WINNS Services was very proud to have worked with Network Rail and Morgan Sindall during the pandemic on the project’s facilities side.
Transforming travel to and from London King’s Cross Station
The Project
The Kings Cross remodelling upgrade project provided a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve this vital part of the rail network, which carries long-distance trains bound for the North of England and Scotland as well as many commuter services across north London and Cambridgeshire, preparing the infrastructure for the needs of the future.
The Purpose
A major part of the £1.2 billion East Coast Upgrade was for Network Rail and Morgan Sindall to transform travel to and from London on the East Coast Main Line through a multi-million pound investment in renewing track, signalling and overhead line equipment at King’s Cross Station.
The Role of WINNS in supporting Network Rail and Morgan Sindall
WINNS provided a reactive service to the demands that the pandemic put on Network Rail and Morgan Sindall to achieve their objectives within the time frame set to meet contractual obligations.
In layman’s terms, WINNS supplied:
Security for track side access
The track side security teams maintained track side security and upheld the H&S rules for track access.
Cleaning Teams
The cleaning teams maintained the offices, canteens and changing rooms to a high standard.
Supplying traffic marshals
The traffic marshals assisted with parking and enforcing social distancing of staff
Supplying PTS (Personal track Safety) officers
These officers worked hand in hand with the project delivery team on the ground.
PTS staff are specialist staff who are trained to work safely on live rail lines.
Supplied a Minibus service between the three main sites
The use of minibuses eased staff movement and to ensure safe social distancing when travelling between the 3 main work areas.
Introducing Electrostatic Sanitisation.
During the start of the Pandemic in 2020, WINNS adapted to the new threat by introducing an Electrostatic sanitisation team permanently on site to reduce the threat of cross contamination between works.
Introduction of COVID Testing
WINNS introduced Covid testing Lateral Flow and PCR testing stations for workers to be tested before the start of each shift. The result of this initiative meant that the project never had to suspend work for the duration of the project due to Covid outbreaks.
Challenges
The main challenges faced on this project by WINNS were the short notice changes to schedules meaning upmaning, but also downmanning and the changes in the roles from cleaners to standard security, traffic marshall and track side staff. However, the heavy presence of skilled and experienced onsite management meant that these challenges were overcome and in no way detracted from the service provided and delivered by WINNS.
In order to overcome these challenges, our Operations Director, Chris Stebbing, and Reuben Weekes, our Head of Project Support, trained additional staff and had a flexible schedule to ensure the hours were allocated fairly.
Extension of Services Supplied by WINNS
At the start of the project, WINNS supplied cleaning and security staff , the core basis of our business. But, true to the WINNS ethos of NEVER SAYING NO - the services we provided expanded to include the provision of transport, track side staff, specialist sanitisation cleaning teams and then onto Covid testing centres.
What are we now looking to do in the future with the new knowledge/skill?
Learning and developing are embedded within the practices of our Company. With the experience and knowledge we have gained on this project, WINNS is now looking at the rail support services to offer a one stop shop approach to help with soft services.