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The Model Railway Service |
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Tuesday, 08 April 2008 |
With over thirty years of experience in the market place, the rail sector is a core market for us,
but Scientifics is not just a technical service provider to the rail industry. Our services go far
wider than you might imagine.
Yes, Scientifics’ testing, monitoring and analysis services ensure the safe and cost effective
performance of plant, equipment and rolling stock. But we also apply our environmental and
occupational hygiene expertise to help guarantee the health of staff and the well being of the
environment.
One of the traditional services associated that we provide is oil condition monitoring. Whether
your equipment is mechanical or electrical the oil/fluid present can tell you a lot about its
performance and integrity. The potential savings available from a properly implemented CM
programme were highlighted as far back as 1988, when, in a study of maintenance practice in
UK industry, the DTI reported that companies who have implemented a CM programme on
their plant spend on average 25% less on maintenance of the plant than companies who have
no CM program. The condition-monitoring programme we provide includes project
management, quality testing, sophisticated Internet reporting packages with data trend
monitoring, and most importantly practical advice. We provide this expert service to many of
the UK train operating companies as well as manufacturers who require their plant and
machinery to be monitored.
Scientifics can also provide support for the railways’ infrastructure. We have a civil
engineering team that test and assess the structural integrity of buildings and tunnels across
the country. This might involve taking concrete core samples from existing structures and it
also means working alongside the maintenance and construction operators to analyse the
quality of the fresh concrete used in reinstatement and new-build work. We also have
specialists in paint technology, corrosion and optics (lenses, bulbs and LEDs) and can
provide advice and support for product development, facilities management and incident
investigation.
However, our services are not always in the traditional engineering and train operating side of
the rail business. A great deal of our work focuses on the people that run the railways,
customers, the public working alongside the network and the surrounding environment.
We can be asked to provide expert advice relating to anything from asbestos management
and occupational health, right the way through to how to comply with environmental laws and
incident investigation. Our teams work alongside our customers to help them manage and
maintain their depots and the facilities and plant that operates from their various bases
around the country. This might include anything from environmental consultancy to providing
a complete solution to manage the removal of asbestos from a building.
Customers also employ our services to ensure their staff works safely and in a healthy
environment. We provide occupational hygiene audits, ensuring employees are protected
from excessive noise and fumes, plus we carry out health & safety training. We carry out
regular checks on hand and arm vibration, fumes from solvents, paints and welding as well as
noise to ensure that employment rules are complied with. Our expert team works with a
variety of customers in the sector measuring air and water quality to ensure they comply with
industry and environmental legislation. For Network Rail we monitor forty sites across the UK
taking samples of drainage water and checking for PCBs as well as undertaking remediation
work on their land. At one major rail depot we have worked with the Network Rail team to
monitor the flow of effluent contaminated with oil flowing through the site and into a nearby
river. As a result we set up a low-tech green solution that filters the oil and effluent.
We cover the whole of the UK, providing one-off services, or bespoke packaged solutions
backed up by fully accredited laboratories. We are passionate about providing our customers
with answers that add value to their business. Our focus is always to deliver accurate, fast
and reliable data allowing customers to make the right decisions for their organisation. You
can find out more about these services by visiting our stand at Railtex 07 at ExCel in
London’s Docklands. We are on stand Q66. If you want to learn more about the show then
go to www.railtex.co.uk Call us on 0800 52 888 52 or visit www.scientifics.com.
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Tuesday, 08 April 2008 |
Train maintenance – the future may be closer than you know
Visualise,
if you will, a rolling stock maintenance depot of the future. As you
enter the depot manager’s office you observe that one wall is dedicated
to a ‘virtual depot’ – a live view of the entire facility. Each vehicle
is identified in a location, while inbound or outbound vehicle
movements are shown in real time, along with the status of the derailer
and signals controlling each movement.
All staff working
within the depot are logged onto specific tasks on identified vehicles.
Viewing of each function area on the virtual depot shows individuals
logged to that area, while viewing of a particular vehicle will report
the vehicle’s in-depot movements and all work undertaken by the depot.
The
‘jacking road’ shows a 6-car set in an elevated status undergoing a
campaign bogie change, the overhead line is shown isolated and
interlocked with the SMART Depot Protection System’s laser-based
vehicle location detector. The multi-purpose bogie drop road shows the
‘bridge’ locked in a safe condition and a 4-car unit entering the
depot, under the control of the ‘designated person’, for an undercar
module replacement.
