Spencer Group continues to bring its innovative approach to the delivery of rail depot facilities for the UK’s rolling stock. The privately-owned engineering business prides itself on finding solutions to challenging projects that are required to keep the nation’s trains fit for the 21st century.
Spencer Group has a strong track record in delivering rail infrastructure projects at depots across the UK, with more than 30 years of experience. The business has repeatedly proven its ability to design and deliver multi-site, programme critical projects safely and successfully.
The company’s expertise rose to the challenge on the Intercity Express Programme (IEP), which included the construction of one new facility and upgrade of five depots across the UK in order to maintain the Hitachi Trains next generation fleet of Class 800 and 801 Super Express Trains.
The project required close liaison with multiple depot facility owners, each with their own operating procedures, to ensure a successful delivery across the sites. Modifications to each East Coast Main Line depot had to completed one at a time, meaning completion dates were central to the success of the project. Any overrun would have affected the next depot works and had a major delay impact on the entire programme. Spencer Group carefully managed this time critical interface to ensure delivery of each depot successfully, safely and on time.
The team has also completed work on the new £20m depot at Long Rock in Penzance, having developed a strong collaborative working relationship as Principal Contractor with GWR and the team working at the depot. The contract, which included the construction of a new Train Care Depot and the refurbishment of an existing High-Speed Train shed, was completed to an accelerated programme, with zero impact on depot operations.
In the last three decades Spencer Group has delivered upgrades to CET, fuelling systems, train wash, HVAC, fume extraction, wheel lathe, maintenance and inspection facilities. The company has also provided innovative temporary works solutions, signalling, lineside telecommunications upgrades, lineside walking routes and cable route works.
Talking to railbusinessdaily.com, Project Director Tony Wells says that the Spencer Group approach is consistent across all railway depot contracts, whatever their scale.
Tony said: “We work within live operational depot environments, so one of the keys to our success is customer and stakeholder management and engagement. Our team specialises in working under time pressure during tight possession periods where each project is meticulously planned.
“One of the biggest advantages of working with us is our adaptability, the rate at which we can work, the fact that we’re privately owned and, therefore, can respond and react at with agility and great speed. If a client has a problem, we will work with them to find the best solution.
“One of the main things we bring to the marketplace is our flexibility. We’ve got a tremendous amount of talent in the business. Our design, architectural, M&E, structural and civil engineers provide decades of experience in the delivery of rail projects across a range of disciplines.
“In addition, our multi-disciplinary engineering approach gives us the ability to design, construct and install rail infrastructure across a range of sectors including ports and power generation.”
Investment in rail infrastructure is also transforming depots. Tony feels that Spencer Group is ideally placed to play a major role in that transformation and ensuring that depots are future proof, with the company already well-versed in the installation of automatic visual inspection systems within depots.
“It’s an exciting time for those involved in depots and ordinary solutions just won’t do for the next generation of facilities. We strongly believe that we can deliver real value to clients and help them enhance their existing infrastructure to increase efficiency.”
For more information about Spencer Group, please visit: https://thespencergroup.co.uk/ or https://directory.railbusinessdaily.com/directory/spencer-group/
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