Tuesday 4 Mar 2014
Stafford rail project looks to the future with local apprentices
- Region & Route:
A £250 million programme to improve the railway between Stafford and Crewe is investing in the future of the country’s workforce with the arrival of three new apprentices.
As part of its commitment to leaving a positive legacy in the area, as well as making significant improvements to one of the country’s busiest railway lines, the Staffordshire Alliance is working closely with Staffordshire- based PM Training to take on a number of new apprentices to deliver the improvements, either directly or via its supply chain.
The three apprentices are Jake Ashe, Sahil Aggarwal and Emily Davies, who have recently started work at the alliance’s site offices near Stafford station.
A former student at Blessed William Howard Catholic High School, Stafford, 18-year-old Sahil hopes his role on the project will stand him in good stead for a career in the rail or construction industry.
Sahil said: “Working as part of the alliance is a fantastic introduction to the railway and construction industry and an excellent opportunity to be part of a multi-million pound engineering project. The skills and experience I gain here will be invaluable in the future.”
Joining Sahil are 17-year-old Emily Davies from Yarnfield, who is providing support as an administrative assistant, and 19-year-old Jake Ashe, from Penkridge, who joins as an HSQE (Health, Safety, Quality and Environment) junior administrator.
Ian Jones, Network Rail programme manager and head of the Staffordshire Alliance, said: “It’s incredibly important that we encourage more young people into the industry. With PM Training’s support, we are actively looking for suitable opportunities to recruit more apprentices across the life of the project, either directly or via our suppliers.”
Steve Rushton, PM Training’s director of partnerships, added: “By working with the Staffordshire Alliance, we will develop an inspiring and innovative approach to maximise social value. This includes neighbourhood impact, real and sustainable jobs and enhanced life chances for young people, and will see us working with the Staffordshire Alliance to deliver new apprenticeships, traineeships and study programmes.”
The move has been welcomed by Councillor Jeremy Pert of Stafford Borough Council, who, as well as the North Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce, has been working closely with the Staffordshire Alliance in its engagement with the local supply chain.
Councillor Pert said: “With National Apprenticeship Week currently underway, it’s particularly pleasing to see an organisation such as Network Rail, and its delivery partner the Staffordshire Alliance, actively recognising the importance of recruiting young people into the industry. This helps provide much needed jobs now, whilst also laying long term foundations for the future, which will invariably benefit all concerned and provide a welcome boost for the local economy.”
The Stafford Area Improvements Programme, being delivered by the Staffordshire Alliance, seeks to remove a major capacity constraint on the Stafford to Crewe section of the busy West Coast main line through the delivery of the following three projects:
Linespeed improvements between Crewe and Norton Bridge
The resignalling of Stafford station and the surrounding area
A proposed railway flyover at Norton Bridge
On completion in 2017, the improvements will enable faster, more frequent services, reducing congestion and improving reliability, with the works delivered by the Staffordshire Alliance – a partnership of Atkins, Laing O’Rourke, Network Rail and VolkerRail, working as part of a new collaborative contract that will help to transform the delivery of rail infrastructure projects in the UK.
Notes to editors
Stafford Area Improvements Programme
With unprecedented levels of passenger and freight growth on the rail network and the West Coast main line full to capacity within less than 10 years, the Staffordshire Area Improvements Programme seeks to remove a major bottleneck through the Stafford area. Once complete, the £250m programme will facilitate the introduction of new timetables between 2015 and 2017 and help to create the capacity to run:
Two extra trains per hour (each direction) between London and the north west of England
One extra fast train per hour (each direction) between Manchester and Birmingham
One extra freight train per hour (each direction) through Stafford
The programme will deliver this through the following three key projects:
Phase 1 – Linespeed improvements between Crewe and Norton Bridge, increasing the line speed on the ‘slow’ lines from 75mph to 100mph. Running from January 2013 to April 2014, these works include modifications to the overhead line equipment and installation of four new signals and will be delivered during weekends and midweek nights, significantly reducing the impact to passengers and lineside residents.
Phase 2 – Stafford resignalling. The installation of a new freight loop and the replacement of life expired signalling, telecoms and power supplies, with the signalling control transferred from the existing Stafford No4 and No5 signal boxes to Rugby, plus the installation of bi-directional signalling for all platforms and an increase in the ‘slow’ line speeds (predominantly used by local passenger/freight services) from 75mph to 100mph between Great Bridgeford (near Norton Bridge) and Stafford. Running from spring 2014 to summer 2015, the majority of these works will also be delivered during weekends and midweek nights.
Phase 3 – Proposed flyover at Norton Bridge. The proposed construction of a grade-separated junction, including 6 miles of new 100mph railway, 10 new bridge structures and two bridge enhancements, four river diversions, major environmental mitigation works, pipeline, road and footpath diversions and the construction of temporary haul roads. As an infrastructure project of national significance, the scheme is currently subject to a Development Consent Order, which provides the relevant powers and permissions to enable successful delivery of the programme. Upon the granting of the order, main works are scheduled to run from spring 2014 to 2017, with key commissionings in 2016.
Staffordshire Alliance
The Stafford Area Improvements Programme is being delivered by the Staffordshire Alliance – a partnership of Atkins, Laing O’Rourke, Network Rail and VolkerRail, working as part of a new collaborative contract that will help to transform the delivery of rail infrastructure projects in the UK.
Atkins
Atkins (www.atkinsglobal.com) is one of the world's leading design, engineering and project management consultancies*, employing some 17,400 people across the UK, North America, Middle East, Asia Pacific and Europe. Over 75 years, from post-war regeneration and the advent of nuclear engineering to high speed rail and the integrated sustainable cities of the future, our people’s breadth and depth of expertise and drive to ask why has allowed us to plan, design and enable some of the world’s most complex projects.
*14th largest global design firm (Engineering News-Record 2013) and the third largest multidisciplinary consultancy in Europe (Svensk Teknik och Design 2012).
Laing O’Rourke
Laing O’Rourke is a globally diverse engineering enterprise with a commitment to delivering Excellence Plus performance, founded on 164 years of experience. It funds, designs, manufactures, constructs and maintains the built environment – providing the facilities to accommodate, educate, employ, transport, care for and sustain communities. www.laingorourke.com
Network Rail
Network Rail is the not for dividend owner and operator of Britain's railway infrastructure which includes the tracks, signals, tunnels, bridges, viaducts, level crossings and stations - the largest of which it also manages. Network Rail aims to provide a safe, reliable and efficient rail infrastructure for freight and passenger trains to use. www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk Twitter: @networkrailPR
VolkerRail
VolkerRail is a leading multi-disciplinary railway infrastructure contractor with over 70 years project experience in both the heavy and light rail sectors. In addition to the delivery of major projects, it provides design, manufacture, construction, installation and testing services in the following disciplines - electrification, HV power distribution, signalling, plant, track construction, renewals and maintenance. VolkerRail is part of VolkerWessels UK, a multi-disciplinary civil engineering, construction and rail group with a turnover of £700 million. VolkerWessels UK employs c2,000 staff in six operating companies. The group is the UK arm of Dutch based VolkerWessels, one of the largest construction groups in Europe. www.volkerwessels.co.uk
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