Transport Britain Issue 4

ISSN 2015-6861 

TRANSPORTBRITAIN 

ISSUE 4 • WWW.TRANSPORT-BRITAIN.CO.UK 

40-42 

NETWORK RAIL’S PLANS FOR CONTROL PERIOD 6 

• “AMBITIOUS BUT REALISTIC PLAN” TO MAKE THE RAILWAY MORE RELIABLE AND COST EFFICIENT 

• NETWORK RAIL EXPLAIN THE CHANGES BETWEEN THIS PLAN AND ITS PREDECESSOR 

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16 22 30 36 

FROM THE EDITOR 

Hello and welcome to our 

latest issue of Transport 

Britain. Since our last 

publication, we have seen 

significant progress in 

work on the Elizabeth line. 

We have a round-up of all 

Crossrail developments, as 

well as those on HS2. 

Previously, we spoke to 

the Office of Rail and Road 

to get their take on how 

Network Rail’s spending 

for Control Period 6 will 

be monitored. Here, 

we get the opinions of 

Network Rail regarding the 

Strategic Business Plan 

which sets out spending 

ambitions between 2019 

– 2024, why they feel it is 

their best ever plan, and 

what challenges await 

in order to ensure it is 

implemented. 

The last few months have 

also seen the launch of 

the UK Rail Research 

and Innovation Network 

(UKRRIN) – the result of 

which will drive changes 

in digital technologies in 

the rail industry. Professor 

Clive Roberts at the 

University of Birmingham 

has spoken about how the 

partnership will change 

the rail sector. 

Elsewhere, we have 

spoken to companies 

including Hako and 

APP, whose products 

have made – or have 

the potential to make – 

significant changes to the 

streets of the UK. 

Meanwhile, all major 

developments in the road 

and rail industries, as well 

as progress on Carillion’s 

former contacts, are 

covered in this issue. 

John Train - Editor 

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APRIL 2018 • TRANSPORT BRITAIN 

3

LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS 

//. GOVERNMENT INVITES INVESTORS TO PUT 

FORWARD PROPOSALS FOR HEATHROW RAIL LINK 

THE Department for Transport 

has called on private 

companies to give their ideas 

on the best way to deliver a 

southern rail link to Heathrow 

Airport. 

Chris Grayling has invited 

those organisations to come 

forward who want to invest in 

rail infrastructure so that they 

can share their ideas for this 

new rail link, along with other 

projects that will upgrade and 

expand the railway network in 

Britain. 

This invitation for ideas 

regarding a new southern rail 

link at Heathrow Airport is 

significant because it is one 

of the first projects that falls 

under these new government 

plans which will see third 

parties invest in the rail 

network and see their ideas 

come to fruition. 

The government hopes this 

will increase the £47 billion it 

has committed to spending on 

rail in the next five years, and 

interest in constructing the 

southern link to Heathrow is 

high, with numerous consortia 

already registering their 

interest. 

Mr Grayling reiterated that 

investment would have to make 

commercial sense and build 

on the infrastructure already 

in place, and ultimately put the 

needs of passengers first. 

He explained: “We are 

investing in the most significant 

modernisation of the UK rail 

network since Victorian times, 

and I want the knowledge and 

expertise of investors and 

local partners to contribute to 

delivering new connections, 

more services and better 

journeys for passengers. 

“This has already proved 

effective on a number of 

roads schemes in the UK. By 

encouraging innovative ideas 

and new investment on our 

railways, we can relieve the 

burden on taxpayers and fare 

payers with projects that match 

our transport needs. 

“This can also support our 

economic and housing 

aspirations to ensure everyone 

benefits from an enhanced rail 

network. 

“Heathrow is a perfect example 

of where this can make a real 

difference. Such schemes will 

help ensure the benefits of 

our major international hub 

are even more accessible to 

those across the west and 

the south of the UK, providing 

vital links for travellers and 

exporters and attracting inward 

investment.” 

It is hoped this call for investors 

will lead to a new method of 

funding transport projects, 

creating a whole new tier of 

investment from the private 

sector. 

4 TRANSPORT BRITAIN • APRIL 2018


//. TRANSPORT FOR LONDON PUBLISHES 

ITS DRAFT BUDGET FOR 2018/19 

TRANSPORT for London 

(TfL) has published its draft 

budget for 2018/19, outlining 

improvements to rail services 

that can be expected. 

It forms the start of TfL’s 

five-year Business Plan which 

was published last year and 

is in line with the Transport 

Strategy set out by the Mayor 

of London. This will see 

investment hit a record high on 

public transport. 

The draft budget reveals the 

improvements that will be 

delivered for the capital’s transport 

network over the next year, as well 

as outlining how modernisation 

will be delivered against a 

backdrop of huge reductions in 

government funding. 

TfL say that costs of running 

the transport network fell by 

£153 million in the last financial 

year and believe costs will 

continue to fall. 

At this rate, despite lower 

income than forecast, the 

draft budget gives details on 

expectations that this trend 

will continue, resulting in an 

operating surplus by 2021/22. 

It is an exciting time for 

London’s transport network 

and the draft budget 

says in 2018/19, a host of 

improvements will be delivered. 

This includes the delivery of the 

Elizabeth line from December 

2018 onwards and by the 

December afterwards, stepfree 

access will be available at 

every station serviced by the 

new rail line. 

The London Underground will 

continue to be modernised, 

with signalling and step-free 

access all incorporated, while 

capacity on the rail network will 

continue to be increased. 

Elsewhere, land belonging to 

TfL will be used to construct 

commercial space and housing, 

50% of which will be affordable 

– part of Sadiq Khan’s drive to 

increase affordable housing in 

the city. 

Val Shawcross, Deputy Mayor 

for Transport, said: “The next 

year will be a truly exciting time 

for London, with the opening 

of the Elizabeth line, and major 

projects like the transformation 

of Oxford Street. 

“At the same time, the budget 

shows how we’re also looking 

to the future with further 

tube modernisation and an 

unprecedented commitment 

to walking and cycling 

infrastructure.” 


5

. AMBITIOUS TRANSPORT STRATEGY 

FOR LONDON OUTLINED BY THE MAYOR 

Ambitious plans to improve 

London’s transport in the next 

25 years have been outlined 

in the Mayor of London’s 

Transport Strategy. 

Presented to the London 

Assembly for consideration, the 

Transport Strategy will be the 

backbone of transport planning 

in the capital. 

The Strategy incorporates 

record investment plans which 

will result in new and improved 

rail in London, while tube and 

bus services will also benefit. 

It follows Sadiq Khan’s draft 

strategy last year which has 

seen in excess of 6,500 key 

stakeholders and members of 

the public respond to it. 

The Transport Strategy will 

make the capital even more 

accessible for people and 

businesses through the use of 

new Tube trains and signalling 

which will increase their 

frequency. 

Elsewhere, the Elizabeth line will 

open in December, alleviating 

the strain on other parts of the 

network whilst also providing a 

brand new service that will also 

boost the economy. 

Extensions to the Tube, 

London Overground and 

DLR are also covered in the 

Transport Strategy, which also 

highlights the importance of 

Crossrail 2 – something that 

will be reviewed to outline how 

it will provide value for money 

to the taxpayer – on economy, 

jobs and the ability to unlock 

housing sites. 

The feedback from the 

consultation means that the 

Mayor’s Transport Strategy 

includes potential for a west 

London Orbital rail line. 

Val Shawcross is the Deputy 

Mayor for Transport. She said 

the Strategy will provide ‘world 

class’ services. 

She said: “Our ambitious 

strategy for the next 25 years 

shows how we can provide 

affordable, accessible and 

world class transport for every 

Londoner, while ensuring our 

transport network acts as a 

huge catalyst for new jobs and 

homes across the capital. 

“We have looked closely at 

the input from thousands of 

people who have responded 

to the consultation and I’m 

pleased that our bold focus on 

encouraging walking, cycling 

and public transport, alongside 

reducing emissions, remains at 

the heart of our Strategy.” 



//. NETWORK RAIL UNVEILS STRATEGIC 

BUSINESS PLAN FOR CONTROL PERIOD 6 

Network Rail has unveiled its 

Strategic Business Plan which 

will improve the railways in 

Control Period 6 (CP6) from 

2019 to 2024. 

Record expenditure of up to 

£47 billion is expected over 

the five-year period, which will 

deliver railway upgrades to 

benefit the millions of people 

who use it. 

As well as this, the investment 

will drive economic growth, 

create jobs and unlock housing 

along railway routes which 

will be reliable, have greater 

cost efficiency, and even more 

capacity. 

The plan is an important step 

in determining the funding 

requirements for the next fiveyear 

period to 2024. 

It is something that Network 

Rail work alongside the Office 

of Rail and Road (ORR) with, in 

order to determine the level of 

funding needed to deliver the 

necessary improvements. 

The ORR has spoken about 

the process of this periodic 

review, what is expected of 

Network Rail in terms of putting 

their contracts in place for 

improvements in CP6. 

The regulator will now review 

the Strategic Business Plan and 

make a draft determination in 

June, with a final decision made 

in the autumn. 

Network Rail’s expenditure 

plans on their operations 

for the five years to 2024 in 

the Strategic Business Plan, 

which will see a 25% increase 

in funding from the current 

control period in order to 

improve infrastructure reliability 

by way of maintenance, 

operations and renewals. 

A further £10 billion railway 

enhancement fund has been 

made available by the government 

for any projects on the railways 

that are delivered by Network Rail 

or other contractors. 

Mark Carne, Chief Executive 

who is stepping down in 

time for CP6, explains what 

the Strategic Business Plan 

outlines. 

“Passenger journeys will be 

transformed in the next few 

years as thousands of new 

trains enter service. By 2021, 

there will be almost 350,000 

more services per year than 

today – an average of an extra 

1,000 services a day, better 

connecting communities and 

driving economic growth 

across the country. 

“This plan builds on these 

improvements and sets out 

how we will make the railway 

more reliable and cost efficient, 

and how we accelerate the 

technological transformation of 

our railway into the digital age. 

“It is an ambitious, but realistic 

plan that is not without 

challenge, but with great 

people working together in 

great teams, it can deliver the 

better railway that a better 

Britain needs.” 


7


//. CONSULTATION ON ROAD INVESTMENT STRATEGY 

2 WILL INFLUENCE FUTURE PROJECTS 

THE government’s consultation 

for Road Investment Strategy 2 

has now ended, and feedback 

is being analysed. 

It will help to form the 

proposals for the Strategic 

Road Network (SRN) and shape 

the current and future needs 

of England’s roads. 

