The London, Tilbury and Southend (LTS) railway was electrified with a mixture of 6.25kV AC and 25kV AC overhead line equipment between 1960 and 1961. This was a mixture of tension arrangements with Fixed Termination (FT) equipment between London Fenchurch St and Barking, and Auto-Tensioned (AT) equipment on the remainder of the route.

Over the years the route and OLE was modified under various projects, the most significant of which was in 1998 when the Fenchurch Street station throat was remodelled to the present-day layout, and the OLE converted from FT to AT between Bromley-by-Bow and Barking West. Fenchurch Street, East Ham Depot, and Barking are still currently FT. Other prior modifications to the route include 12-car platform extensions on the Tilbury Loop and new connections with the Channel Tunnel Rail Link completed in 2007.

Managing interfaces

We developed an interface management plan during project start up workshops to ensure all interfaces were mapped out for client/stakeholder relationships and sub-contractor management. Stakeholder and interface mapping provided a high level visual for integrated projects, and was supplemented with visualisation boards using interactive data visualisation software Power BI. This ensured that progress milestones were being met as well as detailing where collaborative access planning may be required, allowing interfaces to be managed at the earliest opportunity so mitigating programme risk.

Interfacing for effective assurance: In the earlier stages of the project, the OLE renewals being undertaken by Aureos ran alongside OCR (another OLE organisation). In some instances, the client remit meant that both contractors had been working on the same design packages with overlapping Grip 6 works. The TILOS programme tool The TILOS Programme tool allowed us to manage integration by facilitating the production of a series of engineering and project interface assurance plans. The integrated plan was reviewed to make sure we would not exceed the amount of designers or reviewers required each week. We held a joint weekly review to establish labour requirements and managed resource according to the plan. By prioritising works, we ensured certainty by starting the most complex designs earlier. TILOS Programmes allowed us to manage construction and engineering assurance, by facilitating the production of a series of engineering and project interface plans, whereby the client and contractors agreed on scope, timeframe, and accountability of as-builts/health and safety files. By agreeing the sequence and strategy in advance of the works, we were able to work effectively and collaboratively, navigating what may been a challenging assurance process. This in turn allowed for fully compliant and efficient handover process whist assuring the engineering works respectively.

Interface management tools: The project interface, CDM dashboards and engineering interface plans allowed the project team to provide detailed period reports, with good practice being shared via client meetings such as construction and engineering assurance meetings, here we could share best practice between suppliers working on behalf of Capital Delivery Eastern.

Using the data by presenting it clearly to provide meaningful outputs and understanding the key risks, the teams produced efficiency documents, where opportunities were presented to add value to the client. As part of our management process, jointly with Capital Delivery, we actively challenged and were in negation with the Route, TOCs and FOCs to implement efficiency solution. Examples of which are:

• Increasing weekend positions from 27 hours to 30 to increase output by 40% (two wire runs per weekend against the current one). This would have meant we could deliver the project 12 months ahead of its planned completion date, saving significant costs and prolonged disruption to the end passengers.
• Introducing mid-week working (five midweek nights would replicate a core weekend), accelerating project lifecycle by 5 months with a potential saving in excess of c£5.5m. This created better utilisation of staff, plant and costs, increasing volume delivery and reducing core weekend impact delivery.
• Strategically placed ‘Road Rail Access Points’ to improve travel time and maximise planned delivered volume also creating a safer arrangement and a legacy asset for the maintainer and operator to use.
• Subcontractor interfaces: We produced a robust, improved strategy that informed deliverables and programme, Aureos then worked with the supply chain in the following areas:
• To supplement Aureos internal plant with supply chain providers to increase output and operate with 16 mobile elevated platforms per shift (32 machine shift over a typical weekend)
• Collaborated with the supply chain in further enhancing OLEC competence with system design knowledge and introduced the ‘One Aureos’ initiative. All staff both internally and externally were up-skilled to meet the programme and client requirements.
• Both supply chain and internal safety critical staff assessed for competence and understanding of bespoke risks to overhead line work sites. All staff up skilled and retained with familiarisation and continuity and the forefront of ‘everyone home safe’.
• We use key suppliers consistently as part of the supply chain, ensuring that they are on board and invested in the success of the project by providing training, bridging skills gaps and being able to access our Health, Safety and Wellbeing programs, aligning ambitions and safety goals.

