EXCELLENT TEAM PEFORMANCE RECOGNISED ON WESTERN ROUTE

Monday 3 Jul 2006

EXCELLENT TEAM PEFORMANCE RECOGNISED ON WESTERN ROUTE

Region & Route:: | Wales & Western: Wales & Borders; | Wales & Western: Western; | Wales & Western

Network Rail has scooped a series of awards and commendations at the Railway Industry Innovation Awards – including the Achievement through Teamwork Award, which was picked up by the Western Action Recovery Team. The Western team was recognised for its work with area teams in the West Country, Wales & the Marches and the Thames Valley, translating good ideas generated by signallers and track workers into deliverable schemes. Network Rail Chief Executive, John Armitt, said: “We are delighted that the hard work of our people has been recognised with these awards. I congratulate every member of the teams involved. This sizable haul of awards is a signal that Network Rail is a creative, innovative and forward-thinking organisation – and on its way to standing out as a world-class infrastructure operator. The Network Rail Team worked closely with colleagues from First Great Western and Arriva Trains Wales in assessing some 300 ideas. In just five weeks, more than 70 schemes worth over £9 million were authorised for delivery. These include: re-signalling at Worcester Forgate Street to allow trains to turn around faster; localised re-sleepering to eliminate track circuit failure; ‘human scarecrows’ to patrol trespass hotspot locations; and initiatives to reduce the number of bridges hit by vehicles.

Notes to editors

The awards, which are sponsored by the Railway Forum and Modern Railways magazine, were held at the Institution of Civil Engineers on 27 June 2006 The criteria used to access each of the 300 ideas were: • Estimated delay minutes saved • Likely impact on Public Performance Measure • Speed of implementation • Ease of implementation • Estimated cost Other nominees in the category ‘Achievement Through Teamwork’ were Docklands Light Railway, ScotRail and the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC)

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We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

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