The consultation ran from 

December until the first week 

of February, in order for the 

Department for Transport (DfT) 

to gain the views set out for 

Road Investment Strategy in 

the initial SRN report; whether 

or not the analysis of approach 

for developing the new strategy 

is robust enough; and whether 

or not the government has 

heard the full range of views 

about the SRN. 

The initial report, from which 

consultation was sought, 

set out Highways England’s 

assessment of the state of the 

SRN as it currently stands, the 

potential and future needs, and 

proposed priorities for Road 

Investment Strategy 2. 

It is based on extensive 

research, and will form the 

basis of the next five-year spell 

of investment on the roads. 

Since the inception of Highways 

England in 2015, the first Road 

Investment Strategy – worth 

£15 billion – has made great 

strides in upgrading our roads, 

which identified 127 major 

schemes to start in the period 

between 2015 to 2020. 

Road Investment Strategy 2 will 

focus on the five years from 

2020, continuing the trend 

of improvements thanks to a 

greater investment, which is 

expected to be close to £30 

billion. 

Highways England has set 

out its priorities for the next 

investment strategy period in 

the initial SRN report. 

Priorities include a continuation 

of the focus on operations, 

maintenance and renewals; 

the rollout of expressways; 

the transformational 

investments that are required; 

an investment programme 

that only concentrates on 

large projects – instead, a split 

in focus so that small and 

medium schemes are given 

priority. 

The government-owned 

company will also ramp up the 

work on smart motorways, with 

the aim to make these “the 

spine of the network.” 

Already, we have seen many 

major projects roll out the use 

of smart motorways, with the 

M60 in Manchester, and M62 in 

Yorkshire just two of the major 

roads benefiting from this 

type of motorway that reduces 

journey times and congestion. 

This is to continue as Highways 

England prepare for the future, 

and the response to the DfT’s 

public consultation on this 

report will be published later 

in the year, informing on the 

next steps for Road Investment 

Strategy 2. 



//. MARK CARNE TO STEP DOWN AS CHIEF 

EXECUTIVE OF NETWORK RAIL 

NETWORK Rail’s Chief 

Executive, Mark Carne, has 

announced his intention to 

retire before the end of the 

year. 

After joining the organisation in 

2014, he has been integral in 

Network Rail’s reclassification 

into a public sector company. 

Mark Carne has been 

instrumental in the 

transformational change in 

Network Rail, and this is evident 

in the regulatory structure of 

the organisation. 

In addition, some of the 

company’s biggest ever 

projects have been delivered 

under the stewardship of Mark 

Carne, including the Great 

North Rail Project which is 

ongoing and the opening of the 

iconic London Bridge station. 

Mr Carne informed the Board 

of his decision at this time so 

that a replacement will be in 

the role in time for the start 

of the next regulatory period 

in April 2019, the planning 

for which is currently well 

underway in conjunction with 

the Office of Rail and Road 

(ORR). 

And the outgoing Chief 

Executive confirmed the 

reason for the timing of his 

announcement. 

He said: “Britain’s railways 

matter to the lives of millions 

of people. The men and 

women who run the railway 

are enormously committed 

and it has been a privilege 

to lead the organisation at a 

time of huge investment and 

transformational change. 

“I planned the timing of my 

announcement so there was 

stability while we developed the 

business plan for the next five 

year regulatory period, but so 

that there will also be enough 

time for my successor to be 

firmly in place when it starts. 

“I leave knowing that the 

railway is in good hands and 

has a great plan for the future.” 

The Transport Secretary, Chris 

Grayling, paid tribute to Mr 

Carne. 

He said: “Mark has done an 

excellent job as Chief Executive 

of Network Rail, presiding over 

the biggest modernisation of 

our rail infrastructure since 

Victorian times. 

“I hope he will continue to 

play an important part in the 

transport sector in the future.” 


9


//. AIA ROAD MAINTENANCE REPORT 

HIGHLIGHTS PROBLEMS WITH POTHOLES 

A report from the Asphalt 

Industry Alliance (AIA) has 

highlighted the problem Great 

Britain has with potholes on 

its roads, which are becoming 

more difficult to fix. 

The Annual Local Authority 

Road Maintenance Survey 

(ALARM) – the 23rd edition of 

the report – gives a flavour of 

the general condition of the 

local road network. 

It reveals that local authorities 

have identified in excess of 

24,000 miles of road that will 

need essential maintenance in 

the next year. 

This is a worry for all road 

users, and we have already 

seen the detrimental effect 

that poor-conditioned road 

networks can have on the 

highways after the Road 

Haulage Association called for 

greater investment to fix the 

numerous potholes that can 

be found throughout Great 

Britain. 

The AIA’s report reveals 

the major problem with 

maintaining the road 

network: the annual shortfall 

in the budget to fix Britain’s 

carriageways. In the 2018 

report, this is at £555.7 million, 

which illustrates the constraints 

that councils face in the fight to 

maintain the road network to a 

standard fit for motorists and 

businesses. 

The shortfall in annual 

carriageway maintenance 

budget per local authority 

is £3.3 million, and the time 

estimated to clear the backlog 

of maintenance has increased 

to 14 years. 

With the poor weather in the 

first quarter of the year, this 

problem is only set to get 

worse, as snow and ice tend to 

loosen the carriageways. 

The average highway 

maintenance budget per 

authority went up from last 

year’s report to £20.6 million, 

and the average carriageway 

maintenance budget also rose. 

However, the percentage of 

highway maintenance budget 

spent on the carriageways 

has decreased. The AIA report 

highlights that the percentage 

of local authority budget is 

decreasing at a time it ought to 

be on the rise. 

Nicholas Lyes, RAC head of 

roads policy, said: “It’s time 

for some fresh thinking when 

it comes to finally getting 

on top of Britain’s pothole 

problem. Short term funding 

and creating pots by which 

local authorities can bid for 

cash doesn’t appear to be 

addressing the root cause of 

the problem. 

“Instead, the government 

should be looking at how it 

can guarantee councils the 

certainty of reliable long term 

funding so they can finally bring 

every road up to a standard 

road users think is acceptable.” 


. BALFOUR BEATTY ANNOUNCE THIRD 

PARTIAL SALE OF ITS CONNECT PLUS HOLDING 

INTERNATIONAL 

infrastructure firm Balfour 

Beatty has announced a third 

partial sale of its stake in 

Connect Plus. 

The expected profit on this 

particular transaction, which 

will see a further 5% stake 

sold in the organisation that is 

responsible for operating the 

M25 orbital motorway, will pay 

down borrowings for this year. 

Balfour Beatty confirmed this 

sale is for a cash consideration 

of £42 million, which is more 

than the valuation set by the 

Directors at the end of June 

2017. 

It is quite a shift in policy for 

the company; at the start of 

December, Balfour Beatty had 

a 40% stake in Connect Plus 

– which is a consortium that 

consists of Balfour Beatty, Egis 

Road Operation UK and Edge 

Orbital Holdings Ltd. These 

organisations work together 

to deliver highways asset care 

from finance and design, to 

build and maintenance, along 

with day-to-day operation. 

However, at the end of last 

year, Balfour Beatty announced 

two partial sales of its stake 

in Connect Plus: the first was 

for 12.5% of its sake, worth 

£103 million, and the second 

saw a further 7.5% of the 

stake relinquished for a cash 

consideration of £62 million 

– again, higher than the initial 

valuations made by company 

Directors last June. 

Now, with the sale of a further 

5%, it means Balfour Beatty 

has sold 25% of its original 

40% holding, for a total cash 

consideration of £207 million. 

The Group confirmed that the 

latest 5% was sold to funds 

managed by Equitix Investment 

Management Ltd (Equitix), who 

has also exercised an option on 

the 7.5% partial sale, meaning 

that the 25% sold by Balfour 

Beatty has been split evenly by 

Dalmore Capital Ltd and Equitix. 

The Chief Executive of Balfour 

Beatty, Leo Quinn, said the 

partial sale of its Connect Plus 

stake reflects the Group’s intent 

to its shareholders. 

He said: “This transaction 

again demonstrates the 

ongoing attractiveness of 

our infrastructure assets and 

is in line with our declared 

intent to maximise value for 

shareholders.” 

Balfour Beatty still owns 15% of 

Connect Plus.


//. £3 BILLION INVESTMENT CONFIRMED 

FOR UPGRADES ON TRANSPENNINE ROUTE 

A £3 billion programme of 

upgrades on the Transpennine 

route will begin next year, 

according to the Transport 

Secretary. 

Chris Grayling was speaking in 

Leeds about the project, which 

while already underway on 

routes between Manchester, 

Liverpool and York, will also 

receive this further investment 

from Network Rail for “an 

ambitious rolling programme of 

works.” 

The Transport Secretary was at 

the Transport for the Northern 

Powerhouse conference, 

which is just one step that 

northern leaders want to see 

implemented to improve the 

region’s transport. 

He said that the government 

will work alongside Network Rail 

and local authorities along the 

Transpennine route so that the 

£3 billion investment can be 

maximised by way of creating 

stations, increasing access to the 

railway and unlocking housing 

opportunities. 

In addition, the subject of 

Crossrail 2 came up at the 

conference, with the Transport 

Secretary confirming an 

Independent Affordability Review 

commissioned by Transport for 

London and the Department for 

Transport, which will ensure that 

affordability and value for money 

to the taxpayer is demonstrated 

throughout Crossrail 2. 

It is a topic of much debate; 

last year saw an agreement 

made to move forward with 

Crossrail 2, but it is something 

that the Mayors of Greater 

Manchester and the Liverpool 

City Region questioned because 

they were concerned that the 

north was neglected in favour of 

investment for this railway. 

It is hoped the £3 billion 

investment for the Transpennine 

route shows the necessary 

commitment to railways in 

the north, and also improves 

passenger and business 

experience of travelling in these 

areas. 

Mr Grayling said: “I want to 

realise passenger benefits from 

the £3 billion we have ringfenced 

for the Pennine route as 

fast as possible. 

“Network Rail has already 

begun detailed designs, and 

provided us with options for the 

Transpennine Route Upgrade 

to meet the objectives we’ve set 

out – for journey times, capacity 

and reliability. 

“That – in turn – has given us an 

opportunity to undertake the 

work in phases starting as soon 

as spring next year. 

“This is not just about meeting 

rising demand for train travel. 

It’s about transforming journeys 

too.” 



//. TRANSPORT SECRETARY PUBLISHES 

RESPONSE TO HS2 CREWE HUB CONSULTATION 

THE Transport Secretary has 

published his consultation 

response for how HS2 will 

improve connectivity of the 

Crewe Hub. 

The consultation, which ran 

from July to October last year, 

sought views on the options 

that could improve Crewe’s – 

and the surrounding region’s 

– access to both conventional 

and high speed rail services. 

