbefore 7.00 in the morning,’
continues Claire. ‘Because of theway Julie dealt with the situationand the support she gave me I wasable to continue working with no
need to take any time off. I feelJulie has a great attitude to staffand genuinely cares for our safetyand well being.’
48 www.railstaffawards.com
bryony Govan of CrossCountry haswon this year’s apprentice/Graduate of the Year award.
Bryony Govan, a GraduateManagement Trainee, successfullyre-organised the on board cleaningof trains at CrossCountry, bringingthe sub-contracted cleaning teamsin house, saving money andimproving standards.
Says Amanda Hopkins of CrossCountry, ‘Bryony presentedstrategic options to the CrossCountry Board, developed aconcept, built a business case,dealt with HR issues, and led thetransition and mobilisation,including TUPE and unionnegotiations, and integrated andrecruited over 60 cleaners at 12locations as far apart as Edinburgh,Plymouth, Bournemouth andStansted.
‘The absence of key informationabout employees that were beingtransferred into CrossCountry wasa challenge. Bryony alsocommunicated effectively with andinfluenced those affected by thechange reassuring them anddealing with their reservations. Thiswas done clearly, professionallyand admirably, as well as thechallenge of using their input andfeedback against tight timescales.’
The results have included aspectacular improvement incleaning and a six figure saving incosts.
‘I’d like to thank AmandaHopkins and Malcolm Cotterell.They recruited me and supportedme. Thanks, also, to everyone whovoted for me,’ says newcomerBryony, 31. Bryony lives in Derbyand works for CrossCountry inBirmingham. Bryony graduatedwith a degree in EnvironmentalEarth Science from the Universityof Wales in Aberystwyth.
Adds Amanda, ‘Bryony has been agreat graduate. She is enthusiastic,professional and has a desire thatpushes everyone to do things
better. She has a lovely personalityand is very approachable. She isvery keen to learn and takes athorough interest in whatever taskshe is set and is very reliable.
‘Bryony has truly received someremarkable results. She steps up toany challenge and the progressshe has made is very pleasing. Herfuture looks very bright. We areproud to have her as part of theCrossCountry team.’
CrossCountry is run by Arriva Plc,part of Deutsche Bahn, withservices that stretch fromAberdeen to Penzance and fromStansted to Cardiff, calling at morethan 100 stations.
Says Asif Ahmed, sales directorwith Rail Media, ‘The advantagesto the rail industry of people likeBryony are hard to put a figure on.Not only has she boosted thebusiness prospects of a leadingtrain company but she hassuccessfully influenced the careersof 60 people who are now anintegrated part of the railways. Askpassengers what they want afterpunctuality and seat availabilityand its cleanliness every time.’
LPA GroupGeorge Renshaw from awards
sponsor LPA Group Plc said, ‘Wesupport the drive of people withinthe industry because it’s soimportant that we’ve got peopleattracted to the industry. It is reallyrewarding when we have peoplelike Bryony.’
LPA Group Plc designs andmanufactures top class LEDlighting solutions, market leadingelectronic and electro-mechanicalsystems as well as equipment withthe flexibility to solve complexinter-car connection problems,auxiliary power & distributionsystems from their four UKsubsidiaries, LPA Channel Electric,LPA Excil Electronics, LPA HaswellEngineers and LPA NiphanSystems
Highly Commended
Greenwich commendationfor Amy Footer
Amy Footer of LondonUnderground, project managedthe decommissioning andrefurbishment of a ‘c’ stock train
for the Royal GreenwichUniversity Technical College. Thetrain is used for trainingstudents on real railwayequipment.
Says Brian Devlin, ‘Amy’sengaging management style
impressed most people who cameinto contact with it. She was veryorganised and was able to keep atight reign on the numerous issuesthat cropped up, by being involvedin all aspects of the project at alllevels.
‘Where Amy lacked knowledgeshe was not afraid to askquestions, increasing herknowledge along the way. Thetrain car and bogey weredelivered to a pre-constructedtrackbed on the date decided
several months before despite thenumerous programme-threatening issues.’
Signal Success for Singh Corin
Singh Corin works for NetworkRail, Signalling Innovation Group, IPSignalling, and was set thechallenge of developing activities tosupport technology learning atReading UTC. He also organised E&Ptraining for Network Rail graduatesand developed a new process forempowering maintenance staff toshare safety, business and technicalimprovement ideas.
Says David Carter of NetworkRail, ‘Singh Corin has been avaluable member of theSignalling Innovations Groupover the last 9-10 months and hiscontributions have had positiveteam and business impact.
‘His work in supporting the rollout of Class II Based DistributionSystems has been instrumental inthe wider industry take up of ClassII which offers significantefficiency savings against currentnorms.’
50 www.railstaffawards.com
Merseyrail’s Learning andDevelopment team wins thisyear’s trainer/training team of theYear award.
The team works tirelessly forrailway staff and the community.Says colleague, Barbara GardnerSharp, ‘They consistently seekways to engage the workforce inlearning new skills through unionlearning in addition toparticipating in fundraising eventslike the recent ‘Stand up for Anita’comedy event.
‘Dave Morgan and the teamorganised coaching sessions intheir own time and mentoredeight participants in delivering a10 minute comedy routine.’ Theevent raised £10k for charity.Participating staff developed newskills and confidence. ‘The passionand enthusiasm generated by theteam across the business was andis amazing,’ adds Barbara.
‘I feel absolutely gobsmacked. It’sa big surprise,’ says Dave Morgan,50, Learning and Developmentmanager at Merseyrail. ‘I’d like tothank my other team member,Siobhan Kilbane, head of Learningand Development. It’s arecognition for everyone whohelped. If people didn’t engagewith the stuff I do then it wouldn’twork.’ Dave joined the railway asa cleaner 20 years ago. He is basedin Liverpool and lives in Wavertree.
From Merseyrail’s perspective theL&D team, led by Siobhan Kilbane,has always ensured providersdeliver engaging, interesting andrelevant training across thebusiness. In their own time theyensure all external providers have
the insight needed to tailor thecourses to the staff concerned.
L & D staff have taken tutorsround the business, visitingstations, trains and depots, in theirown time. Team members all gaveup their own time to providegroups of unemployed people withinsight and knowledge helpingthem enter the workforce.
The team offered ongoingsupport to these people coachingand mentoring them whichresulted in some successfullygaining employment and otherssecuring work experience. ALL ofthem felt more valued and moreconfident as a result. Each personachieved an employabilityqualification to support them inthe future.
Merseyrail Learning andDevelopment has become a greatambassador for the railways saysRailStaff editor, Andy Milne, ‘Thisteam has had an impact beyondthe rail industry. To see a railindustry learning and developmentteam helping those less fortunatethan ourselves get on the jobmarket is welcome indeed andproves the rail industry contributesto the communities it serves.
