Etches Park Depot
The design and construction of Etches Park rail depot facility, incorporating a 400m2 storage/workshop area with office and staff welfare facilities, and a new wheel lathe outbuilding, to provide routine servicing for rolling stock. To facilitate this, we built a new covered three road seven car set, with two through roads, one buffer stop road and two service pit roads.
The scheme involved the installation of 2.4km of new plain line track, 6 S&C units plus one tandem turnout. There was a signalling and telecoms interface on the depot entry and exit road that we retained in the new layout. The project also incorporated the construction of a new two-storey offices and welfare facility for depot staff, as well as the installation of a new 2 x 70m concrete slab track, associated CET and fuelling equipment.
One of the key requirements for this project was to complete the new wheel lathe facility prior to the construction of the main depot building.
To achieve the completion of the new wheel lathe facility, Spencer Rail Engineering altered programme logic and sequencing, accelerating the programme to a 24 hour a day, 7 days a week work pattern. This enabled the wheel lathe to open on schedule and operate whilst the remainder of the depot was being constructed.
The 2800m2 floor area of the offices and welfare facility created a ‘professional place of work’ (Tim Shoveller, East Midlands Trains MD) for staff, with numerous energy efficiency features leading it to achieve a BREEAM rating of ‘Very Good’, helping to keep East Midlands Trains environmental goals on target.
