How to Build a Railway

Hosted by HS2

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Latest episode

Mar 2024

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EN-GB

About the show

How to Build a Railway is an industry-focused 12-episode podcast series, to help tell the story of the construction of HS2 – increasing awareness and understanding of the project.Each episode will focus on a different aspect of our story so far, from archaeology to enabling works, the main civils works underway and much more.In each episode, our host will bring the subject to life in an entertaining and engaging way, including contributions with a variety of experts from within HS2 and our supply chain, as well as relevant external stakeholders.

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13 recent

March 28, 2024Episode 1728 min

Learning Legacy Podcast: Episode Five – How to swim in a sea of data

HS2’s Learning Legacy Podcast is a five-part series exploring the Learning Legacy programme. HS2 is one of the most complex and challenging railway scheme the UK has ever undertaken. As such, it has been generating vast amounts of data across the board. Every geological survey, every design, every site, every environmental survey, all generating more and more data. So with all this data, what do you do with it? The final episode of the Learning Legacy Podcast looks at how HS2 has been using their data to build more detailed models, advance approaches to work and better equipment that can provide greater insights into the world of construction engineering. Featuring: Roberto Alberola – TYPSA, Head of BIM and Digital Peter Ruff – SCS, Head of BIM Jonny Neville – Mott Macdonald, Engineering Geologist and Information Manager Idarousse Mouhtar – BBV, Senior Materials Engineer Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE - Social Entrepreneur and Computer Scientist Roberto and Peter dive into the creation of a digital version of the project using Building Information Modelling (BIM) and ensuring there is a single point of truth so all designers and contractors along the length of the project are on the same page. Jonny and Idarousse talk through the process of earthworks excavation by using a new 3D GeoBIM model which allows for more advanced ground investigation surveys. Further pushing the importance of the planning process before putting a spade in the ground. Dr Anne-Marie closes out the series with an extract from her speech given at HS2’s Learning Legacy Live event. Highlighting having a growing mindset, experimenting along with learning from our actions and asking “how” we do things. Find out more about HS2’s Learning Legacy Programme at: https://learninglegacy.hs2.org.uk/

March 28, 2024Episode 1628 min

Learning Legacy Podcast: Episode Four – Being safe and inclusive every step of the way

HS2’s Learning Legacy Podcast is a five-part series exploring the Learning Legacy programme. HS2 is focused not only on safety, but on overall health and wellbeing on all employees and contractors. Identifying long term risks to wellbeing is a challenge within any industry. It’s a particular problem on construction sites, where people often move between projects and sites. Episode 4 dives into some of the innovations and technology being implemented across the project. From monitoring site workers exposure to Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome, to understanding the approach in place at BBV to ensure teams are establishing an inclusive and safe culture for all employees. Featuring: Fiona King – HS2, Head of Occupational Health and Wellbeing Timothy Callow – EKFB, SHW Advisor Alison Crawley – EKFB, Head of Occupational Health Bill Strachan – EKFB, Health Safety and Wellbeing Manager Chloe Chand – Diversifying Group, Lead Diversity and Inclusion Trainer (Former BBV, EDI Partner) Ben Hickman – BBV, EDI Partner Fiona outlines the importance of occupational health. Monitoring a workers’ health from the design stages onwards allows teams to take action against signs of long-term health issues at the earliest moment. Tim, Alison and Bill explain the journey of improving the problem of Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome of workers putting together a concrete batching plant, and the use of a React Tech vibration monitor device allowing managers to rethink their approach on the job. Chloe and Ben walk us through BBV’s approach to ensure an equal and inclusive environment is achieved. From the 4 Golden Rules to ensuring any lack of understanding or awareness is addressed in a civil and respectful way. Inclusion of all when monitoring health and safety is critical to help continue to push the industry. Find out more about HS2’s Learning Legacy Programme at: https://learninglegacy.hs2.org.uk/

March 28, 2024Episode 1530 min

Learning Legacy Podcast: Episode Three – Reducing and reusing

HS2’s Learning Legacy Podcast is a five-part series exploring the Learning Legacy programme. HS2’s place within the current climate and environment has always been its top priority. Once operational, the British-built bullet trains will provide zero-carbon journeys between the UK’s two largest cities, Birmingham and London. Episode 3 explores how HS2’s railway assets have been designed from the start with climate change resilience in mind, as well as utilising waste clay from tunnelling, and how it can be transformed into low carbon concrete. Featuring: Kay Hughes - HS2 Design Director Alison Walker – HS2 Climate Change Manager Dr Rachel Allison - HS2 Climate Change Specialist Nick Podevyn – Align Innovation Manager Athina Papakosta - SCS Sustainability and Carbon Lead Dr Fragkoulis Kanavaris – ARUP Concrete Materials Lead Apostolos Tsoumelekas – SCS Materials Engineer Tom Burr-Hersey – HS2 Senior Environmental Manager Kay sets the scene with how the project is being delivered with the future in mind, achieving sustainability from as early as the design stage and maintaining it through strong communication. Alison and Rachel take us through all things climate when it comes to construction of the project. ‘The 4R’s of resilience’, the planning towards weather conditions by using multiple climate models, and how much climate adaption is front and centre from design all the way through to operation. Nick focuses on the construction of the Colne Valley Viaduct with Align’s giant launch girder. Combating issues with wind, rain and heat to ensure the construction schedule isn’t affected and the use of MetSwift weather models. Athina, Fragkoulis, Apostolos and Tom dive into the reuse of London Clay to reducing climate impact by cutting transport emissions related to removing the material. The possibility of excavated London Clay being turned into local concrete, it could also reduce the embodied carbon emissions. Find out more about HS2’s Learning Legacy Programme at: https://learninglegacy.hs2.org.uk/

