REAL success at National Rail Awards

The National Rail Awards celebrate achievements and excellence across every aspect of the railway, recognising the outstanding accomplishments of people, companies and initiatives over the past year.

The award presented to the alliance was for recognition for its achievements in installing the UK’s first, and world's largest, 50Hz Static Frequency Converter (SFC).

The judges recognised that this project has pushed railway electrification into new territory and

 were ‘blown away’ by the first application of this innovative technology, stating that the ‘SFC can save so much money and time by converting the local 132kV supply to 25kV for overhead wires.’

The SFCs revolutionary technology forms a crucial aspect of the East Coast Mainline (ECML) Power Supply Upgrade (PSU) project, to meet the demand for additional power necessary for the network to operate new, more sustainable trains. 

Hambleton Junction is a crucial site for the project, powering the busy ECML and TransPennine route. The traditional method would require a new power supply connection to the National Grid, resulting in major disruption to the line, whereas the new SFC sits separately from the railway’s power supply; pulling electricity directly from the National Grid’s central electricity distribution network. It then converts and cleans it, and then redirects it into the region without impacting the National Grid.

The introduction of a SFC has also creating substantial cost savings and carbon efficiencies, which are projected to reach up to 154 tonnes per day. It has also created a more reliable service, reduced maintenance and enhanced safety by increasing power capacity and reducing fault currents.

Al Pattison, REAL alliance director, attended the award event and said: “I was very proud to collect this award on behalf of all the REAL Alliance. I had a few people mention, but this is a whole alliance award for me. Our teams came together to overcome some considerable challenges to get Hambleton SFC over the line. A true industry first and something all the partners and our clients should be incredibly proud of.”

The REAL alliance partners include, Network Rail, VolkerRail, Siemens, J Murphy and Sons, Systra and Jacobs. The Alliance is currently delivering phase 2 of the ECML PSU programme, improving the power supply to enable faster, quieter, and more environmentally friendly electric trains to run. The project forms part of Network Rail’s £1.2 billion East Coast Main Line Upgrade.