Interfacing with UKPNS: UKPNS overhead line cables cross the Railway infrastructure, in some cases they were low in relation to the position to the OLE. During the planning phase our Project team worked with UKPNS to determine worst case sag/clearance from the grid supply to the OLE. This allowed us to determine and put safety mitigations in place mitigating the need for lengthy applications to turn grip suppliers off. By having a risk assessment in place we could provide greater programme flexibility and remove constraints on applications and access.

Interfacing with the public: The public was a key interface on the Tilbury Loop. Known for its many foot and railway crossings linking communities, we understood the potential disruption caused by closing all access for large durations of time and the impact on daily life. To challenge the need to close, the teams produced a working instruction, supplemented with a risk assessment allowing public crossings to stay open, improving and maintaining public and stakeholder relations.

Upskilling teams

Working on the ageing LTS infrastructure required OLEC knowledge that was difficult to source at short notice. Many of the industry staff sufficiently trained had retired or had moved into senior managerial positions. To mitigate skills shortages posed by an ageing workforce, and dependence on external specialists, we upskilled our staff to higher-level OLEC qualifications ahead of LTS. We also delivered a six-month, intensive, hands-on training programme both on site and at our training facility in Crewe for internal staff and subcontractors, creating a strong internal competency and a legacy of skilled personnel for the wider rail industry. We also issued a comprehensive booklet with reference points for different structures (equipment type, weights, slinging/rigging instructions, torque settings etc), facilitating rapid and accurate delivery.

Upskilling our teams also mitigated draw on resources caused by a high volume of concurrent projects from 2018, i.e., Core Valley Lines Transformation, Transpennine Route Upgrade, London to Corby electrification, HS2, and Lower Thames Crossing.

Application of ZECK wiring unit

We deployed the SRS/ZECK wiring unit to complete wiring operations, reducing resource demand by 30% per shift and mitigating reliance on wiring trains. We have one of the largest fleets of rail electrical, power, and distribution plant in the UK, as well as access to plant and equipment from our energy division as part of the wider group.

Application of previous scheme knowledge

The MK1 renewal ran alongside various other projects such as Barking Riverside, track renewals and level crossing refurbishments. Aureos acted as Principal Contractor for the project and regularly de-conflicted where works may have overlapped. For the integrated design, while not Principal Designer, our engineering teams still used lessons learned from early packages to remove problematic, timely, or cost inefficient features, such as reversing funnel and crosses. By retaining existing track geometry, we were able to reduce overlap construction by 50%.

Optimising the team to respond to emergencies

On behalf of the Route and Capital Delivery, we were called out to three separate de-wirement emergencies at Bentley, Stratford and Fobbing during unsociable hours. Our team were able to attend and establish control of this situation as PC on site, quickly and skilfully. Our expert engineering discipline were able to quickly establish cause of the issue and with use of our internal design team, establish necessary engineering solutions. Our Construction Management team efficiently dealt with local landowners and traffic management, to secure the area safely and protect the general public as well as the asset.

Our Logistics & Material team set up the Command & Control Centre (CCC) to lead the emergency situation from. Our Materials and Fabrication team were able to establish material requirements for the emergency repairs and work collaboratively across multiple stakeholders and national suppliers to secure emergency equipment and materials to repair the de-wirement. Through the C&C centre we produced an emergency rectification programme to establish timelines for repair, track the progress, and holistically keep the multiple stakeholders informed.

Through our internal Resource & Plant divisions, including subcontractors, we could establish on site within four hours with all necessary plant, equipment, materials and direct work force, to begin rectification works without delay. The outcome was that within 24 hours, the railway was operational again, fit for trains to run and passengers able to enjoy regular service.