March 28, 2024Episode 1428 min

Learning Legacy Podcast: Episode Two – The blueprint and the real thing

HS2’s Learning Legacy Podcast is a five-part series exploring the Learning Legacy programme. Design not only encapsulates the creativity and innovation of new products, but is the main source of information for construction to take place. Episode 2 of the Learning Legacy Podcast takes a look at the design stages of stations and tunnel portals and encapsulating the importance of finding new methods of work and finding the opportunity to answer questions when there isn’t much existing research out there. Featuring: Giles Thomas - HS2 Integration Director Kim Quazi - ARUP Lead Architect Fernando Ruiz-Barberan - ARUP Building Envelope Team Associate José Marquez Santoyo - ARUP Architecture Lead William George - Jacobs Senior Engineer Darren Carter - Jacobs Senior Associate Director Lee Canning - Jacobs Senior Associate Director Giles describes his role in connecting the teams creating 140-miles of track, 4 state-of-the art stations, two depots and 32 miles of tunnel together, and what HS2 has taken on board from London 2012 and Crossrail to make its Learning Legacy programme most beneficial for the industry. Kim, Fernando and José take a deep dive into the new Interchange Station, and how cloud-based data sharing allowed for a new way of sharing revisions for major infrastructures gave a new meaning to ‘going back to the drawing board’. William, Darren and Lee talk through the design process for the largest porous portal in the UK and documenting the challenges and collaboration with external experts in a paper will give other designers a head start when new tunnel portals are built. Find out more about HS2’s Learning Legacy Programme at: https://learninglegacy.hs2.org.uk/

March 28, 2024Episode 1327 min

Learning Legacy Podcast: Episode One – Building a Learning Legacy

HS2’s Learning Legacy Podcast is a five-part series exploring the Learning Legacy programme. The concept of the Learning Legacy programme has been around for longer than you might think. Starting at London 2012, collating and sharing knowledge, innovation, good practice and lessons learned from major projects has developed in a number of ways to get to where we currently reside. In this first episode we’ll take a look back at other major projects and their approach to knowledge sharing., and we’ll explore how HS2 has gone about creating the most comprehensive Learning Legacy programme of any major UK project to date. Featuring: Bridget Badoe McQuick – HS2, Learning Legacy Manager Karen Elson – Co Cre8, Learning Legacy Manager Simon Bennett – Crossrail International, Associate Director for stakeholder engagement and Learning Legacy Andy Murray – Major Project Association, Executive Director Clive Roberts – University of Birmingham, Professor of Railway Systems Martin Sherlock – National Highways Knowledge Management Lead Bridget gives an overview of HS2’s Learning Legacy programme and its open challenges. Karen takes us back to London 2012 with the start of Learning Legacy and the journey of the programmes over the years that brought us to where we are now. Simon and Andy describe the setup of Crossrail’s Learning Legacy and the MPA’s Knowledge Hub. Their collective experience and support made each programme better than the previous and to have it all in one place within the Knowledge Hub. Clive and Martin give their thoughts on the importance of HS2’s Learning Legacy Programme for the wider industry. Find out more about HS2’s Learning Legacy Programme at: https://learninglegacy.hs2.org.uk/

March 28, 20242 min

Learning Legacy Podcast: Trailer

HS2’s Learning Legacy Podcast is a five-part series exploring the Learning Legacy programme. Each episode focuses on different approaches which represent an opportunity to raise the standards of engineering, design, innovation and safety. Find out more about the HS2 Learning Legacy Podcast: https://www.hs2.org.uk/ Find out more about HS2’s Learning Legacy Programme: https://learninglegacy.hs2.org.uk/

June 12, 2023Episode 1233 min

Episode Twelve: Leaving a legacy

How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. From jobs and skills to Learning Legacy case studies, the HS2 project continues to provide good practice, innovation and lessons learned. HS2 isn’t just about building a new piece of infrastructure, it’s an opportunity to connect communities, regenerate the economy and leave a lasting legacy of jobs and skills. This episode of How to build a railway, 'Leaving a legacy', explores explores how HS2 is supporting the communities along the line of route and adopting lessons learned from past mega-projects. Featuring Natalie Penrose, Head of Legacy, explains how we’re creating a workforce that's fit for both now and the future, developing programmes to inspire young people into the industry as well as those previously out of work. Dyan Crowther, CEO HS1, recalls her 35 years of experience in the rail industry and talks combating skills gaps and the shift in community views on projects like the Crossrail and HS1. Kathy Elliott, Chair of Funds, Ground Works, takes us through the CEF and BLEF funding programmes and the support to get projects like Britain in Bloom and Warwickshire Arts Centre up and running. Jonathan Bretherton, MD Urban Growth Company, explains the mission of the UGC and its development project of Arden Cross, an area near HS2’s Interchange Station that will include thousands of new homes, six million square feet of commercial development and brand new transport links. And Alex Couchman and Sam Harris, HS2 Project Manager Apprentices, describe how the freedom and support from the programme has allowed them to explore the project, deepen their knowledge and ultimately find an area of work they’re most excited about.