‘The team is thoroughlyprofessional and is making a hugedifference in the lives of railwayand local people alike. This isexactly the sort of achievementthe RailStaff Awards seeks to drawattention to. It’s a success and rollsback negative perceptions of theindustry.’
Says Craig King, managingdirector of SETEC, whichsponsored the Trainer/Training
Team of the Year, ‘I think weshould be positive within theindustry and we should celebratesuccess. It’s good to allow trainingcompanies nationally to say‘actually we’ve done a good jobhere’. We don’t do it anywhereelse. The RailStaff Awards is theonly event that’s doing it.’
Merseyrail operates throughoutLiverpool and on the Wirral. It isone of the most punctual andreliable railway networks in theUK. Merseyrail runs almost 800trains per day and carries over
100,000 passengers on an averageweek day.
With 66 stations on the networkMerseyrail is one of the mostintensively used networks in theUK running on 75 route miles oftrack.
SETEC The Trainer/Training Team of the
Year is sponsored by SETEC,specialist provider of training andconsultancy services. Founder andmanaging director, Craig King, isan experienced signalling andelectrical engineer turned trainer.Beginning his career as a traineetechnician, Craig went on to workas a principal technical officerbefore joining training providerCatalis. Craig was eventually askedto head up Catalis’ signallingdivision, which, under hisleadership, went on to become themost profitable area of thecompany.
Following a two-and-a-half-yearstint leading the restructured TQCatalis, Craig has now establishedSETEC which offers training andconsultancy services in; signalengineering, railwaytelecommunications systems,
Merseyrail Team Win Trainer of the Year
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RAILSTAFF AWARDS
control systems, electricalengineering, IRSE licensing, IOSHand NEBOSH-approved safety,health & environmental training,health and safety advisory andconsultancy services, and coursewriting and development.
For Craig, the RailStaff Awardsare an opportunity to cultivategood training practices within theindustry.
Highly Commended
Communications TeamCommended
The Switchover Team wasformed to deliver the SwitchoverProject at Birmingham New Street.The project successfully deliveredan operationally ready stationagainst the background of thebiggest change for 50 years for the140,000 passengers who use NewStreet each day.
Thirteen people worked on theSwitchover project and whilst theydelivered exceptional individualoutputs this group’s collectiveoutputs were far ‘greater than thesum of its parts. The team
included Project Manager MarkBennett, three new graduates,Andrew Tustin, Ciprian Ciuraruand Mohammed Ali, four StationCommunications Executives, JennaKawycz, Sue Beardsmore, JohnEarley and Andrew Minorczyk whodelivered the Training, Briefing andFamiliarisation plan.
Niasha Nugent represented thestation team with four furtherTrack and Train graduates SamStor, Thomas Harman, ChrisThurbon and Jagdeep Sekha.
Trainer beats illness to carry on
Rob Dawber is an OperationalTrainer with Northern Rail, wellrespected by colleaguesthroughout the industry due to hisspecialised knowledge, friendlyapproach, dedication, commitmentand support for colleagues andtrainees.
Says colleague, Helen Norman,‘In 2011 Rob was unfortunatelydiagnosed with cancer andunderwent a series of gruellingchemotherapy and radiotherapysessions lasting a period of nearly
12 months. However, Rob did notlet this deter him from his role asa Trainer and continued to supportcolleagues and traineesthroughout his illness.’
‘Rob kept up his hard work andsupport. A large number of DriverTrainees continued to learn anddevelop their skill as Train Driverswithout any delay or negative
impact on their training thanks toRob’s support and commitment tothem and his role.
‘Rob is a big character in theteam, and his absence duringtimes of treatment left a massivegap, but his continued presenceand return to health helped tobuild an even stronger team with agreat spirit for fun and life.’
52 www.railstaffawards.com
Prompt action by Southern driveradam osborne-hall saved a girl’slife. adam wins this year’s trainDriver of the Year award. hisactions exemplify the manystories of courage and compassionthat echo through the RailStaffawards.
Andy Harrowell describes theevents of a cold January night thatresulted in a life saved. ‘On 9thJanuary 2013, Adam was drivingthe 23:15 from London Victoria toTattenham Corner. Just aftermidnight Adam saw someonejump in front of his train anddespite taking all of theappropriate actions, due to theshort distance, was unable to stopin time.
Adam went back down the trainto find a fifteen year old girl stuckunder the wheels. She was alive,but badly hurt with leg injuries.’
Adam contacted the emergencyservices and stayed with the girluntil help arrived.
‘During this time Adam engagedthe young girl in conversation tostop her from going to sleep andtook the time to discuss why shehad tried to kill herself for a fifthtime,’ says Andy. ‘As part of thisconversation the girl asked Adamwhy she failed and he steered heraway from this topic, insteadtrying to help her to see and focuson the positives in life.
‘Adam had received no priortraining in dealing with thesetypes of situations but waited withthe girl, offering support, until theemergency services arrived.’
Although the girl suffered abroken leg, fractured pelvis andlost fingers, her situation couldhave become a lot worse if not forthe action taken by Adam. ‘He
showed true courage by decidingto leave his cab and spend timewith the girl, talking to her toensure she remained consciouswhile help was on its way. He wentfurther than just keeping hercomfortable by helping her toreconsider her outlook on life.’
‘I’d like to thank my immediatefamily - they get the brunt ofanything that happens at work,’says Adam, 27. ‘Thanks as well tomy manager, Paul Simpson. I thinkthis was the first time he’d dealtwith an incident of this kind.’Adam is based at Selhurst Depot.
Says Tom O’Connor, managingdirector of Rail Media, ‘This is asad story but one full ofcompassion and kindness. Notonly did Adam Osborne-Hall savethis child’s life but by talking to herhopefully changed her outlook onlife. His actions that night
personify kindness and caring.This award is highly deserved.’
Bob Wright, chairman of awardsponsors FT Transformers, said,‘Out of all the sponsorships I thinkthe best one is Train Driver of theYear because we put our trust intrain drivers on a daily basis.Hopefully with his interventionhe’s helped her to improve her lifeand want to live on.’
Adam Osborne-Hall works forSouthern Railway Ltd. Southern’sroutes include Southampton toAshford, the south coast toLondon, the South London Metroand a service to Milton Keynes.Southern’s two principal Londonstations are London Victoria andLondon Bridge. Southern also runsthe Gatwick Express
FT TransformersTrain Driver of the Year is
Lifesaver wins Train Driver of the Year
www.railstaffawards.com 53
RAILSTAFF AWARDS
sponsored by FT Transformerswhich manufactures signallingtransformers which can reducevoltages from 650v to 110v ac. TheClass 2 hybrid transformerincorporates zero inrush and ishoused in a protective casing thatgives total safety. Inrush meansthe huge upsurge in current whena transformer is first switched on.
FT Transformers was founded in1937 by a former radio engineer,Harry Forrest. FT Transformerssupplied transformers to theLondon Underground ahead of the2012 Olympics. Long experiencehas seen the company developinga transformer for the firstcardiograph machine, helping withFrank Whittle’s pioneeringdevelopment of the jet engine andsupplying electronic equipmentfor the Barcelona Olympics.
