Day 1
13:00 - Technical Visits
13:00-15:00
TYSELEY DEPOT
Tyseley Depot was first a steam locomotive depot but is currently operated by London Midland for maintenance of Class 150 and 172 diesel locomotives. The tour will show the facilities in operation for these diesel trains.
SALTLEY WEST MIDLANDS SIGNALLING CENTRE
The signalling centre’s primary function is to house a number of signalling workstations that control most of the Midlands Railways / train movements in and out of the region. Full capacity has not yet been reached, but is expected to be reached by September 2015.
Support staff in the form of control technicians and telecom staff perform checks and attend to alarms and faults that occur. They also liaise with track-side teams and assist them with faults and line blockages.
OXLEY DEPOT
Alstom’s traction and rolling stock maintenance depot at Oxley is used to maintain the Virgin Trains Pendolino stock for the West Coast Main Line. With the Pendolino being one of the fastest domestic electric multiple units operating in Britain, the tour provides an exciting opportunity to discover the maintenance procedures required for such high-spec technology and to get closer to the trains themselves.
BIRMINGHAM CITY CENTRE TRAM CONSTRUCTION WORKS
Midland Metro, which has now been operating for 15 years, has a long standing aspiration to expand. Funding was agreed in 2010 for a £122m first phase investment to include a city centre extension in Birmingham, a new fleet of trams and a major extension to the depot. The visit will view the ongoing works in Birmingham and take a ride on the existing line to the depot facility at Wednesbury to view the new tram fleet and depot extension. During the visit there will be the opportunity to discuss the technical challenges, funding and benefits of the scheme.
19:00
PUB QUIZ AT 'RAISING THE BAR' CAMPUS
Day 2
09:00 - Full day programme
09:00
REGISTRATION & REFRESHMENTS
09:30
WELCOME
09:40
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: THE HISTORIC CHALLENGE OF STORING ENERGY FOR RAILWAY TRACTION
Felix Schmid, Professor of Railway Systems Engineering, University of Birmingham
• Minimising energy storage volume and mass is a major challenge
• Early railway traction used inefficient bio-chemical energy storage
• Wood and coal fired stationary and motive boilers as major advances
• Diesel and petrol as highly efficient storage media
• What other easy and efficient options are there for storing energy?
10:10
ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION
Carolyn Griffiths, Chief Inspector, Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB)
• How the RAIB contributes to the improvement of the safety of the railway – what the outputs of the organisation are and how these are used
• How accidents are analysed and root causes determined
• How the work of the RAIB has led to changes in the industry
10:30
LEVEL CROSSINGS
Darren Furness, Programme Manager, Network Rail
• Identifying level crossings involved with a high number of incidents
• Using improved technology to upgrade them to better and safer systems
10:50
DISCUSSION SESSION
11:00
NETWORKING REFRESHMENT BREAK
11:20
CROSSRAIL
Jon Jarrett, Head of Maintenance and RAM, Crossrail
• Knowing your product first
• Influencing design now for future operations and maintenance requirements
• The application of technology to deliver risk-based intervention
• Maximising predictive Crossrail maintenance - no surprises
• Application of best practice – leading edge or cutting edge
11:40
TRANSFORMATION PROJECT
Jane Simpson, Technical Services Director, Network Rail
• What is the Transformation Project?
• What is required to achieve a railway that has no performance-affecting failures?
12:00
MODELLING OF FRICTION TRAIN ARRESTOR
Toby Oliver, Project Engineer – Track Partnership, Transport for London
• A look back at accidents in terminal stations
• The London Underground sub-surface railway upgrade programme
• Friction train arrestor impact modelling
12:20
APPLYING LESSONS LEARNT - A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE
Andy Course MBE, Chief Operating Officer, Eversholt Rail
• An engineer’s lesson when ‘all at sea’
• How lessons learnt in ships have helped with trains
12:50
DISCUSSION SESSION
13:00
LUNCH
14:00
TEAM CHALLENGE
Over the course of Thursday afternoon teams will work on a practical engineering challenge. The groups will build and test their designs, focusing on meeting the set requirements and delivering a sustainable and economical product. The practical activity will give evidence for competencies B1, B3 and E3 from the UK-SPEC.
17:00
CLOSE OF TEAM CHALLENGE
19:00
FORMAL DRINKS RECEPTION AND DINNER
Day 3
09:00 - Full day programme
09:00
TEAM CHALLENGE
Following the build and test, teams will be given the opportunity to present their design. The presentations will help to develop the participants ability and confidence in communicating technical information. Another aspect to be explored will be the behavioural side of the process – encouraging team members to analyse the way they worked and what their role in the team was. The session will provide evidence for competencies D2 and D3 from the UK-SPEC.
11:00
NETWORKING REFRESHMENT BREAK
11:20
CONVERSION OF THE 25KV TRACTION POWER SUPPLY TO AUTO-TRANSFORMER FEEDING
Ellen Wintle, Senior Route Asset Manager, Network Rail
• Overview of the WCML Power Supply Upgrade Project
• What have been the key challenges?
• How do we learn from these for our future electrification schemes?
11:40
CLASS 321 DEMONSTRATOR
Mark Wallace, Engineering Project Manager, Wabtec Rail
Procurement of a new fleet is a costly exercise
• Disposal of an ageing fleet has significant economic and environmental impacts
• Modernising existing fleets can give the look and feel of a new fleet for a fraction of the cost
12:00
DISCUSSION SESSION
12:10
LUNCH
13:10
EUROPEAN RAIL TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - ERTMS
Robert Watson, Consultant, Rail Control Systems, Interfleet
• The challenges of delivering safety and capacity for the railway
• All about ERTMS – what it is, why have it, how it works and its implications for the UK railway
• Work being carried out to deliver ERTMS for the UK
13:30
HS2: REDEFINING BRITAIN’S RAILWAYS
Amanda White, Senior Route Engineer (North West), HS2 Ltd
• The project, the network and timescales
• Technology challenges and route engineering
• Lessons learnt and why it’s not just a ‘copy and paste’ railway
• Opportunities
13:50
DISCUSSION SESSION
14:00
QUESTION TIME
A panel of industry speakers and senior managers debate the hot topics that confront railway engineers today.
15:00
CLOSE OF EVENT