John Dougan

Said the following about North West Electrification Programme:

“We would like to nominate the Network Rail North West Electrification Program (NWEP) team as Rail Infrastructure Team of the Year for their outstanding contribution to the rail industry. They consistently go above and beyond to not just deliver the £900m+ NWEP programme, despite significant challenges, but all the while maintaining high standards of engineering, safety, team work and stakeholder engagement.

The Background Story and the Value of what we are delivering:

The North West Electrification programme is one of the key portfolios of work to transform transport in the North of England. Its aims are simply to support the introduction onto the rail network of modern, faster, more reliable and more environmentally sustainable passenger trains. The increased acceleration and higher speeds of modern electric units is key in revolutionising rail transport through reduced journey times between key cities in the North, bringing communities closer together and providing a vital catalyst to growing the regional economy.

The work of the programme began nearly a decade ago, when the development of Phase 1 started. This would provide an electrified route from Manchester Airport and Piccadilly through to the West Coast mainline and onto Glasgow. That stage was delivered in 2014. It was soon followed by Phase 2 electrification which allowed Northern Trains to run refurbished class 319s between Manchester Airport/ Manchester Victoria and Liverpool Lime Street, and from Liverpool to Preston. That was complete in stages between 2015 and early 2016.

However, it is the recent delivery of the following three phases, simultaneously, that has driven the need for the team within Network Rail’s Infrastructure Projects business, to grow both in stature and numbers, to meet that challenge. Phase 3 has been electrified between Preston and Blackpool North and the project also provided extensive remodelling and rationalisation, line speed increases, as well as replacing footpath crossings with footbridges to improve public safety.

As we now approach the energisation on Phase 4 (between Preston and Manchester via Bolton) and Phase 5 (extending electrification at Manchester Victoria and providing a new North West supply point at Heyrod), the team is finally working towards the end of their Control Period 5 (2014-2019) delivery objective.

The team itself:

The North West Electrification Programme team comprises of circa 60 employees from various disciplines including Engineering, Project Management, Commercial and Planning & Programme Controls. It is a very diverse team in terms of professional experience, age, education and also more personally race, gender, cultural and sexual orientation.

In terms of professional development, numerous members of the team are pursuing (or already have) Chartered status for their profession, and most are already degree level educated. For example, the engineering team of 17, has 14 with degree qualifications and two more studying at university, four registered with the UK Engineering Council, and seven due in the next six months.

Several of the team are involved with STEM activities and their own professional institutions, which allows them to promote learning, professional excellence and development opportunities. Furthermore, numerous members of the team have presented Knowledge Share events and given presentations on their respective professions to help their colleagues within Network Rail (and beyond) understand those aspects better.

The team have also adopted a local charity – Leonard Cheshire which is based in in Garstang near Preston – and have organised several volunteer days to carry out extensive gardening, painting & decorating and internal repairs.

The team has worked hard to build strong relationships with other teams and suppliers – but also with each other, and that is reflected in the amount of cross-sponsorship for professional registration.

The Challenges the team had to overcome:

The challenges within the programme have been significant, with the loss of not one but two, major contractors for the electrification works (Balfour Beatty Rail pulling out of UK construction; and then the liquidation of Carillion). This increased the amount of work for the team to re-establish the assurance arrangements with the supply chain, including transfer of key professional appointees, design and construction liabilities, and handover of completion paperwork. The first loss (BB Rail) also led to the breakup of an Alliance set for delivery of the works, which was then replaced by an unavoidable but exceptionally complex hub and spoke arrangement. This considerably increased the integration responsibility placed on the Network Rail team.

They faced up to that with a combination of additional resources, and a new collaborative/innovative arrangement, such as risk based delegation of design acceptance to the supply chain.

Technically, there have been challenges too, with considerable problems related to mine working underneath the railway for which the team was able to provide a new innovative way to manage mine working risk evaluation, as well as undertaking sophisticated modelling work within the team to justify that approach.

There has also been greater scrutiny on electrical safety and interoperable performance of the overhead line equipment in terms of European TSI requirements, and managing safety risks to the satisfaction of the Office of Rail and Road. The team worked closely with the regulator and drew on expertise from other programmes to develop a successful approach to these challenges.

Overall, the challenge of continuing to adopt the latest technology and design range for Overhead Line Equipment (OLE), new containerised sub-stations, telecoms, signalling and SCADA, in combination with splintering of disciplines into bite size chunks to aid delivery, has demanded an exceptional effort from the team.

In response to workforce safety concerns, the team responded admirably by substantially increasing their level of site workforce engagement, something which had a notable impact on Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate and finished product quality. This is particularly commendable considering that it came at a time when workload was already very high.

Why this team deserves recognition:

Many of the problems with electrification programmes are plain for all to see and have been publicised widely recently. However, when you consider that three separate projects (Phase 3, 4 and 5) totalling approx. £900m – have been delivered, along with the development of Phase 7 (Lostock to Wigan) and a significant interface with the Ordsall Chord, within the same 2016 – 2019 construction timeframe, this is a truly outstanding achievement. This also comes hard on the heels of delivering the two previous stages, meaning that the same core team have been delivering under intense and sustained pressure for more than five long years.

The culmination of all those challenges has been met with the usual long hours, weekend working etc., to secure key commissioning’s. However, it is the teams long standing resilience and attitude that deserves particular recognition; being prepared to challenge standards, waste and unsafe working, to seek out collaborative relationships, holding suppliers and each other to account, and doing their best to present a positive and professional face to our internal and external customers.

In our last year of delivering the current electrification programme in the North West, the Rail Infrastructure Team of the Year would indeed be a fitting accolade.“