Highly Commended
Child’s Life Saved London Underground driver Gary
Dobkin saved a child’s life. Drivinghis train on an open section of theDistrict line, Gary spotted a child
on the track ahead. He was able tostop in time and alert the LineController and have the trainstopped in the opposite direction.With power off Gary took theuninjured child to safety. The childwas autistic and had wanderedonto the track.
Says colleague, Margaret Waite,‘Gary was able to get the child ontohis train without injury with gentlecoaxing. He arranged for the childto be met by station staff at thenext station.’ The child was laterreunited with his parents. Mumand dad were so grateful for whatGary had done that they insistedon meeting him to thank Gary inperson.
Driver puts ideas into action
London Underground driver,Ersan Sokmen, has come up with anumber of ideas designed toimprove the efficacy of track sideequipment.
These included a new trainreversing marks/limit of shunt boardmade to a highly reflective design.Another was an idea to integrate
telephone tunnel wires within theporcelain pot, as the current designhad the wires resting on top of thepots and often these would fall offcausing traction current to bedischarged. On occasions therewould be damage to these wires anddelays to the customers.
Says colleague, Lee Watson,‘These (ideas) have been
incorporated and used on oursystem. All areas where the trackhas been upgraded have thereflective reversing and shuntingboards and the telephone wireupgrade uses his initial design ideawith the porcelain pots. This hassaved the company money forfurther investment and reduceddelays.’
54 www.railstaffawards.com
tony Paul, aslef union LearningRep and east Coast train Driverwins this year’s Rail Person of theYear award.
Based at Newcastle, Tony Pauldevotes considerable time to staffwelfare projects. Tony set upLiteracy and Numeracy courses inpartnership with SunderlandCollege and encouraged 59 staff totake the courses and achieve anNVQ in each subject.
He planned a weight loss coursein partnership with WeightWatchers at Newcastle CentralStation. Over 30 staff have signedup. Tony even managed to get aprize of £100.00 for the staffmember with the greatestpercentage of body weight lost.
With friends he ran several opendays including the incrediblypopular driving simulator, wherenon-drivers are invited along tohave a go on a simulator. Each
staff member gets to drive fromLondon Kings Cross to Stevenage,reaching 125 mph before stoppingat the end of the platform.
Says Doug Stafford of East Coast,‘Tony does an awful lot of work inhis own time, with regards toorganising activities andeducational courses as part ofNewcastle’s Staff Welfareorganisation.’
John Scott agrees, ‘The joint tradeunion learning days were nonexistent before Tony undertook thetask as the representative fromASLEF. Now the RMT and TSSAhave joined forces with ASLEF torun the most successful courseson the route. Over 100 rail stafffrom across the whole industryhave participated in sitting extraqualifications to improve their life.
By creating a joint team of thethree railway trade unions andwith the generous assistance of
management and other rail staffwho have been prepared to give uptheir free time to assist, theNewcastle Learning Team is nowthe best in the country.’
Colleges from both Sunderlandand Newcastle participate in theproject. The Lord Lieutenant ofTyne and Wear has given hissupport .
Tony Paul was amazed to win theRailStaff Awards. Reflecting onwhat he has achieved atNewcastle, the 45 year old traindriver from Whitley Bay, said, ‘It’s anice thing to do, you know? Youget a good feeling from it andpeople appreciate what you do.’
Tony Paul started as stewardand now drives trains betweenEdinburgh and London. ‘I was thefirst steward at Newcastle to goon the footplate as a driver,’ hesaid.
Says RailStaff editor, Andy Milne,
‘Tony Paul is an inspiration to allwho work in the industry. One ofthe railway’s great successes,which never receives adequatepublic recognition outside themess room, depot and offices, isthe amount of education andtraining that goes on.
‘I don’t mean just on rail relatedissues - important though thoseare - but a range of skills thatpeople need to advance theircareers and to grow inthemselves. What he hasachieved is of immeasurableworth to staff and their familiesdown the years.’
Network Rail‘When we look at what Tony has
done, he has helped dozens anddozens of people get qualificationsin basic numeracy, he’s organisedlots of charity events, the list isendless. I can’t think of a more
Learning hero wins Rail Person of the Year
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RAILSTAFF AWARDS
worthy winner of the top prize,’says Martin Frobisher of NetworkRail, who presented the award.
Rail Person of the Year issponsored by Network Rail. 2013 isproving a busy year for NetworkRail. Capacity enhancements arepowering ahead at Reading andLondon Bridge as well as smallerschemes such as Peterborough andthe latest round of platformextensions in the south-east.
Together with continuingimprovements on the West CoastMain Line and preparations forthe electrification of the GreatWestern Main Line, 2013 will seesolid progress on the expansion ofthe railway.
The new station at BirminghamNew Street proves what can beachieved by an industry workingtogether, assisted by topperforming staff with an emphasison co-operation.
Network Rail is pushing aheadwith apprenticeship programmesand graduate recruitment in a bidto expand the skills base neededas investment in rail continues insupport of economic growth
Highly Commended
Wealth of experience for Liam
Liam joined Bridgeway five yearsago and has amassed a wealth ofexperience and qualifications. Heis now a Senior Examiner and aswell as working in theconventional rail environment heis qualified in using roped access(IRATA level 1) inspecting confinedspaces and is an underwaterdiving attendant.
Liam can be found out on track,scaling radio masts, examiningculverts deep beneath the tracksor checking rail structures with anunderwater dive team.
Says Martin Beasley, ‘It mayseem unusual that, in a categoryoften reserved for time-servedcareer railway people, we see anominee who is only 24.
‘Nonetheless, the hard work,dedication and single-minded focusLiam has shown to the railwaymake him an ideal candidate for thisaward and stands as a great sourceof inspiration to others considering acareer in the rail industry.’
Root cause resolution Phil Dubery of Thales
Transportation Systems resolvedperformance issues on the JubileeLine after the introduction of thenew moving block signalling system.
Says colleague, Mike Duncan,‘Phil, a rolling stock engineer bytraining, set about learning thecomplex operations of the systemsoftware. He developed a strongteam and a set of analytic tools inorder to be able to review the datalog information created by the
system to get to the root cause ofany issues.
Working tirelessly with his teamand collaborating closely withstakeholders in Tube Lines andLondon Underground, he set aboutreviewing the system behaviour forevery disruption on the Jubilee Line.’
Phil was able to identify the rootcause of each one and withoperators and engineers take stepsto make sure it didn’t happenagain. Performance is up and thenew system is working well.
56 www.railstaffawards.com
RAILSTAFF AWARDS
Drinks reception kindly sponsored by A-Plant Rail...
www.railstaff.co.uk 57
newS
First transPennine express hasopened a new traincrew depot inLiverpool city centre.
