Case Studies

M & E Design Case Study

Network Rail Point and Crossing Maintenance Task Lighting – LED luminaire verification

Since the introduction of the Very High Frequency (VHF) timetable on the West Coast Main Line (WCML), Network Rail has only limited maintenance hours and most planned trackside maintenance activities are now undertaken at night. Artificial lighting is therefore needed at the point of work to enable it to be undertaken properly and there is insufficient time to erect temporary site lighting at the start of each shift. Permanent lighting was therefore required to ensure that maintenance can be undertaken effectively. Birse Rail, on behalf of Network Rail, was tasked with installing the necessary maintenance lighting at key junctions and locations on the WCML route. Conventional light sources are not suited to this application due to photometric characteristics and high electrical loading and it was decided to procure a new type of luminaire, based on Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology, which would give a significant whole-life cost saving.

As the product selected from Urbis Lighting Ltd was of a new type not previously used by Network Rail, Fifth Dimension carried out an independent evaluation in order to validate the luminaire specification and assess its suitability for use in the railway environment.

The thorough evaluation of the supplier showed quality management and product development processes to be controlled to a high standard. The use of LED products was considered appropriate to this application and the product was found to be constructed in conformance with relevant product standards.

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