View the latest railway news The IMechE Annual Railway Seminar, although at present biased toward rolling stock, was enormously beneficial, giving delegates the opportunity to understand the issues faced by the industry and the direction in which it was being steered by those leading it. This Seminar represents an opportunity to mix with other young engineers from all areas of the industry, which not only promotes knowledge transfer and a better understanding, but also builds contacts between the delegates.
As a delegate working on the infrastructure side of the industry the presentation delivered by Chris Green, the Non-Executive Director of Network Rail was the most directly relevant. His presentation highlighted a clear direction for the company, its secured investment from government and the agreed scope of the projects to be delivered. The North South high speed link was also touched on and the key role the Channel Tunnel Rail Link plays in this new gateway as an unofficial phase 1. The opportunity to implement fill-in electrification schemes was highlighted, in the absence of a firm commitment to electrification from government at present, with all speakers expecting this commitment to be packaged with the announcement of a new nuclear power programme for Britain.
The approach adopted to deliver a 'faultless railway', currently only seen on key routes within London, was discussed with unreliable equipment being replaced with that proven to deliver uninterrupted service and the use of common equipment throughout the route. This new maintenance philosophy is currently being implemented on the Edinburgh to Glasgow route, with the success of this project having implications for the maintenance of all major routes on the network.
Although many of the other presentations were focussed around the non-infrastructure side of the industry there were key messages delivered which could be applied to any business or industry.
Ross Spicer, West Coast Production Director for Virgin, spoke about his experiences as a client with their supplier Alstom on the Pendolino project and how a relationship management technique could be applied successfully to any client – supplier / contractor interface. The basis of this approach is centred around co-operation with other companies when the product or service they offer is limited to a small number of competitors in the market place.
The rail industry represents a niche market, with relatively few companies offering the products and services required. Could this technique, whose success has already been demonstrated by the likes of Honda and Virgin, be widely adopted as best practice across the sector?
Mick Underwood, Director of Fleet Engineering & Product Safety for Bombardier spoke about the introduction of predictive asset maintenance and the relative benefits, both fiscal and temporal, of this approach when compared to the more traditional time or service life centred maintenance approaches. Is this the direction in which the entire industry should be moving? With increasing pressure to deliver improvements to reliability, and continually reducing timescales in which to conduct the maintenance required to meet this challenge, a predictive approach may show real benefits.
Bryan Donnelly, Vehicle Engineering Manager for ATOC, covered the challenges faced by diesel engine manufacturers and all within the industry as the new emission legislation deadline of 2012 approaches. He highlighted the tradeoffs required to meet these new stringent guidelines, which include increases in the fuel consumption, engine weight and the physical volume required within the train. This not only has implications for rolling stock manufacturers but also for all on-track plant, and the tradeoffs required make a compelling business case for future electrification schemes.
Aside from the delivered content of the seminar it was also a good opportunity to share experiences with the other delegates. I discussed the implementation of regenerative breaking for a TOC with one delegate, which involved trials on a test track in the Czech Republic, to ensure Network Rail’s specification had been achieved. Speaking with Bryan Donnelly I learned about the trial of a new piece of equipment, currently used in Australia, designed to detect damaged axle bearings. This technology has, if successfully validated, the ability to predict damage via the resulting resonance it creates in the rails. This prevents the risk of catastrophic failure thus reducing the need for the number of hot axle detectors on the network. Due to the nature of the technology it may also have applications detecting the vibrations made by a flat spot on a wheel offering further financial benefits. Bryan also discussed the logistical problems associated with the trials of new technology to the industry.
It is clear that such seminars serve an important role in bringing the industry together to help meet the challenges of delivering a sustainable and growing railway. This is an ideal opportunity to share experience, discuss fresh ideas and to stand up and be heard in an influential railway environment.
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