Outside the main depot building a 4-car
unit is currently passing through the wash plant and a 6-car unit is
under the control of a ‘mule’ within the wheel lathe building. An amber
warning indicator flashes on-screen. Examination of the warning informs
that the derailer being raised to protect the bogie drop road has taken
longer than expected and a non-scheduled, preventative maintenance
inspection should be undertaken.
Forward-thinking
People
unaware of the latest advances in depot equipment may see this
capability as being many years away. However, this is actually
present-day capability. Forward-thinking companies are already
installing this level of leading-edge depot equipment. Newly-built
facilities for Siemens Transportation Systems at Northampton and
Manchester are leading the way by employing these high-tech advances
from Mechan Technology.
“With all the focus on modern vehicle
design and infrastructure upgrades, plus penalties for late-running
trains, more emphasis has rightly been placed on the efficiency of the
networks,” comments Richard Carr, Business Development Director at
Mechan. “Part of my job is to ensure that rail industry decision makers
hear and read more about the new generation of vehicle maintenance
depots and the significant advancements in efficiency offered by some
of the latest depot equipment to hit the market.
“Just as the
latest EMUs have become more efficient by distributing power and
intelligence along the vehicle, modern depot equipment is following
this very successful lead. While fundamental to the success of these
systems, distributed intelligence alone is not the answer. Having an
effective means to share the knowledge and pool the resource is what
makes these systems special.”
Traditional standalone
equipment, while still functioning in secure isolation independent of
other activities, relays information back to the Mechan Depot Manager™
over a LONWorks industrial network. A multi-vehicle lifting system will
have its own local network configuration for communication between each
intelligent jack and, since each jack has its own intelligent
capability, a small roving panel is all that is required to control and
monitor the entire system. Feedback from the roving panel to the main
network informs the Mechan Depot Manager™ of system status.
Mechan
SMART™ Depot Personnel Protection panels, which not only protect
personnel but report on areas requiring immediate or future attention,
now provide unprecedented local control over vehicle movements by
logging and reporting which vehicles and staff were present when and
where.
When faults develop, accurate diagnosis is key to an
efficient solution. To ensure the diagnosis is quick and accurate,
local and remote diagnostic capabilities are embedded within the
installations. Remote diagnostics allow system design engineers to
evaluate the problem from Head Office, while liaising with local
maintenance personnel to implement a solution.
“Depot
equipment alone does not and will not create an efficiently run
facility,” Richard Carr concludes. “The role of the depot manager and
his team will always be the most important foundation stone to have in
place. However, management deprived of up-to-date, accurate information
may be prone to errors and inefficiencies. Premier league fleet
maintenance facilities have this information and are gaining the edge.
If you're not already planning to embrace this new capability, division
1 looms on the horizon.'
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Equipping and protecting Siemens depots |
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Tuesday, 08 April 2008 |
A big winner from train
fleet modernisation since the turn of the Millennium has been Siemens
Transportation Systems. After gaining a toehold in the UK a decade ago
with its Class 332 Heathrow Express stock, Siemens won a series of
orders, mostly for Desiro units.
A developing trend towards
manufacturer servicing at purpose-built depots accelerated in mid-2006
when Siemens opened traincare centres in Northampton and Manchester for
Silverlink/Central Trains and First TransPennine Express, mirroring its
depot in Southampton for South West Trains, completed in 2003.
Siemens
holds long-term maintenance contracts for Desiros supplied to
Silverlink/Central, TransPennine and SWT and is committed to stringent
maintenance standards. The contracts demand high availability, with
rapid daily servicing and equally efficient heavy maintenance, such as
bogie changes inside two hours.
Sheffield-based heavy-lift
specialist Mechan was selected to supply a 10-tonne scissor-type bogie
drop for Southampton (Northam). Orders followed for Mechan drop systems
at Manchester (Ardwick), where diesel Desiros may require underfloor
engine removal, and Northampton (Kings Heath).
For these two
locations Siemens specified Mechan’s ‘intelligent’ screw-jack bogie
drops. This equipment requires half the depth of hydraulic drops, under
3 metres, giving substantial construction cost savings.
Accurate
and manageable in operation with their high-tech control systems, these
latest bogie drops bring further advantages. Design and operation of
the pit floor are ingenious, with provision for forklifts and similar
traffic to cross when the pit is not in use and creation of a safety
barrier when it is.
