Ellie Lloyd

Said the following about Heathrow Airport Alliance:

“The problem

Damage, wear and tear and other anomalies can cause chipping to the pantograph’s carbon strip, as well as increased wear and damage to overhead line equipment, resulting in the need for unnecessary maintenance and high restoration costs. In some cases, this damage to overhead lines can bring networks to a complete standstill while damage is repaired, resulting in widespread disruption and delays.

The Heathrow Express rail link to Heathrow Airport carries around 17,000 passengers on up to 150 services every day, and any disruption to these services can have an extremely negative impact on Heathrow Airport Holdings Limited’s outstanding reputation.

In December 2015, Heathrow Express lost revenues in the region of £300,000 per day due to the knock-on effects of a damaged pantograph on one of its trains. This piece of equipment consequently damaged overhead line equipment, resulting in three days of lost service and just under £1m total lost revenue due to delays and disruption.

The solution - Pantobot 3D

The conventional method of inspection originally used to monitor the Heathrow Express pantographs was extremely time-consuming, as well as being open to human interpretation, adding a risk of human error in spotting and monitoring any issues.

As the UK’s railways get even busier and the demands placed on infrastructure grow, these traditional methods of monitoring wear and tear are increasingly unable to keep pace.

Pantobot 3D, Camlin’s innovative smart pantograph monitoring system offers 3D analysis of damage to the pantograph on every axis with incredible precision. The system has the to recognise and monitor a variety of different pantographs operating on the same network and record wear and tear in order to anticipate any issues that may arise in future, as well as providing instant alerts for damaged equipment.

Heathrow approached Camlin Rail to begin discussions for a solution to the problems they had faced in 2015, and in September 2018 the Pantobot 3D was installed by Pod-Trak and Camlin in the Heathrow Express tunnel entrance, both up and down road.

The fully automated inspection system is a UK industry first and allows the operator to make real-time decisions based on the actual condition of the pantograph, allowing for much quicker repairs when necessary, as well as a better ability to plan preventative maintenance.

The system uses a number of cameras and LED lights to automatically recognise and classify the pantograph model and contact strip, before analysing the degree of wear and checking that the pantograph is in good condition, with all the right points of contact and no bends or abnormalities.

Delivery

In October 2017, Heathrow formally engaged Camlin Rail, the supplier of the Pantobot 3D, to discuss the options available to improve efficiencies on the Heathrow Express line. The company then approached civil and structural designers Fairhurst & Partners to begin works on the design, followed by input from installation contractor Pod-Trak to review the design constructability, all the while working closely with Network Rail to ensure the project met their requirements.

Throughout the project, all stakeholders worked closely together to share expertise, ensuring that what could have been a complicated endeavour was an all-round success.

Planning also included Pod-Trak securing heavy plant, machinery and key resources to ensure that the installation could be carried out safely and efficiently, and key stakeholders such as Prologis Park were approached to agree the use of third-party land to position heavy machinery such as HIAB handling equipment.

In the run up to the installation, weekly conference calls were held with all parties in the alliance to ensure that any potential issues were addressed and resolved appropriately – allowing for the smoothest installation process possible.

Following the work carried out in the design stages by Camlin and Fairhurst, Pod-Trak’s team stepped up with a wealth of experience in the rail sector to bring the project to life.

Pod-Trak undertook the full electrical design (including OLE earthling designs) to support the new system and also carried out the associated civil engineering works and full LV electrical installation required to power the new system.

Working closely with Heathrow, Pod-Trak managed all aspects of the access planning, project planning and scheduling. This ensured that all teams could work together efficiently on site, having already taken into consideration the constraints that come with working in on a railway line.

All dates were set out in advance to ensure that each stage could be completed to an outstanding standard, even while sticking to a tight schedule.

In May 2018 the design was submitted to Network Rail and approved a month later, before the standard 12 weeks of planning for installation. Enabling works such as the installation of power and containment works were carried our beforehand in order to minimise the risks around the installation as much as possible.

The level of detail required overcome these challenges meant that this process of design, construction, planning and approval took 11 months in total. As soon as the design was approved and planned, however, work was carried out with incredible efficiency and the project was installed and commissioned in just two weeks.

Partnership

Working alongside four other companies on this project posed significant challenges for Heathrow. In order to avoid any inefficiencies or unnecessary complications, the delivery team was viewed as an alliance from the outset, with a partnership working ethos embedded into all processes and planning with the wider stakeholder group.

One of the key factors in this project’s success was the strength of this alliance. Having companies from different ends of the supply chain come together to take advantage of multiple competences is precisely what allowed the team to build value for Heathrow Airport. Each stage of the project was planned and carried out collaboratively, creating advantages by treating the alliance as a living system and allowing it to progress and evolve constantly in its capabilities.

Before any installation work commenced, Heathrow held a number of meetings with Pod-Trak, the project’s installation contractor. These pre-start meetings addressed a number of factors including:

• Work phase and health and safety planning

• Access requirements and windows of opportunity

• Staffing levels appropriate to the work and access restrictions, utilising a fluid team of engineers dependent upon works required, access opportunities and mobilisation restrictions

• Installation methods in line with this challenging location

Working closely with Pod-Trak and Fairhurst & Partners, Heathrow was able to overcome the challenges created by the site’s limited space. The lack of space, combined with the number of stakeholders on site, meant that at times the space was very congested, adding constraints to the work being carried out. In addition, installing heavy infrastructure made of steel was made even more difficult by the lack of ground-level access on site.

Benefits

The level of control that the Pantobot 3D offers the Heathrow Airport team to monitor equipment and plan preventative maintenance is guaranteed to have positive effects on the service it provides to its customers. Unexpected downtime will be greatly reduced, and events like the three-day shutdown in 2015 can be avoided.

The system will also extend the lifespan of overhead line infrastructure by protecting it from non-compliant pantographs, offering significant reductions in cost and creating value that can be passed on to customers.

This was the product’s very first installation in the UK, but it is hoped that as more companies across the country replace their traditional pantograph monitoring equipment with Camlin Rail’s system, the impact on the entire network’s reliability and efficiency will pass on benefits for both the industry and its passengers.“