Darren announces the company's success in winning a £15 million contract over 5 years to provide consultancy services for Phase Two of HS2, validating their excellent work on Phase One. This is an important role in meeting the goals of the UK Growth Strategy and addressing the pressing need to increase rail capacity and efficiency as demand on the rail network has more than doubled since the late 1990s. As one of three bidders for the Engineering Delivery Partner contract for Phase One of HS2, the company looks forward optimistically to more work in the future.

1. RAIL MONTHLY
BULLETIN
October / November 2015
DARREN’S UPDATE
I am delighted to formally announce
our success in winning the
contract to provide HS2
with Professional Services
Consultancy for Phase Two (the
section between Birmingham,
Leeds and Manchester). This
means more than the c.£15m it is
worth over the next five years. It validates the
excellent work we have done on HS2 Phase
One and demonstrates once more the high
regard with which we are held by our client.
The win also gets us off to a great start
in meeting the ambitions of the recently
announced UK Growth Strategy. Make no
mistake, our role is a pivotal one in meeting
the aspirations of our UK organisation.
In an even broader sense, we are playing
an imporant role in addressing the pressing
issues of building capacity and efficiency into
the network. And we need to: the number of
train journeys made each year is over twice
that of the late 1990s, and rail is moving more
and more freight each year too (there has
been a 75% uplift in volume of consumer
goods being moved by train since 2005, and,
compared with this time last year, 80 more
freight trains are being filled every week).
Given this growing reliance on rail, the
government’s decision to ‘unpause’ projects
to electrify the TransPennine and Midland
mainline was hardly surprising. Without this
rail infrastructure our dreams of a ‘Northern
Powerhouse’ simply won’t materialise.
Through our involvement in major projects
like Crossrail, East West Rail, Great
Western Route Modernisation, North West
Electrification and HS2, we are playing a
key role in helping rail reach its potential
and achieve new levels of connectivity,
convenience and performance for its users
and passengers.
As we approach the end of 2015 the market
is looking to the next tranche of activity.
Significantly, the Comprehensive Spending
Review, expected at the end of November,
will reveal whether Transport for London’s
request of £250m funding to develop the
hybrid Bill for Crossrail 2 will be supported.
If it does, it is expected to drive significant
additional market demand in the second
quarter of 2016.
As one of three bidders in the running to
become HS2’s Engineering Delivery Partner
for Phase One, we continue to look forward
with optimism to an even busier future. A
monumental effort from our committed and
dedicated bid team allowed us to present
a powerful and, I believe, persuasive
tender, and prepared us for the behavioural
assessments. Well done to all involved.
HEALTH & SAFETY
The tragic events in Paris at the
weekend highlight the need
for us all to use only approved
suppliers when booking travel
(for heritage PB staff: ATPI for
flights and hotels, and Capita for rail. For
heritage WSP staff: all bookings made
through Capita), this allows us to quickly
check the whereabouts of colleagues in case
of emergency.
Following the launch of our Health and
Wellbeing Vision for the Rail business, we
are drafting the new combined Drugs and
Alcohol Policy, Mandatory Controls and
Guidance for WSP | Parson Brinckerhoff’s
Safety Management System.
Our Pedometer Challenge is encouraging
us to all consider a less sedentary lifestyle,
between us so far we have taken over 60
million steps and covered c.23,000 miles, or,
if you prefer, three million calories.
We are developing Rail Environment
General Awareness Health & Safety training
programme aimed primarily at those
who don’t carry Personal Track Safety
accreditation and require access to the rail
environment.
Download UK Health and Safety report.
PEOPLE
Our new organisational structure
came into effect on 1 November.
Details can be found in an email
(Organisational Announcement –
A strategy to Support our Potential)
sent on 23 October. If you didn’t receive the
email or would like it to be resent, please
contact Railbox. As part of this structure, we
look forward to welcoming Nassar Majothi as
our Specialist Services lead when he joins us
on 23 November.
In September, 22 staff joined our business,
including 15 graduates. This brings the total
number of new starters for the year to 70.
In support of our bid-winning capability,
Samantha Burns, Charlotte Judge and
Liam Northfield passed their Association of
Proposal Management Professionals (APMP)
Foundation exams. During November, 24 rail
staff will embark on further APMP training.
Members of the senior management team
undertook a training day to help develop their
coaching skills, which lays the foundation
for the launch of a new career coaching
programme.
Rail Engineering Design Technician
Apprentices Edward Ashwell, Ben Flynn,
Darren Meacher, Alex Paterson and Sam
Perrin, were among the first to be recruited
onto the Government’s Trailblazer Apprentice
scheme when they attended a study week at
the National Training Academy for Rail.
Eighteen rail graduates took part in Graduate
Action Day in Milton Keynes on 13 October.
Attendees networked with colleagues from
different disciplines and offices, and met the
senior leadership team and a representative
from key client Network Rail.
PROMOTING OUR EXCELLENCE
As a consultancy, it is the quality of
our people that sets us apart from the
competition. Whether via article, tweet, blog,
award nomination or speaking engagement,
promoting the expertise of our talented
individuals is a key part of winning work and
building our brand.
Recent profile raising efforts include:
* Ian Bleasdale’s article in Rail Professional
(October 2015) emphasises the increasingly
important role of collaboration in today’s
exciting and stimulating marketplace.
* Damon High talked about the challenges
of implementing common safety methods’
regulation and Daniella Daniels-James (from
Major Projects) discussed the importance
of anticipating and minimising risk at The
Institute of Engineering and Technology’s
Rail Electrification seminar. A summary was
published in Rail Technology (November).
* Steve Denniss’ article on SatNav
technology and its impact on rail was
published in Railway Strategies (November),
which you can read here.
* Our work to help relieve pressure and
increase capacity on the Brighton Main Line
was announced in Rail (22 Oct 2015) and
also on the Government’s website.
* Peter Humphrey’s arrival was covered in
Building and other trade press.
* Sherman Havens explains in under a
minute how trains are getting smarter. Watch
his video here.
* Sofia Angelara represented Young
Rail Professionals (YRP) at the Rail Staff
Awards where YRP was nominated for Best
Rail Team of the Year. YRP’s Christmas
Party takes place on 14 December in
Spinningfields, Manchester - Xmas jumpers
optional! Visit www.youngrailpro.com or
follow @youngrailpro on Twitter for more.
Contact Railbox with your news.