The depot complements a £60minvestment in new trains and willhelp take forward an ambitioustimetable expansion from May2014. FTPE will be providing fasterand more frequent journeys withimproved regional connections.
The company’s first Merseysideoffice and staff depot creates 42local jobs including teammanagers, drivers, conductors andfleet engineers. Since 2004 FTPEhas provided an hourly servicelinking Liverpool, Manchester,
Yorkshire and the North East andhas seen passenger numbers growby 44 per cent.
Says FTPE Programme Director,Chris Nutton, who is responsiblefor the introduction of new trainsand the new May 2014 timetable,‘Liverpool is a key location forFirst TransPennine Express andour brand new traincrew depotmeans increased localemployment, improvedconnectivity and enhancedcustomer benefits includinggreater capacity, quicker journeysand more travel options.’
Virgin trains is pushing aheadwith pre-season ticket sales aheadof the introduction of the newtimetable on 8th December.
Expanded express services areproving popular with sports stars.Recently Virgin Trains brought fourLiverpool boxing champions, theSmith brothers, Liam, Stephen,Paul and Callum, to London for theBritish Boxing Awards. The newtimetable sees Virgin Trains’recently lengthened Pendolinos,typically delivering 153,000 seatsevery weekday.
Says Phil Bearpark, Virgin TrainsProduction Director, ‘As thenumber of people using ourhighly-rated services grows we
need to make sure their journeysare comfortable. We’re paying anextra £150 million this year for thefour new 11-car Pendolinos and 70extra Standard carriages we nowhave in operation. Our newtimetable makes the mostproductive use of that extracapacity to give customers aspeedy and enjoyable journey.’
winter bonus
australian Coup fornetwork Rail
International subsidiary, networkRail Consulting, has landed amajor new role with transport fornew South wales.
NRC has been appointed asindependent safety assessor forthe design and delivery of theNorth West Rail Link in Sydney.The project is worth £4.8bn.Network Rail Consulting will beclosely involved during the twomajor construction contracts,namely the Tunnel & Station CivilWorks Contract and the Surface &Viaduct Civil Works Contract, aswell as safety advisory services inrelation to the Operations, Trainsand Systems Contract.
The 38km NWRL is Australia’slargest current public transportproject and the biggest publictransport project in Sydney sinceconstruction of the world-famousSydney Harbour Bridge almost acentury ago.
The North West Rail Link will bea fully-automated rapid transitsystem. It includes eight newstations, ten miles of tunnels anda 2½ mile elevated skytrainviaduct. Says Nigel Ash, managingdirector of Network RailConsulting, ‘This commissionheralds the start of a long-termworking relationship withTransport for New South Wales
and coincides with the recentopening of our Sydney office as afocus for our work in this vibrantrail market.
‘We believe we have much tooffer other railways around theworld and look forward to helpingfurther develop rail in Australiaand New Zealand, sharing the bestof British engineering andingenuity.’
Network Rail Consulting aims toharness the vast range of skillsand experience available anddemonstrate British expertiseoverseas. In short NRC acts as aninternational ambassador forBritain’s booming rail industry.
according to transport for Londontravel on the London undergroundhas soared.
An extra 9.5m passengerjourneys were made on the Tube inJune and July compared to lastsummer. Says Phil Hufton, ChiefOperating Officer of LondonUnderground, ‘With more thannine million additional customerjourneys on the Tube this summerwe’re now carrying morepassengers than ever before, whileworking flat-out to get the mostreliable performance we can fromthe Underground.
‘We know the warmer monthscan bring many challengesimpacting on the reliability of ourtrains and tracks, as well as anincrease in people feeling theeffects of higher temperatures, sowe’re doing everything we can tomake customers’ journeys ascomfortable as possible.
‘The first fleet of air-conditionedtrains is now in operation on theMetropolitan line and the trainsare being rolled out on theHammersmith & City and Circlelines, and platform coolingsolutions have been introduced atstations including Green Park,Victoria and Oxford Circus.’
tube figuresrise
The company’s firstMerseyside office andstaff depot creates 42local jobs…
the Rail accident Investigationbranch (RaIb) annual Report for2012 was published on September23rd. Carolyn Griffiths their ChiefInspector comments that there are“still areas where risks arerecurring” despite the fact that 95%of relevant safetyrecommendations have beenimplemented.
Between January 2008 andDecember 2012 a total of 678recommendations were made. Only450 of them have so far beenimplemented, but a further 91 ofthem have been “achieved by othermeans”. The report highlights twoparticular areas of risk; levelcrossings and the safety of track-workers.
that affect track worker safety.These include the followingleadership issues: • Exercising authority and influ-
ence and understanding thetasks
• Planning and effective commu-nication
• Possessing the right personalqualities
• Giving clear instructions andhaving good quality procedures
One or more of these featured in22 investigations last year. ThePreface to each report says “it isinappropriate that RAIB reports beused to assign fault or blame as it isnot the purpose of investigations toestablish blame or liability”.
There is a fine line to be drawnbetween the responsibilities of theRAIB and the Office of RailRegulation (ORR) on these matters.The Report refers to two accidentsand a near miss on open lines. Onewas fatal, the other resulted inserious injuries and the near misswas very serious.
All three “featured poorlyplanned work”. Damningly it goeson to say that “it is doubtful thatthe system of work planned couldhave been implemented” and nonewere challenged by the staffinvolved.
A section in the report refersspecifically to “Red Zone” workingand comments on the Rule Bookhaving dropped this wording. Itsays Network Rail will prohibitthe use of “unassisted lookoutswithin 200 metres of a junction,where speeds exceed 100mphand for moving worksites witheffect from 2015”. About time tooI suggest!
refers to the future investment of£10 million in “technology todevelop alerts to workers ofapproaching trains”. Additionalfunding is also earmarked for thefunding period 2014-19 totalling£163 million for “safer ways oftaking isolations, £80 million toimprove the safety/efficiency ofroad/rail vehicles and £67 millionfor reducing the risks at levelcrossings.
There is no reference to the manysystems already in use and wellproven on the railways of Europe;we must avoid re-inventing the
wheel. I believe safe and reliableproducts already in use will alsowork on our side of the EnglishChannel!
Safety culture concernsIan Prosser, ORR’s Director of
Safety writing in the Reviewreaffirms their vision for “zeroworkforce and industry causedpassenger fatalities”. On improvingleadership in safety culture he addsthat “actions at supervisory leveland in the workforce do not alwaysreflect the right safety culture”.
He highlights “underlyingtensions between safety and trainperformance and punctuality”. Headds that “Network Rail hasinsufficient resource to deliver theirplanned maintenance work” addingthat “we saw increases in thenumber of rail breaks and trackgeometry faults on some routes”.
Commenting on structuralexaminations, he acknowledgesthat they “generally gave anaccurate picture” but saysrecommendations are too generaland “managers do not have thetime to fully evaluate theimplications especially from siteinspections.”