Comments were sought on 

the vision for a hub station in 

Crewe, as well as infrastructure 

options for enabling more HS2 

services to stop in the area. 

Chris Grayling spoke to the 

House of Commons about 

how the plans have changed in 

response to the consultation 

which outlines how the vision 

of a Crewe Hub will enable 

additional HS2 services to 

Stoke-on-Trent. 

As part of the response to the 

consultation, the Transport 

Minister confirmed plans 

for HS2 Phase 2A from 

Birmingham to Crewe which 

will now see 400-metre 

platforms built in Crewe. 

These will allow longer HS2 

trains to split and join, which 

in turn will ensure more 

destinations are served. It also 

meets the government’s aims 

of ensuring more people have 

access to HS2. 

The government believe a 

Crewe Hub will generate job 

opportunities for the town and 

surrounding area; through 

the consultation, steps will be 

taken to make sure Crewe and 

Stoke-on-Trent can benefit 

from high speed rail and will 

build on the previous decision 

to ensure Crewe benefits from 

HS2 in 2027 – which is six years 

earlier than initially planned. 

In response to the consultation, 

Mr Grayling said: “We welcome 

the progress being made by 

Cheshire East Council and the 

local enterprise partnership 

in identifying how they could 

invest in the scheme to ensure 

the benefits are fully realised.” 

He ended his response in 

the Commons by reiterating 

HS2’s role as the “backbone” 

of the rail network, which will 

also support the government’s 

Industrial Strategy that will 

generate economic growth and 

skills for the UK. 


13


//. COMMUNITIES IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 

TO BENEFIT FROM £450,000 OF 

GOVERNMENT’S HS2 FUND 

Buckinghamshire is the latest 

area to benefit from a grant as 

part of the delivery of HS2. 

The HS2 Minister, Nusrat 

Ghani, has announced that 

Wendover Woods Recreational 

Development project near 

Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire 

will be created thanks to a 

£450,000 grant. 

It is the latest and most 

significant investment for any 

single project up to now for 

the £40 million HS2 Phase One 

Community and Environment 

Fund (CEF), and Business and 

Local Economy Fund (BLEF). 

This funding, part of a £45 

million investment from the 

government, will benefit 

community projects along the 

HS2 route and provide a legacy 

of improvements. 

The extra £5 million will benefit 

communities along HS2 Phase 

2a route from Midlands to 

Crewe. 

Thanks to this £450,000 funding, 

Wendover Woods will benefit 

from a new woodland hub, 

adventure trail, cafe and parking 

for 600 visitors. 

As well as this development 

in Buckinghamshire, the 

investment will support a 

range of projects such as 

refurbishment of community 

centres and nature conservation. 

Not only will this help with the 

preservation of the area, but will 

also drive the economy in these 

local areas, bringing businesses 

and jobs. 

Ms Ghani visited the site where 

this new woodland hub will be 

built. She is excited about the 

projects that will come to fruition 

in the coming years thanks to 

the funds. 

“HS2 will be the backbone 

of our national rail network 

– supporting growth and 

regeneration and helping us 

build a Britain fit for the future. 

“Whilst we know there will be 

disruption as we deliver one of 

Europe’s biggest infrastructure 

projects, we are absolutely 

committed to minimising the 

effects of building the new 

railway. 

“It is great to see so many 

local projects such as the 

Wendover Woods recreational 

development project benefit 

from this fund, helping even 

more people access and enjoy 

our beautiful countryside. 

“Funding such as CEF and 

BLEF will help to ensure that 

the legacy of HS2 is shared by 

everyone for generations to 

come.” 


. LENDLEASE TO REDEVELOP LONDON 

EUSTON STATION IN PREPARATION FOR HS2 

LENDLEASE has been awarded 

the contract to redevelop 

London Euston station in 

preparation for the arrival of 

HS2 services. 

The multinational construction 

company was responsible for 

the iconic Athletes’ Village for 

the London 2012 Olympics 

and subject to the signing of 

contracts, will be appointed 

Master Development Partner. 

The company will work 

alongside the Greater London 

Authority and the London 

Borough of Camden to deliver 

a transformed London Euston 

on a 54-hectare site in and 

around the new station. 

In a recurring theme for 

HS2, this contract promises 

to deliver jobs and homes; 

approximately 19,000 jobs 

could be generated around 

the station site, while up to 

1,700 homes could be built 

as a result of the station 

redevelopment. 

Dan Labbad is the Chief 

Executive Officer International 

Operations for Lendlease. He 

said this ‘game changing’ project 

fits neatly with the company 

ethos of projects targeted. 

He said: “The redevelopment 

of Euston stands to be a real 

gamechanger for commuters 

across London and the UK. 

“Euston will be much more 

than a transport hub – and 

we’ll work closely with project 

partners to provide benefits to 

local people, foster business 

growth and deliver new homes. 

“This announcement is 

consistent with our stated 

strategy to grow our 

development pipeline in 

gateway cities and increasingly 

reallocate capital to our 

international operations.” 

The redevelopment is required 

given that HS2’s arrival in 

London will double the number 

of seats out of London during 

peak hours. This extra capacity 

with new access routes – 

making Euston one of the best 

connected parts of the country 

– needs the redevelopment to 

cater for the sheer size of the 

changes. 

As well as providing capacity 

for extra trains and unlocking 

homes, the project undertaken 

by Lendlease will comprise of 

commercial, retail, hotel and 

leisure spaces. 

More than a year since it was 

granted Royal Assent, phase 

one of HS2 is well underway 

and will provide a new 

connection from London to the 

West Midlands by 2026. 


15

. APP SOLUTIONS ARE CHANGING 

THE WAY SURFACES ARE CLEANED 

Founded in the Netherlands more than 30 years ago, APP All Remove B.V has built up an enviable 

reputation of maintaining architectural beauty and integrity through its innovative solutions that 

remove graffiti and other vandalism on horizontal and vertical building surfaces. 

Business Britain spoke at length to Brigitta van Staveren, about the company’s products, its 

journey, and future expansion plans. 

Can you tell us a bit about 

the company and its origins? 

APP was founded in 1985, the 

brainchild of our current CEO’s 

father, Piet Nuijs. He started the 

business to clean, protect and 

maintain horizontal and vertical 

building surfaces. 

Initially, it was a case of 

purchasing products to try and 

keep the surfaces and built 

environment clean. Along the 

way, we started to cooperate 

with different organisations to 

try and find a way to produce 

our own protective coatings. 

Now, we have our own product 

engineers, we take care of our 

own production and shipping 

around the world. Our product 

engineer tries to develop one or 

two new products a year, which 

is something we strive for, and 

we have our own laboratory to 

do this, which has produced 

three mainline coating 

products. 

What we do with the coatings 

we have is get them to the 

various surfaces. For example, 

if you have a concrete surface 

and want a special finish to 

it, we can adapt our coating 

to that finish. That is what we 

do; we can create tailor-made 

products for each client and 

organisation. 

The impregnation for horizontal 

surfaces and the permanent 

anti-graffiti have also evolved 

along the way, becoming more 

and more apt to protect all 

kinds of architectural surfaces 

from pollution. 

In our privately-owned 

laboratory in Beers, the 

Research & Development 

department is engaged in 

research, product and process 

development and provides 

technical support to our 

customers. 

To do so we are supported 

by teams of scientists and 

engineers from various national 

and international universities 


and knowledge institutions in 

the particular field of surface 

protection. 

In this way we are well 

organised to provide the 

knowledge and the skill for 

customer-oriented research 

and advice. Specific product 

features for individual projects 

and new products and 

processes can be extensively 

tested to optimise end 

products. 

How did you get involved 

with markets outside of the 

Netherlands? 

We had a lot of projects at 

the start; one of the biggest 

and largest projects was the 

protection of the sound walls 

of the train track that crosses 

Rotterdam to Germany. It had 

sound barriers of concrete that 

were like a canvass for graffiti. 

They had to be protected and 

since we’ve been doing this 

since 1985 we were granted the 

tender and protected them. 

The concrete sound wall wasn’t 

along the whole track - but 

where the rail track passes 

cities. These sound barriers 

were protected with our 

products. Once we protected 

them, they were defaced with 

graffiti, which our engineers 

removed – together with the 

coating – and then we applied 

another layer of coating. That 

is how we provide protection 

as a way of working, even since 

1985! 

We have seven fully-fledged 

teams in the Netherlands, 

one of which is always near 

a potential customer. When 

people call to say they have 

graffiti on their walls, we remove 

this within five days, unless it is 

extremely offensive language, 

in which case this will be gone 

within 24 hours thanks to our 

contemporary market approach 

that offers customers problemsolving 

concepts. 

What do you feel you have 

been able to offer the UK 

market that nobody else 

can? 

We are not yet in the UK 

market but we have a very 

close relationship with a 

Belgian concrete producer, 

and this company produces 

architectural concrete that is 

used in the UK. It was used on 

the Athletes Village for the 2012 

Olympics in London, and these 

concrete frames were protected 

in the factory in Belgium with 

a solution that was developed 


17

specifically for new concrete. 

Usually, you can only protect 

concrete after 28 days because 

it has to be secure first, but this 

solution we have developed can 

be used on concrete right after 

de-casting it. This makes it very 

easy to keep frames clean, even 

after installation. 

For the UK specifically, we feel 

we are ideally placed because of 

our track record in developing 

and producing functional 

coatings that protect the built 

environment. 

We develop and produce 

functional coatings that 

protect the built environment. 

Architects demand that their 

creations are delivered CLEAN. 

But how to achieve that when 

there is always oil, chewing gum, 

urine, water, exhaust gases, 

graffiti and soot? 

APP creates impregnations 

that can be used to protect 

most kind of building materials 

against these pollutions. Our 

in-house developed products 

do not change the visual or 

physical properties of the everinnovative 

building materials. 

Our impregnation for 

horizontal surfaces transforms 

porous substrates into ultrahydrophobic 

and oleophobic 

supersurfaces that repel water, 

oil-based contaminants and 

other stains. It is environmentally 

friendly, water based, vapour 

permeable and zero-VOC. The 

surface is protected and without 

change; it is completely invisible. 

Our semi-permanent and 

BIOBASED anti-graffiti system 

provides an efficient and 

weather resistant protection 

against graffiti. A mix of 100% 

natural polysaccharides and 

water. After drying it forms 

an extremely thin, invisible, 

protective film and leaves the 

surface completely vapour 

permeable. Graffiti is easily 

removed without the use of any 

harsh products; just hot water! 

Our coatings protect various 

commercial, civil engineering 

and infrastructure projects, art 

and heritage against graffiti, oil, 

chewing gum, urine, exhaust 

fumes and soot. 

