Eurostar North Pole Depot
February 19 2007
On Monday 19th February 18 IRO young professionals travelled to White City , West London for a chance to visit Eurostar's North Pole train maintenance depot. Since the beginning of Eurostar's services Eurostar trains requiring maintenance in the UK have been visiting North Pole depot situated next to the Great Western main line. However the whole maintenance operation will soon be transferred to a new depot being built at Temple Mills , Stratford for use when the Channel Tunnel Rail link is completed and Eurostar services will operate from St Pancras. This visit provided an opportunity to see North Pole depot in operation, and learn of the developments taking place at Eurostar's new home on the other side of London . After completing the security procedures necessary to enter North Pole, at which point we had to surrender our cameras hence the lack of pictures; we split into groups of six for a tour of the depot control centre, maintenance shed, and signaller training simulator for the new Temple Mills depot.
The control centre is rather like a conventional signal box with an NX (entry/exit) panel controlling an SSI (solid state interlocking). The need for such a level of control is soon apparent to anyone walking around the site; it is 3 km long and severed in the middle by the West London Line and Scrubs Lane road bridge. On the signaller's panel trains are described with the familiar 4 character codes, however within the depot their meanings differ from those found on the main line. The first number indicates whether the unit is complete 18 vehicle train, or a ‘half-set' (Eurostar trains can be split into two nine-car segments), and the following letter indicates ownership of the unit, the Eurostar fleet comprising sub-fleets owned by Eurostar (UK), SNCF and Belgian Railways. For movements on and off the main line the control centre liaises with Victoria signalling centre for access to the West London Line. Power for third rail DC supplies comes from Lewisham electrical control room, and overhead AC is provided by Rugby electrical control room.
Moving on to the maintenance shed, which can accommodate a ‘half-set' of 9 vehicles on each track we were able to examine the Eurostar trains close up. Inside the drivers cab we were talked through the various controls and the ancestry of the design which is a derivative of the French TGV. One of the defining features of a Eurostar train set are the number of different power supply and signalling systems with which they are compatible. Currently a Eurostar journey takes the train through UK third rail, Channel tunnel rail link high speed line, Eurotunnel, French high speed line, and French (or Belgian) ‘classic' line, power supply and signalling system combinations; all of which the trains are compatible with. Partly as a result of this the trains have a high degree of ‘redundancy' built in; in the event of certain equipment failures it is often possible for the train to continue to operate, albeit with reduced functionality. If for example the AC pantograph were to fail while running on a French high speed line it is possible to raise the DC pantograph provided for operation in Belgium and continue the journey, or ‘mission' in Eurostar terminology; the electrical equipment being arranged to permit this. Completion of the UK Channel tunnel rail link will reduce the number of different system combinations encountered on a Eurostar journey. Also of note in the driver's cab is the provision of a small fridge for keeping drinks cool.
The train interiors provide a high level of comfort and are smart in appearance following a recent interior refurbishment programme covering the entire fleet. Thankfully one of the original refurbishment proposals specifying white carpets for the train interiors was not progressed, otherwise the appearance may not have remained so smart for very long! We also took a look at the ‘cell' each train is provided with, which were originally intended for immigration officers to detain suspects when on-train immigration clearance was planned earlier in the Eurostar project. These cells are now out of use.
One of the tracks in the maintenance shed is equipped with a set of jacks along its length that can simultaneously lift an entire half-set high off the rails to allow access to the underside of trains. Eurostar train sets are now 13-15 years old and half way through their design life of 30 years. As a result certain components now require replacement across the whole fleet such as the secondary suspension air bags and the air conditioning equipment. A dedicated team of 10 engineers has been formed for the air conditioning renewal programme, which will see the original units swapped for environmentally friendly replacements. The replacements have also been designed to allow easier removal from the underside of the train than the existing equipment, which requires the train to be elevated on the jacks. To replace the air conditioning units on a half set takes the team four days.
Last stop on our tour was the training suite set up to prepare North Pole's team of seven signallers who will control movements at Temple Mills depot. The Temple Mills site will not be quite as long as North Pole, but has the advantage of being able to hold a full train set (up to 18 vehicles) in its shed, thereby avoiding splitting of units. Not only will this save time but should also reduce the incidence of connectivity failures between half-sets as wear on couplings and connectors will be reduced. As with North Pole, Temple Mills will have a washing plant, bogie drop and drive-in wheel lathe.
Signalling at Temple Mills will be provided by an IECC (Integrated Electronic Control Centre) controlling an SSI interlocking. To train the signallers a workstation has been set up controlled by a ‘tutor's' computer feeding train movements into the training workstation for the trainee signaller to control. For maximum accuracy the train movements through the training workstation take as long as they will do in reality based on the actual train speed, length, braking rate and track gradient. The tutor also has the ability to fail pieces of equipment during the simulation, giving the trainee signaller practice in dealing with track circuit, signal and points failures.
The move to Temple Mills in November is scheduled to take place in just 36 hours so naturally much effort is being made to ensure everthing will be in place for the start of operations there. As a result of the tight time window available for the move some equipment at North Pole will be duplicated at Temple Mills rather than transferred across. As for the future of the North Pole site nothing has been confirmed as yet, but the investment in this relatively young and well equipped facility is unlikely to go to waste with a number of imminent rail projects looking for sites in London .
Finally we wish to express our thanks to the Eurostar team for sparing so much time and giving us such an interesting and informative visit, and wish them the best of luck with their move to Temple Mills in November.
Written by Steve Roberts.
Photo courtesy of Eurostar.
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