Ferme Park Depot
Ferme Park is part of the IEP Depots framework. At this location in North London, Spencer Rail Engineering completed the enhancement project to facilitate the maintenance of Hitachi Trains’ new fleet of Class 800 and 801 Super Express Trains. This new fleet will run at speeds of up to 125mph and reduce journey times on the East Coast main line (ECML).
Spencer Rail Engineering was required to install facilities to refuel, clean trains (interior and exterior), empty the controlled emissions toilets and replenish the water tanks of the 5 car or 9 car super trains. AdBlue was installed at each fuel point. Through our multidisciplinary in-house design team, Spencer’s were able to provide a full design and build service, completing the detailed design of all civils and M&E. All disruptive works were completed in time for Spencer’s to start the next phase of disruption at Craigentinny depot – this was significant as any overrun could have had a major delay impact on the whole IEP depots programme.
One of the main challenges through the design was the requirement to provide stormwater attenuation within the apron structure so as not to exceed the capacity of the existing drainage system. To overcome this, Spencer Rail Engineering provided an attenuated track slab and hydrobrake unit to aid in the storage of water and slow the release of stormwater. Another challenge was the limited isolations available on overhead lines. This was overcome by resequencing the methodology, allowing safe working under the live OLE. Despite these complications, the specifications of the project were met on time, to budget and with zero accidents/incidents for the duration of the works.