In this way we offer a solution 

for the cleaning and keeping 

clean various architectural 

surfaces. Our protective 

systems are suitable for the 

ever-innovative materials used 

in construction, production 

facilities, architectural buildings, 

food industry, retail and 

automotive production and 

communication industry. 

Could you give us an idea of 

the sectors your clients are in? 

We have a wide range of clients 

including companies that 

undertake building maintenance, 

owner associations of flat 

buildings; infrastructure builders; 

general construction companies; 

façade maintenance companies; 

we have a lot of managers of 

shopping centres that are clients 

of ours, but they are individual 

clients. We also could be looking 

for an agent or distributor. 

There are lots more, and we 

work alongside municipality, 

province and government 

authorities. 

How many countries do you 

have clients in? 

Our expertise are used in so 

many countries, including the 

United States, Australia, Turkey, 

France, Cyprus, Spain, Germany, 

Poland, Czech Republic. We 

have a client in Indonesia, 

Portugal, Ireland, Sweden, 


Norway, to give you an idea. 

How do you get your 

products to these places? 

It’s done by always networking. 

We visit fares, we put fares on 

where people visit us, and word 

of mouth has served us well. 

That is the way we have been 

able to enlarge our network, 

and also with our products, 

which are very well known. 

People searching on Google 

will always be directed to our 

company. 

What is your strategy for 

acquiring clients, and what 

is it about your service that 

your clients like? 

The service clients are looking 

for is to make sure they use 

less man hours and cleaning 

products to keep their surfaces 

clean. This is something we can 

provide with our impregnations 

which can protect floors, any 

mineral surface etc, from 

pollution. 

Anything such as spillages in 

restaurants, you can protect 

these floors from penetration of 

the dirt. You can still clean them 

but it will be easier, quicker, 

and you’ll need less products to 

clean them. 

This also counts for the outside 

of buildings too; you can protect 

them against graffiti. I know 

there are lots of anti-graffiti 

products in the UK, such as 

wax-based products. 

That is very good because 

you can apply that wax-based 

product which will protect a 

surface for 5-7 years, and any 

anti-graffiti removal products 

will take graffiti off the wax. 

The wax though, needs using 

90°C water and 150bar to be 

removed; this may seriously 

damage a surface. 

The good thing about our 

product is it’s a sacrificial 

product; you have to apply one 

layer, let it dry and then apply 

another layer. When there’s 

graffiti on it, you soak up the first 

layer until it comes off, together 

with the graffiti. You then apply 

another new layer so the surface 

is protected again. 

Then again, say an owner of a 

building wants the anti-graffiti 

removing because he wants a 

layer of paint on the outside, you 

can take all of this off the wall, 

which is something you cannot 

do with a wax-based product. 

We feel our product is 

something that the UK market 

can therefore thrive on, and 

we look to reach these clients 

by presenting ourselves at 

expositions and fairs, which we 

travel to all over the world. 

We also make use of the 

internet, networking tools such 

as LinkedIn, as well as word of 

mouth because of the success 

of our product. 

In your opinion, why do your 

products stand out from 

those of your competitors? 

Many companies use 

Polyurethane, silanes/siloxanes 

or wax for protection of 

surfaces. We prefer to use 

polysaccharides the building 

blocks of nature. 

This makes our functional 

coatings safe for the engineers 

that use them, biodegradable, 

easy to apply, graffiti resistant. 

The three products are: 

• Sacrificial anti-graffiti 

coating is what it says, 

sacrificial, if need be it 

can be COMPLETELY 100% 

REMOVED, and the surface 

will be left clean and ready 

for other treatments. 

Without the use of harsh 

chemicals, just warm 

water. This is why the Dutch 

Monument Care accepted 

this system for use on 

monuments and objects 

of art. 

Graffiti can be removed 

by the use of ONLY hot 

water and adapted 

pressure. It is completely 

damp-open or vapour 

permeable, and comes with 


19

a warranty of anything 

between two to five years. 

• Permanent anti-graffiti 

coating can NOT BE taken 

off of the surface. 

Graffiti can be removed 

by the use of hot water 

and adapted pressure and 

a mild graffiti remover. Like 

the sacrificial anti-graffiti, 

this one is also vapour 

permeable and only needs 

to be applied once. It 

comes with a 10-year 

warranty. 

• Permanent impregnation 

for horizontal surfaces; this 

solution penetrates the 

pores right under the 

surface, making floors 

much easier to clean. 

Our permanent 

impregnation product can 

be used on the vast 

majority of mineral surfaces 

and comes with a warranty 

of at least five to eight 

years. 

All three of our base 

products are 100% invisible 

on any wall or floor, and 

they do not change the feel 

or texture of the surfaces 

they are applied to. 

What are your biggest 

challenges and what are 

your future plans? 

Expanding outside of the 

Netherlands is always a 

challenge. In this country, 

our daughter company 

GevelMeesters does all the 

work, but we have big plans 

on expanding outside of the 

Netherlands. We have large 

clients in Australia, the United 

States; and clients in in many 

European countries. 

Where we don’t have a fixed 

client however, is in the 

United Kingdom, and this is a 

marketplace we want to break 

into. We also want to break into 

the Russian market. 

Is there anything else you’d 

like to mention? 

We started in the Netherlands, 

but are rapidly growing in 

Europe and overseas. We want 

this growth to move into the UK 

market and believe we are well 

placed to do this because not 

only does APP sell products, but 

we also sell solutions too. 

Our team prides itself on 

offering a complete package 

of products and services 

solutions to our customers, 

complete with instructions 

and demonstrations by project 

engineers. 


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0845 3717626

. STOPPING DIESEL BEYOND THE TRACKS. THE 

NEED FOR ‘CLEANER, GREENER’ RAIL IS VITAL 

IN a speech delivered by 

Minister in the Department 

for Transport and Minister for 

London, Jo Johnson, in February, 

pollution and carbon emissions 

were once again brought to the 

forefront of discussion; this time 

with the focus on the rail sector. 

Jo Johnson declared his 

ambition to see all diesel-only 

trains off the track by 2040 

stating that: 

“by decarbonising rail, we’ll 

reduce pollutants and improve 

air quality…” 

Jo Johnson gave particular 

mention to the consideration 

of hydrogen engines replacing 

battery and diesel in the future 

announcing that he would like 

to see ‘hydrogen train trials 

on the UK railway as soon as 

possible’ and continued by 

asserting that, ‘hydrogen offers 

an affordable and 

potentially much 

cleaner alternative to diesel’. 

But the notion of a 

decarbonised railway extends 

beyond the finished product, 

beyond the objective to replace 

all diesel-only trains, and looks 

further back down the track to 

the construction of our railways 

and the working practises to 

bring this ambition to fruition. 

As Jo Johnson said in his speech: 

‘the drive to decarbonise must 

come from all sectors of the 

industry’. 


The impetus to reduce 

carbon emissions in the rail 

construction sector has seen 

strong and steady drive over 

the last year with Crossrail now 

having set a target to reduce 

carbon footprint and reduce 

construction related energy 

by 8% which ‘equates to some 

30,000t of carbon saved during 

the construction phase on 

energy efficiency measures 

alone’. 

We are now all too aware of the 

alarming statistics surrounding 

the cost of air pollution to 

our society, with thousands 

upon thousands of premature 

deaths every year attributed 

to harmful emissions pumped 

into the air we breathe. The rail 

industry has already stepped up 

their response to this crisis by 

utilising some alternative hybrid 

and hydrogen fuelled plant on 

maintenance and construction 

projects around the capital 

and across the UK. In doing so, 

they have begun to significantly 

reduce emissions on sites thus 

benefiting the environment and 

consequently the occupational 

health of the workforce. 

Hydrogen fuel cell products 

like TCP’s Ecolite TH200 LED 

light tower and the Genie 

Eco CCTV tower - just some 

of TCP’s range which have 

already been put to use on 

projects such as Crossrail 

Anglia, Whitechapel and Hayes 

- both use BOC’s HYMERA® 

fuel cell as a sustainable power 

source and therefore provide 

a green energy solution. With 

no internal combustion engine 

or harmful emissions, products 

like these can be used in 

enclosed spaces such as tunnel 

work and provide solutions for 

environmentally sensitive areas 

where there must be zero risk 

of contamination. 

The Ecolite range is powered 

through a system in which 

hydrogen combines with 

oxygen (from the atmosphere) 

in a fuel cell, to produce 

electricity with the only emission 

being water vapour. This 

process is virtually silent which 

is important for work at night, 

in built-up residential areas and 

means users of the Ecolite fuel 

cell product range can easily 

comply to the section 61 noise 

pollution act. 

The possibilities of other 

clean air solutions within the 

rail construction sector are 

not limited to lighting and 

surveillance systems alone. 

TCP’s off-grid power supplies 

and mobile environmental work 

stations are among some of 

the other alternatives which 

have already been put into 

operation on projects within 

the industry resulting in the 

reduction of noise complaints 

and the opportunity to 

significantly cut back on the 

amount of diesel generators, 

and the consequential adverse 

environmental emissions. 

The use of hydrogen fuel cell 

replacements for diesel and 

petrol plant has seen a positive 

growth and with running costs 

for these hydrogen alternatives 

becoming ‘cost neutral’ against 

those of traditional diesel units, 

the appeal of hybrid, hydrogen, 

alternatives has become one 

that doesn’t ‘cost the earth’. 

With the successful 

implementation of hydrogen 

powered buses in some of our 

major cities, it’s time for the rail 

industry to follow suit. In his 

speech, Jo Johnson asked for 

the industry to report back by 

the autumn with a ‘clear long 

term strategy with consistent 

objectives and incentives’. It’s 

time to make tracks towards a 

greener, cleaner future for the 

rail industry. 

For more information on the 

hydrogen fuel cell range of 

products available from TCP Ltd, 

please contact us at ecolite@ 

tcp.eu.com or call on 01621 

850777, with five depots across 

the UK we are able to supply 

nationwide. 


23


//. CROSSRAIL LTD RELEASE IMAGES 

THAT HIGHLIGHT ELIZABETH LINE 

CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS 

CROSSRAIL Ltd has released a 

series of images that highlight 

the progress of work to deliver 

the Elizabeth line. 

London’s newest railway – 73 

miles in length – will connect 

the capital to the home 

counties, with 10 new stations 

constructed to service the 

Elizabeth line. 

The project has made 

great strides in the last 

year; Crossrail Ltd recently 

confirmed more than 90% of 

the project is now complete. 

To mark this level of progress, 

the series of images highlight 

the progress made on the 

construction part of this huge 

infrastructure project which is 

now in its final stages. 

Elizabeth line stations are 

now being fitted out and only 

recently, the first train was 

driven through the tunnels, 

with other tests to come. 

