Great Western Route Electrification Programme

As the first large-scale electrification project in the UK for over twenty years, The Great Western rail network is currently undergoing its first update since the Victorian era to allow it to accommodate cleaner, quieter and more reliable electric trains, at a cost of £5 billion.

The project is taking place across the Great Western Line which runs between Bristol Temple Meads and London Paddington station. The process requires stations to be updated to accommodate the electric trains, alterations to the railway track and signalling modifications.

Mane is currently the master supplier to long-standing client, Morgan Sindall Rail Electrification, which is completing the electrification upgrade on the stretch of track between Reading and Swindon.

The long-term project was originally given the go-ahead in November 2010. Mane has been involved for the past 18 months, providing electrification staff, linesmen, and machine controls and plant operators for the project. The consultancy is regularly supplying 25 to 30 contractors every week. 

The project is going incredibly well thanks to Mane’s superior market knowledge, talent reach and collaborate approach to staffing. The consultancy has a significant site presence with senior level staff, who are all inducted onto the project so that they can visit regularly and make sure everything is running to schedule and address any issues that arise. Mane always makes sure that if it is working on a project, consultants are really embedded and working closely with the client, rather than simply being a voice on the other end of the phone – the team realises the importance of being out there, particularly in rail and construction when attention to detail is so important.  

When Mane comes onto a project such as this, it generally remains there until it finishes. It is not an agency which hires a few people, expecting another company to come on board and supply talent further down the line. Mane prides itself on making relationships and becoming ingrained. In most instances, it is not only there until the end of the project, but is also carried on to the next project because the impression the team leaves is so strong.

Feedback from the client on this job has already been extremely positive, and the current works have been such a success that the next phase of the project has already been awarded to Morgan Sindall Rail Electrification by Network Rail  - which Mane will also be supplying talent for.

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