As part of Metro Trains Melbourne (MTM) on-going programme to improve the customer experience at Flinders Street Station, Global Rail Australia was awarded the contract to deliver the installation of a new entry ramp linking the existing platform 10 and the Southbank district of Melbourne’s Central Business District.
The scope involved the various complexities with working around a live railway environment, accentuated further by integrating these works around Victoria’s largest train station. Flinders Street Station is widely acknowledged as the preeminent landmark on Victoria’s rail network and welcomes in excess of 110,000 patrons daily. A key challenge was mitigating any impact on passengers and services throughout the project.
Global Rail Australia undertook to provide a new public access ramp with a modern overhead canopy designed to complement the existing heritage listed canopies. In addition, improved back of house facilities such as drivers huts and storage compounds also formed part of the scope.
Having a multi-disciplinary workforce with rail, civil and structural installation expertise, Mechanical and Electrical plus general construction capabilities, along with in house construction management, allowed Global Rail Australia to provide a compelling bid and ultimately deliver a highprofile scope of works in the heart of Melbourne’s Central Business District.
Rail infrastructure contractor Global Rail Services was awarded accessibility works at three railway stations on behalf of Irish Rail in August 2016.
Customers at Rathdrum, Mullinger and Leixlip Louisa Bridge Stations are now benefiting from Global Rail Services’ extensive experience in delivering construction solutions that enhance and improve their passenger experience.
The project was successfully completed, with key project milestones being met and a high quality end product to match, with Global Rail Services effectively managing and delivering the full suite of stakeholder expectations.
The works include complex in-situ civil engineering works, temporary works, roads and pavings, as well as rail engineering activities in respect of upgrading station platforms and railway pedestrian access. Global Rail Services also used its full infrastructure contracting experience to manage and deliver the interface between the highway and railway authorities.
The works were completed in a phased manner, with a final completion date of February 2017. To ensure that each milestone was achieved, Global Rail Services prepared detailed programmes and schedules and provided a dedicated and co-ordinated approach to project management throughout the works. Liaison with a myriad of stakeholders, along with a collaborative approach to these works, has paved the way for a professional delivery that has met and exceeded expectations.
Procurement of long lead items and contract approvals has formed an integral part of the project success. Global Rail Services has used its rail engineering experience to deliver a fully managed multi-disciplinary rail project to the delight of the client.
As part of Metro Trains Melbourne’s (MTM) on-going programme to improve the railway network, Global Rail Australia (Global Rail) was awarded the contract to deliver the installation of the new covered walkway structures at Caulfield Railway Station.
After a very competitive tenderprocess, Global Rail was awarded the contract in Mid-2016, for commencement on site in August 2016. The works formed a key project milestone for the overall Bayside Rail Project.
The scope involved the various complexities with working around a live railway environment. Caulfield Railway Station is one of the busiest in the Metropolitan system in Melbourne, with –up to 25,000 commuters a day passing through the station. Works involved a mixture of day and night shifts to minimise impact on the station, which was required to remain fully operational at all times.
Global Rail undertook to provide two new Heritage approved walkway cover structures, fabricated and installed to provide weather-proof covering to the existing access ramps (north and south sides) to the underpass at the station, including all associated mechanical and electrical (M&E) services to the structures. The provision of modern state-of-the-art lighting was a key feature of the project.
Having a multi-disciplinary workforce including rail, civil and structural installation expertise, M&E, and general construction capabilities, along with in-house project management, allowed Global Rail to provide a compelling bid, deliver on programme to the client’s expectations and produce a high-quality final finish to such a visible and keynote project for MTM.
Following previous successful contracts with Kier, Global Rail Construction Ltd (GRCL) again delivered a compelling tender and, in early 2016, was awarded the civil engineering scope of works for the Feltham Resignalling Project Phase 0 (Shepperton Branch).
The major resignalling project to renew life expired signalling, telecoms and power assets on behalf of railway systems giant Atkins, comprised the renewal of 538 Signalling Equivalent Units (SEUs).
The geographical work-scope, which covers over 80 miles of railway lines also included, for the first time, the introduction of Atkins brand new signalling system – Elix.
Works were planned during mid-week days and nights, Saturday nights and four 28-hour railway possessions between weeks 48 and 14, leading up to a 15-day blockade commencing in Week 16, between 16th and 31st July 2016.
Having a multi-disciplinary workforce including rail, civil and structural installation expertise, along with in-house project management, and having previously delivered time-pressurised re-signalling schemes, allowed Global Rail Construction to provide a delivery solution, one which the client readily accepted.
In April 2014, UK rail contractor Global Rail Construction Limited (GRCL). fought off stiff competition to be awarded the design and construction of the civil engineering scope of works (Grip 5-8), for the East Notts Modular Resignalling scheme on behalf of Alstom.
The remitted signalling renewals on Network Rail’s East Midlands Route, consisted of the replacement of life expired mechanical signalling equipment, with Alstom’s state of the art modular signalling concept.
This flagship project involved the use of Alstom’s latest obstacle detection (OD) technology at 9 separate level crossing sites, on both the Nottingham to Grantham and the Nottingham to Newark lines.
The project was to be completed whilst adhering with two critical project milestones commissioning dates in March 2015 and November 2015, culminating in final test, handback and completion in November 2016.
The project was also cutting edge in its safe working processes, as it also became the first project in the UK to implement NR//L2/OHS/133 – Network Rail’s brand new Code of Practice for Planning and Delivering Safe Work.