Images include those of 

Paddington station’s 21-metre 

long escalators; Bond Street 

western ticket hall which 

will lead passengers to the 

platforms 28 metres below 

ground; Whitechapel station’s 

striking framework is also 

profiled, where the integrated 

ticket hall will be located. 

The images released by 

Crossrail Ltd also display the 

Old Oak Common depot, 

complete with a view of the 

stunning new fleet of trains, 

which will be maintained at the 

depot. 

Howard Smith is the 

Operations Director for the 

Elizabeth line. He is excited at 

the vision of these ‘dynamic’ 

spaces. 

“Seeing our striking new 

stations take shape is an 

extremely exciting time for 

all involved in the historic 

Elizabeth line project. We 

look forward to opening 

these dynamic new spaces to 

Londoners and visitors when 

we launch the railway in nine 

months’ time.” 

Andrew Wolstenholme, Chief 

Executive of Crossrail, added: 

“After almost a decade of hard 

work from tens of thousands 

of men and women across the 

country, the construction of the 

Elizabeth line has entered its 

final stages. 

“This fantastic set of new 

images shows the huge 

amount that has been 

achieved.” 



//. ELIZABETH LINE TRAIN DRIVEN THROUGH 

NEW TUNNELS FOR THE FIRST TIME 

THE first Elizabeth line train 

has undergone testing in the 

brand new tunnels through 

London. 

A significant milestone, the 

train was driven from Abbey 

Wood into the new tunnels 

at Plumstead Portal and 

under the Thames towards 

the Connaught Tunnel before 

returning to the station. 

With less than a year until 

the new rail line opens in 

London – one of the biggest 

infrastructure projects in 

Europe – testing is the next 

step to ensure that the line is 

ready. 

Built by Bombardier engineers 

in Derby, the test run of the 

Elizabeth line train is the first 

of hundreds that will take place 

between now and December 

2018. 

This latest milestone – 

coming hot on the heels of 

confirmation that the project 

is more than 90% complete 

– is the start of a rigorous 

testing process of the railway 

and signalling infrastructure 

to make sure that safe and 

reliable services are in place 

once this Elizabeth line 

train and others like it are 

operational. 

The Elizabeth line also supports 

the draft Transport Strategy 

outlined by the Mayor of 

London that wants to improve 

public transport and reduce 

reliance on car journeys. 

Howard Smith is the 

Operations Director for the 

Elizabeth line, which will be run 

by Transport for London (TfL). 

He is “thrilled” that testing has 

started. 

He said: “This is a huge 

milestone for the project, 

nine years after construction 

first began. I’m thrilled to 

see the first train make its 

maiden voyage from Abbey 

Wood through the brand new 

tunnels. 

“Crucial testing is now 

underway to validate the 

safety and reliability of the 

Elizabeth line ahead of the 

launch. We look forward to 

welcoming customers onto our 

new railway this December, 

when their experience of 

travelling across London will be 

transformed for the better.” 

As the year goes on, signage 

will be installed in stations 

serviced by Crossrail, and the 

interior work at these locations 

will also be completed. 


25

INNOVATION WITH 

PURPOSE: BOSS CABINS 

EXPLAINS HOW ITS 

SOLUTIONS HELP THE 

INDUSTRY. 

Established in 2010, Boss Cabins 

is the market leader in the 

manufacturing of welfare cabins. 

The company’s Managing Director, 

Matthew Wordsworth, explains 

how the aims of Boss Cabins result 

in the creation of products and 

solutions for industries, and how 

innovation is driven. 

At Boss Cabins, we have a simple 

saying that runs through the core 

of our business and everything our 

customers can expect: we don’t 

innovate for the sake of it. 

This might sound cliched, but it’s 

entirely true. Since our inception in 

2010, we’ve become the market leader 

in the design, build and manufacture 

of mobile and static welfare cabins. 

Industries far and wide have been 

able – and have the potential – to 

benefit greatly from the solutions we 

can offer. We have experience working 

in markets as varied as construction, 

haulage, healthcare and agriculture. 

Our welfare cabins are used in 

government contracts, the highways 

and rail industries, where we offer 

solutions that are not only safe, but 

hugely efficient. 

That final point goes back to our 

mantra of innovation; in an era where 

organisations are trying to achieve greater 

efficiency, we’ve brought a product to the 

market which does just that.

Our Eco Ultimate provides the 

user with huge financial savings 

because the generators use 

much less energy. This also 

achieves the aim of reducing 

emissions, as less diesel is 

burned too. 

It is a system that would 

bring much greater levels of 

productivity for projects in 

highways and rail. 

The Eco Ultimate is the next 

level of fuel efficiency because, 

instead of continually using 

energy, we offer something that 

is completely functional but is 

intelligent enough to only use 

electricity and fuel when they 

are required. 

In previous years, you would 

see generators that are 

approximately 7kva. Our system 

has halved this, while ensuring 

that everything within the 

cabin such as hot water and 

electricity, work just as before. 

It means that a generator can 

turn itself on and off on demand, 

prioritising the appliances that 

are used for electricity. 

We wanted to create a cabin 

that is as user friendly as 

a house; our Eco Ultimate 

achieves this because the 

customer doesn’t have to think 

of energy usage – the system is 

smart enough to do that itself. 

Based on our field testing, the 

unit costs approximately 56p 

to run each day – a significant 

saving, and a groundbreaking 

system for the welfare industry, 

which can improve fuel 

efficiency by up to 75%. The 

efficiency really is through the 

roof. 

The Eco Ultimate system – like 

all of our welfare cabins – 

has been brought to market 

because it is a way of innovating 

to solve a problem. 

As a company, we know that we 

can’t always get things right, but 

what our clients can absolutely 

expect is that they’ll never be 

let down. We stand behind the 

quality of these products, which 

are backed by more than 50 

years of industry experience, 

and seek to find the solution 

that fits the needs of each and 

every client. 

And through our commitment 

to innovation to make a 

different, at Boss Cabins, we’re 

confident we will continue to 

make our customers happy.

. SERIES OF MILESTONES HIT BY NETWORK 

RAIL ON ELIZABETH LINE ROUTE 

MILESTONES on the Crossrail 

project have been reached 

after it was announced 

railway upgrades have been 

completed on the Elizabeth line 

route. 

Network Rail has undertaken 

the work at Pudding Mill Lane, 

Plumstead and Westbourne 

Park, while Gidea Park sidings 

have been improved so that full 

length Elizabeth line trains can 

be accommodated. 

In another of a series of 

milestones on Crossrail, 

signalling between Pudding 

Mill Lane to Shenfield has been 

updated in order to support 

Elizabeth line services. 

These upgrades are key in 

guaranteeing the railway 

infrastructure is in place by 

December 2018 when the first 

Elizabeth line services will run 

in London. 

Ben Wheeldon, Crossrail 

Programme Director at 

Network Rail, said: “Making the 

final connection between the 

national rail network and the 

Crossrail tunnels links east and 

west for the first time. 

“The completion of these huge 

pieces of work, including the 

final signalling commissioning 

on the eastern section of 

the Elizabeth line route is 

a significant step towards 

ensuring that the railway 

infrastructure is ready for the 

introduction of the Elizabeth 

line and is an important part of 

our Railway Upgrade Plan.” 

As part of the milestones 

reached, Network Rail has 

completed track work at 

Pudding Mill Lane where 

Elizabeth line tunnels meet 

with national rail infrastructure. 

This means trains will be able 

to enter and exit new tunnels 

from the existing above ground 

railway. 

Elsewhere, overhead power 

lines and signalling equipment 

were required for this, as 

well as the new track. Now 

this has been completed, 

Plumstead, Pudding Mill Lane 

and Westbourne Park are 

connected to the existing 

railway. 

As part of the remodelling 

of sidings at Gidea Park, 

engineers have upgraded 

overhead lines, signals and 

track. As a result, more than 

3.2km of track has been 

renewed, along with 8,000 

tonnes of new ballast and 

45,000 concrete sleepers 

with four new longer sidings 

replacing five sidings that have 

reached the end of their life 

cycle. 

It is further progress on the 

huge infrastructure project, 

which is already 90% complete. 



//. CROSSRAIL PROJECT NOW MORE 

THAN 90% COMPLETE 

Crossrail has started the year 

in which the Elizabeth line 

will open by announcing the 

project is over 90% complete. 

It comes as part of the latest 

quarterly update, which shows 

Crossrail – one of the largest 

infrastructure projects in the 

whole of Europe – is making 

great strides and is well on 

track to open for the first time 

in December 2018. 

The latest issue of Moving 

Ahead details the progress 

made on the infrastructure 

project since the previous 

quarterly update, when the 

project was 87% complete. 

Since then, significant steps 

have been taken to install 

the Elizabeth line, and the 

permanent track has been fully 

laid. 

Other progress has come 

in the form of the award of 

contracts by Crossrail and 

Transport for London (TfL) to 

improve access at Elizabeth 

line stations, which will deliver 

step-free access at these 

stations. 

As the year progresses to the 

landmark opening in December 

2018, much more work will 

be undertaken, including the 

fit-out of station platforms and 

train tunnels; the installation 

of roundels and other signage; 

and the completion of station 

buildings to fit them with 

escalators, lifts, ticket gates and 

fans. 

Andrew Wolstenholme, CEO of 

Crossrail Ltd, gave an update 

about the project, the work 

that will be completed this year 

– a year which he believes will 

be “historic.” 

He said: “2018 will be an 

historic year for the Crossrail 

project. The programme to 

deliver the Elizabeth line is 

now over 90% complete. In 

10 months, the new service 

will launch through central 

London, transforming travel 

and increasing choice for 

passengers. 

“There is a lot to do to get 

London’s newest railway ready. 

The new stations and tunnels 

in central London will be fitted 

out, the railway tested, state-ofthe-art 

trains delivered, drivers 

and the new team trained. 

“Within the year, the first 

passengers will travel through 

the Elizabeth line.” 


29

. CELEBRATING ITS 40TH YEAR IN BUSINESS, 

HAKO AND ITS BRAND CONTINUES TO GO FROM 

STRENGTH TO STRENGTH. 

With an enviable product range coveted and used in the industrial, commercial 

and outdoor environments, Hako provides bespoke solutions that are tailored 

to the individual needs of each and every customer, who enjoy a service that 

continues to flourish after contracts have been signed. 

The company is headed up by Managing Director, Sylvie Giangolini, who has seen 

great strides made at Hako in her six years here. Together with Alison Conroy, 

Sales and Marketing Director, Sylvie spoke to Business Britain Media about Hako’s 

success in the UK market, how its own management team is chosen, and why the 

products are so popular in the industrial, commercial and municipal markets. 

Can you tell us about Hako’s 

origins and subsequent 

growth? 

