01.10.06
Tube Lines renews 763 metres of Piccadilly Line track
Tube Lines, the company re-building the Tube’s busiest lines, successfully replaced 763 metres of track on the Piccadilly line over the August Bank Holiday. The work was carried out over 76-hours between Park Royal and North Ealing stations on the east bound track.
This time last year, Tube Lines replaced 1,066 metres of westbound track between Park Royal and North Ealing and so now passengers will benefit from a much more reliable and smoother journey in both directions on this stretch of track.
Old wooden sleepers, traditional bullhead rail and limestone ballast was replaced with granite ballast, concrete sleepers and flat bottom rail welded into continuous stretches. This new track formation delivers smoother, quieter ride journeys for passengers. Measurements taken at other sites indicate that this new track formation reduces noise by as much 10dB, bringing benefits to passengers and residents living near the line.
Track replacement is amongst the most difficult and time critical work that can be undertaken on the Underground and over the years Tube Lines has more than doubled the amount of track that can be replaced over a 52-hour weekend.
Gone are the days when just an average of 200 to 300 metres of open track was replaced during a single weekend closure. Tube Lines has challenged established practices and introduced new methods of working; it has improved the movement of engineering trains used to transport materials on and off site, improved access arrangements to work sites, brought in new machinery to replace manual handling of materials and introduced important changes to site management at key locations. All of this has meant that Tube Lines has been able to increase productivity by as much as 40%.
Speaking about the work, Paul Watson, delivery manager, Tube Lines, said, “We had teams of about 80 people working each shift, removing and replacing 800m of rail, 2250 tonnes of dig and ballast and 1100 sleepers. In engineering terms this is extremely challenging. However, now passengers using those stretches of high quality track are benefiting from a more comfortable and reliable journey. This project’s success was thanks to the meticulous planning of the team.”
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