To achieve security and safety at its
Heathrow Express and Desiro traincare centres, Siemens also turned to
Mechan, equipping all five UK depots with Mechan’s SMARTTM Depot
Protection System. This flexible system uses datakeys programmed with
user information to monitor and control all movements safely.
Having
supplied lifting equipment to heavy industry since 1969, Mechan says
rail is now a major customer. It is working hard to develop yet more
specialist equipment for the rail industry and sophisticated control
systems for their safe and effective operation.
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Treasury Denies Tax Fraud Chaos |
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Tuesday, 08 April 2008 |
RAILTEX IN LONDON OFF TO A FLYING START
Staging
the RAILTEX 07 exhibition in London has been widely welcomed by the
railway industry. Well over 100 companies have already taken stand
space at the show, scheduled for 20 to 22 February 2007 at ExCel
London, in the UK capital's Docklands.
London's major rail projects big draw for suppliers
With
an estimated price tag of £10 billion, Crossrail tops the list of
long-term schemes to improve the capital's rail infrastructure. Its
progress will be marked at RAILTEX 07 by the presence with a stand of
the project's promoter, Cross London Rail Links Ltd. Other large-scale
investments attracting exhibitors include continuing upgrades to the
London Underground network, the £900 million East London Line scheme
and the long-planned Thameslink project, currently progressing through
parliamentary and public enquiry phases.
Also being further
expanded is the Docklands Light Railway, which will play a key role in
handling movements of spectators during the 2012 Olympic Games in
London. Many other rail projects are also planned as the city prepares
to host the games.
For more information visit http://www.railtex.co.uk
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Network Rail launches new suite of contracts |
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Tuesday, 08 April 2008 |
Suppliers and contractors
will find doing business with Network Rail is more straightforward and
efficient with the implementation of a new suite of contracts. Starting
from July, the contracts will provide more consistency and clarity on
key issues as well as improved management of risks.
Network
Rail spends over 4 billion GBP and lets tens of thousands of contracts
every year, from the purchase of office stationery to complex
multi-million pound agreements for major infrastructure projects.
During development of the new contract suite Network Rail sought to
learn from industry best practice.
Network Rail Director of
Contracts and Procurement, Ian Sexton, said: Our aim was to bring our
standard contracts in line with industry norms so that they are more
recognisable and easier to understand and work with.
The
final documents reflect a sensible allocation of risk between the
parties and we hope that the change will save management time for us
and our suppliers and contractors when setting up and managing
contracts.
The contracts cover the purchase of goods and
services in four relatively simple Network Rail bespoke contracts. Hire
and operation of plant and equipment is covered by two forms of
contract, one of which is based upon amendments to the Construction
Plant-hire Association” and Rail Plant Association standard terms.
The
new suite also includes two bespoke contracts for works of a simple
content and seven contracts based on amendments to standard forms for
use on major works. The selected standard forms chosen by Network Rail
include: the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) Conditions of
Contract, Measurement, Target Cost and Design and Construct versions;
the Joint Contract Tribunal (JCT) Private with Quantities version; and
the Institutions of Mechanical and Electrical Engineers Model Forms
MF/1 and MF/2.
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Hero driver of the Cumbrian rail crash speaks from hospital |
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Tuesday, 08 April 2008 |
The heroic driver of the Cumbrian rail crash has described the moment his Virgin Express careered off the tracks at 93mph.
Brave
Iain Black, 46, was thrown out of his seat and lost consciousness after
being projected onto the train’s ceiling, in the accident at Grayrigg,
near Kendal. He came to within a few seconds, crawled back into his seat and applied the emergency break to the runaway train.
Mr
Black, described as a hero by Virgin boss Richard Branson, told friends
at Royal Preston Hospital: “I am so sorry somebody died. I did my best
to stop but there was nothing I could do.”
In a brief
statement, Mr Black, from Dumbarton, Scotland, whose girlfriend has
been at his bedside since the crash, said: “I am obviously distraught
that one person died in the accident and saddened about those who
remain seriously ill and I wish them a speedy recovery.
“I am
extremely grateful to all my friends, colleagues and employer for all
their goodwill messages and support. Obviously I can’t say anything
about the accident because of the ongoing investigation, but I am just
glad that more people were not seriously injured.”
Mr Black, suffered a broken collar bone, neck injuries and cuts and bruises in the crash nine days ago.
An initial report into the crash found a set of faulty points were to blame.
Two cranes are set to lift the remaining carriages today.
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