I well remember my time inSheffield as the Engineerresponsible for the inspection,repair and maintenance of bridges,
stations, tunnels, signal boxes andindeed all structures other thantrack. A most important task wasthe approval and countersigning ofall inspection reports. Over time Igot to know the problem structuresand wherever I had doubts I did myown inspection.
My motivation was simple. If afailure occurred that eitherdisrupted train traffic or causedinjury I would almost certainly losemy job. I had the delegatedauthority but with it came theresponsibility.
Concrete hanging from a bridge The RAIB is investigating an
incident reported by a train driveron August 1st. He was driving the4pm Clapham Junction to Highburyand Islington train when he saw anobject hanging from an over-bridgeat Denmark Hill Station. It proved tobe a 4.5 metre long piece ofconcrete and the line was closed totraffic. During the previous 22months loose concrete had beenremoved from this same bridge onfour occasions.
An urgent inspection had beencarried out six weeks prior to thisincident in response to anotherreport of loose concrete, althoughnot in the same area. Following theAugust 1st incident, concrete wasremoved from half the area under
ReD Zone woRkInG on FaSt LIneSwILL be PRohIbIteD FRoM 2015
Trackworker safety is a priority for RAIB and ORR
the bridge. An earlier inspectionfound that the concrete was not indanger of falling.
Derailment caused by track dipRAIB is also investigating the
derailment at Stoke Lane LevelCrossing, Nottingham of a freighttrain with 30 bogied, diesel carryingwagons hauled by a Class 66locomotive. It happened on August27th. The cause was a “severe track
dip linked to the presence of a largevoid”. The void was up to 2.5 metreslong and had a maximum depth of0.7 metres.
The line had only re-opened onthe morning of the previous dayfollowing work at NottinghamStation. High voltage cables hadbeen laid in a one metre diametertunnel under the crossing in earlyJuly.
The Control Cab fell off onto the track
A completed RAIB report featuresa “dangerous occurrence” that tookplace at Blatchbridge Junction nearFrome on March 19th last year. Atype 95 track renewal unit wasmoving when one of its controlcabs, weighing around one and aquarter tons fell off onto the trackdue to all eight of its supportingbolts having fractured! (left)
Fortunately the under-slung cabonly had to drop a short distanceonto the track where it skiddedalong the rail for a mile and a halfattached to the machine only by itselectrical cables and air brake hose.It dislodged the four-foot section ofa foot crossing as it did so, and onlycame to rest when the brake hosewore through resulting in anautomatic brake application.
The report says that a number ofthe bolts may have been damagedby a previous incident at ThatchamStation in January 2011 as some ofthe bolt fractures were corroded.The report rightly suggests therecould have been seriousimplications had the unit collided
with a platform or if a trainapproaching on the adjacent trackhad collided with the cab.
Whilst there is good reason forthe fault, blame or liability ofindividuals not falling within theremit of investigations carried outby the RAIB, I am pleased that boththey and the ORR clearly acceptplanning has to be better.
But we must resurrect themotivations that were nurturedyears ago by the delegation ofresponsibility to those actuallydoing the work. The idea ofplanning being completed in anoffice and then handed tosupervisors who are instructed tofollow the plan is wrong. Every shiftsupervisor needs to be involved atthe planning stage, and managersneed to listen to their concerns.
In my experience they will veryoften be able to make the job easierand safer. Most important of all,having been directly involved theywill do all that they can to get thejob done safely and well. Now is thetime for increased delegation ofresponsibilities together, withincreased individual accountability.
www.railstaff.co.uk 59
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Spanish trams arrive at nottinghamthe first of 22 new alstom Citadistrams for nottingham has arrivedat net’s wilkinson Street depot.
Built in Barcelona the trams arescheduled to arrive at the rate oftwo a month via Southamptondocks. The first five vehicles willenter service on Line 1 from nextJune. This is prior to Line 2, whichwill see Beeston, Chilwell andClifton join the tram network,opening six months later.
Although ordered by NET as aresult of the tram networkexpanding, the new trams will notbe allocated to just Line 2 servicesbut will see service across thenetwork, supplementing the 15Bombardier-built Incentro trams.In tandem with delivery of thenew trams, the current fleet isbeing refurbished in order toprovide passengers with a uniformfleet.
Although conductors are beingabolished there should be noredundancies as staff are beinggiven the opportunity to train as
drivers. Passengers will beexpected to purchase tickets frommachines at tram stops. Revenueprotection duties will be carriedout by a team of roving inspectors.
The new trams will create 100new jobs, making a total of 216staff employed on the system. Thedepot at Wilkinson Street is beingextended to accommodate the
new rolling stock. The new tramswill receive names and it looks asif they will follow the Incentrotrams by being named after peopleassociated with Nottingham.
Names currently carried includeMary Potter, founder of the LittleCompany of Mary Sisters in 1877and William Booth, founder of theSalvation Army.
the team behind the constructionof the highly successful a1locomotive, tornado, hasannounced that it intends toconstruct a P2, another long lostclass of locomotive.
The P2 Steam LocomotiveCompany aims to develop, buildand operate an improved GresleyP2 Mikado for use on the main lineand preserved railways. Only sixP2s were ever built and the newlocomotive will adopt the number2007. Frames will be cut in May2014, the 80th anniversary of 2001‘Cock o’ the North’ - the first P2 tobe built.
Mikado tosteam again
alstom has celebrated the 25thanniversary of its world famousPendolino train at Milan Centralstation on 4th october.
During the evening an ETR450,Elettro Treno Rapido, the firstPendolino in commercial service,and a ETR401 prototype enteredthe station to the delight ofunsuspecting passengers as theymade their way home. The firstscheduled ETR450 service was on29th May 1988, slashing thejourney time between Rome andMilan 4 hours 55 minutes to 3hours and 58 minutes.
A quarter of a century later 492Pendolino trains have been builtfor 13 countries including Poland,the UK and China. The Saviglianoworks is currently busy with thePolish order and journalists werelucky enough to be able to visit theproduction line to see every stageof construction.
Future developments inPendolino design are likely to see
the adoption of anticipative tilting,which enables the first vehicle toreact quicker when going into acurve. The first two PolishPendolinos have already arrived inthe country and are currentlyundergoing dynamic testing.
Alstom has invested over €40million in Savigliano works in thelast four years.
Milan birthday partyManchester Metrolink 2.0 hasbeen given the go ahead.
Taking a break from cabinetreshuffles and HS2, Secretary ofState for Transport, PatrickMcLoughlin, was delighted toapprove Transport for GreaterManchester’s application for theTransport and Works Act Ordernecessary to progress the scheme.
Says Andrew Fender, TfGM chair,
‘This is fantastic news and meanswe can now press ahead withdeveloping the detail of thedelivery programme, appointing acontractor and getting workstarted as soon as possible.’