The company was established 

in 1948 as a family-run business 

which moved into the sweeper 

market. Our first sweeper for 

the Hako range was launched 

in 1961 and the first scrubber 

drier arrived 14 years later. 

Our UK team was formed in 

1979, and we’ve been operating 

as a direct subsidiary of 

Germany since then. Next year 

will be our 40th birthday here in 

the UK. 

Since we have been part 

of the UK market, we have 

steadily increased the range of 

sweepers and scrubber drier 

products in our portfolio. A big 

change to what we offer came 

in 1995, when we launched 

our first outdoor machine into 

the market. This catapulted 

us into the outdoor cleaning 

market, adding to our already 

solid foundation in the indoor 

market. 

The Hako family sold the 

business to a company called 

Possehl between 2004 – 2006, 

and the brand in the UK has 

continued to flourish. 

I would say that in the UK we 

are unique because of the wide 

product range we offer, which 

includes combination machines 

that undertake scrubber drier 

and sweeper functions. Our 

portfolio goes right up to 

machinery such as six-tonne 

road sweepers that are largely 

used by councils. 

We remain confident that 

nobody provides the range of 

equipment we can. 

Regarding your product 

range, how did you see the 

gap in the market to develop 

this, and how are you 

capitalising on it? 

As a business, our success 

has emanated from our 

commitment to moving forward 

and introducing products to the 

range that add value to what we 

already have now. 

It is the reason we differ from 

our competitors: the choice 

across our product range. We 

are clear where each of our 

products sits in either a market 

or an industry. 


Rather than sell as a 

commodity, we try to make 

sure that the solutions we offer 

are bespoke to each and every 

customer. 

This is obvious in our approach 

to customers. From the outset, 

when a customer contacts us, 

we will call them to discuss their 

requirements and undertake 

a site survey so that we can 

guarantee the brand is being 

given the best opportunity 

to perform; sometimes, the 

customer may feel they need 

a sweeper, when in fact, they 

need a scrubber drier. 

It is therefore important to us to 

make sure we understand the 

bespoke client requirements, 

and the challenges on each site, 

because every site is different. 

Our range comprises of 12 

scrubber drier variants, 10 

sweeper variants, and four 

Citymaster outdoor machines. 

The variants of all machines 

guarantee multi-functionality 

to the customer, which 

allows year-round use of our 

equipment, for snow clearing in 

winter, grass cutting and street 

scrubbing. 

What challenges do you 

encounter when providing 

solutions for the various 

clients you have? 

As a brand, it is particularly 

important to us to work with 

clients in order to establish 

what their need is, before 

discussing the best machine 

to fit the challenges of their 

specific sites. It allows us to 

recommend the most suitable 

machine for every customer. 

Our site survey is crucial in this 

process because it enables us 

to give the information to our 

customer which helps them 

make an informed choice 

because ultimately, it is the 

client’s decision. 

It is just as critical with our 

outdoor range to make sure 

clients have the correct machine, 

and whether for this range or 

our indoor products, we would 

never provide a machine that 

wasn’t fit for purpose and able 

to do the job to the highest 

possible standards. 

How do you go about making 

sure your clients are educated 

and informed so they 

understand the products they 

get are the most suitable? 

It’s all about the relationships 

we build. Whether for indoor 

or outdoor cleaning, we have 

a sales team that is thoroughly 

professional, highly trained, and 

build lasting relationships with 

customers. 

For Hako, it’s about supporting 

our customers throughout the 

lifetime of their machines, and 

beyond that. 

By getting the relationship in 

place with a customer and 

building trust, it puts us on a 

strong footing. 

What type of clients and 

sectors do you work with? 

For indoor cleaning, it’s anywhere 

you can think of that has a 

floor which needs cleaning! We 

have clients in retail, hospitals, 

universities – the possibilities for 

us are endless, quite frankly! 

For outdoor sweepers, 

our largest sector is the 

municipalities and local 

authorities. Having said that, 

we find any client with a lot of 

ground, such as universities, 

logistics and warehouses, all 

benefit from our outdoor kit. 


31

How do you target 

companies in the different 

sectors? 

When I first joined Hako, the 

outdoor market was very small 

in comparison to what was 

previously seen as our core 

market, whereas the indoor 

equipment market was very 

strong. 

Whilst this has continued to 

grow, I’d certainly say since 

Alison joined, we have seen 

incredible growth in the 

outdoor market because we 

have strategically targeted it 

as a growth area due to the 

confidence we have in the 

product range. 

The result is what we see 

today – two strong, direct 

sales channels, and two clear 

definitions within the team. 

We bring in experts across the 

board who are confident and 

knowledgeable in each of our 

market sectors. 

What process is in place to 

ensure after-sales services 

are offered to customers? 

Alison has worked particularly 

hard on making sure we have 

a clear and defined customer 

contact strategy, from both an 

internal and external viewpoint. 

Already this year, we have 

made significant changes to our 

internal customer support team. 

Whereas before we had a team 

that managed parts, a team 

that managed service, and one 

that managed the sales order 

processes, what we have done is 

effectively replicated the internal 

team to our external team. 

It means that one person 

internally manages the regional, 

geographical customer base, 

so when the external team 

member goes to undertake 

their prospecting, part of the 

sales process is letting the 

customer know whilst he/ 

she is the direct field sales 

contact, there is a person that is 

dedicated internally to manage 

that account. 

When the order lands, the 

internal customer support 

person picks up the phone 

to the customer to organise 

installation, delivery, training – 

all to meet client requirements. 

The client will then receive close 

contact from the internal team 

on a follow-up basis, giving the 

ability to purchase chemicals, 

book service calls, order parts, 

and deal with all other queries. 

What we are now seeing 

is customers who are on 

generation three and four 

machine replacement. This is 

really satisfying for us because 

it tells me that we’re doing a 

great job of looking after our 

customers and they want to 

come back to us. 

They see that our service is not 

just about selling a machine, but 

IT’S EXTREMELY 

IMPORTANT FOR US 

THAT OUR CUSTOMERS 

HAVE ACCESS TO THE 

RIGHT EQUIPMENT AND 

SUPPORT THROUGHOUT 

THE LIFECYCLE, BUT 

ALSO TO A NUMBER OF 

DIFFERENT ROUTES TO 

PURCHASE. 


about providing a well-rounded 

service. 

We’re also very serious about 

educating and training our 

customers. This means clients 

receive ongoing training and 

support throughout the lifetime of 

our machine being on their site. 

It sends out a strong message 

that we are with the customer, 

whatever the challenges they face. 

Your management team is 

mostly made up of women. 

Was this a conscious 

decision and how do you 

feel it can inspire other 

organisations to tackle 

gender inequality? 

Alison and I have come from very 

male-dominated manufacturing/ 

selling and service environments. 

However, after several years 

selling equipment in this type of 

industry, I don’t notice it. Since 

I’ve been the Managing Director 

at Hako, our management team 

of six has consisted of four 

women. However, this isn’t a 

conscious decision. Instead, I 

have appointed the right person 

for the job. 

What I would say - to the 

businesses looking at us, and 

for women looking to enter the 

industry – is don’t be put off by 

being different. 

We have a very dynamic 

management team. We had 

a meeting recently and I 

sat back and one point and 

thought I’ve got a team of very 

strong individuals, all of whom 

are experts in their fields of 

jurisdiction. 

As a team, we have mutual 

respect for each other, which 

is imperative if we are to be 

successful. This isn’t related to 

gender – it’s about delivering 

what the business ultimately 

needs. 

It is a hot topic at the minute 

and I’m very conscious of that. 

Alison wrote a fantastic piece 

leading up to International 

Women’s Day focusing on 

myself and one of our other 

female managers, Joanne 

Veasey, who heads up our new 

customer support team. 

What it did was underline 

what we are: a team of very 

passionate, driven people who 

want to deliver the Hako brand 

and solutions to as wide a 

market as we can in the UK. 

If that inspires women to come 

into our industry, that’s great. 

But it wasn’t the primary focus 

for us. 

What are the company’s 

plans for the future, and 

are there any gaps in the 

market for expansion? 

We are constantly looking to grow, 

and are continuing to develop 

our diverse product range. This 

year, we will be introducing new 

machines into the market and 

have plans for even more in the 

next couple of years. 

Hybrid technology is something 

we’re looking closely at for 

the outdoor market, because 

cleaner environments 

are something that Hako 

prides itself on, along with 

sustainability. We have 

undertaken extensive research 

and development regarding 

the robotic range of indoor 

equipment too. 

In terms of our UK management 

team, we are always making 

sure that the product range we 

have meets the demand of all 

our clients. 

Is there anything else you’d 

like to mention? 

It’s extremely important for 

us that our customers have 

access to the right equipment 

and support throughout the 

lifecycle, but also to a number of 

different routes to purchase. 

We don’t just deal in terms 

of an outright purchase. 

Instead, we offer customers 

a comprehensive lease/ 

maintenance package of up to 

seven years, depending on the 

environment. 

Our approach is all about 

helping the customer to find 

the right machine, and the best 

route to purchase as well. 


33

THE UK Rail Research and 

Innovation Network (UKRRIN) 

officially launched earlier in 

the year – a groundbreaking 

collaboration between 

academia and industry which 

will drive changes in digital 

technologies with the rail 

industry. 

This partnership will, through 

its three Centres of Excellence, 

encourage greater innovation 

that will benefit efficiency of 

railways not just in the UK, but 

worldwide too. 

The University of Birmingham 

is the location of one of the 

Centres of Excellence, and 

is playing a crucial role in 

providing a step-change in 

digital technologies and their 

delivery. 

Professor Clive Roberts, 

Director of the Birmingham 

Centre for Railway Research and 

Education, spoke to Business 

Britain about UKRRIN, and how 

it will enact a sea-change in the 

UK’s railway sector. 

Can you give us a bit of 

information about yourself 

and your experience of the 

rail sector? 

I’ve been here for 21 years, 

working in aspects of digital 

technologies to be applied 

to railways. This ranges from 

condition monitoring and 

putting sensors on bits of 

railway to detect when they 

are faulty so you can repair 

them before they fail. Also, I 

optimise traffic flows and traffic 

management technologies 

to help recover trains to 

timetables when there are 

disturbances. 

What was the vision for 

UKRRIN? 

In 2016, the Railway Supply 

Group – a group of private 

companies that supply the rail 

industry – put together their 

vision for the future strategy. 

It was the first time that they’d 

come together as a group 

– companies like Siemens, 

Bombardier, Hitachi. 

They’d come together and 

realised they employ a lot of 

people and pay a lot of tax, 

and made a bid to become the 

12th industrial sector in the UK. 

