MINISTER VISITS VIPER
ON 9 July Viper Innovations hosted a visit from Minister of State for Trade Policy George Hollingbery.
The Minister toured the company’s site in Portishead, Somerset. Viper provides electrical cable monitoring technology for the subsea and rail industries. The minister and Head of the Department for International Trade South West Paul Shand met with Viper’s co-owners and directors Neil Douglas and Max Nodder.
The tour covered Viper’s electronics lab, where core research and development are undertaken. The minister was shown how the electronics are built and bench tested, and he also received a demonstration of the company’s own cloud-hosted software, which is an integral part of its electrical cable integrity monitoring system CableGuardian. This won a prize in the Operations and Performance Category at the 2019 Railway Industry Innovation Awards (p82). The visit also featured a roundtable discussion with local exporting companies.
Mechan’s new turntable design
MAINTENANCE EQUIPMENT specialist Mechan has launched a new turntable design.
The launch follows 18 months of research and development into ways to overcome common problems with pit construction. Mechan’s new turntable has integrated wheels affixed to the bottom of the structure, allowing the height of the table to be adjusted to counteract any discrepancies in the level of the pit, resulting in significant time and cost savings.
The first depot to benefit from Mechan’s new turntables is in Panama City, where four units were installed in January. The new build facility is part of a major project to construct a second metro line.
PRODUCT LICENCES
IN AN item in the March 2019 issue about Tracsis Rail Consultancy (p75), a number of non-Tracsis proprietary products were listed, including TPS, VISION, TRAIL and VoyagerPlan. Tracsis does not have its own licences to use these systems, but has a team of skilled consultants who are expert users of them. The use by Tracsis of these systems is dependent upon its clients having already obtained a licence from the relevant supplier, which may be used when Tracsis consultants are seconded to work as part of a client team.
TRT partnership success
UNIPART RAIL has delivered the first four TRT (Trac Rail Transposer) machines to McCulloch Rail.
The development and manufacturing of the machines form a core part of the alliance between the two businesses, which provides railway component handling and movement equipment for worldwide track maintenance and construction projects. The TRT, developed by McCulloch Rail and manufactured by Unipart Rail, significantly reduces the time taken to handle rail sections, whilst being controlled by only one operator.
To support the partnership, Unipart Rail set up a dedicated manufacturing facility in Crewe, with the establishment and development of this facility and the manufacture of the four machines all accomplished within seven months. Unipart is now in the process of manufacturing a further six machines.
PRODUCT LICENCES
IN AN item in the March 2019 issue about Tracsis Rail Consultancy (p75), a number of non-Tracsis proprietary products were listed, including TPS, VISION, TRAIL and VoyagerPlan. Tracsis does not have its own licences to use these systems, but has a team of skilled consultants who are expert users of them. The use by Tracsis of these systems is dependent upon its clients having already obtained a licence from the relevant supplier, which may be used when Tracsis consultants are seconded to work as part of a client team.
Zonegreen delivers in Doha
RAIL DEPOT specialist Zonegreen has successfully installed its Depot Personnel Protection System (DPPS) at three depots on Qatar’s new Doha Metro network.
Zonegreen’s technology is safeguarding staff at three maintenance and stabling facilities, including the system’s main depot, the Al Wakra heavy maintenance depot, which was commissioned in 2018. This year Zonegreen has installed DPPS on seven roads at the Al Rayyan depot on Doha’s Green line, with four of the roads benefiting from powered derailers. The final depot to benefit from Zonegreen’s technology is the Ras Bu Abboud stabling yard that serves the metro’s Gold line, with the single road facility fitted with warning beacons and klaxons to warn staff of vehicle movements.
In all three locations, staff log on to DPPS via personalised datakeys that enable them to protect the areas in which they wish to work, without disabling the entire depot. Those with higher level access can also control vehicle movements with ease and efficiency at a fraction of the cost of a full signalling system.
The first section of the metro system opened to the public on 8 May, almost a year ahead of its planned 2020 launch date, with the entire project due for completion by 2022.
RIA conference scoops award
RIA conference scoops award
THE RAILWAY Industry Association has won the Conference of the Year award at the Trade Association Forum Awards for its annual conference held in October 2018.
The London event, attended by over 300 people, brought together RIA members with political decision-makers and influencers, with speakers including Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, Network Rail Chief Executive Andrew Haines, Shadow Transport Secretary Andy McDonald and National Infrastructure Commission Chairman Sir John Armitt. The judges said the award was for an outstanding conference which included particularly relevant and informative content specific to the audience, made use of innovative technology and attracted exceptional attendee feedback.
The award follow RIA’s success in winning the same prize in 2018 for its Innovation Conference. RIA’s 2019 annual conference will be held on 7-8 November.