The new route will run throughSt Peter’s Square, along PrincessStreet, Cross Street andCorporation Street and re-join theexisting Metrolink line just outsideVictoria station. The decisionmeans TfGM can now finalisearrangements for delivering thescheme
hitachi Rail europe has signed acontract with Gb Railfreight tohelp with the testing andcommissioning of the Class 800and Class 801 trains for the Greatwestern Main Line as part of theIntercity express Programme.
GB Railfreight will providelocomotives for transit movementsand train crew throughout the testprogramme. Says Keith Jordan,Managing Director, Hitachi RailEurope, ‘Hitachi Rail Europe isdedicated to delivering the Class800 series trains into service onschedule and for this, it is highlyimportant to have the rightpartner to support our testingprogramme.
‘GB Railfreight have shown thatthey align well with the IntercityExpress Programme requirementsand locations, offering a highlyproactive response to thescenarios we need to test.’
Hitachi Rail will build the firstpre-series Class 800/801 trains inthe company’s factory in Kasado,Japan, and they will be shipped tothe UK for testing in early 2015.Subsequent trains will bemanufactured in the newlyconstructed train factory inNewton Aycliffe, County Durham.
In 2012 Agility Trains signed a
contract with the Department forTransport to build, finance andmaintain 596 train carriages forthe Great Western Main Line andthe East Coast Main Line as part ofthe Intercity Express Programme.Hitachi Rail Europe and John Laingare the main shareholders inAgility Trains.
This summer the Secretary of
State for Transport announced anadditional contract for theprovision of another 270 carriagesfor the East Coast Main Line,bringing the total number of traincarriages to 866. The trains will beprovided in 5-car and 9-carformations either fully electric(Class 800) or as bi-mode trains(Class 801).
blackpool’s tram system looks set tobe extended from the promenade toblackpool north railway stationfollowing an announcement bytransport for Lancashire that £16.4million has been awarded towardsthe total cost of £18.2 million for thescheme.
The money comes from afunding package of £90 millionallocated to improving road andrail networks on the Fylde coastover the next decade. The newtram lines will run from the NorthPier out along Talbot Road to therailway station. It is now up to
Blackpool Council to find theremaining £1.8 million.
Says Stephen Brookes, chairmanof Blackpool Transport user group,‘The plans for the new tramwayare incredibly important as theywill enable Blackpool to have ajoined up transport consortium. Itwill be absolutely brilliant for thetown. We are expecting electrictrains in the next 18 months andwhen this is completed the tramsystem will link in at BlackpoolNorth station.’
The extension has beenwelcomed by local people andcampaigners alike. Says AndrewBraddock, Chairman of the LightRail Transit Association, ‘It isexcellent news that the newlyrefurbished Blackpool tramwaywill now be able to link to thenational rail system and providebetter connections for localpeople and visitors. It is an earlyexample that the delegation offunding powers to local transportbodies is working and one wehope to see repeated around thecountry.’
test role forGbRf
blackpool tram boost
the first of Chiltern’s refurbishedclass 168s has left wabtec worksin Loughborough.
The 19 strong fleet will carry anew Mainline livery and is havingnew saloon carpets, new seatcovers, new table tops, a heavyclean, new internal signage andlabelling fitted throughout. Overthe course of the programme allcab and saloon doors are beingfully overhauled.
Although the class 168/2s arethe first to enter works they willnot receive the door overhauluntil 2016, as it is a mid lifeoverhaul and they don’t reachthis stage until then. Next inworks will be the class 168/0s,with the whole fleet scheduledfor refurbishment by November2014. Thanks to top performingstaff at Loughborough each unitspends just 15 working days atthe works.
Greater anglia’s erik hamoen,joined eight other cyclists from theabelio Group on a three daycharity bike ride covering 235miles to raise money for transaid.
The charity race started inRomford, Essex and ended in DamSquare, Amsterdam. Erik worefancy dress and raised £1,520 forTransaid, with the Abellio team asa whole raising £22,111 for thecharity.
Says Erik, ‘Cycling 235 miles overthree days, through a lot of rainwhilst wearing a bunny costumewas something of a challenge, butit was a truly amazing experienceand I made a lot of new friendsover the weekend. I’d like to thankall of my family, friends andcolleagues for their support.’
Erik Hamoen is part of GreaterAnglia’s Customer Service team.Transaid is an internationaldevelopment charity that aims toreduce poverty across Africa.
62 www.railstaff.co.uk
Rabbit run for erik andy’s pupils take up triathlonandy Ridout’s successfulcompletion of the Dartmoorhorseman Xtreme triathlon inSeptember has had anunexpected side effect.
Andy, who runs advance-TRS, ispushing the idea of mini-triathlons to local children. His oldschool, Waverley Abbey, staged amini-triathlon at which 150children took part. Andy helpedmarshal the event. The pupilsaged 7-11 enjoyed the challenge
and several plan to take it up infull.
Andy raised over £10K for theRailway Children. Speaking at theRailStaff Awards Andy said, ‘Thetriathlon was grueling but I did it -the cycling was the worst part.Since the article in RailStaff sevenpeople I know have decided totake up the triathlon. I wish all ofthem every success with thetraining - that’s where you makesure you can do it.’
www.railstaff.co.uk 63
ChaRItY newS
a father and son team islimbering up to compete in theGreat Scottish Run in Glasgow.
Peter Watt, 49, a Driver TeamManager at Glasgow QueenStreet for ScotRail will berunning the half marathon withhis son, Stephen Watt, 21, aconductor based at Stirling.ScotRail’s Great Scottish Runnersplan to raise money for CancerResearch UK. Peter Ward lost hismother, father and sister-in-lawto cancer.
‘A combination of things mademe decide to do the halfmarathon,’ says Peter. ‘I pulled amuscle in my back earlier on inthe year and was then diagnosedwith sciatica. I could hardly walk,never mind run. Also, around the
same time, I was told I hadarthritis in both my big toe jointswhich had been causing me somepain.
‘I had always kept myselfreasonably fit but I was beginningto feel like I was falling to pieces. Idecided that I would go back to thegym, which has also helped myback.’ Peter was also inspired by anold photo of him and six otherScotRail staff at the 1986marathon.
‘I decided that I would love torun a marathon again if I could getfit enough, and thought it wasprobably now or never,’ he said.First Group has contributed£500.00 to the fund raising efforts.To sponsor Peter, visitwww.justgiving.com/peter-watt
ScotRail backs family runners
the Children’s hospice associationScotland marked its 21st birthdaywith a party on board a specialScotRail train.
ScotRail ran a one-off ‘CHASExpress’ return service betweenGlasgow Queen Street and Oban fora group of 60 children, familymembers and volunteers from RobinHouse hospice in Balloch. Childrengot the chance to meet the traindriver, Martin Wyber, and makeannouncements over the PA system.
Before returning home from Oban,they took a walk along the seafrontand held an art competition. Thejourney had been auctioned at aRailway Benefit Fund event – withhighest bidder John McArthur, chief
executive of Tracsis Plc donating it toCHAS as a gift.