Global Rail Construction self delivered much of the work scope using their in-house civil and structural engineering teams.
As part of Metro Trains Melbourne on-going program to improve the railway network, Global Rail Australia were initially awarded a contract to install 10No platform shelters of various sizes across the metro networks metropolitan stations.
Having successfully delivered the first Phase, Global Rail Australia was awarded further contracts and to date Global Rail Australia have installed 25 platform shelters at various locations.
The works commenced in April 2015 and form a fundamental part of the MORN programme to improve passenger experience at metropolitan railway stations around Melbourne.
The scope involves the complexities of working around a live railway environment, materials management and site logistics, to then construct at each site a new shelter consisting of a fabricated and powder coated structural steel frame, a new roof, guttering and downpipes, perforated side panels, new seating and associated bases, new ceiling panelling and electrical lighting works.
Having a multi-disciplinary workforce including Civil and Structural Engineering, M&E and General Construction along with in-house project management, allowed Global Rail Australia to provide a compelling bid, deliver to program and produce a high quality finish on every occasion.
GRA Networks Ireland were selected by global telecoms and software giant LCC, as a result of their compelling offering to provide a fully project managed service, creating a delivery solution for the modification of the existing single radio access network at 80No locations, many of which included an upgrade to 4G technology.
LCC, who were engaged on behalf of Vodafone Ireland, engaged with GRA Networks Ireland as a result of their impressive offering, which provided a fully costed, efficient end-to-end hand-back solution and included a meticulous programme of works, incorporating concurrent multi-site working and complete adherence to the challenges of working ‘live’ in a fully operational network.
The core objective being to modify and renew the single radio access network and upgrade the equipment to provide 4G capability, without impacting the operational running and integrity of the communication network during the works.
This project formed part of Vodafone’s DARWIN upgrade project to provide upgraded 4G network capabilities to 26 countries throughout the world.
Following Global Rail Construction’s notable success in securing a Principal Contractors licence, its signalling division was invited to provide the most advantageous offer to fully manage a project on Network Rail’s (NR) Wessex route. The scope of works included for planning, surveying, installing and commissioning of 509No Hima-Sella Tracklink 3 beacons, including the careful recovery of the existing beacons for refurbishment and re-use, all under SMT conditions.
The system known as Automatic Selective Door Operation (ASDO), provides the train operator – in this case South West Trains – with technology that compares the length of the train with the length of the platform, sending a signal to the driver so that only the correct amount of doors on the platform side are opened.
With more people travelling by train, many train operators are increasing the number of carriages and whilst the infrastructure owners are also increasing platform capacity to afford the extended trains, there will be many stations that will not have sufficient platform length to allow all doors to open.
The principal function of this technology is contained within an electronic beacon installed at each station location, which is fitted to the track at a pre-determined datum point to the existing sleepers and is mounted within the mid-point between the rails known as the 4ft.
The beacon itself is a passive component that utilises radio frequencies and communicates with a beacon reader, which is fitted to the train and then this in turn decodes the data taken from the beacon.
Having provided a comprehensive offering Global Rail Construction were contracted by Network Rail in the Summer of 2014, to meet two key project milestones as part of a two-phased programme in October 2014 and December 2015.
Global Rail Australia successfully secured by competitive tender the design and construction of platform upgrade works at both Wangaratta and Benalla stations by V/ Line – the government-owned corporation that operates the regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia.
Offering an innovative design solution for the works, Global Rail Australia’s proposal, provided V/Line with a cost effective multi-disciplinary solution and a fully managed service that both minimized disruption and reduced the requirement for operational interface at each station. This project to upgrade redundant platforms at Wangaratta and Benalla Stations, was necessitated by the increase in freight and passenger services and allowed these stations to be brought fully back into service.
The scope of the works which included tactile tile installation, augmentation of the existing CCTV and PA systems and associated access works at Wangaratta – including the upgrade of the platform ramp, adjacent landscaping, removal of sleepers, new signage and application of a non-slip coating – allowed Global Rail Australia to supply the full breadth of its in-house services across, M&E, civil engineering and general construction. Operating in a live railway environment, Global Rail Australia – having worked on numerous railway projects – worked under the supervision of a Track Force Co-ordinator and Look-outs throughout the extent of the works.
Global Rail Construction were selected by Kier as E&P contractor for the installation of the new 650v power supplies and also the 400v power domestic supplies for the Balcombe to Copyhold Signalling Supply upgrade project on Network Rail’s VTB lines.
Having already supported Kier on previous signalling projects, Global Rail Construction were seen as the partner of choice once more, particularly as the works involved substation access, calling upon the experienced in-house Level C staff that the business have.
The project on Network Rail’s Sussex route involved three sites at Balcombe Tunnel, Ouse Valley and Haywards Heath and required a fully managed delivery solution from Global Rail Construction’s in-house E&P division.
The project relied heavily on close co-operation between Kier’s own teams and those of Global Rail Construction and it is this in-house experience in signalling and civil engineering, that provided Kier with the confidence that the E&P team fully understood the interdisciplinary nature of the works.
The programme was fast track with the power build and install having to be completed in 3 months, however, Global Rail Construction’s E&P team – who are just at home delivering standalone projects under their Principal Contractors Licence – were able to call upon their experience in-house project delivery processes to provide a robust cost loaded programme of activities that could be accurately monitored.
