Case Study – Network Rail Manchester Depot Upgrade

Name of Contract: Network Rail Manchester Depot Upgrade
Date: Sept 2022
Duration of Contract Delivery: 10 days for each depot (40 days total, 10 days per each depot)
Contract Value: £75,000
Location: Manchester
The Client: Network Rail.
Client Bio: Network Rail are a leading force in the British Rail industry who own and maintain a large portion of the railways in Great Britain.
Scope: Network Rail engaged The CCTV Company to upgrade the CCTV systems across four of their depots and implement remote connection facilities for area managers to view the sites and implement intrusion deterrents around site bike sheds.

Our Approach:

Our proposed solution was to install a 14 camera NDAA Compliant CCTV system. We additionally installed a 4G capable router to each site to allow for quick and easy off-site online access to the CCTV Cameras. We included within our solution the installation of software to designated client laptops to access the cameras remotely. As part of our service, we also provide client training on this system for clarity and ease of use. Finally, our solution included the installation of cameras by the bike sheds with built in intrusion sensor technology to notify the client on the installed software of any movement detected by the cameras. Upon activation of movement the camera also has an inbuilt strobe light as a visual alert and 2-way audio built into the camera allowing the client to give audio warnings remotely.

We first engaged the client by organising site visits with site managers to understand the requirements from a first person on-the-ground perspective and to carry out a site survey to ensure all potentials risks, welfare facilities and access details where identified. We view this as an essential aspect of successful delivery and to ensure the system proposal. We then created and developed a System Design Specification, Quote and Site map that were presented to the client, this was to demonstrate camera locations, viewing expectations and camera specifications to allow the client to understand the system capabilities and viewing ranges. Within the System Design we also specified any required access and works to be completed by others to iron out any potential issues before starting the installation.

Upon client approval we then conducted risk assessments to clearly identify all possible risks involved during our works on site and produced method statements to accompany a works package plan that were delivered to the client for approval. This works package plan included a proposed start date for the works which the client approved of. Once we received approval of our plans from Network Rail we then ordered necessary equipment and allocated a team of engineers to the project who we deemed capable to meet the spec and quote requirements. We then proceeded to implement our solution within the agreed upon time frame as per Network Rail’s requirements.

We can confirm that our solution was successful due to the fact that within 1 month the system prevented cable theft of a value of £20,000. The customer is also able to access systems remotely and following the successful delivery of this project the logistics manager rolled the upgrade across all of his depots within Manchester. All aspects of the project were delivered on time and to agreed programme. We further measured our success through our internal management systems and through customer satisfaction forms that we issue to clients regularly. We have feedback from Network Rail’s Logistics Manager that also reflects positively on our work.

“Very knowledgeable staff, extremely helpful and explained the system to on-site staff until they understood. Mess free installation, and work completed faster than time quoted” – Anthony Jenkins, Logistics Coordinator, Network Rail

“Following the completion and upgrade of the CCTV at nearly all our depots in Manchester I would like to reconfirm how we are very happy with your work and your work ethics etc.” - Anthony Jenkins, Logistics Coordinator, Network Rail

While we were able to mitigate risk pre-emptively through our risk assessment, we additionally practiced risk mitigation throughout the project. The only significant risk we faced was when one of the office team at NWR halted installation due to believing site had a no ladder policy. The engineers overcame this by producing the approved Risk Assessment that had been approved by the logistics manager which included working on ladders. Thanks to this we have improved our practice by including a copy of the Risk Assessments to be left with the site offices to prevent any confusion in the future.

We communicated with the client both through face-to-face meetings and via phone calls and emails. As per the testimonials above we feel we were able to foster a healthy and respectful working relationship with Network Rail that facilitated a successful delivery and created a working environment maintained on a foundation of trust. Additionally, the client has since provided us with contacts for all area logistics managers at Network Rail as he is so impressed and satisfied with the work we have done, which we feel demonstrates a degree of professionalism and positive communicative working relationships with the client that exceed the standard.