RVT Group Protects Workers at Glasgow Queen Street Rail Tunnel

E&G Railway’s Largest Piece of Engineering Since Opening in 1842.

Project Overview

The Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP) funded by Transport Scotland is a comprehensive programme to improve Scotland’s railway structure.

These enhancements include:

• Shorter journey times
• More reliable services between Glasgow and Edinburgh
• Lower carbon emissions with a cleaner, greener railway
• Increased capacity aiming to reduce over-crowding at peak times

As part of the line upgrade, the Glasgow Queen Street approach tunnel was closed from March 2016 until August 2016. This major piece of engineering work - E&G Railway’s largest since the line opened to the general public in 1842 - renewed more than 1,800 metres of concrete ‘slab’ track, as well as putting in place the infrastructure that will carry the overhead electrification system.

And it was no mean feat.

• 140 days of continuous working
• 50 staff per day
• Clocking up over 500,000 man hours in total

Challenge

The Queen Street Tunnel project consisted of:

• Breaking down and removing existing track slab
• Lowering and re-laying the slab and tracks
• Installing overhead electrification lines

All of which, had a completion deadline of just 21 weeks.

With a large number of processes and operatives working inside the tunnel 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, RVT Group’s role was crucial in providing and maintaining optimum air quality at all times – protecting the health of everyone involved in the project.

Due to challenging logistics at the Queen Street end of the tunnel, traditional methods of forcing large volumes of air towards the tunnel mouth would have been futile.

Solution

RVT proposed and supplied a powerful, ducted high-pressure system to create an entrained airflow in the tunnel – a proven, effective, RVT method in maintaining a strong airflow through the tunnel and removing contaminants, such as harmful exhaust fumes.

The input from RVT Group contributed to the success of the Queen St Cowlairs Tunnel project, both in terms tender advice and providing a workable solution to our ventilation problem. The bespoke ventilation system provided effective control, backed with invaluable management support right through the project and most importantly safeguarded the wellbeing of the site personnel working within the tunnel. This brought the Project peace of mind, and meant we could get on with the job with confidence” - Neal McKenzie, Morgan Sindall