Axial has recently been engaged by Amey to support delivery of the Transpennine Route Upgrade Programme of works. TRU is a £10bn programme of work that will improve connectivity and journey times for rail passengers in Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York. Once complete, the programme will also deliver social and environmental benefits in addition to significant economic growth. The works are being delivered by Amey in alliance with Network Rail, Arup, and Bam.

Delivery of Amey’s Rail Systems scope requires a significant level of integrated planning for both design and construction and close liaison between the owner Network Rail, the Principal Contractors Amey and Bam and the designers Arup and Amey Consulting.

Drawing on our extensive experience in multi-disciplinary rail delivery, Axial have provided a Planning and Controls team proficient the use of various planning tools including P6, TILOS and PPS access software. The planning function has been further enhanced through the implementation of construction reporting in PowerBi, creating enhanced visibility for project and client teams.

The toolkit has enabled the development of a co-ordinated access strategy between projects and the efficient deployment of constrained resources to maximise delivery efficiency. The Axial team has initially focused on the Overhead Line scope of works, creating an integrated programme across the W3 and W4 footprint that has reduced prelim costs by circa 10%.

Axial Director Fin Burke had this to say. “We are delighted to begin our association with Amey on this flagship project. TRU is a key element of the Governments Integrated Rail Plan and will improve journey times, add resilience to the rail network and reduce the environmental impact of rail travel in the North of England. TRU provides a great match with Axial’s Planning and Controls skillset, and adds to our live project portfolio which includes London to Wigston Key Output 1a, Wigan to Bolton Electrification and now multiple projects within TRU West Programme.”