Director Pat Callaghan of ScotRail,said, ‘CHAS has done fantastic workover the last 21 years for childrenwith serious illnesses and theirfamilies. It was a pleasure towelcome them on board for this veryspecial party. ScotRail has raisednearly £30,000 for CHAS – its officialcharity partner – since September2010.
oban run for Charityheathrow express sponsors of theDavid Maidment award forCharity at the RailStaff awards2013 agree with Rail Media to
donate £2,500 from the categorysponsorship to Railway Children.
RailStaff awards donation
Tom O’Connor, David Maidment,
Pat Maidment, and Keith Harding.
64 www.railstaff.co.uk
with around 175,000 peoplecurrently employed by railcontractors, train companies andsuppliers, the rail industry isgrowing and is set to become oneof the uk’s main employers.
Staff satisfaction throughoutmost of the industry is high –check out the reports on theRailStaff Awards in this issue – butit needs to be nurtured.
The rail industry is growing, aphenomena looks set to continue.Research by Greengauge 21estimates that 89,000 design,construction and operations jobswill be created over the entire lifeof HS2 alone. For an industry thatfully recognises a future shortfallin qualified and experiencedengineers, the need to increase jobsatisfaction to better attract andretain skills is essential.
‘How I became...’A new campaign launched by
Randstad UK aims to achieve justthat. Launching the newcampaign, Mark Bull, chief
executive of Randstad UK, said,‘We are issuing a rallying call toemployers to join us in action toaddress the state of fulfilment atwork in the UK. Our campaign foremployees ‘How I Became’ isdesigned to help and inspireeveryone to be more fulfilled.’
In the wider industrial world theUK is lagging behind in deliveringjob satisfaction to its employees,according to new research fromRandstad. For its Fulfilment@Workreport Randstad interviewedaround 45,000 employees in theUK, Europe and English-speakingcountries around the world.
Analysing satisfaction over athree-year period, Randstad foundthat employees in the UK had thelowest scores in nine out of the past13 quarters. In the third quarter ofthis year, just 67 per cent of Britishemployees said they were satisfiedwith their current employer.
Hiring more womenThe report recommends
increasing job variety for workers
as well as hiring more women,younger and older people. Highage profile people are statisticallymore fulfilled in their work life.
‘Our report is designed to provokedebate but we have identified anumber of practical solutions tothese issues, and give employersan outline of what needs to changegoing forward to increase theprofessional fulfilment of theirworkforce,’ says Mark Bull.
The report looked at the directimpact low levels of jobsatisfaction can have on acompany’s figures. It suggests thatthe average cost of an absence peremployee is £975 a year. Each year
there are around 160 millionworking days lost because ofabsence, amounting to £14 billion.
Speaking at the launch of theFulfilment@Work campaign,author and philosopher Alain deBotton highlighted the need foremployees to rediscover pride intheir place of work.
As a foreword to the study, DeBotton wrote: ‘One of the greatsources of satisfaction in work isthe feeling that we are making adifference to people’s lives, that wehave, at the end of the workingday, somehow left the planetslightly healthier, tidier, saner thanit was at the beginning.’
Satisfaction Guaranteed?
a civil engineering company taking on more work for the rail industryhad to expand its workforce and open a new depot to cope withdemand.
Leeds-based CML, Construction Marine Ltd, has been operating from itsChapel Allerton headquarters for 25 years. Extra work on railway civilengineering projects has seen it open a new depot at Denaby, nearDoncaster, creating an additional 37 new jobs.
In the last two years CML has benefitted from Network Rail’s extrainvestment in improving the railway infrastructure funded by thegovernment. The company has used the opportunity to capitalise andfurther invest in specialist skills such as rope access training and newplant to meet stiff rail safety requirements for working near operationalrailway lines.
Apparently success isall down to the staff.Says CML’s managingdirector, GeoffMortimer, ‘It’s a tributeto the hard work andcommitment of ourstaff. Everyone in thebusiness takes pride intheir work anddelivering the very bestto our customers.’
Doncaster debut for CML
ticket collector, Les thorington,aged 80, has finally stepped down.
Les, a familiar face to passengersat Leigh-on-Sea station, wasnominated for a LifetimeAchievement award at theRailStaff Awards 2013 and madethe shortlist.
Les has worked on the local linefor 20 years for c2c, and itspredecessors LTS Rail and BritishRail. He first joined theroute as a RevenueProtection Inspector,before working atChalkwell for a year as atrain dispatcher andthen on the ticket gatesat Leigh-on-Sea station.
Says c2c ManagingDirector Julian Drury,‘Our thanks go to Les forall his efforts over the
last 20 years. He’s a well-knownlocal face, having been a friend tothousands of customers, and hefully deserves this recognition foreverything he has achieved. Wewish him all the best for a veryhappy retirement.’
On Friday, his last day, Les waspresented with gifts fromcolleagues and regular customersas a thank you for his good work.
a new railway tunnel under thebosporus connecting asia andeurope is on track to open laterthis month.
The Marmaray Tunnel in Istanbulwill be opened on 29th October2013, by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, theTurkish Prime Minister. The projectincludes a 13.6 kilometre tunneland a modernised 63 kilometrelocal rail network plus three newunderground railway stations andthe modernisation of 37 furtherstations.
The Marmaray Tunnel is built towithstand earthquakes whichmeasure up to 9 on the Richterscale. Leipzig company,Goldschmidt Thermit put togetherthe track. British company
Invensys Rail has been makingpreparations for the officialopening 29th October 2013, the90th anniversary of the foundingof the Republic of Turkey.
‘The Marmaray tunnel bringsEurope and Asia closer together.This improves the trafficinfrastructure between twocontinents and also at the
historical location of the Bosporushelps to build a bridge betweendifferent cultures,’ says Hans-Jürgen Mundinger, Chairman ofGoldschmidt Thermit
turkishDelight
one of the north York MoorsRailway’s newest drivers, SteveClark, completed a life timeambition recently by driving an a1tornado on the evening dining train.
Steve can now say he has fired anddriven all the classes of LNERPacifics in preservation. A1 Tornado,A2 Blue Peter, A3 Flying Scotsmanand A4s Sir Nigel Gresley, Union ofSouth Africa and Bittern.
Steve started his preservedfootplate life at the Nene ValleyRailway in 1991 and has been aregular footplate man on the NYMRfor over 20 years. He passed hisdriving test in May on Sir NigelGresley.
Says Steve, ‘I have been involvedwith NYMR for over 20 years andhave gained a wealth of experience.Passing my driving test saw meenter a new chapter in myfootplate career. As much as I likedriving you really cannot beat firingan engine - one of the mostrewarding jobs there is.
When I was a child I dreamed ofone day driving all these LNERPacifics.’
Personalrecord forSteam Steve
In a bid to improve the on boardbehaviour of its more exuberantpassengers, First Capital Connect haslaunched a good manners guide.
