The Track Partnership team carried out drainage work at Paddington this summer to prevent delays and disruptions.
Preventative pipe renewal work was carefully co-ordinated between Network Rail and London Underground. Because the drainage affects both parties, they agreed to share the cost of the renewal.
The drainage pipes at Paddington station, which are shared with the Hammersmith and City line, Circle line and Network Rail, were in poor condition and needed to be replaced.
Shared space
However, the pipes are located in a central space that is shared with Network Rail, so the logistics of replacing them were tricky. Track Partnership’s Assistant Project Manager (Drainage), Ivan Hoh, explained: “We knew the drainage pipes at Paddington were in pretty poor condition and that they would need to be replaced. Although they weren’t causing any delays or disruption yet, we knew that they would do soon.
“The location of the pipes meant that we had to plan this work with Network Rail. They are in the middle of the gap between platform 14 which belongs to Network Rail and platform 15 which belongs to London Underground. Sharing the work eliminated the need to install two separate systems that would do the same job and cause twice as much disruption to our customers.
“Over 13 weeks, we carried out the work in engineering hours when the stations were closed. This involved coordinating closures across LU and Network Rail, and working with our access team to make sure we were all able to make the best use of the time available.”
Hard work from everyone
On completing the work, Carillion Duty Manager Daniel East said: “It was down to the hard work from everyone each night. The quality of the works delivered was to a very high standard.”
Ivan added: “Working proactively is a win-win. It means instead of waiting until the drainage starts to cause our customers major problems, we have avoided these, by completing the work before it’s an emergency. It also gives us the chance, where possible, to work collaboratively and split the costs. Often, this isn’t an option when reacting to work that needs to be done urgently.”
Read about the wide range of skilled people VGC supplies to Track Partnership.
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
