Areas
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Events Round Up
The Area Councils have organised a host of webinar events with excellent speakers over the past 18 months . We will be continuing to put on webinars , along with face-to-face events in the future .
Some of the webinars that have taken place over the past months are available for members to view by logging into the ciro . org website on CIRO TV :
• Andrew Haines , CEO Network Rail : Operations in a post-COVID World
• Cross Industry Ops . Panel Discussion Featuring Mark Goodall , John Robson , Darren Ward , Nick Westcott and Martin Colmey
• A Railway Journey – The Career of Billy Gilpin
• Transforming the Customer Experience by Tracy Barr , Head of Customer Experience , Northern
CIRO New Members Event
By Glen Merryman , South East Area Council Wednesday 13th October saw the first face to face event that the South East area have held since the day before the first Covid 19 Lockdown . During that period online events have been a huge success with a range of topics covered and great attendances . However , it was clear from those who attended the New Members Reception that the opportunity to network and share experiences with colleagues from other parts of the industry had been missed . As we were not able to hold a similar event last year this reception was open to people who had joined CIRO in the last two years .
That meant that we had new members from as far afield as Stourbridge and York showing the enthusiasm of those who have joined . Ben Rule , Infrastructure Management Director at HS2 and CIRO Board Member introduced new members . He gave an overview of his career along with some tips for those early in their careers based on his personal experience . Ben extolled the virtues of taking the opportunity to get hands on experience early in your career if you get the chance . He also explained the benefit that CIRO had given him in terms of the connections he has gained by his membership .
To top off a very successful event we welcomed Andrew Love the 10,000th member to CIRO . Thank you to all who attended and contributed to a great event .
www . ciro . org by Paul Snowden , North East Area Council Of the many closed lines that are currently being proposed for possible reopening to passenger traffic , one which is close to coming to fruition is the Northumberland line . This is being actively promoted and jointly funded by Northumberland County Council and the Department for Transport , working with AECOM & SLC Rail , Network Rail and Northern .
Mike Haigh , Programme Director at SLC Rail , gave 170 IRO members a fascinating insight into the planning for this project . The line north-east of Newcastle-upon-Tyne running to Ashington and beyond was one of the passenger line closures ensuing from the Beeching Report ; the reopened line will be around 18 miles long with six new stations . Services will then continue on to Newcastle Central . The aim is to start passenger services in Winter 2023 , subject to a final DfT ‘ Decision to Deliver ’ in November 2021 .
Whilst Mike focused on the operations aspects , he covered a wide range of topics , including :
• This is primarily a regeneration project , with the aims of better access to education , employment and housing development ; creating a sustainable modal shift from road to rail ; and economic growth . In particular , there is a significant amount of new housing planned in the area , which is currently relatively poorly served by public transport . The economic benefits will be over £ 450 million , with a benefit-cost ratio of over 4 .
• The cost of re-opening will be mainly funded from the Restoring Your Railway Fund , with a significant contribution from Northumberland County Council ; however , subsidy requirement is anticipated to be zero by Year 5 at a UK level .
• Anticipated passenger numbers are forecast to rise to nearly 1.5 million per annum after the initial demand ramp up period .
• How engineering and operational design and specification are integrated .
Mike ’ s talk included plenty of time for some lively questions and answers , and we owe him a big thank you for a most interesting and informative session .
• Delivering Outstanding Operational Performance by Jay Thompson & Martin Beable
• Richard Byrne , ORR – an insight into the role of the Rail Regulator
• Ricky Barsby : East Coast Upgrade Project
• Mike Haigh : Northumberland Line Re-opening
• Graham Force and Gabriel Stroud : Competence Management on the Railway
We would like to thank all of the speakers for their time and interesting insights , and all look forward the hearing about the next events to be held online and across the UK , Ireland , Australia and New Zealand .
Northumberland Line Re-opening 14th April 2021
Ricky Barsby :
East Coast Main Line Upgrade , 11th May 2021
by Phil Thickett , North East Area Council Ricky Barsby , East Coast Upgrade Manager at LNER explained The East Coast Main Line is a key rail route , carrying over 20 million passengers a year , of which 90 % are for leisure and where 30 % of people live within 20 miles of the route which connects London and Edinburgh via Peterborough , Doncaster , York , Darlington , Durham and Newcastle . His role for London North Eastern Rail was to manage rail passengers , train service alterations , bus replacement services .
The route upgrades by Network Rail are a huge investment programme of £ 1.2billion , the upgrade has already delivered notable benefits and improvements for both passengers and freight . It will allow LNER and other operators to run faster and more reliable journeys between London , the north of England and Scotland across the ECML .
The upgrades include Station Platform Turnback ; Signalling Modifications ; ECML Power Supply Upgrade , Werrington Junction Dive Under Tunnel ; King Cross Station Upgrade Remodelling ; North and South Tunnel Ramps .
King Cross Station Upgrade Remodelling
The old and new track layout at Kings Cross Station
North and South Tunnel Ramps
During a nine-day partial closure of the East Coast Main Line in January 2021 , the 11,000 tonne , 155-metre curved concrete box tunnel was pushed into place under the main line using large jacks . This is the first time that a curved concrete box has been installed using this industry-leading engineering technique in the UK .
Many thanks to Ricky for his detailed talk and question and answer session .
The Bulletin | Issue 48 | November 2021