This was supported by Sajid 

Javid and Patrick McLoughlin 

– who was Secretary of State 

for Transport. They identified a 


number of things they could do. 

Some of that was increasing the 

skilled workforce and creating 

more jobs; some was around 

exports around technology 

from the UK; a bit of capability 

mapping, much like the 

aerospace industry does. 

As part of this strategy, there 

was an increased interaction 

with research institutes and 

general capability in research 

and development. 

That’s where I came in. I 

got approached to lead a 

collaborative bid between 

academia and industry to 

request funds from the 

government to develop three 

Centres of Excellence – a 

Centre of Excellence in digital 

systems, hosted in Birmingham; 

a Centre of Excellence in rolling 

stock which will be hosted at 

Huddersfield University, with 

input from Nottingham and 

Loughborough; a Centre of 

Excellence in infrastructure, 

hosted at Southampton 

University, with input from 

Sheffield, Nottingham, 

Heriot-Watt universities, and 

Loughborough. 

Funding comes from the Higher 

Education Funding Council for 

England from their Research 

Programme Infrastructure 

Fund (RPIF), with the investment 

supporting capital funding on 

campuses to build stuff. The 

industry will also put money behind 

this to ensure facilities get used. 

How that works is the 

government gives you one 

pound if industry will commit two 

pounds. We ended up in a bid 

where we were asking for £28.1 

million from government and 

we had our industry partners 

– 16 in total – committing £64 

million. That’s money they will 

spend in the centres over a 10- 

year period to help accelerate 

research and innovation take-up 

in the industry. There’s a real 

hunger at the moment for the 

digital transformation of the 

railways in the UK, as well as HS2 

and large projects on London 

Underground. 

There’s also a large pull for 

exports from the UK; there’s 

potential because it’s not 

only the UK where there’s 

a renaissance in rail, it’s 

everywhere in the world – 

such as China, Singapore. 

There are lots of opportunities 

around the world to export the 

technologies we can develop. 


35

Why was there a need for 

UKRRIN and the Centres of 

Excellence? 

I think there is a need – other 

industries have this already, 

such as aerospace, where 

there is a pull through from 

academic research to industrial 

research. Although with doing 

lots of things for a long period 

of time, it hasn’t been a closely 

knitted collaboration between 

academics and researchers in 

rail. 

But as we move into more 

digital technologies being 

applied to rail, there is more of 

a need for this than there has 

ever been. We can’t improve 

the capacity on railways, the 

customer satisfaction and 

reduce the carbon and costs 

by just reapplying our existing 

technologies we have used for 

many years. 

The industry needs fresh new 

ideas, which is the kind of thing 

we provide in universities. 

Will transport operators 

collaborate in these centres? 

Yes. Basically the funding is 

a mixture of public funding – 

from the government – and 

private funding. In our base 

formation, Network Rail, HS2, 

TfL aren’t involved because they 

are seen as on the side of the 

government. However, we have 

strong commitments from all of 

those organisations that they 

will work in the centres so it 

becomes a collaborative place 

to work. 

HS2, Network Rail, TfL have the 

changes they want to put to the 

industry. We can develop those 

together with industry, test and 

integrate them together in the 

centres. 

One key part of a lot of this 

is to make sure we can get 

technology out there much 

more quickly, so it’s about 

demonstrating, integrating, 

de-risking technologies in 

laboratories, rather than trying 

to do this on the side of the 

railways. 

How was it decided which 

universities would be 

awarded the Centres of 

Excellence and their focus? 

The original focus of the centres 

was set out in the Railway 

Supply Group’s document 

and then when it was decided 

that a bid should go in, there 

was a competition between 

the universities that all had 

access to, and we were selected 

through an industry panel. 

It must be a great accolade 

for the university and for 

what your expertise can give 

to the industry. 

Yes, indeed. We have a wellestablished 

academic capability 

in rail in the UK. I would say it’s 

by far the largest in Europe. We 

have some excellent universities 

working in rail. Our university 

has over 135 researchers, all 

working in railway innovation. 

As a university, we’ve just 

been to Buckingham Palace to 

accept the Queen’s Award for 

higher education and further 

education for our work in 

railways, so we’ve got some 

really good people. 

The equivalent universities 

leading the centres are also 

equally excellent so we have 


some really good capabilities in 

our space. It’s about harnessing 

those and making sure we tie 

them much more closely to 

industry to align everybody and 

make sure everybody is pointing 

in the right direction. 

In terms of the aims of the 

Centres of Excellence, how 

will they be delivered, and 

how will digital systems be 

brought to the rail industry? 

The rail industry has a strategy 

to develop the digital railway, 

to increase the digitalisation of 

railway technology. This is key to 

increasing capacity, lowering the 

cost of railway and making sure 

trains run on time. 

There are some key 

technologies around that: One 

is regarding how we control 

trains, so the ability to run trains 

closer together, using modern 

signalling systems and the 

ability to manage systems when 

there might be delays on trains 

– and there will always be these 

types of delays; the integration 

advanced control systems that 

can optimise the flow of traffic 

through the railways is one key 

area. 

Another is harnessing the 

use of data. The railway has 

all sorts of different data sets 

currently but aren’t used to 

the greatest benefit. I’d guess 

that only about 2% of data 

generated and available to 

railway organisations is actually 

used in a proactive way to 

create information, knowledge 

and wisdom about how to 

run a railway. Harnessing that 

data and making sure we use 

it in all the possible ways we 

can – whether that’s increasing 

customer information, or 

whether it’s to predict the life of 

a failing component on a train 

– all of that data can be used 

much better, but in the modern 

world, it has to be used in a way 

that is secure and safe. Cyber 

security is a key part of that. 

There’s then also an element 

about instrumenting the railway, 

so adding sensors – this will 

help the likes of HS2 with a 

much more digitalised set of 

infrastructure in the first place 

so the track tells you when it’s 

about to fail rather than us 

finding out through manual 

inspection. Therefore, making 

systems much more intelligent 

in their first sense, all the way 

through to robotics and drones 

that carry out inspections and 

maintenance, rather than 

having to put people into 

dangerous locations, on the 

side of railway lines, in tunnels 

at night. Instead, we can do 

a lot of this in an automated 

environment in the future. 

This will be important for the 

maintenance of the London 

Underground which is 

challenging, has only a small 

window in which to do it, it’s 

not a particularly pleasant 

environment. We want to do 

this in an automated way. 

Underlying all of this is the 

aim of getting it into market 

much quicker. We have lots of 

research we’ve done over the 

years but it takes years to get 

things through processes and 

introduced into the industry. 

Some of this is to do with 

standards, but also the risk of 

putting unknown technology on 

operational railways. If it doesn’t 

work as expected, trains are 


37

delayed, which costs money 

and upsets passenger journeys. 

So being able to develop the 

facilities that we can undertake 

this testing in laboratories to 

understand whether something 

works, and de-risking the 

technology, is really critical in all 

that we’re trying to do. 

In terms of the centres, who 

will use them? 

Initially we have our 16 

industrial partners but the 

intention is to grow that. They 

have enabled us to establish the 

network. We envisage growth 

from other industry partners. 

One of our partners already is 

Singapore Metro, who are really 

keen to engage and research 

in development activities in 

the UK, because there’s lots 

of interesting things going on 

here that they want to be part 

of and that they could use in 

their network. There’s potential 

to grow into other international 

operators. 

The other key thing is that the 

funding mechanism is for big 

companies committing multimillion 

pounds to make the £64 

million, but another focus is 

how we engage SMEs. There are 

lots of dynamic SMEs working in 

rail in the UK and those guys will 

be working in the centres with 

us as well. We are encouraging 

small companies to take part 

in our activities. All facets are 

covered – large companies, 

SMEs, international operators. 

It’s really interesting and 

encouraging that SMEs are 

being encouraged to be 

involved. 

Yes, and companies like HS2 are 

more aware of engaging SMEs 

and make sure we develop 

local communities. HS2 and 

the West Midlands Combined 

Authority work together to help 

local businesses engage with 

the rail industry. Companies 

who aren’t necessarily working 

in the rail industry are helped 

to win contracts or made aware 

of what HS2 is doing that will 

affect what they can sell into. 

That is another important part: 

attracting non-rail businesses 

into the rail sector as well. 

What challenges do you 

think you will face to 

achieve the aims of UKRRIN? 

The universities and our 

industry partners have good 

history of collaboration, so the 

grouping of universities that 

have been selected have been 

working together since 2003 

in various projects. We’re all 

friends if you like, and it’s not a 

bunch of strangers in a room. 

It’s a well-established group of 

international researches, which 

is really strong. 

I think the big challenge is 

around ensuring we can get 

things out onto the railway, 

which is not to underestimate 

how difficult that is. That’s not 

because there isn’t a will to 

do that, it’s just because we 

perhaps have to change the 

mindset and culture of the 

industry. 

At the moment, things are 

written in a very, prescriptive, 

technology-based way, so 

you measure a certain thing 

in a certain way with a certain 

gauge. That means it isn’t 

functionally described. It’s 

physically described with a 

particular component that 

somebody thought of 50 years 

ago. 

It means you have to change 

standards, mindset and 

understand what the safety 

risks were with the old 

technology, then write new 

standards, and think about 

the requirements for new 

technology. 

For example, if you’re replacing 

a bent bit of mental gauge with 

a laser, from a technology point 

of view it’s obvious that you can 

do that, but ensuring it works 

in the same way, doesn’t give 

spurious results actually needs 

quite a lot of thought. 

You need to get through that 

process in order to get things 

applied on the railway. We’re 

a very safe mode of transport, 

which is great, but that 

means we won’t start putting 

innovation out that is unsafe. So 

we need to have it at the same 

level of integrity as existing 

systems, which is somewhat 

challenging. 

Is there anything else that is 

important to mention? 

I guess the other important 

aspect is about training the next 

generation of engineers. The 

industry envisages that, over 

the next 10-15 years, the type 

of engineers we see coming into 

the rail industry will be quite 

different to those who entered 

10-15 years prior to that. 

As we have more digital 

technology, the engineering 

jobs become much more 

about being able to handle 

and interpret data, rather 

than more traditional railway 

engineering role. One part of 

this is also ensuring we end up 

with technologies that existing 

staff can use, but also we 

develop the skills of the future 

generation of rail staff as well. 


APRIL 2018 • TRANSPORT BRITAIN 39

AS the owner and operator 

of most of England’s railways, 

Network Rail is responsible 

for the improvement and 

maintenance of rail. 

The next spending period is fast 

approaching and in preparation, 

the Strategic Business Plan 

has been revealed, which 

outlines how our railways will be 

upgraded. 

The number of rail journeys 

in the past 20 years have 

doubled, and are expected to 

grow further in the next 20, 

which is one of the reasons why 

the Strategic Business Plan is 

needed. 