June 6, 2023Episode 1138 min

Episode Eleven: Safe at Heart

How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. With any project, health and safety plays an important role. From working at height to operating heavy machinery, there is always a risk towards the health and wellbeing of workers, and possibly the public. How do workers identify and mitigate hazards? How do they make use of decades of progress in health and safety? And how do they build upon that knowledge to help improve industry best practice and beyond? This episode of How to build a railway, 'Safe at Heart', explores what HS2 is doing to not only make its employees, supply chain members and public feel safe, but to drive safety improvements in the construction, engineering, and rail industries. Featuring: Emma Head - HS2 Technical Services Delivery Director Fiona King - HS2 Head of Occupational Health and Wellbeing Dame Judith Hackitt – HS2 Non-Executive Director Ben Bryant - Align TBM Engineer Sasan Ghavami - BBV Deputy Project Director SL7 Emma outlines HS2’s Health and Safety Strategy along with how the organisation works with its supply chain to drive the performance of Health and Safety. Fiona dives into the importance of Occupational Health and viewing the long-term risks to individuals that may only become present 20+ years later. She also talks through “Health by Design”. An approach of identifying and mitigating risks to health and wellbeing before construction even starts. Dame Judith discusses the learning from other projects when it comes to health and safety along with having a project this scale to use as an opportunity to set new standards for the industry. Ben explains the use of robotics on TBM “Cecilia”, and how it benefits the workers’ health and safety by removing risks of working from height and exposure to materials in the ground being excavated. Sasan describes the Marston Box push and how actions taken not only benefited health and safety for the workforce, but also the local community.

May 22, 2023Episode 1039 min

Episode Ten: Keeping things clean – our journey to net zero

How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. This episode of How to build a railway, 'Keeping things clean – our journey to net zero', explores the work that HS2 and our supply chain partners are doing to work towards cleaner construction. Climate change presents unprecedented challenges; the actions we take today will fundamentally affect our lives and the lives of future generations. How we travel – and how we build our infrastructure – are critical to our response to this global emergency. It’s why we’re building HS2: to be both a catalyst for growth and the most sustainable railway of its type in the world. HS2 trains will be powered by zero carbon energy from day one of operation, offering a cleaner, greener future. This commitment plays a key part in driving our goal to make the project net zero carbon from 2035, with targets of diesel free construction sites and reducing the carbon content of steel and concrete. In Episode ten we explore the work towards cleaner construction. From our Net Zero Carbon Plan to working closely with the supply chain and research organisations to pilot and implement low carbon materials, alternative fuels, renewable energy and new construction methods. Featuring Emma Head, Technical Services Delivery Director, outlines HS2’s environmental sustainability vision and our commitments around carbon, diesel free construction sites and enhancing biodiversity. Andrea Davidson, Air Quality Manager, dives into the decisions taken to reduce carbon on site, adopting lessons learned from across the industry to demonstrate that it isn’t just what, but how we build. Daniel Marsh and Carl Desouza from Imperial Collage London’s Centre for Low Emission Construction talk about the support the College provides to HS2 to find out what works, what doesn't and some of the projects they’ve collaborated on, including a retrofit project where an older part of machinery is fitted with the latest emissions reduction technology. And Steve Bradby, Technical and Engineering Leader at Select Plant Hire, invites us into the world of tower cranes.

April 25, 2023Episode 937 min

Episode Nine: From Track to The Cloud – the Layers of Railway Systems

How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. In this episode, we explore how it all fits together – how we integrate our rail systems. Rail travel has come a long way over the years. Now, with advances in technology, demands of a growing population and faster, greener trains, we’re already underway with the complicated procedure of systems integration to ensure every aspect of the railway works together - from day one of operation. From the inner workings of the Washwood Heath Control Centre to the complex world of integration, this episode explores the many layers of rail systems needed to ensure our trains operate safely, efficiently and on time. Featuring: - Chris Rayner, Stations and Systems Delivery Director, describing the layers of various systems in place to make HS2 possible and how it differs to modern rail - from tunnel evacuation procedures to giving passengers broadband levels of Wi-Fi. - Kathryn Montgomery, Senior Manager - Train Service Delivery, takes us through the Washwood Heath Control Centre and how learning from outside the industry has influenced its construction. - Nassar Majothi, Director of Systems Integration, explains how the different systems communicate with each other along with challenges like cyber security; and - Professor Clive Roberts, Director for UK Railway Research and Innovation Network, gives a history of rail systems internationally, along with the research being undertaken to assure the future of high-speed rail systems for years to come.