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Engineers report project progress Tuesday July 14, 2020

Engineers from across the light rail sector have reported steady progress on a range of projects as lockdown restrictions are eased across the country.

Through the coronavirus pandemic, the UKTram Light Rail Engineering Group (LREG) has been meeting online every two weeks to discuss resilience and the ability of network engineers to adapt to an unprecedented working environment.

Craig O’Brien, UKTram Engineering Manager, explained: “While engineering departments have not felt the impact of COVID 19 on the same level as their operational colleagues, LREG members all agreed it had been a testing time for all involved.

“The general consensus was that the majority of routine maintenance was being carried out to full capacity, with both Sheffield and Nottingham even carrying out major renewals projects that included replacing embedded rails.

“While this work was always planned well in advance, there was concern that social distancing restrictions may have negatively impacted the works and caused unwelcome delays.

“However, the measures had not severely slowed progress and, at the time of last week’s meeting, both projects were on target to meet the original schedules.”

Members of the committee also heard that UKTram continues to move forward with its own engineering projects.

“The meeting also included an update on the work we’re doing on related industry guidance and standards and, overall, the feeling was that there has been a return to ‘business as usual’ for the sector’s engineers,” Craig added.