The ambition is to run a safe, 

reliable, efficient and growing 

railway. 

Network Rail spoke to Transport 

Britain to explain why it is 

the best plan they have ever 

produced, as well as the 

challenges to come before the 

details are implemented for 

Control Period 6. 

Can you give us a bit of 

background about the 

Control Periods, why they 

were set up and what 

Network Rail does in 

preparation for these? 

Control periods were devised 

to give the nation’s railway 

infrastructure provider certainty 

of funding and planning for 

assets that have lifespans 

of between 30-100 years. In 

the past, budgets were set 

by the Treasury on an annual 

basis which made investment 

decisions and work bank 

planning extremely challenging. 

We are currently in Control 

Period 5 (CP5) which is due 

to end on 31 March 2019. 

The process for determining 

Control Period 6 (CP6) (2019- 

2024) is well underway with the 

independent rail regulator due 

to gives its draft determination 

in the summer and its final 

determination of Network 

Rail’s income and funding 

requirements for CP6 in the 

autumn. 

What are your initial 

impressions regarding the 

Strategic Business Plan? How 

pleased is the organisation 

with its contents and what 

can rail users expect in CP6? 

Our Strategic Business Plan is a 

detailed explanation of how we 

will efficiently spend the record 

amounts of money that the 

government has committed to 

Network Rail. It is the best plan 

we have ever produced. 

Passengers journeys will be 

transformed in the next few 

years as thousands of new 

trains enter service. By 2021 

there will be almost 350,000 

more services per year than 

today – an average of an extra 

1,000 services a day, better 

connecting communities and 

driving economic growth across 

the country. 


This plan builds on these 

improvements and sets out 

how we will make the railway 

more reliable and cost efficient 

and how we accelerate the 

technological transformation of 

our railway into the digital age. 

We will continue our strategy 

to work more closely with train 

and freight operators, working 

together in partnership to 

continue to expand the network 

for the millions more who will 

want and need it in the years 

ahead. 

It is an ambitious, but realistic 

plan that is not without 

challenge, but with great people 

working together in great teams, 

it can deliver the better railway 

that a better Britain needs. 

In your opinion, what is the 

biggest change between the 

last Control Period and the 

next one? 

There are two significant 

changes to this SBP, compared 

to its predecessor of five years 

ago: 

1. Over the past few years 

Network Rail has radically 

changed it structure from a very 

large monolithic centralised 

company to the one we see 

today that is split up in eight 

geographically based devolved 

businesses - called routes - that 

are close to local customers, 

passengers, stakeholders and 

funders. This - the CP6 SBP - 

has been built from the bottom 

up, from these regional teams 

with expert local knowledge 

building realistic and challenging 

plans rather than the centre 

taking the lead and making their 

best estimates of what was 

needed. 

2. Big projects - enhancements 

- are also mainly excluded 

from this control period 

process. For CP5, a ‘wish-list’ 

of projects was included in 

the funding settlement and 

a lump sum attached to that 

list. But the majority of those 

projects were at a very early 

stage of development and 

as their definition and scope 

was explored and the projects 

matured, it became clear that 

the money available could not 

hope to find everything on the 

list and this led to significant 

financial issues and pressure 

for the company and for 

government. 

This mistake won’t be made 

again as the settlement for 

CP6 will focus on funding the 

day-to-day costs of running, 

maintaining and renewing the 

railway network and projects 

will be funded and treated on 

a case by case basis - and once 

those projects are sufficiently 

mature, they will be presented 

to funders for a funding 

decision. 

How will these changes be 

implemented? 

They already have been with the 

new SBP in place, built from the 

bottom up and focused just on 


41

operations, maintenance and 

renewals. Projects will be dealt 

with separately. 

What do you need to put 

in place to ensure that any 

monitoring of this plan by 

the ORR is successful? 

This has been a much more 

collaborative process and plan 

than five years ago with the 

industry and regulator working 

side by side to get the best 

possible plan to improve and 

grow Britain’s vital railway network. 

With the regulator agreeing to 

monitor our progress through 

the delivery of jointly-owned 

targets and scorecards agreed 

between routes and individual 

train operators. This will this see 

much closer working between 

train and track and the forming 

of different types and levels of 

alliances across the county to 

better align and deliver what 

passengers need - a safe, 

reliable and growing railway. 

How do you identify 

the work that needs to 

be undertaken on the 

railway, and how does the 

organisation secure funding 

for this? 

That’s the entire purpose of 

the periodic review - control 

period - process. Working from 

the ground up, understanding 

the condition of your assets and 

what’s needed to make them 

performance to the targets 

and service you want to deliver 

and then costing a detailed 

plan and securing funding for 

it. This is what’s fundamentally 

what soars behind every control 

period process. 

Where are the most pressing 

needs, and how have 

these been included in the 

Strategic Business Plan? 

Our most pressing need - to 

increase the levels of renewals 

being done to reflect an ageing 

and wearing infrastructure - has 

been reflected in the SBP and 

in the government’s statement 

of funds available - published 

last year - that sees a likely 

25% increase in spending and 

funding in this area. 

What does the process of 

ensuring contracts are in 

place entail? 

We are public body and thus 

have to undergo a very through 

and comprehensive OJEU 

process to set up the contracts 

and framework contracts we 

need in place for CP6. For 

instance a pre-notification 

notice has already been issued 

to the railway supply chain 

looking at the huge track 

renewals programme (around 

£15bn) required for CP6 which 

is, in effect, the very start of the 

procurement process for CP6. 

What do you feel are the 

biggest challenges, both in 

putting the Business Plan 

together, and implementing 

the aims? 

The biggest challenges for 

putting the plan together had 

been the very different approach 

this time round. Before, a core 

central team worked all the 

detail of the plan and was quite 

inward looking. This time we 

have conducted a huge amount 

of consultation and workshops 

involving suppliers, funders, local 

authorities and train operators 

to try and ensure we get a 

bottom up plan that reflects the 

challengers and needs of the 

communities that our railway 

serves. 

The biggest challenge to 

implementing the plan is 

ensuring we start CP6 on the 

front foot and finish CP5 with a 

flourish. 

What are the next steps 

for the Business Plan, and 

indeed for Network Rail, in 

getting ready for the start of 

Control Period 6? 

The publication of the Strategic 

Business Plan is a major 

milestone in the ongoing 

process to determine Network 

Rail’s funding requirements 

for the five years to 2024 

(Control Period 6, CP6). The plan 

represents Network Rail’s initial, 

but detailed view, following the 

publication of governments’ 

(England & Wales and Scotland) 

high level output specifications 

(HLOS) and statements of funds 

available (SoFA). The Office of 

Rail and Road (ORR) will now 

review the plan and make a draft 

determination of Network Rail’s 

funding needs in June, and a final 

determination in the autumn. 


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Providing management and 

consultancy services in 40 

countries worldwide, WSP 

Global works extensively 

on projects in the UK to 

provide rail fire engineering 

knowhow. 

Dr Nishani Sakizlis, 

Associate Director – Fire 

Engineer (UK Rail Fire Team 

Leader), WSP, spoke to 

Transport Britain about 

her experience of working 

at WSP and how a number 

of high profile projects 

in the transport industry 

have benefited from the 

company’s solutions. 


The other day I was hard at 

work, but in a spare moment 

I was just thinking how nice it 

would be if I could tell someone 

how great it is to be a Rail Fire 

Engineer at WSP. Would you 

believe that during this thought, 

Transport Britain gave me a 

call and told me they were 

interested in writing an article 

on rail fire engineering and had 

asked me for my contribution. 

I hope you enjoy reading this 

article… 

I am compelled to tell you that 

I have always known that I was 

going to be an engineer, where 

this thought and intention 

paved the way to my many 

years of studying, including a 

PhD in chemical engineering 

from Imperial College, London. 

Having acquired my 

qualifications in chemical 

engineering, which opened the 

doors to a broad spectrum of 

opportunities in a variety of 

industries, I started my career 

in the fire engineering industry. 

Although this may sound a bit 

basic, I never looked back, for 

the simple reason being that 

without fire engineers, there 

would be fires. 

Having gained expertise in 

developing fire engineering 

solutions for a variety of 

small scale to large scale 

projects including: residential, 

commercial and transport 

infrastructure projects both in 

the UK and overseas projects, 

I particularly grew fond of rail 

fire engineering. As a result, I 

followed my passion and began 

working on many different 

railway projects in the UK and 

around the world, although I’d 

never have thought I would be 

in the position I am in today and 

especially with a company like 

WSP. 

Aside from being a great 

company to work for, I am 

particularly impressed because 

they are ambitious, eager, 

dynamic, innovative and strive 

to build for future generations 

as part of their ‘Future Ready’ 

programme. WSP have become 

a leader in projects that require 

state-of-the-art fire engineering 

knowhow, particularly in 

rail fire engineering, which 

not only fits in with my own 

expertise but deals with the rail 

industry. Particularly now that 

rail is so vital to the economy 

and the general growth and 

development of the country. 

The railways fire team at WSP 

offers extensive knowledge 

in fire safety engineering in 

the railways sector including: 

surface and subsurface 

railway stations, associated 

ancillary buildings, rail and 

road tunnels and over site/ 

adjacent site buildings. We have 

the capability and expertise 

to develop fire engineering 

design for rail infrastructure; 

from concept design stage 

through to construction, 

assurance and commissioning, 

as well as carrying out fire 

risk assessments and finding 

solutions for retrofitting within 

existing and challenging 

infrastructures. We strive to 

build the unthinkable with a can 

do, solution conscious, positive 

attitude towards work. 

At present, WSP is involved 

with several notable projects 

including Manchester Piccadilly 

and Manchester Airport, The 

Cube Project Paddington, Old 

Street Station, High Street 

Kensington, Coventry Network 

Rail Station, West Waterbeach 

Station, HS2 Tunnels as well as 

HS2 stations Old Oak Common 

and Birmingham Curzon Street. 

Not forgetting the soon to 

open Crossrail stations, which 

we have been heavily involved 

with and seeing its completion 

has become dear to my heart 

as I am sure it is dear to the 

hearts of many who have been 

involved with the project. What 

a privilege it has been to see 

the Crossrail project from 

conception to completion. 

Having said the above, I couldn’t 

complete this article without 

saying what an exciting privilege 

it is to work in an industry 

that allows you to use your 

education and technical abilities 

that is not devoid of also using 

your human qualities as well. 


45

BUSINESS BRITAIN MEDIA 

A The Ropewalks, Newton Street, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK11 6QJ 

T 01625 682017 

E enquiries@transport-britain.co.uk 

w www.transport-britain.co.uk

Transport Britain Issue 4

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