Work for both the Railvac and Ballast Feeder System continued throughout 2023 despite the impact of Covid-19 on the railway industry.
In August, the Wales and Western Integrated Infrastructure Team (Swindon) contacted Railcare to visit a site known locally as White’s Crossing. This site is located on a particularly important and busy line servicing the Torr Works Aggregate Quarry which is currently supplying materials for the prestigious HS2 Project.
Railcare advised the delivery team on how they could assist them in the excavation and re-ballasting of the 951 A/B crossover. The crossover is a critical piece of infrastructure that allows access to the quarry and an imposed temporary speed restriction was affecting performance outputs.
Railcare provided the delivery team with engineering assistance and a train plan/methodology for the project. The Railvac works were planned to be undertaken over 4 x 12 hr back-to-back shifts during two-weekend blockades. The works were, as always completed safely, without incident and in good time with the Railvac working for approximately 27 hrs over the two weekends.
This was the first time Ian Van Niekerk, Works Delivery Supervisor at Network Rail had experienced the Railvac in action and commented:
“The Railvac did some work for us in the Wanstrow area, and I was extremely pleased with how it and the crew handled a very challenging wet bed site.”
Railcare look forward to a continued collaboration in the future.
