Thursday 10 Oct 2013
Improving overhead line reliability on the West Coast Main Line
- Region & Route:
Network Rail is delivering a major investment programme to reduce delays caused by overhead line failures on the busiest section of the West Coast Main Line.
After literally walking the 80 miles of route between London and Rugby, a specialist Network Rail engineering team identified a series of improvements that could be made to the overhead lines and reduce delays on the southern end of the route.
Dyan Crowther, route managing director, Network Rail said: “We are currently delivering a series of projects to improve the performance of our infrastructure on the southern end of the West Coast main line, which is one of Britain’s most vital rail arteries”.
“This line has seen tremendous growth in traffic and passengers over the last five years and, just like a busy motorway during rush hour, more trains mean that if something goes wrong, the knock on effects can be significant. The work we are doing to improve the overhead lines is part of a £40m package of investment aimed at improving performance by targeting some of the most common causes of delay.”
Much of the overhead line infrastructure on the southern end of the West Coast Mail Line dates from when the line was electrified in the 1960s. In November 2012, following a six-month secondment to Network Rail, Chris Gibb, chief operating officer of Virgin Trains, published his recommendations for how Network Rail could improve performance on the southern end of the West Coast Main Line. The report identified overhead line faults as one of the major causes of delay.
Chris Gibb, Chief Operating Officer for Virgin Trains added: “The cost of carrying out this work will show an immediate and positive return by improving performance for passenger and freight operators who use the southern end of the West Coast Main Line. The pace at which Network Rail and its contractors are getting on with this shows a determination to really get to grips with performance.”
The package of improvements to the overhead lines is worth around £7.6m and is being delivered by a specialist team of engineers from Network Rail, SPL Powerlines UK and ABC (Alstom, Babcock, Costain) who are working five night shifts every week until the project completes in March 2014.
The work includes removing defects, adjusting equipment, improving the operational performance of neutral sections and high level inspection at major junctions. The team are also removing obsolete components such as old auxiliary wires which present a reliability risk.
Notes to editors
Quotes from partners involved in the project:
Simon Talman, Operations Director for SPL Powerlines UK said: "As SPL Powerlines UK are a relatively new electrification business in this country, it was critical to our strategic plan to build relationships and reputation. The works on the West Coast South has given us this opportunity and we are very pleased to be assisting Network Rail on this project, which has also given us the platform to build for the future.”
Bob Halsey, ABC Project Director commented: “This is vital work for the performance of the WCML and the collaborative approach our teams are taking to managing the works will ensure that the improvements are delivered quickly and safely. ABC is delighted to be part of the programme.”
The West Coast Main Line runs for 399 miles between London and Glasgow and connects many of Britain’s key cities including Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.
Information about current levels of performance on the West Coast Main Line (WCML) in comparison to other long distance routes is available at: http://www.networkrail.co.uk/about/performance/
The work to improve the reliability of the overhead lines is part of a package of projects worth nearly £40m, aimed at improving the reliability of the infrastructure and punctuality of train services on the West Coast Main Line.
Other projects being delivered this year include:
Network Rail is changing the way it stores and analyses overhead line condition data which is captured by two specially adapted Pendolino trains. This change will enable the data to be analysed and essential maintenance work to be completed much more quickly.
Network Rail is working with London Midland and Samaritans to put in place suicide prevention measures at London Midland stations between Watford and Milton Keynes.
Around 70% of delays to Virgin services are attributable to Network Rail – around 35% of which are down to infrastructure faults and around 25% to external factors such as cable theft, fatalities, trespass, vandalism and extreme weather. The remaining 10% are caused by operational issues.
In November 2012, following a six-month secondment to Network Rail, Chris Gibb, Gibb, Chief Operating Officer, Virgin Trains, published his recommendations http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/wcs-reliability-programme-191112.pdf for how Network Rail could improve the West Coast Main Line. Chris spent time with maintenance crews, mostly at night, and the recommendations were largely the ideas he heard from these experienced staff.
Network Rail accepted Chris’ recommendations in full. Network Rail’s London North Western route, which is responsible for operating, maintaining and upgrading the West Coast Main Line, has been focusing on meeting those recommendations, meeting with train and freight operating partners regularly to keep them updated.
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