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Minister Visits NI Railways’ Extended Maintenance Repair Depot and Workshops

18 June 2008:

-£2.5m project completed to maintain excellent Customer Service

N I Railways welcomed Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy on site today (18 June) for a tour of its newly extended maintenance repair depot and workshop facilities at Belfast’s York Road.

N I Railways is one of the highest performing rail companies in the British Isles in terms of punctuality and reliability and the company is set to build on this position following the completion of the £2.5million extension project.

Speaking during the Ministerial visit NITHC and Translink Group Chief Executive, Catherine Mason said, “Passengers have welcomed the improved punctuality and reliability of our services; customer satisfaction is at its highest level in over 14 years and passenger numbers continue to grow. The work of the team at York Road Depot has contributed very significantly to these achievements and I commend them for their efforts.  Our challenge now is to build on these high standards to attract even more people onto the train.”

As well as increasing the size of the depot, the extension also provides an enhanced working environment for staff. At 229metres long, it can house up to 6 C3k carriages and a full Enterprise train. Operating on a 24/7 bases, over 60 employees carry out over 800 preventative maintenance services each year along with 90% of all the running repairs.

“We are delighted to have this opportunity to give the Minister a tour of the new facility and to introduce him to members of the team that carry out this important work," added Catherine.

A new, more energy efficient heating system has also been installed as well as improved lighting, both on the upper level and under the walkways and rails, to facilitate the maintenance of the trains throughout the site.

During the visit the Minister presented the ISO9001 Award to Translink’s Rail Engineering division and Investors in People Awards to both its Rail Engineering and IT services divisions. He also had the opportunity to meet staff including third year engineering apprentices Claire Jameson and Neil McCloskey, the overall winner and runner up in the National Railway Apprentice of the Year Award 2007.

Ends

For further information, please contact Keelin Kelly at Morrow Communications on 028 9039 3837 or email k.kelly@morrowcommunications.com

Notes to Editor

Performance Statistics – N I Railways v GB Train Operating Companies

Statistics for the following GB train operating companies obtained from Network Rail

Public Performance Measure (PPM) by train operating company Q4 - 2007/2008

PPM combines figures for punctuality and reliability into a single performance measure

Extension Project Details

- The York Road Depot opened in 1994 as part of the Cross Harbour Rail Link project.

- The extension was completed in January 2008. The project lasted 43 weeks. It was completed on time and on budget.

 - Designed for Class 80 and 450 trains and 7-coach Enterprise trains, the original 201metre site did not allow full access to the longer C3k trains and 8-coach Enterprise trains. Now 229metre long, the York Road depot can house up to 6 C3k carriages and a full Enterprise set.

- 50% of the work at York Road is carried out at night when trains are not running and 2 of the 3 Enterprise trains are serviced every night.

- A significant proportion of the project required work below ground level, roughly 2.5m below ground level with an estimated 2000m³ taken out of the ground.

- An additional 75m of rail was laid in the depot along with 3 new buffers.

- Cleary Contracting carried out the project, managed by Translink’s in house property team.

About IIP

-  This is the third time Rail Engineering has secured the Investors in People Award.  To become a recognised Investor in People, organisations must demonstrate that they have aligned the skills development of their people with the achievement of business objectives.

- IT Services and Rail Engineering join Bus Engineering, Marketing, Infrastructure, Human Resources, Ulsterbus Tours and Parcellink in having achieved IIP.

About ISO 9001

-Rail Engineering has held the ISO quality management certification since 2000. It is renewed every 2 years following the successful outcome of a major audit process.

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