Partner Article

Zonegreen provides sidings protection at local rail depot

Hitachi Rail’s depot in Doncaster is improving its excellent safety measures, courtesy of Sheffield-based Zonegreen, ensuring staff enjoy enhanced protection, no matter where they are working.

The rail safety specialists have installed a sidings warning system at Doncaster Carr to counter risks posed by work carried out on the service spine - a separate track running through the depot.

The Doncaster facility has serviced Intercity Express Programme trainsets since 2017. Tasks such as control emission toilet extraction, water tank filling, fuelling and sanding are undertaken on the service spine.

Zonegreen’s sidings warning system alerts personnel to imminent train movements, allowing them to reach a position of safety. Inbound vehicles are detected by a treadle switch that activates beacon sounders, providing audible and visual warnings to staff. Outbound movement alerts can be activated from either a local control panel or remotely from the Person in Charge office.

Christian Fletcher, Zonegreen’s technical director, said: “Hitachi Rail has asked us to install this standalone system, to ensure it can balance operational and personnel obligations and the result has enhanced the safety mechanisms already in place at Doncaster, where trains move slowly and quietly. Any solutions than can improve safety in the working environment are always worth installing.”

Zonegreen enjoys a longstanding relationship with Hitachi Rail, having installed its flagship Depot Personnel Protection System (DPPS) in the maintenance shed at Doncaster Carr in 2016. The sidings warnings will complement existing personnel protection, increasing safety in all areas of the facility.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Nina Sorby .