The Modern Day Guide to TrainEtiquette features important safetymessages about walking on stairs, andarriving in good time to catch the trainand not dropping litter or food.
Says FCC’s Customer Service Director,Keith Jipps, ‘We care about ourpassengers’ safety and comfort which iswhy we are leading a campaign toencourage safer and more consideratebehaviour. We know from research thatwe need to use humour to grab people’sattention.
‘Some of these messages – such asdon’t leave your rubbish behind for the‘train fairies’ – also support the £350,000investment announced earlier this weekto give our passengers cleaner trains.’
FCC cleaners are using new equipmentused in hospitals to deep clean the entirefleet. The train doctors are even cleaningtrains while in service. The vocalminority of itinerant diners who speakloudly on a mobile phones, eat smellyfood and put feet on seats are beingencouraged to study the etiquette posterscarefully.
We are looking to expand our workforce and currently have openings for the following positions:
!NPTC Qualified Arborists & Chainsaw Operators (PTS trained) for Projects in Scotland / North East England & North West England !"#$%#!&'()*!+,-.!-#'/(012!3%#!,#%4056*!/(!.5%67'(1!8!9%#6:!;'*6!;()7'(1! & North West England !.'306<!=#/6/5'7!.6'33!+;()/(00#/()!.>?0#@/*%#!8!=#'(0!=%(6#%770#!8!A'5:/(0! Controller) !"#$%#!&'()*!+,-.!-#'/(012!3%#!,#%4056*!/(!.5%67'(1!8!9%#6:!;'*6!;()7'(1!!!! & North West England !BBC!;D5'@'6%#!E!F(/G%)!H?0#'6%#* !B'/7!,7'(6!"**%5/'6/%(!I>'7/3/01!,7'(6!J/660#* !K><0#!L!K'*01!/(!%>#!,#0*6%(!8!M'N03/071!H33/50! !B%?0!"550**!H?0#'6/@0*!+O0@07*!PQ!R!E!S2!AF.-!:'@0!&0%605:(/5'7!!!!!!!!!!;D?0#/0(50!E!,-.L!H??%#6>(/6/0*!"@'/7'$70!9'6/%(T/10! M0!'#0!'7T'<*!7%%N/()!3%#!(0T!6'70(6Q!*%!5:05N!%>#!T0$*/60!#0)>7'#7<!3%#!any new openings or send your CV and covering letter to the email address below.
Or find us on RailwayPeople.com
M;UB;!VWBW9&I-.!&#%>?!?#%@/10*!'(!0D60(*/@0!range of engineering infrastructure and training services to major %#)'(/*'6/%(*!'5#%**!6:0!B'/7Q!F6/7/6/0*Q!=%(*6#>56/%(!'(1!,>$7/5!sectors.
We offer services such as railway 5%(6#'56/()Q!5/@/7!0()/(00#/()Q!6#'/(/()!'(1!1#'/(')0!3%#!6:0!#'/7Q!6#'(*?%#6Q!utilities and construction sectors. The company has grown to become one of 6:0!FXU*!7'#)0*6!?#%@/10#*!%3!#'/7!5%(6#'56/()Q!T%#N/()!@0#<!57%*07<!T/6:!Network Rail and other major suppliers. With various engineering '(1!/(3#'*6#>56>#0!5%(6#'56*Q!'*!T077!as providing market leading training 5%>#*0*Q!I-.!&#%>?!/*!'!%(0!*6%?!shop for most business needs. We are always looking for new additions 6%!%>#!60'GQ!*%!/3!<%>!6:/(N!<%>!:'@0!T:'6!T0!(001Q!)06!/(!6%>5:Y!C/*/6!%>#!website to find out more about us.
68 www.railstaff.co.uk
CaReeRS
www.trsstaffing.com
Rail and Infrastructure VacanciesTRS Staffing Solutions are international engineering recruitment specialists. We recruit for major National and International projects for leading National Rail organisations, main contractors and consultancies. Currently we have vacancies for the following:
Project Engineers- CivilsLondon, North West & South West - £40 - 60K or £350 - 450/day Rail experience including station, platform & bridge designs
Senior Quantity Surveyor NEC contract experience requiredLondon and Swindon£35 - 60K or £300 - 400/day Utilities, Airport or Rail experience with a Civils background
E&P/OLE EngineersLondon/Manchester/Birmingham - £35 - 60K or £350 - 500/dayWorking on major new projects
P6 PlannersLondon, Swindon & Midlands - £40 - 50K or £300 – 400/dayExperience of Network Rail projects, Primavera experience essential
Rail Project Managers (CRE), Site Agent & Sub-AgentsRegional- £35 - 55K or £250 - 400/dayExperience on rail Civils works – Bridge refurbishments, embankments and Earthworks
Arup are at the cutting edge of UK rail, working on iconic projects from concept to detailed design such as HS2 and ERTMS. With a rail turnover of circa £100m and a large national !"#$%&'$('')*'$(+,!-.'#!/%!'0'102$%'3405!%'6 '"7!')*'0 8'6 "!% 0"6$ 04'%064'10%&!"'0 8'!134$5'an extensive number of rail staff.9!'0%!',:%%! "45'!;30 86 <'$:%'%064'"!01-'0,%$--'"7!')*'0 8'#!'#$:48'=!'30%"6,:40%45'6 "!%!-"!8'6 'speaking to:
9!'0%!'0 '6 8!3! 8! "'+%1'$# !8'=5'$:%'!134$5!!-.'044$#6 <':-'"$'-70%!'3%$+"-'=!"#!! 'all staff members but also giving us the freedom to choose to work on the most interesting and rewarding 3%$2!,"-.'($%'"7!'=! !+"'$('-"0(('0 8',46! "-'046&!AB('5$:/%!'4$$&6 <'($%'-$1!"76 <' !#.'0 8'6('5$:'#0 "'"$'+ 8'$:"'#75'"7!'C0%D0%8'E:-6 !--'F!D6!#'-068'#!/D!',%!0"!8'$ !'$('"7!'=!-"'#$%&6 <'! D6%$ 1! "-'in the world, drop us a line via [email protected]
G$'+ 8'$:"'1$%!'0=$:"'%064'0"'H%:3'34!0-!'visit www.arup.com/rail or scan the QR code.
Signalling Solutions is a company formed by combining the complementary signalling resources and products of Alstom Transport Information Solutions UK and Balfour Beatty Rail Projects.
If you are looking for a new challenge and want to make a real contribution to the success of our business, we have opportunities in the following disciplines:
If you want to work with a forward thinking company and the latest cutting edge technology, apply today.
In return for your commitment and contribution, you can expect an excellentpackage and the opportunity to shape your career the way that you want, with training,development and career planning.
All the advertised positions have the following benefits:We offer a competitive salary plus a range of benefi ts including a contributory pension and 25 days holiday.
For more information please visit www.signallingsolutions.com or apply by sending your CV [email protected]
