Amey’s Rail team has completed a project to restore historic station canopies at Wellingborough and Kettering. The smaller canopy at Wellingborough was taken down for off-site work, while refurbishment was undertaken in situ at Kettering. ‘Working on Grade II listed structures brings with it many challenges’, said Iain Boyes, Principal Project Manager for Amey Rail. ‘We certainly learnt lessons on how to manage 19th century manufacturing techniques during the three-year project period and look forward in undertaking similar projects in the future.’
Network Rail plans to call tenders in February 2023 for the supply of renewable electricity to support government net zero objectives. NR will initially seek to procure between 0·5 and 1 TWh per year of renewable electricity directly from a generator through a physical power purchase agreement with a contract value of up to £1·25bn. It is willing to consider periods of up to 25 years, with supply by one or more counterparties from one or more assets from 2026. NR’s total annual electricity requirements are around 4·1 TWh for traction and 0·45 TWh for other purposes.
Trainline is offering 10 000 discounts of £10 each on train travel to women’s professional football matches in England this season, for bookings made by the end of August.
As part of HS2 Ltd’s Innovation programme, a Skanska Costain Strabag JV tower crane on the London Euston approach site that would normally be powered by a 500 kVA diesel generator is instead being driven by a 200 kVA generator paired with a 350 mm diameter energy storage flywheel. This was developed and supplied by Silverstone-based engineering specialist Punch Flybrid. Surplus power during low load periods is used to charge the spinning flywheel to very high speeds, with the kinetic energy quickly released to support the generator when the crane demands maximum power to lift heavy loads.
To increase clearance for Glasgow – Barrhead electrification, contractor Bam Nuttall is demolishing and replacing the Nithsdale Road overbridge in Glasgow’s Southside. This ‘removes a key blocker to the installation of the overhead wires that will enable the electrification of the line to Barrhead by December 2023’, said Network Rail’s project manager Allan Wilson.
Network Rail has appointed Sonic Rail Services, Pod-Trak, Cleshar Contract Services and Balfour Beatty Rail to a £48m framework agreement for the delivery of track works in the Wessex Route of the Southern Region.
ChangeGroup has signed a long-term contract to offer currency exchange services at St Pancras International, with two currency exchange branches and 10 ATMs.