Monday 5 Apr 2004
NETWORK RAIL SCOOPS TOP HONOURS AT INNOVATION AWARDS
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National
Network Rail is celebrating clinching four innovation awards, including jointly winning the top honour of Railway Industry Innovation Award, at the Railway Forum / Modern Railways Innovation Awards ceremony on 29 March 2004.
Network Rail and industry colleagues won the top award for the network-wide implementation of the Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS). TPWS automatically applies the brakes of a train that has passed a red signal, or that is travelling too fast on the approach to a red signal, speed restriction or buffer stop. It is designed to reduce the consequences of a signal passed at danger (SPAD) by stopping a train that has passed a red signal whilst in the signal’s safety overlap, before it can come into conflict with any other train.
The Shorterm Rail Award for Achievement Through Teamwork was awarded to Network Rail for the West Anglia Route Modernisation (WARM) project. This four year, £184 million project modernised 202 kms of signalling system between Liverpool Street Station and Stansted Airport, including the lines to Chingford, Enfield Town and Hertford East.
Network Rail also won the Bombardier Transportation Award for Innovation in Sustainable Development for its Biodiversity Action Plan. Network Rail has approximately 50,000 hectares of land and is home to numerous protected plants and animals. The Biodiversity Action Plan provides imaginative and innovative working practices in relation to vegetation and wildlife, to ensure the railway industry plays a key role in the national sustainable development effort.
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Innovation awards - 2
The title of Best Smaller Scale Innovation was awarded to Network Rail engineers who came up with an innovative and low cost solution to the perennial problem of ‘leaves on the line’ on the Windermere branch line. They converted a road-rail machine to enable it to apply sandite to rails, to prevent them becoming slippery due to the autumn leaf fall, and to keep services running efficiently.
Network Rail Chief Executive, John Armitt commented: “Winning these awards is recognition of the flair, innovation and creativity of our people who continually strive to creatively address the many challenges we face in delivering a safe and efficient railway.
“In particular, the top award for TPWS deservedly recognises the successful completion of the biggest safety improvement on the UK's railways since the introduction of the Automatic Warning System over 40 years ago.”
About Network Rail
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.
Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.
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