APRIL 2019 VOL 137 PART 2

Permanent Way Institution The Institution for Rail Infrastructure Engineers

PWI Practical Trackwork Challenge GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAY LEICESTERSHIRE

Richard Spoors, Malcolm Pearce and Andy Packham TECHNICAL ARTICLE PAGE 12 CALIFORNIA: FROM DOUBLE AN EXPLORATIVE CASE STUDY INNOVATIVE APPLICATION OF RAIL TRACK TO TRIPLE TRACK COLLABORATIVE WORKING AND FASTENINGS FOR HS2 INTEGRATED DATA MANAGEMENT IN TRACK RENEWAL PROJECTS

AS PUBLISHED IN Page 16 Page 22 Page 42

PWI Journal APR 2019.indd 1 25/04/2019 14:41 The Journal April 2019 Volume 137 Part 2

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Stobart Rail & Civils and ’s partnership delivers far reaching track improvement in the far north

For the last three years, Stobart Rail & A range of interventions were delivered, approach also reduced ongoing maintenance Civils have been hard at work delivering an including replacing expired rails and requirements to deliver far-reaching whole-life innovative new approach to track maintenance sleepers, correcting track defects and many cost savings of at least £1m annually. across 300 route miles in . The other improvements that reduced future Far North Plain Line Workbank was an maintenance, enhanced safety and increased On a major site at Thurso on Scotland’s north £11m programme in some of the UK’s most passengers’ ride quality. The high standard coast, the challenge was to re-rail more challenging access and environmental of work handed back resulted in little, if any, than six miles of track during a twelve-week conditions. snagging and quickly won over the local Works period, using only standard Rules of the Route Delivery Section Managers after just a few of possessions to ensure there was no disruption Stobart worked in partnership with Network the programme’s 60 sites were completed. to normal passenger train operations. Rail’s Works Delivery Track Scotland team to From the outset, the teams recognised that a deliver refurbishment interventions on track collaborative approach was the best way to Following collaborative solution development assets that have passed their maintainable deliver success. Everybody worked together together with Network Rail’s team, the work life. The scope included a comprehensive to build a dedicated co-located joint team that was completed two weeks early and while on programme of repadding, rerailing, focused on the best outcome for the railway site Stobart added value by using their road resleepering, plain line reballasting, S&C by building proactive scopes, delivery plans rail plant fleet to top up more than 500 tonnes refurbishment, level crossing renewals and and track access strategies that prioritised of ballast to enhance the track’s performance. small-scale full renewals. driving best value across the entire route as Outputs of up to 40 rail renewals per night were an integrated solution, rather than simply regularly achieved and several accommodation Network Rail’s Construction Manager, delivering a series of individual jobs on a crossings were also enhanced, as additional Stobart’s Project Manager, and their joint transactional basis. scope, as the works progressed. team’s scoped and delivered exceptional Once the rerailing was complete the number quality and unprecedented outputs. By coordinating work types and locations of track faults along the route dropped from 60 They also deployed innovative environmental and deploying Stobart’s road rail fleet to to just 3. and safety solutions, and cost reducing eliminate on-site manual handling and making methodologies that are now industry best the best use of plant and access, the team The Thurso site needed more than 1,000 new practice and will positively benefit track drove efficiencies that reduced site delivery 60 foot rails. These would typically be delivered maintenance strategies into the future. costs by more than 40%. This coordinated from the supplier by road, requiring more than

Image 1: Stobart Rail & Civils winter Image 2: Lochluichart track washout campaign

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Image 3: Scrabster Harbour, Thurso rerailing

100 wagon journeys. In a UK rail network first, with NR/L2/TRK/2102 section 10.10 owing This included a recruitment and training the team developed a logistics solution to to the entry and exit splays terminating on programme for 15 new roles, including valuable deliver the rails by sea to Scrabster harbour. the curve. The team developed an enhanced entry-level and graduate positions, as well as The team then worked with the harbour team to solution that also renewed the check rail and new training opportunities to upskill the local offload the rails using their dockside crane, and extended the check rail entry and exit splays workforce. with a local haulier to transport them the final nine metres into straight track. few miles to site. This logistics solution saved An award-winning new safety campaign was thousands of road miles and over 200 tonnes Joint AMP 10 walkouts identified non- launched, there was engagement with local of carbon emissions, along with reducing conforming joints with incorrect expansion schools and scrap lineside materials were congestion and pollution along Scotland’s road gaps and rail ends not having two consistent recovered to tidy Scotland’s railway. We network. sleepers of the same material and depth on supported rapid response emergencies during each side of the joint in accordance with NR/ severe weather to add resilience and reduce As well as these innovative delivery L2/TRK/001/mod04 Rail Joints, and ballast unplanned closures. approaches, the team continually sought out shoulder dimensions that did not comply with new products that would bring benefits to the NR/L2/TRK/2102 table 4. These were all This programme delivered unprecedented programme. Some of the innovations that the corrected by replacing sleepers, dropping and output that enabled Network Rail to reassess team deployed included a new long-lasting profiling new ballast. their maintenance budget and deliver more fishplate lubrication system that significantly work sooner for the overall benefit of their reduced future maintenance requirements on Owing to the age of the track there was network operations. Altogether more than rail joints, and Staytite Hardlock nuts that are an array of different fastenings including 11,000 sleepers, 3,300 rails, 7,000 baseplates now used on all joints to save more than 10% BJBs, RNB fastenings, Mills clips, SHCs, and 72,000 pads were replaced; in total nearly on the joint’s overall maintenance cost simply elastic spikes, AND (Arthur Dean), ST clip 750,000 individual new components. by the nut never coming loose. & MacBeths, and in accordance with NR/ L2/TRK/2049 section D.4 PR401a, e1809 & All works were delivered during standard Rules By developing an integrated programme that bullhead keys were used throughout the works. of the Route track possessions and achieved considered the route as a whole the team These are just a few examples that provided near perfect results with just 11 minutes of train was able to identify recurrent track quality improved performance, ongoing cost savings delays over the entire three-year programme. issues then address them efficiently to drive and important safety benefits for track Testament to the success of this programme a consistent standard and overall improvement. maintenance teams, particularly during the is Stobart and Network Rail’s nomination for A site on the Line (KYL) region’s harsh winter months. Transport Team/ Partnership of the Year at included the replacement of the running the 2019 Scottish Transport Awards. Fingers rails but during the joint site survey the team The team also focused on providing benefits crossed for the awards ceremony in Glasgow identified that the check rail was non-compliant for the community in which they were working. later in the summer.

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INNOVATIVE AND EFFICIENT CIVIL ENGINEERING. We are focussed on being a leading provider of civil engineering services to third parties and delivering unbeatable support services for our clients.

OUR CORE SERVICES INCLUDE: • Buildings & Civils • Vegetation Management • Drainage • Earthworks • Lineside Civils • Structures • Track

• Training CONTACT • Special Projects [email protected] • Innovation www.stobartrail.com

t @stobartrail 1 facebook.com/stobartrail

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