Rail safety specialist, Sheffield-based Zonegreen, is transforming a Victorian maintenance facility into one of the most secure and efficient depots in the UK. London Midland’s Tyseley depot, near Birmingham, is the latest British facility to implement Zonegreen’s market leading SMART Depot Personnel Protection System (DPPS).
Safety, efficiency and performance
The intelligent control network has been fitted to all 13 lines at Tyseley, to provide safer working conditions for maintenance staff and increase the speed and efficiency with which trains are moved.
Zonegreen’s installation is one of a series of upgrades at Tyseley, commissioned by Network Rail through their principal contractor J. Murphy & Sons Limited, as part of London Midland’s expansion in Birmingham and Network Rail’s commitment to improving workplace safety. It has included the addition of new fleet and the introduction of a £1.6m washing facility, capable of cleaning 120 trains each day.
Tony Hague, Zonegreen’s managing director, said: "Rail depots built in the last 20 years report significantly fewer accidents than their older counterparts, thanks to the availability of the latest technology. DPPS reduces the margin for human error when trains are being moved, allowing essential maintenance to take place without endangering lives or damaging expensive equipment. We are encouraged to see Network Rail investing in safer working practices as operators upgrade their facilities and we were happy to help London Midland lead the way."
DPPS uses powered derailers, road end control panels, train detection equipment, warning signals and personal datakeys to protect staff and infrastructure in busy rail depots. Zonegreen’s flagship technology is the most advanced, reliable and tested product of its type. It can be combined with the firm’s Depot Manager software to offer a complete depot overview and a fully traceable system.
Dave Harris, site service manager at London Midland, added: "We have been very pleased with Zonegreen’s knowledge, diligence and response to our requirements during the design and installation process. In such a busy depot, safety is paramount and the DPPS is easy to use, more reliable than its predecessor and offers much better protection for staff. It gives us invaluable information about the status of all roads from a central computer and has quickly become an essential part of our daily operations."
Zonegreen’s SMART DPPS is installed in some of the largest and most sophisticated maintenance facilities in the world, including Temple Mills, which serves the Eurostar and Dubai Metro depots, Jebel Ali and Rashidiya.