Ilford Depot Track Renewals for Greater Anglia

Over the weekend of 18th/19th April, TES 2000 successfully carried out the replacement of a set of double slips at the Ilford Train Depot for their client, Greater Anglia. These works had been in the planning for some time, with the shared, key objective of delivery without any disruption to the operational performance of the Depot.

These are difficult times, unprecedented is a common description, which required effective joint planning of the works and comprehensive controls to ensure compliance with Social Distancing and Hygiene requirements.

Paul Austin Managing Director of TES said: “Overall, this was a complex job that involved a design and build package where first-class planning and communication between Greater Anglia, TES and its key suppliers was key to its success. The supportive approach and team spirit has been tremendous which is being mirrored across our industry.

“This pandemic has imposed unprecedented challenges on every rail organisation and business and the response has been a credit to everyone. Communication, co-ordination and collaboration have improved dramatically, it truly feels like we have a common purpose.

“Network Rail have introduced some innovative ways to support the Supply Chain; the speeding up of their payment process has been hugely significant in maintaining supplier’s business stability. Visibility of forthcoming workload has also improved significantly, enabling a structured approach to resource planning, bringing certainty and reassurance to our workforce in these unsettling times.

“In all of our infrastructure activities across the Network Rail routes, this supportive, team approach has enabled us to continue to deliver our services much as normal. When this awful virus starts to recede and we return to whatever the “new normal” might be, we should aim to hold on to this co-operative culture.

“Of course, we can expect commercial imperatives to return and our industry will face some tough challenges in the coming years, it surely holds true that together we will succeed.”

Photo credit: TES

Download article