The South Rail Systems Alliance (SRSA) were mobilised over the May Bank Holiday Weekend, where they undertook a number of works at Cardiff Central Station.
The South Rail Systems Alliance (SRSA) were mobilised over the May Bank Holiday Weekend, where they undertook a number of works at Cardiff Central Station.
The track renewals scope of works included:
- Various switch and crossing installations
- Platform adjustments
- Tamping
- Signalling
- Underbridge ballast retention
- Welding
The 3-day blockade including several Adjacent Lines Open to enable the continuous operations of trains through the station, reducing the impact of the works to the operational train timetable.
The project was delivered using four Engineering Trains, two Tampers, and a 40Tonne heavy lifting Road Rail Vehicles to tandem lift track panels into their final position.
Construction took place in compliance with social distancing measures implemented by the UK Government, with the SRSA introducing ‘COVID-19 Champions’ on site to ensure that staff stayed 2m apart, issuing and replacing face masks to protect all employees throughout their shift and managing site cleanliness.
To ensure safety of all staff additional measures were implemented, including equipment to check temperature levels of personnel entering site via state of the art temperature recognition camera system installed into a self-contained ethanol powered welfare unit.
Continuing their sustainable approach, all SRSA cabins and lights were powered by solar technology or batteries supplied from Prolectric.
Colas Rail UK Project Lead Joseph Smales can be seen discussing the changes implemented due to Covid-19 and how works are progressing:
Speaking about the project, Network Rail’s Head of Transformation, Nick Matthews said:
“Despite COVID-19 and the unique problems the social distancing measures present on the SRSA Worksites, The SRSA Wales and Western (W&W) Team delivered the renewal at Cardiff to the delight of Regional Managing Director, Mark Langham.
As Head of Transformation I was pleased to see that despite the difficulties of COVID-19 the W&W team still went the extra mile. Not only was the welfare and lighting fuel free, they were the first team to use the new Mobile Welfare Units to ensure welfare was provided at the point of work.
On top of all that innovation the team also trialled infrared cameras to carry out body temperature surveillance checks on the workforce to detect any possible COVID 19 symptoms. Well done to everyone involved on this successful project.”
The SRSA is an Alliance between Colas Rail UK, Network Rail and AECOM.
