Convergent thinking
In the rail industry, companies are beginning to put commercial rivalry aside and learning how to be good team players, as the project to repair Acton Wells Junction demonstrated.
Award-winning teamwork successfully repairs Acton Wells Junction
Some locations on the rail network are critical to efficient operation, and any disruption can very quickly cause a major headache for passengers or freight operators and, consequently, the UK economy. Acton Wells Junction is one such location. It is situated at the heart of the network, between Anglia, London North Western (South), London North Eastern (South) and the Western region.
Disruption here also means coal won’t reach power stations, with obvious consequences. But in 2015, the track at Acton Wells Junction and two supporting bridges were in such desperate need of repair that remedial action had to be taken.
The original plan was to complete the work over two separate extended closures of the line. But the disruption to the freight industry and the complexity of the work made this impractical. Instead, the project team (led by the S&C South Alliance - a collaboration between Network Rail, Aecom and Colas Rail - agreed to plan the scheme into a single tenday closure. The big complication was that the bridge would have to be repaired at the same time as replacing the junction on top.
It was decided that the work should be carried out as part of Network Rail’s Christmas 2015 programme, to cause as little disruption as possible. Completing such a task in ten days was not going to be easy, but it was the right thing to do for users of the railway.
As with many projects of this kind, collaboration between all parties involved (see diagram, right) was of utmost importance. With so many organisations involved on such a critical project, and on such a tight schedule, success depended on seamless integration.
It relied upon everyone involved taking a ‘one team’ approach, rather than merely working within their own organisations. This would be of critical importance since it would not be possible to understand the scale of
Completing such a task in ten days was not going to be easy, but it was the right thing to do for users of the railway.
repairs required on the bridges until work got under way; it turned out that substantial work was needed to rectify age-related weakness.
The collaborative approach started long before any boots were on the ballast. Weekly meetings, held between all parties, ensured that detailed planning could be done and any issues resolved quickly. Naturally, there were some difficult conversations, but this way of working also enabled creative ideas to be shared between teams and any associated risks to be mitigated. Plus it strengthened the mutual trust between organisations.
As the start of works approached, all stakeholders were briefed on site to ensure everyone knew what the plan was and understood what contingencies were in place. It was also an opportunity for them to challenge decisions and confirm the
sequence of works and their own role on the project. Most of the time everyone was working so well together that you could only tell which company an individual worked for when they were wearing their PPE on-site.
A duty manager would play a pivotal role for the rest of the teams. They worked closely with the site managers and were the agreed single point of control and communication for everyone on the site. This involved coordinating the efforts of all staff and making sure that changes and developments to the plan were properly communicated and consulted upon by other members of the workforce.
Progress reports were carried out every three hours to keep everyone up to date, and cameras fed live video to the offices of senior stakeholders, including the Transport Minister. Having a single point of contact rather than having different companies all reporting to stakeholders separately was far more efficient and ensured that the overall goal, of working together as a single team to complete the job, was reinforced.
By working together in this way, the team was able to deliver the full scope of the project on time, with zero accidents and no additional disruption to the network. The work has also meant that the need for future maintenance on the junction has been significantly reduced. None of that would have been possible without the ‘one team’ approach adopted by all parties involved. Lessons from this success have already been shared with the rest of the industry and are being put to use on other projects.