Recruitment
““Keith has been an inspirational leader to me for the last 5 years we have worked together. The railway is his passion. I have seen him nurture young talent and he is respected by all. He provides a guiding hand and makes always makes time to give advice. His opinion is always sort and valued from all apprentices to Vice Presidents. He is highly motivated and works extremely hard to achieve results, and brings his team along on the journey.
In complex and time pressured situations Keith calmly breaks down the problem and pushes for solutions. He never backs away until it is resolved. Keith has taught me a lot and I have been honoured to be on his team which has been extremely rewarding. Keith has made a lasting impression in the railway industry and hopefully he will be proud with the legacy he will leave behind. He fully deserves this recognition.–
“Having worked directly to Keith for the last 6 years, I have been both inspired and informed whilst guiding a path through very complex engineering programmes. Keith is always available to provide experienced judgement for multi-disciplinary issues, whilst at the same time always being open to challenge and willing to consider alternative methodology and solutions.
Keith is well respected throughout the industry, for his approach to difficult situations and his ability to analyse and propose solutions to key technical and commercial challenges. On a personal basis, I have gained immeasurable knowledge and experience through working directly with Keith, forming a good working relationship, underpinned by the formation of a good personal relationship, upon which I could rely wherever future career paths lie.“
“On behalf of Civil Design Team working within the Power Supply Upgrade Project, (PSU) we would like to nominate Keith Earnshaw as the Rail Manager of the Year, RailStaff Awards 2019.
Keith Earnshaw has worked in the Railway industry for 30 years and currently holds a key role within the Jacob’s Rail Management Leadership Team. He is responsible for the strategic development of technical services and technology with a focus on promoting Jacob’s business plans for growth
Day-to-day, Keith is the Alliance Engineering Director for Rail Electrification Alliance (REAL); an alliance partnership of six organisations, consisting of Network Rail, VolkerRail, Siemens, Murphy, Systra TSP and Jacobs to deliver Network Rail electrification projects. REAL has been created to provide Network Rail with an exemplary team that combines in-house application of new and innovative technologies and methodology as well as excellence in collaboration with market-leading performance in the delivery of electrification. Keith currently oversees technical delivery and performance across all REAL partners for East Coast Mainline Power Supply Upgrade (ECM PSU).
This multi-disciplinary design and construction upgrade works directly supports the InterCity Express Programme to provide an enhanced traction power supply to enable the introduction of faster, quieter and cleaner trains to run on the East Coast Mainline. This upgrade will also pave the way for the introduction of a new fleet of Class 800 ‘Azuma’ trains which are manufactured in the UK by Hitachi. Publicly, the benefits of this upgrade also mean more seats with additional services followed by improved performance and reliability for the passengers. This is at the forefront of “putting the passenger first†ethos. With the new trains it will also reduce the amount of maintenance required for OLE with the new pantograph design.
ECM PSU is split into 2 phases; Phase 1 – 246km route between Wood Green, London to Bawtry near Doncaster, and Phase 2 – 386km route between Doncaster and Edinburgh.
The first phase, consists of the design and construction of 23 new Feeder Stations with associated Civils, HV, LV, OLE & Telecoms designs which will provide the 25kV supply to the mainline. The second phase, consists of the design and construction of 27 new Feeder Stations, installing 1000km of new cables, new OLE structures and 2 new Static Frequency Converter Compounds with 132kV supply connection points. Phase 1 began in 2014 and construction works are scheduled to complete in 2020, while detailed design on Phase 2 will commence in autumn 2019 with construction anticipated to complete by 2023.
REAL has pioneered new technologies through the replacement and installation of over 50 Feeder Stations using containerised switchgears, housing Air-insulated Switch-Gear (ASG) equipment - with only 3 traditional ‘external switchgears - using Structure Mounted Outdoor Switchgear (SMOS) remaining at Langley, Corey’s Mill and Welwyn. Cost savings for the project have been made possible by using ASG installations, which are cheaper and quicker to install when compared to traditional SMOS systems.
National Grid have made modifications to the existing supply point at Wymondley (Corey’s Mill) feeding the new SMOS. These works have only possible by establishing a robust working relationship between National Grid and REAL which Keith has been instrumental in.
Keith’s commitment, involvement and passion to value engineering has inspired and enabled the project team to deliver several millions of pounds in cost savings to the client while still achieving the original project requirements specification. Alongside the Alliance partners, Keith is also continuously seeking to develop pragmatic optimisation and savings as part of the integrated disciplinary review and checks between Network Rail, designer and construction. He is an exemplary leader with his proactive, flexible and collaborative personality continuously encouraging and challenging those around him to innovate and provide value engineering in terms of new technology and methodology.
Keith also plays an important role with regards to safety by taking a hands-on approach by working tirelessly with the site teams to gain an understanding of the construction site queries and taking feedback to designer to champion the ‘lessons learnt’ initiative. The work he undertakes encouraging a collaborative working culture between the designers, construction team and operations including regular meetings with the Network Rail RAM team allows continuous design improvements to be made with regards to safety. His commitment to site safety is evident especially when this year he spent a Sunday evening supporting the OLE team out on site in 33˚C heat!
Despite the fact that the majority of Keith’s work takes place ‘behind the scenes’ his effort and commitment to the industry over the last 6 years have played a key role in REAL becoming the proud winner of the Electrification category in the 2018 UK Rail Industry awards and further shortlisted for 2 other categories: Outstanding Project (Large) and Product Innovation. His influence is far reaching and profound; largely due to the time and energy he puts in travelling between offices and sites to passing on advice and information across disciplines benefits combined with his relentless quest for improved safety by design and innovation and his passion for project excellence.
For all the reasons listed above I believe Keith is a worthy winner for Rail Manager of the Year“
“Keith is an integral and valued member of the REAL Alliances leadership team. He is highly experienced and very knowledgeable and is more than willing to offer his thoughts and opinions on all matters. He is a collaborative individual, a good listener and able to adjust his approach in consideration of the ideas of others.
Keith is a team player and looks to challenge our thinking on a daily basis, he is always driving for solutions to the complex problems we encounter and has been a key part of the Alliances successes through the years.
Keith is a motivated and driven individual and is keen to ensure the Alliance performs to its optimum in all aspects.“
“I would like to thank you for a great night on Saturday at the ICC in Birmingham, everybody on the GrantRail table thoroughly enjoyed themselves.”
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